Lightning crashes....

and it certainly did last night! Around 4:30am a noise like a gigantic bell being rung followed by an immense rumbling sound filled the air in the crescent. Chris and I were woken by it and were unsure whether the skip at the building site had been hit by a car or what had happened. The humongous noise was followed by torrential rain - so loud, with raindrops so large they sounded like hail, along with lightning and thunder. It was at this point that we realised we had experienced a lighting strike directly above us. Yowsa!!! Poor CheekyChops was awakened and afrightened, but ChuckyMunky slept blissfully on :) In other news I am in the long slow process of transferring all my files and email across onto the laptop - but was able to tear myself away to watch The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. I enjoyed it :) The weather continues truckloads of rain.....yippee :( and I have fallen in love with Wii. Alas, the cheapest one I could find was $400 Aiiieeeee, oh well, nevermind :P ChunkyMunky has bounced back from his immunisations, and was grinning and chortling like a loon today.
Tomorrow is going to be a quite day at home, as I have a Plunket meeting in the evening. Tuesday is PORSE, wednesday is the Plunket coffeegroup and thursday is free. Friday will be Playcentre - yippee!! Mind you, there is a fair bit of phone calling re the coffeegroup that I have to do - sux to be me!!

Raider of the lost lunchbox.....

CheekyChops has a lovely Lighning McQueen lunchbox which he adores. This is hardly surprising as he is a fan of all things CARS. Anyway, on tuesday morning as I packed the last few items into his lunchbox he watched with some interest before wandering off to watch the WOTWOTS on tv. I gave him his breakfast of which he ate all of 3 teaspoons worth. Sigh. A few minutes later he scurried over to his little train backpack and pulled out his lunchbox which he carried off to his highchair. Placing it on the tray he opened the lunchbox and selected a salami stick and an oaty slice for his breakfast. Using the lunchbox as the container for all meals seems to have promoted a better appetite for CheekyChops. Go the lunchbox!! He had a lovely time at Henry's - and as I arrived he was happily playing Henry's piano :) My craft morning went well - apart from ChunkyMunky pulling a surprise poonami on me. I used all my wipes..... Oy vey! On wednesday CheekyChops was in high spirits and had a blast at the Plunket coffeegroup. After I got home he puddled around while I developed the mother of all migraines. ChunkyMunky kept crying whenever I put him down and eventually, after the big one was put to bed I took ChunkyMunky up to bed with me. I had a nice 30 minute nap, and afterwards some panadol which seemed to take care of the headache. Upstairs 2 little boys slept, all snug and warm, while I frantically cooked a pork, apple and caramelised onion pie, in a caramelised onion pastry crust. I thought it turned out ok :) Then I drove out to the coffeegroup dinner with my pie. It was a lovely evening apart from my headache coming back - at one stage I honestly thought I was going to throw up.. luckily Suzie has some panadol etc that I was able to take :) It was a lovely evening and as I drove veeeeery slowly home (the lights were killers, and the rain did not aid my driving) ChunkyMunky chilled in the back. He was a very good date for the dinner - calm and quiet haha. I got in the house and fed the kidlet and poured myself into bed. It was 11pm after all :) On thursday CheekyChops headed off to Henry's and ChunkyMunky got to take a ride in the stroller up to the doctor's where he had his 3 month immunisations. He lay on the table and cooed and gooed at us - I felt like such a traitor knowing what was coming. He did have a shriek but it was over quickly and he settlerd down for a cuddle and some snackin's. We picked up CheekyChops and I had a chat with Henry. We will only have PORSE on a tuesday from here on in. ChunkyMunky was fairly lethargic thursday afternoon - and so was I. We had the Plunket nurse visit and K woke up just as she was leaving. Afterwards I really struggled to stay awake. All ChunkyMunky wanted was to cuddle down on me and sleep. His big brother wanted cuddles ansd stories too. Thursday night was a difficult one for Chris - and not because of Chunky, who woek every 4 hours in need of a cuddle and a feed - but because K kept coming into the bedroom every 20 minutes from 2am until Chris got up at 4am. Needless to say he was not in the cheeriest of moods!! Today is rainy and I have a very sad little baby so will stay home and cosset him :)

Brain fade

Gosh, it has been a week since mum and Mike left and I can't remember much of this week. Wednesday was the usual Plunket coffeegroup - which went well. On thursday I had a plunket committee meeting. I was also supposed to have a Plunket nurse visit - but she was sick and cancelled. I also found that the WINZ subsidy had been paid to Henry - which was good. However, Henry is growing to appreciate the work involved in caring for CheekyChops.... and $6 an hour just doesn't cut it :). On friday I visited Suzie and CheekyChops had a fantastic time playing. On the weekend we just chilled. We spent the the time cleaning up the house and going food shopping. We started our diet today so had to make sure we were stocked up. As it is I will be doing a vege shop tomorrow, before my craft morning before I collect CheekyChops. I also have to type up minutes too. Today I took CheekyChops to Playcentre where he had a blast. The weather was torrential rain but cleared to blue sunny skies by 9:30am -which is when we departed for Playcentre. CheekyChops had a meltdown at the end though and we dashed home and he was put straight to bed, where he had a refreshing 1.5 hour nap. This afternoon, as we left the house for the library, a fire engine came into the circle and the firemen waved at CheekyChops who was well overawed - but managed to wave back :P. The library visit went well, was followed by a quick trip to the local playground and culminated in a pizza dinner and bath for the Cheeky one. Alas, his younger brother took substantially more effort to get down (she says, typing at 9pm at night, having just deposited his ass in the cot!!!). On thursday ChunkMunky has his 3 month immunisations - and we should have a grand old time with that!!

Happy Families

Mum and Mike have just left. They left to a greyish sky and we have now enjoyed torrential rain and a general chilling down of the temp.... A good time to leave methinks :)
They arrived on Tues but only arrived late - 2 hours after I expected them. I did the usual things like check to make sure there were no reported accidents etc but it turns out their rental car agency had put a map of North Island into the car rather than the more useful Auckland map. On Wednesday they had the delight of coming along to my plunket coffeegroup. Mum taught Erin how to knit, and she seemed to really enjoy it. An hour of interacting with children - with K being a bit of a handful was enough to send them off to the shops. Lucky devils!!! And when they returned they brought a laptop. I was sooooo excited. It it amazing. It does everything. It is soo cool. Hehehehehe I am very very lucky!!! On thursday we headed into Henderson looking for several things, including a Lightning McQueen backpack for Kieran. Nothing of this ilk could be found - but mum and Mike found a lovely train backpack which K really likes. It matches really well with the Thomas trains that they brought. K loves them so much that he has slept with them for several nights :) On friday we headed out to MOTAT. I had been planning on driving but.... the car wouldn't start. Boy, was I ticked!!! We managed to squeeze into the little yellow car however, though I am still not sure how! It was a greyish blustery day with occasional drizzle. Much better than I expected from the forecast!! We marvelled at various pieces of technology and hopped onto the tram to check out the aeroplanes. K had a marvellous time when he discovered a pedal mini plane. He, and another boy, hopped into it and had a marvellous time. It wasn't so marvellous getting him out though!!! I eventually had to let him race around the hangar to work off his disappointment. On saturday Chris toddlerwrangled while we headed out to do some clothes shopping. It was exhausting - but worthwhile and I got some lovely things!! Mum has great taste :) I managed to pick up a nice present for a friends daughter too - useful as her 1 year birthday was the following day! Melita's birthday party was lovely and K had a great time. We (ie Chris) gave the car a good run to make sure the battery was nice and charged. This seemed to keep it idling a lot better. On Monday we planned to take the train into town to meet Chris for lunch at the Wurst House. We were, until I looked at the cost!! It would have cost us all $30 for the trip. Instead we drove. We started walking up to the University and when we reached the overbridge between Albert Park and AUT K had a major meltdown and had tantrum after tantrum, rolling around on the ground and screaming. I had to pick him up and carry him, cursing roundly the entire time. Difficult to do when one has a baby strapped across one's chest you know! We finally managed to drag ourselves into Light Metals where we found a native guide. This kindly Canadian directed us through the rabbit warren that is Chris's workplace and we gratefully passed ownership of K to him. Lunch was lovely and was finished off with some Kapiti icecream. It was a struggle to keep K awake on the way home - but we managed, and he slept fr almost 3 hours!!! The Baby Factory called to say that K's new booster seat was waiting. I was really thrilled to get one for $90 - mcuh cheaper than regular retail. K seems really happy with it,m and I have washed the covers for his old carseat. C will now be moved into it, and we will use the stroller more when out and about... though I have been developing great arm muscles carrying the capsule. C's sleeping has been fantastic (we got another 7.5 hour stretch last night!) and he has been a snackin' fiend. Judging by the little white bumps on his lower gums there may be teeth coming soon. Then Monday night I went out to dinner. It was an intimate dinner - just me, mum, Mike and Cameron. The meal was delicious and the conversation wonderfully adult :) Today dawned clear after some more torrential rain this morning. But then it blued up and we had a lovely time at Cornwall Park where we devoured a Devonshire tea and walked around enjoying the sunshine. We then headed back to Glen Eden where we collected Kieran and took the boys to Parrs Park where one frolicked, and one frolicked in my arms, and 2 adults swung on the swings, and played with a ball. I cursed the fact that I hadn't brought my camera.
Tomorrow is coffeegroup.... I believe it will rain - oh joy!

Panic and Pandemonium

Where has the time gone? Gosh, the week has just flown by. The weather on friday was beautiful so I decided to take K and C into Henderson on the train. K is very fond of trains. I also decided to take C in a sling and to let K walk - and left the stroller at home. Big mistake. Huge. We got into Henderson with K enraptured by the trip and headed off to the library. Excitement soon palled, especially as I had to pause to feed the snackin' fiend. I suggested that we leave the library to have some food- which initiated a massive meltdown by K at the foot of the stairs...sigh. I can now confirm that one can carry a child while an infant is strapped to one's chest - but that it is very difficult. I carried/dragged the child to Dr Shoe where I collected Chris's shoe. The repair looked great. You couldn't tell that Chris had ruptured the stitching pushing the car. K continued the tanty, then magically regained some semblance of normality. I purchased a chocolate man for him and we headed into the playground. All was well until some older boys entered the area (ages 7 or 8). One of them shoved K out of the way and this was too much for my litle boy. We had another massive tanty. I finally managed to get him onto his feet and moving but just as we approached the station I saw the train pull in. We could not have caught it. Feeling somewhat desperate as I now had 30 minutes to kill before the next train I headed into Toyworld where K was fascinated by the train sets - and even more fascinated by the Tonka trucks - Chuck the truck I think. They rolled and somersaulted their way along a track and he was in love. Luckily I spotted a wooden Iggle Piggle toy on the remainder table next to the trucks - for $10 from $30. I pounced and lured K away. We scurried to the train with 1 tanty on the 100 metre trip, then headed home - with one tanty on the way. Well, it was a lot of walking for a little boy I must say!! Once home a huge meal was consumed - wow. He even ate most of MY lunch!!! A lovely nap for all followed when I tricked him into having a snuggle on the mattress on the floor. On Saturday we were going to go to Craig Avon but it rained. We are talking torrential downpour. Dvd's were watched and children minded. Baking was attempted and consumed. Sunday passed in a similar fashion :) K is slowly getting back to normal re sleeping habits. I rearranged his bedroom - which seemed to help, removed the pictures from the walls, and we have had to sit in there with him. Despite this, he still screams the house down when placed into his Pj's. However, last night, for the first time in ages, he did NOT visit us in the wee smalls. Yay Kieran!! Cameron thrilled us too with a stretch of sleep lasting 6.5 hours. Woohoo. I was going to go to Playcentre today but K was in a bit of a mood and by the time I fed and dressed the boys and myself it was past 10am. Instead we stayed home and I changed around the toys to titillate K's interest. I also attempted to tidy the house - an exercise in futility if I have ever seen one! Tomorrow is the craft morning - hopefully I can get the cloth book tacked together - and maybeI can get the kitchen floor scrubbed... Maybe :)
Mum and Mike arrive early afternoon tomorro and stay for a week. It will be fun ;)

Dazed days

This sleep palaver of K's is an absolute nightmare. Yesterday I had to take his bed out of his room, strip and make it afresh and put it in the pc room - where he could conceivably feel more comfortable with it. I put the mattress down on his floor instead and we spent much of yesterday afternoon lying on it (that would be C and me) while K perched cautiously next to us reading books. He was comfy enough with the matress after several hours that him sleeping on it seemed an option. We all bathed together and then Chris took K in hand to get his pj's on for bedtime. OH. MY. GOD. Some time later K was dressed and the tears hadmostly dried up and then Chris tried to get him to lie down on the mattress. Some time passed... C had dropped off to sleep so I tried my hand at enticing our tired (no nap) boy onto the mattress. Eventually he crawled in on his hands and knees like a little beaten dog. All went well with me lying down and him snuggled next to me. I read the Gruffalo, pausing to feed my now wakeful infant, and K fell asleep just before the end. He woke at 11 but I dashed in, lay next to him and he then slept the night through.... so a partial success. He is at PORSE today and we may go up to the library this afternoon. Depends on whether the rain keeps falling out of the sky :)

Big Brother's watching you

Kieran loves Cameron. He comments often on "our baby", names him as Cameron, and lays many a sloppy kiss upon the little one's face. C for his part is riveted by his big brother and thinks the world revolves around K... I still get number one position - but that is due to the fact that the boy is highly fond of his snackin's. It was a hard night last night. Both boys actively resisted sleep. This was made worse by the fact that K was up and down like a yoyo the previous night (while C clocked up his first 7 hours snooze). K had not had his daytime nap and so was fraught and overtired - though he ate beautifully throughout the day. C snacked whenever he got a chance and was too excited by playcentre to sleep more than an hour total. By 3 I gave up and bundled both boys off to the library in the stroller - it being a fine and sunny day. After some shrieking C fell asleep in the stroller as we headed home - via the local playground. We had met up with Isabelle at the library and, as both sets of children obviously hungered for the wind through their hair, we decided to leave the sheltered confines of the library. K had a blast on the swing and slide and only reluctantly departed. I prepared cinnamon swirls which Chris baked.... I myself would have baked them a little less than he did, but the crunchy morsels were very tasty, if I do say so myself :) I decided to cancel the craft morning and kick about with C at home Tuesday morning while K is at PORSE. I have pretty much decided to end PORSE at the end of September. The weather willbe better, the boys will be older... hopefully this is a good decision :) In other news C has had a growth spurt and barely fits into size 0-3 months clothes and will def be into the next size imminently - he was so small just a few weeks ago!! He coos and goos and cheeps a lot now - very sweet :)
K was a diabolical little beast - he finally went to sleep just before 4am in the morning after coming in and out of our room, having multiple tanty's and being a right little gobshite!! And where did he sleep? Next to me, after climbing up onto the bed while I "slept".

A farmer's life for me...

K had a great time on Thursday with Henry and we walked up to the library once both boys had awoken from their naps. On Friday we had the MAGS farm trip. The day dawned foggy. I was happy with fog, as rain would have been diabolical. However, it soon warmed up dramatically, with clear blue skies and warm sunshine - it was lovely. We arrived at the farm to see 10 piglets milling around with ducks and chickens. K nipped over like the wind and cavorted mightily. His enthusiasm faded when we watcheda cow being milked and he absolutely declined the treat of either milking or stroking the cow. The cow in fact received strokes from all three mothers, and none from the 3 toddlers :P We then walked down a slippery slope to watch the calves receive their milk - a high energy performance that riveted the 3 young ones, and then turned our attention to sundry other pigs, cows and sheep. The finale was the opportunity to feed a lamb with a bottle. I wish I could say K was first in line for this -but he wasn't. Most of the time he wasn't even in the room, being too busy crawling through the sheep pens, running down the ramp, playing with the fire hose and climbing a heap of stones. But he had a good time at least. He had such a good time he was in bed mere moments after we arrived home :) The weekend just flew by. Saturday we took the boys to CraigAvon Park where K galloped around twice, collecting interesting branches, leaves and pinecones as he went - and jumping into puddles as he went. He had a blast. C slept for nearly the entire time :) On Monday I took the boys off to Playcentre to see if it would suit us better than Oratia Playgroup. Hell, yeah. The people are friendlier and the facilties are much better. K had heaps of fun and C enjoyed himself too :) This afternoon we are heading up to the library and I will do some baking upon our return. I am sure K will appreciate that :)