Sitting Pretty

Charlie had a visit from his Great Auntie Karen and Great Uncle Neil this week and - best of all - their boys Logan and Wade. Logan and Wade are great favourites of Charlie - they keep him well entertained with lots of block tower building and general boy stuff.

In other news, Charlie's new favourite thing is sitting. From a wobbly start he is now quite proficient at sitting on his (well padded and pillowed - though Sam fought the urge to have the Health and Safety Officer from one of MRP's construction sites do an inspection before allowing Charlie to have a go!) mat and playing with his toys. 

He seems to really enjoy the change of view and Mum and Dad are still getting used to seeing their baby sitting up by himself! Next thing he'll be borrowing the car keys.

Charlie in Da House

Charlie has a gangsta outfit (Christmas Gangsta) courtesy of his Great Aunt Annette. So far he hasn't developed a gansta attitude (though his sleeping has deteriorated a little!).

Christmas 2008

While we are onto this blogging thing, here are some photos from Charles' first Christmas.  

Boy, what a day.  Three family events ranging from Mangere in South Auckland to Laingholm in West Auckland.  By the end of the day, it was time for a complete and utter meltdown - and that's not to mention how Charles got on!

We had a great day and came away vowing to each other to make much more effort to stay in touch with all our friends and family over the coming year (after all, you never know when you may need a babysitter!).

Obviously, Charles was a bit non-plussed by the idea of a large man coming down a chimney to bring him presents.  I'm sure by next year he'll be all over it!

We are sure his cousins will show him how it is done!

Lunch was had with Andrea's dad, brother and brother's partner and Sam's folks.  We think Uncle Doug and Aunt Elaine look like they are rather taken with Charles....

Grandad Wilson was happy to show off his baby wrangling skills.

Finally, we simply had to include this last photo of Danielle, Lucy and Cousin Wade having a beautiful tea party late on Christmas night, oblivious to all around them.

At the Beach

This is a little late - having taken place a week before Christmas. Still, better late than never!

We had some friends from our time in London staying with us recently and we used the opportunity to take Charles to Piha for his first paddle in the sea. He was rather alarmed at first, but seemed to have an OK time in the end. I don't think his temperament was helped by his parents' shrieking when they were caught off guard by rogue waves! We all ended up rather wet.

Here are a couple of photos with Dad in them.  It isn't often that he relinquishes his grip on the camera, so it is a bit of a rarity to have him included.

Of course, given Charles' dark glasses, it was impossible to tell whether he was checking out the waves or the chicks in the surf!  We have our suspicions.