September 2013 - Annick 16 months, Luca 3yrs4mths

Annick:
- picking up language so fast, making connections, learning new words.  Still coming to grips with some concepts (she will give you something and then say, 'tak oo!') but makes unexpected links elsewhere (points to a picture of a fire engine and says, 'nee nar nee nar!')
- they are not 'Annick and Luca', they are 'Nannie and Tootar'
- adorably cuddly
- has learned how to give a proper lip-smacking kiss and has been joyously trying it out on mama and papa, looking delighted after each one.  Mama and papa are also delighted, but find it also a bit... wet.
- proving to not be the easy-going, accepting and obedient type like Luca
- in the morning, she is Grumpy Annick.  Once she has had breakfast, she is Happy Annick (Luca likes to point this out every morning, "look mama!  It's Grumpy Annick!  I'm Happy Luca!")
- has discovered the joy of books and loves to pick ones out for mama and papa to read, then plonk her little bottom in a lap for a good story
- PAPA: Qui est mon petit rat?  ANNICK: Annick!

Luca:
- having the best conversations, comes up with all sorts of unexpected comments - polite feedback: "mama, you very helpful.  You give me blocks for my tower."  Surprised observation: (after I was away for a couple of days) "Mama, you came back to my house!"  Angry reprimand: "Annick, you listen to my words!  You know that!" Dismissive frustration: (handing mama a particularly crunchy carrot) "You have it, it RIDICULOUS this one."
- one night in the bath, Luca amused himself by making the toy boat have a conversation with the shampoo bottle:
SHAMPOO: Hello!
BOAT: Hello!
SHAMPOO: What you doing?
BOAT: I floating!
SHAMPOO: I floating too!
BOAT: I floating like a sailing boat!
 - when asked to smile for the camera, will say "smile!" but not actually smile.  Luca has the best camera face.
- is incredibly naughty when tired
- loves getting Annick into trouble
- loves to watch aeroplanes on youtube with papa
- went to the Royal Melbourne Show with Angus and had a FANTASTIC time.  Was very keen to ride the scary rides, was very disappointed to be too short to do so (parents = relieved)
- was very excited about the new Planes movie and totally sucked in by the blanket advertising pre-school holidays - went with papa for a special papa-garcon afternoon to see it at the cinema!
- has watched the movie Cars about a gajillion times in the last fortnight

Annick is learning how to climb ladders - UH OH.

The dressing up basket is a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Morning Luca and Morning Annick take their morning milk.

Annick is beginning to love books as much as Luca.  She takes one to bed every night, just like Luca, and 'reads' in the dark.

Luca does zumba at the Mexican festival in Fed Square!

The aquarium!

Annick's first ever photo.  Artistic.

 

 Playground Annick and Playground Luca are busy.

Luca is all about the apples at the moment.  On Saturday mornings at the market, he will eat three.

Luca and Angus go to the Royal Melbourne Show and feed the goats!

Casual hatwear for playtime.

Truck-watching.

Annick loves her apron made by Aunty Charmaine, she wears it everywhere.

Annick is still obsessed with shoes, anybody's shoes.

Luca and Annick love going to the library.  Luca likes to read books.  Annick likes to take all the books off the shelves and put them on the floor.  Fortunately both of these activities are catered for at the library

She gives you that look quite often really.

Luca LOVES the swing.

August 2013 - Annick 15 months, Luca 3yrs3mths

Nos petits cheris x

Annick:
- walks like a champion!  Is desperate to wear shoes like everyone else - to hell with mama's belief that 'you learn in your feet darling'.
- trying really hard to talk like a champion too.  Words she definitely has, in her tiny little adorable voice are: shoes ('soos'), pates, lait, l'eau, bain/bath, tralalire (yes!), woof woof/ouah ouah whenever she sees anything resembling a dog, chaise/chair, toast, tata (which means helicopter), teddy, shark, cat/chat, baby/bebe, there ('dere'), that one ('dat one'), yes/oui, please ('peese') and thank you ('tak oo') and really quite a lot more.
- climbing up and down the sofa and the bed
- has thrown her first ever proper tantrums and is conscientiously practising so as to be an expert by the end of the year.
- a little clown this one, full of laughs and jokes.  Thinks farts are HILARIOUS.
- is George from Peppa Pig - LOVES dinosaurs and every time she hears the word dinosaur will bellow out her tiny little roar
- perhaps doesn't look like weaning after all
- a week of gastro boooooooo

Luca
- talking up a storm, explaining things, describing things, abstract concepts, future, past, present - WOW.
- likes to help, but does not always ask what he should do to help, just does whatever he thinks might be helpful, which usually is not actually very helpful at all.
- still completely obsessed with rubbish trucks - we have books about rubbish trucks, we borrow toy rubbish trucks from the library, we watch the rubbish trucks when they do their pickup Tuesday mornings, we play rubbish trucks with all our blocks, we have a rubbish truck app on ah ma's ipad...
- asks mama every day "we go on aeroplane soon?"
- has entire books memorised but still wants mama to read them to him
- favourite books at the moment are: Rubbish Trucks, Fire Engines, Jon Klassen's 'Hat' books, all the Margaret Mayo books especially 'Emergency!'
- Mr Picky Eater - boh!

Animal dress up day at daycare for the daycare bunny's 5th birthday.

Mama gets a duplo plane off ebay and Luca takes the little dog stunt flying.

Relaxed and comfortable.

With papa's little watermelon boy.

Annick leads a parade!

Luca is a babycino connoisseur.

Papa does the double carry.

We go to the science museum and Luca spends most of it at his usual spot, in front of the video about the rubbish trucks.

Babycino, zuppadelle at DOC Espresso.

Luca insists on carrying the box of pastries from D. Chirico.  Responsible!

A beautiful day at the Point Cook Air Museum.

"Take a photo of me at the fountain mama!"

At the Melbourne Museum, playing with the giant duplo (completely worth getting the yearly membership for).

Fait dodo, Colas mon petit frere...

Fillette!

Mostly playing really well together, apart from when they're not.

Annick tries on mama's soos, since she's not always allowed to wear her own.

Luca bakes cupcakes, decorates them, eats them.

And the first day of spring was also the first day back out on the balcony for eating!  And the season's first shorts day (compared to October last year)!  And Father's Day!

We go to Cacao for a Father's Day snack and Papa and Luca go 'sourcils a sourcils'.

Annick a la plage!

At Luna Park - the aeroplane ride was a small consolation for being too short for the ferris wheel or the bumper cars.

Annick marche

July 2013 - Annick 14 months, Luca 3 years 2 months

Annick:
- WALKING.  Started with a couple of goes mid-July, decided she'd just go for it July 19 and then a week later was pretty much a walking pro.
- talking talking talking - mimicking and echoing all the time.  Pretty much has the words 'allo', 'thank you' and 'bye bye' and will say 'Luca' when she feels like it.  Amongst the MANY words she has had a go at are: canard, tralalire (adorable!), balloon, pasta, shoes...
- counting!  Loves to say 'one, two three' or 'un, deux, trois' (at least, she's trying to say them)
- her little baby babble is surprisingly tuneful and she loves singing along to things - we don't know where the musical side comes from, certainly not from me or Jason
- clingy when sick and maybe weaning, although it didn't seem like it after Malaysia - but Luca weaned at this age, maybe she will do the same.
- she knows what she wants and she won't stop complaining till she gets it.  Let's you know when she's NOT HAPPY and YOU COULD BE DOING BETTER.

Luca:
- just leaps and bounds in his speech and such imagination
- when you tell him off, he tells you off at the same time: "stop it!  I dun like it!"
- cheeky and getting a bit naughty
- still so attached to the two fingers on his right hand
- learning left and right, la gauche et la droite
- loves to put himself and Annick into stories - he is Charley and Annick is Maisy!
- OBSESSED WITH RUBBISH TRUCKS.  OBSESSED.
- ALSO OBSESSED WITH AIRPLANES.  Makes papa be the conveyor belt for the luggage all day long, then makes him be the pilot so they can fly in the sofa plane.

Nemo sticker time!

This will be the frere et soeur edition - playing really well together, at least, when they're not driving each other crazy.

Playing blocks in the sunny corner!

Still eating like a champion - ate this HUGE plate of rice and beans and silverbeet and probably would have eaten more.

The best thing about little guys growing up is that you can say, "please set the table Luca", turn away, and when you look back - voila!

Luca does painting in his Nemo painting book from Nonno!

"Here Annick, taste!"  Luca cooks in his little kitchen then gets some feedback.

Annick goes for beret, stripey top, but maybe doesn't quite pull it off.

Annick and Luca raid the silly hat box.

Luca and Papa play their favourite game, 'le tapis roulant a l'aeroport'.

Luca makes a library, cleverly stocking it with little boy favourite themes of boats, planes and penguins.

Messing around at Shoppo.

Annick likes her dollies, but otherwise follows Luca's lead and is a bit all about trucks, cars and planes.

Luca has new blue dinosaur shoes!

I take my baby burrito and my little enchilada for burritos.  The little enchilada does not like them.

(Luca used to be the baby burrito, but then, when a new baby burrito turned up, he became the little enchilada, although the last time I asked him, he told me he was "a big fat enchilada", so I don't want to sell him short here.)

But the baby burrito LOVES her baby burrito.

I came in to the room and she was covered in owl stickers.

Luca makes bread with mama!  He made his little loaf all by himself and then ate it all by himself and wouldn't let mama try any.

"That one is an aeroplane and that one is a helicopter!"

One day we read stories together then I had to go and make dinner, so Luca said, "I read this by myself mama" and went to, indeed, read it by himself.

Les shoppeurs.

The return of the toy library BBQ!  Luca makes mama a beautiful BBQ lunch, although she ended up with all the vegetables and he got the sausage and hamburger.

Sharing bark in the park