christmas decorating

he

she

b & me

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

he

They have "Show & Share" at daycare. He hasn't previously wanted to take anything to contribute, but decided, spontaneously, to take this book the other day. He told the class about it and then the teachers read it aloud to everyone. He loves anything to do with dinosaurs (and has for quite a while now), but the most fun thing about them is definitely making the ROAR! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

she

She had her two month check-up and vaccinations last week. She remains at about the 75th percentile, all good! She loved the doctor. But did not love the injections! She stared straight into my eyes in horror and opened her mouth wide, her entire face creasing and growing into a dark crimson... She remained silent, like this, for many seconds, and then waaaailed! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Poor little cherub. At least she got Wiggles bandaids.

me

Arrrrrrrr, me hearties! A small pirate left this at our place after playgroup this week.

cheesemas

he

 He is really starting to play WITH his friends so had the most wonderful time at the picnic and back at his pal's place. This involved a variety of forms of play, including traditional playground see-sawing and other playgrounding, opportunistic rolling and hiding in unmowed grass en route to the house, the quiet co-playing that happens when a train set is unveiled, the silliness which is unavoidable at a kids' table while the adults at their table switch their attention slightly to their own food and company, the cheeky splashing in a communal bath and the very noisy shriek-laughing in each other's faces as the night gets later. 

Also, he has identified himself (and me, and anyone else around) as either 'Santa', 'Small Reindeer' (sometimes called a moose), 'Christmas fairy' (sometimes called an angel, but usually a fairy) or 'Christmas tree' most days lately.

she

She played with her friends, too.

me

An email from a friend began, "It's come to my attention we don't have anything cheese-centric planned for Christmas - ERROR!" We corrected this error with an afternoon picnic at the park which successfully reached an elegant balance of celebrating cheese and celebrating Christmas. I put together our (aweseome) outfits in the 4 minutes before we left the house, thanks to the costumes that came free with registration for the Santa Fun Run a couple of years ago. And thanks to one of B's work shirts being the perfect colours!

skin

he

 

 I rarely see him actually working on his skin art, but I always see the finished result, since it lasts for days!

she

People often comment on how dark she is, olive skin, brown hair and eyebrows - especially if they've only met He (blondie) and Me (freckly). We think she takes after her Auntie, B's sister, with that gorgeous mediterranean complexion!

me

After making it a new year's resolution for MANY years now, I finally stopped procrastinating and booked myself a skin check! I walk right past the Melanoma Centre ALL the time - it's on the corner of his daycare street, on my jogging route, on the way to pretty much everywhere we ever go. I got an evening appointment, which meant that B could have both kidlets for a couple of hours after work. All good! The doctor burned off two spots - one on my leg and one on my nose - and then spent some time teaching me what to look for. We even got to play a game (I love games!) where he showed me a series of pictures of skin and I had to spot the melanomas.

stormy

he

  

A neighbour and her granddaughter joined us inside our home for the evening because their entire roof had un-joined from their home. Which then promptly filled with water and larger-than-tennis-ball-sized hail. The kiddies played in the kitchen (as far as possible from the glass/puddles/debris/drama - thus the only room they were allowed to roam free in, and even then we insisted on shoes), with only a battery-powered bike light for vision and a limited supply of toys and magnets for diversion. They entertained themselves and each other surprisingly well, for many hours post-storm, considering the scary afternoon they'd had.

That night, after a delicious dinner of peanuts, muesli bars and dry crackers (we were avoiding opening the fridge as we didn't know how long we'd be without power), after our exhausted visitors were collected by a relative, after B joined other neighbours in removing a roof and other goodies from the street, after breathing deeply and deciding to leave the rest of the clean-up until morning, we had a family sleepover in the spare room (his bedroom was fine, apart from the fact that entering and exiting the room necessitated wading through debris). The 3rd photo shows the next morning - still snoozing long after his parents were awake and cleaning up - he on his mattress and his sister on the big bed. We weren't surprised when, the following night (or two or three), he insisted on joining us in the spare room again. 

In the week since this excitement, there has been a new, clearly cathartic, addition to his 'imagination rotation' of characters and scenarios which he assumes and unblinkingly sustains each day... "Now, Mummy, you be the person in the house and I'll be the window smashing!"

she

 

 She thought it was just any regular, non-rainy, non-lightning-and-thundery, non-window-smashy, non-biggest-storm-in-thirty-years, no-big-deal Thursday evening at home. Cuddle, drink milk, spit up milk, snooze, cuddle...

When we made our initial survey of the damage we quickly realised we'd need to salvage nappies from her trashed bedroom, or else we would likely have a second natural disaster to deal with. So, we chose the nappy pile that had the least chance of harboring broken glass, gave each a good shake and arranged them on the table to dry (they were just the slightest bit damp on the edges). The rest of the kitchen surfaces quickly filled up with other necessities, so, when it came time to change the first nappy, the best surface to use was the other nappies!

me

 We were just having a lovely afternoon play in the back yard with friends, under a gorgeous blue sky. Pretty quickly, the blue turned grey. Dark grey. The friends hustled into their car and hoped to beat the storm. I stood in the pouring rain with a whimpering baby girl in my arms, trying to coax a stubborn little boy out from under the trampoline. Soaked, we eventually made it upstairs and shut all doors and windows - although there was already a lot of water inside - just as the BOOM of huge hail rocks began pelting the house from all sides. I really can't describe how loud it all was! Loud enough that we didn't hear the front windows explode, so it took me a few moments to realise why, all of a sudden, there were strong gusts of wind and debris flying into the living room where we were playing. So, into the bathroom to huddle behind the door with my babies, singing 'Frere Jacques' over and over until the world became calm again. We were fine.

Over the next few days, we had lots of offers of help, and are very grateful. B's brother arrived at the crack of dawn to board up the windows and other clever builder-ish things. Nanma and Pa drove from Toowoomba to clean up the yard, sweep the house and entertain the little people. A friend arrived, bringing sanity and hot drinks, another came with a broom and left with a carload of our damp/glassy clothing to wash and dry at her place. Another pal came the following day to entertain the little ones while we big ones got more work done. More friends arrived with baby furniture for us to borrow until we replace what was lost. AND the father of the neighbour's granddaughter delivered a giant Toblerone as a 'thank you' for taking care of her that evening. We were fine.

conversations

he

(Note: Photos do not relate to the following conversation!)

He: I put it in my nostril.

Me: What did you put in your nostril?

He: A pepita.

Me: A pepita. Hmmm... A real one, or pretend?

He: A real one.

Me: Is it still in there or is it already out?

He: It's still in there.

Sometimes he seems so clever. And then he pushes a pumpkin seed so far up his nose that I can't see it. This little tale did, eventually, end well, but I still didn't have the presence of mind to snap a photo for the blog (so I've included some cute pictures of him with a good pal, happily grubby at the park recently).

she

She met one of our neighbourhood friends for the first time and had the most wonderful, animated chat! These photos capture just the end of their conversation, but it lasted for ages!

me

One of my very favourite things is taking a neighbourhood stroll, hand in hand, and having a chat. Lately it is often one-sided, with him delivering a monologue (completely in character for whichever identity he has assumed that day - Wally, Dorothy, Lisa Loeb, Cat in the Hat, clownfish, Lady Doctor, cheeky monkey) or me singing whatever he's requested.

getting active

he

He's loving the late afternoons in the back yard with his Dad, playing and gardening.

she

She's such a wrigglepot!

me

My first jog/walk post-she! 

Fitness was VERY low, enjoyment was moderate, location was gorgeous, temperature was already too hot as I returned home around 6am...

postnatal checkup

he

His daycare teacher sends an email each day with photos and a summary, which is awesome! This is how I know that, while I was at my appointment, he was busy demonstrating his keen scissor skills!

she

She received a gift from the obstetrician!

me

I also received a bag of goodies, as well as a positive assessment from the doctor and the 'go ahead' to get back into whatever exercise/activities I want!

weekend

he

Cafe morning

Auntie visit

Splashing with buddies

Homemade banana icecream

she

Cafe cuddles with Dad

A crooked smile caught by Auntie

Hanging with the little pals while the big brothers swam

me

Poking around at Gabba Antique Centre

Sprinkling chocolate on top makes anything taste better!

It was a nice, quiet weekend spent hanging with Kazbar, breakfasting at the Brown Dog, attending a 1st birthday party, ordering curry, sweating at the Sunday markets, gardening, cooking...

sleep

he

He stopped his reliable napping almost immediately when he moved into his big room and big bed in the middle of this year. But I'm okay with this, as he still has a 2-hour 'rest time' in his room, listening to audio books, reading a few books to himself and playing with his lego. We love seeing how his creations (currently a hospital) grow/change/evolve from day to day, when we open the door to say that rest time is finished.

she

SHE SLEPT FOR 9.5 HOURS STRAIGHT LAST NIGHT!

Yes - I didn't see these big blue eyes between 8.15pm yesterday and daylight this morning! She had been averaging 6-ish hours for a few weeks, but last night was a new record. Maybe this means she'll be awake more during daytime now?

me

Obviously I wake up numerous times through the nights, expecting her to do the same, but I do achieve a good duration of restfulness, even if it's not sleepfulness! I've got a lot of reading done as a result.