Hi there faithful blog readers!

Sorry for leaving you with Christmas photos as the last update for so long! Life has been plodding on here in LA... we have been fighting the temptation to feel bitter and twisted about the fact that the UK has been enjoying better weather than we've been having over the past week or so... AND we've missed out on FOUR UK bank holidays over Easter and the royal wedding! Humph!

The coverage of the royal wedding is hilarious out here - "what WILL the Queen be wearing on the big day? Find out, at 11"... I have to confess to feeling slightly nostalgic about being so far away for such an historic national event... AND (even more importantly), I am missing my neice's first BIRTHDAY party! Humph! Happy Birthday, Ffion!

The main highlight of the last week was that last Saturday I brushed shoulders with John Lock from 'Lost' as I was walking down Main St in Venice - my first real celebrity spot since moving here! Of course, I played it cool - being a 'local' you have to act like this kind of thing happens all the time and appear to be entirely unimpressed by whichever star you happen to see!

The main lowlight is that Daniel has contracted ANOTHER cough - this time it has really gone to his chest and he is hacking away... even though his eyes are bloodshot and he's full of snot, he still manages to smile as often as he can between coughing fits... what a little trooper. Thankfully he is still managing to sleep fairly well, which is a major blessing. We're praying that his little body fights this off quickly...

One other update that you'll be pleased to hear is that Daniel HAS (at long last) learnt how to get down from standing (phew!). He is not yet standing independently or walking (although he pulls himself up and side steps alongside all our furniture) - but he did climb up into his push-chair (or 'stroller') today! I don't think it will be long before we have a fully mobile toddler on our hands! Yikes!

Enjoy the royal wedding - we're recording it (coverage starts at 1am our time)... God save the Queen!

I know it's all out of sync, but Ed and I just 'found' a whole load of photos on one of our cameras from Daniel's first Christmas - we had forgotten all about them in the move! So, even though you're approaching summer back home (it's always summer here!), let me take you back to December... A very happy Christmas with Grandpa G & Aunty Frim!

Wahoooooooooooooooooooo! We have enjoyed TWO nights of uninterrupted sleep!

Ed and I decided to 'take control' and placed a veto on night time drives as a method of lulling our child to sleep. Instead we went back to 'controlled crying' - letting him cry for 10 minute intervals before going in to lie him down & encourage him to 'yield' to sleep! It is taking between 1/2 an hour and 1 hour before he eventually goes quiet, but it seems to be working!

We have also realised that Daniel sleeps much better if he has seen Daddy before being put down. So bedtime is being delayed until Daddy can come home, have a cuddle, read a bible story and pray with us... Daniel then seems more content to accept that the day has been closed off appropriately!

This was taken while Mummy & Daddy were having breakfast this morning... great squeals of delight preceded the feeling of little hands touching our knees under the table... our son has not yet understood the concept of 'stealth attacks'! Fortunately, these squeals of delight also precede any 'mischief' - so I know exactly when he has decided to crawl towards one of the forbidden plants or the computer, because he announces his intentions at the top of his lungs!

It appears that I spoke too soon! Last night, the toxic combination of being unwell, coupled with the irresistible urge to stand up AND teething pain so possessed our son that even the night-time drive did not do the trick. We are losing this battle. Where HAS that child who used to go off to sleep so peacefully gone? We are telling ourselves that this is just a 'season' - but it's pretty exhausting! He's still gorgeous and I wouldn't take him back even if I had kept the receipt!

Ok, so who's been praying for our son to stop standing up at bedtime? Whoever you are, THANK YOU! Not only does the urge to stand seem less inticing, he is also learning to get back to a seated/lying down position from standing - making everyone's lives easier! The only snagaroo is that he has picked up a nasty cough/cold and so, although problem no. 1 is getting sorted, last night we did not sleep well because he kept waking himself up coughing (poor little sausage). He seems to be fighting it off fairly well - which is a great answer to prayer since we were unsure how well he'd cope with a chest infection after being on a ventilator for so long... but it's still horrid. He's an absolute trooper though and continues to persistently smile between coughs! He just LOVES interacting with people! The pediatrician was finding it hard to believe that he was actually unwell because he seemed so chirpy! In the midst of infection, he has also mastered some new skills - namely clapping (SO cute!) and giving 'high 5's' (a great delight!)... even snotty and under-par, he's amazing!

Ever since Ed wrote 'Mischief' under 'Full Time Occupation' on a medical form for Daniel, our son has been taking his vocation very seriously! This week he has developed the 'dropping things' game. This game involves dropping whatever toy, dummy or food item he has been handed. The game is only made more hilarious by Mummy's serious "No!" (get ready to be astounded by this praiseworthy example of firm but kind discipline - parents, take note, this is clearly the way to do it! Oh yikes! How DO you discipline someone as CUTE as this?!!!).
One morning, as I was brushing my teeth, I looked round to find Daniel standing up against the loo, splashing in the (thankfully, recently flushed) loo water. On another occasion, having left Daniel to play on his own for five minutes, I heard a crash followed by a wail and came rushing through to find our laptop computer (which he had been told not to touch) on the floor and Daniel was sporting the beginnings of a black eye! Thankfully it didn't develop into a full-blown 'shiner'. After the broken arm, a black eye might have got the neighbours worried! Another theme of the past week has been Daniel's refusal to go to sleep at night. We are grieving the loss of the baby who used to go down without a peep and sleep through until 7am. The cause of this unrest: his new-found ability to stand in his cot! He seems to get himself into a vicious cycle. The irresistible urge to stand overtakes him, even though he is incredibly tired. Then, once standing, he is currently unable to get himself back to a seated or lying position. Ed & I repeatedly go in and lie him back down, but the pattern continues until Daniel is so tired, and so upset that sleep becomes impossible. Usually Boobs do the trick in breaking the cycle, but on two occasions, we've had to resort to night drives with Mummy and Daddy in their 'jarmies! Until he learns to get back down from having stood up, we fear there may be more sleepless nights ahead of us.