[2 years 4 months] Mummy's little friend

(Hat ware is a must even before going to bed)

Frequently-used words: "wait", "not yet", "do it like this", "great idea".
Lara critics my driving, saying "not very good" if I had to go forward and backward a couple of times to back the car into driveway. When we are on the road, Lara tells me to 'be careful' or 'watch for cars mommy'.

Lara has a very good memory. If I say she could have yoghurt pop when we get home, Lara always remember to remind me. She also reminds me to take keys before we leave home. She knows the difference between "me" and "you" and uses more "I" and "me". We were running in the backyard the other day. I shouted "Wait for me Zeb". Lara also said "Wait for me Zeb", but added afterwards "Wait for Lara me!" Lara is my little friend and a great company!


(Loves to look at photos in camera)

Lara does a lot of pretend-play. She likes her 'Wiggly Safari' dvd, an Easter present and she loves Steve Irwin. She looks very cute doing the dingo dance. Lara saw her old baby rocker and said "Lara not baby, Lara big girl". She tells me "good girl" when I do things 'right' by her. And she knows the difference between boys and girls most of the time - "Lara not boy, Lara (is a) girl", "Da-da boy".

Lara likes to do things by herself in her own time. She's most unhappy when I intervene or interrupt her. Getting out of the door in a reasonable time was a challenge in some mornings. I try to forewarn or prompt her about what we are going to do next to speed things up.





Lara started playing golf (hitting one object with another object in the golf pose) after a 'Pokoyo' episode. Now she plays with a club. Even though Lara has an indoor toy golf club, she prefers the real thing on the grass. Grand-dad had an old left-handed golf club's handle cut and made it Lara's size - Lara is most definitely left-handed. We hope Lara likes golf - she has already shown the traits of famous golfers - getting frustrated and throwing clubs when the ball rolls off or doesn't go where she wants it to go.

Books Jan-Apr 2009

Persuasion by Jane Austen
I like "The Jane Austen book club" movie and after watching it decided to read all the Jane Austen novels again. I enjoyed this book a lot - I couldn't put it down when I got to my stop in the morning. The plot was swimming in my head during the day and I couldn't wait to read it again on the way home.

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

The Magician's Way by William Whitecloud
Subtitle: "A story about what it really takes to find your treasure". The book is a little "out there" compared to other 'self-development' books. The main thing I got from this book is to focus on the end results, not what you have to do to get there. And sometimes, be relaxed about things and not trying too hard actually achieves more.

Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Full Cupboard of Life
Tears of the Giraffe
by Alexander McCall Smith
I read "The no1 ladies detective agency" and "the Kalahari typing school for men" a couple of years ago, but they did not make as a great impreesion on me as now. I don't believe you have to read the books in the proper order to enjoy these simple warming stories. The descriptions of the vast land and cattles in Bostwana, the leisurly pace and traditional values all had a very calming effect on me. It reminded me of what is really important in life. I am reading the 6th book in the series "In the company of cheerful ladies".

Brunch in Surry Hills

Branch at Fifi Foveaux's with PY & husband.
The great company made the yummy cooked breakfast and coffee even more enjoyable.
Why don't we have a cafe like this closer?

No more monkeys jumping on the bed

Lara loves "monkeys jumping on the bed" nursery rhyme. She put legos on her fingers and used them as monkeys sometimes. I bought her a book on this nursery rhyme, she loves it. Here is a short video of her reading the book.

Father-in-law's roast

MIL had a major operation about 3 weeks ago. Before the operation, we were speculating on how FIL would handle this situation. Being a very traditional man who doesn't have many "chances" to be in the kitchen, we didn't think he know how to prepare food. Therefore, we were really surprised to find a whole roast dinner (nice lamb racks) when we arrived last weekend. Next to the food on the kitchen counter were some neatly written notes about the preparation and cooking of the meal.

It's never too late to learn!

Easter show at work

I decided to take Lara to the mini Easter show work organises every year. I told Lara we were going to see sheeps, rabbits, cows and piggies at the kindie farm at work. Lara listened carefully and asked "How about elephant?" No Lara, I don't think elephant would be there this time.

After I parked the car near station (didn't want to drive into the city and get lost in the city street maze) and put Lara into the pram, I found one of the pram wheels deflated. I tried pumping it up but it got flat again very quickly - there must be a puncture. Lara looked very disappointed and didn't want to get off the pram when I told her we were going home. We nearly didn't make it if I didn't drive to a friend's house closeby and borrowed their stroller.

Lara was very excited on the train, turning her head to see the door open and close at every station. She didn't sleep at all on the train as I hoped, and must be quite tired when we arrived just before 3pm. I showed Lara my desk at work and we said hi to a few colleauges before we went one floor up to where the fun was.

The noises around was a little overwhelming. Lara managed to pat some of the animals and ate half a gingerbread biscuit. She liked the Easter bunny the best and gave him several big cuddles. We also queued up for face painting. Lara wanted to be a cat but when it was finally our turn, she refused to have her face, arm or any part of her body painted. She told me on the way home that she didin't want to get her face 'dirty'.

We left at around 4.30pm before Lara had time to get too tired. She fell asleep fairly quickly on the train back. It was definitely an exciting afternoon for little Lara.

Do you want any help?

It was 6pm the most chaotic time in our household when I ran around in the kitchen getting dinner ready. I saw this little face on top of the safey gate, a pair of little hands holding onto the sides of the gate. A little voice, slightly unsure, asked me "Mummy, (do you want) any help?"

How nice it is to be asked if I want any help!

I started to ask Lara's help in doing simple things - like standing on the step chair and putting books in the return shute for me in the libray or putting the pegs back in the container when I got the clothes in.

Oh how Lara loves to help mummy!

Sunday morning walks

We decide to observe the neighbourhood on foot to get to know the area better. We set off after breakfast every Sunday before the heat sets in. We choose a different route each time and enjoy looking at the houses and commenting to each other on what we like or don't like about certain houses or streets.



We usually stop at a park for Lara to have a short play before we turn back home. Zeb is always very excited on these walks too, stopping and sniffing at every other tree and saying hi to every dog that walks past.



We hope the fine weather continues for our little walks on the weekend.

Prawn and avocado risotto

I regained my motivation for cooking after several weeks of not wanting to cook at all. There are so many dishes I want to make but no time to do it...

ps This house has a very basic oven. It seemed to get very hot at the bottom but not hot enough at the top. One of my pizzas (on the bottom shelf) was burned. Oh no what should I do? No baked dinners or cakes now?!

[2 years 2 months] Terrible Two

Lara had more tantrums this month. I feel for her frustrations and I'm getting better at diverting it. Sometimes Lara got angry when she couldn't do something. Other times there didn't seem to be a reason. She also had tantrums in both daycares. Lara usually don't repond to displine, bribes or cooing during a bad tantrum. The teachers in daycare also told me there was nothing they could do except to leave Lara be until she calmed down.

For a period of two to three weeks, Lara didn't want to go to daycare. She would start saying "no" or crying as soon as my car turned into the driveway of daycare. I tried a lot of things to improve the situation. I even called a couple of other daycare centres. The situation did improve, and though she's not always happy going, she's usually very happy when I pick her up in the afternoon.

Lara likes 'boohbah' and 'tellitubbies'. She also loves 'pokoyo'. She asked to watch the "colours" episode again and again. Now she walks around acting the scene in that episode. Lara also likes to dance and sing. Her favorites at the moment are "five little monkeys jumping on the bed", "old macdoland had a farm" and "going on a bear hunt".

Lara is "obsessed" with colours. She wants to wear pink dresses, but white shoes. Hates red shoes or jacket, doesn't seem to like orange either. She especially likes 'blue'. I was told she refuses to eat lunch at daycare if it is not served in a blue bowl!!


(We need to stop at every ride we see)

I made up a story of an elephant flying to the moon and swimming with Lara when she was sick to get her to sleep. Now I have to tell the elephant story every night. The story varies every day and now with lots of added characters- rabbit, upsy daisy and huhu (IgglePiggle) are all regulars. I alter the plot a little every day and sometimes use it to get my point across - like IgglePiggle give his blanket to Mommy so it won't get wet in the swimming pool.

Still unpacking ...

We moved to new house two weeks ago. Even though we informaed the telephone company two weeks prior to the move, we still waited 4 days to get telephone connected and nearly two weeks to get broadband. The reason, the request was in a to-do folder and they 'forgot' to do it. Um... I wonder if I can use the same execuse when it comes to pay, 'sorry we forgot to pay the bill'.

The task of unpacking was daunting but we've done most of it. The speed of unpacking has actually reduced to a snail-pace now - only one box every few days. We learned to walk around the boxes in the dark, which is not a good thing. Have to hurry up and finish it soon.

We had to call an emergency plumber in to fix the taps to prevent the house being flooded. The rubbish the owner removed still sitting outside house. Filling condition report and taking lots of photos to prove the condition of the house all took time. We are almost there.

New home

The first thing we did on Saturday morning was picking up keys to the house we will be moving into this weekend. Husband hasn't seen it, so we were all excited to have a proper look and to decide where we would place things.

The house has been vacant for some time so it's very dusty and dirty inside. The condition of the house is worse than I remembered. For example, curtains are all very thin and some don't even meet up in the middle - we'll have to get new ones if we dont want to be woken up by sunlight in the morning. The TV antenna is a piece of old cable hanging from inside of the fireplace. The carpet in the dinning room (why do we need carpet in the dinning room?) has a few black stains that it'll need a good steam clean (the owner is being difficult and doesn't want to clean it so I have to organise it).

I was felling a little down after seeing this 'new' home and had a major 'renter's remorse' moment. Why did we sign a one-year lease? Are we going to live here for a whole 12 months? This house inspection tinted our otherwise-very-happy weekend. I mentally went through the good points about this house -flat shady backyard, convenient to station, big bedrooms - to remind myself why we got it in the first place. As Husaband pointed out we are very fortunate in many ways. We should be greatful and remember how lucky we are to have so many options open to us. We can scrub the walls and wipe down the surfaces. We can fix the TV antenna and put up new curtains.

We will make it our home.

Cousins

Lebanese takeaway 07-03-09

The dips were very nice and bread very fresh. Only the meat was less satisfactory, a little tough. Overall a yummy but light meal.

Toys in cot

The state of Lara's cot on Saturday morning...


I have a open toy box full of toys sitting on other boxes so Lara can get to it when she stands up in her cot. This is so that we might get a longer sleep if Lara has toys to occupy her when she wakes up.

It looks like Lara was up for quite a while that morning.....

Weekend away

Parents-in-law looked after Lara on many Fridays last year while I worked. I wanted to say thank-you. Rather than giving them a gift voucher for a holiday somewhere like we've done previously, I thought they might enjoy the company of the whole family. It was hard to find a weekend that everyone's free. It was originally planned to be near Lara birthday in January, and it finally happened last weekend.

Riverside Oaks - view from the balcony of a 4-bedroom villa we stayed in.


Lara's birthday cake - delicious mud cake - Telebubbies is a great choice.


Sparklers were popular with kids as well as adults after dinner.


Sunday breakfast - the whole bacon'n'eggs affair .


Morning walk along the golf course.

Zeb's little outing

I went to the shops on Sunday afternoon while Lara napped. On the way home, I noticed this black dog walking on its own not far away and it resembled Zeb. It didn't take me too long to realise that it was Zebadee!

I stopped the car quickly and luckily the car behind was patient enough to let me get hold of Zeb before it drove off. Before I left, Zeb was in the backyard watching Si cut the grass and we have a fully-fenced garden or so I thought. We couldn't find a way Zeb could get out and thought maybe the front door was open. Anyway, Zeb got out a second time and this time we spotted her exploring next-door's garden. We would never have known the fence had a tiny hole (disguised by plants) if Zeb hadn't come in through it when we called.

Zeb looked happy that she explored the outside world because she hasn't been walked for weeks due to a limpy back (right)leg. After the vet visit and x-rays, we were told she had a cruciate ligament rupture and surgery would be required. We thought it would be $2000 as advised by the vet. After the visit to the specialist who will be performing the surgery, we are now told the cost would be around $4500. Post-operation x-rays and medication would be extra.

Sorting out Zeb's leg problem is the next pressing item on the to-do list. We can devote more time to it now that we found a place to move into.

Difficult time

Lara had a difficult two weeks. Things that were a breeze previously, like eating and going to bed, started to take longer since the beginning of this year. (Is that why they called it "Terriable two"?) And Lara being sick twice in the last two weeks just made things a lot worse.

When I said worse I meant Lara:
*Saying "No" hundreds of times a day and cried and cried when she didn't get her way.
*Became very needy. I couldn't leave to use the toilet without some major crying.
*Became very unreasonable, like woke everyone up at 2am and insisted on sitting and sleeping on her sofa in the lounge. Or threw her blanket out of her cot then got annoyed becasue her blanket was not in the cot? (The only way I could execuse these kind of behaviours was to attribute these to her high (over 39.5C) temperature)
*Sat in her cot after waking up and repeatedly saying "no" and not want to leave her cot.

This two-week period coincided with a very busy time at work. I had no choice but to take time off. It also coincided with Mum and Dad's two-week holidays here. We ended up doing nothing and Mum and Dad went home with Lara's cold and got quite sick themselves. Now she's all happy and a sweet little girl again.

I'm sure all parents go through period like this. You worry, you're exhausted and sometimes you lose your patience. And suddenly they get better, and they are beautiful again. And you are left wondering what happened until next time!

No more swing phobia

Ever since Lara nearly fell off a swing at a neighbourhood park 8 weeks ago, she stayed away and wouldn't get on one. I didn't want to push her, but it was a shame because she really loved swings.

I've been taking her to a park with a "trainee" swing that is very low to the ground in order to build up Lara's confidence again. And I've been teaching her to hold on and only get off when she tells me first. (the reason she nearly fell off in the first place) Last Friday, after a short time on the 'trainee' swing, she decided she would get on the big swing. Once she was on, she didn't want to get off. We were at another park on the weekend, and the first thing Lara went to was the swing. It took some time but I think Lara's swing phobia is cured.

Bye bye garden

We received a termination notice last week. The landlord wants to move back so we have to vacate this house by the end of the lease. This came as a real surprise as the owner originally wanted us to sign a one-year lease. We don't want to rush into buying (though we felt tempted sometimes to just settle in somewhere....) so I guess we'll have to find a house to rent again.

We decided this is probabaly a good thing after the initial shock. We love the garden, but this hosue is old and for what we pay, maybe we'll find a better place. We might also get to know a different area better and this helps us when we buy. There's also the excitement of a newer place. We'll have to put up with the packing and unpacking for now.

Bye bye garden.


Lara spent time with wai-gong (granddad) in the garden.


Lara trying out slide in the front garden (I should have borrowed the bigger slide, this one's too small!)