Lachlan's Birthday Party

because we're going to a wedding at caloundra next weekend, we decided to celebrate lachlan's first birthday a little early and had his party on the weekend. first time visitors to our place had no problems spotting the right house - the jumping castle in the front yard was a dead giveaway! the kids enjoyed bouncing off all that excess sugar they had consumed, while the adults watched on with bemusement - or maybe it was jealousy? lachlan didn't really understand what the deal was with the birthday cake, but he was exceptionally well behaved for the party and was giving smiles, cuddles and kisses all round, as well as showing off his new walking skills (yes, he has now taken his first unassisted steps!!!)

thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate - i'm sorry i didn't get time to talk to you all for longer, but i promise i'll catch up with you all in smaller groups soon so we can have more time to talk. special thanks to my mum for all her help with the yummy food - now you all know where i get my over-catering gene from! and finally, thanks for all the wonderful presents. i'm sure lachlan will love playing with his new toys and although he won't understand what all the fuss is about, i'm sure he will look gorgeous in his new outfits!

Rice Snacks

lachlan decided that he could feed himself at lunch today, even though he was having rice which isn't really ideal as a finger food..

 

The North Queensland Connection

lachlan's great-aunt & uncle jan and darryl flew down to brisbane last week for a short visit.. we were able to catch up and have a family lunch on the weekend so they could finally meet lachlan. even though lachlan was a little freaked out about the house getting invaded (it was lunch for 12, half of which he had never met), he was still obliging enough to let jan have a cuddle for a few pictures..

 

Happy Birthday Aunty Bron

we had lunch at bron's to celebrate her birthday.. lachlan was as cute as ever - brianna couldn't stay away from him and he seemed just as keen to investigate her! it's always so much fun watching how little kids interact with each other..

 

Bits and pieces

well, it's been a busy week or so lately, yet i don't really have that much to report.. we've had the shower screen and dishwasher fixed.. i've booked lachlan in for his 12 month checkup with the paediatrician.. i've organised a preview class at gymboree so we can see if he likes it enough to enrol him for a full term so he can start getting used to playing with other kids so that childcare isn't such a shock to the system.. i've gotten his birthday party organised (well, at least the date and time sorted).. we've been to a birthday party.. an engagement party.. lunch party.. had a couple of dinner parties.. and through it all, i haven't taken a single photo!

lachlan's crawling is getting better and better - he now indulges in regular little speed spurts when he decides that he wants something rather than just crawling around aimlessly.. he has started to cruise around while holding onto the coffee table, rather than just standing in the one spot once he has pulled himself up.. he LOVES toddling around while holding onto my hands and has even started doing it one handed occasionally.. he is getting better at lowering himself back to a sitting position instead of just letting himself fall onto his bum when he has had enough of standing.. and he has a new tooth that is currently visible through his gum so should be through by next week.. unfortunately, the new tooth combined with a bit of a cold means that he's not sleeping very well, so we're all feeling a little tired.. hopefully things will improve next week!

Old Friends

during his quick visit back to oz, we caught up with david at the campus club for lunch.. although i forgot to bring the camera again, i had my new phone with me so still managed to snap a pic of lachlan and david together. david hasn't seen lachlan in person since his going away party back in march, which was a long long time ago when you consider how much a baby can change in 6 months.. luckily he's been keeping up to date via this blog, so he wasn't all that surprised by his looks or size - speaking of which, we weighed him on the weekend and he's now 10.4 kgs.

I'm glad I wasn't home when this happened..

lachlan & i came home from his grandma's place to find that the shower in the main bathroom had decided to explode while we were out for the day.. i'm glad we weren't home when it happened, can you imagine the damage if someone had been in the room or the shower at the time???

Surprises in the Garden

i went into the laundry the other day to put some washing on and almost had a heart attack when i glanced out the door and saw a reptilian tail in the garden.. however, the tail moved and i soon realised that it was a lizard rather than a snake which made me feel a whole lot better.. i managed to snap a few quick shots as he disappeared again.. "bluey" came out again on the weekend to sunbake and john managed to get some some more photos of him..

The Family Resemblance..

with the arrival of madeline and a new round of baby photos to look at, i thought i would look back at the pics of lachlan at the same age, and was amazed by how similar the two of them look.. maybe it's just that all babies look the same when they are only a couple of days old, but i think there is definately a family resemblance between these two!

Filling the Void..

visitors to our house may be wondering what if anything we did to that space in the middle.. well, we finally got around to doing something to it, so i thought i should put up some pics for you all to see.. we're going to get a few more plants and maybe a little statue or some oil lantern burner thingies, but so far, this is all we've managed..