Where is 2011 going to?

My, how time flies when you're having fun! The days seem to turn to weeks and months; we're already in August, and Will is 4 months old.

He is such a delight and having Chris home for 2 weeks in July was just sublime. His relationship with Will changed a lot in that time with lots of giggles and screeches, endless babbling and miles of smiles! Not sure who was making more noise - Chris or Will, but they seem to have so much fun together.

Will's favourite toy is his ball from Shirley and Paul. He reaches for it and passes it from hand to hand, sticking his tongue through it and looking at it for ages.

On Saturday 6 August we walked up to the Centre of New Zealand - a hill which is geographically the centre of NZ (halfway between the northern most and southern most points of the country and conveniently at the top of a hill overlooking Nelson!) and planted our placenta there. It is a custom of the Maori people and in the past few years the Nelson City Council have provided native trees to plant on top of the placenta. We chose a Totara which is a hardy prickly bush that should grow tall and sturdy, hopefully like our William! It was a very special and spiritual day for our Whitaker family.

Bobby would have preferred to chase sticks, but was well behaved!

Here's us with some friends who were also burying their placenta's - there were 60 families in total and we had a Maori preacher carry out a little ceremony beforehand...

Will's girlfriend Isabella is with her parents Matt and Tish (right) and Penny is with parents Kelly and David. Both families have moved to Nelson from Christchurch following all the earthquakes there. Will spends a lot of time with Issy and Penny, especially after story time at the Library each Wednesday when we go to Tish's house for tea and playtime.

Will was recently weighed and measured and continues to be in the 99th percentile for height. Bernie is still exclusively feeding him with her milk, which is obviously the perfect blend of nutrients for him. He is still a very happy and healthy boy who is interacting, laughing and jigging around more and more each day! Long may that continue...