BB's new mortal enemy

SAND!

I mentioned in his 10 month post that he HATES sand. Today we went to the beach for the dad to swim and for us to play on the sand/go for a walk. Well, that didn't work out so well. Grandma had BB at first, and went to put him down. He pulled his legs up and started crying. And didn't stop for a long, long time. 

Once he finally calmed down, we put him in the little beach tent we got for Christmas. Usually, he does not stay still for any length of time. When there's sand around, however, he apparently does. He was sort-of interested in the tiny bits of sand that got on the mat on the ground, but even that he looked at strangely. I guess we'll have to keep trying, because there's no way that I'm living here and not going to the beach!

I don't know what this stuff is! I hate it!

Baby in a backpack

Today we went back to a walk I've done before so that the dad could see it too (Drawing Room Rocks). We also tried out BB's Christmas present from my parents - a backpack/carrier for him to sit in. He did pretty well sitting there in it. Luckily the dad managed to avoid low tree branches and spiky leaves.  

Carrying all that extra weight takes a lot of concentration.

I can't see anything with this silly hat on.

Naughty dad took this photo while lying down looking over the cliff.

Woohoo this is so much fun!

Weirdly red tree

Random BB moments

Yes, I think I will have this delicious dark chocolate one. 

Mum! Don't take a photo of me like this!
How embarrassing!

It's hard to tell, but this is BB after a morning playing with other babies...
we left so late that he fell asleep with no dummy and the stroller in the upright position.

10 month old Bad Baby!

With all the Christmas excitement, I forgot to post the monthly update! Luckily I did remember to take photos of BB on Christmas Day. Unfortunately there was just too much going on around him to sit still for any length of time. Seems to be a common occurrence these days. 

Things BB loves:
- the outdoors
- anything we don't want him to have (phones, remote controls, computer, etc)
- water bottles
- the big ball we got him for Christmas... I guess that means I'm the best mum ever

Things BB hates: 
- me shutting the door to the balcony so he can't go out there
- sand... seriously, I have never seen a child hate sand so much
- waiting for food
- lying still on the change mat for even one second

Things BB can do: 
- clap when we say 'clap!' (without us making the action. He is so super smart and advanced.)
- stand by himself for a couple of seconds (very occasionally)
- wake his mum and dad up several times a night
- throw his ball

Fun in the not-sun

The weather this summer has not been the best. Christmas Day was nice, but then it got cloudy and not as warm again. Very disappointing for those who really want to go swimming but need warmth to do so. We spent the day today playing games and doing other activities. 

Some soccer...

Showing off the skills.
Right before the mad dash down the hill after the ball went a little too far.

... some sitting on cows...

This picture has been a long time coming,
since we pass this cow statue approximately once a week.
I have no idea about the facial expression.

... and some standing practice/wheel work.

What the hell is that?!?
(or)
There's chocolate over there and my mum hasn't eaten it yet?!?

Christmas Day - Part 2

After lunch we all got dressed in our nice Christmas outfits and went for a drive to my aunt and uncle's house. They live in an area called the Southern Highlands, about 1 hour's drive west of Berry. The drive is not very nice for my stomach because it involves a lot of curvy roads. 

BB has been doing some very nice standing work. He will sometimes attempt to stand on his own for a couple of seconds. Although usually it's when he is distracted by playing with a toy and doesn't realise that he is on his own. 

And the elf outfit still fits, nearly two months after I bought it. 

In typical dad fashion, he looked after the baby while drinking a glass of wine. Dinner was delicious and everybody ate way too much. Except me of course. 

My uncle has some sheep in a paddock near the house, and there was a little lamb in there. It's hard to tell from the photo, but way in the back there are some sheep on the left and the dad to the right of them, running around trying to catch the lamb.

And he did!

The Bad Baby liked the lamb. Probably wanted to eat it for dinner. He was making little quiet noises that sounded like 'dee-dee-dee' as he reached out for it. The lamb didn't do too badly. 

We left when it was time for BB to go to bed, and drove back to our house. It was slightly foggy. 

And so, Christmas was over for another year (sniff sniff). Next year we are DEFINITELY getting a tree, no matter what the Grinch (aka dad) says. 

Christmas Day - Part 1

Christmas morning was bright and sunny and warm, which is a change from what it has been the past couple of years. The aunties and uncles went home the night before, so it was just us and Grandma and Granddad. We ate delicious pancakes for breakfast (made by me) and then looked at what Santa had put in our stockings. Yes, I'm 29 years old and Santa still visits me. I see nothing wrong with that. Because I like chocolate.

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At one point BB was playing near the door to the balcony and his dad went outside. Then he just sat there for a while watching him with a forlorn look on his face. It was pretty funny (for me, not for BB).

Dad? Where are you going?

A bit later on we tried the pool again. This time we filled up the baby pool with a bit of water in the hope that it would be warmer than the big pool. BB liked it for a very short time, but then decided once again that he had had enough and wanted to get out.

Christmas Eve - Part 2

For the rest of the day, we made dinner, ate dinner, opened presents, and generally had a good time.

Photos are great and all, but when's dinner??

Ooooh what could this be?

A ball. I guess I should have known.

I don't think I like this kind of photo. 

The present aftermath.

Christmas Eve - Part 1

Christmas Eve was finally a beautiful summer's day. The sun was shining, the pool was warm (ish), and we were going to have a nice swim. Until the Bad Baby ruined all our plans by deciding that once again, he hates the pool. 

Clawing at me to get out. 

Crying and crying.

And still crying. 

 It took way longer than it should have for him to calm down after that horrible incident. Especially when we were all so scary, doing things like wearing sunglasses and hats. And looking at him.

Good helping, Bad Baby

Bad Baby likes to help with the washing. And by 'help', I mean 'get in the way'.

Please get out of the basket so I can put the clothes in there.

Thanks for rubbing our clean clothes on the floor, Bad Baby.

A party and some gardening

Picey is 5 today! So grown up...

Yesterday we went to his party. He got a new Batman costume that may be a tiny bit too big. Loo is in the background with his Spiderman suit that we gave him for his birthday. He was not particularly happy because he had to wake up from his nap. 

BB liked the trampoline with his dad. 

What was that? Someone has chocolate?

We stayed the night with Grandma and Granddad. Granddad was having fun in the garden so the Bad Baby thought he might like to come along.

Then he got really sad. And I took photos of him. What a cruel mother I am. 

Not swimming

I promised some photos of swimming lessons, but unfortunately the dad couldn't make it to our last lesson to take any. And I didn't really want to take our camera into the water. So the only picture I could take was one of us afterwards. The only reason BB is smiling is because he could see himself on the phone as I was taking the photo. Maybe some day soon it will act like summer and we'll be able to have some real swimming photos.

Summer?

Apparently it's summer here right now. You wouldn't know it from the weather. We went to the park to meet Grandma, Aunty, and the cousins. We didn't have much time, so we thought the kids would be disappointed when we had to leave. But since it was about 65 degrees and very very windy, we were all ready to go pretty soon. BB had some fun while we were there. 

Crawling!

Standing!

See-saw-ing!

Surfing!

"This boy wants to surf."
(Loo has taken to referring to himself in the third person. We have no idea why.)

Visit to Grandma's

BB and I went to Grandma's house after our trip to Oatley. There wasn't too much happening there except me trying to keep BB from falling down the stairs. So I put a tea cosy on his head. What fun.

Note the blurry hand already on the way to take the tea cosy off the head.

As we were packing up the car to go home, we noticed this lovely creature on the garage door. If you can't tell from the photo, it's about 4 inches in diameter. Not poisonous though, so no need to worry.

I can see its beady eyes just waiting for me to walk underneath...