What a view!

Nearly the end of another week! Last weekend was pretty quiet, a long walk on Saturday to our local shops for some exercise and coffee(!) and on Sunday we went to our new favourite coffee spot, Mary Cairncross Reserve. There is a rainforest reserve up there and we do the 1/2 hour walk and then coffee and breaky in the cafe.

The view from the cafe -

We then took Matthew onto one of his new favourite pastimes, trains. Once a month the local model steam railway society get their trains out and take the kids around their track. Matthew loves it....
















The children are doing really well. Matthew is becoming such a doting brother and makes sure I know when Sophie needs attention. We had Sophie weighed on Tuesday and she is now a whopping 15lbs 1oz, not bad considering she is 4 months. It took Matthew about 4 more weeks to get to that weight.

We have had Matthew allergy tested and the doctor has confirmed that he has a severe nut and raw egg allergy. We're going to see a specialist in October to find out whether he thinks it's necessary for Matthew to carry an Epipen around with him. We're making sure he stays well away from anything nutty. He did have a pretty horrible reaction to some tahini so we're also keeping him away from sesame seeds!!!

The children and I have had a busy week. Monday we went to Sue's house. She has a daughter, India, who is the same age as Matthew. Abbey was there with her two children, Harriet (2) and George (1), and Julia with her son Josh (20 months). All the laydees are English and have been here for about 3 years. Wednesday, we went to see Mum and Dad. Matthew went with his Grandpa to see the planes at our local airport, a job my Dad loves to do. Mum helped out with Sophie so I took it easy for the afternoon.

This morning we were at playgroup where there are about 15 other children from about 6 months to 3. It's only on for a couple of hours but Matthew gets to run around and play with some new toys. This morning's interest was a piece of plastic pizza that he was trying to chew the topping off!!!! Tomorrow we're off to the Baby Expo in Brisbane. Thought it might be interesting to see what was about and get some ideas to keep the children occupied!!

Middle of June already!!

It has now been over seven months since we moved to Australia and in some ways it still feels like it was yesterday. We do have Sophie to prove to us that it has been a little longer than that. Things continue to go well and we are gradually settling in and enjoying our new surroundings. We have started to get out more and are discovering some beautiful beaches and parks within easy reach of home. Dave continues to enjoy wearing his shorts to work even though we are currently in winter! He has a relaxing commute to Noosa which is about 35 minutes from home and is able to get back in plenty of time to spend time with the children.

Emilie and Leila left us at the end of May and have left a definite void in the house. It was really sad to see them go, but we had a fantastic time together. Matthew is still running around asking where Leila has gone! We're looking forward to seeing Martin, Louisa and Georgia in the middle of August for three weeks. It will be Martin's 30th while they are out here so another good reason to be stocking up on the red wine!

Sophie is doing really well and is a staggering 15 weeks old already. She has started to sleep through the night, which is fantastic for me, and is doing plenty of smiling and cooing. She spends a lot of her time watching Matthew playing so I should imagine she'll be there with him the first opportunity she gets!

At one week old and at 13 weeks! What a difference!

Matthew is also doing very well and is keeping us both busy. I make sure I get him out of the house each day during the week and he is enjoying going to swimming, music, playgroup and coffee mornings (as long as there is plenty of cake!) He is proving to be a doting brother to Sophie and is quite relaxed around her. He makes sure I know whenever she is crying and in need of attention. Matthew's vocabulary is improving and his life currently revolves around aeroplanes, trains, tractors and cars.... oh and of course his Daddy!