my-speck » Raising a Child

Sydney… yay… A zoo adventure.

rakster — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:47:57 +0000

We went to Sydney. It was great. Too busy doing stuff to actually post anything on the blog.

We saw friends, did a bit of work, saw more friends, ate great cheese, ate great bread, ate great stuff, saw some more friends.

And went to the zoo. Fun…

Lots of excitement.

elephant spotting at Sydney's Taronga Zoo

The monkeys were a hit. Baby monkeys playing.

I personally like the chimps. The fact that a school excursion group was throwing a banana or two into the enclosure made them (I suspect) somewhat more active than they might have been at that time of day otherwise… mmm..

elegant necks

It was a very windy day too, so the bird show had an added dimension of, “oh my god, do you think it will really miss my head” to it. We survived!

Love mum

Broken

rakster — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:57:55 +0000

“mum, why is there a trolley there?”

“Because we’re at the supermarket, honey.”

“That trolley is broken.”

“How do you know?”

“The wheels have fallen off!

The wheels have fallen off because somebody didn’t be careful with it.

They needed to be careful with it and they didn’t. Now it’s broken.

If I had it I would be careful with it.”

Mmm. Great logic. Apart from the part about the trolley being a picture on a sign!

Camping. Well, glamping. In a new tent. Hurrah.

rakster — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:38:03 +0000

One of the first things we did after meeting (nearly 12 years ago now) was to go camping.

And one of our first purchases together was a tent. We spent hours choosing a tent together.

I remember the occasion like it was yesterday.

I wanted a tent that would have enough room in the front vestibule that you could cook a meal, sit on the ground and hang-out if it just poured for the days you were camping. Chris wanted a tent that you could almost/mostly stand up in. We had very limited funds. And no car: so whatever camping we were doing was by public transport or the generosity of friends.

Our first trip we lugged the new tent across to Stradbroke Island from our house: walk, train, bus, ferry, bus, walk. It was a brilliant trip.

And it has been a brilliant tent that has served us really well. For almost 12 years. In rain, it was big enough to hang out in the front and cook and play cards. I think we even managed to squeeze 6 of us in for a card game one rainy trip. Without getting wet bums. You could mostly stand up inside.

And it has stood the test of innumerable camping trips: beaches, mountains, raining, really raining, sunny, torrentially raining, sandy, muddy, festival-ly, across the harbour in choppy water in a very overcrowded boat…

old tent - camping with friends NY 2008-2009

the old tent in action on cockatoo island, new year 2008-2009

But last time we went camping it seemed that for a growing family of four, things were a little tight. Tight like waking up with a sleep-moving toddler draped across your face.

So we’ve upgraded. After a lot of thought, we decided we wanted a tent with lots of room, that would still fit a standard national park / camping ground campsite size, and that would have a separate sleeping/eating-playing-whatever-when-it-is-raining area in…

the new tent.

And the test-drive was good. Nice trip for a few days, “glamping” at Lake Moogerah with a Grandma and a Barry close by in a shed. Good relaxing.

relaxing out front of the new tent.

Not sure that it will stand up that well in a really wet camp (we opted for size and configuration over our second-choice tent which was much better quality).. But hey, that just makes for a better camping story. Right?

P.S. If you are looking for a new family tent, I’ve done my research… For reference, we got the oztrail sportiva lodge combo but there were a few more we really liked too

Poos and all…

rakster — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:33:46 +0000

Well.

It is O’s first day back to kindy this year today. I have to admit that I am feeling more than slightly relieved. It’s hard to keep two of them at completely different stages occupied during the days when it is 32°C outside. Things go a little crazy. I do find solace in the knowledge that it’s not just in our house we are suffering from post-christmas craziness…

This morning I had a lovely 5 minutes to myself to drink a cup of tea. I sat down and thought about a post I’d like to write. A nice, cheery, makes me happy kinda post. So I came into the study to download the photos to the computer for the post. Then, BAM – this is what I found on the camera:

what is that on the floor?

Nice. There were more, close-ups, but I figured I’d spare you those (thanks Husband for the lovely memories – preserving those special moments on camera is joyous, is it not?).

Still with me? (I’m expecting a large proportion of you to have stopped reading after the photo. Hey, it’s gross. But it’s also the life of a parent of a small child. Real. And the story is a little humorous.)

The backstory (get-it? I seem to be developing my husband’s appalling sense of humour)

So I’ll take you back to early the morning of the photo of the poo in the hall – as I was showering.

Enter little O, boldly striding into the bathroom with a big work ethic and helpful smile.

“Hi Mum! Are you having a shower?”

“Yes.”

O looks around and notices that the toilet roll is empty (mmm blame someone who shall remain nameless),

“Mum, this is empty. Don’t worry, it is my work. I will get another one.”

He then proceeds to take the old empty toilet roll off the wall, puts it carefully in the rubbish bin in the bathroom, goes the to the cupboard, gets a new roll of toilet paper, carefully hangs it, all while humming happily to himself.

“Mum! I’m finished. I got a new one and fixed it!”

“Why thank-you darling. Excellent job.” I say.

And off little Poogie trundles, out of the bathroom off to the next adventure / his “job”.

And I think to myself, in a very smug and self-satisfied way,

“Awesome, I’ve trained a little boy to do the toilet paper roll. Hands-down beats his dad.”

Which of course was the precursor to the poo in the hallway above. My self-congratulatory thoughts and a lack of touching wood is what I think caused it. In reality perhaps it was the brain of a two and a half year old trying to cope with the following contradictory thoughts:

“mmm. I need to poo.

mmm. Best get to the toilet ” (He has pooed in the toilet for 12 months now with the number of accidents countable on one hand)

“mm. I’m in my bed and it is sleep time. Not allowed to get out of bed or leave the bedroom during sleep time.

ah. Really need to poo. Aaah. Mum is going to be mad if I leave the bedroom.

Ah. Need to poo. Need to poo.

Aaaaahhh. That feels better.”

While this was going on I was working at my computer, his Dad was doing the same in the kitchen. With both kids asleep (so I thought), the house was very quiet. Then I heard a great big ripping fart noise. And called out,

“Disgusting, was that you??”

So it was only after I heard the answer,

“No!”

That I stuck my head around the door to look down the hallway. And saw a little boy standing above that poo in the picture. Looking forlornly at me. Saying,

“Sorry Mum, I did a poo. It’s on the floor.”

And it was all I could do to keep myself from peeing myself with laughter.

“Mum, I did a POO!”

Reading… an interpretative adventure. Especially when you’re 2.5

rakster — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:43:42 +0000

family reading

We read a lot of books. Every morning little Poogie (2.5 years now) typically brings a bunch into the bed with me, we get little Sister Boona (6 months now!) and have a bit of a read. Then there are more during the day, at bedtime etc.

We have a relatively large number of books, and are constant library users, but Poogie still seems to know most of them by heart. Which I think is pretty impressive. It is to me anyway, still breastfeeding with now non-existent short-term memory.

So last week I was reading one of our favourites, Australian Author Pamella Allen‘s “A Lion in the Night“, and we were up to this page:

When I asked,

“And what is the little dog saying?”

And the answer, in a “mum, this is so obvious I can’t believe you’re even asking me” voice:

“The little dog is spitting jelly-beans at the lion.”

Right. Of course. I should have known.

Love Mum

P.S. So. It’s been a very busy few weeks. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year… I may get around to posting some of the highlights. I may not. Things are hot (31degrees Celsius) and sticky around here.

Christmas cooking (with kids): gingerman bread

rakster — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:04:33 +0000

Yep, that is how we say it around our house: Gingerman Bread.

It’s very funny to watch kids try to wrap their tongues and heads around funny phrases and words. Especially when they are your own kids and you can just laugh out loud…

Last year when we went to Canada to celebrate Christmas with our Canadian family in the snow, we visited some friends in Vancouver on the way through who had the MOST amazing gingerbread house and scene ever made. Let me tell you. It was amazing. (Note I’m having to tell you rather than show you as I’m such a numpty I forgot to take a photo of the wonderful creation.)

They make one each year, and keep it up on display without snacking or nibbling for a few weeks over Christmas, and when the kids go back to school in early Jan they take it in as a treat for all the kids to eat together. And I was inspired – I’ve always wanted to do one.

So last week I emailed them and got the recipe for the gingerbread and icing, and started to think about making it… Then realised that although it would be fun for me, the two year old in our family would LOVE to help and the house construction and decoration is just a little bit beyond his decorating ability, patience-level and possibly balancing skills. I could forsee typhoon-struck ginger-house with icing dripping from gables aligned with the floor… (I’ve also been wondering about how a gingerbread house would ‘hold up’ here in humid Brisbane… In Canada the humidity is so low you have to have a humidifier on. Here you can almost drink the air some days. I’m not sure that any gingerbread house would have a long-life without ‘growing’ some of it’s own extra-special green decorations.. Anyone have experience with this is Australia??)

So I embraced the idea of just having fun with it and opted for gingerbread christmas shapes.

We invited O’s little cousins and grandma from Canada over and away we cooked. There was lots of mixing, measuring and then cutting.

rolling out the dough. Lots of helpers..

Then baking.

Then decorating. I put a sheet of baking paper out for each child, in front of them at the kitchen table, and three bowls each for the toppings: smarties, sprinkles and heart decorations. Then a big smear of royal icing on their baking paper and a small palette knife each, and they were off.

	gathered around the table...
Little Miss L's lady..	little miss p's star

We were planning on gifting some that O had decorated himself to O’s teachers and a few other people. On reflection, after witnessing the licking of palette knife, fingers and smarties that went into putting his together, I decorated a few myself to give on his behalf…

But I still love the creations, licks and all!

mmm. a reindeer!

O's creations. Lots of licking when into these beauties....

….

love mum

P.S. Oh, I forgot. They are absolutely DELICIOUS… Thank-you Mickey for the recipe! Yum Yum Yum…..

P.P.S. I am now planning on making the making of these (and a gingerbread house when the kids are bigger) a Christmas tradition in our house.

P.P.P.S. And you may ask – where was the little baby during all of this? Alternately happily rolling around on the floor, breastfeeding and sleeping. She really is a dream child…. !

luna-baby watching the gingerbread-making process

End of year art show: toddler style. Love it!

rakster — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:00:23 +0000

Dear Poogie,

we went to your end of year Kindy (daycare but we call it kindy) art show last week. And it rocked. I unfortunately didn’t manage to get any photos on the day in the rooms as when we went there was literally a tropical thunderstorm absolute downpour in progress and we got soaked legging it from the house to the car to the show and thus didn’t drag the camera along though the sheets of water falling from the sky.

It was a fundraiser for the kindy, so we had to bid on the items we wanted. Not surprisingly, we bought a bunch of the pieces of art you have down throughout the year at the wonderful daycare you go to for three days a week.. I thought I’d take a few photos of some of your pieces to share.

Purple dot painting	"boat" sculpture.. named by you!
threaded and wound mobile	blue

My favourite is the sculpture. I had it beside my bed so that I could see it when I woke up, but you wanted to play with “my boats” so I had to hide it a bit higher (as selfishly I want to keep it for myself)..

Love mum

And she has started eating…. We are going baby-lead-feeding..

rakster — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:00:00 +0000

In other developments around our house, the littlest member of the family has started on her food adventure. I don’t know if I managed to get a photo of her first food (cucumber), but since then we’ve introduced a range of vegetables, a little fruit, and a bit of meat (cooked by her daddy), bread and crackers. Did I mention that you got your first tooth about 2 months ago at 3 months old?? Well, regardless of teeth, you are into food.

I remember when little O first had food like it was yesterday. Avocado. You haven’t tried that yet. Will have to add it in.

Dear Little L:
So far, your favourites have been: steamed / fresh snow peas (preferably from the garden) and turkey. Yes, your Dad cooked a Christmas turkey on the weekend and you are very much into it. We are giving you only whole food: the baby-led feeding approach (read this brochure if you want a quick summary on it). So your sit in your bumbo or on our laps, and get whole bits of veges and other stuff to play with and eat as much as you can of. And since starting, your hand-eye co-ordination has improved out of sight and you have no trouble getting the food from your plate to your mouth. And there is definitely some going down, as is evidenced by the seeds and other bits and pieces I can see in your poo. mmmmm… All good fun. We spoon-fed your brother a bit at the beginning but he really wasn’t into it at all so soon changed to the baby-lead feeding approach. For him it didn’t make much difference – he is just a little skinny thing. You seem a lot more into food so far in general. Thankfully. It is nice to have a little robust baby after the skinny minny your brother turned into at around six months (and still remains).

love mum

So around here mealtimes are a family affair. It’s fun to see:

munching on some cheese: baby-led feeding

a family meal

Love and kisses

mum

A sisterly break..

rakster — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:29:14 +0000

A week ago, I headed off down the coast with little Luna and my 3 sisters. It was the first time that just the four (i mean five) of us have ever been away together that I can remember. That is, away without assorted partners, other family etc. (Am I right on that sisters???).

We went out for a few drinks and dinner a few months ago when R1 was up from Melbourne, and it was fun. So when she said she was coming up for a few weeks before Christmas, I took the opportunity to organise a getaway. We headed down to Lennox Heads (just south of Byron), a small sleepy little town with a stunning beach and a lake too. We shared a small apartment that looked out directly to the ocean and where we could hear the waves crashing all night. Played a little scrabble, a few cards, drank a lovely bottle of champagne, ate home-cooked food and just talked.

I enjoyed myself. Little Luna loved the attention.

And I got to enjoy a swim in the ocean by myself. For ages. Without the worry of a two-year old on the beach wanting my attention, nor a baby to swap with a husband… Yay.

Love M.

P.S. the best part of the weekend was my sleepy head sister R2 waking up first thing on Saturday morning, and before even asking for coffee (her serious addiction), coming into the room and asking,

“Can we dress her up? What do you have??”….

christmas preparation – the advent calendar

rakster — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:35:02 +0000

we have been doing a lot of preparation for Christmas around our house for the past few weeks…

Lots of making decorations (two-year old fashion).. With pipe cleaners and coloured popsicle sticks. Gorgeous.

And putting them on the tree.

(which suddenly grew a lot more ‘bling’ the weekend I went away when only daddy and little O were home)…

the advent calendar being enjoyed

The simplest and one of the best things we did was make a ‘leaf’ advent calendar (with thanks to the inspiration from little eco footprints. O loves pulling a new leaf off each day, it was fun and easy to make, and it looks good.

the advent calendar

What have you been doing?

Familial likeness….

rakster — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:48:31 +0000

It’s been a crazy busy month, with bouts of a sinus cold coming and (hopefully) going. Hence the lack of writing.

Around here, we’ve been busy GROWING.

Growing things in the garden. But mostly, growing little CHILDREN.

Look at this one!

5 months and growing fast

And I think the familial resemblence (her 5 to my 6 months) is uncanny:

the luna baby now - 5 months

me at six or so months

Do you agree??

my baby is 4 months old!! Friday napping. And on sleep in general.

rakster — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:57:14 +0000

Little Luna, or Boona or Boo Boo as we affectionately call her, is now four months old.

How time flies.

She is having a nap. So cute.

the sleeping babe: friday nap-time

On my side, I’ve been noticing the effects of a cumulative lack-of-sleep and breastfeeding multiple times in the night for the past four months. Most particularly:

bruises all over my body. I seem to have a lack of spatial awareness and co-ordination. Which means I just run into things all the time. At speed. So I am black and blue. I’m at one large bruise a day at the moment….
inability to control my facial muscles, particularly around my mouth, when talking sometimes. Like, they just go a bit crazy on their own. As if I were going to cry or something, in the middle of a normal conversation. I get odd looks from the people I’m talking to. Weird. I hope this one disappears soon…

But on the positive side, Luna is well over the 100% percentile for weight, which is awesome as O is still off the other end of the scale. So at least I have one fat little dumpling. Yay. And she slept through the night for three nights in a row – from 6:30 pm to 4:30 am this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, before reverting on Wednesday and last night to a single feed at 2:30 and then another at 6:30 am. WIN! I’m hoping that this is the start of a new period which lasts for at least a few weeks!!

This is my life. Feeding, sleeping, eating, watching, learning and trying to rest in-between.

But the rewards are big. Look at this beautiful girl!!

Luna playing. Our little boomba.

camping – yay!

rakster — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:50:46 +0000

We had a lovely weekend away at Lake Cootharaba – camping at Boreen Point.

Oscar ran wild through the bush around the campsite with the other two year old

Bush play - camping at Boreen Point

sparklers at dusk

and the two babes slept like the proverbial babes.

sleeping like babes in the bush

I enjoyed a swim and an unplug. Mmmmm.

Business at the front …. Party in the back!!!

rakster — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:57:59 +0000

I’m in love with the little curls at the back of my little boy’s head.

curls at two years

And his dad has a limited amount of hair, which seems to be decreasing in volume just ever so slightly over time (..ahem..). So we figured, let him grow it, it will be one of the only times in his life he can have nice long hair and not have a care / worry about it.

He has asked quite a few times when seeing me do my hair in the morning, if he could “please have a hair clip too?”. Which of course, I’m happy to oblige with. Issue is, he most definitely wants to be able to see it in the mirror when he inspects it, so it ends up front and centre. Which he doesn’t mind at all. But perhaps won’t go down too well when he is a little older.

wearing a hairclip

And it is getting towards summer, which here in Brisvegas, Australia, can be a pretty hot and sticky affair.

So we decided on a cut. Which was yesterday. We went as a family to the salon for the big affair. He sat in the chair and watched while his dad had his hair cut, drank his apple juice (special treat from the lady at the salon), and waited patiently. Then sat as still as a statue while she cut his, moving only his mouth to ask, “Mum, what she doing??” repeatedly.

the 'before' shot

I like the hairdresser. they have juice!

getting ready. this is serious business, you know.

"what she doing?"

cutting

I couldn’t bear to see too much cut off, so we opted for a trim to keep it out of the eyes at the front and just a little off at the back.

The result: a lovely Mullet. As my sister said, “Business at the front…. Party in the back!!”.

the 'after shot'

apple poppyseed cinnamon muffins

rakster — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:12:26 +0000

The muffins we made on Saturday are a staple around our house – simple, sugar-free (just honey), take about 5 minutes + cooking time, and can be done with pretty much any fruit you have about. The original recipe calls for blueberries, but we usually do apple. They are so simple, kids can help measure, mix, spoon and they are ready in a jiffy.

cupcakes! AKA apple cinnamon poppyseed muffins

apple poppyseed cinnamon muffins

1 banana, mashed

¼ cup vegetable oil

⅓ cup honey

¾ cup milk

1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour

1 cup white self-raising flour

½ cup poppyseeds

big dash ground cinnamon

finely grated zest 1 lemon

2 medium-large granny smith apples, diced 1cm or smaller cubes

method

Mix together banana, oil, honey and milk.
Add the flours, poppyseeds, cinnamon and zest and mix very lightly (remember that muffin batter should only be just mixed).
Stir in the apple.
Spoon into 12 lightly greased muffin pans. Bake in a preheated moderate (180°C) oven for about 20 minutes.

notes

serve warm! they don’t need butter that way
they freeze well
works fine with frozen/defrosted bananas (i always put my oops forgot about those bananas in the freezer for cooking. Just skinned and in a freezer bag/container.
you can substitute pretty much any fruit, or a combination, or put more or less to your tastes.

variations

blueberry

substitute 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) for the apple, and omit the poppyseeds, cinnamon and lemon zest.

source

the original blueberry recipe from: Creber, Ann. (1988) The Almost Healthy Cookbook p13

P.S. Always looking for new muffin recipes – let me know if you have a favourite!

what i should have taken a photo of…(and bad parent of the day award)

rakster — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:11:17 +0000

what I should have photographed.

not the morning tea consumption post-swim:

morning tea at the pool - muffin, watermelon and strawberry

more interesting would have been:

me when I took that photo, sitting in the sun at a public pool in my bra and undies. Yes, with a towel on top, but a relatively small, doesn’t cover all the bits towel. Because I love to expose my post-pregnancy bits in all their glory at the local public swimming pool with my two children in tow.
my clothes at the time this photo was taken. Ah, there: you can see my skirt in the background, on the table, behind the morning tea. Because I thought a little fashion display would be in order at the public pool.
me, when I came up out of the shallow kids pool after jumping in wearing all my clothes as my big boy lost his footing and decided that instead of kicking, he would just sink during his “mum, please I want to swim here by myself before my lesson” swim. I wonder about my face. Bedraggled, I’m sure about; happy to have retrieved a small one from drowning, yes, also sure about; slightly guilty for letting him in the pool by himself where he has been fine 1000 times before, yes, also that. Yes, I had my swimmers on underneath. thankfully. (WE HAVE A WINNER!!! Bad parent of the day award: ME!!).
me, sitting there at the side of the pool wrapped in a towel and freezing my ass off for the duration of his lesson. Trying to hold the 3month old without soaking her too…
or better still, a video of the wonderful swimming lesson. Where for the second week running the normal teacher didn’t show and we had a fill-in. So my big boy who has missed 3 months of lessons due to me pulling him out after little L joined us because he had developed a fear of the swimming lessons when his last teacher was away repeatedly and he had to go in by himself with a stranger each week (gee I wonder why that upsets a less-than-two year old) made it through the first 10 minutes fine, then cried between his turn for the next 20 minutes. Hopefully asking the teacher each time they finished one activity, “finished now?”. Because I had promised him if he finished the lesson we could go for a swim together.

Consolation prize for me was that he loved our swim together! And enjoyed the morning tea thoroughly. And there is no visual evidence of my bits being exposed at the pool.

love mum

P.S. thanks to Baby Mac for the inspiration for this post as her swimming experience this morning sounded just as traumatic so I thought I’d share too.

Saturday morning breakfast…

rakster — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:02:57 +0000

“Mum, can we make cupcakes?”

Mmmm.. I don’t think he’ll know the difference between cupcakes and sugar-free apple and cinnamon and poppyseed muffins….

Let’s cook!

can I lick the spoon now??

We mixed the batter, licked the spoon and baked.

They turned out well:

cupcakes! AKA apple cinnamon poppyseed muffins

off to the garden for breakfast:

Eating the end result!

and she was listening…sleep…

rakster — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:49:13 +0000

So, after my last post where I complained about the lack of sleep…

My little darling slept right from 7pm to 3:30am last night. Woo hoo! I got more than 3 hours of sleep in a row!

Win for the weekend.

I however went to bed with another case of mild-mastitis, so not feeling 100%, so the lack of eating regularly made it slightly worse and I felt like total crap this morning . Have since made up for that by shoving poor little L on the boob at every available waking moment. A few panadols later, I’m feeling alright..

this is what I feel like when I wake up. thankfully there is no-one to take photos of me.

….
Spent the morning at O’s daycare, as he was feeling like he needed some more mummy time. I went in and read some books, playing in the garden with the kids, then went to his ‘body gumbo’ (or body bumbo as he says) class. A bit of a mix between dance/movement and yoga. It was fun. I think I enjoyed it more than he did. I can now do my salute to the sun with an animal impression at each different position. WIN! We will now be doing more yoga/play at home. It rocked.

….

now I am enjoying some me-time while little L sleeps and O is at daycare.

the sleeping babe - I got her cot out a week ago so she has her own space in our room.

sleepy-head Luna, 13 weeks old

…

Tonight I am going out with my amazing sisters, all four of us, for a drink. So perfect timing with the whole lots of sleep last night.

have a good weekend everyone!

Juggling a temper with an ear infection… and cuteness..

rakster — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:12:16 +0000

Day three of an ear-infected, cranky little boy. And a sleeping-a-lot-trying-to-fight-it-off little babe.

Mummy is going a bit stir crazy. She was seen stalking the neighbour’s cat with a squirt gun this afternoon through the back garden… By a workman who she didn’t notice in the other neighbour’s garden. Nice look. He waited until she had been down there for about 5 minutes acting like a dodgy commando-action-hero actor before he made his presence known by raucous laughter. She was a tad embarrased. But granted, she was doing it as the blasted cat was trying to eat her two new chickens. And for some light self-entertainment (she makes her own fun). The workman graciously pointed out where the chickens had gone and where the cat was hiding when his laughter subsided.

As you can see, fours days with two children at home all day, one of whom is on full whine/tantrum/attention-needing at all waking hours, with very little adult human interaction, has left her unable to speak in the first person anymore. She has reverted to full third-person child-speak. God-knows why.

The only saving grace was a few minutes last night when she was preparing dinner. Little O was very excited to be at the big table on his new grown-up big chair and was entertaining his sister with the gift she so carefully chose for him when she was born.

entertaining the little sister

cuteness.

drilling - hard work

Singing to my baby sister :) – Movie Monday

rakster — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:39:56 +0000

Finally managed to get the video camera going in time to capture this attempt to pacify the smaller sister

This almost compensates for the number of times I ‘mistakenly’ attempt to jump on her head each day….

Love mum

P.S. Rocky road to follow later this week

my-speck » Raising a Child

Sydney… yay… A zoo adventure.

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Broken

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Camping. Well, glamping. In a new tent. Hurrah.

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Poos and all…

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Reading… an interpretative adventure. Especially when you’re 2.5

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my baby is 4 months old!! Friday napping. And on sleep in general.

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camping – yay!

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Business at the front …. Party in the back!!!

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apple poppyseed cinnamon muffins

apple poppyseed cinnamon muffins

method

notes

variations

blueberry

source

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what i should have taken a photo of…(and bad parent of the day award)

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Saturday morning breakfast…

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and she was listening…sleep…

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Juggling a temper with an ear infection… and cuteness..

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Singing to my baby sister :) – Movie Monday

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