almost 3 and busy as a bee

being taken for rides by my big brother

and playing in the pool
in my new togs!

mama getting a necklace as a pressie (which i borrowed!) prompted a new past-time...

i'm really loving going to playgroup, especially playing in the sandpit (i'm great at sandcastles!)
and listening to the stories..
which our playgroup leader acts out with handmade toys...
swinging is still a favourite

and i'm starting to formulate my own style...

we went to a party with lots of rides...
i especially liked the horses!! (i went on them at least 30 times!)
and i got my face painted like a fierce tiger!

and then a butterfly at the xmas carols too!
where i pretended to be the little drummer boy with some glow sticks

we went to my big sister's birthday party...
where i had a swim in the big pool!

and even when i'm sick i can still have fun..

or at least when i'm pretending to be sick by putting on 'plasters'

i'm getting really good at making train tracks

and doing baking with mummy & daddy

i even competed in the cup & bucket race at the school athletics day!

but the most noticeable thing about me these days is, despite being dairy-free for almost two years, i sure know how to say CHEESE!!

though not always.
Stick 'em up!

2 years & 7 months

a pictorial update ;-)

sometimes she lets us brush her hair..

and yesterday she modeled my calorimetry.

she likes cuddles with her big sister & little brother..

and making volcanoes with daddy & big brother...

blowing bubbles on a sunny day..

and digging in the sandpit...

Playing picture dominoes on cold days...

and making pretty pictures with stamps & stickers...

and just hanging out with her little brother is always good too!

2 years & 5 months

Well we've had a giant boom of development recently!

(yes, this is what happens when you try to take a photo..)

alexis' talking has really come along recently, she's added a whole heap of verbs - like singing, dancing, playing, bouncing, balancing - and some adjectives too - like big, little, small, scary... and of course a big bunch of new nouns.. she's also stringing together 4-6 word sentences too.

she's learnt a few new concepts too, like big, little & the same, counts 2-6 in order & likes counting on her fingers.. she recognises when there are two of something, and matches two objects to two other objects (ie holding two stars up to her two eyes & explaining it to us), and she likes doing colour matching too.. she can recognise the numbers 2, 3 & 4, and the letter C, she even wrote a C to show me! and the cool thing is, we haven't actually *taught* her any of those things, she has just picked them up from our day-to-day activities & her play :-D

shortly after eli was born frank & yvonne came over to see the kids, and to take alexis out for some fun! (and give me a rest!) So that meant some fun trips to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World...
a fun playdate..and some parks & the museum... she had a fantastic time, and came back exhausted & happy every day!

We've just started going to a Steiner playgroup, which alexis loves! They do lots of singing (with actions), and storytelling, the kids knead bread dough for buns for their morning tea, and all the toys & equipment are made from all natural materials - wood, wool, cotton, silk - which are SO nice to play with! She has been really enjoying playing with the other little kids too :-)

some other recent things have been... dressing up in a very posh new outfit from our friend vicki (including heeled cowboy-esqe boots!)

helping demolish our kitchen bench for the new dishwasher...

and working very hard at becoming a very definite 'daddy's little girl'! ;-)

she's been doing some fantastic art too! :-D

Trees For Babies

since we planted Eli's TFB tree today, we thought we should get an updated photo of Alexis' tree too! check out the difference two years makes....17 may 06 - the tree is just taller than the stake, and alexis is pretty tiny..

24 may 08 - the tree is off the top of the photo! and alexis is, well, still pretty small compared to the tree, but a lot bigger than she was!