17 Months

George is 17 months old!

They had a Halloween party at daycare--I dressed George up in the little zookeeper outfit that Aunt Julie and Debbie got him from the San Diego Zoo.

Calling for back-up

He brought home a balloon from the party and played with it for days

On Bonfire night we had dinner at Old Bar--they had posters up for their election night event. I'd thought about going to it, but decided I'd rather be home with Richard & George & snacks. I'm so glad I did stay home, because 1) it was very stressful and upsetting, and 2) it took so long for the result to be called! It was after 7am our time, so I would've had to go home without knowing the result!

Bonfire Night--this was George's first time going to a display and he did really well. We thought the fireworks might be too noisy for him, but he didn't seem to mind the noise at all--he just stared up at them in awe, like the rest of us!

The arrival of the Christmas drinks menu means our Starbucks visits have increased this month

George looking out the window at the snow--we had a couple of inches overnight on election night, November 8th/9th, but it was all melted off by the next day.

Christmas Light Switch-On

We stayed a long way back to avoid the crowds, so our pictures aren't great, but it was a good show and it's always fun to see Santa!

George slept through most of it, just like last year

George being an exhibitionist in the morning when I'm trying to get him dressed...

We went to the Christmas gift market at Harewood House--it was really good this year!

They had this fake snow machine--George didn't quite know what to make of it!

They've added this lovely farm section since our last visit--George practiced walking along the walls and fences

Flamingos

The Kookaburra's my favorite--it always makes me think of the song, 

"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree..."

More walking practice in the stables courtyard

He played peek-a-boo with us around the columns for ages

A quick go on the swings before we left Harewood

We've finally replaced the baby bathtub--this is the "BabyDam", a little wall with suction cups and a rubber seal that you fit in your tub to whatever size you want. So clever! It takes up a lot less space to store than the baby bathtub, too.

Last month we got these cute Wow bath toys from the RNLI museum gift shop in Whitby--a little wind-up lifeboat and a little jet ski with lifeguard figure

Biscuit spanning across both dining chairs

 George in Minnesota!

He loved all the attention from the family and was very smiley

Aunt Julie with her three nephews

The newest addition to the family, Tabitha Pickles

I love that look on George's face!

George is just crazy about William--he'd watch him and giggle and shriek!

We had a couple of light snows, so the boys and I built a snow fort

Happy Thanksgiving! George loved the squash casserole and the pumpkin pie!

George turned 17 months while we were in the States for Thanksgiving, so I'm just getting around to posting about it now. We had a great time--he got to meet Aunt Julie & Debbie for the first time, he loved playing with his cousins and it was really lovely to spend time with family. I hadn't been in the U.S. for Thanksgiving since 2006, and not with Kelly for her birthday since the 90's, so it was wonderful to be able to be there this year.

This morning we had a weigh-in and George was 24 lbs. He's been feeling a lot heavier lately, so I expected it to be even higher! I asked about his walking, because he's still not letting go of furniture/hands, and they weren't concerned--as long as he's trying to walk with support and seems to be getting steadier, the advice was just to keep practicing. What they're concerned about is kids not walking at all by 18 months. I had been thinking of asking about his language development at his next weigh-in, because he didn't really have any words down, but over the past few weeks his speech has really improved. He's pointing at objects all the time now, and he says Hello, Uh Oh, That (dat while pointing to ask for something) and Kitty.

First Halloween costume
First Bonfire night display
First U.S. Presidential election
First U.S. Thanksgiving
First words--Hello and Uh Oh
First meltdown on a plane--he's usually a fantastic traveller but the trip home did not go well!