Playtime at the twins' house!

Apologies for the long break between blogs, but we have been having massive problems with our internet over the last month or so. It is currently working again - yay! - but is very slow. At least it works though.

Anyway, Max and I went around to visit his cousins the twins the other day since it's been a while since they saw each other. The girls and their Mummy have both been quite sick for a while and we didn't want to risk catching it so thought it safer to stay away. In the meantime all of the little ones have made good progress.
Elke is quite good and steady at walking now and has been for a little while. She is the smallest of the three and looks very cute walking around. Gabbie has now started to walk as well, although still a bit unsteadily and just for short distances. Gabbie's talking and comprehension has been improving really well though, and she now can tell you what cows say ('mmmmm') and point at different colours and body parts. Max can say 'all gone' quite understandably, as well as 'dada', and his walking is also coming along very well.

The three toddlers all had fun playing together. Max and Gabbie chased each other up the many flights of stairs in the twins' house, since Max has just discovered the joys of climbing stairs and thinks it is great fun.


Once Elke woke up the three of them had lots of fun out on the deck playing with the pegs, the washing and the cats.

They all got along really well with each other and really enjoyed the playdate. Hopefully they continue to be good friends as they grow up.

Happy Birthday!

After much anticipation on our parts (Max had no idea what was happening really), Max has now turned a very big 1 year old!! Congratulations son!!

We started his birthday celebrations on Friday night by opening his presents from Cam and I. Cam had to work on Saturday morning and we wanted to do this as a family with just the three of us before his party. So we all sat on the floor in the lounge room and had a great time ripping off paper and showing Max his birthday presents.


Then on Saturday afternoon, after Max was very patient while I was busy icing the cake and getting party things ready, we all headed down to the park for the party. Max always loves being the centre of attention so he had a wonderful time seeing his relatives and playing on the playground and just being outside with lots of new things and friendly people to see.

As our regular blog readers will know, Max always likes his food, especially yummy party food that he isn't normally allowed to eat. I made him a special rocketship birthday cake and gave him one of the stars to eat by himself and as you can see he thought this was awesome!


His aunty Alison took advantage of the different colours of icing to turn Max into a cross between Braveheart and Humpty Dumpty. We tried to clean him up when he was done with the cake, but as the rest of the photos will show, this didn't entirely succeed and he spent the rest of the day looking a bit like an alien. But he was very happy and if you can't make a mess on your birthday then when can you?

One of Max's guests got a bit scared by this little alien when he came walking towards her with both hands in the air and grabbed on to her for support!

The next major event of the day was the opening of birthday presents. Thanks everyone for your amazing generosity - Max had a great time opening them and will really enjoy playing with his toys, reading his books and wearing his clothes in the year ahead!


After we all packed up and headed home (huge thanks to all who helped carry everything back to the cars and take stuff back to our place - so much appreciated!) we put Max straight into the shower with Daddy to try and clean up his blue facepaint. Cam did a great job of making him look like the Max we know and love, but Max must have decided that he did want a blue face after all. While we were busy talking and cleaning up, he wandered into the kitchen and found the blue food colouring bottle in the pantry. Although we noticed this we didn't think he could do himself much harm with the lid on. Silly thought! He must have managed to suck up the dye through the lid because he ended up with blue hands (again) and this time blue lipstick to match!

What a cute little goth.
After we cleaned Max up yet again Cam and I headed out for the evening and let Nanny stay home to put Max to bed and babysit. He was so exhausted that he went to bed with barely a whimper that it wasn't Mummy and slept straight through until morning. Cam and I had a great night out and everyone had a good nights sleep.

A week at Nanny and Poppy's house

Last week Cam was feeling very rundown and sick and was advised to take the week off work to help him to recover and get back on track. So instead of me looking after two Batkin boys by myself, we decided to spend the week up at Nanny and Poppy's house so that everyone could have a bit of a break.
This worked out really well, since Nanny got to spend lots of time with her littlest grandson. She and Max had a good time going for a walk to get the paper in the mornings, playing with various toys, visiting friends and neighbours and getting wet in the bath (Max loves to splash so everyone ends up getting wet!).


It was also a good opportunity for Max to practice walking from me to Nanny and back again. Max also loved spending time with his Poppy, and by the end of our visit he was always happy to see him around the house and showed it by clapping his hands, smiling and stealing Poppy's beanie.

Nanny and I had lots of fun playing cards and chatting when we weren't busy keeping Max happy. If it was fine we also had fun taknig Max to a couple of different playgrounds near their house, and on rainy days we went driving around the area and took Max out for coffee and playtime at Bunnings while Nanny got some gardening supplies. Daddy stayed at home and caught some much needed rest, so everyone had a good time and enjoyed our break.

Thanks Nanny and Poppy!

Look at me go!

Max is getting more and more mobile these days as he gets braver and starts to let go and step out by himself. I don't know who is more excited by this, Max or his parents! Sometimes Max just gets so excited by being able to walk that he promptly forgets how to do it properly.

On the latest visit from the twin cousins, we tried to take some footage of Max taking some steps to show off on the blog, but it took him a few attempts to get it right. However, these attempts are easily as entertaining as the walking itself, so I thought I'd let you see some of this as well.

(sorry about the sideways video - I couldn't fit in his head and his feet at the same time without turning the camera, and then I don't know how to rotate it later on)

Eventually he did remember how to put one foot in front of the other and make some progress, so here's the proof!

He is improving daily in his walking so we're hoping he can get around a bit more confidently by his birthday, when he can show off this latest skill to (hopefully) many family and friends.