five months old

On Wednesday, Maddy was five months old.

He is as dreamy as ever. He loves sitting up and watching tellie with Dad (very cute!) and falling asleep in strange positions. His small sleeps of half hour every three hours has finally merged into one longer sleep which means I get more time to finally finish tasks (ie. washing up, cleaning etc.). In fact, the house hasn't been so tidy since he was born :-) Now there's an admission.

Anyway, just some five month old pics for you...

PACKING: THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

It's started. The cleaning out and the culling. It's amazing how in four years you can accumulate so much stuff. Well, we have decided it is too much to take back with us and so we're going nuts.

I might be going a tad overboard though. Every book, DVD and kitchen item has now been catalogued. Yes, it was a productive weekend and we now won't be under-insured. I am not sure if my husband thinks it is such a good idea, but anyhow...

On the more serious side, the goodbyes have already started, and Esther (our house girl) even cried last week. She is unsure of her future when we go, and she is wondering if she will get more work. There are so many people dependent on us here for their livelihood. So, it seems we will be missed. It makes us feel sad and guilty. What we do here does seem to make a small difference, and it's all we need to feel more convinced to stay a little longer. It's a tough one. But we must be strong.

maddy progress report

Maddy is now 20 weeks and he is doing well reaching his baby goals.

His news tricks include: holding his arms out when he wants to go up or across to someone, sitting up without wobbling and eating his toes. He is almost turning over in order to reach for things (especially loud crinkly stuff) and gets frustrated if he can't get it.

He delights in eating tissues (or anything he can get his hands on for that matter) and he is even drinking from a glass. When his gums are pressed up against the glass we can see his two bottom teeth just waiting to push their way through. They'll be here any day now.

Not a day goes by that I don't count my blessings that he is an easy baby. Steve is away this week and so I spent a little longer at the office today (nothing to rush home for). I was in a meeting and between conversation I could hear squeals of delight and laughter. Madison was having the time of his life. He just continues to charm everyone over with that great big cheeky grin and funny facial expressions!

best friends

As I have said before, Madison has made many friends in Papua New Guinea.

As well as impressing all the girls at my office, he is starting to melt hearts at Steve's work too.

Aunties Ravu and Pauline swipe Maddy from my arms when they see him, and they are often AWOL for quite some time.

It seems they have lots of fun just hanging out and taking self-snaps...

first party

On Sunday afternoon, Madison went to his first party.

It was Pratik Saggurthi's 2nd Birthday party and it was a lot of fun. For everyone except Maddy, that is.

He burst into tears each time the music stopped in "pass the parcel" when the other children squealed in delight.

He cried when the grown ups became "mummies" wrapped in toilet paper.

And he didn't really get excited when the candles were being blown out.

In fact, he decided to have a sleep in middle of it all.

Oh, he did seem to (sort of) enjoy the little ride on the yellow pony with Sahil and Pratik on their blue one.

I figure he is probably too young to enjoy parties just yet, but the other kids (and the grown ups) had a wonderful time!