Gold Coast

Yesterday we arrived at  Gold Coast, the last major Australian tourist destination that we hadn't visited yet. Today we left our fantastic room a little bit reluctantly to go to the beach. SV liked it until a wave snuck up on her and got her all wet.

Babyccino

Living in an Italian neighbourhood it was inevitable that SV would be exposed to coffee. She noticed KT drinking her cappuccinos and liked the idea of the foam, which KT eventually let her taste. Now she always asks KT for a lick of the foam. So we made her a babyccino of frothed milk with a bit of chocolate powder on it. The photographs below tell the story.

Fruits

We have a bowl of fruit on a side table which SV has learned about. She climbs onto the couch and then grabs a fruit which she then proceeds to munch on. Her favourites at the moment (besides blueberries which are a given) are white nectarines and bananas or nanas as she calls them. She has also been known to grab tomatoes and chomp right into them. We also gave her a frozen apple and mango puree on on the hot Christmas day, and she really liked it. She ate the entire packet which is quite rare for her.

Christmas morning

On Christmas morning/lunch time we went over to Adam's house who graciously hosted our annual International Orphans Christmas party this year. We had a lot of fun and as usual there was waaaay too much food. Everything was delicious so we kept on eating for hours as we talked and played games. We got to catch up with some of our old friends and made a few new ones as well. SV had a blast running around and going up and down the stairs.

Opening pressies

SV was really getting into the act of opening presents until she got stuck at which point she got frustrated. When she finally unwrapped a present she would raise her eyebrows and dramatically say "Ooohhhh". She had a hard time moving from gift to another though, because she wanted to explore the first one before moving on. Below are a couple of photographs of her opening gifts in no particular order.
Again we want to thank everyone for their generous gifts and hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Christmas dinner

On Christmas Eve it was a really hot and humid day, so we not only had the air conditioning running, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to dress up, not even SV. We did have a delicious tur-duck-en (turkey, duck and chicken all in one) roast which was wrapped in bacon. Honestly how could we lose. KT also made some deliciously creamy mashed potatoes with grave and some steamed broccolini. Cranberries on the side and chocolate strawberries for dessert (we saved the pies for Christmas day). Great meal which all three of us ate with gusto. Hopefully you all had delicious meals as well.

Gift baby

We want to thank everyone for their generosity in giving us and especially SV as many wonderful presents as they have done. This photograph is a bit of a remake of SV with the packages that some of you may remember from last year's Christmas post. Stay tuned for some more Christmas photographs over the coming days.

Christmas good night

SV finishing off her Christmas day of eating with a healthy dessert of blueberries which she absolutely devours these days.

Happy Christmas!

SV with Santa's help wants to wish everyone a Happy Christmas.

SV at breaky

SV can now feed herself almost an entire breaky. Today her favourite wheat bix had her usual coconut, but also bonus raisins. And of course as everyone knows, bonus raisins are the best kind of raisins. She managed to eat her entire bowl with a glass of milk, and she even managed to eat some of TV's oatmeal.

Also, one more sleep until Christmas!

Going to town

While KT was having a well deserved sleep after working all night, SV and TV headed into the CBD for lunch and to do a bit of shopping.

Little shopper

SV saw that KT was curling her hair to go out and she started playing with the rollers. When we told her to pack them all up she helped out but then continued walking around with the whole pack as if it was her little shopping bag.

Cambodia 2012 book

Through the generous gift of our friend Damian we were able to create another book of memories. This latest book shows a more in depth look at our trip to Singapore and Cambodia. Most of the photographs in this book have never been seen before on this website or anywhere before. Please don't hesitate to download the book through the link on the right side of the blog under the heading 'SV Books (To Download)' or via this link: Cambodia 2012

A day in the life...

Here is a snapshot of what SV was doing today. Just her being herself. Enjoy.

Long face

SV was focused on a show but was clearly not too pleased with it.

Slovak laptop

SV just got a birthday package from Ivan, Lenka and Patka which she opened with relish. They very generously sent a baby laptop that is similar to the one that Patka has and SV played with when we visited them in Slovakia.

SV really enjoyed both the card and then subsequently the laptop. She now takes it around with her all over the house. The best part is that she is getting to hear Slovak from some one else other than TV and we think it will help her learn the language.

Jinbei

Jinbei are a traditional Japanese clothes often worn around the house and to bed. When TV was in Japan he was given a Jinbeu set (Thank you Janet) and he in turn bough SV a set. After over a year she is now finally big enough to wear them. SV lounges in her new jinbei during a Sydney heat wave. The second photograph has both characters Jinbein-ing around the house.

Tiny Tots

This is the final instalment of the Thomas and Sasha encounter. For now anyway.

Co-operation

Earlier we alluded to how these two characters co-operate, but here is a prime example of how SV helps Thomas get across an obstacle. He then in turn shows her how to throw wood chips, thanks for that kid. It probably would have been ok though if she hadn't learned that skill just yet. Oh well, suppose it's the price of progress.

Feeding

This was so interesting to see. Both SV and Thomas enjoyed the experience and they both did a surprisingly good job of feeding Thomas.

Saturday morning music videos

Just like her mom, SV enjoys watching music videos. She also likes to dance to them when the beat is good. Apparently this video was not that good because she preferred just to gangsta lean back on the couch.

Picnic with Thomas

Both SV and Thomas were really keen to go to the park for a play, and since it was a nice day we took their lunches and made it into a picnic. It let them make a bit more of a mess since it wouldn't end up on the carpet. Here are some of the photographs from the picnic.