Enjoying time with others

It seems like we have been spending time with lots of different people in varying situations, all of which has been equally fun.

It always takes Kien a little bit of time to get started at being comfortable and "himself" when we go anywhere, but once he has warmed up it is delightful to watch.

I don't know what my aunt and Kien were playing but it does looks like they were having lots of fun.

There are many families living around here with kids around the same age as Kien. Luckily I've bumped in to a couple of them enough either at the park or just being outside playing to feel comfortable in exchanging e-mail addresses and arranging play-dates. So on Tuesday we met up at Victoria Park playground.

It was freezing cold although the sun did show itself from time to time, but that didn't bother the kids as they raced around and did what 19-21 month old children do - which pretty much is running around playing by themselves.

We were invited to come along on Sunday morning to a parent & child baking thing. I'll see how sociable I feel this weekend before accepting.

We left a little later than I normally would for a morning outing and Kien chatted all the way home. He points at objects and calls out the words/nouns i.e. bus, car, truck, tree, leaves, stairs, manhole cover (approximations are good enough as far as I'm concerned). When we got home I put him to bed with all his soft toys, and his toy phone which he insisted on having there too. For half an hour I heard that phone ring, chime and say the strange sentence in Chinglish that sounds something like "all of you"(???), and Kien mimicking it. When all was finally quiet I was able to sneak in to watch my baby sleep for a bit. Watching a sleeping baby is truly beautiful and heart warming.

Favourite sleeping toy this week is Koala.

In the afternoon we went for a walk to Grey Lynn park.

Favourite snacks are now seaweed crackers and dried cranberries (which he calls raisins).

As the sky threatened to provide rain for an unprepared mother, her son decided to get wet regardless.

He discovered that stepping off rocks was a lot of fun, so he did it over, and over, and over. It wasn't exactly a small rock, relatively speaking.

We spent a fair bit of time at the park because I couldn't get Kien to leave. After I finally got him to say good bye to the park we headed back along Richmond Rd.

Cats are such a novelty for Kien to see, and he just gets so excited when he encounters one. He scares them away with his excitement so he doesn't get to pat cats too often.

There is a quaint little park between Brown St and Richard Rd which looks like someone's grandmother's old-school back yard. I like it a lot, and we often stop by just for quick swing.

Kien can get immensely giddy on a swing, and the other day when we were at Coxs Bay playground he actually flipped out of the chain type swings because he kicks his legs and leans backwards and giggles uncontrollably.

I had to push him very gently on this swinging episode, and as you can see he still couldn't contain himself. I had to hold him so he wouldn't slip out.

Now and then

I've been in a contemplative mood as of late and I'm not sure why. What did we used to do with our time before Kien? What did my life used to look like? When Jef and I became "we" back in 2004 I was pretty sure and Jef was pretty definite there was going to be no pitter patter of little feet in our household. That was also when I used to spend $150 every 6 weeks on hair maintenance - how ridiculous!

We worked in Albany together, and most days we would nip home for our lunch break.

We were carefree, and went to concerts - like BDO where I saw Shihad play live for the first time, and where we heard our favourite song of the moment rocked out by The D4 in Japanese.

I actually do know why I've been thinking about what was and is now. A friend at work has been going to lots of concerts lately and has been telling me all about the bands he sees - the latest gig being the Adults. Anyway, to cut a long story short all this reminiscing of the old days has made me realise that I've come a long way to get here, and I am a lot happier now, and definitely more grounded. I know the feeling of love like I've never known before, and that makes where I am now so much more worthwhile than anything leading up to this point.

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I know I keep harping on about the sunshine but I really can't help myself when Auckland turns out another stunning winter's day with clear blue skies and not a hint of overcast in sight (OK, maybe just a little bit in the distance). Even the crispness in the air doesn't bother me when the weather is this lovely, and I layered Kien up to the hilt and went walking both morning and afternoon today.

After much to-ing and fro-ing with breakfast want/don't want/want we finally were out the door by 9:30am. Our first stop was to get passport photos taken for Kien...that was an ordeal! A good cling and cry later we got a perfect shot - and I would post the picture here but I didn't take a shot of it whilst the sun was out, so I'll post a picture of the whole passport when we finally get one.

We then went to Ponsonby library, and they were having a story-time session. Kien however was not interested in story-time. He went on a rampage pulling books off shelves and yelling if I tried putting them back. So I coaxed him out the door and promptly left.

My little guy is now almost 19 months old, and he knows how to throw a wobbly, big time! I won't go into the details of what happened today because a re-count of the episode would just be boring - so all I'll say is that it went on for half an hour. Oh boy, don't let this sweet face fool you.

After a nice long nap I bundled Kien up again, we meandered the streets of Herne Bay and made our way to Point Erin park.

I am often surprised at Kien's physical abilities; he climbs so effortlessly, and he'll go down any slide.

Playgrounds are such a haven for kids, and sanctuary for parents to let their kids burn around and let off some steam. Kids seem to have boundless energy - well my child does, anyway.

This little guy is pretty observant; he points out every helicopter or airplane he sees, or hears.

He's also drawn to anything that looks unusual or different - like the cobweb on the tree trunk.

I really enjoyed our day, and I'm sure all the things I did back then (when) we can still do now - we are just a lot more responsible and as well as having to be organised!

Markets and planes

We discovered the Glen Innes markets today. Well, when I say discovered it's not exactly that we stumbled on it or anything. My friend Naadia said they were going to the markets this morning so I invited myself along, and I'm so glad I did because it was fun (in capitals, exclamation mark)...FUN!

Naadia's daughter, Paige, is two months older than Kien and stands about 2 inches taller (I don't know why I'm using inches but it seems fitting in this circumstance). It's not surprising she is so big - her dad is a giant Samoan dude.

We wandered around the markets and I bought lots of fruit and vegetables at ridiculously low prices. I also got some socks for Kien - $5 for a pack of 3...bargain. I'm sure they will fall apart after 2 washes. We'll see. Vae bought himself a few t-shirts he found in his size - XXXXXL, all whilst carrying both kids.

With Mt Wellington as a back-drop for these markets how could they not be cool. I'm definitely going to make it out there more often.

We didn't get home until 12:30pm although I did try to put Kien down for a nap at Naadia's place, so he didn't actually have a sleep today until 1pm. Surprisingly it was all OK and he slept until 3:15pm.

We spent what was left of our afternoon at the airport lookout point.

Like father, like son.

When these fly over...

...they look like this:

Yes, it was fun (in capitals, exclamation mark)...FUN!

Sunshine at last

Yes, the sun came out today, and it was glorious. It has been so grey and cold, and with a week full of rain I have been hanging out for some sunshine. So where does one go when the sun is shining in Auckland? Why, the beach - of course!

Mission Bay was our port of call, and although it was a tentative start Kien was soon in his element. And when we hit the beach proper he played in the sand and was hardly even aware of my existence - which was great because I was able to relax and soak up my daily dose of vitamin D.

He then decides to go all out and bask in the glory of the sand and the sun.

Don't ask me why, I don't know - he did the same at Dad's shop today as well.

I did some baking for Dad's birthday - sponge cake filled with whipped cream and fruit, and butterfly cakes.

Who's birthday is it? Certainly not Kien's, although he got a present from aunty Le. It is a robot dog that walks, spins, and plays music.

Jef is really going to have to adjust the volume output of that dog because I think the noise might drive me a bit bats. Even at the shop it was loud. It scared Kien at the start - he was a little unsure of this electronic thing trotting toward him.

~~~~~

Kien and the pegs bowl - a full bowl of pegs will keep him entertained for a while.

I am so used to having pegs scattered all over the floor. He is just compelled to throw them everywhere. On this particular day he decided to give them a good stir with the wooden spoon, then did the usual dumping of the pegs, after which time it was a game of "where are you?".

Juggling

The thing about juggling is that it has to be done in such a way that makes life seem effortless, and everything should be a lot easier as a result of the effective multi-tasking techniques. At the moment my juggling skills or rather lack thereof is contributing to me feeling like I'm constantly treading water in a strong current. Life just seems a little harder than it should be; at work there is just so much going on, and I'm forever running out the door to go and pick Kien up from daycare before it closes. Kien is going through another bout of teething; temperature is up, drooling, clingy and upsets easily.

When Kien is happy though he is absolutely delightful, and alert! Yesterday afternoon he was in such a communicative mood, and he wanted to play this game over and over - we call it "show me", and this clip demonstrates some of his signs and also his words comprehension.

I've said it before, I think we are very lucky to live in a city where there are lots of parks and reserves. What is pleasantly surprising is when I've walked the same paths in my area and haven't noticed there is a giant reserve that connects Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn all the way through to West End Road, Herne Bay. Coxs Bay reserve is fabulous, and I walked it twice this week with Kien in the buggy.

This morning after the mammoth thunder storm that graced us overnight had passed I just had to take Kien out of the house. So I packed his banana and blueberry porridge in the Foogy Thermos flask I purchased yesterday from Mary's market and headed off to the reserve. The billowing clouds did leak a bit, but when we got to the board path the sun came out.

I am such a sucker for planks of wood that are hammered together to form a pathway. I think they look great, and always makes the surroundings more appealing, especially with scatterings of coloured leaves.

Kien wanted to get off the buggy and have a run around - he kept getting dangerously close to the edge.

The view across the estuary to the reserve and park is so beautiful, and the ominous grey clouds hanging overhead created a mysterious ambiance.

Kien enjoyed running back and forth along the path, and many times I had to keep reminding him to slow down and be careful since he kept slipping over - do you think he listened to me?

He also refused to get back into his buggy, and instead wanted to run through the mud and climb fallen over logs.

At the entrance/exit of the reserve on Richmond Road there is a mass crop of banana palms sprouting heaps of bananas - um, don't bananas grow in tropical climates? I wouldn't call the middle of winter in Auckland tropical.

And the last shot of the day is this one here - Kien spotting a helicopter. Man, he loves flying objects!