painting

he

me

fro-yo versus icecream

he

 He helped Auntie fill up the soft-serve frozen yoghurt. And then helped eat it, of course.

me

My sis kept spotting 'Ben & Jerry's' icecream advertised around here, which she can't get in Radelaide but which she has fond memories of during USA travels. So on our last day together, we succumbed. I won't tell you how much we ate.

we

Everyone falls victim to great marketing, sometimes! Walking from the car park to the grocery, we each noticed a new little fro-yo store. It was very pretty and enticing and we unanimously decided to stop there on the way out. You get to choose flavours and fill your own cup - who could resist? Our discussion centered around whether frozen yoghurt is actually any better for us than icecream. It looks so light, tastes so fresh and sounds nutritious... 

uke

he

Little rockstar now takes his uke along to the cafe when we go to watch Tim play nursery rhymes on Friday mornings. We even take a spare to share (i.e. he doesn't like to share, and the spare means that he doesn't always have to...). Not much actual strumming happens in public, but he's increasingly making quite a beautiful sound when he plays at home.

me

The first time I was able to make it along to my ukulele group in about 6 weeks, almost everyone else was unable. Even the venue was unavailable! Luckily my sis and my son were on hand to boost the numbers, so we found a new venue and had a little jam anyway. Gosh it's fun - I really need to get around to playing at home once in a while!

brisbane festival

he

We packed a picnic dinner and walked to the Riverstage to meet some special friends at 'Symphony Under the Stars'. I took lots of quiet-but-fun things to entertain him once the show started, but shouldn't have bothered as he was completely content, still, transfixed, sitting on his Auntie's lap, holding his battery-powered candle, and watching/listening to the orchestra for much of the time. He only broke his trance to call out "AGAIN!" after the guest tenor's performance ended. Eventually he stood up and wandered over to me, and we spent the rest of the time blowing bubbles with our friend and the girls on the picnic mat in front of us. The silent bubbles, drifting over the crowd complemented the symphony beautifully. 

me

 My sister and I enjoyed stumbling across some fun live music and hot pretzels.

tea party fun

he

 He and I took his Auntie for a tea party at the Paddington Antique Centre, since we enjoyed it there so much last time, since they don't charge for babyccinos, since they have a toy tea set at the cafe, and since we wanted to say 'hi' to Roy the Robot again. Also, I had to prove to him that the ceiling there was dark blue, as he was convinced it was green and would not be persuaded.
I'm on the lookout for a cute toy tea set at op shops now.

me

Tea and scones! The scones were fresh out of the oven (there was 40 seconds left on the timer when we placed our order!), the tea was delicious and the cups were gorgeous. 

chopping

he

Yes, I bought knives for my toddler! In my defense, they are designed to chop everything other than fingers. So he can help with food preparation, or just chop up his own dinner. But only when we have lots of time to spare...

me

We finally bought a food processor. It was ridiculously exciting. 

We chose one with the blender attachment, and lots of other clever things, and for the first week we used it for almost every meal we prepared. The most exciting, so far, was making savoury muffins. In my pre-food-processor life this took AGES - finely chopping and grating a mountain of herbs, veggies and cheese, but now this part of the preparation takes a couple of seconds! I'm a little bit excited. He has become quite obsessed with smoothies/juice. Now, whenever he hears it roaring, he runs to the kitchen, saying, "Noisy! Juice! Yum! I some!"

while auntie was here

he

He learnt to ride his bike! Feet on pedals and all. Only when Daddy started him off, and only down our short, sloped path (where gravity sneakily lends a hand). But, still! Auntie was there to cheer during each attempt. He has thoroughly enjoyed her visit - knocking on her door each morning, showing her all of his favourite toys/places/people/songs/books, and requesting songs from her, over and over. She will be missed!

me

B and I took advantage of the live-in babysitter (who baby is so fond of) and had dinner out at The Crosstown, from where our memories of past tasty food experiences surpass almost anywhere else we've eaten, anywhere! And again, years later (the last time we ate there was my birthday two years ago, before the need for babysitters, and immediately before a Cyndi Lauper concert!) the food was just so tasty. Our table was in a little courtyard, and our server told us a story about the canvas sail/shade/roof. It was replaced a year ago, after someone fell through it and broke their leg while trying to rob the place!

save our reef

he

 He had a lot of fun at the Rally for the Reef. There was so much to watch and talk about: fish costumes, umbrellas, bikes, kids, hats, flags, a diver!

me

I've been following the "Save Our Reef" campaign, and I continue to be shocked that we could even be considering the planned mining developments, which will destroy the WORLD HERITAGE Great Barrier Reef (with devastating global follow-on effects). I just find it very confusing and heart-breaking. 

To quote the campaign:

• 3 million cubic metres of seabed would be dredged and dumped in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
• We would more than double our coal exports, obliterating emissions targets and hurtling us towards catastrophic climate change. 
• It would create shipping superhighways where thousands of coal ships will drive through our Reef every year.

Please sign the petition if you haven't already!

we

We rode our bikes into the city for the rally. We love riding as a family!

fete season

he

He loved the local school fete so much recently that we decided to pop into my school's fete last weekend. Like his mum, he's happy spending the majority of the time in the petting zoo. We went after he woke from his nap, so arrived just before pack-up time, but it was enough for a fete fix! I think his highlight was when our pal took him back over to the petting zoo to watch the pack-up - he was talking about it for ages afterwards!  

me

I was mainly there to see friends and check out some changes to the school (and, obviously, hang out in the petting zoo), but was pretty excited when I realised that pack-up time is the time for fete bargains! We walked away with much more than intended (2nd-hand clothes and a pile of awesome retro wooden puzzles), and spent much less than intended. We convinced our pal to come back to our place for dinner (with "My sister's cooking!" as enticement) and ended up eating campfire marshmallows and blondies (white choc/caramel brownies - yep, I love having my sister around!) around a fire in the back yard with our downstairs neighbours.

thinking about playgrounds

he

We'd heard about a new little playground right by the river, not too far from here, with good, toddler-sized equipment. It was about a half hour walk when we checked it out this week, and we got to stroll through the old cemetery on the way, which was interesting and nice.

me

Our playground campaign project is moving along, but our focus now is on making sure we're happy with the product. Turns out this is not the fun part!

rain and stickers

he

Although it was looking like we might be stuck inside, the rain stayed away, the day was gorgeous, and he had seven little friends over for a fun afternoon in the back yard. He divided his time equally between playing with his friends (including one special pal that was back in Brissy for a couple of days), playing with his auntie (mostly with stickers - he's loving stickers!) and playing on his own.

me

Our informal 'play group' is one of my favourite parts of each week. I adore the kiddies and really appreciate the friendships I'm forming with the parents. I feel very lucky to have this opportunity to get to know so many people from around our neighbourhood (and beyond), and I love how the group started organically and has grown and evolved during the year. This week, since I had just worked out how to make a rain stick (hammering nails at different angles along the tube to slow the flow of rice/grains inside) - and since we were hosting play group, I thought the others might like to make one. The kids were intrigued and tried to be helpful with the hammers - though they were much more helpful with the stickers. The end product has a pretty good 'rain' sound, and my little munchkin loves it. Also, I got credit for all the rain the previous day.

public art

he

He played on two giant pink bunnies last week, and spied a third. Apparently they are 'popping up' in lots of different places during the Brisbane Festival. He says, "Big... Pink... Wabbit!"

me

Finally started the mosaic project! The plan is to make our low herb garden wall, along the footpath in front of our house, beautiful. Myself, housemate, sister and talented-mosaicing-friend spent the afternoon around the kitchen table, smashing tiles and sharing ideas. In the end, we were glad it had been rainy outside, as it was quite relaxing and fun to sit around the table with hot drinks and swiss chocolate, playing with shapes and patterns and colours without having to make final decisions. That comes next!

museum with auntie

he

The wet weather dampened our morning plans, so we caught the train to the museum - always the perfect rainy-day outing. Auntie J bought him a babyccino and banana bread at the museum cafe. The tables and stools were just perfect for him (our knees didn't fit so well), which made it extra fun. It still amazes me how quickly he can polish off a big chunk of banana bread. Such talent!

me

He took his auntie for a tour for most of our visit, which meant that I had the rare opportunity of wandering around on my own. 

annerley aquarium

he

We were throwing around ideas for a Sunday afternoon, post-nap, outing, and ended up taking a drive to Annerley Aquarium - we hadn't been there since he was little. He just thought the place was heaven! Floor-to-ceiling shelves full of fish tanks, fish of all shapes and sizes and colours, a few different rooms to weave and wander through, and an auntie to follow him around. And he spent some time making fishy faces for Goldie, the giant gourami, who we've been visiting there for years. 

me

I bought a new fish for the kitchen, I've been thinking about it for a while. He's just lovely! I'm not sure of his name, yet, as whenever we ask 'him' (baby, not fish) he gives us any of three names:

1. Goldie

2. Pudgie One Two

3. Chicken

If he doesn't decide on one of these soon, I get to make the executive decision.

reverse garbage projects #2

he

Today he helped his Dad with another project - varnishing the gate. He was adamant that he should be involved, particularly when it came time to wash the brush in a little bucket of water. Except that it wasn't water - it was turps - so he wasn't allowed to help. But he insisted, of course. And insisted and insisted. With a very sad face. So, eventually, he got his own brush and own bucket and had a wonderful time washing it and splashing it and painting with the water on the ground. 

me

My sister and I made another colourful decoration for the happy tree! The laminate samples turn beautifully in the breeze. It's all looking very happy!

reverse garbage projects

he

We walked down to Reverse Garbage with his Auntie this morning, and found lots of goodies for different projects. Back at home, he helped both his Dad and I with our projects. This is a new 'gate' for the bottom of the stairs.

me

My first project was cleaning up these awesome black plastic climbing/cubby cubes, and sticking shiny silver sticker foam shapes on for decoration. He was a great help - he even worked out how to take the backs off the stickers, so needed no help at all, to be helpful!

we

Everyone had something to carry on the walk home. He walked most of the way home with his Auntie, carrying/dragging a blue stick. That's for another fun project - stay tuned!

morning rituals

he

Breakfast - the most important meal of the day - is definitely his biggest and most reliable meal of the day. He loves his cereal (especially if he gets to choose which kind), toast, fruit, oats, muffins, crumpets, smoothies - whatever is on offer. And then a couple more things. This morning he chose his cereal, but ended up eating most of his Dad's muesli, too.

me

 I usually wake up before anyone else. Eventually, when I realise that I'm not going to fall back to sleep and that I'm just lying there making mental lists of what needs doing, I get up - and start doing. I've started to try to begin with a few moments outside the back door, with a cuppa or a glass of water (or if I'm feeling really reckless, a book) to make sure that I notice and appreciate the magical quiet of the early morning.

tea

he

We've been meaning to visit the Paddington Antique Centre, so took Granny there after Tiny Tots, as it's just up the street! It's an old theatre with a fascinating history and a very blue ceiling. He found plenty to point to and talk about; his favourite find was Roy the Robot (made from old bits of machinery). I probably should have known not to tell him that his Great Grandpa was also named Roy, as (of course) he now thinks that the robot is his grandpa. "Woy. Wobot. Gampa." The centre has a lovely cafe, with free babycinos and a toy tea-set. Oh yes, I think we'll be going back.

me

Another 'meaning to for ages' was the job of labeling my tea tins. Of course, I know which type of tea lives in which tin. However, although it's always an opportunity for a fun guessing game for others (and a lot of others do regularly make themselves a cup of tea here), it seemed appropriate to provide some guidance. I used small pieces of blackboard contact paper and chalk, so that I can change the labels depending on what we have.

play dough play

he

It was orange - his current favourite colour, and scented with rosewater. It was the first time we've ever done this at home. It was really, really fun playing and making and squishing and describing together. It brought back such great memories.

me

My Mom and I made the dough while he was napping. And then we thought we had probably better test it out. We also thought it would be prudent to test out all of the play dough toys that I've been collecting. Gosh it was fun!

grandma

he

His Granny is here with us for a visit! She had a conference here for a couple of days but we had her all to ourselves for a few days, too. Yay! So, of course, I didn't waste any (babysitter) time and left him with her on the afternoon she arrived so that I could attend a meeting! This picture shows them playing together at the play group stall at our local school's festival this weekend. This was just before he ate a sizable lump of their play dough.

me

We skyped my Grandma! It took a few weeks of emails back-and-forth between me, Grandma and the lovely lady who has been helping her with email, but it was the clearest sound and picture I've ever had on a skype call. It was 5.30 pm there and 7.30 am here. It was wonderful. 

I don't have a picture of the skype call, so here is a picture of the clothes I bought for him, in the next few sizes, at the 2nd hand stall at the festival, for a dollar each. I do have a soft spot for stripes.

new sandpit

he

 He is happy to spend all day in there! His favourite sand activity yesterday was making hand/foot prints. Which everybody has to be a part of... "Foot print sand. Mummy foot print? Daddy foot print? Hand print?" - these are often said like questions but are actually orders which he expects to be promptly followed. I guess it's much like when we ask him questions like, "Shall we get you dressed now?"

me

Now that there's room for me to get down and play in the sand, I'm enjoying it a lot too. No wonder sand play is a form of therapy. You can also catch a glimpse, just above my head, of some colourful decorations that I made to hang in the tree, above the sand. I've been collecting many, many plastic lids, and finally drilled holes and strung them together. It's such a happy little corner of a happy little garden.

we

A year ago, we bought plastic clam shells for a sandpit, which are lovely but small (for a munchkin who loves sand as much as he does), and they soon cracked and perished. We even replaced them, but found that they just don't survive long if there's sun. We talked about building a new one for a while, but last weekend, B just got it done! Woo hoo!