Wisdom

Isaac's friend from preschool came over to play today. They come each Wednesday but today she was feeling a little out of sorts, and pushed Elizabeth a couple of times. As a result my friend took her daughter home.

Isaac was very sad that his friend was going home, and decided to dispense his wisdom...

"Lizzy, when (my friend) tries to push you, you should just lay down on the floor, like I do. Then she can't push you because you're already laying down."

Smart boy.

Voices

"Lizzy, who do you want to read books with tonight? Mummy or Daddy?"

"Daddy."

(Ben is madly pointing at me)

"Are you sure you don't want Mummy to read books? She loves reading you books."

"No. I want Daddy. He has a nice voice."

Well - you got me there. Who can resist that deep voice :)

Nuts II

Today Isaac had his allergy test. And the verdict...

Cashews. He didn't react to any other nuts or peanuts. However, cashews was pretty severe. We have been told to avoid all tree nuts but he can have peanuts.

The amazing thing with Isaac is that he giggles through the allergy testing and doesn't even try to itch. I asked him if the welt was itchy. He said it was a little but it was OK. If that was me, I'd probably be wanting to rip the skin off my back.

Nuts

After spending a pleasant morning with Lizzy at playgroup, I come home and notice that I have a message on my answering machine.

"We have Isaac in our health room. We believe he is having a reaction to peanuts. We have called 911..."

Have you ever seen a mother in panic mode? Well that was me. (And Ben tells me that he drove to the school in record time, so I don't think I was the only one!)

When I arrived, Ben was already there and Isaac was doing well. He was quite happy because three firemen had been to see HIM but was still feeling a bit uncomfortable.

We now have an epi-pen which we are to carry with us at all time, and an anxious son.

Today, I asked Isaac if he wanted to have something from the bakery. He didn't. He wanted to go home and eat something at home. My jaw drops. My kids never refuse a treat from the bakery.

"Isaac - are you scared to eat something from the bakery?"

"Yes. It might have nuts in it."

"Maybe we could ask them if they have nuts in them?"

"No - I want to go home and eat."

I start feeling concerned. I don't want him to fear having an allergy and want to teach him that he can have the freedom to eat what he wants, all he has to do is ask first.

"Isaac, will you be brave with mummy and we can ask the bakery which foods have nuts in them. I'll need you to hold my hand."

"OK Mummy"

So we go in, and we ask. She pulls out a nutrition book with allergy information. And Isaac is grinning from ear to ear when we find out that plain bagels with cream cheese do not contain nuts.

"Thank you for holding my hand Isaac. We were brave together and now we know we can eat here."

Pain

Today, Lizzy got a splinter in her hand. Getting it out involved much crying. Her reward for surviving the ordeal was that she got to choose her band-aid. She chose the big Dora band-aid for her big owie.

Fast forward to bedtime. Each night we read a story from the bible to Lizzy. She wanted the "grape story" which is the story of Job. (It has a picture of grapes hence the name). Ben was reading the story....

"Once there was a man named Job. He loved God very much. But God let him get sick. Job hurt all over..."

And a little voice pipes up with "Just like me!"

The final line in the story is "But Job still loved God"

Ben then asked "Do you still love God?"

"Yes".

So despite the fact that Lizzy hurt, just like Job, she still loves God. And for now we'll let her think that Job just had a splinter in his hand.

Conscience

I have a conscience. It talks to me, usually from the back seat. My conscience is 5 years old.

My Australianess comes out strongest in moments of stress, hence why my conscience is usually heard from the back seat.

As I yell "Come on mate! What do you think you're doing?", my conscience begins to talk....

"Mummy, why did you say that?".

Ah. Because the car in front of me is being an idiot! No - I can't say that.

"The car infront of me, didn't notice that the light was green and now we are waiting at the red light again. Mummy talks to the other cars alot, doesn't she?"

"Yes."

Our Family

Lizzy drew a picture of our family last night. She conveniently left Isaac out - I'm not sure if there is a hidden meaning in this.

It's quite obviously which one is Cleo (our cat). Lizzy is next, in the red. I'm the leggy one on the right. And yes - she's already recognised the fact that she has a hairy daddy.

Grandad's Yucky Yogurt

My kids love yogurt. If they had their choice, they would probably choose to eat yogurt at least 3 times a day.

Right now one of their favourite flavours is called "Boston Cream Pie". However, it took me some time to discover that, according to Lizzy, it's also known as "Grandad's Yucky Yogurt". The only thing I can think of is that Dad did not like this flavour when they visited us, and that he said that it was yucky. Hence we now have regular requests for "Grandad's Yucky Yogurt".

Sharing

We are a sharing family. We've obviously have taught our children well, by example. Lizzy has kindly shared her bug with me, I've shared with Isaac and now he's shared it with Ben.

I've got to say though - when Ben gets sick he gets sick with flair.

Tonight he tells me that he's feeling queazy - not the news I wanted to hear. Within half an hour he tells me that he needs to go to the bathroom because he's going to be sick. Delightful.

I follow him, and ask if he would like company while being sick. He's not sure, so I decide to follow. Lucky for him I'm a caring wife, who's seen so much vomit this week that I'm feeling pretty immune. Next moment he sits on the footstool and annouces that he's going to faint - and promptly does so.

It was a new experience for me - to catch someone fainting. And of course he had to fall backwards. I have a secret to share with you - this husband of mine is no lightweight.

He's not been sick yet - he's just a ticking timebomb.

Adventures in Reading

Lizzy read Ben & I a book tonight. It was called "Can you Cuddle Like a Koala?" by John Butler. It's a lovely book, which was given to Isaac by Jan & Joe.

It goes like this...

"Out in the wild, what can you be? Can you copy these creatures? Are you ready? Let's see. Can you cuddle like a koala, holding on tight? Can you creep like a mouse in the pale moonlight? .... Can you wink like an owl, hiding in the leaves?" and so on.

Lizzy's version went like this...

"Can you do all these things? Can you hug mummy? (the koala...we usually cuddle for this page) Can you do that? (the mouse) It's the owl! Can you close one eye?"

It was very cute to see how a 3 year old translates a book into her own language.

Energy

The sickies have arrived at our house. Lizzy has a stomach bug and is unable to hold down anything.

This morning she had a nap with me. When she woke up, I asked her if she would like to go downstairs and sit in the playroom. She said something in reply but I wasn't quite sure if I caught the statement correctly, so I repeated.

"You have no energy?"

She confirmed with a yes - and then gave me more information.

"All my energy is in the bucket"

Swimming

For over 6 months now Isaac has been having swimming lessons. He loves to swim, but to be honest the learning part was going very slowly.

He's been able to put his head under the water for a while, but just hadn't got the idea of kicking, blowing bubbles and moving his arms at the same time. Last week I watched him at his lessons, and he had almost got it but kept on curling up instead of stretching out long under the water.

However, on Friday - he did it! It was so sudden. He just went under, stretched out, kicked his legs and moved his arms. He swam all by himself for about 2 metres! Whoo Hoo Isaac!

And then there was no stopping him. While he was waiting for his turn with the teacher, under he'd go and swim, swim, swim.

He's growing up so quickly.

5.30pm

It's 5.28pm. The house is relatively peaceful. Children appear content and happy, playing their own games or eating their dinner.


Suddenly, with what seems to be little warning, we are in chaos.

Elizabeth is in tears and screaming. Isaac is getting mad at his sister.

And what, you ask, causes this to occur?

The answer....Angelina Ballerina.

The moment Angelina Ballerina comes on TV, Elizabeth runs to the television screaming "Not yet, not yet" and turns it off. Isaac begins yelling at his sister for turning off the TV. Then Lizzy madly looks for her ballerina shoes and tutu. Surely everyone knows that a 3 year old needs to be dressed and ready to dance with the opening music of Angelina Ballerina?

You would think by now I'd have it all down pat, but no. Each night, it seems that I have managed to push this memory into the back of my mind like something I don't want to visit again. But once again 5.30pm comes around and I am not ready.


Here is the ballerina...just not of the mouse kind.

Snow Days

As all of you back home have fun in the sun, you can look at our photos and think cooling thoughts.

We've made snowmen...



Had make-shift sled rides....

And made snow angels...

Now you've all cooled down, you can send some heat our way.

Chains...

It snowed again last Wednesday afternoon. Since then the temperatures have not been past freezing (0 or 32 depending on where you're reading this from!) so the snow has stuck.

It snowed again yesterday.

Both Ben & I went driving on Friday in the snow - our street was quite icy but the main roads had been plowed and driving was like normal. (Well...it was normal in most places except for this little patch of ice down near the walking trail where we did a little swirl on the road.) However, after another fresh coat of snow yesterday we decided that we should put chains on our car to go to church. It was mainly so we could get up our hill, to the main road.

Isaac was quite interested in the process of putting chains on the car wheels. Smart boy that he is worked out that chains were a pretty good idea.

"Daddy, I need chains for my bike so I can go riding".

Who Am I?

From the day I found out I was pregnant with Isaac, I knew my new name.

However, it's taken quite some time for him to discover my name.

Around the age of 2, I was quite worried because Isaac did not have a name for me. Ben was "da" but there was no "ma" for me. Soon afterwards, we realised that I was "a-ya". We joked that he was saying "hey you!". I could just picture it: "Hey you there, get me my toy" or "hey you, I need some food"

Soon we progressed onto "ma ya" and a number of different names until finally we settled into a long period of "munny". I knew this was my name for now, but I longed for the day when I would hear the name I knew at just 6 weeks past conception.

Two weeks ago, our speech therapy word was "mummy". It was a good word for practicing "M" and it was a very common word in Isaac's vocabulary, so it was a logical choice. Everytime he said my name, I would quickly give my lips a quick squeeze with my fingers. Isaac would stop and try it again, doing the same action.

Tonight, as we were playing downstairs, he looked at me and paused. With just a moment's thought he said "Mummy - can you help me build a train track".

I heard my name. It's been five years to get here but I heard my name. No prompts, no corrections - just plain and simple "Mummy".

I'm so proud of him.

Reading

In Elizabeth's world view, if Isaac is learning to read that means Elizabeth must be too.

Tonight we were reading an animal picture book. It's a very basic book, with a picture of an animal and the word underneath.

I pointed to the first animal and said "cat". Elizabeth then points to the word and says a few different sounds that sort of sound like "c" "a" "t" followed by "cat". We went through the whole book, with Lizzy pretending to sound out the words and then saying the animal name at the end.

Hey...if Isaac can do it surely she can too?

I see a ....

You would not think the words "I see a ...." would cause much fuss. They seem so simple and straight forward.

However, to Isaac they are an insult. To Isaac they mean "Look mummy! They can't spell my name properly", followed by tears.

At speech therapy we are currently working on the letter "s". He has a page of "s" pictures, and at the top our speech therapist wrote "I see a ..." as a guide to me for homework. He is supposed to say "I see a snowman" or "I see a snake". But the only thing he saw was a bad attempt at someone trying to spell his name.

The only thing that upsets him more is when someone spells his name Issac. We won't even mention the response that comes when that happens.

I think he's really going to enjoy being able to read.

Hunger

"Mummy, I'm so hungry I could eat 10 bagels."

"Wow Isaac - you must be really hungry."

"Yes. And I'm so hungry I could eat 23 000 cupcakes."

23 000? Not sure how that number popped into his head but I do know that it would make for an awful tummy ache.

Accents

We recently purchased a learn to read set called "Hooked on Phonics". Both Isaac and Elizabeth seem to really enjoy it. Elizabeth is still learning her letters, and Isaac is learning the letter sounds. He knows most of them, and I'm sure he'll have them all down pat soon.

Hooked on Phonics has also taught me a thing or two. One of them is that Isaac definately has an American accent. (Yes...grandmothers are permitted to groan).

I decided to turn off the CD and say the letter sounds together. We were saying "A", then making the "a" sound, then saying the word apple. I said the sound, when suddenly Isaac stops and says "No - it's aaah". My ears are hurting. How did that sound manage to get so butchered? But - good mother that I am I say "Yes Isaac - it's "aaah". And we move on.

I've always struggled to put on an American accent - maybe this is my chance to get it right.