Add A Partridge

What we've been up to

2011-08-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

Matilda lost her first tooth:

Unfortunately she was deep in her imagination at the time so she just took it out of her mouth and threw it away without even realising (clearly a child of mine.)
Luckily the Tooth Fairy was understanding after Matilda wrote an explanatory letter:

Matilda quote of the day: "Luckily my other tooth is wobbly now so I'll get more money soon!"

Philip went for his first taster session at school. But not before a very successful (if I say so myself) photo sitting!

"Enough photos now, please!"

Teddy has been practising how to take turns in polite conversation:

And Bingo had his first birthday!

Somebody call my name?

This looks yummy!

What do you mean "Blow the candle?"

The many faces of Teddy

2011-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sad Teddy:

Flirty Teddy:

Interested Teddy:

Excited Teddy:

Where did the time go?

2011-06-15T04:32:00.001-07:00

How did it happen?
When did my babies become so big?

Teddy is learning how to stand and has a shiny new Standing Frame from his Physiotherapist, and big-boy blue Piedro Boots to support his ankles. (Is it silly that I got all excited and emotional because Teddy was getting a standing frame? It felt like it did when the older wo started walking! Such a big step towards toddlerhood...)

Not only that, but his sitting is so good now, that they took away his Panda chair and Corner Seat and gave him a swanky big-boy chair and table to sit on instead. (I had to laugh when the OT asked timidly if we minded the chair being pink.)

Here he is sitting in his chair looking so grown up:

When did Philip get old enough to start learning how to read?

And when did Matilda start looking so grown up?

I took Matilda to her swimming lesson last week (usually Peter takes her.) I was watching through the window from the waiting area, and for the entire 30 minutes the lesson lasted, I could see her mouth moving. At the end, I asked the teacher "Did she stop talking at ALL?" Her answer: "No. She's the chattiest student I've ever had." (This made Matilda feel very proud of herself for some reason.)

What?

You want to kiss my delicious cheeks?

Oh go on then!

And in case you are wondering why there are so many more pictures of Teddy than the other two, here is what happens when I tell Matilda and Philip to "Smile!"

The Hapless Tourist

2011-06-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

I was reading a couple of online tourist phrase books today (you know... because I had nothing to do with my day!) Among the usual "I would like a Coca-Cola" and "Which way to the _ Embassy please?" the following useful phrases were included:

GREETINGS:

Hello.
Good morning!
Good afternoon!
Good evening!
Call off your dogs!
SHOPPING: How much is this? That's too expensive. I can't afford it. I don't want it. . You're cheating me. I'm not interested. OK, I'll take it. (I suppose the merchant was about to release his dogs...) Authority: I haven't done anything wrong. It was a misunderstanding. Where are you taking me? Am I under arrest? I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen. I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate. I want to talk to a lawyer. Can I just pay a fine now? Just WHAT is this guy planning to do in his holiday?! Peter and I have just spent a merry evening shouting "It was a misunderstanding! Call off your dogs!"

Idle hands make the Devil's work

2011-05-17T02:21:00.000-07:00

...so we've been keeping ours busy lately!

Matilda:

Matilda is really enjoying her swimming lessons. She swam half way across the pool with no buoyancy aids yesterday. Apparently she keeps saying she's scared, then her teacher throws a toy in the water and Matilda gets brave and swims in to save it.

She is also working hard on her writing skills... Writing is Matilda's weakest school subject. Part of it is that her fine motor skills just aren't that strong. Another part of it is that she reads so quickly, and she has such an active imagination, she finds writing frustratingly slow. I was the same at her age. (I also found spelling completely pointless... You could still read it, so why the fuss?) I guess being a liiittle bit lazy and looking for shortcuts is another thing my girl gets from me! Anyway, we're working on it and here is a postcard that she wrote to ger Nanny and Pop Pop after we visited the Aquarium a few weeks ago. (She told us what she wanted to write, we wrote it down for her and she copied it on the card.)

She was talking to my mum on the phone about her visit to the Aquarium too:
"Yaya, we went to the Aquarium, and we saw a big tank with predators like sting rays and sharks, and some other fish in there for their snack!"

Matilda has been asking for ballet lessons for months, since she started reading Angelina Ballerina books. She spent ages watching dance videos, and practicing. Finally last week we told her she was going to go to her first ballet lesson. Here she is warming up:

She started slow:

But then got more and more excited:

Ta Da!

Philip:

Philip is getting ready to start school in September (Gasp! Sob! My baby!) He got a place in our first preference school so I'm feeling a bit happier about that. We've also met some mums with kids going there, two of the boys actually have Asperger's syndrome, and they were very happy with the school. So it all looks quite promising at the moment.

Here is Philip modeling his new uniform:

He looks a bit more casual usually!

Philip also started seeing a new SALT (Speech and Language Therapist,) who has a lot of experience working with children on the higher functioning end of autism. We're very happy about that, I can tell you! He had his first session yesterday and she was very good at interacting with him and seemed to "get" gim a lot more than other professionals we've seen.

We have gotten used to the idea of Philip's diagnosis now that we've had some time to digest the information. It's nothing, he is doing very well and actually has a lot of strengths that will make it easier for him to learn to manage it very well, we think. He is VERY sociable, and really tries to interact with people. He has a very good imagination and can do pretending games quite well. Both of those things can be a problem with Asperger's, and we think having Matilda around has helped him learn these behaviours that might otherwise be more difficult to him.

But he does have several "aspie" traits that...well...are not so intrusive, so we just didn't notice them, or didn't think too much about them if we did. He is not very good at eye contact. He can look people in the eye, more easily the people he is most familiar with, and if you ask him directly he will make eye contact. But it never lasts for long, and he does try to avoid it if he can. He has the speech delay, of course, but he also has trouble with interpreting things like tone of voice. When the SALT asked him a question directly, he answered it immediately. But when the question was implied by her tone of voice, (for example, "This girl is crying because.....?) he never once answered the question. That is quite typical aspie behaviour (and he can learn to understand that sort of thing, but it will just take him a bit more of an effort.) He can be quite sensitive about things some time, especially sensory things. I mentioned the hearing test incident back in January I think. Last week we were trying to measure his height and to do that he had to stand against the wall and have a book touching the top of his head. He didn't want to do it, but I told him he had to, so he made himself do it, looking quite tense and wide eyed... As soon as it was done he went and hid behind the sofa (how on earth he managed to fit in there I don't know,) and cried for 10 minutes. Talk about feeling guilty... But it's not always possible to know when something is going to bother him that much! Luckily most of the time he is a very happy boy.

During the session the SALT went through a book of pictures, asking Philip questions about the pictures as part of the asessment. Here are a couple of the answers he gave -very "Philip."

Picture shows a boy standing near a lake, reaching out to get his toy boat. From his position and facial expression, he is obviously about to fall in the water.

SALT: What is going to happen next Philip?
Philip: He will ask someone to come with a net and get his favourite boat for him. Or maybe a dolphin will throw it to him with his tail, or with his nose. (like I said, nothing wrong with his imagination!)

Picture shows a teddy bear standing between two giant teacups. Yes, don't ask me why.

SALT: Philip, where is the teddy bear?
Philip: *pointing* There.
SALT: Good, but you have to tell me more. Try again, WHERE is the teddy bear?
Philip: *thinks ofr a bit, then says very deliberately* The teddy bear is there.

Philip really loves Teddy. He's always playing with him and singing to him.
Disclaimer: No babies were hurt during the making of this video. It looks like Philip is not being very gentle, but he was really, and anyway, Teddy was loving it!

Teddy

Teddy has made a LOT of progress recently. He can now:

Weightbear on his legs. He'll only do it on my lap, any other surface is too risky as far as he's concerned. But after his last Physio appointment, the PT decided that he is going to get a standing frame to help him improve his standing skills... He also got some special shoes called Piedro boots, that will support his ankles when he is standing. I was ridiculously excited about it all. I know, sad, but he looked so grown up standing on his standing frame with his big boy shoes on!
Balance on hands and knees, crawling position, and rock back and forth. He usually needs me to place him in that position, but once he even actually managed to get his knees under him on his own!
Sit without propping himself on his hands. He still finds it difficult though, and generally refuses to do it unless he is very motivated by a toy.
Sign milk.
Pick up his bottle, put it in hs mouth and hold it there until it's empty.
Play peek-a-boo.
Wrangle with the dog. :)

He had such a wonderful time playing with Bingo yesterday I just couldn't stop taking pictures. Later, when I was looking through them on the computer screen, Teddy was looking at them and laughing. Too precious.

Here he is again, with Marilena. See his smile? He had just seen his Daddy coming in. He's such a Daddy's boy.

You can see Teddy signing "milk" in this video. Look out for his hand opening-and-closing, that's the makaton sign for milk.

And here he is playing Peek-a-boo:

As for the pets...

Bingo and Domino are getting on really well together, and can often be found playing. Scrabble still prefers to skulk around and shoot Bingo hateful looks, but we're still hoping...

A day in the life...

2011-03-25T02:42:00.000-07:00

Just a few happenings taking place in our house in the past few days:

1. Schrodinger's Scrabble

Our house is over 4 levels... This means that often one will go several hours without seeing one or the other family member (or pet.) Generally, I assume that the missing creature is holed up playing (or taking a nap) and only go looking if it's feeding time, or on occasion follow the sound of screams coming from somewhere up the stairs. So when I didn't notice Scrabble slinking around during the day I... well... didn't notice. When Scrabble failed to show up when I opened the fridge I was only mildly perplexed. It was only later that night, when Peter was putting Teddy to bed that he heard the meows and discovered Scrabble shut in a box and shoved under the bunkbeds.
After a brief investigation it transpired that Philip was playing Hide and Seek with the cat... And got bored of seeking, presumably. We don't know how long Scrabble was in the box, but it must have been long enough, because he had gone to the toilet in there...
Result: Philip had a VERY stern talking to and I had to give the cat a bath at 22:00 last night.

2. A Concerned Sister

Conversation: Note, These are EXACTLY the words Matilda used. That's how she talks. She reads a lot of books.

Me: Matilda, have you seen Philip?
Matilda: No... I hope I wasn't too hard on the poor little guy.
Me: Why, what did you do to him?
Matilda: I accidentally slapped him a few times.

(Well, as long as she didn't do it on purpose....)

Brief Freudian Interlude...

3. We're Not Fussy!

The signs of doggy adolescence that Bingo has been displaying for some time have come to a head last week, when he began courting Domino. And by courting I mean sexually harrassing. Or, as Matilda puts it, "Bingo wants to have puppies with Domino!" Biiig Mistake, mate! The Vet has now been called, and an operation booked for next Tuesday. Chop Chop!

Bingo taking one last commemorative photograph of the family jewels:

4. Keeping the Help Happy:

Taken place while I was typing this post:

Matilda: I'm going to the toilet! When I get back, I want to see breakfast waiting on the table! If you don't....
Me: *clearing throat menacingly*
Matilda: Err... If you do... You will get something that you like.
(Slightly better, but you will have to be more specific than that...)

Photopalooza

2011-03-20T02:43:00.000-07:00

Nanny and Pop Pop came a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Philip's birthday.
He wasn't very impressed about having to wait for us to sing Happy Birthday before he was allowed to eat his cake.

This is Philip's "trying to be serious" face... Peter was trying to make him laugh, and Philip was trying to stay cross:

So funny to think that 4 years (and 15 days, but who's counting?) ago I gave birth to this:

Teddy enjoyed the visit too... He gets very animated these days (and check out those teeth!)

Bingo just wanted to relax after they went home ;)

Today I made (yet another) effort to take a good photograph of Philip's eyes... I just love his eye colour. Pip was very entertained by my efforts and made lots of his trademark funny faces:

I managed to snap a few photos of my other two loves too:

Podge hates being left out of photographs...

When the doorbell rang mid-feed, Matilda saved the day:

And finally, this is where Scrabble chooses to sleep every night. Matilda calls him "King Cat." (I guess that makes me the pea under his mattress?)

Bird Spotting

2011-02-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Somewhere in the deepest amazon rainforest lives an incredible bird. It looks just like a toucan, but it has a branch growing out of its neck, to carry its babies on. A bit like the birdy version of a kangaroo. No one had ever seen that bird until a tireless five and a half year old explorer from Devon, England descovered it in February 2011. Matilda named her discovery "The Carry Pan Toucan."

Me: Matilda, how many chicks does the Cary Pan Toucan have?
Matilda: 100 and 100!
Me: That's a bit too many... It wouldn't be able to carry them all, or sit on all those eggs to hatch them.
Matilda: But Mummy, didn't you know, it's a VERY FAT creature! A bit like you...
Me: ...........

Mr Happy

2011-02-14T02:49:00.000-08:00

Everybody knows that children with Down's syndrome are always happy.... right?

This Saturday Teddy was invited to his first ever birthday party. Unfortunately he fell asleep during the car ride there and as soon as he opened his little eyes and took in the chaos...

... he made it very clear what he thought. I kept putting him down and snapping pictures, because it was his very first party and by golly the occasion WOULD be recorded!

About 15 minutes in he fell asleep again, and slept all through the rest of the party...

... waking up just when everyone was getting ready to leave. He was pretty happy during those last 10 minutes though!
(Hey I can't blame the kid. I always hated parties too.)

(Surely this handome young man can't possibly be little Reggie? And Atticus got a cuddle too...)

The Bored And The Beautiful

2011-02-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

Teddy was being such a ham today...

...that I decided it was worth taking some family photographs. Teddy performed beautifully, but Matilda was feeling a bit unmotivated.

Luckily, after I threatened... errr... bribed.... errr... calmly explained to her that when Mummy gets annoyed she doesn't feel like turning her favourite tv programme on, we started making progress.

Friend Bingo

2011-02-11T05:01:00.000-08:00

Everybody loves Bingo, but Philip has an especially close relatioship with him. I have always loved dogs and I was determined that my children would also learn to be comfortable around them. Before we got our own dog though, this wasn't very easy to achieve. I admit I was the crazy lady who chased after dog owners to make sure Matilda and Philip got to stroke and say hello to as many dogs as possible. Matilda was generally happy as long as the dog was reasonably calm, but Philip was a lot more apprehensive. Ok, downright terrified. Even small, calm dogs would be observed from a safe distance, and every bark, jump or sudden movement reduced him to a quivering mess.
When Bingo joined us, he was a small, bouncy puppy with very sharp teeth and Philip was really not impressed. Slowly, they both got better and learned how to behave around each other. Now they're inseparable.

Philip calls Bingo his "friend Bingo," and includes him in most of his games. Right now as I'm writing this, Bingo is apparently being a tiger in the jungle. Every time Scrabble gets stroppy with Bingo (and it happens often!) Philip jumps in to rescue him. "Run Bingo! It's a Giant Cat attack!" And Scrabble gets a shove for good measure.

Yesterday morning I was having a cuddle with Philip, and told him my favourite thing is cuddling with my boy. "And what is your favourite thing Philip?" I asked.

"My favourite thing is Bingo."

Princess Stinky Stinks Again!

2011-02-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

Last night we were playing with Matilda's hair, putting curly-wurlies in it (I believe that's the technical term, no?) Of course, Philip wanted to join in. So he got two pigtails and he was very excited about them. He was jumping up and down and saying he looks like Danny (Danni? A little girl from nursery he's friends with.) Here he is with his piggy-tails... I'm sorry Pip, you'd make a terrible cross-dresser. I still think he has a very boyish face even with pigtails and a necklace (and the occasional nail polish...Shhhh. It's blue nail polish so that makes it ok!)

This morning we took the curly-wurlies off and Matilda got curly hair:

I think I might try it some time! Until then, I'll just make do with Matilda's cat-eat hair clips. (They're Matilda's right? I just want to make that clear. And I have ever, never wore them outside. Nope, not once.)

Maison Et Decoration.

2011-02-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

This is for Evi, because I wub her :) (And anyone else who doesn't have anything better to do!)

I went around the house today and took a few photographs, so here's the virtual tour.

As you go in through the front door, the first room you see on the left is the main bedroom:

Taken from the door:

And standing in front of the mirror you can see in the previous photo. Yes, there are Christmas lights on my bed.

The white wardrobe is from a second hand furniture shop, the drawer cabinet used to belong to Peter's granny. I got the rug on ebay. The bedside tables are from the recycling centre (i.e. the tip,) the blue reading light was Peter's when he was little and the orange one used to be a vase that belonged to my mum in the 60's or 70's, we got it converted to a lamp before I moved to the UK. The bed is IKEA and the mirror is Argos.

There is another room that is a similar size to the main bedroom and it will be my mum's when she moves here, but for now it's essentially a store room, so no pictures of that one :)

Next, you go one floor down, and find yourself here:

The dining/computer room.

I got the table second hand on ebay when we moved to this house. It is extendable so you can get 3-4 people on each side when fully extended. The chairs are miss-matched and from a used furniture shop, but I like the style. The mirror came with the house, the rug is from ebay (bought together with the one in the main bedroom.) The sofa is also second hand (originally IKEA,) bought together with the matching one you'll see later in the lounge. I got them both for £70 or there abouts. The computer desk is from the recycling centre (the tip.)

The door you can see in the picture leads to the lounge:

Here's the view from the doorway. (Ignore the Christmas tree. There's a reason why it's still up. Yes, really.)

The armchair was my gran's and then my mum's (now covered with a removable cover, which is a bit of a necessity in this house!) The cabinet behind it belonged to Peter's granny. The table behind the armchair is a Singer sewing machine table (complete with the sewing machine hidden inside it) that was my granny's too. It's one of my favourite things.

In the photo above you can see the other second hand sofa. The rug was a wedding present :) The red cushions are from a charity shop (they match the red sofa!) and the stripy/dotty ones are felt patchwork, made by my granny. You can see the door leading back to the dining room. (And yes, Teddy is watching television. It's a singing DVD and I was trying to get him to have a nap.)

Go down another floor, and you get to the kitchen (converted basement.)

This table was our main table in the previous house. Now it's very handy when the kids are having breakfast or a snack. The wall behind it is a partition built around two load-bearing pillars in the kitchen... I'd rather it wasn't there, but oh well. Podge's hutch is down there too, until I get him a more suitable indoor cage. Then the hutch and run will go in the garden for him to enjoy when the weather is good.

You can see the layout better in this next photo:

And just to keep it real, here's what's behind the partition wall. You can see my piles of washed clothes (folded in different piles for every member of the family! How neat am I! :P) and random stuff on the counter top that I'm in the process of sorting out / throwing away.

And finally, if you make your way aaaaall the way up 3 flights of stairs to the top floor, you have the children's bedrooms and our second bathroom. (Yay! A second bathroom! I'm still giddy thinking about it...) Both the kids' rooms are a bit of a work in progress.

This is known as "the girls' room."

Bunkbeds and a cot bed (in bed mode) in the alcove under the window. I got the curtains on ebay to make the room more girly for Matilda. They match the lilac wall quite nicely :)

Stuck between the cot bed and the bunks is a toy chest from Ikea, that has all their dressing up clothes in it. Also useful as a stepping stone when they jump from one bed to the next.

It might be the girls' room, but this is actually where Philip chooses to sleep (or should I say "Princess Stinky!")

The view standing in front of the window:

We finally got some dedicated shelves for all their books. Although I think we'll need to get some more soon. Check out the Flower Fairy frames (we still need to hang them.) The frames are from the charity shop, the pictures inside them are illustratins cut out of a book, also bought from the charity shop. Matilda chose which fairies she wanted:

And finally, "the boys' room." This is where Teddy sleeps at the moment. It's the smallest room, quite narrow and an awkward L-shape.

The view from the doorway:

The drawer tables are from the tip again, but I painted the handles with metal paint to make them look brighter. The Globe was a Christmas present for Philip... It lights up, and it's one of my favourite things. I love looking at it in the dark.

This bed was second hand. It's got a tent-hiding place underneath. (Also a good place to put a second mattress for sleep-overs.) I need to glue a new velcro-strip on the side to hold the curtain in place, but it's great fun and the children love it.

From the foot of the bed, looking in the shorter part of the L-shape. This is where Teddy sleeps. The mobile in his cot was from his birth parents and he's had it since he was born.

Finally, no photographs of the bathrooms (the camera batteries died,) but I'll close with my favourite tip find of all times. Storage was a big problem in the bathroom until we found this:

Where the towels are there was a broken cupboard door, but we took it and the hinges off. Now we keep all the clean hand towels there. Cosmetics, toothbrushes, bottles etc go at the top, toilet paper, nappies and other bulky stuff at the bottom. It could do with a coat of paint as it's a bit scratched, but it's wonderfully solid. For £25, now I just need to figure out what colour to paint it!

And there you have it, our house!

Oops, I did it again!

2011-02-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

After living for five and a half years without a rabbit, clearly the devastation Nanoo wrecked in our house has faded from my mind. This is Podge:

I rehomed him a couple of days ago when his owner couldn't keep him. He looks so much like Nanoo that I couldn't resist. One look at his little face and it was love...

Luckily, there are certain crucial differences between Podge and Nanoo:

a. Podge is a boy. Apparently (although it woudln't have made a difference since I had no idea if Nanoo was a boy or girl when I got her,) male bunnies are significantly less hormonal, territorial and all around grumpy. At least this one is! And he is already over a year old, so there is little chance that he'll change when puberty hits. Actually, Podge has already demonstrated his good nature: He was completely unpertrubed during the car ride home (Nanoo would be thumping and letting everyone know just how much she doesn't want to be in the car.) He let the cats sniff him (they weren't that interested,) and let the dog sniff him (he was VERY interested! And a bit scared -the dog, that is. Podge was cool as a cucumber.) and even lick him. He let the kids hold and stroke him. Nanoo would have shredded anyone who thought they could make her sit on a lap to ribbons, and would have had a major fit at the thought of letting another animal get near her. In fact, she did.

b. Podge is a mini lop. Nanoo was probably part mini lop, but I strongly suspect the other part was badger (since she matched badgers in both size and territoriality... territorialness... terrototalness... Anyway, some respect for the dead please! Sheesh!) Podge is about the size that Nanoo was as a baby, and will stay that size.

c. Since Podge is not only significantly smaller that Nanoo, but has also spent his life living in a hutch so far, I will keep him in a rabbit cage (I will! I promise!) and let him out for cuddles and excersise instead of letting him roam free around the house.

Podge after dismounting Coldy, the toy cat Matilda sleeps with. The two got aquainted erm... intimately. At least Podge has the sense to look embarassed.

Podge has also broken the tradition of naming all our pets after games. (Domino, Scrabble, Bingo...) I did toy (heheheh... she said toy!) with calling him Boggle or Twister, but really, he is a Podge.

In other news, Philip was ill last week... Luckily, Nurse Binki took good care of him:

Finally, you will probably notice the title of the blog has changed. (Go on... scroll up now! I won't tell anyone!) "Matilda's Journal" stopped fitting almost 4 years ago, when Philip was added to the family, and 3 children, 2 cats, 1 dog and 1 rabbit later, I finally felt guilty enough to change it.

Holy Clap!

2011-01-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

Look what Teddy learned to do:

Last night, waving (it looks a bit random, but he was getting bored with doing it by the time we got the camera.)

Today, clapping. (Sorry my hands are in the way, my friend Maggie was holding the camera. You can still see his hands though.)

My New Year's resolution for 2011 is to love myself more. I realised I've fallen in a rut, where I became very self conscious about how I look and how much weight I've gained, to the point that I was actually unwilling to post photographs of myself on this blog, because I didn't want people who hadn't seen me in person in years to see the difference. Well, that is going to change! Here is my manifesto:

1. I am healthy, happy and loved. I do not care how much I weigh. What other people who are not my family might or might not think about me does not matter. To reinforce this point, I will begin to post more pictures of myself on here.

2. I will stop caring about losing weight. I will NOT NOT NOT focus on how much I weigh. Instead, I will try to make sure I stay healthy and active. I already live in a four storey house and have a dog that I walk. Matilda and I are also joining a belly-dancing class together, starting next week. :) If I end up losing any weight through it, fine. If I don't, that is also fine.

3. I will keep reading HAES (Health At Every Size) material like this and this to make sure my positive mindframe sticks around. I will also surround my self with images of happy, positive people with "extra padding"

I know all this sounds a bit weird, but hey, what else is new, right? :)

I rewarded my self by buying some nice new clothes... And comfortable too!

(Ignore Peter's toolbox in the background, that was actually the brightest place in the house so that's where I took the picture.)

Last weekend, we took Bingo to a nearby beach. We met some other doggy friends there, and took a very wet and muddy Binki home a few hours later.

That's all for now, I'll try to avoid taking months to the next post!

Happy New Year!`

2011-01-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

This Year:

Matilda:

*Got taken out of school and is being home educated. She's doing really well with it, and is learning lots. We're planning to put her back in school either next year or the year after, but for the moment she seems to be doing better at home. She is reading amazingly fluently (this was always her strong point,) and her writing (which was always her weakest point) has improved a lot, going from almost illegible to pretty neat IF I sit there and supervise her when she is writing. (Left to her own devices she gets lazy *L*)

*Started swimming lessons and got her first "Ducklings" certificate.

*Has also joined Girls Brigade.

*Learned to play well with dogs and to not be scared of them (and so did Philip!)

Recent Matilda-isms and favourite expressions:

After finishing her lunch, she wanted some of mine:
Me: Matilda, you already had your lunch. This is mine. It's not fair if you eat my food, I'll be hungry.
Matilda: But mummy, I'm little and I need to grow. You're big, you don't need to grow.

Often heard in our house these days: "Carolyn! I ADORE Carolyn!" (Or whatever/whoever she's talking about. Adore is her new favourite word.

Philip:

* Is due to start school this September. I can't believe it's time already!

* Went from being terrified of dogs despite my best efforts (stopping random strangers with dogs on the street and fussing over their pets, arranging to tag along when friends walked their dogs etc,) to happily approaching and stroking quite large dogs, thanks to Bingo!

* Perfected the art of washing his own hands. He has a little poem/mantra that he tells to himself out loud while he's doing it. It's very cute.

*This year Philip was also diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. He was (finally!)being assessed for a speech delay. I have to say that we are quite ambivalent about the diagnosis. Although Philip definitely needs support with his speech, and he does have some "autistic type" quirks, He can generally get around them quite easily with some support, he is imaginative, plays pretending games, shares jokes with us, is very sociable and cuddly etc... It just doesn't sound like it. I honestly haven't found Philip any more challenging to parent, take out or generally live with than Matilda, and in a lot of ways he is actually easier than her. But on the other hand, having a diagnosis means that he gets speech therapy and extra support so whatever. They can diagnose him with Green Kangaroo syndrome if that gets him what he needs ;)

*As part of the assessment Philip had to have a hearing test (his hearing is fine by the way.) Philip hates having things in his ears, and he had a huge meltdown at the clinic. We had to re-book the hearing test. For the second one, we prepaired with some basic training. POhilip would get a bite of chocolate every time he let me look in his ears. Within two days he would walk up to me and say "Mummy, do you want to look in my ears now?" Hearing test worked like a charm the second time, needless to say. When I told Teddy's portage worker about it, she laughed a lot and said nothing that happens in our house surprises her any more. I take that as a compliment ;)

Teddy:

*Teddy has started babbling. He can say "a-da-da-da," "ma-ma-ma-ma" and "Buh-buh". He is generally much more aware of his environment.

*He will reach out to us when he wants to be picked up.

*He can now push himself up to his hands and knees. Only for a few seconds, but it's progress!

* He has four teeth! Two at the bottom, one at the top and a stray molar that appeared out of nowhere *LOL*

Bingo:

* The pictures speak for themselves I think.

A day in the life

2010-11-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

I do love being able to post photos of all the family again! :)
So please allow me to indulge in a photo overload...

Matilda showing off her toesies:

And being a mermaid:

Philip and Bingo come face to face (through a car window.)

The days are getting colder, and Teddy needs to wrap up warm to go out:

If anyone doubts that this baby loves his big sister, here is some proof:

Take One:

Take Two:

Could I BE more excited?

Oh no! The Paparazzi!

Quick! Look modest!

Bingo is growing up...

A chance meeting; a story in pictures:

You look nice!

I wonder if...

You taste nice too!

I challenge anyone to see these cheeks and not want to kiss them.

Not as innocent as he looks...

New Achievements

2010-10-30T04:22:00.000-07:00

To celebrate his birthday, Teddy started sitting up. He is now able to support himself in a sitting position for a few seconds (too short to catch in a photo,) and then he props himself up on his hands, and can sit like that for a fairly long time:

He is very pleased with himself, and so are we!

Matilda and Philip helped make jelly fo Teddy's birthday, and he also had a cake.

What do you think he thinks of his cake?

Come on Daddy, get on with it!

Now, one of Teddy's challenges is eating. He seems to need his food to be smooth, and of a certain consistency... Too thick and he chokes, too runny and he can't figure out how to move it in his mouth and swallow it. We've been trying quite hard to find food that Teddy will eat, and his solids diet is still pretty limited.

On his birthday, however, we had a breakthrough.

This is Teddy's cake face:

The important thing in this picture, is that his mouth stays carefully closed. Teddy appreciated his cake so much, he wouldn't risk losing a mouthful. What you can't see is that he actually made chewing movements, and swallowed bite after bite of sponge cake. Result!

Here's another shot of the cake face:

So starting today, we're taking a different approach to feeding... Trying actual bits of (soft) food. Here is a video of Teddy trying some jelly, and some buttered bread. Make sure you watch it all the way, it gets really funny at the end.

I love this close up of Teddy's eyes... You can see their beautiful shape, and his Brushfield spots (the star-burst pattern around his iris... fairly common in people with Down's syndrome, and absolutely gorgeous!)

365

2010-10-27T01:50:00.000-07:00

One year ago, in a hospital somewhere in England, a baby boy was born. His name was George. Soon after he came into the world, the doctors noticed there was something different about this baby... He had Down's syndrome.

One year ago, the baby's parents were devastated. They didn't think they could parent a child with Down's syndrome, and decided to give him up for adoption. Baby George stayed in hospital for almost a month. He was very small, only but he was healthy and strong.

As soon as he was ready to leave the hospital, the little baby moved in with a foster family... Elaine and Joe. They loved him very much, but couldn't keep him.

We first heard about George when he was 3 months old. It was January, and we had been waiting to find our third child for 10 months. His social worker visited us, and we all agreed that baby George was our "meant to be baby." This is the first photograph we saw of him. (He was 4 months old.) We decided to call him Theodore George, Teddy for short.

We had to wait until March to go to Matching Panel (where an adoptive family is officially matched with a child, and allowed to meet them.) I will never forget pacing up and down in a side room, waiting for the Panel's decision. I cried when the yes finally came... We had jumped through all the hoops, and we could drive to meet our baby that very day for the first time.

He was almost six months old, and big for a baby with Down's syndrome. He was very sweet... Incredibly interested in people and faces, but his muscles were quite weak and couldn't really hold his head up. We had to support him like a newborn.

But oh, the difference, when he met his brother and sister for the first time a few days later! Matilda and Teddy really hit it off right away.

And Philip walked right up to him and started singing "Twinkle Twinkle little Star" to him.

Teddy was so besoted with his siblings, he started really trying to sit up and support his head, so he could watch him. You could see his little muscles trembling with the effort, but he would complain if we laid him down. He wanted to be in with all the action.

By the time he came home two weeks later, he could hold his head up quite comfortably.

Tired Teddy snuggles up with Mummy.

His first feed in his new home...

After just a couple of weeks in his forever home, he had gotten much stronger

And although he had always been a contented baby, he was changing in to the smiley giggle bucket he is today!

Don't let me go mummy...

Look, I'm 8 months old and I'm growing hair!

In July, we moved to a new house... And Teddy loved the carpets.

In September we got ANOTHER new addition to the family!
Bingo the Labradoodle

In October, just a couple of weeks before his first birthday, Teddy was able to appear before a judge and finally become officially, irrevocably and permanently part of the family. (Until then, he still had his birth parents' last name and we weren't allowed to share photographs of him on the internet. Hence the long blogging absence.)

Teddy celebrated the day by cutting his first tooth!

The Judge was very taken with Teddy and has asked us to email her the photos from the day so that she can remember him.

So here we are. 365 days ago a little boy called George devastated his family with the news of his extra chromosome.

Delayed. Disabled. Dissapointment. A burden that they couldn't carry.

365 days later, tomorrow, Theodore (gift from God) George will celebrate his first birthday with his forever family.

Happy. Determined. Cherished. A gift and an asset to our family.

Chomper!

2010-04-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Today Teddy had his first taste of real food. (Real yucky powder with added water, vaguely tasting of rice, that is. He's getting well trained to like my cooking!)
Oh, and did he like it! I decided to give it to him on a whim, after he was quite grumpy for the past few days, and was crying for the next feed much earlier than usual. He'll be 6 months old next week, and he's a big baby. He went from a crying, wailing, pitiful thing to a happy munchkin in the time it takes for one spoonful. His little tongue was still [ushing the food out (he has to learn,) but he was holding my hand and trying to push the spoon in his mouth. And between spoonfuls, he was chuckling. I don't think I've seen a baby enjoy his first taste of food more. And he was happy for the next 3 hours too, so it must have agreed with his tummy.

Next step, carrot puree!

Party of Five

2010-04-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

Last week, our new baby Theodore George joined us (after a couple of weeks of introductions.) Sorry I didn't blog about it sooner, but until we officially adopt him (i.e. go to court and change his birth certificate,) I'm very limited in what I can share... which frankly cramps my blogging style. So I have a feeling that posts will be a bit sparse in the next few months.

Teddy is settling in just fine (he came from a foster home that was very calm and civilised... Out home is -er- not.) Matilda and Philip love him. The first time he met him, Philip said "Daddy, I LOVE the baby"" and then stood in front of Ted and started singing "twinkle twinkle little star." And Matilda wants to bring him to school for Show and Tell. (We settled for bringing a photograph at the moment!)

Teddy eats like a champ, burps with gusto (he did a spectacularly well timed burp in church last Sunday,) and sleeps like a baby should. Which means like Matilda and Philip never did. I'm loving having a baby who's been broken in already!

IncogniTed:

Anyone who wants to see what our baby looks like with his face uncovered, feel free to visit ;) (Or, erm, email me!)

Philip thinks having a baby is exhausting!

Wait Mummy! You're writting a blog post?! I don't have anything to wear!

Matilda ready for a nigth on the tiles (trust me, she'd fit right in around here on a Friday night.)

Matilda

2010-03-10T02:23:00.000-08:00

Discussions with Matilda:

Matilda: "Mummy, I don't like the world God made for us."
Me: "Why not baby?"
Matilda: "Because... I wish the beach was there EVERY day."
Me: "The beach is there every day, but some times we can't go because it's very cold, or it's raining."
Matilda: "But why didn't God make the beach so that we can go to it in the winter?
And WHY didn't God make sweets be good for our body?"
Me: "You know, I ask myself that every day..."

Matilda: "Mummy, if people were after dinosaurs, what's going to be after people?"

Matilda (while playing a dinosaur pretending game -we're very much into dinosaurs these days.): "I'm being a duckbill dinossaur, and Coldy (her toy cat) is being a Fur-o-saurus.

And here is Matilda singing a song from the Land Before Time. Because it cracks me up whenever she sings this, she always volunteers to sing it when I'm feeling sad or cross. I just love it!

And here is the original video, so you can compare and appreciate her performance:

Dance for Joy

2010-02-17T00:34:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I felt like this day would never come... But it has.

We have found our baby!
We have been chosen to be the family of an adorable Little Guy with Down's syndrome.
Several weeks ago, we first heard about a baby boy who was relinquished at birth, as his birth family didn't feel they could bring him up. His amazing social workers did all they could to move quickly, and after visiting us they decided that we were the right family for him.

Now what?
Well, now we wait. Before things are official we still have to go through Matching Panel, which has been scheduled for the end of March (Boo! Hiss!) This is where a committee will examine the case, and either agree that the social workers have made a good choice, or argue that we are not, infact, a good match for this specific child. It's the last hurdle, and it could still go wrong and they could not approve us at Matching Panel. But the chances of that are very low at this stage. (I think of it as being 8 months pregnant... There are still several things that can go wrong, but by that stage you generally expect that you'll end up with a baby.)

After we pass Matching Panel (fingers crossed,) we will have to wait a few extra days for the decision to be ratified (final bit of burocracy,) and then we can finally meet our Little Guy! We will be visiting him at his foster home over several days/weeks, gradually increasing the length of the visits and our involvement, until he is so used to us that he can come home with us. And hey presto, family of five!

So what is he like?
Very, very cute! I wish I could post a photograph, but I can't... Not until he is officially ours. He is 4 months old at this time, but he was born a bit premature, so he is actually a bit younger than this if you correct for prematurity. (Sorry to be vague, but again, I can't say too much until it's official.) He is a little chunk! He is chubby and squishy, and just growing in to 3-6 month clothes. He has fair hair (well, not very much of it, just a bit of fuzz,) and blue eyes. He is very healthy at the moment, but of course he is so young that we don't know how he'll be in the future.
He is very close to his foster mum and likes to always keep her in his sight, and he follows her with his eyes around the room. We are told he is happiest when held or sleeping on someone :D That is so sweet, and reminds me very much of what Matilda was like as a tiny baby. (Philip was a lot more laid back, and liked having his own space some of the time.)

Roll on April! I can't wait to meet my Little Guy.

We are happy

Dancing for Joy

And even playing air guitar ;)

The Mystery of the Missing Mingo (and other adventures)

2010-02-11T04:56:00.000-08:00

Last week, Philip's safe little world was rocked by tragedy. We lost Mingo, his beloved toy Flamingo (or "Swimmingo", as he calls it.) One moment it was there, safely tucked in the nappy bag as we were going about our business, the next moment we were home, and Mingo was nowhere to be found. We looked everywhere, even under the sofa; no Mingo. I temporarily distracted Philip with another favourite toy, and we carried on. The next day, we had more requests for "my swimmingos." So we went out, retraced our footsteps, and tried to find Mingo. We asked everyone to be on the lookout for Mingo (and oh, how they laughed when I started describing Mingo, the pink Flamingo.) We went to the toy shop, who had sold out of flamingos, so we left with an £8 ostrich instead. Several times a day Philip would take my hand and pull me to various rooms, saying "Come on Mummy... Let's find Swimmingos!" Finally, after days of searching, I bought a new Mingo on Ebay. Actually, I bought two, since he was bound to get lost again sooner or later. Philip was ecstatic to be reunited with his friend.

Yesterday, Peter found Mingo. In his coat pocket. Where he was all along. Still, with three flamingos, we can now have our own estuary.

My guys having a snuggle:

Recently Matilda announced that when she grows up she is "going to be a studier, and study penguins."

So we went to Living Coasts to see the penguins and talk to their keepers (I have to support my girl in her career choices after all!) We had a lot of fun, but the highlight of our visit was this guy:

Now, I know this looks an awful lot like a floating dead bird.

It is, however, very much alive. Apparently, this Inca Turn, has figured out he likes to swim (and float) with his head under the water.

He started off like this:

Then fluttered onto his back:

And floated like this for a bit.

He did that several times until he got bored and flew away. I've never seen a bird do that before!

Recent Matilda-isms:

After having a fight with Philip:

"He's NOT my little brother! He is a stupid old WATERING CAN! That's broken! And has no water in it!"
(I guess that was the most useless thing she could think of...)

During a session of pretend play:

"I'm being Makka Pakka's little sister... Makka Fucka!"
I'm pretty sure the resulting rolling around the floor in laughter lasted about 10 minutes and did NOT help ensure she would not go repeating this at school the next day. Oh well...

Do I look like a watering can to you?

They love eachother really...

Philip got a haircut today. His hair was getting so long it kept getting in his eyes. I actually took him to the hairdresser two weeks ago, but he hates having his hair cut so much that after about 15 minutes (and £7) he looked no different to me, and his fringe was STILL in his eyes. At least when I cut it at home I can take my time and do it over several hours (or in front of the television!)

I want my picture taken too!

Snow!

2010-01-08T05:53:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We visited Peter's parents (no photos, sorry!) and also spent some quiet time at home (as quiet as it can be with the little terrors running around!)
Matilda took place in her very first nativity play in December. She was a "carol singer." (Great, because her costume was normal clothes plus scarf and gloves!) Here are some grainy photos of her debut:

It snowed here last week, and schools have been closed for the past 2 days (YAY! Peter said I was more excited than Matilda... HE WAS RIGHT!) This is going to give everyone who lives anywhere where it ACTUALLY SNOWS a good laugh, but we had to take the kids out for the obligatory snow photos:

Philip throwing snowballs:

And just looking cute:

Matilda looks like she's having a good time:

But really, she wasn't that crazy about the snow...This is what she looked like most of the time:

Recent Matilda-ism:

While sitting on the table:
Matilda: "Look, I have two spoons!"
Peter: "Yes, and Philip has two spoons too."
Matilda: "Yes! Two spoons and two spoons make...Four spoons! See daddy, I answered your question before you asked it!"
Peter: .....

(Me thinks we're getting a bit predictable around here!)

She's very difficult to photograph now though... She just gets this huge, fake smile plastered on her face every time I whip the camera out. And then keeps running around to see her photo on the screen. Silly girl!

Philip-isms:

Well, Philip doesn't really have funny conversations per se. But he makes us laugh all the time... Every day is a hoot when he's around! He's becoming such a little clown... And loves making people laugh. His jokes include random renaming of objects and persons:

Philip, holding his penguin
Me: Philip, what's that?
Philip: It's a giraffe! *giggle giggle giggle*

Conversations with his genitals:

Philip, lying on the changing matt without a nappy, legs splayed open:
"Hello Mummy! My name is willy... What's your name? (After I put a nappy on:) Oh! I'm hiding! Bye bye!

And impersonations of famous tv characters. Here he is being the Cookie Monster:
(Admitedly a slightly half hearted attempt because I pleaded with him to do it on camera... When he is the one starting it the performance is much superior!)

Bed head Philip (just woken up:)

And some more video cuteness:

That "butt five" cracks me up (oh nooo... she didn't really say that?!)
I love this kid!

Our house, in the middle of our street

2009-11-10T04:18:00.001-08:00

After repeated requests by Evi (Hi Evi!) here is the Grand Tour of our house. This is about as tidy as it ever gets... Tidiness is not one of our strong points. I'm using a new method lately though, trying to stay on top of things. I allocate a room to every day of the week and try to focus on that room (on top of the usual picking up toys, doing dishes etc maintenance.) I know, I'm sad.

Anyway... Here it is:

Our living room.

That sewing machine table was my grandmothers... The armchair too. (Apparently my uncle used to have to sit on it on timeout!) We had it reupholstered before moving to the UK, but the cats have been using it as a scratching post...
The photos on the wall are all family photos and that poster was found for me by Evi, days before we moved to the UK...

Our kitchen table. The bookcase next to it is a permanent mess-magnet... Trying to work on it, not succeeding!

Aaaand the other side of our kitchen, with Matilda's artwork on the cupboards! The "curtains" over the cupboards are a favourite, allow me to stash all sorts of things back there.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is where we keep our coats and shoes. The cat litterboxes are there too.

Our bathroom.

Our main bedroom. The little single bed next to ours is Matilda's. I love these duvet covers, they make it look like one giiiiiant bed.

And the kids bedroom. Philip sleeps in the bottom bunk now.

I love that old school desk that we rescued from the curb! It's our art desk now.

The cot is functioning as general storage at the moment! Hopefully it will be used soon... If the child we adopt is too old for it, I also have a toddler bed ready in the loft that can go in the same space.

And there you have it... Our house!

I know what I did last summer

2009-11-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

...because I can read it on my blog! What I did last autumn is a whole other story...
Between trying to adjust to Matilda going to school (hate it hate it hate it!) and nothing happening on the adoption front (hate it even more!) I didn't much feel like blogging. Actually, when I finally sat down and went through the photographs I've taken since the last time I posted, I realised I didn't much feel like taking photographs either. So, dear readers, I'm afraid you are about to be treated to a measly update with a small sample of photos. Sorry!

MATILDA:

<

Matilda and I flew to Edinburgh in late August to visit Marilena (who will probably not realise I'm writting about her because she doesn't like reading the small black marks on the screen. Natch!) Marilena lives in a house over a pub, with two spanish housemates, and the various other people that come to stay with them from time to time. One of the housemates is a hairy bearded spaniard called Molly (really!) We had a great time (but no photos taken!) It was our last chance for some mother-daughter bonding before school started.

Here is Matilda on her first day of school, wearing her uniform:

School is largely the reason I went so long without a blog post. So, all I'm going to say at the moment, is we're both having a hard time getting used to it, and I'm seeing some behaviours emerge I'm not happy about. Let's hope we find some way to fix things, and soon.

Academically she's doing very well, (but she could read simple words like cat and could count to 30ish and recognise numbers 1-10 before she started.)
Here she is, reading a book we got from the library. This is the first time she had seen this book.

Socially, she spent the first couple of weeks saying she wanted to stay with me. No tears, but she was thinking up various arguments trying to convince me. She could be persuaded quite easily to go in, but she always said she didn't have a good time, and that she missed me. Eventually, about a month later, she grew fond of a couple of other children and has become happier about going in. (We still get times that she doesn't want to go, but they are the minority, although quite frequent.)On occasions I went to pick her up earlier, I saw her playing quite happily with her friends.

However, she has become extremely clingy at home. She wants someone to be with her almost always, and we have to have a major discussion to even convince her to go to the toilet on her own! If she wakes up and I'm not there, she gets very distressed. She has also started getting quite angry very easily, and every time she is cross she starts saying we are not a proper family, she doesn't want me to be her mummy any more, she doesn't want a brother, etc. We have had countless discussions about how hurtful this is, and have tried various methods to deal with it; I'm suspecting at this point she is doing it largely for the attention, but it still bothers me that she even came up with it in the first place. She has also had some instances where she has wet herself at school. (She had been completely clean day and night before, for almost a year.) She is starting to become quite manipulative and will start with the stomping, crying and "you're not a proper mummy" every time she is told off.

In all honesty, right now I wish we had decided to home educate her after all. I am very upset by the personality change, and unfortunately, because of the adoption pending (and every social worker potentially carrying their own opinions about home educating,) we can't risk changing things now. I am going to disable comments for this post because I get very wound up about this, and I don't want to start over reacting to anything any "anonymous" says. (No offence, but this is an -over-sensitive issue for me. If you know me well enough to know my email, you can comment by email if you like!)

I do hope and wish that what I'm seeing is largely down to adjusting to change and being overtired. We'll see how she does in the next few months.

PHILIP:

Philip has gone through a bad phase too (probably adjusting to Matilda being gone,) but he's been very good in the past couple of weeks. He has adopted a stuffed Penguin as his favourite toy, and if you want to get him to do something, you can generally ask Penguin and it's sure to get done! His speech is continuing to improve. He has quite a slapstick sense of humour. A recent joke he likes is coming up behind you, tapping you on the shoulder and dissolving in giggles when you turn around. He also likes grabbing hold of my shirt or trousers and following me around up and down (train style.) Oh, but he doesn't like it if he things you're laughing at him! He will say things like "Not Funny!!!"

Here he is repeating something from a tv programme he was watching. (How to stop the hicups.) Watch out for him getting offended when we laugh. He says "Stop Silly" and "Stop Funny."

I'm asking him if he's cute because he has taken to saying "No" to anything we ask him, but when he really means "yes" he says it in a very funny way... I'll have to try and catch him doing that.

Deleted scenes from "28 Days Later:"

It's been HOW long?!

2009-07-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah, sorry for the delay! It hasn't been so much due to nothing happening, more like lots of things happening but very very gradually, so that I kept thinking that if I wait just a liiitle bit longer, I might have some news. No news, as it turns out, so you'll be treated to a bog-standard update (with adorable photos thrown in to make it worthwhile.)

PHILIP:

Philip is now 2,5 years old. He is getting a lot less baby-ish and it's so much fun to see him evolving into a little boy. He still has the knack of falling randomly asleep in the middle of other activities:

The butler did it:

Or was it the Cat?

Here he is again, he's found a comfy spot and getting ready to drift off:

He is talking a lot more. We've been to the GP recently, who confirmed that Philip's speech is now safely within the average zone. (I don't remember if I had mentioned this, but at some point about 6 months ago we had some concerns that Philip's speech was...well...not so much. The GP thought he was on the low side of average, and suggested we come back in a few months. Philip's speech has gotten a lot better since then, and is now squarely within the realm of average.)

Speaking of Philip being less babyish, this little guy is so easy to underestimate!I'll go about my day thinking of him as mostly a baby, and then he'll do something and blow me away! For example, a few days ago Peter and I were having a conversation about how when Matilda was Philip's age we were trying to potty-train her (with very little success, I might add!) but we think Philip is completely unready for it. He doesn't wake up with his nappy dry, he doesn't acknowledge when he is doing/has done a wee or a poo, he can't take his trousers down himself... No sign at all that he might be ready, apart from the fact that he's 2,5 years old. Then today, this happened:

Philip walks up to me, looking playful.
Philip: Mummy!
Me: Philip!
Philip: Mummy!
Me: Philip!
Philip: I need a wee!
Ooook, off we go, take his nappy off and sit him on the potty. Where he proceeded to do a wee. Yea.

Not sure exactly what we're going to do with this yet, but at the very least he'll be given a lot more chances to sit on the potty. This is very typical Philip though. He sort of sneaks up on you with his achievements.

Things Philip loves:
* Little plastic farm animals. He has a vast collection of these, and he gets really excited about them. He especially likes shouting out the sounds they make (really loudly,) or making them walk on me. Philip will approach you, wave a tiny cow in your face and holler "MOO!!!! Like a COW!!!! Incidentally, if you make the mistake not to acknowledge him, he sure knows how to get your attention. (Insert scene of Philip following you around, repeating very loudly: "It's a COW! It's a COW! It's a COW! It's a COW! It's a COW! It's a COW!")
* Jigsaws. He loves them. He's surprisingly good at them too. He picks them up very quickly and does them without much help. The ones we've got, he knows so well that you can give him a box of 5-6 puzzles of 4-9 pieces each, and he'll just empty the box, sort out the pieces and do them all on his own. Oh hes, and when he's done, he puts them away. Which brings me to...
* Order. He certainly didn't get that from MY side of the family! Philip will almost always put things back in their place. He puts his toys away when asked, picks up towels from the floor and hangs them, and he knows exactly where everything goes!
* Tickling. He flops on his back, and says "I want tickle" or "How about... tickle!" He's like a puppy.
* Singing. Loudly and slightly out of tune ;)
* Counting. He loves counting. He can count to ten (the numbers,) and he likes the things he counts to come to 10. If he is trying to count less than 10 things, he finds a way to solve the problem... Have a look:

Philip not cooperating with me, but being cute anyway."

Funny boy:

MATILDA:

Matilda is *gasp* FOUR! Her favourite animals are pigs and cats. Her favourite things at the moment are Numberjacks (anything to do with them,) and pretending games. It's a very abstract form of pretending games though. Mostly, she'll find a prop, clutch it, and then run up and down, telling herself a story. And I *do* mean run up and down. She has a very busy mind, and she wants to tell herself a story, but her body has all that energy that needs spending... So she runs in and out of the lounge, in-out, in-out, lost in her story. Oh, and if the radio is on, she complains. "Turn it off, I can't hear my story!"

Here she is, on the beach. She refused to get anywhere near the water, and had an absolute scream-fest if you tried to make her get her toes wet. "I'm scared of the sharks!" After we explained there are no sharks in this water, it's not deep enough, there is no space for them to swim etc: "I'm pretending!" "But Matilda, why were you crying then?" "I was scared of my pretending game!"

She is very compassionate and tender. She's grown out of the phase of not linking Philip, and now she says he is "the best brother in the world." (Yes, I brainwashed her into saying that!) She also says "Philip is annoying me... But that's ok, that's what families are like. We still love each other."
She loves swinging and climbing, and she has learned to swing herself without being pushed.

For Matilda's birthday, we went to visit Nanny and Pop-Pop and had a party there, with Mia and Alex as the guests. Nanny made a fantastic Numberjacks birthday cake
(The only way I would have made that would be if the round cake I was trying to bake accidentally came out looking like a four.)

The birthday girl, opening presents:

Matilda and Philip, doing some brother-sister bonding:

Misunderstanding...
Philip zooms in for a kiss, and Matilda pretends she is a cat.

Generic Photo Update

2009-06-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Matilda just finished her 3 "introductory" sessions to her new School. All the little ones starting Reception in September got to go in once a week for an hour or so, to get used to the classroom and their new teacher. She seemed very happy to go in, so that was great. While she was in the classroom, Philip and I hung out in the playground. (Or Yard? The outside area where the children have their breaks.) I don't know why there weren't more Reception mums sticking around, I really enjoyed the chance to "observe" the atmosphere of the school. What I saw were children that looked very happy and relaxed, and seemed to find it easy to go talk to the teachers about things, both complaints and little brags. This school seems to have a very happy, nurturing air about it. I could be wrong, of course, and I'm happy we considered home-schooling. (We'd still do it if it becomes apparent later on that it might be a better option for Matilda.) But at this point, I'm very happy with the choice of school... Just very nervous about my little baby growing up, and hoping that she'll make friends and have a good time :*( Watch this space for a photo of Matilda in her school uniform, she looks so smart and grown up!

Matilda eating her ice cream...

Lick!

Yum...

Ice-creamed out

Supermodel Baby!

Philip is growing up so much recently... A couple of days ago, Peter put down a bowl of water for him to play with (yes, we do this frequently... I love my lino kitchen floor!) A while later Peter returned to the room to find that Philip had had enough water play. He had opened the drawer I keep the clean tea-towels in, gotten some towels, mopped up the water on the floor, AND hung the wet towels on the back of a chair to dry. Philip that is, not Peter.

(I just wrote an embarassing story demonstrating that Matilda is not as independent as all that, but changed my mind and deleted it... I really shouldn't embarass her like that on the internets...right? Right?!) Actually, Matilda is getting a lot more independent. She's much more helpful around the house, follows instructions well, and will herd Philip in when asked :D But she has a lot less of a natural drive to independence, compared to Philip. It's funny, when she was Philip's age she seemed older (because she was cooperative and had a very good vocabulary,) but in some ways she was a lot more babyish than him (Took much longer to stop riding in the push-chair, wanted to be fed for much longer, and was generally slower to "grow out" of her baby ways.) It's funny, how different they are...

Philip is also mostly using three word sentences these days... Sooo much easier to handle! We hear things like "Let Go Feetit!" (Let go of Philip!) "I Want Milk!" (Sometimes even "I want milk tleese" -"please") My favourite words of his are "Beebaff" (Giraffe) and "Opopus" (octopus.) Aah... Remembering Matilda's "Dinosaucer" now... (Dinosaur.)

No recent photos of him(he just won't sit still!) so here's a couple of older ones:

I saw this little gem at the bookshop:

Notice the detail?

Now I REALLY want to buy this version, just so I can show it to people 30 years from now...

You MUST watch these:

2009-06-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

But not at work, or the uncontrollable fits of laughter will give you away!

LOOK EVI!!!

2009-06-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Mummy gave me a haircut!

And now my hair is just like yours... Do you like it?!

I know I'm soooo cute...

I can't help it!

I'm a BIG girl too, and guess where I slept all night long last night?

IN my own BED, in my own ROOM!

(No autographs please...)

What would YOU do?

2009-05-27T03:14:00.000-07:00

What would YOU do if your house was messy, your floor was dirty and your toddler was grumpy and driving you nuts?

This is what WE did:

In other news, wish us luck, we've got students! (This the phrase commonly used in our area to say you're hosting exchange students. "We've got students!" Always kinda reminds me of "We've got nits!")We have now a total of 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and 6 people living in the house! Actually, it's not bad at all, I hardly get to see them. I'm practising being the mother of teenagers, i.e. they only come home to eat, hardly ever talk to you and almost never answer their mobile phones. Matilda is fascinated by them, and follows them around constantly jabbering in too-fast-and-clearly-incomprehensible-english (they usually look at her smiling vacantly. Awwww.) She is trying to win their favour by complimenting them every time she sees them; she comes up with things like "I love your bracelet!" and "I like your clothes, the're neat." (Seriously? Neat?!)

Really, appart from being a great conversation starter, having 6 people in the house is no trouble, since we're co-sleeping and have a bedroom usually sitting around empty. Matilda has moved to her own big girl bed now (at the moment located in our bedroom,) and will be transitioning to the bottom bunk in her own room as soon as the students are gone. She is also supposed to start school in September. She has her uniform (will have to post a picture) and she wants me to get her a "Numberjacks" lunch box. For the uninitiated, Numberjacks is a CBeebies cartoon with large doe-eyed numbers that live in a sofa (don't ask!) and has taught her various math-related things, including the concept of zero. (Matilda: "I want ZERO Philips touching my toys! Because Zero is the number for NOTHING!") Me, I'm grateful she didn't ask for Disney Princesses. If all of them pink-obsessed creatures at school break my Baby Cakes, I will get very cross indeed!

ADDENDUM: Before a lot of feathers get ruffled, I wanted to say that when in a group of children, you get a variety of preferences in colour, style, hobbies etc, THAT'S diversity... And I love that. When 99% of a group of children like exactly the same thing, to me it's not diversity, it's peer pressure. Now it might be colour, in a few years it might be brand of clothes, or the "right" music. That's what I don't like, especially if it becomes part of my child's self-image. Hey, I know we are not going to be able to completely avoid it, but I don't have to like it. And, to be serious for a moment, if Matilda were to go to school and add Disney Princesses to her list of things she likes, that would be absolutely fine by me. If she comes back from school liking Disney Princesses but stops enjoying her "Thomas the Tank Engine" pyjamas or toys (that she begged me for), or the Numberjacks, because they are "only for boys," I'm sorry if you disagree, but that would be a bad thing in my book.

Now THAT'S independence!

2009-05-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

Here's what happened yesterday morning:

I was in the toilet, and the kids were in the lounge. Philip was obviously annoying Matilda. After a healthy amount of screaming, I could hear Matilda yelling "You have to go UPSTAIRS and THINK about what you DID! Go UPSTAIRS and THINK ABOUT IT!"

I got out of the toilet and found a very confused looking Philip sitting on the stairs, behind a closed baby-gate.

Me: "Matilda, how did your brother get there?"
Matilda: "I put him there."
Me: "How did you do that?!"
Matilda: "I closed the gate."

Yes, my almost 4 year old put my 2 year old in time out. Now if I can teach her how to cook, I can get some rest around here!

Cute faces:

A Matter of Faith

2009-05-18T01:04:00.000-07:00

My mum likes telling this story about me: When I was 3 years old, I stopped saying my bed-time prayer. She asked me why, and I explained that I was tired of talking and no one answering me. (I actually remember this, I used to make bargains with God to prove he was there, or that he was listening. "If you are there, when I wake up there will be a leaf on my blanket." That sort of stuff.) Obviously, there never was a leaf on my blanket, and I have been an agnostic ever since (for slightly more sophisticated reasons as the years went by!) Well, sort of...

Looking back now, I can see all the chips on my "Wall." Lots of bits of information or little encounters that were... interesting; but nothing more than that, never something more. I still couldn't do it. At the end of the day, it's a matter of Faith, and I just didn't have it. I looked inside and outside, and I just didn't see God, he didn't seem to be there. I had to be true to myself, I would not pretend about this, and I just didn't feel the presence of a God. Well, sort of...

Later on, big things started happening in my life. I got married, I had two children. I was content. So why did I keep feeling the need to do strange things? I had no sense of the existence of God, no Faith. But I was quickly and strongly getting a sense of a path ahead that I should follow; we were supposed to have a child with Down's Syndrome; and... a sense that everything would be alright if I did... a sense of faith in the path? Could it be the same thing?

According to Wikipedia, "Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. (...) As with "trust", faith involves a concept of future events or outcomes, and is also used for a belief characteristically held without proof."

There were many chips on the Wall by now; the bricks were starting to come off. But I was still fighting it.

October 2007: "I think religious people have it easy. They can say (and believe) that God is leading them down a certain path, and that they have to follow, and that when they do follow God's chosen plan for them everything will be ok as long as they have Faith.
I on the other hand have to settle for being crazy."

August 2008: "I, especially, felt a really strong sense of "destiny." I know it sounds corny. I'm not religious, and I can't explain it, so you'll just have to accept it."

Almost a year ago, last July, I was going to Greece to visit my family. At that point, I had surrendered to the "path." I was nervous; during this visit I was going to tell my family that we were going to adopt a child with Down's Syndrome. They would be upset. There would be no going back after I announced it. Were we really doing the right thing? In my hotel room there were no books or magazines, just a Gideon's Bible. I opened it at a random page, and my eyes fell on this: "Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you." (2 Samuel 7, if you're interested.)

Wham! Talk about working on the Wall with a Sledgehammer! I think that's about when I really started to give in to the fact that I was going to change what I had thought of as a fundamental part of my identity. Couldn't it be a coincidence? Of course it could. Absolutely, there's probably a solid statistical chance that I could open any random book and find something that seemed to fit my situation, there is no question about it. On top of that, there is probably any number of passages in the Bible that could be reasonably relevant to most things. But it didn't feel like a coincidence. And surely, if the lack of a feeling of the presence of God had kept me away from church all these years, then the arrival of a feeling of the presence of God was good reason to try going to church. Especially because, for the first time in my life, I actually felt like I wanted to.

It seemed clear to me that if I was going to continue being honest with myself, I had to at least try this religion lark. That feeling of a presence stayed with me for the next month, while I was mulling it all over; it felt like someone was there who knew what was happening, had read the novel already, and was patiently waiting for me to catch up (with a slightly amused smile, I always imagined.)

It took me a good few weeks to gather the courage to actually walk through the doors of a church. I was scared I wasn't going to like it, I would stop going and offend people; or that people would be pushy, and once I had set foot inside I would spend the next year running into them on the street and being asked if they would see me in Church on Sunday. And which church should I go to, anyway? I didn't want to go to the Greek Orthodox one, too many negative associations of being bored out of my wits as a child, and I just didn't find the style of worship attractive. In the end, my friend T. suggested that I just pick a church and go, and if I didn't like it I should go to a different one every week, until I found one I liked. So that's what we did: we picked the one closest to our house first, a large Baptist church. I seemed to remember that there is a lot of singing in Baptist churches, and I liked the idea of that.

That first Sunday we walked in feeling very nervous, and sat down in the first empty seats we saw. The Church was fairly full, and there were people of all ages there (not just old ladies with facial hair, check!) Then I looked around, and two rows behind us was a family with a little boy with Down's Syndrome. He was sitting there, very well behaved, and looking adorable. "How nice, if we stay in this Church we can meet other people with a child with DS every time we come!" We enjoyed the service, we liked the songs, the Pastor didn't say anything that we didn't agree with. (Just because I "caught religion" I wasn't going to sit there and hear that AIDS is God's punishment to homosexuals or whatever other fundie stuff you hear some times from some Christians. One strike and we were out.) We really did enjoy ourselves, both me and Peter, and the little boy with DS was a big dangling carrot too, I admit. We decided to give it until Christmas, and if we didn't like it by then, we would stop going.

I can only describe the next 4 months or so as "heady." That feeling of choosing to go down a road that "someone" already knew I was going to go down was constantly there. The sense of a benevolent presence didn't leave me for a long while (yes, this sounds horrifically corny. Get over it.) A year down the line, we go to Church every Sunday. (All you Greeks that knew me before, stop rolling on the floor with laughter. Thanks.) And get this: I never saw that little boy again. No one from the Church I've asked remembers any regulars with a Down's Syndrome child -they must have been one off visitors. Our Church holds two services every Sunday morning. There are seats upstairs and downstairs too. There are a lot of people there every time -but that one time, that boy with Down's Syndrome was sitting right there were I would see him. And so I went back.

Here is what I think: I finally got that leaf on my bed. I think that God knew I needed a big nudge. I needed a big clue. And I needed a strong feeling. Why on earth he couldn't have given it to me years earlier I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. So now that I'm a bona fide churchgoer, do I know something I didn't know before? Well, I know a few things, but nothing that would probably make a difference to anyone else if I told them. Certainly nothing that would have gotten me to Church had I known it 5 years ago. But I feel Something I didn't feel before, and that's what makes the difference.

One last thing: Do I think that you should go to church too? I spent the last year being too scared to tell the people I know that I was going to Church. (I told some of you, but not most.) I thought you'd think I was going to start preaching to you, or I'd stop telling dirty jokes, or I'd start judging everyone. I really have no intention of doing any of these things -but I want to be able to talk about what happens in all the parts of my life, not just the non-religious ones. And to answer my question, I think that if you don't want to go to Church, you shouldn't go. If you do want to go to Church, you should go. I just think that you should always have an open mind; and that is precisely what I always thought anyway.

Guessing Game

2009-04-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

What could Philip be doing behind the sofa?

Does this answer your question? No?

I guess this makes it clear:

And an awake one!

Three Year Old Worries

2009-04-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

The following conversation happened today:

Matilda: Mummy, I'm sad.
Me: Why are you sad baby?
Matilda: Because when I grow up I won't be able to see you anymore.
Me: ...!!! Why do you think you won't be able to see me anymore?
Matilda: Because I'll be a mummy and have my own babies, and I won't be able to see you anymore.
Me: (light bulb moment)Do you think you won't be able to see me anymore because I don't see my own mummy?
Matilda: Yes, you are a mummy, and you don't see Yaya, she is in Greece.
Me: But that's because Yaya is in Greece and we are in England. There are lots of other mummies that live close to their own mummies and see them every day. Nanny is Aunty Cathy's mummy, and Aunty Cathy lives next door to Nanny and sees her every day (slight exaggeration because I was trying to make my point clear to her.) If you want to, you can live really close to mummy and daddy when you have your own babies, and see us all the time.
Matilda: Ok then. And I'll marry Oscar and have my own babies.

She is getting old too fast :( And I never thought she'd be worrying about such a thing!

Fishy Tails

2009-04-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Remember my (err... I mean Matilda's) beautiful fishtank?

Well, the fish have been slowly returning to their maker; apparently they were getting something called nitrite poisoning. A tank normally has bacteria colonies living in the gravel and filter that neutralise all the...erm... fish excrement. I found out, too late, that when you have a new tank and dump a lot of fish in it, and the bacteria aren't all there yet to help keep the water clean, all the fishy poo turns into massive amounts of amonia. The amonia then turns into nitrate and nitrite, and (even though by that point the bacteria had been established,) that takes ages to clear up. Aaaaaaaaages and aaaaaaaaages. Meanwhile, the fish get blood poisoning and die. :/ Which they did, in the fishy equivalent of the black death.

I didn't know! I've only ever kept goldfish, the piscine equivalent of little pigs! (To be fair, the people at the fish shop told me it's better to let the tank sit for a couple of weeks to get "established," but as we all know, (or is it just me?)doing what you're told without knowing why is for sissies. Well, I found out why, and we now are left with two solitary tiger barbs... And really good quality water apparently.

So now it's time to re-colonise the tank. Matilda is eagerly awaiting the return of Rosie, Posie and Christopher from "the vet" (shhhh! They're the only ones she noticed missing!)
This is my projected fish tank population: I am allowed 12 barb-sized fish for the size tank I've got. So I'm planning to have:

4 x tiger barbs
1 x albino tiger barb
2 x green tiger barbs (all of these will form a group. At this point I have 3 tiger barbs and one albino.)
3 x tic tac toe barbs (Rosie, Posie and Christopher)
1 x Polka Dot Pleco (got that today! But I couldn't find a good photograph of it.)
1 x algae eating cat fish thingy.

What do you think? :)

One, two, three... Three Screech

2009-04-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Philip's speech has been coming on lately... Which, let me tell you, makes it a LOT easier to like him. (Philip has one hell of a temper... so if once in a while he tells me what he is screeching about, it can greatly improve things.)
It has been a big struggle to avoid comparing what Philip says to what Matilda was saying at his age... But these past couple of weeks, his sentences have been more frequent.
Morning. Philip has just woken up.
Philip: See Tata! (That's what he calls Matilda.)
Me: Matilda is sleeping.
Philip. Go 'stairs! Knock on door!
Me: No, we have to wait for her to wake up first.
Philip: Wait a minute.

THAT, folks, is communication!

Me: *pretending to growl at Matilda*
Philip: Like a dinosaur!

He has also managed to learn some rote-counting. The highest he'll go up to is 12. (No coincidence, that's the number of steps on our stairs.)It is so funny to observe these things. Matilda was light-years ahead of Philip in her language and expressive skills, but THIS, they are both doing at the same age.
Have a look (watch all the way for some extra Philip cutess points.)

It's been really nice to see Philip's communication skills evolving, actually, because the kid sure can annoy me! Sorry if it sounds bad, but it's true. With Matilda we never went through the terrible 2's and tantrums. Well, if I ever thought of feeling smug about my parenting skills, Philip was quick to stop me on my tracks. The boy can SCREAM! If you cross him, beware! His bones turn into plasticine, his face goes red, and the screaming begins. This happens at least twice a day these days. (Hint: His most frequent trigger is when we dare expose him to the indignity of having his clothes changed. See why I said at least twice a day?) I really REALLY can't wait until he learns how to put on his own clothes.

Pillar of Society... But behind closed doors, his true nature emerges...

Apropos of the policeman photo, if I ever decide to rob a bank, I'll make sure I have Philip as a witness... I can't wait to see the suspect portrait they whip up: (Notice, I didn't ask him to count my chins. I don't think I could take it if he said "three.")

Philip is a skinny little critter. Lately, as his baby fat has been turning into toddler muscle, he's been having trouble keeping his trousers on (oh dear! Let that not be a sign of things to come!) Quite often I will be walking down the street holding Philip's hand, and I'll notice someone pointing and chuckling*. Turn around, and here is Philip, like Lord Muck, happily walking along with his trousers around his ancles. (If you think I'm exagerating for commic effect, think again... It's happened more than 5 times, in different clothes.)

Conversation with Matilda today, while walking down the street.
Matilda: (after skirting around a passer-by.) I was nice! I said it nicely, mummy! I was a polite little girl!
Me: (distracted) What did you say nicely dear?
Matilda: "Out of the way!"
Me: *gasp* What did you say?
Matilda: I said "excuse me" instead.
Me: *phew*

*I have stoped being surprised at people pointing and chuckling since I've had kids. You would have too.

By Popular Demand

2009-04-03T04:25:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that I don't post enough photographs of the kids lately. Hey, don't blame me! Blame the two little helions that won't sit still for a minute. but since you asked, I've tried extra hard to take some photos of them.
Now, when you look at these photographs, know that I love you and that's why I've spent the past three days trying to get them to a state suitable for Blogger.

1.First I had to resize and save them. That's because Blogger helpfully crops any photograph I post that is slightly bigger than the right size, without centering it first. Lots of half Matilda faces if you go back a few months.
2.Then I found out that some setting in the programme I used was ticket by accident, and all of my photos saved in black and white. So I went back and did it again.
3.THEN, I uploaded them to Photobucket, and discovered that, for some reason, Photobucket rotated all of my (perfectly upright) photographs clockwise.
4. So I uploaded them again. Same thing happened. (I still don't know why by the way... If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know!)
5. So I went back to my computer, rotated all of my photographs anticlockwise, and finally...
6. I uploaded them to Photobucket again, hoping that it would correct them to upright. Which it did.

So enjoy the photographs. YOU BETTER LIKE THEM!

Philip with the Chickenpox... I love this photograph. Doesn't he look like a teenager who's about to drop some smelly socks on my carpet?

Some photographs I took during a walk we took with hannah and Gordon:

Matilda and Philip

I finally found a way to take a photograph of them together; get them to enjoy jumping on the sofa, then start going "ready...steady... (click) JUMP!"

Marilena...

2009-03-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

This one is uploaded especially for you... But I hope all the other Pip fans out there like it.

Video of my boy "acting along" the Elephant Patrol scene from the Jungle Book. Make sure you watch all of it for a special sing along session in the end... And keep an eye on the telly screen. See how he sticks his nose in the air just like the elephants do? Hilarious...

So now what?

2009-03-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Several people have asked what happens now that we are approved, so I thought I'd write a post about it. The short answer is "an awful lot of waiting."
The long answer is this:
We are approved to adopt a girl with Down's Syndrome, who is developmentally younger than Philip (this doesn't necessarily mean that she won't be older than him in years.)We don't have a child identified yet; so our Social Worker will take our details and put them on a database that has on it the details of most PAs (Prospective Adopters,) and available children. In theory, this database matches up adopters and children that have the same criteria, and emails the adopters' details to the child's social worker. In practice, this only happens if the social workers have put the child's details on the database, and some LAs (Local Authorities)might not bother to do that if they think they'll be able to place the child in their region reasonably easily. Our Social Worker will also keep an eye out for children that match what we're looking for... Word travels fast.

Any time that we become aware of a child that fits our description, we would contact the child's social worker to express our interest. Most of the time, the child's social worker will probably turn us down; we might not fit exactly what they're looking for, or they might have had interest from other families that they like better. This has already happened with two little girls that we've enquired about in the couple of months leading to Panel. So this stage can take many months.

At some point, hopefully, we will express interest in a child and her social worker will think we have potential. In that case, the following course of events will take place (and the process might fall apart at any one of these stages:)

1. We will send our Home Study to the child's social worker, and they will send us her CPR (Child Permanence Report.) This is the child's equivalent to a home study, it's as thick as a book, and it has in it as much information as is available about this child.

2. If, after reading the respective documents, both us and the child's social worker are still interested, they will arrange to come down and visit us in person. Our social worker must be present for this (and any other) stage, so that might cause delays in finding a date that is good for everyone.

3. After visiting us, the child's social worker will return to the LA. LAs usually want to have "looked at" at least 2-3 prospective adopters before they make a decision, so we will probably have to sit around and wait some more.

4. Eventually, after they have visited everyone they want to visit, the child's LA will have an internal meeting, to decide which prospective adopter they prefer for this child; The "successful applicant" will then be notified.

5. If we were to be the ones chosen at stage4, we would then have to go to Matching Panel. This is similar to Approval Panel, that we've just gone through. Our Home Study, along with the CPR form for the child, will b sent to a group of Panel members -some from the LA and some independent members (adoptive parents, adoptees, medical advisers, educational psychologists etc.) The paperwork must be available to the panel members at the very least 2 weeks before Panel, so that they have time to read it; During Panel, it will be decided if we are matched with this child or not.

6. If we end up being matched, we would then arrange to go and visit our child. The LA will pay our travel costs, and we will stay at a hotel or B&B close to her home... We will spend 1-2 weeks there, visiting daily and getting to know her. After that, we will come home, and a few days later, so will she :)

All of the above, from first identifying the child to going through Matching Panel, can take a good few months. From what I've heard, it's usually 4-5 months... The most I've heard it taking is 8 months, the least is 3 months. A looooot of waiting folks.

The gist of it is that it can easily take another 9-12 months before Sparky comes home. It might be less, but it will certainly be a while. After going through the excitement of Panel, I'm trying to digest this new information now... And I hate waiting :(

A Pox on this Child! A Child on this Pox!

2009-03-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

I hate Chickenpox. I am a nice person, I always try to see the other party's point of view and Chickenpox has a right to live too (and run rampant on my children's bodies), but I officially hate its spotty little guts. I thought it couldn't possibly be any worse than Matilda... Oh how wrong I was. Poor Philip has it bad, and he has it especially bad on his dangly bits. All his butt and testicles are covered with it... His poor little winkie looks seriously gross. He has slept a total of maybe 2 hours last night, and proceeded to cry and scream the rest of the time. He lies on his back, with his legs in the air (think missionary position) and keeps saying "Bomp... Change nappy!" And screams. Now I'm not one to shy away from medicine, and he is currently taking a mouthwatering combination of them, one of which was prescribed today. We took Philip to the Surgery and exposed them to the crying until they agreed to give us the drugs (-don't flame me, we made an appointment beforehand).
Apparently, after the next 24 hours the worst should be over (one way or another...MWAHAHAHAHA!)

Incidentally, here is an exchange that took place between Matilda and Nanny yesterday:

Matilda: Nanny, let's pretend we are germs. What kind of germ do you want to be?
Nanny: Ummm... I'll be a good germ.
Matilda: Oh ok then, you can be an antibody.

I think we've been sick a bit too long around here!

Life...The Reckoning

2009-03-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow was Today; and what a day today was! You'll remember the worry about whether Philip would develop chickenpox in time for our Panel meeting, right? Trying to cover all eventualities, we had arranged "Babysitter A" who would look after Matilda and Philip today, but would take them to a creche with her, and "Babysitter B," who had kindly offered to look after the kids if Philip got poxed.

I spent the past week frantically checking Philip for spots every time I took his clothes off. All clear. Until... Yesterday, at about 4 in the afternoon. Yes, Philip, demonstrating again the gift for perfect timing that became apparent on the day he was born, got his first spots 16 hours before we had to drive off for our Panel meeting. No matter, that's why we had Plan B.

As soon as I saw the Mark of the Pox, I called Lady B; "Are you still OK to look after Philip and Matilda?" No, as it turned out, because of a very serious emergency in her own family that only happened a couple of days ago, she wasn't. One very frantic and very apologetic phone call to Peter's parents later, Bat-Nanny and Super-PopPop were set to drive for 4 hours both ways, arrive on our doorstep this morning, and save the day.

So we drove off, as calmly as we could. When we were 15 minutes away from our destination, and 30 minutes away from our Meeting (capitalized intentionally,) we got a phone call from our social worker. "We have a problem; a big one."

As part of the home study, we had to have criminal background checks. Mine came from Greece, via the Consulate in London. It arrived back in early September, and I handed it to the social worker, who filed it away and incorporated it to our home study. Easy-peasy, no problem at all. Until... Yesterday evening, yes, you guessed it, at about 4 in the afternoon, when the Agency's legal advisor realized that the document should have arrived directly to them, not to me. This meant that, legally, they could not accept it, because it might have been tampered with (by criminal mastermind, yours truly.) More frantic phone calls to the Greek Consulate, to see if they could fax another copy. This is at 9:45, our meeting is at 10:00. If no contact with the Consul is made, we can not go to Panel, and have to come back in April. Miraculously, the Consul answered the phone himself, and was extremely helpful and faxed another copy of my criminal background check over within 15 minutes. (I had no idea about this, but they are supposed to keep copies of everything for "transparency" reasons, and they actually do! I will never ever diss Greek social services again, for at least...ummm...the next couple of months.)

After that, we were able to go to Panel. 30 minutes and 3-4 questions later, it was over.

We are approved. The search for #3, hereto forth known as "Sparky," is started.

Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of our lives

2009-03-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow.... is the day that we take our home study and bring it in front of a panel of experts.

Tomorrow... is the day that the past 12 months have been leading up to.

Tomorrow... a dozen people that have never met us before will decide if we will make good parents to a little girl with Down's Syndrome.

Tomorrow... we will have 15 minutes to explain to people "Why" and "How."

Tomorrow... a little girl whose face we still can't picture might be one step closer to having a mum and a dad and a brother and a sister.

Tomorrow... we finally get to open the door, or discover it's locked.

Please think of us tomorrow.

(Photograph is of a baby girl available through Reece's Rainbow. If you live in the US and are interested in adopting Leah, please contact Andrea, the director of RR.)

Matilda-isms

2009-02-27T05:58:00.000-08:00

We are feeling better :) And so, to celebrate what shall henceforth be known as the "Lifting of The Pox" here some of Matilda's latest Gems:

Scene One:

Setting: Matilda runs to me, crying.

Me: What happened, Babycakes?
Matilda: I hurt myself on that THING!
Me: What thing?
Matilda: THAT THING!!
Me: What thing, Matilda?
Matilda: That SILLY BLOND THING!
(Three guesses who she meant... Hint: He is small and cute and nocturnal.)

Scene Two:

Setting: Matilda is running around, pretending to be "Chip," the enchanted teacup from "Beauty and the Beast." (YES!!! No Disney Princesses for my girl!) Sudenly, she has a...well... no way around it, she has a fart.

Matilda: Ooops! That was some of my tea, glugging.

Some time later, repeat the above scene, only this time she is being Thomas the Tank-engine when she farts.

Matilda: Oops! A little Puff! Some of my steam came out!

Scene Three:

Matilda: Mummy, can you read me a book?
Me: Matilda, I'm a bit busy now.
Matilda: But I like...(pause)...But you LIKE reading books!
(manipulative much?)

Scene Four:

Setting: We are juct coming home from the doctor. Matilda is still in the middle of her Chickenpox, and is feeling very miserable. Suddenly, an elderly man tries to cross the street, walking infront of us.

Matilda: You! OUT OF MY WAY!!!
Me: ...........

(I know... But she is usually much more polite than that, and she was feeling very sick...And frankly, given the circumstances, I thought it was hilarious!)

Scene Five:

Matilda has just woken up, I'm cuddling her and chatting to her.

Me: When you came out of Mummy's tummy, you were so little... You couldn't do anything. You didn't know how to talk, how to walk, how to eat... But you loved mummy holding you and talking to you all the time. And now that you're a big girl, you can walk, and run, and talk, and eat...But you still love Mummy to cuddle you and talk t you all the time.
Matilda: Yes. That's because I know you like me.

Awwww...

Updated update on my update

2009-02-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

You get the picture. Here is what Matilda looked like today:

I think those spots look lovely with a bit of Matilda on them, don't you think? But significantly, she had a great night's sleep and was a lot more cheerful today. We didn't need to give her any medicine for the pain, and she let me touch her, which is more than she did for the past 3 days. I think we've turned the corner.

Now the thing to worry about is: will Philip get it too? And if so, when?
Incubation period for chickenpox is 1-3 weeks (most commonly 2 weeks.) I think it's fair to assume Philip would have been exposed through Matilda since he doesn't go to her nursery, and Matilda would be at her most contagious a couple of days around the onset of the illness. Which would mean Monday-Wednesday last week.

Two weeks from then brings us neatly to Wednesday the 4th of March, which is our Adoption Panel day. The one where both me and Peter should really be at. Which we have arranged childcare for, but the nature of that childcare means it won't be available if Pip is contagious.

The other alternative, 3 weeks, brings us dangerously close to the 13th of March, when we also have to hand the Spawn off to a babysitter and go to a social worker/potential adopters consortium thing, so that all the agencies and social workers in the wider area get to know us and hopefully think about us the next time they need to place a little girl with Down's syndrome. Pip being contagious kinda throws a spanner in that one too.

We are trying to come up with alternative solutions, but really, unless something good comes up, we need Pip to not get the Pox, or at least to be healthy for these two dates. Any of you have conections to the guys upstairs, we'd appreciate a good word. Positive thoughts also gratefully received.

Annoying Germs!

2009-02-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

Here is Chickenpos, day 3. Matilda is absolutely miserable... Her spots hurt her when they burst, and since she's covered in them, she is feeling very sore. She is very mad at the "annoying germs" for making her sick, and at me for not making her better. Poor thing wants me to cuddle her all the time, but without touching her, because her skin hurts (you figure that one out, let me know!) She hasn't been sleeping either, because of feeling sore and itchy. We'll go to the doctor tomorrow, I'm hoping there is something that can ease the soreness and discomfort for her. Poor thing... I want my happy girl back!

Chicken Spots

2009-02-19T05:14:00.000-08:00

Matilda has turned all spotty!

Of course it's Chickenpox, (and the first time one of my children has gotten ill with one of the Childhood Spotties,) although she insists it's the Measles. The first spots turned up yesterday, and by today, she can boast a fair collection of them. Needless to say she spent the entire day pretending she was a Dalmatian, and/or a Germ. (Is anyone surprised?)

If you are wondering what is happening in my house these past few weeks on most days, at about 3-4 hours before bedtime, it's this:

Philip will lay down and sleep. This is majorly inconvenient, not to mention annoying, because if you let him sleep even for 30 minutes after about 3 in the afternoon, you can bet he is not going to bed before midnight. The problem is he is not tired enough for a nap at a sensible hour, and he is too little to last all the way to bedtime without one. What to do, what to do. I've watched an embarassing amount of late night television this past month.

Aren't baby foofies precious?

This one belongs to my latest reborn:

The kit was a present from Marilena for my birthday (I'd thank her, but she won't bother to read the black squiggly marks,) and this baby is mine to keep! I love her :)

Out of the mouths of babes

2009-02-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

Conversations with Matilda, after we'd watched "Ice Age":

Matilda: Mummy, do you want to be the fat tiger?
Me: Do you think I should be the fat tiger?
Matilda: Yes, because you are FAT!

Matilda:
Mummy, I called you the FAT tiger, because you have a FAT BUTT. So now your name will be FATTY.

Mummy, do I look small and thin to you? (Yes.) And you look big and FAT to me!

Now remind me why I had children?

Thanksgiving

2009-02-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

Thank you so bloody much for picking on me.
Thanks for that first terrifying moment when I saw his different eyes and the world fell away.
Thanks for that cold, dislocated feeling when the doctor said the chromosome test confirms it.
Thanks for the anger and resentment.
Thanks a lot for picking on me.

Thanks for all the new words I’ve had to learn.
Thanks for the glory of meiotic nondisjunction events.
Thanks for the single palmar fold.
Thanks for trisomy, mosaicism, epicanthal folds, hypothyroid, hypotonia and arrhythmia.
Thanks for that extra wide gap between the big toe and the rest.
Thanks for a life that was complicated already, and now this?
Thanks for the unannounced bouts of embarrassment.
Thanks for pitying looks and well-meant overcompensation.

Thank you so much for picking on me.
Thanks for Significant Life-Threatening Events and Near Misses.
Thanks for beeping monitors and oxygen tubes and cluster care.
Thanks for apnoea and last Christmas, Lord.
Thanks for these fears for the future.
Thanks for this uncertainty of the present.
Thanks for red tape and robot-voiced bureaucracy.
Thanks for all those forms I love to fill.
Thank you indeed for picking on me.

But then thank you for January and that first smile.

Thank you for almost but not quite taking back the gift I didn’t know you’d given.
Thank you for that rush of blood that makes my heart thump louder.
Thank you for the knowledge that I will protect him with my every breath.
Thank you for the help, along some dark steps, from caring strangers more qualified than I.
Thank you for neighbours who don’t hesitate.
Thank you for trisomy and mosaicism and epicanthal folds.
Thanks for hypothyroid and hypotonia and arrhythmia.
Thanks for Significant Life-Threatening Events and Near Misses.
Thanks for beeping monitors and oxygen tubes and cluster care.
Thank you for the love that swells up inside to hurting when I look at him.
Thank you for each one of our wonderful, imperfect family.
Thank you for that very first smile.
Thank you for that very first smile.
Thank you for that very first smile.

Thank you for Jacob.

Thank you for picking me.

Copied from downsdad's blog. He is an Irishman, father of a little boy with DS and an amazing writter. Thank you for your blog Downsdad.

Ready or not...

2009-02-02T03:33:00.000-08:00

Well, Ready really!

Our panel is in a month, and our home study is ready to be sent out (after some minor corrections.) By the way, having a home study done totally rocks. I'd recommend one even if you aren't adopting ;) It's so nice getting to read afterwards about what a nice family you are (hey, I'll take my compliments where I can get'em.)

Here is a nice group shot of the family that we had to get for the home study. I look so fat! I've actually lost almost 20 kg since the summer, but you couldn't tell from this :( Never mind, it was hard enough getting a photograph of all 4 of us without anyone looking cross-eyed or drunk.

Would you give a baby to this family?

Angela (our Social Worker) has been contacted about a little 6 month old girl with Down's syndrome that needs a family. Her birth parents are from Sri Lanka. The baby's social workers are already looking at several families, so the chances of us getting picked for her are not very good, but they want to look at everyone available before they make their choice. Awww, 6 months old... she would be tiny! I'd get to use all my wraps again. I promise I'll keep everyone updated if we get any more details (or a decision,) but for now I'm just daydreaming.

I've been trying to sort out some clothes and make some drawer space for the new baby's clothes for the past month (if you know me you know how hard it is!) and I finally managed to free up some drawers. Look, these will have baby clothes soon! Awww...

Drawer #1

Drawer#2

Drawer #3

Of course I can't put any clothes in them yet, because I don't know what size the child we get will be wearing. (She might be anywhere from 4 months old to 3 years old.) But I haven't managed to completely stop myself from shopping for her:

These are up to 2 years; since children with DS are generally smaller, she'll likely fit in them sooner or later.

I can't believe I'll have another little girl!

Here's a gratuitous fish shot to finish with. You can see all 6 of them. At the top are Rosie, Posie and Christopher, at the bottom Fin, Gill and Huckleberry. The silly things swim to the front every time they see me, they think they'll get fed.

Evolution -REWIND

2009-01-30T01:38:00.000-08:00

2008 Darwin Awards

Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.

Here are the glorious top 10 winners:

1. When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California , would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked. And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Sarare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief in the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, 'Yes, officer, that's her. that's the lady I stole the purse from.'

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan , at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away. [A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage.. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

Yaya Who?

2009-01-27T02:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were walking down the street, when Matilda glanced at a shop window and excitedly exclaimed "Look! It's Yaya! I found Yaya!"

What she had actually seen was this:

(scroll down for dramatic effect)

I have to admit it looks a lot more like my mum than the last sighting Matilda had!

Not a baby anymore

2009-01-17T02:45:00.000-08:00

We've got some new pets! Matilda chose three of the fish, and named them Rosie, Posie and Christopher (yes, really.) I chose the other three, and she doesn't care what they are called, because they are "Mummy's." Any naming suggestions welcome. The cat likes them, what do you think?

Kid News:
Today's discussion:
Me: Matilda, are you a cute girl?
Matilda: No, I'm a clever girl.
Me: You're clever AND cute.
Matilda: No, I'm not cute.
Me: I think you are.
Matilda: No, I'm not.
Me: Why aren't you cute?
Matilda: Because it's a BOG!

Philip decided to feed his dinner to Matilda last night; he completed his performance with encouraging sounds after every spoonful, such as "Mouf!" (In your mouth!) "Mmmm... Nice!" and "Clever Boy!"
Have a look:

On other news, thanks to everyone who decided to sponsor my weightloss. I fell slightly off my goal of losing 20 lbs by Christmas, I managed to lose 19 lbs -not bad. If you want, you can use the chip-in widget to pay, or just make a donation to Reece's Rainbow and specify it's for Anna's Sponsored Weightloss. Thanks! (Peter likes pointing out that since I started the diet I have lost 2 and 3/4 Dominos -the cat affectionately known as "the Cow.")

Having our Annual Bath (No, I didn't just say that!)

Aaaah, sibling love...

Christmas!!!

2008-12-23T02:51:00.000-08:00

Yay for Christmas! Yay for Charity Shops! Lookie what I found during my latest expedition to my beloved Charity Shop...

(The Cube, not the baby...) At less than £2, it ranks up there with barley the rocking horse (also pictured) as the best Charity Shop find ever!

Matilda is practicing her penmanship. She does NOT draw anything recognisable, not faces or stick figures, and she refuses to try making letters, or even connect-the-dots. But she will fill in things that we've already written very meticulously, so at least she's learning to hold and control the pen. ("Matilda, do you want to do some writting?" "NO! I am doing PRETEND writting!")
And yes, this is hanging on our kitchen cupboards.

In an effort to stop Christmas from becoming the "gimme-gimme" fest that it is for so many children, we had a chat with Matilda about giving presents. We said that on Christmas we get presents and we give presents. When we get presents we are happy, and when we give someone else presents, it makes them happy. So we asked Matilda to take a plastic bag and fill it with toys she doesn't play with very much any more, and then we will take it to the shop and give it to children that don't have these toys. Well that went down well, and she ended up filling 3 super market bags, and spending the rest of the evening unearthing toys and saying "I want to give THIS to the children too! I love my sweet girl. We took the bags to the Charity Shop last night -now I have to make sure I don't buy them again next time I visit!

"Happy Mucky People"

A Woman's Place is in the Kitchen

2008-12-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

So, I had a driving lesson today, with a new instructor (long story.)

He said: "The way I was taught is to give people examples they can relate to, from their own lives."

Then he proceeds to explain to me why I shouldn't be too heavy on the breaks when stopping the car.

"If you want to answer the door, or the phone, and your children are in the way, you don't just give them a shove, because they'll go flying and hit the wall. You just gently lead them out of the way."

He continues to say that my braking starts off really nice and gentle, until the last moment, when I slam it on.

"Say you've just cooked a delicious meal, and it's in the oven, and you get distracted and leave it 5 minutes too long... So it just burns a bit at the top. You've just put all this effort cooking a lovely dinner, why ruin it at the very end?"

Seriously, I need to get a job

Randomness (Much A-post About Nothing)

2008-12-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

Recent Matilda-isms:

Matilda: "I WAAAANT MIIIILK!!!!!"
Peter: "You have to say something that ends in "-eese."
Matilda: "The cat sat on the cheese."
Much hilarity follows.

Marilena was poking Matilda's nose and generally messing with her.
Matilda: "What are you doing Marilena?"
Marilena: "I'm just playing with you."
Matilda: "But I am not a toy!"

Matilda: "Babies are born in the hospital."
Me: "Well, some babies are, and some babies are born at home. You were born here, in the kitchen. We had a swimming pool, and mummy was having a swim, and you were born in the water, like a baby fish."
Matilda: "I know! Your butt could be the egg! Because fish come out of eggs!"

Not much else new to report. We have heard from our social worker, who is busily working to make our homestudy as strong as possible before our panel in March. She has contacted a medical expert on Down's Syndrome (I don't know who it is,) who was very supportive and enthusiastic about our adoption. He said that the fact that Matilda and Philip are so young will be an advantage, because the child we adopt will have more stimulation and peer behaviour to model and it would give it a very good start for future developement. This is great news, because we have been warned that Matilda and Philip's ages will be a problem for many Local Authorities (the rule of thumb is that they want to have at least two years between your youngest child and the child you are adopting.) This expert's support, in combination with some hints the social worker has been dropping, makes me think that they might end up considering us for a wider age-range than what they originally said.

We went to a little Christmas Party last weekend. Here's Matilda doing some very groovy dance moves, I think you'll agree:

Philip was just so happy going around the tables, hoovering up as much food as he could reach.

Last night, Philip got the Sesame Street song "Big Bird doesn't Fly" stuck in his head, and kept singing it to his bedtime, and beyond. Guess how long it took us to get him to sleep. No, guess. (A loooong time!)

Help, the blankets ate Philip's head!

"And Lo, Verily, You Have Been Healed!"

Sooo... I was idly looking around on Ebay

2008-12-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

...as you do when you have two toddlers, right? And I found this:

Colic
THE HORROR MOVIE

Story : (sic)
Colic is a syndrome found in infants, causes the infants continueously cry for hours. The reason behind this illness can be considered to many factors, and some people even believe that it's probably a sign linked to something supernatural. In Colic, the movie, tells a story of a couple Pongpob and Praeploy who rush to wedding when Praeploy is unexpectedly pregnant. To settle down, after the wedding, Pongpob brings his wife Praeploy to his mother's house located in an outskirts. The night before Praeploy will deliver the child, she witnesses a house next to hers is on fire. When the baby is delivered, and is brought to their house, he often terribly screams and cries with no reason. The doctor considers the baby is a case of colic ailment, but the ailment would disappear when the baby turns 3 to 6 months old. Several months later, the baby still couldn't stop crying while the family's members encounter to mysterious and unexplained experiences.

Yes, the Thai have made a horror movie about a baby who won't shut up. I need to watch this!

Have a look at this little gem. It's old, but timeless (isn't it though?)

Off to idle some more now!

Smother You With Cuteness

2008-12-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

This is my new action plan. You can't resist.

How Apt, No?

2008-12-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

You Are a Self Help Book!

While your advice is not always welcome...

It's always right on target.

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

Shorn

2008-12-06T03:05:00.000-08:00

Everybody got haircuts last night -and high time it was too!

Matilda is sporting her trademark bob again, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and Peter looks the same way he always looks when he gets a haircut (his hair is easy...)

Philip though... He just wouldn't sit still. So I chopped a bit off, and it was shorter than I intended it to be, then a chopped another bit off and he moved his head... Long story short, I had to get the clippers out to fix it.

Look at my little boy... All his beautiful hair is gone! Waaah! I know lots of people cut their boys' hair like that, but I liked him looking all soft and artistic. Now he looks like a little recruit. Be honest with me, how bad is it? (Waaah!)

PS: I got a haircut too, but I will spare you my mugshot.

A pound for a pound?

2008-12-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

(EDIT: I put a future date on this post so it stays at the top of my blog. I will edit it every week with weight loss updates. Thanks everyone!)

TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER: Starting off at 21 stone 10 lbs. I've been having a bad weight loss week (made chocolate cake... bad Anna!) so I will be pleased if I even stay the same weight for next week.
TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER: Have I said I love this diet? I LOVE this diet! I did lose after all, I lost 3 lbs! Current weight 21 stone 7 lbs, - 3lbs this week.
TUESDAY 9 OCTOBER: Weightloss this week zero, zilch, nothing, none at all. Roughly the opposite of the chocolate chip biscuits I've been eating. I'm being really good this week though, hold on to your wallets! Current weight 21 stone 7 lbs, - 0lbs this week.
TUESDAY 14 OCTOBER: GAH! Gah gah gah. I didn't lose this week either. Ok, I get it for the previous week, but this week I thought I was being reasonably good. Ok, now I'm PISSED. Current weight 21 stone 7 lbs, - 0lbs this week.
TUESDAY 21 OCTOBER: Aaaand she's back! 4 pounds lost this week, thank you very much. Phew, what a relief. Current weight 21 stone 3 lbs, - 4lbs this week.
Tuesday 2 December: I've not been very good at updating, have I??? Still, weight loss is continuing, even if it's slow (sorry Anna!) Current weight 20 stone 11 lbs, loss up to now 13 lbs (or a bit shy of 6 kg for the Greeks, blech... should be more!)
Tuesday 16 December: Weight loss this week: 3 lbs. Current weight 20 stone 8 lbs, loss up to now 16 lbs. Ok, if I manage to lose 4 lbs this week, I'll hit my 20 lbs before Christmas target! £20 is a nice amount to donate isn't it? ;)

As you may or (hopefully) may not know, I've put on quite a lot of weight since I met Peter. If you don't believe me just ask pretty much everyone that felt the need to comment on it when I was in Greece (to rephrase: just ask just about anyone I met in Greece.) Since for the first time in the past four years I am not post partum or pregnant, I decided it's finally time to do something about it -I joined Weight Watchers. It's going quite well so far and I am steadily losing weight, but for that extra kick, I decided to do a Sponsored Weight Loss. I am looking for people that may want to commit to donating a set amount of money to Reece's Rainbow for every lb I lose from now until Christmas. RR is a recognised charity that facilitates international adoptions of children with Down’s Syndrome, who would otherwise face short, unhappy lives in mental institutions.

With my sponsored weight-loss I am trying to gather some funds for the adoption of a specific little girl: Four-year-old Anna, from Eastern Europe. At this time, Anna doesn’t have any grants in aid of her adoption, or a family committed to adopting her. She has a heart defect (ASD) but she can walk, run, jump and climb and is a very social, active little girl. In her country, children with special needs are transferred to mental institutions shortly after their 4rth birthday –Anna’s 4rth birthday was last spring.

If you would like to commit to donating any amount you feel comfortable with for every lb I lose, please leave a comment or email me. I will weigh myself at Weight Watchers every Tuesday evening and announce my current weight and loss for the week here. You can donate via paypal or cheque, to my address or directly to Reece's Rainbow (please specify for Anna's Sponsored Weightloss.) You are welcome to donate every week or to just keep track and do one lump sum donation at the end of your sponsorship. And obviously, you are free to end your sponsorship whenever you like. Any amount we manage to put together will make a difference to Anna.

Thanks :)

Short and Sweet

2008-12-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Q: If you're Matilda, you're pretending to be a cat, and your mummy has taken you to the hairdresser, what is likely to happen?

A: A fur-cut.

As in: "Mummy, are you getting a furcut?" (Only if it's that time of the month dear.)

Re-Born Again:

Here is my latest on ebay, Joshua:

Here is his auction link if you feel like cheering him on.

And Christopher is now featured on http://www.fauxbaby.net/id7.html on their "Promising New Artists" page, after the site owner saw him, and contacted me to ask me for permission. Thank you, thank you.....

Who me?

2008-11-26T00:48:00.000-08:00

My, how time flies when you're having fun (and watching lots of dvds with Marilena!) Many thanks to the nice person who asked for an update... It's nice to remember that there are people reading what I write!

Around here, nothing has happened, and a lot has happened. On the adoption front, we had a little change of plan. Our panel meeting (when we will be approved to adopt -after that, we could find our child any day; and equally it might take months,) is now set for March. I had gotten excited about getting it out of the way before Christmas, so I am feeling more than a little disappointed. But there are many things to be done before the new little miss joins us, so... I'll just have to plod on and wait. (I know from previous -pregnancy- experience that time doesn't pass; Peter has clear memories of me frothing at the mouth the last couple of weeks before Matilda and Philip were born. Now, thinking back, it's like "What was all the fuss about? They won't stay in forever!")

Our social worker is a bit spooked by the reborns, I think. I did explain that I'm selling them, and I'm not just keeping disembodied heads with half the hair pulled out on my shelves for decorative purposes; still, when she visited the other day she did get quite the look on her face when she saw this:

I keep telling Pete we ought to place some melted candles between them.

Philip has spent a month of teething hell, when he got all four of his molars at the same time. He also seems to have hit the stage when his communication skills are really developing. He says "yes" now, with great enthusiasm. I can have a meaningful conversation with him, say, about whether he wants breakfast, and what he would like the breakfast to be. His vocabulary is also increasing, with the most notable additions being "Go Eeee!" (Go Away! -Said to us every time we offer him something he doesn't want, or try to snuggle him against his will) "A funny!" (Said with great gusto every time anyone laughs or when Philip thinks he has made a joke)and "Mmmmm! Nice!" When he is eating something he likes, or when he is trying to feed you something. He also loves blowing kisses and giving hugs.

This, according to Marilena, is the video "when Philip does nothing." She thought it was very funny. I kept trying to get him to show us his new skills, but he was just being very very silly. Still, I think it's too cute (I'm biased.)

Matilda is just a hoot. Every day she says something and I think "I'm going to blog about this," but then life goes on and I don't :(
But you asked me for an update (poor unsuspecting Anonymous) so now I will... Mwahaha!

It's been an ongoing battle to try and teach Matilda to say please (instead of just screaming "Mooooore! I want mooore BREAD!!!") Peter -being English- finds this especially important, and has employed several methods to try to encourage it, not all of which sound very...erm...sane.

Matilda: I WANT MIIIIIIILK!!!!
Peter: Quack.
Matilda: Please. I want milk please.

His latest is that if Matilda doesn't ask for something nicely, he will count to 50 (or to 100, depending on how rude she was) before he gives it to her. He even gets Matilda to help. Hey, it's educational in many ways at the same time, and Matilda is remarkably good spirited about it.

The other day, we had the following conversation:

Matilda: I WANT THIS!!! I WANT THIIIIIS!
Me: Matilda, that's not nice. You have to ask nicely.
Matilda: (in a very rude voice, with a very grumpy face,) PLEASE!
Me: Well, that's better, but you have to use a nice voice too. You have to say please, in a nice voice.
Matilda: NO! YOU have to say please!
Me: No I don't. You say please when you're asking people to do something for you. You want me to give you this, I don't want anything from you.
Matilda: No, you are wrong! You have to say please, because you're asking me to say please! You have to say "Please, Matilda, can you say please?"
Me: ..................

A couple of days ago, Matilda was pretending to be a cat, and we were being a bit too loud.
Matilda: It's too loud! It's hurting my triangle ears!

Who would have guessed, my daughter is playing "doctor"!!!!

Re-born again Update:
Yes, I'm still doing it. To the poster who asked me how long it takes, it depends on how many hours you spend doing it a day. Roughly, it takes me a couple of Philip's nap times to paint one, and about a week or two of rooting whenever I remember to sit down and do it (I know, how professional!) It's really nice though, I love it and they do seem to sell, and I do seem to be improving every time I make a new one. This one is Christopher, I sold him yesterday:

There are a couple of other things that I've been meaning to talk about, but they have to wait for another post. To help you deal with the disappointment, here are some pictures of Matilda practising her jumps:

OMG, I'm not a virgin anymore!

2008-11-01T03:34:00.000-07:00

A reborn virgin, I mean. Yesterday, 31 October of the Year of Our Lord 2008, this humble reborner sold her first baby on Ebay. AND!!! Made a profit of £15.

Yes, Marilena thought it was very fitting that Frankie sold on Halloween, as she had originally suggested I use him for a Halloween prop, but she doesn't really appreciate the cutenes of ugly babies. On the other hand, I do, after having fallen in love with this face:

By the way, guess what... Turns out that matilda and Philip DID look like each other after all:

Marilena likes really beautiful faces, like this one: (This is Christopher, my latest reborn which will soon hit Evilbay.)

Latest Matilda-isms:

Matilda has developed her understandingn of the concept of borrowing. As in, every time she wants to take something away from you, she says she will borrow it. She uses this especially frequently when she wants to eat some of your food, as in "Mummy, can I please, just for one minute, borrow your chips?" (And when exactly are you planning to return them? Hmmm?)

Apparently it doesn't work both ways though,because yesterday, I was using her xylophone to balance something on my lap. If I recall correctly, the conversation went something like this:

"Give my my xylophone! It's MINE!"
"Matilda, I'm just borrowing it for a minute."
"NO!!! You're NOT borrowing it! You STOLE IT!!!"

A few days ago I was getting her ready for bed, and kissing her tummy in the process. I said "I love your tummy." And she replied "No, you love ALL of my body!" So true...

Here is Philip being a "Bee-baff" (giraffe)

For some reason Philip has developed an unshakable conviction that "No" means "Yes." And I mean, literally. Observe:

Philip whining in front of the fridge.
Me: "Philip, what do you want?"
Philip: "Whine! Whiiiine MEEEEEK! whine whine..."
Me: "You want some milk?"
Philip: (very definately, and with some conviction, turns his teary eyes towards me and proclaims:) "NO!!!"
Me: Ok, no milk.
Philip: "SHRIIIIIIEK!!!!! MEEEEK!!!!!!!"
Me: "Oh, it was THAT kind of no."

Later:
Me:"Philip, do you want to watch Maisy on telly?"
Philip: (with a large grin on his face, running to the telly:) "No!!! Maisies!"

See? No means yes. Next thing you know, he'll be campaigning against women's right to vote. Mark my words...

This and That

2008-10-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I woke up by Matilda putting a pillow over my head. I opened my eyes and she smiled and said "I'm playing peekaboo with you."
Today, she was running around and she bumped her knee quite badly. The skin didn't break, but she started to bruise right away -sort of like a haematoma. She was crying and saying "I don't want to be DARK pink! I want to be LIGHT pink!"

Potty training is still happening, in stops and starts. I have to admit that it probably largely has to do with me being a bit lazy about the idea of having wee on the sofa, or having to be around constantly to remind her. (Both Matilda and Philip are quite independent in their play, so I often find myself in another room doing something else.) But she is getting it, and I'm planning on keeping her in pants all this week to see if it finally happens. This evening she was sitting on the sofa and she forgot herself and started weeing... She was so funny, holding on to her "bits" and saying "Sorry! Sorry! Ooops! Sorry!" She made it to the potty to finish the job, so it wasn't too bad.

I found this video of two little girls dancing - they both have Down's Syndrome. The one playing the guitar is 8 years old, and the one at the front, dancing, is 5. I'm posting the video here with their mum's permission. Watch the little girl dancing, and the watch the video in the post below, with Philip dancing. That's what I meant when I said our daughter will be the same as Matilda and Philip, but just do things a bit later.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

On the adoption front, by the way, we have been given a panel date of 17 December. After that, it's just a matter of finding our baby! Given the age that we know Social Services would place with us (not younger than 4 months, not older than a year,) it's very likely that our baby is already born -she's probably lying in her cot right now, somewhere in the country. This thought blows my mind! I can't wait to meet her...

Snapshots

2008-10-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Equality:
When Peter comes home from work, he does some light housework:

(Otherwise known as "YOU! A HORSE!" -Matilda's battlecry enytime she sees anyone bending down.)

Philipisms:
Jumping up and down saying "Bing! Bing! Bing!"
"Dee Auffff" (Get up!)
Aaaand the lesser known "Old Macdonald" verse: "And at this farm he had a willy, ee-i-ee-o-o. With a piddle piddle here, and a piddle piddle there..."

"...dig in the dancing queen..."

Re-born Again:
I've been working quite a lot on my reborns: This is Frankie

I'm especially proud of Frankie, because for several months he was a disembodied, half-rooted head perched on my bookshelf. He actually looked so hideous that Peter's mum used to turn him facing the other way when she visited (and only admitted to doing so recently.) Yes, Frankie is short for Frankenstein. But he looks rather cute now.

And this is Jotham. I think he looks very sweet and cheeky with his red hair. (the colours look odd because I took the photo after dark in our kitchen.)

Helpless Hilarity:
The funniest video ever. Seriously, all of us (me, Peter and Marilena) have watched that, and found it impossible not to laugh. Every time. In my case, I've watched it a dozen times (thanks to Philip being obsesed with it.) Still cracks me up.

Leave me a comment, tell me if you managed to watch it without laughing.

Beaut, eh?

2008-10-02T03:35:00.000-07:00

You tell me... Doesn't Philip have amazing eyes? I'm not being biased, he has green specks in them, and dark lashes... I don't look forward to having to beat the girls off with a stick in a few years' time!

In other GREAT news, my mum saw the doctor today, and her foot has FINALLY healed completely. She has been in bed, not able to get up at all, since late May. Now she's waiting for the physio to visit to help her get up and do some excersises, but she should be walking in the next few days. Let's hope she never has to got hrough this again.

Wheeee!

2008-09-26T02:44:00.000-07:00

I started driving lessons! After 10 years of waiting for the right time, the right time is finally here and yesterday I proudly sat behind a steering wheel (on the right side of the car!) and was born again in the world of road-rage.
My brother is a natural born driver, and I was hoping it might run in the family. So I sat through an hour of explaining what everything is, how to make sure the mirrors are in the optimal position and what every pedal does etc, discreetly clutching my safety belt ("No, not YET. You don't need to wear it yet, we are not moving for a while.")to show I was ready, with my toes curling in anticipation... And then it was time to drive.

When your instructor says "Off the gas! Off the gas! No, NOT ON THE SIDEWALK!" and grabs the steering wheel, is that a bad sign????

"I guess you think I'm a lost cause..."
"Eheheheh, well, no one is a lost cause..."

What's wrong with him, has he never heard of passive-agressive fishing for compliments?

Well, BOO, by the end of the lesson I was going around the block, IN SECOND GEAR, with no help at all and even flashed my own signals before going around corners. AND parked and unparked the car.

It was soooo much fun! I can't wait for next time! (But you might want to not be in our area next Tuesday evening. I'm just saying...)

I haven't posted photos of the children in a while, have I? Here are some from recent outings:

Matilda on the trampoline:

Oh! A goat is eating the shrubbery!

Philip had to have a word with it...

Mummy... I think these pigs want to eat me...

Kids, remember to brush your teeth after every meal.

Oh, I gave Matilda a haircut again (No tomatoes please...)

Before:

After:

I know it's a bit extreme, but I like it...

We went to a playground with a great big TALL climbing frame, and Matilda was at it like a little monkey. I was so proud of her... I'm terrified of heights, I couldn't climb that in a million years, but she had a great time and never looked back!

Matilda the Woodland Fairy:

Crank it up! Philip singing along with the car radio.

Holding on, Letting go

2008-09-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

Matilda was supposed to start pre-school this September. I say "supposed to"; there are two preschools she could go to in the area (since I don't drive, they have to be easy walking distance.) One of them will only take her if she's potty trained to the degree that she can go to the toilet by herself, sit on it, wipe herself and get dressed again without a reminder. NOT even close there. Matilda will stay dry most of the time IF you actually sit her on the potty at regular intervals, and she definately still needs a nappy to poo in. So that only left us with one option: Preschool "A".

We visited "A" and it seemed nice enough; Matilda stayed there happily for 2,5 hours the first day. I had explained that I would go shopping and come back to get her, and she seemed happy with that. When I went to pick her up, she was playing, but at home she was very clingy and said she was cross at me for leaving her.

The second she didn't want me to leave, so I stayed for a bit until she seemed to settle, and then left. I got a call about an hour later from the staff, saying that she was upset (I had asked them to call me if she got upset and wanted me.) I went and picked her up -she had still stayed for about 90 minutes total.

After that, she REALLY didn't want to go, so I let her stay home a couple of times. Then I told her that we could go to preschool, she could play with the other children, and I would stay with her. I had asked her key-worker if it would be ok for me to stay as long as she needed me to settle her before we agreed to send her there, and she had said yes. We got there, she started chatting with a little girl, and I sat down in a corner to watch. As soon as she noticed I wasn't next to her, her face fell and she got really anxious, looking for me. I called her over and explained that I would be sitting right there on the sofa, and she could go and play, but she just clung on me. After a few minutes, one of the staff came over and told me that they only "let" parents stay with new children for up to 10 minutes, and that hopefully she would settle herself, and they would call me if she got too upset. So I stayed for 10 minutes, and then I took my little girl and we went home.

EXCUSE ME? WHY should we only stay for 10 minutes? In what Universe are 10 minutes enough to settle a child to a new environment anyway? They told me some bull about OFSTED child protection regulations, but I happen to know this is just an excuse because a. I did a childminding course earlier this year and I was TOLD what the OFSTED regulations are, and b. the preschool that would only take her if she is pottytrained had actually told me they are happy for parents to come and stay with their child as often as they need to until the child settles in. So this begs the question: why exactly don't they like parents being there? What are they REALLY worried about? I don't know and I don't care -I'm just not happy leaving Matilda there anymore.

This whole pre-school/school rollercoaster is really annoying me... I don't like rushing my children to do things. They will do everything when they're good and ready. So Matilda isn't potty trained yet. Ok, she's a bit old for it, but what's the rush? We know there's nothing wrong with her, so what difference does it really make, in the grand scheme of things, if she wears nappies until she's 3, or until she's 4, or until she's 5? (I'm just saying.) The difference is that she needs to be potty trained to go to preschool "E". And what's the rush for her to go to preschool? The rush is that she is supposed to start school FULL TIME the school year after her 4rth birthday, and, since she is an August baby, this means that she would be starting school in exactly a year's time. So I kind of feel like I should be easing her into spending part of her day away from me before she's expected to do it from 9:00 to 3:30.

What is wrong with this picture? Matilda is intelligent. I have no doubt that she will have absolutely no trouble following the curriculum at school. But am I the only one that thinks 4 years old is a bit too young to be spending the majority of her day with strangers? If you factor in going to and from school and sleeping, that leaves about FOUR HOURS that she would be spending with her family each day -and thay's without ANY time allowed for homework or any other after school activities. I am sorry, but I don't like this. Not at 4, not at 5 and not at 6.

And to facilitate this... school career, I have to start training her, pushing her away from me now, at 3? Matilda is a happy child. She is secure and sociable. She is very affectionate and demonstrative, she comes over for hugs, cuddles and kisses often throughout the day. She loves other children, she is good at sharing and very good at accepting instructions and explanations of why she should or shouldn't do something. When she is feeling comfortable, she is not clingy at all. Several people, including the social worker who visits for our homestudy, have commented on how good both our children are at playing by themselves. So she isn't potty trained. So she likes me to hold her cup when she's drinking. So she wants to be around her loved ones. Why should I train her to not be around us before she's ready for it herself, and in what ways will this change her in 3, 5, 10 years' time? And will I like what it does to her?

Will I ever manage to find an answer?

My babies being superheroes:

SuperPip

Mighty Mat

Superhero Power: Levitating

SuperPip and Mighty Mat TO THE RESCUE

Filler

2008-08-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

Poor Philip - when Matilda was his age she lived the blissful, cocooned existence of an only child (for about one more month!) safe and protected, nothing to threaten her. She rarely had a scratch on her. Philip on the other hand is constantly covered in battlescars. Here he is a couple of days ago:

His foot, where Domino scratched him -by accident! He was just chasing around with Scrabble, did a spectacular leap in the air, and Pip's foot got in the way.

His cheek. Guess whose teeth marks are these. Apparently he was "agnoring" (annoying)her, and he had it coming. Yikes!

And finally, the charming welt on his forehead.

He got that by walking into a door. Seriously. Clearly he's his mother's son.
(I once tried making flirty eyecontact with someone I fancied as I was walking past him and walked into a watercooler. Another time I bent to cross under a bar, in the presence of someone else I fancied at the time, and didn't bend enough, banged my head on it and fell on my back on the floor. I have such a way with men.)

Yesterday we met up with Hannah, Gordon, Elliott and Bethany along with some friends of theirs I hadn't met before. We went paddling in a river close to Hannah's house. We had to sit through a 40 minute bus-ride to get there, but it was sooo worth it.
Especially for the Greeks, pictures!

I wish we had a place like that for me to go to when I was little.

There are more pictures from the day and also from Matilda's birthday party last weekend, but that will have to wait until Hannah and Gordon make me a cd with them...

Expect the Unexpected

2008-08-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to blog about this for some time now, but I was waiting to tell my family in person first, and with my mum being in hospital it sort of fell back.

I wanted to let all of my online and real life friends know that we're expecting again!
Peter and I have already started the process required to adopt a baby with Down's Syndrome. We have a lovely Volunteer Agency doing our homestudy at the moment. When the homestudy is done, in a few months' time, we will be aproved to adopt, and then we will be looking for our child. We are hoping to be parents of three by next summer!

We are looking for a little girl, and because of adoption regulations and the age of our children, she will have to be as young as possible, probably between 6 and 10 months (although we would not mind a slightly older child if they decided to place one with us.)

THE FINE PRINT

Now I know that I've blogged quite a lot already about DS (Down Syndrome) and a couple of people I know told me they find it "depressing." I'm sorry to hear that, as I don't think it's depressing at all. I don't blame anyone, ofcourse, but I would like to believe that as you get to know our daughter you will grow to find her delightful instead of depressing (this seems to be the reaction of most family members I've encountered on and off line.)

In any case, I know it is a very unusual decision, and it will take most people by surprise; so for your benefit, here is the full story:
How we came to want to be the parents of a baby with DS.

When I was pregnant with Matilda, I did an awful lot of research. Peter and I wanted to know what everything meant, what every test offered was for and what the risks and benefits were for each one. We wanted to be able to make an educated decision about everything (we're control freaks like that.) As a result, we looked into the most common genetic and birth defects -what could go wrong with a pregnancy, that the tests could detect; what the implications would be; what could be done about it. We decided pretty soon that we would accept any baby that we made, and that we would not terminate for any condition that was compatible with life (and the latter ones come with physical defects so great that they would be obvious in our 20 week scan.) So we refused all tests appart from the ultrasounds.

In our research, we read not only medical descriptions of the various conditions, but also blogs, books and essays by the families of children born with various chromosomal or genetic defects. We saw videos, looked at photographs. I found myself especially drawn to the ones about DS. So I went on reading more and more. I started feeling that I was "preparing" myself for something, like it was meant to be.
When I was pregnant with Philip, we repeated the discussions about diagnostic and screening tests; again, we decided to not have any. We went on doing our research; and I went on reading about DS. We were touched and impressed by these people. I, especially, felt a really strong sence of "destiny." I know it sounds corny. I'm not religious, and I can't explain it, so you'll just have to accept it. Believe, if you will, that it was what I was "meant" to do, or that I just convinced myself about it, and then made it happen by taking certain decisions, following certain paths. It makes no difference -there it is. Do with it what you want.

Peter, being the wonderful person that he is, took me seriously and thought hard about adopting a child with DS. He can be very thorough. We mulled it over, weighed the pros and cons and did yet more research. We went to group meetings. We visited families with children of various ages. When we decided to go ahead with it, it was not a rash decision.

So what might our daughter be like? She will probably be short and plump (people with DS tend to be shorter and stockier than average.) As a young child, she will be like all babies and toddlers, but she will probably be reaching her milestones at a slightly delayed pace. She might be 9 months when she sits up, or 2 years when she walks (as a very rough average, children with DS have a developemental age approximately half of their chronological age. This means she might be Matilda's age, and behaving like Philip. That's all there is to it -nothing scarier than that.)
She WILL learn how to walk, run and talk. She might take longer to do so, and her speech will probably not be as clear -but we will be able to have chats with her like we do with all our children. She WILL go to school. She is more likely to have a heart condition that might need monitoring or medication, she is more likely to have hearing problems and need hearing aids, she is more likely to have low muscle tone, which means she will find it more difficult to do things such as run, or hold a pencil steady enough to write. Thank goodness for computers then. As she grows up, she will have friends, things she likes to do and places she likes to go to. She will tell jokes, or play practical jokes on us (like her daddy used to do!) She will get angry and get sad and ask questions, but she is likely to be a happy, friendly, empathetic person most of the time. She will probably be more innocent than her years, and she will probably be slower to respond to things, or learn things -but she WILL learn them. She will need us to look out for her, but she will NOT need us to be looking after her 24 hours a day (this is what a lot of people seem to think it will be like, for some reason!) She is very likely to be able to live semi-independently. This means she might have her own appartment, or share a house with room mates, and probably need someone to check up on her during the week, help her with planning, bills etc. Or she might need to live with us all her life -we don't mind. We enjoy having our children now, we are sure we will continue to enjoy having them later. We LIKE being interdependent.

Have we thought about what this will mean for our children?
This is a favourite question. The answer is: yes, we have. We understand that having a sibling with additional needs will probably make some things more difficult for them than they would have been otherwise. We don't believe this is a bad thing. Having to deal with difficulties is how you learn to overcome them. We KNOW they will love and value their sister (we came across many siblings of people with DS, of all ages, and they all loved their brother or sister and said they learned things from them.) We believe that having a sister that society doesn't see as "intelligent," "attractive" or "valuable" (read: likely to make lots of money or get famous) will teach them that looks, brains, money and success are not the most important things in life. Being happy and a good person is. They will learn to be patient, they will learn to accept difference and they will learn that making fun of people is hurtful and wrong. We will not have to make an effort to teach them these things; they will learn them from their sister.

What about if we can't look after her when we are older?
Ah, the second most common question. I'll humour this one too.
She is more likely to live semi-independently than not. IF she is not, we might be able to look after her. IF we can't, she will have at least 3 brothers and sisters that might want to have her live with them (we're not finished having babies yet.) IF none of our other children want her to live with them, they might decide to all chip in to get someone else to look after her. Or another family member or friend might want her. Or the world might have ended by then. I don't understand this question, I have to admit. That's an awful lot of IFS. Peter and I might be unable to live independently in our old age too, but no one seems to worry about that. We might end up in a home, she might end up in a home, any of our other children might end up in a home.

Learning more
Heh, I know this is wistful thinking, but this child WILL join our family. If you would like to learn more about DS, to prepare for her arrival or answer any other questions you might have, here are some good links:
http://www.downsyn.com
http://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/

I know that a lot of you will not understand our decision, but we just want to share it with you, and hope that you will accept it and wish us best. The rest will come later.

(Photocraphs courtesy of google images.)

Bliss

2008-08-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

It's so wonderful being together with all my family again! When I was in Greece, Matilda didn't really want to talk to me on the phone. "I don't want to talk to mummy on the phone, I want mummy to be here," she said. We told her that Yaya was sick, and I was going to Greece to help her get better, and make her happy. When I came back, by the time I was home Matilda was asleep. I got to bed too, and when she woke up in the middle of the night, I took hre in bed with me. She just opened her eyes, groggy. "Hello mummy," she said. "Is Yaya happy now?" What a beautiful child I have!

She was so excited to be with Philip again too. She just kept running up to him and hugging him. "I love my baby brother!"

Philip is saying soooo many words now. We've counted about 40. He loves animals and will make all their sounds ad infinitum. He's obsessed with cows and ducks.
Have some cuteness overload:

Matilda is 3 now and is FINALLY starting to use the potty. She has to be reminded and bribed though. Never mind, it's progress.
Peter brought in a new plastic bin and Matilda wanted to "be a rubbish." Ah, ambitions!

Do you think Philip likes chocolate milk?

Here's my happy girl!

Crickets

2008-08-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

*chirp* *chirp* *chirp*
Boy it's been quiet around here. Sorry about that. All I can say is, it's been a hectic couple of months. My last post was about my mum being in hospital. She's doing well, and recovering a lot quicker than the doctors expected. She is still bedridden, but that's not as bad as it sounds. Because she has a sore on the sole of her foot, she's not allowed to step on it until it's healed -and because she is so heavy, the physio is worried that she could damage her other leg if she puts all her weight on it. Her foot is almost healed up though, and she should be on her feet as soon as this happens. She got discharged from hospital in the beginning of July and I flew over there with Philip to help. Matilda stayed home with Daddy, Nanny and Pop Pop.
We spent three weeks in Greece with mum and Andreas, and then had to come back. In the end we got mum to agree to a 24 hour helper, so a lady called Irina moved in to our spare bedroom. I didn't get to meet her, but mum said she's nice.

Sorry I didn't blog about this sooner, and also sorry to all my greek friends for not letting you know I was coming and not getting in touch when I was there. I really didn't meet with anyone, I was too busy playing nurse (my mum needed her catheter emptied, and to be turned several times a day to avoid bedsores) keeping house and chasing after Philip -not easy as the house was completely non-baby proof. I'm hoping to travel again soon and make that a normal holiday.

Anyway, I'm back now, and will return to the normal brainless posts we all know and love. Heh.

A Chuckle of Chicken

2008-06-05T05:39:00.001-07:00

...is the collective noun for chicken (according to Matilda.) Lots of chicken is a chuckle of chicken. I think it's inspired.

Philip is getting more and more strong willed. He gets seriously cross when he doesn't get his way and he just comes around and just smacks me. Soooo annoying. If you don't believe me, you can witness his temper in this video:

He says several words now:

Ta (water)
Daddy
Cow, Moo
Bye bye
Ge ow (get down)-when he climbs on something and needs saving; several times a day
Chee (for cheese, AND for juice)
woof woof
Babble (Scrabble)
Ooow! (Yes, he immitates me when I saw Ow after one -or both- of them trample me.)
Baba (banana)
No (very emphatically, shaking his head)
No (pointing at his nose, means nose)
Da (duck)
Do (dog)
Neigh! (horse)
Titoo (tickle)
Ti too (sounds a bit different to the above, means thank you. he says it when he gives you something.)

Songs he can sing recognisably (he hums them, but you can easily tell which song it is:)
Old McDonald
Three Blind Mice
Happy Birthday
La Bamba (yes, I blame Sesame Street)
John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith (see above)

He can feed himself with a spoon if the food is sufficiently sticky (like yoghurt, or porridge.) He has SUCH a temper! I can't get used to it, after Matilda -the child who had no temper tantrums. Philip can go from happy to screaming in anger and back to happy in seconds (inspiring Peter to play the "One-Two-Three-CROSS" game.) Example: We are walking with Philip down the street. Philip is happy, and chatting to himself and running along. We pick him up to cross the street: SCREEEEEAM SQUIRM SQUIRM CRY SCREECH. We cross the street and put him down: crying stops instantly and he goes back to running. Yeah. So THAT'S what toddlers are like!

He climbs on everything. See where I found him the other day:

Yes, my boy murdered some cheese pie and then fell asleep on the table.

Cute words Matilda says (because I would hate to forget them.)
Used to say:
Pengul (penguin)
Dinosaucer (dinosaur)

Still Says:
Cuggle (cuddle)
Guellila (gorilla)
Letterice (lettuces)

Ain't nobody can mess with me:

She has started understanding addition and substraction now. If we tell her for example "Daddy has two books, if you give him another book how many will he have?" she can answer, as long as the numbers are up to three. I think she has trouble visualising higher numbers, and this is how she comes to the answer. I'm very proud of my Babycakes.

By popular demand (Hi Evi!) some more photos.

My first reborn finished. I'll give this one to my mum, I need to do her hair some more because she has some bald patches at the back :)

My second reborn. His name is Finnegan and I painted his hair on.

The children's room and a view of the garden:

Good Vibes

2008-06-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

I just need to briefly update anyone who reads this and knows my family personally:
My mum is in hospital. As you may or may not know, she has Lymphoedema on her legs, which is not very well managed (largely because she refuses to follow the doctor's instructions.) Apparently, it's gotten worse recently, and she also developed a "wound" on her heel that was not heeling. When they called the doctor, he said the "wound" is a pressure sore, and she needed to go to hospital. She got admitted to Laiko Hospital on Friday night.
She is now in hospital, where:
1: They are treating her foot. They cleaned out all the "dead" flesh, and put her on antibiotics. They said it will take 10 days before they can say conclusively that it's gone, but she seems to be responding very well so far.
2: They are trying to get her legs under control. This is the first we ever heard of it, but according to the doctor she saw in the hospital, if all that fluid doesn't get removed from her legs, it could cause pulmonary oedema (don't ask me why.) So they put her on diuretics, and she is in bed with her legs elevated (as she should have been doing at home, I hasten to add, if only she did what the doctor told her to.) She also found it very hard to breathe for a few days, because of lying down with her legs elevated, and all the fluid draining out, so she was given an oxygen mask to use on a need to basis. She doesn't use it that much anymore, but she did a lot in the first few days.
3: She got a complete medical work up (YES! FINALLY!) which, when I'm trying to stay positive, might be worth going to hospital just to achieve that. Miraculously, everything is fine. No blood pressure problems, no heart problems, no blood sugar problems.

According to the latest information we got, she will be in hopistal for "at least a month" and will take at least 6 months to fully recover (they had to remove quite a big part of her heel, so that wound will take a while to heal.) Andreas and Gianna are looking after her now, and after discussion with them, it was decided that it will be better if I go after she is out of hospital and help with things at home.

I will keep everyone updated (and feel free to phone me for more news) but please keep my mum in your thoughts. I am worried but also hoping that she gets out of hospital ok, she doesn't get any more complications while in there, and that this adventure makes her take her condition more seriously and take care of herself better in the future.

Adventures of a reborn virgin

2008-05-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, the previous post about reborns was not a coincidence. I was trying to prepare you lot for my admission. I am addicted to reborns. And they're bleeming expensive. So I decided to get some supplies, read some tutorials and try and make my own. I ordered a baby Chou Chou play doll from ebay to practise on, and a reborn Kit (head and limbs plus body slip), mohair, rooting needles, weighing material, paints and other paraphernalia.

Almost all my reborning supplies decided to arrive today in 3 batches.

12:10 First my baby Chou Chou arrived. I was pleasantly surprised -it's very small, quite delicate and quite heavy. You could actually make it nice if you knew what you were doing (mwahaha!) My rooting needles arrived from Tinkerbell too, and I was really curious to see what rooting felt like. One problem - my mohair was ordered from the USA and is the only thing I don't have right now. Still... Where there is a will, there is a way.

12:15 I clip some hair off the cat and try and root eyelashes. (He's got loads, he won't miss it.) The hair was too short though, and it kept blowing away every time I breathed.

12.22 Since I can't root faster than I can suffocate, I need another plan. Next I cut some (longer) hair off my fringe. I start stabbing the baby's eyelids (they were right, it IS therapeutic!) Hey, the vinyl isn't as hard as I had heard!

12:40 A few mishaps and one hairy eyelid later I managed to improve my aim and root eyelashes on the RIGHT eye of the doll. Then I clipped them with my embroidery scissors. It doesn't look half bad. Then I have a look at trying to take the thing apart. It looks like the body is sewn on the limbs... What the? How do I take it apart, and how on EARTH do I put it together again? At this point Matilda arrived, fell in love with the baby and decided that it is called Letters (???) it belongs to her and I have to stay away from it.

Result: One baby Chou-Chou with one eye with rooted eyelashes and one without.

13:16 Ok so I'll have to jump straight in with my Lillian kit. This came with a body slip. Wait... The HEAD is off, but...yes... the arms and legs seem to be sewn on. WHY???? WHY??? HOW do I take the blasted thing apart?
Never mind... I'll just do the head.

13:30 I can't find any instructions for the Genesis paints. I mean how to mix them. Oh well. I wonder if I got the right thinner (it said for oil paints) I remember Nazdaq on the forum I was on said Genesis is oil based. I hope she's right. Oh well...

13:35 Rub rub rub pounce pounce. Ok, looks ok. Bake. (Heheh... Genesis are heat set so I have to stick the baby in the oven ever so often)

13:50 It looks a bit chalky and a bit streaky. I wipe it off with acetone and try again. Blend with cotton wool this time. Bake.

14: 05 Better. Try to paint some veins on by dipping cocktail stick in Phthalo blue. Doesn't seem to work. Oh well. Try blushing next. I mix red and blue and flesh and it seems nice. Pounce with sea sponge, dab with cotton wool on cheeks. Apply with finger and blend with cotton wool on forehead, nose, chin, and earlobes. Looks nice. Also blush lips with same. Bake.

14:20 Very happy with my blushing. Add some more red and paint tongue. Looks a bit patchy... Oh well, maybe the baby could have thrush! (Added realism...) Mix some burnt umber with flesh and try doing eyebrows. Ooops. One seems to be higher than the other now. Blend with cotton wool. Draw streaks on with cocktail stick. Try making them a bit thicker so they can look more even. Blend with cotton wool. Draw streaks on with cocktail stick. Blend with cotton wool. Draw streaks on with cocktail stick. Blend with cotton wool. Draw streaks on with cocktail stick. Blend with cotton wool. Draw streaks on with cocktail stick. Ah, sod it. Bake.

14:35 Phew, the eyebrows don't look too bad. Let's try veins again. This time I try with a thin brush. Gaah! They're too thick! Try and wipe them off. They won't come off! Try blending with cotton wool.

14:40 Now it looks like a bruise. Try putting some blushing over it. Now it looks even MORE like a bruise. I have to fix this or the baby is going to look like a child abuse victim.

14:45 Wipe with acetone. The blue mostly comes off, but now the colour looks different to the rest. Dab some flesh and some blush on. Whatever, it'll do. While I'm at it I paint on some tear-ducts on eyelids (just a red dot) and add some more red on the tongue. Should I bake now? I might as well add some glazing first.

14:50 Do you have to thin the glazing or use it straight? Toss a coin. Use it straight. I glaze baby's lips, nose and corners of eyes. I try to add some glaze on the tongue too.

15:10 Gaah! The glaze made some of the red come off the tongue. And now I can't paint it on again. Wipe with cotton bud. Try again. Looks half-decent. Whatever. Bake.

Next step: Cut the eyelids open with a knife and stick its eyeballs in, then stick needles in its head.

.....To be continued

Update

2008-05-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

Oh my, it has been a while since I posted about how the family is doing. One would almost think I have a life! Allow me to rectify this misconception.

Matilda:
Matilda is lots of fun. She doesn't really do very many new things at this age, she rather seems to develop the skills she already has. Her speech is becoming more intricate and she is just hilarious. She is much better at doing puzzles and colouring. She tries to colour in the lines now. She is much better at feeding herself with a spoon.

Got Yoghurt?

A couple of days ago, we were making a set of puzzles with jungle animals, and she got the idea of a creature called a "Crocaline" A Crocaline, if you are interested, is half lion and half crocodile. She thought that was too funny and now delights in telling everyone what the Crocaline says ("SNAProar! SNAProar!)
Some recent quotes include:

"We saw ourselves going on a walk today!" (We had seen two dogs going on a walk, and of course afterwards we were pretending to be dogs. This imaginary play makes for some interesting linguistic slips.)

"Mummy, dogs have puppies and boys have willies." (Well, what? They DO.)

-"What do you want for breakfast Matilda?"
-"I want some daddy! Let's call him on the phone and tell him. Daddy, come home so I can eat you!" (The most convincing argument ever, you have to agree.)

"Excuse mummy, Domino!" (When the cat didn't move out of my way quickly enough, Matilda had to tell him off.)

"I love you, husband!" (Heheh. Wonder who she got that from!)

Philip

Ooh, Philip! Now he's the opposite of Matilda. New skills are coming strong and fast.

He's walking everywhere now.
He knows how to get up stairs and how to crawl down again afterwards. No more need for baby-gates!

He is saying quite a few words. His speech is not clear at all though, so you have to know him to understand him. Most commonly, he completely skips all consonants. When he wants to get down from anywhere he says "Eee ow". (get down.) He says Daddy, Nanny (Mummy), Ducky, Bye bye, Doggy, woof woof, schisch (cheese). He is very good at imitating sound though, and VERY good at repeating the pitch and rhythm of what we say. When Matilda counts, he imitates her: "aaa, ooo, eeee, ooo" (ooone, twooo, threee, fouuur.) It's hilarious. He doesn't say as much as Matilda did at his age, but (if it is possible) he is even more musical. He joins in and hums along recognisable songs. He loves dancing to music, and has certain favourites -notably a ballet DVD featuring Beatrix Potter characters.

He has a good appetite and is quite good at self feeding (You can give him a quartered sandwich, or a whole banana -if you don't mind him eating the skin too!) He is quite fussy about certain textures though. For example, he despises egg. He doesn't like slippery foods, like pasta (he couldn't be any more different than Matilda here, these are her two favourite foods.) He'll still eat those foods though, I just have to puree them for him. He eats what the rest of the family is eating every day now, and most of the time just chopped up in normal sized pieces.

Some photos from a lovely day at the beach recently (Not VERY recently, it is much warmer here now.)

Artistic Interlude

2008-05-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

An amusing insight into the dregs of a subculture that you may not have come across before: Reborns.
Some background: Reborns are a new and increasingly popular art form. Dolls that are expertly painted, filled, weighted and generally spruced up so that they look and feel extremely lifelike and similar to a newborn baby.

First, (so you can appreciate the examples below) here is what a "proper" reborn could look like:

Or this:

AND NOW... For your viewing pleasure:
HOW NOT TO REBORN. (Disclaimer: All the photographs that follow have been taken from real ebay auctions. They have not been tampered with in any way. These babies are out there, maybe one of them is even living nest to YOU.)

Advice on making a succesful reborn baby:

1. When designing your reborn, don't use Katie Price as a model:

2. It's ok to stuff your reborn, but NOT to embalm it.

3. NEVER reborn when you have a hangover.

4. Remember to wipe all the tomato sauce off your hands before you reborn.

5. AND don't forget to put your glasses on.

6. Remember that you are NOT trying to sell your reborn to an X-Files affictionado (hopefully).

7. It's called a REborn, not a STILLborn.

Devon Predators

2008-04-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

If you visit any coastal place in England, you'll likely see a sign warning you not to feed the seagulls. Acording to the sign "they might look pretty but they can be aggessive and could easily injure people, especially small children." These signs are generally regarded by most foreigners(certainly the Greek ones!)as yet another proof that the English are lilly-livered softies.

Peter and I have had many a chuckle over the past 3 years about the vicious Devon Predators (and continued feeding them, needless to say.)

Mother Nature once again had the last laugh.

Last week we were running some errands in a neighbouring town. It was a lovely day so we had made some sandwiches and went to a park to have a picnic on the grass. I handed the sandwitches around and sure enough, the seagulls spotted the food and gathered around, waiting for bits and leftovers. Nothing new there. We threw them a few crisps and bread crusts, and Matilda had a great time calling out to them.

SCENE: Mother, Father and young children are having a good time. The sun is shining, their cheeks are red, and their laughter tinkling. They are the picture of health and care free cheer. SUDDENLY... A cloud moves over the sun. In the distance, thunder rumbles.

More and more seagulls seemed to be gathering around us. Peter laughed and said "Look! We're surrounded." Suddenly, I became aware of just how big Devon seagulls are. They're as big as our cats, with their wings closed. They could certainly easily take them (Domino would be too slow for them, and Scrabble would be too stupid.) Their beaks are as long as my finger, and they have a red mark on the side. The blood of their previous victims? Their eyes are a dead, pale yellow. Three or four of them stand in front of Philip's buggy, beaks wide open, flap their wings and scream. I can see right down their throat. It's pinky-grey, and dirty.

It's all starting to seem a bit spooky now. Matilda hugs Peter's legs, and says "What do the birds want, daddy?" I get up when a seagull gets close enough to start pecking at the plastic bag that holds our sandwiches. All around us there are maybe thirty seagulls. Suddenly one of them flies at Peter and grabs the sandwich out of his hand. Another one starts pecking at the piece of bread Philip is holding, and he starts crying. I swing my plastic bag around, like an old lady trying to deter a mugger. I don't manage to hit one. It's just as well - I wonder if they would retaliate. As it is, all they do is take a couple of steps back and watch us. We quickly pack up (me swinging the bag around the whole time) and get up to leave. A gang of seagulls follows us until we get off the grass, then goes off to find the next victim, and we breathe a sigh of relief.

I still reserve the right to make fun of the signs warning us not to feed the pigeons though. ("they might look pretty but they can be aggessive and could easily injure people, especially small children." ) Now THAT is far fetched.

...Until it happens to YOU.

Thunder crackles. Maniacal laughter echoes in the distance.

15 Minutes

2008-04-15T03:57:00.000-07:00

OMG OMG I'm famous! I'd like to thank God, my family for making sure I grew up into a fantastic young lady, my children for making sure my superior genes survive...
Did you notice my nifty little gimmick at the bottom of the blog? It lets me know where in the world the people who have been visiting my blog are. Very good for the ego! (Who is the person reading from Paris??? Is that you Elita?!)

Chief Interpreter: Confusio say... "Once a student, always a student."

Without further ado, here are some pictures of the crew doing what they do best -making a mess! (Notice Peter doing the washing up. Unfortunately I had to crop the picture so you can't see the shackles around his wrists. Don't worry, I do take them off so he can go to work.)

After the messy play, we had to hose down the sproglings, so Peter had to abandon his post. He kept himself busy scrubbing the highchair though. Idle hands and all that jazz.

A moment of bliss. Matilda is feeding Philip. In case you have trouble figuring it out, Matilda is being Piglet and Philip is being Winnie the Pooh (well, at least she got the "Pooh" bit right!) Notice a cameo appearance by Peter doing the dishes. Aaaah... now let me just put my feet up for a bit!

Points of interest:

1. Isn't it perfect that Matilda sees a pink ballerina outfit and decides she will wear it to be Piglet? No Princesses here, thank you!

2. No, you didn't see her picking food up from the floor and feeding it to her brother. Anyway, it's good for the immune system. Yeah.

Speechless

2008-03-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have learned
that my baby speaks
without words
verbs in his eyes
spur action
milk leaks
heart melts
as he nurses down
for the night
adjectives adorn his fingers
soft
sweet
small
on my arm as he holds me
tightly as I hold him
nouns articulate in his inarticulation
"eh" becomes mommy
I become mommy
this role I never thought I'd play
so much more than child's play
I hold him in my arms
feel his heartbeat
life in my hands
so I hold him close
listen to the sibilant silence of his sleep
the quiet power
as he tells me he loves me
without making a sound.

(reprinted with permission, written by Jamie on the BabyCenter.)

Update

2008-03-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

That lovely little boy of mine is getting cuter and cuter.

At 1 year, Philip likes sleeping on my arm at night. Not really on it, he sort of spoons with me, and he wants me to hug him so that my arm is parallel to his body... Then he strokes my arm and goes to sleep. It's very snuggly.

He's the amazing singing, dancing baby. He doesn't really speak yet (ok, a couple of words) but he dances to music and sings. Observe... He sings along the chorus of different songs. "John Jakob Jingleheimer Smith" and "Dayo". I love it that my babies love music.

Philip Rocking:

If you tell him he's a clever boy, he claps himself. If you ask him "what does the cat say?" he goes "Oooooooh..... Oooooooh...." and makes stroking motions in the air (that's from when we were trying to teach him to be gentle.)

He also gives lovely hugs if you ask him. He can stand on his own, and walk if you hold his hands. He has four teeth and working on number five. I swear he said "get down" today when he was finished on his highchair. (He is generally verh good at repeating things and picking up your tone of voice.) He can climb on the sofa and get down on his own.

If Philip gets annoyed, he crawls to you, stares you in the face, frowns and says "UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGHHHHHHHHHH!" It's very funny. He's a master at annoying Matilda who then says "I don't LIKE my yummy scrummy baby brother!" (Or, less adorably, "Shutupshutupshutup" *THWACK*)

But they love each other really:

Speaking of Matilda, today she got a full carton of eggs from the fridge and broke them all on the floor. When asked why she did that, her response was "Because it was too tidy." Oh well, I won't make THAT mistake again!
(the 20th of March can hereforth be annually celebrated as the day I mopped twice in 24 hours.) And by the way, if you ever want to get raw egg off the floor, sprinkle flour over it. It becomes a disgusting batter-like substance that is however much easier to scoop up.

Who me? But this is my innocent smile!

It has come to my attention that someone I know from Corfu is reading this blog incognito. I'm very flattered! (And much more worried about my spelling than I used to be!) If you feel like it, leave a comment, I like being reminded that I'm not (always) talking to myself.

Wannabe:

See, we can have fun with our wraps too!

Toddler Manifesto

2008-03-10T03:43:00.000-07:00

If it is on, I must turn it off.
If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is folded, I must unfold it.
If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.
If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be unshelved.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.
If it has leaves, they must be picked.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.
If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and
Thrown on the floor.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If it has drawers, they must be rifled.
If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator,
Monitor, or table.
If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.
If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.
If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.
If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be
Ridden in without protest. It must be pushed by me instead.
If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.
If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.
If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.
If it is paper, it must be torn.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If the volume is low, it must go high.
If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.
If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.
If it is a phone, I must talk to it.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it doesn't stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.
If it IS food, it must not be tasted.
If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.
If it is a carseat, it must be protested with arched back.
If it is Mommy, it must be hugged.
I am toddler!

One Year

2008-03-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

Today it's Philip's birthday. It's hard to imagine that exactly a year ago today, I was lying on a hospital birth, looking at this strange little baby sleeping next to me, amazed at how different he looked. At about now, a year ago, Peter and Matilda were coming to see me... Matilda's first words were "baby!" Slightly less cheerfully, I also need to remember that less that 24 hours earlier that year ago I had to leave my husband and my beautiful (and still only) baby sleeping on a hospital bed, after having suffered not one but two seizures, and waddle my way to the delivery ward, abandoning my dream of a home birth with Matilda present to welcome her little brother.

I'm still not happy about all of that, but I am happy with the little baby that now is a little boy scoffing down his first ever serving of cake on his highchair. What beautiful babies we make -it's official.

This is what I was looking at -sleeping next to me a year ago.

And a week old

He looks so grown up!

Hey, everybody is singing for me!

Matilda wants to be part of it all

Mmmmm, how come you've never given me this before mummy?

Reading Pleasure.

2008-02-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

This blog was brought to my attention by Sarah. Read it. Seriously. It is bleeping hilarious. I was laughing out loud and Philip was laughing too. (Ok, for no reason whatsoever. Still...)

So go read it. You'll thank me. (Unless you are Marilena or Andreas. Then the 2 paragraphs a day you can bear to make yourself read should probably be contained on my own blog.)

http://www.ironycentral.com/babymain.html

Temper, Temper...

2008-02-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

I had the most interesting time trying to put Philip down for a nap today; (as in "may you live in interesting times.") He has adopted a wooden laddle as his new favorite toy and would. not. be. sepparated. from it. If his fingers lost contact with the handle for a second, his body went completely rigid, his fists clenched, he frowned, eyes wide opened, and YELLED. Not cried, not screamed. This was the sound of pure anger. So I tried to boob him while he was holding the thing, which didn't work, due to the fact that he insisted on waving it around happily and kept hitting himself on the head with it. (Not very conductive to sleep, you might argue*)(*unless you do it hard enough, I suppose.)Then I tried boobing him with his spoon-wielding arm tucked in my armpit, but that wasn't good enough, he couldn't swing to his heart's content, so he yelled at me again. We tried several positions with and without the spoon (what will it be today ma'am, concussion or ear-drum rupture?)until he succumbed. A looong time later.

He really is a determined little person. He is a very sunny, contented baby most of the time, but he knows what he wants. And if you're within earshot, soon you know as well. And he will not be distracted either. I really hope he comes along with his speech soon, because I can tell he'll be a toddler you reason with.

Philip brandishing his spoon:

Matilda was eating spaghetti today.
Matilda: (picking up up a spaghetti (spaghetto?) and pulling it) An amoeba...STRETCH! Look, TWO amoebas!

I love nerdlings!

What Anna Did

2008-02-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

Look who got a haircut! I'm quite pleased with it, but I'm partial to short hair.

And also, Introducing my latest project. I am in the process of getting registered as a childminder (yay! More kids in the house!) so I got a collection of Cabbage Patch Kids in various skin tones and ethnicities for the children to play with. Well, Cabbage Patch Kids thoughtfully produce dolls of all races, but there are no dolls with disabilities in their collection.I couldn't have that.

So I got this little cutie:

Tinkered with her a bit, and TADA!
Introducing Kysenia, cabbie kid with Down's Syndrome :)

(After I made Kysenia and showed her to Pete, he walked on me plucking my eyebrows and said "Don't tell me you're changing your eyebrows so YOU can look like a child with Down's Syndrome." Hahaha. He cracks me up.)

Speaking of which, Reece's Rainbow are doing another fundraiser for Easter, called Gift Of Life.
Now, I know most of you reading this blog don't share my "thing" (obsession?) about Down's Syndrome. And I don't want to bore you. But please, go and have a look at Gift Of Life. This time they're fundraising for their more at risk children, the ones that are closest to going to the institution.

If you are able to spare anything, it helps. An Easter, or a Mother's day present, so that a child can find a family.
If you can't give money, please mention the fundraiser on your blog -maybe one of your readers will. You'll be helping some of the most innocent people there are.

Thank you.

Inspirational!

2008-02-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

This is how Macrina from the Babywearer breaks in her wraps (makes new wraps soft and snuggly and well-worn.)

Video of her children re-posted with her permission.

Man, I want a HOUSEFUL of kids and I want my house to be like that...

Watch it, it cheers me up to no end.

Introspective

2008-02-22T04:30:00.000-08:00

An afternoon of calm, reflective and educational play at our house.

Watch and learn from our sterling example.

How to use a wrap, in 1000 simple steps

2008-02-19T12:52:00.000-08:00

There are three main positions with the wrap. Front, hip and back.

When wrapping your baby, don't worry too much about the wrap getting
untied. As you'll discover, there's so much fabric going around that
the baby will not SUDDENLY slip even if the knot was completely
untied. As long as the wrap goes nicely over baby's bum, all the way
to under her knees, and her knees are higher than her bum, she's
safe. (This makes her bum her center of gravity, so she can't slip
out.)

Front Carries:
Suitable from birth.

FCC (Front Cross Carry): (good because you can pre-tie it before
putting baby in)

FWCC (front wrap cross carry)

My very own ('scuse the flab!)

Hip carries.
These are your best next step. They distribute weight MUCH better
than front carries, you can switch sides when you get sore, and baby
will have much better visibility. She should be ok with those as soon as she can sit with support; the wrap will support her so it's similar.

Here is a link to my favorite: It's called Poppin's Hip Carry.

Photo by the inventor of it, featuring her little girl!

Thread with photo instructions devoted to it

Back carries.

Back ties are VERY comfy as far as weight distribution goes. They're
generally better for older kiddos, after they can sit up. They also
look a bit scary, with moving baby up to your back. I know, I was
scared too. I will post a couple of links of THE best and most
secured back carry I've found, for if/when you want to try one. There
is NO WAY any child can wriggle out of that one, Philip is the worst
wriggler and feels completely secure with that one.

How to put her on your back:
This thread shows the "Superman Toss". It's easier than it looks -
practise it over a bed. Notice on the video: As you cross your arms
to pick up the wrap, the top arm has palm facing down, and the bottom
arm has palm facing up. Up arm-down palm, down arm-up palm is my
mnemonic. I know it looks complicated but it really is easy when you
try it (after you get over the fear!)

I KNOW this looks scary but once you do it, I promise holding her by
the top of her arms works well and once she's on your back, if you
pull it tight and tie the knot on your chest it will keep her snug
while you do the rest of it. If you do it over a bed, she'll fall on
soft if she wriggles out. Just make sure the fabric goes over her bum
(reach back and check.)
Tip: Do it in front of the tv, she'll be distracted and wriggle less.

How to do the Secure High Back Carry

Paulus, the inventor of SHBC and his gorgeous baby.

Thread devoted to it.

Another thread devoted to it.

Other resources:

Front

Hip

Back

Lots of links devoted on specific carries.

You can find lots more video and photo instructions for different
carries here

(If the link doesn't work, go http://www.thebabywearer.com/forum/
then Choosing and Using a Wrap. Top of that page, it will have
Sticky: Wrapping instruction Links.
I'm not sure if you need to register to view these, but it's free and
easy. Very helpful community too.)

You can also buy used wraps and save money on the babywearer, just go to the For Sale Or Trade page!

As far as wrap length goes, all that fabric takes some getting used to. All of you normal sized people could do all of the above carries with a size 6 (4,6m) or even a size 5 (4,1m.) FWCC and SHBC need the longest wrap, then FCC and the hip carry is the one that can be done with the least fabric. (But if you have a wrap that's too long, you can always just take it around your waist an extra time before you tie it.)

All the photographs are taken from The Babywearer community (www.thebabywearer.com) They were posted publicaly already so I hope they won't mind.

This post was inspired by Charissa, and her absolutely gorgeous, adorable adopted little girl, Ava. I wish I could just kiss her!

Anna

Table Manners

2008-02-19T03:18:00.000-08:00

What do you do when your toddler eats like that?

Do you correct her, show her how to eat like a civilized person?
I grab the camera!

Transcript, because sound was so bad. Any mention to Pa Lion is from a book we read, called QUIET!:

Talking in a deep voice, because she's being a Lion: You are the girl and I'm the boy.
-What are you being?
-I'm being Pa Lion.
-Ah, you're being Pa Lion.
-We are two lions in a jungle house, and there are amimals (animals.)
Philip is being loud. I will eat him. Where is he?
-Is he hiding?
-Yes. Where is he?
-QUIET!
-I am quiet.
-You're a farty pants you are!
-Pa lion is very hungry... That's why I...
-That's why you what?
-That's why the animals are very loud, and I was telling the parrots to be quiet. Right now. And then the parrots were quiet. They're all quiet.

-Eat your food, don't walk in it!
-There's more on my chair.
-There's some on your elbow. There's a bit of pasta on your elbow.

(Peter throws ball at me.)

-May I ask why you're throwing things at me?
-We're playing fetch.
-Daddy is throwing things at me, what should I do? EAT HIM PA LION, FIND HIM AND EAT HIM!
-There he is.
-EAT HIM PA LION, FIND HIM AND EAT HIM! HE'S THROWING THINGS AT ME!
(goes after the cat)
No, daddy's throwing things at me. Eat daddy.
-I'll sleep with him.

-What are you doing?
-Quiet!
-Why do I have to be quiet?
-She's being a Lion.
-Yes. I'm Pa Lion. Lions like Pasta. It makes them happy. Baby Leo's woken up.
-WHO WOKE UP LEO? FIND THEM PA LION, FIND THEM AND EAT THEM.
-Philip is being... Is he being a green monkey?
-Are you being a green monkey Philip?
-He's saying daddy and being a monkey. Monkeys say "daddy".

Greek Drivers

2008-02-19T02:58:00.000-08:00

Sent by my brother and frighteningly accurate.

Driving Rules for Greeks:

Signalling will reveal to other drivers what your next move will be. A genuine Greek driver will never signal.

Under no circumstances should you try to keep a safe distance from the car in front of you. Doing so will mean that a third vehicle might be able to squeeze in front of you, putting you at even more of a disadvantage.

The faster you go through a red light, the slimmer the chances are that another car will hit you.

NEVER stop at a STOP sign. Cars behind you will not expect this move and are likely to drive into you if you do.

You should brake as late as possible to ensure your ABS functions properly. You will be rewarded with a relaxing foot massage. If your car doesn’t have ABS, this is a good chance to stretch your legs a bit.

Never overtake on the left if you can overtake on the right. The frightened expression on the other driver’s face will entertain you time after time.

Speed limits are arbitrary numbers that are only offered as a suggestion, and clearly they are not practical to use in Greece.

Even if you are stuck in traffic so bad that it is impossible to move your car an inch, the aggravated driver pushing his horn behind you is convinced that he would be moving faster than you are, if he were in your position.

A genuine Greek driver will always slow down to have a good look at whatever catches his fancy. This could range from a shop window to a good-looking girl, and from a car accident to another driver changing a tyre.

Learn how to switch lanes quickly. Thanks to the ministry of traffic, Greece has been transformed to a vast track circuit, with openings placed in strategic places to check your reflexes.

In Greece it’s traditional to honk as soon as the light turns green, even if there are no cars in front of you.

Never give way to a car driving in the opposite direction on a narrow lane. The driver could have been using a different lane parallel to the one you are on, so clearly they’re doing it on purpose.

Remember that the purpose of all Greek drivers is to get there first. There will always be a good reason why you’re in a hurry. On the other hand, everyone else on the street probably has no reason to be there.

Greek women drivers can cook, wash, knit, have sex, talk on the phone, but they can’t drive.

A helmet should be worn on one’s elbow, for reasons that are yet to be identified. You are advised to follow this trend anyway.

Seat belts are dangerous. Cutting edge Greek research has proved thousands of crash tests wrong. If you’re meant to die, you will, so it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing a seat belt or not.

The music in your car should always be at full volume, regardless of the song. This is a selfless way to entertain pedestrians as they wait patiently for a driver to stop at a zebra crossing.

Pedestrians are a driver’s worst enemy. They take up space on the sidewalk, making it difficult to park on it, and they insist on crossing the street, forcing cars to slow down.

Philip is enjoying his own little adrenaline rush here:

Anger Management

2008-02-13T03:02:00.000-08:00

Matilda has recently taken to slapping Philip when she's feeling cross. We've told her off a number of times, told her to apologise, explained that it hurts, and made her go upstairs to sit on her own and think about it... She's always doing it again.
Then yesterday it occured to me that she needs us to give her a way to express her anger -without getting in trouble. She gets told off if she screams at him, if she takes his toys away, pushes him or slaps him; but she's got feelings and she needs a way to let off steam (well, I feel like slapping Philip sometimes too!)

So we sat down and had a chat. I told her that it's ok to get cross, but it's not ok to hit; and that Philip screams because he can't talk yet but she CAN talk, so she has to use her words. Then we discussed what she can do when she's feeling really cross and she wants to hit Philip... She can slap the sofa cushions, or slap her ball and kick it around.

Later that evening, I could see her getting cross again, and getting to the point where a slap was not too far away.

Me: Matilda, I see you're feeling cross... What did we say you can do when you're cross?
Matilda: SLAP the sofa, SLAP the ball, and SLAP Philip.

Riiight... Got to work on the concept a bit more.

Drilling:

Innocent victim (riiiight):

Playtime

2008-02-07T03:08:00.000-08:00

Some videos...

Ignore the bluging undulating nappy, we were just about to change that. Listen carefully, The Lady makes a guest appearance!

Listen out for the different voices and sound effects. See if you can spot the cat towards the end (as if you could miss him!)

What do you mean that was a month ago?

2008-01-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

This is going to be a great year... A year when a lot of good things happen to this family. I can just tell. Shhh... I can't really say anything more specific yet, but I'll keep you posted as soon as anything is certain (NO I'm not pregnant.)

As 2007 ends, I'm greatful for many things.

My wonderful "blond angel" husband, who puts up with me and loves me even though he's clearly mad to do so... And who has an open mind and an open heart and listens to my crazy ideas.

My cozy house. Yes, it's small. But when we walked through the door and saw it for the first time, I thought "This is the home of a happy family." I couldn't sleep for three nights until the owners accepted our offer to buy it. Now it's ours and yes, it IS the home of a happy family.

My cute babycakes. My Muddy the Cat, Splatty the Frog, Lappy the whatever-Lappy-is, who sings and dances her way around the house, holds my ear to fall asleep, and gives the best cuddles in the world. Who says "Make me happy mummy" when she feels sad, and I have to tickle her.

We're being elephants. Like our trunks?

My little boy, my Belly Philip, my Phips. Who blows kisses, claps his hands like a mad thing, and wants to sleep cuddled next to me at night. (Yes, generally speaking, people don't want to encourage this. But I like it.)

Has it really been over a month since I last blogged? It's time for an update then...

Matilda is more Matilda than ever. ("No! More LAPPY than ever!")We finally found out who Lappy is. Lappy is the name she gave to one of the ladies that sing on her favorite dvd. Her sidekick is Lon. Lon is a little girl with curly hair, also on the dvd. Usually played by me, but occasionally also anything with a curl (out phone with a curly cord. A curly-wool style scarf. A lamb.)

She's being a squirrel:

She can play I-Spy now. Only the little stinker doesn't want to let me take a turn. And insists on spying things that are not in the room. Observe:

We're in the kitchen
Me: I spy with...
Matilda: Ispywithmylittleeyesomethingthatbegins with....S!
Me: Salt? Stickytape? Spoon?
Matilda: How about Sea? (looks very pleased with herself.)
Me: Matilda, you have to be able to see the thing you spy. My turn now. I spy...
Matilda: Ispywithmylittleeyesomethingthatbegins with....S!
Repeat until you admit that Sea is a good thing to spy in a kitchen.

She is also getting better at her phonics and can now tell you that C-A-T is cat (or daddy, if she's bored and wants you to stop pestering her.)

Her counting is coming on nicely too.

Matilda: I want a biscuit! I WANT A BISCUIT! *munch munch munch* MORE BISCUIT! *munch munch munch* I WANT ANOTHER BISCUIT!
Me: Matilda, how many biscuits have you had? Two biscuits. That's enough. You can have more biscuits tomorrow.
Matilda: But I want THREE biscuits!

And she is cheeky. To her daddy,who was changing her nappy and chatting to her about something or other.

"What are you talking about, you silly old man?"

Me: Matilda, come here, I want to give you a kiss.
Matilda: No.
Me: Please?
Matilda: No.
Me: But I want to kiss you!
Matilda: But you can't!

Philip likes clapping on demand, bouncing up and down, and screaming at Matilda. He waves hello and bye bye. He also says Hello (hayyyaa) bye bye (baba) Cat (At! At!) Daddy (randomly, but sometimes to Peter.)

Party Animals:

A typical day at our house. Aren't they precious? Notice the welt between Philip's eyebrows where Matilda thwacked him, and Matilda's hairstyle from when she found my jar of Vaseline and covered her hair with it. Like I said, a typical day at our house.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T02:16:00.000-08:00

HO HO HO!

What Matilda said:

2007-12-23T04:49:00.000-08:00

"Where is four daddy? Where is four? Where is four?"

What she was looking at:

My clever baby...

Philip cuteness factor 60:

...said the little girl

2007-12-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

Either Matilda is getting an amazingly vivid imagination, or is getting multiple personalities.

In the past few weeks she has developed several distinctive "personas," people that she likes to pretend to be. This is very important to her, and she will often stay "in character" for the whole day. When she's "in character," she corrects you if you call her Matilda ("I'm Elizabeth!") so we started asking her who she is in the morning. (Alzheimers? Alien abduction? "Who are you and what have you done to my child!")Luckily for us, she has also developed "props" that clue us in to what personality she has adopted. So far we have:

Elizabeth: Elizabeth has two pigtails high on the sides of her head. She is modeled after the actual Elizabeth, a little girl from playgroup. She's about a year older than Matilda, so there's not much difference between them. Matilda comes over and says "I want to be Elizabeth," I give her her pigtails, and then she goes around calling herself Elizabeth. End of story.

Carla: Carla has a little ponytail. She is a baby. She is modeled after Carly, a little girl in a book. Carla says "Yup!" and "Nope!" a lot. Quite often, she wears dungarees.

The Lady: Now this is spooky. I have no idea who The Lady is, and where she got her from. She could be any "lady" from her books, or tv. I also have yet to identify the "props." Certainly, The Lady (said with a certain gravity, so you can hear the capital letters!) is a distinct persona. She is a bit bossy and likes posing and preening infront of the mirror (aaargh!) Matilda has been The Lady for two days now. She has also insisted on wearing a pink t-shirt for two days now, so this could be The Lady's prop -who knows?

Catty Girl: Catty Girl is a cat. She has painted whiskers on her face. She says mew mew mew. Well, she's a cat, so she can't stay in character for long. It's restrictive.

Various other animals: She's been a tiger, a sheep, an elephant, a zebra... anytyhing that catches her fancy.

The Narrator: The Narrator is always with us. She speaks in the third person, and informs us what all the other characters are doing. I suspect The Narrator was developed to help us identify "who she is being" (we were having to ask this question rather often lately.)

When Matilda is "in character" she also speaks in third person. All the time. (The Narrator -see above.)
"I want my vest, said Carla."
"Can I have some cheese please, said the little girl."

And even, on a memorable occasion (last night):
"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! OWOWOWOWOW! said The Lady."

(The Lady is spooky. Seriously. The others are a bit like imaginary friends, but The Lady makes it sound like she's channeling a victorian ghost. Peter and I are thinking of teaching her to whisper "I see dead people...")

Here's Matilda being Elizabeth:

Another game Matilda likes to play, is storytelling; It goes like this:

Me: Once upon a time, there was a...
Matilda: Little Boy!
Me: And his name was....
Matilda: Fabio! (huh?)
Me: Fabio lived with his...
Matilda: Dog!
Me: whose name was...
Matilda: Rusty!
Me: Ok, once upon a time, there was a little boy, Fabio, who lived with his dog, Rusty. One day, Rusty said "I feel....
Matilda: Bored!
Me: So he went and sat into his...
Matilda: car! (goes and sits behind the sofa cushion, that she often pretends is a car.)
Me: Ok. So Rusty's carm was special. He could sit in it and drive it, but to everyone else, it looked like a....
Matilda: Dragon!
Me: So everytime Rusty went out with his car, the people started yelling "Help, help, a Dragon!" and ran away. Sometimes, they were running away so fast that they fell into.....
Matilda: The sea!

You get the picture. It's enormous fun! By the way, Rusty also had two magic sticks (two spoons) and when you hit them, they made "echoes." I love how her mind works.

Not that Philip is not coming on too.
Things Philip can do at 9,5 months:

Crawl (so what else is new?)
Point at things he wants.
Give kisses. He puckers up, leans towards you and says "Mmmmmmmmmmmmm ah!" It's beyond cute.
Say "Cat." Or rather, "K't! K't!" But we think he means cat.
Sign more, drink, and daddy.
Bite! He has two teeth.

Things Philip can NOT do, apparently:

Sleep. Ummm... yeah.

Peepo!

"Quick, let me eat this before Scrabble gets it!" (Happens more often than you think...)

Twelve Tips for Christmas

2007-12-17T02:50:00.000-08:00

Parenting made easy with our tips from the experts (me!)

1. RESPECT your children. By that I mean treat them as you would treat an adult. ALWAYS EXPLAIN why you are saying or doing something. You are the parent, yours is the final decision, but it's common curtesy to explain why, take their oppinion into account as much as possible and empathise with their hurt feelings. After all, you would feel very indignant if someone presented you with an ultimatum "just because they said so." Try: "I'm sorry... I know you really wanted to do x. We can't because if we do, then y. Maybe next time. Let's have a hug" etc etc.

2. PRAISE possitive behaviour. Ignore as much as possible of their negative behaviour, or empathise with it. ("It makes me sad when you get so angry and it makes you be rude to me") Be free with your affection; hugs, kisses, playing, tickles are the things that make them enjoy being with you, and wanting to please you.

3. NAME FEELINGS. (This makes me sad. I know you're angry/dissapointed but... I like it when we do this,it makes me feel happy.) If a child knows the name for what they're feeling, it makes it easier to manage. Matilda is always saying "Make me happy, mummy. I'm a bit sad."

4. DISASSOCIATE NEGATIVE BEHAVIOUR from your child. Say "You're cross, and it makes you act naughty", or "that was naughty" not "You're naughty/being naughty." This makes the child feel they are not *identified* by the behaviour, and can change it.

5. "CONSEQUENCES" INSTEAD OF "PUNISHMENT" Instead of "If you don't go to bed, no going to the park tomorrow" try "If you don't go to bed, we'll have to not go to the park tomorrow -because you'll be overtired." "If you don't pick your toys up, I'll have to put them away -I don't like tripping over them."

6. NO EMPTY THREATS. Always threaten with things you are prepared to enforce. And then do it. Correspondingly, if you promise something, ALWAYS stick with it. (unless it's out of your power to do so, and then apologise, explain and empathise.) It's very helpful to be consistent like this. Pick your battles. Only correct behaviour you find especially problematic. Choose what you want to work on each time. Otherwise they'll get desensitised at being corrected all the time, and will quickly learn to ignore the "background noise" -you!

7. WHISPER. If your child is yelling, try lowering your voice and talking very very quietly. They'll usually have to quiet down to hear what you're saying.

8. HAVE A CHAT. when you have a clash, try to have a chat about it after everyone calms down... Explain (and let *them* explain) what happened, why everyone was cross, and have a hug after the issue has been resolved. Matilda actually asks to "have a chat" when she's upset about something.

9. GIVE TWO CHOICES, and be prepared to stick with whatever they choose. Make sure you're reasonably happy with both choices.
ie: "Do you want to turn the television off and do something nice together, or do you want ME to turn it off?" "Do you want to stop yelling and talk nicely, or do you want to go and yell upstairs on your own? This noise makes my head hurt."

10: HUMOUR is your best friend and is GREAT at diffusing tension and anger. Silly poems. Making a grumpy face. Tickling. Making a performance out of the situation.

11: ASK THEM TO REPEAT what you're saying, or what happened. "Matilda, why is mummy cross? Mummy is cross because... (and wait for them to complete the sentence.)" "If I take your toy away, does that make you happy, or sad? And if you take Philip's toy away, does that make him happy or sad? What can we do to make him feel happy again?"

12: GET DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL when you want to talk to them about something. Kneel down and make them face you, or sit them on your lap. That way they HAVE to pay attention.

13: DON'T MAKE FUN of their man-boobs. (Oops, that was thirteen... Ignore this last one!)

Add A Partridge

What we've been up to

The many faces of Teddy

Where did the time go?

The Hapless Tourist

Authority:

Idle hands make the Devil's work

A day in the life...

Photopalooza

Bird Spotting

Mr Happy

The Bored And The Beautiful

Friend Bingo

Princess Stinky Stinks Again!

Maison Et Decoration.

Oops, I did it again!

Holy Clap!

Happy New Year!`

A day in the life

New Achievements

365

Chomper!

Party of Five

Matilda

Dance for Joy

The Mystery of the Missing Mingo (and other adventures)

Snow!

Our house, in the middle of our street

I know what I did last summer

It's been HOW long?!

Generic Photo Update

You MUST watch these:

LOOK EVI!!!

What would YOU do?

Now THAT'S independence!

A Matter of Faith

Guessing Game

Three Year Old Worries

Fishy Tails

One, two, three... Three Screech

By Popular Demand

Marilena...

So now what?

A Pox on this Child! A Child on this Pox!

Life...The Reckoning

Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of our lives

Matilda-isms

Updated update on my update

Annoying Germs!

Chicken Spots

Out of the mouths of babes

Thanksgiving

Ready or not...

Evolution -REWIND

Yaya Who?

Not a baby anymore

Christmas!!!

A Woman's Place is in the Kitchen

Randomness (Much A-post About Nothing)

Sooo... I was idly looking around on Ebay

Smother You With Cuteness

How Apt, No?

Shorn

A pound for a pound?

Short and Sweet

Who me?

OMG, I'm not a virgin anymore!

This and That

Snapshots

Beaut, eh?

Wheeee!

Holding on, Letting go

Filler

Expect the Unexpected

Bliss

Crickets

A Chuckle of Chicken

Good Vibes

Adventures of a reborn virgin

Update