mothers day goodies

he

He drew this for me at the library with his Daddy. Obviously, I am super excited every time he wants to draw. Even though the activity usually ends up with me drawing a shape or animal and him telling me what it is. Or both of us drawing together. BUT apparently he drew this whole picture, all by himself! Every gorgeous, random stroke!

me

We won a Mothers' Day hamper at the kindy fete. Lots of goodies. The chocolate didn't last long. Neither did the wine. Still not sure what some of it is - such is the fun of random hampers!

working with tools

he

At the library last week he made a collage for his 'Great One', and also decorated the 'r' on the new sign at the Kids Corner. He was intrigued by the glue stick, which we both thought was great fun. I felt differently when someone gave him a pair of scissors to work with. Seriously!

me

I used the clever screwdriver with a selection of special magnety bits to pull off all of the hooks, etc. from the bathroom walls, just in time for the plasterer.

a day in murwillumbah

he

 B had a day of work at the Murwillumbah hospital, so we tagged along, since we were heading down that way for the weekend anyway! 
His highlights of the day:
- 360 degree mural room, view from Mount Warning
- Playground at Knox Park
- Tweed River Art Gallery, especially the kids' activity folders and the cafe with stunning views.

me

My highlights:
- Fun times with him
- Op shopping (I am well acquainted with the Mur-bah op shops, it was nice to be back)
- This view of Mount Warning, etc. for a couple of hours while he slept in the car
- The Gallery and cup of tea at the cafe afterwards

kindy fete

he

We strolled up the hill to the local kindy fete, for a number of excellent reasons: catch up with friends, petting zoo, jumping castle, 2nd-hand goodies, cakes, Mothers' Day gift.

me

I trawled through the 2nd hand clothes and toys. This dress is amazing. And sooo green!

we

As it turned out, his first experience on a jumping castle required - at various stages - all 3 of us to climb aboard! Please can we have one of our very own?

home on a sunday morning

he

After breakfast at the markets with auntie and grandies, we all spent the rest of the morning hanging out in the back yard and getting some little garden jobs done. He helped his Dadda fix and hang our friends' old swing and then tested it out with a high-5 for Mum.

me

I tidied the "Free Herbs" garden, planted some seedlings and made labels. It's pretty cute.

out on a saturday night

he

The exhibition launch was such a lovely evening! He spent his time modeling my products, watching the band, playing with the very-shiny shower-heads in this barrel, chatting to friends and snuggling with his grandparents and auntie.

me

I thoroughly enjoyed the launch, and since it finished quite early, and since he had Grandparents/babysitters sleeping over, B and I popped out after the party to catch up with a couple of others at the sometimes-charming/sometimes-awkward Canvas. This evening it was charming.

new activities

he

 He had his second session of Tiny Tots on Monday. My goodness, the place is toddler paradise! A huge space with soft floors, music, hoops, balls, dancing, singing (and fans!) ... and another room full of colourful play and climbing equipment. And about a thousand he-sized people! It's also the kind of place we run into a few of his friends. Such is our current demographic! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

me

After increasing protestations from an aching hip (or two, sometimes), I've decided to give jogging a break, and see if I can be the kind of person who rides a bike for fitness (I've seen them - I know that they exist). I've always been happy to do it for transport, and even just for fun, but this will require every ounce of willpower I can find in the early mornings. It's a completely different kind of pedaling... 

joy & sorrow

he

He genuinely finds joy in small and beautiful things! ...An unexpected sound made by tapping one toy on another! ...The way it feels to make a new funny sound with his tongue! ...The satisfaction of successfully opening (or closing) a box or a door! ...A smile or a funny face from a friend! ...A plane or helicopter flying overhead! ...Succeeding in communicating something to his parents! ...Figuring out how something works! ...Recognising someone, something or somewhere! ...Flowers! Flowers! Flowers! He walked the whole way home from the train station this noon, and we stopped to pick, smell, touch (or to simply acknowledge by name) every flower ("faa-waa"). I don't usually use this many photos on one blog post ...but all of the above must stay together!

me

I've been warmly joyful too, with some precious hours over the weekend spent laughing, drawing, eating, cuddling and catching up with a couple different gatherings of people who are very dear to me, who I do not see often (one - due to distance, the other - shamefully, due to laziness... busyness... life rolling by!). A late-evening hour on Saturday spent with a skinny, kind, sleeping 4-year-old cherub on my lap was a delightful and refreshing treat. Moments the following evening spent playing, drawing, stamping, chatting with a creative, caring, generous 8-year-old were incredibly special.

  Incongruously, deep sorrow is currently traveling alongside the great joys in my life. I've been shedding tears intermittently throughout the past week. My heart is simply aching for a dear friend.

It astounds me that we humans are capable of genuinely experiencing such polar emotions within days, hours, minutes of each other.

brown dog

he

Ahhh, the Brown Dog. We hadn't been there in a little while but we accidentally ended up there on our Saturday morning walk. They have a whole drawer of toy cars to play with. And free postcards. And salt and pepper shakers to shake. And lots of buses drive past and each one is noteworthy.

me

They reliably do the very best breakfasts, with all the big names (haloumi, avocado, sourdough, tomato, egg, spinach). And they make my chai pretty.

a bit of culture

he

 He had his daddy all to himself today. And what a day! They went for a morning walk and playground play with our friends from around the corner. Then home for a sleep, and off to school with another friend to collect his daughter from Prep, and to gather lots more signatures for our playground petition. From there they met up with more friends at another playground, and later all four of them walked in to meet me at South Bank.

me

I had a very productive work day, then wandered out to find them for our beloved Friday night picnic. I was quickly reminded (by the growing crowds and the thousands of fire-red lanterns) that is was Buddha's birthday / Chinese culture celebrations at South Bank, which means great food and atmosphere! So we met there instead of our usual spot by the river. I had a great deal of fun shopping for dinner at the food stalls; I wanted to try as many things as possible... Sticky rice parcel, veggie 'bun', dosa, fried tofu, dumplings...

we

We love that we can stumble upon such festivities, in the course of a regular Friday evening. 

special places

he

He meets his mate on Fridays to run and explore. This is a special place which his mate showed him. Quite magical!

me

After lots of emails and chats and organising and letterbox-dropping of flyers, we had our community picnic on the weekend! It was completely lovely and such a success with around 70 people joining us at our new special place. There is still a lot of work to do (we've been gathering signatures and letters of support this week), but we are feeling hopeful that this will result in a park and playground at which we spend a lot of our time. Our local Councillor came along, and reported it on her webpage (screenshot above) - see it here.

too easy!

he

We are beginning to realise that some things that were once so tricky for him that we loved to watch him try, and listen to him grunt with great effort, are now so easy that he does them in the blink of an eye. Like climbing on furniture and turning off (and on... and off...) the aquarium light. 

me

For a recent spot of truffle-making (yes - it's definitely becoming one of my 'things'), instead of committing an entire afternoon to chopping a big bowl-full of dried fruit and nuts into tiny, mushable pieces, by hand, I borrowed a magical food-processing device from Mrs Downstairs. I cannot describe how ridiculously quick and easy it was! 

tuesday swimming

he

 A friend and I trialed an idea. Arrive at the pool an hour earlier than our little dudes' swimming lesson, and take turns chasing toddlers and swimming laps! We did this a few times when the dudes were much smaller and much less mobile. MUCH less mobile! We made good use of the baby cage (trampoline) which at least one of them was happy to play in at a time. Mostly! We are calling it a success and we have more strategies to test next week. And, of course, his swimming lesson which followed was challenging but wonderful.

me

I borrowed flippers from the pool cupboard, which definitely added extra fun (as well as speed) to the lap-swimming. It really is quite relaxing. Perhaps I'm not trying hard enough?

family bike ride

he

He conducted a rigorous safety inspection before agreeing to hop on the bike with Dadda. 
He seems to be getting used to the whole process, it must be about time for me to take him on my bike.

me

We rode to Reverse Garbage, to see my guitar picks in the gift shop and to pick up a few bits and pieces for his explorer-board, then to the bike shop to buy me a new helmet - my old one was an oddly discoloured shadow of its former self. My incredible maturity was displayed when I chose the ugly, practical, light, well-vented option over the colourful, patterned, heavy and less comfortable ones. With the hindsight that comes from a simple bit of too-late googling, we should have bought it online (for half the price). Oh well...

we

The other stop on our family ride was a playground (we're keen to check out all of the parks within riding distance). All tuckered out, it was time for a rest and a well-earned drink of milk.

screen time

he

We've started having play dates with lovely new friends in the neighbourhood. The plan is that while the little people explore and eat each others' food, the big people chat and take turns 'getting stuff done'. This week we chatted a bit about how we feel about 'screen time'. We're both keen to keep it to a minimum for a while yet (his only screen time is spent skyping far-away friends and family, and watching nursery rhymes on youtube once a week while I cut his nails!). However, we wanted to see how the little people interacted with the 'piano' game on her screen. The 6 months' age difference meant a big difference in their responses. He quickly figured it out and used one finger to press different keys, while little-she grinned and tapped the screen with her whole hand. Fun for all, and very cute to observe!

me

I was lucky to be the one to 'get stuff done' this time. I took my laptop along and finished putting together my new website!

up-cycled skirts

he

Even if you're a busy little boy, if your mummy is making toddler skirts, you're going to have to try them on.

me

I've been making fun little toddler skirts this week. Then I found, in the depths of my clothes boxes, a very cute skirt which I once made from an op-shopped koala curtain (for me - not for little people), but haven't worn for years. I was very excited to unveil it, and he loved it! We discussed the different animals featured on it all day. Then, I had an email from a friend who I had made a similar curtain skirt for, many Christmases ago, saying she'd just re-found hers. Coincidence? 

squirts

he

He and his mate graduated into the next swimming group! They are no longer 'Babies' but 'Squirts'! Graduation celebrations were held by the 2 proud families at the pub around the corner, on 2-for-Tuesday last week. They had their first class of Squirts this morning and it looks like it will be much more challenging and even more fun. And even more splashing! 

me

I just really felt like something sweet this afternoon... All I could find was this glorious white bottle - a birthday gift. I flipped open the lid, tipped it upside down, and squirted it into my mouth. How naughty! When will I grow up?

drawing

he

This is not a photograph of paper. It's a photograph of the wall. The wall is near where the paper and crayons live. If it wasn't so beautiful I'd be upset...!

me

I've been playing with the etch-a-sketch today.

bubbler

he

He's been visiting a new park lately, even ran into one of his friends there! It's quite lovely and not too far from home. Yesterday morning, he wandered over to the water bubbler to conduct a safety inspection (he'd already given the pram, the bin and some of the play equipment the 'all cear'). He was quite pleased to figure out that pulling down on that shiny lever released a satisfying stream of water. He helped himself to a slurp. And a shower. Despite needing all of his clothes and shoes changed, and hair dried, he was very pleased with the morning's discovery. Water bubbler passes inspection with flying (wet) colours!

me

I do love bubbles. Bubble baths, bubble blowers, bubble machines. I keep bubble bath handy and a few bubble blowers around the house (and in my bag) and am pleased that my little person now provides an excuse for my habits. My favourite story at the moment is relevant: My friend told me how he was recently stopped in a frustrating traffic jam, when someone in a car up ahead leaned out the window and started blowing bubbles! It changed my friend's mood instantly! Everyone in the surrounding cars were watching and smiling. I really should keep a bubble blower in my car, too. I have some spares!