Lady Ladybug

We tried to order a Halloween costume for Maya from the U.S., but unfortunately it didn't arrive here in time for the 31st, so I had to buy her a fairy ladybug costume from one of the local shops at the last minute. Alas, Miss Maya got sick and never made it to the party and trick-or-treating, hosted by the Consul General and his family. She would have been mistaken for a spewing volcano instead of a dainty ladybug, so it's all for the best that we didn't go. At least she got to help hand out some candy (or lollies, as they say here) to the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood.  How unfair is that, though, a stomach flu BEFORE she got to eat any candy. We'll have to save her some lollies for when she's feeling better. And maybe she'll be a ladybug next year for Halloween :)

Beach ready!

We went to the beach on Sunday to celebrate our friends' son's 6th birthday. All the essentials were there for an American Birthday Party: Pizza Hut pizzas, cupcakes, and a jack-o-lantern pinata that withstood a severe thrashing from some 6 year olds high on sugar. Maya didn't participate in the pinata hitting, but she found some fun of her own, and thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate cupcakes. The beach was gorgeous that day, with lots of wind, sunshine and surfer dudes. Summer is coming any day now!

Kayaking on Lake Narrabeen

     
Yesterday we drove up to the Northern Beaches of Sydney and went kayaking with some friends on Lake Narrabeen. We weren't exactly sure how it would go with Maya on board - I pictured her trying to crawl out and us flipping the boat in an attempt to get her - but she was a natural! She sat between us, wearing her super puffy life vest, and cruised around the lake for an hour with nary a peep! The poor girl looked like a drowned rat (well, actually, we all did) by the end, what, between the water dripping off the paddles with each stroke, or the waves crashing over the bow of the boat as we paddled headlong into the wind to return home. But she took it all in stride, and even had a brief snooze in the middle. I guess with two crew parents we shouldn't be suprised!

Pigtails!

Can you believe it's October already? Summer is just around the corner here, although we're still having lots of rain in between sunny days. Maya continues to go to daycare, and seems to be adjusting, as she no longer cries when Chris drops her off and picks her up. Whew. Hopefully the long-term psychological damage will be minimal :).

Anyway, thought I'd include this cute picture from yesterday's return home from daycare. Maya's hair is getting crazy long and curly, so it's often in her eyes, stuck to her face by the snot coming out of her nose, or caked with ketchup or whatever she happens to be eating that day. We manage by just sweeping her hair out her eyes and washing out the food everynight, but her carers at daycare take a different approach: pigtails. Obviously, they have more nimble fingers than we do, or they know how to hypnotize babies, because they manage to twist those impossibly small rubberbands around her ultra-fine hair. We can never get Maya to keep her head still long enough for us to get our clumsy fingers to create pigtails, and usually end up pulling out a few hairs and making her cry, so we stopped trying long ago.

Needless to say, the effect is quite cute, and perhaps is another reason why daycare isn't so bad afterall....