Two persons, two cats, and two new additions – a baby (and a camera)!
Chantal came over to visit us and to bake muffins. But first, there was fingerpainting.
Red turned out to be Christian’s favourite colour.
It spells “FISH”.
It’s an unwritten code that you must make colourful handprints when playing with fingerpaints.
Hands up Christian!
When they got cleaned up, we finally got around to making muffins. Yummy!
Christian does not sit still. Understatement. It has made giving him a haircut almost impossible, so Claudie took him to a shop called “Candy” which specialised in giving kids a haircut (isn’t it amazing how specialised our society is now). He sat completely still. Maybe he was in shock!
Before we get to the photos about the haircut, this is Christian’s and Philip’s new sand pit/clam at his grandparents! Don’t they look happy!
“Candy” is set up well. There are aeroplanes and cars to sit in, colourful smocks, toys and TVs to distract them. I can’t believe he sat so still.
Christian is a handsome spunky kid!
Relaxing (with his feet up, no less) in the car on the way home.
One of Christian’s great loves is reading with others. Christian’s grasp of language and image recognition constantly amazes us.
Reading with Bethany.
You talkin’ at me? Well, I’m the only one here. (in his best Robert De Niro voice)
Absolutely enthralled…
This photo is from Mourad’s birthday. Christian is only interested in the doggie
A photo of me! (by my brother Paul: http://www.thiaphotography.com/).
Yes, I’ve been slack. I would be interested in any statistics on how long, on average, do blogs last before they get neglected. I have no real excuses except laziness, tiredness, and perhaps the computer game Fallout 3. Certainly, Christian’s increasing exuberance makes night time, after he goes to sleep, a time for collapse rather than construction. Anyway, the blog is back by popular demand (at least for the moment).
Indeed, this blog’s usefulness in documenting Christian’s life has increased. In the last few months, Christian’s grasp of language, his mobility and independence has been nothing short of amazing. For instance, he has gone from single words to comprehensible sentences remarkably quickly. Claudie and I often look at each other in amazement and amusement at how that little brain works. His comments and observations are precious.
“How are you today? Good? My shirt is fancier than yours!”
Contemplative Christian.
Loving Christian.
Recently, Rita, Claudie’s cousin, got married. Claudie bought from eBay a complete suit for Christian for the occasion.
Probably our best family shot.
He was so adorable!
Clothes really maketh the man (or boy in this case). Certainly, it’s easy to think that Christian was older than the 18 months that he really was at that time.
We think so much about Christian that we sometimes forget to think about ourselves. Occasionally, Christian goes to bed early and we get a little time to ourselves. This time, we were prepared for it!
Yummy stuff.
Cheers!
Ahh. Relaxation time.
This weekend, we went as a clan (there was an even dozen of us) to the Collingwood Children’s Farm, where Christian finally met all those animals that he knows the sounds of. Moooooo!
Cluck cluck!
It was a really nice and sunny day.
You know, grandchildren get spoilt by their grandparents, but isn’t that what grandparents are for? 
Question: What happens when you buy a chocolate bunny for a toddler?
Answer: He figures out how to unwrap it in less than a minute and makes a mess!
They haven’t even moved from the car park yet (you can see the trolleys in the background)!
Busily chewing on the ears.
Not surprisingly, he looks happy.
The other grandparents took him shopping and let him run free in Toys ‘R Us. As you can see, he will attempt to escape and climb even if he doesn’t need to.
Drinking and driving.
This toy looks good…
He was very patient while granddad had some fun putting it together.
Well, reasonably patient.
Our boy is no longer a baby. He’s a toddler! Over the last couple of weeks, he has learnt to express himself with words (with a little bit of interpretation by us!). He’s using three languages too – English, French and Arabic (unfortunately, not much Chinese), as well as his own invented words.
A mixture of photos:
Deciding what kind of garden he would like to have… One with lots of water and stones!
You can fill watercans with other things than water.
And stones!
Trying to turn on the tap with telekinesis. He’s hopeful.
Uncle Rafik teaching him that you can learn about the world without using Google.
Sometimes, you don’t need expensive toys to keep him occupied (but more toys is always better!)
He’s got a bit of growing still to do.
The magnetic attraction of the mighty television.
Of course, this picture will be shown at his 21st birthday. Every child must have one of these photos hidden in their albums!
… when we chase after Christian. It’s been ages since we added to this blog.
A few things have happened since our last blog – none of them really major… except that we got a new car!
It’s a Subaru Outback, ex-demo (probably the closest I’ll ever get to owning a new car). We used it to escape from Christian for a day, driving up the Yarra Valley for wine and cheese tasting.
I’ve always wanted to take Claudie to Yarra Valley Cheeses. Little did we know that it would be one of the last times that the Yarra Valley would be a pristine green for a while. There were major bushfires just 4 days after we were in the area. It is eerie to think that the beautiful and lush backroads we took are now totally charred.
And Christian can now read. (Only kidding!) Although he does love books.
If you live in Melbourne, you know that we have been living through a major heatwave. It got so hot that I was sent home from work as the weather and power usage caused power fluctuations in the building. I was not considered essential staff since I’m only a researcher at a hospital, and patients are obviously the top priority. Since then, we have been told that we were one of the few public hospitals that didn’t have to close any wards last week, so sending us home was pretty good call.
Christian has also been suffering from the heat. We’ve had to move his cot to our bedroom (kicking me out of my own bed because I snore!) as our room has airconditioning. When it wasn’t too hot, we got out a little paddling pool for him.
Too bad it was too small for me. It looked really cool in there.
Tasting the fresh water… before he had an accident… and his nappy leaked poop… leading to frantic bathing (in the bathroom), and lots of washing… It was disgusting. That was one way of getting him out of the pool!
Why are kids so cute in overalls? No need for subtitles today
I don’t think that Christian has much of a sense of danger. Rather, I think he has an attraction to danger…
Sometimes, this is the only way to keep hold of him.
He will try to get into anything…
And smart enough to move to chairs to reach things he shouldn’t touch.
He’s a strong little kid with an incredible grip (try and get something off him!).
Believe it or not, he started to swing back and forth.
Guess what we bought on eBay (for one-fifth the original price!)…
Christian is a big fan of Thomas the Tank Engine (he bops and dances whenever he hears the theme song). He has Thomas books, Thomas toys, and now a Thomas cubby house!
Can I play here too?
Okay, Christian is now offically spoilt!
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