Category: week in review

This week Dad has had some time off, and we spent almost the whole week up in Queensland with our friends M&T, and little H.

Despite our fears about how the flight would go, Huff had a great time on the plane. One of her favourite things (when she wasn’t being fed) was the in-flight screen: she was trying to touch the things on the screen as they appeared!

Puff coped differently – when he wasn’t playing with a sticker book or having snacks, he was reading the inflight safety card.

Once on the ground, we went to see the grandragon.

We stayed with our friends M&T – they were great hosts, but the kids never quite adjusted to the sleeping routine. Puff was confused because he didn’t have a clock to check, so he kept getting up to ask Dad if it was time to wake up! On the positive side, there was a great coffee machine to use. Huff helped out a couple of mornings with the coffee making, in her own way.

On Friday (as it turned out, the last day of school term in Queensland) we went to Seaworld. This meant that it was easy to find a parking spot, and that there wasn’t much queueing. On the other hand, it wasn’t a promising start:

He woke up easily enough, and was ready to go through the ticket gates where we paid $50 for him (at 3, he’s a child, not an infant) and had a great day. Here’s the feeding of the sting ray (which, to be honest, wasn’t his favourite part of the day).

Against his better judgment, he came along on this viking boat ride – he enjoyed it, but didn’t want to go again.

His favourite part of the day was the water jets in the kids area – he ran around happy getting soaked. He liked it so much he had two goes at it – the first time, Mum told him that his time was up, and he had only one more lap of the water area to go. He took five goes instead, and so was in trouble for being disobedient. The rest of the day he was really well-behaved, so we gave him another chance around 5pm. When it was time to go, Mum told him he could have five more laps of the water jets, and then – after only one lap – the water was switched off. Sadly for Mum, Puff blamed Mum for the sudden switching off the water.

Here’s an updated family photo.

Puff had a great time staying with M&T. Here he is with H.

Huff had some problems sleeping while we were away, but it seems like this was because she has more teeth coming through.

We went to a playground where there was a nearby bouncing castle. Puff talked his way into the castle, and had fun “playing his walking game”.

At a cousin’s baby shower, Puff had a great time playing with their dog Tyson (a very friendly and longsuffering pet). We had a few problems with outfit changes for the kids on the way to the party, but we made it!

On our last night in the Gold Coast, we headed out for dinner with the Grandragon. Puff was so tired that he made it all the way into the restaurant asleep. He woke up, though, and did a great job eating his dinner, even being awarded an avocado for his good manners.

Thanks must go to Aunty C and Uncle J for looking after our house, and helping us get to and from the airport.

This is the first weekend in a while where no-one has been sick, so it’s been a lot of fun. We made a trip to Eveleigh markets, Puff and Dad walked the Bay Run, we bought a bed, went to Parramatta Westfield, visited some family members, and then had church and some church friends over for a barbecue.

Huff is getting stronger, and can remain seated once she’s correctly set up. She will also try and grab anything that’s within reach.

Very exciting news: Huff has worked out how to eat with a spoon. There’s been a few troubling meals where she made a mess and looked back blankly, but tonight she’s done well.

She also said her first words this week: “da da da”. We have one happy parent, and one less happy parent (Puff’s first words were “muh muh muh”.

One thing we’ve been looking forward to is Puff being old enough to actually use the Wii Fit. Here is his new little avatar. He no longer has to be carried to be weighed on the Wii Fit.

He still finds the gameplay alternatively compelling and hilarious.

We had a trip to the club this week, and Puff ordered a pizza, but there was nothing on the kids menu, so he ended up having one or two slices of this giant pizza, and had a great time (as usual) watching the “screen with the numbers on it”.

This week has also seen Puff obsess over the Octonauts a little bit. He has a new ritual of calling himself Kwazii (the kitten), and closing one eye. He asks “how are you going daddy?”, and then, if called by his name, he will correct Dad, saying “no Daddy, I have one eye closed.” This ritual only ends once he’s called Kwazii. He was as excited as I’ve ever seen him when he had the chance to colour in some Kwazii pictures.

Lastly, today, on a trip to Aunty C & Uncle J’s house, he played his first game of Trouble which, by all accounts, he quite enjoyed.

Huff’s teething adventures have reduced the amount of sleep in the house (she’s jumped from one tooth to three in the last few days), which has caused a little bit of tension, but hopefully is drawing to a close.

Another week with lots of adventures: we’re all trying to catch up on sleep a little.

One of the benefits of spending time with her aunties is the fun things that they get to do together.

Huff is more and more interested in her surroundings. Pick her up and she’ll look around eagerly (holding your gaze for many seconds at a time), and if she’s within reach of anything, she’ll make a grab for it – here she is grabbing Dad’s hair.

Part of her being unsettled comes from teething – here’s a picture of her first tooth.

With the tooth coming through, she’s been a bit more settled with people who she normally screams at. Here she is getting cuddles with Grandma.

Huff is also starting to be more competent at sitting up. Here she is spending some time with her friend O.

Saturday was a big day. With Huff still sleeping, Dad and Puff snuck out of the house for a quick breakfast, and to read the Cat in the Hat.

After that we headed down to Braemar to look at trains with our friends from Canberra. He had a great time watching the trains, and didn’t want to leave!

Fathers’ day was Sunday. Mum had a bit of a sleep in and Dad had the chance to spend time with Puff and Huff for a little while. Life has certainly changed for Dad in the past three years: busier, richer, and much more challenging.

Tonight we made a trip to IKEA in search of a new place for Puff to sleep (sadly, they were out of stock of the one thing that we wanted). His favourite part of the trip? A hot dog before we started the trip through.

And he didn’t eat any of the bread.

And it’s come and gone. Puff is now a three year old. With sickness still floating around the house, and Dad working on Saturday it was a bit of a quiet celebration at first, but he was happy to have hit this latest milestone. He has a renewed passion for opening presents, and has started surprising us by how much of his birthday cards he can read, even when they’re hand-written!

Huff continues to thrive and grow – she doesn’t like to be left alone (except for a short period time at the start of each day, where she’ll happily play on her play mat), but she’s generally happy in her Dad’s arms.

It seems that she’s a bit ticklish now – here’s Mum taking advantage of this for some giggling.

Puff went to J’s birthday party on Saturday, dressed in the dragon costume that C&J gave him. He had a great time flapping his wings on the trampoline.

Another high-point for our animal-loving boy was meeting this giant monkey.

One last one of the full costume.

Sunday we went to church in the morning, and then off to the (Taronga) zoo! Puff saw three lions, a tiger (“it looks a bit like a tigger”), a lemur (“I like to move it move it”), and a number of other animals. We caught the skyway back up to the top of the zoo (“I can see lots of special cable cars”). We wrapped up with dinner and gelato in Crows Nest. Overall, he had a fantastic day.

Another week where various people were sick at various times, not least Dad, who had a couple of days off work, and is left wondering if his immune system is ever going to be the same again.

Puff was well overdue for a haircut this week. He visited Grandma at work, and spent some time visiting a classroom. He did so well, that he scored a lot of stickers: they even gave him an award for good behaviour.

Aunty C surprised Mum just in time to test out the new stroller configuration at the shops – it went well.

Here’s a photo of Huff and Puff together at the shops – they continue to get along well.

With Puff’s birthday only a few days away, and Dad having to work the Saturday after his birthday, we had a bit of a get-together for his birthday. It was going to be out at a park, but bad weather meant that we moved it back home. He was a bit stressed (he knew that it wasn’t his birthday until Friday), but managed to enjoy himself. Here’s the cake that Aunty C made.

One of the favourite activities (of sorts) was to have run the bubble machine. Puff and several of his friends ran around chasing bubbles and having a great time.

Oh, and he finally had a haircut too. You can see here that his cheeks are a bit red. Doc told us that this was a “viral rash” (another ailment we’d never heard of before) which indeed went away after a few days.

And so that marks the last blog update for Puff’s third year of life. See you next week!

It’s been a week where Puff has spent a lot of time sick – tonsillitis, and so for once we have more pictures of Huff than of Puff.

We called in to Grandma and Doc’s house over the weekend, where Grandma had some cuddles with Huff while she was in a good mood.

She has a very mischievous smile.

One of the odd things about seeing a baby interact with everyday objects is how much of a blank slate they work from. Huff is learning how to use a spoon, yet she has no idea of how a spoon works. She’s not sure which end of it to put in her mouth, or even if she should put the ends into her mouth, or the flat of the spoon.

With Puff sick, the normal order of household tasks has been upset, and so Mum was bathing Huff this week. I think they both enjoyed it.

We’re not just trying to introduce spoons, but solid food: here’s one of a stack of photos we took of her trying avocado for the first time.

Puff had some trouble: he would regularly say his “mouth hurts”, which changed his diet around this week some of the time. He found the iPhone a good distraction (with its traditional negative impact on his behaviour).

A trip to his friend E’s house was fairly quiet for him: he spent a lot of the time stretched out on the mat, reading and resting. Aunty C took this photo.

And then tonight, we had dinner out with Aunty C and Uncle J. it’s a little troubling that Puff’s favourite thing about dinner at a club is watching the Keno screens – he likes watching “TV with numbers on it”.

It’s been a quiet week for taking photos of Huff. She turned 6 months old this week, and had the immunisations that went with it. She’s teething, and has been more grizzly asking to be carried more than usual. Having said that, she’s now worked out how to roll from her back to and from her left side, and from her back to and from her right side. This is the kind of thing that only her parents are likely to be interested in, but we’re logging it for future reference.

Saturday included a trip to Pyrmont growers’ markets and some time around Darling Harbour. Huff made most of the trip in the stroller.

Puff is much more confident on climbing equipment. Left to his own devices now he will seek out the slides, and anything that he has previously mastered. He’s even willing to try out new ladders, walkways with a little bit of help, and is then happy to try them on his own. It’s great to see.

To head off any jealousy about seeing Huff in the ergo carrier, Dad gave him a bit of a piggy back in the ergo. It was a lot of fun, but hard to do for too long – he’s getting pretty heavy!

A couple of songs:

And one last bit of footage from our Darling Harbour trip – running back to Mum after having a go at walking through a water feature by himself.

Another week has rolled past: we’ve been a little unwell as a family, but we’re doing okay in general. It’s been a bit of a challenge to get Puff to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and when we have, he’s been staying in his bed reading. The first night was a single book (Fox in Socks) but the second night was 8-10 different books all in a pile. We’ve been warding off the bedbugs with a couple of night lights, but the brighter of the two is too bright for him not to give into the temptation to read.

Huff has been increasing in activity: – she is loving being on the play mat, and reaching out for anything that is nearby.

Another little milestone was her rolling over, and then rolling back.

With her added abilities, we’ve started to put her in the stroller for little trips – here she is on the way to Eveleigh markets.

Like most kids her age, she explores things by putting them in her mouth. Sometimes she brings the object to her mouth, other times it’s the reverse.

She also had fun playing with her friend baby O.

Puff, on the other hand, has been pushing the boundaries of what he can do in playgrounds. Exploring the heights, playing on big slides.

And generally wearing himself out.

Puff and Dad went on an epic journey from one suburb to the next, in search of (a long walk and) a playground, and he had a great time climbing and running around.

And on Sunday morning, Puff and Dad went out for a pre-church breakfast and some sticker-book. He’s worked through a lot of sticker books, learning some basic reading, addition and subtraction, and improving his motor skills. It’s one of his favourite things to do.

Mum, Puff and Huff were driving along when Puff suddenly said “that sign says one way, and I think it’s right”. So it’s not just the things that he’s memorised.

We’re seeing a little bit of jealousy between the two of them: when Huff monopolises Dad’s time, Puff starts to misbehave a little bit. Dad is trying to balance out the time spending, but it’s a tough needle to thread!

Dad is still trying to convince Mum to post some updates here, so that the things that Dad misses end up on the site.

Everyone is healthy again! Everyone can breathe, tempers are getting better, and life seems good.

Huff continues her attempts to try eating things by putting them in her mouth, and – more confusingly, by leaning forward to put her mouth on them directly.

Puff and Huff are getting along well. Puff regularly shares his favourite toys with her, and she continues to be fascinated to watch him.

Puff had a particularly good week for treats this week – here he is trying out churros with chocolate (afterwards he had a big chocolate moustache).

Having a new car has changed the way we spend time: Puff likes the height of the car – he can see more out the windows. He’ll happily read, or act out role plays with whichever soft toys he’s brought with him, or eat snacks in the back of the car, and listen to songs on the car’s CD player, and even sing along.

On Saturday morning, the four of us headed to Eveleigh Markets where we bought him his first Keep Cup. It’s our plan to break his sippy-cup habit with the Keep Cup for his milk drinking, and it seems to be working so far.

Here’s some footage of Puff tracing his online name with Aunty C.

This week everyone has been sick to a greater or lesser degree. Dad jumped to the head of the list after a trip to the doctor on Monday, but everyone is starting to get better again.

Huff and Puff had some time playing with Dad while Mum slept. Here she is playing with the toys on her playmat.

She’s getting more interested in eating, and – though we haven’t had any success giving her solid food yet – we’ve started her out on (gluten-free) rusks.

It’s good to see that Puff continues to love his little sister – today (until a little disagreement about who should have her blanket) he was sitting down, sharing her blanket, and almost managed to “read” her a story.

Reading is a big thing, especially in the winter months, and when everyone is sick. It’s fun watching my kids hearing the same stories I remember from my own childhood. Amazing how the old Dr Seuss books just sink into your memory.

It’s not just reading, though: this weekend Dad took him into the backyard to kick a ball around a little bit – he loved it! After church this week, he was having a great time bouncing a ball around, and even (out of character) splashing around in the puddles. It was messy, but he survived it. We’re going to do some more outdoor things as soon as the ground dries.

Puff is making progress with his knife skills – a few mornings this week he’s been having bananas with his Weetbix, and he’s been keen to peel and slice them himself. He does a good job: even slices, and eats it tidily.

For Dad’s birthday, Mum gave him a big edition of the works of A. A. Milne. We’ve been reading Winnie the Pooh together. Tonight we reached the last chapter of the second (and final) book, which (not to give too much away) is about growing up, and leaving childish things behind. It made me sad about how fleeting childhood is, and how this stage of life – as frustrating as it is at times – will be over before I know it. Puff will be all grown up, and my role in his life will be completely different.

Helped me to resolve to take advantage of the time I have with him a little more, and indulge the electronic distractions a little less. Perhaps.