Washing up

I love washing up.

Well, I love standing on a chair at the sink and playing with the suds and the spoons - and the fact they get clean is just a bonus.

Dad set me up with all my plastic* cutlery today and I had a ball.

*He's keen to point out no breakables were anywhere near the sink.

Bubbles, balloons and blocks

I spent the day doing a little bit of washing up, a big bit of playing with a red balloon, and building my most impressive block tower ever.

Boiling eggs!

Eggs are my current favourite food. Helping mum cook is also my new favourite past time. combining the two is wonderful.

Mum strssed the importance of being 'very careful' with the raw eggs. I dropped it a bit hard into the saucepan, and it cracked, but we soldiered on...

My cries to stir the egg on the hotplate were met with a firm 'no'. Mum says hotplates are no place for little men like me, but I was allowed to do the washing up. Me and my plastic knives and forks had a great time with all the bubbles.

Sliding

I went down the slippery dip all by myself today.

This is a big deal.

Gone are the hand-holds and the foot-pulls - I can do it by myself!

Dad and I went to the park this morning and I sat at the top of the slide for a very long time before I eventually let go and slid down.

Dad was very proud, and I looked at him and said "more?"

It didn't take me long the second time.

Or the third.

Or the fourth.

In fact, we'd probably still be at the park now sliding, if dad hadn't tricked me into running from tree to tree to get home...

Yours seem to work better than mine

It started with the Wii. I noticed mum was having more success with her controller than I was with mine.

I decided we should swap controllers.

Then it happened when mum and I were using my new golf set. She hit the ball really well and I didn't.

I decided we should swap clubs!

Mini Chef

Since helping mum with scrambled eggs the other day, I've taken a very keen interest in cooking.

When mum announced this afternoon that she was going to start dinner, I immediately got a chair from the dining room and dragged it across to the kitchen table. I suggested we make eggs, but mum said we'd be doing a lamb casserole instead. I climbed up on the table and mashed up tinned tomatoes. I kept stirring while mum added some herbs and spices. When mum tried to do some stirring I said, 'my turn!' I was very helpful. But mum says she'll have to keep a close eye on me now that I know how to reach the bench.

Late sleeper

I woke up late this morning, had a late daytime sleep, and ended up going to bed late after tea.

Scrambled eggs

I made scrambled eggs tonight. Not quite all by myself, but not far from it either.

I've been interested in cooking lately and wanting mum to pick me up so I can see what's going on with the saucepans on the stove. So tonight, she decided to let me help. We cracked some eggs into a bowl and then sat down on the kitchen floor. I stirred the eggs with a fork, then added some milk and salt. I like the salt grinder because it has a button.

Mum thinks there was probably a bit too much salt in our scrambled eggs because I kept pressing that button!

I stood up on a chair and stirred the eggs with a wooden spoon while they cooked on the hotplate. Mum gave me quite a lecture about not touching the hotplate. But I am a great respecter of hot things, so wasn't about to get burnt. I was very enthusiastic about eating my scrambled eggs when they were cooked. Mum is looking forward to the day when I can do more of the cooking!

Counting

I like to count things.

Not quite in the traditional sense. I like to count "two, four, three". Mum has been spending a lot of time counting things. We count the pegs as she takes them off the line and I put them in the basket. And we count my cars and trains. We've also been reading some books with counting in them. But, despite the practice, I would prefer to stick to "two, four, three" than "one, two, three".

Welcome back, friends

After a quiet week at home, it was time for some socialising today. In the morning, we went to Tonya's to play with Sam and Olive and Zara. We all got on quite well, although Olive kept complaining to her mum that I was noisy. She said, "No-No Noisy". At the time, I was banging a plastic hammer on the Bob the Builder workbench as hard as I could, so she was probably right.

We also played outside. Whenever I play outside, the first thing I do is look for something to hit a ball with, and then I look for a ball. It's no different at friends' houses. I found a totem tennis bat and then searched the backyard and found a bouncy ball. I still love to hit balls. Then we had visitors for tea tonight. Anny and Enny. That's what I call Andy and Wendy. I showed them all my new presents. I suggested a game of wii, but the grown-ups just wanted to talk on the couch so when I was bored I told mum it was time for bed. I don't mind going to bed these days and often suggest it even before mum and dad to.

Arm in arm

This week I have been going to bed with Manni (my teddy bear) tucked up under one arm and Brobee (my Yo Gabba Gabba toy) under the other.

Brobee sings a song if you press his hand, but fortunately (for mum and dad) he's got an off switch. I am unaware of this off switch, but the grown ups say it certainly comes in handy.

No pool, waiting room instead

I was still a bit sniffly and coughing today so mum kept me home from swimming and took me to the doctor's instead.

I like my doctor. He tickles me and makes me laugh. I also like the fish tank in the waiting room. When the doctor came out to get us, I took him over to the tank and showed him the fish and the boat. It turns out I have a middle ear infection. I had a few of those last year. So it's probably just as well I've had a few weeks off swimming.

The doctor also weighed me. I got to stand on electronic scales for the first time. It's much more fun than being stripped naked and made to lie in a plastic tub on a set of baby scales.

I am now 13.9 kilograms.

Veggies

I've been a bit sick today. That meant we didn't get to go to playgroup and see all my friends. It was also raining which meant we stayed inside all day long. It was a bit boring. We passed the time by watching some of my VeggieTales DVD's. I love them. I love Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. It's about the only thing I'll watch on TV from beginning to end. Mum likes them too but she's getting a bit tired of the same old DVD's. So we're going to get some more. I don't mind. I could watch them over and over and over again. And that's just in one day.

The birthday continues

Three parcels were in the mailbox today. Presents from NSW.

I scored a gardening set from uncle David and aunty Lisa.

A Scrambler bike (from Bob the Builder fame) from the Munros.

And some fancy crayons from uncle Ian and aunty Diana.

Dad says I have enough cool new things to last me until I'm 3!

My runny nose is disappearing, but I've still got a very loud cough. Mum tried to show me how to hold my hand over my mouth when I cough - but I haven't quite got the idea. I cough, and then put my hand over my mouth and do a few 'fake' coughs.

I rode to the park

I rode my new bike to the park, combining two of my favourite things.

I grizzled each time I had to get off to cross the road, but all in all it was a very successful trip.

After my sleep during the day mum discovered me standing at my desk doing a bit of drawing all by myself. Usually I'll dive out of bed and come looking for the nearest adult for a cuddle, but obviously matters of art took priority today.

Party time, excellent! v2.0

I had a special family lunch celebrating my birthday today.

I'm still a bit sniffly, but I perked up when the people, and the presents, arrived.

I scored a mini cricket set from grandad and grandma G, with a bat, ball and stumps. It's a Grey Nichols set. Dad was impressed.

I got a toy work bench with lots of tools from Aunty Lyndall.

Uncle Mike and Tegan got me a Brobee toy from Yo Gabba Gabba. It makes noises, and sings a song, and is very soft to cuddle. They also gave me soem play-dough and a book called 'ugly fish'.

Nanna got me a golf set (it's the one dad bought the other day).

And grandma and grandad C got me a bike! Yippie!

I could have ridden the bike around the backyard all day. I got sad when it got dark and we had to come inside.

At bedtime I fell asleep with the cricket bat tucked under one arm and the ball under the other arm.

Welcome home grandma and grandad

I was sick today. So was mum. So dad stayed home to look after us. He got us some medicine and after a dose I was feeling better.

Grandma and grandad arrived back in Australia today, and they came straight to our house. I was a bit shy when they first arrived, but after they proved they could be trusted I let them into my room to see my new trains.

Two

I am two!

Dad woke me up with a "happy birthday" and I replied "cake!"

Mum and dad laughed and realised that I've picked up the correlation between the milestone and the dessert somewhere along the line.

I'm having a party on the weekend, but mum and dad let me open two presents. One from them (a Thomas train set) and one from Mummy B (a cool truck with wheels that roll really well, dad and I took it for a test drive in the hallway tonight).

I'm still a bit sniffly, but didn't let it get me down.

Dad and I went to the shops - he wants to get me a junior golf set because I'm always hitting a ball around the backyard with whatever is available - a stick or a little shovel - and he thinks it's time I had a proper golf club!

And we had to buy a cake.

Dad let me choose. The choice was between a chocolate and banana cake (there was a third choice, a fruit cake, but I looked at it and said 'toast'!).

I chose the banana cake.

I didn't have a daytime sleep because there were loud workmen outside and they kept jackhammering and I didn't want to sleep with all the noise.

Feeling poorly

I woke up during the night with a big case of the sads, sniffles, and a spew.

It was a sniffly day, and mum gave me medicine every six hours, but I tried to be as happy as I could despite having a high temperature.

We didn't go swimming, and I had a lot more cuddles than normal.

More God

My bedtime routine isn't very exciting, but it's a routine. nd I've started to use all the various parts of the routine as delay tactics.

The other day, just as I was crawling into bed, I tried to get mum to clean my teeth again. This afternoon, I kept asking for 'more God'. The person putting me to bed usually prays with me. I hold my palms together and shut my eyes, and at the end I say an emphatic 'Amen!' But today, instead of going to sleep after the prayer, I asked for 'more God'.

So we prayed again.

"More God"

We prayed some more.

We ended up praying for lots and lots of things before I eventually went to sleep.

Bee-Bee

I was talking to dad while we were looking at photos on the computer.

We went through all the relatives, and I tried saying their names, with varying degrees of success.

When we got to Mummy B, I said "Bee Bee"!

And that's what I've been calling her all day.

With a little help from my friends

There's two things I'm getting a bit too much help with these days that have influenced my behaviour;

Holding people's hands going down the slippery dip and insisting mum feeds me with a spoon.

I love spoons, but for some reason have decided other people are better at loading them up than I am, so I've decided to outsource my spoon weilding.

Mum and dad took decisive action at tea and left me with a spoon and a full bowl of food and said 'there you go'. I didn't want to at first, but I think my hungry tummy got the best of me and I picked up the spoon and fed myself.

At the park at lunchtime I climbed up the slippery dip steps all by myself, and sat at the top for ages. Dad encouraged me to slide down, but I wouldn't. I tried to explain the 'rules' to him, but he didn't know what I was going on about...Until grandma showed up and held my hand, and then I happily slid down the slide. Dad laughed, but said I really should learn to slide without a helping hand, but with a catching one down the bottom, but I didn't quite get the hang of it before we came home.

Even shorter hair

Mum took me to a real hairdresser to 'fix' my haircut from two days ago. It wasn't THAT bad...But she thought a professional should have a go.

It's still not too short, and dad didn't think she hairdresser did a good job at all, so he thinks he'll have another go!

Hand ball

Mum caught me throwing a tennis ball up against the wall this morning.

I was doing it with great purpose.

She was very impressed.

I think I was inspired by dad, because when we're out in the yard each afternoon he does a few 'bowls' up against the wall. So when he wasn't here to do it, I did.

Wee Wii!

Mum thinks I'm a little bit too fascinated with the Wii.

I have to admit, it was the first thing I mentioned after my sleep today, and I did pester her with a 'boom blok' chant. 'Boom Blocks' is one of the games we have, and it's a favourite of Gabe's, and he played it the other day when we were baby sitting him. So I've been exposed to the fun of knocking over blocks on the TV, and I want more!

It impressed, and equally worried, mum when I announced "boom blok wee" and marched into the loungeroom, grabbing the controller and looking for all the right cords we needed to get the wii working.

Swimming and shorter hair

Today we went to the pool, but I didn't do much swimming. I was a bit too interested in the other kids and their swimming.

Halfway through the lesson, right as I was meant to be demonstrating my underwater swim from my teacher to mum, I was distracted by the arrival of my old friend Lilly (she was in my class last term). I held up the whole class while I waved and called out to Lilly.

Then it was mat time and, once again, I made a spectacle of crawling across the mat. With lots of encouragement from the other mums and my teacher I finally decided to walk across and got huge cheers. Mum thinks I'm just looking for attention, since I had been walking across the mat quite happily for the past two terms!

Tonight there was more excitement after my bath because mum and dad decided to play hairdressers. With real scissors and my real hair. They tried to give me a classic 'movie kid' bowl cut. It worked, if you look at me from one particular angle. From other angles it looks like we need to call a real hairdresser!

Wiggle time!

I went to see the Wiggles today.


I'm a bit more familiar with the work of Yo Gabba Gabba. But we decided to give the Wiggles a go seeing they are


a) the biggest kid's act in the world, and

b) in my town


Mum was hoping I would like it more than my first concert when I was scared of Colin Buchanan. But I wasn't scared, I was very impressed.


We went with my friends Olive, Harvey and Aanika and sat up high in the theatre with a good view of the stage. There was lots of singing and dancing and acrobatics. Mum thought I would be wanting to dance but I was just too fascinated.


I looked and stared, just like I did at Easterfest. I sometimes laughed and pointed things out to mum.

Here I come!

Dad and I went to the park today.

Two parks, actually.

We had a quick play in the one clse to our house, and since mum gave us some pieces of old bread, we decided to walk to the one with ducks in it.

It's a fair walk, and when we finally saw the ducks dad let go of my hand and let me run toward them.

"Here I come" I shouted!

Dad ripped off bits of bread and I threw them to the ducks. And ibis. Sometimes my throws weren't very big and I 'd bend down and pick up the price of bread and try again. After one little throw an ibis rushed in and grabbed the bread from close to my feet. I had decided that particular peice of bread needed to be thrown further and so I took off after the ibis yelling "mine, mine" - just like the birds in 'Finding Nemo'...

Park and play

We went to the park this afternoon after church.

The bigger kids were playing cricket and I did a bit of fielding. I'm not really ready to bowl in public yet. But I did have a bat, and dad helped me by standing behind me and holding onto the bat - we had some really big shots, and each time we hit the ball I'd look up at dad with a big grin.

He said we'll play lots more cricket.

Cheers!

We went to the rose show this morning.

Dad was there to exhibit roses and give a talk, I was there to hang out!

At morning tea time I decided to try out my new trick of saying "cheers" and clinking my sippy cup against whatever the person sitting next to me is drinking out of. In this case it was a cup of tea in a styrofoam cup.

I don't just do one 'cheers' like grown ups. I'll 'cheers' before every sip!

Dad hoped the cheers didn't move from the funny novelty 'ah, isn't he cute' category to the annoying 'get that kid away from my cup of tea' category - but everyone kept laughing when I announced my 'cheers' until mum announced it was time to go home.

Pushing Manni

I'm enjoying playing with my little red fire engine.

I especially like being pushed, but if no one will push me, I'll drive myself. but today I decided to do the pushing, and gave Manni a ride!

Mum had tostrap him in, becasue he kept falling off the seat, but after a quick seatbelt creation, made from the stuff that holds my booster chair to the dining chairs, we were ready for launch. We ran up and down the hallway for ages.