We've spent the whole weekend painting and are feeling quite proud of ourselves. Have managed to undercoat the entire hallway and dining room (which doesn't sound much, but trying to work it around a nearly one year old and keeping paint/newspaper etc away from him is no mean feat!). We started pretty slowly, but by the end had got into a good routine of me cutting in (newly aquired painting lingo) and Bruce doing the rolling. Only two coats of colour to apply and we can start on the next room. At this rate we'll be looking to finish sometime around 2010...

Connor's latest development is pointing at everything. As soon as he's picked up he starts pointing wildly, and it's become a bit of a game that he gets zoomed over to whatever he's pointing at and told what it's called. He loves being 'flown' around and chased round the room, dissolving into fits of laughter when he's been caught. When Bruce gets home from work each night they usually engage in a game of chasing round and round the house, with Connor being caught and tickled periodically. The squeals of delight always crack me up, and the look of delight on his face when he knows Bruce is about to 'pounce' is priceless.

Trying to be cool like Uncle Paul

A few of you overseas have asked for a photo of Connor with his Mum, so here it is - taken this morning as we left to do some door to door collecting for Plunket's annual appeal. Plunket is a famous NZ charity which provides free clinics, visits, playgroups, phone helplines etc for parents and has been around since 1907. I was really overwhelmed by the generosity of people and managed to collect quite a lot. One lovely lady couldn't afford to donate but gave me a glass of cold homemade ginger beer to keep us going (it was a very hot day again). A really good experience and all for a great cause!

The weather was stunning today, perfect for our day out to Waiheke Island for Alex's 2nd birthday. Had a lovely picnic lunch and Connor even managed to participate in a beach dig game by finding a prize card (and proudly handing it in to Michelle in the photo above). We got the 3pm ferry back to Auckland to give us plenty of time to get home and sort out Connor's dinner etc, but got back to the car to find it had a flat tyre. Tried changing it ourselves but didn't have the right tools, so had to wait an hour for the AA to arrive. Finally got home just before 6pm!!

Connor loves fruit and the favourites of the moment are apples, mandarins, plums, strawberries, nectarines and bananas. I've encouraged him to eat fruit and have always offered it to him whenever I have it (which is lots!). Just hope it will last (probably until he goes to his first party and discovers I've been holding out on cake!)

Took Connor to his first 'jumping beans' class today, which is basically a baby gym class. He absolutely loved it and had a great time - so much so that during the 'quiet time' at the end of the class he made a dash for the climbing frames and had climbed halfway up one before I realised he had gone!!!

The weather has been beautiful the last few days and it feels like summer. Just in time for a birthday BBQ for the babies of our coffee group (not such babies any more!). The little ones were treated to a sandpit and bouncy castle (which I thought was a bit old for them until I witnessed it's true purpose - to keep the guys comfortable and shaded and their beers cool). Connor was slightly confused by the refreshments and kept making a play for Bruce's beer, which obviously appeared far more interesting than his water bottle.

We visited Nan this afternoon, after spending the morning with my Dad. Connor was very taken with the old trucks his Grandad had found up in the loft.

Bruce and I had a great night out at the movies last night and Connor got to read his books to Aunty Rachel

Walking up and down the hall with Nana this morning

Connor is obsessed with the vacuum cleaner at the moment and I often find him trying everything he can to get into the cupboard where it's stored. Unfortunately I think the infatuation will pass before he can actually put it to good use!!

We had a breakthrough today - finally found a paint colour we liked for the hallway! Only had to go through about fifteen different coloured testpots so not bad going really (!). Have bought all the paint now so can actually start painting sometime soon... the weekend has been a shocker weatherwise - gale force winds and rain for most of it. We had brunch at a cafe on the waterfront on Saturday, and half the customers inside suddenly ran for cover as they were pelted with massive hailstones which had blown in under the windows, it was really quite bizarre.

The weather has been miserable the last week, but Dad and I managed to make the most of a sunny break this morning with a walk in the park. Connor loved the playground almost as much as his Grandad did...
Bruce is out with his workmates tonight so Rach and I had a girls night in with pizza, wine and a movie.

Visited Pat and Debs today, which was great for Connor because as well as seeing his Nana and Aunty, he had the added excitement of chasing cats Sasha and Pippa around the house (not quite so exciting for them). He is like a little wind up toy at the moment, I can't believe how fast he can crawl and is into absolutely everything. It's a real challenge trying to engage him in any activity for longer than about ten seconds before he takes off after something else!!! I was really pleased this afternoon as we managed to sit for about ten minutes while he concentrated on how to get clothes pegs into a small hole in the top of a box (how my life has changed!!!!!).

Connor is fascinated by his Great Great Uncle Philipp's white beard. We visited Uncle Philipp (who is 92) today.

We're still trying to find the right colour to paint the hallway - almost covered the entire walls in different coloured testpots, it's looking a bit like a circus. Can't be far away from finding the perfect one as we're rapidly running out of options! Our friends Simone and Andy came round for dinner Saturday night with their lovely little ones Lauren (nearly three) and Riley (nine and a half months). Connor was more than happy to share his bath with everyone and Bruce had an extra large audience for bedtime stories...