Tuesday, November 20, 2007
No new photos but an update
He is taller, heavier and more mature. He is turning into a really nice person - he is very caring and mostly polite, and listens well. We just got back from a weekend in Melbourne visiting the grandparents, and David was remarkably good. (We didn't take a single photo) Grandad is getting very frail, and David was very gentle with him, and careful to be quiet when Grandad fell asleep in the chair. Nanna and David made Gingerbread men, which was lots of fun. I got him his own rolling pin to use on some dough, and he was careful and gentle with the biscuit cutter. He could hardly wait for them to come out of the oven, and we had to convince him to wait until they cooled. It was funny to be all sitting at the table, blowing on hot biscuits to cool them quicker!
He enjoyed the idea of the gingerbread men more than the taste, I think. He liked to make them dance, but cried when they broke! He didn't like the M&Ms we used as buttons, so next time I will just stick to sultanas for eyes and buttons.
Uncle David is still the best - he has a toolshed, a leaf blower, jack, two Triumph sedans being restored, screwdrivers, not to mention soldering irons and used the lawnmower again. David could turn into a David groupie. Uncle David was very nice and let David sit in his almost complete Triumph - and David was very careful! We got him out to see the car being jacked up, but David would have liked to have played for longer.
We also went to a fabulous fete at Auntie Gaye's school and David visited Santa's cave, the petting zoo, the huge bookstall (20 books for $10) and went on two rides - whirling teacups (without too much whirling for us) and the Thomas Train ride. He is getting very good at walking everywhere rather than using the pram. eHe even walked most of the way in the airport. That is just as well, because he is too heavy to carry far.
That's all for now folks!
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
First Tuesday in November
I have added a photo of David eating a chocolate coin. You can't see it because he is eating it all, very carefully and quickly. He asks for chocolate a lot - and DVDs and books and "special treats". He had his first chocolate frog from David Haselhurst and now he gets a little choc now and again. On the weekend he rushed over to show me that he had something in his mouth - he had found the remainder of a bag of chocolate sultanas in my backpack (under the stairs) and had sampled them. He is taller, and more persistent, and finds and investigates bags!! At least he does tell me what he is going, and mostly listens. However, we are getting more two year old tantrums.
That's all for now - I am a bit tired and the only photos I have taken lately are on the new telephone, and I don't know how to download them Keep well!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
New Paddler Pool
It is outside in the Courtyard, on the soft rubber tiles. As you can see, DAvid has worked out how to fill it up - he wanted more water in it. It has his toys from the bath in it. Dad wants to get a boat for it now!
Well done Dad and David.
Also - an update on climbing David - here he is yesterday at the playground at the Community Centre. David suddenly decided that he wanted to open the gate. He had obviously worked it out, he just needs a bit more height. He hept working on it - on the thrid attempt, he got the top catch up, he just couldn't open it while hanging on the gate. I am sure he would work it out, given a bit more time.
It sends a shiver down your backbone, mostly because he is now doing this with lots of things. He picks things up and he knows how they work. He watches everything like a hawk.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Some more photos
Birthday Cake Photos
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Garden Show



Monorail Trip


Second Birthday!
So much has happened, and most recently, David's second birthday. He is fabulous - and now, when asked, says "I'm Two". The celebrations started early. The Friday before his birthday, he went to the zoo with Katie and her parents. He had a fabulous time, and really enjoyed seeing the elephants.
On Saturday 22 September we went to the Haselhursts for David Haselhurst's (the elder) birthday which is a week before David's (the younger). Lots of fun seeing the cousins David, Annie, Patrick, (and Declan & Laura) and Nada, Richard and Monty. David had his first chocalate frog from David H, and really liked it - better than cake. He ate it very neatly, too! There was a big birthday cake for Declan and David Haselhurst, and young David had a practice blow out of the candles, in anticipation of his birthday. Good to see family and good to see how much Monty has grown.
David's birthday was really spreadout over a week - he got his present from Erin (a Curious George plush monkey) on Monday, when Katie got her present. He loves George.
Dad was home for his birthday morning, and we both went in and sang "Happy Birthday" to him in his cot. Then he got some of his presents - Cars (Lightning McQueen, Mater and a tipping tractor), Clothes (shorts from Nanna Jan & Uncle Steve, and a tshirt from us), Books and DVD (Toy Story from Nanna & Steve). On his birthday, which was a beautiful day, he went to the park with Erin and met Liam (and Zoe, Liam's nanny). He came home in the early afternoon and had a bath to get the dirt off and then had a big sleep. Because Dad was away down in Melbourne that night, we didn't do much. Friday morning, we had 4 other toddlers over from Mother's Group for a birthday cake and party. I had put the birthday banner up on Wednesday for his birthday, and I put up balloons on Thursday night for the Mother's Group party. David was very excited in the morning and really enjoyed his party and presents. He was very well mannered, and shared very well. We tried to keep his new presents separate as he was still possessive of the new things. I had made a big carrot cake and iced it with a Buzz & Woody picture (Toy Story). We had Happy Birthday candles, sang Happy Birthday and David blew them out . It is just amazing what you can buy at Coles.
Dad was home on Friday night (with the flu) and on Saturday we gave him his present from Nanna Josie and Grandad - Toy Story Woody and Jessie (pull string dolls). We also had the family over for a morning tea party - Uncle David & Auntie Gaye, Cousins Elizabeth, Michael, Jennifer, Matthew and Evan. Lots of fun for all and more presents.
When they left, David had a sleep and we watched the AFL grand final - Geelong won it at a canter.
Sunday morning I took him out for a long, long three hour walk, to let Daddy have some quiet time with the flu. Two playgrounds later, we came home for lunch and David was exhausted (after 3 big days) and slept the whole afternoon. Paul felt lousy.
Monday was a public holiday and a quiet day for us all, but we did get out for a walk. David is fine, but Paul & my cough had really set in by Monday. Lots of fun, as David didn't want to sit in the pram, but wanted to walk everywhere but home, and then lunch and then a sleep.
So that is probably enough for now. I will add photos later.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The last week or so

Saturday, May 19, 2007
Another catch up


A few more things


Friday, May 11, 2007
Vocabulary


Visit to the Aquarium


I have included a photo of David looking at his favourite sharks.
It is David's second visit to the Aquarium, but my first. A really good trip - I was particularly impressed by the Murray/Darling River section with Murray cod and platypus, and the Barrier Reef section right at the end. The seals and sea lions were good, as was the oceanarium (with the big sharks!).
David had lots of fun running around in the walkways - luckily it wasn't too busy on a Friday morning. Once we were home he finally fell asleep and slept for over 3 hours, which gave me the opportunity to catch up on some work.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Developing

Teeth - David has 4 molars, and has cut his canine teeth too. This has gone reasonably well, without major issues (just lots of minor grumpiness).
Words - David has lots of new words. I lost a post several weeks ago where I tried to list his words. He has just had a vocabulary explosion - repeats all sorts of words that he hears, and works really hard on getting the diction right. He keeps saying a word, until you acknowledge it (and get it right). And he has a great memory. Erin thought that he was being a bit silly on Thursday - he was saying "Gracie, Barking". Erin thought that he meant Gracie (and Liam) who are children he plays with often now, as Erin knows their nanny Zoe. When he said it to me and I told Erin he meant Matthew's (and Jennifer and Michael's) dog, Gracie - and she does bark a lot! He remembers the recent visit to Matthew, and that Matthew let him ride on his bike and play with his toys, including a screwdriver. I have included a couple of photos of Matthew and David taken at our place on an earlier visit.

At last, another post!

Once we left the Museum, David was so tired, he fell asleep in the pram and we went for a quick lunch, in absolute peace and quiet.
We came into the city on the Light Rail (or tram) and returned the same way. David also loved the train ride. All in all, a marvelous outing, enjoyed by all.

Monday, March 12, 2007
Bikes




Wednesday, February 14, 2007
More photos from January

The next one is David, Katie, Erin and Gran all walking up to the local shop to buy cream (they didn't have any) and a very good time was had by all. Absolutely no pram or pusher involved!

The last is just before Christmas - David and Katie playing on David's rocking snail. Lots of fun. Apparently today there were a few tears over this. David and Katie were learning to SHARE - David had to share his snail, and Katie had to share the (David's) Hungry Hippo, which she apparently thinks is hers. David doesn't play with the Hippo very much. David had to sit on the mat for pushing, and Katie had a second day with periods sitting on the mat to learn not to bite David. Just lovely! They do actually get on very well - very excited to see each other and they enjoy playing together, but we are still establishing ground rules. As I have mentioned before, I think babies are a lot like puppies, just more complex and expensive.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Recent Photos

Well, a short post with some recent photos. David in his new toybox - we already need a second one! This was taken at Christmas and you can see the tree in the playpen (for safety) in the background.


Thursday, January 18, 2007
Wow, Christmas went so fast....
We went to see the Sydney Haselhurst cousins at the traditional Haselhurst Christmas Eve get together - David had a wonderful time. Particularly getting in the cupboard under the stairs and getting bounced down the stairs with cousin Patrick!
On Christmas Day itself, we had the full deal this year - ham, turkey, cherries and pudding! Even Christmas Crackers. David of course wouldn't eat ham or turkey but loved the cherries, mangos, and all the other fruit. David had beans for Christmas lunch (calling out 'beans' when throwing the little piece of ham on the floor). We ate late, because opening presents and having breakfast shouldn't be rushed. David had so many presents that we staggered it a little - opening them in stages and keeping a few for the following days. Lots of books, a blue sit-on hippo, peekablocks and roll arounds, a wooden puzzle, animal jigsaws, a duplo zoo (which we gave him properly after he had been to the zoo - see below). He also received a soft foam fold out Spiderman sofa from Gran. Theoretically he also received his pine table and chairs for Christmas, but he has been enjoying them now for a few months - now stacked up with books. He and Katie also eat their morning tea at the table and chairs, when they are not squashing onto one chair together.
To be honest though, the favourite thing would have to be the computer mouse Paul gave David - he learnt to say 'mouse' really quickly (he calls out for it) and carries it around and pushes it on the carpet or floor like a car, or uses the wheel on it on the table or drapes it around his neck - you get the idea. It hasn't stopped him being obsessed with the computer and real mouse on the office desk though.
It was a cool, drizzly Christmas, with heavy rain the couple of days before. Unfortuately not enough to break the drought, but east of the Dividing Range actually got some good rain. Melbourne has had very hot weather off and on since Christmas and more and more bushfires. Everywhere is short (or desperately short) of water. You wouldn't know it here though - the rain and warm weather has made all the grass and weeds shoot up.
Paul and David had a quality Boxing Day together and I went into the sales in the City. I went early and by early afternoon, the City was practically heaving with people. I managed to get two pairs of trousers, after a lot of looking - so I did very well! In the intervening couple of weeks we have picked up a few things - and David has new clothes. He also has his first belt - just a simple webbing belt in blue. I may have already mentioned that he loves getting Paul's belt in the morning and carrying it around. He is quite excited about having his own!
I have made you wait for the most exciting news though - we all went to the Zoo on Friday 29 December. It was a coolish day again, with a lovely breeze off the harbour. We went in the morning for approximately four hours and it was wonderful. David saw all his favourites - the lions, tigers, giraffe, zebra, chimpanzees and the marvelous young elephants (eating and swimming in their pond). Because it was an overcast day, lots of animals were quite active - we saw five echidna walking around (more than I have ever seen before!) koalas awake, kangaroos hopping, tigers having a play around, lots of birds in the walk through aviaries and much much more. The intersting thing was how David recognised animals from the pictures in his books - he made "Raah!" noises at the lions and tigers (like every other child there) and squeeky monkey noises when he saw the chimps. He couldn't get over how big the animals were - he now has a sign (where he raises his arms as high as possible) for BIG which he uses for elephants and giraffes. I had forgotten just how big the lions and tigers actually are. Nothing seemed to scare him though. He was so tired that he fell asleep in the car before we had left the parking spot - and slept for four hours.
We didn't do anything for New Year's Eve as David didn't actually sleep that day - 15 minutes doesn't count. We finally got him to sleep at about 7.30pm and Paul and I were exhausted by that stage. Paul and I watched the partial fireworks from our balcony and had a toast to each other.
My mum Jan arrived for a visit on 3 January and David and I have been spending some time with Gran. David has been spending more time, because I went back to work on Monday 8 January. David, Erin and Jan have been to the Aquarium to see the fish. It sounds as though that was almost as good as the zoo - He touched a starfish and loved seeing all the sharks and turtles. Only one penguin though. David now says 'fish', "Turtle" and 'shark' really clearly - and 'star'for starfish. He has a photo of a shark in one of his books and he gets really excited when he looks for and finds the photo.
Despite the cool weather we have been swimming a couple of times and I am getting back into the swim of it for myself. David, Jan and I went to the pool so that she could see David in the water, and Jan also came along for David's swimming lesson last Saturday. The break seems to have done him good - his kicking is much improved. He seems to prefer the toddler/wading pool though, where he can stand as well as kick along. We spent extra time in the toddler pool after his lesson on Saturday because David wanted to, and perhaps he swallowed a bit of pool water, because he had a vomiting attack at tea time on Saturday night. He was miserable, and after the third or fourth vomit, got upset. He fell asleep exhausted eventually and was a lot better when he woke up an hour or so later. We got him to bed around 10.30pm. Lots of clothes, his and ours, to wash! David was lethargic on Sunday but just about back to normal on Monday. No other symptoms, so we are just taking it as an upset tummy.
Other new words are bucket, up, 'get down' (rather than just 'down'), buckle and he is saying 'Da' for David. He is also saying 'daddy' and mummy' rather than dada and mumma, so it is all changing all the time. That is probably enough for now. Photos another time!