A welcome addition

George isn't the only new face in our household – there are 43 of them (I counted, and that's just one more than the greatest number of bibs in one room at one time – I counted those too), and all cuddly and cute in varying degrees. There are monkeys, bears, lions, rabbits – there's even a cuddly crocodile.

One of these additions arrived on Christmas Day – a rather large (huge in relation to George) tan-coloured Big Ape who has been surprisingly helpful to mummy and daddy.

George has pretty much learned to sit up on his own now, but occasionally he topples over. If it's forward it's usually in slow motion until he wacks his head on the xylophone. It doesn't seem to matter how near we are, or how slo-mo things go, there's no preventing impact.

Mostly he lands face-first on his comfy playmat and usually starts to whinge after a few seconds until we sit him up again – he hasn't learned to roll over and we're certainly in no hurry to progress things to crawling.

If he topples backwards there is a bank of cushions to soften the landing – or there has been until Big Ape arrived. Now the cushions stay on the armchairs and Big Ape has taken over the protection racket. And in the

evenings, when George has gone to bed, Big Ape guards George's spot in front of the fire and watches telly with us.

Last week it was the iPod, this week it's a shelf on the bookcase. There has been a bit of shuffling and jostling for position, with daddy's 'Who's Who in British History' vying for prime shelf space alongside George's 'Tractor Trouble' (which daddy knows off by heart by the way – be far more impressive if I knew the 'Who's Who in British History' off by heart, but I have my limits).

Other recent developments include George's garbling noises evolving into a repetitious "da-da-da-da-da-da" which has only made mummy even more determined to get him to say "mom-mom-mom"...

And at bathtimes we have been getting a bit of a drenching. George's legs, constantly getting stronger, are capable of delivering splashes that slosh across the bathroom and spray the door and splatter the floor. Needless to say, George isn't the only one who requires a warm change of clothing after his bath.

The bells, the bells

New Year's Eve turned out to be very different from years past. The usual habit of partying until the small hours was broken on New Year's Eve 2008/09 when mummy's tummy was expanding at more of an alarming rate than daddy's.

This time round it was what was in that tummy that dictated how we saw in 2010 – and we decided it would be wise to spend it asleep. Which, didn't bother daddy who has always found a tinge of sadness behind the smiles of this passing-of-time celebration.

George, however, was having none of it and at about 15 minutes to midnight he woke up crying. So, for one night only, we switched on the bedside light, turned on the radio and brought George into our room to sit on the bed. The bells bonged and mummy and daddy sang Auld Lang Syne while all holding hands – and George smiled.

It may not have been the most exuberant or spirited way to see in the new year, but it was definitely more memorable than some of the blurry countdowns of the past – and there was certainly no sadness behind the smiles.

George has been getting used to being mobile this week. We bought him one of those baby walkers – the kind that you sit in with a wheel on each corner. At first his tip-toes only just reached the floor, even on the lowest setting, and much effort was expended with little movement.

Now, still restricted to use of his tip-toes, it's surprising how fast he can manoeuvre around the kitchen. One minute he's over by the lounge door and the next our ankles are taking a battering as we open the fridge.

The one thing he's having a little difficulty with though, is reversing out of a tight corner – must get that off his mummy.

No more resolutions

I never thought it would happen – but my iPod now has Incy Wincy Spider on it, along with other children's favourites including I'm a Little Teapot and Dingle Dangle Scarecrow.

Resolutions made in the past – not to have any toys in the lounge; not to have Fisher Price ditties competing with daddy's Feeder or David Sylvian CDs; to avoid dirty nappies; not to be seen in public in charge of a pushchair – have all gone out of the window and the last bastion of baby-free living (daddy's iPod) has finally succumbed... Well, actually, there's still the computer which one day will inevitably have CBeebies in 'My Favourites'.

It's the time of year when people make resolutions in order to change their lives, more often than not it's something challenging that will hopefully make them feel better. Well, there are no resolutions for us this year – other than George. He's the one making all the changes – albeit indirectly – they're nearly always a challenge and when he smiles (in a nice megalomaniac type way) he makes us realise that life is better than we sometimes think.

Anyway, here's his first experience of Christmas morning.

Happy New Year!

It's the Christmas No 1

It's George's first Christmas and he doesn't know that he's about to get stimulation overload for the next couple of days – but we're certainly looking forward to see how he copes.

Mummy and daddy have made last-minute trips to the shops and the supermarket to make sure nothing has been forgotten – presents, food and all sorts. Not that the world would come to an end if we ran out of anything before the shops open after two days – but we certainly have a 'Christmas charts' of items that could make the festive season miserable if they were in short supply. This years top five is as follows:

1. Nappies – a new entry replacing last year's regular No 1 spot holder, wine.

2. Milk formula – another new entry. Last year's No 2 was stuffing.

3. Dishwasher tablets – Making the top three all new entries and pushing cheese out of the top five altogether. We never realised how vital these little things were until our sink began to look like a job for Kim and Aggie.

4. Baby wipes – Nowhere to be seen last Christmas, this record fourth new entry knocks pigs-in-blankets down to 10th place.

5. Wine – it has slipped a few places but keeps its annual spot in the top five.

George is going to look great for all the Christmas photos and videos. He's got a 'Baby's first Christmas' romper suit and – as seen on his Christmas photo last week – a snuggly reindeer outfit. He's also got his first bruise – just under his eye on his left cheek. Even when you're right on top of them, they suddenly lurch in an unexpected direction and George lurched forward bashing himself on one of his favourite toys. Unfortunately, George is the wrong shade of pink to borrow mummy's foundation, I know it's Christmas but we don't want him looking like a pantomime dame.

Apart from that, we've all had a fun week this week (daytimes only). The highlight for daddy was when Nanny and Grandad came round for a coffee and watched as George pooed in mummy's hand just as she'd taken off his nappy.

The other highlight was the first birthday party of his friend William where George had a jolly old time joining in with the musical fun – they even sang his favourite Hokey Cokey song. Another five months and it will be George's turn and somehow – in those five months – it looks like there's a dietary transition from the mushed-up goodness of wholesome fruit and veg to cakes, crisps and pizza. Now, I'd never expect him to eat broccoli or sprouts like mummy does, but if daddy can't say no to sausage roll, what will George be like? Oh the worry... the worry... will it ever go away?

Does he know it's Christmas?

It'll be George's first Christmas in a few days time and there have been a few Christmas dilemmas along the way.

The first was the Christmas tree. Usually adorned with colour-coordinated or themed decorations, this year it looks more like a display in a toy shop window with its colour-changing lights, Father Christmases swinging from the branches and even a wooden frog with moving arms and legs. Strange thing is, I think it looks better than ever – and George almost hyperventilates the moment his fingers get anywhere near a bauble.

The other Christmas dilemma is the wrapping paper. Do we wrap George's presents or not? After all, it will be mummy and daddy undoing all their own hard, wrapping-up work – then again, I'm going to feel a bit stingy (or should that be Scroogey) if mummy and daddy are the only ones who haven't wrapped up his presents.

There's also the Christmas entertainment dilemma – only realised the other day when daddy was faced with the musical choice of Westlife's latest single (mummy was watching the Alan Titchmarsh Show) or the Fisher Price cover version of Puff the Magic Dragon (daddy was playing with George). In a battle of these musical greats Puff the Magic Dragon won hands down, but there are going to be times in the coming week or two when the decision is oh-so-close.

And... we must remember to put some ice in the freezer in case anyone fancies it in their Baileys. Daddy forgot to put the white wine in the fridge the other day and thought he'd chill a glass with an ice cube, only all the ice cube trays are being used for you know who. Faced with the dilemma of choosing between white wine chilled with a cube of sweet potato or waiting for the white wine to cool in the fridge, daddy went for the sensible option and had a nice warm glass of white wine.

Anyway, it's a very happy Christmas from George... and his mummy and daddy. Baileys and parsnip puree anyone?

That's what it's all about

There's a bit of a battle going on. George loves to eat all the sweet things we give him, but he attempts to return the savoury things by way of pushing them out of the corners of his mouth.

This is what he looks like when half way through his yoghurt and fruit dessert...

And this when he's trying some of daddy's specially-made-for-George cottage pie...

He is getting better and even surprised us the other day when he happily munched down a mush of cabbage and peas.

We've found he's more likely to eat the not-sweet things if he's in a good mood and it's the Hokey Cokey that works wonders at the moment - especially when he's watching daddy put his 'whole self in, his whole self out, in, out, in, out, shake it all about'.

I don't know... the things you do to get your baby to eat green stuff.

Water world we live in

George had his first swimming lesson this past week. Lots of mummies with different sized and shaped babies took their little ones for their first dip at the local pool.

George has had a dip before – on a few days break in Weymouth – when the pool was a bit nippy to say the least. The temperature at the local health club's pool was considerably warmer and George almost fell asleep as he was whirled around on his back as the mummies all sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

He took the dunking bit without even the slightest flinch and the expression on his face as he resurfaced remained utterly nonchalant. Unfortunately, there are no photos to prove it.

Even though photography was allowed, all the daddies, grandads and grandmas kept their cameras tucked away – no one wanting to be the first just in case someone objected, which was a little sad really; bit of an indictment of today's society.

George has taken a liking to slippers this week – especially daddy's big blue ones. No book or toy could keep him from leaning and stretching to see what the feet in the slippers were doing, so there was only one solution...

Early one morning and a bit bleary-eyed, daddy had to change George's nappy – which is a particularly slow process when daddy does it. Half way through, when George is without both old and new nappies he decides to do a tinkle which surprises daddy whose reactions aren't at their peak. Daddy grabs a muslin to mop up the damp patch on the carpet. However, when mummy comes to dress George a little later she is left wondering how his little trousers got wringing wet.

If they'd have been his little denim jeans with the elasticated waist then there would have been no mix up – it's just that everything else feels so soft and it's nearly all baby blue. Actually, even the little jeans with the elasticated waist are pretty soft. In fact, daddy wouldn't mind a pair of those himself... hmmm, comfy!