First Words, Mistaken Identity and Opportunity Knocks (April)

Another month, another blog post!  It's been a busy month with Easter and a weekend away, so here are the formalities with Easter and our weekend away to follow in separate posts.

MrE is 9 months!
Eden is 9 months.  He now weighs 21 lbs 8 oz or 9.9 kg

Mr.E is one happy boy!  We are still treated to lots of smiles, kisses and now return hugs.  Mr.E has a discovered Sesame Street and Ollie (an orange muppet who sings on Nick Jr) and is mesmerized.
                                                            
 Milestone: First Words
This month brought his first word: "MAMA"  He has been babbling for some time but one morning as I was feeding him breakfast, he looked at me and said "mama" clear as day!  Eloise got very still, her eyes widened and she said "Did you hear that?"  Yes, I did!  He has since started saying "dada".

Mr.E does the Worm
Mr.E is no longer lazy!  In a matter of a day, he decided he liked moving around the room and off he went.  He prefers to commando crawl still although he does sometimes move on his hands and knees.  He loves to explore his home, playing hide-n-seek to find us in different rooms.  The big smile on his face as he peers around corners and doorways is priceless.  And don't tell MissE but he loves to play in her room when she is at pre-school.  He will crawl to her room and go for her toys!
Unlike his sister, we have had to find our child proofing kit.  Although I bought electrical covers, etc for MissE I never had to use them as she never touched anything.  The first thing Mr.E wanted was a socket, the second was the power board and the third was the XBox 360 and wii.  He already does not listen to "no!"  He turns around, smiles and giggles at you then goes right back to what he was doing, trying to pull the plugs.

Another favourite pastime is using us as a jungle gym and pulling up on our pants (better make sure the belt is tight!)
I am really enjoying that Mr.E has taken the 'slow and steady' approach to milestones like rolling, crawling, pulling up.  This time I feel like I have a baby for much longer.

WINNING!
I am so excited about this STILL.  As I have written about in past blogs, Mr.E likes to face me when we are out and about.  I have spent months in search of a  bugaboo bee + (the only pram to meet all of my requirements: reversible seat, compact and lightweight, foam filled wheels) and had only recently resigned myself to purchasing it in the US (while it retails for $899 here, it is $649 in the US) and carefully transporting it back to Australia after a few failed offers on our local classified website and bids on eBay.  Very unlucky, the Special Edition bugaboo + Missoni was what I had my eyes on and no longer at Neiman Marcus. Then, one morning, by chance I thought I would check eBay and a BNIB (or brand new in box) bugaboo bee + came up for under $500 (my price point and unheard of for brand new!).  I emailed the seller to ask if it came with a canopy (these are an additional $49-79) and during that time, the item has sold.  But when she replied, she said she actually had another one she was going to list.  I had to consult my eBay guru to weigh up the purchase which in retrospect was silly.  I bought it and we are all living happily ever after with the bee + (Mr.H and I love the way it pushes, Mr.E loves the option of facing in or out, and MissE loves riding on the skateboard attachement).   Here's the pram liner I made for it:

My First Passport

Have passport, Will travel.

A few more photos:

I 'mustache' you to feed me!

Hipster in Training

His and Hers 'winter' hats

MissE
The power of the internet to prove you wrong (let's hope after I write the next line I don't get proven wrong again)!  After last month's post, MissE has been good... er, calmed down (Darn power of the internet working again!), other than talking back.  That's still a problem but I've heard that will be a problem until she's 18.  We only have a few incidents here and there but for the most part, she is open to listening to you and following directions.  Talking about Big School (although she is still 1.5 years off but she doesn't know that) has helped as she is desperate to go to Big School and wear a uniform with a hat.  We are also working on days of the week, telling time (digital clock) and looking after her things because that's what you do at Big School.

MissE Misses Gung-gung
Recently at the grocery store, MissE saw a Chinese gentleman  and shouted "Hi Gung-gung!", waving madly. And yes, the gentleman had an uncanny resemblance to Gung-gung (I might add, a younger version, which will put a smile on Gung-gung's face).  Conor and I laughed and quietly told her that it was not Gung-gung to which she replied "I really miss Gung-gung".

Kiss the Boys and Don't Make Them Cry...
As I posted last month, we've had a few issues with MissE not listening at swimming in regards to her not kicking when asked.  Hello, bottom of the pool!  A few weeks ago, it finally clicked.  I am not sure what it was as there were a combination of things at work (no beach/ pool threats and a promise of chocolate post-swim) but we had a big laugh over this exchange:

Mr.H: Miss.E, if you kick your legs very fast today and I will be very happy with you.
MissE: Okay daddy.  You and mama will be my friend if I kick?
Me: Yes, the boys (in her class) will also be your friends.
MissE: Will they give me a kiss?
Mr.H: You would like that, wouldn't you?
MissE: Oh, YES!

Uh-oh daddy!  During swim lessons, she kicked her legs very fast so she was rewarded with her chocolate post-swim.  As we were driving away, she asked: Mama, I kicked very fast.  How come the boys didn't give me a kiss???

Bernie Mullane Sports Complex
We had the chance to check out a new park nearby.  It was fantastic, although lacking in seating for the adults!

Surfer Girl

Little Drummer Girl

Me
I haven't written about me for a while so here's what I have been up to in a nutshell: now that Mr.E is happy to have bottles during the day, I am hoping to pick up an extra working day or 2 with my temp agency.  I am currently doing one day every other week with a (great) pharmaceutical which I am very much enjoying.  While I check our job search engine and keep my ears open daily, I am still waiting until we return from our trip to seek a permanent position.  I hope the right thing will be there at the right time for me!

To start up or not to start up?
I've been thinking about this for some time now but only now it's starting to take shape in my head.  After each party for Eloise or Halloween, I am told I should start a children's party business from friends with and without children.  What has deterred me before is the amount of work I put into the parties but when it's your own, you are a perfectionist.  After this weekend, of persistent hounding and being given a deadline of a year to get it started, I am truly giving it a thought.  How to?  How much do I need to start?  How do I start?  Is it profitable?  Will it be worth the time?

Sew Cute
Pinterest is my cryptonite! I can't jump on there without pinning at least 3 sewing projects then running out to find the perfect fabric for it the next day.  My craft room is currently brimming with fabric and patterns... and good intentions.  Here's a few completed projects for April:

A new sunhat for Mr.E 

Pretty in Pleats Tunic

One-Shoulder Dressy Dress

A Date Night!
Mr.H and I recently had a date night, thanks to my B-I-L.  One of my favourite book series was recently turned into a little movie called The Hunger Games and we were one of the first in the world to see it!

Mocking Jay Pin

It was excellent, both the movie and a night out!  I recommend reading the books and seeing the movie if you haven't!

Insanity!
                                                                  
Have you heard about Insanity?  It's a very aptly named workout series that is all the rage in the US but not here... yet.
After not losing the baby weight from Eloise and carrying it over to Eden, this time I was determined to not let it weigh me down!  It's become something that Mr.H and I do together every night before we watch a little bit of TV.
We started with Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred at the recommendation of a friend who swore by it (and she had an amazingly fit body).  It was okay.  I liked that it was 25 minutes but I still felt like I could do more.  After flipping through a few US magazines (love Zinio for iPad) I saw an advertisement for it.  I checked it out online then saw that one of my friends on Facebook was doing it and said it was a good workout but tough.  Let's give it a try!  Thank goodness we did 30 Day Shred because we didn't suffer as much when we started Insanity.  The fit test nearly made me run for the hills!  It's a 60 day program with a Sunday rest day and a fit test every 2 weeks.  We are in the home stretch now with 2.5 weeks to go.  I've had a few days off first for a back injury (during week 2) and more recently our weekend away so I am trying to get back into it (and put my diet back in check after Easter eggs and glasses of wine all weekend).
So far so good with the results!  I won't embarrass myself by posting before and after photos but I have lost 17 pounds, and taken several inches off my arms, thighs, waist, tummy (not enough off the tell-tale mama pouch though!) and hips.  I am now back in my pre-Eloise clothes!  And hopefully, I am not done yet...