Christmas and New Year

We had a lovely Christmas. Toby was so excited, and loved all of his presents, especially his Jedi Knight costume, and the Star Wars mini figures he asked Santa for. And he couldn't believe the muddy paw prints left behind by the reindeer.

We ate too much for lunch. We had lobsters and fresh prawns,  Luis's famous cerviche, glazed ham, roast beef and salads. Lemon tart and pavlova for dessert. It was a good day.

And ever since we have been on holiday. Doing bits of shopping, going out for breakfasts, and lunches and dinners. Catching up with friends. Toby had had a few play dates. Scootering in the park with Manon, and splashing around at the Children's Garden with Lily.

New Year's Eve was quiet and low key. We made mexican food and ate it on our roof terrace, and watched the fireworks at midnight, with Toby.

And for the first day of the new year, we took a day trip to the beach at Mornington. Playing beach ball.
And it has been hot ever since. A scorching 41 degrees today. We spent the morning at the pool, where the water actually felt cold, and the afternoon at home in the air conditioning.

Only 2 more days left until it's back to work.....

Christmas is coming

We have been doing all manner of Christmassy things.

A visit to Father Christmas last weekend.
And a visit to the Christmas maze in the city, with a treasure hunt to find reindeer.
A letter to Santa written, decorated and posted on Monday (requesting 2 Star Wars figures)
Christmas decorations have been made. It is amazing how good a lump of plasticine, a plastic cup, cotton wool and some cheap cupcake toppers can look!

The tree and house have been decorated. Toby just loved doing the tree. With nearly all of the baubles hanging off the same few branches at the bottom of the tree. Later that evening I subtly re-arranged them. He realised straight away the next morning what I had done, of course.

Yes, there is much excitement in the house. Constant counting down until the big day, and planning of things that still need doing. The gingerbread house to make and decorate, and deciding which biscuits will we leave out for Father Christmas? All the important things.
 Just 12 more days to go....

The artist

In a nearby cafe the a few days ago, we stopped for a freshly squeezed juice.

Toby got straight into drawing on the outside blackboard. He was so enthusiastic, his hands were soon covered in chalk. Then he realised it was easily transferred onto his trousers. Which soon became drawing straight onto his trousers with the chalk.

And then he announced, once totally covered in the stuff,
 Mummy, I look like an artist!

Thank goodness for weekends

It has been a bit difficult and tiring since we have been back, with our routine all out of sorts, and Toby spending more long days at kinder. I am hoping we are slowly gaining some sort of rhythm again now, and that Toby will start to settle down again. The tears and tantrums everyday are heartbreaking and exhausting.I think it has all led to an obsession with weekends.
He talks about them all week long.
When is the weekend? Will Daddy be home at the weekend?  How many days is it? What are we doing?
Endless questions and worries.

We have had some good weekends over the last couple of months.

Picnics in the park. Barbeques on the rooftop. Playing in the park. Chocolate brioche at Seven seeds cafe. Bike riding along the beach. Baking cakes. Playing light sabers with Daddy.

Taco truck picnic in the park

The beach

Summer puding and vanilla ice cream lovliness

Seven Seeds

Using "The Force' on Daddy

Hiding from the "Dark Side" at the park

Strawberry and vanilla cream cake

Sunshine, food, play and happiness. All beginning to make Toby a little happier.

Truly Great

We had such a wonderful time during our trip to England.

Seeing castles, the English seaside, ice-cream, fish and chips.
Birthday parties galore.
Spending lots of time with Gragely and Grandpa.
Toby playing with his gorgeous cousins.
Travelling in a London cab.
Playing dress ups, as Spiderman, knights,and pirates.

It is a bit sad to be back.
We had such a good time.
Truly great.

New Bicycle

A bit of an early birthday present from Daddy.
Toby is very proud of his new bike.

Cool style

Toby is very particular about what he wears these days. Every morning he carefully picks his own outfit out, being very particular with every single thing, even fussing over which underpants and socks he'll wear with which shirt etc.

And the shoes! We have many arguments about shoes. I'm not sure why he will insist on wearing his red suede shoes on a rainy day. Or why he just has to wear his deck shoes when we are running really late and I absolutely cannot find them anywhere.
He refers to all of this as his cool style.

Mummy, I need to wear cool style today. I just  have too. I need to wear my red boots!

And he loves nothing more than to pose for photos in his cool style

 The upside to this is that he is now dressing all by himself. He doesn't even want help.
A few weeks ago, I thought this moment would never come.

Last Weekend...

...Toby nearly exploded with excitement.
You probably remember, I think I've mentioned before how obsessed Toby is with Star Wars and superheroes.
It was national bookshop day, and the big bookshop in the city was holding all sorts of events through out the day for children. Craft activities, treasure hunts, light saber displays, and loads of superheroes and star wars characters browsing the shelves inside the shop.
When  he first spotted the Storm Trooper, he was a little scared, but holding Daddy's hand he bravely approached him, and once he started talking to him, we could barely get him to stop.
Are you a good egg or a bad egg? Do you know Darth Vader? Do you know Darth Maul? Can you take your helmet off? Can I hold your gun?

Batman was similarly bombarded with questions.
Do you know the Joker? Do you know The Riddler? Do you know the Penguin?

We ended up in the bookshop for most of the day. He held a light saber, and was given tips and advice from some Jedi Knights. He talked to Batman, Spiderman, Captain America, a Storm Trooper, Luke Skywalker, and Captain Jack Sparrow. Took part in the treasure hunt and won a prize.

He has barely stopped talking about it since, and it's the chosen subject for his show and tell at kinder tomorrow.