Monday, June 14, 2010
Eli takes some steps
Eli has been standing for a while and has been looking likely to take a few steps. This weekend he took his first few tentative steps. At the moment he still prefers crawling as a mode of transport, but I'm sure it'll only be a short time before he's tottering around.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
In honour of the Queen's Birthday
June 14th is the Queen's Birthday. I'm unsure whether it's the official or actual one, but we get the day off in Australia which is fine by me.
Despite being a long way removed from being a Royalist, it still makes me smirk when I see the Australian $5 note with the Queen's mugshot on it. In honour of your birthday ma'am here's a picture of some patriotic tea-towels on our ancient cooker.
If any journalists are reading this, then I can arrange an exclusive interview with these tea-towels for a cut-price half a mill.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Audrey climbs out of the pool
It's not exactly a major developmental stage in the same way as walking or talking, but I was so impressed with our little girl at swimming this evening.
Although she's getting increasingly confident in the water - jumping in, swimming underwater etc the one thing she's never mastered is climbing out of the pool on her own (COOTPOHO).
COOTPOHO has always presented an issue as she knows her Dad is invariably behind her, so she always gets half way up the side of the pool before waiting expectantly for Dad to push her up the final bit.
Tonight though she spent a lot of our lesson on her own with the swimming instructor, who unlike Dad didn't give her a push, but instead showed her how to lift her leg onto the side and actually use her strength to pull herself out. I've never really been quite sure why COOTPOHO has presented Audrey with such a problem as she always manages to climb on top of every piece of furniture and on top of us, her brother etc with complete ease.
After mastering COOTPOHO Audrey couldn't get enough of it. We spent 30 minutes after class while she climbed out of the water on her own and jumped in. She must have done it 20 or 30 times. I suspect she'll sleep well tonight....
Although she's getting increasingly confident in the water - jumping in, swimming underwater etc the one thing she's never mastered is climbing out of the pool on her own (COOTPOHO).
COOTPOHO has always presented an issue as she knows her Dad is invariably behind her, so she always gets half way up the side of the pool before waiting expectantly for Dad to push her up the final bit.
Tonight though she spent a lot of our lesson on her own with the swimming instructor, who unlike Dad didn't give her a push, but instead showed her how to lift her leg onto the side and actually use her strength to pull herself out. I've never really been quite sure why COOTPOHO has presented Audrey with such a problem as she always manages to climb on top of every piece of furniture and on top of us, her brother etc with complete ease.
After mastering COOTPOHO Audrey couldn't get enough of it. We spent 30 minutes after class while she climbed out of the water on her own and jumped in. She must have done it 20 or 30 times. I suspect she'll sleep well tonight....
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Wil's 3rd Birthday
Audrey abandoned the grumpiness of Saturday and the four of us went along to a friend son's (William) 3rd birthday.They held the party at a nearby playgroup centre, which was a great idea as there was tons of toys and places for the kids to run around in. Wil's parents own a toy shop which made shopping for a present somewhat tricky!
Everyone had a really nice time, and both Eli and Audrey got fuelled up on sugar from the party food.
devouring the cake!
Wombat Stew
The four of us went along to watch Wombat Stew at Canberra Theatre today. It's (another?) stage adaptation of a book, this time with an Australian theme.
The theatre was packed to the rafters and the play was excellent, great acting and singing and a nicely worked out script which stretched a 5 minute book into a 50 minute play.
Occasionally Audrey wakes up in a strange mood where nothing is right and wants and does the opposite of what you offer or ask. Today was one such day, but nevertheless even she enjoyed the play.
Eli meanwhile, despite probably being one of the youngest in the theatre stood on his mum's lap and giggled and clapped throughout.
Afterwards we went to an additional event which they'd arranged at Canberra Museum to complement the show - a series of craft workshops where kids could make their own bugs, paint and play with finger puppets etc. Even this didn't really humour Audrey all that much. I'm surprised sometimes that they don't train UN negotiators by leaving them in a room full of 2 year olds.
The theatre was packed to the rafters and the play was excellent, great acting and singing and a nicely worked out script which stretched a 5 minute book into a 50 minute play.
Occasionally Audrey wakes up in a strange mood where nothing is right and wants and does the opposite of what you offer or ask. Today was one such day, but nevertheless even she enjoyed the play.
Eli meanwhile, despite probably being one of the youngest in the theatre stood on his mum's lap and giggled and clapped throughout.
Afterwards we went to an additional event which they'd arranged at Canberra Museum to complement the show - a series of craft workshops where kids could make their own bugs, paint and play with finger puppets etc. Even this didn't really humour Audrey all that much. I'm surprised sometimes that they don't train UN negotiators by leaving them in a room full of 2 year olds.
Audrey and Eli before the start of Wombat Stew
Eli enjoying the craft session
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Amy returns from Paris
Here's another couple of shots of Amy coming home again! The kids were so pleased to see her and had beaming smiles on the way home from the (rainy) airport.
Amy's trip to France
Amy took a quick work trip to Paris last week. I'm proud to say I survived with the kids for a week, without too many mishaps. It was certainly v.tiring. Here's a couple of shots Amy took while she was away.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)