Forgive me readers,

For it has been some time since my last blog entry :) I have been seduced by the delights of Farmville and have been enjoying sowing, growing and reaping virtual crops to the exclusion of all else - including Scrabble. I know!! Amazing, what.

On Wednesday we were awoken by the sound of Bandit vomiting up his biscuits, multiple times, in the bedroom. Naturally this woke Kieran, and thus, our wrath! Why old Vomitus can't do the deed outside I will never know! Later that morning I headed off to my last VitD appointment, receiving a MTA voucher in exchange for some blood :) Then K and I headed into mainly music - we arrived just as they were about to begin. Normally we arrive quite early but the morning had got off to a slow start, and was further delayed by my need to visit a bakery. I get these urges, you see..... K had a great time at MM and we got home with plenty of time to lunch him, before popping him into the cot with Cow. Cow is my hot water bottle. It has a cover that is furry and snuggly and K looooves Cow. When I popped it into the cot, it was because the day was quite cool, and Cow was slightly warm. K scarfed his bottle and rolled onto the half full Cow and went to sleep. Occasionally I would hear slosh slosh noises through the baby monitor as he gave it a pat before nodding off again. This morning K awoke early. I sprang into action, flinging Cow into the cot. We were edified to hear slosh slosh for the next 20 minutes as K petted Cow with delight. He is my son, after all :) Ruth came by for a visit this morning bringing Finlay and Christian. The three boys enjoyed themselves immensely, eventually leaving after a couple of hours of running around the garden and cat tormenting. Yes, Bandit was terrorised by 3 active 18 month old boys and lies exhausted on the spare room in the sunshine. My heart goes out to him - not! Kieran is now asleep, cheek pillowed on Cow. This afternoon we are headed off to visit Rachel and her new baby - should be fun!

Is that a BINGO?

On Saturday we hosted a group of people keen to play in Chris's new roleplaying game. They arrived at noon - right after K, who had well and truly had the sass run out of him, crashed into slumber. They brought food. Tons of food. More food than you could shake a stick at :) And we feasted and mathematical formulas were applied to characters, and people were perplexed, and Chris ran around enlightening people and then they left at 5:30 that evening. Leaving behind food. Tons of food ;)

On Sunday we headed over to Garth and Kyms to drop off some food :) We had a quick catch-up and K played with Jazz and got some hugs from Alex (too sweet for words) before we headed off to the mall to meet Jen. Once at the mall the search for baby Crocs began. Finally a pair was found in K's size (6-7) and we handed over $30. I checked out the knockoffs - but they didn't suit his feet as well as the Crocs did. He has inherited his fathers feet alas. I must buy him a pair in the next size up (7-8) - once we have paid off the $400 powerbill- -ouch. I want to get him a pair in yellow or black or red. His current pair are bright blue. We got home and Ros and Colin came over. Ros to play scrabble with me and Colin to escort Chris to see District 9 - which they agreed well rocked the Casbah. Ros and I won a game each - booya - and K annihilated the board, causing one of the tiles - an S to be precise - to be lost. We hunted high and low but the damn thing has vanished :( After the game we headed off to the park where adults and children alike frolicked mightily. The night was rounded off by the arrival of Sue bearing home baked treats from Wellington. Treats that K approves of emphatically!

I whisked him off to playgroup this am. We arrived later than usual and so stayed for storytime and helped clear away toys etc. K made a gorgeous picture of the night sky which (head:desk) I left behind as the poor little widget wanted to go home after a lion bopped him on the nose.

See how they run!

Thursday coffeegroup was good, although the room seemed rather empty without Rachel and Ruth. Apart from K melting down several times in succession - so unlike him! - it went very well. We had a cruisy afternoon, popping briefly up to the library to collect some books then strolled home at 5:30. Aaaah, I do love Spring, the better weather, the more enduring daylight - i'ts all good! Today went well, although Chris nearly became the victim of a voodoo doll incident this morning haha. He came to his senses however and we are chirping like lovebirds again. The weather is fantastic today - clear blue skies, and almost hot! Thrilled by the options open to me I tried to decide between a go on the playground at Henderson Park then a run on the grass or head to the zoo, and then Western Springs.... The zoo it was!! And migod, K loved it!! We got there at just after 10 (along with what seemed like the rest of Auckland, my god, the parkinglot was HEAVING! Although the zoo wasn't superpacked) And he ran around and looked at the giraffes and squee'd at the elephants and cooed at the parrots and glared at the flamingoes - who were having a bit of a punch up - Spring and all that, ahem! Alas, the seals were having their cage cleaned but oh boy, did the otters make a good substitute - hell yeah! In between we relentlessly chased chickens around the zoo, reminding me of an old salt advert on tv that showed a boy chasing a chicken and pouring salt on its tail- The caption? See how it runs. I assumed it applied to both the salt and the fleeing fowl although, to this day, I am unsure as to why one would pour salt on a chicken's tail... but I digress! At 11:30 we headed over to Western Springs where K... chased chickens :P and played on the playground, and chased chickens :) We left at 12:05 when Kym's text arrived saying that she and Alex couldn't meet us. I plan to walk up to the shops and library when K awakes, and return some, ahem, overdue dvd's and cd's. Chris will be gutted to find the Bob the Builder cd is no longer pouring out of the speakers whenever the car is driven :)

A Quacking good time

On Wednesday I had my second to last VitD appointment - where does the time go! But before I arrived at Withers Road I dropped Chris off at the Dr's - yup, painful sinuses and a mysterious rash had prompted the doctor shy Chris to man up and make an appointment hehehe. We had a great time at Mainly Music. Kieran really really enjoys it now, and has a ball (sometimes literally). Although he got whacked in the face by a snotty little girl it didn't diminish his happiness. After the session I headed off to the playground on Glendale Road near the library - to run the sass out of Kieran. Someone had the sass run out of them - but I am not sure it was Kieran! Afterwards I got home and plonked him in his highchair for lunch. He revelled in watching the Brainy Baby dvd that I borrowed from the library - lucky widget. After his nap we headed up to the library to grab some more books for my little fiend, then mucked around in the Barnea Circle playground. Literally - all the rain had made the surrounds a tad boggy!

Today began dramatically. I looked out the window in time to see a car from next door scare a mother duck and her ducklings. She skittered across the road - and storm drain - for safety. The ducklings didn't make it. The air was rife with duck screams and duckling peeps. I called Waitakere Council and they sent someone out. When the grate was popped and the ducklings (all 6 of them!) fished out with a net it turned out that they were very new ducklings indeed. The local cats, who had been prowling about with interest, were devastated. Bandit arose from his spot by the open door where he had been watching proceedings and took himself up to bed instead.

I am off to coffeegroup this morning then have sureslim tonight. Weather permitting, there may be a trip to the zoo tomorrow... but probably not :(

Choo-choo!

On Monday I packed up K and headed off to playgroup. I kid you not, he had not been there for more than 7 minutes before he bellyflopped onto a slide 2 inches deep in water, plunged his arms into a basin of water up to the elbow then retreated to the sandpit after thoughtfully sucking on a paintbrush loaded with yellow paint! He did enjoy the colouring in, so we might pick up some oil pastels for him. In a couple of pays anyway, I still need to buy him a new pair of Crocs. Afterwards I headed up to the vege shop then up to the library to pay my parking ticket :) I am sure a certain baboon is leaping for joy as he reads this :P

He does the cutest little Wiggles dance, so I keep singing it and he keeps doing the actions - just too too cute. I will get Chris on video duty so you can see it!

We headed into Henderson today. On the way I stopped in at the library to drop off some books, and he got given some balloons - yippee! He hopped onto the train and got to Henderson library - where the kids section was full of a school group - aaaargh! So we got a couple of books and he climbed 3 flights of stairs before I headed into the mall. Once at the mall I went to Whitcoulls - where K's favourite books was available. It was purchased, woops! Then we headed to the play area where K had a wonderful time climbing and crawling and sliding. Eventually I dragged him away so we could get home by 12. Once home he ate (hollow laughter!) lunch and got popped into his cot, sleep claiming him at 5 to 1. I then got to mop the floors downstairs before heading off to write this entry then get stuck into my assignment.

Mmmmm, yummy yummy!

On Saturday it was my sleep in. Kieran celebrated by waking at 5:40, unearthing Chris from the cosy bed. I awoke at 8am, staggered downstairs and scarfed down breakfast before waving goodbye to the boys. Off upstairs to work on my assignment - oh, yay! Chris came back beside himself as it seems that the sight of him struck real terror into K's heart who attempted to flee his presence, screaming his terror to the skies. So, not a fun trip. I popped K into the car and headed off to the library where K had a puddle about and picked up some books, before we purchased milk. Once home it was naps for the boys then off to Damian's birthday dinner. It was AWESOME! Damian outdid himself and we had a fantastic time :) There was a feta risotto, stuffed chicken breasts and individual cheesecakes with the most divine cherry sauce. There was black doris plum, and raspberry sauce too - but the cherry was the best! On Sunday Chris had a sleep in then babywrangled while I worked some more on my pig of an assignment. In the afternoon we had to drop some wool off to Joy so that my jumper would be finished, then headed out to the airport to collect Sue. Yawn, it was a late night!

Splish Splash

At last night's weigh in Chris and I had both put on weight. Did I care? Not a bit, for Chris had brought me home a present - Season 1 of Big Bang theory. I love this show and I always seem to miss it, causing much wailing and gnashing of teeth! So very happy! Caloo, callay!

Headed off to the pools today to catch up with Kym. It seemed only sensible as the torrential rain battered the car to tear my clothes off and submerge myself in water :P

The carpark was so full!! I eventually found a spot at the very back and headed in to meet Kym. Kieran really enjoyed the pools today! We went into the large children's pool, he got to ride on my back like a baby turtle, then he rode on a floatboard and wave his hands under the jets, he danced through the water spouts and even slid on the elephant in the toddler pool. After getting out and dressed we headed off to the mall to get a drink, have some snacks and let the kidlets play in the little play area by Farmers. I parked by Knitworld (MILES AWAY from the mall cos I had the great idea that I would pop in there on the way back to the car) and trudged off to the mall, in the rain, carrying K. Many minutes later I got there and Kieran and Alex were reunited :P Mango smoothies were acquired and K sucked an amazing amount up through a straw! Not bad for his first mango smoothie hey! After the refreshment break we headed into Whitcoulls where K caused mayhem with the Disney Princess balls, and I eyed the Lynley Dodd books in a manner calculated to strike fear into Chris's heart. They had a wee play and then it was off to pound the pavements as we headed to Knitworld and Leviathan. Got into knitworld and they had the wool - yay!! Now all we need to do is get it to Joy so my jumper can be finished! Got to the car and discovered a parking ticket. Fan-bloody-tastic. Still, it was only for $12 so that's ok :P Headed off home and K fell asleep before we left Henderson. All the swimming must have tired him out. I was mulling over going out this arvo - but I think I will give it a pass! Too wet.

Tomorrow is Damian's birthday dinner - yay - but before then I must do some work on my assignment - eep!

Twiddle de dee

After our visit to the doctor yesterday I have been giving K all the nappy free time that I can take...not much, let me tell you. I rug him up on his top half and let him scamper about outside to get some fresh air - and to keep from soiling my floors. So far plenty of luxurious piddles and poozles have been deposited outside - always when I have turned my back for JUST ONE MINUTE. Sigh. However, his bottom has been looking markedly better.

On Wednesday we hightailed it out to the Vit D appointment and mainly music. K is really getting into mainly music now- which is just fantastic. He was getting a bit teary after the session (teething) so I whipped him up to the library, where he was harassed by a group of 4 little thugs then took him to the Glendale road playground to run the sass out of him, before returning home for lunch. We are in the process of getting K to man up and feed himself and the food consumed by him wouldn't keep a mouse alive :P Once he was in his cot I collapsed with a sigh of relief before remembering that I had to bake my date, hazelnut and pecan cake for the coffeegroup dinner. No sooner had said cake been taken out of the oven and I laid my weary head on the pillow for a well earned nap than Chris called. For a moment I wished him to perdition. Springing to the computer I worked feverishly at the urgent job he had emailed me, finishing it 45 minutes later - just as K awoke. Noooooooooooooo!! Wishing to share the love (hehe) I popped over to #8 to see if she was in, as no one had answered my knock on tuesday. So, of course, I interrupt her bathing her kids - who then proceed to fall all over themselves vying for my attention (seriously, why would kids be attracted to me?!). K had a wonderful time, and truly had the sass run out of him. I, however, staggered home in need of a stiff drink! Alas, I could not find one and K needed to be fed! Anyway, the coffeegroup catchup was awesome!! I had a fantastic time - and got home and went straight to bed! This morning Chris gazed at me hopefully, before asking in a wheedling tone if I needed the truck (his has been playing up again, grrrr!!) so, after quickly checking the (very grey) sky, I graciously allowed him to abscond with his father's vehicle. Truly, my magnanimity amazes me at times! So K got to enjoy a walk in the stroller as we headed up the Glen Eden library for storytime. He did really well until the last story where he wanted to RUN and LEAP, and PRANCE, and settled for stealing the music makers instead. That child, tut, tut. He gets it from his father, you know :P DVD's at the library were 2 for the price of 1 so I got K a wonderful selection to enjoy hehe. We've got a mix of Mr Noisy and Postman Pat and some musicky ones too!

Inspiration

Sometimes I panic and wonder what I will write about in the blog. At these times the gods seem to answer me, and a fortuitous incident like K kicking Chris in the nuts happens, or K does naked backflips off the couch, instantly providing me with material to write about :)

Today got off to a slow start. Normally on a Monday I fob K off to Chris while I jump through the shower and get dressed. Today didn't work out that way so I wound up showering with K at 9am. That's right, the very time I was hoping to head out the door to playgroup. I called the doctors as K's mysterious rash now has a nasty pebbled appearance - and looks rather painful. I scored a 3:15pm appointment with Dr Horne and chivvied K out the door. We arrived late at playgroup on a blustery, gusting day and K raced about squealing with delight. A sandcastle was built in the sandpit, and as the red "lava" boiled out K's screams of encouragement drowned out all the other children's shrieks of delight. Heading inside K discovered some ink covered stamps and smeared himself and me with green ink.. aye, aye, aye! Safely back outdoors we hurtled about for a while before coming to rest for a snack. Suzie arrived and we had a good chat while our children huddled on our laps rather than explore the fort, sandpit or hall. I helped tidy up and then we left at noonish.

Once home I fed the Squeak and got him up to bed, before baking some cheese bread. Unfortunately he only fell asleep at 1:10 which meant I would have to cut his afternoon nap short to make the dr appointment. Annoyingly the phone rang when I was downstairs, causing me to hare upstairs so K did not wrathfully rounse from his nap. It was the woman from #8, and we are heading over there tomorrow afternoon. Sure enough the snoozey one was still slumbering come 3pm. I got him up and changed into a fresh nappy at 3:05 and bundled him into the car. I had hoped to walk him up in the stroller but... We arrived at the clinic at 3:12 and saw the doctor at 3:40 - typical!! After exposing my son's bits to the interested gaze of his doctor we got our prescription (for medication and for nappy free time) and headed off to the library for a good run, before heading back home to play with playdough. Tonight K for the first time showed some enthusiasm for feeding himself. The new spoon and fork seem to be doing the trick!

We call him "kicks-like-a-mule"

Chris (like a fool) decided to put Kieran's sleepsack on him on our nice high bed, rather than the floor of the spare room. I use the floor because using the bed means Kieran can kick me in the stomach when he gets excited. As a baby it was rather sweet; as a hefty 18 month old it is rather less sweet - and rather more painful! Anyway, Chris brings K in. K spies the bottle of milk and begins wriggling and kicking for joy. Chris leans over to fasten the straps of the sleepsack just as K gives one final exuberant kick as his eyes register the milk coming closer.... in some surprise I turn to look at Chris writhing on the floor, before dissolving into gales of laughter as Chris struggled from the room, bent protectively over certain parts of his anatomy. Did you know it is very hard to sing a sleepytime song when you are laughing so hard that you are crying? Trust me, it is!! And now, back to my assignment - yay!

Treasure Ahoy, matey. Arrrr!

We bought Kieran a Megablocks pirate ship some time ago and, in an effort to make playing with it even more fun, I loaded the hold with chocolate money. Kieran would haul out the ship, and impatiently pull out the chocolate doubloons, tossing them over his shoulder as he loaded up the hold with whatever toys would fit. This morning I tried to feed him breakfast and he could not have been more disinterested. Returning him to the lounge carpet I suddenly saw the discarded shells of doubloons scattered all over the carpet. No wonder the little bugger didn't want breakfast! He had been gorging himself on chocolate. Muttering under my breath I headed upstairs to work on my assignment, returning to feed the boy some lunch. Again, he refused food and struggled to be out of the high chair. I released him and worriedly asked Chris if he thought we should introduce a new and tasty dinner option when I looked past him to Kieran and saw him delicately peel the foil off a doubloon with his teeth!! I had forgotten to remove the chocolate tis morning!!! head:desk!

K's nappy rash has cleared up except for a stubborn spot that seems to have fluffy white spots. Hmmm. We suspect a fungal infection and I will be calling Westview Medical tomorrow to get him seen to. I might have to do it either first thing in the morning or just before lunchtime/naptime. The other option is around 3ish when his lordship wakes from his nap. K now refuses to go to sleep any earlier than noon. Siiiggghhhh! This means afternoons are a write off! Friday nights dinner was good and K thoroughly enjoyed his highly nutricious meal of crumbed mussel, battered fish, some chips and whipped cream. He enjoyed even more popping the peas on his plate into a empty butter container. The meal would have been better had his highchair had a tray. Chris kept worrying about the mess as K dropped food. My thoughts? If they dont have highchairs with trays why, then they must WANT to clear up tons of food from the carpet. It's only logical!

The Prince and the Poozle

Once upon a time there lived a Queen. Kind, virtuous and friendly she spread cheer and delight everywhere she went (shut up! It's MY fairytale, ok!). One happy day she kissed a frog and lo and behold he was a prince. They married, and in the fullness of time he acquired enough information on her to blackmail her into having a baby, er, I mean they celebrated their love by having a child! Yes, that's it!! The Queen was worried one day that the young prince - we shall call him "Prince" from now on :P was not getting over his nappy rash as quickly as one of Royal blood should (she had dire suspicions about the froggish genes - but more on that later!). One sunny Spring day the Prince was released from his nappy and allowed to frolic about the verdant grounds of the castle gardens. After ten minutes or so the Queen hastened off to order the royal naptime bottle be prepared for the Prince and on her return to the glass encased viewing platform was appalled to see the Prince apparently exploring his future as a mime trapped in an invisible box. Horror overtook her when she realised that the Prince had found a Poozle ( a disgusting, smelly and sadly prolific beast, banned by law from entering the Queen's demesne) and had beaten it to death with his bare fists before smearing its gooey carcass on the windows as a warning for other poozle law breakers. The Queen's shock, and the stench, was indescribable! Dashing outside, she fended off the Prince's besmeared hands as he sought to clasp her to his bosom and reached for the wetwipes and the hose. Alas, the vile poozle clung tenaciously to the Prince's person and the Queen resorted to hosing him down , while he danced triumphantly on the slowly eroding carcass of his victim. As the Prince enjoyed a long thorough shower, he knew that he was a warrior as valiant as his father, who indeed had performed similar feats in his youth. And they all lived happily ever after :P

Riverprance

Today, Friday, I am walking K down to the playground near the library. And, because I am not a complete fool, I am going to take the stroller. I WAS going to take Leviathan but Chris drove it into work today. I have to admit, it is better for him to drive it into Auckland and park than for me to drive through rush hour to meet up with him this evening. We have Chris's work do on and I am very pleased to have a night out haha. K bustled madly about this morning in a positive frenzy of gift giving. I wound up with 2 loaf tins, 4 muffin trays, 4 bowls, 2 shoes and a spatula - and all before breakfast! We left the house whistling a merry tune, a tune that died on our lips as we began to ascend the hill only to hear the pitter-patter of Siamese paws racing after us. Sigh, so we turned around and walked Bandit home and locked him into the house, fleeing as fast as legs and wheels would carry us. Problem is, Bandit would follow us all the way up the hill, but would become more and more scared, and the meowing gets louder and louder - so its easier to backtrack and lock him away :P

On our way to the park we saw a cat perched on the park sign. K was thrilled. He had just admired some snowdrops(onionweed) and now this friendly cat was twining around the stroller - begging him to pet it. So he did. Lots. Much later we continued our walk to the playground. K laughed the entire time he was there, running around, and crawling through tunnels and spinning around on the grass. After some women and their seriously awful kids arrived I whisked us off to the library. K descended from the stroller and came face to face with a little Japanese girl. Nonplussed for a moment he then leaned forward and gave her a hug. She smiled so he gave her another hug, considered her for a long moment, and with a beaming smile pulled the dora the explorer phone out of her hand :) They had a wonderful time playing together with the beads, and he even held her hand again - what a Lothario! I found a wonderful book for K at the library - you may have heard of it.. Little Black Sambo. I am guessing I will be doing some editing as I read it aloud to K!! On the way home from the library we popped into the vege shop where I procured a capsicum for his majesty. We rolled home with K munching on a capsicum and twirling his toes in the sunlight. Passers-by were most edified. Pics are on Facebook :)

K now does the cutest little dance where he leaps up and down , on tiptoe, on the spot. He loks, and sounds, just like a Riverdance cast member. I was trying to get him to do it this morning so Chris could see - and he did! Chris thought it was gorgeous too!

Screw it!

Last night K accosted me as I was carrying recycling items out the door in the pouring rain. He claimed the 3litre milk bottle and began stroking it with possessive pride. For K, milk is crack :)

He then began trying to work out how to unscrew the lid. To our horror he not only managed to unscrew the lid - he managed to screw it back on again. Now, nothing in the pantry is safe :(

Headed out Wednesday morning for the Vit D appointment and managed to dodge the many rubbish trucks on the road long enough to get there hehe. We then swung into Mainly Music and K had an awesome time. We headed off home so K could around around the house like a maniac and play with the cat, and scrounge around in the garden and - oh, yes - actually HAVE A NAP!! We hit the library after he woke up to find some new books for him - lucky wee devil!

On Thursday we scrambled about getting ready for coffeegroup. Like a fool I decided to drive. I parked up by the mad butcher so I could pick up some meat on the way home. I trudged halfway to the Plunket rooms and couldn't remember if I had locked the car -aaargh. Cursing silently (as I was carrying a heavy haffalump) I backtracked. Yes, I HAD locked it. I decided to pop into the mad butcher and grab the meat on the way, did this with K shrieking in joy at the sight of the ready to drink flavoured milk cartons, and fled. I then got to stand outside the rooms for almost 10 minutes waiting for someone to arrive and unlock them. Not normally a problem, except when one has a writhing, squirming child in your arms of course!!

Bend it like Kieran

We had a busy day today. I asked Chris to look after K this morning while I showered and got us sorted for a 9am departure. The alarm went off and K was still asleep. Chris leaned over and whispered lovingly in my ear "Get your arse out of bed and into the shower before Kieran wakes up" I ignored him and pretended I was dead. He got up about 15 minutes later and went off to the stygian depths of the PC room. At around 7:20 I reluctantly hauled myself out of bed and into the shower. Just as I stepped out of the shower into the frigid air of the bathroom the door was flung open (accompanied by an icy gust of air!!) and K, carried by his minion - an ill favoured sort if ever I saw one, entered the Water Playroom. Despite K's enjoyment of the shower he was out, dried, dressed, fed and even had time to watch Bob the Builder and the Wiggles before we left for Playgroup at 9:15.

Once there K could not contain his excitement and poked about everywhere before kicking a ball around the fort in the style of Beckham himself. After this activity palled the sandpit beckoned - and we spent an hour digging about and crawling through the sand. Every so often he would rise up from crawling through the sandcastles I was making for him and throw his arms around me for a cuddle - and smearing me with sand and effluvia :) We coloured in a pumpkin and then headed off to the library and vege shop. I am knackered!! Once home and fed I stripped K off in preparation for a shower to wash off all the sand. Instead, K scooted out of the garden door and cavorted about with Bandit, clad only in a nappy. Ay ay ay! While chasing around after the boys I noticed that the Mulberry tree we bought to celebrate K's birth is leafing out and has 2 tiny mulberries on it - too cool! Have loaded pics up on FB too - enjoy :)

Tomorrow I have the Vit D appointment and then Mainly Music. K will have an awesome time playing with the toys. Me, I am thinking wistfully of a nap!

It's better to give

... than to receive. This is the mantra that Kieran lives his life by. Over the last few weeks Kieran has determined that I have a horrifying lack of presents in my life, and has set about to rectify this with verve and enthusiasm! As I am bustling about in the kitchen after feeding a wriggleweasel I feel a tugging on my dressing gown. This used to mean "Mum, mum, turn around and pick me up, mum, mum, quick! Pick me up NOW!" This forceful tugging now means "Mother dearest, should you choose to cast your eyes towards the floor you will see a small sprig of chivalry, hopefully holding out a gift to tempt even the jaded palates of the gods" (if the gods favour bakeware and plastic food anyway). I accept the gift with ecstatic cries of joy and shower little lord fauntleroy with compliments about his good sharing, profusely thanking him for his gift. I then try to gift it back to him. With a twinkle in his eye reminisent of St Nick on Christmas Eve he bustles off towards the toy box/pantry/bookshelf to search out a new and appropriately wonderful gift. What a little sweetheart :)

Headed off to Mainly Music today. I was stressed cos I looked at my watch after a last minute nappy change and saw that it was 9:40am. This was bad as I had planned to leave at 9:15 so K could play with toys and get used to the venue/people. As I hit Summerlands drive I saw Rachel's car directly in front of me. Too cool :) The session was alright - except for the human limpet clamped to my torso. Partway through the session a huge sack of teddybears was brought out for a song, causing the limpet to uncurl and take an interest in the session. I sensed trouble but was helpless to prevent the disaster I looming ahead. Sure enough, despite the organiser's pleas for the children to have "just ONE teddy" I amassed 12 teddy's next to me. Beaming with pride K bustled off to dig about in the sack for a stuffed toy which was carried ceremoniously across the floor (again, and again, and again...) to where I cowered against the back wall, ready to receive my bounty. He was so thrilled with himself. My usual Mainly Music session is better. It is a toy library so it has better and more toys, the space is much much larger and there are more people - oh, and it is cheaper too! Always a bonus. We headed home and I let K bustle about while I got his bottle prepped and changed his nappy since he had been making tired noises. Tired noises my rear end! I popped him into the cot at 11:45am... he fell asleep at 1:33... and woke up at 3:50 - destroying my afternoon plans of a walk up to the library and playground. Instead, I spread towels across the floor and let him run around buck naked to air the nappy rash- still nasty and painful, but there are now patches of healed skin - booya! Tomorrow I am heading off to Oratia playgroup so hopefully we have another gorgeous sunny day like today.

Water Warrior

SQUEEEEE!!

I tried on my size 14 swimming costume - and it FITTED!!! It is the one I bought years ago in Australia. Mum and I must have gone into every costume shop in Surfer's. We wound up in Myers as they were having a 40% off sale, and I finally (4 hours later) found this costume for $60. Booya!

We bustled about this morning and got to the pools around 9:40am. We hit the water, and Kieran... pitched a fit. It has been so long since his last time at the pools that he wasn't at all sure about things. He cheered up and embraced the water experience after 30 minutes and we got to cavort in the toddler pool and spa pool for nearly 2 hours. We had to flee the toddler pool near the end of out session when a little boy turned around and dropped his swim nappy before swinging it triumphantly in a threatening manner above his head.

I have decided that I need to take K swimming more often. Might have to do it on a Tuesday or Friday - my only free days. Friday could be good.

Tomorrow I am switching around my playgroup day to go to Mainly Music in Henderson with Rachel. This week will be pretty full on. Monday- MM, tuesday - Playgroup, wednesday - Vit D and MM, thursday - coffeegroup and Friday - FREE!!

Sleeping shenanigans

On friday K and I did .... nothing. We were supposed to have a playdate with #8 but K's undercarriage was so blistered and raw - and his cold so freshly developed - that we stayed home instead. All. Day. We had some nappy free time where he promptly wee'd all over the carpet and some colouring in, we watched Cars, and we played with blocks and plastic food. The best part about the day was Chris coming home. Chris coming home is always a highlight of the day for K and I.

Garth, Kym and Alex came around for lunch today. We had a cranberry and apple stuffed roasted chicken, and they brought a carrot cake for dessert. It was great to catch up though the weather packed up and turned pretty damn cold. They fled around 2... I think they were fleeing the icebox of our lounge :P K fell asleep at 12:40 and woke up at 4!!!!! Mein Gott!! How come this never happens during the week! Which was fortunate as I had a little nap myself - ah, nana naps, where would we be without them!

Tomorrow we head off to the pools. It is the coffeegroup catchup. Chris is coming along as he has never been to the pools with K and he can enjoy some time with K doing his merbaby impersonation. Now I just have to find my swimming costume - and hopefully I can avoid poking out my eyes after seeing myself in togs in the mirror. Aaaaiieee.