January Randomness.......

Apparently it's already February...... what happened to January? It seemed to be one big blur of HOT! Another few weeks of hot weather and the Winter woollies will be coming out, but for now it's just sunny, sweaty, and sticky. Thank goodness our air conditioning was finally fixed the other week.  A couple of months without car aircon or house aircon was very unpleasant.  It was like living in the 80's again!

Astrid and Soren were pleased to have their Dad home for parts of January and we seemed to be busy, busy, busy.  A few trips to the zoo, some bike rides, lots of jobs around the house and the odd visit (or 5) to a cafe and the month was gone.  

Here are a collection of random photos from January (most of which I haven't shared before). Astrid 2 years and 7 months & Soren 3 months.

Soren......... Master, I am too cute for words, but damn Mum if I'm going to take my hand out of my mouth long enough for you to take a photo of me!

I now drool so much that my mum had to drag all my sister's dribble bibs out!  Luckily they make me look extra cute, even the pink and flowery ones :)

When he isn't trying to eat his own hand, the next best thing is any form of caterpillar or bunny! Toys, yummy........ thank goodness I have gotten these hand things working to be able to shove those delicious stuffed, fluffy things in my mouth!

Then there was Astrid who now has hair that is long enough for pig tails (albeit very messy ones) and is looking more grown-up every day.  She went to her first movie. Off to 'Frozen' with Dad and managed to sit still for the whole movie and apparently loved it!  She also demanded we take photos of her dancing around in her dressing gown, with my giant bunny and wearing her Fijian 'sulu' while eating watermelon.

She is a bit of a poser when it comes to photos.......  She likes to give me all sorts of silly faces and expressions, luckily she sometimes smiles!

With our annual zoo passes we have already had a couple of trips to the zoo. Astrid has enjoyed her visits, even if most of the animals have been sleeping due to it being so warm. Soren has either slept through most of our visits in the sling or the stroller! I suspect he will be more keen on it later in the year.

Finally, Astrid is still a big fan of baby brother cuddles.  My favourite pictures from the month are here but there seem to be plenty more cute ones. Soren now smiles and giggles whenever he sees Astrid.  He loves her playing with him. I'm sure in a few months when he is stealing her toys the affection may wane a little, but for now they are best friends.  Astrid still tells us she wants to keep him and the other day told me that 'I love Soren, he is my best friend.'  So cute!

Mmmmm cake!

Last week was Trevor (aka Grandpa's) birthday.  This was of great excitement to Astrid as she loves to say 'Happy Birthday' to everyone........ I spend most days telling her it is not my birthday today. She loves to wrap and open presents and she LOVES cake. She is also very partial to fairy bread and thinks that all 'birthday parties' should have fairy bread.  Sadly for her, fairy bread was not on the menu for Grandpa's birthday. Cake was though!

We decided to make a rum and date cake with caramel sauce.  Astrid is pretty handy in the kitchen and loves to help bake from her helper stool.  Cake making with Dad was a great Summer afternoon activity. She is excellent at mixing these days and doesn't need much help.

Of course the best bit about making cake, is licking the bowl and spoon!

It was finally Grandpa's birthday and dinner had been eating, but then there was the torturous wait for cake.......  She showed remarkable restraint for a two year old!

Astrid then demonstrated her excellent candle extinguishing technique. She is all over this birthday thing, and is a little sad it's 6 months til her next birthday!  I do love the concentration required to blow the candle out.

Here it is, the finished cake! Astrid thought it was pretty good and managed to eat her piece in about 35 seconds.  She then scored it for dessert for a couple of days afterwards. Astrid definitely enjoyed Grandpa's birthday and is keen for the next birthday to roll around.  I'm sure she will find a way to wrangle some cake before then, though!