The shopping instinct has kicked in.

The other day without prompting Ella went to the cupboard and got two handbags. She then came and started tugging on Sarah to come and follow her in the toy room. A few hours later they emerged with the bags full. Mother and daughter had shared their first shopping experience. At least this one did not cost us anything. We probably wont be so lucky the next time.

The Christmas Child

As you know Ella was born around Christmas time a little less than two years ago but thats not why her nickname is the Christmas Child, or more specifically Noella. Rather its because of the frequency with which we have to say to her "No Ella !".

Maybe she should become a hairdresser

A few weeks ago we decided Ella needed a haircut since we couldn't see her eyes anymore due to the out of control fringe. Well five minutes and twenty dollars later here are the results.

I work that out as an hourly rate of $240. Not a bad career option.

Father's Day report

Just like any recent day in the Harris household, Father's Day got off to an early start. Ella woke up at 5AM to wish me a happy Father's day. As part of the special treats of the day I got to go back to bed from 6 till 8:30. Then I got a wonderful breakfast of fresh cheese pikelets.

The morning just got better with a trip to every dad's favourite store: Bunnings or as Simon calls it the "hard work shop". The highlight of Bunnings is the toy set for the kids which Mum usually heads straight for with the kids while Dad gets some quality shopping time. The main purchase for Father's Day was some vegetables to grow in the family vegetable patch.

In the afternoon we hosted some of the male cousins and their dads for a small afternoon tea.

Spring has sprung

We have emerged from blogging hibernation - it has been too cold to expose the fingers to typing up blog entries.

Here is the winter roundup on the three characters of most interest:

• Ben: Remains as stubborn as ever. i.e. still not toilet trained. He is confirmed for three days of preschool next year. We think this may be a bit of a shock to someone who has a few hours in total in the gym creche as his only exposure to group care. His speech is improving every day. The most used expression at the moment is "XXXX is annoying me". You can substitute a persons name (primarily Ella) or any object for the XXXX.
• Ella: Still waking up at 5AM. Bring on daylight saving! Starting to make more noise. Still as irritating as ever. She is also known as the Christmas child. See previous post.
  
• Simon: Simon is as garrulous as ever and now likes telling jokes and making rhymes. The jokes aren't alway funny but he's got the rhymes right. He gets very jealous of Ben but is not threatened by his little sister although he does find her annoying some times. He is very competitive especially with Ben and this can get quite tiring for his parents. He is really enjoying school and so are his parents.
  

All in all they are still as gorgeous as ever, bringing a smile to their parents and grandparents and we love them very much.