New Teeth

Just wanted to show off Liam's cute new teeth. He's very proud of them and is even quicker to flash a toothy grin (or gnaw on you a little) these days. The two on the bottom are all the way through and the top ones are on the move (one's halfway out, the other just broke the surface). I get a kick out of watching him eat bread and crackers because he instinctively knows that those teeth are for chewing and keeps all the food at the front of his mouth with his lips all poked out to chew with his little chompers.

Getting Dressed

Julia has gotten very good at dressing herself and always wants to pick out her own outfits. Usually I'm happy to let her go out in whatever she chooses, but sometimes we end up in outfits like this:

But it's okay cause accessories are what really make an outfit.

We Miss You, Nana!

After many months of having the wonderful help and company of my mother, we finally had to let her return to her own life in Mississippi, and we are all missing her. Julia (and Liam, too, though less articulately) wish daily that Nana was still here, but explained to her that Nana went home to see G-Da. Julia responds to this adamantly with, "No, I want to see G-da" as if only she can possess that desire (we're in a very self-centered, possessive phase at the moment). Whenever I hear Julia saying to Matt, "No, I want Mommy" I now come in and say, "I want my mommy too." That always gives her a bit of a pause.

Anyway, we had a great last couple of weeks with Nana as we transitioned into new childcare arrangements and had a little bit more play time. After a very long search (that's a separate post in itself), we have hired a wonderful nanny, Kristy, who will be looking after Liam & Julia while I'm in classes and studying, and part of that time Julia will also be at her fabulous new school, Indooroopilly Montessori Children's House. Liam will also start there in January 2009.

Julia before her 1st day of school

(I would've liked a more formal picture to have for the scrapbooks, but then I realized it wasn't worth the fight and I haven't updated her scrapbook since her 1st birthday anyway...)

We got to continue Nana's birthday celebration at our house. Julia helped me bake a chocolate layer cake with chocolate icing. She was really helpful with the cake part, pouring in each ingredient that I measured out, stirring, sifting, etc. She also took it upon herself to taste each ingredient as it went in. The sugar was a hit. The coffee (it was decaf) and unsweetened cocoa powder, however, not so much. Once we made the icing though I let her lick the beaters, and she was in heaven! In fact after I'd iced the cake, she took the bowl when I turned my back for a second, hugged it tightly and proclaimed, "Mine!" (oh yeah, and she decided to cook in her hula skirt)

As a last treat for me Nana kept Liam for two nights again so that I could get some extra sleep. And just like last time, he had a blast -- swimming, playing on the beach, going for strolls, and of course just having all the attention and no big sis around for a couple of days. He thought it was great fun to help her pack too...so many exciting things to play with and a nice sturdy suitcase was perfect the perfect height to practice his cruising. Matt took Julia down to pick up Liam while I was studying that weekend, and they all had a great walk through the Burleigh Headlands. Of course we also just had a lot of our usual good days hanging out in between my classes. Nana and Julia had lots of tea parties. Liam crawled and babbled and worked on his new skill of pulling up and cruising along the furniture. Nana & I did get to have a day and night without the littlies, and we had a great walk on the beach and fabulous Italian meal and a lot of laughs.

We love you and miss you, Nana! Come back soon!

Mt Tamborine Hike

To start the birthday celebrations for Nana (actual birthday is Tuesday), we all went up to Mt Tamborine for the day to enjoy some time in the hills and the best pies (a.k.a. meat pies for all you non-Aussies). Liam greeted us, looking incredibly happy after his two days of quality Nana time. He seemed to have enjoyed his break from having everything snatched away from him by his sister, but he was still so thrilled to see her and did his best to bear hug her when she greeted him. We had a gorgeous day-- sunny and cloudless sky but not too hot-- and headed straight for Joalah Park for a hike. We were a bit ambitious taking only one of our backpacks, and after the initial novelty of the trail wore off I ended up carrying Julia most of the way, but we had a great time. Nana helped Julia find all the holes and tunnels where little animals could possibly live, and they examined all the trees for koalas (Julia spotted about 15 -- along with a few wombats, flying cats, and a dinosaur...our adult eyes just weren't quite good enough for all those wonders of the rainforest!). Meanwhile, following his new fascination Liam was touching all the trees, patting their bark and grinning profusely. He has become very vocal too and would start singing whenever the birds did. After our hike we went into the town and ate pies at the winery. I'm not a fan of meat pies, but these are delicious (we discovered them during when we were staying up at Mt. Tamborine while I was pregnant-- odd craving, but a meat pie was what I wanted), and even worth the drive just for lunch.
We wandered through the shops after lunch. For those of you not familiar with the area, this is not the same as shopping since we have rarely ever bought anything offered at these shops (it's more like going to museums). For some reason, this town has decided that all of its shops will sell to a very, very narrow niche market. Now I'm not entirely sure how to define that niche, so instead I'll describe the merchandise that is duplicated at almost all of the stores. One item I saw in three different stores (in various patterns) was a stilleto ankle boot that had been covered in rhinestones and made into a handbag. These same stores (and others) sold fairy wings, elaborate minature gnomes and elves, rhinestone-covered calculators, and more doiles than you could ever possibly need. One store has devoted itself entirely to fiber-optic trees and has a display room called "The Illuminated Forest". Matt and I have laughed about this place before (the owner is very serious about her "forest" and does not intend it to be merely a children's attractions), but Julia took it very seriously and could have spent hours in there examining the lit-up trees and the gnomes and fairies that populate the forest. Liam and Matt opted out of that little excursion. Of course, there's also the very random German Cuckoo Clock Shop (which sells clocks, of course, but also Christmas ornaments and those Russian nesting dolls painted with Marilyn Munroe and Princess Diana).

When we'd had our fill of fairyland, we went on to the Botanic Gardens and found a nice shady patch of grass to sit on while Liam practiced his crawling. He's been able to get around for awhile, but he finally figured out that he didn't need to use his belly to propel himself along the ground. Now he's up on all fours and was so proud showing off his new trick. Julia periodically came over and tried to pick him up, "I help you, Liam." Nana and Julia found some boardwalks and bridges and played Three Billy Goats Gruff (Julia's current favorite book). Julia stomped around saying, "Trip trap trip trap, who's trotting over my bridge." I think a few of the other patrons of the gardens thought she was directing it at them, but she was completely in her own world and having a ball.

The kiddos were completely tuckered out on the drive home, and we all agreed it was a great way to spend a Saturday. Happy early birthday, Nana!

Little Drummer Boy

More from the Mississippi trip. I thought this one of Liam was particularly cute!

Sleep, Glorious, Sleep!

My mother -- being the incredible help that she is-- offered to keep Liam for two nights so that I could finally get some much-needed rest (have I mentioned that she's amazing?!?). So after classes yesterday, I took Julia to Nana's condo and we all had dinner together, got ready for bed, and then Julia and I drove back up to Brisbane. Even though I know my mom is great with Liam and I was looking forward to one of the only full nights of sleep in over two years, I still had a hard time leaving the little man for his first night away from me. But Julia chattered away about her day at school then fell asleep on the drive home and let me transfer her easily to bed when we got back, and by 9pm I was crawling into bed myself, quickly forgetting any separation anxiety. We were still up early as usual, but I slept-- uninterrupted-- from 9pm-5:30am...in one night I'd gotten more sleep than I'd had in total in the last week!! And to top it all off...while Liam was at Nana's house, he only woke up once! Sorry, G-da, but I might not ever let her go home now ;-)Julia and I have had a fantastic mother-daughter morning too! We played around the house, having tea parties and dancing a lot. Then we went to the new big park at Springfield Lakes-- multiple play structures, a kid's bike track, great swings, and more!-- and on from there to Orion Shopping Centre where we went to Storytime at the local bookstore, did some grocery shopping, and went out to lunch. (and I have NO pictures from it all because we've misplaced the camera charger--hence the random assortment of Mississippi photos throughout this post).
Thank you, Nana! This has been such a treat to get sleep and also such great one-on-one time with Julia, who is definitely a little girl and no longer a baby! Or perhaps "little princess" is more accurate. Sometimes when you ask her questions (e.g. "What animal is that?" or "What did you do at school to day?") she now answers with the non-sequiter, "I am Julia" as if to say, I am too important to answer your silly questions, mom. [Side note: She has also started the blame game. Our vacuum cleaner stopped working the other day. Somewhere between the kitchen and living room it just gave up the ghost. I turned to Julia and said, "What happened to mommy's vacuum cleaner, Julia?" not really expecting an answer. Without skipping a beat, she very matter-of-factly said, "Daddy, broke it."]