BallFiend's Birthday Week Bake-a-thon

Last week was spent celebrating BallFiend's 5th birthday...

• On Friday, I sent BallFiend off to creche with a green-and-chocolate swirl cake to share.
• On Saturday, we held a party with his friends.
• On Sunday, we hosted an afternoon tea with the extended family.
• On Monday (his actual birthday), we chilled out at home.
• On Tuesday, I made gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free (flavour-free!) cup-cakes for him to take to Kinder to share.

Saturday's party was held at the local scout hall with 10 of BallFiend's kinder, creche and other friends, including MasterF, MasterW, LittleMissIz, Thing1 and Thing2 (daughters of FunkyOrganMan and ThingMaker). The party had a green-theme (a really simple theme to do - I can highly recommend it!). We had green balloons, a green table-cover, green napkins, plates, cutlery and of course all the food was green:

• pea and ham soup served in green cups;
• avocado dip with celery sticks for dipping (also some corn chips in green tubs);
• green jelly; 
• green-and-white coconut ice (which DeepSpice and I between us took four attempts to get right and then the kids didn't eat it anyway, but that was OK because all the groan-ups loved it!);
• a fruit platter of green(ish) fruits - Granny Smith apples, green pears and green grapes;
• the birthday cake was a butter cake with a green swirl through it and iced in green icing.

I also got 3 metres of neon-lime green tulle from Spotlight (on the discount table... I wonder why!) and made the kids green headbands to wear. We played a few games involving green straws but mostly the kids just played around in the hall. It was the easiest kids birthday party I've ever organised. Although I have to give fair credit to all the parents who hung around and helped out. I was assuming that being a five-year-old party, at least some of the parents would drop their children off for the 2 hours. But none did, and all were roped in to help with blowing up balloons, party games, food preparation and sorting out disputes! I was really glad that they did all end up staying.

Sunday's afternoon tea was attended by Gran, GrandPaul, StompyDad, CutLuce, DesignerMonkey, Cuz1, DesignerSis, Wigward and Great-Aunt-F (GrandPaul's sister) and her husband Great-Uncle-M. BallFiend and I made yet another birthday cake (banana with chocolate chips at BallFiend's request), and we ate party left-overs as well as Gran's chicken sandwiches and Great-Aunt-F's scones. Yummo!

By Monday (BallFiend's actual birthday), we were all too exhausted to do anything much at all. So after going to his usual swimming lesson, we came straight home so BallFiend could get down to the serious business of playing with all the toys he received as gifts. Highlights were:

• the mega-mega-soccerball (about 60cm diametre) from his aunt CutLuce and uncle DesignerMonkey.
• the gi-normous Earth beach ball (68cm diametre) from his aunt DesignerSis and uncle Wigward. (I'm sure DeepSpice would beg to differ with the promotional description that "It only takes a few huffs and puffs to fill this globe full of air" - he spent the first half hour of Sunday's afternoon tea blowing it up!)
• the foil "Happy Birthday balloon" on a stick from Cuz1.
• the green helium-filled balloons from Gran and GrandPaul.
• all the green balloons left over from the birthday party.

He also received several Lego kits and has been enjoying them a lot (as has Thumper), books, games, a marble run, construction toys, outdoor adventuring tools, dinosaur kits, a watering can and more. Some of the toys have been packed away so I can bring them out in instalments. There's easily enough to last him until Xmas time!

Overall he was totally indulged and doesn't really (know how to) appreciate it, but it doesn't matter... I loved seeing him so excited as he ripped open presents and how he got even more excited if they turned out to contain anything vaguely spherical. 
--

As promised...

Here is the more news I referred to earlier...

This story starts ten years ago, when DesignerSis was just sweet-sixteen and she met a young lad whom we now know as Wigward. Now, most normal teens enjoy a romance for a few months, then break-up in order to be able to write better teenage-angst poetry and have an excuse to go through an obligatory goth phase. But not DesignerSis and Wigward. They set out to prove that your first love can be your true love.

Fast forward ten years and announce they're off to Noosa for a holiday. Nothing really unusual about this, they've done so a few times before. They usually disappear for a week or so and reappear back home with little fanfare (other than the occasional gripe about the crappy service that they got from a cut-price airline).

But not this time.

It was Saturday afternoon, and DeepSpice and I were out gallivanting around the inner-suburbs, pretending to be child-less yuppies, whilst Gran and GrandPaul babysat BallFiend and Thumper. Yep that's right - we were on a date! It was quite a novelty for us to be able to wander into shops and cafes at our leisure. We ended up passing a furniture shop that I have heard about but had never actually been to, so I dragged DeepSpice in for a look.

Then my phone rang. It was DesignerSis calling whilst still away on holiday. She had news: that Wigward had just proposed to her and they are now engaged! (She had to tell me quickly as they were about to tell Wigward's mother and once she got the news, it would be instantly broadcast far and wide.) I was too stunned to say much (or perhaps it was just that I was too focused on imagining how nice it would be to get a new sofa)... I managed to stammer out a "congratulations", before collapsing in shock on my dream sofa. (Just kiddin' - I am genuinely happy for them!)

Later when chatting to CutLuce about the news, I found out that she had had a much better come-back than my corny old 'congratulations'. She immediately asked: "So, when are you having babies?" I can just picture DesignerSis squirming a little on the other end of the phone.

Anyway, I am very happy for DesignerSis and Wigward and I hope they do get on with making some more cousins for BallFiend and Thumper (and Cuz1) soon... though perhaps not too soon, as I'm still on my 'auntie' L-plates.
--

A Royal Pain in the Throat

July 29th, 1981.

I was 7 years old. I watched, at first with interest and then with increasing concern, as StompyDad bustled back and forth between the TV in the lounge room and the hi-fi in the 'family' room, trying to set up the ABC radio simulcast before the big event began: Prince Charles & Lady Di, the Royal wedding.


Meanwhile, my long-suffering mother was busy preparing dinner -- fish -- whilst trying to calm StompyDad before he got into a complete tizz. CutLuce, then my cute little sister, was somewhere about too... probably hiding from me -- her nasty big sister who hadn't gotten over being dethroned 5 years previously (a grudge I continued to hold for about another 20 years, really sorry about that sis) -- in case I pinched her again. No DesignerSis yet... still another 3 years to wait for her arrival.

I think I was quite excited about the wedding - after all, what little girl doesn't love the idea of seeing a real, live princess? Or maybe it was just that we were going to be allowed to eat whilst sitting in front of the TV and I would get to stay up late.

Eventually, Mum, CutLuce & I sat down to eat, while StompyDad continued to fuss about trying to get the radio tuned just-so and the aerial adjusted on the TV just-right, all the while getting more stressed.

Finally, after much stomping about, accompanied by much ranting, StompyDad joined us and sat down to eat. He began wolfing down great mouthfuls of his dinner whilst still complaining about the failings of the household technology to deliver perfect Royal wedding sound and vision.

Lady Di was still in her carriage on the way to the church, waving demurely. She hadn't even had the chance to show off her 25ft train yet, when StompyDad was on his feet again. This time not yelling but coughing, gagging and spitting a mouthful of fish and vegies back out onto his plate.

Eventually, mum worked out what had happened - he had got a fish bone stuck in his throat.


"Bread! Bread!" a panicked StompyDad demanded. 

"I need it to help swallow down the bone." 

He raced to the kitchen and proceeded to wolf down great hunks of bread. 

But the fish bone was tenacious. 

I don't remember very clearly what happened next with the fish bone, but I do remember getting to watch the rest of the wedding, so I think that StompyDad went over the road to see DoctorH our neighbour and friend, who was also, conveniently, a GP. When he returned some time later, having missed the Royal wedding ceremony (and there was no catching up later on iView; in those days we didn't even have a VCR!), the fish bone was still firmly in place. DoctorH needed special equipment to get that bony morsel out and had told StompyDad to come to the clinic the next morning. 

Anyway, here I am, thirty years later, bitterly disappointed that I cannot watch The Chaser's commentary of today's Royal wedding (and as a result not-watching the Will & Kate Royal wedding at all). But guess what? We had fish for dinner: smoked salmon with pasta, and pulled it off without a single fish-bone mishap. Phew.

--

Happy New Year to me

Tuesday was my new year, the anniversary of my emergence into the world, thirty-something years ago.
It is also not long after the ten-year anniversary of my mother's death from breast cancer (on 14 January 2001).

I find that being motherless has a whole new dimension now that I am a mother myself. There are so many times when I ache for my mum and wish she was here to help me, to understand what it means to be a mother and to ask about her about her experiences of raising me. But this cannot be. All I can do is accept the way things are and do my best to remember my mum.

So I decided to mark the occasion of my birth and of the day that my mother became a mother with a small gathering at my place, with family (DeepSpice, CutLuce and DesignerMonkey, DesignerSis and Wigward) and a few friends (VolubleK and AussieG with PetitAmi, The Bibliophile with MasterW and LittleMissIs, The Librarian and The SchoolMaster with MasterF and LittleMissF).

In addition, I haven't had a birthday party since my 30th, and given that my 40th is only a few years away, I thought it would be a good idea to sneak in at least one more party before the big 4-0. (Which is going to involve a trip to France where VoluableK and I will celebrate out birthdays together in style... but that's another story for another post).

The evening was good fun, somewhat over-catered(!) and a just little chaotic, with 7 kids running amok. I am grateful for everyone's help with cleaning up (AussieG did the dishes - what a star! And a magic fairy tidied the toys up in the kids bedroom. Thank you!). I am yet to wash the watermelon juice off the deck and clean up the watermelon pieces slowly dessicating on the garden path. Though the snails seem to be helping with that! And we still haven't found the icy-pole that LittleMissIz lost somewhere - hopefully outside the house! But this is all just proof that a good time was had by all... especially me.

Thank you everyone for an enjoyable evening!
--

Changing dogs mid-stream

A long time ago, when BallFiend was about as mobile as a rock, but much more cute, he was showered in gifts, most of the soft toys - teddies, cows, dogs, dolls, elephants, orang-utans, lions, etc. Dunno what it is about babies makes people want to bestow stuffed toys on them. Anyway, one of specimens from this plush menagerie, which arrived after following CutLuce home from an op-shop, was a little tan dog. According to the tag on its rear-end, its name was 'Dolly'.

For a long time, Dolly sat on the shelf with all the other soft toys and generally stayed out of trouble. Then there was a phase when BallFiend was somewhere around 2 years old when he nominated several of the smaller soft toys to be his 'friends'. The 'friends' consisted of Moo-Moo (the cow), Ava-lant (the elephant), blue teddy (a blue teddy) and white teddy (a white teddy). Dolly was not one of this in-crowd. They got to sleep in his bed overnight but were usually ignored during the day time when balls are the companion of choice.

Then came a night when we had a grown-ups party to attend - specifically Gran's 60th birthday. And because Gran had most inconsiderately decided to invite all our usual babysitters (ie. CutLuce/DesignerMonkey and DesignerSis/Wigward), we had to look for other options. Luckily for us Wigward's parents love little kids and were more than happy to have our nearly-two-year-old BallFiend stay the night with them and their other family member Delphi the dog.

Whilst BallFiend liked the idea of a dog, he didn't like the actuality - Delphi unlike her owners was not  particularly enamoured with little kids. And in truth I don't even think BallFiend really liked the idea of a dog... he was just using the dog for her toys - namely various balls of interesting shape, texture and degree of chewed-ness. So to help him get used to the idea of spending around 36 hours in the presence of a dog, I dragged Dolly off the shelf and re-branded her 'Delphi' (OK, the real Delphi is black and Dolly is tan, but this didn't seem matter to BallFiend). Immediately after his stay with Wigward's parents, BallFiend showed little more than a mild interest in the toy dog, but it has continued to be known as Delphi ever since.

Jump forward 2 years and suddenly Delphi (formerly Dolly) is now the hottest soft toy on the scene. The toy has undergone a sex change (even though the original Delphi dog is female) and his namesake is completely forgotten. But BallFiend does not go anywhere with out him. Delphi has attained a status equal to BallFiend's balls (ie. he always walks around with a ball in hand or under his arm and now Delphi occupies the other hand or arm!) As a result, the toy dog that was once tan-coloured has quickly become a colour much closer to that of the real Delphi.

Before now, BallFiend displayed none of the traditional trappings of childhood: no imaginary friends, no special teddy. He was just content with balls, balls, balls as his companion. Easy to wash, easy to replace. In bed he does have two comfort items: a dummy (recently re-titled 'dumby') and a blankie (of which there are three cut from the same fabric so there is always a spare when one is in the wash).

But now that Delphi is on the scene, I have to do those things that I thought only 'other parents' have to do:

• talk to the toy dog, 
• offer the toy dog food,
• find the toy dog when it is missing,
• train the toy dog not to climb up on the table ("BallFiend, for the thousandth time, dogs eat on the floor!"), and most arduous of all,
• wash the one and only beloved toy dog and deal with the pining pre-schooler while they wait for said toy dog to dry. 

So when DeepSpice and BallFiend returned from a walk to the local supermarket, having been caught in a sudden downpour of rain, I was very surprised to hear of BallFiend's comment:

"I think I will have to change dogs - this one is all wet!"

And now, if you will excuse me, I have to go and wring out a wet dog and peg him out on the line.

BallFiend and Delphi, 18 December 2010,
at the train station on our way to the Zoo.

--

Happy Birthday Thumper!

It's been a whole year since Thumper emerged into the world (well actually it will be a whole year in about 1 hour's time, since she was born at 4.49 pm).

Her birthday celebrations began on Sunday when we had a lovely little party with family and friends. It was to be a teddy bears' picnic at a local park but the Spring-time weather was not at it's most cooperative, so we invaded Gran and GrandPaul's house instead. In attendance to honour the birthday girl was: DeepSpice, me, BallFiend, Gran, GrandPaul, CutLuce, DesignerSis, Wigward, DesignerMonkey, The Bibliophile, MasterW, LittleMissIz, The Librarian, MasterF, LittleMissF, GreatAuntF and GreatUncleM and ElspethR.

The birthday cake was a raspberry butter cake - raspberries because Thumper is an expert at blowing them!

Today, Thumper's actual birthday, began at 6.30 am, when we woke to hear BallFiend yelling at the poor child: "Be quiet Thumper! You are being too noisy!" Apparently, Thumper was murmuring in her sleep and it was loud enough to rouse BallFiend; he in turn woke Thumper by yelling at her. Sigh.

The morning went by as usual: breakfast, getting dressed, etc. then waving goodbye to DeepSpice. Thumper has recently become very attached to her dad and she always cries when he leaves. Today was no exception - I stood with Thumper in my arms, waving bye to DeepSpice, whilst she attempted to lurch from my arms after DeepSpice, saying "Da! Da!" (no, not channeling our Russian ancestors... she does actually mean 'dad').

Next, it was time to take BallFiend to his Kinder Circus class, so as usual, Thumper was dragged along. During the class I took her for a walk in the pram so she got to have her morning nap. (Essential for today, because she had an important birthday lunch date ahead!).

After Kinder Circus, I took BallFiend for a stroll to allow Thumper to have a full hour's nap. BallFiend wasn't too impressed with having to wander around for a while, but he did enjoy seeing a fire engine, a water-company worker opening up a drain, a local primary school and the opportunity to ask me question after question about the street trees... Why:

• does this tree have a post [stake] next to it?
• does that tree not have a post but it does have a broken post?
• are these little pebbles on the ground around the tree?
• is there a hole there? [a spot where a tree used to be]

At 11.40 am it was time to wake Thumper up so we could head off to lunch at Heide with VolubleK and PetitAmi. Lunch at Cafe Vue was an experience, very nearly civilised... if it wasn't for BallFiend's (lack of) table manners and Thumper throwing her food all over the floor. But Voluble K and I enjoyed ourselves anyway... once we had a glass of bubbles in hand, nothing much else mattered! :)

After lunch, PetitAmi and BallFiend ran amok in the sculpture park whilst Voluble K and I took turns pushing the pram around... until PetitAmi realised she was missing her chance and took over the pram-pushing duties.

Then it was time to go home, where I got the news that Australia now has a (very, very, very minority) government. What a great birthday present for Thumper!

For the record, here's the other gifts that were bestowed upon you:

• a jack-in-the-box (actually a monkey-in-the-box);
• Playmobil 'coastal search and rescue' boat and car, with two people to drive them;
• a stacking ring ball toy;
• "Where is the green sheep?" by Mem Fox;
• "Can you Moo too?" by David Wojtowycz (a board book);
• clothing: a Sooki Baby wrap-around top, socks, hat;
• Miffy blocks that both nest and stack;
• a Roll Along Ball (a large inflatable ball with little bell-balls inside);
• Wooden letters that spell her name (for the bedroom door);
• an oil painting of a teddy bear (a shared family heirloom from VolubleK);
• a soft-toy snowman.

And guess who has had the most enjoyment (so far) out of all the toys? Yes, of course it is BallFiend.

So, happy birthday Thumper! Over the past year you've made us laugh, kept us company on countless nights (sigh), and despite the exhaustion, brought us lots of joy. We love you and we are looking forward to watching you grow up despite feeling sad that your babyhood is fast disappearing.

--

X marks the mass

Many months ago, sometime around March I think it was, VolubleK and I came up with an idea for Christmas: to bring our families together and have a big Christmas day like the ones we remember when we were kids... the sort of day when there a heaps of people because an extensive number of extended family all turn up to gorge themselves, spoil the kids with lots of toys and chocolates and to re-gift the crappy presents from previous years.

So in November, after re-confirming with VolubleK that the plan was still good to go, I rounded up the family: StompyDad, CutLuce and DesignerMonkey, DesignerSis and Wigward all said they would come. Unfortunately though, Gran and GrandPaul declined as they wanted to have one last Christmas day lunch with Gran's second cousin and his family before his planned repatriation back to Canada. (He and his family are secular Jews who like to join in on Christmas festivities anyway.)

What we ended up with was probably the epitome of a Gen X Christmas. Family and friends, old and young, were present, and there was a smattering of tradition thrown in amongst a whole lot of 'don't act too enthusiastic - it's just another day after all'.

Our Christmas Day began with a morning visit to Gran and GrandPaul's house where we were treated to brunch - a tasty quiche, fresh cherries and of course some fine wine (obligatory as far as GrandPaul is concerned). Gran's cousin and family arrived and we did the first round of gift exchanging for the day. We gave GrandPaul and Gran a doormat with "We serve only the finest Australian wine here. Did you bring any?" emblazoned upon it, which was well-received. Also to GrandPaul an autographed copy of Free to a Good Home by Catherine Deveny (DeepSpice went to her book signing) and to Gran some smelly (floral) soaps which she always likes.

We had received our present from Gran and GrandPaul a few days earlier - a portable gazebo for our backyard (as I was after a shady place for BallFiend and Thumper to play until our trees grow bigger). However, being the generous sorts that they are, they also gave us a few more things, but the focus was really on BallFiend and Thumper who were showered with gifts.

Next stop was VolubleK's house. After we arrived, there was more frenzied exchanging of gifts, followed by lunch. The adults sat at the table, the kids ran riot and barely stopped to eat as far as I could tell. In the midst of it all though, BallFiend sat down and ate in his picky, meticulous way. He generally takes about an hour to eat a simple sandwich, so Christmas lunch with all it's unfamiliar foods took him forever, by the time he picked out all the things he didn't want to eat. After lunch BallFiend played with PetitAmi and her big sister; he particularly liked the billiard table. ("Look mum! Billion balls!!") We finished up with dessert at about 5.30 pm and didn't end up leaving until 7.00 pm, with a very, very tired BallFiend.

Here is the summary of our ill-gotten goods (seeing as we are atheists, and so don't officially qualify for Christmas goodies):

Me:

• Friendly Fire by Wil Anderson,
• Wil Anderson's Wilosophy DVD
  
• a purple scarf
• Space Oddity by David Bowie CD
• some other stuff that I can't think of at the moment
  

DeepSpice and I together:

• a box of chocolates (from Father Christmas),
• Outdoor Kids by Jamie Durie (from StompyDad)
• Mini vacuum cleaner
  
• (the aforementioned) gazebo
• some other stuff that I can't think of at the moment

DeepSpice

• A book by Richard Dawkins.
• some other stuff that I can't think of at the moment

Thumper

• a green hat (from Gran and GrandPaul)
• a purple hat (from DesignerSis and Wigward)
  
• Ernie and Bert soft toys (from Gran's cousin and family).
• In The Night Garden memory game
• green teddy bear
• Dora the Explorer bowl, plate and mug set
• roll-around Fisher Price toy
• Teething rattle toy
• a few books
• some other stuff that I can't think of at the moment

BallFiend

• a toy car
• stilts (from the playgroup Kris Kringle)
  
• Dora the Explorer floor puzzle
  
• a cricket set
• The Umbilical Brothers DVD
  
• a backpack for Kinder
• shoes
• green bath towel with a hood
• a quilt and pillowcae
  
• lots of books
• 12 inflatable mini beach balls! (Father Christmas found these on eBay)
• a large inflatable beach ball and an inflatable penguin-shaped green swim ring (courtesy of his great-aunt and uncle)
• probably some other stuff that I can't think of at the moment

--

The best laid plans are unnecessary

Usually I am the epitome of organisation... things planned weeks in advance down the the last detail. But these days, with two kids to care for, planning is something that almost never happens. I always thought that the best things come to those who plan, but this experience proves otherwise...

Saturday afternoon rolled around and an invitation to come for Sunday lunch was received by telephone from Gran and GrandPaul. We accepted their offer and raised them one: "Any chance you could mind BallFiend whilst we go and see a movie?" DeepSpice asked. "We'll take Thumper with us." he hastened to add.

We had two movie vouchers due to expire on Monday. The vouchers were the result of my recouping hard-earned reward points on a former credit card. The credit card was associated with the old bank which we gleefully abandoned in order to get a better interest rate on our home loan at another bank. However, after we refinanced the home loan, I kept the credit card account open for some months, so we could accumulate enough reward points to get something vaguely useful... yeah, like a toaster that fries an egg at the same time.

A few months later, while I was still trying to accumulate enough points to get a measly $10 gift voucher or similar, the old bank sneakily charged us an annual fee without notice. When I complained, they refused to refund it even if we cancelled the card, so we were stuck with keeping the account open for another 12 months to get our money's worth. So I kept playing their game, trying to make just enough purchases to earn the exact number of points to get a $10 gift voucher, only to discover that I now had too many points and might as well try and earn a few more so I could get a $20 gift voucher. This stupidity continued until eventually I gave in and just redeemed my points for whatever I could get.

So that is how I ended up with a $10 Darrell Lea voucher and two movie vouchers. Both vouchers arrived a few months before Thumper's birth, just when I was too tired and sore with pelvic instability to either (a) trapse around shopping centres to find one of the few remaining Darrell Lea stores or (b) sit for ages watching a movie. So the vouchers were put aside to use up after Thumper had emerged.

So of course they all got left until the last minute, because that is how parents of newborn babies live their lives. The day the Darrell Lea voucher was due to expire saw DeepSpice wandering around the CBD looking for the one and only store and successfully returning home with a small box of chocolates for me. And that brings us to now...

A week ago, I remembered that the movie vouchers expired at the end of November and suggested to DeepSpice that he could arrange baby sitting with Gran and GrandPaul or I could give the vouchers to CutLuce or DesignerSis to use up. Of course, neither of these options were followed up, and I had pretty much resigned myself to not getting to use the movie vouchers. So when the phone call inviting us to lunch came, we decided to try going all 'Gen Y' and do things 'last minute'.

Gran and GrandPaul said "Yes, and you can leave Thumper with us too if you want." At first, I couldn't believe it... that I might get to see a movie after all. Then I even started contemplating actually leaving Thumper with them. I had initially ruled this out because of the feeding logistics. Thumper is fully breastfed and I am not very good at expressing milk, nor had Thumper ever tried drinking expressed milk from a bottle. But on Sunday morning, at the last minute (well, a few hours before lunchtime actually), I decided "what the hell - let's leave Thumper too. She isn't going to starve and I can be back to her in 30 minutes if it is urgent." I managed to express 25 mls of milk, and grabbed a bag of frozen milk (expressed two months ago during the early-breastfeeding-super-engorgement phase) and a bottle. Then we raced off to drop the kids off at Gran and GrandPaul's house.

We arrived with about 40 minutes to go until we needed to leave for the movie. And from this point on, the day just got better. Gran and GrandPaul had a tasty lunch (well, brunch really since it was just after 11.00 am) waiting - pide, smoked salmon, salami and salad. Just as well too, as otherwise DeepSpice and I would have been eating nothing but jaffas, popcorn and choc tops for lunch! We dashed off to the theatre with about 25 minutes to spare, and despite getting caught up in a roadwork-related traffic jam, still made it just in time to score a parking spot right next to the theatre.

The next potential hiccup in our not-plans: I noticed that one of the vouchers had actually already expired a month earlier. No idea why they couldn't send me two vouchers with the same expiry date. I rehearsed a sob-story in my head as I handed the vouchers to the box office attendant but she didn't even glance at them. Just handed me two tickets for the movie and we were on our way. After the movie, as there were no frantic messages from Gran and GrandPaul urging us to "come back now!", we decided to go for a coffee. Then about an hour later and still no frantic messages, we decided to push our luck and stop off at the supermarket - ah, the joy of shopping with out children in tow!!

Unfortunately at this point, the luck ran out. The frantic phone call came from GrandPaul, accompanied on backing vocals by a screaming Thumper: "Better come back now, she is refusing to drink milk from the bottle." Apparently she had been calm when she woke from her three-hour sleep, then got a bit upset but calmed down again quickly with some loving attention from BallFiend (what a star!). But now, she had finally realised she was hungry and she just didn't get the bottle concept at all.

So we abandoned our shopping expedition (having managed to purchase only one item, but luckily the most important one: a chocolate advent calendar) and dashed back to the hungry Thumper. Of course, just as we walked in the door, we were informed that she had decided she would partake of the bottle, thanks very much! Still, she clearly preferred the real deal when it was offered and BallFiend was happy to have us back too.

I was impressed with what Gran and GrandPaul had accomplished in our absence: (a) a sleeping baby for most of the time; (b) BallFiend had a swim and did some more toileting practice (remembered to get out of the pool to do a wee); (c) GrandPaul purchased a real pine xmas tree; and (d) BallFiend helped to decorate the tree.

The afternoon was nicely topped-off with an invitation to stay for dinner - although GrandPaul's plan to cook a lamb roast hadn't been realised, so DeepSpice and GrandPaul went and got some oh-so-not-healthy fish and chips for us all. Then we got BallFiend ready for bed and headed for home.

PS. The movie was really good too - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasuss.
--

Scary goldfish

It had to happen eventually, and apparently today is 'eventually': BallFiend fell in our fish pond. He was playing around at the edge of the pond, then leaning over, then next, a yell, a splash and one wet, frightened three-year-old.

He wasn't hurt and there is a wire-mesh across just below the water level to prevent kids from sinking to the bottom of the pond, so minimal risk of drowning. But he was scared of the goldfish. Luckily Gran was standing close by so she was first on the scene, closely followed by DeepSpice. BallFiend was brought inside and stripped of wet clothes. Unfortunately my recently mopped floors got covered in muddy water in the process.

A cuddle with me and hearing the story about the time DesignerSis fell in a fishpond when she was a baby all helped to cheer BallFiend up.

GrandPaul finished cooking us dinner (hamburgers on the BBQ) and we all sat down to a pleasant meal (including Thumper in DeepSpice's arms, as she had just fed and so needed to be held upright until she had completed her post-feed spewing.
--

So considerate!

Thumper is now 12 days old and we are all settling into life in a four-person family quite well.

I have to commend her on how very considerate she is (despite the aches and pains she inflicted upon me during pregnancy!). Right from the day she was born, she seems to do her utmost to fit in around everyone else's needs and plans. For instance (damn... been reading BallFiend too many Mr Men books again - I hate the way they always use the phrase 'for instance' over and over again!):

I went into labour at about 5.00 am on a Monday morning (7 September). A nice slow and gentle start with very mild contractions, about 10 mins apart. This meant:

• I could just stay in bed and doze until BallFiend woke up at 7.00 am (although I roused DeepSpice at about 5.30 am to tell him I thought I might be in labour), and I didn't need to phone any of my extended family and friends until a much more reasonable hour of 8.00 am.
• A few days earlier, DeepSpice had suggested that if I could manage to give birth on a Monday then he wouldn't have to go into work for the entire week. Another tick for Thumper.
• We were able to arrange for BallFiend to be collected by GrandPaul at lunchtime. I had thought we might have to disappear in the middle of the night without saying goodbye. So a lunchtime departure was perfect - we could explain what was happening and BallFiend could have his afternoon nap at Gran and GrandPaul's house.
• DesignerSis (who works just down the road from my house) could come over during her lunch break and help look after BallFiend while DeepSpice packed the car ready to go to hospital. She also helped time my contractions.

My labour picked up pace around 1.00 pm, contractions around 7 - 5 minutes apart, so...

• we were ready to leave for the hospital at 3.00 pm, thus avoiding peak hour traffic, and
• VolubleK was able to make school pick-up arrangements for her kids and also get to the hospital before peak hour traffic hit.

We arrived at the hospital at 3.40 pm, which meant:

• DeepSpice and VolubleK were easily able to get a space in the car park because the morning shift staff had just finished for the day, and
• it wasn't too late for the hospital staff to place an order for dinner for me.
  

Thumper was born at 4.49 pm. Perfect timing for:

• VolubleK to get home to her family in time for dinner, and
  
• us to have a few visitors later that evening, around 8.00 pm - specifically CutLuce, DesignerMonkey, DesignerSis and Wigward, who had been able to go home after work and have dinner before visiting us.
  

She is also considerate with her feeding and sleeping patterns:

• For her first night 'on the outside', Thumper slept for about 4 or 5 hours, so DeepSpice and I got a decent rest.
• She has continued to do big sleeps almost every night - anywhere from 5 to 9 hours! (But usually about 7 hours, from midnight until 7.00 am).
• Her sleeps tend to coincide with BallFiend's afternoon naps, so we get to have a lie-down as well.
• Her sleeps also tend to coincide with meal times, so we usually get to sit down and eat with BallFiend, or enjoy a meal on our own after we have put BallFiend to bed.
• She is almost always asleep when we are getting BallFiend ready for bed, so he still gets both our full attention during the evening 'wind-down' period.

Other examples of how considerate she is:

• I was about to change her nappy and she did a poo, before I had taken her nappy off. (BallFiend used to wait till the nappy was off and then it would go everywhere!)
• She rarely cries - mostly just if she has tummy pain from wind, which is fair enough!
• She is easy to settle, usually falling asleep on her own in her bassinette.

What a wonder! What a star!
--

Pregnancy update: 40+1

Now that I am officially 'overdue' (by all of one day!), the frequency of 'how much longer till Thumper arrives' speculation has increased exponentially! (Including DesignerSis and CutLuce announcing their ponderings on Facebook.)

StompyDad, on the other hand, seems to have no capacity to keep the due date in mind. He has been asking me for months if Thumper is going to come soon, and every time when I answer "not due for another x months/weeks", he seems surprised. Anyway, today he tells me he is heading up to the mountains for more skiing on Tuesday and will be gone for the rest of the week. Then he was surprised when I mentioned that Thumper will most likely arrive while he is away! "Oh, well I might come back early if Thumper is born during the week then... maybe on Friday."

Gran and GrandPaul are much more date-aware, but are not quite bursting over with enthusiasm for the impending grandchild... at least not as much as they were when I was pregnant with BallFiend. I think they think we are a bit insane for having a second child, when they stopped (at what, in their opinion, is sensible!) at one. Plus, for GrandPaul, birthdays at this time of year interfere with the footy finals.

At the complete other end of the spectrum, CutLuce, DesignerSis and of course VolubleK are incredibly excited and hanging out to meet Thumper! Oh, and BallFiend too seems to be increasingly excited about his baby coming out soon.

Measurements at 40 weeks pregnant:

• Waist: 121 cm
  
• Hips: 112 cm
  
• Weight gain: 12.5 kg
  

Current aches and pains:

• Pelvic instability - still present but not so bad. Main issue is pain in pubis symphosis joint
  
• Deep muscle soreness in my right gluteal muscle and sore sacroiliac joint.
• Very occasional sciatica - very mild (compared to my pregnancy with BallFiend)
  
• movements by Thumper - especially when pushing upwards against the top of my uterus.
  
• Sore skin above my belly button where it is stretched to bursting point.
  
• More strong 'pre-labour' symptoms: cramps (that feel like period pains), low back ache, nausea and braxton hicks contractions... on and off every few days now. Last week, I even had about an hour and a half of contractions that were 5 minutes apart... thought it might be the real deal for a while there.
• Moving my huge carcass anywhere, and especially rolling over in bed! I have no abdominal strength so turning over, sitting up from a lying position, getting in and out of the car, etc. are just about impossible!
  

How to dislodge the lodger? (or 'my superstitious practices for stalling and then inducing labour')

With the due date officially past, I no longer need to keep my legs so tightly crossed. All the worry of a premature birth a few weeks ago seems ridiculous now! Now it is time to turn my mind to enticing Thumper out naturally, rather than focussing on keeping Thumper in. (Especially before hospital protocols kick in and they start on about a 'medical induction'. Ho hum.)

However, I am sure that my state of mind has a lot to do with it. I realised some time ago that 9 September would be a cool birth-date (09/09/2009!) and being only a few days past my official due date, I thought it might be a possibility. As each day passes, I have become more and more 'decided' on this date. To the point where I have now written it on the wall calendar, in my diary, and have added to my 'to do' list "Give birth to our baby!" for tasks due on 9 September. Of course I am going to be really annoyed if Thumper leaves it any longer than this. I will have put up with the discomforts of late pregnancy for nuttin'! (I don't really mean 'for nothing', but we would rather not end up with September 11th as Thumper's birthday.)

I have also been doing some other things to stall labour... including letting some silly superstitions take hold:

• Avoided baking cakes. To entice BallFiend out when he was nine days overdue, I made a very yummy, rich chocolate cake (using Donna Hay recipe) and told everyone it was 'the baby's birthday cake, so the baby will have to be born now'. My hind-waters broke 10 hours later. I now feel confident to get back to baking again. Yum!
  
• Avoided using a particular set of flannelette sheets throughout Winter because they were the sheets we had on our bed when my hind-waters broke at the outset of BallFiend's labour. I am now planning to put these sheets on the bed on 8th September. (Aw, c'mon, they've been washed!)
  
• When practicing our hypnosis script from the hypnobirthing classes, DeepSpice has been including a message that "Thumper will not arrive prematurely".
  

And now, I am doing some things to actively encourage labour...

• Reading as many books as I can manage, because if Thumper arrives, I know I won't get to finish what I start! So every few days, when I start on a new novel and wonder if I am going to get to read the end. Even went to the Library today and borrowed a whole lot more books, knowing that I will most likely be returning them in three weeks time, unread.
  
• Finishing off those last few things on my 'to do before Thumper is born' list, including finishing off my tax return!
  

And of course, simply telling everyone and writing down on calendars and diaries that I will be busy having a baby on Wednesday!
--

What a charmer!

BallFiend (to CutLuce):

That's a lovely dress. Where did you get it?

Truely! In the midst of playing with the marble run, he looked up at CutLuce and that is what he said... right out of the blue. Bizarre - such an adult comment from a 3 year old! All present (CutLuce, DesignerSis, DeepSpice and me) gaped at him for a moment, before CutLuce was able to respond. (She got the dress at I Want A Bargain.)

She reckons BallFiend must have been watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. But I can say with absolute certainty that he has never laid eyes on Carson Kressley!
--

Nothing could possibli go wrong

Had a crappy couple of days - but strangely, am fairly cool, calm and collected! Not sure why things aren't getting to me that would normally have me in a fury.

Wednesday, August 12

I had another appointment with the midwife at midday and also needed to get a blood sample taken for a compulsory blood test (apparently the hospital want to be sure that there is enough iron in my system). I left in time to get to the Pathology department by about 11.00 am so I could do the blood test before my appointment. But the hospital car park was full and by the time I had spent 15 minutes looking for a parking space in the surrounding streets, I didn't arrive at Pathology until 11.30 am. As I got out of the car, I noticed the exhaust was looking a bit too smoky... not a good sign when we have just had the car serviced!

At Pathology, I took the next number (47) and when 37 was called, I realised there were 10 people in the queue ahead of me. So I sat and waited, and waited, and waited. Then, at midday, I had to leave the queue and go to the Family Birth Centre for my appointment. At this point there were only about 2 or 3 people in the Pathology queue ahead of me, so it was really annoying to have to give up my place. I decided to try my luck with repositioning myself in the queue by grabbing a few more numbers. The number cards were back to the start with number 1 at the front. So I took 5 and 8, hopeful that by the time I finished with the midwife, my number might be up!

At the Family Birth Centre, I was kept waiting for nearly 25 minutes. Might as well have stayed in the queue at Pathology. Grrr! I ended up seeing the same midwife I saw at my last visit (one I don't like much). She gave me a swab to do the GBS test, then listened to Thumper's heartbeat, felt Thumper's position. I managed to ask a few questions as she rushed me out the door. She handed me the swab and said to give it to Pathology and ask them to send it off for testing along with my blood sample.

Back up to Pathology. Finally something good happens: the next number up is 5! The woman holding number 6 looks at me with daggers though... obviously wondering how I can just turn up and get seen straight away. Having the blood sample taken was stressful and unpleasant. In the same room, on the other side of the curtain, a baby about 6 months old was having a blood sample taken and he was extremely distressed, absolutely bawling. Plus I was feeling stressed from all the rushing about. Anyway, the needle hurt this time, and I still have a bruise 2 days later.

All done and finally time to go except... the FBC midwife hadn't given me a pathology request slip for the GBS swab so the Pathology department couldn't accept it. So I went back down to the FBC. There were no staff in sight. I waited for about 5 minutes and eventually someone appeared. After a fair bit of explaining on my part, she finally understood the situation and agreed to do the pathology request slip. I raced out the door to get back to the car before I got booked for staying past the 2 hour limit.

I got a bit of a rest at home in the afternoon before heading off to crèche to collect BallFiend. It wasn't till I got back to the car and had him all strapped in and ready to go that I remembered to check the nappy bag to ensure everything was in it (something I usually do before I leave the building). Usually, the carers are very good with packing all the clothes, dummy, blankie, etc. back into the bag. But of course this time, the dummy wasn't in the bag! I couldn't be bothered heading back to look for it, so when I got home I just emailed the crèche to ask them to keep an eye out for it.

Thursday, August 13

I slept very badly and woke up already completely exhausted! I had planned to take BallFiend out somewhere in the morning - maybe shopping or a visit to a friend's house, then I was going to tackle the remaining things on my "to do before Thumper is born" list while BallFiend had his afternoon nap, but all I could manage was slowly pottering about the house. Thank goodness for television - BallFiend watched it for about 3 hours straight!

Around 1.00 pm, I started feeling unwell - nausea, cramps in my lower belly and extending down my legs and a low back ache. I began to feel a bit anxious... maybe I was in early labour! Thumper was definitely not allowed to come out yet:

1. It is less than a week since BallFiend's birthday and I want as much time as possible between Thumper and BallFiend's birthdays, so that organising parties in future will be a little easier.
   
2. VoluableK was off to the Pink concert that night and wouldn't be available to come to support me during labour.
   
3. Being less than 37 weeks pregnant (ie. at this time I was 36 + 5 days), the hospital would consider it as a premature birth and so I would not be eligible for the Family Birth Centre.
   
4. I just don't feel ready yet!

I lay on the couch whilst BallFiend ran about amusing himself by throwing the beach ball up to the ceiling and rolling marbles across the floor and generally running amok. Clearly there was no way BallFiend was going to nap for me today. However I managed to nap for about half an hour, undisturbed by BallFiend's exuberance. I was very impressed with BallFiend's understanding when I explained that I felt sick and I was equally impressed with his ability to entertain himself, finding things to play with around the house and requesting nothing from me!

At about 2.00 pm, I messaged DeepSpice and asked him to come home early, saying I felt unwell (but not mentioning the possiblity of labour as I didn't want to get him overly alarmed). Anyway, DeepSpice said he would get away as early as possible, but he didn't understand that I meant as soon as possible. So I was disappointed when it got to 3.30 pm and DeepSpice hadn't even left work yet! However, thankfully I was feeling a bit better by this time... but also well enough to feel even more anxious that I hadn't finished off the final preparations for Thumper's arrival, such as finishing packing bags for hospital, leaving notes and checklists for family members who will be caring for BallFiend, etc.

By 4.30 pm, I was feeling pretty bad again, and very tired. I was still unsure if I was just experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions or was really in early labour, and DeepSpice was only just leaving work, so I decided to ask DesignerSis to come over and help me by getting dinner for BallFiend. However, DeepSpice got home around 5.00 pm, so I messaged DesignerSis and said not to worry about coming over.

I continued to feel nauseous and crampy to greater and lesser degrees all evening. But stupidly stayed up pretty late making sure all the last preparations were finished, in case we ended up rushing off to hospital later that night, including making DeepSpice install the baby capsule in the car! Finally in bed around 11.00 pm and asleep about midnight. Only to wake at 1.40 am needing to wee, then again at 4.20 am.

Friday, August 14

Surprisingly, after the events of Thursday, I felt much better when I woke up at 6.20 am, and strangely quite well rested! Obviously I wasn't in as good shape as I felt though because I dropped my dear old Palm Tungsten T3 on the floor! I am so clumsy at the moment... not sure if it is pregnancy-related. Anyway, the screen now has a massive crack through it, and it is clearly beyond repair. I had been thinking of decommissioning it, only because the battery performance had got really poor. But now I suppose I have no choice.

And there was still no sign of BallFiend's dummy when I picked him up at crèche this afternoon.
--

Medical Guinea Pig

Using my authority as parent and legal guardian (and of course with the agreement of co-parent and legal guardian DeepSpice), I decided to enrol BallFiend in a research study to test out the new H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine.

The research team are recuiting about 150 kids across Melbourne. I saw an ad in the MX 'news' paper a few weeks back, and decided that as I was very pregnant, any chance to prevent BallFiend picking up the flu virus and then passing it on to me (or Thumper once bub is born) was probably worth taking. Plus there is the good karma earned through altruisticly furthering research in medical science.

So yesterday, after I had rushed around in the morning (return library books, grocery shopping and then attending a local breastfeeding meeting), I made it home just before 1.00 pm, in time for our appointment with the swine flu researchers.

A doctor, a phlebotomist and a nurse walked into a bar my house and BallFiend began his career as human guinea pig for science.

First, an anaesthetic gel was applied to BallFiend's arms to numb the spot where a blood sample would be taken. Then he mucked about while the gel took effect and I signed numerous consent forms. Next the blood sample was taken. Doctor Jenny distracted BallFiend by blowing bubbles while Judith the phlebotomist drew the sample. The gel must really work because BallFiend didn't even notice his arm had a needle in it.

I had mentioned to him earlier in the day that the doctor was going to come to our house and take some blood out of his arm. He has watched both DeepSpice and me have blood samples drawn before and seemed to find it very interesting, so he certainly had no sense of fear about this procedure... just interested. I asked him what colour he thought the blood would be and he said green (currently, his favourite colour).

When BallFiend saw the blood sample - a very dark purple colour - he said "it's black, not green!"

Next came the actual vaccination. He was busy watching his favourite TV show: 'the funny men' (or as it is officially known "The Upside Down Show") and not really paying much attention as his shoulder was bared for the jab. Then suddenly screams and tears as he felt the prick. He turned around to the doctor and said "I don't want it anymore!" while she tried to offer him a Disney-themed sticker. BallFiend has little interest in stickers, so this didn't really help much, but he was easily consoled when I offered him a chocolate cupcake. So although I'm sure it hurt a bit, it was probably more the shock than the pain that made him cry.

A few minutes later, he decided he did wanted a sticker and he looked over the sheet, trying to find one with a ball. Eventually he spotted one with Goofy playing with a basketball. But BallFiend only wanted the ball, not Goofy with it. So I handed him some scissors so he could cut the ball out. He did so, but got frustrated when he accidentally cut the edge off the ball. So then we had to find another copy of the sticker in order to obtain a whole ball. He insisted that I cut this one out for him and then he returned the Goofy part of the sticker to the doctor.

Next there was a 30 minute observation period, to ensure BallFiend didn't have an allergic reaction to the vaccine, and during this time, the nurse explained to me out to correctly fill in the various diary forms for the study. I was asked to note any pain, redness or swelling at the injection site and if BallFiend had an elevated temperature, vomiting/diahorrea, irritability or loss of appetite over the next 7 days.

Then the research team were on their way and I was left to get a weary but hyped-up BallFiend off to his cot for a nap. So far all was going well. BallFiend went off to sleep and I had a short rest too. Then did some housework and started making a pumpkin and ginger soup.

DeepSpice came home around 6.00 pm, and BallFiend's aunties, CutLuce and DesignerSis arrived to help me with final plans for his birthday party (to be held this weekend). After party planning and dinner, we got BallFiend ready for bed, took his temperature as required for the study (37.7 C), and bundled him off to the cot.

Around 9.00 pm, both DeepSpice and I were feeling worn out and ready for bed too, but our plans for an early night were interrupted with the sound of BallFiend crying and coughing. He was vomiting and thus began our long, long night! DeepSpice remade the cot with fresh bedclothes while I comforted BallFiend and we muddled around trying to work out what to do.
His temperature was now 40 C, so I stripped his clothes off and we gave him some water. DeepSpice rang the research team's number and left a message (we were instructed to let them know if BallFiend got a temperature above 39.5 C).

More vomiting. Time for Panadol... but then we discovered the bottle in the fridge was past expiry. So DeepSpice went to the local pharmacy to get some more while I continued to cuddle our dear, sick, little boy. He kept dozing off in my arms but being 8 months pregnant, I couldn't sit still in one position for long, and kept disturbing him every time I moved.

The panadol worked pretty quickly to reduce the fever and by about 11.00 pm, BallFiend's temperature had come down to 38.6 C, but he needed to be held upright to sleep because lying down seemed to bring on more nausea and vomiting.

We decided to set up the sofabed in his room so DeepSpice could sleep with BallFiend whilst leaning up against pillows (not something I was going to be able to do very easily whilst pregnant). I left DeepSpice and BallFiend and by midnight, I was tucked up in bed. I slept till about 3.00 am until I was roused by the sound of BallFiend vomiting again. This time it was mainly just dry retching - nothing left in his tummy. But he seemed to quickly improve - his temperature was down to 37.4 C and about 10 minutes after vomiting, he was saying he wanted to get up and kick a ball in the hallway! So I left DeepSpice to try and convince BallFiend that it was still the middle of the night and time to sleep!

I decided I needed an early breakfast before I went back to bed, then I slept for about an hour, but was woken up around 4.00 am due to a combination of very uncomfortable braxton hicks contractions and lots of squirming and somersaults from Thumper. Finally at about 6.00 am, I fell asleep again, only to be woken at about 7.45 am when BallFiend decided to get up and play. He was full of beans! No sign that there had been any dramas from the previous night. Not so for us, the long-suffering parents. DeepSpice had managed to sleep on and off through the night, sitting upright for quite a few hours and then eventually lying down after BallFiend was properly settled into sleep. We were both walking zombies.

Someone from the research team phoned at about 9.00 am responding to the message that DeepSpice had left the night before. I also got another follow up call around 1.00 pm. They had decided that BallFiend would not be getting the booster shot, which was planned for 3 weeks time. I was very relieved to hear this, as I don't want another night like the last one, especially not in the week that Thumper is due!

PS. The pumpkin soup turned out OK, but I burned the onions! Not a bad effort, all things considered.
--

A special moment

Last night, CutLuce came over to look after BallFiend as DeepSpice and I were going out to a HypnoBirthing class. While I was getting BallFiend into his pyjamas, CutLuce was quizzing him about who his best friend is...

CutLuce: "Is LittleMissL your best friend?"
BallFiend: "No."
CutLuce: "Is LittleMissP your best friend?"
BallFiend: "No."
CutLuce: "Is MasterW your best friend?"
BallFiend: "No."
Me: "Is S. (at creche) your best friend?
BallFiend: "No."
Me: "What about L. (at creche)? Is he your best friend?
BallFiend: "No."
CutLuce: Is DesignerSis your best friend?
BallFiend: "No."
CutLuce: Is DesignerMonkey your best friend?
BallFiend: "No."
CutLuce: Is Wigward your best friend?
BallFiend: "No."
CutLuce: Am I your best friend?
BallFiend: "No."
CutLuce: So who is your best friend?
BallFiend: "Mum."

My heart melted!

When I set out on this parenting journey, nearly three years ago now, I never had the slightest comprehension that my child would one day describe me as his best friend! Whilst I do remember reading ages ago that a young baby sees their mother (or primary carer) as their main friend and playmate (and not just as a carer and provider), I had sort of forgotten this. I suppose I assumed that because BallFiend is older now, and more independent in his play, this does not really apply anymore.

But in that instant, when BallFiend named me as his best friend, I gained a whole new insight into how he views me and our relationship. To me, he is my son and I understand our relationship as being primarily about responsibility - ie. mine! I need to love him, raise him well, care for him physically and emotionally, guide him through life and help him learn and develop... and ultimately ensure that he grows into a healthy, happy, independent adult. Each day is 'work' that I need to do towards this end (and usually with many challenges to be negotiated in doing so): serving meals, changing nappies, brushing teeth, reading stories, playing with toys, talking about the world and all the things in it, providing (positive) discipline, and settling for naps/sleep, etc.

In that one special moment, BallFiend made me realise that despite the number of times a day that I...

• grow bored with re-reading him the same story,
• get fed up with 'helping' (ie. instructing/coaching) him pick up balls to return to the ballpit,
  
• become impatient while waiting for him to finish a meal or get dressed;
  
• put my needs and wants ahead of his, or
  
• lose my temper,

I must still be doing something right!
--

It's party season!

Last weekend was the official opening of "Party season"... in my world at least. We had a pre-season warm up when LittleMissIz had her first birthday party on June 14, then things really got underway last week. Here's the birthday schedule for the coming few months:

• DesignerSis - 25th birthday dinner on June 25,
  
• LittleMissP - 3rd birthday party on June 27,
• MasterS - 1st birthday party on June 28,
• FunkyOrganMan's daughter - 1st birthday party on July 4,
  
• GrandPaul - 60th birthday party on July 4
• LittleMissL - 3rd birthday party on July 19,
• Gran - 61st birthday on August 1; then
• BallFiend - 3rd birthday party on August 9.

There are a smattering of other birthdays for family, friends and playgroup mums and and bubs in August and September, but the majority are in June and July. Then there is a bit of a break before xmas brings on the next round of festivities.

Of course, this party-season phenomenon is hardly surprising, given that our 'mothers group' was set up by the maternal child health nurse specifically for mums who all had their babies within a 6 - 8 week period. The addition of second babies also born at this time of year only increases the party-season atmosphere!

It's all great fun - especially for BallFiend. Unfortunately he overdosed on party food at MasterS's party and was incredibly hyperactive for hours afterwards. He also got itchy rashes all over his body. So clearly something in the food wasn't good for him. I suspect it was food additives added to things like chips and 100s & 1000s (on fairybread).
--

Quarter time

Assuming she lives to 100 years of age, yesterday marked quarter time for DesignerSis. It is hard to believe my baby sister is so very, very old! Nah, just kiddin' she's still just a kid. But a very mature, responsible and well-adjusted one... especially considering the sort of role models her big sisters have provided.

To celebrate 25 years since her birth, we all went out for dinner at Hellenic Republic with DesignerSis - me, DeepSpice, BallFiend, Wigward, CutLuce, DesignerMonkey and StompyDad. We ate ourselves to a standstill all, for around $32.00 each. The repast was fantastic - we had:

• Dips (Taramosalata and Melitzanosalata)
• Tiganites Patates (Deep fried potatoes chips)
• Fasolakia (green beans with feta and pine nuts)
• Kefalograviera Saganaki (Spanikopita served warm with peppered figs)
• Patzari (beetroot roasted in cumin)
• Revithia Plaki (chickpeas cooked in tomato and olive oil)
• Loytianos (snapper, baked to perfection)
• Chicken and Lamb off the spit
• Moussaka

Followed by:

• Bougatsa (Semolina custard wrapped in filo pastry)
• Loukoumades (Greek donuts)
• Risogalo (chocolate rice pudding)

The service was excellent, the food was excellent, the only thing I can really fault is that the music was too loud to talk over. This made it particularly challenging for keeping a tired, yet enthusiastic BallFiend in check.

He had refused to nap in the afternoon, so was particularly tired, then I had plonked him in creche for an hour and a half while DeepSpice and I did a parent re-education camp to learn some new strategies for dealing with those more difficult toddler/pre-schooler behaviours. Then we rushed out to dinner and kept BallFiend out till 8.00 pm (half an hour past his bedtime). However, a little after 8.00 pm, it was clear that BallFiend was exhausted so DeepSpice decided to take him home to bed, whilst I got to stay on and enjoy civilised adult conversation, and more importantly, dessert.
Apparently once he got home, he got a new burst of energy and ran through the house excitedly. However, DeepSpice skillfully calmed him down with a story and had in bed a mere 30 minutes after arriving home. To reward his altruism, I took home a donut for DeepSpice.

Overall, and despite his tiredness, BallFiend was very well-behaved for a 2.75 year old - he threw a few bits of food and made an interesting 'installation' in his water glass using nothing more than strips of lamb, Melitzanosalata and paper serviettes. Mm-mmm! He also seemed to enjoy eating the food - he tried the chicken, beetroot, the dips and pita bread but was fairly cautious about trying other things. As he is getting older, it is getting easier to eat out with a small child... pity this newly acquired possibility for a social life is about to be smashed to smithereens when Thumper arrives in just over two months time.
--

Return of the Twisty One

Made the trip down to the local op shop this morning to:
(a) drop off the results of my latest decluttering (a big bag of clothes and a few toys), and
(b) try and find a few more maternity items to keep me clad for the next couple months.

I am running out of pants because my recently-acquired maternity wardrobe is mostly light-weight linen pants best suited to Summer and the office-wear pants remaining from my first pregnancy are too small. I have been getting very sick of wearing the same one pair of pants to work and the same one pair of 'mushroom' colour corduroy pants when I am not working. I also have a stretchy elasticised belt to connect up the fly of normal, non-maternity pants. The kit is a set of three belts but unfortunately I have lost the smallest one, which is the size that I need to be able to wear my regular jeans. DeepSpice's leather belt is a reasonable, but not terribly comfortable, replacement. So I was pleased to find a couple of pairs of pants that will hopefully see me through to the end of the pregnancy. I also looked for coat or cloak that would fit over my bump, but no luck... only really ugly and massively-too big ones available.

BallFiend of couse was my faithful companion on this shopping trip, and he had been very patient while I tried on 6 pairs of pants in the fitting rooms, so afterwards we went to look at the toys. In a dusty, dark corner at the back of the store, he was delighted to find a Twisty One and since it was only $4.99, how could I not indulge him? We also found a pack of 10 used golf balls for $3.99 which I got for him to take to creche. (His carer said if I could bring in some golf balls she would set up an activity for the kids to do golf-ball paintings, just like Justine does on one of BallFiend's favourite episodes of Play School.)

I also picked up a replacement beanie for BallFiend (his other one has disappeared at crèche) and a cot mattress protector. Then when we got to the check-out, there was a big shelf of little toys and an invitation to 'pack your own bag' for $3.99. Of course, amongst the toys were plenty of small balls, some just the right size to fit the Twisty One, and given that my chances of wresting any of these back from a now hungry and tired BallFiend were zero, zip and zilch, I let him fill up a bag.

Then we rushed home, so that we could eat, squeeze in a nap for BallFiend and get ready for a busy afternoon and evening. DeepSpice and I are going to a free parenting seminar at BallFiend's crèche, then in the evening we are all going out for dinner to celebrate DesignerSis's quarter-century.
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Mother's Day

I really only wanted one thing for Mother's Day - to sleep in till at least 8.00 am (well, that and a box of Roses chocolates). BallFiend woke us at 6.45 am. So no sleep in, but at least it wasn't a 5.30 am wake up I suppose.

Still, I did get to lie in and have a hot cup of tea and breaky in bed, many thanks to DeepSpice (although he does this for me most days, so it wasn't really a mother's-day specific thing). Then BallFiend brought me in a gift that he made at crèche - a noteholder to go on the fridge. We have now officially reached the point where the endearing-yet-truely-awful-handmade-gift-for-mum-on-mothers-day rite-of-passage begins. I remember many long weeks spent at school in Grade 2 making my mum a padded coathanger. This tasteful craft project involved:

1. collecting plastic bread bags
2. cutting bread bags into strips
3. tieing the plastic strips around a wire coathanger
   

It was a long and tedious process and I was bored-to-tears after about an hour of assembling it. Still my mum claimed she loved it... and whether this was true or not, she continued to use it for her jackets for the rest of her life. I suppose it was functional even though very unattractive.

Anyway... at 9.15 am, DesignerSis and Wigward arrived to take their nephew out to the Aquarium to see the penguins. It was weird waving goodbye to BallFiend as he drove off in another car. Apart from when he went with VolubleK after the Wedding, he has never been taken anywhere in a car without myself or DeepSpice being in the car too; and this was the first time I had ever actually watched him drive away without me.

Our child-free morning was spent industriously - planting new trees and other plants in the garden (purchased at CERES Nursery on Saturday):

• a Eucalyptus forrestiana (Fuschia Gum) to replace the E. kitsonia that died in the January 2009 heatwave;
• a Scleranthus biflorus - a groundcover in the back garden to replace a Phormium (New Zealand Flax) that didn't do well under my 'complete neglect' gardening regime. When we had the garden landscaping done, I specified only Australian native plants were to be used, but somehow four of these NZ Flax snuck in. They are water-hungry things... there are two still hanging in there.
  
• a Grevillea nudiflora (Curvy Tops) - a prostrate groundcover for the front garden;
  
• a Kennedia prostrata (Scarlet Runner, Running Postman) - another prostrate groundcover for the front garden;
• a Grevillea pteridifolia (Golden Grevillea) - another tree in the front garden... actually I had intended to get a 2m bush but didn't read the label properly so have ended up with a (potentially) 4m high tree. Hopefully it won't be too big!
• I also bought a punnet of lettuce seedlings and a punnet of spinach seedlings but ran out of time to plant these.
  

In addition, I shifted a daisy bush (to make room for the Grevillea tree) and DeepSpice put our hard rubbish out on the street ready for collection on Monday.


After gardening, we had organised to lunch at a restaurant with GrandPaul, Gran and StompyDad. We had planned to enjoy lunch unencumbered by BallFiend, but the Aquarium trip didn't take as long as I hoped expected, so BallFiend was back in time to come along.

I was concerned that he would be tired out and ready for a nap at about 1.30 pm, but he held up just fine and loved his spaghetti. So did the people at the next table who said they got a real kick out of watching him eat it, strand-by-strand, biting each one in the middle then sucking the ends in. Personally, I enjoyed watching the grandfathers, seated either side of BallFiend flinch and cry out in horror every time a bit of bolognese sauce went anywhere other than BallFiend's mouth!

Gran, DeepSpice and I shared a tapas platter and I also ordered a pasta dish but as this hadn't arrived by the time everyone had just about finished their meals, I asked the waitress to cancel the order. She was very apologetic that my meal had been missed and so didn't charge us for BallFiend's pasta as compensation. I was happy, since I had got too full on the tapas to fit the pasta in anyway!
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