upside down

one of the things

that always brings

a smile to my dial

and a giggle or two

is when i am held

or swung about

upside down

it must be because

i am a right little

boy from down under

(p.s. spot the emerging top fangs!)

get up papa's goat

papa will be very unimpressed

when he sees me

pretending to be a goat

eating away at newspapers

but that's what i like to do

when i feel like a spot of readers' digest

my real estate loan

on the weekend

we returned our first batch of toy library treasures

in exchange for another four different ones

this is one of them

a fisher price laugh and learn fun house

which has a doorbell, postbox,

swinging door, gutter balls,

talking radio, shape sorter,

clock, number dials

sun and moon, flower pot, pet spinner

sliding window and door lamp

sooooooo many activities...

well guess how long before i decided

i'd rather play with the tea towels in the kitchen?!

(mama is ever so glad for the privilege of borrowing!)

lead singer

i have been having

some serious

voice modulatory

malfunctions lately

and this has been driving

the folks up the rafters

mama reckons

i could easily

take out the emmy for

attitudinal lead singer

in a heavy metal band

either that

or i am going to be

the next il divo pavarotti

whatever it is

at my decibel rate

mama and papa are going

to have to start

taping up the windows

around the house very soon...

meet maia

this is maia annells

she is 5 months old

and is the daughter

of papa's ex-colleague chin

and her husband john

i feel like a bumbling giant

next to maia

because she is so petite and sweet

aussie aussie aussie

it's australia day today

so to all you aussies out there

oi oi oi

it is sweltering this weekend

with temperatures of 40 deg C

so like typical antipodeans

we hit the beach in the morning

and will probably watch

the fireworks later in the evening

i say bring on the barbie, beer and cricket...

watchdog

dearest papa

each day i wait patiently

and then impatiently

for you to come home from work

because i so look forward

to playing with you...

please huwwy up

more ikeaaaaaahhhh...

i have a toy storage box

that doubles as a seat

it has a bright yellow lid

and came once again from ikea

mama and papa store my things in it

outdoors on the deck

i enjoy opening the lid

rummaging about inside

and flinging my toys out

(... aaahh the joys of being

too-small-to-tidy-up still!)

spin doctor

dearest poh poh

i know you love it

when i spin

the little toy

on my block

with my left hand

you like my little fingers

waving about

and my baby finger

curls up in anticipation

so this is dedicated

to you

i love and miss you!

bye bye natalie

this is lovely natalie

(daughter of my godparents gerry and gay)

natalie is returning to canberra todayafter her christmas visit

one day whilst i was over visiting them

she let me drink water out of her glass

mama reckons it is a good start

to learning to drink independently

thanks natalie

and may you have a safe trip home...

grasshopper

at the moment
i am rather averse to grass/lawn

it's probably due to the

pokey and scratchy texture

anyway mama reckons its funny

and whilst this terror lasts

she uses it as a 'containment' area

where she puts me on it

and i can't crawl anywhere

sometimes i even lift both

my legs up in the air

and she rolls about laughing

her head off...

she knows though it won't last

and soon i will be foraging about

the grass like a starving goat!

stairmaster

i am getting to be
quite the little
stairclimber
much to mama
and papa's horror
i can climb up
the front house steps
easy peasy...
but getting down
is a whole other story
instead of the usual
backing down
i tend to go
headlong first
(into just about
everything actually)
which leads to
spectacular
crashes
shrieks
and bruises...

another library toy

here's another toy

mama borrowed

for me from the SSTL
it is a fisher price
gumball machine
which has 4 rollerballs
that are released
one by one
with the press
of a blue lever
there is funny music
that plays too
it's a strange machine
but brings some

fascination and is

useful for distraction
at feeding times!

ikeaaaaahhhhh....

last week mama and papa

bit the bullet and took me to ikea

to pick out some better looking

option to store my toys in

instead of the dodgy looking ol' huggies nappy boxes

papa put the trofast system together

so now lo and behold

i have something to hold onto

whilst i practise my stand-ups

and i have drawers i can yank

which won't crush my fingers

i can also fling bits and bobs about

with satisfyingly wild abandon
now if only i can put them back in again...

but that's another story for another time

toyland galore

over the weekend

mama and papa signed up

as members of the local

sandgroper sunshine toy library

for a small fee and rostered duty 3 times a year

it seems like an accesible treasure trove

of toys for me to play and grow with

i am allowed to borrow 4 toys every fortnight

the folks think this is a fantastic community scheme

as i get the chance to play with

different toys each fortnight

and they get to meet with different parents

here is one of the toys they borrowed this time

(gosh i can't wait till i can actually have a say

in the ones i prefer

cause i suspect mama picks stuff

she'd like to play with!)

warning: nudity ahoy!

as you can tell
i am naturally growing
and developing
each and every day
(this is much to mama's dismay
- she has hopes of peter-pan-syndrome afflicting me)

anyway these days i have
outgrown me ol' green bath tub
and graduated to the adult's
wide wide water world of the
big claw-foot bath...

meet the lims

whilst in singapore
we met up with mama's old friends
frances and ivan
who have three children
the all-singing-and-dancing gorgeous claire who is 5
and the fabulous twins john and james who are 1+

(i am pictured in midst of their vast toy empire)

independence day

this day in history

23 december 2006...

mama was so impressed

when i held my milk bottle

all by myself!

letter to letticica

dear aunty letti
in response
to your query
apahal got clip
in the hair one leh
well, to avoid occurence
of lunatic fringe (geddit??!)
mama uses
blue (= boy in babyspeak)
hairclip to prevent
hair-in-eye-syndrome
also doubling as
haircut-evasion-technique
does this
answer your question?

chansbury's eleven

oh? *surprised* is today a special day?



wah! *smug* am exactly 11 months old today? celebrate then?



eh! *furious* don't want yoghurt - want chocolate cake!!!



what? *incredulous* why would i wish for more teeth to fill the gaps?



crikey! *unimpressed & stunned-mullet* got a stick to help walkabout instead...

blokey activity #2

this one's dedicated to you kow fu eugene...

ok what's this? must... check... out...


what??! this not for sniffing????!


so for drinking?? like my milk bottle?


mmmmm... oh dear, want... more... please...


*hick*hick*... ok think i've had enough for while now


note to mama - i need blue bonds singlet and pair of thongs!

a hard day's work

mama thought
you might be wondering
what i do each day
so here's
a pictorial
of a day
in the life
of moi...
- feed...play...sleep
replay rewind fastforward
all day everyday

imelda marcos watch out

if you knew
my poh poh's shoe fetish
like mama does
then you will be
rightly concerned
if that interest
transfers itself genetically
to me...
here is my
very first pair of shoes
to start off the collection
mama got them for me
in singapore
because they are functional
and they make us smile

first official word

whilst in singapore
kong kong spent much time with me
playing as well as reading
he taught me concepts like
open and close
and also pointed out the
various cars that drove in and out
of kow fu eugene's apartment block
and so naturally the first word
i uttered was car
(pronounced khaar *spittle*spittle*)

parcel-phernalia

i rather enjoyed
opening presents
on christmas day
with kong kong and poh poh
but in my case
i think i probably
preferred eating
the bits and pieces
to discovering the actual gifts inside

(p.s. happy birthday kow fu eugene)

blokey activity #1

on new year's day
we had dinner at godpa gerry's and godma gay's
and i found a new toy to amuse myself with
i tell you what
i can do quite a mean clean and jerk...

(mama says if only the clean bit were true...!)

little beetle

before we went to singapore
mama bought me a little beetle
which is basically a portable highchair
it is made out of cloth
and attaches to most chairs
here i am sitting like a tow kay
happily chomping away on a rusk
we used my little beetle for most of my meals
whilst in singapore
what a great little thingymajiggy

meet luke

this is luke christopher kai-ren pickard
whom i met in singapore
at mama's cousin's christmas lunch
he is mama's cousin's daughter's son
(geddit??????? i still don't!)
anyway luke lives in the south of france
and is six days younger than i am
and he has beautiful large eyes
and long curly lashes
and is a real cutie

(g'day stephanie and jc
hope you survived the flight home in good shape!)

laz-e-pool-boy

whilst in singapore
we stayed at my kow foo's apartment
which has a swimming pool
for all the occupants' usage
mama and papa think it wonderful
cause at home they either
pay public pool fees
or take a quick trip to the beach
anyway they bought me a
pool floaty laz-e-buoy thingymajiggy
which has a little inbuilt seat
so i could be upright in the water
and act as papa's kickboard
i had such a super time each morning
splashing about

ooooo... yum yum

there is a phenomenon

at christmas time in singapore

when bakeries are rife

with log cakes

(this concept is quite alien to us aussies -

here fruitcakes reign supreme)

so of course mama was dying to try some

for christmas day

it's actually a swiss roll sponge

covered in cream forked to look like a log

and cheesy christmassy decorations plonked atop

well do you think the folks

bothered to offer me any???

well i got my own back

on the day we visited my uncle's place

and there were 12 other children causing havoc

so i sat quietly (unnoticed) in a corner

licking the cream off a plate of log cake slices!

bad hair day

well how do you like
my superb
gravity-defying hairdo
mama and papa
woke up in stitches
one morning
whilst we were on holiday
they said it
reminded them
of some movie called
there's something about mary
but there was absolutely
no hair product
involved whatsoever
just sheer hair-raising
talent on my
folly(cle)-inclined part

happy new year

as you get ready to welcome the new year
with sparkles parties and fireworks
spare a thought for me
as i will probably be (hopefully) fast asleep
because mama and papa are major party poopers
i am not allowed up late
even for such special occasions
so whilst you imbibe on your bubbly
and chomp on your canapes
i will have to contend with a bottle of milk
and my happy little vegemite tube
may 2007 bring you a year of growth love and laughter
cheers and happy new year to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!