Jumping on the trampoline

The life of Justin at 22 months

Justin is still an active and busy toddler, becoming braver and more daring and growing into a little boy and becoming less of a baby. His little personality shines through more and more and we're noticing our mannerisms coming out of him. 

Justin's speech is developing and he's able to name lots of objects either using words or his "sign language". He's also started stringing along 2-3 word sentences like "There's a car!" or "That's a ball!" We're still working on him asking for something using "please dada/ meme" (his version of mummy) instead of just "please". Funnily enough, he hasn't said "thank you" but continues to use the sign language for that. While we were in Perth watching the destruction of the fires on the news, Lee said "Gees, look at that!" The other day while we were watching the unfurling of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Justin stood next to us watching the news and exclaimed,"Gees!" He's also started saying "No, mine!" when we take his dummy or blankey away from him. He's also learnt to say "BOO!" and loves frightening us. Sometimes he covers his head with his blankey, or covers his face with his hands or runs up to you and says "BOO!" and thinks it's hilarious when you get a "fright". I've also taught Justin to say "sies!" (gross/ yuck) so whenever I change his nappy, he lies there saying "sies!"

Justin has also started jumping down from our couch and bed and climbing up chairs and shelves. You should see him on the climbing frame, quick as a monkey! And thank goodness he's now learned to climb back down as opposed to reaching the top and then letting go because mom is always there to catch him. We've enrolled Justin for another day at day care so he's now going twice a week and absolutely loves it. He still cries when I drop him off but the teachers say his tears last for 5 minutes and then he's off to play. When we pick him from day-care he's very happy to see us but loves to take his time leaving, giving each teacher and most of the other children a hug. Justin is still an affectionate little boy and loves giving hugs and kisses. 

He loves the scooter that he got from aunty Wendy, uncle Dylan and cousin Nathan, aunty Claire and uncle B. He's become a real pro on it and has built up some confidence to go a little way up our drive way and zoom down because of the incline....we'd better go buy him a helmet...soon!

Another step closer to being a little boy and further away from baby is the move from cot to big bed. We want to get a bunk bed for Justin because we're thinking long term (for the 2nd child) but then he started jumping off the couch and we had visions of Justin jumping down from the top bunk. Luckily we found a bunk bed that can be assembled as two separate single beds so we've built the top bunk because it has the safety rails and we've stored the bottom bunk in the garage as it comes flat packed. I spoiled Justin by lying in bed with him till he fell asleep thinking I was helping him get use to the new bed. But last night Row said enough is enough, he needs to learn to fall asleep without me there. One sleepless night led to one very cranky mother! But there is light at the end of the tunnel so I shall persevere! 

Cannot believe that Justin will be 2 in 2 months time! Time to start planning his party.

Justin in his new big boy's bed!

Figuring out how to climb out of his bed

Justin being affectionate with dada!

Ya-Ya and Ah Ma's Visit

Shew, time has just run away leaving no time to blog or do anything for that matter. So we have to backtrack a couple of weeks.

After our holiday in Perth, Row's parents flew to Sydney to spend some quality time with Justin and us. This was a holiday that we were all looking forward to as it's the first time we've seen Row's parents since we left South Africa 13 months ago. It was also nice because Justin is old enough to interact with and do more fun things with. Plus he also learnt how to say "Ya-Ya" (his version of Ye-Ye (grandfather)) prior to their visit. We tried to do as much as possible while also sticking as close to Justin's routine as possible. The first few days it was relatively easy as Justin's cough got much worse and we kept him home at night hoping that he would get better quicker so he could do fun things with his grandparents. I also took Justin back to the doctor and practically demanded some antibiotics to get rid of the cough which it did, thankfully. 

With Justin on the mend, we took a drive up to Central Coast to see Row's cousin, Diona and her family. Justin absolutely loves spending time with Nicholas and Catherine and gets so excited when we tell him we're going to see them. The weather was a bit miserable which was a good thing because it meant we didn't have to keep Justin out of the sea while the other kids were swimming but it also meant that my in-laws couldn't fully appreciate the beauty of Umina. 

Justin and Nicholas

Ah Ma pushing Catherine and Justin

Catherine feeding watermelon to Justin

The grandparent's time in Sydney was really just to spend time with Justin so they took Justin to the playground nearly every morning. Of course we included other touristy attractions as this was their first time to Sydney. We all went to the aquarium which they all loved; Justin because he just loves the aquarium and the grandparents because they saw his excitement which turned out to be contagious!  We went on a harbour cruise that included lunch and then had dessert at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe. We had to have fish and chips at Watson's Bay and walk up the heads. Definitely included in the itinerary is lunch at the Sydney Fish Market. Too many little outings to detail and too many photos to add but I shall add a couple and put captions. 

Waiting for the bus

Our harbour cruise 

Just chilling!

Lunch at Watson's Bay

Hanging out in Lavender Bay

Walking across the Harbour Bridge

Nearly three weeks after they've left, Justin still asks for Ya-Ya and still keeps telling us about the time Ya-Ya and him went on the bus together. Their next visit will hopefully be sooner than 13 months!