Tagged... and no one to play with.

Okay so Dude's Mom tagged me...

So 5 things you don't know about me


1)I've modeled twice... for real... serious
1st for my old kindergarten fundraiser... they were selling kids/teens clothes... I must have been all of 10 I guess... not bad for a first time on the catwalk!
2nd for a bridal fair at church... because of my size (skinny mini at the time) I wore more dresses than the other 10 girls... whee.

2) I didn't marry in white
I did in silver / pewter Indian inspired beaded two piece number.

3) Hmmm I am sooo gutless when it comes to tradespersons that I may not point out that the laminate on our new kitchen appears to be flawed

4) I used to run competitavely at high-school, cross country and track and represented my school more than once in regional meets.

5) (slightly embarrassed here) I also played on the school table tennis (ping-pong) team... when we went to regionals I got completely whipped by an asian girl, *completely* whipped.


So there you go Smacky... and the world, you now know the sad truth

So jealous about the bread. I'm gonna get back into it I swear. Can't tolerate bakery white bread anymore... no substance and managed to convert the man of the house to be a wholemeal guy... time to go the next step... homemade wholemeal... the bread that can double as a doorstop. Speaking of which I need a good doorstop the kid has figured that doors are good for closing... (very security concious my lad)... shame I like to leave them conveniently open to let the air in and stuff.

Ok ok...we're not dead

Due to popular demand and the fact that I've just put him to sleep, but mostly the popular demand I'm on the air. Again.

Unlike others who have signed up to a mandatory post a day scheme... pure madness I tell you but if you must know more look http://nanoblogmo.blogspot.com I swear that those people are increasing the size of the internet disproportionately and couldn't be more productive if they produced 'erm "grown-up" entertainment.

So what are we up to... well hoping that the little guy won't walk in the very near future ... but also celebrating the leaps toward what looks exactly like walking... 'cept the boy needs something to push to do it. Honestly sometimes I just want to weep when I think that my baby is gone.... really and truly gone. but then he plays crawl chasey with me and it's so much fun I wonder if I really want another... you know might take away from my relationship with him. but then again I'm also at that biological stage that says I should and will be clucky -- but I'm also not stupid enough (well I don't think so anyway) to try when we're so busy at the moment. I'm wondering if I'm over thinking it all... maybe I should just throw caution to the wind, start taking my vitamins more regularly and let God decide when the next one comes along.... not that He doesn't have a say in it... I've heard that there's some tremendusly dedicated spermies out there... "able to leap through a condom a mile high" type determined.

Menwhile we're gearing up for the race that stops a nation.... will we get to see it? pro'ly not... will we listen on the radio... sure thing. Yep it'll be another painting and packing day (I know I know you're sick of hearing it!) but I might be able to put on a pathetic sad doggy face and plead for some time at home together watching the race while we wrap fragiles.

We've created a monster

He eats everything! I always said I didn't want a picky eater (and yes I know that could all change tomorrow or the nano second he turns 2). and he isn't really. You know about the home made yoghurt... not that pudding sweet stuff you find int he supermarket... real yoghurt that has bite.,.. he eats it. But it doesn't stop there ... Oh no.

Last week he had moroccan apricot chicken casserole, stroganoff and tandoori chicken. the week previous we gave him avocado and tuna handrolls (sans seaweed) On Tuesday night he had piquant country beef with herb scones casserole. I think I made a mistake... If he likes non-boring food then guess who'll be having to come up with new things all the time... that's right me.

Oh the rods we create for our backs.

Speaking of rods... he's finally started crawling... it took lots of encouragement,... me crawling backwards from him taunting him with a bit of cheese. He complained every step of the way but the cheese prevailed and Tim figured out that forwards is more direct (but at this point not faster) than rolling. Now I can have gret fun constantly building 3 towers of blocks so he can crawl all over the living room knocking them down. Yay what fun. Soon when we're in our real house we can let him into the "great entertaining area" but first I need to find some small stubby holders for his knees.

Poor baby.

Timothy got his first (post hospital-non vaccination) band-aid yesterday evening and it was Daddy who had to have his tears wiped away.
Seems that the dear small boy was wriggling too much while Daddy was trying to trim his finger nails... poor baby, poor Daddy.
It was poor Mummy who had to find a way to stem the blood flow from his littlest finger... seriously it's impossible to put a bandaid on a baby anything let alone a finger... but I found a use for those baby mittens... put him to bed with a pair of those on to stop blood from getting everywhere, while it scabbed up.

On a brighter note the boy can officially sit up by himself without falling over (unless he decides he's tired of sitting and wants to do something else - and those falls are getting more controlled).

He has also discovered the power of the word.... Mama. Seems that whenever he says Mama he gets a response....
a) No ..it's "Daddy", son.
b) Yes Timothy ... what do you want?
c) Yes Tim, it's me
d) I'm over here
e) What's the matter
f) What?
g) enough already and learn to point!

I know I know....

long time - no blog.

Well build a bridge people we've been busy.

So we have turtle in our living room. It grunts and moans and rocks about; arms, legs and head in the air - but it doesn't get anywhere unless he figures out that rolling is still the best method of getting about. If you can't picture what I mean by the term "stranded turtle" then get on the floor lying face down, lift your arms up, then your legs, then your head... now kick your legs breaststroke style while flapping your arms up and down. Get the picture? Good. Eventually I assume that Tim will figure out that if he keeps his arms and legs down, and lifts his tummy that he might get somewhere... but it won't be in time for his health check on Thursday.

It's okay... he's managed to pretty much master sitting... not that he can get to sitting on his own yet... but if planted in the correct position he can sit unaided for as long as he's not interested in something out of his reach... that's when he face plants.

On the food front he's using his 3 teeth to great effect on Mummy (Yes read a big fat OW). He's been getting not so mushy food and even some chewable bits.

So why haven't I been around lately... well you see it's like this, dear friends are being subjected to the ravages of chemotherapy this week and so I spent a good part of last monday cooking re-heatable meals for them and then some other friend's babies decided that half baked was good enough and came into the word about 16 weeks earlier than they should have. They seem to be hanging in there but there's been lots of time spent at the hospital, and her hubby staying here a few nights. Therefore I have barely had time to scratch myself... let alone blog... so there you have it.

Over and out for now... I need some sleep



Ooh... edited to add that for those of you we haven't told yet... yes we did buy a house... so we aren't homeless :woohoo:.

They've found us...

and now we have to move.

Our friends at Readers Digest Sweepstakes have caught up with us after a year of searching. 2 letters in 2 days Damnit. It's a good thing that we're planning on moving anyway!

So we've got 2 houses to look at tomorrow. Hopefully the cheaper one will suit but honestly I think I like the idea of renovating a bit... must be all the home reno shows that are on at the moment... and to be brutally honest if someone choose us to be the recipient of a backyard blitz I'd be wrapped.

Seriously dealing with Real Estate agents totally blows and sucks at the same time. All the double talk and quaint cliches are tiring. Cosy home directly translates to cramped quarters and if I see anymore tree top views that also include the local service station from a few centimetres left of where they stood to take the photo I could scream!

Hopefully I can report that we've bought a new place soon.

Happy end of financial year day...

And finally a big thankyou to Northwoods baby for the heads up on site meter. It's way too interesting, and time wasting to be legal. (I'm such a geek!) but it is thanks to them that I can say a big HELLO to Sydney; Australia, Little Rock, Arkansas USA and Bangor, Wisconsin USA (aka Northwoods :wave: to you, Perp and Dude. And somehow figure out to hack into their systems using their IP addys... woo hoo Kidding people... I'm not even close to mastering those skills yet... I'm considering on working on during naptimes... NOT

Well the boy is sleeping and while I should be doing something useful I might harken back to the old days for a few minutes and read something.... or cook up some soup with the leftover veggies because the veggie man is coming today!.... Ooh apples are left... Apple Pie anyone?

I'm a big boy I am!

Tim has really grown up in the last 2 weeks or so.

Around the 6th he was a real cranky boy, and during my occasional sweep of his mouth I found the beginnings of his first tooth! My mum can't remember (ie she didn't write down) when I got my first tooth... but Aunty S got hers in her 8th month (ie when she was 7.5 months) and Aunty H had her 1st birthday before she got a chopper!

Unfortunately he's had to have a few "No!"s which have been for biting... partly my fault because he gets distracted and I think he's distracted rather than finished... when he's tired of me re-offering the breast he'll bite me (so I have to say something). Saying No in a firm voice is certainly effective... he pulls off gets a sour lemon look on his face and cries. I explain why he shouldn't bite and give him a little cuddle, and then we move on. I think he's doing it less often now... only did it once yesterday. I don't like telling him off like this but I have to if it means that he's not going to hurt me too much.... I also have pulled out the No when he gets too close to the bricks around the fireplace... it's too hard to cover and make soft so it's just going to have to be a verbal boundary.

He also had his first visit to the aquarium, has his first visit to G.Grandma B's place and is now well accustomed to his car seat and is making great gains with food.

Now featuring on our menus are beef, chicken (he loves chicken and mushroom risotto - the chicken and mushroom get wizzed up then mixed back in with the rice) yoghurt in the mornings and chunky cooked apple. And rusks, both the commercial which he pretty much sucks on, and home made (think toast soldiers - bread that's been dried out in the oven so they're really very dry and crispy).

But this morning he had his first vegemite on toast. Granted that he pretty much sucked the vegemite off the toast leaving a soggy bready mess on his tray but he seemed to like it (a very light smear!) so I think that will probably be on the menu fairly regularly.

ETA: forgetful mummy that I am I did forget to mention the biggest big boy moment has been this week Tim has been sleeping in his own room. He's taken to it like a champion and is now (sort of) sleeeping through. We wake him at 9:30 for medicine and a feed. He wakes us for a dummy reinsertion at 2:30 and we give him medicine at 5:30 (and a feed if he wakes) then back to bed until about 7:30 / 8 when we have breakfast.

Circle the wagons, the In'juns are a coming!

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh...

You know the noise that the indians in the old fashioned Cowboy 'n' Indian movies used to make by shouting and then regulating the noise with their hand going back and forth over their mouths.

Can you hear it???

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh...

I can... have been hearing it for the last day or so.
Nope not watching an old movie... I'm listening to Tim.
Yep it was rather cute to start with, very little boy lying on his back on the floor fist in hand popping back and forth from chest to mouth

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh...

Oh you may be laughing now... but wait, just wait until you've heard it over and over, layer upon layer. Honestly it does start driving you nuts.

Back to regular programming

Well, what can I say it's been a while.

My night off went well. I was a good mummy, I had stored enough milk for 3 feeds so I thawed the milk and split it into 2 feed each with a top up and put them in the fridge. Fed Tim at the venue and Dad drove him home.

Saw my sister graduate in a class all of her own. Witnessed someone who knew better do something gross (pics later). got home started to pump about 11pm and Tim wakes up... check the fridge... and all the milk is still there, he didn't need it at all! Fed it too him anyway and stored what I pumped which will probably get used when we do the house hunting thing.

Then the saturday we had dinner at mums and the man of the house has a kidney stone attack. Off to the hospital and we didn't even get to finish dinner (boo). Luckily it passed quickly, and without the need for morphine!

Unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time with Auntie S.

But she will be happy that I share these photos with the world.....

First the man himself
Now I'm first to admit that the photo
quality isn't great but I had a whopping
big lens on and the light was bad so
there you have it...
he's looking a little grey and crusty isn't he???





Yep that's who you think it is (if you're an Aussie that is!) Our esteemed former Prime Minister Paul J. Keating picking his teeth in public... not just any old kind of public... the kind of public where he is in view of a whole crowd of people.... In the words of Tom "Put your manners back in"

Now on the Mum and Bub front Tim is about to turn a 1/2 and in true P style we're taking him to get his 6 month innoculations. He'll be happy to know that at least Mummy will be rolling her sleve up for a tetanus update as she forgot to get it last year... being pregnant and all seemed a great excuse to not get it in 2005! Dad may take some convincing.

Now it may not last but we have had a good day already (it's only 11am so things could change... however) Tim has just had 60 minutes of sleep and is still going (no doubt just you reading that phrase has changed things!) The great thing is this time I wrapped him, tucked him in, gave him a dummy, for the ocean sounds going and left the room... one quick entrance to tame a runaway dummy - took it's chances in a bout of the hiccups - and back out again and he fell asleep on his own. Sounds silly but I feel so proud of him, and myself. Maybe I'm a good Mum after all.


Edited to add: I forgot all about the food issue. Timis going great guns with his veggies... on the menu now are the following F&V... Apple, banana, broccoli, pear, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini, plus rice cereal, and rice + millet cereal. In the near future he'll be trying avocado, carrot, meat and bread. Such a growing boy!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

have you any wool? No but I have milk!

Milk you say what's so exciting about that... well with Auntie S coming down to get her piece of paper, I get a night off duties... but a night off requires preparation... and I have prepared. Now I'm allowed to go to the graduation without any worries because I have 3 bags of milk for the boy wonder. Yay!
It will be really nice to see my sister again, and having her down for a few days will be lovely to have Tim see her, and play for a while. I'm seriously looking forward to the family being together again.

On the home front I'm going to do some baking this afternoon... I'm attempting a Tart tatin... we'll see how we go.

And I've started getting organic veggies delivered to the house!... It's like Christmas (except Auntie's S & H will be most delighted to know it involves less unwrapping). I get a box delivered to the house and it has a whole heap of surprises in it.

This week we gor Fuji apples (seriously the best tasting apple I've had EVER), Valencia Oranges, a watermelon, pears, mushrooms, bok choy, potatoes, onions, carrots, pumpkin, and sweetpotato.

I should explain that the box of the week is a selection of fruit and veg that is organic, and therefore seasonal, so whatever is growing now is what you get! Should make for some creative cooking (actually I made a really yummy veggie soup/stew yesterday). And price wise you only pay about $2 extra than if you hunted out organic veggies locally... and with boy wonder on my hands my time is worth more at home.

My next delivery is when Auntie S is here... maybe I could make something yummy for the big family dinner.
Can't wait to see you.

May Day! May Day! May Day!

Sorry about that, couldn't help myself!

Just popping in to report on our going ons this past week.

On Thursday we K-Marted and got a lovely high-lo high chair for Tim. What's a high-lo high chair... well if you haven't been in a highchair since the seventies things sure have changed. This Highchair is the bees knees. I came with 3 (count 'em) tray inserts that can go in the dishwasher. They pop on top of the built in tray. There's a drinks holder, toys that can't drop on the floor, a basket for stuff. The Chair goes in up to 7 height positions (ie higher or lower) so you don't ruin your back and the back rest reclines in up to 3 positions... the only thing that this chair is missing is a massage function.

Speaking of the chair the boy has been having rice cereal for about a week now, and still appears to be enjoying it's blandy goodness. So we tried him on pumpkin and he appears to like it! Yay.

Speaking of the chair (part 2) When the boy is in the chair and is a little grizzly you might correctly assume that he's a bit bored... but when he starts going really red in the face it's time to reconsider and go change him because when they're sitting in the chair, and there is some pressure being applied then there is 3 distinct directions for stuff to go... and believe me you don't want that stuff to go anywhere!

There were 3 in the bed and the little one said....

He did it, he managed to roll over from his tummy onto his back. He first did this on Easter Monday. Well the otherday he managed it the other way. I was on the phone to Nic the Vic and boy wonder was having a whinge (I thought because I wasn't paying any attention).. and there he is on his tummy with a look on his face that said "how the heck did that happen".

Well I thought it was a fluke but yesterday afternoon he attempted it a few times ... we haven't had the complete tummy roll yet... one arm keeps getting stuck and when he tries to pull his arm out from under his tummy it's like he's springloaded and he rolls back onto his back again!.

He's really enjoying his rice cereal this week. He did get a taste of banana the other day but didn't have more than a few tiny spoonsful ... I thiink it was because he was full that he refused it... either that or it was the wrong temperature. When I'm giving him two "solid" meals next week we might introduce a veggie... haven't decided which one yet but probably pumpkin or sweet potato. Yum.

A game that's right up my alley

Tee Hee!

The fools!

Google AU is having a competition tied to the release of "The Da Vinci code" movie (mmmm Tom Hanks is looking appropriately haggard... Please take note Tom Hanks cannot and will not ever take place of the man of the house... the above comment is purely appreciation of the work he does, in the same manner as appreciation of Colin Firth is entertained occasionally). Anyhoo (as Auntie S would mutter) .... The competition is skills based. And I defy anyone to beat me in a searching compteition! All those years working for the library must pay off sometime! I got correct answers to the first 3 questions in 20 minutes.

Here's hoping I have time to complete it all and in time to win something useful (like that video camera)!!!

A happy Easter

Well that's Easter for another year.

This year we went to Grandma and Grandpa's place on the penninsula for dinner stayed the night and came home on Monday afternoon. It was a weekend of "firsts" for Tim.

• First time in a high chair (didn't like it because he kept leaning to the side),
• First big dinner with all of Daddy's family (didn't seem to mind but by that time he was pretty tired from the long day, car trip etc.)
• First time at the beach (it was cool and windy but also bright and got to be carried a lot by daddy... there were lots of new sights and smells and he didn't seem to mind the trip out.

And most exciting of all

• First time he rolled over by himself.

Yep that's right Tim has figured out that "if these people keep putting me on my tummy for halping me strengthen my arms and back then I can just lean to the left give a bit of a kick and gravity will do the rest". He didn't even look surprised when he realised he wasn't on his tummy anymore.

He doesn't know it yet but there is a heap more Tummy time coming his way because he has started learning how to crawl (sort of) and he needs practice. At the moment he hasn't figured how to move his arms forward (and he leans on his elbows not his hands). So he pushes off with his legs and then finds himself face planting on the floor... not to be disheartened he gives another push with his legs and "voila" a caterpillar on the lounge room floor, bum goes up, head goes down and he goes forward about 2 cm.

He's also spending a lot of time in his Farmyard Gym.... mostly the wrong way... he has been pivoting and doing 180's, and occasionally getting stuck at about 90'.

Woo Hoo...

We have had 1 visitor! Yay!

I'm assuming that it's Aunty S... if not you'll need to speak up (yes I've enabled the comments section).

Oh and if it was Aunty S.... have a good flight and we're looking forward to having brunch at Mums... you'll be amazed at how much Tim has grown!

What's that noise?

What do you do when it appears that a Qantas jet is attempting to land in suburban Melbourne? Well you shoot it of course (with the camera... just in case you were wondering)!

It made rather a tremendous noise and circled 3-4 times and headed down to Albert Park to scare the GrandPrix'ers, and fortunately didn't wake the baby up.

What is it about baking for an important reason that saps your confidence. This weekend we baked 2 Christening cakes. A good thing that we were a little organised and started easrly because the first cake was a disaster... wasn't cooked in the middle and we didn't know it. Honestly the skewer came out clean (probably the nice crust wiped off the uncooked mixture as we pulled it out... which kind of defeats the purpose of checking with a skewer if you ask me!). So when we cut the top off to start icing it we discovered a cavern of uncooked cake and it was way too late to try and fix it. A phone call to people who know brought us a recipe that didn't fail and I managed to ice it successfully, though we didn't cut the top off... I'm sure it is cooked thoroughly but if it isn't I don't want to know.

The sleeping thing still seems to be working but is sometimes hard work just like before except insead of bouncing on a swiss ball and ruining my legs now I'm cutting off the circulation back from my arms hanging over the cot and patting him to sleep. Such is life I guess.

It works!

12:30 am and the boy child, once he had finished feeding and had a change of daks was firmly wrapped and placed in bed awake.... He snuffled a bit, adjusted his sleeping position a touch, sucked on the dummy a few times and "Voila!" he slept for the next 7 hours.

Woo Hoo!

I guess that the proviso is that it works at night, when it's really dark and quiet.... And he's not too tired... sounds perverse that it's easier to get to sleep if you've only just woken up.

I've just popped him down for his 1st morning nap. I tried just popping him in the cot and leaving but he lasted 2 minutes when he politely coughed "excuse me Mummy, I need the dummy please". So I've reinserted the dummy, patted him gently on the tummy for a minute - I swear... just 1 minute - and he's off to the land of Winken, Blinken and Nod.

I repeat, Woo Hoo!

Speaking of Winken, Blinken and Nod is it because I'm a book fiend, or a woman or a mother that I remember all those bedtime stories, and nursery rhymes? For those of you who don't know Winken, Blinken and Nod is a poem by Eugene Field, a delightful little bedtime poem... you should read it sometime.

Well given that the boychild is asleep I must get to a little work, and a little rest... I'm entrenched in a new book, rather it's not newly published but it was a birthday gift. It's The other Boleyn girl by Phillipa Gregory. I've not read PG's work before but it's not bad. It focuses on Anne Boleyn's sister Mary and her dealings in the court of Katharine of Aragon, her relationship with Henry VIII, and the fulfilling of her sister's ambitions. The problem is that I'm going to have to review my Tudor history to see where the lines of fact and fiction meet... maybe when I've finished the book, though I already know how it will end. Off with her head

Shhhh... The baby is sleeping

How do you tell the native wildlife to "kindly shut up or move on elsewhere" that is the question?
It's easy with the humans, just put a little note on the front door to please be quiet, bargain with the workmen who are digging and drilling on the street to do our section first and move on to the neighbours.

We've begun the interesting exercise of teaching the boy child how to fall asleep, and some may well say"about bloody time". He's 4 months old so we can't really do controlled crying (confession: we tried it for about ten minutes and couldn't hack it any longer), so we're doing a modified "controlled comforting". 4 days in and it seems to be working.

Night 2 was amazing, the local ringtails on their nightly rounds knocked over a potted plant - rather some potted bulbs that haven't sprouted yet.... Thanks J & I! - spreading the dirt and bulbs halfway along the front veranda. I thought it was something in the bathroom falling over again (toothbrush holder on a suction cup that regularly makes a bid for freedom only to find it can't walk) and when I found it wasn't I went out into the night to check out what was happening. There they were ... 2 ringtail possums.... By the noise they make at night bounding up and down the colourbond roof I was sure they were brushtails... But little ringtails they are. The man of the house and I actively encouraged them to move on and I picked up as much dirt and bulbs as I could to repot the next day. We came inside and to our utter surprise he slept through it all. Sigh of relief.

The cat napper.

Some babies sleep for more than an hour during the day between feeds -- but do you think Tim does? No. He's really good at sleeping for 30 minutes then waking up bright eyes and bushy tailed ready to play again. So this by definition is a "Cat napper" -- no solution to this other than to live with it.
On the up side, he sleeps and settles very well overnight. So we shan't complain or get worried, but just make the most of the 30 minute breaks during the day.

Blog this!

Well, we've made it into a blog -- so hold on tight. We're going to comment on life with a little boy, what he's up to and what we're up to.