The Summer of change

Well it's been so long since I've blogged that I couldn't even remember how to log in! Somehow life just got in the way and now, here I am, months and months down the track with so much having changed. My year of maternitiy leave has officially finished and I'm now back on the work treadmill, catching the train in to the city three days a week. I wake at 5, leave by 6, drop off Braden, sit on the train, get to work by 7:30, work work work, then reverse it all, home, dinner, baths, stories, pack bags for the next day, lunchboxes, ironing, fall into bed exhausted, start again at 5 the next day. I know that most grown-ups with kids do this, but I had no idea how much it really involved. I never really considered all those years I spent travelling, lying on beaches, seeing films, eating in restaurants to be self-indulgent, I thought they were just life. Funny how you don't really know about the other life you will lead later until you get there. Not that I'd change any of it (but I am glad that I have those years of self-indulgence under my belt).









Monkey's having a great time at kindy now (after a few teary weeks). He's become a little cleptomaniac though and his teachers at kindy need to frisk him before he goes home (his haul has included cars, wheels, felt trees, ladders from fire engines, and even a cup of water (still with water in it) carefully balanced in the top of his bag). But he misses Granma terribly. Monkey's having a little trouble adjusting to being a big brother and is constantly snatching toys from his younger brother saying 'no, that's mine!'. But he's a happy chappy and every adventure needs to be reinacted the next day and every thought inside his head comes out his mouth. All day long, and even in his sleep.













Bugalugs is thriving and his new nickname has become 'Bruiser'. He's a good sturdy, confident boy with a great sense of adventure. He's always plodding up the hall looking for new ground to explore, usually with a toy in his mouth like a dog. He's such a happy boy that he's become a favourite at his daycare and I think Granma would adopt him if she was younger.

Oh, and we've opened up our world a little, the light pours in and we live outside on our new deck, here are a few pics of the transformation ...

The full circle - mum, now I know what you were doing

As kids we'd go on a holiday every time there was a sniff of a long-weekend or school break. We'd leave early, trying to beat the traffic. I remember dad and us kids would be sitting in the car, loaded up and waiting for mum. And we'd wait and wait and wait. Sometimes the sun would even come up. Dad would growl and say things like "what is she doing in there?" and it would seem like forever before mum would emerge from the front door, arms overflowing with last minute stuff, and then we'd finally be off and away. I always thought it was mum dragging the chain, if the rest of us were ready, why couldn't she be ready too?

Well, mum, now I know what you were doing: you were turning off all the lights, picking up things off the floor, closing and locking all the windows and doors, filling a bag with all the last minute things we'd almost forgotten. And, as things do, we've come a full circle and now my family waits in the car while I run around trying to get everything we need - and that's not even for a holiday, just a normal day out. So mum, I finally understand. Thank you. x

Partitioning sound-space

In zoology it's known that many species time their calls to occur when another species isn't calling and so ensure that whomever they're calling to has the best chance of hearing them. It's termed 'temporal partitioning of sound-space". This 'partitioning' is why you often hear different bird calls after one-another and not over the top of one another. And so it is at our house. Adam and I have become adept at partitioning our sound-space so that we can hear each other between the cacophony bursts coming from our children. A typical conversation goes like this:

"Honey, I was thinking that we could-"

"Ahhhhhhh-aaaaa, mum-mum-mum aaaa!"

"-go to the door-"

"Mummy, I've got a poo!"

"- shop on the weekend to look at glass-"

"Ahh-aaaa-aaaa-aaaa, blllllllluuuuuuuur-oooh"

[pause] "-sliding-doors"

"OK, let's go on"

"Muuuuuummmmy - my poo needs changing."

"-Saturday after Gymba-"

"Ahh-errrrr-ah"

[pause] "-roo".

It takes a really long time to get to the end of a conversation, we often forget that we're even talking to each other and a million conversations don't get finished. I'm sure this phenomenon happens at most houses with children, I just thought it would be interesting to give it a name, and know that we're not alone in the wild.

Worf is NOT the yellow Wiggle!!!

How do you discpiline a child when, in the middle of a scolding he points to his father's favourite old threadbare Star Trek t-shirt and says "the Wiggles!!". Adam was not impressed, some things are sacred.









Monkey's obviously not the first one to notice the similarities, these comparisons were on the interweb ...

Not all vomit and snot ...

We've been off line with a house full of illness this past month, but we've had moments of silliness, so here are a few pics of our boys to show it hasn't been all vomit and snot ...

Monkey Boy ...

Bugalugs ...

Happy happy 101

I've been tagged by my oldest friend, Monique (a glass half full) to create a list of 10 things that make me happy. If I'd written this list 10 years ago I'm sure it would've been very different:

1. Drinking a cup of tea while it's still hot. A rare experience and so special when the moment unexpectedly arrives.
2. Sleeping for longer than 3 or 4 hours in a row. Ahh the bliss of waking up and realising I've had a 5 hour stretch.
3. The rare times when both my boys are asleep at the same time, particularly if I'm on the couch with a DVD, the remote control and a HOT cup of tea. Ahh, give me more of that good stuff.
4. Driving on my own, listening to adult music or radio.
5. A good long (uninterrupted) chat with a girlfriend.
6. Hanging out in the backyard when the lawns are mowed and everything looks nice and tidy. It's so inviting, particularly on a calm, sunny day.
7. That glass of wine in the evening after baby Bugalugs has fed and gone to bed. I've finally reached the stage when he's unlikely to demand a feed for a good few hours.
8. Sitting in the dark at the movies, when the film's just about to start, with a choc-top in hand. Ahh, the anticipation. That's my happy place.
9. Writing, getting lost in it, not noticing the time passing. Wish I could do it more.
10. Listening to my kids laughing their heads off when their dad is getting them ready for a bath, blowing on their tummies.

I think I'm supposed to tag others to write their lists but Monique's the only one I know who blogs. Maybe some of you might like to send a favourite thing or two as a comment ...?

The long-awaited 'TRUCK CAKE'!!!

4th August - singing, cake, Ruby and pulling funny faces! Four of Monkey's favourite things in one go (actually, five - Granma and Gramps gave him a bin truck), so who could ask for more on their birthday?

But then there was more: 7th August - most of Monkey's favourite people all in one place - the Munns and Roses all gathered together to share his 2nd birthday. All Monkey wanted for his birthday was 'a truck cake' which made for quite a bit of pressure for his mum and dad in the cake-making department. We overcame a big hurdle when our first attempt broke in half but Ad made a late night dash to the supermarket for more ingredients and we got there in the end.

When Monkey saw the cake he decided it wasn't just any old truck cake, it was a 'bin truck cake!' (and we quickly agreed that's what we'd intended to make all along). He was in birthday cake heaven!

After all the excitement, Monkey crashed out for a long sleep while everyone else continued to enjoy his party.