Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Daddy will show some Xmas piccies and vids later but here is one of me giggling. Mummy and Daddy were taking turns to juggle in the background and I found this hilarious.

St. Andrew's tooth

On the 28th of November, my Mum and Dad had Marek and Elwira round to have an early St. Andrew's Day celebration. They made veggie haggis with tatties n' neeps and for dessert they had homemade sticky toffee pudding. I suppose it doesn't compare to my milk but they tell me that it was delish. And guests are always welcome if they bring me lovely gifts.

Well, it is fair enough celebrating St. Andrew's Day early, but I should mention that as a true Scot, I marked our national holiday, which is really on the 30th of November, with my first tooth! And two days later my second tooth came through, too. I've not been too keen on showing my new teeth, and much less when Mum and Dad hide behind this stupid grey box they call a camera...

Hmm Broccoli. Okay so it wasn't a huge success, but not bad for a first try.

Bath time fun

All of those bath time blues are gone and taking a splash is now lots of fun.

Here is a wee vid of me playing with my duckies (thanks to Doreen and Phil for those). P.S for those worried - daddy is wearing shorts in this clip.

Uncle Stu and Aunty Lou came to town

This week we had a visit from Uncle Stu and Aunty Lou. We had all sorts of fun together. We went to S'Baggers the robotic restaurant, we played games and went for nice long walks together. Check us out on "die Strasse der Kinderrechte"

My "inside-the-tummy" friends

My Daddy claims that my Mum can't write a blogpost for me. What a complete nonsense, my Mum can do anything - she gives me the boobie, changes my nappies, plays with me, sings with me, comforts me - so why wouldn't she know how to add a new blogpost?! We just had to prove Daddy wrong...
So here we are, my Mum is typing as I am dictating to her what I would like you to know about my latest developments.

In the last two weeks, my Mum and I went to meet my oldest friends Phili and Paul, whose mums Connie and Connie she met at the ante-natal class. She tells me that I already knew them when all three of us were still in our mums' tummies. I don't really understand how that can be, but I'm sure she is right and we have been having lots of fun playing together, anyway.

Paul and I

Paul, Phili and I on our tummies

A trip to Marek and Elwira's

Here is a wee pic of me and my buddy Marek. Marek is cool and I feel completely at ease with him.

He also has cool fish, which daddy should have taken a better picture of!

Where is Elwira though? She was shy and avoided the camera!

My first illness

Another first, this time not quite so positive. In the last few days I have been feeling a little under the weather. On Wednesday I was a little off, my drinking rhythm changed. I was a little grumpy too and this was not like me. Mum and Dad noticed that something was not right, Gran Helen thought I might want to move to solids, but the truth was discovered the next morning when Mum, after hearing me snore the whole night, took my temperature. 38.5 degrees = too hot. Luckily I had an appointment with the Doctor for my fourth checkup and he said that we should watch and wait and see. He also told me that I am now 65cm long and just under 9.2kg in weight.

So Mum and Dad monitored my progress over the next few days, making sure to keep me wrapped up tight. Luckily my temperature has since dropped and although I still have a blocked nose and the occasional cough and sneeze, there is nothing to worry about. I am told that I have since returned to my happy self so it is all good!

My first swim

Here are some vids of my first swim. I think I'll have to practise some more before I make the Olympics, but not crying is a good start :-)

My first trip to Scotland

We are just back from a 2 week trip to Scotland. It was a busy but exciting time for me and I got to see and do lots of things for the first time.

I had my first flight.
I had my first trip in a car.
I got to see my great grandparents for the first time.
I met Uncle Stu.
I met lots and lots of people for the first time.
I had my first swim.

Theo's first experience of Bagpipes

What are these funny noises?

head's up!

It has been nearly three weeks since I last posted an update but that doesn't mean that nothing has happened in this time. Indeed, I have a lot to report. I am much, much more alert now. I am smiling beautifully on a regular basis for mummy and daddy and as this video shows, I can now just about lift my head.



Today I made even more progress. On the underground in front of an audience I copied Daddy and waved back at him. Whenever he started waving I waved back. He was so proud. His next job is to catch it on camera.

Mummy has been taking lots of videos of me in the last few weeks. I am sure there will be more posts to come soon.

Washing away the bath time blues

If you remember one of my early posts I told you about how happy I was in my bath (ikea tub). Unfortunately I grew out of that tub and when mummy and daddy bought me a brand new full-size Tigger bath to swim in, well it just wasn't the same. What a fuss I made. It just wasn't fun!

Now, however, we have found a solution. I just go in the big bath with Daddy. Although I am still not so sure about the water I feel much better when he is there with me.

Theo's first concert

Last Sunday I attended my first concert. It was at the KlassikOpenair in Nuremberg - a huge picnic in the park shared with the Nuremberg symphonic orchestra and 60,000 other people - and it was great!

First we arrived early to find a nice spot in the shade (it was baking hot!!!). This first video shows the build-up, listen carefully to hear Daddy singing in the background (if you can call it that ;-) ).



The music was wonderful. When it started my eyes lit up with intrigue. It was so relaxing. Look at this video to see how relaxed I was - although mum wasn't quite so relaxed after a beastie tried to eat me.



Dad took this final video of all three of us listening to the music as the sun set. It was delightful. Mum and Dad were so proud of me because I was well behaved all evening and then I slept all the way home. Yes I know I am an angel :-)

Theo starts to play

While Daddy was working hard at his German course I was also busy. I'm now much more alert and coordinated. Okay so I still have a long way to go before I can fully control my arms and legs but, as this video shows, I am making good progress.

Look at me playing with my hanging toys.

An eventful few weeks

Hello dear readers, I apologise for not updating my blog for such a long time. It is just that in the last few weeks I have been extremely busy. First of all my grandparents (the Scottish ones) came to Germany to introduce themselves to me. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other. Gran Helen gave me lots of cuddles and kisses, she knows lots of songs, and she is super talented at getting the excess wind out.



I have also found that my favourite activity (outside drinking and sleeping of course) is bouncing - see Grandad Gerd demonstrating this below.




Last week my Auntie Ingrid was also in town. She brought lovely presents and was great fun to be around.



I'm looking forward to seeing all these relatives again soon.


In this time I have been doing a bit of developing myself. I am much more alert, I can now pretty much hold my head, I am starting to make funny noises like "wow" "weeewaooow" and "grrr", and I also really like to smile. Generally I am a happy chappy.

Grandad Hans' birthday

This weekend has been all about Opa Hans and his birthday. Yesterday we had coffee and cake with Opa Hans and Oma Gerda (well I just got milk but that is even better than cake). Then, today we celebrated with the Philipps and Tante Elsbeth. Look how Uncle Markus can keep me calm - what a star - you can tell he has had two babies to practise with ;-).

Mum's new potty technique

I've mentioned before that being on the potty is not my favourite activity in the world. Well thanks to Mum's new technique (partially inspired by Gran Helen's advice) - see picture below - some times it is not too bad.

Snug as a bug ....

I am hiding somewhere in the bundle down below. So comfy and how cool does Daddy look? However, will he be able to work out how to tie this thing again? I doubt it....

Potty training ....

Check me out. Not quite 3 weeks old and I am already using the potty. How many babies can say that? I must admit it is not my favourite pastime and I scream quite a lot when they first lift me on to the potty, but I am slowly getting used to the experience and I am generally successful. Look at my technique:



and the outcome (for those squeamish amongst you, you may want to avoid scrolling down)

Meet my Grandparents....

well my German ones anyway. Opa Hans and Oma Gerda have been seeing quite a lot of me and slowly but surely have become more confident that they can hold and cuddle me without me breaking. See the evidence below:



I was really enjoying lying in Granny's arms. I am also looking forward to meeting my Scottish Grandparents very soon :-)

Bath time

Yesterday, Heike, my midwife, showed mummy and daddy how to bath me. What fun we had. An olive oil and cream mixture in the bath and oh was it relaxing. Although you would have thought that mummy and daddy could have found me a better bath tub than an ikea box. Poor show. Still, it worked...

Like father like son ...

I'm told all the time that Daddy and I look alike and this photo kind of proves it. However, one difference I would like to point out is that unlike Daddy I still look good in the morning ;-)

First night at home

I've finally made it home. I mean hospital was fine and so were the nurses (wee-woo), but a man really needs his own bed. Any fears Mummy and Daddy had about me not settling were quickly put to bed (oh how I pun) when I showed them how good I can sleep in my new bed (see evidence below). Oh, and these comfy new bamboo nappies they gave me are fab too :-)

Can you not just let me sleep?

This is me trying to sleep when somebody (Daddy) keeps stroking my face. Can you not just let me sleep? ;-)

Hello World

Theo Stuart Elsweiler was born today at 11.35pm. When born he weighed 3.4 kgs and was 52cm long