With the end of the year just around the corner I thought it would be a good time to give an update on our family and a bit of a summary of our year. We were a bit disorganised this year (can I blame the baby?!) an didn't send out Christmas cards...except a few for rellies who don't have internet access etc. Please know that our family and friends have been on our mind and we send you our love and best wishes at this wonderful time of year.
Will: Learnt so much it's been impossible to keep track. He's developing amazing traits. He has an amazing memory. He remembers people's names easily and will talk about them randomly. Just today when skyping with my parents he piped up with "No more cat, Grandad." Mum and Dad were looking after a cat on a semi-permanent basis up until about 8 months ago. For Will to just mention it out of the blue and the fact that it was no longer there caught us all by surprise. He is also good at remembering lyrics to his favourite songs and books. We are really encouraging him to read his books out loud and he loves reading.
Will is a quick study and has picked up some great skills this year. I was able to toilet train him back in May and apart from one false start, 2 weeks later he initiated using a potty himself and hasn't looked back. He has very occasional accidents when he gets busy and races to the toilet a little late. I think a lot of kids get lost in their own world so we aren't too phased about these rare accidents. Our next job will be to toilet train him overnight but I don't think we're there yet.
In November we said goodbye to Will's afternoon nap. It has been hard for me to let this go but it is not worth the battle to get Will to nap. He is very insistent that "I not tired" even as he is rubbing his eyes and drifting off at times. When he's in the car he automatically tells me "I not tired" but within minutes will be fast asleep and snoring if we are in the car anytime after 12pm...He is generally really easy to get to bed between 6:30-7pm though. In August he started a phase where he would get up continually through the night and started getting up at 5-5:30am. We had no idea what was going on but put it down to either night terrors or simply that he sensed life was about to change and was unsettled about it. Pete and I really persevered and resisted the temptation to sleep next to him and remained quite firm. He gradually got up less during the night and the purchase of a grow clock has been great for him. When the light on his clock turns yellow he knows he can get up for the day. 7:30am wake ups are so much more pleasant.
Will loves singing and dancing. He is happy for me to play video clips. At the end of last year it was Bruno Mars' "Locked outta Heaven" that was his jam. Now it's "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. I think mainly because it features in his current favourite movie 'Despicable Me 2.' He loves watching music videos on Youtube and Daft Punk seem to be his favourite at the moment, other than his beloved Garbage trucks and monster trucks.
Will loves movies. His favourites are "Despicable Me 1&2, Cars 1&2, Ponyo, Wall-E and Finding Nemo. He will also enjoy The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Kung Fu Panda, Tarzan, Monsters Inc and Thomas the Tank Engine.
When Henry was a week old we took Will to the Cinema for the first time. We saw 'Planes.' He didn't seem to like viewing it in the dark and got tired in the last 30 mins and cuddled on my lap at the end but overall he seemed to enjoy the movie. I think we'll take him again when we're in Tassie.
He is great at giving praise. The last week or so he has been greeting me outside (and sometimes inside) the toilet door and exclaiming "Good job mummy. Now wash your hands." It's nice to be validated for the little things in life by your children :-)
He loves Lego (duplo) and will play with it for up to an hour on his own. He also loves cars and trucks and anything vehicular...
He is THE WORST hider in the world. We have tried to give him lots of ideas of hiding places but his go to place is lying in plank position in the middle of the floor or head down bum in the air like an ostrich. It still crack us up when we're playing hide and seek. As long as he can't see you, he thinks he's hiding sufficiently!
His prayers are very cute. He has mimicked a lot of the things we say and sometimes puts his on interpretation on them. For example, with my dad being really unwell he prays most nights "Help Grandad to get sore" rather than get better! We know exactly what he is trying to say though. He also likes to thank Heavenly Father for Garbage trucks, Fire engines and cars. They are pretty important though ;-)
Will is a social butterfly. He loves meeting new people and especially loves kids and babies. Last week he befriended a group of children at the playground and instigated a fairly elaborate game of chasy/king of the castle. I found myself staring with my mouth open as he directed the other kids and referred to them by their names. It was only a month ago when he'd refer to others as 'boy or girl' and didn't understand about asking for people's names. When we explained that it was polite to ask for people's names he'd ask "What's your name girl?" :-) When we are interacting with retail assistants Will is eager to thank them. When we leave a shop he always says "thank-you lady" or 'thankyou man." It is very sweet.
Will's common phrases at the moment are "Maybe later, Good Done mummy and just today he has been endlessly exclaiming "Aw Man!" I think he's picked it up from Despicable Me.
Will has lovely manners and uses them without being prompted. It makes us very proud when he is out and about and is such a gentleman!
Henry: Loves baths and kicks around like a frog and practically puts his head in the water. He has swallowed a bit of water at times so I have to hold him so carefully. A bath does wonders to relax him and he is now settling down for the night anywhere from 7-8:30pm and he wakes up once between 2:30-4. He's then up for the day around 7am. He's really gotten into a good night time routine. He's daytime naps are still a bit all over the place and he's doing the annoying 45 min naps at the moment. I figure I won't worry too much about sleep training him until we're back from Tassie in the New Year. He seems to sleep better when the weather is cooler and apart from a couple of hot days at the beginning of our holiday it has been typically mild in Tassie.
Henry loves being sung to and he LOVES being tickled. He is laughing often but particularly when we tickle him he cracks up. Grandpa Watt put it best when he says that Henry chortles a lot! He is the smiliest baby I've known. Anyone who interacts with him or looks at him and talks to him gets beautiful smiles. Since being in Tassie I am getting stopped in the street while people coo over him. It's his amazing hair that is attracting all the attention. People can't believe how much he has and always ask why he has so much hair...I am forever telling people that my hair was the same as a baby. Mine went blonde about 5-6 months old and already Henry's is getting brown undertones. I would love his hair to stay thick and dark but I doubt it will.
When Henry wakes up he wakes up happy just like Will used to. When I approach his basinet and greet him he grins at me and his eyes sparkle. It's just beautiful. He coos at me all the time. It's crazy how much love radiates from him and I hope he feels that from all of us too. Henry will often wake up and remain so quiet. Even the monitor doesn't pick it up and he rarely gets too upset.
He is physically strong like Will was. He almost jumps on me when I hold him upright and he moves his head around so much. You really have to be careful when holding him as he has a tendency to almost fling himself out of your grasp.
He is growing so fast and really starting to show an interest in his surroundings.
Pete:This year has been pretty hectic for Pete. He has been involved in many different projects at work and often feels that he's been pulled from lots of different directions. His company have made a lot of senior staff redundant and the future of the company isn't looking as strong as it did when he first began almost 3 years ago. He's felt quite unsettled a lot of the time. However, on his last day of work for the year he was promoted to a role as "Experienced Engineer." He'll be discussing payrise etc in the New Year so we hope that will proceed well in 2014. We've felt a bit in limbo for the past few months and still din't feel completely settled here in Vic at times. We're happy here but would be happy in Adelaide or Tassie as well. We'll just have to see how things pan out in the New Year.
He's really gotten into wood-working and he's really good at it. He's bought himself a couple of 'toys' as he calls them and would love to have a workshop and spend lots of time making things. He even goes on pinterest with me occasionally for inspiration and ideas. I love that he has a nerdy job but that he has this really practical skill and is quite a handy man around the home.
Pete has loved going to the gym but struggles to get there as often as he'd like. It seems I've been successful in converting him to Bodypump and we really love days when we can attend these classes together. He's enjoyed serving in the High Council at church but misses teaching the Gospel Doctrine class in our ward.
Mel: I've had a fantastic year. I really felt content as a stay athome mum for the first time since Will was born. I am just loving being at home with my boys and am not keen to go back to work yet. My fitness has been a major influence for good in my life. I was so happy that I could keep up my exercise regime throughout my pregnancy. I only stopped at 37 1/2 weeks. I know it played a major part in my successful labour with Henry and the recovery. It has gone from a hobby to a way of life. My eating habits regressed somewhat when I was pregnant but I'm easing back into it and trying not to be so hard on myself.
After having a flat tummy for the first time in my life before I got pregnant with Henry it is frustrating at times to have a wobbly belly again but I'll get there. I have Pete who is constantly telling me to be easy on myself and is always great at telling me that I'm beautiful. Like most women, I just need to believe him more!
I have made a fantastic group of friends in Melbourne and feel really settled where we are. My gym friends have become like a second family to me over the last year and I feel enriched to have so many positive people in my life.
Speaking of the gym, I am aiming at doing my instructor course with Les Mills to become a Body Pump instructor in 2014. I am very excited about this. I'm not looking to do this as a day job but it's something I'm passionate about and I look forward to doing here and there so it will fit in around raising my boys as they are my first priority.
Christmas is my favourite time of year and I'm thrilled to be sharing it with my family in Tassie this year. Each Christmas with Dad now is a blessing and I know emotions will be raw amongst us. With Will and Henry around it will be impossible not to feel the love and joy at this special time and I am looking forward to lots of laughs over the next few days.
