Hughes of Balmain

Thanks for all the fish

2009-04-02T07:31:00.002+11:00

As many of you will know, we've planning for a little while to move to the UK, and today we're boarding the flight to make the long journey. We've all thoroughly enjoyed the last five-and-a-half years or so living in Balmain, and we'll all miss the many friends that we've made here.

In the last few days and weeks, we've been trying to cram in many of the things that we always meant to do, but never got around to doing - such as finally managing to do the Bridge Climb, which was very good (although a little expensive) - as well as organising for the removalists to pack up all our stuff and ship it to the UK.

Ironically enough, our last full day was a bit wet, but Caitlin & (especially) James leapt at the chance to throw themselves into the big puddles that had formed in Tumbalong Park - see the splashing...

Of course, moving out of Balmain also means that “Hughes of Balmain” is no longer a very accurate destination so, if you're struggling to sleep at night you could always head on over to Hughes of Warwick.

Chris

New Zealand

2009-02-09T21:14:00.002+11:00

After 3 weeks touring in New Zealand, starting in Auckland and finishing in Queenstown, we made it back into Sydney on Saturday evening to be welcomed by high-30s heat; and it wasn't until the following day that we heard of the terrible bush fires in country Victoria.

All-in-all, the trip went very well - once Caitlin & James had settled into the rhythm of the trip, and we had gotten used to navigating around the motor-home. We only had a couple of rainy days but, unfortunately, one of them was on the day that we were visiting Fox Glacier.

I'm not sure exactly how much of it the kids will remember in months and years to come - I suspect not much apart from trampolines and jumping pillows, but they certainly had plenty of fun anyway!

Chris

Featherdale Video

2009-01-02T22:24:00.000+11:00

In the Red Centre

2008-12-05T21:43:00.002+11:00

After some debate about the best itinerary, we spent last weekend on a 3-day trip to visit the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park, to see the famous rocks. The schedule we decided to go with was pretty hectic but, rather than having the kids bored/time-to-think, we opted for the “no sleep till Sunday night” plan of:

Friday morning - fly from Sydney to Connellan Airport, and catch the 10-minute bus ride to Ayers Rock Resort
Friday afternoon - take a guided tour of Kata Tjuta, and watch the sun set
Friday evening - enjoy a catered barbecue, with amazing views of the night sky, before settling into bed not much before midnight
Saturday early morning - up at 3:00am in time for the three-and-a-half hour coach trip to Kings Canyon, taking care to avoid the camels wandering across the road
Saturday morning - take Caitlin & James on the “Rim Walk”
Saturday afternoon - after a well deserved lunch, we take the return coach trip, stopping off for an ice-cream at Curtin Springs station, near Mount Conner
Saturday evening - dinner, then off to bed for another early start
Sunday early morning - up at 3:30am in time for the half-hour trip to watch the sun rise over Uluru
Sunday morning - tour around Uluru, and see the great rock up close
Sunday afternoon - fly back to Sydney
Sunday evening - fall asleep while eating dinner, while Anna goes off to orchestra!

We were pretty lucky with the weather - although the temperature didn't dip much below 37°C while we were there, it was not humid at all: so was very manageable as long as you had plenty of water. All in all, it was a great trip and both Caitlin & James were better behaved than we feared they might be.

Chris

Sold

2008-10-17T21:58:00.003+11:00

The house went on to the market for its first public inspection on Saturday and, just in time for the 12:00pm timeslot, the clouds cleared so that the sun was shining down on us. Speaking to the agent later that afternoon, he was pretty bullish as he reported that he had seen around 35 groups come through the property (including one group that had sent a building inspector through the property the day before); and predicted that it would be a “busy Monday”.

Come Monday, it became apparent that there were two parties who were looking to make an offer on the place, and that afternoon we ended up accepting an offer from a couple who were keen to exchange contracts, without any cooling-off period, as soon as possible. So it was that, by the end of Tuesday, not only had we accepted their offer: but the exchange of signed contracts had also taken place.

Chris

The report of my death was an exaggeration

2008-10-10T20:27:00.001+11:00

To state the obvious, it's been a while since we got round to updating the 'blog, so what follows is a pretty brief synopsis of the last few months but, in response to a couple of emails, no we haven't died!

In May, Anna, Caitlin & I were invited along to the Leichhardt Council Offices to attend our citizenship ceremony, which means that we are all now dual nationals - James got dual nationality when he was born, as we were already permanent residents. Anna and I spent the day making sure we could remember the words to the National Anthem but we needn't have worried as, to save any embarrassment, you're provided with a copy of them to sing along to.

Anna, in discussion with a few of our friends, then decided to start training for the Sydney Marathon. Her schedule meant that, from 18 weeks before the date, she needed to be doing training runs during the week, with longer runs at the weekend. As we're both busy working all day and looking after Caitlin and James in the evenings, it took a lot of commitment to then venture out and pound the streets around Balmain, and I'm really proud to say that, on the day, she completed the course in a very creditable 4:43:49.

Finally, for now, we've also been very busy getting our house ready to sell, including moving into a rental property, so that we could get it ship-shape. It looks really nice now, and has just gone on the market, so hopefully the hard work pays off and someone is prepared to pay a reasonable price for it. Our new, rented, house has three bedrooms and a bath, so Caitlin and James are thoroughly enjoying splashing around together before bed.

Hopefully, we'll update you again soon...

Chris

Last Weekend

2008-04-11T22:09:00.001+10:00

It was our last weekend with Anna's Mum & Dad visiting us, so we packed in as much as we could:

Ballet on Saturday morning,
A trip to the park,
Amelie's birthday party, and
Anna's latest performance with Balmain Sinfonia on Sunday

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, Claire lost her mobile phone. We tried to locate it at each of the spots we'd been to, but all to no avail. Hopefully, it will turn up somewhere soon...

Chris

The Big Push

2008-04-04T21:55:00.002+11:00

While I was puting in a few extra hours at work on Saturday, everyone else headed off for a trip to the beach at Manly. It turned out to be a lovely sunny day, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed messing around in the sand.

On Sunday, we all headed out to Centennial Park, and tried our collective hand on one of the six-person bicycles for a couple of circuits - I think it was harder work than any of us had expected when going up the hills.

Fortunately, all the long hours at work paid off as we launched the Today Network sites successfully on April 1st: 2DayFM and its state counterparts.

Chris

When Wildlife Attacks

2008-03-28T21:32:00.001+11:00

After our lightning-filled trip down to Jervis Bay, we found our accommodation pretty easily and managed to get unpacked fairly quickly. The place we were staying turned out to be plenty big enough for us all, and being only 100m from the beach was very well positioned.

Although the weather was a little changeable, we managed to get out and about to see pretty much all of the local attractions including the Botanic Gardens, National Park beaches, dolphins, Lady Denman etc.

On our last full day, the weather cleared up nicely so that we could have a relaxing beach day; or so we thought! As James was settling down for a little doze on the beach, we heard some rustling in the bushes and out poked a blue tongued lizard to see what remnants of food were available. Then, when we were sitting down for dinner later, one of the local kookaburras decided he'd like to join us, if there was any meat available...

Chris

Riders on the storm

2008-03-21T22:30:00.002+11:00

On Saturday, we joined Anna's parents doing some sight-seeing around Sydney. It's funny how you can live in a place for years and never see many of the things that tourists do - one simple example of this being that I had never visited Government House before, although I've been past it many times. We also risked a trip on the small tourist train that runs through the Botanic Gardens - lucky that no-one had seen this story about the train overturning the week before!

On Sunday, we all went to Sydney Wildlife World for a look around their collection of deadly (and otherwise) inhabitants.

After a short week at work, we then all jumped into a car on Thursday evening for the drive down to Jervis Bay; where we would spend the Easter break. Sydney, being that bit closer to the equator, seems to put on spectacular electrical storms during the summer - and so it was that, at the start of the drive, we found ourselves driving down the Princes Highway with forked lightning seemingly crashing into the ground only metres away from us. Judging from the quiet in the car, I think everyone was very glad once we had made it through the storm.

Chris

Visitors, visitors everywhere

2008-03-14T22:15:00.003+11:00

It's been a busy week of arrivals, which started with some of our friends from the Bristol Hash visiting Sydney; on their way to Interhash 2008 in Perth. We organised a baby-sitter for Saturday night, and showed them a few of the many pubs in The Rocks, and had them pop round for a quick visit the following afternoon.

Later in the week, Anna's Mum & Dad arrived from the UK, to spend a few weeks in with us. As we (and they) weren't 100% sure whether their trip was going ahead, awaiting the doctor's approval following Claire's operation at the end of last year, we're both going to be at work for much of the time they're here; but I'm sure they will be able to find plenty to keep themselves busy.

Chris

Busman's Holiday

2008-03-07T21:28:00.001+11:00

We finished off our trip with a couple of days in Torquay, and the weather was good enough that we could enjoy the time on the beach; rather than dashing around.

Predictably enough, at the start of our Great Ocean Road trip, Anna got a call to ask if she was available for some freelance work. Of course, we weren't going to cut our trip short, but it transpired that they would have some additional work the week after also - so, Anna is back at work again this week.

Finally, here's a little video of our trip to Anglesea Golf Course.

Chris

Great Ocean Road

2008-02-29T22:32:00.000+11:00

On Saturday morning, we flew down to Melbourne and headed out to the depot to pick up our Maui Motorhome, which was to be our home for the next 8 days.

Rather than drive all the way around to Adelaide, we decided to focus our time on the stretch of the Great Ocean Road from Geelong to Warrnambool; so that we didn't spend too much time driving, and Caitlin & James could enjoy the scenery. Our itinerary worked out to be:

Saturday & Sunday nights in Anglesea

Sunday was spent on the windy beach, and walking around before an evening trip to the Anglesea Golf Club to see some of the many kangaroos that make the fairways their home

Monday & Tuesday nights in Apollo Bay, stopping along the way to see

Wednesday night in Port Campbell, via

Thursday night in Warrnambool, having seen

What remains of the Twelve Apostles
Loch Ard Gorge

Friday & Saturday nights back in Torquay

All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip - especially once we had figured out the best arrangement of beds so that the kids slept reasonably well.

Chris

Fairy Birthday

2008-02-22T22:14:00.002+11:00

We decided to hold Caitlin's birthday party on Sunday, in and around the rotunda at Elkington Park. As we've been to quite a few kids parties, we had the opportunity to pick up on those things that seem to have worked well - the main one being to have someone help keep the youngsters entertained (aside from eating lots of sweets). After a bit of searching around, we decided to go with a fairy party courtesy of Fairy Good Times.

Caitlin was very impressed with the idea of there being a “real grown-up fairy”, and she did a very good job of magic show, balloon toys, games and face painting. Then we all gathered in the rotunda for the blowing out of the candles.

The rest of the week was spent making and finalising plans for our road trip next week - as well as a little dancing...

Chris

Three o'clock

2008-02-15T22:18:00.001+11:00

Although it doesn't seem that long since she was born, this week Caitlin celebrated her third birthday; many thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts. For her, the main attraction of a birthday is, without doubt, the opportunity to eat cake - so we decided to make one for her to take and share with her friends at day-care and another one for her party at the weekend.

Anna finished up her short-term contract role this week, although the director specifically mentioned that they may well want her to come back in a couple of weeks - so she obviously made a good impression. Anna was a little disappointed that they hadn't kept her on, but understood that this is the typical cycle for freelance work - they only keep you as long as they have work/budget for you, and uncertainty with either of these is why they hire freelancers.

Chris

One nap or two?

2008-02-08T21:51:00.002+11:00

On Monday, it was my turn to head into the DIAC offices to attend my citizenship interview - having spent the bus journey there feverishly revising my privileges and responsibilities. I was glad I had because, as expected, knowledge of these lists is pretty much the only question asked of you; aside from confirming that you have supplied all the necessary paperwork.

Anna's freelance job is progressing well, although we're not sure exactly how long it will continue; especially as a colleague of hers was “let go” at short notice at the end of the week.

Caitlin & James are both doing well at day-care, and James seems to be making the transition from two to one nap during the day. This means he is normally a bit grouchy at the end of the day but, if it means that he sleeps well during the night, that works.

Chris

Pre-School

2008-02-01T23:19:00.000+11:00

The excitement this week centred around enrolment for our local pre-school, just up the road in Birchgrove, accepting applications from 9:00am on Wednesday morning. We had heard, through a variety of sources, that people often queue up for hours beforehand to try and secure their spot, so I was allocated the task of joining the line in the early hours on Caitlin's behalf.

Rumour had it that, last year, a 4:00am start was par for the course so, with my iPod loaded, I walked up to the school just before 2:00am. Unsure exactly where we were supposed to be lining up, I sat down close to the main office. I didn't have to wait long until another Dad came and joined me, but with the query “is this the right spot?” - good question, and one of which I was unsure as to the answer. So, promising to save each others place, he went and investigated while I sat tight.

Only a few minutes had passed when he returned muttering that he had found the queue, and there were already some “twenty to thirty” people in front of us. However, the ridiculousness of the situation meant that everyone was very friendly and talkative to keep each other going for the hours ahead. We won't find out until later this year whether we were successful but, odd though it sounds, it was actually quite good fun just hanging out and chatting with all the other parents in the same boat!

Chris

Almost Australia-n Day

2008-01-25T21:24:00.000+11:00

Predictably enough, with Anna & I both due to be working full-time this week, a minor illness arrived on the scene. On Sunday James developed a temperature and a visit to the doctor on Monday confirmed that he had, for a second time, developed tonsillitis - as before, the antibiotics have done the trick and he is much better now, but he did have a sore throat for a couple of days.

With Australia Day looming, it seemed fitting that Anna received confirmation that she has completed the last-but-one step towards becoming Australian, by attending (and passing) her citizenship interview. There has been some controversy about the introduction of a citizenship test here in Australia, but because we applied a little while ago we only need to attend a more straightforward interview (mine is in a couple of weeks).

Finally, we got around to taking some video of James Walking - he's been mobile for around two weeks now, and seems to be getting the hang of it pretty well!

Chris

Four-Oh!

2008-01-18T21:05:00.000+11:00

We joined up with a few others to celebrate Toby's 1st birthday on Sunday. It was an absolutely swelteringly hot morning but the rain clouds, unfortunately, started to gather as we cut into the cake. However, the rain mostly avoided us and we managed to stay pretty dry.

Tuesday saw the ushering in of my next decade; I'm still in denial! Caitlin, of course, was more than happy to celebrate my birthday if it meant more cake - she was very keen to sing along and blow out the candles, and also to remind everyone that her birthday isn't too far away.

Anna, meanwhile, has managed to secure a 5-week contract doing some design work for Adcorp, with the possibility that it might lead to something more permanent in the future. Her first day went a little askew, as the work she was originally allocated fell through, but there seems to be plenty of other tasks for her to help with.

Chris

Red Dress

2008-01-11T23:57:00.000+11:00

The week started with a “red dress run” with our local hash chapter. Caitlin was obviously a little bemused at seeing us both in red dresses, as she insisted in also wearing it for much of the following week.

Caitlin was very excited to have graduated from the Brolgas room, at school, to the Jabiroos room. The main criteria for the graduation is that you can reliably go to the toilet, without making any mistakes. I'm not sure if it was because we could have toilet-trained her sooner, but Caitlin seemed to get the idea pretty quickly - although, of course, there were a couple of mistakes at first.

Finally, the “missing piano” that Anna's parents had purchased for James' birthday finally arrived. It seems pretty clear that it got confused with some other deliveries around Christmas - both Caitlin and James are loving it.

Chris

Happy 2008

2008-01-04T23:39:00.000+11:00

For the New Year celebrations we headed down the road to Illoura Reserve, where we met up with a few friends (also with young children) for the “kids fireworks” at 9:00pm. The harbour, as always, made for a fantastic backdrop for the festivities and we all had a very enjoyable evening.

We then made our way back home, so that Caitlin & James could get some sleep before we headed down the road to our local ferry wharf for the midnight fireworks.

Chris

A very sad loss

2007-12-28T23:27:00.000+11:00

We learned, just before Christmas, that a good friend of ours has passed away after a long battle with cancer - our deepest sympathy and thoughts go to all of her family and friends.

Anna & Chris

The Goose is getting fat

2007-12-21T23:13:00.000+11:00

As one of her 30th birthday presents, Anna received a “coffee & chocolate tour” around Sydney (from Janet & John, I think). So, on Saturday morning, she headed off for her caffeine load, with the plan that we would meet up for some Christmas shopping afterwards. She really enjoyed the tour, and we all enjoyed the chocolates that she bought!

The main David Jones store in Sydney always does a special Christmas window display, which only added to Caitlin's increasing hysteria at the imminence of the 25th - I thought the beer bottle musician was just as good!

On Sunday, we all headed down the road for Maddie's first birthday (the daughter of one of Anna's mothers group). We all had a good time, but Caitlin almost needed to be dragged off the mini-trampoline that the kids were trying to share...

Chris

Birthday Boy

2007-12-14T21:37:00.000+11:00

Anna made it back into Sydney on Sunday evening (as her mother is recovering well) and, having just about adjusted to UK time, once again had to re-acquaint herself with the local time. On Monday, as James & Caitlin were at “school”, she managed to have a good sleep and that helped her to get back on track.

On Tuesday, it was James 1^st birthday, so he and Caitlin had great fun:

playing with his Birthday Presents, until
the Giraffe Attack, but they managed to recover for
some Backyard Birthday Cake

Many thanks to everyone who contacted us to wish James a happy birthday - now we can start preparing for Christmas!

Chris

Unplanned Trip

2007-12-07T20:46:00.000+11:00

Anna had already heard that her mother was unwell, but the situation escalated last Friday when we learned that she was to undergo surgery to manipulate two of her cervical vertebrae; which were pressing against her spinal cord. So, last Friday, Anna booked a flight and was on her way back to the UK on Saturday. Fortunately, the surgery went well and Claire now has a lot more range of movement, so it looks like Anna will be making her way back to Australia tomorrow.

As we only have childcare organized for two days in the week, currently, I had to take a few days off work to look after Caitlin & James. Fortunately, my boss was very understanding and quickly approved my request for some “family leave” on Monday.

So, I've had a few days of experiencing Anna's life, when she is at home looking after the kids. Generally, things have gone pretty smoothly, but it has been pretty hard work too! The highlight of looking after them both this week was definitely when we went to the Christmas Show at their childcare centre - the performances were good fun, but Caitlin's focus was quite clearly on the bag of lollies she received at the end. We went home for dinner soon after, and when I asked her what she wanted to eat she was very clear - “I'm having chocolate”.

Chris

Back to work?

2007-11-30T22:23:00.000+11:00

The week started with a, seemingly rather early, Christmas party with our Hash friends. We all visited the Greek-themed, Mykonos on Crown restaurant which, curiously, is no longer located on Crown St. It was great fun, although I don't think many of our group remembered much about the food, as the drinks were well and truly flowing...

Confusion reigns with Anna's job, as she received a call to advise her that the person she was replacing was having second thoughts about leaving the company. Later in the week, she got another call to confirm that she did have a role with the company; however, in yet another message, it appears that the job being offered is not the one she interviewed for! Naturally, this has left Anna very unsure about the company.

Chris

Back to work

2007-11-23T21:44:00.000+11:00

Our return journey from Port Stephens was a little more eventful that we might have liked, as both Caitlin and I seemed to suffer with a minor bout of the problems that had plagued James earlier. However, we both recovered reasonably quickly - both Caitlin and James were able to head off to “school” on Monday.

After having had surprisingly few responses to her recent job applications, Anna spent some time re-drafting her résumé to give it more of a focus on her design ambitions. We also spent some time running through her portfolio, so that she was comfortable with the points that she wanted to raise for each of her pieces. The end-result was a great success, as Anna was invited to attend an interview with a company in Marrickville and was soon made a conditional offer to join! The only downside being that it is a full-time position, so we now have to chase around organising all the necessary childcare.

That said, it is very encouraging for Anna to have risked a career change and have found a job that will allow her to develop her skills in this area.

Chris

In the port of Stephen

2007-11-16T21:11:00.000+11:00

James recovered from his tonsillitis in time for our trip up to Port Stephens, to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We drove up to our rental house late Wednesday evening and, after some clambering around in the undergrowth, we found our home for the next few days. In the morning, we were able to appreciate the lovely views and make the very short trip to the beach.

We arranged to have dinner at the Rock Lobster restaurant and, although the service was a little slow, we all enjoyed the meal. However, as we were making our way back home, a rather ominous sound came from the lower level of the stroller - James had been sick, and needed a good clean-up. A visit to the doctor in the morning confirmed that he likely had a case of “gastro” - but, fortunately, it didn't seem to effect James too badly, and he still enjoyed playing around on the beach and climbing in the Tomaree National Park. Caitlin also did particularly well on our climb to the top of the headland, managing to walk for around 90% of the steep climb to the peak of the southern headland.

Despite James' illness, we all thought that the area around Nelson Bay was beautiful, and the lack of crowds meant that we had the beach just 50m from our house almost to ourselves!

Chris

In the paper

2007-11-09T21:17:00.000+11:00

After a rainy Saturday, we woke up on Sunday to be welcomed by a number of text-messages from people we know in Balmain; as we appeared in an article in the sunday life magazine. The story was, much as we expected, a mixture of the information we had discussed with the reporter regarding the cost of having young children; and featured a couple of nice pictures.

We then headed out to see the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition, which features a variety of pieces spread along the very picturesque walk from Bondi to Tamarama.

On Thursday evening, we noticed that James was rather hot, which we initially thought might just have been some teething. However, to be on the safe side, Anna took him along to the doctors on Friday, where he was diagnosed with a case of tonsillitis - fortunately, nothing that a case of antibiotics shouldn't fix as we caught it early.

Chris

Hirsute?

2007-11-02T22:20:00.000+11:00

Anna decided that, even though Caitlin hasn't had her hair cut in years, it was time for James' first venture under the scissors. I don't know if it's a common difference between boys and girls, but James is always very keen to be crawling and exploring by himself, which means that he is also very difficult to get to stay still - so cutting his hair can be pretty awkward. Hopefully his fringe will grow back sometime!

We headed out to Holly and Laila's (third and first) birthday party on Sunday. Fortunately, the weather was clear, so the visiting clown was able to get all the kids running around Elkington Park and having a great time - although Caitlin seemed a little bit unsure about the tug-o-war.

As some of you are probably aware, Anna ventured into the land of “social networks” during the week, when she ventured on to Facebook. The nice surprise was that, using it, she was able to re-connect with an old University friend who (it turns out) lives only a few miles away from us in Sydney.

Chris

Sandstorm

2007-10-26T21:39:00.000+10:00

The week started off with Anna, and the rest of the Balmain Sinfonia, performing at Sydney Town Hall. The event, by all accounts, was a Sydney version of “Last Night at The Proms” - which meant that much of the music was relatively straightforward, but still a challenge as they had only had two weeks of rehearsals beforehand.

On Sunday, we decided to repeat out visit of a few weeks ago to Balmoral Beach. The sun was lovely and warm but, unfortunately, little-by-little the wind picked up to the point where it seemed we were in a minor sandstorm.

On Monday, Caitlin & James started back at our local child-care centre (just around the corner). Caitlin was delighted to be back with all of her friends, but James was understandably a little more reluctant. Anna has been busy applying for jobs while Caitlin and James were out of the house, but nothing has quite worked out yet.

Chris

Toilet Fairy

2007-10-19T21:26:00.000+10:00

Those of you who haven't made the transition to view our videos via iTunes may not be aware that we invested in an adaptor for our toilet seat, with the aim of trying to tempt Caitlin to use the toilet - you can see her first use for it was not exactly as intended.

After a couple of weeks of gentle encouragement, we decided that it was time to bite the bullet and make the transition away from nappies. Some friends of ours had mentioned that, to avoid any confusion, it was best to go straight from nappies to normal undies; so this week we bought some and changed Caitlin into them. Although we had a couple of accidents early in the week, as I write this we've had 3 consecutive days of zero accidents! It definitely helped when we introduced a star system, one for a “wee” and two for a “poo”, and set the goal of filling in a sheet of stars in return for a fairy dress that Caitlin had spotted.

On a separate note, we've also been enrolled into an article for the Essential Baby website - I volunteered at work, on short notice, to help them out so we'll see what appears next month...

Chris

Be Gone, Bogong

2007-10-12T22:37:00.000+10:00

On Saturday, we headed down to Elkington Park for Oliver's, one of Caitlin's child-care conspirators, 3rd birthday party which was good fun. All the kids got their faces painted as either a lion/tiger (for the boys) or a butterfly (for the girls) - although when first asked which animal she'd like, Caitlin had decided on “elephant”.

Spring in Sydney means the annual visit of the Bogong moth which, although they are harmless enough, seem to manage to find their way into every room. Fortunately, they only normally seem to hang around for a couple of weeks before packing their bags for Canberra and beyond.

Finally, Anna has put the finishing touches to her portfolio so that she can now include an electronic version as part of her job applications, so fingers crossed that she finds something interesting shortly...

Chris

Labour Day Weekend

2007-10-05T22:02:00.000+10:00

As Monday was a public holiday here, we took advantage of the great weather to get out-and-about:

On Saturday, we headed out to Taronga Zoo - where Caitlin was very taken with the new elephants
On Sunday, Anna & Caitlin headed over to Drummoyne for a first birthday party
On Monday, we all headed to Balmoral for a play on the beach (or eating the beach in James' case)

Chris

Back to school

2007-09-28T22:42:00.000+10:00

After much consideration, Anna and I have decided to place Caitlin & James at the daycare centre just around the corner from us - however, as they can only take them both from mid-October, they have both been to another centre in Ultimo this week; which Fairfax operates for its employees. As a result, Anna started her job hunt on Wednesday & Thursday, between dropping them off and picking them up again. Caitlin seemed pretty happy to be “back at school”, but James was understandably a little more uncertain about being left with relative strangers.

As Caitlin seems to have a strange fascination with all things “ballerina”, we were interested to hear that there is a pre-school class over in Rozelle that runs on Saturdays. So, we're thinking of taking her along in the near future, so that she can have a go - I'll leave it up to you to decide whether she needs any improvement beyond this performance of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Chris

Graduation

2007-09-21T20:31:00.000+10:00

On the childcare front, it seems like we'll be able to get both Caitlin and James in for a couple of days to start with, which will allow Anna to do some job searching and applying. We'll then see what additional days we need, depending on what role Anna finds, but hopefully this will all work out well.

On Thursday evening we made one of our, relatively, rare trips out without the kids; this time to attend Anna's graduation ceremony at CATC. As well as the formal presentation, we also got the chance to take a look around the college at many of the graduating students work; including a number of pieces created by Anna.

Then, following a few nibbles, “HG Nelson” from Roy and HG was the guest speaker along with Dare Jennings, the founder of Mambo. After the entertainment, we headed down the road for a nice meal at Sailors Thai - all in all, a very enjoyable evening.

Chris

Print Portfolio

2007-09-14T22:03:00.000+10:00

Although we have already received Anna's diploma certificate, and an invitation to her graduation ceremony, the one remaining task to be completed before she can start looking for a (ideally, part-time) job is to put together her “portfolio”. So, much of her spare time has been spent trying to put together the print version, and later have an online version - this has involved obtaining in situ pictures of her design work for inclusion.

As the job market is pretty good in Sydney at the moment, I'm pretty confident that Anna should be able to find something which, of course, means that we'll also have to run the gauntlet of trying to organise childcare places for both Caitlin & James. The current situation seems to be that finding a place for Caitlin shouldn't be too hard, but finding a place for James will probably be more challenging.

Chris

Early bedtime

2007-09-07T21:33:00.000+10:00

Having all made it back safely last week, this week was focussed on trying to adjust back to Sydney time.

As James hasn't quite figured out that he doesn't need to wake up during the night anyway, it was tough to tell how he was going
Caitlin was asleep on the sofa around 4:00pm for a few days, but seems to have mostly made the change
Anna was asleep in bed very early for the first couple of days, but then forced herself to stay up longer

Of course, having everyone else in bed early has meant that I've have chance to upload many of the various pictures and videos of their time in the UK after I left for Sydney.

Chris

All home safely

2007-08-31T22:04:00.000+10:00

Firstly, I'm happy to say that Anna, Caitlin and James all made it back home to Sydney safely. I'm sure that it will take a few days before they're all back into the swing of the things and over their jet-lag, but it's nice to have them back. Having not seen everyone for a few weeks, I was particularly taken with how much James had changed since I last saw him - not something you notice when you see him everyday.

In preparation for their return, aside from cleaning, I did a little baby-sitting for our friends Juliet & Mike on Tuesday evening. However, it didn't really refresh my memory too well as their daughter, Jasmine, was asleep the whole time I was there!

Chris

Steps to steps

2007-08-24T21:03:00.000+10:00

James managed to steal the headlines this week, with a couple of firsts. Early in the week, he managed to pull himself up into a standing position - by all accounts, he was pretty unstable once he had got up, but it's yet another small step towards steps.

Later in the week, I received a note from the postman that we had some registered mail - a visit to the post office the following day, and James became the first member of the family to have two current passports. I don't remember noticing it on his Australian passport, but his British one contains an RFID chip which, in theory, makes it more difficult to copy. Of course, there's always a way and people have successfully cloned them, but I guess the amount of effort required makes it that bit harder...

Chris

Sickness & Health

2007-08-17T23:03:00.000+10:00

The week started with James developing a bit of a temperature, and Anna having to organise a visit to the doctor to get some anti-biotics. Fortunately, the treatment organised through NHS Direct seems to have hit-the-spot, and he has now fully recovered.

Meanwhile, I was participating in the annual City 2 Surf run from the city centre out to Bondi. I would have liked to have done it more quickly, but I did (just) manage to make it in under 100 minutes; which means that I qualify for a reasonable start position next year.

Despite her exposure to the cats at Barkers Green, Caitlin still doesn't seem to be too comfortable around animals. Anna, her Mum and the kids visited a local “petting farm” during the week and Caitlin was, by all accounts, beside herself with fright at the idea of having a rabbit placed on her lap to stroke. I'm sure she'll grow out of this, but we can't help but wonder what it is that has made her so fearful of these encounters.

Chris

Beach Fun

2007-08-10T22:21:00.000+10:00

Caitlin, by all accounts, thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Lyme Regis this week - especially when she won first prize for making an octopus out of a piece of silver-foil. Fortunately, the weather was good enough so that they could all head out on to the beach almost every day; which is a big change from when I was there recently!

James' teeth have also settled down a little, which has meant that he has started to show a lot more interest in the solid food on offer. When I came back to Australia, I brought may of his 9month+ outfits back with me, but it sounds like he'll be needing these soon. In addition, he has now done his first “proper” crawling.

Finally, a couple of people have mentioned that they can't see the top-level navigation on the site (when using Internet Explorer) so, to make life easier for everyone who is interested in the videos, I've now incorporated all of these into a video podcast that you can subscribe to within iTunes by clicking on the image below:

Chris

Visits here and visits there

2007-08-03T19:43:00.000+10:00

While I was enjoying some unseasonably warm sunshine in Sydney, Anna & the kids were on a visiting marathon of some relatives in the Chesterfield area - followed by a couple of days staying with James' godparents; Helen and Ash. They'll all be heading down to Lyme Regis next week, for a family beach holiday, so hopefully the weather will play nicely.

Meanwhile, I was joining up with some of our hashing friends for the “Christmas-in-July” trip to Katoomba. I decided to head up on Saturday morning, rather than Friday night, to be sure that I didn't fall asleep while driving - which also meant that I was feeling a bit more lively than those people who had availed themselves of the facilities the previous night.

Finally, a few more home videos are now available for your viewing pleasure:

Chris

Rain, rain go away

2007-07-27T20:20:00.000+10:00

Our drive down to Twickenham on Friday was slow going as the rain caused a number of puddles of standing water, and even closed two lanes in the opposite direction with a landslide. However, we did finally make it, and Anna was able to head out to attend her school friend, Ma'ayan's, wedding reception. Meanwhile I had a chat with my old flatmate, Carl, who we were staying with that night. On Saturday, we met up with Anna's brother, Richard, for a very tasty lunch and a cup-of-tea before we headed back North to Barkers Green.

We visited the Hawkstone Park Follies on Sunday and, despite some inaccurate advice on pram accessibility, we managed to coax Caitlin into walking around much of the route.

Then, it was the long flight home for me, and straight into work on Wednesday morning; while Anna and the kids stay on in the UK for a few weeks.

Chris

Happy Birthday and Christening

2007-07-20T19:20:00.000+10:00

Anna's University friends, Sarah and Janet, arrived in Barkers Green on Friday night (with their partners, Jim and John) to kick off a very busy, but fun, week. As Anna & I were still fighting jet-lag, we didn't stay up too late on Friday, so that we could try to make an early-ish start on Saturday morning. The plan was to head to Church Stretton for a walk in the country, and to work up a thirst for a drink or two.

We got to Church Stretton pretty much on time, and met up with Amy and Neil. So, after a brief stop in the local supermarket for supplies, we were off. Our proposed walk took us through a low-lying field which, as a result of the recent rain, was a little water-logged; a few of us dived in to investigate, but once the water reached knee-height we decided to look for an alternate route. Fortunately, we were able to take a “long way round” the field and re-join on the other side. From there the walk went smoothly, and we were able to take advantage of the good weather. When we reached the peak, we were joined by some rather serious-looking ramblers who looked on unimpressed as we drank the toffee-vodka shots that I had stowed away! After finding some food & drink in a local pub, it was back to Anna's parents for a birthday barbeque.

The day of the Christening was a little rainy, but James handled the occasion very well and didn't seem to mind a bit when he was doused with the holy water. Anna and I would like to thank all those who attended, and pass on our best wishes to those who couldn't.

After returning my Mum to Abergavenny, Anna and I headed out to The Bell at Skenfrith to celebrate her thirtieth. The meal was very nice, and my Mum did a good job of putting the kids to bed for us, as they were both shouting when we left and asleep when we got home.

Chris

We Made It!

2007-07-13T20:05:00.000+10:00

Caitlin attended her last days at her current “school” this week, to allow Anna some space to finalise the packing for our trip to the UK. I'm pleased to say that, despite Anna's understandable concerns, the flight went without incident and we all arrived in the UK safely.

Given that the flight involves hour-after-hour of travel, Caitlin was pretty well behaved; and James managed to sleep for a good chunk of the flight. We picked up our rental car, with Avis, from an uncharacteristically helpful assistant, and after no more than an hour or so of entertainment fitting the car seats, we were on our way!

We confirmed the arrangements for James’ baptism with the Reverend, so it looks like we are all set for Sunday.

Chris

First Night Out

2007-07-06T21:49:00.000+10:00

On Saturday night, Anna and I went out together for the first time since James was born - we've both been out individually, but this was the 1^st time we were out together. The occasion was a friend's 30^th, and she had organised for us all to attend a murder mystery evening, with a 20s theme, at The Hero of Waterloo. It was good fun, and I think Anna only called the babysitter once!

Now that Anna has finished her course, she has been busy this week putting her knowledge to work by re-designing some brochures and business cards for one of her Balmain Sinfonia colleagues, Andrew Collishaw. As we're due to fly out of Sydney next week, hopefully she'll get everything done before we go.

Finally, for those of you who enjoyed Anna and Caitlin's dancing video - here's another one from the same day, this time featuring Caitlin and her cookie.

Chris

MusicFest contd.

2007-06-29T21:55:00.000+10:00

After my chance meeting with the start of MusicFest, we decided to take advantage of the sunny day to join those heading to Cockatoo Island for the live performances scheduled for Saturday. The poor weather, hey it is the middle of winter, leading up to the event probably scared a few people off, but it turned out to be a really nice winter's day for the event.

After having been locked-up in the stroller on the way there, Caitlin absolutely loved running and dancing around for the whole afternoon. The music itself was quite enjoyable, and it was equally interesting to have a look around the location itself as it has only fairly recently been opened up for public access.

The main event of the week, however, was the conclusion of Anna's graphic design course. She has really enjoyed this shift in career focus, and she has already been approached by a couple of people regarding some informal opportunities - her focus is to look for a role when she returns from our trip to the UK.

Chris

Musical Journey

2007-06-22T21:26:00.000+10:00

The big news this week was that the first of James' teeth has arrived on the scene. He has been dribbling madly for the last couple of weeks, and the root cause became apparent as his bottom two teeth started to emerge through the gum.

With Anna's graphic design course due to finish at the end of this month, she has been very busy over the last few weeks to ensure that she wraps up everything on-time. I'm very pleased to say that, aside from some momentary confusion over her portfolio, everything appears to be on track.

On Thursday, the winter solstice here, Sydney played host to the start of MusicFest. The main idea, as I understand it, is to “promote musical practice and live music without a profit-making goal”. Anna had picked up a leaflet earlier in the week, but I happened to be on the ferry to work when the very first performer got underway (at 8 in the morning). It was a rather surreal, although enjoyable, few minutes as lots of soberly-dressed city commuters and I (less well dressed) made our way into Darling Harbour listening to a guy playing the keyboards and singing away!

Chris

Broken String

2007-06-15T21:26:00.000+10:00

The week started with a trip to “Baby Things” to return James' capsule, and upgrade to a forward-facing car seat. After looking at the various options, it made most sense to get a new bigger seat for Caitlin, and for James to inherit her old seat. He looked a little hesitant about the idea at first, but seems to have become more accustomed to it over the next few days - watch his reaction.

On Sunday, Anna was playing in the latest concert with Balmain Sinfonia - but had the mis-fortune to have her A-string break early on during the performance (although not while she was playing). She was able to change the string over but, and I wasn't aware of this, new strings take a little while to “bed down” so that they consistently produce the anticipated sound.

Chris

Food and Wine

2007-06-08T22:18:00.000+10:00

Anna attended The Genesian Theatre's latest offering, Shadowlands, on Friday night; which was apparently a rather sombre, although well-acted, experience. So a couple of the other people there suggested that we all go to the Manly Food & Wine Festival on Sunday to cheer up! After the coin-toss came up in my favour, I was quick to launch into the various reds & ports on offer - no point wasting time on anything lighter!

On Sunday, we toured around Sydney as part of one of Anna's final college assignments. The brief was to compose a set of postage stamps, and Anna decided to base it on various Sydney landmarks; with the twist being that each of the images be a small fraction of a famous location, rather than the typical tourist picture.

As we ended up in Bondi around tea-time, we decided to enjoy some fish-and-chips whilst looking out over the view. Needless to say, we were joined by around a hundred seagulls, but Caitlin's well-rehearsed line of “go away birdie” kept them at bay!

Chris

Sitting Up

2007-06-01T22:04:00.000+10:00

The big news this week was that Anna was able to arrange James' limbs in such a fashion that he could actually stay sitting briefly. For some reason, Anna seems to think that Caitlin was able to do this earlier in life than James - so it's off to the photo archives:

was, at least according to the Exif data, taken on August 24th (2005), making Caitlin 6 months and 11 days
was taken on June 1st (2007), making James 5 months and 20 days

The defense rests...

Chris

Mothers Day

2007-05-18T22:24:00.000+10:00

The week started off with International Mothers Day, so I organised the cards and Caitlin carried the flowers in for Anna, before we cooked a Roast Beef sunday lunch.

Later in the week, we attended Anna's graduation ceremony for her Certificate III in Natural Area Restoration. Unfortunately, the room they had chosen to hold it in wasn't really big enough to cater for the number of people attending, so it was pretty much standing room only when we arrived. To ease the crush, the students were encouraged to wait outside until called in to receive their certificates, which led to a rather odd arrangement as students filed out and back in again. However, Anna received hers without too much fuss, and managed to have a quick chat with her former teachers.

Chris

Richard O'Sullivan?

2007-05-11T22:12:00.000+10:00

We started offering James a little rice cereal this week and, after an initial ambivalence, he seems to have started enjoying a little solid food. Although, he still seems far more interested in what everyone else is eating than his own option!

On Sunday, we risked a trip to the Dry Dock Hotel for lunch and our recent purchase of a portable media player, primarily for the flight to the UK, worked wonders at keeping Caitlin quiet whilst we waited for our food.

Finally, Anna has been using every spare minute on completing her graphic design coursework, so that it is all done by the end of June.

Chris

Plans afoot

2007-05-04T22:36:00.000+10:00

We visited Oceanworld in Manly last weekend. It's not as big as the Aquarium, which is probably a good thing for both Caitlin & James, as it means that we could get around the whole place without them getting tired.

Afterwards, we went for a stroll along The Corso, which is currently being re-developed. One of the new features is a set of water fountains that you can walk up to, and then run away from when the flow increases; which Caitlin loved playing with.

We've also finalised our flights back to the UK in July, and wanted to give everyone a quick update on our plans for the weekend of the baptism. As it will also be close to Anna's big three-oh birthday, we're hoping to see as many people as possible for one or more of the following activities:

On Saturday morning, we'll be heading out for a hike in the hills (probably around Church Stretton)
On Saturday evening, from around 6pm, we'll be having a barbeque at Anna's parents house in Barkers Green
On Sunday, we'll be heading over to Clive for the baptism itself, followed by some nibbles in the Clive Community Hall

Chris

Black Eye

2007-04-27T22:12:00.000+10:00

We all got invited around to a friend's house on Saturday for a photo shoot, as he is trying to build up his photographic experience - and Anna also wanted to enter Caitlin & James into a recent competition. Everything was progressing well, and we had enjoyed lunch between sessions, when Caitlin suddenly stood up on the back of her patio chair. As the chairs were very light, this meant that she immediately tumbled the chair over backwards and ended up crashing into the floor.

A quick inspection revealed that she had bumped her nose and lip, and a bruise quickly started to appear which we iced - however, the end result was that she developed a “black eye”. Subsequent visits to see the doctor have since confirmed that there isn't any permanent damage or break, so all's well that ends well, and the bruising seems to be clearing up nicely...

Chris

Passport Arrived

2007-04-20T21:55:00.000+10:00

After successfully negotiating the application form, James' Australian passport arrived this week - which means that he has sufficient documentation to travel. However, Anna is still keen for us to get his UK passport arranged before we travel back for his baptism.

At the end of last year, we became Aqua Club members at the Aquarium, so we decided to take advantage of one of their partner deals and visited the Wildlife World, also in Darling Harbour.

Caitlin really enjoyed herself running around and looking at all the different animals - aside from when a person dressed as a bilby crept up behind her to offer her a chocolate. She had been engrossed looking at some insects and, when she turned around to be confronted by the costumed bilby, just started screaming. She was soon comforted, but I have a feeling that she'll never like 5-foot tall bilbies!

Chris

Easter = Chocolate?

2007-04-13T21:58:00.000+10:00

Over the past couple of weeks, Anna, Caitlin & I have all visited our new dentist for the first time in far too long. I was the dentist's first patient and, despite having not been to the dentist this millenium, he gave me a pretty much clean bill of health - I could be wrong, but I got the feeling that Anna was disappointed with his verdict! Anna & Caitlin followed a few days later for a “family appointment”, with both again getting a solid thumbs-up.

James, meanwhile, has started to show some serious interest in crawling and has just about mastered rolling in the last few days. His latest trick is to roll over on to his stomach, and then bury his face into the floor as he tries to move forward with his legs. I remember Caitlin doing much the same thing, but James seems to have reached this stage earlier - it's probably a reaction to everyone else in the house being mobile.

Chris

All Blocked Up

2007-04-06T20:56:00.000+10:00

The week started off with Anna attending the Sydney Semi-Permanent design conference; aimed primarily at students in the field. She enjoyed what most of the speakers had to say but, as is sometimes the case, found that some of the people were better designers that public speakers.

I started my new job on Monday with Fairfax Digital, who run many of Australia's most popular web-sites, including the on-line version of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. I'm looking forward to working in the media environment, and the challenges of operating sites with lots of visitors.

Finally, we've all been recovering from a cold that Caitlin caught first and then spread to the rest of us. Nothing to worry about, but it has meant that James has been more fussy (and consequently sleeping less well) because of his blocked nasal passages.

Chris

Diabetes?

2007-03-30T21:35:00.000+10:00

Last weekend we went up to Wisemans Ferry, north of Sydney, to join our running club friends for the AGPU. Anna had been quite busy in the days running up to the event finalising some designs for the various goodies that we each received (a cooler bag and bottle opener), and has now completed her tour of duty on committee. However, I was asked (by someone who's obviously never seen my photos) to take on the role of Hash Flash for the coming year, which means I'm responsible for taking a few photos at each week's run.

Most people were staying in some rustic cabins at the camp and one of our party, Pearl, was feeling unwell on Saturday and thought that his diabetes was flaring up. He went to the hospital and was found to be OK, but the blood test that they took indicated that he'd been bitten by a funnel-web spider. Fortunately the bite wasn't too bad, so there was no need to apply the anti-venom and he was discharged without too much fuss.

Finally, I completed my time with Objective on Thursday, and will be starting a new role next week in Pyrmont; so I still get to take the ferry to work.

Chris

Passport Fun

2007-03-23T21:44:00.000+11:00

Anna's latest concert with Balmain Sinfonia took place on Sunday afternoon, and everything went well. As I was looking after Caitlin & James, I didn't have chance to see the performance, but a couple of our hashing friends came along and seemed very impressed with the standard.

Anna didn't have much luck with her passport application(s) for James this week. She had organised an appointment for Monday morning, but realised once she had got ready to go that she had left her house keys in the car. The problem, however, was that the car was parked in our backyard, which you can only get to if you can get out of the back door (which, of course, was locked)!

So, on Tuesday, she tried again but this time was knocked back by the woman at the Post Office because one of the counter-signers had used a blue pen, rather than black. Meanwhile, I've also been filling in the application for his British passport so that, in a few weeks, James will have his dual nationality all done!

Chris

Smiler

2007-03-16T22:35:00.000+11:00

Anna has been gathering together the various pieces required to apply for James Australian passport - which you can do by scheduling an appointment at the post office. She managed to get some passport photos of James taken, but we're not sure if they will be accepted as he is smiling a little (and they ask that it have a “normal” expression) - we'll find out next week.

In addition, Anna's workload at college seems to have increased as the teachers have realised that she needs to complete a number of assignments before the end of June. Although there shouldn't be a problem getting these done, it would be preferable if these pieces could be used in her portfolio - which will be more difficult if she doesn't has limited time to complete them...

Chris

Playing the Spoons

2007-03-09T21:58:00.000+11:00

Caitlin has always had a reputation for being a good eater at day-care, but she's not always quite as keen at home. As we've come to realise over the past few weeks, most of this comes down to simply preferring to eat with other people. If we all sit at the table together to eat, then Caitlin not only wants her food but yours too - if we're trying to feed her without eating ourselves, then she's generally less interested. Of course, there's never a problem if the food on offer is a “biccy”!

With James rapidly approaching the three-month mark, he's starting to take an interest in what other people are up to, and will move his head to follow you around - not that he's got full control just yet, but it's getting there.

Finally, a couple more videos for those following along:

Chris

Pronunciation

2007-03-02T22:11:00.000+11:00

During their visit to Australia, Rachel, Emily & Graham (particularly Graham) used to take great delight in getting their pronunciation of “Darling Harbour” just right. In case anyone is wondering what what the correct version is, here's Caitlin's interpretation.

James recently went in for a oral vaccine, which aims to protect him against gastroenteritis; interestingly, we never had the option of this treatment with Caitlin, so it's obviously a pretty new thing. Anna was keen to know that it was safe, but she shouldn't have worried too much as, about an hour after, James apparently coughed up much of it anyway!

Chris

Date for the Diary

2007-02-23T22:22:00.000+11:00

For those of you tuning in from the UK, we'd all like to let you know of a date for your diaries later this year. We'll all be coming back to the UK in July to celebrate:

James' Baptism, on Sunday July 15th afternoon at Clive Church, and
Anna's Birthday, on July 17th

The plan, at this stage, is to invite as many people as would like to come along for a weekend of fun in, or around, Barkers Green. Anna is currently scouring around possibilities for some outdoor fun during Saturday day - if you have any ideas drop her a note - followed by some food & drink in the evening.

We hope to catch up with as many of you as possible then!

Chris

Let me eat cake!

2007-02-16T20:11:00.000+11:00

On Saturday, we joined up with our local running club for a birthday celebration in Bronte for both Caitlin and one of the runners, Francis. Caitlin was more interested in the playground (in particular the climb-able octopus) than anything else, until the cakes were presented, at which point she managed to drag herself away for some icing!

On the 13^th, Caitlin went to “school” as normal, but was allowed to take a cake with her to share with everybody. Then, it was back home for the excitement of all the present opening - many thanks to everybody for all of your gifts.

The day after, James visited the doctor with Anna to have the first of his immunisation vaccinations. Apparently, he didn't particularly enjoy the experience, as he was writhing after the first and shouting after the second.

Chris

Tea for Two

2007-02-09T22:38:00.000+11:00

On Saturday, we headed down the road to Little Nicholson Street Playcentre to attend Lachlan's 2^nd birthday party - Lachlan being the eldest of the boys & girls in Anna's first mothers' group. It was a sunny afternoon, and Caitlin had a great time licking all the icing off the various cakes on offer!

During the week, Anna took James for his six-week check-up (which got delayed because the doctor was on holiday). The doctor was very pleased with James' progress, having increased his weight to 5.2kg. In addition, James also seems to have started smiling at us a little - although it's always difficult to tell whether the smiles are actually intentional or not.

With Caitlin's birthday just around the corner, Anna has also been busy buying cake tins in preparation for the big day. Caitlin will be at “school” during the day, but they are happy for parents to bring in cakes for all the kids to share!

Chris

Healing Well

2007-02-02T22:36:00.000+11:00

After the Australia Day festivities, we had a pretty relaxing weekend. Anna has re-started her rehearsals with the Balmain Sinfonia, in preparation for their next concert in March.

Unfortunately for Caitlin, there have been lots of changes in her life recently and, not surprisingly, she's taking a little while to get to grips with everything. However, until she does, Anna and I are both on the receiving end of some pretty typical “terrible two-s” behaviour. The only thing that seems to reliably soothe her currently is The Wiggles - as a result we all know the words to some of their DVDs pretty well!

Anna also recently made her final visit to the obstetrician, for now, to get his review of how her caesarean was healing. She had felt a couple of strains, mostly caused by chasing Caitlin around, but he was able to confirm that (even if she had pulled the internal stitches) there was no evidence of any problem.

Chris

James The First

2007-01-26T22:40:00.000+11:00

As today is Australia Day, it seemed like the most appropriate day to mention that James is the first of the Hughes clan to qualify as an Australian citizen. I hadn't realised until I checked, but James does indeed meet the criteria, so will be able to get his Australian passport shortly. We spent the day celebrating Robert's birthday, and enjoying the traditional barbie in Little Bay.

Last Sunday, we decided to make the most of the nice weather and head out to the beach at Clontarf. For some reason, Caitlin was a little hesitant to dip her toes in the water - but, not at all hesitant about crushing the sandcastles as soon as we had constructed them. Her transition from cot to bed has also been a little up-and-down, but she seems to be settling into the bed slowly but surely.

Finally, we'd all like to wish Anna's mum, Claire, a very happy birthday for the 27^th!

Chris

Bed Time

2007-01-19T21:33:00.000+11:00

On Sunday, we headed off to Featherdale Wildlife Park to show Caitlin some animals “close up”. Although the park is much smaller than Taronga Zoo, you are able to get much closer to the animals - and they let the emus and kangaroos wander freely around. It was a pretty warm day, but Caitlin absolutely loved it, and spent the whole day running up & down the walk-ways.

James spent most of the day sleeping in the bottom of the stroller, surfacing briefly for milk before disappearing again; so Caitlin got most of our attention as well! It was really nice being able to get a good look at the animals, including the funnel-web spider, which was bigger than I thought!

For some reason, Caitlin seems to have managed to get her leg “stuck” in the cot a couple of times this week, so we're planning on starting the transition from cot to bed over the next few days - Anna tried her in the bed for her afternoon nap today and all went well, so hopefully she's ready for the change.

Chris

Food Face

2007-01-12T21:35:00.000+11:00

Caitlin went back to school on Monday, after having a couple of weeks off over Christmas. As Anna is no longer working, we've changed her schedule so that she is only there on Mondays & Tuesdays, to give Anna chance to focus on her graphic design course-work on those days.

She's due to be “moving up” from the Chicks group (under two-year-olds) to the Brolgas group (two-to-three) soon, so it will be interesting to see what different skills she picks up. Her talking seems to have come on a lot recently, she is now regularly tackling new words and putting two words together - in addition, she has started to show the very first signs of wanting to use her potty.

James, meanwhile, has started to become more responsive when he's awake, and seems to have settled into a three-hourly feeding cycle. Anna's breast feeding has been going very well (much better than it did initially with Caitlin), which is great, but means that she's required to be woken up a couple of times each night.

Chris

Thriving

2007-01-05T22:18:00.000+11:00

As last year, we made the short walk from our house to watch the New Year fireworks from our local ferry wharf (which has a pretty good view of the Harbour Bridge) - a couple of videos should be up on Google Video shortly...

After a couple of weeks away from the office I returned to work this week, which meant that Anna was left to single-handedly look after both Caitlin & James. Things have gone fine so far, but Caitlin has been (predictably) frustrated at the idea of having to share Anna's attention - hopefully she'll get used to the idea in the next few weeks.

James had his first check-up with the lady from the Early Childhood Development Centre, which he passed with flying colours. Apparently the woman took one look at him and immediately commented that he seemed to be thriving - a visit to the scales confirmed that he had gained weight to 4kg (from his birth weight of 3.5kg).

Chris

Santa Who?

2006-12-29T21:28:00.000+11:00

Although Caitlin didn't really grasp the concept of Christmas too much, she did get into the hang of ripping the wrapping off packages - whether they were intended for her or not. Our friend, Meg, very kindly invited us over for Christmas lunch, so we did get to enjoy a lovely meal on the 25^th of prawns, salmon, pork etc. - sorry no turkey or sprouts!

In the evening, we had a Skype conference with everyone at Barkers Green, but the technology conspired to make the conversation rather tricky. We hope everyone there, and elsewhere in the UK, had a great day.

Both Anna and James have completed their recent courses of antibiotics, Anna to resolve a case of mastitis and James to clear up a minor eye infection, so that we're all ready to make a healthy start to the New Year.

Chris

Five magic words?

2006-12-22T21:55:00.000+11:00

Now that we have James home, we've been interested to hear the theory of how to speak baby; although, I can't say that either of us have figured out the dialect that he's using!

Caitlin seems to be, slowly but surely, coming to terms with the idea of having another person in the house. The first couple of nights she was very reluctant to go to sleep, something that she is normally very good at, but she has improved during the week and is now crying out for only a short time before settling.

As before, we'd like to send out a big thank-you for all of the cards and gifts we've been receiving to celebrate James' arrival. With all of the changes here, we haven't got around to our Christmas Card list as soon as we should. I think we got most of them in the post today but, given the distance, those travelling to the UK won't arrive until after the 25th!

Chris

Going Home

2006-12-15T22:34:00.000+11:00

After confirmation from the nurses, Anna & James will be coming home tomorrow, as planned. James is going along very well, and seems to be feeding a little better than Caitlin did initially - although Anna is still finding it to be a rather painful experience.

For those of you who want a little more footage, there are now some extra photos online, as well as a short video of James doing his impression of a kitten.

Caitlin and I have been in to the hospital every evening and she seems to be adjusting to the idea of having another member of the family - but I guess the true test will be when we all come home, and she realises that James is going to be around for a while.

Finally, we'd all like to send our thanks for the messages and best wishes we've received. It's nice to know that everyone is keeping an eye out for us!

Chris

All Doing Well

2006-12-11T20:25:00.000+11:00

Anna and I got to the hospital for our nine o'clock appointment and, after a few minutes of relaxation, it was the whirlwind of listening, nodding and signing that accompanies most operations. Then it was down to theatre for the scary injections and monitoring that all was well, before the obstetrician started his work.

I'm very pleased to report that our new healthy baby boy, James Blissett Hughes, was born at 11:32am and weighed in at 7lbs 12.6oz. Anna is also doing very well and, despite having had to go through surgery again, is recovering excellently.

I also took Caitlin to see her new brother this evening and she showed a, probably typical, combination of interest and confusion. We had arranged some gifts for the two to exchange and, once Caitlin saw the new shoes that she received, she was very keen to take them for a good walk around the maternity ward.

Chris

Final Push

2006-12-08T19:39:00.000+11:00

Anna went to her final check-up on Wednesday, which went well, but she has been getting a little bit of discomfort as the baby gets bigger and tries to find the exit door. It seems that he rotated from one side to the other (still head down), but the effort didn't go un-noticed by Anna.

Yesterday, we both attended Caitlin's Christmas Concert at her day care centre (click on the photo above for some pictures). It was good fun, but a little over-awing for all the children to have all their mums & dads present at the same time.

As you should all know, the next update to the 'blog will be once #2 has arrived, so hopefully Anna can manage to sneak a little rest in between:

Attending my company Christmas Party at the Opera House on Saturday evening
Performing in the latest Balmain Sinfonia concert on Sunday
Organising to get to the hospital on Monday morning (10:30am kick-off)

Finally, we'd all like to wish Anna's father a happy birthday, which he celebrated during the week - hope you enjoy the free bus pass!

Chris

Relax, at last!

2006-12-01T21:14:00.000+11:00

On Sunday, we went round to see our friends Juliet & Mike, and their 3-and-a-half month old daughter, Jasmine. It was nice catching up with them as, not surprisingly, we haven't seen too much of them since Jasmine's arrival. However, once Anna finishes work, I suspect she and Juliet might see more of each other. Whilst we were there, Caitlin took the opportunity to sample many of the snacks that were at her disposal; the end result of which was that she was sick about four times on Monday morning!

Anna's week has been a rather hectic one, as she has been completing some assignments for her college courses in the evenings, and doing her normal job plus finalising the hand-over details at work. However, with everything now done, she can sit back and relax, for once, next week.

Finally, Anna's work colleagues gave her a lovely set of gifts on her final day, including a basket of baby gifts, some flowers and a card. After the usual settling in period, Anna has enjoyed her time at ImagePoint, and was very grateful for everyone's best wishes.

Chris

Almost Finished

2006-11-24T22:09:00.000+11:00

Anna had originally been planning to work right up until December 8th - the thinking being that she could then maximise the amount of time she spent with the new baby as part of her maternity leave.

However, as she hasn't been at the company long enough to qualify for a guaranteed position to return to, she has decided to finish a week earlier than originally planned - which means that next week will be her last at work. To be fair to her current employers, they have expressed a keen-ness in having her return, and have said that they are 90% sure there will be a position.

We attended our penultimate appointment with Dr Brieger today, before the 11th, as he is heading off for a week's vacation next week (he has another doctor covering for him). While Anna was initially concerned, in case #2 decided to arrive a little early, this does mean that he'll be feeling re-charged and refreshed on his return. As we've had quite a few appointments with him over the two pregnancies, we've seen in him in a variety of degrees of tiredness - I guess you have to expect your sleep to be interrupted regularly when you're an obstetrician!

Chris

Synchronise Watches

2006-11-17T20:58:00.000+11:00

Last weekend we headed up to Katoomba to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and also as a last treat before el nino arrives. For some strange reason, one of us is often feeling a little under the weather when we go away, and this time it was Anna's turn to have a few sniffles. Fortunately, we had planned on just having a relaxing weekend, so that was exactly what we did!

We stayed quite close to Echo Point, at the Echoes Hotel. The plan being to eat at the hotel on Saturday evening, which we did, while Caitlin was asleep downstairs in our room; and everything went pretty much to plan once Caitlin had managed to settle herself.

Anna & I visited the obstetrician today for the latest of the bi-weekly check-ups; which went fine. Dr Brieger also confirmed that he had us booked in for a 10:30am operation (on the 11th), if Anna doesn't go into labour beforehand. With Anna now at 36 weeks, she is struggling to get a full night's sleep and is fast approaching the stage of pregnancy where she “just wants it out”.

Chris

Three! No-o-o-o-o!

2006-11-10T19:55:00.000+11:00

Those of you who been reading for a while may remember the discussion on buying our first pram - How many wheels. Our choice has served us well (including three trips back to the UK) but, unfortunately, doesn't provide an option for carrying two children. So, with #2 now only a few weeks away, we've invested in a Phil & Teds E3 stroller; primarily because it means that Anna or I can have both children “on board” and still have our hands reasonably free. The irony of it only having three wheels isn't lost on us though!

Having it made it safely back home to the UK, Rachel and Graham sent us through some photos from their trip; including a cameo appearance by yours truly at Harry's Cafe de Wheels.

Last, but not least - Anna, Caitlin & I are heading up to the Blue Mountains this weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary (on the 15th), and as our final trip away before the birth - so we'll hopefully have some more photos from there shortly...

Chris

Out for 60th

2006-11-03T22:03:00.000+11:00

Having dropped Rachel, Graham and Emily off at the airport, we quickly got togged-up to head out for a friend's, Ken, 60th birthday party at The Shakespeare in Surry Hills.

Anna visited the obstetrician on Tuesday for her latest check-up - all continues to be progressing well. She has been getting more Braxton-Hicks contractions than she seemed to with Caitlin, so this was the topic of some discussion but, at least according to Dr Brieger, this is quite normal for subsequent pregnancies. The other thing that both he, and Rachel last week, stressed was to try and take things easy during the last few weeks...

Chris

Packing it all in

2006-10-27T22:35:00.000+10:00

The Warrens got back into Sydney on Wednesday afternoon and managed to pack in a number of activities in their last few days before departing. Anna took a couple of days off work to join them on Thursday & Friday.

Then, on Saturday, I joined the merriment for a quick whiz around the harbour in a jet boat before dropping everybody off at the airport. It was really nice to catch up with their news, and pass on our best wishes to everyone in Chesterfield.

Chris

Rain, rain go away?

2006-10-20T21:15:00.000+10:00

Predictably enough, and after some near-record temperatures on Saturday, the weather took a sharp downturn for Rachel, Graham and Emily's arrival. However, despite the average weather, they did very well to get out and about on Monday and keep themselves awake until around 10pm that night - in an effort to adjust timezones as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, one of Anna's work colleagues, David, was attending the (Caesarean) birth of his second child at the same hospital that we're due to attend in December. They were having a boy this time around, having had a girl as their first child - hmm, coincidence. It wasn't until later in the week that we discovered that they also had the same obstetrician, Dr Brieger, that we have - no coincidence that it was also a Monday after all! Apparently everything went smoothly, so we hope for the same good luck in a couple of months time.

Chris

Aussie Wave

2006-10-13T21:35:00.000+10:00

Anna and I visited the obstetrician for the latest check-up yesterday and, as usual, I'm happy to report that everything is progressing well - despite the doctor making some passing remarks that Anna was slightly bigger than he expected.

With the weather heating up, I've also started to notice the appearance of the traditional Aussie Wave when I'm walking to and from the ferry. The temperature has been hovering around the mid thirties for some of the week, and that's guaranteed to spur on the local flies!

Finally, Rachel and Graham (pictured above) are due to be flying into Sydney next week - so hopefully the weather, both here and in Perth, will be good for them!

Chris

Catching Up

2006-10-06T22:06:00.000+10:00

A quick round-up of last weekend:

Anna successfully participated in the Balmain Sinfonia concert - as it's an event where people pay for their tickets, Caitlin & I listened to it from outside the concert hall (to avoid disturbing people when Caitlin shouts out)
The Swans went very close but, unfortunately, got beaten by just one point in the Grand Final

This week has been a pretty quiet one in terms of news here, as Anna & I have been trying to get as much sleep as possible before the new arrival. Despite her best efforts, as Anna gets bigger, it is also becoming increasingly difficult for her not to be disturbed by movements during the night.

Chris

DOB

2006-09-29T22:25:00.000+10:00

We both visited the obstetrician earlier this week and during the check-up, which went fine, we also discussed a few more details around the impending birth. Although Anna would prefer not to have a caesarean section, she has accepted that the medical wisdom is that this is the safer option for women who have previously given birth this way. So, unless something happens to change the plans, the doctor has “booked us in” for Monday, December 11th. It seems very weird to know the date in advance...

Anna will be performing in the latest concert with the Balmain Sinfonia on Sunday afternoon. Given that the birth is now scheduled for the 11th, Anna has also signed up to participate in the next concert, which is scheduled for December 10th!

Finally, this weekend sees the culmination of the AFL and NRL football seasons with the Grand Finals - our local AFL team, the Sydney Swans, is in the final for the second year running, so hopefully they can win back-to-back championships.

Chris

Nancy Sinatra?

2006-09-22T22:46:00.000+10:00

Although spring has only recently sprung, the temperature reached a balmy 30 degress today and is set fair for the next few days. The local prime minister, John Howard, obviously made the right call when he decided not to meet with Al Gore.

Caitlin has been walking for quite some time now, but has recently developed a passion for walking around in her Mummys' shoes whenever she can. In fact, if left to her own devices in the morning, you can pretty much guarantee where you'll find her:

Climbing downstairs to where the shoes live, or
Ferreting around in the shoe rack to find the pair she wants, or
Banging her way across the floor with her favourite pair

This video should give you an idea: “These shoes were made for walking”

Chris

Eye to eye

2006-09-15T22:15:00.000+10:00

Caitlin had a minor case of conjunctivis during the week, which meant that I had to work from home, on Thursday, whilst she was receiving her antibiotics. In the evening it was my turn to set the run, around Balmain, for our local hash - so I got to spend the whole day at the ~~Dry Dock Hotel~~ playground.

I also finally got around to uploading some of our older photos, so there are now a few more galleries available for your perusal:

Chris

All's well...

2006-09-08T22:04:00.000+10:00

Anna visited the obstetrician during the week, and they did a quick review of the Braxton Hicks contractions that Anna had. As always, he was keen to stress that we should contact him or the hospital if we have any concerns, but he suspected that the baby had managed to get itself into an “odd” position, as this can trigger similar pain. He also checked that the baby was well, and was able to confirm that everything had returned to its normal position.

Meanwhile, Anna has completed her work on the logo design for the accountant she works with - they're both very happy with the end result. It started out as a project for her graphic design course, but Fatima is sufficiently impressed that she has decided to adopt the new logo!

Chris

Contractions?

2006-09-01T22:07:00.000+10:00

During the week we paid a quick visit to our local hospital general practice, as Anna was experiencing some painful Braxton Hicks contractions. As the hospital is so close to home it seemed like a good place to go to have them confirm that all was well (which it was) - however, as they don't have any maternity staff there, they were slightly alarmed when we arrived and told them Anna was having contractions! We subsequently had a chat with the staff at our maternity hospital, the Mater, and they were able to quickly resolve the situation.

With the arrival of September, we've now officially moved from Winter into Spring (we do things on the 1st of the month here, to keep it simple). The temperature has clicked up a notch or two in the past couple of weeks, but hopefully it won't get too hot for Anna before #2 arrives...

Chris

Single Bed

2006-08-25T22:54:00.000+10:00

Anna has been busy this week, ensuring that all her normal duties have been covered off so that she can spend some time on her “work experience”. It seems to have gone fairly well so far, and she has been involved in projects for a couple of different clients.

During the week, I got a call to say that the single bed we had ordered (for when Caitlin graduates from her cot) has arrived and is ready for pick-up. Although the cot we have is plenty big enough at the moment, it didn't seem to make much sense to buy another cot for #2. One of the tips from our recent “toddler handling” class was to try and implement any changes prior to the arrival of the second baby - so we hope to have Caitlin feeling used to and comfortable with the bed before he arrives.

Chris

What an experience!

2006-08-18T21:36:00.000+10:00

Although I haven't been doing a lot of running recently, I decided to join the fun of the annual “City to Surf” on Sunday. Starting from the “back of the pack” group, I managed to complete the 14km course in just over 90 minutes. As always seems to happen, we were once again blessed with great weather for the event so that the main injury I sustained was a bit of sunburn on my head!

Meanwhile, Anna has got agreement from her current employers to complete some of the work experience required for her graphic design course there (around an hour a day). This is really great news because, although she has previously helped out with one or two pieces of work, she has been allocated time to do this - so that the studio manager can assign tasks to her, and know that she has the time to complete them.

Chris

Bye Bye Auntie Amy

2006-08-11T21:19:00.000+10:00

Amy & Gale headed back to the UK at the start of the week, we hope they both had an enjoyable trip to Australia - click on the photo above to see some more of Amy's photos.

On Wednesday evening we arranged for a friend to look after Caitlin while we attended an ante-natal class, a “Toddler Information Evening”, which covers topics regarding how to best introduce your new baby and toddler to each other. Overall, it was useful to get some tips and thoughts for what promises to be a hectic few months...

Chris

Winter in Sydney

2006-08-04T22:36:00.000+10:00

After a few days of average weather, the weekend picked up nicely for Amy and Gale and we were able to make the most of our walk from Bronte to Bondi and back. Having come so far, we insisted that they should both go in the sea at Bondi - so they took Caitlin with them to dip their toes in. Amy got caught a little by surprise and ended up a little wetter than planned - fortunately, the sun soon dried her off though!

After lunch at Dick's Hotel on Sunday, it was off to the airport for their trip north; and Anna was able to get some well-deserved rest after a hectic week of socializing.

Chris

Auntie Amy

2006-07-28T22:06:00.000+10:00

Anna's Natural Area Restoration course got off to a slow start as, when she arrived on Saturday morning, she was greeted with the news that she didn't need to attend the first two sessions; as she had previously covered the material. So, she got back in the car and drove home!

Amy and her sister, Gale, arrived in Sydney as scheduled on Monday, so Anna has spent much of her non-work time catching up. The weather during the week hasn't been great, but hopefully that hasn't stopped them from getting around too much. Anna is also taking the day off work today to join them both on a day trip to the Blue Mountains.

The forecast for the weekend is much better, so hopefully we'll be able to make the most of it with a trip to Bronte/Bondi tomorrow, before they fly away for a few days in the Gold Coast.

Chris

19-week scan

2006-07-21T22:25:00.000+10:00

Anna and I attended the 19-week scan this morning where, aside from checking on the general development, they are able to determine the sex of the baby. Everything went well, albeit somewhat slowly as the baby wasn't cooperating too much, and the final verdict was that this one is apparently a boy. While we were both pleased, I think Anna was particularly so, as it means that she will now have one of each.

After pampering, to celebrate her birthday last weekend, Anna is off to the first of her nine days of Natural Area Restoration to update her certification; which means that she has to get up earlier than normal.

Anna's friend, Amy, is also due to be visiting us in Sydney next week (along with her sister) - I hope she remembers to bring a coat and umbrella with her as, although it may be hot in the UK, we're very much in winter conditions here at the moment.

Chris

Ides of December

2006-07-14T22:22:00.000+10:00

Anna & I visited our obstetrician again this week for the regular check-up, all of which went very smoothly - Anna has continued to have low blood pressure, much as she did last time around. As I hadn't been to any of Anna's appointments with Dr Brieger as yet, we had a brief discussion around the likelihood (or recommendation) of having another Caesarian. Although the doctor was happy for us to go either way, he did stress that the current research suggests that the risks are lower with an elective Caesarian (rather than the emergency one we had last time).

Meanwhile, Caitlin has greatly enjoyed waking us up in the middle of the night for much of this week again. We're sure that it is still teeth-related, but we can't help but wonder if she is also testing the boundaries.

As it is Anna's birthday on Monday (17^th), we have a couple of things arranged for the weekend, including Anna visiting the day spa at the Observatory Hotel for some pampering and a massage. We're also attending the wedding of one of Anna's work colleagues on Sunday, at St Nicholas' in Punchbowl, so we're hoping that the weather is reasonable given that we're still mid-Winter here.

Chris

Canines

2006-07-07T22:20:00.000+10:00

Anna and I have both been having a somewhat disturbed week of sleep, as Caitlin has been teething and it has caused her to wake up at odd times of the night. She has almost all of her milk teeth now, but it looks like the canines are on their way through to complete the set.

As Anna hasn't been at college this week, she's been doing some work on her corporate logo project for the (part-time) accountant at ImagePoint, who is self-employed. Anna asked her a few questions about the logo last week, and has been putting together a few designs this week for review - and also trying to construct them in Illustrator.

We were due to visit the doctor for Anna's latest check-up today, but we received a call from the surgery that he had been called to an emergency, so the appointment has been re-scheduled for next week.

Chris

Too Much Spare Time

2006-06-30T22:31:00.000+10:00

Our MacBook Pro arrived on Tuesday, so the last piece of the puzzle was to purchase and install the Adobe Creative Suite, which we fortunately get at a very good price as Anna qualifies for the academic pricing. So, now Anna has no excuse for not becoming a master of graphic design, aside from:

Having a full-time job
Being pregnant
Being a mother and wife
Attending her graphic design course two evenings each week
Rehearsing and performing with the Balmain Sinfonia

So, to add a bit more spice, Anna has enrolled for a course at the TAFE college she previously attended, to upgrade her environment qualifications from a Certificate II to III.

Meanwhile, Caitlin has had a minor case of conjunctivitis, which we have been treating with some antibiotics - when we can successfully get them into her eyes. They looked quite sore at first, but the drops quickly improved things and she is back at school again now.

Chris