First post from Mr Nandy

For a month now I've been under pressure to contribute to this blog. Pressure starts as suggestion in the first week and then moves to cajoling in the second week. The third week is psychological warfare ("if you loved your daughter you would write a blog entry about her exploits") and in the fourth week serious threats -- divorce, TV bans and like -- emerge. It is at this point that I've buckled. So here goes...

My "Dad-at-home" day has shifted to Tuesdays. This morning I decided Ella & I would head out for the morning. We started earlier than anticipated because Mum had forgotten her work shirt and didn't like the idea of ultra-sounding people with just a bra on. So we dropped past her work on the way to achieving the real tasks of the day -- going to the mall, looking at new lights and visiting cousins Makhaya and Luca. Unfortunately I overdid it, and Ella fell asleep in my arms, which meant I had to try and get her home without waking her. Failed miserably and now she'll probably stay awake all day on one 30 second sleep. Guess I'll just hand her over to Mum to deal with that when she gets home ...

The only bright thing I've got to contribute to this blog is a cute photo of Ella from the weekend, when she decided to borrow my jumper. The longer arms have more inertia and she discovered she could hit herself in the face via the back of her head. That's three useful things I've taught her now ...

Lunch ex-Ella

Today we dumped Ella with her Nanna and Grandpa and headed out for a childfree lunch. Meeting up with our friends Amanda and Trent (who had also palmed off their 2 children), we enjoyed lounging in the sun while consuming lunch followed by coffee and cake at the Botanical Gardens.

This lunch was long overdue as we needed to thank Amanda and Trent for giving us their unwanted baby gear just over 1 year ago.  At the time they had sworn off additional children - funnily enough their next little bundle of joy is due in two weeks!!

Bathtime

Daddy says "No Ella I don't think Allison the elephant needs a bath tonight." 

Fuji goes home

Fuji was both excited and sad as she left to return home.  We will miss Fuji except for the large quantity of hair she drops everywhere.  Pippa is still in recovery mode which involves a lot of sleeping. 

C'mon on mum

Ella has been walking for several months now and is getting pretty good at staying upright. So Andy and I encourage her to walk whenever we can eg. walking from the car to the back door or walking from the childcare centre to the car.  She thinks she is so clever!

Now unfortunately it means as parents we are being taught the lessons of having a toddler.  The other morning while at Bunnings checking out some more plants, I decided to let Ella have a wander - she thought it was hilarious as she wobbled down the aisles and around the corners away from me.

In the afternoon Ella and I met up with super dad Jase and sleeping babies Abby and Zoe down at the coffee shop.  I soon discovered that it's not very practical to have a coffee and chat with a toddler who just wants to walk.  I'm not sure how many times I got up to chase Ella who had wandered out the coffee shop, through the plaza and out towards the parking lot. After doing that numerous time I used my chair to block a little corner off for her to play in - only to watch her crawl underneath and escape again!!  Jase and I both chuckled until I reminded Jase that he would have 2 toddlers to look after.

Pawprints in the shower?

The last few days I have noticed some paw prints in the shower - rather large ones actually.  I'm not too sure what attracts Fuji's attention in there? Speaking of Fuji, tomorrow is her last day with us as her mum and dad (aka Sandra and Dave) are returning from their transcontinental travels. Poor Pippa won't know what to do with herself once her best friend goes :(

Working Bee

Billy Buttons is the name of Ella's room at childcare.  To avoid the $50 maintenance fee, we attended a working bee there today. Our aim was to clean up the outside area raking up leaves and spreading new tanbark. I wonder if Ella will appreciate the work we did when she goes on Tuesday.