Ben's Art!

Apparently Picasso said that children should not be taught how to paint or draw. Instead they should be allowed to express themselves and that adults will learn from them. Well Ben's been teaching the staff over at Blinky Babies a thing or two this week.

He's progressed quickly through his impressionist phase and has more recently been working with mixed media. We're looking forward to his next project which is tipped to be a combination of edible body paint and interpretive dance.

Smarty Pantz

Ben’s been enjoying a few trips to Smarty Pantz in the last month. For those of you who don't know about Smarty Pantz I imagine that the pictures help to explain it.



My best description in words is that it’s an indoor amusement park for little-uns. Our most recent trip was on Tuesday. Ben absolutely loves the ball pool. I think it's simply his idea of heaven. He’s also pretty keen on the cars. Although he actually liked pushing them around just as much as having a ride inside one. With the recent unseasonable weather it's been a great place to meet up. The picture above was taken in Jan when our antenatal class got together. Pictured from L-R are Benji, Alfie, Paige, Darcy and Jayda. Warning to anyone intending to visit Smarty Pantz. Don't be fooled by the bright colours and squishy decor. The place can be brutal. Alfie came a cropper after some very enthusiastic, and in hindsight, rather dodgy dodgem car driving by his Mum. He's such a trooper though. Still smiling with a great big egg on his head.

To the Big Smoke

From L-R: Twins Lana and Ava (don't know which one is which), Lilly, Freya, Belle and Max

On the weekend I went to Sydney to visit the Fisher-Parkers. Bec Fisher is a friend of mine from my Westmead Kids days. It was great to catch up with Bec and her growing family. Bec had also arranged for some of the other girls from the dept to come round with their broods. The kids pictured above are just some of the many offspring that have come into the world since I was working there. Bec's two girls are Freya and Belle. I hadn't met Freya until the weekend so it was lovely to get to know her. It was also great to see Belle who is growing up quite nicely really. Bec and Mark have just finished doing some pretty extensive renos and I was the first non-family guest to stay. So I felt pretty special. Of course, Bec and I managed to have some grown up time and we were able to indulge in some yummy food and visit a fabric shop and an auction house. It was a busy weekend, but we even managed to fit in a visit to Ikea. Bec was amazing. She picked up a record haul in breathtaking time. All while carrying little Freya in the Baby Bjorn!

Ben's First Step!

Ben took his first unsupported step today!! For a couple of weeks now he’s been free standing. He’ll pull himself up on something and then let go. He can manage to stay upright for a few seconds and then generally plonks down on his bum. Today he took it "one step" further. We were in his bedroom and I had my back to him as I was putting some of his clothes away. I turned around and he was free standing near his cot. Then he put his hands up towards me and took a step! He promptly dropped on his bum and I spent the next hour trying to get a shot of him standing. I don't think we can call it walking yet. When can we call it walking? I think he's got to string at least two steps together before we officially label him a toddler. It gave me such a thrill to see that first step. What a lucky Mummy I am to have seen it! It was strange though because I also felt just a little bit sad at the same time. I feel like he’s growing up so quickly. In just five weeks he’ll be twelve months old. Before I know it he’ll be saying NO MUMMY!

Class Reunion

L-R: Dave with Darcy, ADam with Paige, Dave with Jacob, Paul with Alfie, Matt with Ben, Brett with Elliott

Last weekend we had a reunion with our antenatal classes. The Mums have been getting together regularly during the week but we haven't seen much of the Dads. We'd planned to meet at Speers Point Park, but due to the inclement weather we relocated to Beth and Paul's place. The weather actually turned out to be not too bad, so we hung out on the deck for a while.

But when Paul opened the corral gates and told the kids that there was mashed pumpkin inside you should have seen them stampede. Ben had a great time taking Paige for a double on Alfie's scooter. And later on, Matt snuggled up with Ben and Darcy. Darcy is about three weeks older than Ben, and of all the kids I've met in the recent past he looks most like our boy. Their little bodies and heads are similar shapes. They even make similar noises. Matt's pictured here having a snuggle with the two little twinnies... in fact the three of them look like triplets!!

Not really sure how they got to be so similar, Darcy's Dad is about twice as tall as Matt and his Mum isn't half as short as me. Maybe Ben'll be 7 foot!!!

Ben Loves Blankie

Ben has fallen in love and the object of his affections is soft, cuddly and warm. It took me a while to notice Blankie and Ben's relationship. I didn't understand why Ben would tootle off to his room and stand at his cot. It wasn't until the day when Blankie was located near the rails and Ben grabbed it that I realised.

We now bring Blankie out to play most days. Ben loves to hug Blankie and give Blankie lots of slobbery sucking type kisses. Lucky Blankie!!!

Ben Gets Things Moving

Ben's been pulling himself up on things for a while now. And more recently, if those things aren't bolted to a wall or significantly heavier than him he seems to want to move them somewhere else. It's all good fun until something gets between the thing he's moving and the general direction that he's going. I'm constantly clearing his path or re-directing him and his pushed object. Ben's pictured above pushing his stroller, which is one of his favourite things to move. He's also keen on pushing the vacuum cleaner, his Dino Explorer (which is still a little big for him to ride), cardboard boxes, plastic boxes with wheels ....

.....and chairs.

Hangin' With the Boyz

As usual Ben's been spending plenty of time with his mates Alfie and Elliott. Elliott dropped in for lunch today and the two of them spent quite some time discussing the nuances of modern literature. Ben told Elliott all about his favourite book. And Elliott helped Ben to understand how the phrase "the cow says moo” is actually a metaphor for post-modern multiculturalism.

Meanwhile Alfie showed Ben one of his Hermit Crabs, "Perri". The boys agreed that Perri is the coolest arthropod around. Of course this led to musings about how they could be more like Perri. This in turn led to lengthy discussions about the possiblilities of converting Alfie’s table into two exoskeletons and twelve segmented legs. They haven't totally figured it out yet. So for now they'll continue to wear their skeletons underneath their skins.

Treasure or Trash?

Matt is without a doubt an absolute gem of a man. He is my treasure. However, I am concerned that he's looking a little trashy in this get up. The tight fitting exercise gear and head dress were inspired by a recent acquisition of the above pictured rowing machine. In true àBeckett style no money changed hands for this slick piece of equipment. It was found on the side of the road. Now I am actually quite proud of the fact that many of our furnishings have come from the side of the road. I think it’s a great system. But I was not happy about the installation of this particular piece in our living room. We’d just gotten rid of a whole lot of crap and Matt replaced it with this. He guarantees me that he'll use it and subsequently transform himself into some kind of buff athletic specimen able to row across Newcastle Harbour in record breaking time. We’ve now had the rowing machine for 18 days and Matt has used it once. What do you reckon? Is it trash or treasure?

Remember the Sun???

I'm feeling a bit ripped off about summer. OK I know we need the rain and Matt keeps describing it as "money falling from the sky"…. can’t take the country out of the boy. But I just wanna go to the beach! I had to dig deep into the digital archives to find any evidence that we've made it out doors in the recent past.

I found this shot of Matt and lots of little people enjoying the intermittent sunshine on Australia Day. They were having a great time playing cricket in Jane and Trent’s backyard.

I also managed to find this shot of Matt, Ben and the Iveys which was taken the day after OZ day (another fun time; swimming and beach combing).

And finally here’s Ben pulling his "scrunchy face", sometime in Jan. His little companion is Taya, who’s Mum I met through Stocko Mums Group. This was one of the very few mornings we got to enjoy the beach. Bec (Taya’s Mum) and I took turns swimming. It was really nice to be able to actually dive into the water and then come back to a couple of happy little people. I’m pretty sure the kids had fun, particularly Taya who seemed to develop a taste for huge quantities of sand.

Daddy Learns about Dental Hygiene

Ben now has six teeth! And he knows how to look after them. He brushes his teeth whenever I do and he also brushes when he has a bath.

He's pictured above showing Matt how it's done. I guess he's gotta keep the pearly whites in good condition.

Never know when he might have to gnaw off someone's limb!

Carving It Up

Jane and Trent have bought a ski boat!! After many years of yearning, Trent's wish has finally come true. They formed a syndicate with two other couples and took possesion of the (as yet unnamed) Lewis power boat two weeks ago.

Matt, Ben and I joined the crew on Sunday and we had a great time carving up the water on the Williams River. There were plenty of tricks, which I didn't capture on film (cos I wasn't in the boat), including some impressive bare footing from Trent. Matt and I stuck to the skis (actually I came out of mine quite a lot). It was great fun. I'm still a bit sore and I could hardly move on Monday. But I can't wait to go again. It's addictive!

First Day Back at Work

Yesterday was my first day back at (paid) work. Its been nearly eleven months since I started on maternity leave and I can hardly believe how quickly time has flown. It was nice to see my work mates again and great to work with my new colleague Emily. I'm going to be at Nexus two days a week and Emily (who's been covering my position while I've been on leave) will be doing the other three. Not only is Emily a fantastic dietitian, she also has a surname that begins with a vowel. OK, so there isn't a grave in her name but there is an apostrophe, so overall I think the O'Connor/àBeckett combination will work well.

There have been a lot of changes at Nexus and it felt really quiet. I guess the quiet was good cos I needed some slow time to get my head back into work mode. There were some bright sparks, Liz and Katy amongst them. Always fun to hang out with them!!

Overall the toughest part of the day was leaving Ben at day care. He was upset and it really pulls on the old heart strings when he's crying. I'm sure he'll get used to it and the carers are lovely. They also assure me that he's happy 90% of the time. I'm just glad it's only two days a week. I'm feeling good about the split days (Mons and Thurs) because it gives Ben a break. Although I didn't realise when I said that I wanted those days that they are weigh days! For those blog readers who are in the business you know how weigh days can be.

Catherine's Birthday

It was my friend Catherine's birthday on Tuesday, and on Wed night a group of us went out for dinner to celebrate. Catherine of course was there, as was Amanda, and they're both pictured in the shot above. Ronnie and Renee were there too but I really liked the shot above, so they didn't make the blog. This shot was a bit of an accident because I had the camera on colour accent mode and the girls didn't know I was taking it. Anyway, I really liked it and i think it sums up the vibe of the night. We had a great time dining at Lans (I highly recommend the Red Cooked Beef), followed be dessert and coffee at Goldbergs. It was fun to catch up with the girls and help Catherine usher in what I'm sure will be another fantastic year. I think it's also worth mentioning that there were five of us there and none of us accessorised with our husbands. However, we did have nine handbags between us.

Our Back Yard

Apparently the Great Aussie Dream is to own your home. Well that dream is a long way from realisation for us. But the nice people at the Commonwealth Bank have got this amazing deal where they charge only $2000/month and after 30 years all your Aussie Dreams come true. Of course we signed up and now have only 28 years to go! When we first got on board our dream included a beautifully landscaped backyard with shade and lots of grass for dogs and the inevitable offspring to play on. But it seems that a blank canvas doesn't autonomously sprout lovely shade trees, pretty flowers and manicured hedges. So over the last few weeks we've been putting in some work in the back yard (actually it's been mostly Matt and a couple of paid fencing contractors). We now have a new fence on the western side and the dog yard has been moved to a more discreet corner at the back.

The old fence comes down. The boys found four baby brown snakes during this process!!

Matt starts to dismantle the old dog yard and move the garden shed up the back. Not sure why his orange undies needed to be hanging from the tap.

We also have a very impressive garden bed on the eastern side. Today Ben and I planted some Murrayas in the garden bed with the hope that we will have a big leafy border within a couple of years. Two more garden beds are close to completion- thanks mostly to Matt's handy work with some old metal that was left in our backyard by the previous neighbour. Ben has really enjoyed helping Matt with the garden.

Mojo, Bella and Ben check out the new garden bed and Ben finds some kind of tasty treasure.

Bella displays her impressive volumes of patience and tolerance.

The dogs have had fun too - helping us dig was their favourite bit. I gotta say that the dogs behaved like a pair of prise winners around Ben. Ben has been climbing all over them, putting his hands in their mouths and pulling their fur. They don't even blink an eye. This from two pooches that are VERY boisterous most of the time. Maybe they're growing up, or maybe they just have some kind of sixth sense about babies!

Matt surveys his handy work while three workers wait at the door for their dinner.

Clap Hands!

This is Ben's latest trick!! Makes us all laugh. Another trick that he's learnt to do with his hands is to give a very dramatic flourish after having a drink from his cup or taking a mouthful of food. He kept us entertained for ages during dinner last night!! He's developing a real personality. For those of you that can play videos I've uploaded some moving footage below. My first success (after many attempts) at uploading a video to the blog.

What's Happening in 2008

Lots happening already in 2008!!! I find myself never having enough time to document! Here's a snap shot of some of our adventures since the New Year arrived. Ben and I have become 'Beach Combers'. I'm officially one of those eccentrics who gets a thrill out of finding 'Sea Glass'. Ben is pictured above with some of our treasures.

I've also had a couple of reunions with old friends. Just after the New Year, my friend Michelle Vaughan and her tribe came to visit. Michelle and i worked together in Orange and I haven't seen her in nearly four years. She came with her husband and her all singing all dancing package of three children. The Vaughans are pictured above. And yes there are three boys in that Stroller. Max (2)is asleep and lying down. Hugh (4) is in the toddler seat at the front. Oscar (6) is standing at the back on the "hitchhiker" attachment. The big boy pushing the stroller is Richard.

My other reunion was last weekend at King Edward Park, with my uni mates. Dietitians came from far and wide with their families and food. It was particularly nice to have two other core group members at the reunion. With Manda coming from Sydney and Susan all the way from Melbourne. We were very lucky to have Manda stay at our place (where I tried to convince her to ride my bike through torrential rain) and we've also been lucky to have Susan in town for the rest of the week.

Giving Ben lots of opportunities to catch up with her little fella Will.

We also had a lovely lunch with Nanna Judy at a really nice cafe at Lorn.

Ben had ice cream, which he eventually liked. But I think he was a bit unsure about the temperature. Obviously no damage done to teeth or taste buds. He's still able to have a munch on his cot.