What David does while I do the washing up .....

What David does while I am doing the washing up... He had gone very quiet, and when I looked around the corner, I understood why. He has climbed up to look at the Christmas music box, which shows a family of teddy bears around a Christmas tree. He usually only sees it under supervision - but he was being very gentle, and was very well balanced!

He is just getting more advanced all the time. The other morning he was standing on his plastic toy box to reach higher. Erin said that he and Katie were trying to push the toy box over to the sideboard, presumably to be able to stand on it, but were stopped by the carpet runner (they couldn't quite work out how to get the box wheels over the runner).

The next photos are also from this morning. Quite happy and proud of himself. You can see the soft lock that we have been using to close off the cupboard. It was off this morning and as there is nothing breakable in this cupboard, I let him loose, while I watched. First he unpacked the saucepans, metal bowls and colanders. I repacked, and then he unpacked them again. Then he climbed in! I tried to play peek a boo with him, but he was more interested in climbing up to the top shelf, and playing with the gas stove fittings (as you can see). It is all about exploring and climbing.

Generally, he gets upset when you stop him doing something (eg, take him out of the garage, try to put him back in the pram after letting him out for a walk in the park or the playground etc) particularly if he is tired or hungry. Mini tantrums. He is still great, but stronger, more determined and as a result, harder work. He is also lightening fast, so we have to be really careful to watch him when we are not at home.

Erin took David to be weighed on Tuesday 19 December. The result was that he is 12gk DWT, 79cms long (or tall) with a 49.5 head circ. So, in the three months since his first birthday he has gained 1kg, grown 3cms and his head has grown 2 cms. Doing well.

Words

This is a photo of David engaged in one of his favourite pastimes - opening & closing the sliding door. It was a humid day and he is only wearing a singlet!

Erin and Cathy tell me that I should be keeping track of David's words. When I say words, some require a little interpretation, but I am listing the words he uses consistently and with meaning, often asking for something. These are in addition to Mama, Dada and David.

Here are a few in no particular order - some will be repeats of words I have already recorded in some of the blogs.

More and "No more" (with hand movement), no, bottle, mango, banana, sultana, nanna, door, shower, flower, down, up, foot, hair, lion, bird, ta (for thanks), please, bath, bed, pear, milk, kookaburra, bear, plane, plug, book, dog, duck, garage, bite, nose, ear, two (he says it after you say "one"), toast, biccy, water, shoe, "nigh nigh" (for nighty night), bye bye, open, drawer, close, mess, warm, hot, cold, belt, nappy, ca ca (used when he has a dirty nappy), car, bus, truck, Maisie, grape, medicine, mine, me, bag, bibby (for his bibs), plover, "diddle diddle" for his Hey Diddle Diddle book, bubble, burp, brush, stairs, ball
and something that doesn't really sound like avocado, but I know means avocado.

There are also a lot of quite complex mysterious sounds - like "Beckarr" "Bikkar" (I originally thought it was "big car" because he was using it in the garage but now I think it is Bike, with emphasis on the "k" - he uses it when he plays with the bicycles in the garage and particularly when playing with the pedals) and Paul swears that he said Mudjahadeen the other day. I think that he said "you're back" to me on the morning after my trip to Melbourne. He also may be saying "Here we go" which is something I say everytime the traffic lights change and we start to cross the road.

He didn't want to have his photo taken with Santa today, so he told Erin "Santa bye bye" which seems pretty clear, along with the crying.

He also makes animal noises - there is a roar for a lion, a woof for a dog, a moo for a cow, the kookaburra noise, a bit of a meow for a cat and a "ee ee" noise for monkey or chimp.

He is now using No and don't - apparently he tells Katie not to do certain things (copying us when we tell him not to do things - so he obviously listens, he just doesn't always obey).

He also imitates words that we say, including names. I haven't included them here as I can't remember them all, and sometimes we are not sure if he understands them. He definitely understands a lot more - on Wednesday night he was trying to lift the wheelie bag with one hand and it was too bulky. Paul said to him twice that he would have to "use both hands", so he did and lifted it up.

I will update this more later.

Weather and catch up

Well, yesterday it was 32C and today has an official maximum of 21C (reached overnight, before the southerly change came through) with most of the day 18C or below, with drizzle. Tomorrow, when David is supposed to be swimming, it will be a maximum of 19C and drizzle or scattered showers. A hypothetical question - why, in the midst of the hottest Spring on record, a long drought, global warming etc, have three (four, if we count tomorrow) of six (or seven) swimming classes involved drizzly rain and cold winds? We didn't make one of the warm classes because we were in Melbourne. An enigma. However, the upside is that he hasn't been sunburnt and that he doesn't have to keep his hat on (always a struggle) when it is raining.

Anyway, I have attached two photos of David on a grey, cold and overcast day throughly enjoying swimming. This was taken on Saturday 2 December, before it rained - and he only got out of the pool three times. Luckily dad was there to field him, so I didn't have to leap out after him. As soon as David gets hold of the edge, the climbing leg goes up and he is out. When he gets too much salt in his eyes he reaches out for the edge too, but it is all good as one of the prime purposes of these lessons is for him to learn enough water safety to be able to get back to the edge and get out. The lesson ended a bit early as a few of the babies were looking blue. After this, we had a nice warm shower and a sing-song in the shower with another mother. Lots of fun. David generally is so tired afterwards that we give him lunch at the pool, he goes to sleep in the car on the way home and then sleeps for around three hours.

The conclusion is that I am not sure if we will go swimming tomorrow. David has been really tired after the trip to Melbourne, and getting over the hand foot and mouth virus. He may be finally cutting those molars. Erin thinks that she can feel bumps on his gums and he is certainly not 100% - not actually sick but not quite himself. We will wait and see how the weather is. We want David well and happy for Christmas.

We are aiming to get the Christmas tree up this weekend. I wrote a few Christmas cards last night, so we are starting to get there..... Lots to do, and lots of fun to come.

Our Pre-Christmas trip

Well, we have been to Melbourne for a long weekend to visit Paul's family - a sort of pre-Christmas gathering. We enjoyed catching up with everyone - including cousin Lizzy's new best friend, Devan. Devan became David's new best friend, who taught David how to poke out his tongue at the dinner table! We had a big family dinner on Saturday night, for ten adults and David (counting Devan as an adult). David suddenly started poking out his tongue - at Devan. Paul asked him and Devan said he "might have" poked his tongue out first.

We also survived "firestorm" and bushfires approaching natural disasters. Nothing close to the metropolitan area, but extremely bad in country Victoria, particularly Gippsland. Bad, out of control wild fires are raging across four States now (Tasmania, NSW and WA as well as Vic), with a long dry summer to come. In Melbourne on Saturday, it was hot (around 38C max) with visibility down to 800m at the airport, and less in the city, from the smoke. City buildings were sucking in so much smoke through their airconditioning that the fire alarms were going off. It was like a fog.

It was also my birthday. We went into Melbourne, caught up with Carolyn, who is heading back to Perth next week, apparently permanently, and went shopping. With David's help, Paul bought me a lovely new watch for my birthday.

Another lovely present was that David organised his dad to buy me long stemmed red roses (see photo). David then went to sleep beautifully at around 7.00pm so we could go out to dinner. We went to a local Japanese restaurant while David's grandparents baby sat. We got home around 10.00pm and David hadn't even stirred!

David enjoyed the trip a lot - despite the fact he came down with hand, foot and mouth disease, a virus that affects young children. He had been exposed when Katie came down with the disease but we thought he had missed it. However, as we didn't realise he had it until we were in Melbourne on Thursday, it was all too late to cancel the trip. David had a rash on his bottom, and little welts or blisters or pimples on his hands and feet. We don't think he developed many in his mouth - as he kept eating. Initially, we thought it was teething, particularly the rash and the grizzlyness and tiredness. It seems to have passed now after a week, with almost all the marks gone.

David travelled well on the way down, going to sleep for a large part of the flight. The strategy was that he had two sleeps during the day, but then we kept him up and he had a walk around the Qantas lounge (see photo of David in the lounge) until the flight boarded at about 8.00pm. it was a full plane, so we were glad he slept. We got him off to sleep in the car from the airport, with another bottle and took him in and put him straight to bed when we arrived at Paul's parent's home.

Coming back on the Sunday afternoon flight David didn't sleep - even though he was very tired. Luckily we had a spare seat for him to wriggle in on that flight. It would have been tough with only our laps. A short managable flight though. A good trip, and Nanna and Grandad really enjoyed seeing David and how much he had grown. David really loved seeing them and rampaging aroung the house. He seemed to recognise his bed and slept well the whole trip.

David enjoyed the travelling so much, that he has been very interested in the travel bags ever since - see the photo of him playing with the bags. Perhaps he wants to travel again. We have bought him some more toys for Melbourne and brought a couple back for Christmas. We have a few decorations up and we plan to put up a tree (in the playpen) this week.

Well that is all for now - we are really tired after the trip and looking forward to Christmas, at home.

more later!

HOT weather

Well, the cold smap has passed and now we have the usual Sydney hot and muggy summer weather. David is coping OK for now and we will see how it goes!

So, anything new? Well David is expanding his vocabulary. A recent new word is "flower" - we were having lunch with friends and Lydia recognised he was saying flower - I didn't know that he could! He points to flowers (and sometimes just plants) and says it. He also imitates Erin and says "no more" complete with hand movement! We can play "Where is David's hair/nose/ belly button" and also "ear" with less success - he sometimes confuses it with hair. He is also playing "up and down" where he bobs down and says "dow.." and then pops up and says 'up"! When I took him to have his photo taken last Friday the photographer said he was very advanced for his age, so perhaps he really is... As you probably know, it has been a running joke with us, his parents, since he was about 3 weeks old.

We do think David is working on more teeth. He has been waking on a number of nights- jsut not too late. Any time from 8.00pm to 11.30pm. We are getting progressively more tired, particularly as Paul has been travelling again. Hopefully after this week he will be back at home for a couple of weeks.

We have been having a few visitors - Marie from Perth, Lydia and Nadia (who is now 23 weeks pregnant - very exciting) and expecting cousin Julie from Perth for a short visit on the weekend. David and I also had coffee with Auntie Louise on Saturday morning before swimming classes, so all in all we have been very busy. We are still fitting in walks to the playground and the park.

David's naturaltendency is to be a vegetarian. We are still struggling a bit to get him to eat meat - generally disguising it with lots of vegies. But he has no trouble at all with lentils (daal), chickpeas or borlotti beans. Fruit is generally a winner - mango, banana, watermelon, and sometimes kiwi fruit are the current favourites. He is starting to broaden his tastes with couscous and perhaps a little spagetti. He is also drinking lots of water, which is marvelous in this hot weather.

We haven't had him weighed since he was one, and today was too hot for Erin to go to the chemist and see the nurse. However, he certainly hasn't lost weight! That's all for now.

More photos

Just a few more photos to catch up. These are recent, and just nice. No particular story to go with them, just in here because I like them.

On more thing - We saw a kookaburra yesterday, reasonably close and very clearly. It was in the park, early and he (or she) was sitting on the edge of a birdbath, contemplating the world. No birdcalls, and didn't respond to my very bad imitation, but he did turn around after being swooped by a Noisy Minor, so we saw his white chest and brown & blue back.

Hello - another update at last and less than 40 days to Christmas. So, what has been happening (everything! I hear you cry). I will keep it concise to cover the ground.

A recent development is that David is now using his table and chairs, and sitting down to read his books. He has been much more interested in the books for about a month now, and started sitting at the table to read them over the last fortnight. Importantly, he goes to it himself, and gets in his chair and turns over the pages in the books. He also gets out the books in his room to look at them.

The table & chairs set is a Christmas present from Nanna and Granddad, which is getting an early start. We still haven't painted or stained it, but David doesn't seem to mind. We bought the set a few months ago because the Pine Warehouse which stocked them closed down after being in business for approx 20 years. Well made, and will support an adult's weight easily.

David has also started swimming lessons. He had his third today. No photos yet, because I have taken him by myself the last two weeks, and no opportunity to take photos when I have my hands full keeping him under control. The first week of lessons it was cold and rained! The lesson went ahead, and the pool was warm(ish) but it was a short lesson because the babies started to shiver. There are probably another 6 or 7 babies in the class. They range from around 8 months to David at 13mths. Lots around games and getting used to water over their head & face - learing to stretch out and kick. The aim is water safety - flopping off the wall (like Humpty Dumpty) and then learing to turn, kick back and climb out. Well, David has already mastered climbing out when he gets to the edge. The climbing leg goes up and he is out - today he was aout 3 times, which meant I had to climb out and run after him. He climbs out when we do "monkey arms" supposedly along the edge of the pool, or when he gets too much water in his eyes or nose, and reaches out to the edge. He does love the water though. We are both exhausted after the half hour lesson. The last two weeks David is asleep by the time we get home and has slept for 3 hours.

David is definitely going to have curls - see attached bad photo of the back of his head. His hair is getting longer, and is curly when damp.

David has been to his first gallery showing - not counting popping into the Washhouse, or visiting Newspace gallery. The Degree Show for 2006 at the Sydney University School of Art, in nearby Callan Park. It was opening night, with all the guests and David had a wow of a time saying hello to lots of people. We dropped in on David's last walk before bed.

David also went to his first boardroom lunch last week - at a major law firm in Sydney, silver service and David was very impressed by the waiter offering him his own bread roll. He was able to wander around the (small) Boardroom, and rampage up the corridor when he slipped past the waiter. Much better than a restaurant, and David was the star attraction for my two (female) collegues who wanted to see how much he had grown.

Yesterday I took David for photos to mark his one year birthday, and they went well. More later when we see the prints.

We have been having weird weather in Sydney - as well as the cold and raining Saturday to start November, this week we had the coldest Sydney November day since 1905, with major bushfires in the Blue Mountains at the same time. We are expecting a warmer than usual summer - last summer was th hottest on record on the Eastern seaboard. Quite a bit of rain (and snow) about this week but not in the catchments - It is good to see that finally the politicians are starting to acknowledge that global warming is real and affecting the climate.

Lots happeingin internationally - the Nairobi conference on global warming, APEC in Vietnam, G20 in Melbourne, Iraq, Palestine, riots in Tonga, worries about the melting ice caps, enormous icebergs off NZ, Bono campaigning for an end to world poverty and U2 and Kylie touring. We are just trying to get enough rest and keep well and clean the house. It does all suggest that while there are many dangers, there is also hope for the world, which is excellent in the lead up to Christmas. Catch up with you later.

Quick, quick note

Sorry! I haven't been online for a while, because (amongst other things) I have had a cold & cough. However, a ten minute blog, before I go to bed. This is a surreal photo taken of David in the pram on Narrawallee Beach, near Ulladulla. Hope that you like it! It had been a beautiful day before, and after, but the Saturday was generally cold blustery and not good for swimming, so we went for a walk instead.

This is a couple of weeks ago - when we went to stay with Steve & Sue, David's godparents at their holiday home, and David went to his first concert. it was a Brother concert, at Milton Hall, with lots of kids and families. David loved it all - the bagpipes, digeridoos and all the drumming. It was loud, but he also loved that. He rocked so hard that he moved his whole pram (which was in the aisle, just out of the way, under the staircase). See earlier blog for a description of Brother. David's only complaint was when a man who was videotaping the performance came and stood in front of him! David complained, but the man couldn't hear his over the concert. We moved the pram so he could see the stage again. When they got up to dance in the aisle, you could see David wanted to join in, but in the interests of safety and sanity, we kept him in the pram. He did have a little walk around the crowded foyer at interval though!

The weekend away was wonderful - it was just a shame that we had colds. David spend some time with Steve & Sue's dogs and really enjoyed that too. More on that next time.

The next photo is David opening one of his birthday presents! He does love things that are new- he tends to strutt around with them. It is particularly amusing when it is clothes. Perhaps we should have got him involved in modelling!!!!

Anyway, we are all gradually getting over the cold - It has taken me over two weeks. Paul started a little later but it is lingering as long with him. Fortunately, he didn't get the cough. David had about two days of minor sniffles, which seemed to be fixed with Demazin. It is great that he seems to be good and healthy. We, his parents just seem to be very tired and (now) run down. I think we need a month at the seaside, being waited on hand & foot - but as the Rolling Stones say, you can't always get what you want! We will have a rest over Christmas.

That's all for now. I will try to do another, longer update in a few days.

This week

David playing peek a boo using the big pram hood, yesterday. It is interesting to see him taking more control of his environment - not just letting us pull the hood down to shade him from the sun. He interacts with us and almost everyone he sees - a real people person!

Well, David (and Dad) survived my going on a residential course this week, and spending two nights away. Not just survived but coped swimmingly. I don't think that David even skipped a beat. He was really excited to see me on Friday evening, but clearly he is quite secure enough to be without me. After all, he had Dad and Erin. Good to know.

Last weekend we all went to David's first party - that is, the first party where David is invited, and we are just add-ons (rather than the other way around). It was Finn's first birthday party. A few things became clear. The logistics are probably tougher than for adult social occasions - because it was from the middle of the day, scheduling David's nap was really important. And, traffic, summer weather and crowds for school holidays were also challenging. We also mastered fancy dress. It was a cowboys and indians party. I got some sheriff gear for David, which he wore with his new checked shirt and trousers. Sarah (Finn's mother) had made lots of preparation - great food, salads, balloons, bubble blowing, cowboy hats, plates & cups and a special cake. In some ways the roughest part was that the toddlers/babies didn't seem to have any sense of occasion - they treated it as just another playgroup session, in a different location. It just confirmed with us that there is no concept of birthday yet. Maybe next year!!

I don't have much to report from this week - because of aforementioned course and working to get all done to get out of the office/house for a couple of days. However, David has become a bit of a clothes horse. I bought him a new polo top and hoody jacket with a zip, to try for sizes. Well, I put the new top (size 2) on him when I got home on Tuesday - over his pjs and he just took off and strutted around the lounge room! Just like a model, thoroughly thrilled. I took it off after about 10 minutes and he cried! So I gave it back to him, and then he strutted around with it in his hand. The only thing that distracted him was trying on the new jacket (size 1) for a while before bed. He had a new outfit on Friday that he was thrilled about (a present from Auntie Louise) and strutted about in. (By the way, you can see the new shirt in the photos above - a green leaf pattern) On Saturday, he picked up my casual (round the house) skirt and strutted around with that, using it like a cape, or a hood. We were trying to make sure he didn't cannon into things! I may have to make him a little cape. For a little while now, we have seen David take thinks - toys, cords cloth, clothes, and put them on the back of his neck or head. Now he seems to be doing it with lots of cloth - like a cape.

Other than that, lots of the same - watching everything and copying. While he hasn't shown much interest in the shape sorting toys, he is showing a lot of interest in opening/closing or taking out/putting back of taking off the top/putting it back on. He is really getting good at working out how things work. He loves taking out the bath plug and putting it back in. A bit scary too, when he gets fascinated with trying to turn locks etc.

Anyway, that is all for now folks!

A whole number, not a fraction!

Well, probably time to recap a little on David's birthday etc. We didn't really plan much for his actual birthday. Paul had been in Melbourne, but managed to catch an earlier flight, so he was home around 5pm. I was at work, and David spent the day with Erin & Katie. He had a nice day. We all sat around and opened his presents and cards, including the ones from Melbourne & Perth. David enjoyed his presents, but didn't really understand the significance. We all sang Happy birthday to him (several times during the day).

He had a special afternoon tea with Erin and Katie, and had apple bread to celebrate. He liked all his presents - he always does! Briefly, he got a toy fire engine, some little cars, bathers (a rash top with the Wiggles Wags the Dog) some clothes ( a lovely red checked shirt and a hand knitted jumper) a big fleecy striped blanket, some books and the xylophone/piano from Dad & me. He had already been enjoying his big truck and trailer for almost two weeks. I have also now enrolled him in swimming classes from early November.

On the weekend we went and saw the Haselhursts for the Grand Final (separate blog), and on the holiday Monday we took David out for breakfast and then to the pool for a swim in the wading pool and then a small dip in the big pool. Very exciting!! Dad walked David too and from the pool, and he fell asleep on the way home. It was a beautiful day, like early summer, warm, clear with a bit of breeze and no humidity. So, lots of excitement for his almost birthday. We also caught up with the Del Mastros for brunch the weekend before, so David is well aware of his roots.

For his birthday he also cut another two teeth. That explained the disturbed nights. He has been sleeping much better now since about 4 October, and either waking early in the evening or sleeping through until around 5.30 or 6am.

And what has David been doing? Climbing! He climbs onto the couch, the tables, chairs, anything! He gets his left leg up and digs in his toes and he is up! He tries to climb everything - his high chair, into the bath, out of the bath.... The scariest thing so far is that, when the cot side is down, he can get his leg over the top of the side! He just wants to travel. He goes in and out doors - both here and at Nada & Richards. He is getting very very good at getting down, always getting down backwards. But, with all the travelling, he is falling over more. He has the little bruises to prove it too.

He is also "talking" more - lots more words that we understand. David manages the first sound and we know what he means. He is saying Da for David, Da for Dad, Mem for mum, Ga for garage, ca for car, dow for when he wants to get down, b / bo for lots of things, including book, bird and bottle, mi for milk, p or pl for plane, and plug, d for duck and so on. His best sounds are probably still bye bye, Ta (for thank you) and koo ka for kookaburra. Last night he managed go awa for gone away when the plug came out of the bath and the water goes away.

He is really funny in the bath. He really likes the plug and wants to pull it out and then put it back. He understands now that he has to sit down in the bath, and that if he pulls out the plug the bath is over, so he waits until he has had some time in the bath before he does either. Once it is over and he wants out he signals it by the plug, standing up and showing he is finished, or by trying to get his leg up to get out. Of course, when the bath is running firstly throws in his ducks and then he tries to climb in, and after he is dressed, he wants to go back into the bathroom and climb back in again.

The great things is that he does understand a lot, and does listen. He is getting more frustrated now when he doesn't get his own way (remote controls, mobile phones, keys, into the garage etc) and cries real tears. But, he does seem to accept (eventually) that he doesn't get everything he wants!
Well, I haven't been able to load photos on this one, so youll have to wait until next time!

Last Saturday in September.

Well, this is a photo of David watching the Grand Final with all the other Haselhurst cousins, on the last Saturday in September. It is his first Grand Final, because he wasn't born for the last one (a Swans' Victory). however, he has had the great good fortune to see an Eagles victory!!! He was wearing my Eagles scarf earlier, but not in this photo. He also took his Eagles teddy along to the afternoon soiree, again not in the photo. The Swans scarf stayed on the pram (in the background). An excellent ocasion, with Howard, Annie, David, Patrick and Nada together with us making eight Haselhursts in all together with the patners (Richard, actually a husband and Rebecca). Nada was particularly interested in David as she has just announced that she is pregnant, with a baby due next year.

It is probably a good time to mention that (apparent;y) 32,000 people watched Fox Footy for the Grand Final - which is fine, but Channel 10 was carrying the 2006 Grand Final live. Fox Footy was broadcasting the 2005 (last year's) GF, with the 2005 GF following at 6.30pm. Basically, 32,000 couldn't tell the difference. Due to many factors, such as people being on thebalcony and my having to watch David, we didn't work out for 10-15 minutes that we hadn't turned over.... The penny finally dropped with Paul after I saw Michael Gardiner playing in the ruck for the Eagles (Paul had already explained away Nikovsky and Sampi). When we turned over, there was only 1 point the difference in the scores between the two matches. Patrick was happier - he had been thinking the umpires were biased (undoubtedly based on squaring it up for the previous year??). David couldn't tell the difference - after all, he hadn't seen the 2005 GF. Howard had a great time trying to provoke the Swans supporters, and not really succeeding.

Catch up photos

Well, the purpose of this blog is to add a couple of photos that I haven't been able to load before. There is a good photo of David at playgroup, and you can see how much bigger he is getting.

There is also a photo of the flooded kitchen - with buckets under the light fittings. We are still getting musty smells, so hopefully that will dry out in the drought that Sydney is having - there is always a silver lining to every dark cloud.

And last, but not least, a photo of David taken on the weekend, in his new toy. I got him a truck and sort of carriage - both megablocks and second hand from the local St Vinnies. They are a great size and he loves them. I haven't seen anything like them at the toy stores - only much smaller trucks. He climbed in himself and was very proud of it.

It is David's birthday tomorrow and he was weighed and measured today. He is 11.08kgs DWT, 76cms long and 47.5cms head circumference. Basically still following his curves, he has a head well above the 50percentile, lengthy almost exactly on the 50 percentile and weight well above the 50 percentile. Doing well!

Getting bigger and older

So, what a difference a few months makes! The first photo is David around three months of age (just after New Year in Perth).


The second is this last week, and David is nearly 12 months old. It is interesting to see how his face has changed, as well as him getting bigger! David has had a bit of a cold and cough and has been having showers in the morning with Dad, rather than baths at night. David now walks into the shower and grabs dad's leg to be picked up. It is warmer for him in the mornings and helps stave off the coughing. Having said that, the cold seems to have passed off.

We will get him weighed again tomorrow or next week and see just how large he is at 12 months. There are no big plans for his birthday - there is a big joint birthday party planned for all the babies from Mother's Group in October. Dad will be away on his actual birthday, and we plan to pick a nice day on the weekend and go to the zoo. David is old enough now to really appreciate all the animals and birds. He loves watching the birds flying overhead, or in the park. His favourites at the moment are the suphur crested cockatoos and currawongs. The willy wagtail is also pretty special. Our plovers are back across the road, making lots of noise and getting David excited (so it is definitely Spring). Dad and David saw the pair of plovers with two chicks in the park on Sunday so that will be lots of fun until they are grown. Hopefully the plovers keep off the road this year. Last year was nerve wracking!

David loves it when I imitate a kookaburra and can say the word "kookaburra" a bit himself. He says "kookoo b" or "kooka b". I showed him a kookaburra on Friday but unfortunately it was being mobbed by noisy minors so it wasn't making any calls! This last is a photo of David at playgroup with an xylophone. Only 6 notes, and the one that I have bought him for his birthday is 8 notes - a full octave.

He has his full 6 teeth now, but still having discomfort with them - he bites down a lot and woke up crying last night. He walks everywhere now and is getting faster. He confidently climbs the stairs, when he has the chance. And remember, David's reach is always an inch or two longer than you think it is!

That's all for now, folks!

The flood

A photo of David in the bath for no reason other than it is funny. He is balancing a beach ball on his head, which he enjoys.


Well, Sydney had over 100mls of rain overnight on Wednesday 6/ Thursday 7 September. Some of it fell in the catchment areas. A lot of it fell through our roof and into our kitchen! We survived! It makes you realise just how terrible real disasters like a cyclone or the flooding of New Orleans are, and how lucky we were that it was just a semi blocked gutter which gave up when the rain became torrential. The guys from the SES came out and checked the roof, because I was positive that there were sheets of metal banging. They were marvelous! and said it was only a gutter problem that they had cleared. Apparently the banging is from the block of units behind us which is having major renovation works done to all the units. Hooray!!!

David survived it all realy well. It is very exciting to have water everywhere - it gives lots of opportunities for crawling through puddles. However, he didn't enjoy the very loud thunder and lightening which went with the storm. We kept him in bed with us for a couple of hours when it was at its worst.

We should have a week or so of rain now - with good falls due in the catchment area. It will be miserable, but great. Back to warmer clothes though.

David is eating well and sleeping well. The six teeth are all through and still bothering him from time to time - more so when he is tired.

The attached photo is of muscleman David, with Daddy in our hammock chair. Daddy is holding him up, but don't underestimate how strong he is! He grabs at door knobs or the staircase balustrade when we are carrying him past and he has a good grip on him!! It is enough to pull you up and turn you around.

Beach baby

David on an overcast but warm day - yesterday- at Bondi beach, playing in the sand. He actually kept my hat on for a while. It isn't as tight as his hat. We didn't go near the water, as there were a few waves and we weren't really equipped for the beach. We went to Bondi after dropping Dad at the Swans/Carlton football match. In fact, David nearly missed the beach visit entirely as he was fast asleep in the carseat. Luckily he woke up, just as I was thinking about going home.

After approximately twenty minutes of crawling in the sand and having a marvelous time, we went and had some lunch overlooking the walkway near the beach.

I bought a little fish and chips (but without the chips) on the basis that it was a classic experience. David tried some fish, but was so unimpressed that he took it back out of his mouth and threw it away.

He did love his usual lunch of fruit and crumpet with cream cheese, and watching the world walk past. Then we went home, and David had a lovely long sleep in the car. He had his bath early, to get rid of all the sand. After the bath, he was still restless so we went for a walk in the park, to spot planes and birds and stretch mummy's legs.


It was a big day, because we had breakfast out to celebrate David and Paul's first Father's Day. It was a beautiful, warm Spring morning, which didn't last.

The change came through finally, lots of wind but only a few spots of rain. Out second warm night - and the fruit trees, magnolias and jasmines are definitely broken out in bloom so Spring has sprung. They are forecasting an El Nino summer, so it will be long hot and dry.

David is definitely walking whenever he wants to. Which means still crawling for speed. This is probably the third week now, with hard floors being better for balance than carpet. Erin says that for the last couple of weeks he has been taking eight to ten steps, and tonight he was walking forward and sideways across the kitchen floor. He is also getting very good at communicating - "B" and pointing for bird, "Ga" for garage (as in, hammering on the door to go into the garage), "Sh" for shoe, "Ra" for rain and most importantly, "P" or "Bl" with looking up and pointing for plane when he sees or hears one of the commercial airliners go overhead.

Also new this weekend, he was making lots of sounds with his hand back and forth over his mouth, to change the sound. Lots of fun.

That's all for now.

Brave new world - I am back at work!

The updates have been a little patchy lately, as I have been flat out getting organised to go back to work. I went back four days a week, last week and Boy, was I tired after the first week. However, we all survived and David seems to be coping perfectly with teeth coming through and without his mum.

This is a photo of David working out that if he stands on things (people, pillows, toys) he is taller, and can reach more! Did I mention before that he is very determined? Gran is peeping out of bed at the bottom of the photo.

David has been having disturbed nights - crying out, but not necessarily waking up - so as a consequence, I was also having disturbed nights. This seems to be getting gradually better - and last night I think he slept through. The next two teeth on top (to make a total of four) have definitely started cutting, after a false alarm a week or so ago. Today David was chewing everything in sight, pulling on his ear and was a mite clingy and feeling sorry for himself. I took him for a walk after I got home from work, which cheered him up, and we have given him a little paracetamol before bed which seems to have done the trick. Within half an hour he had definitely improved enough to have a joke and a little play. Much better than tears!

He is possibly going through a growth spurt - sleeping more and deeply during the day and eating more. He has also increased his formula, after cutting back a bit last week. We will weigh him next week and if there is much change.

This is a photo of David in our hammock chair, now hanging outside in our atrium/courtyard. David likes it best when there is someone in there with him, to swing. We may also get a little swing for him, and hang it from another beam. I have put rubber matting down over the pebble strip at the open end, and moved the pot plants, to increase the play area. I think that I will still have to fence off the remaining pebbles though as David still wants to put them in his mouth.

Dad is still travelling too much but we had a lovely weekend, before he flew off to Adelaide. We had a full Sunday, with a walk with Dad, a visit to St Matthew's Church for the morning service (and another baptism and lots of children for David to see) then visitors before another short walk. David was tired out and went to sleep without his bottle (but on Monday promptly increased his milk feeds - see above). So far the weather this week has been drizzling and dampish, so otherwise David has been pretty much confined to barracks. Tomorrow there is a planned play visit with another little boy from the Mother's Group, which should go ahead rain or shine, so that should cheer him up!

Well, that is all for now. I will try to gradually fill in the blanks from the last month or so. Hopefully work won't take over everything!

Almost walking

David is almost, but not quite walking. I suspect that he hasn't taken the next step (ha, ha) because he still finds it faster to crawl. He is now working on climbing up onto the chairs and couches - not quite able to without a bit of help, but getting very frustrated when he doesn't manage it.

When he is given a leg up, he is very triumphant. The only problem is that he still has no real idea of how to climb down... A sure recipe for tears.

This photo was taken at Playgroup, on Gran's last day in Sydney and as you can see, David can really race off around the room when he has a push toy. The shopping trolley is higher and even better! We haven't bought him anything of his own yet, because we don't really have the floor space for him to push it. We will see how it all goes.

What season is it anyway?

So, would you believe Sydney in August? The temperature dropped from 24C to 14C in a few minutes and the ground was white with hail yesterday afternoon at approx 4.00pm, after a lovely spring morning. The hail was too small to do much damage, and no damage to cars - but lots of slippery roads and quite a few accidents. This van had to be pushed out into the road and then slid all over the place on the ice before eventually heading off. Erin and Katie were here as well and we all went out to look at the hail falling from the safety of the garage. The babies weren't frightened (probably because we weren't frightened) but were a little stunned. There were still unmelted hailstones in the shade today.

So much news, so little space

Well, where to start?

It has been only a couple of weeks, but so much has happened. David has been baptised, he has (finally) cut two new upper teeth, and David has progressed from walking by holding onto Granny's fingers to walking by himself with a "pusher" toy at playgroup on Wednesday. The new nanny-share arrangement started this week, which means Erin has started and Katie has already come over for two days to keep David company - I have one more week and then I start back at work. And Gran will go home after her holiday on Saturday.

Oh, and between Gran and Erin (and possibly finally cutting the teeth) David seems to have been sorted out - he is back into a routine and eating well.

I have finally painted the ensuite bathroom. And done some tidying in the garage.

More to follow shortly - but this catches everyone up on the headlines!

Another update in July

Well, what to tell you all first.... David had a fun weekend. We stayed at the Sebel on the Pier in the Rocks area of Sydney for the weekend, to celebrate Dad's birthday. We had a marvelous time and could have been thousands of kilometres away. David really enjoyed Sydney and celebrated himself by clapping his hands for the first time on Saturday 22 July - and has continued to do so, so it wasn't a fluke. He also climbed down stairs for the first time - 5 shallow wide steps in the hotel foyer, so he could make a break for the street. David went front / face first (after all the times I have told him to go down backwards, he completely ignored me) and did it beautifully and safely. There is of course no guarantee that he will be able to do it again, but it is a start.

David also went to his first Sydney Biennale exhibition, at the Pier in Walsh Bay. Interesting - some more accessible than others. We liked the one that was aboriginal art, with sand, totem poles and bark paintings about the crocodile and her nest. The stand out though was the installation called "Asian Field" by Antony Gormley (2003) consisting of 180,000 hand made hand-sized clay figurines. The figurines were made by 350 people of all ages from Xianshan village in China (their photos were all on the wall next to the installation) and the installation took (I think) a week to set up. Truly stunning to see all the figurines, arranged in waves of different colours of clay and in the pier confines - it really gives you a true idea of numbers, and just how many 180k is - let alone the massive population of 2 billion or more in China.

A dreadful photo is attached, which doesn't do it justice.

We also went to the Rocks markets, and the Aroma coffee festival - which wasn't very big, but was enjoyable in the sunshine at Circular Quay.

Monday was wet and we kept David very quiet - but he still didn't go to sleep until 10.30pm. Tuesday I had hime weighed and measured. Despite the fact he wasn't eating, he has gained weight and is now 10.56kgs, head circ 47.5cms and length of 74cms.

Gran arrived for a visit on Tuesday and David was very glad to see her. Gran will sort him out! She already thinks that he is a very messy eater. I have attached a photo of the first time David ate Weetbix to support her opinion, but in David's defence, he doesn't often look like this.

More to follow!

another update

Nothing too startling - I haven't been takeing many photos lately for tow reasons. the first is that I have been feeling very average, due to the cold and David going to bed so very late. the second is that David now understands the camera somewhat, and crawls towards me very rapidly when I have it, so I can't take his photo. Either that, or the camera strap is just the most amazing thing in the world.

Mind you, toys are just not what they used to be a couple of months ago. Now it is all about cupboards, drawers, frying pans, caps, bottles and anything else real you can name. Remote controls and mobile phones are probably the high point, but he doesn't really get to experience them much. Chasie is the best game in the world at the moment - with either Dad or me, round and round the play pen.


This is a photo of David's new rocking snail - which is still a little big for him, but proving to be a bit exciting.

Aargh - Still no teeth!

Hello. Sorry that there has been no update for a while, but there are only so many hours in the day. I have had a cold - in fact, after almost 2 weeks, I still have it. Daddy has also had a cold. David has not caught the cold, but has been off-colour. Mostly teeth we think. He went through a period of having a lot of dirty nappies - every two or three hours at one point. His bottom suffered accordingly. His mouth was obviously bothering him and he was eating very little. Bedtime varied between 5.30pm on one evening (nearly 14 hours sleep!), and 10.30 to 11.30 on other occasions. However, he seems a lot better, his bottom is almost back to normal and his routine is getting back to normal. Yesterday and today he has almost eaten normally. Just no teeth yet! After all this mucking about you couldn't blame us for wanting to actually have a result. Oh well, I guess they will come through in their own time.

Otherwise, things are great. We have done a deal more baby-proofing and have installed gates at both the bottom of the stairs and top of the stairs. With the furniture rearranged downstairs, it is looking pretty good, and is reasonably baby safe - at least until he gets taller.

David loves getting into cupboards and drawers. Unfortunately this also coincided with his jamming his fingers - he puts them over the top of the drawer and then closes it! However, after some trial and error he is getting a little more switched on about how they work - he opens and closes cupboard doors again and again, and now only occasionally puts his hand in the way.

He is now a very fast crawler and very confident in standing to hold onto things such as the gates, furniture, Mum or Dad's leg etc. No signs of walking yet (thank goodness). I think that as he is so efficient at crawling, he doesn't need to start walking yet.

We have been going to Playgroup on Fridays for three weeks now. Absolutely marvelous. Lots of toys and lots of other children. Most are older, but some are in the 12 to 14 month age range, which will be close enough in a few more months. Some of the other babies from Mother's Group are also attending on a fairly regular basis. The Playgroup is only a short pram push away so it is very convenient. No photos as when ever I bring out the camera, David crawls towards me. I have photos where he is not even in the frame. I don't seem able to attach photos at the moment, so more photos later.

I have also been trying to take him to the playground (mentioned previously) at least once a week, weather permitting. It is a great playground, with children there everytime we visit. David loves looking at the older children and will grow into the equipment. He still loves the swing.

We have also been interviewing nanny applicants to take care of David when I return to work part-time in August. Not as simple as it appeared at first. Will update you when we have a result.

We are expecting Gran for a visit later this month - David is excited when he speaks to either Gran or Nanna on the phone, so I know he will be excited to see Granny and have her stay.

Well, We're back in Sydney again

As the title says, we're back in Sydney again, after nearly 2 weeks away in Melbourne. Paul was working and David & I went for the ride. We stayed with Nanna and Grandad again and David had a marvelous time.

We also enjoyed the weekend we spent in Melbourne - we went to the Yarra Valley (near Healsville) for lunch on Saturday. We went to the Domaine & Chandon winery for lunch and tasted their always delicious sparkling wines (see photo - David is tasting water!)

On Sunday we went to Southbank with Uncle David and Auntie Gaye. David coped very well with the fact that all his waterbottles were left at home on the table. He drank formula from a cup (not very well) and a spoon.

During the week we also found a playground for David, with swings and a slide. David loves the swings and being out.

David had a bath in the big bath, with his father in Melbourne, and greatly enjoyed the deeper water. We have taken to bathing him in the evening, to try to relax him and get him to sleep. Mixed success so far He always loves the bath itself though. He is completely out of routing at present, and still working on a tooth, which doesn't help. For a few nights he has been going to sleep around 11.30 / 12.00 but we hope that will gradually cut back to his regular time!





The other excitment was the workmen in the street outside Nanna & Grandad's house, who were replacing gas pipes. David loved watching the excavators and bobcats digging and filling in holes. Melbourne was dry and cool, but not as cold as I was expecting.

Since we are back, we are interviewing nannies for David..... So will keep you posted on developments.


Today's little development was David confirming how happy he is to climb stairs. It was his idea and he started up the stairs, very confidently. This was his second attempt - he also attempted this just before we left. He climbed pretty well the whole of the stairs without help, but with me standing behind him to stop him from falling. He actually went down two steps, without any difficulty, while progressing up. I am not sure that he would be that good at just coming down though - he needs to be taught to do it backwards. So, again the real priority is to get the stair gates in place, both at bottom and top. I have pretty well worked out how to do it - just need to get the hardware & install. Hopefully it will work this time!!