George basking in sunset light
While mummy prepared the roast chicken, George and daddy hung out on the window seat in the lounge, enjoying the late afternoon sun:
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Damon's bravery commendation
Fantastic effort big boy - we are all very proud of you! If you don't remember Damon, there are photos from his wedding in Edinburgh here and here
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Brave Kiwi Fights off Robbers
(cut and pasted from Stuff.co.nz 11 May 2009)
A Wellington physiotherapist has received a bravery commendation after rescuing a woman being strangled and robbed of her jewellery during a gang attack in London.
Damon Newrick, 32, was having dinner when he heard "a blood-curdling scream" from downstairs outside his flat in Highgate, north London. He described it as one of "those screams which are just `someone's in trouble'. It was awful".
He rushed down two floors to the lobby, passing other tenants who stood by, to find three "quite large" men strangling a woman and ripping jewellery from her ears. The woman was covered in blood from where her attackers responsible for about 25 similar attacks tore out her £10,000 (NZ$25,000) earrings.
"I yelled at them and told them to get the eff off her," the St Patrick's College Silverstream old boy said from London yesterday.
"Two of them scarpered, one hung around. I hit him a couple of times in the head. I thought, `Hit first, ask questions second'. I chucked him out the door. He was yelling for his mates. Two of them came back.
"I've always been quite good at maths I thought, `There's three of you and one of me. It's not very good odds.'
"I jumped back behind the [lobby] door, which is reinforced glass, and shut the door on them. They started trying to kick it in.
"She [the victim] was still on the ground, quite dazed, so I couldn't run. I held the door for probably 20 seconds or so while they kicked it in and the glass started to give way." He grabbed the woman and "chucked her up the stairs".
One of the attackers had dropped his car keys inside the building. "He dropped them when I hit him. I thought they were after me: `Man, they are going to give me a hiding."' The men grabbed the keys and fled.
Mr Newrick will be a witness this month when two of the men stand trial for about 25 similar attacks. In each case women were strangled unconscious and their jewellery taken.
The attack happened in May last year but Mr Newrick received his commendation from police in the past fortnight.
Mr Newrick was a physiotherapist in Wellington until moving to London 4 1/2 years ago.
The woman, who was comforted by his wife, Lynn, after the attack, later moved out of the block.
His commendation states it is for "exceptional bravery and courage in tackling three extremely violent criminals in the process of committing a horrific crime".
Mr Newrick said one reason he immediately stepped in was because of his upbringing. His father, Paul Newrick, was a Hutt Valley police officer and detective for 21 years.
"That's just what we got taught you help where you can. The one thing that went through my mind was, `I can't ring up Dad and say I saw this thing happen but didn't really help."'
Paul Newrick said the family was rapt. "I'm not surprised at his reaction and I'm extremely proud of the fact he acted single-handedly in a dangerous situation."
Monday morning
A quick shot of George as he watched his mummy making coffee and his daddy putting the dishes away. His hair looks a little less freaky than his usual morning hair because he had a bath this morning instead of last night. We went out for dinner at the Football Club with Cam and little Sam, and by the time we got back it was too late for G to have a bath, so he went straight to sleep. A few yells between 5am and 6am, but apart from that he was pretty good last night.
A quiet moment on the change table
Obscured parental faces
Sleep in
Whoops. We slept in by half an hour this morning, and when I went in to get George from his bedroom he was lying on his side with his eyes open, happily sucking his finger. Bless. Had a lovely morning, during which I read him "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for the first time. I think he took most of it in (before proceeding to cover the pages in freshly manufactured drool).
Also took a few photos of the furry ones last night (with the borrowed lens I've been experimenting with). Here's one of Ben. Clearly he's starving and weak and has been deprived the necessities of life. Or... he had just hoovered up a small dish of tuna and whitebait and was feeling a tad lethargic.
Bumbo time!
Kylie very kindly lent George a little Bumbo seat - it's a foamy seat which supports small people and gives them a chance to strengthen their little (puke covered) necks. Here's BIg G enjoying some Bumbo time this morning:
And here's one of the munchkin just hanging out:
A few random photos
Have been testing Philip's 80-200mm f2.8 lens (I want to get something similar for facey* photos, so he's kindly letting me use his for the week), so here are a few of the test shots. I've also been going a bit potty with Photoshop, so these are quite experimental.
*facey = face photos. I refuse to say "portraits" in the same way I refuse to call lenses "glass" and flashes "guns
A typical George morning: another workout at his gym
