Elliot Pascoe’s Blog

Today was the HBF Toddle for Telethon. Hundreds of families went to Burswood Park to a 2km toddle. HBF really gets behind the event – and good on them for promoting exercise. The HBF doctor told us that an important exercise was with our thumb – to turn off our TVs. Dorothy the Dinosaur was there as well as some other strangely dressed dudes on stage. All a bit old for our toddler. For those into freebies there was free bananas, free sunscreen, balloons and even pots of bubbles for all. A great morning. Thanks HBF !

The shot of on the left is just over a year ago – the 10th of March 2006.

We keep forgetting that Elliot isn’t a baby anymore. The words are slowly but surely developing. You still need a one of us to translate for you, but more and more words are clear enough for strangers.

When you are a little toddler there is always a snack nearby. OK that is a bit of an exaggeration, I haven’t actually seen Elliot consume the fruits of his exploration. More likely he will offer it to us with the explanation that it is kaka and suggesting that we should deal with it. "To the bin, to the bin" is our usual response.

Well train and bus trip, actually. Caught the bus from the road to the city and went and had a ride on the new Mandurah rail line. So we got on at Perth Underground Station, went down to Canning Bridge and turned around and came back. The lifts at Canning Bridge don’t work and are on opposite sides of Canning Highway so are useless for pram users. Anyway we got out at the Esplanade station and headed back to the Terrace for the bus home.

The whole trip costs me $1.87 on a SmartRider and Julia $2.20 outright. What a bargain afternoon – and Elliot had his first train and bus ride ; for free.

It is that time of year – when the Play Group kids get ready for their second birthdays. This year the combined birthday celebration was at Landsdale Farm School. It is a lovely little farm, perfect for kids to scratch around and see lots of animals. You forget that when you live in the city your children probably think that the only animals in the world are dogs and cats (and crawly things that live in the garden).

I really love having a decent camera. A digital SLR is a great way to get good shots. Looking around at friend’s photos of their kids, you can tell instantly who has a `proper’ camera and who has a dinky one.

Sadly, one disadvantage is that they are not particularly portable. Pocket cameras they are not.

Recently, I have wished that I had my camera with me on a couple of occasions. All I could do was whip out my phone and point and squeeze and hope for the best. The camera is quite simple, but at least I was able to capture these little memories.

 Hibiscus Rule, OK !

Sitting quiet as a mouse for a `big boys’ haircut.

I was so proud of Elliot sitting stiller than I can remember. The scissors, spray bottle, trimmer and blow dryer were all a bit passe. I’m not sure if he was a little bit shocked by the whole thing or not, but either way heaps of praise from the barber and me meant he sat there for the whole cut without a peep. Well done Elliotik.

Surely you couldn’t be grumpy at one of the best playgrounds in Perth ?

Actually he wasn’t grumpy, just managed to capture a slightly pensive face.

I’m having fun post-processing some of the photos I’m taking. This one is `Vintage New York’ style. Hope you like it.