Little Manly Cove
I am always looking for new beaches to try and this one was great! It is fenced on one side and open on the other, with no rough currents to worry about. And a bonus were the fish (no snorkel necessary), although MissE was scared they were going to nip her. She has since told us she is no longer scared of them because Lilo isn't (Lilo and Stitch).
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| Beach Bum |
There is also a great cafe with tasty burgers, coffee and ice cream. They even cater for birthday parties!
BBQ and Cows
We had a BBQ with a few friends that we don't get to see often enough! In the past, our BBQs were endless beers and tipsy Cranium but now with 2 littles each they are lite beers and "please-play-nicely shifts". The BBQ was at Anita's family home. Her brother and his girlfriend live there with cows, calves and 2 sheep. And no, they were not on the menu that evening... maybe some other time!
MissE, the animal lover, was the first one out and running to pat the cows. Unfortunately the cows were a bit skiddish of a small person hurdling towards them so MissE was not happy. Eventually, the lovely brown mama cow would take hay from Eloise's hand and MissE was satisfied.
We are now very much looking forward to visiting The B Family at their home on the South Coast with the arrival of their alpaca and sheep (MissE LOVES alpacas).
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| The next generation of friends (missing: Little Will and Mr.E) |
The Train Shed
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| The Train Shed, Luddenham |
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| Do you know your Thomas & Friends? |
CJ's Construction Party
MissE's BF turned 3 and had a fun, down and dirty construction party. MissE wasn't sure about the dirt pile but we eventually got her in there.
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| I got my trucks! |
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| Eden will supervise |
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| How cool is this cake? Not only was it yummy... you didn't have to worry about smooth sides! |
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| Lucas and Eden enjoying the warm sun (they are 2 days apart) |
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| Slip and Slide fun! |
I am a big Harry Potter fan so when I realised this exhibition was in its last days at The Powerhouse Museum, off Mr.E and I went. The exhibition itself was great! You are first "sorted" by The Sorting Hat, then shown a montage for the movie while waiting for the Hogwarts Express to be taken into the exhibition. From there, it had props and costumes from the movie sets. I took home Bertie Bott's Flavour Beans for Mr.H and MissE although with flavours like Earwax and Booger we are a bit weary to try it!
The Powerhouse Museum also had a Wiggles Exhibit which Mr.E enjoyed.
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| I know parking in Sydney is the worst, but really??? |
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| All aboard! SS Feathersword |
Excellent Eight (months!)
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| My happy boy |
Mr.E is now 8 months. He weighs 20 lbs 9oz or 9.5kg. He was recently turned in his carseat (current law is 9-12kg rather than age as it used to be) as his legs were too long and he was able to push against the chair! If they are going to keep changing the safety seat laws, they really need to re-design the car seats!
This month has brought us 2 teeth (bottom. See above). He is loving teeth to chew his food. He loves finger foods like pancakes, bread, crackers and cheese cubes. There isn't anything he doesn't like... yet.
Mr.E is kind of sort of crawling. He loves being on his tummy, and can easily turn to any direction, usually towards the TV remote/ mobile phone/ Sabi. Last week he started to do the "head plow" crawl; that is, head down on the floor, leggings pushing forward. It was the strangest crawl I had ever seen. Within a few days after that, he learned that keeping his head down was the hard way. Now he keeps his head up and arms extended in a commando-type crawl. However, he only crawls if he really wants something (Ie, I was taking apart his too-small-bouncer and he made his way across the room for the box). Otherwise, he will do one forward motion then complain until MissE comes to his rescue and brings whatever he is after closer. She hasn't quite grasped the concept of letting him try.
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| Kisses from Sabi |
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| Hi Handsome! You give some nice kisses! |
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| I just need to log-on for a few minutes |
Even though the weather is getting cooler, he is still in swim lessons and he loves it. He loves to go under the water.
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| Splish Splash |
And finally, bottle refusal update: NO MORE REFUSAL! Mr.E is now on 1 bottle a day (4 on my work days) which he happily sucks down!
Toddler Days
Pre-school
We are currently in the process of looking at pre-schools. Although I am sad to leave MissE's current daycare, she needs a bit more structured learning in her days outside of home. Our first clue was taking her to the shopping centre, while I was at the counter, MissE proceeded to spell out the sign "COTTON ON KIDS" with no help. Later that night, she was "reading" along with us and again, spelled out "Monkey"with no help. Today, we were reading Spot and I pointed to "Spot" and she said "that says Spot, mama!" With luck, when we return from our trip overseas, our preferred pre-school will have a spot for her. Fingers and toes crossed!
MissE says the darnedest things
I still want to be an octopus!
It was the end of the day and I asked MissE to pick up her toys. She let out a big sigh and said "Mama, I don't have 8 legs!" Translation: if MissE was an octopus with 8 legs she would be able to put her toys away much quicker.
Went to the doctor...
MissE's "friends" are Wowo and Monkey (both given to her from Yi-mah). We were in the car one day and she asks me "Mama, do you know what the doctor said to Wowo? Because Wowo is Monkey's mama?"
Me: What?
MissE: No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
I fell for that one. Hook line and sinker!
Sneaky Snake
MissE can be very sneaky. If she gets into trouble (see next section), she will go and get something she made at daycare off the bulletin board or ask to go outside to pick flowers from her garden for you. She thinks doing it will make it better.
Throttling Three's
Unfortunately the Not-so-Terrific 3's has been upgraded to the Throttling 3's (thanks to Anita for this gem! And why aren't there any no-no words that start with T???) While I recently had a few days of reprieve with MissE the angel (or Dr.Jekyll), Miss Hyde has returned with a vengeance. Miss Hyde's offences include and are not limited to:
- Not listening until she is being threatened with punishment
- ROAR-ing or MMM! You are thinking "huh?" but MissE ROARs or grunts MMM! when she doesn't like what you are saying
- Putting her hands over her ears when she doesn't like what you are saying
- Swiping her arm out (to hit) when she doesn't like what you are saying
- Yelling "DON'T TALK TO ME!" or "STOP TALKING!" or "WHY ARE YOU STILL TALKING TO ME?" and thrusting her hand in your face when she doesn't like what you are saying
- Yelling at her friends who in turn yell back at her
- Telling us "YOU ARE SO MEAN! I DON'T LIKE YOU!"
- Calling mama a "stupid head" when she didn't like what I was saying. Yes, you read that correctly. And most likely she will not say it again. Mama can be very scary!
- Whining then crying because (a) she doesn't want to do what you are asking her to do and (b) because the sky is blue (seriously, someone call an exorcist!)
Sink or Swim
MissE is even naughty at swimming lessons. Being a swimmer, it makes me even more frustrated that while she knows perfectly well how to kick, she refuses to do it and rather sink to the bottom of the pool because it's funny. I have pulled her aside during swim lessons, not allowed her to have a gummy snake after lessons, not taken her to the park after lessons, and finally threatened she can no longer go to Matthew's pool, the beach, or the "park with boats" (Putney Park because they have a shallow pool) because she doesn't know how to swim and won't listen to her teacher trying to teach her to swim. Unfortunately it's not a threat I am not willing to follow through with it. Living in Australia, it's essential a child knows how to swim. I am at a loss as to how to get her to listen!
I am in no way a "soft" mother. I don't spoil her. I don't coddle her. If she falls, I brush off her legs and tell her to stand up. But I always show her unconditional love. So no, her behaviour is not from being easy on her or letting her have her way all the time. Ask any of my mommy- friends, and they will all say Eloise is in the School of Hard Parenting. I've had sleepless nights trying to think of ways to reign MissE back to "normal". And funny if you even start to type "3 year old won't listen" or "3 year old is driving me crazy" into Google, just how many mother's out there have similar problems.
A few mommy friends have agreed that one particular age is always more difficult than the rest and there is no rhyme or reason of what age it is. I guess pushing the limits is part of being 3 for MissE. And I hope "it's just a phase" really is just a phase... a short one at that! No one said it was easy being a parent. At the moment, I have never been so desperate to go back to work... if only I could bring Mr.E to work with me!
MissE is even naughty at swimming lessons. Being a swimmer, it makes me even more frustrated that while she knows perfectly well how to kick, she refuses to do it and rather sink to the bottom of the pool because it's funny. I have pulled her aside during swim lessons, not allowed her to have a gummy snake after lessons, not taken her to the park after lessons, and finally threatened she can no longer go to Matthew's pool, the beach, or the "park with boats" (Putney Park because they have a shallow pool) because she doesn't know how to swim and won't listen to her teacher trying to teach her to swim. Unfortunately it's not a threat I am not willing to follow through with it. Living in Australia, it's essential a child knows how to swim. I am at a loss as to how to get her to listen!
I am in no way a "soft" mother. I don't spoil her. I don't coddle her. If she falls, I brush off her legs and tell her to stand up. But I always show her unconditional love. So no, her behaviour is not from being easy on her or letting her have her way all the time. Ask any of my mommy- friends, and they will all say Eloise is in the School of Hard Parenting. I've had sleepless nights trying to think of ways to reign MissE back to "normal". And funny if you even start to type "3 year old won't listen" or "3 year old is driving me crazy" into Google, just how many mother's out there have similar problems.
A few mommy friends have agreed that one particular age is always more difficult than the rest and there is no rhyme or reason of what age it is. I guess pushing the limits is part of being 3 for MissE. And I hope "it's just a phase" really is just a phase... a short one at that! No one said it was easy being a parent. At the moment, I have never been so desperate to go back to work... if only I could bring Mr.E to work with me!
Until next time... Easter! And hope for a well-behaved MissE!
