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Just before New Year's even, mum and grandma took me back to Koo Wee Rup. Mum has two weddings to attend near Melbourne - the first one on 2nd January, and Koo Wee Rup was the logical base. Mum did not wake me up for the new year, but that only encouraged me to wake them up! Mum and grandma would take turns looking after me at night and I would return the favour by get up a couple of times each night. No pictures of these adventures, though.
During the day, there was plenty to do. I would play in the mini backyard - stamp-sized even by Dutch vinex standards - with a bowl and a spoon. I would enjoy my bite of fruit in my high chair inside. I would need mum's cuddle on the occasional cry. I would show of my pork belly that so impressed granddad. I would enjoy the odd babychino - the froth of a capuccino, for those not familiar with Starbucks family jargon. And before leaving Oz, we went over to aunt Jo and uncle Pete for lunch.
A big question was how the flight home would unfold, as only mum was keeping me company and she was already over five months pregnant. As a precaution, we had taken an upgrade to premium economy. This worked out very well: there was enough space in front of mum's seat to play around, especially on the leg to Singapore, when mum could move next to an empty seat. In Singapore, I enjoyed my crawl around and was tired enough to sleep a lot on the last leg - probably eleven hours over the two legs. However, mum was still too busy for pics.
Back on Heathrow, it was strange to meet daddy again after five weeks without him. I did not know what to say and sat shyly on his arm at the airport. However, once we had returned home, we had some time for playing. I enjoyed taking the CDs out of their shelves - I could now reach five of them! My parents gave up on storing CDs within my reach. I had to cry a bit when dad went to work, but then I stayed up till the evening and did not show major signs of jetlag. However, sleeping 9 hours a night and 45 minutes during the day was still a bit out of a proper routine for a boy my age, so I convinced my parents to cut the milk at night to see whether that makes me sleep through the night - we'll keep you posted.
During the first weekend back in London we went to my friend Laura for brunch. I quite enjoyed pushing her pushing toy all over the house, while she would show me how to operate the music buttons.
Note that my mother intervened in my hug out of concern for Laura's wellbeing. Dad saw no reason to stop recording... Later that day, I did my first steps without holding on to something:
The next week, I visited my friend Luke. He has a very nice play corner.
