Some stories I jotted down over the last few months... wish I'd written down more.
"You'll always be my little boy, even when you're a big tall man." He nods.
Reading a book out loud in the car -- (Homework! For a 6 year old!) We all get the giggles over the name "Mr. Bumbleticker." Anya tries valiantly to restart several times but it's just not possible. David imagines penning a note: "Dear Mrs. Ritchie, we're very sorry but Anya was not able to complete her work due to a case of the giggles."
After dinner, they stretch out on the bed and I poke their tummies, pretending to trace all the food they've eaten. "Here's the pasta -- here's the chicken -- here's the broccoli -- oh, there's some space here for a treat!"
"Why does everyone keep saying my hair is beautiful?" Anya asks, perplexed and probably a little over it. (In case you have not met her, and can't see it in the photos, her hair is a lustrous blend of auburn, with blond and red strands mixed in. It's the kind of hair one would pay hundreds of dollars to achieve in a salon.) I don't know what to say but, "Because it is, sweetie."
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
14 April 2012
11 April 2012
Twenty-five screams
After writing the Easter, the long weekend post I realised I hadn't mentioned one thing: namely, my experience on a clown bicycle. At least, that's what I'm calling it -- a spare bicycle that has lived at the coast units "for anyone to use." On the face of it, a noble and good idea. In practice, quite dangerous: after adjusting the seat to maximum height, my legs were still bent like a stork's; and the handlebars had a frightening tendency to swivel downwards at the slightest pressure (for example, while steering, or trying to power up a hill).
The benefit of riding the clown bicycle was that I could accompany Anya while she used every trick in her book to beat me in numerous mini-races. This meant that David could concentrate fully on teaching Callum to ride without training wheels. He really did it tough, jogging alongside while Callum peddled along. Sometimes Callum forgot to keep his legs moving, thus swerving and wobbling (often right across David's path) and shrieking loudly whenever a wobble started. Apparently Callum also sang a repetitive song to motivate himself the whole time (when not shrieking).
On the first day of training, Callum achieved a maximum count of 10 seconds on his own. By the end of the weekend, he was up to 25 seconds. And, as he said himself, "25 screams!"
The benefit of riding the clown bicycle was that I could accompany Anya while she used every trick in her book to beat me in numerous mini-races. This meant that David could concentrate fully on teaching Callum to ride without training wheels. He really did it tough, jogging alongside while Callum peddled along. Sometimes Callum forgot to keep his legs moving, thus swerving and wobbling (often right across David's path) and shrieking loudly whenever a wobble started. Apparently Callum also sang a repetitive song to motivate himself the whole time (when not shrieking).
On the first day of training, Callum achieved a maximum count of 10 seconds on his own. By the end of the weekend, he was up to 25 seconds. And, as he said himself, "25 screams!"
10 April 2012
Easter, the long weekend
Easter: the end of David's long service leave, which started at Christmas.
We headed up the coast for the long weekend and enjoyed some very fine weather -- hardly any rain, as would normally come at this time of year. We've hardly been to the beach this year because of working on the house, so I was really happy to be able to take Anya and Callum swimming this weekend.
On Saturday, my nieces finally redeemed their Christmas gift from over a year ago -- a day of shopping. We did a circuit of Hastings Street (Noosa) where they cannily shopped to budget (courtesy of me). Their mum came along too and supplemented the budget a little. :) I also treated them to lunch at Berardo's, which impressed them as being the fanciest restaurant they'd ever been to -- because of the small dishes of salt on the table.
Sunday morning, Anya was delighted to notice an Easter egg in her room as she was getting dressed. Callum was quick to wake up and join in the egg hunt. Anya was far ahead of Callum in the egg count at one stage, but she showed him where quite a few eggs were, and even gave him one so that they would be even. We then went downstairs and spectated while our nephew hunted for eggs in the garden. (His sisters opted out this year, but also followed him around pointing out eggs he was missing. There were many jokes about having a "man look.")
We had one last glorious morning at the beach on Monday, then headed home to Brisbane after dinner. And that's a wrap.
21 November 2011
Family Moments
Lacking time or energy for the last month (being quite sick while juggling work, house construction, and more), today I finally feel as if I'm returning to the land of the living... and blogging! A quick post this time - just to capture some moments and stories.
Anya and Callum have been playing together more and more and are becoming really good friends. I am so glad because when I was growing up, my sister was my best friend, and she was a major force of good in my life. Thanks, sis!
Little things they do for each other: when I offer Callum something nice (toy or treat) he always immediately asks that Anya should get one too. And when racing through the park, Anya stopped short several times and made sure that Callum got to the finish first. Right now they're having breakfast on the patio and pretending to be Shark Boy and Lava Girl. I can hear them collaborating: "And I was the queen -- " "Mmm-hmm, and I was over here -- " "Pretend I was at the -- "
In other developments - we are gradually moving toward eating the same meals at the same time. I know many families who do this already but it never really suited our adult lifestyle to eat dinner at 5:30. Also, the kids tend to prefer really plain food. Recently we introduced "family meal time" on weekends when we had more time to prepare and enjoy the meal. Also we've been preparing things more to our adult tastes but just not quite as spicy: corned beef, moussaka, tuna pasta bake, Asian stir fry...
I was pleased last night to whip up a cake in about 10 minutes from a recipe that had just six ingredients. As I was already baking moussaka it was simple to swap the cake into the oven while taking the main meal out. The cake turned out very nicely so I thought I'd share the recipe (from "The Flavours of Buderim" with some added notes from me):
Pineapple Cake
150 g butter
150 g sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
150 g self-raising flour
450 g pineapple, drained well (recipe calls for crushed, but I find it better to chop whole pieces)
Preheat oven to 175 C (or 155-165 C in fan forced oven). Beat butter with sugar until creamy; beat in eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy. Fold in flour and vanilla, then the pineapple. Line an 8" round cake tin with non stick paper (bottom & sides). Pour into tin, and bake 45 minutes or more until done, testing with a skewer. Note: make sure the pineapple is really well drained otherwise the cake will be sloppy and never seem "done" when you're testing it!
Anya and Callum have been playing together more and more and are becoming really good friends. I am so glad because when I was growing up, my sister was my best friend, and she was a major force of good in my life. Thanks, sis!
Little things they do for each other: when I offer Callum something nice (toy or treat) he always immediately asks that Anya should get one too. And when racing through the park, Anya stopped short several times and made sure that Callum got to the finish first. Right now they're having breakfast on the patio and pretending to be Shark Boy and Lava Girl. I can hear them collaborating: "And I was the queen -- " "Mmm-hmm, and I was over here -- " "Pretend I was at the -- "
In other developments - we are gradually moving toward eating the same meals at the same time. I know many families who do this already but it never really suited our adult lifestyle to eat dinner at 5:30. Also, the kids tend to prefer really plain food. Recently we introduced "family meal time" on weekends when we had more time to prepare and enjoy the meal. Also we've been preparing things more to our adult tastes but just not quite as spicy: corned beef, moussaka, tuna pasta bake, Asian stir fry...
I was pleased last night to whip up a cake in about 10 minutes from a recipe that had just six ingredients. As I was already baking moussaka it was simple to swap the cake into the oven while taking the main meal out. The cake turned out very nicely so I thought I'd share the recipe (from "The Flavours of Buderim" with some added notes from me):
Pineapple Cake
150 g butter
150 g sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
150 g self-raising flour
450 g pineapple, drained well (recipe calls for crushed, but I find it better to chop whole pieces)
Preheat oven to 175 C (or 155-165 C in fan forced oven). Beat butter with sugar until creamy; beat in eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy. Fold in flour and vanilla, then the pineapple. Line an 8" round cake tin with non stick paper (bottom & sides). Pour into tin, and bake 45 minutes or more until done, testing with a skewer. Note: make sure the pineapple is really well drained otherwise the cake will be sloppy and never seem "done" when you're testing it!
01 June 2011
Dinnertime Challenges
Anya and Callum sometimes get very restless sitting and eating dinner. Rather than enforce a "bottoms on seats" rule, we help them finish dinner by setting physical challenges. In between the challenges they have to come back and eat some more.
Originally the challenges were fairly easy, such as "run over to Grandma and give her a kiss." Next was "run as fast as you can down the hall." More recently it's evolved to much more advanced challenges. This week Anya and Callum ran down the stairs and up again, repeating it several times trying to beat their previous times (I used an egg timer). Tonight there were bunny hops, walking backwards, hopping on one leg backwards, and running around Grandma's chair. Raema loved the challenges as she usually got lots of kisses as they rounded her chair.
Last, I asked Anya what the next challenge should be. She cocked her head, put her hand on her hip, and said, "Hmmm... I think it should be to eat all the vegetables on my plate!" and proceeded to eat as fast as she could while I timed her.
Originally the challenges were fairly easy, such as "run over to Grandma and give her a kiss." Next was "run as fast as you can down the hall." More recently it's evolved to much more advanced challenges. This week Anya and Callum ran down the stairs and up again, repeating it several times trying to beat their previous times (I used an egg timer). Tonight there were bunny hops, walking backwards, hopping on one leg backwards, and running around Grandma's chair. Raema loved the challenges as she usually got lots of kisses as they rounded her chair.
Last, I asked Anya what the next challenge should be. She cocked her head, put her hand on her hip, and said, "Hmmm... I think it should be to eat all the vegetables on my plate!" and proceeded to eat as fast as she could while I timed her.
07 May 2011
Anya Turns Six
Anya had a small party in the park to celebrate her birthday. The theme was "hula girl" and we had face painting, ten pin bowling, and pizza. The peak moment for me was when she and her best friend put on their hula skirts and hula danced in unison, swaying their skirts and waving their arms. It was also pretty cute to see them all bowling in hula skirts.
David also got in on the bowling action:
David also got in on the bowling action:
09 March 2011
Miss Gump
Our family nickname for Anya is "gump" or sometimes "Miss Gump." Imagine our delight when we actually came across a storybook featuring a little girl (Nellie Lou) doing various imaginative hair styles on a customer (Miss Gump) who keeps asking for something different. There are lots of extraordinary 'dos, such as shaping into an umbrella, a large piece of swiss cheese, an island with a palm tree surrounded by waves...
This week our Miss Gump was pretending to style her grandmother's hair. She combed it this way and that, and finished by saying, "Now we need to comb your hair down over your ears. You have big ears, Grandma -- " in a matter-of-fact tone -- "nearly as big as Julia Gillard's." (Does this count as political awareness?)
Meanwhile, Callum has started to take notice of letters and numbers more. He was lying next to me in bed, on his side, then arched backward and said, "I'm C!" This amazed me, as this means that not only does he know the letter, he is actually picturing the shape his body is making, and connecting the two.
Anya and Callum have been playing together more and more, and laughing together which is delightful to eavesdrop on. When our neighbour's daughter comes over to play their favorite group game is for Callum to roar and chase them while they run around screaming. But on their own, they usually play elaborate games like being at school, or travelling into outer space.
Best of all, I heard Callum bustling around in their room, then call to Anya, "You can come back now!" She was drawing something at the table next to me. I asked Anya what Callum had been working on, and she said, "Cleaning the room." It seems she directed him to tidy up (he must have strewn toys around as usual), and left the room until he had done it!
This week our Miss Gump was pretending to style her grandmother's hair. She combed it this way and that, and finished by saying, "Now we need to comb your hair down over your ears. You have big ears, Grandma -- " in a matter-of-fact tone -- "nearly as big as Julia Gillard's." (Does this count as political awareness?)
Meanwhile, Callum has started to take notice of letters and numbers more. He was lying next to me in bed, on his side, then arched backward and said, "I'm C!" This amazed me, as this means that not only does he know the letter, he is actually picturing the shape his body is making, and connecting the two.
Anya and Callum have been playing together more and more, and laughing together which is delightful to eavesdrop on. When our neighbour's daughter comes over to play their favorite group game is for Callum to roar and chase them while they run around screaming. But on their own, they usually play elaborate games like being at school, or travelling into outer space.
Best of all, I heard Callum bustling around in their room, then call to Anya, "You can come back now!" She was drawing something at the table next to me. I asked Anya what Callum had been working on, and she said, "Cleaning the room." It seems she directed him to tidy up (he must have strewn toys around as usual), and left the room until he had done it!
02 March 2011
Toothy Tales
I'm sure the world needs more help persuading children to behave when their teeth are getting brushed. Lately we've been constructing more and more elaborate tales to help Callum open his mouth properly for teeth time. It all started innocently enough with "open your mouth wider, wide enough for a truck to drive in." This progressed to "here comes the train, choo choo, chugga chugga, it's driving around the track" (i.e. the teeth). Now we have a bear going into a cave, looking for his jar of honey in all the corners, and finding all sorts of surprises like a spider, or a bat. Eventually he finds the honey, says YUM, and finishes by cleaning his rug (the tongue, of course).
Another recent development is the "talking spot" where the kids are sent to discuss their conflict until they agree or are at least no longer shouting about it. This took on a new twist today when Anya slammed a door again, despite repeated scoldings about door slamming. I asked for her input, saying I needed to come up with some way to make sure she would remember not to do it any more.
I talked ruefully about the way I was disciplined as a child (toys confiscated AND bottom smacked). After several minutes, she still didn't seem to have any comment or suggestion so I said sadly that I guessed I would have to give her a spanking (the last resort in our household); she asked for one more minute to think, then suggested that she should sit on the talking spot which is right next to the door she slammed, and she should gaze at the door to remember not to slam it any more.
I thanked her for the good suggestion and we put it into effect immediately. She missed out on most of story time, but came in toward the end.
Fingers crossed that this self-administered discipline sticks in her head. I will be feeling like the most brilliant parent in the world if this works!
Another recent development is the "talking spot" where the kids are sent to discuss their conflict until they agree or are at least no longer shouting about it. This took on a new twist today when Anya slammed a door again, despite repeated scoldings about door slamming. I asked for her input, saying I needed to come up with some way to make sure she would remember not to do it any more.
I talked ruefully about the way I was disciplined as a child (toys confiscated AND bottom smacked). After several minutes, she still didn't seem to have any comment or suggestion so I said sadly that I guessed I would have to give her a spanking (the last resort in our household); she asked for one more minute to think, then suggested that she should sit on the talking spot which is right next to the door she slammed, and she should gaze at the door to remember not to slam it any more.
I thanked her for the good suggestion and we put it into effect immediately. She missed out on most of story time, but came in toward the end.
Fingers crossed that this self-administered discipline sticks in her head. I will be feeling like the most brilliant parent in the world if this works!
31 January 2011
This year as usual Anya and Callum met Santa at the Myer department store in our local shopping centre. I love that it's relatively low key and the kids didn't have to wait ages. In any case they were almost more interested in looking at all the toys on the shelves than the Santa moment! Callum's most repeated phrase these days is "Sometime will you buy me... ?"
We had Christmas Eve with the extended family, then Christmas at home by ourselves. Luckily this included some of our extended family as they dropped by on their way to see their other in-laws for Christmas. So it felt like we had two Christmases!
Shortly after Boxing Day, we packed up and headed to the family units for a two week holiday -- another family tradition. My nieces and nephews are getting more mature now, but still make time for Anya and Callum. The girls love doing Anya's Rapunzel-like tresses into various hairdos, and everyone indulges Callum as the last little boy of his generation.
Below are a few recent fun pics -- you can see more on flickr.
20 December 2010
Half on Holiday
This weekend we had holiday fever mixed with Christmas colds (three of us have sore throats and coughs to varying degrees, with more to succumb, I'm sure). I also made an absurd attempt to finish off some project work before Monday, futile since not much time is left in the working year. Anya and Callum were hanging around me while I worked, so I now have a piece of scratch paper with a mixture of work annotations and kiddie drawings. It was surprisingly not too hard to work and play at the same time, probably because my project involves tweaking a computer model that goes very slowly.
Some sweet moments from this weekend:
Callum sidled up to me, hooked his arm around my neck to help himself onto my lap, and said, "We're best friends, aren't we, Mum?" (My heart melts and sizzles like butter on a griddle...)
Anya wrote "I love you Mum and Dad and Grama and Callum" on our fridge's whiteboard, right behind me, then delightedly pointed out the surprise message to me. (Later, she got cross with me about something, and erased "Mum" from the message. But this morning I noticed I was reinstated.)
I invited Anya to sit with me on the bed for movie time because Callum was pestering her too much on the couch. The next thing I knew, both kids were nestled on either side of me, and I got a great 45 minute snuggle. David also joined us for part of the movie viewing, but unfortunately, he mostly got Callum rolling restlessly around over him -- lots of bottom and feet action. I had to threaten Callum with banishment so he would settle down. Meanwhile, by movie's end, Anya had fallen asleep in her cosy position.
In the afternoon, I tried to teach Anya to crochet, but realised she's still too young. Left with a half-started project, I amused myself in the late evening by making it into a finger puppet. No pattern, I just experimented with shaping it using different stitches, making loops for the ears, and finishing with a tuft on top. It looks vaguely like a Fraggle to me. I sewed buttons on for the nose & eyes this morning, and Callum has named it "Fa-fa." Anya naturally has requested one for herself, so a blue cat puppet is in the works.
We've started some new games lately -- Spin the Bottle (at dinnertime), great for getting lots of kisses -- and Treasure Hunt, where we take turns being the treasure hider. Callum absolutely loves finding the items, and Anya loves giving us extremely specific hints on where to look for her hides. As with Hide and Seek, they both have yet to learn how to really hide and find things, but I prefer it that way -- less likely to lose them when we're out and about!
Some sweet moments from this weekend:
Callum sidled up to me, hooked his arm around my neck to help himself onto my lap, and said, "We're best friends, aren't we, Mum?" (My heart melts and sizzles like butter on a griddle...)
Anya wrote "I love you Mum and Dad and Grama and Callum" on our fridge's whiteboard, right behind me, then delightedly pointed out the surprise message to me. (Later, she got cross with me about something, and erased "Mum" from the message. But this morning I noticed I was reinstated.)
I invited Anya to sit with me on the bed for movie time because Callum was pestering her too much on the couch. The next thing I knew, both kids were nestled on either side of me, and I got a great 45 minute snuggle. David also joined us for part of the movie viewing, but unfortunately, he mostly got Callum rolling restlessly around over him -- lots of bottom and feet action. I had to threaten Callum with banishment so he would settle down. Meanwhile, by movie's end, Anya had fallen asleep in her cosy position.
19 September 2010
Tripping Through VA, WA & LA
So I went to the US to visit my mom in Staunton, Virginia.
Then to Seattle, to visit my dad.
I also caught up with some old high school friends, including my best friend from literally forever, Jill, and hung out with her kids (who are not shy at all). It was really great to see everyone -- it felt like we just picked right up where we left off.
On the last day of my trip, I had a long layover in LA. Luckily, my good friend Kevin had time to hang out with me. We went to Santa Monica, The Ivy, the LA County Museum of Art, Manhattan Beach and last, Encounters restaurant at LAX.
01 September 2010
Bird Frenzy, and Balloon Crazy
Some photos of notable moments in the last few months. We went to the Samford Show on July 18th, enjoyed a tethered hot air balloon ride, and treated the kids to a few amusement rides.
After waiting for holidays to be over, then getting over the whooping cough, we finally finally had a play date mid-August with Anya's best friend from kindy, Amelia, and her best friend from school, Annika. Anya was so excited by the idea of having her best friends meet and play together. I was bemused by the fact that all their names begin and end with A. I proposed to Anya that they could call themselves the "A" Bunch (referencing one of her favorite books, The Lunch Bunch).
This past weekend we had my Aunt Jo (my mother's cousin) staying with us, so on Sunday we all went to O'Reilly's to feed the birds and have a little walk in the tree tops. Everyone had a great time. Callum made me laugh by gruffly commanding the birds, "Get on me!" Anya impressed me with her nonchalant climb up a tree to 30 meters off the ground (in a caged ladder, but still!)
After waiting for holidays to be over, then getting over the whooping cough, we finally finally had a play date mid-August with Anya's best friend from kindy, Amelia, and her best friend from school, Annika. Anya was so excited by the idea of having her best friends meet and play together. I was bemused by the fact that all their names begin and end with A. I proposed to Anya that they could call themselves the "A" Bunch (referencing one of her favorite books, The Lunch Bunch).
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| Balloon Crazy at the Samford Show |
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| Best Friends, Reunited |
This past weekend we had my Aunt Jo (my mother's cousin) staying with us, so on Sunday we all went to O'Reilly's to feed the birds and have a little walk in the tree tops. Everyone had a great time. Callum made me laugh by gruffly commanding the birds, "Get on me!" Anya impressed me with her nonchalant climb up a tree to 30 meters off the ground (in a caged ladder, but still!)
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| Wow! A king parrot on my shoulder! |
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| Crimson Rosellas |
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| Regent Bowerbirds |
30 June 2010
Anya, You Have the Power
From the back files of my mind...
The set-up: Anya has just had a fight with Callum because he was being naughty and physically pestering her.
The usual answer: I force Callum to say sorry to Anya, and I force Anya to gracefully accept his apology and hug (not what she wants at all!)
Theory: Making them say sorry and hug should either (1) teach them manners and/or (2) avoid annoying each other, so they don’t have to go through the apology dance.
New approach: Afterwards, I take Anya aside and try to lay things out for her. First, I say, “Look, you know you’re like a little mother to Callum.” She looks sulky but agreeable to this idea. (Later we notice her “giving him a little mothering.”) Next I say, “So, you have the POWER.” She looks intrigued. I continue, “When he is naughty, you can tell him how to behave better. Instead of shrieking about what he did, you can say calmly, ‘Callum, that’s wrong.’ And he’ll listen to you.” Anya likes this idea, I can tell. Last, I shake my finger for emphasis, “But, you have to use your power for good and not evil.” She laughs.
The set-up: Anya has just had a fight with Callum because he was being naughty and physically pestering her.
The usual answer: I force Callum to say sorry to Anya, and I force Anya to gracefully accept his apology and hug (not what she wants at all!)
Theory: Making them say sorry and hug should either (1) teach them manners and/or (2) avoid annoying each other, so they don’t have to go through the apology dance.
New approach: Afterwards, I take Anya aside and try to lay things out for her. First, I say, “Look, you know you’re like a little mother to Callum.” She looks sulky but agreeable to this idea. (Later we notice her “giving him a little mothering.”) Next I say, “So, you have the POWER.” She looks intrigued. I continue, “When he is naughty, you can tell him how to behave better. Instead of shrieking about what he did, you can say calmly, ‘Callum, that’s wrong.’ And he’ll listen to you.” Anya likes this idea, I can tell. Last, I shake my finger for emphasis, “But, you have to use your power for good and not evil.” She laughs.
16 June 2010
Ten Useful Uses for One's Children
Someone to...
10. Fetch and carry when my grown up legs are feeling lazy.
9. Give me cuddles on my birthday.
8. Eat the random mouthfuls of leftovers lurking in the nooks and crannies of the fridge.
7. Walk over my back to give me a massage.
6. Say out loud what we're all really thinking.
5. Need me to bake some cake.
4. Render my alarm clock useless.
3. Give me practice at folding multitudes of tiny, tiny pairs of underpants.
2. Lick the cake bowl clean.
1. Appreciate their father's comic books.
10. Fetch and carry when my grown up legs are feeling lazy.
9. Give me cuddles on my birthday.
8. Eat the random mouthfuls of leftovers lurking in the nooks and crannies of the fridge.
7. Walk over my back to give me a massage.
6. Say out loud what we're all really thinking.
5. Need me to bake some cake.
4. Render my alarm clock useless.
3. Give me practice at folding multitudes of tiny, tiny pairs of underpants.
2. Lick the cake bowl clean.
1. Appreciate their father's comic books.
14 June 2010
25 May 2010
Arty Partying
So much to tell, so little time. Do I give a ginormous report, or throw together a tossed salad of amusing anecdotes? It's very daunting to think of trying to catch up to where we are now, but for you, my loyal readers (I know there are at least two of you), it's my duty to try.
11 April 2010
Easter Week
Once again, we spent our week of holidays “up the coast,” as we say – that is, at the family units at Peregian Beach. Usually, we share our beach holidays with Don’s family, who have two girls and a boy; this time we were with Rob’s family, who have two boys, much to Callum’s delight. It’s been a bit frustrating for Anya as the only girl, while the boys rough-house and say naughty things, but Callum has been completely and thoroughly enjoying himself. Anya isn’t totally left out, as she and Jayden do have in common a great love of drawing and pretend play. I brought a big pile of paper and it’s been all used up along with good quantities of pencil, crayon, sticky tape, staples, and prolific scissoring.
Easter morning the cousins were up at four a.m. with excitement, but thankfully were held back from visiting us until six a.m. I’d hidden some eggs around the unit to start Anya and Callum off, then all four kids moved outside and found more scattered around. I do miss the Easter activities of my childhood such as dying and decorating hard-boiled eggs, and making up little baskets with grass and chicks. Here the focus is very much on chocolate and it’s like having Christmas where all the presents are made of chocolate. We gave Anya a Lindt bunny, and Callum a Buzz Lightyear chocolate figure; they also received a large egg apiece from our in-laws and sacks of chocolate eggs and bunnies from their grandma.
It’s the custom in our household to let Callum and Anya have a little snack just before bedtime – sometimes candy, other times cookies, or even cheese and crackers if the mood strikes. This week, that became an excited look through their enormous array of Easter chocolate to decide which bit to eat next. (Amusingly, looking at Buzz Lightyear, Callum asked, “Where’s his head?” I had to unfold the wrapper to show him the face and remind him that he’d eaten it the previous evening.)
A new addition to our household this week is Maddy, a small mixed-breed dog who belongs to our other in-laws. They went camping this week, and asked us to look after her. She’s about the size of a cat, but very self-assured and tends to snap at small kids. Anya and Callum have had to be very patient with her and approach her very softly. Rob’s family recently acquired a dog as well, a small poodle, so it’s been a very doggish week. The poodle’s name is Minnie and she is amazingly patient, putting up with anything the kids want to do with her.
Another custom we’ve adopted this week is “happy hour” with drinks and snacks on the upstairs veranda or down by the barbecue. It’s a little awkward because we don’t want our kids getting full on chips and junk just before dinner, but it’s been really nice to relax with our in-laws and simply chat. The kids come and go, playing ball or other games, in between sitting with us sometimes to participate in the conversation. We had a good one today that started at 3:30 and carried on until 5:30! I did some sketches of Travis (my nephew) and Anya, and then Anya got inspired and got her own book to do some drawings of me.
Anya’s been learning to read, with “homework” each night of a different reader. The rhyming games, and other word games we’ve been playing with her for the last several years (just for fun without any educational goal) seem to helped a lot with this. She’s really got the hang of sounding out words. The only thing holding her back is her own tendency to get frustrated when faced with something new and difficult. I think as she continues, her confidence will grow and she won’t be so easily frustrated. On the holiday we haven’t pushed her to do much reading, except for one afternoon looking at Dr. Seuss’s “Hop on Pop.”
She also received a list of “sight words” to learn just before the holiday started. (Sight words are those you recognise immediately without having to sound them out.) I haven’t tried to drill her in them – I don’t find flash cards very appealing – but I did use them. I had to make up a board game for her to play with her cousins one afternoon, and I decided to base it on the sight words. Milton Bradley would never buy this game from me, but I do think with a little polish it could work as a real game. My first version involved spinning for a word and moving to the closest square with that word. My second version involved collecting letters until you had the ones that would make a word on the board, so you could move to its square. Her cousins also got me to help them make a snakes and ladders style game with drawings of animals, but I imagine that could also be adapted to sight words.
Meanwhile, Callum is speaking in quite elaborate sentences. For example, today he said without pause or hesitation, “Can I have a drink of water and when I drink it all up, you give me a cup of juice?” (This is a sort of rule I’ve introduced recently, that you only get juice after drinking a cup of water.) He also made us laugh this morning at the beach, as Anya refused to take her hat (she wanted to swim some more), and he scolded her, “Put your hat on, young lady!” Our in-laws have taken to calling him “Mr. Galumph.” I guess this kind of rhymes with our pet name for Anya, “Miss Gump.”
Easter morning the cousins were up at four a.m. with excitement, but thankfully were held back from visiting us until six a.m. I’d hidden some eggs around the unit to start Anya and Callum off, then all four kids moved outside and found more scattered around. I do miss the Easter activities of my childhood such as dying and decorating hard-boiled eggs, and making up little baskets with grass and chicks. Here the focus is very much on chocolate and it’s like having Christmas where all the presents are made of chocolate. We gave Anya a Lindt bunny, and Callum a Buzz Lightyear chocolate figure; they also received a large egg apiece from our in-laws and sacks of chocolate eggs and bunnies from their grandma.
It’s the custom in our household to let Callum and Anya have a little snack just before bedtime – sometimes candy, other times cookies, or even cheese and crackers if the mood strikes. This week, that became an excited look through their enormous array of Easter chocolate to decide which bit to eat next. (Amusingly, looking at Buzz Lightyear, Callum asked, “Where’s his head?” I had to unfold the wrapper to show him the face and remind him that he’d eaten it the previous evening.)
A new addition to our household this week is Maddy, a small mixed-breed dog who belongs to our other in-laws. They went camping this week, and asked us to look after her. She’s about the size of a cat, but very self-assured and tends to snap at small kids. Anya and Callum have had to be very patient with her and approach her very softly. Rob’s family recently acquired a dog as well, a small poodle, so it’s been a very doggish week. The poodle’s name is Minnie and she is amazingly patient, putting up with anything the kids want to do with her.
Another custom we’ve adopted this week is “happy hour” with drinks and snacks on the upstairs veranda or down by the barbecue. It’s a little awkward because we don’t want our kids getting full on chips and junk just before dinner, but it’s been really nice to relax with our in-laws and simply chat. The kids come and go, playing ball or other games, in between sitting with us sometimes to participate in the conversation. We had a good one today that started at 3:30 and carried on until 5:30! I did some sketches of Travis (my nephew) and Anya, and then Anya got inspired and got her own book to do some drawings of me.
Anya’s been learning to read, with “homework” each night of a different reader. The rhyming games, and other word games we’ve been playing with her for the last several years (just for fun without any educational goal) seem to helped a lot with this. She’s really got the hang of sounding out words. The only thing holding her back is her own tendency to get frustrated when faced with something new and difficult. I think as she continues, her confidence will grow and she won’t be so easily frustrated. On the holiday we haven’t pushed her to do much reading, except for one afternoon looking at Dr. Seuss’s “Hop on Pop.”
She also received a list of “sight words” to learn just before the holiday started. (Sight words are those you recognise immediately without having to sound them out.) I haven’t tried to drill her in them – I don’t find flash cards very appealing – but I did use them. I had to make up a board game for her to play with her cousins one afternoon, and I decided to base it on the sight words. Milton Bradley would never buy this game from me, but I do think with a little polish it could work as a real game. My first version involved spinning for a word and moving to the closest square with that word. My second version involved collecting letters until you had the ones that would make a word on the board, so you could move to its square. Her cousins also got me to help them make a snakes and ladders style game with drawings of animals, but I imagine that could also be adapted to sight words.
Meanwhile, Callum is speaking in quite elaborate sentences. For example, today he said without pause or hesitation, “Can I have a drink of water and when I drink it all up, you give me a cup of juice?” (This is a sort of rule I’ve introduced recently, that you only get juice after drinking a cup of water.) He also made us laugh this morning at the beach, as Anya refused to take her hat (she wanted to swim some more), and he scolded her, “Put your hat on, young lady!” Our in-laws have taken to calling him “Mr. Galumph.” I guess this kind of rhymes with our pet name for Anya, “Miss Gump.”
23 February 2010
Queen of the Ziploc Bag
I'm feeling like such a MOM lately. My parents used Ziploc bags a lot, but with my green tendencies, I was trying to avoid them. You know, less plastic, save the planet, etc. However, as a parent, I now find that these bags are just the thing. (And to salve my green conscience, we wash and reuse them until they are totally worn out.) I started off using them only for food -- an easy way to take along snacks on the go. Then I branched out into other useful kid-related items, like a handful of wipes (so I don't have to lug around a whole container). Now I've gone bag-crazy and use them for: wet/squishy toiletries (amazing how often I need to bring sunblock, shampoo and soap!); hair elastics; tampons (men can avert their mental eyes here); mobile phone (when it's raining); pills; band-aids (my mini first aid kit)...
11 January 2010
Xmas 2009
Massive piles of presents, first at home then at the bigger family shindig. (Click on the photo to browse through my flickr album!) I won't bore with the whole gift list, but the ViewMasters were a surprise favorite.
We had a great Xmas day, opening presents, feasting on a potluck meal, and even got to go swimming. Neighbours have been kind to us this year, first on Xmas day when we swam at the neighbours', then all through the after-Xmas period when we were up the coast. We swam at the next door pool whenever we felt like it, thanks to a neighbour who was away and said we were welcome to use the pool. Why would we swim in a pool with the ocean right there, you ask? Well, I have often wondered myself why anyone living at the beach would have a pool, and now I know.
For days when the undertow and sweep are too strong, or the weather is just too blustery. For days the water and sand are littered with bluebottles (stinging jellyfish). Or just because it feels great to swim at the beach and follow that with an extra dip in the pool. Or, have a pool session in the afternoon because you already went to the beach in the morning. Besides, you can do stuff in the pool like: blow all the air out of your lungs and sit on the bottom with your legs crossed; perform jumping tricks like twists, splits, and the old classic, cannonball; play Ring-Around-the-Rosy; and so on.
I couldn't believe how huge Anya's confidence became with swimming daily in the pool! (She was doing all the above, and more.) I just wonder what their new boosted confidence will do to their swim instructors. Swimming with Callum was quite tiring as he had no fear of lunging every which way, secure in the knowledge that we would keep a hold of him. His lunging about included shoving and kicking us in the guts, since we were only his lowly diving platforms. He also got pretty bold when Anya was jumping off the wall with her cousin Isaac, and joined in for several jumps.
As for David and myself, we brought a huge stack of books, an HD media player loaded with kids' movies and our own stuff, my laptop (no internet, though), and went op-shopping several times (op shop = thrift store). Mainly, though, it was a big change of pace to swim every day (sometimes 2 or 3 times in one day) and spend most of our time plotting a chance to grab a nap (a fiercely contested privilege between the two of us). Anya and Callum flourished in having both of us, and their grandma, on tap almost the whole day, as well as our in-laws (including 3 cousins) who were staying downstairs.
We also had one night out on the town to see Avatar 3D. I was really transported. The story was fairly unoriginal, but with the beautiful world and people and animals, I became very involved in the environment. When we left the movie, I felt like I was in some sort of different headspace, and it took me almost half an hour to come back to myself.
30 November 2009
Guest Post: Daddy Bat
For about the last six weeks, first thing in the morning we have been playing the Baby Bat game at our house. I think this began one day when Anya crawled into bed with me and (maybe – I can’t actually remember what started it all) I was explaining about the fruit bats that fly around our house at night. They make a lot of raucous squawking noises as they eat nectar and fruit off the neighbourhood trees. The next thing, it was:
“Dad – let’s pretend that we’re bats, and you’re the daddy bat, and I’m a baby bat, and we’re flying through the forest together, and we’re flying really fast, and you’re squeaking to me like “Squeak! Squeak!” and I squeak back to you like “SQUEAK! Squeak, squeak!” and we fly some more, and ……”
And so on.
From these beginnings, we’ve developed quite a sophisticated storyline for our game. The plot for this is almost entirely spun by Anya. It’s like we’re in the Baby Batverse. It’s usually more fun to describe the plot of today’s game, in one long run-on sentence, than it is to actually play the game. Here’s the plot of this morning’s game.
There’s Baby Bat, Daddy Bat and Baby Bat Boy (Callum joined the game about a week and a half ago.) We live in a big cave with all the other bats, sleeping all day and hanging by our toes. At night we come out and we hunt insects. (We’re not fruit bats; we’ve become insectivorous about a month ago. Occasionally, we dabble in eating fruit when we see a nice pawpaw tree growing in the forest, but it’s been a fair while since that’s happened.)
We fly through the forest, hunting moths. It’s only ever moths we eat – ladybugs are too cute to eat, and butterflies are too lovely. We all catch them quite well now because we’ve practiced so much. When we catch them, we snatch them into our mouths with this sound – “Haraaamph!” Daddy Bat and Baby Bat Boy usually spit out the wings, but Baby Bat likes the wings the best – she always eats them.
Moths are pretty cool, but one thing that puts a cramp in our night-time hunting is our arch nemesis, the Owl. The Owl, you see, likes to eat baby bats. If he sees any, he swoops on them and tries to catch them in his claws. For that reason, although Baby Bat and Baby Bat Boy can fly pretty well, they usually cling on to Daddy Bat’s side as he flies around. This lets them hide under Daddy Bat’s wings if the owl comes, which happens frequently. Quite often, despite all the hiding, there is still some swooping, and Baby Bat has fallen out of the sky onto the ground. Then it’s a mad rush from Daddy Bat to locate her in the forest (she cries out “Help! Help, Daddy Bat!”) and get to her before The Owl does. So far, so good – although the Owl is a really, really fast flier, we’ve outpaced him because we can twist and turn as we fly much better than him. We then fly back to the cave, and the opening is too small for the Owl to come into. Plus, there are thousands of us bats living in there, so he knows if he tries to come in, he’ll get beaten up.
Even when Baby Bat and Baby Bat Boy are hiding really well, the Owl doesn’t stop trying. He flies up to Daddy Bat and says “Hey! Got any baby bats here tonight? I’m hungry!” Daddy Bat always tries to trick the Owl and he says “Oh, no – no baby bats here, no sir! I think I might have seen some over there, though,” pointing somewhere far, far away in the forest. The Owl usually falls for it, although he comes back surprisingly quickly and tells Daddy Bat that he’s been wrong.
So that’s the usual game. I should also mention that the last two times, the Owl’s been getting trickier. Yesterday, he came along when the Baby Bats weren’t hiding – they were right out in the open, playing in a tree! Only some fast thinking from Daddy Bat saved the day. Daddy Bat managed to convince the Owl that the two Baby Bats he was looking at weren’t actually bats. They were toy bats – they looked so terribly lifelike because they were made of rubber. Because they were rubber, you couldn’t eat them, either, because they’d taste just terrible. (Baby Bat snickered when the Owl fell for that one, let me tell you.) And this morning, we had to tell him the same thing again. We even had to fake having an on-off switch on the Baby Bats, and when Daddy Bat switched their switches to ‘off,’ they had to stop moving and pretend that they were battery-powered Baby Bat toys.
“Dad – let’s pretend that we’re bats, and you’re the daddy bat, and I’m a baby bat, and we’re flying through the forest together, and we’re flying really fast, and you’re squeaking to me like “Squeak! Squeak!” and I squeak back to you like “SQUEAK! Squeak, squeak!” and we fly some more, and ……”
And so on.
From these beginnings, we’ve developed quite a sophisticated storyline for our game. The plot for this is almost entirely spun by Anya. It’s like we’re in the Baby Batverse. It’s usually more fun to describe the plot of today’s game, in one long run-on sentence, than it is to actually play the game. Here’s the plot of this morning’s game.
There’s Baby Bat, Daddy Bat and Baby Bat Boy (Callum joined the game about a week and a half ago.) We live in a big cave with all the other bats, sleeping all day and hanging by our toes. At night we come out and we hunt insects. (We’re not fruit bats; we’ve become insectivorous about a month ago. Occasionally, we dabble in eating fruit when we see a nice pawpaw tree growing in the forest, but it’s been a fair while since that’s happened.)
We fly through the forest, hunting moths. It’s only ever moths we eat – ladybugs are too cute to eat, and butterflies are too lovely. We all catch them quite well now because we’ve practiced so much. When we catch them, we snatch them into our mouths with this sound – “Haraaamph!” Daddy Bat and Baby Bat Boy usually spit out the wings, but Baby Bat likes the wings the best – she always eats them.
Moths are pretty cool, but one thing that puts a cramp in our night-time hunting is our arch nemesis, the Owl. The Owl, you see, likes to eat baby bats. If he sees any, he swoops on them and tries to catch them in his claws. For that reason, although Baby Bat and Baby Bat Boy can fly pretty well, they usually cling on to Daddy Bat’s side as he flies around. This lets them hide under Daddy Bat’s wings if the owl comes, which happens frequently. Quite often, despite all the hiding, there is still some swooping, and Baby Bat has fallen out of the sky onto the ground. Then it’s a mad rush from Daddy Bat to locate her in the forest (she cries out “Help! Help, Daddy Bat!”) and get to her before The Owl does. So far, so good – although the Owl is a really, really fast flier, we’ve outpaced him because we can twist and turn as we fly much better than him. We then fly back to the cave, and the opening is too small for the Owl to come into. Plus, there are thousands of us bats living in there, so he knows if he tries to come in, he’ll get beaten up.
Even when Baby Bat and Baby Bat Boy are hiding really well, the Owl doesn’t stop trying. He flies up to Daddy Bat and says “Hey! Got any baby bats here tonight? I’m hungry!” Daddy Bat always tries to trick the Owl and he says “Oh, no – no baby bats here, no sir! I think I might have seen some over there, though,” pointing somewhere far, far away in the forest. The Owl usually falls for it, although he comes back surprisingly quickly and tells Daddy Bat that he’s been wrong.
So that’s the usual game. I should also mention that the last two times, the Owl’s been getting trickier. Yesterday, he came along when the Baby Bats weren’t hiding – they were right out in the open, playing in a tree! Only some fast thinking from Daddy Bat saved the day. Daddy Bat managed to convince the Owl that the two Baby Bats he was looking at weren’t actually bats. They were toy bats – they looked so terribly lifelike because they were made of rubber. Because they were rubber, you couldn’t eat them, either, because they’d taste just terrible. (Baby Bat snickered when the Owl fell for that one, let me tell you.) And this morning, we had to tell him the same thing again. We even had to fake having an on-off switch on the Baby Bats, and when Daddy Bat switched their switches to ‘off,’ they had to stop moving and pretend that they were battery-powered Baby Bat toys.
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