New tricks & re-purposed Christmas stockings

Beau has a new trick...

And if you look very closely you can see his two bottom teeth too!


I thought he'd be excited to see the world in a horizontal aspect, but he's completely un-phased by the whole thing and is typically just content with life. God love him. 


I was looking at some photos and videos of Jasmine at 7 months recently and she was rolling everywhere by this age. She'd see something across the room that she wanted and she was off like a sausage to get it; capably rolling both directions on demand (I should have known it was to be an early sign of her determination... that and the jutting bottom jaw should have been a tip off). Beau on the other hand, seems to think that there's nothing important enough to bother rolling for. If he waits for long enough something far more exciting, like a racing, screaming, squealing two year old will come tearing into view anyway.


I have a feeling he'll be a late crawler and walker, which I'm actually thrilled about. One small person to keep an eye on and round up in a playground is more than enough. 


Speaking of that other small person, Jasmine went to her first birthday party on the weekend where we didn't know the parents. She was invited to a combined 3 & 5 year birthday party by one of her friends at childcare. I was so touched that she's made her very own friend independently of me that I was a little teary when I found the invitation in her pigeon hole. Must be the breast-feeding hormones. 


And what a party it was. There were about 15 5-year-olds and 5 3-year-olds invited, plus parents and a couple of other siblings, but I swear it felt like we were at the Ekka with 1,000 people down sideshow alley. There was a clown, jumping castle, balloons, cup cakes, birthday cake, pink cordial, face painting, stickers, lollies, dancing, chips, take-home-lolly-bags. And thankfully, champagne for the parents. Jasmine ate her body weight in sugar in the first 5 minutes and actually allowed a stranger to paint her face for the first time in her life.

She had a ball and I almost had a panic attack envisioning the same chaos descending on our home (which it inevitably will) when we start having our own proper children's parties. But that's why champagne was invented.


We've decorated the house now for Christmas, and the gigantic tree Lou helped me choose last year is up. It barely fits in the corner!

We are really looking forward to having the Porters down this year, and only wish we could be sharing this time with more of our Canadian family too. It's made me miss you even more remembering this time last year when we had so many Canuks in town. 


And have you ever wondered what to do with those pesky Christmas stockings taking up valuable storage space? (excuse the photoshopping - can't have nudie rudie pics making this blog a porno, someone might actually read it!)...