God, what happened to the weekend being a relaxing and restful time... I am knackered!! I did my minuting lark yesterday and did some work on assignment - mainly research I have to admit. I was too tired to bother typing the minutes last night so instead I did them today. While K wittered. And pranced around my feet begging for attention, much like a puppy. Poor Alex has chickenpox so we are a wee bit concerned that K might come down with it today/tomorrow. Oh well..... In more exciting news we visited friends and family this weekend, deflead a mightily protesting cat who had to be appeased with tuna, returned library books of K's that were overdue, did xmas prep but didn't manage to pack for Wellington.. that joy is all mine tomorrow.
Yawn. I am exhausted!!
Oy vey what a day!
Life here at Chez Seal continues, with its usual healthy doses of irreverence and snark. It's amazing the things that I in particular get amusement from haha. Alas, one of the things I find no amusement in whatsoever are the texts for my assignments. In fact, I wish the writers for all of them had discovered Prozac and gone into free love and drugs before ever setting pen to paper. Can you tell how the assignment is going? And how very much I am looking forward to my contact course in January? Yup, that much. Looked at the calender yesterday and almost screamed when I realised that we head off to Wellington for the xmas break in ONE WEEK! One week!!! And, slack wench that I am, I have not purchased K any xmas pressies yet. I am mulling over a Wiggles dvd but think that I might purchase some Bazoople fabric and a single white duvet and pillowcase and make him a very special duvet set. He adores animals so this will be a treasured item for him. I also plan to buy the fabric for a cloth Bazoople book (for the new baby) - and persuade someone else to make it up... Yes, I am dreaming... it will be me that makes it haha :) K is glorying in his little cold, which resulted in sleepless nights, nasty nappies and lots of hugs. He has been taught to lean forward and give his parents a kiss (after a mere 16 months of instruction hahaha). Sadly, he has infected me with his nasty germs so I do not feel 100%. Naturally as Xmas has approached our truck has given up the ghost and died on us. The auto electrician who replaced a part massively cocked up and part of the battery terminals is corroded to hell. Now the car wont start - handy, very handy. Nevermind! A call to a certain brother-in-law who happens to be an auto-electrician will be made for advice (and costs!!) I walked with K to the library this morning and watched in horror as the skies darkened and the rain poured down, and down,and down. I seized the next clear patch and fled, grateful that I had purchased the vegetables I needed for a yummy stew for tomorrow's dinner. K attempted to fall asleep on the way home and was severely chided. He was so lively when we got home that it took me nearly an hour to get him down for his afternoon nap - aaaiiieeee!! It is rubbish day tomorrow and it could not come fast enough for me. The garage reeks like a, well, lets just say I nearly lost my breakfast. I have advised Chris that a rubbish bin will be located and placed at the front of the property. The inside door to the garage has to stay open so Bandit can use the catdoor- and I cannae take the smell, Captain!! I am trying to book our "sexing" scan for the week beginning Jan 3rd but they haven't "got the sheets up " for Jan yet so I keep calling back... and back.. and back. As soon as I know the sex, you'll know it too. Yup, I want to know the flavour so we can sort names, once and for all!
On Thursday K and I headed off to the Oratia Christmas Party. It was a wee hike up the hill carrying the young heffalump and the day was sunny with not a cloud in the sky. K enjoyed himself in the blazing sun while I sweated. My condition was not helped by the fact the K raced about like a demented bumble bee and that a gap in the hedge for the tractor ride meant that kids could get through the adjacent orchard and onto the road. Towards the end of the session K was minding his own business in the sandpit when a girl his age came up with a bucket of sand which she threw repeatedly in his face, slapping his face between tosses. K was about to bite her when I fought my way free of the crowds and rescued him. And them some silly tart smirks at her hellish offspring and lilts "kids will be kids" before turning her back on her daughter again. Grrrrrr!! K was thrilled by his present from "Santa" though - a ball!!! He shrieked with delight when he saw it hahaha. That night Suzie collected me for the Plunket meeting - it was soo late when I gotr home - almost 11pm!! I was knackered. And none of the prep work for our Yule Supper had been done - aaaieee. On Friday I started making shortbread only to realise we don't have cornflour. This meant hiking up that damn hill in the sun and then going to the library for the Wriggle and Rhyme session so K could have a nice day too. We headed home and my son turned into a little demon! He galloped around the kitchen twisting the oven dials and smacking his hand against the door. I was relieved when he finally fell asleep - at 1pm!!! I had been trying to get him down for an early nap - nuh uh!! While K slept (and slept and slept) I tidied the garage, unloaded books from boxes, placed boxes inthe garage, rebox the books, stashed extraneous bits and pieces in the garage, baked appley tarts, swept and mopped the floor, sorted the washing and put in away, and vaccuumed. I had managed to do all this by the time K woke up - at 4:15!!! We had a lovely time, with K and Alex running around like maniac. The fondue (my first!) turned out well, Bryony's sourdough was great, and Colin's ducken was fantastic!! On Saturday I babywrangled and generally tried to work on my assignment. On Saturday night K has come down with a cold and woke every hour and a half to shriek and moan. My sleep-in on Sunday was not successful as I had a succession of visits from a certain short person. Sigh. Again, assignment work was tried but as K turns into whimpering limpet boy when ill I was not really successful. I did almost finish Hunter's xmas present though - bonus! At 8 last night I remembered that we had a house inspection this morning. Chris moaned in horror like a sick cow when I told him haha. Today has gone somewhat better. Torrential rain greeted me this morning but by the time we headed out at 10am it was merely cloudy. I had raced around like a crazy thing tidying and vacuuming and was well over the cleaning lark teehee. We had a good time choosing books at the library and returned to find that the real estate agent had been and gone.
The weather today was AWESOME!! Bright blue sky, with lots of sun! I was going to take K up to the playground by the library but instead we had Rachel around. It was really good catching up :) K turned into a wittering waif at 11am but despite me popping him into bed at 11:15 he wouldn't go to sleep. TWO HOURS LATER I gave up and sleepsacked him, before throwing him into the cot. He was asleep at 1:35 and woke at 3:45. Sigh, so it was another late night for us all. Tomorrow I said to Rache that I would meet her at the playground by the library to return her camera to her, and will also procure some salady things for Chris - as we are completely out. But I have just remembered that I will actually be at the Oratia Playgroup Xmas party at 9:30am. Man, I am such an idiot!! Once we have returned from the festivities I will send K into the arms of Morpheous. While K naps I will frantically seethe apples in spices, clean the house, mop the floor and work on my assignments... all the while wishing I was enjoying a nap myself! On Thursday night I am heading out to the Plunket meeting. On Friday we host the Yule Supper, at which I will be serving Fondue, a Gingerbrede Subtlety and appley tarts. Alas, the house must be clean for this event which means me working like a slave!! I hates working like a slave sniff sniff. Then on the weekend I must do assignment work!! Oh the joy of the most dreary plays in existence!!
Sigh. 
The weather here is sucking the big one!!! Tuesday was alright - in that I managed to get out the house without getting wet. K has been deprived of playgrounds and runs around outside due to the precipitation outside. On Wednesday it rained. I was up at the crack of dawn to bake berry muffins. Note how virtuous I sound, when K makes sure we are ALL up before the sun sticks its snout over the horizon. I baked, bathed and fed the child, bathed and dressed myself, did Chris's breakfast and lunch and set out for MM. (Activities were not performed in that order haha). It was raining. And muggy. I was hot and sticky and wet when I arrived, but K had a great time. He rambled around and pointed out Santa (both the real and inflatable versions) and even gave Santa a big smile and a toy car. He loved the session and was enamoured of the Bichon Frise that played the role of the shepherd's sheep. We then ate and I walked home. In the rain. And K fell asleep in the stroller at 11:15 and woke at noon, and wouldn't eat lunch and was hungry and cross and tired and made my life a living hell from noon until 4:30 when I fed him, bathed him, and threw him into bed at 6. I threw myself into bed at 7:15 and slept until 6:15am this morning. K generously let me sleep in this morning haha. We headed up to the library at 9:15 when the Wiggles finished and procured some books, then headed off to the butchers and then to coffeegroup. K had a great time and we managed to stay until 11:25 when fear consumed me. Poking and prodding kept K awake until we got home and he was asleep by noon. Shortly after a torrential rainstorm hit, and I smirked happily out the window, grateful to be inside for once :)
On Friday night Kieran decided to throw a tantrum. Why? Because he fancied some attention. We were beside ourselves as his little stunt began around midnight, before finally tailing off around 2am. To say that Chris and I were shattered the next day would be an understatement. Naturally the boy was knackered as well so a happy time was had by all. He went down for his nap at 11, rousing just before 2, when we high-tailed it up the hill to go see the Santa Parade. It was grey and spitting but not actually raining for the event and K had a ball!! He had an early bedtime that night though and slept like an angel. Typical!! Sunday was a very relaxed day. I was still shattered and couldn't focus on my assignment, eventually crawling off to bed for a nap. Today we headed off to Oratia playgroup - courtesy of Suzie who picked us up this am. It was wet and muggy so naturally K played outside- becoming ever damper. I was thinking about heading up to the shops and library this afternoon but will see how we go. If it is wet I shan't, and if it is dry...maybe :P There might be more books about owls. K LOVES owls and one of his favourite books is The Owl and the Pussycat. I am able to recite said book from memory now :P.
Life has been ticking on as usual... bouts of nausea, constant fatigue and kidwrangling haha. Ruth came round on Wednesday afternoon and it was great catching up with her. Finn raced around checking out the sights before being bundled into the car. I stayed home Thursday morning as I wasn't sure if any of the coffeegroup girls were coming round. They didn't and I missed storytime. Aaaaiieee. I made up for it by taking K up to the library and shops in the afternoon instead. K was whiney and clingy on Thursday and nearly did my head in. It didn't help that some speeding maniac had killed a duck and it was lying on the road directly outside our house. If people can't be bothered driving safely in an area rife with children they could at least have the decency to remove the carcass from the road! Chris wasn't home either as he was doing printing at work - and didn't get home until nigh on midnight. Today we headed into the bookbinding place to see to the binding of Chris's theses (multiple, haha). K was exceptionally well behaved and as a reward I took him up to the Wriggle and Rhyme session at the library. He had a great time and cavorted gloriously. After he woke up we went down to the local playground. The swings have not yet been replaced but a boy and his bunny were there. K was thrilled to see the rabbit, giving it gentle strokes that Bandit would give his right leg to receive. Bandit was also thrilled to see the rabbit and I had to eventually remove our little party from the playground before things got too...interesting..JPG)
K had a lovely time at playgroup choosing to spend most of his time with the water feature. He began to get a bit cross and grumpy as 11am hit and then actually bit a boy who was heading up the slide before him. It left an imprint but wasn't hard enough to cause the other boy to squeak. I was pretty ticked and will keep a beady eye on K. Woe betide if he does it again for he shall surely regret it!! On Tuesday I took K up to the library and shops. The weather was a bit iffy but I decided that we needed to get out of the house. It began to spit as we headed home but that was ok 'cos we made it inside without being drenched. It sunned up nicely in the afternoon - apart from cloudy periods - so I half filled the paddling pool and let K romp about the garden clad only in a long sleeved t-shirt. My little nudie rudie loved it - but kept trying to heave his wet self onto my nice dry lap!!
Why do weekends flit past so very quickly? I had my sleep-in on Saturday and K celebrated by waking up with a nightmare around 9pm, then shrieking awake at 4:15am. There's always something!! At 5:45am he began chanting the vowels that he knows - excepting I and U which weren't deemed worthy of his attention while he soulfully ran his milk bottle along the bars of his cot. I should mention that the cot is RIGHT NEXT to my side of the bed. Chris lumbered out of bed to retrieve his pride and joy while I debated the merits of removing him into his very own room that night :P As he left Chris closed the door. Why did he do that you ask? Well, last weekend, on my sleep-in, Kieran came running into the bedroom not once but Twice! Waking me up and ruining my moment of extravagance. We didn't do too much on Saturday as Chris claimed the unsettled night had ruined him :) On Sunday we headed out to Alex's 3rd birthday. K seemed to have a good time but nearly fell asleep 3x in the car on the way home. I spent much of the trip with my arm wedged up his top tickling him and snapping my fingers in his face. He responded with a lovely 2 hour nap in the toddler bed. Tomorrow Suzie has graciously agreed to collect me so I can go to Oratia playgroup - yay. K will be superthrilled! I also need to book my tickets for K and I to head down to Wellington. I couldn't believe that K pays the same fare as I do - meaning that this trip to head down for a mandatory Massey contact course is costing over $300!!! We have decided that we are not doing xmas presents this year. Money is just too tight and with Chris's contract expiring in February it is best to be financially prudent!
On Wednesday Chris was marking at home for the morning. I instantly took advantage (hey, it was raining!!) and got him to drop K and I off at Mainly Music. K had a brilliant time, boogying along and thoroughly enjoying himself. It was even better exiting the venue, seeing the pouring rain - and hopping into the car :). We kicked back and stayed home that afternoon as the weather wasn't fantastic. On Thursday I had coffeegroup so we hit the library, vege shop etc before heading to the rooms. It was great catching up with everyone. Again K had a great time before, at 11:30 precisely, dropping to the ground and lying on his back as he eyed me meaningfully. He only had to do this twice before visions of him falling asleep in the stroller spurred me into gear. Despite sprinting at LEAST half the way home I had to tap his face and joggle him to keep him awake. He slept well, however he woke after and hour and twenty minutes - just as I had completed my student loan stuff - and when I popped in, replaced his bottle and lay down on the futon he fell asleep again.. as did I!! He had a 3 hour nap - in his toddler bed which was pretty impressive! I took him to the Barnea playground at 4 where he chased ducks, ran up the tiny slope and had a great time running after Bandit. Of course, getting him down was rather vexing as he was still full of beans :). Today, while not sunny, wasn't too wet so I took the wee beastie up to the library for their active movement class. K wittered a little but did enjoy himself. We got home and I forced a banana into his maw before popping him down for his nap. I can't be bothered going out this arvo. That hill and being preggers is not a marriage made in heaven, so I might prep for a stirfry and bake a lemoncake. K LOVES lemoncake. This weekend I need to work on some assignment essays and also hope to turn out the garage, making it more user friendly for me :). Chris was going to obtain some cardboard boxes from Uni but I have seen no signs of these obviously rare items as yet!!
Yawn.
The weather in these here parts could at best be described as damp.
Indeed mateys - it's Guy Fawkes in this here part of town. I must say that while I like fireworks as much as the next person my enjoyment of them diminishes in direct proportion to how long they keep my baby awake. Apparently the denizens of Barnea Circle feel that their lives are incomplete if they cannot start firing off fireworks from 6:30pm till late. Sigh.
On Friday I whisked the Squeak up to the library and shops in the golden sunshine. We had experienced a power cut at 7am so at 10 I took him up the hill :) We shopped for sundry ingredients for carrot cake - but were unsuccessful in our quest for walnuts - a result of which has been that the cake remains unmade. On Saturday we had people around for a brunch and I roasted a chicken and baked an apple pie in my new pie dish. Both were delicious! We allowed our child to frolick nude in the garden before clothing him and placing him down for a nap. We were going to take Kieran to the Mainly Music Halloween festival but after we farewelled the guests at 3 we decided against it. Chris's back was out and besides, the toddler bed that we had bought on trade Me had just been dropped off. It is a cute little red bed, and came with an inner sprung mattress, 6 sheets and Wiggles bedding. We set it up in the spare room - I mean, Kieran's room - and he has been happily frolicking on it. We then celebrated Halloween by hiding upstairs and pretending no-one was home. Heeheehee. Yes, I do have issues handing strangers lots of chocolate - why do you ask? :).JPG)
God I'm tired!.JPG)
Studying didn't happen today - so sad as forgot had people round tonight so my last gasp effort will have to be delayed. Even my traditional panicky effort the morning of the exam may not happen as usual as little squeak will have to be fed and watered :(.JPG)
Well we had gorgeous weather for the Saturday and Sunday of Labour weekend. Now, on Monday, it is cloudy and cool but not yet rainy. On Saturday we took K to The Cascades. Somehow, within the first 10 metres of the walk, his legs stopped being able to work. I carried him about a third of the way and Chris carried him the rest. It was a nice walk and we had a picnic with Garth, Kym and Alex at the end. Despite their 25 minute head start we caught up with them right at the end of the trail. The fact that Alex was walking (and examining trees with the fervour of a young Charles Darwin) might have helped! Sadly K has a cold making him somewhat temperamental and drippy. Even more sadly he has infected Chris. I laboured away at my study, hearing Chris's tolerance for babywrangling rapidly decreasing as he began to feel ever more wretched. We made sushi for dinner last night which was rather nice. Kieran thought so too as he munched away on his first dinner of sushi. He quite liked smoked chicken too :). Today we plan to head into Toyworld and pick up a puzzle or 2 for the wee one. Tomorrow will be more study and Wednesday will be my exam. I am betting that K will not make it to Mainly Music with his father hahaha. I am praying that I too do not fall under K's malady - I have just gotten over being sick for 3 weeks - I could do with a patch of good health, not to mention wanting to have a clear head (and nose) for Wednesday's exam!!
Today dawned bright and sunny, with the promise of a fantastic day ahead. Alas that it all fell apart so soon. I thought that I would take K to the zoo since the weather was so nice, so I washed up dishes etc before Chris left for work. Kieran and I then walked Chris to the car and returned to the house. It was then that we discovered that three ducks had taken advantage of our absence to sneak inside. Pandemonium ensued. All three ducks flew repeatedly into the ceiling while I tried to chivvy them out the door. Then Kieran began to chase them around the house! head:desk. One managed to make it out the front door, one fled to the garden door - which was closed, while the other cowered in the kitchen. All were shrieking like stuck pigs, sending K into hysterics. After much effort I managed to sneak up (with a child clamped to my leg) on the one by the garden door and got the door open. Turning back to the kitchen I saw to my horror that the third duck had managed to wind the blind cord around a wing and was shrieking and flailing away as it tried to fly out the (closed) kitchen window. Words cannot express my emotions. I managed to get into the kitchen without K, who had trotted towards the other duck, finally prompting it to dash out into the garden. Visions of both CYFS and the SPCA knocking on my door filled my head as I managed to grab the ducks wing and untangle the fiendishly knotted cord. The duck was well behaved during this, trying to break free only once as the cord began to loosen. After that it crouched on the (FILTHY!!!Previously CLEAN!!!) counter as I finished the job, picking my way among all the dishes that had been laid out to dry as I did so (Grrrrr!!!). The bloody thing then hopped onto the frying pan to pick through chicken remains as I opened the kitchen window and when I chivvied it away defecated in the frying pan before falling out the window. So instead of bathing and dressing K and heading out to the zoo I got to calm my unsettled son, clear all the dishes off the door, wash down dung besmeared counters, windowsills and windows (let's not even mention the floor!), and wash all the dishes - again! Then wash out the frying pan. By the time I had finished all that, thrown away papers that were no longer legible, and got K bathed and dressed I was shattered. We didn't go to the zoo, and we will not today because I don't fancy hitting rush hour traffic later this arvo, what with it being Labour weekend and all. It is also my last day with Leviathan - making me even more cross about the feathered terrorists who disrupted my plans for the day. For come Monday I shall be truck free. The pain, the sorrow!! Woe, woe! My exam is on Wednesday so this weekend being Labour weekend is great for me - if not for Chris hahahah!!! I get to study and he gets to babywrangle. ToyWorld has a 20% off all toys on this weekend so we will pick up a couple of puzzles for K too.
.JPG)
I headed out today to meet up with Ruth for our visit to Motat. I fled the house, terrified that I would be late to meet Ruth at 9:40 - but was only 5 minutes late hehe). We parked by Western Springs/Zoo and walked through the park to get to Motat. It took us around 20 minutes. K frisked alongside like a little lamb, while Fin and Christian rode in the stroller. Once there the boys scattered in 3 different directions and were ruthlessly herded together before breaking apart. Almost like magnets repelling each other, now that I have the leisure to think about it. We saw 2 exhibits in the hour or so we were there (we got there as it opened at 10am). After collapsing onto a park bench in sheer exhaustion we fed the kidlets then walked back to our cars. It was a long walk.... K walked for all of 5 minutes before tearily demanding to be carried. My heart sank. I knew that quavery voice, those baggy eyes. There was NO WAY I was getting home without Squeak falling asleep in the car. And as we know, if I try and get him out of the car and into his cot...he wakes up and doesn't go back to sleep - aaaargh! I hopped in the car, and watched a policecar race down the road, do a U turn in the zoo entrance then turn at the end of the road and race back to the zoo. Very odd. Revving my engine I fled Mt Albert. I was so engrossed in trying to keep K awake (oh yes, and driving too!) that I found myself in the motorway lane. Dammit. As I drove the 20 metres onto the motorway I looked back... and K was asleep. Sigh. The trip was uneventful apart from the plethora of police cars at the Patiki onramp, and a policeman grilling a speeding vehicle in Glendene. I pulled into the drive, gazed at my sleeping son, went into the house and grabbed a book. The truck is not actually that comfortable a place to read a book for 2 hours - let me tell you!! Yup, the little devil slept for 2 hours!! After he woke up and had lunch I took him down to Foodtown to pick up some groceries - and bought smoked salmon. I LOVE smoked salmon. However, compared to K I detest the stuff :) He scarfed it down for dinner like gangbusters, closely followed by some apple slices and a chocolate yoghurt (blame Chris for that!).JPG)
I slept so well last night!! I was knackered and only crawled into bed at 10:40pm which might explain my excellent sleep. I was awakened by the "sweet" chirping of the toddler - a metre from my head (yes, his cot is still in our room, why do you ask?). Chris just groaned and burrowed deeper under the covers. I felt like doing much the same myself!! However, I forced myself awake and graciously received gifts of a bunny, seal and bear (his cot toys). I was then handed a bottle with a beaming smile and "Botta". He'e getting there with the words! Chris expressed his joy by turning off the alarm and digging even deeper under the covers, pursued by the Siamese. I was then handed another bottle, only to have it snatched back when K realised he hadn't drunk any of it!! I hauled him into bed and he drank his bottle and played with the cat and patted the lump that was his father. Chris finally left for work after feeding the kid chocolate so breakfast was much deferred and consisted of a pottle of strawberry yoghurt. I popped K into the bath after Bob the Builder and heard a knock on the door. I was surprised to see Isabella - our neighbour across the road. Her 1 yo has chickenpox and she wanted to know if I could take her little boy to MM with me when I took K. Naturally I laughed in her face and slammed the door...no, I opened the truck so she could get his car seat arranged while I went back up to make sure that K wasn't drowning. He wasn't. MM was good. Esteban was a little trooper and K danced joyously about whenever it wasn't called for and collapsed onto my lap (an interesting trick if your mother is currently standing up!!) whenever the dance numbers came up! Hmmm. He had however polished off most of a banana upon arriving at MM so I forgave him. He then scarfed down some chocolate cake and a biscuit, had a quick play with the toys and then I dashed home and dropped off Estaban. I am sure he was missing his mum after being away from her for an hour and a half! K then ate a sumptuous lunch of half a salami stick, a peanut butter sandwich, and 5 pikelets. More than he normally eats all day!!! I popped him into bed and cleaned out Leviathan. I will vacuum it tomorrow though, as I really can't be bothered today. My Massey summer school folder also arrived today. Aaargh!! How can I goof off while I wait for it to arrive in November if it is already here!!! Unfair, unfair!!.JPG)
Sunday's trip to Bethells withered and died as the rain gently (yet persistently) cascaded from the sky. I daresay the boy would have been keen to hit the sand - but his father decided early on not to stir from the house :P I slaved away on my exam study for much of the day before going for a walk up to the shops around 5. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze - all in all the weather was unlike the rest of the day's offering!
On thursday we had coffeegroup. Despite K deciding to dissolve into fits of tears we went - in the pouring rain - and he had a great time. I forget what I did on thursday afternoon - it was obviously completely unforgettable :P On friday I headed up to the library on foot (it wasn't raining - imagine!!) and K participated in the first active movement session at the library. He danced, he pranced, he hugged toys, he stole balls, he beamed with delight - and made an utter spectacle of himself. I was exhausted just watching him! I only just managed to get him home before he succumbed to the lure of that evil siren, Sleep. That afternoon I went off to the Glendale road playground/fields. I took a ball and K frisked and frolicked like a puppy at my heels. I called it quits after 40 minutes of sprinting across rugby fields and lolloping around playgrounds, as I do not have the energy reserves of my son! On saturday K woke up at 6am. This was particularly sucky as it was Chris' sleep-in...sigh!! Later, I studied while Chris babywrangled, then we headed out to the zoo for the late afternoon. We were extremely lucky, arriving (umbrella free) as the sky clouded over and the deluge began, leaving as the skies cleared and blued up.. head:desk! We were able to view the lions, cheetahs et al but especially 2 seals, one of which reminded us irresistably of Colin. I think it was the way it hovered by the window, winking and showing off its mad skilz. The whiskers might have had something to do with it too :P
Gosh, dont you just hate it when all you want to do is have an early night - then remember that you need to blog!! Aaaiiieee the cruelty of life is indescribable :).JPG)
Chris achieved a pass with minor corrections. Booyah!!!!! Yay, I can now start calling him Dr Seal hehehe. I asked him what he wanted for a special dinner but he was surfing his personal sea of euphoria - so no details for you there :) He will however be having an apple and rhubarb pie with custard for dessert -as Colin has most graciously and kindly lent us a pie tin (ours died in the great pumpkin pie debacle!). Yay, all those years of work are done and sealed and PhD'ed.
On Sunday a miracle occurred - a warm, blue sunny day. I nearly fainted with shock and delight. Instantly we decided that the long deferred trip to Bethels Beach would take place - in the afternoon when there was no chance that K would fall asleep in the car hehe. I did many loads of washing and sundry other chores while Chris studiedthen K had his nap. Upon hearing his welcoming chirps (he was reading his book and watching the cat on the bed) we rescued him and headed out to Bryony's. Lunch was fabulous, and Bryony baked a lovely ginger cake that K had to eat with both fists - it was soooo good, you see! K had a ball chasing Rabbit the dog, and cavorting around the deck and assaulting the cat and generally having an incredible time. Then we headed off to Bethel's Beach - and if K had thought he was having a great time at Bryony's he changed his mind. I don't think he stopped screaming with delight for even a second! He dashed about on the warm sand, flung a pinecone about and danced in the shallow wavelets - we never even made it onto the beach proper haha. I was saturated, and sandy and puffed, while Chris glided about at the water's edge carrying shoes and a change of clothes for K. We were there for about 40 minutes. At this stage K was starting to stagger and have the occasional squall - while still having a great time leaping about in the wavelets with his mum! We staggered off to the car where K was stripped to a nappy and dressed in a t shirt and I got to sit all wet and sandy) and desperate for the loo). Once home K barely touched dinner - until I chucked some frosted Shreddies (tres nutritious!) at him - then he was showered and popped into bed. Tomorrow playgroup resumes and on Wednesday Mainly Music. Yay. Hopefully the nice weather will hold too!
Sigh. I am still sick. Yup, almost 2 weeks now of coughing and a runny nose, and absolutely no energy. None of which makes for a very exciting life, or indeed, helps one study!!
It has been a pretty miserable week, especially after my bad cold was compounded by throwing out my back. I curse again the impulse that drove me to walk up to the library for storytime - my thrilled-to-bits-to-get-out-of-the-house son riding triumphantly in the stroller. While restraining Kieran during storytime I did something to my back and have experienced sciatic pain on my right side since Thursday morning. This has made babywrangling fun fun fun. Got the test results back from the Dr on Friday - and they show no reason for my system to have experienced a meltdown after the miscarriage. So, I have an appointment on Monday at 9:30 and I will be asking for an ultrasound to see if there is anything showing up there. Today Chris and I took the Squeak up to the Glendale Road rugby fields/playground. Despite the threat of rain K shrilled his delight to the skies, and didn't stop running until AT LEAST half an hour had elapsed. We had chatting, and leaves brought to us, and inspection of flowers and sand - and a fab day for a little boy, probably the best he has had all week :P Poor little guy. He has been very good about me being so listless while ill..JPG)
Man, good times have not abounded in Chez Seal. Chris is experiencing enough back pain that he is sucking down Voltaren and I am dragging my energy-devoid carcass around in a listless fashion. K has bounced right back from HIS cold - so I was forced to dress and leave the house this morning. I took him down to the Glendale playground and rugby field where he raced around like a maniac with me trudging along behind, husking directions (NO K, do NOT run into the men's public toilets, Darling boy, please don't run towards that big UNLEASHED dog... etc) and otherwise letting him run wild. I am sure my parenting style raised a few eyebrows - but what care I for the opinions of strangers haha. We then walked up and down the perimeter of the field with K touching each wooden post of the chain fence and me counting to 10, then starting again from 1... My voice got huskier and huskier - it is now nonexistent. At noon I threw the kidlet into the truck and drove home where I fed the beastie and got him into bed. I collapsed into bed, but couldn't sleep...until 2:05. Guess what time K woke up... 2:18... Can you feel the joy? K amused himself with puzzles for most of the afternoon while I slumped on the floor next to him, gamely interacting, all the while wishing I could creep upstairs to have a nap. I also put on and hung out 3 loads of washing, made Chris soup for dinner, baked K choc chip muffins and prepared K a sumptuous dinner - which he didn't eat. As my condition is worsening I reckon K will experience a truly sucky day tomorrow - poor little guy.
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The year is just flashing by! Soon it will be Christmas and then Kieran's 2nd birthday!! On friday I looked after Alex for a few hours so Kym had a couple of child free hours on her birthday. Alex is a great kid and was a pleasure to look after. Unfortunately, he had a runny nose... a nose that has been passed onto Kieran, and now onto me boohoo. On sunday we headed over to Simon's to celebrate his birthday. I had spent much of the morning baking a pumpkin pie.. which I placed on the hood of the truck and forgot about. I remembered the pie in Henderson, but alas, by then it was long gone!! I was gutted! We spent 2 exciting days trying to adjust K's sleep schedule to daytime savings- a pox on daylight savings!! However, our efforts have borne fruit and he settled easily this evening. Maybe it was the 2 walsk today. I seized a gap in the showers this morning to walk up to the shops and library. I bought some veges and 2 bananas for K- one of which he devoured in the strolller. Later, after his nap, we walked down to the playground by the library where K had the sass run out of him, and me!! We headed into the library after and then I bought 4 more bananas - for the snufflepig. He also ate 2 and a half banana's today - I could count the number of times he ate an entire banana on one hand - let alone 2 1/2!!
Yesterday did not begin well. For starters the sodding birds in the garden wake K up at 5:45/6am each morning. We thought 6:30 was bad? Oh nooooo, this is worse, much worse! And not just ONE bird, heaven forfend. There seems to be at least a dozen of the feathered fiends carolling outside!! Grrrrg. And it rained. On and off, on and off. Sigh. I took K up to the library and the shops, then we got home and mopped the floors (K tried to drag the bucket around the house, and tapdanced across the freshly mopped tiles...) and cleaned the oven, and swept and scrubbed and basically made myself miserable :P A parcel arrived though, which caused much excitement within Chez Seal. It was a little outfit (and a teapot) from Marjorie and Ken. The outfit was just adorable and K wore it to sleep in last night. The teapot was also very nice. It is still in the box as we have officially RUN OUT OF SPACE. It was bound to happen :)
Let's see... on Thursday we headed off to Parr's Park to romp with the coffee group girls. Like a prat I managed to park across the rugby field that is next to the playground - head:desk! I trudged across K in tow and we had a lovely time. The only issue was the signs out warning people to stay off the grass as it had dangerous chemicals on it. All the babies were a bit ticked off at being kept away from the grass and our ire was immense when we realised (after 30 minutes of this torture) that the signs were just up so that the grass could be mowed... grrr!! Despite this we had a lovely time. On friday I headed over to Kym's before we went to Fairy Falls... Let's just say the trip was "an adventure". When Kirst and I were small we had lots of adventures with mum. To this day I am noyt sure if mum purposefully struck out into unknown territory, or just got lost... a lot. I got lost going there. Sressed does not even BEGIN to describe how I felt -with no mapbook or cellphone - as I struggled to find my way to a place I had never been to before. Lets just say I was overcome with relief when I saw Kym in the FF carpark! The kids did great on the walk and they had a ball. Then I got lost going home! What made it worse was that I was going to turn in the correct direction before I changed my mind. 5 minutes later when Kym had NOT overtaken me I began to wonder if I was heading towards Bethells beach rather than to Henderson. I knew for sure once I passed Bethells fire station. I should add that it was now 12:15 and K was looking decidedly snoozy in the back. Alask he was asleep and was awoken at 12:50 when I finally arrived home. God, I needed a nap!! Alas, K had had his sleep for the day and instead we went to the library and shops. I have tons of pics from the last fortnight - none of which I can share with you as my PC is dead. Can't switch it on, all data has been lost. I am not happy. Anyway.... on the weekend Chris and I were just lazy beasts and lolled around doing nothing much :) Today was the last session of playgroup, so I baked scones, frantically cut out teapots (the theme was Mad Hatter Teaparty) and washed playdough equipment and, oh yes, kept and eye on my child too :P
Gosh, what with my little timesink (aka Kieran) and heading up to Kerikeri for the twin's christening I have not blogged for some time!
Ever since K's bout of gastro and the knock on the head he has been a changed boy. Once an avid bather he now recoils from baths as if they were cobras (although, in fairness, this may have something to do with Chris forcing him into cold baths to bring down his temperature). Whereas he would run to the door with shrieks of delight when his father walked in the door, he now flees to my side like Bambi seeking the forest in hunting season. And where before he was a happy relaxed little boy he is now a boy with a mission; and that mission seems to be the re-enactment of The Dying Swan at LEAST 20 times a day. Let me tell you, tanty city is not fun, especially when you have to spring forward to catch the head before it hits the tiles. The eye is bad enough - another injury would have CYF's sniffing around here in 2 shakes of a rat's tail. Anyway, I had Dying Swan for most of yesterday - and by the time Bob the builder finished K was treated to the fastest dinner and bath of his life, before having Pamol spooned into his maw and being tucked into bed with a bottle of Horlicks (sssssh, don't tell anyone!). And then I headed off and showered and made dinner, and greeted Chris when he shambled through the door. A pleasant hour or two was spent playing on Farmville and then I headed off to bed.
These last few days have been... interesting. K has been very clingy and prone to tears at the drop of a hat. It doesn't help that he looks like Ali after the Rumble in the Jungle either! However, we went for a walk up to the library and shops yesterday as the weather was so nice. K leaned forward in his stroller like a racing car driver and shrieked with glee whenever he saw me. Consequently I spent much of the trip running ahead then turning to see K, who was squealing with delight and waving at me. Lots of waving from my end and then the cycle repeated itself. I was knackered by the time we got to the library :) The librarians were horrified to see K's little face, and to hear that it had happened in their library - but it could have happened anywhere. Alas.