6 months - sitting, eating, talking

it feels like baby n has suddenly grown up, in baby terms! he couldn't really sit steadily on his own just a few weeks back and then all of a sudden, he is doing it like a pro. it also means he can sit in a high chair with no problems now which means he gets a better view of the world and we won't need to carry him as much when eating out! 

he has also gotten strong enough to roll out of his baby seat (URGH!) and that's what he did in about the 5 seconds that i left him unsupervised to go to the kitchen - found him on the floor crying the moment i turned my back :(

also, after a week or two of refusing to eat mush (he would close his mouth tightly once he saw the spoon coming towards him), he finally decided today that mush tasted good and finished up a mixture of rice cereal with milk and mashed bananas twice today. HURRAY!

and he has started jabbering a lot. aside from the "eh!" and "air!!" that he has been saying for quite awhile (usually to get our attention or to ask to be carried), he has also been saying "mama" "bear" and "baba" quite a bit ... he probably says "mama" the most because it's the word he uses for complaining as well. :D

5 months/37 months - perth snapshots

as relaxing a holiday as one can get with two kids in tow.

this is our third time in perth in as many years and it's great that we still haven't run out of things to do or short driving trips to make. this time we revisited kings park for the playground which h now has no problems with "conquering" unlike the past two times, and had superbly fresh fish & chips in fremantle again.

our "firsts" would include slurping down generous bowls of pho in chinatown, visiting the science centre, whiteman park (on two days for animal feeding at caversham and to take the vintage railway), swan valley (sandalford, laughin' barrel for lunch, margaret river chocolate co.), and an overnight trip to pinnacles/lake thetis (stromatolites!).

with h in tow, we had to find kid friendly places to visit or at least have something to keep her entertained. playgrounds at cervantes, gingin, whiteman park, kings park, the laughin' barrel and even the one just downhill from my aunt's home were great for h to run/climb around, get some sun and expend some energy. we also managed to get h excited about pinnacles by getting her a cheap sand play kit and frisbee which she got to use at pinnacles. 

n was recovering from a flu for the first part of the trip so he was rather grumpy including on the flight to perth (non stop crying from the time the plane left the gate until lift-off) but he was subsequently in such a good mood, napped well, and even slept through the night till 7ish in the morning on a few days.

needless to say, we also enjoyed the cool weather ... it's great not breaking into a sweat everyday! 

perth is definitely a great place for a family holiday. i am pretty sure we will be back soon!