Rhyme Time

Every morning in the car on the way to school drop off, the kids and I play a different game.  Some days it's me asking them the names of particular baby animals, eye spy or thinking of a different animal starting with A and then working all the way through to Z.  Yesterday, Grace decided that we'd pick a word and then go through all the other words that rhyme with it.  It's usually nice and simple and I'm often amazed at how clever they are at coming up with an abundance of different words.  As she chose the game today, she got to chose the first word.  She chose "Witch"

You can see where this is going hey?  I knew as soon as she uttered that word that it could get messy.

She came up with "stitch" as the first rhyming word.  Perfect.  But then I could hear Xav over the back going through the letters and adding a different one to the start, trying to work out a word.  Excited, he then yelled out,

"I know Mummy, Bitch rhymes with Witch, doesn't it?"

I was hoping I hadn't heard right as I was fairly sure he'd never hear this word before, so I asked him what that word meant.

"You know, when you are a drummer you have a good Bitch" 

Oh, crap - now I was starting to get nervous about where he had heard the word and what context it had been in.  So I re clarified, asking again what that word meant.

"Mummy, like a drummer.  You know, they have good Bitch - like in music"

Then I clicked.  He was trying to say PITCH!  So after much reinforcement of correct pronunciation, he got it and was still quite happy that pitch rhymed with witch.  Later I realised that I probably should have explained that Bitch really meant female dog, but at the time I was a little taken aback! 

Tina Fey: "A Prayer for My Daughter"

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half and stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes and not have to wear high heels.

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers and the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

(Thanks to Ave for finding this!)

8th January

A very busy day today, with barely a rest in between exciting adventures!

The morning started off with adding our new worms to the worm farm.  A lot of our worms died off last summer in the heat, so this year we have put them in more shade and will keep an extra eye on them.  The kids love playing in the worm farm, naming them all and working out who is the "Mum" worm and then finding babies for her.

Next up, was our first family walk/ride leaving from our house.  The kids have been nagging to take their bikes for a ride from our house ever since they got them.  Now, considering we live on a hill, it's not the easiest of things to be doing.  We decided to give it a go, and take the dogs, cause we like the challenge!  The kids walked their bikes up the hill, and we had a few wobbly incidences when they got speed up going  down the hill, but for the most part they were perfect and loved it.  We went for about an hour, and we all came home covered in sweat.

We came home, had a shower and then headed of the the next activity.  I met up with some of my friends and their kids, and we took them all to see Tangled, the Rapunzel movie.  The 5 kids were lined up in their seats, my kids enjoying their home-cooked popcorn (to avoid both the crap in movie popcorn and the $$).  They were all wonderful and barely took their eyes of the screen for a second.  Xav was getting a bit tired towards the end and asked a few times when it would be over.  It was a really good movie though, plenty of excitement for the kids, yet still entertaining for the parents.

Then tonight, the kids were exhausted and in bed at 6pm, so Duane and I decided to call up our babysitter (the wonderful Mil) and see if she'd come watch them.  Lucky us then got to double date (and crash their anniversary date!) with The Dews.  We headed to Anand Sagar first, which is our absolute favourite Indian restaurant, then we had a little hiccup before heading to see the new Fockers movie.  The hiccup was that we had Duane's parents car (Wendy didn't want to leave it out the front of our house, so said we should take it), and when we parked for Indian, Duane decided to put the steering lock on.  So, then when we tried to leave, we couldn't get it off.  Anyway, after a very funny and frustrating half hour it was finally worked out that we were using the wrong key and then it came off.  All the non-drivers had enjoyed a few beverages over dinner and so some smart alec comments were being made, which combined with the a frustrated "driver" made him mention some "F" words, something that very rarely comes out of my husbands mouth.  This just made us laugh and giggle even more.

All was good though, we made it to the movie with plenty of time to spare.  Could have quite easily missed it though, it certainly wasn't anything to rave about.  I think all the laughs had been used up in the first movie.  It was still a good night out with great friends though!

I just want to end on this photo I took of Xav today.  I was trying very hard to get his profile in focus, but being the non-cooperative child that he his, wouldn't stand still. I really love it though, not because of anything technically "correct", just because it captures his sweet little profile.  Ski-jump nose, lovely lashes and he has yet to loose his toddler cheeks.  But, the thing I love the most is his little half-smile/smirk - it's just so him.

There are some things best left to the experts....

And it seems waxing is one of them.

Yes, I had an incident last weekend that will hopefully squash all future intentions of messing with stuff I have no idea about.

I had just got out of the shower and was doing my usual 10 second morning routine - moisturiser, deodorant and brush hair.  Just as I was putting the brush away I noticed a strip of wax shoved up the back of the cupboard.  Now, I can't ever remember buying this, so I'm guessing it come free somehow - maybe stuck in a magazine.  Right about now I should have realised that I was way out of my depth even contemplating using this, but my cockiness just shrugged - "Pfft, can't be that hard"

I had a quick rub between my eyebrows and felt fluff, so figured I may as well get rid of it with my new found beauty product.  There were no instructions, but I figured you put it on and rip it off - simple. 

I roughly cut out a shape that I guessed would fit between my eyebrows, peeled it apart and whacked it on.  After rubbing it a bit, to make sure it stuck, I then pulled the skin taut and ripped.  By now, I figured I must be amazing at this beauty business as it hadn't hurt at all.  BUT then I realised that all the green, gooey wax was still in a mound between my eyebrows.  I rubbed it a bit, but that just managed to smear it further over my face.

A quick rack through my brain as I tried to remember if wax comes off with hot or cold?  I justified hot as that would melt it, so I grabbed a face washer, heated it up and scrubbed.  It stayed there, except now it was smudged further and all over my fingers.  Right so hot didn't work, must be cold that you use.

I ran out to the kitchen and grabbed some ice, thinking for sure that would harden it up and it would fall off.  Meanwhile the kids are asking what's happening and Xav wanting to know why my face was covered in green bits.  I kept the ice on for a few minutes and then tried again to peel it off.  No luck.

So I then resorted to good 'ol Google.  BUT I had to type with my left little finger as that was the only one not covered in sticky, green wax.  After finally typing in "Removing wax strips"  I came across the wonderful advice to remove it with sesame oil.  I didn't have any of that, but figured olive oil would do the job just as well.

About now, the damn toxic wax had been right in the middle of my face for 15 minutes, so I was half expecting chunks of skin to come off as well.   A tissue soaked in olive oil did the job, and apart from some redness and the original eyebrow hair, all was good underneath.  Thank goodness for Google.

The bonus was, later in the afternoon, the eyebrow hair started falling out.  So I think maybe I'm a genius, I've created a pain-free way to wax!

But if I ever again have to urge to tidy up my eyebrows (and I probably won't, considering it's only the 2nd time ever I've bothered) I'll be paying for it.

They want a pony.

I was driving the 2 little darlings up to school this morning, when Grace spotted some new horses in one of the paddocks.

Grace:  "Look Mum, those horses are so beauuutiful!  I love horses as they are so kind and lovely.  Everyone must love horses"

Xavier: "I like horses, but ponies are better.  I want a pony.  Can we have a pony Mum"

Me: "Ponies need lots of room Xav, and our yard wouldn't be big enough for them"

Xavier: "Well, why don't we just get a bigger house then?  One with lots of room and THEN we can have a pony.  Muuuuummmmmm......CAN we have a pony?  I really like ponies."

Grace: "Yeah, that's a good idea Xav, we'll just get a HHHUUUGGGEEEE house, with a big paddock and we can maybe have a pony AND a horse.  "

Me: "Well, it costs a lot more to have a bigger house and paddocks for horses.  Mummy would have to go back to work all the time, and Daddy would have to work longer hours.  Then the kids would have to be in childcare EVERY day - for a really long time. " 

Grace: "That's ok.  We'd have SO much fun every day if we were at childcare.  We could do so many things, AND have a horse."

Me: "Right.  So you'd prefer to NOT spend lots of time with Mummy and Daddy, just so you could have a pony/horse?  Imagine every day not seeing Mummy or Daddy from early in the morning until dinner time at night.  That's a really long time.  Plus, Mummy and Daddy would really miss seeing you both."

Xavier: "But I'd really love a pony.  I don't mind not seeing you or Daddy.  You could have fun at work all the time and me and Grace could be at school all day.  I really like ponies. I WANT A PONY!!!" 

So, it seems they don't really give 2 hoots about our efforts to have 1 parent with them most of the time. 

It's a shame I'm only finding out about this now, I could put Grace in full time childcare and started my degree 4 year and 10 months ago.....

Pearly whites

After over 20 years of trouble with my front tooth, it's finally gone. And I'm a little sad.....

I've had that wonky, partially black front tooth for a while now and I'd come to like it. It had character and felt familiar and comforting in my mouth. Well, until the damn abscess kept rearing it's ugly head, then it was bloody painful.

Anyway, last Tuesday I went in to have it removed. It was supposed to be an easy 'grip and rip', but it wasn't coming out without a fight. After 3 injections I was still feeling pain, so then had to have the dreaded anaesthetic with adrenaline which I hate. I had to have 2 doses of that, so 5 needles all up, before the area was numb enough for extraction. The abscess was affecting how the anaesthetic worked, so the adrenaline was needed to constrict the blood vessels and keep it all in the right place. Once it was numb, then it was just a matter of the lovely dentist using her trusty pliers to pull the bugger out. By this stage I was feeling quite ill from the adrenaline, with my heart racing and the familiar nervous laughter happening. Eventually it was out though and we both inspected the culprit. It was a tooth in very bad shape, with not just 1 vertical fracture but 3!! No wonder I'd had so much trouble with it, with 3 big canals for infections to travel up!

After plugging up my (no doubt very attractive!) gap, it was time to get started on the temporary one going in. The permanent tooth will replace the temporary one in about 6 months time, just to give the gum and bone time to heal. The temp one looks ok, but it's taken me all week to get used to it. It's glued to my other front teeth via a bridge on the back, which just feels so foreign and uncomfortable. I had trouble to start with even closing my jaw properly, which made it ache and difficult to chew. Maybe it was just the swelling going down, but it's all settled now and not as painful. It still feels really strange in my mouth though, and I'm hoping that the permanent one feels less bulky.

Onto other toothy issues......

The funniest thing happened last night. Xav was exhausted after a busy day and went to bed early at 6pm. About 9pm, I was sitting on the couch surfing the Internet studying, when I heard him tip-toe down the hall. He often wanders out to go to the toilet, so I asked him if he needed to go. "No, I forgot to brush my teeth, I need to brush my teeth", said the little hygienist. Then he toddled into the bathroom, brushed and flossed his teeth and went straight back to bed. He didn't seem to be sleepwalking, he just seemed very upset and slightly distressed that he'd gone to bed without brushing his pegs!

Seems my lectures over the last week about dental hygiene must be giving my children nightmares!!

Down the drain....

I go to uni 4 days a week, and on those days don't have the luxury of using a handbag. Instead I lob all my crap important study material around in a very stylish Nokia back pack that I got as a promotion with my Nokia phone. Ironic.

So instead of putting my Nokia phone in my Nokia backpack during the day at school, I put it in my pocket. Otherwise I'm fishing around in a black hole looking for it and also so I can put it on silent/vibrate so I can feel it and get a little thrill when it rings. Kidding.......kinda.

Anyway, so I have been putting it in my back pocket as it's quite large (the phone, as well as the size of my back pocket to fit my glutteus maximus in) and it gets scrunched in my front pocket as I'm generally sitting on my butt all day diligently studying. Well, I'm also busy making my arse bigger from the 2 for 1 specials on the chocolate bars in the school canteen. Anyway....

So yesterday I head to the toilet. Do my business and stand up, when I hear a thud. I look down and my phone has fallen to the ground, missing the toilet bowl my millimetres. I pick it up and laugh at how horrible that would be if it had fallen in. I'm thanking my lucky stars that it didn't happen, but also thinking that from now on I won't be risking it and leaving my phone in my back pocket. You see where this is going????

Today I headed once again for a toilet stop. Just as I'm standing and pulling up my pants, I hear a familiar thud. But this time followed by a splash. CRAP!! I screamed to my study partner in the next cubicle, she didn't reply with ANY constructive advice. She just laughed, and laughed and laughed.

Right about now I'm thankful for my bodies self imposed rule of only weeing when I'm out.

I was yelling "What do I do?, What do I do??" "OMG, I'm going to have to put MY hand in MY OWN WEE"

So, I just closed my eyes and dived right in and grabbed the fully submerged phone laying at the bottom of the bowl. I then quickly ran out to the sink, with my pants still partly down, and threw it on the counter. I washed and washed my hands and then got some paper towel to start drying off the phone. I really wanted to rinse it, but figured that adding extra water at this stage was probably only going to make things worse. So I patted it dry, trying to ignore that all the water coming out was not in fact pure water.

So, the rest of the afternoon was spent alternating between trying to dry the damn thing out and me obsessively using the anti-bacterial wash at Uni. I did try to turn it on, but it just flicked and then conked out.

I've since consulted Dr google, and apparently I've pretty much ruined any chances of it being resurrected as I tried to turn it on too early. Advice given by others in a similar predicament means that my precious phone is now resting in a Tupperware dish covered in rice. It's apparently my only hope now of drying it all out.

I feel so out of touch not having my phone around. Apart from the usual numbers, texts and calls, I've also been using it as my diary and all my reminders are in there.

Seems the universe does speak in whispers, even about a damn phone.

Grace at 4 years 3 months

My beautiful Grace is 4 years 3 months and just the loveliest little girl. She is sweet, caring and just an absolute delight to be around. I'm not sure what they put in her Iv in hospital, but from the day she came out, she has been obsessed with learning how to write, I've got a few books that have been stashed away, ones that use a white board marker and she can just rub off and use again - they are a HUGE hit! She loves them, the only problem is, she never wants to do anything else. From the time she wakes up of a morning, until it's time for bed, she just wants to practice her writing. She is improving so much too and can write all her letter, most of them quite neatly too. She can copy words, and I'm constantly being asked to write a list of words for her to practice. I am so pleased that she is starting to really enjoy learning, prior to this she just wasn't interested in anything, just wanting to play and even then she would flitter between things. It's wonderful to see her so engrossed and the leaps and bounds she is taking - all on her own steam!

She is also loving drawing and doing the most amazing and imaginative pictures. She loves drawing garden scenes, complete with flowers, fairies and rainbows. She also has perfected her helicopter drawing, which always have to have a pilot - usually her with long, flowing hair!

She is loving her 2 days a week at pre-school. Next Tuesday Wendy will be taking her, as I start uni too early to stay for the goodbye song. She's not really keen on just being left, without me staying until 9.30am, so I'm sending the Mil in my place. I'll still be able to stay with her on a Wednesday, so hopefully she'll be fine with that.

A funny thing happened this week. Normally Duane picks her up from pre-school, but I did on Tuesday as a rare event. I was so excited to do it and bounded in expecting a big cheerful reunion. Imagine my plunging heart, when Grace saw me and her little face dropped as she asked Where is Daddy? I'd planned a big shopping trip with her, and promised a special juice at the end. She just kept asking for Daddy and then asked if we'd still be able to go for ice-cream. Hmmmm, What do you mean Ice-cream Grace? She then answered so coyly that Daddy ALWAYS takes her for ice-cream after he picks her up from school, one in a cone. After a little more drilling, it was ascertained that this has been there little thing for quite a long time. Sweet and naughty all rolled into one! I love it though, love that they have a special ritual together even if it does involve crap food just before dinner. I didn't take her, they can keep that as their bonding thing. She did insist as I left her on Wednesday that I was not to pick her up, Daddy would thank you very much. And he did and they had ice-cream.

She is such an independent little girl and so willing to help me around the house. She has her jobs to do each day. Making her bed, feeding the dogs, helping unpack the dishwasher and setting the table each night for dinner. She also loves doing her own washing, and can do it all by herself from start to finish. It's so sweet watching her stuff it all in, put the machine on the right settings, put in the powder and then keep checking for it to finish. She then hangs it on the clothes horse, and brings it all in when it's dry.

I love spending time with her, as she is just so easy to be around. She is an enchanting little girl, with such a beautiful nature.

Over the last few months she has taken on an edge of maturity, and now I can see her thirst for learning developing. I had doubts at the end of last year if she would be ready for school in 2011, but now I know that she is most definitely ready and is going to thrive!

Cars and gyms - both over rated.

Damn cars and their money guzzling ways. We knew the Tarago was going to cost us big $$ after the air-con blew up, we were quoted $1200 - Eeek!

Well, before we went ahead with what is essentially a "luxury", I wanted to double check that other major repairs were not about to rear their ugly heads. We put it in for a service, and at the end were given a list of things that would need doing soon due to wear and tear. All added up to $2600, including the air-con. SO right about now the $1200 that I was whinging about last week is starting to sound like a bargain.

Ok, it's virtually free money (after all we are new money now!) so we decided to go ahead and get everything fixed up. The car was booked in last week and so I drove it down and Duane followed with the kids in the Rav. Now, the Rav had been making a strange noise too recently. My denial side had talked myself into it being a leaf or something in one of the belts. On the car ride down to take the tarago however, the noise got louder and louder. Unable to ignore it any longer, I asked the mechanic to have a quick look under the bonnet and to hopefully find the suspect leaf. Well turns out it was the water pump grinding, so to save our self a massive explosion, the Rav was put in for pampering and the tarago was re-scheduled for the following day.

So in the last week we have spent $2200 on cars, and that is NOT including the air-con. Damn I hate spending money on cars, but as we don't live within walking distance of much and the public transport is sporadic, it's a necessary evil. Hopefully the air-con will get done this week, and then it will just be services that cost us for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In light of my need to "tighten" the midsection, Trude and I went to the gym. It's probably not my smartest idea, but in our eagerness we decided to do a 1/2 hour ab buster class then follow it up with a Pilates class. Now, for someone that hasn't been to the gym in a long, long time - this was bound to be interesting.

The ab class sounded nice and relaxing. I was expecting lots of floor work, so didn't worry about wearing a sports bra.

It'll be all low impact right? WRONG. The guy taking it was a sadist, I'm sure of it. He was a big beefcake, who although by the end of the class everyone in the room was verging on having a coronary, he hadn't even broke a sweat. To start with he had us jumping up a down, where I immediately cringed, knowing that the girls where only on light support. Trude started laughing, realising what my problem was. I stuck it out though and spent the next half hour experiencing ridiculous torture. So on the verge of dying, we waited for the pilates class to begin.

This one wasn't too bad, quite easy actually. Well until the Ab parts started, then Trude and I were pathetic. Our poor stomach muscles had given up and would not work, so instead of slowly lowering our self to the ground, we thumped down. There was lots of stifled giggles from us and glares from the dedicated ones up the front. It was a laugh, but enjoyable.

I've decided abs are overrated, instead I might just invest in some good suck in undies.

Grace's funny things

The kids were just getting their breakfast ready. Grace had gotten out the toaster and bread, ready to make herself tomato on toast for breakfast.

The do it all themself, and the highlight is pushing down the button on the toaster. The simple way would be to put all 4 pieces of bread in the toaster at once, but to avoid hysterics over who gets to put the toast button down, they each do their own.

Xav was getting impatient with having to wait for Grace's toast to pop, and starting trying to climb up on the stool.

Grace told him to hop down, so he did. Then she turned to me and said with a sigh

"He is driving me knots"

Xav's funny things

Ok, I'm going away and the conformist in me needs to have blogs ready to go for the days that I am away.

So I'm just going to write a few things down that the kids have said, so I don't ever forget.

I'll start with Xav.

The other day he sneezed then said "Excuses, Excuses, Excuses" - Instead of excuse me.


Just then, Grace was trying to hop onto the stool beside Xav but it was stuck too far forward. Xav pulled it out for her, so Grace said "Thank you Xav"

Xav, so with out missing a beat, said "Your welcome, and lovely manners Grace"

Singing kids.

We call Xav my little camp boy.

He loves shoes, handbags and all things pretty. We had a tantrum in Target the other day because he wanted to take home the patent black leather stilettos, not the nice safe wedges that I had chosen. He threw mine and jammed his in the pram screaming "I want these ones Mummy" I wrestled with him for a bit, then asked "Who are they for Xav, me or you?" "They're for me, mummy"

Anyway, seems he's gotten over them and quite happy to totter around home in the wedges, very well I might add!

He is also a lover of a big gay icon - Pink. I blame Trudy for the obsession. Now, I do like Pink and am happy to listen to her - just not ALL THE TIME.

Both my kids got quite obsessed with "So What", and wanted it played every time we went in the car. I was ok with that the first gazillion times, but when Grace started singing it all the time (including at her calm, serene pre-school!), I thought it was time to ditch the Cd.

So we haven't listened to that song for about 2 months, then out of the blue the other day Xav starts singing it. Seems all those times of being subjected to it, must have ingrained in his psych.

So now, I have a little boy who is 2 years 3 months, and wants to sing this song at the very TOP of his voice.

So I'm blaming this on Trudy.

Jaded Mummy and Scruffy bum Xav

You know how some days are just one long whingey, whiney 12 hours?

Well today felt like one of them.

Nothing in particularly bad happened, but it was just a cumulative effect of lots of incessant chatter, whinging, refereeing & general kid wrangling. I've gotten to the end of this very long day with not much sanity intact and a knot in my stomach that is going to take a lot of quiet time to unravel.

Thank God though, it's 6.45pm and both kids are tucked up in bed asleep. Hallelujah. I didn't get home till nearly 5pm and by then I was counting down the minutes till dark fell, so that the kids could be put to bed without too many arguments. Dinner was a very quick outside picnic (because their boisterous noise was ruining my inside Zen) of spaghetti and multi-grain toast. I know, bad Mummy but I really couldn't be bothered cooking anything substantial. Duane is not getting home till closer to 10pm, so the quicker the dinner, bath and bed the better. Whilst they stayer outside eating like unfed urchins, I stayed in side for some peace and quiet and made a healthy pizza for myself. Then sat inside (kids still outside doing goodness knows what, I didn't care) and ate in silence.

Then it was a quick dip in the bath, run over with the face washer and shoved into Pj's. The rest of their tummy was topped up with rice milk and then as soon as the sun was down, they were hurried off to bed with a kiss, story and wave as I shut the door and thanked the heavens that my special quiet time had begun. I love the little brats, but oh the silence is delicious.

I meet up with some good friends every Friday for a full day. Nicole wasn't having a great day with her 2 y/o and I wasn't feeling the relaxed easiness of having 2 children either. So, I really should have censored what I said to the singleton Mum's. Instead I rabbited on about how hard it is having 2 kids and how easy it is to just have the one, when really I know that when I just had the one I didn't think that was easy either. I'm cool with that though, I'm sure the Mums of 2 + are rolling their eyes at me and how "hard" I've got it. I know I don't, it's just moments of mental exhaustion, of having to think so much for not only myself, but 2 other people who can be so unpredictable, that wears me done. I really think doing this full time Mummy thing for the last 4 + years is starting to turn me into a bitter old hag.

My memory is just so distorted, that I barely remember what it was like to have only the 1 child. Some days I am just so exhausted and should NOT be allowed to spout my jaded views on those still in the honeymoon phase of parenting. I have many, many more good moments than bad so I really need to be talking about those, not going all "Woe is me".

I guess I just find it all tough, probably cause I fill my head with all types of stupid do's and dont's. I just feel that this parenting gig is going to be my most important role and I'm petrified of stuffing up.

Now, onto more happier things.

Xavier

This little boy has my heart firmly on strings, and sometimes I feel he can play me like a puppet.

I am completely enchanted by him and love, love, love all of his little quirks.

He is such a little boy now, the only glimpses I get of my baby boy are when he is laying beside me asleep. It is only then that I can remember my little Xavy baby, the little boy that I fell so deeply in love with. The last of his babyhood was packed up last week with his night nappies. Yep, my clever little boy has ditched the night nappy and is instead going commando overnight. I am just so proud of him, at the still young age of 2 years 3 months, he is completely out of all nappies. I know he was extremely early at 16 months to be day trained, but he seems so young now to be sent to bed with no bubble butt to smack. He has been dry overnight for months, only waking once in that time with a wet nappy. I decided that I really should follow his lead and just take the no nappy plunge. It's a big leap though, taking the risk of having to do a bed change at some ungodly hour of the night. I do have a big incontinence pad on his bed, also his bed is made up mattress protector, sheet, mattress protector then sheet. So if he does have an accident, it's just a matter of ripping off the top layer and underneath is a freshly made up bed. Good idea hey?

It's been a week already and no accidents though. Can't believe he can go to bed of a night, after a cup of milk, and sleep for 12 hours and then not have to pee till he's been up about half hour. The kids definitely don't take after their mother, who needs the first stop, once her feet hit the ground, to be the toilet.

My sweet little SNAG has also developed a few fine ballets moves. He's been perfecting walking on point for a while now, even running and jumping. So, it's not full point, he goes up on the front of his toes, but it's still quite the skill. It looks painful and something that thankfully he's not doing as much now, Dr google suggested that it can potentially shorten limbs so something that should be discouraged. Also he has been practicing his pirouettes, and most of the time can do a full turn on one foot. Quite the sight to see actually, he puts his little arms out in a pose then twirls around. I went to see Maos last dancer last week, and I'm in awe of how amazing ballet would be, so I'm all all for him to further this interest. Duane wasn't too pleased, until he was sent this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om6tI5kL6D8
Seems, Ballet might help with the laydees. Wonder if they do Daddy and Son classes?

So far, the terrible 2's have been fairly cruisy for me and Xav. He's generally a compliant little boy who has great comprehension and conversation skills, so we don't tend to get to many frustrating episodes. He speaks in beautifully constructed sentences and can get his point across most of the time. Well cruisy until recently. He's discovered that he doesn't have to be the placid puppy dog that follows Grace around doing whatever she orders, and this has created chaos between the siblings. Grace was happy with her little foot soldier, but now he's answering back and not following orders so graciously. It's funny actually, well for the first few fights it is. I'm using a wonderful diversion tactic now though for the sibling fighting. When they are just bickering and there is no definite instigator, I make them sit on the floor, holding hands and looking each other in the eye. I tell then to stay like that until I come back, or until they can apologise to each other and play nicely. They barely get to a minute before they are giggling, cuddling and apologising profusely to each other. It so works. I love it. They are even starting to instigate when they need to sit and stare, without me even saying it. Let's hope this little tactic works for a long time, cause I'm sure the sibling rivalry is sticking around for a while.

Xav's temper has started coming out, and boy it is scary! It's not something that we see too often, thank God, but look out if he's got his grump on. I still think its a bit funny and tend to just humour him when it happens. I ask him if he's hissyfit is over yet, usually he replies no a few times (then continues to scream, stomp, yell) then after a while says in a defeated little voice "Ninished now" Then he is over it. Yes, he hasn't quite got his tongue around "finished" so says "ninished", which I find too cute to correct.

Sometimes there are just moments with the kids, where you need that picture so you can drag it out for 18th birthday to embarrass them. This will be one of those ones. Xav has decided that his nipples are not just for decoration, he is going to use them to feed his little Iggle friend. I've found him a few times like this, laying down on the floor feeding peacefully. He's seen lots of babies being fed, and must have taken notice of Nicole and Trudy laying down when they feed, cause that's how he prefers too. So, so adorable.

~~Xav laying down to breastfeed his Iggle~~

Just a few quick other things about my little babe. He's learnt how to count to 11, sometimes skipping out 6 or 7, but most of the time can get all the way. He counts out objects and can tell you how many things are on a page, sometimes just by counting in his head. The Truets have been teaching him a few things in French and he is so open to learning it, I really hope that he can pick a few things up. He can say "Merci" "bonjour" "Ar voir" and can count to 3, and all the way to 10 if copying someone. He has a go at pronouncing all other French words, and according to Loic, has a pretty good accent too! So with ballet and a bit of French, he should have the ladies falling at his feet!

Little Xav gives his love out quite freely. He's often telling us randomly how much he loves us and who he loves the most at that time. The main recipient of his love at the moment is Jasper and Logan. He tells me all the time how much he loves both of these boys and will often declare it to them when we visit. It's very cute and I hope he never stops telling his friends how much he loves them.

He is waaayyyy overdue for a haircut. His fringe has grown past his eyes, but it sweeps to the side beautifully, just like all the little trendy teenagers. The hair over his ears is long and thick, however his curls are kicking in now and he has a cute little over the ear flick thing going on. Duane is desperate to cut it, and so was I, except everyone who sees his hair loves it and insists that I don't get it cut. Now either they are giggling behind my back about listening to such ludicrous advice or it really does look adorable. Of course, I think he looks all sweet and delicious with his shaggy, scruffy bum hair do. I might just get the front tidied up (seems its a bonus if they can see past their hair) and let the back and side go scruffy.

~~My little scruffy-bum~

Interview with Grace

I was tagged to do this quiz on Facebook and thought I might post it here also. It was a lot of fun, and Grace was over the moon to think that she was on Facebook. She kept excitedly saying, I'm on Facebook now, yeah me and Mummy are on Facebook"

So this is Grace's answers at 3yrs 8mths.


1. What is something mum always says to you?

I love you

2. What makes mum happy?

Dancing makes you happy

3. What makes mum sad?

Being naughty & stuff

4. What does your mum do to make you laugh?

Tickle me

5. What was your Mum like as a child?

You danced & sing & laugh

6. How old is your mum?

2

7. How tall is your mum?

46

8. What is her favourite thing to do?

Computer stuff

9. What does your mum do when you're not around?

Take Xavier to the playground

10. If your mum becomes famous, what will it be for?

Not sure

11. What is your mum really good at?

She really loves to do cooking

12. What is your mum not very good at?

Dancing

13. What does your mum do for her job?

Computering

14. What is your mum's favourite food?

Vegetables


15. What makes you proud of your mum?

Cause we are both on facebook

16. If your mum were a cartoon character, who would she be?

A pig

17. What do you and your mum do together?

Cook dinner together

18. How are you and your mum the same?

We go to school, playgroup and big play group together

19. How are you and your mum different?

Our ankles

20. How do you know your mum loves you?

Cooks for you

21. Where is your mum's favourite place to go?

The playground

Playground antics

It was Mothers group day today. We all decided that the local shopping centre would be a great spot to meet up. It's got a great playground for the kids to run amok on and a food court close by for those that need a coffee hit. I tried to fit in a bit of shopping before we met up but the 2 ratbags preferred me to chase them around instead!

Everything was going great. The kids were all playing nicely together, whilst the Mum's sat close by chatting.

Of Course that didn't last for very long......

An almighty scream came from underneath the slide. Nicole instantly recognised it as being Logan's bellow, so she jumped up quickly to see what was wrong. We had just been chatting about Logan's latest tantruming episodes, so the screaming was written of as dramatic toddler behaviour. A few moments later Xav emerged from under the slide, also screaming his head off. Grace was holding gently onto to his hand, leading him over to me. I knew instantly that he was hurt, but being the clumsy bum that he is I thought that he had tripped over or something. I picked him up and between his sobs he pointed to his arm. That's when I saw a bright red bite mark. I quickly told Nicole to check Logan and sure enough he was also sporting a lovely teeth outline on his hand.

Right. We were on a mission to find the offender.

With a child on each hip we headed over to the play area to see what we could find. We scanned the area, and just then we both saw at exactly the same time a boy about 2 lean over a toddler girl and just about to sink the teeth in. Nicole acted quickly and grabbed the little boy off the little girl. She held him by the arm and marched him over to the closest group of parents.

And this is the bit that has been cracking up every time I think of it.

She yelled out in a loud and authoritative voice, "WHO DOES THIS BELONG TOO?", whilst clutching little vampire boy. Oh, very Un PC, but her little boy had just experienced his first bite, and she was angry! It was also her first venture into the world of biting toddlers and being a bit frazzled she wasn't thinking about the right thing to say. We joked later that at least she didn't yell out, "We have a biter, Who owns the biter!"

A group of women were gathered to our right, who I was sure the little boy belonged too. 1 women looked at us nervously and then breathed a sigh of relief as she realised that it wasn't her child. This time.

After a few more moments a Mum came over from far, far away over in the corner of the play area. She was obviously embarrassed and no doubt nervous as she tentatively approached us to claim her child. Poor women was bombarded by Nicole and I as we tried to explain to her what had happened and shoving the bite marks in her face to see. She apologised and said she didn't really understand as he had never done it before. I do find that a little hard to believe though. Surely a child doesn't just start biting and then go on a 3 person rampage all in the space of 10 minutes? Maybe?

We then headed back to the table to console our baby boys. Lots of soothing cuddles, a dab of antiseptic wash and they were back to being fine. They were very deep bites though, so no doubt tomorrow the boys will be sporting matching bruises.

Biting is a tough one to deal with. I'm not really sure on the etiquette or the right way to deal with someones elses child who is doing it. I understand that it's common and just part of development, it's just hard not to react when it's your child on the end on a chomping jaw.

January 15th Photo

I was enjoying my morning cup of tea and perusing the paper, outside in the gorgeous morning sun. A few sips in I realised that I was alone AND there was silence. No, when you have children a combination of the above doesn't not often mean that the children are playing nicely and safely. I contemplated sitting there though and just enjoying the serenity, the house is kid-safe, so surely they couldn't' get up to to much mischief? I took a few more sips and tried to concentrate on the paper, but then being a responsible parent (and curiosity) got the better of me.

This is what I found. Grace had set up a "soft" (pffft) landing and was getting airborne of my bed and falling on the pillows. Xav was right behind her, you can't see in this pic but he is lining up for the big jump too!

So I grabbed the camera and managed to get a few shots before any bones were broken. It's a bit dark, cause the morning sun had already passed the window. It was also one of my first tries at action shots in manual. I know a few tricks now that would have made it better, but this ones still ok. I love the look on her face, its like she's full of excitement and scared all in the one expression.

3 year olds are funny creatures

Yes funny little things 3 year olds are.

Sometimes funny "Ha, Ha" and sometimes "Get out of my sight before I pack up your things and donate you to charity" funny. We get a good balance of the 2.

Here's 3 of my favourite:

#1
Guilt trip? Probably the start of many.

"So, you have air-con in your room, and there's one in the lounge. Why don't I have one in MY room? It's so hot, I can't even use a blanket"
Yes, this is straight from the 3 y/o's mouth, not sure if she really wanted the air-con or was just using it as an excuse to come into our room. I promise that her room was not hot, it was all drama.

#2
Admittedly this was after traipsing around the shops right in the middle of the Christmas chaos. I was shopping alone with the 2 kidlets, #1 was driving me nuts with her constant whining and demanding that she needed everything that she saw. I got sick of it and told her to stop whinging as it was driving Mummy insane.

The response, "But I wanna whinge, I like whinging" Great. Then she went on and on and on and on about how she liked whinging - whinging about whinging, perfect. Music to my ears.

And lastly after being asked if she could draw me a lovely picture at school, I was promptly told the following, "I'll draw a picture for Daddy, you can go buy one from the shops". Seems I'm not worthy of her precious scribbles. Can't wait until I am elevated to "Daddy" status, in the childrens eyes that man can do no wrong - EVER.

Balls of laughter

Oh dear, one of the absloutely funniest things I have ever witnessed just happened. Well I am sure, actually make that positive, that my dear husband does not share the same humour in the moment.

I'll set the scene:

Xaviers has had a bit of nappy rash lately, a lovely side effect of the erupting molars, so I was giving him a bit of nappy free time. Duane was laying on the floor, being crawled all over by both of the rugrats. I noticed a fly swarming around Xav's naked bottom, so I told Duane to shoo it away. Duane however took it upon himself to grab one of the kids HARDCOVER books that was laying beside him. He was still laying on the ground when he pulled his arm back ready to whack the fly that was now resting on his upper leg. Well I guess he didn't really think about what else was up in that region. I watched him swat the fly and then coil, scream and go flat to the floor.

I was pissing myself laughing, I really couldn't help it and it took everything for me not to just say "Suck it up princess, my genitals have copped a bigger beating than that giving birth to YOUR kids!!" But I couldn't even get that out between snorts of laughter.

It was only after a few seconds that I realised he wasn't saying anything. I looked down and he started making a few grunty noises, I thought he was laughing too, so I didn't really take much notice. Then he started moving slowly, I kept asking him if he was allright but he could only manage a weak "No". I told him to lay down (mind you I was still couldn't stifle my giggles), so he layed there for a bit then got up and went to bed.

I followed him up to the bedroom, but first I went into Grace's room to try to compose myself. I just kept thinking, "How stupid is he to whack himself there with a hard book", everytime I thought about it I would break into fits of laughter. Once I had gathered myself together I went in to see if he was ok. It was only then that he started talking. Then he explained that as he was swatting the fly he has clipped one of his balls and from the pain he had actually blacked out for a few seconds. That was when he was laying there grunting, he had actually fainted. He also said that he was trying to say to me to call an ambulance but it wouldn't come out.

And all the time I just laughed, giggled and snorted. Sympathetic wife that I am.

Oh, and after he was feeling better he went to assess the damage. All ok, but I guess we will have to wait to see if everything is working normally!

Grace talk

Grace is coming out with the funniest things at the moment. She is really starting to think about things and you can see her little mind tick over as she absorbs everything.

Here are a few of her funny thoughts:

A conversation we had in the toilet the other day

G - "Mum, girls have a 'gina?

Me - "Yep, girls have a vagina"

G - "Mum, Are girls happy with their 'gina?

Me - "Err, yeah I think every ones happy"

G - "Mum, is your 'gina happy?"

Me - "Umm, yes sure it is"

G - "Mum, I love you SOOOOO much"
This one is usually reserved for when she has done something naughty and I have just reprimanded her, makes staying mad at her hard!

Hoparoos - As much as we tell her they are called kangaroos, she looks at us blankly and keeps jabbering about the 'hoparoos'

"Good house finding Mummy!" - This was said to me as we drove to Mothers group, to a house that I hadn't been to before. Thanks for the positive encouragement Grace

"Oh....that's perfect, how exciting" or "Such a good idea Mum, very clever" - She throws these little pearlers at me when I have just suggested a fantastic idea, like getting a jumper because it's cold outside or brushing our teeth. Just normal everyday stuff.

"Mummy....you are breaking the rules" - As a treat (read: a way to keep her entertained and quiet when out), I sometimes let Grace have a lollipop. She asks every time we go to the shops if she can have one or not, 9 out of 10 times the answer is no. Anyway yesterday she asked again, I said no. She started to chuck a wobbly in the store, I stayed calm and explained to her that she couldn't have one now, but maybe next time. She calmed down and was fine and we talked about not getting one every time we go out. So we were doing the groceries today and she asked again. I firstly said no, but then she said "Grace go shops and get lollipop this time, no crying, Mummy promised" So it seems she remembered what I had said yesterday. So I got one for her and I. I always tell her that she can't chew it, just to suck and I always make sure the she has a drink of water when she finishes to wash away all the sugar. We were both enjoying our lollipop, but I was getting a bit sick of just sucking it so starting crunching into it. Grace looked at me and said, "Mummy, you are breaking the rules....no chewing only sucking"

What could I do? I had been reprimanded by a 2 y/o and she was in the right!"

"Mummy, Gracie not eat her nose bits"
"Mummy.....Gracie playing with it now"
We were driving home when she said to me the first part of this sentence. I glanced back just as she said the second part. Yuck, yuck, but I guess it is an improvement on eating it!

She has taken to carrying around a book and pen lately. The notebook happens to be a sudoku book, she loves trying to copy all the numbers, but mostly pretends that she is writing up her recipes.

She is developing such a wicked sense of humour, I can't even begin to imagine the things that she is going to get up to in later years. She will sure keep me on my toes!

I really DONT want to hear this statement again for a long, long time (if ever)

I was in the bedroom changing Mr X who had done a nice sticky pumpkin coloured poo. I used a million wipes trying to get all his bits clean and fresh again. Grace came into the bedroom to see what was happening then we proceeded to have the following conversation:

Grace: "That's Xavier's penis"

Me: "Yes Grace that's Xavier's penis, Mummy is cleaning all the poo off it"

Grace: "Mummy"

Me: "Yes Grace"

Grace: "Gracie likes penis"

I'm really not sure what I muttered after that, I think that I just brushed passed it and started talking about something else.