Terrigal beach

We decided on Saturday morning over breakfast to go to 'a beach' because the day looked lovely. We took out the map book and somehow settled on 'Forrester beach' because it looked big and long and not too far away. We packed and set-off at 10:30am.



Unfortunately we found Forrester beach to be a little 'wild' when we arrived. There was no shade, greenery or shops close-by. It took us some time to find a small take-away and got some burgers for lunch (by then we were extremely hungry). It took us even longer to find a 'park' (any place with grass and trees) to eat our lunch. We decided to head down to Terrigal after lunch.



We were very lucky to find a car space right in front of the beach. The day was probably too warm to stay outdoor but at the beach with the cool water and breeze, it was beautiful. Lara spent a long time in the water even though she had a chest cold and we didn't plan to stay for that long. The beach was patrolled with lots of cafes and shops nearby, very differnt to Forrester beach. Note to self: buy a beach umbrella so we can leave things at the beach.



We finished the day with icy poles and got home just before 5pm. Hopefully we get a few more fine days like these before winter!

Pet rocks

Lara's daycare craft. She painted the face and glued the eyes and hair herself.
What a clever idea!

Monday night dinner

Mushroom risotto with baby spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes.

Family Funday - Botanical Garden

We took the train into the city on Sunday, our destination the Botanical Garden. To save time, we walked there from Wynyard station, rather than waiting for another train. We admired the size of Queen Mary II docked at Circular Quay on the day before, but didn't stop to check out the arts/crafts stalls outside the Opera House steps (because I had to find a toilet quickly!).

Lara with QM II in the background.


We thought Lara would like to walk around in the Botanical Garden more. However, being such a warm day, she just wanted to be pushed around in the pram or sit on the grass. We saw lots of bats hanging up-side-down on trees trying to get some sleep despite the noises around.



Lara had a little sleep in the pram while we walked to World Square to have lunch (we also checked out some books in Dynmocks on the way there). We had lunch at 'Ding Tai Fung', a Taiwanese dumpling restaurant. My dad had been to one of the original branches in Taiwan and said it was great. It has great reviews and won lots of awards. The service was very attentive and kids friendly (Lara sat on high chair with her own kids plates and cutlery), however the food was not as tasty as we imagined. We had steamed pork dumpling, vegetable dumpling, pork and shrimp shu mai, shrimp and pork wonton soup, sweet and sour soup and fried crispy chicken.

We had coffee and ice chocolate before heading home. We did a lot of walking (I had blisters to show at the end of the day!) but felt great. We are planning to take Lara on the ferry next time.

Toilet training

Grandma decided to toilet train Lara one Sunday before Christmas. I didn't know the exact details(I was in bed), but I heard the score was 6 undies in two hours and crying and pleading at the end - "I don't like undies, I want to wear nappies!" We decided to leave it at that for a little while.

It was during the Austrlia Day long weekend when we decided to try again. I was still not feeling the best so Simon did most of the monitoring and reminding. There was only 2-3 accidents this time, mostly on the first day. Maybe the constant brain-wash (by telling her how good it is to wear undies) in between helped. Lara even did poo willingly in the toilet. We cheered every time something 'dropped' in the toilet and everything progressed well. Lara showed everyone her undies and had very few accidents in daycare(only a couple of times when she forgot or couldn't make it to the toilet in time).

Everything was well for two weeks, Simon even thought his ass-wiping days are over (at least for a few months). Then Lara started to refuse to poo in the toilet (wee is fine). We persevered/bribed/threatened but nothing worked. I was a little surprised that she could hold the poo(the longest for over 4 days!!) but Lara was determined. Once I sat with her on the toilet for 45 minutes because she looked like she might do one, but no, not coming.

Apparently this is very common. 'Be patient', we are telling ourselves. It will happen when she is ready!