Twobips

At the airport

2010-06-13T19:52:00.001+12:00

At the airport,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Aunty Rhonda and Uncle Dave visited last month. This photo was taken while we were seeing them off at the airport. They had a ball running around.

In the hut.

2010-06-13T19:50:00.005+12:00

In the hut.,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Oli and Dad

2010-06-13T19:50:00.003+12:00

Oli and Dad,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Oli and Dad

2010-06-13T19:50:00.001+12:00

Oli and Dad,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Pensive Marcus

2010-06-13T19:49:00.001+12:00

Pensive Marcus,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

It's been a while since we've put anything up here - here's a few photos.

Getting ready for work

2009-08-01T20:24:00.001+12:00

Getting ready for work,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

In the morning when I'm getting ready for work, I'll bring my shoes downstairs to put on when I go. When Oli sees them, he picks them up and follows me and drops them in front of me. It's so cute - they're very heavy for him, but he'll be helpful!

Sitting at the table

2009-08-01T20:23:00.001+12:00

Sitting at the table,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

We haven't blogged about the boys in ages, sorry!

Today was a momentous day. We took the tray off Oli's high-chair and he now sits in at the table with us. He looked well-chuffed. Here's Oli and Marcus having their dinner tonight.

At the beach

2009-04-08T22:02:00.001+12:00

At the beach,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last Friday Shelley had to do something in town so I had to look after the boys in the middle of the day. It was great - the weather was perfect so we went down to Oriental Bay beach and played in the little park and had lunch.

New pyjamas

2009-03-22T21:58:00.001+13:00

IMG_0464,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Oli last night started wearing his first set of 'proper' pyjamas.

Getting bigger

2009-03-22T21:22:00.001+13:00

IMG_0433,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

After a hard couple of months, things are certainly picking up. Now that Oli is over the Yersina, he is all go on the growing angle again. He's eating heaps. Tooth number nine came through yesterday and he's running (crawling) around everywhere, nearly walking (standing up lots). He is also now regularly sleeping past 5.30, including this morning when he slept to 6am - it was a sleep in for us!

A balloon day

2009-03-22T21:19:00.002+13:00

This weekend was the annual Balloons over Wairarapa festival. Marcus has really been into seeing photos of hot air balloons, so I took the day off work and we went to Carterton to see the "Mass Ascension" at dawn. This meant Shelley and I getting up at 4.30, so we could be out of the house at 5.45. It was well worth it. We all had a ball and Marcus really enjoyed himself.

Riding the tent-train

2009-03-14T20:00:00.001+13:00

Riding the tent-train,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus was very excited today after Shelley came home from toy library duty. She had spotted a play-tent, in the shape of Thomas the tank engine, including the carriage Clarabel. When he's inside now, he plays in the tent and has already said his inside playing tomorrow will be in the tent.

Oli is One!

2009-03-14T19:54:00.003+13:00

Yesterday Oliver turned one. We've gone through quite a bit lately. In December I got shingles and in January the two boys got chickenpox. I've been working far too much. In February Shelley had a really bad cold and Oli got Yersina (sp?), which is similar to campylobacter. So our health, and consequently sleep, hasn't been too great. But for Oli's birthday everyones health was perfect - we had a great day. Here's a selection of photos from the day.

Facing forwards

2009-03-14T19:52:00.001+13:00

Facing forwards,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last week we turned Oli's car seat around, so he now faces forwards and not backwards. It's really odd turning around and seeing two faces looking at us!

Happy Birthday Happy Marcus!

2009-02-13T07:51:00.001+13:00

Happy Birthday Happy Marcus!,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

We've just opened the presents and Marcus is very happy. Train tracks, train bridges, a train activity book and a non-train kite! Our plans to go to Staglands have been thwarted by the weather, so we'll be looking for some good indoor activity later in the morning.

Right now I'm off to cook the birthday banana cake.

2009-02-06T21:52:00.000+13:00

It's hard to believe, but next Friday Oli is 11 months old and Marcus is four years old!

Drawing a picture

2008-12-28T21:00:00.001+13:00

Drawing a picture,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

We went to the zoo on Boxing day, which was good fun. Afterwards at the cafe they brought over a page for Marcus to colour in and he had great fun!

2008-12-28T20:50:00.003+13:00

While David and Rhonda were in town we took advantage to have a couple of photos of the four of us done.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-28T20:35:00.004+13:00

Christmas this year was a bit hit and miss. Marcus loved it - he had a ball and it was his first really big christmas. Unfortunately, I was very sick. I've had shingles over the last week so have been really sore and, worse of all, the worst of it was on Christmas Day. Luckily we had David and Rhonda up for a couple of days and they gave a positive light to the week.

Here's a few photos from the day.

Eating real food

2008-12-14T16:23:00.001+13:00

Eating real food,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Oli has recently started to eat real food and is feeding himself, which he loves. Like his brother, he loves his veges (at the moment anyway).

Playcentre Xmas party

2008-12-14T16:21:00.001+13:00

Playcentre Xmas party,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Today was the Playcentre Xmas party. Marcus was very happy to get a gift from Santa!

Just where have the last 8 months gone?

2008-11-19T20:16:00.003+13:00

Oliver is 8 months old already and seems to have all of a sudden reached those milestones that indicate he is quickly moving away from being a baby and towards being a toddler. He is commando crawling, usually in hot pursuit of Marcus's toys which Marcus promptly shifts away as soon as Oliver reaches them. Any attempts to move on his hands and knees still result in him going backwards and getting stuck under the couch or in the very same corner of the lounge Marcus always got stuck in. He is eating 3 meals a day and so far likes everything accept tomato. Since Labour weekend he has been learning to sleep through the night without any comforting visits from Mum. It has taken a while and many, many cuddles from Dad during the wee small hours but he does seem to be getting the idea now. He can sit up by himself for short periods and now has his bath in the big bath. He has 8 teeth already and the constant dribble suggests the next few aren't far away. He is a very sociable wee guy and loves to laugh and be in the middle of the action. He holds his own with Marcus, pulling his hair to let him know he is around and only very occasionally having to cry to catch Mum's attention when his big brother is not sharing the toys or playing too vigorously.

Some more photos

2008-11-02T20:52:00.003+13:00

It's been a couple of months since we've put some stuff up so we'll be busy over the next few days. First off is a photo of the boys from yesterday, playing in the lounge. Oli spends a lot of his time crawling slowly after Marcus' toys. By the time he gets to them Marcus realises what's going on and takes his toys away! But he always makes sure he puts one of Oli's toys in front of him so he has something to play with.

Here's Mum and son from last weekend.

Over Labour weekend Marcus and I did a lot of gardening. One of the things Marcus was really looking forward to was planting some sunflower seeds. Here we are on the deck planting the first of two pots with sunflower seeds. Hopefully they start to come through soon! And we're also wearing our new hats we bought for the summer.

Brothers part one

2008-09-03T20:53:00.005+12:00

Brothers part two

2008-09-03T20:53:00.003+12:00

Brothers part two,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus plays really well with Oli and loves being around him. Oli adores his older brother and watches his every move. It's lovely to see, although I can see when Marcus is climbing all over me and jumping all over me that Oli is taking note and getting ready for when he can do that himself!

Eating real food

2008-09-03T20:52:00.001+12:00

Eating real food,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last week Oli hit a new developmental milestone - his first real food. At the moment it's a couple of teaspoonfuls each day of something different - so far either mashed pear, mashed pumpkin or mashed apple. He's taken to it really well and is loving it.

Today he hit a new developmental milestone - he has unfortunately got his first cold. He's not looking too impressed with it and seems to cope with sickness as well as his dad and brother - not very well!

Ready for solids

2008-08-18T21:28:00.001+12:00

Ready for solids,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Oliver watches our every move when we drink and eat. He's started reaching out for our plates, forks and cups. He's ready for solids! We'll start this weekend with some pear and pumpkin so it's a big stage in his development!

Surveying the neighbourhood

2008-08-18T21:26:00.001+12:00

Surveying the neighbourhood,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Yesterday's big adventure walk involved a 60 minute walk from home. We went up to the top of Jackson St, on the path to Volga Street, to the end and then up Mt Albert Rd to the top of the hill. There are some roadworks up there that we can see from our house which Marcus wanted to look at. There was a digger across the road we looked at also. We then spent the afternoon in the garden so it was a big outdoors day.

Growing some teeth

2008-08-18T21:23:00.001+12:00

Growing some teeth,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Oli now has his first teeth. The first one came through two Sundays ago and the second one came through last Sunday. Two down, eighteen to go.

His development is really good, he's happy and perky and jovial. We just want him to sleep more!

A big adventure walk

2008-08-18T21:22:00.001+12:00

A big adventure walk,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Recently Marcus and I have started a new Sunday routine - the big adventure walk. Last Sunday we did our first one, a 70 minute walk off a trail off the wind turbine. It follows the road down, probably about 1 1/2 kms, and then we went back up the road. It was great, with great weather. We both had a great time and it tired Marcus out! We're now going to try and do one every weekend, so he can see more and more of Wellington. He's at his happiest when we're doing things outside.

Self-portrait August 2008

2008-08-18T21:20:00.005+12:00

Ready to go

2008-08-18T21:20:00.001+12:00

Ready to go,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Family portrait

2008-07-17T22:05:00.001+12:00

Family portrait,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last month my parents came down and visited their 8th grand-son. It was a great chance for us to get a family photo! Oli last week turned 4 months and is developing well. He's as lovely as we've said previously, doesn't sleep much, as we've said previously, and is loved by his brother, as we've said previously! Marcus is great and developing well - his reading is surprising us every day - we bought the book "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" last week and he could read about three quarters of the words in it. How much he comprehends I'm not sure but he's doing well.
They're both gorgeous and doing really well.

At the park

2008-07-17T22:01:00.001+12:00

At the park,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last weekend the weather was fantastic in Wellington. We spent well over an hour at the park and Marcus had a great time going on the blue slide, then running over to the big slide (those who know Island Bay park will know what I'm talking about) and rolling balls down for us to chase and then going back down the blue slide to start it all again!

Oli on his tummy

2008-07-17T22:00:00.001+12:00

Oli on his tummy,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Simple Pleasures

2008-06-01T20:14:00.001+12:00

Out for a nighttime drive,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Sometimes it's easy to forget with kids that simple things are the best. A couple of months ago Marcus asked about being able to go out for a night-time drive - he always likes to look at the lights out from our house at night and wanted to go for a drive in it. So we told him in June we could. We went for our big night-time drive tonight. We went out for 30 minutes up Mt Vic to see the lookout over the city. He absolutely loved it - it was one of the most exciting things he's done in a long time.

Marcus and Oli

2008-06-01T20:11:00.001+12:00

Marcus and Oli,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Getting ready to go out for a night-time drive.

What a week.

2008-05-23T20:01:00.003+12:00

This week has been a hard one. We've all succumbed to various illnesses, some of us more than once. Last week Oli and Marcus had colds. This week I got the cold quite badly and had to take a couple of days off work. By the time I got over it, I got a dose of some sort of food poisoning or stomach bug. It might have been related to Marcus' bout of vomiting on Tuesday/Wednesday - 8 times in 6 hours. He's been pretty lethargic the rest of the week, as am I!

On the up side, things are going well more generally. Oli is doing all he should although not sleeping as well as we'd like. Even Marcus slept a bit better at this age. But he's definitely growing, getting bigger every day. He watches his big brother intently. And Marcus is doing well. He really enjoys Playcentre and loves playing outdoors all the time. He doesn't like watching tv and would rather be outside throwing his trains around!

Marcus WoOdhead!

2008-05-23T20:00:00.001+12:00

Marcus WoOdhead!,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last week we got Marcus some new letters. This pack of magnetic letters has lots of double ups which is great. He pulled them out today and proceeded to spell Marcus Woodhead (although he also enjoys spelling out sucram daehdoow and getting us to pronounce it).

He's also rediscovering lots of old books, which is great and he can read some of them, which helps distract him from us - sometimes.

Marcus and Ayesha

2008-05-23T19:58:00.002+12:00

Marcus and Ayesha,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last weekend Ayesha came around (and her mum and dad). She was born about a week after Marcus so has always been part of his life. They spent a bit of time playing together, which was very cute. Her visit helped Marcus to rediscover his very noisy hammer toy.

Oli

2008-05-23T19:57:00.002+12:00

Oli,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Many people tell us they think Oli looks like Marcus. We disagree. Marcus looks very much like my (Karl's) side of the family and Oli looks very much like Shelley's side of the family. There's a number of things about them that are very similar - body shape, lack of sleepness, and nose.

And they're both very cute!

Marcus helps with the dishes

2008-05-23T19:55:00.001+12:00

Marcus helps with the dishes,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

One of Marcus' favourite activities at Playcentre is washing the trains. One day at home he decided to wash the trains and at the same time do all the dishes on the bench! It's a good sign, but I think by the time he's able to actually do the dishes he won't want to.

Marcus and Oli

2008-05-23T19:54:00.001+12:00

Marcus and Oli,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

When Oli is in his bouncer Marcus loves to go up and play with him and around him. He likes to point to Oli's "little feet" and "little hands" and "little nose" and "little ears"! He keeps asking when Oli can play with him.

Having a bath

2008-05-23T19:51:00.003+12:00

Having a bath,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

We've been managing to bath Oliver in the laundry tub. However, he's now getting too big and he'll have to move to the baby bath we've got. At 10 weeks he is also now approaching being too big for his moses basket and will have to go into his cot. It's amazing how quickly this all passes - maybe the lack of sleep helps to make it go faster!

Mum and son (5 weeks)

2008-04-17T22:18:00.001+12:00

Mum and son,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Here's Shelley after getting Oliver to sleep earlier today. Today Oliver turned 5 weeks old! That means I only have one week of parental leave left.

Today's big adventure was a family trip on the cable car. We parked in Kelburn, took the cable car into town, went to the library and Kirkcaldies (so I could buy some ceramic balls to use for blind baking to make a couple of tarts) and then back up the cable car. It was Oliver's first trip in his buggy and it went well. For Marcus it was a trip on the cable car so it was a great day!

Marcus and his brother

2008-04-17T22:15:00.001+12:00

Marcus and his brother,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

As I've said before, Marcus really loves his little brother. He'll give him a kiss several times a day, and at least once a day asks to be able to hold Oliver.

Playing games

2008-04-17T22:14:00.001+12:00

Playing games,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

One of my jobs while on parental leave is to hold Oliver when he goes to sleep - he's in a phase where during the day he only really stays asleep when one of us holds him. I cope with this by playing computer games! Marcus often joins me - he prefers it when I play Pacman!

Marcus, April 2007

2008-04-17T22:13:00.001+12:00

Marcus, April 2007,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

This photo captures who Marcus is at this point in time - an active, energetic boy who loves playing with his trains. The green walls help to represent his love of going outside exploring and having adventures!

Mum and her boys

2008-04-17T22:11:00.001+12:00

mum and her boys,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus likes to do lots of things with his little brother, including having him in his room. Here's a lovely shot of Shelley with Marcus and Oliver.

One month old

2008-04-13T22:06:00.002+12:00

Today Oliver is one month old. He's doing really well and everything is going as it should. He was weighed today and is about 4.7kg, so putting on weight really well. He's definitely growing and becoming more alert every day - we've even had a couple of smiles! Our biggest stress is sleep, or lack of. This isn't new as we've got pretty much the same issues - not a big day sleeper and only goes to sleep on us.

Something that is different to Marcus is that Oliver doesn't appear to have colic - those who were close to us know the issues we had with Marcus' colic, which kept us up a lot. The signs were there at just after two weeks for Marcus, and there are no signs of it with Oliver.

Marcus is absolutely fantastic around Oliver. He's very loving and thinks of Oliver's needs a lot. He likes to give him cuddles and to hold him. Our biggest challenge is to make sure we give him plenty of attention also.

Marcus helping with cleaning

2008-03-24T22:38:00.001+13:00

Marcus helping with cleaning
Originally uploaded by KarlW

One of our big worries was how Marcus would respond to another bips in the house. He's been absolutely fantastic. He refers to Oliver as 'our baby'. Here he is helping me to clean the buggy that he used to be in. Today he gave Oliver a couple of kisses. He calls himself big bips and Oliver little bips. He gets upset when he and I go out without Oliver and mum. And, as with any 3 year old, as long as we don't ignore him he is well behaved.

A big challenge is keeping him occupied and challenged - the yellow pages no longer cuts it. We used to be able to give it to him and he would happily read the page numbers up to 1,206 and then backwards again!

Talking to Angela and Paul

2008-03-24T22:32:00.001+13:00

Talking to Angela and Paul
Originally uploaded by KarlW

We're starting to introduce Oliver to more and more people. The other day it was Angela and Paul, and that was pretty easy thanks to Skype!

Dad and his boys

2008-03-24T22:31:00.001+13:00

Dad and his boys
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Something I'm very lucky about and very grateful for is that my employer, the Ministry of Education, allows me to take six weeks leave to be at home after Oliver's birth. This is about the length of time it will take Shelley to recover from the operation. My main focus is to keep Marcus busy. It's really enjoyable, but also REALLY tiring!

Oliver's birth-day

2008-03-24T22:23:00.002+13:00

Oliver was born on 13 March. These are a couple of our favourite photos from the day - a nice close-up of oliver and Marcus meeting Oliver. One of Marcus' big fascinations with his little brother is how little everything is - in this photo he's asking about his little hands. It's really sweet.

5 days old

2008-03-18T20:50:00.003+13:00

Things are going well. Oliver and Shelley came home on Sunday and they're both doing well, although Shelley could do with a bit more sleep! Oliver is sleeping well and eating well and doing all the things he should. Marcus is coping really well with it all and I think is enjoying having me around!

Just realised I emailed and didn't post about his birth, so : vital details - born on Thursday 13th March via caesarean, 4.080 kgs (about 9lbs), at 9.33am. All went well - delivery was fantastic and maternity afterwards was stressful - they are really rushed and overworked with the baby boom that's underway.

Some changes

2008-03-12T22:41:00.003+13:00

There will be some changes to the blog. As you can see, it's changed names. With the arrival of number two tomorrow, we wanted to broaden the site to cover news in general about what we're all doing. This will be less about Marcus and more about all of us. I'll probably also do some changes to the appearance and stuff. And (as I always say) I hope to put more posts up!

Anyway, off to bed. Hopefully I can sleep tonight - we're off to the hospital at 7am tomorrow for the arrival of number two bips. I'll explain a bips later...

19 trains!

2008-03-01T16:33:00.001+13:00

19 trains!
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Marcus is pretty excited - he has 19 trains! We haven't set up the high chair for a little brother, we've set it up for him to play with his trains on!

Naming rights

2008-02-28T19:54:00.003+13:00

In two weeks another addition to the family will be made (we're booked in for 13th March). I've found keeping one blog up to date a bit much at times and there's no way I'll be able to do two! So I will need to change the title and the address of the blog - any ideas for what the new name should be. It'll be either about the two boys, or maybe about us in general and all we're up to. Although I'll try to not bore you with tales of which part of my body has fallen apart in a particular week (this week it's my back, and the cornucopia of drugs has resulted in my stomach giving up as well). So, any suggestions for a new title?

The winner will be invited around for some sticky date pudding (bring your own cholesterol-fighting drugs).

Three years old

2008-02-28T19:43:00.004+13:00

Two weeks ago Marcus turned 3. It was a very big day. With "Little Brother" coming shortly, Marcus' third birthday helped provide the catalyst for the move into the "Big Boy Bedroom". We started the day opening presents in the big boy bedroom.

He was spoiled rotten. He got lots of books. The number of Thomas trains he owns went up from 11 to 19. He got some more Thomas tracks. He got more play dough. He got some magnet trucks, diggers and cars. And he got a big new bedroom!

We had a great day. I took the day off work and for a special treat, we went on the cable car (his request!).

2008-02-28T19:31:00.002+13:00

For Marcus' third birthday we shared a party with some friends. Maia was born on exactly the same day as Marcus and Jasper was born about a week later. So we went along (also with Maia's brothers Asher and Theo) to the Silverstream steam train museum.

One of the great things about the museum is that you get two rides up and down the track on a steam train. When we got there, we did our first ride on the train. Following that, we had a great picnic lunch. It drizzled a couple of times, but at the museum there's a picnic area which includes a cottage with a covered verandah, perfect for keeping out of the rain and the midday sun. Then we finished off with another train trip.

For a bunch of kids who are mad about trains (and especially Thomas) it was great fun. And for a bunch of parents who didn't want to organise anything extravagant but still have a nice day out, it was also great fun!

updating the blog

2008-02-28T19:06:00.001+13:00

Using the computer
Originally uploaded by KarlW

It's been a while, I know. With Marcus now in bed I can use the computer. So, sticky date pudding in one hand and typing away with the other, I'll do a few updates tonight.

Key things that have happened since the last update is that Marcus has now done his first train ride (and more since), his first cable car ride (and many more since) and first bus ride (and more since).

He's turned 3. He's moved into a big-boy bedroom. And he's gotten more lovely!

A few firsts.

2008-02-28T19:03:00.003+13:00

Over the holiday break I had just over four weeks off. It was fantastic. In that time, we did a number of firsts with Marcus. First off was his first train ride, with a day trip out to Johnsonville - seven tunnels in total!

Then we followed that up a few days later with a trip to the Botanic Gardens. Marcus and Shelley went up from town in the cable car.

Finally, Marcus and I did a bus trip into Newtown, where a regular trip is to go to the People's Coffee for a coffee and then to go to the park across the road for Marcus to have a play while Mum and Dad have their coffee.

Needless to say, he loved it all! Regular trips for him now include a trip into town to the gardens for a ride on the cable car.

Playing with more trains

2007-12-31T13:00:00.001+13:00

Playing with more trains
Originally uploaded by KarlW

So what did Marcus get for Christmas? You can see a lot of it here - all the track and all but 3 of the trains he got for Christmas. So we spend lots of time putting them together, taking them apart, putting them together and driving the trains all about.

Playing with the trains

2007-12-31T12:59:00.001+13:00

Playing with the trains
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Self-portrait

2007-12-29T19:38:00.001+13:00

Self-portrait
Originally uploaded by KarlW

This is my new favourite picture of me and Marcus - a self-portrait, with Marcus, in the dining room.

Xmas 2007

2007-12-29T19:22:00.001+13:00

Flickr photos
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Marcus had a great xmas this year with loads of presents. We went to New Plymouth and spent xmas with the Woodhead side of the family. He woke up in the morning with his stocking that he'd put on his bed (or, as he called it, his 'blue gumboot') full of presents. There were more in the lounge and more from nana and granddad. Presents included: loads of Thomas the tank engine tracks, trains, books (including Thomas books) (yes, there's a merchandising theme here!), clothes, a clock puzzle. The best present that he was obsessed with were the $2 pack of balloons we picked up at the supermarket the day before!

It was a very exciting week and Marcus coped very well. Rex the dog, though, did not appreciate his home being invaded! And Marcus wanted to have every sleep with his trains.

And then when we came home there were more Thomas presents, with the best being Thomas socks!

Click on this link and it'll take you to a slideshow of 12 photos from xmas day.

News

2007-10-02T22:14:00.000+13:00

I know its been a long time since we were last on here (about 9 weeks) so an update on our lives is in order.

The big news is that Marcus is now going to be getting a sibling. Shelley is due in mid-March, which is very exciting. WE've told Marcus that mummy is growing a baby in her tummy. We're not 100% sure if he knows what we mean, but a great friend of ours has sent a book that helps to explain it. Marcus likes the book very much.

Marcus is really into trains at the moment. He's discovered in the last 3 days Thomas the Tank Engine, and unbelievably (or maybe it is believable to the other parents of toddlers) he now knows all the characters and what they do. So we're now buying Thomas books and engines and he noticed something on tv for the first time - an ad for a stage show of Thomas in Wellington later this month!

Shelley's off to Dunedin this weekend for a well earned break. It'll be the first time she's ever been away from Marcus so it'll be a test, particularly of her faith in me!!! It'll be okay, as Marcus will only be able to eat pizza for 2 days ;-)

I'd love to say more, but I really need to get to bed. I promise to put more photos up this week.

Karl

Tip-toeing in the tulips

2007-10-02T22:13:00.001+13:00

IMG_1704.JPG
Originally uploaded by KarlW

The tulips are in bloom at the moment and we all went and visited the gardens to see them last week.

New favourite toy

2007-07-29T15:54:00.001+12:00

New favourite toy
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Marcus' new favourite toy is this train set given to him by his nana and granddad from Cromwell. He's worked out how to put his slippers under the track to make a hill and likes to make tunnels and take the track apart, for mum or dad to put it back together again.

Ready to go...

2007-07-29T15:53:00.001+12:00

Ready to go...
Originally uploaded by KarlW

One day a week Marcus and mummy go to the supermarket to do the shopping. They take daddy to work (and go to a cafe first).

"That's all the cars you've lined up"

2007-07-29T15:50:00.001+12:00

"That's all the cars you've lined up"
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Marcus is sitting on my knee right now and looking at the photo saying "That's all the cars you've lined up" (he still hasn't yet worked out the difference between you and I and always refers to himself as "you"). His favourite activity with his toys is to line them up like this.

Marcus spells his name

2007-07-29T15:48:00.001+12:00

Marcus spells his name
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Last month Marcus spelt his name for the first time (at 2yrs and 4 months). He was sitting in front of Shelley and Angela and started pulling out the letters from his box of letters and then lined these up on the stool and said "That spells Marcus".

What does Marcus like to do?

2007-06-09T08:48:00.001+12:00

Marcus is very ordered and he loves to order things.

I'll often get home at the end of the day and there will be something lined up somewhere in the house. The magnetic letters do wonderful loops around the fridge and up and down.

The "knifes, spoons, forks" will be lined up, in a row or next to each other.

Driving the train

2007-06-09T08:46:00.001+12:00

Driving the train
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Marcus building letters

2007-06-09T08:45:00.001+12:00

Marcus building letters
Originally uploaded by KarlW

Marcus got a new favourite toy last month - magnetic letters. Marcus is sitting next to me now saying "Marcus building letters!", hence the title of this photo. He knows all his letters and numbers up to 12.

It's been a while

2007-05-07T21:39:00.001+12:00

DSC01955.JPG
Originally uploaded by Russe11.

No, we haven't disappeared from the face of the earth. I promise to write some stuff up in the next few days, but in the meantime, here's a photo of Marcus and me taken by our friend Russell when he was with us in February. Russell was such a hit that Marcus still talks about him (the spare room is Russell's room, the spare bed is Russell's bed, the other side of the back of the car is Russell's side)!

Happy Birthday Marcus, #2!

2007-02-13T21:32:00.001+13:00

Happy Birthday Marcus, #2!
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

Today is Marcus' 2nd birthday. His presents from mum and dad were the easel/chalkboard, bubble bath, books and bath crayons. He loved them all, especially the books. He got an activity centre from his grandparents in New Plymouth in the weekend (he went up to his Aunty's wedding). And he got great toys from friends who came to his birthday party and from Aunties Rhonda and Joyce in Dunedin. He was so excited by Joyce's gift - he loves lego and she sent him some more. When he looked at the box he started yelling "Lego, lego, lego!" and couldn't get it open fast enough!

Ayesha, Toby, Hannah and Jasper came and played with him for his birthday party. They had a ball, eating birthday cake and chips and crackers on a fine sunny wellington day.

It's hard to believe 2 years has passed - every day now really is fantastic!

Doing the birthday circuit

2007-02-13T21:27:00.001+13:00

Doing the birthday circuit
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

We know lots of people with kids born around the same time as Marcus. Here we are, at the start of the birthday circuit, for Toby (bottom-right in the photo) and Hannah's 2nd birthday. They're Marcus' friends - he says their names all the time and plays with them nearly every day at the park.

Cute

2007-02-13T21:25:00.001+13:00

Cute
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus really is fantastic at the moment. He is very playful, he loves his mum and dad unconditionally, he's starting to talk and says a lot and he's great fun.

Birthday hijinks

2007-02-13T21:24:00.001+13:00

Birthday hijinks
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

Here we managed to get Abigail, Marcus and Annabel to sit down in the same spot long enough to take a photo!

Yum yum

2007-02-13T21:16:00.001+13:00

Yum yum
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

Recently Marcus had a party wtih his friends Annabel and Abigail, who were born on the two days after him. Marcus had banana cake which he loves. But this time it had chocolate icing!

Marcus in a box

2006-12-31T15:46:00.001+13:00

Marcus in a box
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

Recently we were sent some presents for Marcus in a box. The box has proved to be very popular, given it's boy-like size!

Yum yum lunch!

2006-12-31T15:44:00.001+13:00

Yum yum lunch!
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus is a very good eater. His favourite foods are: apple; mandarins; marmite and cheese sandwiches; MealMate biscuits; baby carrots; Weet Bix for breakfast; and Dad's roti breads. He's gone off raisins which used to be a favourite.

Christmas day 2006

2006-12-31T15:42:00.001+13:00

Christmas day 2006
Originally uploaded by KarlW.

Last week Marcus had his second Christmas. He got lots of great presents and was spoilt as I'm sure all two-year olds are. The lovely presents haven't quite overtaken the clothes pegs and the yogurt container lids as his favourites yet, but they're getting close!

Marcus' first haircut

2006-12-31T15:30:00.000+13:00

Last week Marcus had his first haircut. It was a pretty momentous day and we had to take several weeks to prepare ourselves for it. Shelley had already trimmed his fringe previously but this was to really cut it at the back. Unfortunately, his powers to make mischief haven't diminished at all!

Before:

After:

Sharing a moment

2006-12-02T16:01:00.000+13:00

Sharing a moment,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Well, it's been too long since we've put anything on the blog. We'll put some photos and talk on over the next few days.
Here's a shot from the Guy Fawkes display in Wellington last month. It looks like Marcus is interested. He was. For about 3 minutes. Then he wanted to play with all the stones next to Te Papa for the next 20 minutes!

Which toy to play with?

2006-09-26T22:00:00.000+12:00

Which toy to play with?,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus helps make breakfast

2006-09-26T21:58:00.000+12:00

Marcus helps make breakfast,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

When we make breakfast now Marcus likes to stand at the bench and see what I'm doing!

The Book worm

2006-09-26T21:57:00.000+12:00

The Book worm,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus in the kitchen

2006-09-26T21:56:00.000+12:00

Marcus in the kitchen,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

One of Marcus' favourite places to play in the kitchen while we prepare meals is on the floor with the plastic containers in the bottom drawer. But then he discovered he could fit in the drawer...and then stand on it to reach into the sink - erp!

Words away!

2006-08-16T18:38:00.001+12:00

Wayhay! Within a matter of days Marcus has tripled his vocabulary! He can now say "Mum" "Dad" "Dog" "Door" "Up" "Bye" "Hot" "Dinner" and "No"!!! He has even had a pretty good go at "Belly Button". He seems to be adding a word a day, and particularly enjoys commanding 'up, up, up', usually at very inconvenient times, such as when I'm cooking dinner.

Happy 18th (month) birthday Marcus!

2006-08-13T20:34:00.000+12:00

Happy 18th (month) birthday Marcus!,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Today was another momentous day - Marcus has now been with us for 18 months. He is a lovely little boy, who is on the verge of talking. We are starting to sense a lot of frustration from him at not being able to communicate with us, but he finds his ways.

He runs around everywhere and is growing at a rate of knots. He's lovely and makes me smile (except at dinnertimes, when he's often tired and not at his best!).

Here you can see one drink isn't enough for him - milk in one hand (the blue bottle) and water in the other hand to wash it down!

Simple toys are the best

2006-08-13T20:30:00.000+12:00

Simple toys are best,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus has several toys he plays with all the time at the moment. They are a number of plastic containers (empty yogurt and jam containers are particular favourites), stacking cups from the $2 Shop, and a rubber band!

Here he's trying out the latest in waterproof hats.

Busy Little Boy

2006-07-07T13:39:00.000+12:00

Well Marcus is 17 months old already, so it seems like a good time to update his blog..... He is doing really well and doing something new almost everyday. Not only can he walk he can walk backwards and spin around on the spot - sometimes he does that so much he gets dizzy and falls over! He has learnt how to go backwards on his tummy down the stairs and spends ages chucking whatever is handy (usually Mum's pottles of handcream) down the stairs then bumping down at a right old pace to collect it and then taking it back up to the top of the stairs and starting all over again. This is all a great joke.

He is making lots of new sounds but no real words yet. Although I'm sure he has started saying 'door'. He knows how to get what he wants though, by holding is hand in the air and shouting 'da da da da da da!' very loudly. If he wants us to do something he grabs our trousers and pulls us along, or moves our hands to the right place. One of the funniest things is his participation in our conversations. We will be chatting away, usually in the car, and next thing you know there is an emphatic 'mmmmmmm' of agreement from the backseat. Marcus also laughs at Dad's jokes! The amazing thing is he does these things at exactly the right point in the conversation.

He is generally a very busy little boy, rushing here and there and getting into everything. And suddenly a whole lot of things that were safely out of his way are in reach! So I guess he has been growing too. Pressing buttons to see what happens is very entertaining as is rolling toys along the floor to see how far they go and what noise they make. He is also beginning to feed himself with a spoon, and drinks milk from a cup thesedays.

Tantrums are also getting to be a bit of a feature of life, especially when it is time to leave the park and he doesn't want to go. The worst part of these is that he throws himself to the ground and sometimes backwards - not such a good move when you are on a concrete path!

Marcus is still teething (basically has been for 6 months) but he only has four teeth to go. All three of us will be glad when this is over, as sometimes he is just so grumpy and seems to be in quite a bit of pain. Thank goodness for Pamol.

But when he is not grumpy he is just gorgeous and has become a very smiley, funny, cuddly wee boy who gives his Mum and Dad lots of kisses and cuddles.

15 months old - family photo

2006-05-17T20:25:00.000+12:00

On Saturday, Marcus turned 15 months old, so we took a family portrait.

Getting bigger by the day

2006-05-17T20:22:00.000+12:00

IMG_0987_2_1,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marcus had his 15 month check-up at Plunket this week. He's now 12.5kg, and 82 cm tall. He's got 15 out of 20 teeth, and his molars are giving him grief every day. He sleeps from 7.30pm to 7.00am and has a two hour nap during the day. He says a lot - mostly variations on mum and dad. But definite sounds are emerging for dog, cat, bus and truck. He knows how to get us to do what he wants, like knocking on the table, or knocking on the floor. He loves running and walking around.

In short, Marcus is not a baby any more. He's a little toddler, with his own personality (which is playful and shy).

Marcus' flannelette pyjamas

2006-05-17T20:19:00.000+12:00

With winter approaching, Marcus recently got his first set of flannelette pyjamas.

Good-night Marcus

2006-04-17T20:11:00.000+12:00

About half an hour ago we took this gorgeous photo of our little man. When we put him down, he was firmly tucked in under his blankets and the toys were all up in the corner of the bed, ready to go to sleep with him.

Marcus' corner

2006-04-17T20:10:00.000+12:00

In the corner of our room, Marcus has created his own space. Here, he's reading the paper and playing with his favourite coasters!

A little man

2006-04-17T20:04:00.000+12:00

A little man,
originally uploaded by KarlW.

Marucs is definitely not a baby any more. He has his own personality and is becoming a little man every day.