atti speak

My current favourite Atti word is FWAWA! I point to plants and flowers as we walk along and say "What's this?" "FAWA" he yells, "FWAWA!" "Smell the flowers" I say, he opens his mouth wide to bite and says "ah ah"

fireworks

We arrived at this year's Christmas Fireworks with a tired baby strapped cozily into his ergo...anticipating that he will doze off to sleep quietly while we enjoy the fireworks. Boy were we wrong! Atti took a while to warm up to the crowd and the sound of the carols, but once he got going he was unstoppable. Playing in the dirt, flirting with strangers, hijacking my awesome potato on a stick. The excitement stepped up a notch with the arrival of Alik, Ninna and Dee Dee, and we soon realised how delusional our idea of a calmly dozing baby was. When the fireworks started to burst in the sky, I was worried that Atti would be frightened by the loud noise, but he calmly looked into the sky, pointed his finger and said "Star!""ooo wow! Stars! Stars!" He sat in my lap through the whole show...mesmerised. On the way to the car, he dozed off in his ergo after a big big night out and was walked home in the babywearing cuddles of "dada".

november on instagram

walking to the park without pram, burnt out and family dinner 

 horse gazing, freeze dried strawberries with dee dee and ball games

 making new friends and developing a taste for at the national gallery of victoria

 beach days, bath hair and being center of attention - always

 discovering the wonderful world of david bromley

 food is for playing, and watching newspaper being blown around the courtyard

 discovering taps and water, climbing stairs and tushie naps

 sick naps, twins with mama, sushi monster

 beach days  and babychino moustaches

 the wonderful world of walking

babychinos, train love and eating dirt...

walking!...in blairgowrie

Yet another wonderful weekend spent in Blairgowrie. Lots of beach walks and breakfasts out. Atti revelled in being able to explore the garden on 2 feet and would have been happy to spend all his waking hours digging in the dirt, trying to catch bugs, sticking his fingers into every nook and cranny, chasing the dogs and generally getting up to mishcief.  

Nursling

Dear Atticus,

This was your last breastfeed. Your new found enthusiasm for cow's milk and the novelty of drinking out of the bottle, has outweighed the comfort of nursing at your mama's breast. We've had a great run breastfeeding and I feel like it's made our bond really special. But I feel like it's the right time to stop. It's a little hard to accept that this special part of our relationship is over, but even harder to accept the fact that you really are not a little baby any more. I still need to pinch myself when I see you casually walking around the house, demanding "ota" and "more, more, more".

14 months

Lets keep this short and sweet. Here's a snapshot of Atticus at 14 months...in point form.

• WALKING...for about a week now. He waddles around the house with the cheekiest smirk on his face. And when he is about to lose his balance, he plonks down on his bum. No massive stacks yet.
• CHATTERBOX...I have lost count of his words and sounds. He doesn't miss a thing! He will hear a train signalling in the distance or a bird chirping outside at the crack of dawn. He repeats every single word I say. To dogs in the street he yells out "DoK...woof...sit" He can count from 2 to 6 all by himself (refuses to say "one") and then adds in nine(naaaaain) and ten (tet) for good measure. Always rounded off with a big YAAAAAAY!
• LIDS... Atticus loves anything with a lid. Jars, bottles, deodorant sticks, perfume....putting a lid on a bottle and pulling it off can keep him busy for hours! cheap thrills:)
• NO!!!... The "No" phase has begun. And when he says "no", he means "no". It usually comes accompanied by a "talk to the hand" hand. Or a shake of the head. And sometimes even followed by "topp it" (stop it). "Atti, come kiss mama" I say. "NO" he yells, "TOPPPIT"! I didn't think I'd be facing the kiss rejections so soon :(
• C-YA...he bellows every time anyone comes, goes, or even walks out into another room.
• ELMO...loves tickle me Elmo that he hijacked from Aunty DI. cuddles and kisses him and bounces up and down when Elmo play music and sings.
• CLIMBING...on everything. Climbs on and off our bed solo, the couch, chairs, benches, stools, anything within reach.
• MAMA...finally finally started calling me "Mama". 
• SLEEP...still spends half the night in our bed, which to tell you the truth is really lovely when he's sleepy and cuddly but not when he want to play and pull my hair out or bash us in the head. (or for that matter throw mobile phones at our heads) He had his first independent sleep-over at "Ninna" and Alec's house last weekend(!). Everyone survived. We're thrilled.

**photo credit to the wonderful jason