From this:











To this:







Well, it's not quite a reliable replacement yet, but I think we're on the way. he's certainly sucking it a lot when he's awake.











In other news, he did roll over a couple of times the other day (front to back), but then forgot how.

D'Arcy is on school holidays this week and next, so I'm trying to think of amusing diversions for him, without much success. We might go down the coast a bit in the second week, depending on how we go this week. He's been a bit sick again lately. This winter term is so hard on young kids, it goes on for ever with no public holidays to give them a break, and they all get sick. D's teacher said that there were only 14 in the class for the last couple of days (out of 23)!

Having the MIL here has been good, very low-key, and she's thrilled to see her grandson. He's the only grandchild she will ever have, so it's pretty special for her. I'll try to get some photos of her with him for the American relatives to see

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 15

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

I have a boy who smiles! He's very pleased with himself here.

D'Arcy reported that he got $2.20 from the tooth fairy, that her name is Veronique, and that her favourite colour, like D'Arcy's, is black. These were answers to questions he asked her in the letter he wrote her.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 14

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Erik turned around in response to his name, I think. Not long until Daddy gets back (2 sleeps - well, 2 of my sleeps) and Erik gets to meet his Grandma Joyce!

D'Arcy lost a tooth this morning (at 6 am) so he took it to his dad's house today, and he's written a note to the Tooth Fairy, apparently, so we'll see how it goes. I've got off lightly with the tooth fairy recently. Almost all his teeth have fallen out at his dad's.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 13

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

The swing has not been a Great Success, I'm afraid. But my mum has slowly and patiently been trying to get Erik to sit in if for short periods and acclimatise. Today's effort was the best so far, about 10 minutes before he started to complain.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 12

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

D'Arcy took a truckload of photos of Erik this morning, and lots of them are lovely. Not always well centred in the frame, but he got some good facial expressions, which is more than I can usually do! There are more like this one on Flickr. I took Erik to the clinic to have him weighed this morning, and he'd put on 400g+ in 10 days, but I suspect that a lot of that is poo, as he hasn't done one for days. The clinic nurse warned that it would be huge when it finally came!

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 11

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

A boy and his grandmother. He's been having a fairly grotty day today, not much sleep. And I though we'd been moving into a nice routine...

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 10

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Someone who had just woken up. In his bassinette.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 9

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Taken this morning by D`Arcy, who needs to work on focus, in more ways than one!

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 8

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Someone doing one of his favourite things...

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 7

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Here is a boy sitting on the sofa almost smiling at his grandmother. He's wearing a lovely suit that a friend of my mum's gave him which says "le girafotte" on it, despite the fact that she bought it in Italy. Even though it's in girly colours it doesn't seem to make him look very girly, or perhaps it's just because he's my boy. You can see (almost) that he scratched the left side of his head with his extraordinarily long finger nails while he was having a big scream today.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 6

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

If you think this is a weird grainy photo, you'd be right. What i didn't do, though, is save the original (a black rectangle) and all the stages in between. Basically it's a really low-light shot, without flash of Erik asleep in his car capsule. At least I thought he was asleep, but it seems he was more awake. The only tool I have is iPhoto, which has brightness/contrast adjustments and an 'enhance' button. Using a combination of these, I transformed my black rectangle into a weird grainy photo of my boy. I like to think of it as being like a painting by George Seurat. Or something.

D'Arcy's Favourite LoL

more animals

D'Arcy has been exposed to the hilarity that is ICHC. Actually they work well on him, as his literacy level is such that reading them makes more immediate sense to him than standard English,and unlike adults his brain hasn't become fixed to standard English spelling yet.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 5

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Another Jolly Jumper pic, this time at my friend Amanda's house. Amanda's daughter Emily 2¾ put the funny hat on Erik's head.

teeth

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Here's someone trying to remove his own tooth so he can get the dough frtom the tooth fairy earlier...

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 4

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Two boys on the sofa, looking solemn, but at least Erik's not screaming. He was, but I managed to snap him when he wasn't. D'Arcy is going to his dad's tonight, as his dad is getting married tomorrow (I know, on a Friday). D'Arcy is very excited - he gets to wear a suit and look after the rings, and he gets to see his Adelaide grandmother.

My mum has been here, and we've made a big mess in the guise of cleaning things up getting ready for Grandma Joyce to come. It is very good.

Also in the good category - Erik has been asleep for 2½ hours this morning. Showing some signs of waking up soon, but not there yet. So I've been looking through cooking magazines for nice things to eat over the next week and a half. Lots of fish.

Ooh, Erik is making his "I'm waking up" squeaky noises.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 3

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Bouncing in the doorway in his Jolly Jumper with his Grandmother encouraging him. He really likes it, I think, or at least he did yesterday. Today he was a bit tired and due for a sleep, so he got grumpy.

There was a picnic at D'Arcy's school today for their literacy festival, but it was freezing and cloudy, so we didn't stay for long. Long enough to eat a sausage roll and some vegies and hummous.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 2

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

In the bouncinette looking at his Canberra Grandmother who was making funny faces to try to elicit a smile.

A Photo a Day While Daddy's Away 1

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Originally uploaded by Crit Chicken

Beloved has gone to the US for work, and to pick up his mother who is coming for visit. So I thought I'd try to take a photo of Erik every day for him to look at. Sadly I got off to a bad start - this is yesterday's. In the car capsule, wearing his Highlands hat that Auntie Laura brought back from PNG for D'Arcy a long time ago now. Also wearing his emu suit from Stringybark Graphics (which I'll ge the URL for soon).