I like Mama to stay with me at kindy. I don’t cry when she goes away, but I say “No don’t go away, Mama, no!” One day she went home after a short time so I stayed at the gate waiting for her to come back for most of the morning. One of my friends, Jakey, has started going to kindy as well, so maybe I won’t need Mama to stay and look after me so much. Gran came with me to kindy today. She showed me how to use scissors. This is what I said about kindy: “I go to kindy. Show Gran the green yoyo. Play with cars. Playdough’s cool. We put the playdough in the oven and cooked and cooked it. The boy crashed my bike and I cried and cried. Then it was morning tea time. Everybody come inside. Play some trains and eat some crackers.”

I’ve been very sick over the last week, with lots of coughs and throwing up, a sore ear, and a runny nose and eyes. I had to stay home from kindy. I’ve had some orange medicine and some pink medicine, and now I’m starting to feel better. But I gave Mama my germs, so she isn’t.

Dadda and I went down to the waves – I had lots of fun and got a bit wet. While Dadda and I were paddling, Mama dug me a big deep hole in the sand like a bath. So then I got very wet and sandy playing in the hole.

We ate our tea sitting out on the grass in the sunshine. After tea Mama wanted me to go to sleep in the tent. But I just wanted to take my sleep sack off and play in the tent because it wasn’t very dark. Mama came and lay down with me in the tent but I still didn’t go to sleep. So when it was getting dark, Dadda came to bed and sang me songs until I went to sleep. Then in the middle of the night, I woke up suddenly and said to Dadda, “Sing some more songs,” but he just told me to go back to sleep.

I think that Pim might be a girl. But sometimes I don’t want to be a big brother at all. Here are some of the things I’ve said to Mama about Pim:

29 Oct: I looked down Mama’s top and said, “There’s a baby in there.” Then I lifted up my own top and said, “Braden’s got babies.” Mama: “How many babies have you got?” Me: “Braden’s got one baby. Baby’s crying.”

8 Nov: I lifted up Mama’s top and said, “Want to play with the yellow car Pim? She’s having a turn. Do you like the yellow car, Pim? Thank you.”

"Say 'bout fireworks. They're like hair. Bang bang bang bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Say 'bout fireworks. Good fun. Think that's the end. Like green and purple and blue. Bang! We saw a helicopter. It's not a star. It's a helicopter. Helicopter - it's not a star! No. That's a star. That's a big star. There's a helicopter! I can see it. Big star. I can't reach it, no, I'm too short. Turn the lights on. Hello Dadda. I found a ball. Says fireworks.

I wish there were fireworks to see more often!

When I look out our lounge windows, I can see Mt Kaukau with its big stick on top. I kept telling Mama that I wanted to go and see the big stick, so one Sunday afternoon Dadda took me up Mt Kaukau. He carried me up in the Ergo - I was talking to him, but he was huffing and puffing a lot and didn't talk so much to me. I think he was a bit tired.

At the top of the hill I got down and walked. We got right close to the big stick, but we couldn't touch it or climb up it because there was a big fence around it. The lights weren't going because it was the daytime. I think I want to go back when it's dark so I can see the flashing red lights.

I walked and ran all the way back down the hill to the car. Lots of people said "hello" to me and thought I was doing very well for such a little boy. I was tired by the end, but I still had enough energy to go up and down the slide a few times at the park.

The next day we went for a drive and I fell asleep. When I woke up, we were at the top of a big hill. We ate lunch up there, and then went for a windy drive back down to the bottom and got some strawberries. I ate so many strawberries my tummy nearly went pop.

That afternoon, Mama put my togs on and we went down the steps into a pool that was warm like a bath. It had bubbles and fountains to make your hair wet. I kept wanting to get down and go to other parts of the pool, but it was too deep and over my head. Mama and Dadda had to carry me. After we'd got dressed, we went to a cafe and I ate a little bit of yellow rice and scattered the rest all over the floor and the table.

The next day we went to the aquarium. There were some really big black fish, some sharks, some big long eels, and a giant turtle. I saw a clown under the water feeding some of the fish. I also saw some kiwis running around in the dark. They ran fast and poked their beaks into the dirt to find some food. They were so funny! It was so dark that another man thought I was his little boy and pointed out the kiwis to me.

At the beach, Aunty Catherine took her shoes off and went paddling with me in the waves. I wanted to keep going out deeper and deeper, but Aunty Catherine held on to me tight. I got lots of sand in my shoes.

Mama and Aunty Catherine took me to the swimming pool the other day as well. The little pool was closed so I had to go in the bigger one, which was up to my neck. I had lots of fun playing in the water and chasing balls around. One time I slipped over and went under the water, but I didn't really mind.

We went to a fair in Upper Hutt and I had some candy floss. It was very yummy, but it made my fingers and face very sticky. A clown lady made a dog-shaped balloon for me.

I like to listen to music all the time at the moment. My favourite CD is "Parsy Hole" ["All Things are Possible"], closely followed by "Blue Fliers" [Michael W Smith's "Worship Again"]. I also like to watch my "Daya Daya" DVD ["Praise Baby"]. Mama says that she gets tired of the same songs all the time and sometimes makes me listen to other music, but I don't like what she chooses.

I was very surprised when they sang a song from Daya Daya at the new church. Sometimes when I won't go to sleep at night, Mama comes and lies on my bed and I make her sing Daya Daya songs, especially "Be now my bision". While she's singing, I name the objects that appear at that time on the DVD - "baby got some blocks ... ABC ... boy coming down the slide". I've got a good memory.

I like to pray when I go to bed at night. This is what I said on Wednesday: "Dear Jesus, ank you for na day and ank you for yummy clockit [chocolate] and please have a lovely sleep. Amen."

We saw some donkeys, and I saw some little guinea pigs hiding in some straw. I was able to pat some soft fluffy rabbits, and while I was in the straw with them, some of them decided to have a race round and round me really fast! There was also a tiny little lamb.

Later on we saw a big horse, and I patted its nose. Mama didn't want to give it any food because it had huge bogies. There were some goats as well with sharp horns. They reminded me of one of my Dr Suess books, so I kept saying "goat, girl, goo-goo goggles".

I saw some black pigs and threw food to them. Some of it landed on the back of one of the pigs, so some little piglets climbed up and were walking around on its back to eat the food that was stuck there.

But my favourite thing at Staglands was a little wooden railway cart. I climbed in and Dadda pushed it backwards and forwards along the tracks quite fast. I thought it was great fun.

Then today we went to the zoo. At the zoo I saw lots more different animals. There were monkeys swinging from ropes and trees, and a stripey tiger. The tiger was walking backwards and forwards and growling because he was shut away from his tiger friend.

There were big tall giraffes, ostriches with long necks, and zebras standing still in the sun and swinging their tails. I saw a black bear walking around and he went into his little cave (I thought it was a garage).

My favourite thing were the baboons. They had big ugly pink bottoms. Some of the little ones were playing with some material and trying to wear it like a shirt. Then they would come spinning down the hill with it very fast, and I giggled and giggled. One of the baboons came right over to the glass and went "rah" to give me a fright.

I saw some chimpanzees in their house. One of them was doing a poo on the floor, which I thought was a bit yucky. Then we saw a zookeeper giving a red panda some food and putting the panda in a box.

14 Mar: "Want Mama's special egg." (yoghurt-coated raisin)

15 Mar: "Braden throw the shoes downstairs."

16 Mar: I didn't know what tissues were called, so called them "bogies" instead.

26 Mar: "I like you Mama. Want to squash toes." (ie Mama's toes!)

28 Mar: Mama: "Where's Dadda?" Me: "In the phone." Mama: "No, he's in Auckland." Me: "No, in the phone."

28 Mar: "Ooh, fast cars - it's coming to get you!"

2 Apr: "Me hold it."

7 Apr: I played aeroplanes when feeding myself: "Aeroplane ... round and round ... in a mouth."

18 Apr: Mama: "Don't throw books on the computer! What am I going to do with you?" Me: "Go time out!"

22 Apr: "Ooh, it's the rice bubble car!"

24 Apr: We were walking home from the railway station, and Mama asked me, "Are your legs tired, or are they okay?" I said, "Legs are all right."

26 Apr: I was being fed some soup by Dadda: "Want some more. Don't on a face. Not again!"

3 May: Mama made me an ice cream, so I said, "I'm so lucky!"

4 May: Me: "Ooh, cakes!" Dadda: "No, they're pills." Me: "I like pills."

5 May: Mama: "What should we give Koro for his birthday?" Me: "Give him some money."

13 May: "Ask Mama please to kisses."

23 May: "Want to kiss you."

27 May: "Get the grate cheeser."

29 May: "Want to see Jesus, say hello."

30 May: I can count to ten and sometimes up to 12.

10 Jun: "Put it under the neath."

23 Jun: "Don't drop it on the floor. Not allowed to drop it on the floor."

23 JUn: "That's a nice Mama. Want a Lucy [muesli] bar."

24 Jun: "It goes round and round in circles."

28 Jun: "I gave him the jar."

30 Jun: "Braden not crying. Braden happy."

1 Jul: "That's a sharp plant. Might hurt your fingers."

15 Jul: "Play in the cold water. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

16 Jul: "It's a bus. I can hear it. I can still hear it. I think it's stopped."

16 Jul: "Ooh, that looks very yummy."

17 Jul: "Do you have any ideas?"

First we went on a big boat early in the morning. I got to play with some other children and climb on some big foam blocks. Then we drove a long, long way to Gran and Koro's house. They had a big rubbish truck for me to play with.

Next we went to see Great-Grandma and Great-Grandad in Dunedin, and then on to In-the-car-gill. It was very cold in In-the-car-gill - in the morning the grass was all white, and Mama told me not to run around on the concrete because I might fall over. I've never seen icy puddles like that so I didn't listen to her and went skating over one of them. One day we went to the gardens and saw some ducks standing on the duckpond because it had ice in it! There was also a camel [alpaca] and a noisy cockatoo that said "Whadaya doing?"

We went to Uncle Ian and Auntie Angela's wedding, and I got to see my baby cousin Faith for the first time. I gave her a kiss, but I was a bit jealous of Mama cuddling her and wanted to be picked up and cuddled too.

After In-the-car-gill we went back to Gran and Koro's house. On the way we saw some snow, so Dadda stopped the car so I could get out and play in it. Some of the snow was crunchy, some of it was soft, and it was all cold. I fell over in some soft snow and got it all over me - I lay there crying and Dadda had to pick me up and brush the snow off before I got really cold.

When I woke up on Saturday, Mama and Dadda sang “Happy birthday" to me and I sang it to myself, too. They gave me a toy house. I can sit inside and look out the windows.

On Saturday, Aunty Granny and Uncle Grobert, Nan and Grandad, and Aunty Crafrim and Uncle Aladah all came to see me for my birthday. Nan was a bit-bit tired and she fell asleep in the sunshine, so I peered in her face and said “wake up!? She got a surprise because she didn’t know she had gone to sleep.

Aunty Crafrim gave me some finger puppets and a Hairy Maclary DVD. A few weeks ago, I got a copy of the DVD out of the library and didn’t want to take it back. So when I unwrapped this one, I tried to put it in the DVD player so I could watch it straight away.

On Sunday, I had another party with lots of my friends. I told Mama who she should invite. Dadda blew up lots of balloons, and Mama tied them around the deck. I ran around yelling and hitting them.

Mama made me a yellow car birthday cake. It had lollies for the lights and chocolate biscuits for the wheels. I kept asking if I could eat the wheels.

All my friends wanted to play with my new Bob the Builder tool set. I’m very happy to have my own screwdriver ?I like fixing things and helping Dadda when he’s fixing things like the motorbike. And I’ve already learned the Bob the Builder song! I wanted to take my tool set to bed with me tonight.

On Friday night, we went to a restaurant for tea. They had a big pit of balls to play in and a slide that was just the right size for me. I spent a little bit of time eating and a lot of time climbing up the steps and going down the slide.

On Saturday we went to see the windmills at Te Apiti. They were really big. I leaned back so far that I nearly fell over and said “Fan! Round and round!"

After lunch, we went to the playground at Pahiatua, and I found another tall slide to go down. When we got back to Palmerston North, we went for a ride on a little train at the park. It went right round the park and said “toot toot" and made lots of noise.

I had lots of fun playing with Amelia today. We pushed the little buggies from one end of the house to the other. She gave me a kiss goodbye.

I'm learning to say lots of things, and some of them are funny. When I want to be picked up, I say "me carraru" ("me carry you") because Mama and Dadda say "Do you want me to carry you?"

When I saw Aunty Jill's car in the driveway, I said "Oooh, the rice bubble car!" Mama doesn't know which cars are rice bubble cars until I tell her. Some cars are chocolate cars.

I fed some chickens and peacocks and a Himalayan tahr. Then I tried to feed a donkey, but I wasn't very good at holding my hand flat so he bit my fingers and took some skin off. So I said "might hurt you" when Dadda wanted me to feed the other animals.

I also saw a swan, a pony, a horse, some ducks, a llama, a pig, some rabbits, some dogs, and a cat (which seemed quite keen on hiding in the bushes close by some of the little chickens!).

When we had finished at the farm park, we went to Paraparaumu Beach. Dadda and I took our shoes off and went paddling in the water. When there were small waves, I wanted to go out further, but then a big wave would come and surprise us and Dadda would have to lift me up so I didn't get really wet. I squirmed so that he almost dropped me.

Late Nov: I was looking at a cushion in the lounge with pictures of fish on: "Fish ... fish ... mmmm chips ... mmmm chips."

12 Dec: Dad was looking through the yellow pages when I saw, in the takeaways picture, the Dominos logo: "Pizza, pizza!"

Early Jan: I was carrying a cereal box that had another box inside it, which fell out onto the floor: "Oh-oh, dropped it and broke it."

15 Jan: After seeing Dad's lunch on the arm of the chair: "Are you go work with the bikkie?"

17 Jan: "I found a piece" (of puzzle in the book box).

28 Jan: Dad farted, so I pointed to his bottom and said "pardies".

7 Feb: I have a little toy penguin, and I was feeding him some imaginary food. I was talking to the penguin, and pretending to be the penguin talking back to me (when I'm pretending to be the penguin, I talk in an extra high voice): "Cake ... like it ... nup nup ... eat it cake ... nice ... more!"

13 Feb: "Ugwee! Ugwee!" (hungry)

15 Feb: I was passing Dad pegs when he was hanging out the washing. A plane flew over, but it was overcast, so I said, "I can't see it! I can't see it!"

18 Feb: "Go in car soon in a minute."

22 Feb: "Oh dear - dropped the dog."

23 Feb: "Mama go in car ... shut the door ... bye bye Mama."

27 Feb: Dad had left his wallet at home and he was meant to be getting fish and chips. Mama said "Oh dear - Dadda's wallet's in there." So I said, "Oh dear - no wallet."

2 Mar: I was getting my nappy changed and said, "Show Gran poos." Mama laughed and said, "Why do you want to show Gran your poos?" So I said, "Show Gran poos please."

5 Mar: "I don't know [who] squashed the lemon."

10 Mar: "I throw the ball downstairs."

The first place we stayed was Melbourne. It was very hot - 39 degrees was too hot for me. We saw lots of trams and trains in Melbourne, and went for rides on some trams. One night we went out for dinner to St Kilda. The restaurant was playing some dance music so I stood on my seat and danced while I waited for them to bring my tea.

Then we went to Adelaide and Port Elliot. I was sick so Mum and Dad had to take me to the doctor. I liked to spend a lot of time in bed because I was away from home and wasn't feeling well.

One day we went to a wildlife park. I got to pat a koala and feed some kangaroos. I also chased a magpie and some little kangaroos. Instead of walking, the kangaroos jump to get around. Sometimes now when Mum is carrying me, we pretend that we're kangaroos and she jumps up and down with me.

The wedding was in a garden and (as usual) I didn't want to sit still. Mum was filming the wedding so Dad walked around with me and we looked at the daisies and other flowers. At the dinner, I wanted to explore as well so Dad had to look after me. We went outside to look at the stars - there were lots of them in the sky.

The next day after the wedding, we went to Victor Harbor. I went for a ride on a camel with Dad. Then Mum took me for a ride on a tram pulled by a horse, and we went for a ride in a little red racing car. It was very exciting as I really love cars.

Everybody I saw liked my singing of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Sometimes when I'm singing it, I'll stop in the middle and say "Yay, clap!" because I think I'm clever!

I am starting to put lots of words together, like "bang the drum", "lots of cars", or "shut the door". Mum bought me a yellow toy car (yellow is my favourite colour) and I said "thankyou much" to her!

We had some special green stick-lights that I could wave in the air when it got dark. There was one for Mum, one for Dad, and one for me. They were so cool that I wanted to hold all of them, though.

We left just before the end, and as we were walking back to the car, there were some fireworks. I thought they looked like flowers in the sky - I said that one of them was a daisy.

Yesterday we also went to a garage sale. I found a little black soft toy cat, and I had to take it home. It looks a bit like Scarface Claw from the Hairy Maclary books. I walk around with it and say “cat, reow?

I can run around quite quickly now. Mum took me to the park the other day and she had to chase me as I kept trying to run away. I like to go exploring, even if no one else is coming with me.

I can say lots of words now, and can even put some words together, like “pretty flower?or “get off swing? Dad sometimes says that I’m a parrot because I repeat words that he says.

I know the names of some books. One of them is "sots" (Fox in Socks) and another one is "uh oh" (We're Going on a Bear Hunt). I say "page" when I turn the page.

I like to sing, too. I've started trying to sing in tune. I can sing some of the words to Twinkle Twinkle and some of Baa Baa Black Sheep.

I've changed my penguin's name to Bardle. It's a cross between Bubba and Cuddle. I like to cuddle him.

I helped Mum with the baking the other day. I stood on the step stool and put my fingers in the mixture and got flour all over me. Mum gave me the eggshell and I crunched it up. It didn't taste very nice, but the chocolate chips did. When I see the chocolate chippies in the box on the bench, I say "Mmm" and point to them.

I'm doing lots of walking now, although sometimes I still like to crawl or walk on my knees. I've also learned to stand up without holding on to anything. When I first did it, I sprang up like a jack-in-the-box. That was a bit dangerous, because I didn't always have very good balance, so sometimes I would fall down again. I'm better at it now, though.

I've been to the park with Dad a few times lately. He puts me at the top of the slide and I slide down myself. I was a bit scared at the start, but now I enjoy it most of the time (except once my feet got a bit tangled and I banged my head on the side).

Mum has lost count of the number of words I can say. When she says to me "can you say..." something, I will usually try and say it back. I have some of my own words for things, like "mama" for "I want that", "bawawa" for plane, or "nana" for round container.

Last week we went to Nga Manu Sanctuary. There were lots of birds there. Some kaka came and sat on Mum and Dad's heads. We fed the ducks, and I crawled around after them and tried to pat them (and got stinky poo on my trousers!). Now I know what ducks are, so I like to play with my toy ones in the bath even more.

At the moment, I'm obsessed with lights, birds, balls, and planes. I can't say "plane" yet - mostly I call them birds, and sometimes cars. I'm very good at hearing them flying, even if they're quiet and I can't see them.

My favourite thing to do is spin round things around on the floor on their edge. I flick my wrist to make them spin, and Granny said that I might grow up to play cricket and be a legspinner. I have some plastic rings and plastic cups that spin quite well. But the best thing to spin is pot lids - they make lots of noise at the same time. A few weeks ago when we were round at Nan and Grandad's house, I found some pot lids in their kitchen and had lots of fun!

I got lots of presents! Thanks to everyone who brought me things. Some of my favourites were a soft furry penguin from Koro, which I like to cuddle, and a big bouncy blue ball from Nik, Meg, and Hanna.

Mum made a chocolate birthday cake with one candle. It was a tricky candle, cos when you blew it out it caught on fire again! Even Mum couldn't put it out. Granny fed me some of her piece of chocolate cake - it was yummy and I really like chocolate.

When we got off the plane we were in Christchurch. We went to Koro and Gran's house. I had lots of fun with the different toys, and there was a lot of room to crawl around. I got to see some sheep and other animals - my favourite was Izzy the cat. When she came inside I crawled around after her, but she kept running away. So I made noises like a cat and tried to tell her I was her friend, but she wouldn't listen. Whenever I got close to her, she frowned and ran away.

Now I can say my first real words apart from "Mum" and "Dada" - my first one (about three weeks ago) was "apple". I'm still not sure exactly what is and isn't an apple. Mum says that some of the things I think are apples are pears, or tomatoes, or other fruit.

My next word was "up". It's a very useful word and I use it for all sorts of things: when I want to be picked up, when I want to get out of bed, when I want to climb up something...

Then we saw a calf. Dad gave it some food as well, but it was still hungry and wanted more. It tried to lick my socks!

Next we saw some rabbits, but they just wanted to lie in the shade, because it was quite warm. So we went to see a white pony. He was hungry and made funny growly noises. He liked me so much that he followed us along the fenceline when we were walking away.

Next was my favourite - a big kunekune pig. He grunted and banged against the fence. I thought he was funny and laughed at him. There was a big mother pig as well with four piglets. They had little curly tails and some of them were spotty.

We also saw some emus, goats, deer and geese. There were some alpacas as well, but they were shy and didn't want to come very close. They made funny moaning noises, and Mum copied them to try and make them come nearer. I copied them as well, but they were still too shy.

After we saw all the farm animals we looked around the shops. There was a shop with a big buzzy bee outside. I was very excited because I have a book with the buzzy bee in. I got to go for a ride in the bee and hold its antennae. Inside the shop there were some buzzy bee toys as well - I would really like one for my birthday!

I have four teeth now. The top ones have a gap between them. They're not quite so sore now - I'm sleeping at night again - but I still like to bite everything.

I got to see some diggers again yesterday. They dug up our driveway and made it all sticky and muddy.

I don't like it when Mum leaves the room now. I do a squealing noise to make her come back. It's OK if I decide to leave the room by myself, though. My favourite place to go is the study, but sometimes I go to the laundry and play with the brush and shovel, or to Grace's room and play with her jandals. I can crawl really fast now, and I'm really good at standing up holding onto the couch with one hand and getting down again. I don't fall over so much any more. And I love to talk all the time.

I saw my friends Cameron and Hanna (both nearly three) at the weekend. They were both scared of me grabbing their toys and trying to pull myself up on them. I was just trying to play with them!

First, about the teeth. I’ve been waking up a lot in the night with a very sore mouth. Mum and Dad come and squirt some tasty medicine in my mouth, but it doesn’t stop it hurting. Sometimes I go back to sleep, but sometimes when I wake up at 5 o’clock I stay awake. My teeth hurt the most just before they come through. I’m getting some top ones soon.

Now that I can crawl, I get up to lots of exciting things. I like to eat the sphagnum moss in the topiary in the hallway. I like to grab dirt out of the pot plant and throw it on the floor. I like to play with electrical cords and the heater and pull books out of the bookshelf. And I like to follow the vacuum cleaner around and try to catch it before it eats my crumbs.

I can do something even more exciting than crawling. Mum blew up a balloon the other day and I used it to push myself up to kneeling. Now I kneel quite a lot. And I started pulling myself up on other things, like the hearth and the coffee table. And when I’d worked out how to do that, I tried pulling myself up to standing. It’s quite exciting, but I haven’t worked out how to get back down again yet. I’ve knocked my head on the floor lots of times.

Tonight I started whistling! I think I’m very clever. One of my favourite habits at the moment is going round with my mouth in a fascinated O. So then I started sucking air in, and it made a whistle!

Today Mum took me to Jeepers and Creepers. There were lots of other babies there and we had cool things to play on. I was so excited. We sang songs and did dances and played with shakers and balls.

Guess what? I’ve got a big sister! I like to stare at her and smile. I help to wake her up in the mornings by climbing on her bed. Her name is Grace and she has a really interesting voice. She’s going to stay in New Zealand until I’m two and a half. She says she might teach me some Korean words.

I’ve changed my sleeping pattern. I was a one-sleep-a-day boy for five months, and now I have two sleeps. I’ve been getting tired really early in the mornings and sleeping from 9 o’clock till lunchtime. Then I have another sleep at 4.30. Mum has moved me up to the top room for my day sleeps so that I can’t hear the builders when they start building the garage. I like it up there because there’s a little blue seahorse on the wall and I can see myself in the mirror.

Well, I’m getting tired of typing now. See you next time.

I've also got a little bit of a tooth that has appeared - it's pretty sharp. The one beside it is trying to come through as well, so my mouth is still sore sometimes.

Quite a few of my toys have little tags stuck to them with writing on. They're very interesting and I like to hold them and look at them closely. I have to concentrate hard to use my fingers to grab the tags. I also like to try and pick up fluff and pieces of cotton I find on the floor.

I'm still not really crawling yet. I can move around a bit, but often when I try to go forward to get my toys I still go backwards and end up further away from them. But I don't stay lying on my back for very long any more - after a while I usually roll over and try to start going places.

Yesterday I had a non-milk lunch for the first time, so I'm having three solid meals per day. Mum thinks I eat quite a lot - sometimes when she hasn't fed me enough, I cry and she has to bring me more.

I've also decided that if I accidentally let go of my toys in the bath, the best way to get them back is to make big splashes. Sometimes I splash myself in the face, but I don't mind. Dad gets splashed a lot by me as well!

Last week I said how I liked clocks... Well, I've been very obsessed with the one in the lounge, even though it always says the same time. I like Mum to lift me up close to it - sometimes if she doesn't hold me up for long enough, I get upset.

Mum’s put up the Christmas tree, and I quite like to look at that and try to reach the presents under it. But the two things I most like to look at are clocks (even if they’re not going) and lights (especially if they’re being switched on or off).

I like to look at things out of the top of my eyes and nod at them and wriggle. It means I like them and want to go closer. I also purr when I’m happy, by making a sound like a German “ch?in my throat. I’ve had a cold lately, but Mum had it much worse.

I went to Aunty Catherine and Uncle Al’s new house for tea last night. I had a banana and a rusk, but rusks make me upset because they hurt my gums and I drop them on the carpet and then cry if someone doesn’t pick them up straight away and give them back. (The same with Cruskits, except I make those into little soggy, fluffy lumps.) Aunty Catherine turned on the fairy lights for me. I think she wanted to keep me, except for when I cried.

I'll be six months old on Saturday. That's half a birthday. Do I get half a present?

At the moment, I'm obsessed with my feet! I love to suck them and pull my socks off.

I've really found my voice lately and love to sing and say nanana and dydydy and goo and ayayaya and yeah. I'm a little chatterbox.

I also love to scratch things that make noises, like the couch covers, the wall, and the fabric on my change table. And Mum's face! In fact, my favourite game is to grab her cheeks or her hair so she can't get away and suck her chin.

I spend lots of time on my tummy now, trying to crawl. It's not fair - my toys keep escaping out of my reach! And I stretch out really far to try to get them, but my arms aren't long enough.

I've also got a little stroller for going to the shops. It's small enough to go on the bus.

We went up the coast for Dad's birthday and I went for a long bush ride in the backpack. It was hot, and I was really tired, but I didn't grizzle till the very end.

I'm good at rolling over from front to back now, but I still haven't gone the other way. My friend Gabriel who was born on the same day can sit up by himself, but I keep overbalancing because I'm trying to suck my feet!

I'm quite hungry at the moment. I'm eating two meals of solid food a day now. I surprised Mum by liking pumpkin and rice - with no fruit to disguise it!

Last month I went on a big holiday around the South Island visiting lots of relations. The day after we got home was my dedication at church. In the photo gallery there are some pictures of it - afterwards I went to Oriental Bay for a picnic with Mum, Dad, Granny, and Uncle Robert.

Mum has started feeding me some different food in my new highchair. My favourite things are banana, apple, pear, and carrot - they're all nice and sweet! I don't really like vegetables by themselves, and avocado makes me gag.

On 4 October, I went to my first movie - it was Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The other babies went to sleep after a while, but not me. I wanted to watch the whole thing.

Since we got back from holiday, I've got bored of my play-gym. I just pull it over and don't really play with it any more. I want to move around the house and do different things, but the only trouble is that I can't roll over or crawl yet. So Mum has to try and entertain me all day, and sometimes I get a bit bored of her as well! Dad is my hero, and I can't wait for him to get home at night.

In the bath, I've started to sit up with Dad's help. That means I can play with the yellow duck floating around on the water. When I try to grab it, it usually escapes. I think it knows that if I can get it, I'll put it in my mouth and eat it - it's quite a tasty duck! If I'm lying down like I used to in the bath, I wriggle a lot and like to lift my feet out of the water to look at them. But when I'm looking at my feet, I get a mouthful of water. I can just reach my big toe with my tongue.

I've been a bit grouchy over the last week because my mouth has been sore. I think I'm starting to get some teeth. I've also been itchy from my eczema. To help me get rid of it, Mum bought me some special soy formula so I don't have to eat the old stuff. The soy formula smells like potato water, but I still like it for my supper.

I can sit up on Mum's knee as long as she holds me about round my waist, unless I'm really tired, and then I go floppy. Very difficult to burp me when floppy!

I smile at Dad when he gets me out of bed in the morning. I like smiling and saying "ging" and "goo" a lot. Mum and Dad don't know what that means! Sometimes the "g"s sound very gurgly. I raise my eyebrows and wave my arms and legs if I really want to tell a big story.

I like to stare at the elephant mobile above my changetable. Mum's bought a musical attachment for the top of it (which plays Brahms' lullaby with a line missing and spins the mobile round) and I love to stare at it.

I think that sticking my tongue out is hilarious - blame Dad! I often stick my tongue out when I smile because everyone laughs at me.

I'm scared of velcro and startle whenever I hear it - but will smile immediately afterwards! My safe-t-sleep and jolly jumper both have velcro.

I like to blow endless raspberries, so Mum always needs a tissue handy.

I love the venetian blinds in Mum's room and will happily lie there and talk to them while she has a shower.

I've started grasping the toys on my play gym and making the wings crackle on one of the toys. Mum's put my jitterbug on it (pull it down and it jitters back up) but I'm not strong enough for that yet. She's put a rattle in my hand, but I'll hold it for a few seconds and then drop it or bang myself in the head with it.

I think it's a good idea to eat the backs of my fingers when I'm hungry. Through the mittens is extra tasty and they go nice and soggy.

Being put in Mum's bed means that you have to make a baby-bird mouth and go "ooh ooh ooh" and waggle your head around until she feeds you.