Happy New Year, Everybody!

Happy 2009!

We are still in Nanjing visiting Uncle Chris, Anne, and Nome and Grandaddy--updates soon...

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

We've had a great day opening presents, eating ham and BBQ food with Granma and Lili!

Tomorrow we leave for Nanjing China to see Chris and Anne and Noname and Grandaddy! Fun times! Merry Christmas!

Birthday Updates 2: Daddy

For Daddy's birthday, we had a party at Granma's with dim sum, lychees, cupcakes and other goodies! Granma and Lili even danced and sang to Rolf Harris, who they had seen in Sydney the day prior.

That evening we had drinks and a Vietnamese dinner with some of Daddy and Mama's friends, such as Vicky and James, Angus and Rachel, Nina and Tom, and Amber and Rebecca. Jackson had fun visiting with everyone.

The next morning, we woke up and had blueberry muffins and Daddy opened more presents.

Daddy had a day off work, and Mama drove us out to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary--separate post about that soon.

Birthday Updates 1: Lili

Here are some photos from Lili's birthday party.


Jackson can't believe the numbers--he didn't think Lili was a day over 30!

We had fun!

Things Jackson Can Do At 16 Months

Jackson has been learning and growing so fast these last few weeks!

This week we realised he can count to 2, and we are working on 3 (and beyond).



He also uses over 100 words regularly. Mama made a list of the ones she could think of:

FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Mama, Daddy, Jackson, Piper, Granma, Lili, Ben, 'Nome, Grandaddy, Peter, Voula, Roger

ANIMALS AND ANIMAL SOUNDS
miaow, cat, duck, quack, dog, oof oof (dog barking), owl, hoo hoo (owl sounds), baa (sheep), moo (cow), bird, squirrel, goose, fish, chicken, chicks, rooster, pig, turtle, frog, ssssss (snake), emu, devil (as in Tasmanian), cheetah, lion, tiger, monkey, gorilla, brown bear

FOODS AND EATING
apple, banana, strawberry, peach, blueberry, pasta, pizza, chicken, fish, tuna, bread, juice, water, pickle, cheese, snack, fork, bib, bottle, milk

CLOTHES
shoes, t-shirt, jumper, hat, bra, nappy (pronounced "nah-mee"--watch out Noname!)

BODY PARTS
eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, hair, hands, feet, toes, belly/tummy, hair, knees

OTHER THINGS
baby, pram, clock, air (airplane or helicopter), bus, train, car, tram, truck, money, bath, book, ball, ballooon, meter, flower, pen, door, wall, keys, pink, yellow

EXPRESSIONS
hello? (while holding a mobile phone to his ear), bye bye, no, yeah (rarely used!), noah? (where are you?), door! (let's go!), big truck! (or big car, big shoe, etc: look, it's a big...!), poo (when he or someone else is using the toilet/needs a nappy change), teeth (wants to brush his teeth), up up up! (look, it's an airplane or helicopter!), love you (ends with a kiss)

Jackson also understands way more than he can say. If you ask him to retrieve something, he usually understands and responds accordingly: "Go get Mama's comb, please" OR "Where did you hide my keys, Jackson?" OR "Let's put the cat food tins away now".

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today was Daddy's birthday (in Australia--a day earlier than for those of you in the US).

Photos and more updates soon!

Happy Birthday Lili!

Yesterday was Lili's birthday! We had a party on Sunday--photos soon!

We love you, Lili!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

We haven't been on the internet lately as we move between rented accommdation, Granma's house, and now another rental accommodation.

However, we had a little Thanksgiving celebration at Granma's. We ate turkey and we dressed as Pilgrims (Jackson and Mama) and Natives (Granma and Daddy) instead of pilgrims and Indians.