I've got teddies in my tummy!

Here is Owen "pregnant" with two teddies.





Oh yeah, for those who don't know yet, you can also see Jo pregnant with twins!

Here is Owen, doing extremely well after the uncomplicated birth of twin teddies. For those interested in details, it was a home birth, neck hole delivery, drug free, and over in less than 1 minute. Jo is hoping that the birth of the twins will be just as trouble free.

Around the World 2 - USA

We went through the USA on our way back to Australia.

First stop Philadelphia, where Owen's uncle Richard took a few days off work to:

1) Take us to the beach, where Owen got to try what they called "Pie" (looks like pizza, tastes like pizza...). Of course, it has to be bigger than anywhere else on the planet.





2) Take us to Sesame Place - a Sesame Street theme-park. Here Owen got to stand in queue to meet "Big" Cookie Monster, "Big" Bert and "Big" Earnie - in the felt, as it were.






For weeks after this, Owen's favourite song was "C is for Cookie" , which he would often sing at the top of his voice.


3) Let him play a drum game on Nintendo (Actually, he didn't need the game - it was fun enough without the technology).





4) Eat at a "diner". Where the food isn't any good, and they are very patriotic. Owen had to join in, or they would take him for a foreigner!






Next was Denver, where Nathan's cousin and family are living. Owen had lots of fun with his three second cousins - seen here having some jello (that's american for jelly).





We happened to be there at the time of the Democrats' convention, so there were quite a few crowds, and lots of merchandise to buy.





Nathan couldn't help himself, and purchased some Obama playing cards. Obama is pictured on all the A and K cards, and both George Bush and McCane are on the jokers. Other celebreties (presumably supporters) are shown on the other cards.





One down side of the convention was that many of the tourist sites were booked out with functions. We tried to see the "red rocks" - a natural formation of rocks - travelling quite some distance only to find that it was off-limits to non-democrats (okay, that's not quite true - to non-invited guests). Still, we had a nice view.

Around the world 1 - Leipzig

In August, the family went on a round the world trip (yes, we are a bit tardy - some explanations in the following posts). It was primarily a business trip for Nathan, but we fit in some holidays in between.





Owen had not been on a plane for nearly 2 years, and last time he went he couldn't walk. What a difference this time!










Up until this trip, Owen had not tried much ice cream. But lucky for him, he got one almost every day in Leipzig!






Owen didn't mind the change of scenery or language, and didn't take long to start mixing it with the locals. Click here for a video of him playing with the kids at Leipzig English Church - many of which were speaking German.



One day we went out with another two local families to "Woerlitz". It's an English Garden about an hour drive north of Leipzig. Here are all the kids resting under a tree.





We went on a guided boat tour of the waterways, and Owen had a run-in with the swans pictured here. Owen was (as usual) fascinated by the wildlife, and oblivious to any danger. One of the swans pecked him on the cheek! We are not sure what shocked him most - the peck, or being hurled off his seat by one of the mums worried for his welfare.






We also visited the Zoo again. Here is Owen on some of the play equipment. You would never find anything like this in a Sydney playground - much too dangerous!






And finally, Owen getting to know one of the local icons - the green Ampelmann. See here for our previous post on this.

Why??

It is the stereotype that young children keep asking "WHY". Owen hasn't quite got to that stage, but he knows how to answer if someone asks him the same question.

He has had two phases. Here is an example of the first:

Owen: I need to go outside.
Dad: Why?
Owen: Because it's so messy!
Dad: That's not a reason!

Every time we asked why, he would give the same response - "because it's so messy".

In more recent times, he has changed his response somewhat. For example:

Owen: I just want to play.
Mum: Why?
Owen: Because it's so messy, that's not a reason! [with a huge grin].

Japan

I (Nathan) went to Japan for work. It was tough going, as I didn't know much Japanese at all.




Here is a melon for sale. Nice packaging, but otherwise quite normal, right? Now, take a look at the price tag. 100 yen is approx 100 cents. Have another look at the price tag. Do the sums...



This is a driving range - on the roof of a department store.



And here is one of those famous Japanese toilets. This was only a standard model - it just had a seat warmer, and two water jets.



The most interesting cultural experience of the trip was staying at a Capsule Hotel. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take any photos. Click here for a short description and some photos. Capsule hotels are designed for workers who miss their train home. Rather than taking a taxi, it's cheaper to stay in a (relatively) low cost hotel, where everything is provided for you - disposable razors, shaving cream, deoderant, hair gel, aftershave, ... And to relax, you can soak in a hot spring bath or sauna and get a massage. And to top it off, you can gently drift to sleep to the sound of a dozen men snoring! A few rules, though. Men only, absolutely no tatoos, and no swim suits in the bath.

So how was it? I'm glad I gave it a go, but once is definately enough for me.

Expressions and other games

One of the games we play with owen is "Expressions". There are several versions to this. For example, Owen will make a face, and we have to guess what expression he is showing. Want to have a go? What do you make of the following? Answers at the end of the post.







In addition to this, we also like to play a few other games. Such as:

Nathan: I'm thinking of an animal. It has no arms and no legs, and goes "SSSSSSS". What is it?
Owen: A snake!
Nathan: That's right. Your turn.

Owen: I'm thinking of an animal. It has no arms, no legs, no body and no head. And it goes "SSSSSS". What is it?

As you can see, Owen doesn't always get it.


Owen has an active imagination. Here is Owen having a picnic with his toys.


And here is "teddy". Teddy is very important to Owen - he sleeps with him every night. Unfortunately, a week ago, Teddy was left behind at Chatswood (Jo's parents). To try and avert a disaster, we called Pops, and asked him to pretend to be teddy (with a high voice), and tell Owen that he was staying at Chatswood tonight.


Pops (high voice): Hi Owen. I'm sleeping at Chatswood tonight.
Owen (bright and cheery): Hi Pops!!
Pops (high voice): I'm teddy!
Owen (slightly upset): Where's teddy?
Pops (high voice): I'm sleeping in Chatswood tonight.
Owen (very distressed) I WANT TEDDY!

Can't fool this one!

Disaster was averted when a replacement bear (Steiffi) filled in.

Those expressions? Happy, thinking, surprised and sad. How did you go?

Forster/Tuncurry

About a month ago, the family went north for a week long holiday at Forster/Tuncurry; twin towns separated by a short bridge. They are about 3.5 hours drive away from Sydney, and with several beaches they are a popular holiday spot.



We stayed at a friend of a friend's time share holiday village; it had lots of fun family activities, such as a cool jumping pillow (click here for a video), a swimming pool and some canoes. In this photo, Owen looks very cool in his little life jacket.




We managed to have the last of the warm weather and went to the beach and the pool a few times. In this photo you can see Nathan showing Owen the best way to spend a lazy afternoon.

H I J K....

Suddenly, Owen is starting to sing in tune! It's probably because he has been practicing so much. He spends up to two hours each night singing to himself and his teddy before he finally drops off to sleep, and if we don't get him out of bed as soon as he wakes up he fits in a little more practice; so all up that makes around 14 hours per week. It's no wonder he's so tuneful when he sings now. He seems to break out in song at all hours of the day - during breakfast, lunch, dinner, playing with his toys, sitting on the toilet, in the car and walking down the street - you get the idea.

What does he sing we hear you ask? Well, his repertoire is quite extensive! Every nursery rhyme you can think of, the alphabet song (a particular favourite of his), Happy Birthday to you, songs from The Wiggles. For example, from the time we walked from a shop in a shopping centre to the car Owen sang, 'Hot Potato' and 'Fruit Salad' from The Wiggles as well as Five Little Ducks and Happy Birthday.

Here is a video of Owen singing the alphabet song. Actually, he is helping the turtle to sing it; you can tell this if you listen closely right at the end.

For the americans - yes, it is true. We say Ex, why, zed; not Ex, why, zee. Any yes, we know, it doesn't rhyme.

Happy New Year!

Well, after a bit of a downer for Christmas (see previous post), new year was alot better. Owen got the all clear from the doctor to break quarantine, and to celebrate, the family went to the beach. This was the first time Owen actually got in the water at the beach, and here are a few photos. Owen loved it, and didn't want to leave.

That evening we kept to Owen's normal routine - in bed at 7:30. At around 9pm, we were very surprised to hear Owen singing "Happy Birthday" to himself and his teddy. Here's a video of him singing this song at a more normal hour (keep watching for the "hiccup hooray!" at the end). After a bit of thinking, we worked it out. There were quite a few new year's eve parties in the neighbouring houses, which were quite loud. They must have woken him up, and reminded him of his favourite parties - birthday parties. And thus the song.