Jacynth's Second Public Lecture

Jacynth's brainwashing continues... as we attended a public lecture at Curtin University last Friday. We arrived early, so that we could choose a good seat - where we could have easy access to the exit in case Jacynth decides to call for attention...

Slowly, people started to trickle in... 

The lecture was given by Prof. Lawrence Krauss from Arizona State University, one of the more well-known theoretical physicists/cosmologists around due to his frequent appearances on television documentaries and his popular science books ie. the Physics of Star Trek.

As Professor Krauss spoke, various methods were used to try to keep Jacynth quiet... at least for a while...

Kevin's colleagues playing their part as well...

her Glo-worm...

 getting her to chomp on her teething rusk...

and then her teether...

And when nothing else could keep her occupied any longer, she finally managed to get the attention of everyone else in the room, including the speaker...

Lawrence Krauss: (describing the discovery of dark energy and how it solved the problem of the missing matter/energy required for a flat Universe)
Jacynth: (squeals in delight)
Lawrence Krauss: Yes, I know, it's really exciting!

Agnes then thought perhaps letting her crawl would do the job. That's when she climbed staircases for the first time - and she went all the way up! She did it a second time, all the way up again, after Agnes carried her down...

At the top of the stairs are corridors which she happily crawled around and picked dry leaves to put in her mouth!

Needless to say, she ended up sweating at the end of the extensive exercise. Since she was already in her pyjamas (hence the rolled up sleeves), the oversized pants protected them from getting dirty! :)

All in all, it was an engaging lecture, filled with great insights and lots of humour. You get a sense of why Lawrence Krauss is such a well known science communicator, and is able to explain very difficult concepts to a general audience - not that Jacynth know much about that though... 

A Beautiful Sunday

As with all Sundays, we rush home from church so we can put Jacynth down for her morning nap. Three Sundays ago, while she was napping, Kevin cooked lunch and then announced that we were not going to waste a beautiful day staying at home. He merely informed Agnes that we were going out once Jacynth woke up. And we did.    

We ended up on one of the playgrounds along Cottlesloe Beach.

munching on our pears...

playing with our toys... 

enjoying each other... 

exploring the playground... 

meeting some new friends...

Then, it was time for Jacynth's afternoon nap. While she napped in her stroller, we went for a stroll (mainly to look for the toilet). 

Before we left, we had to go down to the beach. After all, it was meant to be a beach outing! :D

Unlike her previous sand experience, Jacynth was not thrilled. Perhaps it was because she had just woken up from her nap or because the sand was really cold.

We let her experience a bit of the surf...

...and finally, had our family potrait taken. ;)

Eating and Eating and Eating...

Kevin has been doing most of the cooking lately, partly because Agnes has been caught up with the task of running after the very mobile Jacynth and partly because he's been inspired by Masterchef Australia! :)

As for Jacynth, she is much more of a solid food eater now since the initial food tasting days. It's so rewarding when she opens her mouth widely when you offer her the spoon.

Of course, it can be very frustrating on some days when she just wants to make funny faces, blow bubbles (spitting porridge all over the place in the process) and refuses to eat.

"Eating" an apple

Having a taste of durian ice-cream at Ipoh Garden Restaurant where we had dinner with Kevin's friend, Jason who came to visit from Melbourne. ;p

She loves feeding herself and enjoys a variety of food. Afterall, she prefers to eat what we eat rather than her own porridge! Here's Jacynth gnawing on a celery...

...carrot...

and brocolli.

Grimacing at the sour taste of an orange but she kept coming back for more!