Alan's first hair cut

Seems like Alan has always had hair. We had a 3-D ultrasound and the technician showed us the hair on his head in the womb! So amazing that technology can pick up on such minute details and facial features.

Can you see the hair in the 3-D ultrasound photo?

Six weeks later he was born with plenty of brown hair. After a few months it turned blonde. For the longest time I've been saying he needs a hair cut. It started to get long in the back down to the collar of his shirts, flopping over his ears, and he had bangs that would have benefitted from the help of a barrette. He's had this alfalfa thing going on for as long as I can remember. I bought a special brush that has a squirt bottle in the handle to keep it under control. Poor kid has at least two cowlicks (I think he inherited them from his daddy).

At six months with a faux hawk!

Hair blowing in the wind at nine months.

At fifteen months, he finally went for his FIRST hair cut! It was on my list of to do's while in the states. I took him to Kid Snips in Hawthorne mall where he got to sit in a CAR wearing an apron watching a Mickey Mouse video. He was a very good boy! No tears and he stayed very still the whole time (we left with both ears intact). He was happy to sit quietly and drive the car. At the end he got a certificate with a locket of hair, a balloon, and a ornament from the treasure chest. It's been a little over a month since his hair cut and I KID YOU NOT he needs ANOTHER! I'll have to see if I can find a place that does kid hair cuts here in Australia. My hands are way too shaky to go near anyone with scissors so I'd better leave it to a professional. Our next visit home won't be for another five or six months. He may end up looking like a shaggy surfer dude and fit right in with all the Aussies!

Here is a before the day of his hair cut

Not sure if you can see the little cell phone he's holding while sitting in the car. He DIDN'T learn that from me!

A little more concentration here - both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road (or Mickey Mouse video).

I couldn't believe how thorough she was! His first hair cut was the real deal.

Afterwards, we went and played in the mall and look who found another car!

Looking like a little boy with his new hair do.

16 Months going on 16 Years!

Alan is quickly developing a love for cars! He is delighted any time he gets the chance to sit in the driver's seat of a real car. "Heaps" of entertainment I tell you! Buttons galore to explore. He plays with toy cars in church saying "vroom, vroom" in a sweet little voice. He has trucks too and somehow knows to make a different sound for those. He's a boy through and through. It must be instinctive. Good thing too because I wouldn't know how to teach him those sounds. Here is our big boy on a kiddie ride at the mall. He usually sits in them and is content to pretend. We happened to be at the mall early one morning and he had the ride all to himself so we let him give it a go. It's hard to believe that in less than fifteen years he'll be legally behind the wheel of the real thing. If he's lucky, maybe daddy will buy him a used DM Camry ;) All the fun stuff to look forward to!

Christmas Carols at the Temple

On a warm Saturday in December, we headed over to the Sydney LDS Temple for Christmas Carols. Although the sky looks ominous, it was a perfectly pleasant evening. We brought lawn chairs and picnic blankets to spread out on the temple grounds. One lady had her own picnic with snacks and refreshments by the glow of a lantern. In a way, it reminded me of Ravinia. Members of the church directed traffic to an overflow lot and handed out glow in the dark bracelets for kids or battery operated candle sticks for adults. The atmosphere was very festive and put us in the Christmas spirit. I'm sure other temples have carols as well but I had never experienced it before. So for me it was a novelty. I probably wouldn't sit outside the temple in Chicago to hear carols in December (nor would most other people in their right minds). Guess we'll have to wait to see where we end up in the states to find out if we'll be able to continue attending carols at the temple in the future.

The abundant Christmas lights were a welcome sight! Very few people in Australia decorate with Christmas lights. 1) Because the lights are SO EXPENSIVE and 2) It doesn't get dark till almost 8:30 PM which for us that meant turning them off at our 10:00 PM bedtime. Nonetheless, Brad found a good deal at K-mart and stocked up on enough lights to decorate our tree and both balconies. At first we were the only apartment with lights. But by Christmas day there were a handful of others. Bah humbug Aussies!

We thought of it too late for this year but next year we're going to do a seashell themed Christmas tree. One would think it will only take 1 trip to Shelly beach in Manly or Cronulla to collect enough shells. Au contraire mon frere! It will actually be a challenge. We rarely see shells intact. We've been to both Shelly beaches and there are indeed shells but they're crushed up into lots of sharp little pieces. Not the best beaches for sun bathing or strolling bare foot. Any way, wish us luck finding a sea shell jackpot in the next year!

The sky created a really pretty special effect

It's the biggest of the 5 temples in Australia

The stained glass windows were so intricate!

Angel Moroni - perched atop every LDS temple

Life size nativity scene

The choir from our seats on the lawn.

The Christmas lights came on when it got dark around 8:30 PM!!!

"Heaps" of lights

These lights had to have cost a fortune!

Deck the halls

I can always count on Brad to do the Christmas lights on the tree and outside the house. I'm so thankful for that because I lose interest in that project so quickly. If it were my task, I would procrastinate till St. Patrick's day! My job is to take the lights down which I have unlimited patience for because it's like a puzzle to me. This year Brad got lucky since Alan decided to be his little helper. I think they thoroughly enjoyed decking the halls. The only thing that was missing was the SNOW!

Our little Christmas monster!

They spent more time playing than decorating ;)

Alan explaining to daddy how to put the lights on the tree

Pretend this is the tree - just like this!

Close encounters with cockatoos, kangaroos, and koalas

Since we first arrived in Australia, we've seen cockatoos flying about in the "wild". It's such a novelty to us as we're used to seeing them as pets in the US. Many a time, I've passed one and muttered "where's my camera when I need it".

On Boxing Day, we were eating dinner when one happened to land on our balcony. The first few minutes we just admired our surprise visitor. We discussed whether it would fly off as soon as one of us got up from the table to get some bread. Surely it would be startled by us opening the sliding door and take off. Finally we decided to go for it (this time camera in hand of course).

Brad broke the bread (guess he thought the cockatoo would offer it's own blessing) and threw little chunks out the door. Right away our feathered friend jumped down and grabbed a few pieces. The hopped back on the railing seven stories up to eat on one foot (talented birds).

Within a few short minutes, we had fourteen cockatoos on our balcony. We never heard them make a noise that would signal for others to come join the feast. But soon there wasn't room to land.

We gradually grew more brave as we could tell they weren't afraid of us. We stepped out onto the balcony with them where Brad and Alan both fed the birds by hand while I captured as many Kodak moments as I could.

We've since been told that we've created a massive problem for ourselves by feeding these birds. They've returned several times now and we've started keeping an extra loaf of bread on hand. We enjoy feeding them and are glad to do it. So I suppose it's only a problem if we're not home. Apparently they get mad when left unfed and get even by damaging property. One of the naughty birds chewed through the wire on our icicle lights while we were feeding them. We don't have a whole lot on our balcony but it would be a tragedy if they ruined our screen door. Screen doors are not very common in Australia (not non-existent just not a must for most homes). We've got three sliding doors and only one has a screen (extremely lucky compared to our other American friends in our building who don't have any screens). Most people here leave their windows wide open and don't seem to mind letting flies and so forth in. Can you say "Heebie Jeebies"! At any rate, now we usually leave a piece outside. I looked out and saw two sitting on the balcony eating as I typed about them. So I probably should grab another piece of bread for them when I finish.

Given how much Alan enjoyed feeding the birds, we decided to take him to Symbio where you can "pat" koalas and feed the "roos". When we first entered there was a beautiful peacock in all his glory with feathers spread for all to see. I had Brad stand a few feet behind to show how high the feathers reached. I also wanted to show a picture from behind because it was rather pretty as well.

Again on this outing, he showed no fear of the animals. He laughed at the deer that stuck his head through the fence to grab his sippy out of the diaper bag when I got too close and wasn't paying attention. Next thing I know Brad is saying "Hey!" It seemed funny that the deer were fenced in but the kangaroos are roaming free. I suppose the deer were rather naughty.

He was very serious when it was his turn to "pat" Barry the koala and was very gentle. Have you ever heard a koala? I hadn't till today but let me show you how funny they sound. Kudos to me for getting that on video!

He loved feeding the kangaroos and couldn't get enough of it. The kangaroos come right up to you if they see the little white roo food bag. First daddy shows him how to do it. "Hold your hand like this". Then he takes a turn at feeding and finally goes in for the gratuitous "pat". So sweet!

We found a baby joey for our little buddy to feed and pet. There was even a momma kangaroo that let me feed the joey in her pouch.

Such a fun age! It reminds me of pictures my parents have of me feeding deer at Wisconsin Dells when I was just a little girl. Not sure if he'll remember but the pictures will serve as a reminder for years to come.

Where to take visitors?

We're so excited to have a visit from the Swatek's in 72 hours! Our great friends Lynn and Jerry booked their free flights using frequent flier miles in early August just after we got here. They'll be here November 5th through the 13th and we can't wait to show them around. Thanks to Aldi, Alan and I will head home on the same flight as they do. We've been looking forward to their visit for months and have used many of Brad's days off to scout out the best places to take them. We think it will be interesting to hear their first impressions of Australia as we've been here just long enough for things to seem routine to us. Surely they'll have sticker shock though we've gotten accustomed to the high prices by now. Driving on the other side of the road no longer seems death defying. It will be entertaining to witness someone else's culture shock.

Our favorite day so far has been a drive through Royal National Park down the Grand Pacific Drive. We stopped at a scenic overlook to do a little bushwalking. Then stumbled upon an incredible beach that we had all to ourselves. Having grown up in the Midwest, we're easily impressed by a sandy beach and crashing waves of the ocean. Hope they love it as much as we do. This could make or break our future as tour guides.

View of Grand Pacific Drive from the scenic overlook

Bushwalking with Alan

Rocky section of the beach

Alan showing daddy a piece of seaweed

The boys walking on the beach