Maths Challenge

Each afternoon I look through the kids folders. Often there are bits of art or worksheets. Today I pulled out a piece of paper from Lizzy's bag. "Lizzy? Did you do this?" "Yes - Ms Beaver gave me a math challenge."

On a sheet of paper were the following...

37 + 4 + _ = 43
25 + _ = 45
100 + _ = 326
79 + 4 + _ = 88
473 - _ = 421
888 - _ = 726

Lizzy had gone through and filled in all the blanks. She got them all right, except the last where she was wrong by 10. "I like math Mum".

I suggested that perhaps she might grow up to be an accountant like her Aunty because they deal with math. She liked the sound of that.

It appears she's got her math skills from her Daddy - because they certainly haven't come from me.

One Year

Who can believe it, but a year has passed since Kai joined our family! What a joy he is. He's an easy going boy, with a ready smile. Most will tell you he's a flirt - and I have to agree.

Here are some pictures of the birthday boy...

Kai about to get his first taste of cake:

Kai having to be convinced to eat the cake..

And finally he decides it really does taste great!

He loved the balloons. This did not surprise me, as every time we go shopping he points at the balloons and says "Dis, dis".

And finally - he got a sandbox for his birthday. It was definately a hit.

Milestones

Some milestones are more exciting than others. Ben & I have been thrilled this week that Kai has started taking his first steps. They are very wobbly steps as he bravely lets go, taking one or two steps, enabling him to get from one spot to the next.

However, if you judge things by the expression on Kai's face - it's being able to flush the toilet which is the most exciting milestone reached this week. The laughter pours out as he pushes that handle down over and over again.

Who cares about walking when there are toilets to conquer.

Getting the message through

When someone is not quite one, they don't have many words - at least not the kids in our family.

Despite the fact that Kai doesn't say much, he knows how to get a message through. Today's message was "I don't want to eat that". For lunch, he had egg, pear and cheese. He quite deliberately threw the pear over the edge of his high chair, and then signed "more". I gave him some more pear. Silly mummy. He looked at it with disgust and threw it over the edge again and signed "more" again. Right. You're still hungry but you don't want pear. I've got it.

Impromptu Vacation

We went on an impromptu vacation on the weekend. Our reason was probably one of the worst you could ever think of - Church was doing a Seder service and our food allergy family can't think of anything worse than a food related church service. Our desire to miss church made us think about what else we could do. The result was a trip to Canada - Harrison Hot Springs, to be precise.

As you can probably guess from the name, there are hot springs at Harrison. We visited one, and as you can tell from the picture it was a smelly one. It was a sulphur hot spring, which gave it it's foul smell. Lizzy refused to come near until we suggested that she hold her nose while looking at it.



All in all, it was a lovely little vacation spot and we had a fun weekend away.

Rough and Tumble

If you asked me to describe Isaac, I would tell you he was a quiet cautious boy, with a wicked sense of humor, an observer of the world. I would tell you that he prefers quiet play over active play. I would tell you that he adores his little brother.

It never ceases to amaze me how my two boys get along.

I loved watching my boys play today. We were in the waiting room at Speech Therapy, and Kai & Isaac were wrestling. There really was no other word for it. Isaac would lay down on the ground and Kai would climb on him. Isaac would flip him over causing Kai to giggle and climb on him again. I was stuck with how boyish this play was - and amused at how fun they found it.

I wouldn't trade my boys for anything :)

Daddy to the Rescue

Yesterday evening I was talking to Ben on the phone as he was driving home. We hung up just as he was coming down our street. When I hung up, I heard sobbing. It was Lizzy. I had sent her for a bath about 20 minutes beforehand. I ran to the bathroom - it was the heart-wrenching kind of sob. I turned the handle, and I tried again. It was locked. "Mummy - I can't open the door". I look, and it's not the butter knife kind of lock breaking. I had no idea but luckily Daddy was home. I was so thankful I was able to reassure her that Daddy was home and he was going to get her out. He bought up his handy little screw driver and opened the door in a jiffy. There's nothing like a naked 6 year old who jumps on her daddy, thanking him for being her rescuer.

Baby Monitor

We have a video monitor for Kai. Such things were not around (or maybe we just didn't know about them) when the other two were babies. I have to admit that I love our monitor. I love being able to see our baby sleeping peacefully - or not sleeping in some cases. There is nothing as sweet as a baby asleep.

Standing

Kai stood today. It was for about 2 seconds but he stood without holding onto anything, and then gracefully lowered himself to the ground. Tiny milestones like this remind me how quickly time passes.

Swimming

Isaac & Elizabeth went back to swimming lessons today. We haven't had swimming lessons for about two years now. Elizabeth threw herself into the lesson with great abandon - it was though she'd not really taken a break at all. Isaac was alot more cautious. He did not want to get his head wet - although I did see him go under once or twice.

At the end, I noted how well they did being able to get the ring from the bottom of the pool. Lizzy beamed. Isaac admitted "I actually got it with my foot". Oops. I missed that fact.

Signing

When Isaac wasn't talking by about 18 months, I decided that I would teach him basic sign language. I didn't try too hard and we just learnt the basics such as "more" and "all done". He caught on and some basic communication started.

I started much earlier with Lizzy - around 7 months. By 10-11 months she could tell me when she wanted to eat, wanted more (food) or was "all done" (eating) or wanted to get up. Because of the success we had with Lizzy, I have started to sign with Kai too.

Today, Kai signed for the first time. He was in his high chair eating lunch and I asked (and signed) if he wanted more or was all done. He signed "all done". But even more thrilling to me was that he signed at the same time as babbling in the same pitch pattern that I use when saying "all done". He was rewarded by being instantly taken out of his high chair and covered with kisses.

Fast forward to dinner. I asked the same question. This time he didn't sign but he did make the same pitch pattern. This time he didn't get his kisses though, as he was covered in carrots and cottage cheese :)

What shall you I call you?

When Elizabeth was born, she suited her name. As her personality developed she became Lizzy or Lizzy Lou to her daddy. However, the other day she announced that she wanted to be called Beth. She made her Kindermusik teacher write Lizzy~Beth on her new material and she wrote Beth on her snack for school. I've called her Beth, once or twice, but it is so hard. She giggled at me each time, which tells me that she's not used to hearing it either. I've noticed that she still refers to herself as Lizzy too.

I'm not sure if I should tell her teacher. Is this just a phase? Will she want to be called something different next year? I think for now I'll just try to say Elizabeth most of the time so that when she settles on something permanent it won't be as hard. Lizzy to Beth is hard to remember, but I think Elizabeth to Beth won't be as bad. Or maybe this too shall pass?

Lizzy made me a doll...

I'm really quite impressed. She made it out of paper, popsicle sticks and a red cotton wool ball. I thought it was supposed to me because of the red hair but I was very nicely informed that it was not me just a doll for me. I was also informed that I need to be very careful with her because her hair is fragile. Considering how much sticky tape is holding it in place, it's probably not as fragile as she thinks :)

Here she is...it's a bit hard to tell from the photo but she's a 3d doll.

And Christmas Eve & Day

More Beachmere Photos

Photos from the second half of our holiday...

Is it bad to love a pount?

And even more Photos...

More Photos...

From our day at Mooloolaba...

Photos from Australia Zoo

These are my favorites from Australia Zoo...I hope you like them too :)