First school holidays

Well, where to start? David has finished his first term at school. We had our first three way conference with his teacher (they don't do reports any more, DAvid presents to me on how the term went, what went well and what needs some more practice - my translation). His teacher is lovely. Jen is there for four days and Rebecca is there on Friday - Job share and it seems to be working OK. I haven't really spoken to Rebecca yet. The advantage should be that there are two minds and ideas for the class.

David is reading, writing and learning french. He has settled in well to school and OOSH, and is making friends. He has been for playdates at Alejandro's house and Tom's house and Alejandro has had a play date at our house.
During this we have also been doing swimming lessons. David is still in frogs class, but he has grown a lot in confidence this term, and in my estimation he can now be classed as swimming. Not well, or with proper form, but he can swim! I am not sure how well he is going in class, and we are switching to a slightly later class on Saturday afternoon at 2.30pm not 2.00pm. so he will have a different teacher. We will see how he goes - otherwise I may consider changing swim school because he seems to do much better in playing around and practicing with me after class. He made wonderful progress last year with two different teachers, but hasn't seem to improve much this term.

We also did an introductory term of seven sessions of tennis. Good fun. I think that David liked it, but he didn't fall in love with it. Next term is soccer on a Sunday, and the following term is basketball. The current intention is to do them, as they are short terms and a good "taste" of the new sport. I think David may enjoy basketball.
OOSH is also doing soccer next term on Tuesday or Wednesday, so hopefully David will also try it there.

For the first school holidays we are doing a mixture of Vacation care (3 days) annual leave for me (3 days) and Paul will also take care of David for 3 days. Together with the public holidays for Easter and ANZAC Day, and my ordinary non-working days, that should take care of it all. We have been doing a lot, even with Paul away for work. We have been to the Australian Museum, visited the cousins, had a playdate with Tom, had Katie here for a playdate, been to Wild Wheels day at OOSH, and tomorrow is Disco Day at OOSH. We were going to the Observatory today with Alejandro for a lego/Astronaut day, but David has been sick. We stayed at home (with a quick dash out this afternoon to get batteries for an Omnitrix). He is a lot better tonight so I think Disco Day is still on.

The plan is to get to the Zoo again this month (before the Zoo tickets expire) perhaps go to another museum (Powerhouse?) and maybe the Family Show at Fox Studios or the Hoopla festival at Darling Harbour. Lots to do.

The current hot toys are beyblades, all kinds of Lego (including Bionicles, Hero Factory, Agents, Takehashi/Exoforce and others he likes or wants such as Ninjago, Atlantis or Star Wars). Ben 10 is still very very hot, including wanting another Omnitrix - to add to the (now) 3 different ones that he has. Figures are still pretty interesting, with Harry Potter and Ben 10 the favourites. Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story are still great or awesome, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are also very cool.

We went to a fete at one of the local schools and went early so we got lots of cool stuff at the toy stall. David took all the money from his moneybox and got some Lego, two beyblades, some assorted Ninja Turtle and Daredevil stuff. All with $14! As we left he also saw some Ben 10 bags, and because he didn't have any money left, Paul bought one of the bags - David finally got it today - Paul said OK over the Skype. It had another Omnitrix in it, and it seems to work pretty well with new batteries in it. It makes fantastic sounds, including the powering down sound from the first series of Ben 10. I am getting pretty good at fixing stuff, gluing or popping things back together, and changing batteries. Also good at working out Lego. I have just ordered some missing parts from overseas on Bricklink, so hopefully that will complete some of the second hand Lego Bionicle sets that we have. I get really excited by some of the bigger secondhand sets on the internet, but I am not sure whether David is as excited as me. It is hard when it is just a photo, and you have to organise purchase and postage, and wait. It is not like just buying it in a shop and getting home and building it!

We have moved on with the books though. He wants the more grown up stuff read to him, like Zac Powers and Harry Potter. He wants new stuff and is getting too old for all the picture books that I have accumulated. My idea was that he would be able to learn to read them himself, but I am not sure how well that will work. He doesn't want to give them away though. I have been trying to read him The Muddle-headed Wombat, but he says he doesn't like it. He does seem interested when I read it, but it is a struggle, probably because there is not enough magic, spying or aliens etc in it. He still loves the Spiderman comics though - two years and counting. I wanted to go through our existing books to add to the Premier's Reading Challenge, but he really doesn't want me to read any of the books on the K-2 list that are in our bookshelf or on the list!
Photos to come later - I have taken lots, but I don't get onto the computer much. By the time David gets to sleep after approx 30 or 40 minutes being read to, I am too tired to sign on.
Well, Paul will be back soon. David & I miss him - David especially when he was sick today. Paul has told David that he has bought some Lego in New York, and David really really really wants Daddy to get home now!
We have been talking on the Skype (or the ooh ooh ah ah as we like to call it, because the first time we set it up and trialled in inside the house, there was lots of interference from both devices being too close). David loves seeing himself on the video call - he waves and watches himself rather than Paul.
That's all for now.

End of an era

Well David has his last week at Daycare next week, before he starts school. He finishes on Tuesday 25th January, before Australia Day. I will have a few days holiday with him before he starts, and we can do some fun things together. After nearly three years at Greenwood, he is graduating. He is ready for school and I think he is looking forward to it. We will walk to school in the mornings, or perhaps use the scooter. I will be working, so we have organised Out of School Hours (OOSH) for four afternoons a week. It looks great, with lots of activities and really well organised. Hopefully it is all good!

We have the school uniform organised (although I think I will buy some more shirts to make it easier to get through the week - they are pale blue, so I think that they will need washing after each day). We have organised good lunch boxes and containers (a great bottle and some containers from Auntie Gaye & Uncle David at Christmas too). David has been thinking about healthy lunch options at Daycare - we just hope that he eats them.

It has not been a good summer, with lots of rainy days, but compared with everywhere else we are really fortunate - no floods, no fires (yet) and no locusts or dengue/Ross River fever.

This is a picture of David wearing his uniform to daycare in Transition Week. Pictures of David in School Uniform at school to follow!

Hello again.

After a looooong hiatus, here we are again. A new year.
Quick recap on 2010 - We sold and sorted out mum's house. Then we got the building work on the strata body organised - the builders started on 15 May and finished on 15 November 2010. It was supposed to take 6-8 weeks and it took six months. Because of the very strong La Nina effect it was an amazingly wet winter - even when it wasn't heavy rain, it just rained on an awful lot of days. Because of the outside work, there were weeks when nothing happened. We were out of our bedroom and in the office for about 5 months- thank goodness. We would have probably expired in our bedroom, as the glass windows and doors were moved in (with the top open to the elements) for more than 6 weeks. This was to allow for the work on the balcony, and the new hob. The new windows were supposed to take two weeks, but in building, nothing ever seems to go to plan. However, it is finally finished, and we are so happy with the job - particularly as it doesn't leak anymore. Our neighbours finally got their place on the market straight after the work finished and sold in the first week. They settled before Christmas and are now on a fantastic caravan odyssey around Australia.
We (I) decided that we couldn't organise a sale and relocation as well as the building work before school started in February, so we are here for a couple more years. However, that is going to be fun now, and we are getting some other things sorted out. So, as well as the new bathroom, we have new kitchen floor, the window tinting guy is finally coming next week, and then we re-organise the office, and new carpet, and then we will be done and able to enjoy it all.
David goes to school in February - won't that be fun? We have got his uniform and we just have to get his new school bag, and some labels for all his stuff.
A tough year - Paul and I have both been working hard. Hopefully it will start to pay dividends in 2011. I am back to four days a week - but we will reassess in 2011 and see how things are progressing.
My brother came over for a visit before Christmas, just before my birthday - good to see him. Of course it was wet - but not too wet while he was here - he whispered the rain, and sent it away for a few days. They need him in Queensland at the moment, to stop the rain and the floods.
We had Christmas in Melbourne with Paul's family, and Paul's mum was in good health and good spirits - we had a lovely Christmas. The weather was really cold and windy, 18C before Christmas and the same on Boxing Day. But we got out and about - we went to see the newly restored Polly Woodside and Nanna came too, with jumpers and scarfs. Lots of fun for David and his cousins.
Anyway, that is enough for now - perhaps some photos soon.

Couple more photos

The Ben 10 Dress up and Omnitrix that David got for his birthday - taken on his birthday complete with 4 Badge off the Spider-man birthday card that Nanna sent to him.

It was a super hero birthday - he also got a fabulous Iron Man toy from Uncle Steve.

Anthony gave David a Darth Vader dress-up for a birthday present - see photo! It has a sword, rather than a light saber.

We also like Pirates - we have been getting books about Pirates from the library. This dress up combines the Spider-man and Pirates theme, with telescope and old fashioned pistol.

David & Dad

A couple more photos, taken on the day of David's birthday party. Maybe he isn't as big as we think he is! The Ben 10 Dress up that he wore.

Spiderman dress up

This is a quick catch up. These are some photos taken in August & early September, before his birthday. They are in the Black Spiderman dressup that we gave David before his birthday. Dad gave it to him, to make up for being away for a whole week.

We do like Black Spider-man. When we had dress up day at Daycare in October (I think) that is what he wore - it was for Lumia's birthday - and Wonderwoman came along. David and Jesse were both Black Spider-man. I don't think that red and blue Spider-man rated a mention.

Also, David with his face painted from a fun day at the Supa Centre - again, Spider-man triumphs.

Christmas - Eventually I will put some photos up

Hello all. Well, Christmas is approaching like a freight-train laden with iron ore. (Pretty good metaphor, huh?)

We have just got back from a quick trip to Melbourne and my office Christmas party. David had a fun filled time at Nanna's house. We are getting into a routine with the Melbourne trips. David said that he likes his bed and his room at Nanna's house. He also likes his bed at our house.

Last night we wrote the letter to Father Christmas. We need to post it soon. At one of the shopping centres, they promise that if you post the letter to Santa/Father Christmas by 16 December, you will get a response. It must be from a letter writing elf - I told David that Santa wouldn't get time to write back to everyone.

David spoke to the Shopping Centre Father Christmas, and shook his hand. He didn't want to sit on his knee - which is fine by me.

The letter was delayed as David kept changing his mind on what to ask Santa to bring him for Christmas. We have now settled on one thing, but I convinced David to include a few more things that he likes in the letter, to give Santa a few ideas. The main choice was a Spider-man web shooter (a common favourite throughout the year) but with dress-ups and Transformers as other choices. Because the web shooter is not available in stores (it is an old toy) he is hoping that one of the elves can make it specially for him.

David wants to leave something out for Father Christmas as a present - his idea, after we read some books. He thinks that a first-aid kit would be a really good idea, with band aids and bandages. This would be good if he hurts himself. We will have to work on that.

We put the Christmas tree and decorations up early, because of the trip away. David helped lots. As in previous years, we have the decorations on the stairs as well as the tree. This year I put up low voltage lights on the tree. They aren't as bright as regular lights, but they do glow and they are safer.

The tree has a white theme this year. David put on some little crocheted animals (I bought them years ago in Singapore, at the zoo I think) so we have a menagerie in the tree.

What's new?

Well, David & I are back from a quick trip to Melbourne, staying with Nanna. We flew down, mainly to see Paul, who was away on an extended business trip, which followed into his golf trip. We flew down on Wednesday night, I worked Thursday in the Melbourne office, we spent Friday with Paul and the family and we flew home on Saturday afternoon. Paul went to see the Australian Masters on Saturday (including Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvie) as motivation for the golf trip. He drove back to Sydney, getting home late on Thursday night.

Since then Cousin Lizzie has had her baby, so there are now four boy cousins (including David). Cousin Jennifer is expecting another baby boy next March, so Nanna is proudly telling everyone that there will be five boys under five years of age.

Nanna is having a few problems with her leg, but hanging in there! David enjoyed his day with Nanna and Auntie Gaye, while I was at work, and catching up with the family. David squashed and cut his finger in one of the sliding wardrobe doors - lots of blood and crying. It was fairly traumatic for mum & Dad, but David was much better after a night's sleep. We bandaged it (better than a bandaid, it protected it from bumps and sand and stayed on) for five days, and then he wanted it off. After a day at the pool on Saturday, it has been remarkably better, and hardly worht talking about now. He did enjoy showing people the bandage.

We will be down in Melbourne again for Christmas, so we are planning to write to Father Christmas. It is important that he knows where to leave David's presents.



After Melbourne and South Australia's heatwave, it has been Sydney's turn. Friday was very hot - over 40C before a thunderstorm. We went out to a playground (of course) and survived. We didn't get to the pool as planned, because of the lightning. Saturday was cooler. We all went to the doctor for injections - David had his four year old shots and we had swine fly shots. We did go to the pool in the afternoon, because I had promised. David loved swimming with his noodle - he seems to be immediately more independent. I hope that I can get him in for swimming lessons early next year, because he suddenly looks really ready for real swimming.



Sunday was dreadfully hot - 42C and still 35C in David's room at 10.00pm before the southerly bluster blew through after midnight.



Despite the heat, and because it wasn't too bad in the morning, we went in to the Museum in the city. There is a special Eygpt exhibition on, complete with mummies and coffins and sarcophagi - Really exciting and greatly enjoyed. This builds on the mummy book that we have, the King Tut documentary that we saw on TV, the DVD from the library on Ancient Egypt and of course mummies in Caspar's Scare School, Night at the Museum and The Mummy.



We also went to the newish Dinosaur exhibition - really good - and the old favourite from last visit, the skeleton room. It was lovely and cool in the Museum and lots of exhibitions that kids can touch. David got a special treat - mummy gloves. Black gloves to fit an adult, which look like they have bones and bandages on them. He loves them.



At daycare they are all getting ready for the end of the year. Lots of pre-schoolers are off to primary school next year. David thinks that he should be going to - he wants to go to the same school as Jesse. I am not sure if he believes me that he will be at pre-school again next year, but I am trying to impress on him that he will be one of the big boys next year. It also means that he will have to be grown up and gentle with the other kids, especially the babies in the nursery. We have been having issues for the second half of the year with the boys in pre-school learing how to play together, but not too roughly. It can all change from happiness and light to crying in the blink of an eye, especially when they are tired, late in the day. David gives a good as he gets - some days he comes home with scratches and bruises, other days he has hitor pushed someone else. In particular he has a love/hate relationship with Jesse. One day he loves Jesse and he is his best friend. Then there may be a week where he hates Jesse. A real roller coaster.

There is also a bit of politics/relationships creeping in - one day they are best friends, the next day (or only an hour later) they are not friends ("Jesse says he is not going to be my friend today". "I told Isabelle that she wasn't my friend, because Rafaela is my friend today."). It can change back again after what seems to me as an adult as a completely arbitrary wait.

This week, after daycare, I was told that "You don't know anything!" I was completely mystified, but not particularly bothered. By the time we went to bed David did admit that I knew something about a few things (including cut fingers). I found out that Marcus had been saying that today - so he was trying it out at home. I suspect that he was trying it out because marcus had got a big reaction from someone (David or others) at Daycare. Last night David announced that he wasn't doing kisses anymore, that he hated kisses. He still wanted a kiss goodnight, though. A couple of months ago it was "You're not my mother anymore!" "You're sacked!" Sometimes it took as long as 15 minutes to be reinstated - "You can be my mother again!" Well, my view is that if we work on it now, hopefully there are techniques that work even at primary and secondary school.

The Daycare concert will be on Friday 19 December this year, and we should actually make it along. I understand that there has been a lot of practising of songs (like "We wish you a merry Christmas). Hopefully it will go well, and we get some good snaps.

Birthday party

We held David's fourth birthday at the Lilyfield Community Centre, near the house. It was on Sunday 11 October 2009, after his birthday and the long weekend. The Centre has a large hall with plished boards, and outside play areas. There is a grassed area under a big gum tree, a small playground with slide & climbing castle and other climbing area (with artificial grass underfoot) and a sand pit (see photo of the popular sandpit). It also has a kitchen, slightly raised stage area and toilets. Included were trestle tables, padded mats and use of the facilities. Tt is fully fenced. We knew it well from Playgroup and using the playground on weekends.

It is much larger than our house and back yard, and the kids were able to run and run and run and run. There was so much noise that no-one really heard any of the music I spent hours assembling. However we have been listening to it in the car, so David is still enjoying it.

It was a Spiderman birthday party. I managed to find Spiderman banners and tableclothes and other paraphenalia, including party bags, rings and hats. We asked the kids to dress up, and most did. David was going to go as Black Spiderman, but on the morning of the party, at the last minute he changed his mind and went as Ben 10.

We invited lots of kids and just about all of them came! I thought that we would have more drop out. I included siblings, and so we had a variety of ages from babies, to crawlers to toddlers and even one older sister (Vienna).

I kept David involved and he was very excited about it all. He told me who to invite, and mostly didn't change his mind. A few days before the party he said that he didn't want any girls at the party. We were in the car coming home from Daycare. I asked him "What about Katie and Rafaela? " He said "Oh, except for Katie and Rafaela." I asked "what about Isabelle? Sara? Celestine (etc....) The result was that except for the twelve girls we invited, there were to be no girls. He actually invited more girls than boys.

We had on the menu: potato chips (plain salted), popcorn, fruit (watermelon and black and white grapes, with bananas on the side), chocolate cupcakes, orange cupcakes, juice packs, soft drink. Hot food for mostly the adults was party pies, sausage rolls, spinach & chees filo triangles, mini quiches.

The birthday cake was a carrot cake, with a superhero decal on the top - I had to search all over to get it but finally got it at Woolies in the city. David and the kids all ate the cake.

Lots of kids, lots of fun. No tantrums. We had egg and spoon races with kinder surprises, so all the kids got a prize. Lots of fun, but no-one did it properly. Gordon won the first race, and held his egg on the spoon. Finn won the second race, and he had the spoon in one hand and the egg in the other. We had a mini parade with all the dressup costumes, which was fun. I never got the time to bring out all the bubble mix and wands, but no-one missed it. It started on time (with one guest early) and pretty much ended on time. We were all packed up, cleaned up and exited the hall by 4.45pm. We then went home and David opened all the presents!!!