March 2014

So Micah has had a busy wee month so far. Yesterday (19th March) he started crawling, on the same day I found him sitting in his cot after his sleep (he got himself into the sitting position from lying for the first time), and after I left him sitting and playing in Elias' cot , I came back in to find him standing up in the cot. His preference is to be in a standing position and he is getting stronger and more coordinated each day. He also likes to show off his ability to clap (although in the following youtube clip I could not get him to play ball - it is worth a look anyway: http://youtu.be/myhPnbtPXI8. I have also added a clip of him on his bike - quite difficult to record when trying to make sure he stays on the bike:) http://youtu.be/oaHbWdGVkKY

Elias has become very chatty, although not everyone would recognise all of his words. The most clear words are 'car, garden, fire, baby, bath, bus'. He is super cute. As mentioned in the previous post he is climbing everything. His latest trick is to get a little stool from his room and take it to the place where something he wants lives (and has been placed deliberately out of his reach). He made me laugh the other week, I had a packet of chocolate biscuits sitting open on the bench and he came running into the lounge with one and a huge smile on his face as if to say "look at the treasure I found". I let him eat it....next minuite I hear rustling in the kitchen and I yell out "Elias...no more biscuits". He comes back into the lounge with no biscuit so I am thinking "good boy for listening"....anyway, after putting him to bed that night I discovered a biscuit in the packet with a bite out of it :) I love his cheekiness. The picture below is of how I found him about a week ago...working under the walker...maybe he'll be a mechanic :)

February/ March 2014

These two crack me up sometimes :) Micah loves getting into Elias' cot, and Elias loves him being in there too. If Elias wakes up a little grumpy all I have to do is put Micah in the cot with him.

In this picture Micah is trying out dummy, just like his big brother....Micah doesn't ordinarily have one.

The boys playing on the slide

Elias has learnt to climb up on anything, and everything he possibly can...Here he is trying to climb out of his highchair. I now have to clip him in. (Peppa Pig is playing on the laptop).

Jan 2014

Bath times have become a favourite for Micah - he loves splashing and hanging out with his big brother

Book time with Dad - while you can't totally tell in this picture the boys love it

Micah, our little singer :) You can check out a youtube clip of him playing his drum: http://youtu.be/PT6UsszyoJo

December 2013

December was a great month for me.....Micah said "Mumma" for the first time :) The boys are becoming more and more fun...their cheekiness continues to increase. Micah definitely knows what he wants and it is usually something that Elias has in his hand. He is more than happy to help himself to items he shouldn't have (phone, remote...) and will almost jump over his toys to grab them. While he is not yet crawling, he is able to move around the floor by rolling and pivoting on his stomach. Elias communicates well by pointing to what he wants, bringing us things he wants (such as yogurt he has helped himself to from the fridge, and his shoes when he wants to go out). He loves being outside and wont miss an opportunity to check the lemon tree with his Dad :)

Micah enjoys eating gingernut biscuit's. Here is a youtube clip of him eating his first one ever: http://youtu.be/usZOuEU_Icc

Reading time with Dad before bed. Both boys love having books read to them.

Elias enjoys his baths, and swimming in his little pool. Nothing quite like trying to splash Mum

Having fun playing in the box

CHRISTMAS TIME: We had a nice break in Wanaka with Nana, Uncle Josh and Uncle Scott for Christmas this year. Elias loved spending time with extended family, and his parents loved that boys loved it. Thanks Nana for sharing your bedroom with Elias....he loved waking up in the same room as you :) Micah with his Uncle Josh

Elias with Uncle Scott

Elias loves slides and will go on ones you think he wouldn't try....and then go back for more. He also likes going on anything else in the park that spins or swings him ;) Here is a youtube clip of Elias going down the large Dinosaur slide in Wanaka: http://youtu.be/a2UAvptWq0k

While in Wanaka Elias preferred spending time on the lake front. If we had let him he would have run straight into the lake. He did seem quite content to throw rocks into the water (and could spend a long time doing this). On one trip to the lake a friendly dog came to play, much to Elias' delight. Here is a youtube clip of it: http://youtu.be/49WdJFLGvcI

November - Trampolines and climbing

November brought with it the trampoline. Elias loves the tramp but insists his parents get on with him and bounce him. It is a good work out for sure and neither of us can complain about the view from the tramp. While we jump Micah often sits in the washing basket with the tin of pegs. He seems to enjoy this too :)

Elias and Micah often wake up around the same time from their afternoon sleep. As Elias often needs a little more wake up time I put Peppa Pig on the laptop for him and Micah. They look so cute together :)

Elias has begun to explore more, which means a lot more climbing. He can now get himself up onto the dining chairs and then onto the table. In this picture he is clapping at his accomplishment of making it to the top of the table.

2nd Birthday and body parts

We celebrated Elias' second birthday with some of the little people he had known since birth....they were all girls :) Don't worry though, he has male friends too, however they were unable to make the occasion, thankfully he also has a brother. Elias is 'talking' all the time....so much so that at times he is driving me nuts and I think about walking around the house with ear muffs on :) Such a change from just a month or so ago. He is always pointing to things and wanting me to name them...people too! He enjoys hiding toys and saying "aaaarrr oooo"....this comes from a game I play with him and say "[toy's name]...where aaarrre yooouuu?" He obviously has picked up the "are you?" bit. He is also becoming quite a little helper and will get me Micah's nappy and find Micah a toy and give it to him. He will put his toys away when asked and gives himself a clap for a good job done. He is great at 'high 5's' too :)He has also become a fan of pointing out his and our ears, eyes, mouth & nose (see pictures below). He can say 'ear', and tries the other words too :) We got the boys a trampoline recently, which I am yet to take a photo of. Both boys love it, but obviously it requires some 'adult' power for the jumping at this stage. Both Adam and I are enjoying the trampoline too....brings back childhood memories (I will try and remember to add some pictures of this in the next post)

October 2013

At beginning of October we all hopped onto a plane to go to Auckland....Micah's first flight ever! The boys are great wee travellers and in general all car trips and flights were good ones. While staying at our holiday home Elias made friends with the neighbours cat...he appears to really like animals, especially cats (must take after his Aunty Erin and Granny and Grandpa!). During October Elias honed his walking skills further and pretty much said goodbye to bottom shuffling. Elias has been enjoying slides and swings and in general just exploring. Youtube clip of Elias on the slide: http://youtu.be/gztGEjdhiec. He loves helping out with his brother, brings his mum nappies on request, finds toys for Micah to play with and rushes to his brother's room when Micah wakes up. Once in Micah's room he then insists that he sit in the cot with him. Elias often requests that Micah go into the 'Jolly Jumper'...all with the ploy to hang off it himself (see attached pictures). Elias has also become pretty good and seems to enjoy doing puzzles...of course easy ones at this stage :) Micah continues to grow at an amazing rate and is now only 2kg's lighter than his older brother (9.5kg's, Elias 11.5kg's). He is a smiley, sociable boy who seems to sleep less in the day now lest he miss out on a social activity. Here are a couple of clips of Elias playing with hanging toy (hanging off 'Jolly Jumper' attachment: http://youtu.be/qnz-2M74zWI http://youtu.be/V9p63jWCmkU