getting used to girls

he

We recently had some old friends stay with us for the weekend, with their 3 fantastic, beautiful, fun, witty, caring, creative girls. I cannot describe how thrilled he was! I think it helped him get excited about his sister's fast-approaching arrival...

me

I'm still having a lot of fun collecting little girl clothes - surprising myself at how much I'm continuing to enjoy this. We've received lots of lovely hand-me-downs and loans, some very cute and cuddly things that his clever Nanma has found in op shops, and I'm still allowing myself to buy bits and pieces that I see in 2nd hand stalls and op shops.

celebrating our outdoors

he

After over a year of planning/campaigning/waiting/wondering... We got our new playground at Boggo Road! Ye-ha! This is him with his gorgeous neighbourhood pals, celebrating at the official opening/picnic recently.

me

In a much earlier chapter of life I landed at Googa Outdoor Ed Centre, instantly fell in love with the people, animals, forest, program and values, and spent a beautiful two years working/playing there. We even got married there, in the forest. This year is Googa's 25th anniversary and a past-student-turned-filmmaker made a video as part of the celebrations. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this and reminiscing.

http://vimeo.com/96979015

chopsticks

he

He did very well, for his first try! Turns out that tofu cubes are great for chopstick-stabbing.

me

I rarely remember to bust out the wooden chopsticks that we bought on our travels once, years ago, but I get excited when I do!

daddy's work picnic

he

Once a year, B's work puts on a 'Family Fun Day'. Feeling guilty for not partaking last year, we headed along this time. It was very 'he' appropriate! Jumping castle, painting masks, juice boxes, snow cones...

me

Admittedly, I had to drag him onto the jumping castle with me, as I wasn't sure I was really allowed on my own. He quickly warmed up to it, brave boy. My other highlights were the popcorn and veggie sausages on the bbq.

night noodles

he

We caught up with an old friend who is in town for a couple of days, and wandered down to the noodle festival at South Bank for dinner. Our little guy loved the noodles, he loved the fairy lights, he loved the dancing dragon and he loved hanging out with our friend's gorgeous daughter. She's a big kid and is very good with little kids!

me

How lovely it is to catch up with old friends, and to get to know their children.

friday fundays are back!

he

Now that daycare days have changed, Funday Fridays are back! Last week was Lone Pine, this week was the helicopter playground. This week was also the windiest day imaginable!

me

I took a big thermos of hot milo for the mummies...

blood test

he

 He and his dad met me afterwards, and was so irresistibly cute in his sunnies and bike helmet that the friendly pathologist invited them to wheel the bike right into the waiting room, where he was given balloons and stickers.

me

 It was my pregnancy glucose tolerance test this morning. No one gave me stickers or balloons, just 3 puncture wounds, a bottle and a half of sickly sweet vile potion to scull (on an empty stomach) and a moderately comfy chair to slouch on for two hours while I waited for the final blood test. My ridiculous 'delicate' veins were being difficult, as usual, so there will be bruising around two of the three puncture sites. Despite this, it was a thoroughly enjoyable morning spent chatting to Dawson, the blood man, for a couple of hours, about rescue dogs, cheesecake, baby names, solar panels, Larissa Waters and the 80s.

we

We had breakfast together afterwards, around the corner at Desmond & Molly's - delicious and delightful (until he smashed a glass on the tiled floor).

new room

he

A recent miraculous transformation of our former (largely ignored) store-room means that he actually has his own real bedroom. With a real bed! And a real door that really closes! And real cupboards which store his stuff! And a real door! And real space to play. And did I mention the door? His first four night-sleeps in his big bed have been PERFECT. Jury is still out on day-sleeps, though he's happy to stay/play on his bed for a couple of hours of 'rest' - which is almost as good as a sleep.

me

This has been a major feature of the past months at our home. It was a mammoth effort - discarding/recycling/donating/selling/freecycling carloads of clothes, furniture (including nine separate shelving units which previously lined the walls of the store room), books, toys, stationery, linen, craft supplies, teacher resources, CDs/DVDs and other technology... We had built-ins installed in 2 rooms and everything that had not been discarded was given a home behind the tidy sliding doors. It was a frustrating and tedious job but incredibly liberating and satisfying. And we really couldn't wait too much longer to clear enough space for him to call a real bedroom, leaving the little sun room/nook with the cot and change table for his little sister. 

round

he

 
There's a 3-week break from swimming lessons, so we've actually had to think about how to fill our Tuesday mornings. This week I remembered that South Bank's Kids' Club has free activities on Tuesdays, so we wandered down to see what their July program involved. There were a few different activities and crafts, but he was content to spend the entire morning in the ball pit. He was absolutely thrilled. He even, voluntarily and repeatedly, climbed out to pick up the mess of balls which had been thrown out of the pit, and passed me any misshapen balls that he discovered, confident that I could make them perfectly round again. (With a bit of finessing, and due to the glorious gift of extensive-time-sitting-still, which I was granted through his decision to stay in one place for so long, I usually could. Phew.)

me

There really is something about stripes on an expanding baby-belly.

feeling welcome

he

Big boy - nearly 2 1/2 now - has just moved up to a pre-kindy room at Daycare, the Zebra room. He knows that he has to press the '3' button on the lift now, not the '2'. I was a little apprehensive when we first found out that he was to move; he'd been quite settled in the Grasshopper/toddler room, and loved his teachers. Once I'd visited the Zebras, however, I was excited! The teachers are lovely, clever, creative and kind. The program seems completely appropriate for him and his interests, the kids are friendly and chatty and the transition from one room to the other was gradual and thorough, taking the entire previous month. And I read this poster on the classroom door each time I enter. Wouldn't it be great if every door we walked through had a sign which explicitly told us what we could expect from the people inside?!

me

Being ridiculously shy around strangers and in unfamiliar contexts, I usually feel too awkward to spend long at any potential work-space/cafe, or to even step through the door, sometimes. However I've been feeling pretty comfortable spending my computer-work days at the Clarence Corner Bookshop/Cafe lately. It ticks all the boxes: has good music, walls lined with books (my favourite kind of wall) vegetarian food and daily soups, reasonable prices, a calm atmosphere, toys for little visitors, free wifi, pretty lead-light windows, chai tea on milk, raw vegan desserts, satisfying waves of busy and quiet times, a clean toilet... They support charities and local artists... And they seem happy for me to spend multiple hours hunched over one of their tables, ordering tea or soup every hour or two. Maybe the list I've just rattled off could be posted on their door for other apprehensive customers?

playing with friends

he

Jamming with his oldest pal.

me

It's school holidays! Treating myself, I spent a good chunk of yesterday feeling completely indulgent, hanging with my teacher friend - just the 2 of us - brunch at this gorgeous spot, op shopping at the bay and another cuppa to complete the gorgeous afternoon.

goo

he

 Blue and wonderful. Bliss.

we

We have always loved taking our own little bucket to Flannery's, waiting as they pour peanuts into their machine, and watching our bucket fill up with delicious, 100% peanut, peanut butter. Apparently we're not the only ones -  last week the entire store was completely sold out of peanuts AND peanut butter. We were distraught. Our family will truly not survive a day without the stuff (this is a theory, we've never dared to actually test it, too risky) so, not to be beaten, we regrouped and wandered down to the fruit shop to buy peanuts, hurried home and blended our own in our magical food-zhooshing device. It is perfect! Obviously it is also all gone. Will make more this evening. We're yet to 'crunch' the numbers, but this may become our newest favourite home-made staple.

drumming (guest blogger alert!)

He

(By B)
Of all instruments R loves - guitar, bass, double bass, violin, mandolin, mouth organ, didgeridoo are ones he often mentions - drum and cymbals seem to be the favourite.  At an awesome playground last weekend he spent 90% of the time hitting the play-drums with the largest sticks he could find.

Out of the Box festival at the QPAC this year featured Japanese Drumming as one of the free workshops, so R and me went down early to ensure we nabbed a spot.  After the bollywood dancing we were in prime position and managed to get one of the last of the 150 plastic buckets not commandeered by school groups.  The spare drum happened to be right in the middle of the crowd, and parents had to stay at the edge.  He's a bit of a scaredy cat so I wasn't sure how he would go so far away from me and surrounded by people slightly bigger than him (not to mention lots of noise) but I needn't have worried.  He LOVED it. He didn't exactly listen to the commands, but he followed along with the other kids (or did his own thing as he saw fit). At the end, everyone got up and left and 149 drums sat empty while 1 drum continued to be utilised by one cute little 2.5 year old who was intent on staying for the next session.

Where's Wally:

Me

I crashed my plane.

when left alone

he

We really do love our 'Babycam', for many reasons. One reason is the priceless entertainment factor! He quite enjoys his pre-sleep time, which can last for a long while, and we get to watch some hilarious antics without interrupting, we get to see how he entertains himself and interacts with his toys/friends, we get to see what's happening when it gets noisy (usually singing, recalling conversations or yelling random statements/commands/wishes), AND - importantly - what's happening when the room goes quiet. Sometimes quietness indicates sleepiness, but often it means he's reading himself a story, whispering to giraffey, rearranging his toys, poking his head under the blind to stare out the window, or undressing (to varying degrees).

me

It wasn't technically 'alone' time, but 'time without child'. Usually scared of events that involve corporate-ness/excessive mummy-ness/marketing/excessive use of pink, I braved the recent baby expo with a couple of courageous friends. Channeling my inner-mature-woman (or, at least, my best attempted imagining of her), I tagged along and trusted my pals' keen sense of freebies and worthwhile stalls. It was actually pretty fun!

nights get shorter again!

he

me

We headed out to the lovely Winter Solstice Festival again this year. I just had a look at last year's post, and it turns out we an almost identical experience, with identical highlights, this time! I could have just copied the text in here. And, just like last year, my photos are all about food/drink (which I will happily spend the entire evening reveling in), and his are about watching/listening to live music (which he will happily spend the entire evening enjoying, carefully tapping his foot to the beat)!

auntie visit (and visit and visit)

he

 Every morning he shuffled down the hallway, knocked on her door, calling, "Are you awake", waited for her response and then declared, "Let's PLAY!" And so each day of fun began.

me

My sister called me, earlier in the year, to double-check dates before she booked flights for her Easter trip here to Brisneyland. We had just found out that we were pregnant but weren't quite ready to share the news, however I wanted to make sure she didn't end up regretting coming earlier in the year and not later, once the bub had arrived. I hinted at this and she replied, I'll just come back again! It turned out that she came back a couple of extra times in between, on either end of her trip to Palm Cove for a friend's 40th. So we are getting FOUR visits this year! Three down, one to go! I suspect the next visit will be quite different from the others. 

fete favourites

he

 

He, the boss, dragged his Daddy and Auntie around for the morning, between the playground, snow cones, giant slide, pony rides (so brave!), sushi, mini-train, fire engine, performance stage...

me

It's no secret that I love a fete, and that my very favourite parts are the 2nd-hand stall and the petting zoo. With no petting zoo at the most recent event, I was free to spend the whole time rummaging through boxes, tables, shelves and racks of potentially incredible treasures. Demonstrating great maturity and self-restraint, I filled just one bag with toys (including the tupperware shape-sorter that I've been hoping to find 2nd-hand for a couple of years now!) and another with clothes. Mainly tiny ones. And I didn't even buy back anything from the dozens of box-loads I had donated to the cause (my good pal was volunteering at the stall). My third favourite thing about a fete is the obligatory and delectable cake stall (of course) but, because we had an abundance of tasty bananas from our little grove at home, I'd already spent the weekend pumping out batches of banana muffins and couldn't really justify buying anything else!

morning walk

he

My big boy walking to Daycare.

me

On the return journey of my morning jog/walk/shuffle I spotted this gorgeous rainbow arc. Stunning! Rainbows have always felt quite magical to me and have never failed to lift my spirit. Taking this photo also gave me a perfectly justifiable reason to take a break from jogging and stroll for a while...