Pirate Ship making

Toby and I made some pirate ships together, out of a couple of egg boxes and some lollipop sticks.

We had great fun, we even made a map and some tin foil treasure. And we gave them all names, which is essential for Toby. Everything and everyone must have a name. Or he is not very happy.


So here are (l-r) Blackheart, Captain Claw, Digger, Francois Feathersword, Peg-leg Pete and Pierre the Shark.

And Toby is loving playing with them. Though I'm not sure if he really understands what Pirates really are. When they went on an adventure and found some treasure, Toby told me that the treasure was a pile of books, and each pirate had to chose just one to take home. So sweet and innocent!

Dancing

He woke up yesterday after his afternoon sleep (of 3 hours! He must of been so tired, after keeping us awake all night long...) full of beans and happiness. And laughing at his crazy sweaty sleep hair. After a bit of chocolate brioche, he just started dancing, and dancing, and dancing...





Just a pure pleasure to watch.

Happy Birthday Gra-Gra!

We hope you have a lovely day xx

Ti-Ti and the things he loves

He has changed so much over the last few months, growing bigger and being funnier than ever before. And sometimes embarrassing.
Last week while sitting in a cafe he exclaimed, 'Mummy! That lady has a beard!" as he pointed at her. She kind of did have a beard, but I'm sure she really didn't want someone pointing it out for her!
Other things remain the same. He is still very shy. He wouldn't climb into the fire engine and press the buttons, even though the firemen outside Seven Seeds cafe were so lovely in offering to let him do so.
And he still loves Gaw-Gaw. His best friend, his sleep companion, his travelling buddy.

And these are his latest loves in no particular order:

• Dancing. Any kind, but he still loves break dancing, and has totally perfected his backspins now.
• Michael Jackson. Beat it and The Way You Make Me Feel are favourites. And it makes me laugh when he asks, "Mummy, is he a girl?"
  
• The Gruffalo. He can recite the pretty much the whole book. In the car on the way home from work, we recite it together. I am the narrator and other animal voices, and Toby is the mouse.
• Mechanics. All his stories that he makes up involve mechanics.
• F1 Racing
• Lego
• Chocolate
• Pretending to be a newborn baby
• Helping (or hindering? Not sure which...)in the kitchen
• Talking to inanimate objects. And making me do the voices that answer him. We've even had to make a rule, only objects/things that have a face can talk back. He now asks, "Mummy, does a potato have a face?" That's kind of a difficult one, as they have eyes...
• The Stone Men (The busker who dresses as if made from stone and stands completely still in the middle of the city)
• Beards/Mustaches and the people that have them.
• Making up words, I have no idea what they mean. Kissanova, Tilly-Tilly, Pulla-Pulla. What your name Toby? "Tilly-Tilly" is his reply. Why did you keep waking up last night? "Because I was kissanova" ???What? We have no idea...
• Aquariums
• Good Eggs and Bad Eggs (from the Willy Wonka movie). He asks about some people that he thinks are not nice - "Mummy, is he a bad egg?"
• Playing cops and robbers. And locking people in jail.
• And of course, Gaw-Gaw.

A Bowling Superstar

We went bowling last Friday with Uncle Pablo. I may have been an expert on the Wii, but I was terrible in reality. But it was still good fun. Toby had a brilliant time, and thrashed us all. He had special bumper bars that came up when it was his turn, so his ball couldn't go in the gutter. And a special ramp to help guide his ball. He just loved it.

Later in the afternoon, we did some painting. And Toby painted his very first portrait of me! He was even copying me when I draw, and studying me while he painted. I was very proud.

A day in the country, A day in the city

Last Sunday, we had a day in the country, in the Dandenong mountains. Toby was desperate to see some kookaburras, so we went where we knew we would find them. We also spotted some yellow-tailed black cockatoos, sulphur crested cockatoos and crimson rosellas on our walk through the forest.

A fairy door

Toby loved his walk. I told him that fairies live inside the tree trunks, and he spent ages knocking on their doors and trying to spot them.

Knocking on a fairy door

Explaining to Gaw-Gaw all about fairies and fairy doors

And we hiked over some slippery rocks to see a waterfall, Toby was pretty proud of himself.

And we even went fishing (Imaginary, of course.)



This Sunday, we had a day in the city. Breakfast at the European, then on to the craft market, then to the art gallery. Where we met a huge rhino that both terrified and fascinated Toby, as he stomped about and tried to spray him with water. And in the art gallery we were chased by crocodiles and had to run very fast. (Toby is just loving imaginary games at the moment. Especially if it involves being chased, and even more so if it involves robbers and police)




Two lovely days out.

An Autumn Walk

It's Autumn, and getting pretty cold around here. This year though, the leaves on the trees are making the most beautiful show, after the best summer rains in a decade or so. We decided to go for a walk in the Botanic Gardens on Friday, to enjoy the fresh air and the colours of autumn, (and collect a few leaves for printing and painting later on.)



Toby wore his new wellies, he thought they looked like fireman boots, so was very proud of them.


And he loved collecting all the leaves, checking for bugs, watching out for fairies and keeping his eyes peeled for kookaburras. We saw a few bugs, we think we saw some fairies, but no kookaburras. We're going to go looking for some of those tomorrow....

Original & Fancy

A month or so ago now, we had to give Gaw-Gaw a bath. Knowing that life for us all would be impossible with Gaw-Gaw out of action while he dried, I had to dig the spare Gaw-Gaw out of the wardrobe, and give him to Toby. He wasn't fooled for a second, and immediately said, "That's not Gaw-Gaw Mummy! He's all funny. What's his name?" I couldn't lie to him, so I explained that Gaw-Gaw needed to be bathed, and this new one would help Toby to sleep while the other one dried.

He was quite pleased with this explanation, and immediately ran to the sofa to try him out, with a hug, a rub of his nose with his tail and a good thumb suck.



And then he was desperate to help bath Gaw-Gaw. So we had a very fun afternoon together, carefully washing him. With Toby gently brushing his fur with his baby brush.

And so now we have two Gaw-Gaw's. Which is not particularly good news. I had intended that as soon as Gaw-Gaw was dry, the spare Gaw-Gaw would be sneaked back into the wardrobe in case of future emergencys. But Toby will not be separated from either of them. Both Gaw-Gaw's accompany him to bed, and around the house. And now they both have their own names and distinct personalities. 'Original Gaw-Gaw', the favourite, the one who is up for anything, and who likes to sleep a lot. And 'Fancy Gaw-Gaw', who is a little bit vain, a little aloof, but very loyal.



And that is how Toby refers to them now, Original and Fancy. His best friends.

Things we've being doing

Lots and lots of break dancing...


I've mentioned before that he won't really let me take photos of him much these days. But if it's photos of him break dancing? That's a whole different story, he actually wants me to take photos of him dancing, and then he loves to look at them on the camera.





We had a family barbecue for Australia day, and I made a big pavlova, as I always do for any get together. Toby seems to have inherited his Dad's obsession with this dessert, he couldn't wait for everyone else to sit down, before he grabbed himself a spoon and started digging in....



And he ended up having two adult size portions. Definitely taking after his Dad, who has been known to have sneaky 4am pavlova feasts, the stress of the pavlova being left in the fridge overnight (where someone else might eat it before he does) proving too much.


And Toby's beloved Abu is not very well at the moment. 'Abu has a sore tummy' he keeps telling me. So he made these pictures, to help her feel better. I asked him, "What shall we draw that will make Abu feel happy?" His simple answer, "Cars".
OK then.


Get better soon Abu.

Faces....

This is one of our favourite games, originally started by Ti-Ti, he likes to copy the faces I make especially when I'm cross.
The game is called Daddy's Face, Mummy's Face.

Daddy's Face:

(He tries to look all cross)

Mummy's Face:

(Big smiles!)

And then we fall about laughing.