iPad fun and finger food

Saturday 20th: It's lovely to have Brendon home for a long weekend (having taken Friday off). He slept in yesterday and again today. I am always so thankful when he can get those extra few hours of sleep (as he normally gets up at 4am).
Lately Hezekiah has been waking up just before 6 because he needs to wee. I take him to the potty and then thankfully he goes back to sleep. He used to often get up at 6:15 but now (after the potty visit) he sleeps more regularly to 7 or just after. It was only Hezekiah and I up at this stage - so I let him sit and play on the iPad while I carried on with my own reading. I just love that big "cheese" smile for photos.
He is really loving the iPad and especially the Bible app I got with these puzzles (you can have a look at it here). The first pack is free (with 6 stories, a game, 2 puzzles and 3 pictures to colour in). He has been enjoying them so much though that I bought a few more packs (at around $2,50 each they are a great price and I know will be much used). Hannah listens to the stories a lot and it's been fun for me to watch Hezekiah learn to do a new puzzles and games. He is not even 22 months old - so I am quite impressed with how much he has learnt. The free flash card apps have been great at stimulating his speech. Within a day of having downloaded the app I noticed he was attempting to say so many more words. This was a while back now and his speech is coming on so nicely.
The funny thing with this is that the first app I got for him (for free here) was one with giggling babies. Because of that he would just ask for "baby" when he wanted the iPad. He hardly ever plays with that app any more though - so we decided it was time he learnt to ask for the iPad. It's so sweet to hear this tiny little man ask for the "iPad". And it's quite amazing to watch him find his way around all the games he likes to play.

One of Rachel's friends (who is only in our area during the school holidays) was not able to join them for the sleep out on Thursday night - so Rachel and her slept in our garden last night.
Unfortunately Ruth did not feel well when she got up. She tried to eat a bit of breakfast but then got sick. The poor girl spent the whole day on the couch - watching movies and sleeping. Whenever she tried to eat or drink anything she got sick again.
Hannah and Rachel both got sick when they went to bed.

Thankfully Rachel only got sick the once and slept well the whole night.
Hannah however had a terrible night and from midnight on was getting sick every hour (or more often). Eventually at 5am it settled down and she slept (along with Brendon and Asher) until 8am.
Sunday saw everyone just resting and recovering. It was great to have Hannah eventually come asking for food at around 2pm - I knew she was finally getting her strength back. I really thank the Lord that they all got over it so quickly and that no one else got it - especially Brendon and Asher (writing this on Tuesday - I am pretty sure it was limited to just the 3 of them).

I took these photos of Hezekiah on the iPad this evening. For some reason the Eggy Nursery Rhyme app I bought a while back (details here) was not on the iPad any more - so I loaded it again and he was thrilled with this new game to play.
Top photo showing that he sometimes uses both hands. He is far more right dominated though.
Photo to the right - I just love the concentration on his face. Even though the camera was flashing at him - he did not even look at me (as he normally would). He was so absorbed in the game.

Brendon was holding Asher while we ate dinner this evening and she was looking so longingly at his food. So I got a crust for her to chew on. Her first taste of solids. My hope with Asher is to do what a friend did with her daughter who is just older than Hezekiah (and she now has a son just older than Asher). She does not do the baby food stage at all. She just goes straight to finger foods. I think it's possible really because the child does not actually need to get any of the food in at first. The reason for starting is more the child's interests rather than need.
And just look at those chubby cheeks. She definitely does not need anything but her milk. This is just for fun.