Wednesday, November 19, 2014

October randomness.......

With Søren's first birthday in mid- October and a recent trip to Queensland during the first half of November, we have been quite busy.  Both those events generated quite a few photos (who knew I liked to take photos?). I don't seem to even remember what happened in October (aside from the big birthday)...... lo and behold I seem to have a bunch of photos to remind me of those weeks that passed in a blur.

This post has absolutely no point, other than to post a bunch of photos that have never seen the light of day and remind me of what we have been up to.  Yes, a few people do read this blog but even if no one else reads the posts, I tend to look back at old posts and marvel at how the kid/s have grown and think back to what we were up to at that time. It does function as an online diary of sorts and I appreciate having the posts to look at whenever I feel like.  Sometimes I blog photos because I like to tell a story or provide and update, sometimes I just do it for myself  as my own project.  So, while there isn't any real point to this post, it's my blog and I can make a random post of cute pictures to keep the grandparents and our friends entertained.

Next post will be some of our Queensland trip, but for now, here is some October randomness, featuring Astrid and Søren.

Anto had returned from his September long overseas work trip and we started the month off with a trip to Floriade. All the very pretty photos of that are here.....   It was beautiful early Spring weather, our garden was looking lovely and Astrid and Søren were enjoying the warmth and sunshine (and not having to wear coats and hats).





Søren was getting pretty good at pulling himself up on anything and everything, which made it easier for Astrid to play with him.  He is still so quick at the commando crawling she often had a hard time catching him. He also still liked a good jolly jump to keep himself entertained, when I wasn't rudely interrupting his fun by putting him in his play pen or shutting the baby gate in the play area (his stair climbing is pretty impressive for a non-walking, commando crawling baby).





Astrid was really getting into dress-ups (super hero Astrid, flamenco Astrid and various other incarnations). Søren was rapidly collecting new eyebrow level lacerations from his exploring tendencies and trying to convince us he was cute, between bouts of raging unhappiness due to teething.


  



When she wasn't dressing up,  Astrid was looking very grown up and not very toddler like any more....... I guess that happens when they are rapidly approaching 3 and a half!

 

The big event for October, was of course Søren turning one.  I posted about his birthday party and celebrations so I won't re-post all those photos, it was a pretty fine birthday party and  Søren was lucky enough that his Granny, Gramps and Aunt Triona came down from Queensland to help him celebrate.  While they were visiting, Astrid requested a picnic and play and Weston Park (the ultimate baby and toddler fun), so we had to oblige.







It turned out to be the coldest day in a few weeks but that didn't stop Astrid from having a ball.  Søren wasn't that keen on his first swing but still enjoyed himself, with slides, swans, digging and ducks. Astrid loves parks and her grandparents so had a wonderful day.

That is the October wrap............ next up the Queensland trip!

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Water table fun ....... instant baby and toddler Summer fun!

For Astrid's second Christmas (when she was 18 months old), she received a water table.  Several friends had suggested they were a hit with their kids so it went on the Christmas list and Uncle Mikl got her one.  It was an instant hit!

Here is an itty bitty Astrid, enjoying some Summer warmth and water...........
She quickly realised it was fun to strip off and get really wet. Gosh she looks small, and boy that water table was shiny and new!




Almost 2 years later and I would say that water table is one of the most used presents EVER. It gets pretty cold here in Winter and we learnt the Winter Astrid turned 2 that the water table had to be put away out of sight, as she would want to go out and play with it even when it was below zero and the water was well and truly frozen.

The water table made a re-appearance in the Spring and was a life saver when I had a newborn Søren to look after. On the warm Spring days I could open up the bi-fold doors of an afternoon and let her loose on the water table while I fed Søren sitting on the couch.  It was a life-saver, when trying to entertain a small toddler while spending hours a day feeding.

Summer, last year Astrid spent many an hour outside playing with her water-table. It gets left out in the elements so was starting to look a bit worse for wear but she didn't care.

It got packed away over Winter and come early October we had some lovely Spring weather so we let her loose on sunny afternoons.  At 11.5 months Søren was looking a bit jealous of his big sister playing outside with his favourite substance, water. One day I thought I'd let him out and see what he did.  He can't walk, but crawled straight over, hauled himself up and got some immediate instruction from his big sister.




Sørenwas thrilled to be able to splash, get wet and have fun with his big sister. Astrid LOVED having someone to play with and they happily played there for over an hour.




Yep, pretty sure he knows how to SPLASH.......
Happiness is sunshine, a sibling to play with and water!

 


Friday, November 14, 2014

Favourite Photo Friday 14/11/14

I've been very slack with the photo editing and blog posting. We have been away, visiting Anto in Brisbane while he is working up there and staying with my parents on the Sunshine Coast.

Now I'm home and catching up on photos.  I'm sure I'll be posting lots of photos again soon, but for now I'll post a few shots of the kids enjoying one of their many beach visits during our trip.

As you can see, Astrid and Søren do like a beach visit!  Søren wasn't so keen on our last trip in May (when he was 7 months). This time though he was more than happy to play in the sand, waves and swim. Miss Astrid is a beach veteran and loves nothing more than swimming and building sandcastles.  They definitely had fun......



D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8
ISO 100 focal length 70mm
Exposure: 1/2000 @ f3.2


D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8
ISO 100 focal length 70mm
Exposure: 1/2000 @ f3.2


D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8
ISO 125 focal length 35mm
Exposure: 1/2500 @ f2.8


D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8
ISO 100 focal length 35mm
Exposure: 1/2000 @ f3.2 


D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8
ISO 100 focal length 35mm
Exposure: 1/2000 @ f3.2 


D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8
ISO 100 focal length 70mm
Exposure: 1/5000 @ f3.2