George - September 09

On the 31st of August, both George and Joseph (finally) started at the new Bear Park Centre in Remuera (or Dilworth as we call it after the street it is in).  The centre is purpose-built, brand new and amazing.  George is still in the Fantail Room but he'll be transitioning to the Moreporks by the end of the year.  It took about four weeks for George to not cry when we left him each morning - that's quite draining to go through every day!

I took George to the supermarket one Saturday...he was all rugged up in a hand-me-down outfit courtesy of Joseph (top) and cousin Alfie (trousers and puffer).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, here is George eating at the table, sitting in a "big" chair.  He is much happier with this arrangement although he does tend to want to get up and down to the chair - he hasn't quite worked out how to do that yet by himself.

It is nearly time for George to have a proper haircut (more than his fringe trimmed anyway) so I took this opportunity to gather it all up into a ponytail!

George has been experiencing on going ear infections over winter so we went on the waiting list to have grommets inserted...he was a very good boy.  I took him into theatre and it was very unpleasant holding him down while he was put under.  He's recovered well though - grommets are amazing! He's such a happier wee boy.

The Warren Boys - August 09

We made a family trip down to Tauranga to go to Rich's 40th birthday.  We hired a great apartment (that had the all important DVD player).  This photo was taken on Sunday morning when the boys were busy "exploring" (ie touching things they shouldn't!).  Can you see George's cheekiness?

I bought George's portfolio home from Bear Park Parnell to add the "parent voice" contribution.  I discovered Joseph and George reading it together.  They were having a great time looking at the pictures and Joseph recognised some of the toys from when he was a Fantail too.

Joseph is usually the one bossing George around but lately George has been a bit more assertive.  Here's a prime example, George was playing with the trolley, then Joseph muscled in - George didn't think much of this and decided to muscle right back in!

Finally, here's some updated pictures of Great Aunty Aida with both boys.  (Joseph obviously forcibly made to pose)

 

Joseph - August 09

Joseph has showed great progress on his running bike so we decided to get him a chain bike.  Dan and Joseph disappeared one Saturday morning to the bike shop and came back with this rather lurid green/blue/red number.  He doesn't have quite enough muscle power in the legs to ride it but we're sure that will come with practice.

We have had Joseph's friend from Bear Park Patey Street, Mihos, over for a playdate.  Mihos is an only child and finds our house a bit loud and messy I think - a bit overwhelming!  Joseph and Mihos have a great time disappearing up to Joseph's room to play intricate games with trains, cars and trucks.

 Dan took Joseph to MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) and rather than exploring all the exhibits, they spent all their time on the tram.  Joseph took it all very seriously and was still holding on tight to the ticket when he got home!

George - August 09

George continues to reveal his character...he is a great eater and so easy to put down to sleep. 

Here he is having a great time eating his yoghurt.

Uncle Gerry came to visit and the boys had a lovely time getting to know him again. 

George loves books as well and here we are reading one of his favourite books "The Human Body".  It had lots of pull out bits but they seem to have been destroyed over times!

George is also physically fearless...the confines of a highchair are no obstacle to George - when he's finished, he's finished.

 

(Needless to say, we banished the highchair shortly after this!)

The Warren Boys - July 09

On our last night in Noosa we went to the surf club for dinner.  We all had a great time - the boys loved the hot chips and Joseph took a real shine to the calamari.

 

And here's a shot of my three Warren boys...early in the morning when we'd gone down to the beach to get a paper and a coffee and muffin.

 

Joseph - July 09

Joseph was a bit of a house mouse on our trip to Brisbane/Noosa.  He didn't want to do much but read, watch "Toy Story" and eat.  We had to bribe/force him to go anywhere!

He had a good time with Grandma and Grandad - here he is finishing off making the gingerbread men with Grandma.  Joseph made a good effort at icing them and making sure they all had the required number of buttons!

Joseph really loves reading...in fact toy catalogues are his version of magazines.  Grandma had saved a few for him and he loved spending time going through them and working out what he would like to play with and what we could buy.

Once we got to Noosa, Dan and Frog (Mark from Melbourne) managed to convince Joseph that going swimming in his (and his wife's, Melinda's) hotel's pool would be a great idea!  I still can't believe that Joseph actually went in!

Matt came up from Sydney as well (Matt is Joseph's Godfather) and the two of them spent some quality time together - mainly on the couch watching DVDs.  I think this particular afternoon, they watched Toy Story with an encore of Cars.

Finally, I can pretty much count of one hand the number of times, Joseph has ever fallen asleep on the couch (he tends to resist sleep as much as he can).  Here he is coma-ed out watching Tour De France highlights (7pm!!!).

George - July 09

As Dan mentioned, we've had to move to monthly posts...this post is a selection of photos documenting George's month of July. He had a late arriving present from Aunty Kate in Bristol...a hand knitted dinosaur made by Harry's teacher's Mum!

At the end of July, we headed off to sunny Brisbane for two weeks holiday. Here is George having a great time at Aunty Di's and Uncle Ben's..he really made short work of getting the scarves out of the drawer! This is a skill he has transferred to Auckland as I often find my clothes all over the bedroom after being pulled out of the wardrobe.

George loved the beach at Noosa. He he is at Tea Tree Beach in the National Park. This is one of the first beaches we took Joseph to as well. Unfortunately, on this trip, Joseph didn't want a bar of the beach, sand or sea.

George has been standing for ages now and has also been toddling around holding onto to us and pieces of furniture. He also loves climbing stairs. Here he is at Main Beach, Noosa. From memory, George and I had just polished off a gelato from Maximos! George was a bit sick on this trip with an ear infection and he also had his two top eye teeth coming through. He didn't sleep very well at night - neither did we!!!

June 2009

We've given up on the weekly posts - life is too hectic now George is no longer a baby but an on-the-go toddler - but more details on that later. Right now we 'll just try to get the best part of 3 months of news updated, so back to June...

A long running story on this blog has been Joseph's haircuts. But every time he gets one he is a little bit better (starting from a very low base!). You can see from the pic below he's still a bit tense sitting in the chair as his regular stylist Cham does his work, but he knows there's a treat from the bakery across the road straight afterwards.
I've got some serious competition for the bowl nowadays when Sophia is baking and when there's more than one around I just give up. Lizzie's helping out but Joe seems to be making sure he's controllong things.
The biggest news we've left to last was of course George's 1st birthday on June 30. We had a family morning tea party with Grandma & Grandad BQ, Aunty Dorothy & Uncle Bruce and Aunty Aida the Sunday before. Joseph was happy to be on hand to assist with opening presents and playing with them as well.
Sophia made a cake for George's birthday at Bear Park. Here is the morning tea crew (extremely well behaved at daycare!)
And here is a cute one of George with his cake.

30th May - 1st June

And now the final post to bring us completely up to date!

On Saturday, Joseph chose to wear shorts...so here he is looking quite like Billy Elliott! This is just before we went to the supermarket for the weekly shop. He was very good at the shop until he saw the mega chocolate display and then starting whining about wanting chocolate. I made him eat an apple before I gave him some chocolate!

George met another milestone on Saturday when he climbed up the stairs for the very first time...in very quick time too. Joseph is not happy about this development and keeps telling us to "get him and take him away". As soon as George hears the door being opened he is quick to see if he can slip out and get up those stairs.

We participate in a med school study and have two med students visit us (well, George really) every six weeks or so. They have been following George's progress for about a year now (before he was born) and come to make sure he is meeting his milestones. Ru and Madeline came on Saturday afternoon to put George through his paces. Here is a picture of Ru and George. I'll try and get one of Madeline at the next visit.

George is still working the camera (unlike Joseph who has not taken a lovely photo for months!!!)...look at those teeth!

Finally, Dan was keen to watch the Warriors on Sunday afternoon, unfortunately both boys wanted Dan's attention. Here is Dan watching the TV and helping the boys read at the same time!

23rd - 29th May

I took George to visit Grandma and GRandad BQ over an extended weekend on Fri 22nd - Mon 25th May. Aunty Kate was also there having come down from Bristol for a week. We got to see Grandma and Grandad BQ's new house and check out all the lovely cafes and shop in Bulimba.

Unfortunately George only started to warm to Kate, Grandma and Grandad on the Sunday afternoon...he was Master Clingy for most of the time. He wouldn't let me out of his sight so all my plans of leaving him to spend quality time with his grandparents didn't come to fruition!!!

George did have a lovely time playing with all the toys by himself with no interuptions from Joseph and he also had a very special treat of being able to play with the TV and DVD remotes (something we don't encourage at home!).


Mum and Dad's new home doesn't have a bath so we used the laundry tub to keep George clean. To be honest, he didn't really relax into it but was fascinate by the hose from the washing machine and kept trying to pull it out.

16th - 22nd May

Only a couple of pictures from this week.

Joseph went for his six weekly haircut down at the BHC in Onehunga (Brother's Hair Cuts!). He is getting better at sitting still and actually let the haircut happen rather than try and stop it wherever possible. I will try and get some shots of the actual event the next time we go. As usual, Joseph's reward was a finger bun from Baker's Delight - this time with sprinkles. He wanted it cut up and placed on a plate so he could eat it on his bed (I was finding 100s and 1000s in his bed for days!).


George loves getting out amongst it outside these days and like, Joseph, he has discovered the little raised bed outside the back door. It got a good turning over by George.

9th May - 15th May

Dan and I went out for dinner on Saturday 10th May Great Aunt Aida came over to babysit...here they are just before we left...watching "Thomas the Tank Engine" (that DVD is still going strong - thanks Godmother Vikki!).

George has had a few tumbles of late as he keeps exploring. Here he is sporting a good red mark/bruise under his left eye after he pulled a dining room chair down onto himself on Mother's Day.


We had a lovely Mother's Day...I made french toast for us for second breakfast and could hardly keep up the production line as Joseph was devouring it as fast as I could make it. I got a lovely card and two instant scratchies (we won $5 on one of them) and I got to have a very nice afternoon sleep. I also made the first crock pot of the winter season and here is George sampling the magic ingredient.

George has been very interested in the cupboards this week and will take any opportunity to come over the investigate.
Finally, a picture of number one son, Joseph. He, too, is keen to get involved and learn new things so here we are ironing my shirt (a very tricky cotton number (ie requiring the iron to be on "hot") with bell sleeves!). He loved the water squirter and was a bit over zealous in applying excess water to the shirt - luckily the iron was set to hot!!!