A rare photo

I've got a heap of photos and untold stories that I haven't had time to blog about. Now Henry has started school the normal routine we have been following has been replaced, and the days are now longer thanks to helping with homework and preparing for the next school day. Buster has also decided to drop his afternoon sleep on most days, so there goes another two hours a day I had up my sleeve.

Back in January it was my nephew's first birthday. We headed to Sydney, to the glorious Balmoral Beach for his birthday party celebration. No time here to post photos, but I did want to quickly post the pictures below. It is a rare moment when we can get someone else behind our camera to take our family photo.

A day in the life of Buster

Good morning.

Buster likes to start his day by throwing whatever is in his cot out. He also likes to stand and make enough noise to wake Henry up. It's lovely to see his cheeky, smiley face each morning.

Then its downstairs and into the kitchen to share some Cheerios with Henry, while I busy myself making breakfast.

With Milly now joining the morning crew, it is time for breakfast. Buster is out of his high chair and now joins his older siblings at "the kiddies table".

Another morning ritual - tipping his bottle all over the floor and feeling pretty pleased with himself about it.

After a morning nap it is playtime.

He's still not walking on his own yet but he is pretty fast on his legs with anything he can push.

He's also a bit of a climber. He loves going up our stairs, climbing on chairs to reach things, and getting to the top of his slide with no interest in sliding down it.

Making music or making noise.

Buster loves when Henry and Milly include him in their play.

Lunchtime at the dining table.

Buster is quite a thoughtful little lad. He likes to share his food.

Sometimes Henry and Milly move their playtime to the dining table where Buster is unable to take their toys. This doesn't stop him trying to be one of the gang.

At last he is allowed to join in the fun.

Well, until he dismantles Henry's block tower and makes off with the toys.

Dinner time.

Buster insists on feeding himself and he's pretty good at using cutlery and drinking from a cup.

The end of the day draws near. Some cuddles and quiet time with Dadda.

Bath time and it's a solo affair. Henry and Milly prefer not to have a bath with Buster because he crawls all over them. Sometimes I get in with Buster and he crawls all over me, but I love it.

A tired little man.

It's a final cuddle with me before I tuck him in.

First days of school

It seems like we have been waiting a long time and we know Henry has felt the long wait as well. Now, at last, he has started school.

There has been much excitement, mixed with a little nervousness leading up to the big day. Henry was very excited to have a uniform, school bag and lunchbox, but was a little nervous about the big unknown of what school life really means. Personally, I haven't been nervous at all - just excited. He could have started school last year, but we decided to wait another year to allow him to mature a little more and for his confidence in social situations to grow. The past seven months have seen Henry's personal development sky rocket and we couldn't be more proud of him.

So on Monday he had an appointment to have his Best Start Kindergarten Assessment. This is a one-on-one meeting at the school for them to find out each child's skills, experiences and strengths so they can tailor teaching to the individual child. The assessment goes for approx 40 minutes and all Kindergarten kids starting at Henry's school were given an appointment time on either Monday or Tuesday, they were then to commence school all together in classes on Wednesday.

Henry wanted to wear his school uniform to his assessment, even his tie. We met his teacher and she took him into his classroom and ran the assessment. I sat outside reading a book, happy to be inside a building with airconditioning (it has been sweltering here). His teacher, Mrs Quinnell, is lovely and we also found out Henry's best buddy from preschool, Sawyer, will also be in his class. Mrs Quinnell also said Henry did great in the assessment and he'll be reading in no time. So we headed home and waited two more sleeps.

Finally, Wednesday arrived. The big day. Henry decided he wouldn't wear his tie and he would only wear it on Mondays. The tie is actually part of the formal uniform (the school has four uniforms: summer, winter, sports and formal). Michael and I took him to the Kindergarten hall for enrolment and Henry hung his bag on a peg outside his classroom.




We said hello to Mrs Quinnell and she showed Henry some things to play with while he waited for the rest of his class to enrol and enter the classroom. Then it was goodbye. No tears, no fuss.

Later in the afternoon, I headed off to pick him up and chatted with some of the other parents also waiting for their kids to finish school. Finally, his teacher led the class out and we all hugged our kids. Some were smiling, some looked anxious, some looked tired and knackered. Henry was all of the forementioned but keen to get home and have a special treat. Mrs Quinnell announced that her class all had packs of home readers in their school bags. It then sunk in to me that school had started. There was to be no couple of days for the kids to get used to a new routine and school lessons. Henry had already been issued with homework - sounds to practice and a book to read and return the next day. The poor kid doesn't even understand yet that this will be five days a week for the next 13 years.

Henry and Alex.

Henry and Sawyer.