Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Pencil me in for Wednesday

Coby has been poorly over the last week with a viral infection so we've had some rough nights and lots of coughing and sneezing, but he is bright and breezy again and this is what he has been up to regardless...

We spent a wonderful weekend at nanna and grandpa's in Lincolnshire. It took us two and a half hours to drive there on Friday, but Coby slept the whole way! On Saturday evening, after spending a lovely afternoon with auntie Angela, Coby was deposited at nanna and grandpa's for his first overnight stay away from mummy and daddy. After leaving them stocked up with nappies, bottles, milk, food, talc, lotion, sleepsuits, clothes, kitchen sink, toys, books etc, we headed off to the cinema to see The Da Vinci Code. It was great to have a night to ourselves, but we missed Coby terribly and mummy had a little weep into her pillow before drifting off for a night of uninterrupted sleep!

We headed home on Sunday, stopping off to visit great auntie Lorraine on the way. She lives in the next village to nanna and grandpa, which is rather convenient and means a further welcome delay to the long journey home.

Bank Holiday Monday arrived and uncle Mark and auntie Teresa came over to visit. Teresa has been spoiling Coby again and bought him some new swimming trunks and, to further impress upon Coby the patriotism that comes with supporting the England football team, a shorts and vest ensemble with, you guesssed it, the St.George's Cross emblazened across them. Coby will wear them with pride when England take on Paraguay in their first match next weekend. We all headed to the local carvery for a gorgeous roast dinner and some naughty desserts.

On Wednesday we had a tasty lunch with Lola, Louis and Olly at Zizzi's in Hitchin. We discussed the usual current affairs - Big Brother and The X Factor. Coby, who is now into grabbing everything, went for my glass of wine, my bowl of fusilli with pesto and roasted peppers, and several mobile phones. At one point he even tried to pull over his pushchair which was folded up against the wall. I think the fun, and the hard work, truly starts about now...

In between all of this activity, Coby has been offered a place at Gymbabes which he starts next Wednesday. The purpose of these classes is to encourage crawling and exploring and to stimulate senses. Combined with his Music Train classes, our weekly diary is getting busier and busier.

Here are a few pictures of Coby taken today while he was relaxing between lunch dates and classes...



Thursday, May 25, 2006

A Baby's Best Friend

Coby has his own little guardian angel in the form of Stitch, grandma Wendy's dog. Wherever Coby is, you'll find Stitch too. He has taken it upon himself to look out for Coby and even lies next to him when he is sleeping. Here he is making sure Coby is safe in his swing...


Monday, May 22, 2006

Place Your Bets Please!

On Saturday we had a wild night out at Henlow Greyhound Racing with our fabulous friends - Lola's parents, Michaela & Tony and Louis' parents, Maddy & Justin. As difficult as it was to tear ourselves away from the Eurovision Song Contest, the combined temptation of the three deadly sins - food, alcohol and gambling - was too much to resist. Michaela, very sensibly, stuck to her 50p bets during the 14 races. There were both tears of joy and disappointment on the night, but I think Michaela came out on top during one race, when the odds gave her a return of £1.62. I ended the night with the world-renowned announcement - "I'M DRUNK"

"Boys, you're ruining my close up"

Michaela, having run out of 50p's,
distracts Tony while secretly hunting for his spare change

Maddy tries the same,
but Justin pretends he can't hear her

Friday, May 19, 2006

Coby Loves Lola....

...but don't tell Alicia and Jasmine!

Hanging out in Starbucks where Coby
kept trying to grab mummy's cappuchino

"Mine, mine, mine, mine"

"I'm squashed too Coby,
but just grit your teeth and smile for the camera"

Thank God he doesn't have teeth yet



Tuesday, May 16, 2006

6 Months Old Today!

Coby is six months old at the exact time of this post.

It has been the most joyous time of our lives watching him grow and develop and every day we notice something different, however small, about him. We are loving every single moment and feel so rewarded with each little smile, each giggle and each new day that gives us the great fortune to have him.

Wednesday 16 November 2005
Coby Zephyr arrives at 8.35am weighing 7lbs 8oz
on his grandparents wedding anniversary

Tuesday 16 May 2006
Coby Zephyr at 8.35am weighing 20lbs

Monday, May 15, 2006

Standalone Farm

On Sunday we took Coby to Standalone Farm. Just a 10 minute drive from the house, we were joined by Uncle Paul and Auntie Su, who took some wonderful pictures. We saw lambs being fed, 10 day old piglets, some goats called Mia, Toggle and Belinda and Coby met Webster, a huge Shire Horse who seemed to like having his picture taken.

Webster the shire horse watches over Coby



Back home, mummy cooked roasted vegetables with pasta, pesto and mozzarella - yum yum. Paul and Su bought some delicious home baked carrot cake from their local farmer's market and a bottle of crisp rose wine. Then mummy gave Su a reflexology treatment which made Su fall asleep when we later decided to watch Little Britain. A lovely afternoon!


Uncle Paul tries to save Coby from the Tickle Monster


Sunday, May 14, 2006

We'll Do It!!!

Teresa & Mark were only too happy to help out
with Coby's bathtime yesterday.
And as you can see from his smile, Coby loves bathtime

Mickey & Mallory

On Saturday, auntie Teresa and Uncle Mark came to visit. They bought two new friends to keep Mr White company in the fish tank - Mickey & Mallory. Now the tank doesn't look so empty and Mickey & Mallory have much more space to swim around.

Mickey is a small shubunkin and Mallory is a large Blackmoor
who used to be completely black believe it or not.

Mickey & Mallory become acquainted with
Mr White who is a Redcap Oranda

Saturday, May 13, 2006

I know he is my son...

...but he really is the cutest baby in the whole wide world. Don't take my word for it. The evidence speaks for itself.

What an angel!

Ahhhhhh!

See told you...anyone want to disagree?

Hee hee hee

Coby on Canvas - Unveiled

Ta da....

CAPTION COMPETITION 4

Can you come up with a caption for this photo?

Forward your suugestions by clicking on comments (below)
or e-mail me at teplet@hotmail.co.uk

The FA Cup Final







Today there is a big football game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - Liverpool face West Ham in the FA Cup Final and I am going to support West Ham (sorry Uncle Darren) for two reasons I have been told by my mummy. First of all mummy's best friend for over 25 years, Louise, is the biggest fan you can imagine. She has been a season ticket holder for a very long time and goes to most of the away games too. I am sure she won't mind me mentioning either that her daddy's ashes were scattered over the ground at Upton Park so the team have a very special place in her heart. Also, my mummy is from the east end of London and would often catch the tube on a Saturday to visit her grandad and board the train with all of the West Ham supporters.

Uncle Mark and auntie Teresa are coming over to see me today and we are going to watch the game together. I heard a rumour that they have bought me some new England football shoes!!

Friday, May 12, 2006

Supermarket Sweep

Coby and I took a stroll around Tesco yesterday (what is the lure of supermarkets when you've some time to kill?). After weighing up the basket versus trolley dilemma, I opted to take Coby in his pushchair before realising that there was little room to store everything. Coby also found it rather amusing to kick items over the edge too (when did he learn to do that?).

I decided to buy Coby some baby rice cakes, his first finger food, but I freaked out when Coby tried to put a whole one in his mouth. Who is he learning his eating habits from daddy?

Bubbles & Bach

I learnt a cool new trick in Coby's Music Train class yesterday. At one point, a few of the babies, including Coby, started to get a little restless. There were some tears and tired little moans coming from around the room, so the teacher told all the mums to remain silent, she put on some classical music and using a cool bubble machine, she gently blew bubbles at each baby in turn. The silence that followed was incredible and the combination of music and the flurries of bubbles, made for a very tranquil scene.

I thought I would try the same thing at home today. I put on my 'Classical Music for Babies' CD and out came the bubbles...

Coby seemed to delight in our little session
and I think this may be a regular activity for us

Sharing his name

There is a new shop in Golder's Green, North London, with the greatest of names. Auntie Jeannette was passing through on Thursday and kindly sent us this picture.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!

Today is a very special day - it is grandpa Les' birthday! We miss him very much because he and nanna live in Lincolnshire, but we are going to see them at the end of May - hoorah!
Coby is going to sleep over one night when we are there so that mummy and daddy can have some time to themselves and so that nanna and grandpa can enjoy the virtues of nappy changing, bottle sterilising and an early morning wake up call - hee hee.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD/GRANDPA - WE LOVE YOU!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Babies Among the Bluebells

Wednesday, as you all know, is our day for meeting up with Coby's chums - Alicia, Jasmine, Lola, Louis and Oliver. And we had a spectacular time today! We went to a village called Preston near Hitchin and had a pub lunch at the Red Lion. The sun was really hot and we had to rely on the factor 50, sun hats and parasols. Coby, Alicia and Lola all had their Baby Banz sun shades on, but eventually mummy and Michaela relented and had to sit in the shade of a glorious oak tree.
After lunch we all drove in a convoy to the most beautiful wood filled with a carpet of bluebells. We managed to take some fantastic photos and here is the result...

Alicia: "don't mind Coby, he's had one too many shandys"

Louis: "milk comes first, bluebells can wait"

Who's that hiding under that hat - it's Jasmine!

I wonder what bluebells taste like?

"So my mum was telling Coby's mum about Alicia's mum..."

Beautiful bluebells