Dad's Teddy (aka Bomba)

Craig's Grandma in Australia did a very cool thing. She kept a teddy bear that used to belong to Craig's Dad and then she gave it to Craig when he visited last month.


Since his return to Taipei Craig hasn't played with it a lot but when he does it's still special enough to be worth taking pictures and putting the pictures on his blog.

Teething

Bite marks are being left on Craig's Mum and Dad on an almost daily basis recently but modesty doesn't allow pictures of that to be posted on the internet. Not to worry, there's plenty of other stuff feeling Craig's bite.


Craig has six teeth, four on top and two below so he can take a neat little bite out of soft things like cork coasters very quickly.


Craig's parents haven't been able to find proper hard teething rusks in Taipei. They did find one box of biscuits that looked like the biscuits might be similar to rusks but they turned out to be quite soft and they had a really funny English name.


Such are the trials and tribulations of living in foreign lands with a teething baby.

The Magazine Killer

Back when Craig was in Australia his Aunty Annette gave his Dad a magazine about Australian football. It lasted for a while but not long ago became a plaything for Craig. He can tear up paper pages surprisingly quickly.


He isn't very good at being sorry about ruining stuff. Luckily, it was a rubbish magazine.

Uncle Amitha Comes to Visit

Craig's Uncle Amitha came to visit and as soon as he arrived he became acquainted with Craig.


They hadn't met before but Craig is always happy to make new friends.


Craig had a good time posing for pictures with his Uncle Amitha.


But he didn't allow the arrival of a new house-guest to get in the way of a relaxing afternoon nap.


The next day, Uncle Amitha and Aunty Bess paid for lunch.


Craig liked the balloon that one of the restaurant staff gave him. Life doesn't get better than that.

A Goodbye and a Visit to Aunty Annette's

The next day was Sunday and Craig's Canberra relatives had to begin their drive home. Before they did, they came around to say goodbye to Craig and his Mum and Dad. Unfortunately for Craig's Dad while he was making great efforts to take photos, Craig was very happy to see his relatives and he didn't want to stay still.


Craig's Uncle Jim fixed him with a steely glare, or something like that, but Craig insisted on not looking at the camera.


And, he was so happy and giggly that this photo probably doesn't need to be on the blog but it's here now.


There was no way to convince Craig that looking at the camera for a photo was a good idea. He had too many other things to look at.


Then, not long before the visitors left, he calmed down.


And Craig's dad came very close to getting a picture with everyone looking at the camera. Close, but not quite.


On Sunday night, Craig and his parents went to visit Craig's Aunty Annette. Craig didn't stay in the room to hear Bailey play his drums.


Bailey puts a lot of effort into his drumming. He's very energetic.


Unfortunately, Craig's Dad didn't get a picture of Bailey's older brother Jeremy, who was hiding in his bedroom playing a computer game. But, he did get a picture of Jeremy's bedroom door.


Craig's Aunty Jodie took good care of him when Bailey was playing the drums.


He even wanted to help order the Thai takeaway that everyone else had for dinner.


And then the battery in the camera-phone went flat. Thus ending the pictures of a very happy holiday.

Luna Park and Dinner at Great Aunty June's Place

Luna Park has lots of rides for such a small place. Just after Craig and his parents arrived, Craig's cousin Maree was on this one.


This picture of Maree was taken by Elizabeth. You can see the back of LIzzy's head in the photo above. Her picture is a bit better than the one taken by Craig's Dad.


Lizzie also took this nice picture of the Ferris Wheel with the Harbour Bridge as a background.


And, later she took this one of the Laughing Smile after dark. The camera in her phone is quite good.


It's not too bad at night but that's always the biggest weakness of the cameras in camera-phones. Craig seemed to like Aunty Anne. Every picture we have of the two of them has Craig smiling.....


Or at least, he becomes distracted by a toy, like in this picture. It was taken back at Great Aunty June's place where dinner was served for the extended family.


Sometimes, Craig had to go back and sit on his Mum's lap because Aunty Anne had to take care of one of her big babies. :)

Walk to Lavender Bay

The next day was beautifully sunny but a very cool wind was blowing. Craig accompanied his parents, his Uncle Jim and cousin Maree on a nice walk down to Lavender Bay.


That part of North Sydney, just across the Harbour Bridge from the city has a lot more high density housing than it had in the past but it's still a nice part of the world.


Craig is now very experienced at smiling for the camera.


But his Dad's camera was acting up again when it came time to take a picture of him with Maree.


And, when Craig's Dad tried to take a group picture, Craig didn't even to pretend to be patient. The sun was nice and warm plus the harbourside park was down out of the wind. It was a very pleasant spot for a sit and chat.


There were some very cute little sculptures in the bushes running alongside the harbourside park. For those who aren't familiar with the area, this is the entrance to a nearby fun park called Luna Park.


This picture was taken just outside of the laughing mouth entrance to Luna Park, looking across to the Sydney Opera House.


The area has a lot more Chinese people than it did in the past as well. That's where the demand for the high density housing seems to come from. The local church, just a few hundred yards up the hill from Luna Park, has adapted to the times.


Then, it was back to the "vast" hotel room that was occupied by Craig's Uncle Jim, Aunty Anne, Elizabeth and Maree aka "Jim and the Girls".


As usual for this holiday, Craig had no shortage of playmates.


The evening finished at a lovely Italian restaurant, the name of which Craig's Dad has forgotten. The staff were super-accomodating about us having baby at what looked like a high class place.

Bailey did his best to keep everyone entertained.


He also ate a fair share of the herb bread. He has a very good appetite.

One Last Sit in the Sunshine, then Off to Sydney

The warm weather in Yeppoon continued right up until it was time to leave.

Craig had a chance to sit in the sun with his Mum first and then Dad.


That evening Craig had a chance to meet his cousins Elizabeth (he's sitting on her lap) and Maree.


Craig seemed to enjoy their company.


The three of them played happily for quite a while. It's just a shame that Craig's Dad's camera had started to play up and it was hard to tell when the shutter would click, leading to some pretty ordinary photos being taken.


But, everyone had fun. And that's the most important thing.