3rd Birthday Tour - Part 2 Sydney

 
Alex's birthday tour continued home to Sydney a week later (yes I am a good 2 months late with the post) with family and friends gathering for a little party at our place. It kind of worked as a house warming as well (we've been here a year now, you might be sensing a pattern).

Friends in the courtyard thanks to the sun making an appearance

Despite panicking through most of the rainy week leading up to it, even buying a tarp in case we had to cover the backyard, the sun shone brightly on the day and it was great to see our little place full of friends and their various small people.

playing with Fern & Elliot

I was worried there wouldn't be enough little friends for Alex as we don't have that many friends with kids his age so I invited a couple of people from daycare as well. It turns out we had about 12 kids and remarkably the day went off without a crisis. Ok there was one moment when a little girl had found grandpa's electric razor and was inches away from shaving my (female) workmate's head but thankfully the would-be hairdresser's dad arrived just in time to avert that crisis.

Like I said - I was pretty proud of the cake effor

In fact I don't think there were even any tears all day and Alex had a ball getting lots of presents (some of which are still in the cupboard unopened - don't tell Alex); eating his number 3 cake (particularly proud of that one) and some healthy-ish snacks and running around with his balloons and bubbles.

Bubble present was a hit

The AB Tour

Here's the first look at our new house and area with tour guide Alex Butler.

Walking the laneway with some Brit pop attitude...

Lounging in some inappropriate footwear...

Posing by the stairs (with a bit of the kitchen and
Alex's play area in the background...)

Crafting in his play area...

Road testing a local playground...

More local and new house adventures coming soon...

Santa and Alex - the difficult years

ho ho NO!!!!

Last year Alex was new to the world and everyone was new and strange, so a man in a red suit and big bushy beard was no big deal. Next year, perhaps he will be more comfortable, maybe even excited about this jolly fellow and his promise of presents and cake and reindeer led fun.

This year, well, things didn't go quite so well.

 It seems Alex didn't fully appreciate the swarovski crystal display, the over priced Santa and the fact that it's the first year the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney has hosted a Santa and the queue after we left was over 3 hours long!

 No... He just wanted out of there.


      

 Other Christmas themed events were more successful, like the daycare Christmas party from which I've posted a video below. He didn't exactly sing along to jingle bells but there's definitely an enthusiastic foot shuffle going on.

 

Will post photos of actual Christmas day and some of Alex's favourite presents, or at least his favourite wrapping paper soon....

Alex vs the bear

What happens when a toddler meets a teddy bear almost his size?

Toddler 1 - Bear 0

Gold coasting

Add caption

oops... just found a post from November I didn't publish...

Here are some pictures from our (not so) recent trip to visit Amma in the Gold Coast. With special guests Uncle Adam, Aunty Chrissie, Toby & Fudgey (bears) and more...

Not happy with the celebration noises.

Hanging out with uncle Adam

Supporting the GC 2018 bid

Relaxing at Amma's apartment

A bit of driving with Bob

little Hendrix

Wheels

Every day I'm finding out a little more about the little man - a morsel more of his personality reveals itself on the menu of his day to day activities.

I'm not sure how to describe one of the recent discoveries but I'll try. He a 'sticker' he finds what he likes and then he does that one thing - a lot - and for a long time. This applies to a few situations.

For example, there is a playground near our place, he used to be happy playing on the swing, pretending to call someone on the oversized telephone, whizzing down the slide - then one day he discovered, up the stairs, across the wobbly bridge - a wheel! This simple, red, metal steering wheel sits at the top of the highest section of the playground - just near where you would go down the slide. Presumably it's there to keep kids occupied while they wait for other kids to hurl themselves down the slide sideways, backwards all the ways that kids seems to do.

For our Alexander there is no greater pleasure in this earth than standing at the top of the playground turning the steering wheel this way and that. Literally nothing comes close! Occasionally he will press the middle of the wheel where the horn would be and say "beep beep"

Alex with his beloved wheel - one of them anyway

"Do you want to go down the slide now?" we'll ask him after 20 minutes or so of standing and turning the wheel.
"No!" he'll reply with a determined shake of the head
"What about the dinosaur bouncy thing - you used to like the dinosaur bouncy thing..."
"No."

If either of us dare to remove Alex from this prime position there will be tears, flailing of arms and eventually, he will climb back up the stairs, across the wobbly bridge and up to his post - at the wheel, captain of the playground.

A few lessons from a Teddy Bear's picnic

A couple of weekends ago (bad blogging practice but I'm at least 2 weeks behind at the moment) we went to little Elliott Cleary's Teddy Bear's Picnic 1st birthday party and learned a few lessons.

The name is Bond...

Attempting to coral the kids and their teddy bears for a photo

1. If you're going to have a party for 20 + kids and parents have it at the in law's house and pray for sunshine
















2. A little plastic tunnel in the middle of the lawn can provide hours of entertainment

Tunnel mission complete M

3. Alex is a bit too young for face painting

Alex and the face painter were not the best of friends

4. You can never be too young for birthday cake - especially when you're the birthday boy!

Elliott birthday boy with mum and dad

Fathers Day Craft

On Sunday Alex explored his inner artist and outer mess maker and produced what can only be described as a creative masterpiece with glitter and paint represented in the form of a fathers day card.

Location:Sydney

Kicking off with the hard stuff

Alex enjoying another Alex's 'milky wares'.

Some kids start with a lemonade stand, perhaps some handmade shell necklaces, maybe selling cookies door to door. Alex goes straight for the hard stuff, and, I'd say a more profitable business opportunity at these organic markets in Gladesville.

umm... it's not a "sitting castle"

OK, so he hasn't quite become the entrepreneur at 16 months old, but he did enjoy the baby-cino on offer and we couldn't miss the photo opportunity.

And it doesn't stop at baby sized milky drinks, the markets even have a JUMPING CASTLE! Unfortunately adults weren't allowed on the jumping castle so I begrudgingly stepped aside to let Alex, and our friend Dan's daughter Rachel have a bounce.

Enjoying some quality leave gathering... and some more sitting... with Rachel

 

techno baby

Here baby Alex, all of 16 months, demonstrates his expertise with the iPad at a cafe in the Blue Mountains this weekend. Notice the concentration on the little man's face, and the ease with which he navigates his way around the touch screen.

If the camera had still been running you would also have noticed the tears ad we took it away from him because lunch had arrived.

Toddler fond of throwing his food + expensive gadget = I don't know but I wasn't going to find out.

We will soon be confirming Alex's hourly IT and technical support rates - special deal for family, friends and blog followers.

Attack of the tickle monster

Just located, some very rare footage of the little known but much reviled 'tickle monster'. As you can see the footage is a little shaky, no doubt the camera(wo)man got a little concerned for their safety during the attack.

A little agreement about significant moments

I've had a little word to Alex. I've informed him that he must restrain from reaching any significant developmental milestones during the week.

Discovering news skills, words, habits, noises, talents and abilities is to be restricted to weekends only, or, if this is not possible the in the mornings before 7.30am or the evenings after 6.30pm.

I see nothing unreasonable about this request.

Yours sincerely
Working mother trying to have it all.

Am I creating a future couch potato?

I started work on Monday - after 13 months of not working... more on that later. The day before I returned to work I went to the baby shop to spend the voucher grandpa had given Alex for Christmas. OK, you might call it a guild present but I came back with this very cute and kind of stylish toddler sized rocking chair. He wasn't 100% sure about it when it first appeared in the lounge room it didn't take long for him to become a fan. in fact, one morning after i'd left for work he crawled over to his chair, climbed in, made him self comfortable and started watching TV. Not exactly a habit I want him to get used too but the photo Haydn sent me was so cute and really made my morning at work. I think my new workmates were a bit sick of seeing it.

I think he looks like a little old man with his knee up here

In fact, even as I type I'm watching Alex get into and out of his chair and rock it while he does. I think that classifies as a hit, and as a bonus, it's a baby friendly thing that actually matches the rest of our furniture. And yes, there is a baby foot stool to go with it. Hilarious!

The effortless dressed up look

Fashion is a tough business

As every girl knows, it's essential for any wardrobe to contain at least one posh frock, an outfit that is ready to go when that invitation to the oscars or the royal wedding comes beckoning.

Now I'm pleased to announce that Alex has one such outfit. Stylish yet comfortable, funky without being too hipster, smart and ready for all seasons - well until it doesn't fit him in about 5 weeks time. It's the perfect number to slip on when the queen surprises you with an invitation to afternoon tea.

Alex gave his new look its first outing for our friends Nick and Rosie's wedding in Bondi this past weekend. It proved to be a hit with the guests and provided enough comfort and flexibility to do lots of crawling around and climbing onto furniture in. Perfect! It's essentially the baby equivalent to the LBD.

Now I just need to teach Alex which fork to use first... it's outside in... or is it inside out...

Much happier now we're outside

Marks Park @ Nick & Rosie's wedding

Flying the coop already

Back from daycare - clearly traumatised

Today Alex had his first day in daycare. His first day away from both mum and dad in 372 days (aka his whole life so far). It was only the second day I'd ever been away from the little man for more than a few hours. 

We'd researched and visited lots of childcare offerings near home and Haydn's work, we'd planned the day carefully, we'd practised by visiting the centre for the past two days to get us comfortable with the place - yet still I found it a traumatic experience. Notice I found it traumatic, Alex apparently didn't have such difficulties adjusting. Apart from a brief cry after I left - quickly overcome by discovering a new toy in the sandpit, and a few incidents with particularly scary bubbles Alex handled the whole affair very well.

He even managed to sleep, in a strange place, with a bunch of other babies snuffling and wining next to him, with noisy kids running around outside the room, for an hour and a half! An hour and a half! I can't get him to sleep that long in a silent room, with his favourite comforting toys and me tiptoeing and holding my breath outside.

Perhaps the whole situation was so traumatic for him that all he could do was sleep and hope the nightmare would be over when he wakes, perhaps the staff from the daycare centre always tell you that your child handled their first day better than most, and tell all parents that their children hardly cried even though they'd actually been in tears for hours, perhaps they'd say anything to stop you removing your child and depriving them of their extortionate fees. Perhaps I had far too much time to think about all this while Alex was happily playing with his new friends. 

NZ bye bye

For a while there Alex got into waving bye bye. Not always at the right time but with a bit of gentle encouragement he would start waving and sometimes not stop for most of the afternoon. I'm not sure if Alex gave NZ an official goodbye but we had lots of lovely fair-well adventures before we left. Here are a few photos from our last few days.

Fairwell BBQ at Nanna Bs

Last picnic at Pilot Bay

A professional haircut from Kyleigh 

The family resemblance? - cousin Ruby & Alex 

Having fun... I think... At Ruby's 2nd birthday party

excuses excuses

note chaos of toys in the background

Well... the thing is... I've been a bit busy: moving countries (again), doing lots of admin, trying to get the internet for our new place... and there was all the unpacking and job hunting and illness. OK, so just insert any of the reasons above for why we've somewhat dropped of the blog radar during the past couple of weeks. Very sorry - bad blogger!

Anyway, lots to catch up on which I will do over the next week or so, but the recipe includes a dollop of Alex having his own room for the first time, a few drops of virus and fever, a cup of 'tough love' all on a bed of new routine which today resulted in the little man sleeping for 3 1/2 hours during the day! A world record by any standards - I realise this is probably standard for a lot of 11month olds but it's definitely a personal best for our little man.

So in all the aforementioned busy period I've hardly taken a photo of the little man - how things have changed. So in a fit of sudden guilt I took a few photos of Alex playing in our new lounge room 10 mins ago.

See you soon, won't be so long next time, don't be a stranger, you've changed etc. etc.

The balcony has been a bit too tempting already

Fiddling

I'm just having a fiddle with the design of the blog, getting a bit bored with the spots. Not quite there yet so bare with me.

In the meantime, here's a picture of Alex from this afternoon. He isn't quite 'getting' the concept of his Jolly Jumper, preferring to use it as a way to propel himself up the door frame, spiderman style. At least he's got the 'Jolly' part down.


Spiderbaby in action

The Family Series: Second cousin Ruby

Decided to try comic form for today's entry. You will probably need to click on the image to read it.