Swimming lessons

For the last 4 weeks Max has been going to swimming lessons on Tuesday mornings. I have been wanting to get him more used to the water, as well as learn for myself the best ways to teach a little person how to start to swim and be safer in the water.

Max has taken to it quite well, and improves every week in the way he moves around in the water, holds his breath while under the water, in the way he kicks his legs, and also just in general confidence.

This week we have Kenna from the States staying with us (an old friend of Cam's and one of our regular blog commenters) so she was able to take some photos while Max and I were in the water.

Nanny's Birthday

Last weekend we ventured up the coast to Bli Bli to celebrate Nanny's 70th birthday. We arrived on the Saturday evening to get in early before everyone else got there the next morning before going out to lunch together.

Max is getting much better at travelling long distances in the car these days so that we don't have to plan on doing all our trips while he is asleep. We broke up the trip by stopping at Burpengary for a visit to the playground, which he really loved. Then it was time for afternoon tea and some listening to his favourite music and before you knew it we were there! Max was still glad to get out of the car and discover Nanny and Poppy's toy collection (most of which belonged to Cam when he was little). In fact he loved it so much that he had to get into the box with the toys!


The next morning we went out for breakfast at the local RSL where Nanny had a free birthday breakfast. Max loves the pancakes and also helped us eat our sausages, bacon and eggs. Yum! After a quick visit to the playground where he managed to get lots of sand in his nappy, we bought Nanny a delicious looking birthday cake and went back to their place to wait for everyone else to arrive. Max was very well behaved and managed to sleep through all of the exciting talking and noises from 5 of his cousins and 3 aunts/uncles arriving, and we had to wake him up so that we could leave in time for lunch. We all had a tasty meal and Max enjoyed playing with his relatives before heading back home to eat cake.

We also took the opportunity to take some Batkin family photos. Here are all of the grandsons, posing nicely for the camera.


Then we split into two teams for girls vs. boys photos. Unfortunately Uncle Lance couldn't be there, but everyone else looks quite happy.


Happy 70th Birthday Nanny! Hope you had a great day surrounded by family.

First haircut!

I took Max to get his first haircut last week. His fringe was getting so long it was constantly in his eyes, and he also had a bit of a mullet forming at the back. We took some shots just before going to the hairdressers so that we could do a bit of 'before and after' for you all. So here are the many fringes of Max ...

long and emo

messy side part with grin

my attempt at a comb-over

big mess!

I was a bit worried about how it would go, considering that he doesn't like to sit still at the best of times and loves shiny new toys. I thought he would be running around the salon and grabbing the scissors and not letting anyone near his head, and that he would end up with half a haircut or none at all. Surprisingly it all went quite well! Max sat on my lap and the hairdresser was very good at choosing her moments so that I only had to hold him still once or twice for tricky bits like around his ears. Here's the result!

He looks even more like a little boy rather than a baby/toddler with his new short back'n'sides.