Week 84 and the biting continues at Bear Park (only once but it was only a four day week!)...there are now three biters but lots of victims. Still not sure what we're going to do about this.

We thought Joseph was going through a growth spurt as he has been waking up at terrible hours (1.30am, 3.30am, 4.15am) and calling out "me, me, me; bo, bo, bo" - which basically translates to "get me a bottle" - however, we're now in week two of this behaviour so he'll be going on bootcamp once we get back from our weekend away!

The annual photos were taken at Bear Park on Wednesday but unfortunately for us, Joseph is crying in most of his!! I don't think we'll be ordering any for Christmas presents. I'll scan in the proof so you can see for yourselves. Here is a picture we took at home the morning of the photos.

We went up to Warkworth to stay with Aunty Dorothy and Uncle Bruce - lots of home baking and a great dinner. Joseph very much enjoyed the fruit slice and gingerbread loaf and is showing signs of taking after his father in the sweet tooth department. Joseph had a great time chasing Chloe (the cat) and also the ducks on the street; he also enjoyed playing with all Aunty Dorothy's things (including the 'phone in the hall). Uncle Bruce hasn't changed from when I was a kid and enjoyed playing tricks and games with Joseph and encouraging him to eat lots of bad food!



On Sunday we travelled from Warkworth down to Orewa to have lunch with Matt (Dan's cousin) and Lucy Hill and their sons, Alex and Ryan. Joseph was in little boy heaven as they had millions of trucks, trains, plains and boats. I think Ryan enjoyed having someone younger/smaller to boss around. All in all it was a great mini-break!

Week 83 just flew by...how can it be mid-October already? There was only one biting incident this week - a bruise under the right shoulder blade. I know which child it is and I am surprised (Joseph's friend, Hollie, can talk and her parents asked her who was biting and she told them and they told me!!!). The teachers are going to "focus" on the issue this week and circulate the biting policy to all parents.

We had to get a new digital camera this weekend as I managed to break the old one on Monday...our new one has video with sound so I'll try and post some little video clips as well from now on.

Here's Joseph in one of his favourite outfits...half dressed with his gumboots on.

We got the camera on Saturday morning...part of our very busy Saturday. Joseph has his hair cut with Lisa again (thank goodness for Baked Oaty museli bars and "The Gruffalo" story), we got the camera, we went out for breakfast (where we were complimented on our very well behaved child - smug!) and we went to story time at Onehunga library. Phew - no wonder Joseph slept for 2.5 hours on Saturday afternoon.

He was asleep when Rachel and Molly came to visit too..I haven't seen Rachel for years (she's been in the States and Australia) and hadn't met Molly. Joseph and Molly "played" quite well together which we were all very happy about.

On Sunday we went to the museum and checked out all the animals, fish and bird displays. He liked the stuffed lion (he did his best roar to say hello) and the small fish...not very keen on the sharks and whales!


He's getting good at walking up stairs and here's a little clip of his skills.

Finally, here is Joseph on Sunday night being a bit of a monkey (ie standing on the pot lid)...Dan has taught him how to knock on a door but this seems to have morphed into a good looking fist just ripe for throwing!

Week 82 saw Dan and I very busy with work so Joseph did five big days at Bear Park. Joseph's words are coming thick and fast...new this week are dirt, bird, miaow (he's being doing this for a while but the word is now much more refined) and best of all singing "twinkle twinkle little star" complete with hand actions.

We received two incident reports from Bear Park on Wednesday and Thursday for biting. Joseph was bitten on Wednesday and Thursday and was the biter on Wednesday. The teachers won't tell us who is biting Joseph (citing confidentiality!) so I don't know if the same child is biting Joseph. Joseph's biting was on the younger children who had toys he wanted...so out of frustration rather than an ongoing behavioural trait! He's not biting us at home so we can't really discipline him here...we're to work on encouraging his words apparently!

Here's a picture of Wednesday's arm bite (he's also got one on the right shoulder blade).

Dan took Joseph to the park on Saturday afternoon and took these really sweet photos.

Being cute!

Being a Lion.

And being super cute!

Sophia here to update on Week 81 of our life with Joseph. New Zealand's move to daylight saving has been great for us as Joseph now wakes at 6/6.30am rather than the 5/5.30am that we were experiencing in the previous few weeks! Joseph has been in really great spirits and had a great week at Bear Park.

His physical development is coming along in leaps and bounds and he getting quite good at walking up and down stairs. He also likes kicking balls - I am trying to get him to kick with his left foot as well so that he will become a more versatile player!! His favourite word is "no" which he uses even when you offer him food (he says no but still takes it). He will also mimic the cadence of your speech...he is trying really hard to say what we say. Very fascinating.

On Friday night, Joseph stayed overnight with Denise and Rob...I think he had a great time (a trip to the park and an ice cream must be pretty high on the list of a young man!). He ended up sleeping for 2.5 hours on Saturday afternoon and not getting dropped back home until 3.30pm!!! Dan and I got loads of work done around the house...it is very tidy and we waxed our new kauri TV cabinet we've had made by our friend, Carl.

Here is Joseph with his "beat stick"...it is actually the inner from a roll of wrapping paper but he uses it to hits us or as a trumpet. I usually give him the inner from the kitchen paper so this one is about five times the size!!!

I think Joseph has been on a bit of a growth spurt as he has been devouring food like nobody's business (in fact one of his other favourite words is "more")...he finished off tonight's dinner with the dregs of Dan's beer.

Finally, here is Joseph telling us all about the panda on the back of his apricot muesli bars.

Week 80's post is a bit late because Sophia's been away and we've got a bit behind... Not so many photos for last week but plenty of things happening. Joseph is continuing to build his vocab rapidly, but has a few favourites - 'No' being a good example!

The week went well. We both had things on on Thursday night so Denise & Rob babysat, which went well. We had good weather on Saturday and in the morning we had a trip out to the airport because Sophia went to Sydney for the NRL Grand Final. I'm sure we could have stayed out there for ages looking at the planes etc but we left when Sophia went through to the departure lounge and headed out for some other adventures. There was an Onehunga patrol on Joseph's new trike. After about 50 minutes of pushing and Joseph nearly asleep at the wheel I steered Joseph back down Tawa Rd and into our driveway, but I underestimated Joseph's alertness and we had a standoff for a few minutes. Luckily the swing came to the rescue as an alternative activity. After lunch we headed out to get some vegies then down to the playground in Orakei, which is good and popular. Joseph gatecrashed a couple of groups when he spotted unattended balls, one time running about 200m to secure a rugby ball. Then we headed round to Jeremy and Jen's for dinner and to catch up with Ben and their brand new baby Thomas. Joseph settled in quickly for a feed and bath, then into the portacot - no worries at all.

On Sunday the weather wasn't so good so we had a bit more time indoors:

But we headed down to Cornwall Park and once again some ball acquisition was on the agenda

Bikes were also a target, but potential incidents were defused successfully. After lunch, sleep and bottle we headed into work to give a colleague a hand to move some stuff and Joseph had a good look around the office and out the windows of the 19th floor at all the buses, ships, buildings, the bridge etc. Then we checked out the trains at Britomart station and did some escalator investigation. Then it was time to head for home to finish off the week with dinner, bath and about 20 stories - and going to bed before dark now that daylight saving has started.