122+18 Weeks

This past week-end Carmen had her first go at Sand Gropers, which is Little Nippers for under 2 year olds (for all the Americans out there, Nippers is Beach Life Savers for kids).  She participated in one race where she had to grab the 'flag' at the finish line, but she was a little too interested in the lady blowing the whistle to be a worthy competitor.  She started another race, but when she realised that everyone was running towards the water, she turned right back around and ran to me.  I still tried to get her to put her feet in the water, to no avail.  She is very scared of the surf for some reason, even though the day before she had swum about 8 feet on her own in the swimming pool.  Anyway, she had fun with her friend Hunter at the beach, got very sandy, insisted on eating an ice cream and then spent about an hour on the swings at the park.

We had coffee with our friend's Jo and Natalie, so that Arley could have a date with his girlfriend Daisy, and Carmen could play with Hannah.  Arley and Daisy were born on the same day, so Jo and I like to pretend they are married already.  Who knows, it might just happen.  Arley is such a bruiser, you can see the difference in size between him and Daisy in the photo below.  

Arley started on solid foods this week.  He is eating homemade porridge, made from either buckwheat, millet or pearl barley, and he is also eating apples and carrots, as well as avocado.  It has taken him about five days to get the hang of opening his mouth for the spoon and swallowing, but he seemed to really enjoy his dinner tonight.  

Mum and Geoff came back from Thailand on Monday, to much relief on our part.  We had them over for lunch on Wednesday, and Carmen was very very excited to see her Lolo and Dida again.  They are looking after her this week-end while I work in the gallery.  I asked Carmen to guess who is taking her to swimming on Saturday.  She said, "Mummy!"  I said no, so she said, "Daddy!"  I said no, so she said, "Mickey Mouse!".  Close enough?

Here is a video of Arley eating his first bites of food:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAP7M2OPtU8&feature=youtu.be

 At nippers with the 'flag' that she got at the finish line

 Her reward!

 Carmie and Hannah

 Arley and Daisy