This week didn’t start off too well with Toby only napping for about half an hour at nursery on Monday meaning he was then up four times in the night! But things improved as the week went on and both Wednesday and Thursday he managed two good naps and pretty much slept through. On Friday though he was sick at nursery so I had to collect him early. He was sick again in bed in the afternoon but thankfully that seems to have been the end of it.

Toby is still loving to play and practising his new skills – he managed to stack his building blocks six high this week, all by himself too! He also loves anything with buttons to press and dancing along to anything that makes a tune (his dancing looks like he is conducting an orchestra – it’s so cute!).

I’m so pleased we set up the play area for Toby in our living room – he really likes it and we’re happy because we know there’s only a limited amount of chaos he can cause in there! And I love how bright and colourful it is… Toby’s almost camouflaged in this week’s Living Arrows picture!!

There’s not a huge amount to report for this week’s Living Arrows post. I have been back at work and Toby has still been enjoying nursery (even though he’s still hardly having any naps while he’s there). His cold is much better this week too which is a relief – he seems to have had it forever! We’ve certainly been getting plenty of smiles and giggles this week, as you can see here…

I know I keep saying this but Toby seems to be getting cleverer by the day! He has really started actually playing with his toys and this week he has worked out how to stack his blocks and stacking cups. And then he knocks it down and gives himself a round of applause! I love the look of concentration on his face in this picture..

Last week was a strange week – on Monday morning I was sent home from school when the HR department realised I was working when they hadn’t had my updated police check (the school hadn’t realised I shouldn’t have started work without it. And now I’m not allowed to go back until it comes through, which means I was off work for the rest of the week and might be off for all of this week too! I didn’t want to disrupt Toby’s nursery routine seeing as he seems to have settled in so well so I’ve still been taking him, although not quite as early as I have to when I’m at work.

Toby seems to have developed even more quickly than normal during his three weeks at nursery – he has been pulling himself up to standing since we were on holiday at the beginning of June, but this week has been the first time he’s actually let go and stood on his own for more than about half a second! He’s also started trying to cruise round the furniture more. He still won’t even entertain the idea of trying to walk if we hold his hands though, he just sits down if we even try!

We’ve also been getting much more babbling that is more of an actual effort to communicate – Toby has started saying ‘diss’ when he picks something up and I’m convinced he is trying to say ‘this’  He suddenly seems to understand so much more too – if you hold your hand out and say ‘ta’ he’ll give you whatever he’s got (or even tries to put something in your hand when he isn’t actually holding anything!), he definitely understands ‘no’ and is starting to remember and learn when he’s not allowed to touch something. He’s also been working out what to do with his shape sorter this week, and a few other puzzles too. My favourite one this week has got to have been when I was getting him dressed the other morning – his socks were next to him and he picked one up and put it on his foot! Alright, he didn’t actually put the sock on but he put it on top of his foot and he clearly knew what it was and where it was supposed to go.

Amidst all this exciting progress though Toby has still got a cold (he’s had it a full two weeks now). Not only is he still very snotty but he’s now got a cough too and has had a temperature all weekend. I kept him home from nursery on Friday and had him checked out at the doctors but his chest and his ears are clear so there’s not much we can do except keep him dosed up on Calpol and ride it out. On top of all that the last of his first molars is still coming through and so that’s been bothering him too! I feel so sorry for him, it must be miserable being ill and not really knowing what’s going on. Fingers crossed he manages to shake it off next week.

Anyway, this has been a bit of a long update for what is supposed to be a photography post so I’ll leave it there and share this milestone photo with you – here’s Toby standing all by himself! (And wearing his first proper shoes too – I know he isn’t walking yet but he kept getting wet feet in the garden at nursery).

Another week gone, and the second week at work and nursery for me and Toby. My second week at work wasn’t quite as bad as the first (but I’m still counting down the days to the holidays!) and Toby has settled in so well at nursery. There is one downside to all the fun and freedom he’s having at nursery though – Toby really doesn’t like being in his play pen any more and would much rather be crawling around the living room and kitchen causing chaos! His favourite things at the moment seem to be turning the PlayStation on, pulling all his books off the shelves and trying to get his hands on all the remote controls, phones and anything else with buttons or wires! I love that he’s so inquisitive and always exploring but it isn’t half tiring trying to keep up with him.

I had the camera out for about fifteen minutes the other day and got so many photos of Toby that I couldn’t choose just one, so here’s a few of my favourites…