Kangaroo Valley

We've just returned from a fantastic four day holiday in Kangaroo Valley. We were there to attend the wedding of our friends Emma and Dave, and as the majority of our friends were also going to be there for the Easter weekend, we decided to make a real holiday out of it. We rented a house with Johnny, Meg, their baby Rose, and another friend Michaela. Being out of the city and in the country with fresh air and room to run around was revitalising. Add to the mix, great friends, plenty of wine, a wedding to celebrate, and more fun times with friends and wine - everyone came home happy.

Wedding - Michael and Milly.



Wedding - Henry and Allegra.

Wedding - Henry blowing bubbles.

Wedding - Family photo.

Wedding - Milly enjoyed her first party.


Holiday house - Milly, Henry, and Rose share some bath bubbles.

Holiday house - Milly enjoying a good dribble on Michael.

Holiday house - No, he's not weeing in the pool. He just can't keep his hands off it!

Holiday house - Look who's standing.

Access all areas

Since ditching the nappies, Henry now has easy access to his body and has developed a fascination with certain body parts. His first discovery was what all males discover about themselves and develop a life long obsession with. Just recently he has found his nipples and likes to lift up his t-shirt and twiddle them for a while. Milly, on the other hand, has discovered her nose and that her fingers fit up it just nicely.

After an afternoon tea of peaches, Henry takes Milly on a joy ride.

Milly squealing with delight during a game of peek-a-boo (check out her teeth).

Henry, Milly and Corey enjoying some grapes.

Firsts

At 10 months of age, Milly finally has her first tooth. It arrived with the usual drama whenever Milly is uncomfortable or not getting her way, so yes there were some tears. She has also just started crawling on her hands and knees, and pulling herself up to her knees. It won’t be long and she’ll be standing.

She is a typical Bartley/Hobson, ie she loves to eat. In fact she is the happiest when she has something in her hand she can munch on. She can also be a stubborn little girl when it comes to dinner time. She isn’t interested in baby food anymore. When she sits in her high chair at the dining table with the rest of us, she won’t eat unless it is exactly the same food we are eating.

Henry is enjoying his little sister. He is a great big brother to her. They have their bath together, splashing and squealing at each other. Henry takes her down the slide at the playground sitting on his lap. Milly likes to play with whatever Henry is playing with and Henry is already clued in to distracting her with other toys when he sees her crawling towards something he doesn’t want to share.

From the mouths of babes...

On the weekend, during a game of hunting for monsters the following conversation took place:

"Get your knockers out Mum Mum," said Henry.

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"Get your big one out," he countered.

"What!" I answer.

"Get your knocks Mum Mum," Henry says again and points to the top of the bookcase.

It is then I realise that Henry is not asking me to flash him. He wants me to get the binoculars down from the bookshelf to assist us in the monster hunt.

Circus

Michael’s work hosted an onsite kid’s day last week. It had a circus theme and there were magicians, a jumping castle, face painting, cupcake decorating, and a balloonist. There were clowns teaching kids how to walk on stilts, juggle, spin plates, and do tightrope walking. We never really have anything positive to say about IBM, but the GPTW committee (ie Great Place To Work – don’t laugh, yes it is really called that) do organise good stuff for the employees families. There was free food for all and Henry got to taste his first fairy floss. Another first for our boy Henry was wetting his pants on the jumping castle.

For the kids it was a fun day getting to see where Dadda’s desk was and meet the people he worked with. But after a few hours of being in a confined space loaded with sugar it became a bit too much and we headed home.

On the weekend, Henry attended a birthday party. Despite there being plenty of chips, chocolate crackles, fairy bread, sandwiches and birthday cake, Henry was really only interested in the fruit platter.

And finally, Michael got a pasta maker for Christmas. Here is Henry helping Dadda make pasta.

Tornado Milly and a Manicure

Miss Milly has gone from a beached whale to a real mover. Up until just before Christmas she was happy just lying about, occassionally rolling from side to side or onto her tummy. Then a few days before Christmas she started really rolling and spinning herself around the floor. Now four weeks on she is sitting up and slowly commando crawling to anything of interest on the floor. I don't have to put the security gates back up yet, but it is funny to plonk her down in one spot only to find her 'missing in action' having rolled, pushed and pulled herself to a new location. We only have a small flat, but I do find myself asking Henry every now and then "Where's Milly?", only to find her half lodged under the lounge. Although really it's not that hard to find her - she leaves a trail of destruction in her wake.

Milly is also an incredibly messy eater. A good eater, but a messy one. I used to put bibs on her but have since given up as it makes no difference. She goes through a couple of clothes changes a day.

All in all, Milly is going well. She is a great sleeper, is getting less of a cranky pants, loves the outdoors and going for walks, and especially loves banging things and ripping paper. When she gets whingey or cranky, nothing cheers her up more than having bubbles blown around her.

As for Henry, he is simply magic. His girlfriend Allegra came over for a play and she brought with her nail polish she got for Christmas. She painted Henry's nails and he got to return the favour.

We are still toilet training, which has had it's ups and downs, but we are getting there. He now wears underpants during the day and only has a nappy for when he sleeps. He goes to the toilet on his own when he needs to do a wee, and calls for help when he needs to sit.

So what of me and Michael? Well, Michael didn't have any time off over Christmas, so he is just busy working. As for me, January in Australia is tennis season. So I'm glad to not be working and able to watch the tennis (inbetween entertaining the kids of course).

Joy to the World ... is our kids at Christmas

Joining us this Christmas were Nanoo, Corin (aka Uncle Monsieur) and Yin. I love the way we celebrate Christmas. It all starts with the stockings first thing in the morning. Henry was very pleased his stocking contained his most coveted present - a chocolate Santa. We followed stockings with a champagne breakfast, which this year coincided with a visit from Santa himself. At first, Milly wasn't too sure of Santa but cheered up when she realised she could play and tug at his beard.

Next we all sit around the Christmas tree ready to receive our gifts with Corin acting as the present hander-outerer. This year Henry was his eager little helper. One at a time we all take turns in opening a present so we can all "ooh" and "aah" at everyone's booty. It was nice to see Henry enjoying being a gift giver and having fun watching others getting presents, instead of just wanting all the presents to himself. He is our little angel. Milly wasn't too sure what was going on but she was in heaven with all the paper to play with, rip up and slobber on.

By late morning, Henry had exhausted himself with opening presents that he refused to open anymore and left a few unopened under the tree. He just wanted to play with what he had and play he did. The poor lad was nackered and got a bit upset when it was time for his midday nap.

With the kids in bed it was time for us adults to relax and have lunch and get stuck into the wine.

Post-lunch we are stuffed. Henry gets up from his nap and opens the last of his presents. It's time to play again.

With the day coming to an end I survey our lounge room - it looks trashed. We have been hit by a Christmas torneado. Wrapping paper, boxes, presents everywhere. Looking at the amount of gifts the kids get I start to wonder where the hell we are going to put it all in our small flat.

And now with Christmas over, Henry has started pretending he is Santa. He puts on his Santa hat and says "Hello Mum. Present?". He then gets one of his toys and gives it to me as a present from Santa. Yes, he is our little angel.

Ho Ho Come?

Christmas is great for kids. I remember loving the anticipation of Christmas morning. I would go to bed early on Christmas Eve (it had to always be before midnight, otherwise Santa wouldn't come - this is something I still do) excited about getting my stocking and eating all the chocolates and lollies in it. I would wake my brother Corin, or he would wake me, and we would compare stockings. Then we would race out to the lounge room and look under the tree at all the different sized presents. We would never open them straight away, instead we would wait for Mum and Dad to get up. When we could wait no longer we would wake them ourselves to get the day rolling.

Now with children of my own, this year I am loving watching Henry enjoy Christmas. This is the first year he really understands what's going on. His and Milly's stockings are hanging up in their bedroom, the tree is up and Henry likes to turn the tree lights on, the two Playgroups he attends have both had Christmas parties, he met Santa at Luna Park when Michael's work held its annual kids Christmas do, we've been to a Carols night in Manly, and now whenever a present is put under the tree Henry asks "Ho Ho Come?".

So when Ho Ho does eventually come, I'm not sure who will be more excited - Henry or me.

Milly at Playgroup.

Henry stroking a baby chicken at Playgroup.

Resembling a little old lady on the bus, here is Milly clutching onto her Santa bag courtesy of the kids Christmas party at Luna Park - an annual party held by Michael's work.

The Snip

Michael has cut Henry's hair. Goodbye Goldilocks. Hello young Master Henry. No more sweaty head, or brushing hair out of his eyes. No more being mistaken for a girl at the playground. No more tears when it comes combing out tangles. No more cutie pie. Henry now looks like a little boy rather than a toddler. Suddenly he seems more grown up. It's only been two days since "the snip" and still I look at him and wonder who the stranger is in our home. I don't recognise him.

Oh yeah, I got a my hair cut to (and no, Michael didn't do it).

Holiday Heaven

The recipe for a fantastic holiday: sunny weather everyday (tick); over indulging in great food and wine (tick); grandparents minding the kids (tick); Milly sleeping through the night (tick). Yep, our holiday in Coffs Harbour was just what we needed to recharge our batteries.

Henry had a great time jumping into the pool, over and over and over and over and over and over again. Milly enjoyed herself as much as a 7 month old can. She was happiest when given a piece of paper to rip apart. Her sleeping at night improved and she and Henry now officially share a bedroom after successfully doing so on holiday.

Other big news for those of you interested in children’s milestones – Henry did his first poo in the toilet and he celebrated by eating an ice cream.

Getting away

We are going on holiday next week. We’ll be travelling north to visit our parents but also to spend some quality time away with Henry and Milly. Before having kids I used to plan holidays in locations where we could have some adventure or do a lot of sightseeing. Now all I want is to holiday in a tropical resort, laying by a pool or on the beach with someone else responsible for the kids. This holiday won’t quite be like that, but I’m just happy to be getting out of Sydney.

4:44

I'm living in Groundhog Day. This past week I've been waking or been woken at the same time. When I look at the clock it reads 4:44. It has even happened in the afternoon. My days have become fairly routine. They centre on Milly's sleeps and activities for Henry. Not much me time, which I'm starting to miss.

Some good news - I'm back on the chocolate. I've been gorging myself. No small pieces of chocolate for me. No, give me a family-size block and I'm away. Only problem is both Michael and Henry can sniff out chocolate from miles away and I've had to share.

Henry has started taking an interest in Milly. He insists on helping us feed her and he is now game enough to give her a hug or an eskimo kiss. Milly adores Henry. She watches everything he does and always has a smile for him or a laugh.

A big boy gets his big bed

Yes, Operation 'Henry in a big bed' is now a success. After many weekends spent shopping for a perfect bed for our perfect boy, we finally got it all together and now Henry is happily sleeping in his big bed. Amazingly, he's only fallen out twice. His cot remains in his room as we hope to move Milly in with him as soon as she starts sleeping through the night (please let it be soon).

We've had a couple of goes at introducing Milly to food. Some attempts have seen her grab at the spoon and have a good lick, most attempts have seen her not interested, so we will start again when she turns six months in two weeks. She's certainly not like Henry who grasped the total concept of food from the word go and hasn't looked back. Milly prefers mother's milk to anything else on offer.

Weekend away

We’ve just had a wonderful and relaxing weekend visiting Nanoo. It was Milly’s first trip away and she travelled ok for the two hour car journey. She didn’t sleep that well in the car, unlike Henry who pretty much falls asleep on car trips longer than 30 minutes. Other than that she was happy enough with the change of scenery and routine.

Henry was every excited to be visiting Nanoo and he spent the whole weekend following her and wanting to help whatever she was doing. They had a great time together gardening, making a wooden boat to float on the lake, drilling holes for some DIY home renovations, flying a kite, and visiting the local library.

Thank you Nanoo for having us visit. It was a relaxing time for me and Michael and an exhausting one for you (but you loved every minute of it).