Words, words, words

Aside from the occasional tantrum (probably brought on by the sudden arrival of a little 'bother') it's been lovely listening to Audrey adding new words to her vocabulary and starting to piece them together into mini sentences.

She's already can proudly declare that one of her favourite sandwich fillings is " 'am and cheese" and complained when we left 'Monkey World play-zone yesterday, that she wanted 'More slide' (she had enjoyed the slides in there SO much). She can often be caught saying 'Lie down' to her doll and delighted in a tiny bit of chocolate we gave her the other day by demanding 'More choc!' It's interesting that she learnt the word 'choc' without ANY prompting, flash cards, baby Einstein DVDs or continued repetition...hmmm.

There are some words that don't quite hit the mark (but are still cute nonetheless). Audrey uses the word 'Showel' as for 'sandwich' for instance and 'Clow' instead of 'cuddle'.

The problem with this is that you often find yourself using her definition of the word rather than necessarily always correcting her, so you end up saying ridiculous things such as 'Would you like an 'am and cheese showel?' Not too bad I guess providing that nobody else is in earshot!

Eli meanwhile in his 5th week is growing both in length and weight. He's doing really well and is pictured keeping his sister entertained on mum and dad's bed..

Quote of the Season

ok, I admit this is plagiarised directly from Jacqui Oatley's blog, but it made me laugh...

A Bite To Eat

There's a nice cafe near where we live called 'A Bite To Eat'. It's nothing too fancy, but the owners have given the place a nice cosy atmosphere with lots of magazines, easy chairs and a generally relaxed feel.

We decided to leave the confines of our chilly home for the afternoon and seek solace in the cafe. A couple of hot chocolates arrived to help us pass the time. The drinks came in big bowls with extra chocolate dripped into them which was nice and gooey and had to be spooned out when you reached the end. Audrey was thrilled by her first 'baby chino' (basically frothed milk with chocolate shake on top). Eli slept throughout.

We read the mags on offer - Amy fed Eli, while I read 'Men's Health' and worked out how I was going to be able to develop my six-pack and flat stomach in 2 weeks, whilst living on an exclusive diet of kebabs. In the background The 'Stones chanted that they couldn't get any Satisfaction...perhaps you should have come to this cafe Mick?

Definitely $10 well spent.

Eli update No.2 (4 weeks old today!)

Here's a nice picture of Eli, taken a few minutes ago when he was snug in his moses basket.

He's doing really well at the moment - he wakes up around 3 or 4 times during the night, leaving us pretty tired, but he tends to settle down pretty quickly after he's been fed.

It's been 'interesting' to see his lungs develop. His early cries were very quiet (especially when compared to those of his big sister) but he's certainly found his voice over the last few days and increased the volume.

Autumn Colours

Canberra is awash with Autumnal colours at the moment. Here's a nice picture of Audrey playing in some of the oak leaves near our home

It's often a dangerous occupation playing in piles of leaves, but fortunately on this occasion...no dog poo.

Red Hill Lookout

We spent a very windy Saturday morning at Red Hill lookout which affords fantastic views across Canberra to the Brindabellas.

Despite the gusty winds we enjoyed our flask of tea and chocolate rolls (I'm sure Audrey ate more than both of us) before heading home.

Woden (with the Brindabellas in the background)

Red Hill Lookout cafe - in the future all buildings will look like this!

Our life in Numbers

Obviously 1+1=2, but (from our 3 weeks of experience) the arithmetic doesn't seem to calculate at all with 2 children.

More often than not 1+1 equals...

4 - the number of hours it takes you to get outside, once you've checked the nappy bag, changed each child, got the appropriate clothes + changes, assembled the pushchair, put some milk and snacks in the bag for Audrey, changed Eli again etc etc

½ - that is half the amount of sleep you used to get with only one child

3 - three times the amount of mess everywhere - how can this be!?!

⅓ - a third of the brain cells seem to have died in both of our heads

20 - times more dirty nappies overflowing from every bin!

Apart from that things going well, although our moat is looking decidely grubby and I'm sure one of the lights in the stable needs changing..must go off and fiddle my expenses...(Amy says you might only get this if you read UK news)

Here are some pics from the last few days (daze?)

Eli update

Eli is doing really well in his 3rd week! It's been strange getting used to how tiny a newborn baby is - especially having become accostomed to Audrey (who now seems huge in comparison to him)

The Health Visitor paid us a visit on Friday, and we were really pleased to learn that as well as growing 2.5cm in the last couple of weeks, he was piling on the weight which is a great sign.

We've had a few bad nights sleep (we suspect he's on European time - sleeping in the day and awake at night) but generally things have been good (if not very tiring)

It's also been lovely seeing Audrey around her little brother. I'm sure they won't always be best of friends, but at the moment she's happy to share the spotlight with him and give him affection and kisses which is great to watch.

Ayane's 4th Birthday

We went to a 4th birthday party on Saturday which had (somewhat strangely)a 'Spooky' theme.

Poor Amber (Ayane's mum) couldn't quite figure out why her daughter couldn't be like other 4 year old girls and choose something connected with fairies or ponies, but nevertheless obliged with her daughter's wishes and made her an excellent vampire bat costume complete with a skull covered birthday cake.

Audrey went dressed as a skeleton (a costume made by dad) and not that I'm boasting or anything but she collected the Best Costume award!

Ayane the vampire bat

Relaxing after collecting her best dressed prize!

Chilly Breakfast!

Now winter has arrived in Canberra our house is.... errr, cold to say the very least. Although we've bought ourselves some heaters, the ancient wiring in our place is such that the trip switch flips if you turn more than two of them on at a time along with (say) the toaster or the kettle!

Coldest room in the house award is a toss up between the kitchen and the loo, meaning we often enjoy breakfast in near zero conditions!

Still, the skies in the town are beautiful and blue and it's often a lot warmer when you step outside our house!

Here's a few pics of Audrey having her breakfast a couple of days ago.