Summer Clothes

Well its all about clothes at the moment. Mum went shopping to get some clothes for herself to go back to work and I got some lovely new clothes too. I got some lovely yellow leggings that I can wear with my Noosa t-shirt that I got from Nana and Pa.

Since my last update I’ve started crèche full-time and I’m doing really well. All the people are very nice. Generally Dad drops me off and Mum picks me up. Mum’s pretty relieved that I’m not pulling the hair of any of the other children (I’m reserving that for mum). Instead I tend to kiss all my friends in the baby room. After a few initial teething problems I’m now eating all my lunch and snacks and also having a morning and afternoon nap. However I’m not too keen on taking my bottle from the girls in the crèche. Tana is lucky if I take 2 half bottles from her and often I only take 1 half bottle. I’m just keeping everyone on their toes – I’m used to having my bottle in my nice quiet bedroom at home and there really is too much going on in the crèche for me to waste time taking my bottle. On the plus side the girls always tell mum that I’ve been in great form when she comes to collect me.

It’s been lovely and sunny here for the last few weeks so I’ve got to wear all my nice summer clothes. Aunty Jill has been very busy making me a lovely new yellow sundress with matching bloomers. It’s definitely my favourite dress because it has a little teddy in the front pocket. I think you’ll agree that I look pretty good wearing it.
Mum went away to be pampered last weekend for a night with her friends. Jill came over to mind me for a couple of hours on Saturday morning until Dad came home from golf so Mum was able to leave. I had great fun playing with Jill and having my lunch with her. Dad and I had great fun so mum reckons that means she can go away on her own again!

Busy Busy

Well its been a busy couple of weeks since we came home from holidays. I’ve been in great form as my ear hasn’t been hurting me and I’ve been enjoying hanging out with Mum and Dad. My cousin (first-cousin once removed) Matt came to visit from London. He was a great visitor who played with me lots and in return I gave him some of my great scrunch-up-my-nose smiles.

Also I got my first pair of shoes. I’m crawling lots, especially on my mat which isn't as slippy as the wooden floor and pulling myself up quite a lot and then slipping on the wooden floors so the shoes should give me a bit of grip. Let’s face it, they’re no Louboutins but a girl has to start somewhere. Also as you can see they don’t match all my outfits – I look a bit like ‘Ugly Betty’ (for those of you not familiar with Ugly Betty she wears highly patterned mismatching clothes) but there’s a recession so its one pair of shoes at a time for me (it’s a pity Mum doesn’t subscribe to that philosophy but I'm begining to understand that there's a different set of rules for adults and children). Mum thinks I might be teething cause I’m smacking my lips. However Mum thinks that I’ve been teething since Christmas and I still don't have any teeth so considering I'm 8 and a half months she’s bound to get the teething prediction right sooner or later.

This week is a big one for me as I’m starting in the crèche and mum goes back to work next week. Both Mum and I are pretty relaxed about it so fingers crossed it will all be fine. I was there for 2 hours today and was fine most of the time. I got a little upset at one point but that's just because it got very noisy and I'm not used to noise. But the lovely girls, Sarah and Tana, who will be looking after me took care of me and I was fine. There are 6 boys (Daragh, Dylan, Daniel, Charlie, John & I can't remember the other boys name) and Rebecca (my friend from up the road) in my room so no wonder it was a bit noisy. Anyway I'm a great hair-puller so I've no doubt that I'll be able to fit in and stand up for myself once I get settled.

Hello

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. We’ve been enjoying the last 6 weeks just hanging out doing the usual things that a 8 month old does – going for walks in the park, playgroups, baby yoga, swimming, clapping hands and crèche gym. I went to a music session in the National Concert Hall with Mum and Dad and we all had a great time playing with the baby instruments and singing.

I’ve been a little out of sorts the last few weeks. I haven’t been sleeping very well at night. Poor Mum and Dad have not been happy because they are both quite tired as they really aren’t used to night-time wakening and of course they were worried about me. Mum has been giving me Teetha and ice cubes for my teeth but I’ve tried to tell her that there’s nothing wrong with my gums. I had a bad cold last week and Mum brought me to the doctor just to be sure that it was nothing more serious. Anyway, it all came to a head on Saturday afternoon when Dad noticed lots of blood around my ear. Mum & Dad brought me to the weekend doctor and he told them I had a perforated eardrum. Much worse than it sounds but suffice to say I’m far better now. I’m in great form, sleeping better, moving around lots (nearly crawling) and bouncing like a mad thing. I don’t think it will be too long before some teeth put in an appearance.

The highlight of the last few weeks has been my latest holiday. I know it seems as if I’m always on holiday – blame Mum & Dad they’re holiday mad! We went on a Dunphy family excursion to Blanes on the Costa Blanca. We had a really early flight on the Saturday morning but luckily Mammó let me sleep on her on the plane (We were like the Griswalds on the 0640 from Dublin to Barcelona - all the Dunphys except Ross who was joining us from Malaga). We stayed in a lovely big house and everyone was really kind to me, especially my cousin Ríodhna . She loved getting up in the morning so she could play with me and she was always giving her ‘blankie’ to me, which I know means that she really loves me. Ella and Ríodhna were able to go out for dinner late some nights with all the adults but because I wasn't that well Mum & Dad wanted me in bed early so I missed out. However Mum and Dad did go out one night and Uncle Ross minded me. I was quiet as a mouse for him and only woke up when Mum & Dad got home.

We went to the beach, chilled out in the house, swam in the pool (well Ella swam lots but the water was a bit too cold for me given I haven’t been well), had barbeques, went on the swings and generally had a good time. So now the holiday is over Mum is on countdown - she's back to work at the end of the month. I'm quite excited because I'll be going to a creche 4 days a week. I've visited a few times and it seems really nice. I already know 2 of the other babies there - Rebecca who I do playgroup with and often go for a walk with on Thursday afternoons and Can whose Mum & Dad work with my Mum & Dad. I'm sure it will be a big change for all of us but its a new adventure for me so I just hope Mum won't be too upset to be leaving me. I'll keep up posted on my progress.

Home Safe and Sound

Well after all the travel I'm back home in Dublin. The last week has been pretty tough on all the family. I'm not sure what is wrong (mum calls it jetlag) but I've been waking at 3am, having a feed and then because I have not been feeling at all tired mum has had to bring me downstairs to play for a few hours. Of course I'm fine because I've been able to nap during the day but poor mum is exhausted. And Dad has been even more tired because he had to go to work. However that's all over & done with now and we're back to normal (except for the fact that I'm waking for a night feed).

The last week of my holiday was great but really very busy. We flew down to Adelaide and stayed with the Murphys. It was lovely there - not only was it warm during the day but it was nice and cool in the evening so we were all able to sleep really well. I went up to the Barossa Valley with Mum and Dad. Great Uncle Wayne joined us for lunch in Angaston and he also came to the wineries with us. It was great to meet him. I was very luck that I got to visit Rockfords (Dad's favourite winery).

I managed to take it easy for a couple of days and hang out with the Murphy boys. I also met Charlotte and Craig Dunstan who came over for dinner on 2 evenings. I then got to meet Great Uncle Geoffrey - he was very excited to see me and I had lots of great smiles for him (except for this photo where I was going for the sultry look).



Just when I started to get settled into life in Australia it was time for another big flight. After a long flight (during which I was very good), we spent 2 nights in Shanghai. Mum & Dad went out and Nan Bingham looked after me. I woke up while they were out and Nan was very kind to me. Then we flew home and as a treat we got upgraded on the last flight home. To be honest it didn't make much difference to me - the bassinet in business class is the same as the bassinet in economy but Mum & Dad looked very comfy on their flat beds.
Now that we're home I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks of taking it nice and easy and eating lots of food...

aDaDaDaDa

Its official - I'm talking. My first words are Da-Da (or aDaDaDaDa as I like to say). Dad's thrilled because I'm calling his name and mum's thrilled because I'm calling Dad's name so he has to respond and she gets a break. As well as this talking I'm still really busy with other activities

• playing with my feet, especially when I lie upside down and put my feet in the air like a beetle
• screeching
• smiling (of course)
• concentrating very hard on playing with toys (with 2 hands)
• eating - I'm having food 3 times a day (sometimes just a small amount but sometimes I have a big portion)

We're back in Bribie Island with all the family now. I'm having great fun and loving all the attention. Liam & I do lots of screeching and Joel is always giving me gentle hugs & kisses. Its still really hot here and I'm back to waking again once at night time, but its probably just because of the heat (would you manage to sleep soundly when its 28degrees?). I know mum's not worried because I was sleeping really well when I was in Tewantin. We've been pretty busy just hanging out - we went to the RSL for lunch on Saturday and Dan & Stella joined us - they are very nice. Our activities have been slightly hampered because of the rain. I thought I'd seen rain in Ireland but its nothing compared to Queensland rain (which is torrential and then combined with heat & humidity.
Nanna & Pa are leaving today. I'll be very sad to say good-bye but I'll see them again in September.
Off to Adelaide on Wednesday.

My Holidays - Part 1

[More photos to follow when I get home. Also sorry for the bad formatting - mum got fed up trying to format properly so decided to give up & just post]

Well if I am not one of the most travelled 5 1/2 month olds around, I don't know who is. I've been on holiday now for nearly 2 weeks and I'm loving every minute of it. My favourite activity is smiling, followed a close 2nd by laughing and screaching. And as for all the attention I'm getting I'm loving it. I suspect Mum is dreading getting home because it will be just her and me and I'll be scourging her for attention. So details so far are as follows:

Flew Dublin-London; London-Shanghai - I played for a while on the 2nd flight and then slept for 5 or 6 hours

Arrived in Shanghai to be welcomed at the airport by Steve, Grace & Mr Hu. We were just in time to celebrate Max's birthday (although I'm too young for cake) .

6 great days in Shanghai - after a shaky start on the first night when mum & dad tried to make me sleep even though I wasn't tired, I was a great baby. We did lots of walking around and the Chinese people loved me. Dad & I felt like movie stars with all the attention we were getting. They even took my photo. I was able to play with all Max's toys and Sapphire looked after me.

Flew Shanghai - Sydney which was a great flight as we left at 20:30 and I was alseep by 21:00 and slept until just before landing

We had a great weekend in Sydney meeting the Francforts, Douglas, Barbs & Nick (Barbs nearly ate me she loved me so much). On Sunday we had a picnic on the beach with the Weilings, Francforts, Simmons, Squires, Mussareds - I had a great time and was on best behaviour
Up to Queensland (it barely counts as a flight, it was so short) and I met my boy cousins. Had a great couple of days there except we couldn't swim in their pool as it wasn't warm enough. Again I had lots of toys to play with - Liam even lent his bouncer to me. Lots more love & attention here

Up to Tewantin to stay in Nanna & Pa's house for just over a week. I'm really enjoying it here - again lots of attention as well as some lovely swims in the pool.

My Christening

I was christened a few weeks ago. We had a great day. It started off a bit stressful for mum because I was in the early stages of my new reduced feeding phase. The christening started at 12:45 and I had my first feed of the day at 12! Luckily it was enough to keep me going throughout the ceremony.
There were 4 babies altogether and all of us were very good. I got a little 'antsy' towards the end, but dad just walked me around for a couple of minutes and I settled down.

All the Dunphy family were in attendance. They are well experienced in christening attendances thanks to Ella and Ríodhna. We're all in this photo except Uncle Paul who was the designated photographer.

We had a lovely lunch in Avoca afterwards and everyone was on their best behaviour. Then we went back to our house for christening cake. All-in-all a very successful day.

[As usual the photos link through to more photos]