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.