More Festivus and a “Happy” New Year

We like to spread out the holidays and spent New Year’s Eve opening the rest of the gifts. Lilly got some legos so that takes up a majority of the day. Adlai got a hat. I know, how exciting. That wasn’t the only thing he got, I promise.

We had planned to head to the city for the family fireworks. But, some young child did not cooperate and was very tired. So she went to bed early and we stayed in. Seth and I welcomed the New Year playing video games.

Before the tiredness overpowered her brain:

The Bestest Show

Seth and Lilly went to see Charlie and Lola – Live. Lilly loves Charlie and Lola books and videos. You may recall one day she won a contest for best Charlie/Lola Brother/Sister combo with a complete stranger at a book store in the city. When they came out the only thing Lilly could talk about . . .

the magician that performed at the end of the show. Nice. Seth on the other hand kept talking about how clever the show was. At least someone paid attention.

Seth did sneak a picture or two but with our point and shoot camera nothing came out over the top easy to see.

Happy Festivus!

Lilly’s gift was unwrappable (which I understand is not really a word, but go with it).

I’m not sure if she likes it.

But she won’t let me sit in it.

Just kidding! Sher really likes it.

But she still doesn't let me sit in it.

Playing With the Lights

I was messing with our garland and decided a wrapped Lilly is a fun Lilly.

She went along with it for a few minutes as long as I took her picture with the tree.

She took some great pictures so I took her picture with the tree.

I'm good like that.

Santa Visits Australia

My mom got the family cute stockings. I didn't get pictures of all of them. Maybe I'll take a picture of one each year.

Anyway, Santa brought everyone some gifts in their stockings and the kids also had one under the tree. My favorite had to have been Seth's lego set. A bank robber and police officer. Loved it!

A Child's Point of View

You might ask what I was thinking and why on earth would I put a pair of leggin's in front of our tree. It was all Lilly, I swear. And she apparently has my train of thought because when I asked her WHY?, this is what she said.

"Well, I need to put a stocking out and you always put a big sock. And you put soccer socks out last year and I used my soccer socks. Although the year before I probably borrowed yours. I can't find my soccer sock so I was thinking of something big and I thought the only other thing I would have is my stockings. But I couldn't find a pair so this was what I thought I could use anyway."

Really, I think she was trying to get Santa to fill both legs up. I don't think she was thinking that without feet everything would just drop through and be eaten by a reindeer.

We Are Close to a Holiday

I don't know that I've ever really taken a picture of our Christmas tree. But this year, I figured it had to be done. Plus, if the smallest child pulls it over and I have to put it away sooner than later, I'll at least have had pictures of it being up in the first place.

We found a Santa hat and Lilly insisted on a picture with it.

She found a pen and wanted her picture with that one, too.

That pen was broken about 7 minutes later. And don't ask about the look on her face because I just don't know.

An uninterested youngster:

Or maybe just a youngster pretending not to care about all the pretty, sparkly decorations.
And the finished product:

9 Months!

Today also happened to be Lilly’s last day of school. Boy was she excited! I got a picture of her with her teacher but I’m not sure about posting it. I will hopefully get more pictures of her throughout the summer holiday so you can see how much she has grown this past year. She is now considered in Grade 1 and we already know who her teacher is.

And here's the un-birthday boy at 9 months:

With the bear that he doesn't really make eye contact with:

He's a happy boy during the day with many chins from eating so much in the middle of the night:

Serious side:

A boy and his monkey:

Tricks – he still claps and rolls, one way. He likes to pull himself up to stand. Not crawling but looks like he is gearing up for it. Hopefully the Christmas tree isn’t his first target.

I know, I still have one of those awesome, awesome 'cots' with the slide down rail that have been banned in the states. [Shout out to cuz'n Emily, cause it rocks.] And yes, my kid is standing while the rail is down. I was totally watching him and making sure he didn't do a head dive (through the camera, of course). Besides, once Lilly did a dive out of that thing over the side and she is just fine. Mostly.

Let's Throw in Some Cuteness

I can't help taking pictures of the little guy. He gives me a real smile when I bring out the camera. Don't you want to just squeeze his squishy cheeks?


And he can blow, like he blowing hot food. Although every once in a while he whistles and he startles himself. I love it!

Another Author!

Ever read Diary of a Wombat? We have and love it. So of course we were going to go see author Jackie French when she came to a local bookstore.

Adlai enjoyed listening to the stories.

And Jackie told the best stories about a little wombat that had made herself welcome in Jackie's house.

We took one of Lilly's best friends and they had a blast. We did check out the windows with the Christmas displays but at 10:00 in the morning, I didn't want to stand in line for to get a good picture.

Rock Star Jr.

After watching all the drummers bang on their kits, Adlai has taken up his own sticks. He has made his choice. But I'll change his mind before it's time for him to have lessons. There will be no drummers in our house. Says me.

Rock Star

In case you didn't know, Lilly is taking guitar lessons at school. Her school has an amazing music program and while they don't have band in the sense of a band that I belonged to, they do have several other bands. Like a rock band. And a percussion band. And a marimba band. It's a lot of fun and the kids think it is stellar.

So Lilly takes guitar lessons and at the end of the year, they have a jam session. Or a school concert. Or a music recital. Lilly got up in front of parents and other music students and played for about 30 seconds.

[Please ignore the fact that she is wearing her runners and her hair is slightly out of control. I'm chalking it up to a long, long day.]

What killed me is that she played a song that she hadn't been practicing all that much. And yet she still went up with a lot of confidence and did well with it. Look, she even has a smile on her face!

I Take it Back!

I've listened/watched the video from yesterday over again and I'm so embarrassed about my voice. And the fact that I speak to my adorable son like he's a dog. If you happen to go back and watch it again, please mute the video. Thanks.

Drum Roll Please

After 8 months 1 week and 3 days-ish, Adlai has decided to do more than just sit around. He rolls! So it’s in one direction and just from his belly to his back. Whatever. He’s very cute when he does it. Says me.

Something Good for the New Month

Adlai figured he might as well throw in a bit of fussiness this week. His top two teeth are pushing in. Not really fussy. Who am I kidding? He woke up a couple extra times the last two nights. That’s it. He’s fine during the day. He’s an easy kid. I’m worried he’s saving up for something.

Adlai Does the Zoo

I tried to get some cool shots with the seals. But I’m not too good with a camera.

It’s either a fuzzy seal in the background.

Or a cute kid in the foreground.

Never mind, here he is with a cement frog.

I can do that one.

Thanksgiving Down Under

I don't have a single picture. I was slaving away all day and night. Well, not really but I was pretty busy. The set up of our new house is such that I can be in the kitchen and have a conversation with the people that are watching football in our "living room". It works out well on days like this.

Anyway, we had two other families over plus one of Seth's co-workers who is from the US. In total we had 7 adults, 5 girls under the age of 6 and 2 boys under the age of 9 months. It was loud yet fun.

The food rocked. The turkey was awesome. And the company was absolutely lovely. I'll have to see if I can get a picture of the 7 kg turkey. It was something to write home about.

8 Months!

Still 2 teeth. Claps like a champion. Sits like a warrior. Uses pinchy fingers to pick things up. If I had to change one thing . . . it would be that he slept through the night. Like he used to.

And maybe he shouldn't smile so much. He looks far to happy.

I'm outta here . . .

Goodbye, Hospital!

Last appointment at the hospital for Lilly’s arm. We are given the thumbs up for all activities. Until the regular doctor sees Lilly and says “I would keep her off the monkey bars for another 2-3 . . .

[I’m thinking, really 2-3 weeks? This kid is itchin’ to play on the bars at school with all the other kids.]

months.”

Excuse me? Months? Really? She’s 5! You want me to go to school every day and monitor her play so she stays off the equipment. Not to mention Lilly’s eyes are welling up. I told him thank you and took her out. She just kept looking at me. Really, mom? I told her we’d discuss it later and to stay off the monkey bars today.

All is Well at 8 Months

Adlai had his 8 month check up and all looks good. He’s a small 20% in height and 25% in weight. And he just might be 75% in head size. Hmmm . . .

Again the midwife was pleased with Adlai’s excellent balance. The kid sits up for hours. Maybe not hours, he usually gets bored and flops himself backwards. The midwife was excited about his ability to clap. I’ve never seen someone so happy that a baby could clap (she said it was a 12 month skill). So of course she says “so he’s reached all his other milestones and he’s rolling around and doing some sort of crawl?”

Me: Um . . . Nope, this is all he does. Sits and claps.

Midwife: Oh.

Me: But look how well he can clap!

The kid just doesn’t care. Well, and we’ve been trying to get our house sorted. I haven’t really wanted him moving around because our house is just one big hazard. So really, we haven’t encouraged it. I guess he’s obliged to follow our lead on that one.