Secrets

I read PostSecret regularly and quite enjoy it, but often what goes through my head during the viewing experience is, "I wish I had a secret worth posting," followed closely and indignantly by, "these aren't SECRETS" (while looking at someone's arty farty made-up secret or not even secret, just some sentiment). It seems to me that quite a few people send in "secrets" just so their art can appear on the site. Not cool.

Great Events

Today is our eleventh wedding anniversary, but that's been eclipsed by my mother-in-law's 80th birthday party. David's oldest brother, Don, hosted the party of thirty people, one of whom said that he'd known Raema for 65 years. That is pretty incredible. It was also pretty incredible the way he kept patting her on the head like a pet, but I guess that's the familarity that comes with time...?

The day started with a mist over everything, like a foggy mountain morning (not the usual sort of weather for sunny Brisbane), then burned off to become quite a warm day. So we had our first swim of the season in Don's pool.

The other big event of the day was Callum's teeth. I noticed that he was sporting two new top teeth, bringing the grand total to six (four on top, two on bottom). This explains quite a bit of his recent restiveness during sleeps. He was a big hit at the party -- always is, to be frank, because he is so friendly and relaxed almost all the time. I do worry he's going to grow up to be a bit of a Casanova.

Anya had a great time running around with her cousin Siena, who is only 3 days older but looks about six months older as she is larger and sturdier. Luckily for Anya, Siena is the youngest of three, so doesn't mind Anya's bossiness.

We each brought a few dishes -- I made an enormous supply of nasi goreng, while David made a green salad and the birthday cake -- all absolutely delicious. I never actually looked up a recipe for nasi goreng before and was surprised how simple it was -- I used to buy it frozen from Trader Joe's (when I lived in LA) and add slivered almonds, and it seemed to have some ineffable flavor. Turns out that's a blend of kecap manis, shrimp paste, soy sauce and chili sauce! Not so mysterious now that I live in Australia where Southeast Asian food is practically home cooking.

I Can Do It! I Can Do It!

Last night Anya finally realised how buttoning a shirt works, and was proud to button her own pajama shirt. It's funny how such a small thing for adults is such a huge achievement for toddlers!

She has also continued to practice her jumping and balancing -- can balance on one leg for up to 30 seconds at a time now. (This doesn't sound like a lot, but you try it!)

Her drawing has also developed incredibly -- we were astonished yesterday by a cat she drew all by herself, complete with ears and whiskers. I shall have to scan it in and post it. :) (fridge art taken to the next level...) She's also been practicing her lettering (mainly focussing on her own name) and can write a very passable capital A now as well as several numbers.

Look Ma, No Hands!

This week Callum has been surreptitiously freestanding without support. I say surreptitiously, because he started doing it only for microseconds while next to secure supports. I started noticing when he grabbed interesting items with both hands and stood on his own without realising it. His most advanced move was to grab a newspaper while seated, and stand up while still holding it. I seem to remember other parents telling me their sons seemed to walk and stand more easily while holding a toy. This never happened with Anya because she started by holding my hands for walking, but I guess boys are typically more independent.

Jack and the Beanstalk

For fun yesterday I downloaded the words for "Jack and the Beanstalk" from Sur La Lune and printed it out with spaces inserted for me to do my own drawings. This is pretty rough as I did it in a hurry, but I might do a more polished version if everything turns out well. (I've also been doing a similar project with Puss 'n Boots but much more carefully and slowly.) Below are just some of the sketches.


Jack meets a stranger who, curiously, knows his name and offers him five magic beans.


Jack wakes up the next morning to a shady bedroom and finds a giant beanstalk outside his window.



The ogre throws down three calves from his belt and says, "Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast." (I wish I had drawn the table a bit lower, but I love how Jack is peeking out of the oven, where the ogre's wife hid him. I had trouble not thinking about Shrek when sketching up the ogre!)

Bittersweet

The annual Riverfestival started this weekend with a spectacular fireworks display along the Brisbane River bridges and F-111 flyover with afterburner, but we missed the whole thing, as Anya informed us that fireworks are scary (too noisy) and we were not keen to brave the crowds anyway. Maybe next year. So we spent the weekend pretty quietly, with small forays to the library and the park. I managed to attend my usual Saturday morning kickboxing class and had fiery thighs the rest of the weekend. I guess that’s good – one day, I might have thighs of steel, if I persist.

We’ve recently had the bittersweet pleasure of our little boy pottering around the house until all hours. (Meanwhile, his sister did not fare much better, playing surreptitiously in her bedroom when she should have been in bed and asleep.) All I can think is that perhaps the thrill of being in charge of his own destiny has gone to his head. He spends his daytime hours insisting on being accompanied at almost all times (“I’m crawling over here, but you’d better be there when I turn around!”) but in the evenings he is quite happy fossicking independently through all the kitchen cupboards, the recycling bin and various storage boxes while we spectate bemusedly from the living room. He doesn’t seem tired at all, and protests mightily when we finally decide that he must go to bed despite being terribly cute. This is quite a change from his easy sleeping ways since birth.

As for Anya… I was planning to report triumphantly that we had managed to banish lice from Anya’s head after three strenuous weeks of foaming, combing and “sit still! Anya! SIT STILL!” but this morning I was dismayed to still find several eggs in her hair. Her hair is so fine that the eggs are really hard to remove, and there is so much of it that it really feels like a Sisyphean task when I sit down to comb out the eggs one by one. I can only be relieved, anyway, that Callum, David and I have managed to avoid getting infested. I still feel itchy whenever I think about it, though…