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.

Superhero Ti-Ti - The Breakdancing Terror

The first post of the new year!
Toby is getting harder and harder to photograph, as today's blurry shots will show you....

He got so cross when I stopped our game of superheroes to take some quick photos that he ended up having a tantrum. He was temporarily distracted with a clip of Yo Gabba Gabba playing superheroes on the computer, so I managed to sneak these shots in...


He just loves superheroes.

Toby's Top Ten Things He Loves: (in no particular order)

Breakdancing
Superheroes
Fish (both eating them and watching them at the aquarium/ pet shop)
Mini-Bikes (or motorbikes or scooters, they are all mini-bikes to him)
Deep Sea Divers
Caillou (funny little French Canadian cartoon about everyday life of a 4 year old boy)
Chocolate Brioche
Rubbish Trucks (he has even invented a song about how much he loves these)
Matchbox cars
Gaw-Gaw

The break dancing obsession is now almost getting out of control. He break dances everywhere - in his bedroom, in the kitchen, in shops and even in the streets...and he wants to watch clips of it on youtube ALL the time. And he thinks it is absolutely hilarious when I try and break dance with him (which is more awful/funnier than you can possibly ever imagine, even 2 year old Ti-Ti is better than me) The two of us have spent many an evening in the last week while Daddy has been away break dancing before bed time.

Here are some more shots of our new year so far...

(An afternoon at the beach, 2nd January 2011)
You see? Every photo these days he has to pull a face.....
Watching a cow being milked with his friend Lily, at the Children's Farm, 3rd January

Picnic at the Botanic Gardens for Abu's birthday, 8th January
Ti-Ti got his own back, and pretended to take photos of us
( he didn't seem to notice that there was no camera on the tripod!)

Christmas in photos....

A gingerbread house.



Which Ti-Ti loved, and loved even more when he realised he could pull up a chair and climb up onto the kitchen counter to steal the smarties off it.

Christmas Eve, at Abu and Papa's house.



His first bike! A Christmas present from Abu and Papa.




Christmas morning, Ti-ti's presents under the tree from Father Christmas...



and his new wooden garage waiting for him on the table. He just loved it, and wanted to play with it all day long!




The wooden soldiers he had begged for from Father Christmas for weeks before hand



the Christmas ham glazed in maple syrup and honey,



and the boxing day monster pavlova,



and Ti-Ti bowing, after a performance on his 'mini-bike'



We had a wonderful Christmas, relaxing and fun.