October 2007

October 2007

We have finally moved and are settled into our new house in Avoca Beach, which is on the Central Coast of NSW. Both James and I have returned to where we grew up as children and hope that Charli has as great a beach life as we did.

Good Bye Lane Cove

My 1st Pony Tails

We moved in on the 17th September and it has taken nearly a month to get somewhat settled and back into a normal life routine. We are both back at work (I am commuting now - 1hr train trip each way) and James is switching between working at home and driving to Sydney. In another 6 months or so James will stop work and concentrate full time on our business Talkingstones.com.au.

Enjoying the beach

Charli is growing everyday - she is now stringing two words together and loves to talk. She is pretty good on the phone and loves a little chat with whoever will listen. When we go down to the village (Avoca Beach) for a walk she says "Hi yah" to everyone that walks past - it is quite funny, because they don't expect it to come out of such a little person. She is very popular, with the coffee shop owner giving her a marshmellow when we visit and others stop to say hello and chat. Very friendly area.......

Fairy Charlotte

Bonnie has finally settled (I think) - being a bigger house she was very nervous for the first few weeks and would follow you for room to room, just to make sure that you don't disappear. She seems a little more relaxed now, and since the doggy door has been put in she is happy to come and go. She loves the beach and gets very excited when we say we are going for a walk. Charli has also been introduced to the beach and has taken to it like a duck to water. In fact I can't keep her out of the stuff - no fear.

Love her dress

I have booked her in for swim lessons again - starting 18th October - so that she is a little more confident around the our pool - I get nervous everytime we are out there that she will fall in and not know what to do. At least if she knows how to swim back to the edge that has to help. I think she will love it - I know she did when we did it at Lane Cove last summer. I will keep you updated on the progress.

how cute do I look

Charli is very confident on her feet now, in fact she doesn't walk anywhere - SHE RUNS!!!!!! I have to constantly tell her to slow down. I have lost count of the number of bruises and scratches on her legs and arms, but it doesn't seem to bother her. We have 3 stairs into the bedroom zone of the house and she is mastering them with no problems now. The flight (12 steps) down to the family room has been zoned off with a gate, just in case. I will wait for her to get a bit bigger before we take that one away. She is big enough now for her 'big red car' (think I had a picture of it in one of the other updates) - having a big concrete drive and carport means she has plenty of room in which to zooming around. She piles up the boot with all her dolls, drink, biscuits (or what ever she has at the time) and drives them around - very cute. She also has an old camera and she comes up to you and puts it to her face and say "smile" - you can't help but do it.......

I have tried to get her into a childcare but all the local ones seem to be fully booked or we need to wait until next year - so fingers crossed I can find her somewhere - I think she really misses the contact with other kids. I have found a local Playgroup that mets on a Friday, so we might try that occasionally - it will be a good way for me to also met other local mothers.

I have started painting the family room (couldn't live with the yellow for long) but didn't realise how hard it would be with a toddler in tow - don't get me wrong she doesn't get into mischief, but the complete opposite - she wan'ts to help. I was shuffling along the floor the other day masking up to start painting the skirting boards and she shuffled along next to me on her bum pulling out the tape - I love the help but boy doesn't it make jobs much longer.......

She has also discovered how to get herself dressed and undressed. James said the other day she has a couple of outfit changes, clothes free and nappy free periods and she has already developed her Mothers love of shoes - changing often during the day. She hasn't worn very many dresses as they tend to get in the way when you are learning to walk and climb stairs, but now she is better she can start wearing them. I put a dress on her the other day to go shopping and she could stop twilling in it...very funny. I might get her a couple more for summer.

James and I are well and truely over Hi Five (childrens entertainers). They have very catchy songs that just get stuck in your head and you find yourself signing them at work - very embarassing. As soon as we wake in the mornings the first thing she says is "Hi" - I have to try and limit the view time or we would all go mad. If I try and change the program to something like Playschool she will pipe up and say "No Hi!" - can't win. But I must admit it does come in very handy when you are working from home or have a teleconference to do - that is when I say "thank god for childrens DVDs".

I will try and get some more photos soon - of both the house and family.

Sam