This week saw us take a trip down to Canberra for a few days to spend time with some friends. Before we made that trip, though, we saw him do a great job negotiating what he was going to have for dessert:
We weren’t coaching him on counting up to three on his fingers, this was just something he put together himself. He prevailed – we gave him all three types of fruit (watermelon, rockmelon and strawberries), and he ate most of them.
At the prospect of playing a game on the Wii Fit Plus, he was pretty excited: in the early stages of playing the chicken / bulls-eye game, he was flapping with a lot of energy.
A present from Uncle M was a toy we’re calling “Army Bear”. It’s taken a little time for him to get comfortable with this bear, but he’s pretty happy with him now.
Once we reached Canberra and checked into our hotel (the high point for him was certainly pressing the buttons in the lift), and settled in, we gave him the chance to watch a couple of videos on Dad’s phone. He was quite happy just sitting on the edge of the bed watching these videos for quite a while: we feel a bit guilty letting him spend time watching videos (shouldn’t we be encouraging him to read), but it was a good way to postpone stir-craziness.
Having caught up with our friends for dinner on Saturday night, and for lunch on Sunday, and having tried church in the morning, we thought it might be time to try the hotel’s local delicacy, so we queued up for Schnitzel. Puff had the kid’s meal schnitzel, and had a pretty good go at it.
On Monday it was a public holiday in Canberra. Mum took Puff to see Floriade (but didn’t take a camera), and Dad went to catch up with an old uni friend, M, who took this photo of Puff and Dad. Puff is trying his first chocolate – a milk chocolate bear on a stick.
As we headed back to Sydney, we stopped in Goulburn to have lunch. Of course, Puff fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes before we made it to Goulburn, and stayed asleep for a couple of hours. Lastly, on the way back to Sydney, we stopped in Bowral so that Puff could have a late lunch.
What else could I mention?
* Puff had a great time playing with 4yo J, and 1yo N down in Canberra
* When playing at a rest stop in Goulburn, there was a climbing-train for kids to play on: Puff mostly climbed onto the train, and then sat on a seat and looked out the window.
* Puff managed to sleep on a friend’s bed, not in his cot, for the first time (it took Mum some serious coaxing, though).
* When Aunt S read him a story from Busy, Busy world about a detective named “Sneef”. He has since decided that this is the funniest word in the world, and we’ve spent a lot of time this week laughing about it.
* He can say “sibilant says S” and “dental fricative says th” as a result of a friend’s tweeting about phonetics, and Dad’s curiosity
* He was referring to the spa bath as a “space bath” until we set him straight.
Holidaying with a 2 year old in two is certainly not the same as holidaying as a married couple – there’s a lot of extra time spent packing and unpacking, and not as much (if any) time spent reading and relaxing.
The extra insights into the world that are brought about by looking through his eyes make it worthwhile. His excitement at pressing the buttons on the elevator, bringing joy to other people by smiling and talking to them; his good manners: – it’s a joy to be his Dad.