8 | 52

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

We happened to be in the city last night for a birthday party and decided to try our luck with Atticus and walk down towards Federation Square to check out Melbourne's White Night Extravaganza. And boy were we glad we did! The lighting installations were fantastic and the whole city was alive. We thought Atti would doze off in his pram but he definitely wasn't going to miss this show! He soaked it all up, the lights, the crowds, the music....It was his first taste of this wonderful city at night.

Sullivan Bay

We finally found a beautiful beach on the coast last weekend and spent a glorious two days enjoying the sun and sand. 

 
Atticus made friends on the beach; they dug him holes to sit in, taught him about moats, mud pools and sand throwing. I love the fact that he is so particularly fascinated by older boys and carefully observes their every move, comitting it all to his memory bank.

An early dinner at the local fish and chip place was delightful. It's nice to be able to go out for dinner now that Atti's bedtime is slightly more flexible.

 And for desert - ice cream on the beach!

The evening was spent helping Dada water the garden, playing fetch with lemons, and picking at pomegranate on the deck.

Boy in a Phonebox

7 | 52

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

Sucking tomato sauce off chunky chips is serious business!

Us

 This is us...all dressed up for a party...

Big Boy Bed

How things have changed at the Starikov residence! The big boy bed has been operational for a couple of weeks now and the days of psychotic screaming fits in the cot seem like a distant memory. The whole sleep situation has become so much more relaxed because...surprise surprise!...Atticus LOVES his new bed! He rolls around in it during the day, reads books to himself and teasingly tells me "Mama, (i'm going to) sleep" (spat').

He still wakes up a couple of times during the night, but now I just pretty much sleepwalk to his mattress on the floor, collapse next to him and keep on sleeping. In the process of our sleep battles he has become accustomed to sleeping with us next to him, so it's unfair to make him sleep alone all of a sudden. I have no problem sleeping with him and slowly slowly, leaving him and going back to my own bed. It's all about baby steps around here. At least he is now out of our bed, he loves his new bed, and the overall anxiety around sleep has finally been lifted!

6 | 52

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

This week's been all about running around naked in the backyard, playing with water and watching watermelon juice run down his fat little baby belly. 

Once again joining with Jodi and co for the 52 series.

5 | 52

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

Brighton Beach is a sensory feast for a curious toddler. Sand, water, seaweed, shells, colourful beach boxes and people galore. Atticus loves to watch others at play (especially the older boys) and I love to watch him deep in observation. He even managed to sneak up to an unused paddle board and climb all over it while the boys were looking away.