Daddy needed a new tie and so we went shopping at a big department store. Josh was so taken with the male mannequin that he decided to do his own imitation – spot the real person.
It appears that our son also has great taste in ties; the one he chose also happened to be the most expensive in the store. However, after the boy had ‘played’ with the tie (thankfully no food or drink came into contact with the tie), we decided against buying it.
Joshua caught up with his cousins over the Summer holiday break on the Gold Coast (Queensland). He had such a good time with Erik and Imogen – as per usual (although it did seem to involve a lot of time sitting around watching TV). Or maybe I am just being too sensitive.
I must admit there was all manner of balls (round and oval) kicked, thrown (over the fence) and deflated. There was also a generous supply of old toys (“Thank you, Erik”) to be man-, sorry!, boy-handled. I don’t think we actually got to the bottom of that big box of toys. Nonetheless, Josh did manage to extract some of the toys with wheels and we even took some home to Melbourne in our already bulging suitcase.
He spoke about his cousins for a long time after this holiday.
Joshua is growing up! I was watching TV one night when boy came out of the bathroom, after having his bath, and announced that I should turn off the TV, as we were all going to bed, NOW!
The strange thing was that after a few seconds thought – it became apparent that it was actually a good idea. After all it was Friday night, I was watching a re-run of “Better Homes and Gardens” and we had a busy weekend ahead of us. So off to bed we all went.
At least, we are now in no doubt about who runs the show in this household.
Granddad and Nanna Smith are finally here in Melbourne – for a visit from the UK. These photo’s were taken the day they arrived. To prepare Josh for their visit we spoke about them every night, for at least a week, before they arrived. I don’t know if he remembered them from their last visit (he would have been 18 months old the last time he saw them).
Josh was, evidently, very happy to see them and smothered Granddad Smith with attention. While we have no photographic proof, I know Nanna Smith received a similar welcome.
We are looking forward to their stay.
Granddad and Nanna Smith have come to visit. They arrived on Melbourne Cup Day and stayed for 3 weeks. We enjoyed their stay. During the first week there was a day spent with Thomas, The Tank Engine, a day at the Melbourne Zoo, as well as a number of day trips. There was also lots of presents from Granddad and Nanna to open. Granddad even brought boy lots of new shoes.
During the second week of Granddad and Nanna Smith’s holiday, we went for a trip along the Great Ocean Road. This series of photos was taken during our stay in Apollo Bay.
I think Granddad started out watching TV and ended up being mauled by the boy. The moment boy has made eye contact with you – you’re done for. I think Granddad, very wisely, decided that the mauling could be stopped by teaching the boy colours (see jigsaw puzzle of colours in the final photo, below).
Favourite colours had to be chosen. Nanna Smith chose Green, Grandad chose Red and Blue (but had to settle on one, on boy’s insistence, and so chose Blue), Dad took Orange and Mummy opted for Purple. This was such a good way to get Josh to remember his colours and by linking them with a person whenever Josh mentions the colours, he thinks of the person.
Granddad and Nanna Smith came to visit us – from the UK – in November 2009.
During the second week of their stay, we went touring around the Great Ocean Road and stayed for a few days at Angelsea and Apollo Bay and then made our way back to Melbourne via Colac. This series of photo’s was taken around the Colac Botannical Gardens.
Action Joshua. The following are photos of Joshua in action.
In September 2009, we decided to holiday at BIG4 Wye River. Although, we only stayed for the weekend, Joshua enjoyed himself. As you can see from these photos Josh wanted to ride the bike himself – no mean feat since he couldn’t reach the pedals. Mum and Dad actually ran behind the bike and were pushing it along.
We had a lovely meal at the pub nearby on the Saturday night. In fact, Josh befriended two of the ‘locals’ (I don’t know if they were locals or just families who were there for a longer period of time) boys his age and they played together before, during and after the meal. It really makes a difference to how you feel about a place when your child enjoys themself.
Even in the heart of winter, we were active. The top photos were taken at Melbourne’s only city farm – the Collingwood Children’s Farm. There were lots of farm animals, farmers markets and much more…
It is located only 5km from the centre of Melbourne, nestled on a bend of the Yarra River, and is made up of seven hectares of paddocks, gardens, orchards, rustic buildings and shady trees. Established in 1979 the Collingwood Children’s Farm is a not-for-profit community resource providing country experiences for city people. It is open every day of the year from 10am and 4pm. Visitors can milk the cow at bottle feed young lambs (seasonal), wander around, feed the animals, help with farm chores, go into the paddocks with the sheep and goats, cuddle a guinea pig, waddle with the ducks, feed the chooks, look for eggs or just sit and unwind under a shady tree or on the banks of the Yarra river.
We also spent some time at the Melbourne Museum located in the Carlton Gardens, adjacent to the Royal Exhibition building. It is, apparently, the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere. The museum has seven main galleries, a Children’s Gallery and a temporary exhibit gallery on three levels, Upper, Ground and Lower Level and was constructed by Baulderstone Hornibrook. The Touring Hall is where temporary exhibits are displayed. The Big Box is part of the Children’s Gallery. The Discovery Centre, on the Lower Level, is a free public research centre.
What was so surprising was how child-friendly and child-oriented it was. Definitely worth another trip.
Joshua is 2 years old! We had a few friends over for his birthday party. Granny came over from the Gold Coast and baked up a storm. We had home-made party pies, sausage rolls and sandwiches. Granny also baked a cake and lots of cupcakes (all beautifully decorated). Thank you Granny! Thank you, also, to all those lovely people who came to Joshua’s party, namely, one of my oldest friends in the world, Carol-Anne, and her two beautiful boys, mum’s cousin, ‘Aunty’ Sharon and some of our (and J’s) friends. We had such a good time! Again, THANK YOU COMING AND MAKING IT A SPECIAL DAY FOR THE LITTLE MAN.
Joshua also got a lovely handmade presents and cards from his family overseas. He got a special Thomas jumper from Nanny Smith – what would be better than wearing Thomas, watching Thomas and thinking about Thomas! Thank you also to Grandad Smith, Aunty Alison, Uncle Guy, and cousin Theo. We love getting parcels from overseas.
