Wednesday 25 October 2005
Hello, and welcome to my 18th Update. Today I am exactly 14 months old.
As you probably remember, October is a busy birthday month, so before I go any further I’d like to make the following announcements: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grand-Annette who celebrated a ‘big’ birthday on 16 October. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandpa in the Yukon who celebrated his birthday on 20 October. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Great Auntie Nancy in Brisbane who birthdayed yesterday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Granddad who is birthdaying this Friday 28 October, and seems to be stretching out his celebrations to include the whole weekend!
And finally, GOOD LUCK to Grand-Annette for the auction of her flat on Saturday.
While writing my last Update I was really sick with the chicken pox, so I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that I am now well and truly recovered and back to being my happy old self. (Which also means back to eating like there’s no tomorrow!)
I’ve had a busy and sociable old time since I last wrote. I’ve been going to see my friends at Mothers Group whenever I can, including briefly this morning. On the October long weekend I went with my family for a drive up near Nelson Bay to Oakvale Farm. We met up with friends from Alex’s "First Wives’ Club" and all had a brilliant day patting the free-roaming lambs, kids (of the goat variety), kangaroos and peacocks, as well as getting the opportunity to milk a cow (well, Alex did – I didn’t), give lambs and kids a bottle of milk, and pat & feed camels and alpacas. I saw monkeys and birds, ate lots of yummy food and got lots of attention. Is there a better way to spend a day??
On Friday 07 October I took my Mummy down to Doffy’s house in Sydney where we met up with Auntie Ro & counsin Alden, as well as Auntie Melanie & cousin Noah. We had such a lovely day getting to know one another, posing for photos, crawling around Doffy’s loungeroom floor. And I don’t think Doffy minded in the least that we cluttered up her carpet with toys and drink cups because she got to show us off to some of her neighbours who all cooed and ahhed appropriately.
The next day I had another outing; this time to a ‘family day’ put on by Daddy’s work at the Australian Reptile Park (which is quite close to where we live). I saw more kangaroos (and even got up close and personal with a couple), got to pat a koala, saw some slithery snakes and got to meet (from a distance, thank you very much) the infamous ‘Eric the Crocodile’ who celebrated his 50th birthday the day I was there. (Now I feel badly for not mentioning him in my opening credits…) This Eric character has quite a colourful history. In his hey-day he gobbled a number of people in the Northern Territory, so he was captured and sent to live behind bars with some other crocs. One fiesty little lady companion of his took a snap at one of Eric’s feet (biting it clean off, mind you), and Old Eric retaliated by biting her head off. Because of that little incident, he was branded a ‘problem crocodile’ and was sent to the Australian Reptile Park to live out his time in solitude. Apparently he’s a little more sedate these days, but I don’t think anyone’s taking any chances. He does, after all, weigh a hefty 500+kgs and is almost 5m long!
On Monday 10 October Mummy and I made an unplanned trip up to Brisbane to see Grandma and Soss in their new home. Apart from enjoying the lovely cuddles I always get from Grandma and Soss, an added advantage of going to their house was that I got to meet Grandma’s dogs and cat – and as a result, I learnt how to "meow"! (I’ve been woof-ing like a dog for simply ages.) Just to confuse you, though, I do still refer to all animals as "baa!". And just to confuse myself, there certainly was a period of time there when I was fairly certain that birds say "woof-woof". You see, there’s a particularly yappy dog that lives just over our back fence. When I look out my kitchen or dining room windows, I can either look at the back fence (and it’s not so great, visually) or up at trees and electric wires (MUCH better!) and see the birds which sit up there. So I would hear the dog barking, but see the bird. It’s an obvious connection to make once you give it some thought. But you’ll be pleased to know that I’m growing and learning so quickly that I seem to be moving on from my bird-barking conclusions. Anyway, I had a lovely time in Brisbane, although I was quite glad to get home to slightly cooler and much less humid weather, and my own comfy little bed. There’s no place like home, eh? I’d also missed my Daddy and my brother ever so much.
Nanna & Granddad came to visit Alex and me today. They’ve just been on a lovely holiday and so had some great photos to show us. I was proud to be able to show them all the hair I’ve been growing in their absence, and to try out some of my new words on them.
And wrapping up my month of social whirling, I’m zipping down to Sydney to take Doffy out for lunch on Thursday.
After that socialising I might need a few days at home to recover!
Hey, guess what I grew yesterday? My fifth tooth! They’re coming thick and fast now, I tell you. My snazzy fifth tooth is an upper tooth, sitting one space to the right of centre.
The addition of an extra tooth into the family might be contributing to my newly discovered ability to throw tantrums, but I think it might also just be that I’m starting to realise that I have to stick up for myself around my older sibling – and the fact that I’m getting to be a toddler. I’ve started to do some naughty little things like throw bits of food onto the floor when I get cross or impatient or decide that I’ve had enough to eat, despite knowing – really – that throwing food just isn’t kosher. I’ve also been known to give a whopping good pinch in times of need, and just yesterday I bit into Alex’s arm (although I maintain that he did deserve it – and even if not, I can always put it down to teething, seeing as I’ve got a new pearly white). When I do these things, I can look you straight in the eye as if to dare you to do something about me. I’ve also learnt how to turn on the tears when things aren’t going exactly my way, but I can turn the waterworks off just as quickly. Unfortunately, though, being a second child, my parents seem to be a wake-up to tantrums and my attempts don’t get the recognition I think they deserve.
My vocabulary is ever-increasing. I now say a very distinct "hello!" at appropriate times, which gives Mummy a giggle because I tend to catch people quite off guard. I’ve also learnt to say "yes", and I usually nod my head at the same time. Again, people don’t seem to be quite ready to hear my talking (and making sense) so I get some surprised looks and good reactions.
I’m standing confidently on my own these days, and although I sometimes look like I’m tempted to take a little step, I still haven’t. There doesn’t seem to be much encouragement in my house for vertical mobility…
Well, fine folk, my scribe is falling asleep at the keyboard, so best I let her go to bed. I love you all very much and hope you’ve enjoyed catching up on my recent antics and looking at my photos. I’d love to hear from each of you whenever you get a spare moment.
Big hugs & kisses from
Baby Jess
xxx
PS: Apparently we’re moving to Indonesia on Monday 14 November, although I know you’ve all heard that before. This time, however, it surely must be true?!?