My little Easter Bunnies

It is School Holidays here at the moment. We have just started week 2 of a two week break. This is for Alannah who is in her second year of Pre-school. Juliet is at Day-care, and they only break over Christmas-New Year. Along with this, they both caught a bug over Easter which caused vomiting and yellow noses. Charming, reallyt!

We seem to be coping though, with minimal disruption to the work commitments of their parents. We are hreavily into drawing, Alannah and I. Not colouring in, but designing, and creating out own images. I will pull some in and show you where she is up to. I am quite pleased with her ability to deign and implement that design. The work on the left was completed in March, and on the right in April. This week her creations are being overwhelmed by the fact that I showed her how to do 2, 3, 5, and 8 the way they will in school next year. So these symbols are constantly cropping up in her drawings.

Not to forget Juliet. When she is not adding the finishing touches to my masterpieces (she has learnt that her life is not worth fiddling with an Alannah masterpiuece!), she is going on a hectic circular scrawl as below. She holds a pen remarkably well, with good control. She has only sucked the ink out of one texta that I know of, and is very careful about putting the lids back on.

The year ahead for "the girls"

As we enter 2015, Alannah is 4 years, and 5 months; Juliet is 1 year, and 3 months. Alannah could have gone to "big school" in 2015, but she is one week older than the cut-off, which is end-July. Her parents have opted for her to spend another year at her Kindergarten-Union Pre-school. She will attend three days per week (up from the two days during 2014), with the majority of the children she spent 2014 with. On Thursdays she will continue to spend the day with Grandad. On Fridays, she will continue to spend the day at the same day-care cottage as Juliet, albeit in a separate building. She will spend most afternoons with me - from 3:30 onwards that is. One afternoon each term week, she is attending gymnastic classes, instead of the ballet she attended during 2014. Ballet was too free-form for Alannah, who thrives on knowing the rules and working within them. Juliet has a big change ahead of her, but as a second child, she is up for it. During 2014, she spent Fridays in long-day-care, and Wednesdays with Grandad. In 2015, she will spend three days (Wed/Thurs/Fri) in LDC. She will spend Tuesdays with Grandad, and Mondays home with me. We now have an Art House, but more on that when the project is completed next week. My daughter will be working 5 days per week, with an early morning start, and home by 5:30pm. My SiL will have a later morning start, and a later evening finish. Effectively, Darren does the morning shift, and Kirsten does the evening shift. My child-care has decreased markedly. However, I am available for sick days, and for Alannah's term breaks. I have two non-home-based activities in mind which I will check out early in the year. My resolutions for 2015 are (read Peter Martin's article here): get all my Family Tree documents in order collect and file my family history images read fiction for an hour each evening listen to more music see a film either in the cinema, or at home, each week. These resolutions, of course, are in addition to the "things" that I already manage to fit into my neurodegenerative head-space.

Pop!

Last evening, in the kitchen, as dinner was being prepared, Juliet toddled over to me with a round-runner bean shouting "Pop!" She was totally distressed when I tried to explain to her that beans do not go Pop!. Only peas go Pop! For six weeks or so now, we have been eating, fresh from the trellis mostly, podding peas which have a resounding Pop! Juliet, especially loves them. She loves the taste, She loves nibbling them from the pod. She loves crunching into the pod. She STILL laughs, and anticipates, the sound as I gently depress the curve near the growth end of the pod. So, of course, last night, we all toddled out to the veggie patch and Alannah pulled some pods fresh from the trellis. Just for her. Today, Juliet and I sat on our stools on the front porch overlooking the veggie patch, as she nibbled a few more. Don't like to think of the ruckus she will kick up when I pull the podding peas out next week. They have had their time in the sun. Time to make way for a variety more amenable to the heat that is upon us.

While the cat's away ...

These are not the most technically brilliant shots in the world, as they were taken with my old phone, which is slow, and shows up all my inability to hold it still.

However, the story they tell is a delight. The dressing table is Alannah's 4th birthday pressie from her Mama and Papa.

Juliet is thirteen months old. Alannah was at pre-school. Shhh ...

Look at me! Look at me!

Quite the dedicated uncle

She had only just whizzed into the driveway from the general direction of Willoughby Park. Attracted by the blankie, he made a bee-line for her immediately. It was a cold day, with the bitter winds plunging the wind-chill something fierce. Juliet took it in her stride. For her, Cooper is a push-over.

A world of our own ...

Mamma making a memory through the parlour window, as Ma and Juliet watch the cats - Sylvie, Selsie, and Cooper - devour their meal. Ma is feeling a bit ordinary today, as she had to resort to her stick to cross the road and chat to Hamish.

May I introduce my grand daughter ...

Juliet was born on Wednesday 2nd October at 5:32pm at the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick. Juliet Paige LYNN. She and her Mama come home tomorrow, Saturday. The hospital has kept a watching brief over Mama, but she is fine, albeit a bit sore in spots. Juliet weighed 3.4kgs and is 51cms long (cf Alannah at 3.1kgs and 49cms).

Alannah is out of her tree with excitement, and trepidation. Dada ran her ragged in the park this arvo, which only partially helped. They chased and kicked a ball. They climbed the pyramid. They pushed and chased the roundabout. She is a handful ... but Mama will know how to resolve all that.