Notes on Andrew Belinda & Benjamin Lattimore

Swimmin’ Next Door

We have great neighbours. The Durringtons are very generous, and we have been lucky enough to swim in their pool from time to time. Since Ben has been doing swimming lessons, he has become quite comfortable in the water and especially likes have other kids around him.

No problems there as the Durrington kids are a great bunch and they love to play with Ben. Here you can see all three of them all around and even under Ben and I.

Charlotte was very proud to demonstrate how the “SubSkate” worked while Finlay tested his underwater skills and Ryan hid in the background using his new Ninja stealth skills.

We all had a great time.

No problems there as the Durrington kids are a great bunch and they love to play with Ben. Here you can see all three of them all around and even under Ben and I.

Charlotte was very proud to demonstrate how the “SubSkate” worked while Finlay tested his underwater skills and Ryan hid in the background using his new Ninja stealth skills.

We all had a great time.

The Abyss No More

Over the past year or so our spare room has been accumulating stuff. Not junk, but stuff we had not found a spot for, or were too lazy to put in. Well it got to the point that we could barely open the door let alone have a visitor sleep in the bed. We were calling it The Abyss.

Over the past year or so our spare room has been accumulating stuff. Not junk, but stuff we had not found a spot for, or were too lazy to put away. Most of it was excess clothes (too small) and toys (too young) that Benjamin has outgrown. Well it got to the point that we could barely open the door let alone have a visitor sleep in the bed.

We were calling it The Abyss.
$Our spare bedroom after much inattention. It\'s amazing how you can ignore a mess by closing the door.$ $Our spare bedroom after much inattention. It\'s amazing how you can ignore a mess by closing the door.$
We recently decided it was time to sort it out (actually Belinda mainly decided, as I find it amazingly easy to ignore mess by closing doors).
The Abyss is no more. Yay !

We will try to keep it this way (at least for a while).

Not a Baby Anymore!

Tonight Ben decided that there would be no more night time bottle before bed. He hopped up on my knee and instead of wanting his bottle he picked up a book for his story and pushed the bottle away. It has been a delight to cuddle Ben every night as he had his bottle. I write this with a little tear in my eye – My little boy is growing up. xoxo

Jetskiing at Chinchilla

$Mmmm Jet Ski, just like Uncle Phil\'s and Aunty Tam\'s. This one belongs to Aunty Tina and Uncle Cam. We are at the Chinchilla Weir, which thanks to recent rain is almost 100% full.$ We recently headed out to Chinchilla for Maggie’s 3rd birthday. When we arrived Cam, Tina, Tam, Phil, Tom and Maggie were out at the weir with the Jetskis. Ben took a immediate shine to his Aunty Tina who let him sit on the Jetskis. He also was allowed to wear his cousin Maggie’s pink sun glasses. He was in heaven!! Tam also got Belinda on the back on the Jetski. She promised not to tip her off! It was such a beautiful day – a nice change from all the hot weather we have been having.

A Quiet Moment….

Today was a testing day. Ben tested most of his boundaries just in case they had changed. So there was a few tantrums when he realised that the rules hadn’t changed in his favor! I was nearly at the end of my tether when I noticed all had gone quiet except for this little voice coming from the lounge. Ben had curled up with his favorite books and was reading. He was turning the pages and saying words. My little boy is growing up and wow it is so lovely to witness. His favorite books at the moment are Busy Railway by Rebecca Finn (he turns the pages saying ‘toot toot choo choo’). He also enjoys Row Row Row Your Boat by Trace Moroney and Baa Baa Black Sheep by Brimax (he says ‘Row row row’ and ‘Baa Baa’). Some other favorites are Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, Noisey Cars by Bright Baby, Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder, Cats by Baby Einstein and Playschool Numbers by ABC. We have story time every night before he goes to bed. It is my favorite part of the day.

Chocolate Muffins and Washing Up

This morning I made a Chocolate Muffins. Ben decided he would give me a hand…… well kind of. He did manage to flick the ingredients all over the kettle and coffee machine. He had a bit of a taste but was more taken with the buttons on the coffee machine. He was however very excited at the prospect of washing the dishes. He had the concept of putting the dish in the sick and moving it to rinse. But when I said ‘wash, wash’, he lifted his hands out and pretended to wash his hair (very cute). We all joined in helping him this morning. There was water from one end of the kitchen to the other. GREAT FUN!!