Last Thursday (9th October), we went on a family excursion to Bockett’s Farm. The idea was, I guess, to mainly amuse Conrad’s sister, not knowing how much time of the visit Conrad would be spending awake anyway. But after having started off with a feed, he quickly got bored with the push chair (well, all he can see from his reclining position there is the back of Jessica’s seat, really, so fair enough), so I carried him around the pens with sheep, goats and llamas, while he sported his most common expression of wide-eyed, open-mouthed bafflement (terribly cute, I must add).
He started to flag just as the rest of us went for lunch, but kept smiling for a while until it all got too much. When Jessica and I had finished our lunch, we took Conrad for a walkabout in the push chair, leaving Ian to finish his in peace. I had thought I might show Conrad the horses but when we got to the stables he was sound asleep and stayed that way for the last hour of our visit and the journey back home.
Back at home, we put Conrad on Jessica’s lap for the first time and just have to show you how that went down with the both of them:
Conrad seems mainly interested in standing up – so much so I’m starting to wonder whether he actually does bend in the middle… He can be pulled up to standing from lying down on the floor by just grabbing his hands and when one holds his hands and he stands on the floor, he does wobble and his knees sometimes fold a bit on him, but he stands so straight. His neck and back seem so strong (but then he did lift his head on the evening he was born). He’s even stood for a couple of seconds only supported by holding on to the little wooden trolley with bricks that we’ve got (but with Daddy’s hands just nearby and ready to catch…).
Conrad is aware of his milk bottle now: if he’s crying because he’s just woken up and is overdue a feed, and I sit him on my lap and put the bottle in front of him, he stops crying when he sees it. (Though if I’m not quick enough offering it to him, he’ll start again…)
Gabriella