Category: week in review

Happy first birthday to Huff! And what a busy week it’s been. Sunday was Huff’s combined baptism and first birthday party: Mum and Dad were so busy prepping that there are hardly any photos to show for it. For her birthday, we had dinner at Grandma and Doc’s house, with the Grandragon, and Uncles Mark and Andrew, plus Aunty Sarah. First birthdays are funny – the person whose life is being celebrated is in the worst position to try and understand what’s going on, so it ends up being about the grown-ups.

But back to the party. Puff was very helpful in his efforts to complete the party bags for all the kids who came to the party.

The day before, Dad took Huff and Puff out (all by himself) to go to the markets, and then to go another set of shops for some last minute party ingredients. Puff had fun playing on the play equipment.

 

Huff was content (for the most part) to sit in the stroller and watch the world go by. It could be a while yet before she’s desperate to move around (although we’ve seen some evidence that she can crawl a little bit, backwards).

In fact, she’s been so good at staying where she was put that she was able to sit up on a table while we organised all the food for the party.

I really liked the way the light was illuminating her from behind: seemed appropriate given the nature of the day. Thanks to great grandragon for this bib, delivered just in time!

Puff has made spectacular progress on toilet training: here he is standing in front of his toilet training chart, with all its stickers.

It was also a week where the baby dragons started to try their hand at self-portraits. Here’s one of Puff. She has yet to master framing of photos.

And here is Puff’s effort: a much better understanding of the frame.

The highlight for this week was certainly the baptism – having so many friends and family around us as we made promises about how we were going to raise Huff, and our friends promised to help us out there, as we struggle along with God’s help. And the food – so much good food, and a chance to share it with a lot of people we haven’t seen in a while. It was a lot of prep work, but highly worth it. If you were one of the people who came along (or were praying for us), thank you very much.

What a week! With Australia Day falling on a Thursday, Dad took Friday off as a day of annual leave so that we had four days of family time to enjoy.

As you can tell, Huff was a big fan of having the extra time. While not always in a good mood, when she is happy, she smiles with her whole face, and even waves her hands and feet around as part of the expression of joy.

We had an Australia Day BBQ dinner with friends, and Huff had her favourite foods: sausages and corn. Don’t be fooled if she appears to be offering you food: she’s probably asking the name of the item that she’s holding.

Her hair is growing a little longer, but she’s still not a fan of being on her belly, so most of the photos we take are when she’s in an eating chair. There was a brief period of time this week where she was trying to crawl – backwards – but it was short-lived, and she was pretty unhappy the whole time.

Friday was a trip into the city for Dad and Puff. When told we would be catching a train, Puff misunderstood, thinking it would be a plane instead, and so asked if there would be cheese and crackers to eat on the way. Mum very kindly provided cheese and crackers for both Dad and Puff to eat on what turned out to be a crowded peak hour train.

We spent a bit more time this week having Puff get used to his bike. He’s still getting the hang of keeping his feet on the pedals, and having enough strength to move the bike from a standing start – he even had one moment where he tipped the bike over, despite its training wheels, but he’s getting better, and is still interested in trying. He’s tripped over a few times and grazed his knees, but it doesn’t seem to have dampened his enthusiasm for running around.

Puff continues to be helpful in the kitchen – here he is reaping the rewards.

And one other thing surprised us – after a while being reluctant to play in the water at a friend’s house, he ended up spending longer in the mini pool than anyone else (not to mention a healthy amount of time on the bouncing castle).

Other things we managed to fit into the week:

• a trip to Eveleigh markets (first for the year)
• a BBQ lunch at home with friends
• a couple of big days where we packed so much in that Puff couldn’t remember all the details!
• When Puff tripped over, and was upset in the car, Mum told him to take a deep breath so that he’d feel better, he said “Mum, the pain is quite unbearable”.

 

The countdown to the 1st birthday is well and truly on. Huff is unsettled this week – hopefully it’s something to do with teeth, so it will go away. The odd weather – have we really had a summer this year? – is playing havoc with Puff, who hasn’t been sleeping as well as we would hope. We’ve all but given up on allowing late nights unless a social occasion calls for it – preferring instead to provide opportunity for as many consecutive hours of sleep as possible.

The probable high-point for Huff this week has been the discovery of steamed corn. She eats it with incredible enthusiasm. Not sure where that comes from?

We’ve had a number of chances to take videos of her eating corn – it’s a sight to see, but perhaps not something to immortalise forever on the internet.

Puff has had a mixed week. Saturday we were all set to take his bike out in the morning for him to learn how to pedal, but just as we were ready to go out, it started to rain. We grabbed the umbrella instead and walked up to the video store, where we rented “Chicken Run”. He was really excited to pick out a video (even when his request “Can I have an ice cream for picking a video?” was denied – it seemed to early in the day to have ice cream), and told Dad about the chickens on the cover all the way home. Here he is waiting for the popcorn to cook.

Saturday afternoon was a nap, then we headed out to one of Mum’s cousins birthday parties, where Puff scored one of the table decoration sets of balloons – it’s still in his bedroom on his shelf a couple of days later.

Sadly, we’ve had some behaviour challenges with him this week: we’re putting it down to weather and lack of sleep, and hoping it improves.

Other things from this week:

• visit to M&I’s house for post-church lunch
• visit from uncle Mark

Puff had a taste of the pancakes that Puff cooked (see below) for them. As you can see, she was a happy customer.

Here she is wearing one of the party dresses she’s been given.

And here she’s trying out being a goalie – we’re hoping this gets easier as she gets used to moving around.

Huff looks spectacularly poorly balanced in a swing, but seems to enjoy sitting in it!

At our friend O’s first birthday party there were lots of presents.  Huff was happy to sit in the midst of the wrapping paper and play with whatever she could reach.

Puff’s reading continues to improve and amaze us (his addition and subtraction skills, too). He was reading this book mid-way through the week: we were trying out the idea of letting him read for a while before he has his bedtime story, bible story, prayers and bed. Dad was worried, when he came in, that it would be a struggle to get him to stop reading, but instead, he put the book straight down, and had the biggest grin on his face as he prepared to have a story read to him. A rewarding moment.

Mum taught Puff a new skill this week – cooking pancakes!

Here’s Puff immediately after his long-overdue haircut.

An attempt at a father-son breakfast on a rainy Sunday morning didn’t quite lead to a nutritious breakfast, but Puff had fun.

Dad was trying to teach Puff and Huff a little about cricket, but the lesson started so late that the match didn’t last long enough for Puff to learn anything but “duck”

Another week of dining out, visiting, and playing. We had a look at a new play centre (though it was too late at night to actually go there), and a pleasant dinner out. Huff is still a big fan of watching her face on the camera – it’s a reliable way of seeing some big grins.

A surprise visit from the family for a workday lunch was a lot of fun. Visiting a cafe with a kid each is a challenge, but it’s worth it.

Friday night we headed down to Wollongong to see Aunty C and Uncle J. Puff had a great time. This photo was a bit staged, but he was genuinely excited at the prospect.

Dad had a great time taking Puff for on the rides. Here they are, about to start on the dodgem cars. Many of the other drivers were terrible, but we managed to avoid most of the spectacular collisions.

The kid rides are much slower and safer than I remember them. Puff, who can be reticent about such things, had a great time.

We had a few breakthroughs with Huff. She’s happy to stay on her tummy, to roll and play around for a while, and in general to play just a little bit further away from Mum and Dad. She’s also making progress with her language understanding.

Other high-points: birthday party for someone from church, lunch with some other people from church, and a dinner out at Cronulla (just the family).

One of those rare weeks where Dad had the whole week off work! Lots of family time as we stayed in Sydney, with a day trip to the Blue Mountains, some visits to family and friends,

Huff continues to oscillate between extremely cute and quite surly. We’re trying to encourage here to spend more time on her tummy and get used to moving around by herself, but she puts up a big fight each time.

She’s keen to feed herself for the most part: when she’s sick of it, she throws the food on the floor. Actually this doesn’t just apply to food: anything she’s sick of is thrown on the ground.

She has a great smile when we see it. Really infectious. She’s learned to wave, and use it to win back the favour of relatives who have been upset by her screaming.

Puff had a great time sliding down this bouncing castle. He played consistently for 25 minutes, and emerged red faced and sweating (and asking to go back on).

He helped Dad wash the car.

On Wednesday we all went to the Opera House to watch “Hairy Maclary and Friends” – Huff was waving along with the music, and Puff looked entranced, and spoke fondly of it for the rest of the day.

On the way back from the Opera House, we walked through the Botanic Gardens – Puff had a great time running to the trunks of each successive tree as we made our way through the grounds.

 

We went to Cronulla for dinner on the last day of the holidays: here’s Dad with the two kids.

Puff had a great time bouncing around in this pool: it was just the right depth for his current level of comfort in the water. He was pretty anxious at first, until his feet touched the water.

Our trip to the mountains was a tiring one for Puff – he slept in the stroller for about an hour, and almost missed his chance to see baby J.

The lack of sleep in the holidays has been taking its toll – here he is staring off into space.

At a visit to another friend’s house, he had the chance to try on a blue wig for the first time – he absolutely loved it!

He’s generally a happy little boy.

This week, Dad read him a Beatrix Potter book (a new Christmas present) that turned out to be over 70 illustrated pages long. Complaining a sore throat from all the reading, Puff offered Dad some pretend milk to drink, to make his throat feel better.

Running a day late with all the bustle of Christmas. Dad’s on holidays for the week between Christmas and New Year, but there hasn’t been a lot of time on the computer – it’s been time with family or friends for the most part.

In exciting Huff news, Huff has finally learned how to sit on a playmate without screaming. She’s still showing no interest in moving around – it’s even possible to sit her on a regular seat (non high-chair) with no evident danger to her wellbeing! The happiness doesn’t last forever, of course, but it’s a big improvement in terms of her developing some sense of independence. 

 

We went to Cronulla for a coffee and ended up having Thai food for dinner – Huff had a great time eating the garnishes, and Puff feasted on Noodles.

Later in Cronulla we headed down to try the dessert at frangipani – great gelato: Puff even made a friend, as they shared ideas for which flavour they should have.

Making the most of the early afternoon, Puff wanted to have a look at the water. Dad and Huff stayed with the stroller, while Mum and Puff had a wander down to the water’s edge.

Puff wasn’t worried at all about the cool water temperature, and was happy to watch the fishermen and swimmers frolic around in the water.

Huff’s first Christmas went fairly smoothly: church in the morning, then morning tea after church. From there it was a quick snack and hello with our neighbour, lunch at Grandma and Doc’s house, and then Dinner with Aunty Chan and Uncle Jordan. Puff quite liked, and appreciated his presents, while Huff was still getting the hang of playing with wrapping paper. It’s pretty clear she won’t remember what was happening, but at least we’re learning the traps of having multiple kids (they have to “buy presents” for their siblings, and have an equitable number of presents if possible).

Sadly for Puff, it was too much for him to stay awake all the way through to dinner, so he slept while Mum, Dad and Huff feasted on various delicious (and, in many cases, non-fattening) things.

When he finally woke up, Puff met a new extended family member.

Huff wasn’t quite so interested, but had by Boxing Day developed a passion for wrapping paper.

Tuesday was another big day. Breakfast for Puff and Dad at a cafe, then visiting friends on the other side of Sydney and meeting their pet rabbit and pet chickens. One of the highlights for Puff, though, was his sticker book. His reading continues to improve: it’s quite amazing to watch him with a book he’s never seen before, and start making sense of it.

Someone asked me in the last week or so if Puff still has afternoon sleeps. He still needs them some days.

Sleepy on boxing day

Another few late nights this weekend. Huff has developed a very serious sleeping face, no matter how cute her outfit might be. She seems to be less happy on average this week, though she has still had moments of big grins and happiness.

At dinner at a friend’s house, we managed to find Huff in a sufficiently good mood that she would sit on the floor, and ultimately lie down on the floor and try to roll so she could reach her bib. She did it a few times, but still wasn’t game to keep rolling onto her stomach to try and crawl. Soon!

Huff has a new favourite food – sausages.

Huff loves playing with fridge magnets – she even knows when we say “put the magnet back on the fridge” and can do it.

On Thursday night Mum and Huff went to a cake class, so Dad and Puff had dinner out. Puff picked noodles and coconut rice (and tried to read as much of the menu as he could) but was too tired to get through much of it. His mood improved when it was time to get dessert, and he managed to run much of the way back.

Saturday night was the church carols. Dad was one of the people singing up on stage, and Puff was keen to tag along.

I think the high point for both of them was the glow sticks, and getting to spend time with aunty S.

We’re still teaching Puff some new skills, and trying to find new and exciting foods for Huff.

Lots of late nights this week: Puff’s afternoon naps were getting later, and so we found ourselves having a late dinner for various reasons and then an even later bedtime.

Puff and Huff had a couple of trips to IKEA this week: one with Dad, one without. Puff spent much of the time perfecting his technique at flopping on an elephant.

Later in the week was a trip to a play area that had a bouncing castle and a ride-on train.

On Wednesday night it was flooding with rain, and Mum, Huff and Puff came to pick Dad up from work. Traffic was so bad in the city that we gave up on the idea of getting out of the city and had dinner at ‘the star’ instead.

Huff and Puff had a lot of fun: Puff especially loved the dumplings.

Huff ate her own food for a long while, and then spent some time having cuddles with Mum.

The high-point for Puff, though, was dessert at Zumbo’s. Puff had macarons for his dessert, and still managed to offer to share the macaroons with Mum and Dad.

Huff has been eating more this week, and has had cheerful moments more often this week. We’re not sure if these two are related.

It’s great watching the two of them entertain each other. Sometimes it’s less peaceful, especially if Huff has some a toy that her brother thinks shouldn’t be shared, but other times they make each other laugh.

Here’s one last image of Huff and Mum together.

We’re into December now, and with the Grandragon having made her way home, it’s time to prepare the house for Christmas. Huff and Puff are spending a bit more time together: they’re a bit happier in each others’ company (as long as no arguments about toys arise).

Huff is on a mission to get back up to speed with eating after a short break last week when she was off her food.

Huff still doesn’t like to sit on the ground by herself very much, and she’s not shy about letting us know. She’s still especially unhappy when her parents walk away from here or leave her with someone else.

She wasn’t happy being photographed with her brother until we turned the camera around so she could see what was happening.

Puff had his afternoon sleep pretty late on Sunday, after a visit from M, R, S&J, so it was pretty late when we were working on the tree.

Puff really enjoyed putting the decorations on the tree – it’s a little more uneven than previous years, but worth it to have him involved in what will hopefully be an annual ritual.

Behaviour-wise, it’s been up and down with Puff: some days he’s out of sorts and doesn’t want to obey, while other days he’s amazingly well behaved. He’s been playing a bit too many iPhone games of late – lots of his conversation is about what happens in games, so we’re trying to redress that by giving him a wider variety of diversions, and reduced screen time. It’s an easy trap to fall into – a combination of peace and quiet with giving in to pester power.