New Blog

Tom's blog has now been combined with his sister's at our new family blog here: http://meetthehubers.blogspot.com/

MEET is short for Mark Elaine Ela Tom

Playing

Tom is really getting into playing - as you would expect from a typical boy, he loves to climb. He also loves to play peek-a-boo and this tent is one of his favourite places. Talking of favourites you can also see Blankie in there - a big blue sheet that is a must when feeling a bit sooky, and of course for bedtime.


His Childcare that he goes to on thur and Fri, is in the process of changing its name and renovating so they have lots of new toys. This is Tom's favourite and he's not too keen on sharing with anyone else!

Bob

Tom loves all things mechanical, especially diggers which he gets daily doses of as there is major building work going on around his childcare centre. He shouts DIG at every sighting and has even added the word 'hole' to his vocabulary with actions to accompany.

He loves to wear his Dad's hard hat - even if it is way too big and has also taking to shouting Bob everytime he sees a construction worker. In fact he even shouted Bob when he saw the screen saver on my phone (this picture). Too cute.

twinkle toes

Tom has a shoe fetish. Apparently at childcare when he goes to bed he takes his shoes off but takes them into bed with him. He puts them on as soon as he gets up in the morning, whilst still in his pj's.

And here you can see he has Ela's ballet shoes on. When we went to see her end of term dance recently he was so excited when he noticed another little girl had them on too and he kept pointing at her feet and shouting 'Ela's shoes'.

Of course he has tried on all our shoes, including Daddy's size 11s.

school photos

Tom is still to get his own photo taken at childcare yet which is amazing considering how many he has attended in his short life to date. But this week he was privileged to be invited to his sister's pre-school sitting. As we waited our turn I looked on with pity at the mum's tearing their hair out as their kids chased each other around, or pulled faces at each other whilst the photographer waited patiently for calm. However when our turn came, it was a strenuous task indeed to tear Tom away from my leg and to get something resembling a smile from him. Ela meanwhile, used to being under the camera, painted her cheesy grin on and held fast. The result is much better than I had expected, with Tom looking very much like the rugby player his dad hopes he'll become.

Sleep

The cheeky grin on Tom's face belies the nightime antics that he is fresh from. I guess looking back Tom has never been a great sleeper, but just lately his night time waking routine is so random. He wakes anytime between 1 and 5 am usually twice but sometomes only once and sometimes (but not often) sleeps till 6.30am. When he wakes sometimes its for 5-10 mins and sometimes its for 2 hours. We have tried everything from controlled crying to having him in our bed. Tresilian couldn't help either, so our latest is to get big sister Ela sleeping with him - she's happy about this option and is able to sleep through his wailing! But it hasn't really helped with sleeping through.

Added: 26 July, still the same so any ideas or suggestions would be greatly recieved.

Greenie

Oh my, Tom suddenly turned into a toddler - carrying his backpack into school (Gumnut daycare centre), sleeping on a stretcher bed, eating at the table. But I still can't get him to stand still long enough to have a picture taken :) He is a determined young soul and loves to grab my leg and 'take' me to what he wants. It won't be long till he's barking orders, I can tell.

Some things never change however and he is still waking at unearthly hours of the morning (anytime between 4-5am). 4 is better because he usually goes back to sleep aftr a bottle of milk. At 5 he is usually up for the day. eughh. Just like his sister. Talking of whom, here they are riding on a Thomas ride at the local shopping centre - Tom was squeeling with delight.

little helper

Tom is a really good helper. His favourite activity is brushing. Inside and out, if he spots a broom he's quick on the job. He also loves to put things in the bin, loves observing cooking by sitting on the kitchen benchtop (and yes he has fallen off once but that hasn't dettered him).

Loves the great outdoors, will help with the hose, wants to get close to the mower but prefers when it is not working,and is mesmerised with turning the taps on. He's definitely going to work with his hands when he is older.

Feeding

Tom is well into telling us what he wants now. His favourite word is of course 'no', and he is perfecting his pointing techniques with a little squeeling thrown in. He has also started feeding himself. He finally has his high-chair and loves to sit at the table and pick up his spoon and cover himself in dinner/lunch/breakie. He also loves to try and get into the fridge but as yet he isn't strong enough (thank goodness).

He is loving going up and down the stairs. Have decided not to get a safety gate as he has mastered sliding backwards on his tummy. And thinks it is wonderful that he can run the length of the house from toy room to living and upstairs to heis bedroom. Sure wears him out.

Bah

Tom's favourite sound is 'b'. He loves to say Boo (but says Bah), and hide under his blankie or around the corner. His favourite nursery rhyme is Ba Ba Black sheep, and I guess we could work on 'Bah Humbug' as it is nearly christmas!

He hasn't been well lately - catching all the viruses from childcare - but at least his immune system is building up. I wish he could get back into some regular sleep pattern though as the night waking is killing me again.

He is also loving finding out new things - especially what goes/fits where. He loves to put things in things, especially balls. Maybe an engineer in the making? :)

And the picture is of the lovely Evie at her 2nd birthday party - Tom had a ball climbing, riding and jumping in her garden.

late night excursion

Tom had his first visit to the ER last night/this morning (5am) in Sutherland hospital. After a few days of temperatures and screaming and basic unsettled-ness, and a 4am drive to try and get some sleep into him, I finally succumbed and took him to the 24hr medical centre. Unfortunately the place was closed (go figure) so decided to brave the waiting room at the local hospital. 3.5 hrs later he was checked and I was told he was fine. Which he was once the nurofen had kicked in and he had discovered the toy box in the ward!

In this pic you can see Tom and his friend Elliot tucking into the leftovers at Ela's party last week. MAybe that's what made him sick...?

walking

Tom took his first steps alone this week. He was practically running after about 3 days but likes to do so with his arms raised. Quite funny to behold - almost like he's saying 'yeah i did it'

As you can see though he looks much more relaxed in his favourite chair, kickin back.

Play

Tom is really getting into everything now. He loves to stand and can crawl like a torpedo...fast as lightening. We have been visiting and finding lots of new parks in the area where Tom plays in the sand and just stands next to the equipment, observing. He loves trying to climb up the slide the wrong way and here at a recent trip to the shopping centre he made a new friend at the wall puzzle.

Today we went to a picnic organised by his childcare centre in Putney Park. It is just across the water from our place in Concord and the best park we have ever been to. Tom loved eating all the food and his sister had a ball in the wading pool and playground.

Huggies Packs

Here is our lovely boy on the huggies Newborn nappy packs. How peaceful does he look? I can't remember that age (10 weeks) now, it seems like a lifetime ago! I love passing by the baby aisle when I do my shopping and gaze admiringly and proudly at his little face peeking out.

more teeth

Tom had his third tooth pop out this week and the adjacent top tooth is just about coming out today too. He is getting very fast, becoming more determined than ever and very 'talkative'. He is also getting more clingy. He hates it when I leave him at childcare and cries when I come to get him. Relief I suppose.

We have also been experimenting with hair product and we like this spikey/scraggy look!

He had his inoculations yesterday and didn't cry although he needs to go back next month for some catch up jabs to cover what we missed whilst in the UK, so he may realise why and make up for it then. He measures 77cm, weighs 10.67Kgs and head measured in 50percentile for his age. He is also holding his own bottle now which is great as it frees me up to do other stuff.

Sand

Tom is loving living near the beach in Cronulla, and we try to get to the local playground (on the beach) at Shelley park as much as possible, no matter the weather. Here he is playing with big sis, a tennis ball and a coffee cup kept him entertained for ages. He did try the usual baby thing of tasting the sand but he soon figured it was disgusting and now he just likes to dig, bury and throw!

Haircut

Along with his first birthday came Tom's first haircut. Well, real one, not counting my attempts to hack at it. I guess I should have done it before his party, but never mind.

Just-Cuts at Miranda Westfield offer a baby's first haircut for free so along we went and Tom just loved it. He was mesmerised with his wiggles coverall and the Dora Explorer DVD playing on the counter in front of him. Before we knew it it was all over! Probably took all of 3 minutes. No wonder they do it for free!

1st Birthday

Today was the first day of spring and Tom's first birthday. We celebrated yesterday with a small party in his honour. A handfull of friends (both ours and Ela's) and family helped us wish Tom a happy birthday. Nannie made a train cake and big sis helped to blow out the candle and make a wish for Tom. She told us that she wished he could get more presents. He was very spoiled with plenty of boys toys and lots of 'in the night garden' toys - his favourite show. Typically, he didn't want to go down for his morning sleep and was still asleep when the first guests arrived, but although he was a bit grumpy when I woke him, he soon perked up when he saw all the kiddies runnign around and making loads of noise. Thanks to everyone who turned out on a wet and windy day to make his day so lovely.



Today, on his actual birthday, we drove across the city to his new child-care Banksia Cottage, where he will start on Wednesday. We met the staff and looked around the possum room where he will be spending 2 days a week. It was a long drive (about 90mins) but I was able to time it so that he slept both ways. Unfortunately, come wednesday I won't be so fortunate. Fingers crossed he doesn't mind sitting in traffic and listening to the radio!

11 months

At 11 months, there is just one word to describe Tom and that is NOISEY. Well I suppose he has to try hard to compete with his sister, so he is always jabbering away. He loves to turn the pages of books and 'read' to himself. He also loves to 'lal lal la la la' when you sing his favourite songs (twinkle twinkle, the grand old duke of york and yes my name is iggle piggle'. He is pulling himself up on the furniture, crawling at high speed, opening cupboard doors, 'drumming' (which consists of hitting anything with a flat surface using anything stick-like), throwing objects and playing 'ta' (which consists of him offering you a toy and then pulling back when you go to reach for it, following by a cheeky grin or a laugh).

So all in all, typical boy stuff. Plenty of falling down, bruised faces, angry shouts when he can't get what he wants. He is also beginning to understand the meaning of no and will look over his shoulder as he heads towards something he knows he shouldn't be doing, just to check if he is being watched.

Great routine, up between 6-7am, sleeps in the morning for 1-2 hrs and the same in the afternoon and in bed and asleep by 7pm. However the days of putting down to sleep and walking away are gone, and daytime sleeps are usually only achieved in either the pram, or the car.

Pictured here with his grandad, he is going to be missed when we return to Oz later this month. They share a great morning routine, whereby Tom stands by his side at the sofa waiting for titbits of toast like an obedient pet!

On Holiday

Tom just did us proud on our cruise holiday around the Med. He was so well behaved, considering he was pushed and pulled from one place to the next, but was well rewarded with lots of kisses and cuddles and of course his favourite - ice creams. Everyone who passed our table at dinner time commented on how adorable he was and most people wanted to ruffle his fluffy head.
Meal times were actually hard work, but the ship provided us with whatever food we wanted for him, whenever we needed it - even pureed it too. And there was no washing up or cleaning to be done so it was pretty painfree for me :)

We were so glad that we invested in this McClaren Buggy before we left as it was a life saver. Tom just loved it and slept anytime anyplace once it was reclined. Even at the evening shows! I walked a fair few kilometeres around the ship with him in it, and we were able to easily bundle him on and off coaches while visiting Barcelona, Florence and Nice. He loved being on the coach too, making the other passengers laugh with his funny faces.

The cruise was wonderful for him, babies had their own 'diaper wearing' pool which was just a few cm of water with a small trickle of water from a spout, but it was all he needed to have plenty of fun.

They also had 3-4 sessions a day of Fisher Price playtime, where babies and toddlers could go with their parents to a room filled with fabulous toys and play to their hearts content. The lovely Jonie from South Africa was his favourite carer and she was forever telling me that he was the happiest baby she had ever had there.