Busy busy

Busy busy.

Such a lot to do! And it's 2.30 a.m., so time to make a start.

Right then. Quick thrash about, then a bit of a sing. Pull myself up with the headboard and bounce. Find curtain and wave it vigorously.

A few press-ups on Mummy's face. Ah, she's definitely awake now. She's lying me down.

Squiggle. Wriggle. End up with my head by Mummy's stomach and feet by Daddy's face.

A few brisk kicks.

Whoops, being put back down again. Oh, Mummy's turned over. Oooo, a handful of hair! And when I pull it, Mummy makes these funny noises! What fun!

Let me just take a moment while I suck on my hands. Wow, look, they are all wet now! A few face slaps for Mummy while they feel so interesting.

Lying down again. Hmmm. Boring! No good, time to make a break for it. Let's just crawl off the bed onto the.....foiled again!

Oh well, I guess I might go back to sleep. After all I can just wake up again at 3.30. And 5.15. And 6.00!

Competitive art

Ah! The ubiquitous colouring competition!

The children were keen to try their hand in a local competition. Even Ewan had a go. (OK, maybe for him it was a bit more adult than child-led!).

Here's the results in order of age:




Isabelle cut out the top of the paper for added interest.











Aidan worked hard on his, really focusing on his fine motor skills.











Orla worked on both sides of the paper, lightly scrunched it into a ball then offered it to me as a gift.







Ewan drew as much on my arm and the table as the paper, but simply loved it - swooping the pens from side to side, apparently marveling at his ability to make a mark.






Oddly enough the younger three are all competing in the same category - under 6s. What the judging criteria are is a mystery, and these things always have a bit of randomness attached. But you can see from these pictures the breadth of developmental stages this category crosses.

I have given several careful speeches along the lines of "well, that was fun wasn't it! It's about doing the art really isn't it, not so much winning. And you know, sometimes, it might just be the turn of only one child in a family to get an award". (Aidan merely asked at this point when he would collect his prize, but I think he understands and was just thinking positively! The last colouring competition Isabelle and Aidan entered resulted in prizes, so that skews his expectations).

I think we would have heard by now if we were in line for something, but all the art will be displayed this Saturday, and I'm looking forward to seeing theirs up there for the world to see.



(Oh, in case you were wondering....yeah, colouring in, colouring competitions - not very "Playcentre". But, meh, they were keen and engaged which gave it a thumbs up from me!)

Rabbit story

We were walking home from school on Monday, much later than usual as Aidan had had a sports programme, and Isabelle a playdate. As we got closer to home, Isabelle exclaimed: "There's a rabbit!"

And so there was. Right there on the gravel next to the footpath, casually nibbling on a fern. My first thought was that it must be wild - it certainly had wild colouring. But as the children oohed and aahed and gently patted it - I thought that it must be a pet. It was only a baby and very clearly in the wrong place.

I assessed matters. I had four children, three bags, a stroller and a loaf of bread. Adding a rabbit to the pile didn't really seem feasible. Leaving it in the arms of fate was untenable. And I had a terrible feeling that if we walked home and came back with the car and a container, we might come back to nothing or squashed road bunny. Realising we were but metres away from a friend's house, we quickly knocked on her door. She was able to provide us with a cardboard carry case. Off we went back up the hill, with Isabelle carrying the rabbit. I carefully explained "the plan": no we could not keep the bunny as it was someone else's and we didn't have a suitable place to keep it. We would try and find its rabbit mother and drop it off at the SPCA in the morning otherwise.

The children were very excited. They really want guinea pigs (well, the big three do) and were so careful with their new charge. The bunny was put in our cat cage, with food and water. I tried to get the children to be quiet around the rabbit, to give it space and a place to hide. They did very well.

Meanwhile....the friend had mentioned that she knew someone nearby who had a new rabbit - she would call them to check this evening. I rang two experienced rabbit mothers for advice, and mentally prepared to put up a "rabbit found" sign on my way out that night.

Bunny seemed happy.




And hooray! During tea we had a phone call and yes, the friend of a friend had lost their rabbit and could they come and see if we had found it? After tea a little girl and mother came and were delighted to be reunited with their pet. It turned out that bunny was Rocky the hare, just 10 weeks old and fresh from a rather unsuccessful first night in his new hutch.

Rocky looked happy but exhausted in his mother's arms (complete with his own leash).




An offer was made to come and visit Rocky at home some time. The children were really pleased about this. I was happy too, so pleased that it turned out that we had done the right thing, and that a trail of happy coincidences had led Rocky back home. The children had had a taste (albeit a tiny one!) of pet ownership, and had proved themselves gentle, empathic and kind.

I really thought that we would have a happy end to this story.

However, it seemed that the adventure was all too much for little Rocky. He died that night.

It was upsetting to the big two, but not overwhelmingly so. It was also sadly true to the pet ownership experience.

RIP little Rocky.

Portrait of a sibling

Isabelle by Aidan






























Aidan by Isabelle

Catching up again

Time for another catch-up post.

Ewan's preferred method of getting around is now the classical, rather than the commando crawl. He pulls up to stand and, as the photo shows, seems to think that climbing could be fun. He momentarily tried an unsupported stand the other day.

He has also attained that most masculine of milestones - first standing-up pee. (Against the bath, for the record!).

We are up to (approximately) Aranea the fourth). We have four egg sacs around the window. The first lot of babies changed colour to a more spider-like black, but never seemed to escape the sac. The second lot emerged in a coral coloured state, but then never went anywhere.