Some of Sydney's Last Moments

If there's one thing we'll all miss about Sydney, it's buying and eating mangoes by the tray.

Lily's Little Tricks

So Lily is walking like crazy these days. If something is more than a few seconds crawl away, she'll walk. But she's still kinda delighted in the act of walking. She gets a buzz out of just wandering around the room, and then wandering back again. Lovely.

Though blurry, here she is with two of her favourite accoutrements: Oliver (her teddy), and the blanky teddy.


Just in the last couple of days we've noticed that Lily loves, and is extremely good at, drawing. She holds the crayon really well, she loves changing colours, and she manages pretty careful control of the crayon, too.


(By the way, that's her I like my picture being taken, but I don't like the flash smile).

Creations

I'm continually astounded by the way Noah's little mind works. Just speechless at times. He loves recognising patterns, matching colours even across different shades, he's learned to use the word 'similar'...

Here's a little creation he made when Kate left him to play by himself with Lego. Tetris power!


For obvious reasons, the shape of a cross is something Noah's learned to recognise all over the place. But next time your kid runs from the kitchen with a packet of fettucine in hand, you'll know what you're going to be facing.


At other times, he just plays it cool wearing mum's sunnies.

Horsing Around Together

The kids still love knocking around together. In fact, increasingly, Noah speaks of himself and Lily as an 'us'. Phrases like, 'Show us what you're doing!', 'Can we have some?' They're joining forces :)






Increasingly, Lily is able to manage a bowl on her own (rather than just an item or two on her tray). But Noah still loves being 'the feeder' for those times she's not allowed a whole bowl. He sits next to Lil' at the table, and whenever she's out of supplies, he hands her some more.

Lily eats three Weet Bix for breakfast. She'd eat more, but we've gotta stop somewhere.

Walking, and its Hazards

Lily has been in walk-training.


So far she's up to 26 steps; it's her record. Increasingly, walking is the way to get from A-to-B. Crawling is falling out of favour.

But she also likes climbing.




Don't worry, she knows how to get down.


Sometimes Lil' likes to walk to her favourite brother.

Lily is One!

Lily's first birthday!

Celebrations were spread over several events. First was early morning present-opening.


Thankfully big brother was on hand to help out whenever her enthusiasm waned. But Lily got the hang of it pretty quickly.



Afternoon tea saw Lily make her first foray into chocolate cake eating. It was as if she'd discovered a whole new way of looking at the world. Curiously, she ate the cake with her index finger, digging into it--icing first--like a little excavator!


But on the weekend was Lily's party. And that means there was more cake...
-
more presents...


and more mess :)



Happy birthday Lily!

Fun happenings

Eating lip gloss fun.
Lily had her first play in mummy's girl-stuff. Noah had loosened the lid earlier, so it was all too tempting I think. Lip gloss all over hands and face, and not much left for mum to use!


Climbing in box fun.
Lily is somewhat obsessed with climbing in boxes. Despite this one in their bedroom usually being full of books, she always manages to fit in there!



Beanie fun.
There hasn't been much cold weather in Sydney, but there was opportunity quite recently for dad and the kids to wear their stripy beanies - good preparation for Hobart! (Thanks to Na-na and Pa-pa for Noah and Lily's!)

Animal fun.
College held it's annual Spring festival a week ago. The farm animals were very popular - it's so lovely that all the kids could experience goats, rabbits, sheep, chickens and ducks even in busy Newtown.




Cafe fun.
This day we shared some brekkie in the college holidays. Some people have asked how we can handle having kids at cafes - surely it's just too hard? But if you train them from birth, they'll learn to love it to :)


Sandpit fun.
There is so much to do in sandpits... making cakes, digging holes, and Lily no longer eats it but enjoys burying her feet and hands instead.


Climbing fun.
Noah has really progressed in his adventuring skills - this day he amazed us with conquering all climbing equipment in sight. That's what comes with being 3 I guess. Or as he'd say 'yeah, because I'm a big boy'.


Slide fun.
It was a strangely slow slide, which is probably why it was such a hit with Lil - and also because Noah and Lily were playing 'chasings' at the time.

Couch fun.
Noah and Lily love to sit together on their little couch. This was after both kids had had a sleep when Noah was watching some tellie, and Noah put his arm around Lily while she sat with a drink. I love watching them together - so cute!

Balance

Lily's balance is getting seriously good. She can stand for quite a while, unsupported, now. Sometimes, as she stands, she gradually collapses into a squatting position - still upright, though.

But balance is handy for horsey rides, too.



These two are doing heaps together now :)

Loving Swimming

The kids loved our recent trip to the pool. Noah loves the strong current in the whirlpool-y bit of the kids pool. He's not a fan of the big fountains that spray water into the air, though.


Lily rather enjoyed the little jets of water that bubble up out of the paddling pool. In fact, she liked them enough to crawl straight through one - she emerged a little startled and with a very wet head.


While Nana was in town we ducked over to the zoo again. Noah, like his dad, loves the big cats; but, as always, they were lying very still. Lily likes the mere cats; they were up to their usual antics.


Lil's got a few new threads recently, too.


Before long she'll be needing a whole new wardrobe of warm jumpers. Brrrr. But not just yet.

New Do, Test-Driven

Noah had his hair cut today.

So far, we've discovered that his new haircut goes quite well with happy faces...


...and with angry faces, too.


Ok, so his hair is actually a bit out of control in these photos. But that's totally normal. The thing is it's heaps shorter now, which is nice :)

Three

Last week was Noah's third birthday party, in the park. He had a blast. Heaps of pals. Lots of fun games. Piles of presents. Mountains of party food. A lovely day. Thanks so much for everyone who made it to celebrate with us.


Heaps of Noah's pals were there to celebrate with him and play games. The hit was definitely the egg-and-spoon race. Ridiculously funny.


The cake, in fact the theme for the party, was a race car.


Decorating it was the usual ordeal. But it was seriously yummy for a kids birthday cake. The recipe was Bill's, the icing was a white chocolate number--delicious, but comparatively tricky to work with.


The day of Noah's actual birthday, however, was celebrated with pancakes.


Ever since, he's been donning his Superman suit as often as possible. It's kinda nice having a super hero around.


Lily, of course, doesn't have a very acute a sense of ownership, so new toys are new toys for her. She particularly likes Noah's Duplo.


Her new jammies are very cute, too. Don't you think?