All the other February bits……..

I know that February is the shortest month, but it did seem to come and go very quickly this year. It was a continuation of some very hot weather (with a pleasant interlude of much needed rain) and a great month for getting out and about with trips to the pool, kite flying, library visits and lots of bike riding, cooking and trips to cafes. At the end of January Anto finished up in his previous job, and is enjoying some time at home. Astrid is loving having her dad home all the time and all the extra attention….. We seemed to have been busy the last few weeks. A few bits and pieces have been achieved around the house, but there was also lots of fun.

The photographic evidence from the month suggests that Astrid has taken to eating croissants on her rocking moose, revelling in her favourite pastime of eating (resulting in jam covered faces and green tongues) and some napping between tantrums……. there are always quite a few tantrums! You wouldn’t know it though from the normal sweet and innocent face!

She has also been quite creative in her play, and branching out from her favourite game of ‘airports’ she had been making planes and taking all her toys for trips to Melbourne. This seems to involve half her room ending up in the family room and all the bathroom stools being turned into boats and planes, but it keep her amused, if driving me slightly mad! She does always take drinks and snacks for all her toys…… so thoughtful and she assumes both the role of pilot and air hostie – multi-tasking at a young age!

Anto had bought a kite for part of Astrid’s Christmas present, but thanks to the non-efficiency of the Chinese postal service it arrived some time in January. Astrid loves the kite and has enjoyed a few outings with it. She of course wants to fly it on her own, which results in it getting away more often than not, but she does have fun. The trouble at the moment is finding a day with enough breeze. It’s mostly just been hot, and not so windy! Soren is not such a fan of the kite, mostly since he has been grumpy from his immunisations and being forced to sleep in his cot……….

Having some very hot weather meant that we decided to take advantage and head to Dickson pool for some outdoor water fun, once school had gone back and it wasn’t so busy. Astrid had a ball, even if the pool water was still a little cold for her (and definitely too cold for Soren). We did intend to go back on another hot day but it’s now cooled off to high 20’s so I don’t think we will get back there this year. It’s on the agenda for next Summer though!

What has a 4 month old Soren been up to? Mostly being cheeky and trying to stick everything in his mouth, fingers, his whole hand, my hand, any form of toy, food, you name it, it goes in the mouth! He is great at cheeky grins and is giggling away. Aside from some grumpy days around his immunisations and a pathological hatred of sleeping in his lovely cot, he has been a happy bub.

I previously posted about his new found love of the jolly jumper! A great way to amuse a 4 month old. He thinks he is very clever being able to move on his own. Of course Astrid insisted on having a go too, despite not really fitting any more. She also helps him jump. Apparently it’s fun for all the family!

At 4 months Soren also started swimming lessons. He is a big fan of the bath and loved the pool in Queensland over Christmas, so we weren’t surprised he has enjoyed his lessons thus far. He is still by far the smallest baby in the pool but so was Astrid when she started!

Soren had started showing interest in food, so for the last week or so we have been letting him have a play with some foods. Like Astrid, we are doing baby lead weaning (BLW) with him, so he is a bit young to really get the hang of it yet. Nonetheless He had enjoyed shoving some banana, sweet potato and pumpkin in his gob and a reasonable amount of it has gotten eaten. He still needs some help with picking up the food but is quickly getting the hang of it. Astrid thinks that feeding her brother is the best thing ever and we have to stop her from trying to spoon feed him things, especially her dinner!

Astrid is still being a very good big sister. She loves Soren and he giggles and smiles whenever she is near him. Astrid is always asking to cuddle him and now happily sits with him in her lap. She is sometimes a little bit too helpful and I do love the look on his face when she was trying to feed him banana……

While Anto has been off work there has been many trips to the library. As if Astrid didn’t love books and reading enough, she can now borrow books and bring them home. It saves me buying them and after we have read the same one 15 times it can go back! Soren also loves our nightly story time and happily sits in my lap and now tries to turn the pages. I think we will have another bookworm on our hands.

What have the animals been up to? Well the cats have generally been lazing around. Mulder is now Astrid’s favourite thing to cuddle…… and doesn’t he look impressed? He does put up with quite a lot of cuddling, mostly because he is too lazy to move to escape her!

Well the alpacas, they too have been lazing about. They don’t love the hot weather but that hasn’t stopped them from soaking up the sunshine. Any day below about 33 they spend sunbaking. Alpacas love to sun themselves. They are basically like big cats and lay in the warm sun sleeping, until they get too hot, when they go and sit in the shade for awhile. Of course when they sun, they lay sprawled on the ground impersonating dead alpacas. We are used to this behaviour but it can be a bit off-putting for those not in the know. No, we don’t have dead alpacas in our yard, they are just lazy!

Well, that was February. What will March bring? We have a few things planned and it looks like it will be a busy month, with some travel and maybe some big adventures. Here are two last pictures of the cheeky cherubs, doing what they do best……

The Camelid Castle

Life is pretty straight without backyard alpacas.

All the other February bits……..

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