A summer end to 2011 and a cold welcome to 2012!
We had another great summer / Christmas two-week in Australia. Father Santa has done much justice to the weather and we had a rather dry and cool summer at Lennox Head (our sanctuary spot for beach time!) and Brisbane (where we hung out with our cousins, family and Ian’s friends). Michael and Benjamin had a blast! With the love from Nanna, Michael got to watch his first movie at the cinema (Happy Feet 2) with his two other cousins. Benjamin had enjoyed the water immensely this time around, be it at the swimming pools or by the beach. He just couldn’t get enough of it! Santa made it all the way to the Southern Hemisphere and the boys were spoiled and showered with loads of presents.
However, our highlight had to be spending a morning at our own house in Brisbane! We had a change of tenants and we got to be there for the day! The boys (Ian included) had a swim at our pool and we got to “day-dream” about what we’d do to our house when we move there! It was a great day of dreaming!
The boys had an uneventful flight back from Brisbane to Shanghai. Michael literally watched 10 hours of TV and turned into a potato (he even admitted it himself) and Benjamin was half reasonable! No pukes or pee or drama – we called it a great success!
After coming back to Shanghai, we prepared for the colder weather and 2012. We had our first set of visitors (my great college friend Sam and her daughter Isabelle) and had a great time (definitely ate too much and stayed up too late yabbering!)
Then came today where our little Baby Benjamin went off to school for the first time. It was about the same age (22 months young) when Michael also went to the same school (same class & teachers too)! Michael was just ecstatic that he could say “hi” to his brother in the playground! Ian and I expected the worst (Benjamin can get a little “unpredictable!”) and all we got was “Bye, Mom” while he was playing with new toys at the classroom. I probably had more tears welling up than imagined! When I came back in the afternoon to fetch (save) him, he was ever so composed, having his lunch and sitting with such discipline next to his teacher. It was so cute to see! We hope this is not some kind of “delayed reaction” and that our baby is truly ready for his next stage (sobbing mother!)…
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- the boys going to school
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- I am going to school!
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- Benjamin at the classroom
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- getting into the toys already.
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- eating nicely at the table.
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- look at that “angry ben ben” look!
Photos from our December holiday in Australia:
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| Our Boys’ Album – December 2011 |
Until next time, much love from Shanghai, about to get into Chinese New Year.
