Even Mini-Globetrotters Grow Up Fast

Man oh man has it been a long time since I updated this blog! In the meantime, we spent a month in Australia, Alex's last couple teeth came in, he has a couple of new words, and he's infatuated with his older brother, Lukas. Everything that Lukas has Alex must have, and what Lukas does, Alex must do. Boy, is it cute to watch (when it doesn't end violently).

Alex's vocabulary, though not as comrehensive as Lukas' at that age, includes such words as:

- Doggy, pronounced "dah-dee!"

- Elephant, pronounced "Eff-ahh!"... usually accompanied by an elephant-like tarzan call

- Pa-pa

- Lukas, I can't really make out. It's something like "lidl, lidl"

- Bottle, prounounced "bah"

- All motorized vehicles "Toooot, toooot!"

- Horse - "ah-see!"

- Cow - "Hmmmm!"

Despite his limited word index, Alex is a clever little guy. He does things that I think are uncharacteristic of a child his age. A couple days ago he brought me a walnut (which I sometimes succeed in cracking with my hands). He made a straining sound, which was his way of telling me that I should try to open it. After a couple minutes he gave up. He slid off of my lap, took the walnut out of my hands, and brought it back to the bowl. Then he shuffled them around and pulled out a new walnut, which he dutifully brought back to me. He must of been thinking, "This one should work." Little cutie.

Alex is also crazy about our saintly dog, Felix. It's kind of an obsession, really. He climbs on him, throws things for him to fetch, and showers him with plenty of affection and baby kisses.

Meanwhile, brother Lukas' active imagination is livelier than ever. He loves to talk to his somewhat-imaginary friends, Seymour (a small stuffed tortoise who he often coverses with) and Jeffa (a long-neck Schleich figure). In fact, he only just returned from a rescue mission where he single-handedly recovered 500 ladybugs from the mouth of a wild buffalo.

We're also making progress on the reading front, as Lukas can now recognize most of the letters of the alphabet by sight, and is beginning to understand how to "sound things out". Yesterday was his first day back at school in almost two months and he could hardly wait!

They seemed to enjoy our time in Australia, although the flight there and back (about 24 hours each way!) is pretty brutal for children of any age. Lukas' favorites (most of which were Alex's favorites, too) were the ferris wheel on Brisbane's South Bank; greeting Bindi and Robert Irwin, petting koalas and kangaroos, and riding ponies at Australia Zoo; the boat ride and cable car to, and animals at, Sydney's Taronga Zoo; 4-wheeling with Papa, Albert, and Mama at Corner Inlet National Marine Park in Victoria; wandering through a maze in the Dandenongs' Sky High; viewing the coral reef from the semi-submersible from the Great Barrier Reef's Reefworld; lots of warm beach and pool outings; and spotting whales and dolphins from the iconic lighthouse in Byron Bay. Lukas' has a knack for languages, and he had fun learning the Aussie mate, including such expressions as "How ya goin', mate?", "Good on ya, mate!" and "G'day, mate!". I've got to get some video of that before he loses it all! Alex meanwhile proved to be quite the swimmer, and held his breath like a pro at the count of three.

Although it certainly wasn't an inexpensive trip and - because of their ages - it definitely had its stressful moments, I can't say we'd wait until they were older. There will be other trips when they are older, and the memories that we have from this trip are captured in photos, videos, blog postings, and, of course, our minds.

Well, mommy-hood calls. Better get these boys out of their PJs so we can head out to the gym! Wishing you many happy adventures with you and your little ones, wherever you are!

~Liz