Merry Christmas

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a new year full of God's blessings.
Heather and Asher will be flying to the US on the 8th of January and David will move there as soon as he gets his visa.
Be sure to follow us here at hrrp://prangnells.blogspot.com to keep up with what we're doing and where we are!

Asher still can't say bottom

I guess the problem with introducing the concept of potty training to a toddler is that they learn a whole new vocabulary, all of which evoke a response when yelled at random times.

In addition to finding, discussing and saying poo, Asher loves to get to the bottom of things. Literally.

Lighthouse Tour

Wednesday we visited the Vlaming Head Lighthouse. The lighthouse is open for tours to commemorate lighthouse's 100th anniversary, it isn't usually open.

A concrete tower 12.2m high on an elevation of 73.2m above sea level, completed in 1912. It contains a Chance Bros dioptric light illuminated with vapourised kerosene as its fuel. As the light was decommissioned in 1967 before many of the lights were changed to electric and later to solar power, the Vlamingh Light was in the fortunate position of being the only Lighthouse in Australia to still be powered in its traditional way.There is no other lighthouse in Australia which has been restored with the capacity to run a kerosene burning light.

This photo is from a few months ago when Grandma came for a visit. That is the lighthouse we visited in the background. Now, for photos from the tour...

 The stairs leading up to the top.

 The last set of steps before you whack your head on a well-placed metal bar.

 Me, steps.

 Sitting in the window outside of the lighthouse.

 Asher and his friend Esther. Waves!

Dave and I at the top of the lighthouse.

Camera!

Asher is fascinated by our cameras. They flash, they make noises, and they have pictures.

We have two cameras, a basic and sturdy underwater camera, and a better camera with a flip-up flash and a zoom.

I've let Asher push the button to take photos a few times before. The day I took this video he wanted to try it for himself!!

Asher sings the ABC's... kind of!

A...C...A...C...........C!!

Swimming Lessons

Asher has had four swimming lessons so far this summer, and he's screamed his way though three of the four. The last time the water was a LOT warmer and I was being hyper-silly-happy to coerce him into a happier mood. And the combination worked.

However, his favourite part of going swimming is playing on the playground afterwards.

Pinspired: Christmas cupcakes

I've become a fan of Pinterest, as a way to be inspired and to easily show others ideas. I have a few boards- cardmaking, toddler ideas, and Christmas ideas. Recently I came across this Christmas idea:

Source: flickr.com via Carol on Pinterest

Asherisms

Asher has figured out how to blow bubbles!

At the moment, if you ask Asher "What does a frog say?" His response is to wave his arms in the air and say (in a 21 month old's garbled way) "lah dee dah dee dah." I need to get this on video before we teach him what a frog really says!

Asher opened a drawer in the kitchen and took out the two boxes of ziploc bags- snack sized and sandwich sized. He took all the bags out and put them on the couch, and put the empty boxes in the rubbish.

GG Visits!

Dave's mum's mum, his Grandma, Asher's GG (Great Grandma) visited last week!

Name in the sand

 Asher wrote his name in the sand today!
Just kidding!

I shouldn't encourage him

If you ask Asher to say bubble, he says "Bum!"
I probably shouldn't giggle so much.
It is becoming his favourite word!

21 Months

It is hard to get a good photo of a toddler!

What Asher has been up to-

• interacting with people on Skype... showing them books, toys, etc... and trying to give them high-fives!
• whispering
• speaking in sentences. He's been able to mimic sentences for ages (one of his first words was 'whassat'- what's that) but he's recently putting together his own sentences- "wezza boobum"- where's the balloon, "is a moo"- its a cow (moo).
• loves, loves, loves planes and can spot them in the sky before I can!

10 Things About Cloth Diapers

1o Things About Cloth Diapers (aka Nappies)

1. We chose BumGenius nappies because they were the bestselling cloth nappies in the world, they a style that could convert from newborn to infant to toddler size, they didn't require soaking or anything difficult. We did not see them before we bought them.

2. I think we spent* more than $350 for 24 nappies... and have probably saved a few thousand (here in Exmouth a box of nappies costs $49, whereas in bigger cities it is only $33. So lets say 80 nappies per box (the number varies based on size), using at least 6 a day may last 2 weeks, so approx $50 every two weeks for nappies ($25/week), and Asher is 95 weeks old, so $2000+ could have been spent on nappies. *We were very lucky that friends and family gifted us with money to buy cloth diapers and supplies- what a blessing!

Pop goes the balloon

I taught Asher a new word today, pop. He loves balloons, especially after seeing me make balloon animals for Church in the Park. This morning I inflated a thick sausage shaped balloon and put a pom-pom inside to make noise. Asher shook carried it around and shook it, calling it his ball. It slowly deflated over the course of the day until all he was carrying around was a sad little string of green balloon with a pompom in it. But he still liked it.

So I decided to be creative and stuffed the next balloon with the closest thing I had on hand, dried macaroni. It lasted all the way from the bedroom to the front door before it popped. He wasn't startled at all. I told him it popped, and he said pop and handed me the macaroni and wandered back to the bedroom with the balloon. I followed him, and he was typing to figure out how to use my balloon pump to re-inflate the balloon.

The third balloon had two dried chickpeas in it, and popped pretty much straight away. (And he said, "Pop.") I took those pieces from him as well and managed to find something else to play with.

On a related note, we've been counting the number of words he says, and today we remembered 44. I know there is more, they are just hard to remember!

Assorted Beach Photos

Yeah, living next to the beach means lots of beach photos. I've picked some of the highlights...

 

Walking to the beach...

Busy Toddler...

A Busy Toddler...

 His new big boy room has shelves for his toys (and he puts them away... sometimes. Still working on that!). We rotate through his toys to keep things interesting.

Back to the Beach

It has been a while since we have been to the beach. Now that he is walking he's exploring in a whole new way and seeing things in a whole new way. We've been to the beach every afternoon since we have been back, picking up shells, rock and coral, poking sea anemones, poking sea cucumbers, poking starfish...

Back in Exmouth

Well, after all that, we are back in Exmouth.

In brief, Dave's visa to move to the US was going to take longer than expected and Dave was looking for work. He was offered his old job back temporarily, so he moved up and I flew up a few weeks later. It is odd being in the same house with different furniture (we sold all of ours, and the farm is now furnishing the house for us). When Dave receives his visa, we will move to the US. Asher and I will be returning in early to mid December, so hopefully Dave will get his visa before then!

Ian and Evelyn with Asher in Perth Airport

Nana and Grandad's Garden

Gigi's Gigantic Paper Fastener

Helped make a great easel for Asher. Thanks, Gigi (Asher's Great Grandma).

Why my kid is awesome

Today was very windy and very cold! My freshly washed laundry would blow away if I used the  solar powered clothes dryer (clothes line) so I brought the basket in to hang the clothes on the airer later.

Asher was very quiet so I peeked around the corner- and Asher was hanging the wet laundry on the airer!

Millstream Part II

 Python pool.

Chook chook chook!

 Asher enjoys interacting with the chickens in Nana and Grandad's backyard. An easy way of distracting him from a grumpy moment is a visit to the chickens.

Camping- Our Grand Adventure- Millstream Part 1

 

Goodbye Exmouth!

Hello from Tom Price

Hi All,

We left Thursday for Karratha, and stayed in a caravan park there. The car was very full with things we forgot to pack in the trailer that went to Perth (baby clothes, curtains), things we thought we might use and couldn't be bothered giving away (half eaten boxes of cereal), and things we still needed after the trailer left but didn't need camping (electrical cords, etc). We stocked up on fresh food and water in Karratha. We visited the Burrup peninsula and Red Dog and all of that before driving to Millstream on Friday. Asher has had his afternoon naps in the car, and the DVD player was really useful. The day before we left Exmouth the we returned the double swag we were going to borrow and bought an inflatable queen mattress- which worked out better space wise and has been  quite comfortable. The other thing that was really useful was a box of nappy liners we had from Asher's cloth nappies. We didn't use them often with his nappies- they had a tendency to scrunch up uncomfortably in his nappy. So we took them on this trip and used them for everything- like disposable washcloths, only smaller and thinner. They have been great.

Wordless Wednesday

Heather Goes Whalesharking

Today I was finally able to go whalesharking, which is one of the big tourist attractions in Exmouth. I went with Ningaloo Whaleshark n Dive, and they were great. Dave will go tomorrow, and I'll post his photos later!

 This is a dugong. We saw it when we were doing our introductory snorkel.

Putting Asher to Work

This last week has had three milestones- Dave finished work on a Wednesday, on Saturday we had a garage sale and sold nearly everything, and on Wednesday we sent everything that was left to Perth in a trailer. Our bedroom suite, fridge, and washing machine is being sold to the manager moving in after us, so that is still here. We have borrowed a portacot for Asher and a table from church, and everything else is our camping stuff.

Asher is enjoying this very simplified house. The less stuff he has to play with, the more he plays with what he has.

Supermoon! (A late post)

A Supermoon is when the full moon is closest in its' orbit to the Earth and generally happens once a year. This year the supermoon rose as the sun set, around 6pm, but there were low clouds blocking the moon rise.

Asher has an adventure

This afternoon Dave and I were finishing our big task of the week- packing everything and preparing to put it into the trailer. Around 4:30pm, when we are usually winding down and getting ready to go for a swim or a walk with Asher, we were still packing away. Asher was sitting on the porch and started scooting away, through the yard and down the driveway and down the dirt road leading to the farm...

Water Transferring- Toddler play!

We've been doing lots of activities with things around the house. This one was transferring water from one container to another, and I usually give him a variety of 'tools' to transfer with. He gets the general idea, but doesn't manage to move much water. (He often tries to pick up water with his fingers and transfer it that way).

Despite putting it on a towel, he gets everything wet, but he loves it so!

Warroora Station- Church Camp

Last weekend our church visited Warroora Station for church camp. Warroora is the sheep and cattle station of the McLeod family. We went there last year too, and stayed at the Shearer's Quarters. The quarters were 'donga' style buildings- a row of rooms with either one single bed or two single beds and a table in each. There was a communal kitchen and outdoor area.

 This is Asher posing in the kitchen.

Dave Finishes Work

 Asher usually goes to the door around 3 each afternoon looking for Dave (we can see the farm from our front door). Too bad Dave's work schedule has changed and he gets off work at 4pm now! That time of the afternoon is the hardest- between when he expects Dave and when Dave actually arrives.

I bought a cake and decorated it for Dave's last day of work. I only had about 30 minutes to do it, so I used marzipan to make an off-colour barramundi (perhaps it has been rolling in mud) and some corrugated paper for the fins and tail.

New Friends

 At church camp at Warroora Station, Asher was sitting on his mattress playing when a goat wandered in the open door of our room and climbed on his mattress. Later Asher shared a piece of bread with Billy the Goat...

Gecko poking!

There's a hole in my pancake

... also known as a pikelet. also known as a pancake.

Random Photos

 Going for a walk with Daddy. He kept poking Dave in the eyes!

 Stacking blocks! We love our local toy library.

 Slide climbing successfully.

 Promite (like Vegemite) on toast. Yum!

 When we went to the toy library today Asher gravitated towards this red car. He spent the whole time we were there sitting in it, turning the wheel, and beeping the horn.

So we brought it home. Thanks for the push, Kym!

Doing Dishes with Asher

After Asher and I returned to Australia, Asher became extremely clingy. Our guess is that he was stressed from leaving/reuniting with his Dad- he became very anxious about us leaving him. He wanted to be in contact with us all the time, and if we were sitting and moved like we would get up, he would fling himself on us and cry. He spent a lot of time giving us cuddles and just laying on us. He was only really happy if the two of us were together in the room with him, and then he would play independently. At church, where he sees people he adores, he clung to my legs so tightly I could not walk.

So, what does this have to do with doing dishes? Well, I had to figure out ways to get things done, so I started including Asher in more things. I swept, he played with the dustpan (and dumped stuff back on the floor). I did dishes straddling a chair he was standing in, and he swished a sponge over the dishes, and picked dishes out of the drying rack and re-washed them for me. And splashed a lot. He did 'help' already with a lot of things- unpacking groceries, putting clothes in the washing machine and taking them out. We spent a lot of time playing together.

He seems to be back to normal now, except I cna only do dishes when he isn't looking otherwise he gets grumpy when he doesn't get to participate!

Fun in the Sun with Daddy