11 months

I took Charlie to the local swimming pool a couple of times during the month and he enjoyed this very much.

Over the last couple of months Charlie has met a few like minded similar aged friends and last week he went to a babys' group that is held every Tuesday morning. This is quite a diverse group of both expats and Vietnamese and will probably be localised to just our area quite soon so Charlie may well be attending this on a regular basis. Charlie enjoyed this immensely.

Charlie is:

• getting more teeth now (about 8 so far)
• able to crawl to a wall and stand up by pushing himself up against it
• saying some things that sound like: ba (father), ba ba (father) me (mother), co (I have), da (father), troi oi (Oh my God!)
• developing at a prodigious rate
• teaching his maids how to clap their hands

Charlie went for his 11 month routine check up at FV hospital 2 days ago. His vitals were:

Weight: 10.5 kgs

Height: 77.5 cms (growth charts suggest Charlie will end up at about 181cm's, 5ft 11 1/2 inches)

He is doing very well.

Charlie will be having his first birthday party on 28 December and will be inviting all his friends. If you don't get an invite then you should understand that he doesn't like you.

10 Months

Charlie went back to the FV Hospital for his 10 month check up last week. His stats were as follows:

Weight: 10 Kgs
Height: They seemed incapable of recording this.

Charlie is doing well and it has just been the last week that I can say he has started crawling properly.

Standing up

Over the last few days I have noticed that Charlie has started to get to his feet with just the help of a suitable piece of furniture.

This morning whilst on his daily morning walk/push with me we sat on a bench together and he swivelled around and placed his two hands on the back of the bench and pulled himslf to his feet. This was the first time I had witnessed such a feat.

Charlie still seems quite unstable whilst standing.

Charlie's crawling ability is progressing slightly and now he crawls like a Viet Cong.

9 month check up

Charlie went for his 9 month check up this morning. His stats are as follows:

Height: 74cms (2 cms taller than last month)

Weight: 9.7kgs (only 0.1 kgs heavier than last month which Hien is not happy about)

The above stats do back up the feeling that Charlie had slimmed down a bit over the last month or so.

Charlie is doing just fine!!!

Charlie misses me

Charlie now starts to cry when I leave or say goodbye to him. Last night when I came home I didn't notice him and went straight to my room. He saw me and cried because I didn't go to talk to him.

Hien is very jealous as he only does this with me.

Charlie is standing up and jumping about much more everyday. Think it is for this reason that he appears to be slimming down a bit. He will have his monthly check up next week (9 months) and we will get his vital statistics so will know more then.

Charlie goes to the seaside

For some strange reason I decided that as September 2 was a national holiday we should take Charlie and a few of Hien's family to Vung Tau for the day. Knowing what traffic can be like and how bad Vietnamese can be at travelling I quickly came to the conclusion that I must have been mad to even suggest this, but within 2 minutes of it being suggested we had 16 people confirmed so there was no backing out.

We set out in 2 cars and arrived in Vung Tau at 11 am. Spent about 4 hours at the beach then had a 4 hour drive back to HCM City. Traffic was terrible and saw a few dead bodies along the way (nothing strange for a Vietnamese national holiday).

The day was much enjoyed by all. From the very outset Charlie has been over cared for and consequently has had at least 1 bath a day (most websites suggest that 2-3 a week is ample). Charlie has always enjoyed bath time immensely and kicks, splashes and makes sure that he leaves a mess everywhere. Despite his proven bathroom entheusiasm I was still very apprehensive about how he would take to being introduced to the sea at such an early age, especially as I had heard from friends that many of their children were scared at first.

I carried Charlie to the water's edge and sat him down on the sand where the waves could just reach him. He was very happy with this so within no time at all I picked him up and started dipping him in to deeper water. He was loving it- kicking, splashing and laughing all the way through it. For the next 15 minutes or so Charlie and I were playing in the sea together and he was having a great time. After 15 minutes of midday sun I decided enough was enough.

Charlie was a little grumpy on the way home, but it was a 12 hour day so it was hardly surprising.

My Birthday

On 1 September, my birthday, Charlie, Hien and I went to the Hyatt for dinner. This was Charlie's first formal dinner. Despite being fed foie gras and caviar before he was born he didn't take too well to the atmosphere and was pretty grumpy. By the time the main course came we decided to call someone to collect him and take him home so we could enjoy the rest of our meal in peace. The food was delightful and I had a thoroughly good time.