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| A selection Prep Bicicletta's published works. |
Yep, I am still feeling gooey inside after reading the dedication and the piece on last page.
--
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Writer's Festival
At BallFiend's school, they have had a Writer's Festival all this week, with real live actual authors visiting the school, a book fair, a 'dress-up as your favourite book character' day (which BallFiend outright refused to participate in as he hates dressing up), and of course the children doing their own writing, illustrating (in water-colour and pencil) and then publishing their finished books...
BallFiend is a very reluctant writer - whilst he can write at about the average Prep standard, he really doesn't like to. So it took a lot of effort to coax him to write his book. But he got there in the end.
Yep, I am still feeling gooey inside after reading the dedication and the piece on last page.
--
Yep, I am still feeling gooey inside after reading the dedication and the piece on last page.
--
Monday, December 03, 2012
The giant poo
This post will definitely be TMI for any reader who is not yet, or never intends to be, a parent. Move along - you have been warned.
Right, for those of you still brave enough to read on, this post is about the absolutely enormous poo that Thumper finally set free today. You may still opt out at this point. No hard feelings.
(Speaking of 'hard feelings', when Thumper feels a poo coming she calls out "I have a hard feeling." She came up with that description herself, and I reckon it's a pretty good one!)
Anyway, as you may recall from recent posts, Thumper recently entered the final phase of 'toilet-training': ie. she has replaced her nappies for undies. This does not necessarily mean that she never wees in her undies, but more often than not, she tends to successfully get the wee in the potty or toilet.
Poos, however, are a different matter. I am told it is extremely common for toddlers to take a lot longer to get the hang of putting poo in the toilet. So annoying as it is, we just smile, mutter 'nevermind' and clean it up.
Unfortunately somewhere over the past couple of weeks, Thumper got it into her head that when a poo comes out it is going to hurt. As a result she has become increasingly skilled at holding and resisting the urge to let it out. Of course, eventually (after a couple of hours) the poo-power wins, she looks around with a startled face, obviously completely taken by surprise. And I get another pair of undies to clean up.
However, Saturday came and went, with no sign of a poo from Thumper. DeepSpice and I didn't think much of it... she has gone for over 24 hours with no poos before. But then on Sunday, Thumper started to express some discomfort, every now and then, when the urge to poo struck. She would run to the toilet ("I have a hard feeling!") but a few minutes later would announce that "The poo is shy and it's gone back inside my bottom." So she went to bed on Sunday night, still holding on to her goods.
On Monday morning, Thumper was getting the urge to poo with more frequency, and crying out in pain each time. I asked her if she wanted to wear a nappy and poo in that, and she said yes. But even wearing a nappy, she couldn't allow herself let go. It was really horrible to watch, and I was starting to get quite concerned.
At school, after dropping BallFiend off, I had a chat to another mum who suggested putting Thumper in the bath to relax her. At this point I was willing to try anything... even if it did mean cleaning up a Code Brown (usually I would delegate that sort of thing to DeepSpice!)
So once back at home, I offered Thumper some prunes, then popped her into the bath and there she stayed for the next hour and a half. Every 5 minutes, Thumper would double over in pain as a bowel-cramp hit her. Moments later she'd be back to her cheery self, happily playing in the bath. Seriously, I felt like I was a midwife, assisting a mother in labour! I even convinced Thumper to kneel on her hands and knees when she felt the urge to push! Over and over again, she really looked like she was about to push that poo out, but then nothing... I have never seen such sheer (sub-conscious) determination to hold on!
But finally the wonders of a warm bath did the trick and I watched in fascinated horror as an enormous, brown poo emerged from her rear. I swear that poo was at least as long as her forearm. Strangely it looked a bit like Thumper had a puppy-dog's tail until the poo broke free and floated lazily to the surface.
You'd think with an hour and a half to plan what I was going to catch the poo in, I'd have thought to get a bucket ready. But no. So I grabbed the nearest receptacle - a hair-washing jug - fished out the poo and dropped it into the toilet. Then I had to empty the bath, clean it and Thumper off, then refill the bath because Thumper insisted she hadn't finished playing yet (despite the fact that her fingers and toes were as wrinkly as the prunes she had consumed earlier). Finally, Thumper allowed me to extract her from the bath so she could be dried, dressed and fed some lunch... after that ordeal, we were both hungry!
Postscript - Saturday 8 December:
I woke up this morning to hear the thump-thump-thump of Thumper's little feet down the hallway. (Whoever came up with the term "the pitter-patter of little feet" to describe children had no idea, or they didn't live in a house with timber floorboards!) She stopped at our bedroom door and called out "I need to go to the toilet." And I replied "off you go then". A few minutes later, a triumphant Thumper calls out "I did a poo! I did a poo on the toilet!"
Thinking it would probably just be a single tiny pellet (she's managed that once or twice before), I stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom where I found a proud Thumper peering into the toilet bowl. She stepped back so I could look and sure enough, she had done a proper poo in the toilet.
So maybe all that holding on did serve some purpose. Maybe she had to go to extremes to find the balance between incontinence and constipation.
I just really hope she has actually got the hang of it now, because once she does we are having a post-potty party!!
--
Right, for those of you still brave enough to read on, this post is about the absolutely enormous poo that Thumper finally set free today. You may still opt out at this point. No hard feelings.
(Speaking of 'hard feelings', when Thumper feels a poo coming she calls out "I have a hard feeling." She came up with that description herself, and I reckon it's a pretty good one!)
Anyway, as you may recall from recent posts, Thumper recently entered the final phase of 'toilet-training': ie. she has replaced her nappies for undies. This does not necessarily mean that she never wees in her undies, but more often than not, she tends to successfully get the wee in the potty or toilet.
Poos, however, are a different matter. I am told it is extremely common for toddlers to take a lot longer to get the hang of putting poo in the toilet. So annoying as it is, we just smile, mutter 'nevermind' and clean it up.
Unfortunately somewhere over the past couple of weeks, Thumper got it into her head that when a poo comes out it is going to hurt. As a result she has become increasingly skilled at holding and resisting the urge to let it out. Of course, eventually (after a couple of hours) the poo-power wins, she looks around with a startled face, obviously completely taken by surprise. And I get another pair of undies to clean up.
However, Saturday came and went, with no sign of a poo from Thumper. DeepSpice and I didn't think much of it... she has gone for over 24 hours with no poos before. But then on Sunday, Thumper started to express some discomfort, every now and then, when the urge to poo struck. She would run to the toilet ("I have a hard feeling!") but a few minutes later would announce that "The poo is shy and it's gone back inside my bottom." So she went to bed on Sunday night, still holding on to her goods.
On Monday morning, Thumper was getting the urge to poo with more frequency, and crying out in pain each time. I asked her if she wanted to wear a nappy and poo in that, and she said yes. But even wearing a nappy, she couldn't allow herself let go. It was really horrible to watch, and I was starting to get quite concerned.
At school, after dropping BallFiend off, I had a chat to another mum who suggested putting Thumper in the bath to relax her. At this point I was willing to try anything... even if it did mean cleaning up a Code Brown (usually I would delegate that sort of thing to DeepSpice!)
So once back at home, I offered Thumper some prunes, then popped her into the bath and there she stayed for the next hour and a half. Every 5 minutes, Thumper would double over in pain as a bowel-cramp hit her. Moments later she'd be back to her cheery self, happily playing in the bath. Seriously, I felt like I was a midwife, assisting a mother in labour! I even convinced Thumper to kneel on her hands and knees when she felt the urge to push! Over and over again, she really looked like she was about to push that poo out, but then nothing... I have never seen such sheer (sub-conscious) determination to hold on!
But finally the wonders of a warm bath did the trick and I watched in fascinated horror as an enormous, brown poo emerged from her rear. I swear that poo was at least as long as her forearm. Strangely it looked a bit like Thumper had a puppy-dog's tail until the poo broke free and floated lazily to the surface.
You'd think with an hour and a half to plan what I was going to catch the poo in, I'd have thought to get a bucket ready. But no. So I grabbed the nearest receptacle - a hair-washing jug - fished out the poo and dropped it into the toilet. Then I had to empty the bath, clean it and Thumper off, then refill the bath because Thumper insisted she hadn't finished playing yet (despite the fact that her fingers and toes were as wrinkly as the prunes she had consumed earlier). Finally, Thumper allowed me to extract her from the bath so she could be dried, dressed and fed some lunch... after that ordeal, we were both hungry!
Postscript - Saturday 8 December:
I woke up this morning to hear the thump-thump-thump of Thumper's little feet down the hallway. (Whoever came up with the term "the pitter-patter of little feet" to describe children had no idea, or they didn't live in a house with timber floorboards!) She stopped at our bedroom door and called out "I need to go to the toilet." And I replied "off you go then". A few minutes later, a triumphant Thumper calls out "I did a poo! I did a poo on the toilet!"
Thinking it would probably just be a single tiny pellet (she's managed that once or twice before), I stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom where I found a proud Thumper peering into the toilet bowl. She stepped back so I could look and sure enough, she had done a proper poo in the toilet.
So maybe all that holding on did serve some purpose. Maybe she had to go to extremes to find the balance between incontinence and constipation.
I just really hope she has actually got the hang of it now, because once she does we are having a post-potty party!!
--
Friday, November 09, 2012
Little grammar nazi #2
Thumper wanted a drink of milk and put her request to Gran...
Thumper: "Milk".
Gran: "Thumper, please ask politely."
So Thumper begrudgingly added: "Please."
Gran: "You need to say 'Can I have some milk?'"
Thumper, rolling her eyes then said: "May I please have some milk?"
--
Thumper: "Milk".
Gran: "Thumper, please ask politely."
So Thumper begrudgingly added: "Please."
Gran: "You need to say 'Can I have some milk?'"
Thumper, rolling her eyes then said: "May I please have some milk?"
--
Little grammar nazi #1
When driving somewhere with Gran and GrandPaul recently, BallFiend noticed a promo painted on the window of a local pub: ‘Kids eat free Mondays’.
Upon seeing this, BallFiend commented: “Kids should eat free everyday… but it should say ‘Kids eat free on Mondays’”.
--
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Wee Wee
An email from CutLuce today:
Forgot to tell you... Cuz1 said BallFiend & Thumper today... Sort of. We were talking about her cousins and she said BallFiend, but for Thumper - she said "wee wee". XTo which I responded:
Wee Wee! That's sooooo cute!--
And so appropriate, seeing as Thumper has a bit of a tendency to do wee-wee all over the place at the moment, while she is toilet training.
Saturday, November 03, 2012
A freaky-looking levitating cat
BallFiend's muse has inspired him again...
BallFiend has been invited to Zoe's birthday party tomorrow. It's a dress-up party - come as your favourite animal, real or imaginary. BallFiend is planning to go as a black cat (possibly he could be Schrödinger's Cat as this would mean he would be both real and imaginary at the same time). I'm not sure if the choice of costume is because Zoe said she likes kittens or because dressing up as a black cat is pretty much the only thing BallFiend has ever been willing to dress up as. I suspect the latter.
BallFiend's apparent willingness to dress-up was surprising enough, and then I asked him to make a birthday card for Zoe. Usually whenever I ask BallFiend to make a birthday card for someone, he begrudgingly agrees, then proceeds to 'draw' a random mess of scribbles and often all in grey-lead pencil, outright refusing to use any colour.
So I was very surprised when he readily agreed to my suggestion that he make a birthday card. He even started out by drawing something recognisable - a cat. OK, so it's an extremely freaky-looking, levitating cat, with a big, toothy grin and abellybutton black heart with veins coming out. (It was a bellybutton at first, but then it became a heart, as is the way of six-year-olds).
And I was even more surprised when BallFiend readily agreed to write inside the card, without his usual stream of complaints about it being too hard and boring... although he did copy most of the words from an old xmas card that he had found inside a book the other day (which is why he has used a double-story letter "a").
I now look forward to being surprised a third time tomorrow, when it is time to get ready for the party. Given BallFiend's usual reluctance to dress up, at all, ever, I will be amazed if he does actually agree to dress-up.
--
BallFiend has been invited to Zoe's birthday party tomorrow. It's a dress-up party - come as your favourite animal, real or imaginary. BallFiend is planning to go as a black cat (possibly he could be Schrödinger's Cat as this would mean he would be both real and imaginary at the same time). I'm not sure if the choice of costume is because Zoe said she likes kittens or because dressing up as a black cat is pretty much the only thing BallFiend has ever been willing to dress up as. I suspect the latter.
BallFiend's apparent willingness to dress-up was surprising enough, and then I asked him to make a birthday card for Zoe. Usually whenever I ask BallFiend to make a birthday card for someone, he begrudgingly agrees, then proceeds to 'draw' a random mess of scribbles and often all in grey-lead pencil, outright refusing to use any colour.
So I was very surprised when he readily agreed to my suggestion that he make a birthday card. He even started out by drawing something recognisable - a cat. OK, so it's an extremely freaky-looking, levitating cat, with a big, toothy grin and a
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| Left: the back of the card, featuring a scene from Angry Birds (as you can see). Right: the front of the card - a black cat with the heart and veins clearly shown. In the sky is a bird (of course!), done in a Picasso-esque style: partly in profile and partly as seen from above. |
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| The inside of the card. |
--
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Jesus in a box
A conversation in the car today...
BallFiend: That tree looks like a Christmas tree [on seeing a very tall conifer in the front garden of a house]. Christmas is Jesus' birthday. Actually, I know the true story about Jesus...
Me: How do you know about Jesus?
BallFiend: Well, F. [another prep kid at school] told me... Some people wanted to kill Jesus. They were angry with him because they thought he'd done something wrong. But he'd actually done good things. So they killed him by nailing him to a cross. And then they put him a box and took the box away somewhere. And then his girlfriend went and she found the box and asked "are you alive?" and then the box thought she was talking to it and said "yes I'm alive". But Jesus wasn't [alive].
And that's for real!
So there you have it: the true story of Jesus.
--
BallFiend: That tree looks like a Christmas tree [on seeing a very tall conifer in the front garden of a house]. Christmas is Jesus' birthday. Actually, I know the true story about Jesus...
Me: How do you know about Jesus?
BallFiend: Well, F. [another prep kid at school] told me... Some people wanted to kill Jesus. They were angry with him because they thought he'd done something wrong. But he'd actually done good things. So they killed him by nailing him to a cross. And then they put him a box and took the box away somewhere. And then his girlfriend went and she found the box and asked "are you alive?" and then the box thought she was talking to it and said "yes I'm alive". But Jesus wasn't [alive].
And that's for real!
So there you have it: the true story of Jesus.
--
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Portrait of Zoe
BallFiend's drawings are almost always very technical, usually they are aerial views of pipes with various marbles or other objects rolling around in them. Or cross-sections of plumbing...
He almost always draws in pen or texta and usually only uses one colour, occasionally two or three.
So I was amazed to discover this picture whilst going through BallFiend's school bag yesterday afternoon (during the daily check for important school notices):
He said proudly: "It's a 'self-portrait of Zoe". Zoe is a girl in his prep class and someone who he has become quite friendly with recently.
We showed it to DeepSpice when he got home, and after some discussion, DeepSpice established that this wasn't actually a self-portrait and that BallFiend was in fact the artist. BallFiend assured us he drew it all himself... though I do wonder if he worked on it with Zoe - the eyes and nose are very much in BallFiend's own style, but I've never seen him draw a mouth/teeth, or a Sun, and he's never done sky and grass like that before.
The picture is also interesting because he rarely even does any representative drawings and I reckon I can count on one hand the number of times BallFiend has drawn a representation of a person that he knows!
There was the time he drew Gran, back when he was 3-and-a-half. Then there was this picture he did of "Mum and me":
There is also this picture he drew on Mother's Day earlier this year, while we were dining out, but it was just a face, not of anyone in particular:
These pictures show how he has been focusing on how to represent facial features (it took The Librarian, with her fine art background, to point this out to me!)
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| BallFiend's drawing of the bathroom sink in cross-section, done in early-2012. |
So I was amazed to discover this picture whilst going through BallFiend's school bag yesterday afternoon (during the daily check for important school notices):
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| "Zoe", portrait by BallFiend, 24 October 2012. |
We showed it to DeepSpice when he got home, and after some discussion, DeepSpice established that this wasn't actually a self-portrait and that BallFiend was in fact the artist. BallFiend assured us he drew it all himself... though I do wonder if he worked on it with Zoe - the eyes and nose are very much in BallFiend's own style, but I've never seen him draw a mouth/teeth, or a Sun, and he's never done sky and grass like that before.
The picture is also interesting because he rarely even does any representative drawings and I reckon I can count on one hand the number of times BallFiend has drawn a representation of a person that he knows!
There was the time he drew Gran, back when he was 3-and-a-half. Then there was this picture he did of "Mum and me":
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| "Mum and me" by BallFiend, 28 May 2012. |
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| A face, by BallFiend, 13 May 2012. |
It's lovely to see all BallFiend's thinking about how to represent a face come together into a whole drawing. It's also great to see BallFiend developing new friendships. I just hope Zoe doesn't take having a green nose and yellow teeth the wrong way!
--
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The end is in sight
The past two days have seen a slight lull in enthusiasm in Thumper's campaign to conquer the toilet - on balance there were several more misses than hits. And her progress continues to be annoyingly hindered by the "shy wee", which makes it's presence felt but then disappears as soon as Thumper sits on the loo. The bath-time wee last night was a particularly annoying one, with Thumper getting in and out of the bath three times over to sit on the toilet. Eventually she was successful and enticed the shy-wee out, but unfortunately there was a lot of water dripped all over the bathroom and toilet in the process.
Today (Day 5) has seen Thumper return to form, starting off in the morning with another dry night nappy followed by a wee on the toilet in the morning. Thumper had creche today and the carers were all very excited when she arrived wearing undies. She used the toilet with no problems all day for wee. However poos are proving more difficult - Thumper had two 'accidents'. . Apparently after one of them, she approached a carer and said "I've had an accident, by accident." which not surprisingly caused a bit of confusion! (I'm just glad I was at work today and wasn't around for the clean-up. Hopefully, Thumper works out the number-two part of the process soon... that would be nice.)
Accidental accidents aside, I'm so excited and impressed with how quickly this has all happened (once Thumper took it upon herself to start, that is). And the overnight dry nappies are a complete bonus! I'll be totally amazed if she becomes dry at night at the same time as during the day!
--
Today (Day 5) has seen Thumper return to form, starting off in the morning with another dry night nappy followed by a wee on the toilet in the morning. Thumper had creche today and the carers were all very excited when she arrived wearing undies. She used the toilet with no problems all day for wee. However poos are proving more difficult - Thumper had two 'accidents'. . Apparently after one of them, she approached a carer and said "I've had an accident, by accident." which not surprisingly caused a bit of confusion! (I'm just glad I was at work today and wasn't around for the clean-up. Hopefully, Thumper works out the number-two part of the process soon... that would be nice.)
Accidental accidents aside, I'm so excited and impressed with how quickly this has all happened (once Thumper took it upon herself to start, that is). And the overnight dry nappies are a complete bonus! I'll be totally amazed if she becomes dry at night at the same time as during the day!
--
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Breaking news from the potty
It's definitely looking like yesterday's efforts were not just a fluke. This morning Thumper had a dry overnight nappy again. And just like yesterday, she took it off soon after getting up and did her wee in the potty... with much acclaim from DeepSpice and myself, and to a lesser extent, from BallFiend.
During breakfast, a small number-two escaped into her "undies" (actually some really fantastic training pants which I can highly recommend), but for the rest of the day, she's had no problems putting her wee in its place... even while we were out for most of the morning at the police community day - which I must add the kids really enjoyed!
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| Thumper ready for duty. (BallFiend refused to get in.) |
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| Thumper behind the wheel. (BallFiend refused to get in.) |
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| Thumper tries out a career in traffic management. (BallFiend still refusing to get in but concedes to a photo outside the divvy van after being promised we would go and get a sausage straight after.) |
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| This was definitely DeepSpice's highlight of the day. Pity we didn't get a photo of him with the chopper! |
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| Thumper with me, ready to go after those high-rollin' crims on the habour. (At first, BallFiend refused to get on... but then...) |
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| BallFiend finally overcomes his reticence to join in. |
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| Of course, it all went horribly wrong when DeepSpice told a dad-joke and was summararily sentenced for a three-month stint in a re-education camp. |
We were out of the house from about 10:30 am until 1:00 pm, and it wasn't until right at the end that Thumper asked to go to the toilet. She wasn't even phased when I took her into the dark, dingy, smelly public toilet block. She sat right up on the big toilet and made a noble attempt to do her wee. Unfortunately, the wee was 'shy' again and nothing happened. But she held on with apparent ease until we got home, then went on her potty with no trouble.
Later in the afternoon, I was out gardening and DeepSpice was in the shed (working on a long-overdue project to build us a new letterbox). Thumper and BallFiend had been helping me, but after a while Thumper decided to go and find more interesting things to do. Sometime later, Thumper emerged from the house with wet hands. She announced that she had just washed her hands and when we asked her why she informed us that she had just done a wee on the toilet, specifically "the big toilet, not the potty. All by myself!" And once again, DeepSpice and I started jumping around like deranged monkeys, congratulating our newly-independent daughter. And of course Thumper joined in, adding "I'm so proud of myself." with an enormous grin on her face.
And so here we are at the end of Thumper's second day of toilet-training. I have just hung a load of nappies out on the line to dry. Is it possible that it might be the last time? I can't quite believe it, but I really do hope so!
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| Nappies drying... soon to be a long distant memory, I hope! |
--
Saturday, October 20, 2012
"I have a wee (coming)!"
It's been a long time since I have discussed the bodily functions of Thumper, mainly because there's been nothing much to report. Until now that is...
Thumper seems to have decided that today is the day that she will toilet-train. So far 4 out of 6 wees have successfully made it into the potty or the toilet.
Immediately before racing to the potty/toilet, Thumper is heard to yell "I've got a wee coming!" (or sometimes just "Wee!").
The main thing that seems difficult for Thumper is actually letting go once she is on the potty/toilet. She's mostly fine with holding on till she gets there, but then can't seem to let the wee out. But given today's efforts, I'm sure she'll work it out soon.
I can't wait till we're a nappy-free household! I think we might even have a party!
--
Thumper seems to have decided that today is the day that she will toilet-train. So far 4 out of 6 wees have successfully made it into the potty or the toilet.
- She woke in the morning and wanted her (dry!) night-nappy taken off, saying she needed to do a wee. She successfully did her entire over-night wee in the potty.
- Later in the morning she made a few attempts to wee on the potty but nothing came out, then about an hour later, she wet her undies.
- Another wee success - this time in the toilet whilst we were out visiting Great-Aunt-F.
- Later again, another attempt to wee in the toilet, but no success so the nappy went back on, only to be wet a few minutes later.
- Just as we were about to get in the car to go home, Thumper made sure she was keeping us in our place by filling her nappy (number twos this time!).
- At home again, lots and lots of false alarms before another wee mostly made it into the potty... just a bit on the floor in the rush to get to the potty in time.
- And just now, another success - one wee entirely contained in the potty!
Immediately before racing to the potty/toilet, Thumper is heard to yell "I've got a wee coming!" (or sometimes just "Wee!").
The main thing that seems difficult for Thumper is actually letting go once she is on the potty/toilet. She's mostly fine with holding on till she gets there, but then can't seem to let the wee out. But given today's efforts, I'm sure she'll work it out soon.
I can't wait till we're a nappy-free household! I think we might even have a party!
--
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Dr Thumper
Our conversation during a nappy-change today.
Me: "You want to be a doctor?"
Thumper: "Yes. I want to be a doctor."
Me: "What kind of doctor?"
Thumper: "A medicine doctor."
Go on kid, make me proud!
--
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Take heed!
Scene: I am cutting up a watermelon; Thumper is watching intently.
Thumper: Mum, be careful not to cut your fingers off.
Me: I will. I’ll be careful to not cut my fingers off.
Once the task was complete…
Thumper: Well done Mum! You didn’t cut your fingers off.
--
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Phillip Island
September school holidays rolled around and we took off Phillip Island for a week. Fun times had by all, though many of them rudely interrupted by whining and temper tantrums, such is the way of family holidays with small children.
We stopped on our journey to Phillip Island at the wonderful Australian Garden at Cranbourne and we were greeted on the walk from the car park by a hungry bandicoot.
Thumper loved seeing the bandicoot, BallFiend was more interested in the irrigation pipes that ran along the other side the footpath. We spent several hours wandering around the garden - even Thumper walked the entire way. Then, at BallFiend's insistence we climbed up the look-out tower before going back to the car (by this stage, Thumper was worn out so I got to build up my muscles carrying her for about a kilometre back to the car).
Once settled in at our holiday accommodation, we began our Island adventuring. First stop: the Chocolate Factory...
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| Mandatory gimmicky-tourist photo. |
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| The walk over the dunes to the beach. |
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| "Raaahh! I'm a dinosaur!" |
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| BallFiend leading the way. Thumper not so sure about actually getting her feet wet. |
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| Important work: Thumper collecting sand to throw into the sea. |
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| DeepSpice showing off his stone-skimming skills to BallFiend. |
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| Dressed for the walk back to the car in my top. BallFiend was embarassed about wearing a 'dress' until we told him it looked like the tunic of a Roman soldier. |
We also went walking on the beach on the cloudy, rainy days. Whilst there was no paddling, there were lots of interesting things to look at:
Another day was spent at the maze/mini-golf attraction, which the kids (both big and small) loved!
We stayed at a resort which was quite comfortable and had the advantage of having a big grassy area right in front of our apartment. The resort also had (much to BallFiend's delight!) a games room with a billard table and air hockey; they also had plenty of sports equipment to borrow... BallFiend loved being able to borrow a soccer ball, then a netball, then a volleyball, then a football, then a basketball and so on. Thumper's highlight was flying the kite.
On our last day, we stopped off for one last game of mini golf on our way home and because we were there anyway, had a look around the nature park too. I was expecting the nature park to be a gimmicking tourist thing that would much interest any of us... we've all seen native Australian fauna before. But it was actually a really fun experience and great for little kids - especially Thumper who actually likes animals, unlike her big brother who is more interested in how their shelters are constructed. But even he got into it for a while...
BallFiend was in heaven when he found out that the mini golf was unlimited. DeepSpice and I less so. After lunch, DeepSpice drew the short straw and got to take BallFiend around the mini golf course again and again, whilst I took Thumper back into the nature park to pat cute little baby animals.
Overall we had a good time at Phillip Island, the kids especially. It is definitely a great place to take kids. Just be prepared to empty out your wallet at every turn!
Postscript:
Upon arriving home, I opened up the dishwasher and discovered that we'd left a few dirty dishes in it. This is what grows on a spatula that is left in a warm, dark and slightly damp well-sealed cabinet for a week:
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| A dead puffer-fish... endlessly fascinating to BallFiend. |
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| Local childcare facility. |
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| BallFiend found 'a really good stick' which he used to apply a definite article. |
We did lots of other stuff including a cruise out to Seal Rocks to get a very up-close look at the seals that hang out there. There are no photos of the seals because the water was so rough, I had to choose between holding onto the camera or holding onto Thumper. Given there were so many witnesses around, I thought it best that I prioritise Thumper. (Likewise DeepSpice had to hang on to BallFiend, so he couldn't take photos either!) But trust me, seeing the seals that close up in their natural environment was totally amazing!
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| BallFiend being a Junior Captain on the journey back from Seal Rocks. |
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| DeepSpice, sent to the naughty corner. |
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| Anyone for a serve of roasted Thumper? |
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| And some roasted BallFiend? |
After going through the puzzles section and then the outdoor maze, Thumper was tired but BallFiend was keen to go on to the mini-golf course. So BallFiend and I hit the golf course and DeepSpice took Thumper for play in the playground, followed by a restorative ice-cream...
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| DeepSpice: "What flavour do you want?" Thumper: "Chocolate!" Of course. |
As soon as we finished the 18th hole, BallFiend wanted to play again. So DeepSpice took BallFiend for another round of mini-golf and I took over as Chief Ice-cream Assistant to Thumper. And quite frankly, I drew the short straw. DeepSpice had set Thumper up at an outside table, with a tail-wind blowing her hair into the ice-cream. He had also made the unforgivable mistake of buying the ice-cream in a cone, rather than a cup. Just seconds after DeepSpice left with BallFiend, the bottom fell out of the cone. I ran back into the ice-cream shop and asked for a cup and 1,000 napkins (to dry Thumper's 1,000 tears), but was not quick enough and half the ice-cream ended up all over the chair, table and floor as well as Thumper's lap.
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| The aftermath: icecream successfully transferred to all surfaces within a one-metre radius. |
Other days during our week away consisted of more paddling on the beach in the freezing cold, visiting the local library, wandering about at The Nobbies (unfortunately half the boardwalks were closed because the birds were trying to have sex and didn't want to be interrupted) and a visit to Churchill Island Heritage Farm, which despite the pouring rain, was a real highlight! However if you ever go to there, take a packed lunch as the cafe prices are exorbitant, for example: $12.00 for a cheese and ham toasted sandwich!
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| Me, milking a cow at the Churchill Island farm! |
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| BallFiend wanted a photo that included the cannon and more importantly, the cannon-balls. He is holding his 'souvenir' (a horseshoe) which we finally gave in and bought for him after putting up with him nagging us to buy him a souvenir for the past 5 days. At least this is a genuine souvenir, because during the blacksmithing demonstration, they stamped BallFiend's initials into it... it's not just some crappy plastic 'Made in China' toy from a gift shop. Thumper has her blankie, because she is tired and just wants to go to sleep. |
We also spent a day at the Wonthaggi Coal Mine. There was some football thing on that day, so we thought it would be nice and quiet at all the tourist attractions. But it turns out everyone else was trying to avoid the football too, so when we arrived the first tour of the day was already booked out. Luckily the tour guides were very happy to put on a second tour, so after a quick lunch we were able to take the kids down a real (but no longer operational) coal mine. BallFiend even got a lump of coal to bring home.
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| Wonthaggi Coal Mine: sending the kids off to earn their keep. |
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| Wonthaggi Coal Mine: BallFiend enthusiastic about going down the mine... Thumper perhaps starting to realise that she's about to become a child labourer. |
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| "I want to hold it by myself!" |
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| We ate dinner at the local pub on several nights, partly because they had great food but mainly because they had free wifi. |
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| Patting the "wobble-ees" as Thumper describes them. |
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| Thumper and a baby (9-month old) wallaby. Though apparently it is actually nearly fully-grown and is just about capable of reproducing. We were lucky to get this photo though - the nature park usually charges $20 to have an 'up close experience' like this - but there was no one else around and Thumper charmed the keeper with her sweetest smile. |
Overall we had a good time at Phillip Island, the kids especially. It is definitely a great place to take kids. Just be prepared to empty out your wallet at every turn!
Postscript:
Upon arriving home, I opened up the dishwasher and discovered that we'd left a few dirty dishes in it. This is what grows on a spatula that is left in a warm, dark and slightly damp well-sealed cabinet for a week:
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