Spring

Spring has sprung and this finds us with new activities and adventures. Stephen has discovered a new love of all things that fly. You may ask all things that fly? Well when you hear him saying "ane, ane" and pointing to the sky as the jumbos fly above, your heart will melt too. He is very observant and he thoroughly enjoys the new warm weather and being able to get out and experience life. We have been to the park and taken our first swing, played with the local kids and had a go on the slide with mummy not to mention the unending joy of his two cousins Georgia and Samantha. Most kids his age might lay back in the pram and fall asleep on a long walk, but Stephen sits up tall since he doesn't want to miss a thing. He points to the birdies as they fly by or the other dogs he sees in the park and giggles with excitement as we approach other kids for him to smile and be coy at. Our little monkey is nearly one and in this past year he has given us so much joy I can not imagine what the next years ahead hold for us.

Family

Being far from my home it was really special to have my family come visit me when Stephen was born. He got to know his Nanny & Poppy very well over the 4 months they were here and when we went home to Australia he had not forgotten there faces nor there extra quirky noises that made him look up and around and take notice.

My grandma, aunties & cousins live across the street or just a few houses away and they too make me smile and laugh and have been great sources of entertainment and enjoyment. I think they kind of like me a little bit more then they are letting on.

My other Aunties and Uncles in Australia are always calling me and have visited a few times. I know that when I get bigger I will be able to go back to Australia and live if I want to...

Snow Angels

Although Stephen has seen the snow a few times now he has not had the opportunity to lay in it and get a real feel for what it means. Well today that happened. Joe and I walked outside and the snow was falling, with out little monkey all wrapped up warm and tight we headed to the softest snow we could find, lay him down and watch him wrestle to getup, which entail resulted in snow angels.

Some may say torture, I say a good photo opportunity.

2010

This year began like no other, not only am I wife and run a busy household with lots of animals and craziness, but I am a MUM. Its nice to say, think and its nice when I hear it come out from his lips.

Ive just started back at work and I would have to say that as hard as it is to leave my little man, when I walk in that door in the afternoon and he catches my eye and I catch his the overwhelming love between us, is indescribable. Words can literally not tell you how I feel when he tries to leap from whom ever may have him towards me.

He has flourished so much this month, not only has he mastered crawling and furniture surfing but now he likes to stand up and use his car and walk down the hall. Yes he stumbles and falls but he picks him self back up and looks up at me as if to say " I got this mum, don't worry about me". I don't think Joe or I are going to be able to stop him from doing anything he may want to try as he gets older as he is so adventurous and confident. Stephen loves meeting new people and playing with other kids. I know that when we decide to have number two he will be very excited.

Baby's 1st Christmas

So everyone kept asking me, "What are you getting Stephen for Christmas"? and I thought I was a bad parent if I didn't get him something spectacular for his his 1st Christmas. But then realization set in and I knew that he would not ever remember what he got that day or probably for the next 5 years and knowing the rest of Joe's and my family I knew he would be rather spoiled so we decide practicality was the way to go. So he got socks, clothes and a xylophone. We had a lovely day with family and having the extra kids here Jonah & Tayha made it so much more enjoyable. Stephen opened a mountain of gifts from all of his relatives and when all was said and done and the toys were all laid out for him to play with he rolled his way over to the plastic bag full of all the wrapping paper and played with that. So I think we ca safely say although he loves all his gifts I was safe in my assumption that buying him something spectacular would have been wasted I should have just given him a large box and drawn some wheels and headlights on it and called it a fire engine.

Haloween

I had grand ideas of what to put Stephen in for his first Halloween, you know I wanted him to be perfect and look the part for his pictures. Then time got away from me and I didn't get the order in on time so I went to the mall and found a costume and you know what, I really don't think it would have mattered what he was in, he would have been damn cute in anything. So next year when he can walk I will get him the costume I wanted this year and it will be fantastic, but for now you will just have to enjoy this outrageously adorable 3 eyed monster. Happy Halloween Everyone!

Teeth

Just before we left for Australia in September Stephen received his 4 month shots, which he did very well with. That very same week gnawing on my finger and wouldn't you know it his first tooth appeared on the bottom. He never really complained much and so when we got to Australia and his second tooth appeared just days later I was even more surprised at how well he was doing. Well since then he has 6 teeth, He had 4 though by the time he was 6 months and the last two came in his 8th month. So he has 3 on top and 3 on the bottom and it makes it so much easier for him to eat his solid foods. But still you would not think that he was teething because apart from a bit of grumbling he really does not complain, actually I think our cats complain more about not getting fed on time than he does about his teeth ache.