Mimics (June 16-22)

Brenna is not the only one mimicking her sibling.  Liam does it too.  Of course, she does it out of sheer admiration and devotion.  His is more typically driven by competition.  This week, there was a lot of of mimicking and other fun as both kids' personalities shined through.

June 16:  It was a sunny day, but very windy at Watson's Bay.  We gathered there to have family pictures taken.  

Liam loved the photographer.  And really loved his assistant/fiance.  He spent most of the time running around and showing off.  But I think we got some great shots.  

After several hours of taking photos, Liam was rewarded with ice cream with a side of chocolate sauce and a side of sprinkles.  He basically ignored the ice cream and went to work mixing the sprinkles and sauce.

Brenna got a couple tastes of ice cream, too.

June 17:  When I came home from work, both kids came running at me.  And neither was screaming.  Then they played a fun game of chase through the apartment, with Liam shouting, "Sissy, chase me!"  

Lucky for me, Brian worked on dinner and I got to get in on the game of chase, too.

June 18:  Picked up some ginger snaps on the way home, along with some dinner groceries.  Turns out, both kids LOVE them.  

We had to get a second carton later in the week.

Brenna is obsessed with cups.  She was dying to get her hands on Liam's cup.  And then after she got her own cup, she wanted to put it in the dishwasher.

June 19:  When we get a bath ready for Brenna these days, Liam now insists he wants to get in too.  He'd rather play with her than take a bath by himself.  

Liam discovered that you can fill the bucket up if you squeeze water out of a sponge.

And Brenna discovered that Foofa makes a good teething toy.

June 21:  I got these coconut guava popsicles shortly after we got to Sydney.  I thought Liam would like them because they are pink.  Nope, he refused to eat them.  We almost threw them out.  But turns out Brenna loves them now that she's teething.

Which, of course, means Liam now loves them too.  He'd eat 3 a night if we let him.

Brenna was super proud that she could walk around AND eat a popsicle at the same time.  She likes to do circles around our kitchen/dining/living area in our Sydney apartment (with or without a popsicle).

June 21:  We decided to try to go out to dinner on a Friday night.  A car ride away.  Unfortunately, the restaurant we hoped to eat at was fully booked (oops) so we ended up at a Chinese place.  Brenna loved drinking water out of her soup bowl.

And, of course, so did Liam.

Once they were done eating, Brenna wanted to cruise around the restaurant.  Luckily, it was pretty empty.  Liam followed just inches behind exclaiming, "I'm following the leader!"  And luckily, the folks at the restaurant thought they were cute (not obnoxious).  

June 22:  It was pouring rain, so we headed to a museum Saturday morning.  The Powerhouse Museum is devoted to science and engineering.  They had some great interactive displays for small children.

   

Brenna got a turn pressing the buttons, too.

One of the exhibits was devoted to The Wiggles.  Man, Australians are proud of the Wiggles.

Brenna and Liam are not too interested in the Wiggles, but the exhibit was fun and perfect for toddlers.

Today was the first day that both kids were able to fully explore on their own.  Liam, of course, has been doing this for a while.   

But, Brenna is now mobile enough to do it as well.  She raced all over the exhibit, checking out things on her own, dancing to the music, and making friends.

And playing with her brother, of course.