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!