Burning some energy at the park. This is one of the things we will miss as the days get shorter and wetter.

And of course the obligatory swing photo.

Summer brings warm weather and fun days in the sun… oh and spiders. I hate spiders and won’t go near them which means spiderwebs like this one have an extended stay around the house while the spider is still living in it. Takes a pretty photo though.

We love books in our house. So much so that I am always on the lookout for new children’s books. When you read five to ten books a day with your child your huge book collection can seem very small , very quickly.

But this story is not about new books. This story is about an old book (circa 1980s) that was given to us by my Sister-in-law. A classic story about a curious monkey (yes – George) who visits the zoo and steals some bananas because he’s hungry. Yes… an innocent story. And then it’s lunchtime and people are sitting on the grass eating their lunch…

But what’s that?

Let’s take a closer look…

Yes – a man smoking a cigarette.

You see kids there were once these things called cigarettes and in the 80’s they liked to show picures of people enjoying this habit in childrens’ books. And he certainly looks like he’s enjoying himself, doesn’t he?

It’s a little hard to see but this is Thomas’ favourite position for drinking milk. He sits on the couch with Curious George and then puts his foot or his arm through George’s shirt. When he was younger he would sit on my lap and put his hand up my sleeve.

The hole in the sock is a nice touch.

A very big day – Thomas’ first haircut. It was a long time coming so we decided to go to a local kids’ salon to make sure the experience was enjoyed by everyone (especially me).

Thoams was allowed to choose a movie to watch and a car to sit in while he got his haircut.

The Movie? The Wiggles of course and it was a bonus because this one also the crocodile hunter. About as Aussie as you can get.

The Car? After spending a lot of time assessing the options, Thomas chose the Pink Corvette. Yes, he sat in a Barbie car for his first haircut.

But it’s the final result that counts. Doesn’t he look handsome?

Thomas’ favourite pass time – “playing” with his little brother. I just know Samuel is already thinking up ways he can return the favour when he gets bigger.

Can you believe he’s only 4 months old. He’s been here for such a short time yet it feels like forever. It also feels like he knows a lot more about what’s going on than we give him credit for. Check out that look in the photo. Does that seem like the look of someone who’s only been on the planet for four months?

This is Emerson. Isn’t she adorable? And isn’t it a nice change to have a photo of a beautiful little girl on the blog? I took this picture during a visit with my friend Laurie and her two children. I’m sure the boys (Thomas and her son Ethan were off making a mess somewhere).

Sometimes it’s so nice to take photos of other people’s kids. Not that I don’t love my own of course. I sometimes think about taking this hobby a little further but then I’d actually have to learn how to use my camera properly and right now I’m not sure I have the time to do that. I’ll have to make do with random photos of my friends and their children. There’s worse things in life. 🙂

This is my very favourite children’s book right now – The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers. It’s so adorable and has a great message about friendship. This is my favourite page and it previews the rest of the book as the two characters work out what they are going to do.

The best part is that I bought this book on our trip to Australia so it uses Australian words like Petrol, instead of gas and torch, instead of flashlight. I took a look at the American version at a local bookstore and was so grateful for having bought the Aussie (or British) version. Sure, my kid is going to be confused as hell, but at least he’ll be Aussiefied.

You can find out more about this book and others on the author’s website. The website is a treat on its own.

Thomas insisted I take this photo of the two of them together before their bath. In fact I think he also asked me to take the previous photo. He just loves his little brother. All my fears about him being resentful of the new addition to our family were for nothing. But then Samuel isn’t able to get into Thomas’ toys yet…