21/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Sofia: likes to clean and is independently motivated to do so!?!
Otto: getting stuck into any food on offer.

The kids got new sleeping bags this week to keep them nice and cosy over winter. It has to be said that Otto's feet only make it half way down the legs of his suit. Sofia was pretty excited the first night they wore them so I took some shots of them together, a bit blurry, but too cute not to post.

My favourites this week are all about the feet (I have a bit of a soft spot for baby feet - I still have a photo of Sofia's feet taken in the first week of her life as my phone lock screen) - Sawyer's toes, Louis and Miss Penelope Violet (bonus cat feet!) plus Parker's peek-a-boo toe.

Linking with the 52 Project at Che & Fidel. 

20/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Sofia: exhausted after a day of big fun in Sydney.
Otto: kitchen sink bath.

On our way home from Perth we had a stop over in Sydney. Ian had a day of business meetings, but the kids and I got to hang out with my sister Sally in the morning and my friend Julianne in the afternoon. The weather was beautiful and we frolicked about the place: a coffee and a quick look around at the MCA, a ferry ride from Circular Quay, a picnic lunch in Hyde Park (fending off the hungry ibises), water play at Darling Harbour (Sofia couldn't believe her luck) followed by delicious icecream and an early dinner of dumplings. I didn't take a lot of photos that day, but I did get this one of Sofia sleeping soundly after our big day out.

The apartment we stayed in while we were in Sydney did have a big bath, but Otto still isn't very stable in his sitting so he enjoyed a wash in the kitchen sink. It was the perfect size!

One of my favourites from last week was Cinnamon Girl's shot of Gus amongst the chooks.

Linking with the 52 Project at Che & Fidel. 

19/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Sofia: aka Miss Bossy Boots.
Otto: nuzzling in.

We have spent the last couple of weeks jetting about the country visiting family and friends and while it is no easy task travelling with little ones, it was worth it as we were able to enjoy Sofia and Otto cementing relationships usually carried on via Skype.

Sofia is becoming quite the adept communicator and here she can be seen in her bossy pose - I can't quite remember if her target was Grandad or the dog!

When I was packing up to go away I almost didn't make room for the sheep-skin that usually lines Otto's pram seat. We were only taking the light-weight stroller and we expected Perth and Newcastle to be a little warmer than Hobart, but then I figured he might like a little comfort in unfamiliar places. I'm glad we took it as he stole many a nap on the go nuzzled into the familiar fleece.

Hopefully I will have a bit of time to pick some favourites to link to next week now we are back at home.

Linking with the 52 Project at Che & Fidel. 

18/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Sofia: and the kangaroo.
Otto: being marauded by his sister (as usual).

Sofia's friend Chiara celebrated her 2nd birthday at Zoodoo last weekend. It was a pretty wild and windy day and Sofia got to try out her toasty hat from Typically Red (Greer is also doing the 52 project). I fear we may have seeded a life-long fear of ostriches, emus and camels as they all stormed the "safari bus" we had a tour on. There was screaming and tears from most of the little kids on the bus (and some not so little). We had to have a bit of debrief on our way home and more than a week later she will confirm that ostriches are scary. Ian took this week's photo - this roo was pretty impressive and Sofia was quite taken by him.

Very few photos of Otto this week so this is one of a typical scene where Sofia marauds Otto and Otto giggles. It sometimes descends into tears, but Otto is getting bigger and more adept at fending Sofia off.

More and more they can be found enjoying each other's company.

Linking with the 52 Project at Che & Fidel. 

Shoo cockies!

We have had lots of cockies at our house over the summer with the biggest flock being almost 50 birds. They ate all of our almonds but despite often being caught in the walnut tree we still ended up with a bumper crop which more than filled a big recycling crate with good quality walnuts. The cockies are still around in smaller numbers and Sofia is determined that they go, even though they are now just munching on the grevillea in the front yard.

Last weekend she was up on a chair in the sunroom telling them as loud as she could to "Go away cockies".

"Shoo cockies!"

We even went outside on the verandah but they still didn't seem that bothered.

17/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Sofia: boobie!
Otto: pumpkin!

I weaned Sofia a little under a year ago with no fuss so it surprised me a couple of weeks ago when she asked for "boobie". I gently explained that she was a big girl now and no longer needed it and she seemed to accept that. She has repeated the request a couple more times since. When this photo was taken she had her hand way down my top and was yelling "boobie, boobie, boobie!". I will have to be mindful to share some extra cuddles with my big girl.

Otto finally got his hands on some food. He chased the pumpkin around the tray for quite a while before his hands made their way to his mouth (I'll admit it was a little over-cooked for the purpose). So much fun, so much mess, so many tastes to look forward to.

Some favourites for the week are here, here and here.

Linking with the 52 Project at Che & Fidel. 

16/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Sofia: loves a slide, the faster the better.
Otto: big boy in the highchair.

Blink and it is the end of the week again. I have taken very few photos since last Sunday, so trusty iPhone snaps it is.

Sofia and I don't often get to hang out just the two of us anymore, but on Saturday afternoon Ian was minding a sleeping Otto so we jumped in the car and went to our old hood and the Pirate Park. The slides from the "ship" are fast and the first time down Sofia shot off the end, landing on her back. There was a split second when I thought she might cry, but instead she dusted herself off, grinned and raced up the stairs for another go.

Otto was six months old on Thursday and I have been thinking I will start him on some food soon. We followed the baby-led approach to solids for Sofia and she will eat practically anything so we will do the same for our bright eyed boy. I have been popping him in the high-chair occasionally to let him get a feel for it. His sitting up isn't very stable yet, but there is a little cushion that you can wedge him in with. There has been some stealth in these sittings as Sofia still uses this chair for breakfast and is quite possessive of "her" things. We may have to move breakfast from the kitchen to the sun-room where her other chair is set up.

Bonus photo! One from the vault - this is Sofia (at the same age as Otto is now) trying out that chair for the first time at Grandad and Granjan's house. There is no Ikea in Hobart, so the chair was bought in Perth while we were there on holiday. I remember her being quite pleased with it.

No favourite link this week, will try harder next time ;)

Linking with the 52 Project at Che & Fidel.