Coming Home!

We took this photo at the beach right outside our door on Monday at around 5pm. Charlotte found it quite interesting to be buried in the sand.

This will probably be the last post before we head off on our big trip tomorrow morning. We're close to being ready - got new visas today which will allow us to re-enter Australia in January.

We're bracing ourselves for the cold, but figure that we're Saskatchewan natives, so adjusting to the typical December weather shouldn't be too hard on us . . . we hope . . .

Looking forward to coming to a proper Christmas-y setting. It truly doesn't feel like Christmas at all here; very few places are decorated and those that are seem to do it half-heartedly. It doesn't help that the weather has finally started to improve -every degree the temperature increases makes it feel less and less Christmas-y.

I'm interested to see what Charlotte will think of Christmas trees and lights - she was too young last year to get much out of them, but this year will be different. I imagine we'll be removing many of the ornaments on the bottom of the tree at Mum's and Dad's houses!

We're all packed up. Ready to head out early tomorrow morning. See you all soon!

Tick . . . tick . . .tick . . .

We're coming home in a week!

Exciting times around the apartment in Glenelg. We're starting to get organized and think about packing. Only 7 sleeps until we make the big trip.

Charlotte seems to be on the mend - the fever has subsided and she is getting back to herself. Still a little irritable, but not nearly as bad as earlier this week.

We're having Jen, Rod and Annika over for dinner tonight, and it's so nice out -I think we'll eat out on the balcony. We've only done that a few times since we've arrived, so it will be a nice treat. Funny to think that the next meal we'll share with Jen and Rod will be at the SO Asher Christmas party next week in Saskatoon.

Eye eye?

As some of you know, Charlotte has been sick again for the past few days. She's been fighting off a fever since Friday and has yet to develop any other symptoms (other than some vague and transient congestion). She has been on antibiotics since Saturday evening, but the fever hasn't really subsided for longer than a few hours, and even then, she almost always needs Tylenol to help bring it down. This morning we discovered that she has three new teeth coming in. Yikes! All of her eye teeth except the upper left side are through the gums. Maybe that has something to do with her being unwell? I'd be surprised if the new teeth were entirely responsible for all she's been dealing with, but I will chalk up some of her irritability and crankiness (see above photos for an idea of how happy she's been lately) to the teeth.

She seems better today than she has since last Thursday, so hopefully she is on the mend. Now that these teeth have broken through her gums, the majority of the discomfort should be over.

I won't be taking her to her playgroup this morning, but I think we'll try for Montessori tomorrow. We might not make it through the whole 2 hours, but I think we'll give it a shot at least for a little while, depending, of course, on how she seems tomorrow morning.

Last week at Montessori. Playing lego outside.

Offering up sand soup at Montessori. She looks a little sick in this picture . . . maybe this was when she started coming down with whatever she has now . . .

Impatience and wanting to play with dangerous stuff

The title of this blog encompasses Charlotte's latest phase. It is definitely difficult to teach a 18 month old patience, so for now I've kind of stopped trying. As for her wanting to play with (potentially) dangerous things, I'm at a loss. I try my best to keep these items out of her reach, but if she crosses paths with a pen, she has to take the cap off and wave it around blindly, often narrowly missing her eyes. Another favorite is putting the pen in her mouth and biting down on the metal tip (can't be good for those tiny new teeth) and/or getting ink all over her tongue, teeth and face. I realize that the easiest thing to do is to hide all of the pens (or other controversial debris), and I do try to do this, but every now and then I forget to hide them after using them. Now that she can reach up to take things off the counter or table, I have to be extra vigilant, because once she gets her hands on the off-limits item, just try to get it away from her with out a tantrum resulting. Even distraction or bartering with other coveted items doesn't seem to work. She has her mind set on the objectionable item and will not give it up with out a full-on fight.

I can almost hear all of you saying "Welcome to toddlerhood".

The countdown is on

We'll be home in just over two weeks - the excitement is brewing! Charlotte got her hands on some family photos yesterday and wouldn't let them go - she's obviously very excited, too. We're trying to teach her everyone's names, but so far she seems happier to come up with her own names for everyone, so be prepared!

We had a nice weekend - Neale was home for most of it, which was great. As we were driving to the airport to pick him up the other day, as soon as we got in to the parking lot she said "Daddy!" - she has obviously associated the airport with seeing her Dad. Speaking of airports, I'm starting to get prepared for our big flight - the things that will keep Charlotte entertained at this stage in her life are a little different than the things we relied on back in August when we made the big trip. And this time we'll be flying during the day rather than at night, so it could be doubly hard to keep her preoccupied! We have made the decision to get her a portable DVD player and a couple DVDs, so that should work - until the battery dies . . .

We keep hearing how Saskatoon has no snow and that it has been unseasonably warm for this time of the year, and for the first time in my life, I'm kind of disappointed to hear such news! I was looking forward to a white Christmas, but I suppose there is still lots of time for that to happen. But maybe Charlotte won't need that snowsuit after all, Mum!

We've got a busy week ahead of us and have Wednesday to look forward to - that will mark the end of Neale's last trip to Sydney for 2008 - hooray!