Welcome to Meerkat Manor!
the lioness
The GLA, so named by David, because we couldn't find out it's name (David dubbed him a "goat-like animal", which is quite appropriate)
This picture was taken just after Anna turned 11 months old. Brady is lately all about holding, hugging, and kissing on Anna. Unfortunately Brady doesn't realise that 33 pounds of solid muscle is a little much for his 19 pound sister... his sweet loving usually ends with Anna in tears and her face in the floor! You can see how happy she is in this picture...
Like most babies her age, Anna is all about seeing how much of a mess she can make at mealtimes... in this case we were still feeding her baby food (no teeth still) and she was happily grabbing it out of the bowl with her hands in between bites! We have since discovered there is a lot she can feed herself without teeth and have embraced that... this is new territory for us since Brady had teeth at 7 months.
We were lucky enough to have Wags the Dog and Dorothy the Dinosaur visit St. Leonards Park on Sunday the 16th of March. We couldn't believe the number of people who came out to see them and felt so lucky to literally be able to walk across the street to get there! It was still super hot that day and thankfully we were covered in sunscreen. For those without small children, "Wag Dog" and "Doty" as Brady calls them are friends of the Wiggles...
Not quite sure what he's thinking here... maybe "Why are all these people out here in my park and where are the freakin' Wiggles?"
Oh, there they are... I get it, sort of... tell me again how they exist outside of our TV?
As usual, Anna loves seeing live shows and was dancing and clapping up a storm. She's become quite the character lately and makes friends with both children and adults wherever she goes with her quirky little smile and friendly personality.
Alas, our little angel must sleep sometimes. Unfortunately,one of those times ISN'T during the wee hours of the morning... if only she'd sleep in her pram this way at home, I'd happily leave it in her bedroom. In other news, Anna has decided to start her own chapter of "DA" or "Dummies Anonymous"...(dummies are pacifiers here but if you say "pacifier" people have no CLUE what you are talking about)... Anna has a very serious addiction, so we figure meeting with other babies who have the same problem may help them all without needing family intervention =)
Our friends around the corner, Kara and her 2 year old son Morgan, were sweet enough to invite us over for an Easter egg hunt in their back yard. There was no need for Easter baskets, as each egg had lollies in it, so the kids were happy to partake upon finding an egg! Kara has become a dear friend of mine (and Morgan of both Brady and Anna) and is also American. She and her husband (who is from New Zealand) have lived in Sydney for a year and a half and are expecting a baby girl in late May.
Brady found an egg! He's giving me that look like "stop taking the stupid picture and get the candy out, please!"
Anna Paige isn't too keen on the egg hunting. For one thing I wouldn't let her eat the lollies and for another there are just way too many cool acorns on the ground that are much more mouth-worthy than a plastic egg.
A week before Anna's birthday we went shopping at the mall for her birthday presents (ahhh, the joys of shopping for a 1-year-old... you can take them with you!)... Anna proved us wrong on that one... we picked up her very first dolly to give her on her birthday and handed it to her to see if she liked dolls... she wouldn't put it down and screamed when we had to hand it to the cashier to pay for it! Here she is at home with her first dolly and her first hair clip... baby girl finally has just enough hair for me to put a clip in it!
Here are Kara and Anna on Monday at our house when Morgan came over for a play (and, admittedly, us Mommies need time for adult conversation as well!) Anna is always ready for a cuddle and before I could run to get the camera she tucked her little head right into Kara's shoulder and gave her a huge hug! Brady is so funny, he's always asking where "Mo-nee" is (Morgan) and Morgan tells Kara "more Brady!" I'm so glad that we have all made such great friends and that we live so close to each other!
This kid just cracks me up! Oh, and she's finally gotten one top tooth (first one) to break through and a bottom one has barely cut the gums... not handling this as well as Brady did, unfortunately. I'm just happy that she's going to have teeth... I was starting to wonder if she'd be on a liquid/mush diet her whole life and didn't know how to plan a gourmet wedding dinner of pureed steak.
When you have 2 kids 19 months apart it's inevitable that they are going to share (OK, that's a strong word) and like the same toys, regardless of what was designed for whom... Uncle David, Aunt Gina and cousins Rachel, Sarah, and Ashley sent Anna a pair of newborn boy/girl twin dollies for Anna's birthday. Yep, you guessed it, Brady has adopted the boy and Anna the girl. They both enjoy pretending to drink the babies' bottles as well, as pictured!
Well, there you have our last month! I know this was a long one, but hopefully family and friends are fully up-to-date on the kids and their latest interests! As for Blake and I, we are doing very well. We've spent the last few weekends painting the iron fence in front of our house which needed it badly. I'll share some pictures when I get a moment to take some of the house. I do have some "before" shots, just need to get some "after" photos. Our garden still hasn't been touched. In speaking with several people in the area we are now of the opinion that after putting in a new kitchen floor and spending many hours painting the ironwork out front that the owner should contribute fully to re-vamping the garden. It really is awful and a makeover would make our house look as great as it should. Plus, it's hard to let the kids outside when they are literally covered in dirt from head to toe and need to be hosed down just to re-enter the house!
We are all heading on our first family trip since arriving in Australia on Saturday... off to Melbourne, Victoria. It's only an hour and 15 minute flight, which will be quite refreshing after our last plane ride! Blake has to travel there once a month for business, so we're tagging along this time. Melbourne and Sydney have long since been huge rivals and Sydneysiders dislike Melbourne and vice-versa. I've heard amazing things about the city from Blake and many others, so I can't wait to visit. Blake has arranged a babysitter for 2 of the nights we're there, so we're also looking forward to a couple of dates while we're there!! I'll post more on that when we return... have a great weekend everyone!
