Sunday, June 30, 2013

favourite

he
His favourite at the moment is LETTERS! We have to stop at every sign we pass (which is a LOT if you know our regular routes) so that he can read all of the letters for me. 

me
My favourite at the moment is chickpeas! After soaking a huge pile of them I spent the afternoon playing in the kitchen. The result was a ridiculous amount of hummus (of course) and a jar of chickpea cookies (sugar-free yet surprisingly delicious and more-ish)! I made them star-shaped in a bid to thwart the inversely proportional relationship between time/effort (spent making food for toddlers) & enjoyment (displayed by toddlers when eating said prepared food) - which a wise friend once warned me about. A twinkle-twinkling success!

Saturday, June 29, 2013

spill

he
Soaking up the leadership spill.

me
I spend a great deal of my time cleaning up HIS spills! Early on, I set up a cleaning station on the kitchen bench: spray, cloths, bibs and a bucket for dirty cloths and bibs. It has been OH SO HANDY every day since!

Friday, June 28, 2013

drums

he
He loves the drums too (he loves all music and sound-making activities!). If you mention 'drums', he taps on the nearest book/table/surface. He had a play with electric 'drums', and although the 'buttons' were fun to touch and hear, I still think he prefers the real thing! So do I.

me
I've always been partial to drums and drummers - of any culture! Such fun, powerful, inviting and accessible instruments. Walking home from a work day last week I took a slightly longer route so that I could check out the beats I could hear in the distance. This guy had set up his kit here, and was driving a beautiful rhythm. And what a back drop!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

winter solstice

he
Dancing to the live music with the other kids (i.e. standing and bending knees intermittently, watching and smiling)!

me
Ye-ha! The days officially get longer again! We went along to the Winter Solstice festival at Northey Street on the weekend: Saw a lot of familiar faces, ate incredible mushroom dishes, watched fire-twirling and other theatrical delights and wove our way back and forth through the sea of happy punters - wrapped in scarves and topped with beanies.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

first night apart



he
He and his Dad take such good care of each other that I am not missed when I'm away!

me
Although 24 hours away from little guy was enough for me, I coped fine. I was quite sad as I drove away. I had a beautiful time with 3 other ladies as a way to celebrate the imminent birth of a friend's 2nd baby. We spent the day/night op-shopping, cafe-ing, crafting, and beaching.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

out to dinner with the grandparents

he
He took his parents and grandparents to our favourite toddler-friendly dinner venue (Coorparoo Bowls Club) on Wednesday evening. He had such a great time crawling on couches, strutting around the place like it was his own, building with their blocks and toys, boogying, and snacking on everyone's dinner. It just so happened to be Music Bingo night, and despite his distracted, nonchalant attitude towards the game (continually implying that the music was old and that he didn't recognise much of it), he managed to come 3rd (the only one from our table to score a prize) and received the coveted honour of choosing something from "The Bag of Crap" (1st and 2nd prize are wine and food - much less crappy, but much less fun for him). His little hand foraged around in the bag for a while until he lifted it out, grasping THREE (crap) prizes. Which he was allowed to keep. Two were silly, shiny, tinselled, noise-making whistle/streamers, and one was a beer-branded bottle opener on a lanyard. Funny.

me
I have a cousin who lives in the same city as me! She's the oldest cousin on my Dad's side, and I'm the youngest (so I'm actually closer in age to her kids than to her), but this still isn't a great excuse for not catching up very often! We always enjoy it when we do hang out. Anyway, while my parents were visiting, she spent an evening with us, a lovely stroll and dinner at the pub. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the easy conversation and stories of people I have so much in common with, yet know so little of. I really am fascinated by families (both those of blood and those of choice) and relationships and connections and I always feel quite reflective after a meeting like this.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

garden goodness



he
 There's only so long that a little cherub can stay cooped up inside on a rainy day. So, as it became clear that the relentless drizzle/pour/drizzle/pour pattern would not be broken, he had his first proper session of rain gardening. Such fun! I recently bought him some gorgeous red firemen gumboots at an op shop, and even though he loves to name them, "Boots! Boots!", he struggles to actually walk (forward) in them (the slow, careful sideways shuffle is seriously belly-grabbing hilarious to watch), so this was one aspect of rain gardening that will have its debut another (wet) time.

me
I bought seedlings from our Sunday markets - it's super fun because you get to buy a mixed tray, with any combination you choose. I am most excited about the brussel sprouts because I'd never seen how they grow - check out the picture on the label! Looks like they were all glued on for a prank. We'll see!


we
We came home the other night to find a paper bag full of green goodies, thanks to lovely neighbours up the hill.

Monday, June 17, 2013

making

he
He and I wandered in to check out the new GoMA exhibition, and hopped out again as terrific tree kangaroos an hour later. He made a wallaby mask on the craft table and made this poster on the computer. It was a bit of a juggling act to lift him high enough to get his face into the right spot for the webcam, while he was desperately reaching down to play with the computer mouse and keyboard, but this was our most successful attempt! He LOVED climbing around the kangaroo 'habitat' with the other masked 'kangaroos'. This was an incredibly cute hour.

me
My Mom and I went to a free workshop at the Brisbane Square Library yesterday - basket weaving from recycled fabrics. It was the perfect way to recycle my already-recycled fabrics! The scrappy bits of shirts that were left over from the toddler pants I've been making were perfect for this! Equal to the joy I felt spending the a couple of hours crafting with my Mom was how much I enjoyed the actual 'being there' - the atmosphere, and what the atmosphere brought out in those of us present. Sitting around a fabric-scrap-covered table with a bunch of strangers from all ages and walks of life is such a surprisingly comfortable and comforting setting! Everyone's learning, and everyone shares their own skills and experience and stories, and everyone's completely polite and encouraging. And inspiring. And generous. My favourite bit, though: My Mom shared a memory from when she was very young, lying in a basket under a table. It was WW2 days, and she must have been with one of her great aunts at a quilt-making gathering, where the ladies used to gather around these big weaving tables to collectively create quilts to send to soldiers. My infant Mother was resting under the table, watching these big needles moving in and out, up and down, on the quilting table above her. I can't say anything that adequately sums up how special I think that is. She shared another memory on our walk home. She was a new mother (when my big sis was born) in PNG, and her Aussie friend there - also a new mum - insisted that she learn to knit her baby daughter a jumper. Mom finally gave in when they found, in the Goroka convenience store, a Woman's Weekly with the cover story something like, "Knitting patterns for people who can't knit". She bought the magazine, needles and wool, started out but soon put it away. Sometime later, another friend - a German lady, showed her what to do. Mom did a little more, got frustrated, and put it away. Later still, her Aussie friend helped out again. This pattern continued... Aussie knitter friend helps, Mom tries, finds it frustrating, puts it away, German knitter friend helps, Mom tries a little more, finds it frustrating, puts it away. And on and on. She said it was quite some time before she realised that the Australian style of knitting and the European style of knitting are quite different, possibly opposite, which explains why it was so confusing each time one of her knitter friends tried to teach her. She even remembers them undoing each others' stitches as they were 'wrong'! I think this is sooo funny! She said she did, despite all multi-continental-knitting-style odds, finish one pastel yellow knitted jumper for her little baby girl! When my sister and I were younger, Mom actually arranged for us to have knitting lessons with a friend of hers who'd had more luck learning to knit than she had. As far as I know, it was the Aussie knitting style.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

new farm park



he
A spontaneous decision to head to New Farm Park turned out to be a great one! There's something for everyone! He enjoyed everything, but the park (definitely Brisbane's best!) was the obvious highlight. Especially with parents AND grandparents as a captive audience!

me
I love seeing the World Press Photo exhibition each year. It's that clever mix of inspiring and depressing. My parents enjoyed it too. The markets were on, too, so we all strolled with our eyes peeled for the perfect brunch. I found gozleme with roma tomatoes, basil and haloumi. Oh my!

Friday, June 14, 2013

slide!



he
Shiiiide! He loves 'em!

me
One of the perks of attending conferences at fancy schools is checking out their fancy playgrounds. This one was amazing. It's bigger than it looks. The slide at the other end is very looong and completely enclosed. Well after dusk, some of us were feeling brave (as you do when your friends egg you on...) and couldn't resist a bit of a sneaky night climb, although we didn't realise how terrifying the pitch-dark slide would be!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

gatsby and grandparents



he
He spent the evening with his Granny and Grandpa who are visiting from Adelaide. Apparently we were "definitely not missed" and he was happily in charge for the duration. He played and read with them, then went to the kitchen table and said "Up please!" when he was ready for dinner. He played and read some more and then headed off down the hallway, saying, "Bed!" and he tried to climb into his cot!

me
B had free gold class movie tickets to use, so we thought that The Great Gatsby was an appropriate choice. It was my first gold class experience, and despite it all being a little weird, it was super comfortable, and I got to play with the recline and foot-rest buttons as much as I liked. Which was a lot. Also it was fun to have our wine and nachos delivered, although, as it turns out, nachos (messy and crunchy) aren't the best snack choice for dark, quiet cinemas.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

big day thursday



he
He and his Dad rode to Thursday rhymes, then upstairs to the State Library's current exhibition "Live: Queensland Band Culture" to see his favourite singer, Tim, play a little gig. They also stepped into the video booth to record his Dad's first memories of live music in Brisbane. For the afternoon/evening, they went along to the Refugee Lantern Walk (along with 5000 others!). There were giant animal lanterns, lights, music, friends. He thought it was all wonderful!

me
I worked at school for the day, then headed to the Primary Arts Network conference, followed by a tasty pasta dinner with the rest of the organising committee. I have hereby decided that the only conferences worth attending are those which involve painting, clay, amazing refreshments and a space-age kids' playground which committee members can test out in the dark afterwards!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

kingscliff



he
He's still learning to love the beach, and whenever there's an opportunity, his Dad makes sure he has lots of chances to feel the waves and sand. By the end of the weekend he had enjoyed lots of beachy moments!

me

I love that we can go away with friends! We had it in the calendar for a while, but it was only in the days before that we had anything organised, and it was perfect. I loved the place, the friends, the cheese, the Eurovision, and the fast-paced game of pictionary charades after the kids went to bed.

we
We headed down to the beach soon after we arrived on the Friday evening. It was just gorgeous.

Monday, June 10, 2013

giant



he
I was going to quip about the giant shark at the museum which he casually called, "fish, fish". But I look at this photo and maybe I should write about the giant baby whose ear was nibbled by a tiny shark...

me
We lived in the USA in 2001, and managed to see my very favourite band, They Might be Giants MANY times in fun, little venues around the country. We spent some months in Europe on the way home, and saw that they were playing in London when we were there, so popped along to that, too. I'm actually pretty sure that they were intentionally following us around the globe - these things surely don't happen by coincidence, as they landed in Brisbane just after we did, so the gig here was the perfect way to catch up with some friends we hadn't seen in a year. Then they were gone. The TMBG-less months turned into years. A decade. We waited. When we heard that they were finally touring Australia again this year, we bought tickets straight away of course! Then, a week before the gig, we heard they were playing the night before, too. How could we say no?