Birth to Five Years...

Lets go back to May 2000



My first bath in hospital



Dad having a hold



Gordon seeing me for the first time



Dad and Me

Gordon reading me a book

When I was born, Mum and I both had pneumonia, and because Mum was so sick, I couldnt be born when I was supposed to be. I was going to be a week late, but I decided I needed to get out into the world before then. I was 7lbs 14 oz when I was born,  a very calm, settled baby who smiled at everyone, even when they were putting needles in me...

18 months old, and I fell out of the pram on the way home from Christmas in The Park. Unfortunately I badly damaged all my front teeth.
When I was about 2, my favourite toys were a noisy camera that went everywhere with me, and the sticks my brothers and I used for guns. I went to creche and Mum started studying Naturopathy.
When I was 3 my big brother Duncan dropped me off his shoulders onto the fins of an oil heater. I ended up with six stitches, and have the scar to prove it today.
I was four when Mum got a new car. So we could try it out, we went for day trips to places like Hamner Springs and Kaikoura.
We also went for a family holiday, our first and only together, to Oamaru. 
I loved it and we stayed in the holiday park.
We fed the ducks in the oamaru botanic gardens, and then went to Kurow, where Mum showed us where she lived and grew up. At her school, we bounced on the trampolines. We drove to Omarama, and stayed the night, then drove home through Twizel and Tekapo to get home.

Me and Mac

Mum and Me

School boy

Me in hospital

Just before starting school I had my adenoids and tonsils removed in hospital. I remember lots of iceblocks, and icecream, and custard.
Then I started school at Avondale primary after my family shifted from the start of Avonside drive to further along into Avonside.
We are just one street away from the Red Zone, and many of the people  there have moved away. Some houses are being pulled down at the moment.
We used to spend a lot of time walking around our loop walk. Since the earthquake, we cant go over the river as all the walking bridges have been broken or closed. We still wander along the river, but it is different now...

Thanks for reading Part Two...