Here is the pumpkin that Noah carved with us.  The orange, halloween style pumpkins are a  rather rare commodity here. I had to scour the major farmer's markets around the city before I found this one at a small stall.  And this ($40!!) average-sized pumpkin was the ONLY one they had.  All this effort just to introduce a bit more Americana to a 2 year old who could care less:) We are attending a little Halloween party this weekend, so Ill try to remember to post some photos of that too.   

Brad's Big Birthday!

Birthday boy with Dianne, Michael & Martin

Noah helping open presents

Opening a gift from the whole family - a memory album

With Jacqueline & Benn

Racing Fashion

The headpieces and fashions of the female racegoers are always a highlight of a race day.  There is even an official fashion competition on the day, which anyone can enter, called "fashions on the field" with actual judges & prizes. 

This row in the back was adorable- all 80+ years old 

"Fashions on the Field"

 

A day at the races...

The racing season is officially underway! We went to this weekend's big event, the Cox Plate. Prize money for the winning horse in the main race toady was $1.3 million.  Its always a fun day filled with lots of champagne and canapes.  We were fortunate to be invited to a luncheon today which was also attended by some local dignitaries and celebrities, so it was an especially lovely way to enjoy the races. 

the boys after a bit too much bubbly....it could be very expensive to let them near the bookmakers at this stage!!

Anna video

Here is a little video of Anna trying to push up onto all 4s.  I have absolutely no idea what she is laughing/cackling about here. She just kept looking at me and cracking up. 

Anna is getting closer and closer to real crawling.  She has been confidently "commando crawling" for a month now so she's all over the house already.  Proper crawling isn't too far away...

Sometimes when she gets tired of trying to crawl she'll plop down on her side and just lie there in this pose for a while. 

Sultanas!!

(start from the video at the bottom:)

The video on the bottom is of Noah begging earnestly for more "tanas" (meaning "sultanas", which are similar to raisins).  He didn't want to eat them however, he only wanted to sort them into coloured containers and dump them on the floor. More fun for mom!

Gardens at the Farm

We went to the Children's Farm again recently. In addition to visiting the animals, we spent some time in the garden area.  The last photo is of the communal gardens at the farm, of which locals can buy a plot.  In the city there's often no space for home gardens, therefore big patches of open land are sometimes turned into community gardens such as this.  Its a good, if not a tad hippie, solution. (And no, we don't have a plot here. Or anywhere.  I do not have the time, the energy, nor the motivation to be that enterprising.  The supermarket is my garden at this stage:)  

Picnic disaster

On the first warm evening we had, I decided we'd go down to the local beach for a dinner picnic after Michael got home from work.  I packed all our food and a few toys, thinking that Noah would love the beach, since he loves his sandbox so much.  Well, the whole thing was pretty much a total disaster (as are many things we try to do)-  this first photo sums up the experience well. 

Noah snatched most of our food, took one bite then ruined it by throwing it in the sand

And he constantly wanted to be IN the water

And he wanted to run & run & run as far as he possibly could without returning (like usual)

And hurl himself off this ledge repeatedly, stubbing his toes every single time and crying

And Anna just wanted to eat the sand, of course

It turned out to be one of the most un-fun things we've done in a long time. Bad idea! (and yes, 'un-fun' is really the only way to adequately describe it:)

Fuzz

Anna is starting to grow some fuzz on her head. Its difficult to photograph, but these 2 photos kind of show it off (click on pic for clearer/bigger image).

Cafes & Baby 'Chinos

Noah enjoys (or perhaps I should say 'tolerates') going to cafes now and can sit still for an almost reasonable amount of time - sometimes 10 whole minutes. We have learned to order the moment we sit down and eat very, very quickly.  At the various cafes we frequent, Noah has taking quite a liking to "baby 'chinos" (which are cappuccinos for babies- just steamed milk with some froth and chocolate dust on top)

And yes, Michael styled Noah's hair this day, as you may have guessed

This castle "tent" has been around for a while, but only recently has Noah started to really like to play in it.   He loves to look out the windows and see what's happening outside. 

glasses

Noah always begs to play with my sunglasses, so I bought him a pair of his very own the other day.  He was so happy!!  I caught him checking himself out in the mirror for about 5 whole minutes - smiling, talking, taking the glasses on and off, on and off...  He also came right up to the me and said "cheese" and voluntarily posed and smiled for the camera (he normally goes to all lengths to avoid cooperating for the camera). He thought he was very cool.   So, the glasses now have to come to bed with him.  And during the day if he can't remember where he placed them, he calls out to them-- "glasses, glasses"-- as if he's expecting them to answer.