Easter Friday - Lake Macquarie

We stayed over at a friend's holiday house near Lake Macquarie this Easter. We had been there a few times before. However, because of change in circumstances with one of the other couples, this yearly event was cancelled a couple of times. We opted to stay one night only as we didn't know how Lara's sleep would be in a different place. It wouldn’t be very good to keep people awake for more than one night.

The traffic going there wasn't great. F3 stalled as soon as we got on it, and during several sections of it, we were moving at no more than 20km/hr (Husband said he's not traveling again on Easter Friday). Coming back was a lot faster. We timed both journeys with Lara's sleep so she was no trouble in the car.

We normally just relaxed and caught up with friends while we were there, but this year with Lara, it was not as serene. The constant rain meant we didn't go into the water. Husband and friend R did a little fishing. R caught a few small fish that were later used as baits for blue swimmers.

Lara went to bed at around 8pm and only cried briefly at 11pm when we went to bed. It was a relief that she adjusted very well in a new place. We feel more confident in tackling longer holidays to further places later on.

I didn't know what happened but I managed to take not a single photo during the whole trip - even though I had my camera charged the night before and I made sure there was enough space to take lots of pictures. The photo included here was a family lunch on Easter Sunday.

Hatless Easter parade

I briefly saw the paper attached to Lara's day care book informing us of an Easter Hat Parade held on the Thursday before Easter. The next time I remembered it was Wednesday night at 9pm when I was packing Lara's day care bag.

Not only did I have no time to make a hat then, I had absolutely no material to make it with. Thinking that Lara would not know what a parade is and hoping other parents would be as "busy" as I was, I told myself I would make an effort next year.

I regret my decision of doing nothing as soon as I arrived at day care on Thursday morning, when I saw this kid carrying a big beautiful hat with lots of eggs, fluffy chickens and flowers on it (it would take me weeks to make a hat like that!). The worst thing was it looked like everyone had an Easter hat except Lara. I went to work feeling guilty and failed as a Mum (briefly). I felt even guiltier when I read Lara's communication book that night:
"Lara had a great time watching all the children walking around in the Easter Hat parade".

Husband and I were joking that Lara would always wonder why she has no memory of her first Easter Hat parade(because she was not in it!). I hardly have enough time to make sure Lara and us have a proper meal to eat every night, how did other people have time to make beautiful Easter hats as well?

Guilt is a strong motivator. I have made up my mind to go as soon as I could and buy enough craft material and be ready for the next parade or whatever craft I have to make next!

[1y 2m] Build up immune system

(photo: Lara sucking on lamb bones)

Lara's busy this month building up her immune system. She was clingy and irritable when she was unwell, but I guess that was expected and unavoidable. She is all well now and a happy little kid again.

This month:

* Lara is more aware of her surroundings. Husband noticed that Lara seldom walked into things now - she walked around toys in her way.

* Lara communicates to us what she wants by pointing and making a demanding "aaaaa" sound. she's particularly impatient when it comes to food. She lets us know when we are too slow in feeding her.

* Lara's understanding of what we say increased dramatically. When we say "birdie", she looks out of the window and points at the sky. If she sees a bird, she points at the bird and laughs in delight. When we say, "wipe your face/mouth", she would dap the flannel over her mouth. She also understands some Chinese words after Mum and Dad came. She know the Chinese word for "eyes" and would point to the "eyes" of her dolls and the Chinese word for "bird". We think Lara knows more than she lets on.

* Lara knows the concept of "pretend-play" now. She pretends to eat off plastic plates, pretends to stir and drink from a cup. She also pretends to read her books in her reading voice (a voice distinctively different to her talking voice).

* Lara also discovered climbing. She likes to climb onto her box of books, and read books inside the box. She also likes to climb stairs when we are out and there's one around.


* Lara copies everything we do. She put things over her head as hats, and next to her ears as phones. She loves to press keys on the phone. It's hard to talk on the phone without her wanting to press everything.

* Lara walks very well. She has several new dance moves. One of them is turning in circles, she varied this a little by something tilting her head, sometimes raise one arm or sometimes have on arm folded across her chest while twirling around. Her other dance move is to do lots of tiny steps while walking, sometimes there was some shoulder movement at the same time.

* Lara loves walking around pushing her baby walkers.

Stuffed zucchini flowers

I ordered something a little different in my vege box this week - zucchini flowers.

I turned them into stuffed zucchini flowers for dinner last night. Very exciting. While I was cooking, Husband kept looking over my shoulders and asking "Are we having flowers for dinner?" He doesn't like vegetables very much, but I think he secretly likes the novelty of eating flowers.

(photo: flowers being cooked in pan)

The stuffing was made with bread crumbs, onion, thyme(from the garden!) and baby spinach leaves. I also added shredded cheese to bind the mixture and provide extra flavor. We had 5 flowers each. They were very tasty. I liked them crispy on the outside.


The petals were very delicate. It took some practice for me to push the stuffing in without tearing the petals apart. It was a very enjoyable meal.
This is definitely something I will make again!

First hair cut

Date: 16/Mar/08.
At: Grandma's
During: Played with various measuring cups from Grandma's kitchen , Lara sat through the hair cut without much trouble (no crying that is). It was probably more stressful for Grandma, who had to put up with a constantly moving head.
Result: Much tidier hair ready for photo day next week. Thanks Grandma!

Mum's food

Mum and Dad went on a cruise across the Tasman Sea and arrived at Sydney, their last stop, at the end of February. My plan of going to see them when the ship docked at Circular Quay was cancelled because Lara was not well. Most of our other plans to visit places with them or try new restaurants were cancelled as well because Dad caught a cold shortly after they arrived. After he recovered, Lara became unwell again (another tummy bug). We ended up staying/eating at home mostly. And it was great that Mum took over most of the cooking!



It was simple, comfort home-made food. Just what we need at the moment.

Cost of carelessness

I have been a little careless lately.
It started when I nearly lost my handbag on the train.

Daycare called to say that Lara had a temperature one lunch time. In my haste to get home, I got off the train without my handbag(+purse). Luckily I realised it in time to get back on the train. Unfortunately, before I had time to get off again, train closed its door and left. It was an express train so it took me at least another 20 minutes to get another train back. The idiom "Less haste more speed" was very true in my case.

The following day was raining. I was reading an engrossing book and barely had time to put the book away when my stop was up. In my haste to get off (that word again), I left my umbrella on the train. I only had myself to blame when I arrived at work wet.

Not long after losing my umbrella, we went out one weekend and Lara fell asleep on the way back. I sat in the car waiting for her to wake up. I was too tired (it was during the time Lara had diarrhea) to notice that the car key was still in ignition when I carried Lara in. It was until we were ready to go to the video shop that night that we realised that car wouldn't start. I had to call NRMA to come and give us a new battery. This carelessness cost $165.

I'm trying to rest more to get over my tiredness. Hopefully I will have a clearer head and there'll be no more costly carelessness.

Vege box

We are trying out organic vegetables this year. Pictured above was our third box.

I enjoyed choosing the items in front of my labtop, planning what to do with them and receiving/seeing them at the door. I also enjoyed reading the newletter that comes with the box, learning about what's in season and the relationship between nature and the produce. For example, the heavy rain we had a couple of weeks ago delayed planting of strawberry seeds thus affect fruit we get 12 weeks down the track. Living our busy lives, we sometimes forget that all things are connected and related.