When I think of the things Clark loves to do, I cant help but wonder which of these are influenced by us. Either because we love to do them, or because he sees us doing them. Of course there are other influences in his life, with childcare and other friends and family. However colouring-in and drawing I cannot help but think are loves inherited from his father.
Clark's go-to this week has been colouring-in. While he has liked it before and certainly has drawn many a picture, there has been an extra focus on colouring-in over the last week or so and he just cannot get enough of it! Sitting over one picture for a long time, being careful with how he holds his pencil, working within the lines. Sometimes he will change pictures declaring the current picture "a bit tricky" however generally he is content to colour one picture until it is done (or almost done). I love his face of concentration and how he bites his bottom lip as he is colouring.
And at 30 weeks pregnant and feeling very slow and tired, it is a past time I am happy to help him indulge in.
Oh how this boy loves his swing. Any time we go out the back he wants a swing. He can climb in on his own, buckles himself in and.... well that is what he can do. Pushing must be with two hands from behind the seat. And at the moment he likes to nominate how many pushes... and if you count as you push he laughs and laughs and laughs. Most of the time I am going out the back to put yet another basket of clothes on the line, and often this is dragged out by needing to go back and forth for some more pushes. If he goes high enough to clip the under-porch clothes line with his toes he is in toddler swinging bliss! He has only just gotten big enough to not be able to twist the swing around without banging his head on the ropes... something that was definitely a favourite swing activity!
This must be one of his most used items... we gave it to him for his first birthday and at the age of three I cannot see him letting go of it in a hurry! In fact Clark has just seen the photo I am posting and has instantly said "I want to go on the swing!". The simple things in life!
Christmas is coming and coming fast. Though not fast enough for Clark! I have mentioned (probably too many times) how tired and ready for the end of the year we are, however instead of having a quiet weekend we crammed in as much Christmas as possible!
Clark has been loving his advent calendar, and Friday morning he opened up the little pouch to find a note that said to go and look at Christmas lights. So once it was (finally) dark on Friday evening, after dinner and a bath, we climbed into the car and made the trek to see the amazing lights at Forrest. Clark was overawed at walking amongst the lights and it was truly beautiful. I felt my Christmas excitement start to creep up. A trek back to the southside to check out the lights in Gordon and Clark nodded off before we could see any more! I attempted to wake him (bad Mama) to see some of the amazing displays, however he was solidly asleep. There was something almost tranquil about driving around with my husband looking at the lights with our small boy asleep in the back.
The bulk of the weekend was taken up by Christmas Shopping at the Handmade Markets (sans small notaloverofshopping boy) and working for me on Sunday at the Young Carers Christmas Party. Once that was over I rushed home to ready my family to go to the divine Lanyon Homestead Christmas Carols. Lanyon Homestead is where Glenn and I were married and I delight in taking our growing family there at any given chance.
After such little photographing of our little boy over the last couple of weeks, we embarked on the end of our full-o-Christmas weekend event with camera in hand. Settling in to our picnic at Carols by Candlelight at the divine Lanyon Homestead I pulled out my camera and... the battery had run out. And yes, it was Sunday night. No more chances to take photos! So this week you are going to have to make do with iPhone photos!
This was Clark's first Christmas Carols and he loved it. A picnic (complete with many flies and noisy people encroaching on our space) followed by a shift to a quieter and more pleasant spot amongst the trees. Wandering the lawns completing Christmas craft activities and watching other children play. Eating ice cream as we sat and listened to the wonderful band and beautiful voices of Sing Australia. Once we had moved and had space to spread out and listen to the music, my Christmas bliss finally set in properly. I love Christmas and the excitement that goes with it, and this year it feels even more exciting with Clark being really involved in what is going on. He is excited about Santa coming (though has hidden some of the decorations behind the tree away from Santa) and we have talked about Christmas being a time for giving and spending time with our family. Today we made a trip to the shops so he could pick out a couple of presents to put under the giving tree and he did this happily. Little traditions and things that are important to us that we will build into his idea of Christmas and what it is about. Of course he is also very excited with the idea that Santa will bring chocolate coins, a lion and a dinosaur!
To add a further note... I have since charged the camera, and will keep it charged for the last few weeks of the year!
It was a sick week and a ratty week. A week too full of appointments and things we had to do. We made poor decisions like taking Clark shopping when really he does not like it. If I do not like grocery shopping, why would a three year old who has felt cooped up all week? As Clark pushed against the boundaries and we all felt worn out, there were tears and tantrums... and not just from the three year old. As I cancelled social events due to illness I too felt cooped up and restless, and impatient with the lack of natural rhythm to our family life.
But we love and hug each other and say sorry for the times we lose our patience. We try to teach our boy about kindness and hope that we move through the rough patches more quickly and smoothly each time. As we learn more about what our boy needs each day, I think we in turn learn more about ourselves and our own needs.
-----------
I am finding more and more that each week Sunday arrives and I have not taken a photo. I think that this has been a great project for me but I have to admit that I cannot see how this will work in 2014 as we ready ourselves for our new arrival and move from balancing the busy lives of three to the busy lives of four (and less sleep). I know I will have the camera out constantly to take photos of our new arrival, but if I manage to blog I will be surprised. That said I do also think that this could be the natural tiredness that comes with the end of the year. I will see how I feel in a few weeks (cannot believe it is almost 2014 already) and go from there I suppose!
Five things I have discovered recently that my child likes:
- 'golfball' on the oval after school
- taking his socks off during the day at school (but leaving his shoes on)
- short sleeves
- plums straight from the tree
- turning on the blue fairy lights on his tent to have "a party"
First trip to the circus, with 'my cousin Chelsea'. Clark does love that girl. And Chelsea loves Clark. Their relationship is lovely and Miss 10 is so great with Clark... playing with him, keeping an eye on him, and letting me know when he is getting up to too much mischief. Everything has a golden tint to it when Clark knows that Chelsea will be there! A heart of gold and so very sincere is our Chelsea... something Clark knows well.
Clark also loves 'webbing'. We are at the circus, but Clark would like to throw webs. It is a serious art and comes with rules. We do not web at each other. And sometimes we are only allowed to web outside. Webbing is for baddies and to get ourselves out of (sticky) situations. Clark climbed behind the Christmas tree the other and had problems getting out. He called for help as he was 'stuck in the mud'. I reached in and helped him stand up, but before I could help him out he said 'no, I will web out'. And web out he did.
Playing much catch up this week. Catch up on washing, catch up on blogging... catch up on life! I feel I am moving more slowly the last couple of weeks, a combination of our ever growing baby girl stretching against my insides mixed with this oh so busy time of year. I really think our boy is feeling the pressure of it all and has needed extra attention to get through these hectic days. So I have really pulled myself out from behind the camera and just focused on what our beautiful boy needs... a balance between getting out and running, mixed with time to sit with his Mama and Daddy and read, make, talk.
When you wake up on a Sunday morning and it is rainy and cold and you are all a bit tired, sometimes you just need to embrace the Pyjama day. So we did just that a couple of weeks ago (yes, behind again). Movies on the couch, reading stories in bed and playing with playdough are sometimes just what the doctor ordered. So while I often feel like glaring at the rain, on this day I was happy for it to come. It was supposed to rain on the Saturday, but the rain held out and we went to a lovely friend's birthday party. It was a very social weekend for our little boy, and I spent most of the weekend tired and coughing. By Sunday morning we really were all ready to just mooch. Such a great word really!
With grey skies looming I decided to play with the black and white setting on my camera. Something I haven't really done before. I certainly need to play more! But that goes for most settings on my camera really. Thankfully I figured how to turn the setting off again!
As parents we often cannot help but wonder what our children will "be" when they grow up. Funny when really I still wonder that about myself... minus the growing up bit. In an age where our careers or professions change often I realise this could be many things and not just one set career. Do I wish I had known when I was younger that I would like to do when I left school? Sure. Then I could have focused and not be sitting here at 34 wondering if I will ever have the time or energy to go to University. But then I wouldn't have met the people I have met and had the experiences I have had. And maybe I only now know sort of what I would like to do because of the journey I have taken. If I had worked in the community sector earlier would I have spent so many years in Vinnies doing volunteer work, something that I have cherised over the years and feel has moulded me into the person I am? Or is it only because I worked in the private sector that I felt the need to work with kids in a volunteer capacity for as long as I did?
I guess the point is that some people need to try different things first to figure out what they want to do. And may know what they want to do but then want to do something different later. Clark has all of this ahead of him and I cannot help but wonder what path he will take, both socially as well as his career or profession. We jokingly banned the word horse from our house early in case Clark found a love for them, a love we would not be able to afford! However this backfired and Clark fell head over heels for horses early. It was taken over by dinosaurs (funnily enough less expensive to keep than a horse) and recently Clark found a love for puppies, but one ride on Jeffery the Pony the other day at a fete and Clark is hooked again.
He also has a bit of an obsession with fires (thankfully pretends to be putting fires out, not lighting them) and has always said that he wants to be a Doctor. Clark also has always been interested in how things work. And likes to sit and pretend to fix things. So maybe a surgeon? Or an engineer, or a mechanic. The options are endless at this stage and in a time when we our job market is as unsteady as it is I am glad that he has many years before he has to worry about any of this at any real level. For now he can pretend to fix his bike with his croquet mallet and 'fix Mama's cough' by tying a ribbon around my wrist. Cutest moment of our week really. x
One thing no one could ever say about our family? That we do birthdays lightly. Or Christmas for that matter, but that is for a later post. And Clark's third birthday was no exception. Glenn and I took the week off, thinking we could have a bit of us time, bit of party planning and baking time, and spend Wednesday doing fun birthday things with Clark. It was a huge week for many reasons and really not the most restful of times. I really do not think why I thought it would be anything other than it was!
This post is very rambly, but I wanted to capture the events of the week if only for us down the track. One of the things that I have loved about this 52 week project is the time to sit and ponder on our week and to have a
visual and written reminder of our comings and goings. I do try to
condense and some weeks I have been too tired to write much, but this
week I just wanted to document the week that Clark turned three.
We had an amazing week that started with the three of us going to our 20 week ultrasound and seeing our baby girl. We overestimated Clark's understanding and the process was quite daunting for him. He was very protective over me as the ultrasound wand was gliding over my tummy and stuck very close by wanting to make sure that the baby and I were ok. He did well however and seemed unsurprised (though happy) to find out we are having a girl. We are thrilled!
The rest of the week involved a lot of shopping and getting ready for The Festival of Clark. Martha Stewart has a lot to answer for and I spent most of my week shopping for the right paper cups, more puppy dog themed items to go into lolly bags and essential craft items for the 12 sets of puppy dog ears I spent many many hours on.
Amongst it all was Wednesday, Clark's birthday. Each year his understanding grows about special events and this year his excitement levels matched ours. We stayed up the night before icing the first of his two cakes and wrapping his presents. We set up his teepee in the loungeroom and the next morning when he saw it he stopped in his tracks and let out an excited gasp. We couldn't ask for anything more and I am so happy he loved his presents. Chocolate pancakes followed and then his hearing teacher came for his hearing lesson. Once that was finished we went to the movies to see Turbo which Clark loved. As per usual we tried to cram as much into the day as possible! A big nap and a play with his toys later, and my parents and brother came over for dinner and to give him his present... his first bike! He opened the bike helmet first (while we waiting for my brother to arrive) and I love that Clark was content with the helmet and did not make the connection that the strange thing hiding in the corner covered in a sheet was actually a bike. More excitement! Actually riding the bike will take practice which is half the fun really. Mexican for dinner (Clark loves the sour cream the best I think!) and chocolate cake with ice cream later, and our little boy crashed out. Followed not long after by two exhausted parents!
The rest of the week was spent finalising more details and completing craft activities, but thankfully we also managed a movie visit and a few lunches. Some much needed us-time away from work.
On Saturday, after a late night the night before finishing my Martha Steward dog ears (complete with melt downs not only by the hot glue gun) we had Clark's birthday party. Previous years have been mostly OUR village, but this year was the first year it became more about Clark's village. The party was more a kid's party with a few grown-ups allowed. I am beyond thankful that I gave myself permission to not have any party games this year and just made use of a small park that we quite like for it's quietness and age appropriate equipment. My family, some friends from school and some of our friends with children, plus a few extra important "villagers" sat on picnic rugs and ate food and chatted while the children played. Clark opened presents (which I hadnt planned on happening for some reason) and I learnt that he has terrible card etiquette. We will work on that later! I was extremely proud of the cake my husband made (under my bossy instructions) and grateful for everyone's help with so many details of the day. Over by late lunchtime we collapsed at home while our boy slept. The rest of the weekend was spent recovering and letting Clark open his presents properly and look at who gave him what and just letting him play.
Through our busy week, and celebrating our amazing little boy, I was reminded constantly just how lucky and blessed we are. For what we have in our life, for our special family and for friends both old and new. For our health and our resources and for our strength. Glenn and I are constantly taken aback at the things our boy comes out with and how quickly he is growing. I feel we have mastered toilet training this week and for those that are parents or work with or are surrounded by young children you know what a big step this can feel like. I am constantly thankful for my husband and how much he does for us. The last few months he has stepped up more than usual to look after me through morning sickness, stress at work and what seems like endless colds. We are a team and we always share the load but he has been carrying my load a lot lately and I could never express my thanks enough. Clark is lucky to have such a wonderful dad who loves him so much. We have both been swept away by this little man and I simply cannot imagine it being any other way.
Happy Birthday Clark. You are a joy to your father and I. You challenge me and surprise me constantly. I love how affectionate and loving you are. I love how curious you are about the world and how much you take in what is going on around you. You are empathetic and strong willed and while can get swept up in the moment also love a sense of order. I love your love of books and gardening and that while you want to roar loudly like a dinosaur you also love pretending to be a puppy dog. You are our little super hero and are going to be a wonderful big brother. You have changed our lives more than I could imagine and I would not have it any other way. We love you to the moon and back. xxx
I don't need help. Four words we hear a lot of lately. This week Clark kicked the independence up a notch. Everything needs to be tried on his own first. I have learnt to factor in extra time before we need to be somewhere. For hurrying things along by not letting him do it himself often results in a reaction that overtakes the initial time to let Clark do it himself. Taking a step back and waiting for him to ask for help really is the best way to go I have found. I think it has coincided with toilet training, and the lead up to his third birthday. Of course, as I write this, my boy has already turned three, but more on that in the next post. This week however, his last week of being two, Clark climbed up a rock climbing wall out of my reach before I could blink. I think just to prove that fierce independence and to show me that he could. It really is a waiting game, a trusting game and a hoping he doesn't fall on his head game. Something that we do from the minute they are born but every now and then it moves up a level. When they suddenly seem to grow an inch taller and learn a new skill overnight. The game changes slightly, their confidence grows and you are filled with a mixture of pride for the person they are becoming and a tinge of worry that they may not know their limits and there may be tears. Thankfully the tears are still easily comforted with cuddles and kisses... and the occasional ice block.
And an extra photo this week because my boy is just so adorable... and it was one of the last I took when he was two.
Ten things I love about gardening with my child:
1. The look on his face when he gets to pick something straight from the vine and eat it. Like this season's first strawberry, so patiently waited upon to turn red.
2. Knowing where our produce comes from and what went in/on it to make it grow.
3. Clark's wonder at watching things grow from a seed or seeding into a bigger plant.
4. The glee, and slight chaos, that comes with a toddler being given the hose to water the plants.
5. Sitting amongst our plants in our garden and feeling the calm that comes from being outside.
6. Watching how much Clark loves digging with his shovel and raking with his rake.
7. The bugs and butterflies that a garden brings and teaching Clark about how they help the plants grow.
8. Clark's excitement when a new flower blooms and watching him smell it carefully and enthusiastically.
9. Encouraging Clark's generosity as he shares the tiniest of strawberries with us or picks us a flower.
10. How many more things Clark eats because he has grown them and picked them.
We have two vegetable patches at the front of our house as it is simply a better use of our space and means we can use the sun for all it's worth. Clark loves sitting on the benches at the end of the garden beds to eat his afternoon tea. He often points out the window and asks to go and "sit quietly" on the benches and it is a really great way to find some calm in our busy lives.
I cannot recommend gardening with your child enough.
We finally managed a trip to Taronga Zoo to see the Elephants. And it delivered. Warm sunny day and lots of playful animals to see. Most importantly Clark got to see Elephants in person for the first time. He watched them peacefully and curiously. The whole day was lovely, and better shared with his Gran and Poppy.
Our Sydney trip felt like a huge adventure... fireworks, the Zoo and lots of shopping. Thank goodness for an abundance of frozen yoghurt! We pushed ourselves and our little boy as it is not often he gets to see his Gran and Poppy and you know what? We got through. Yes, we all had less sleep than usual (add daylight savings cutting over in the middle) and it took a week for us all to catch up, but it was worth it to see Clark spending some quality time with his Gran and Poppy. His Gran who he loves 'more than chocolate eclairs'. Bless.
Clark loves. He is verbal about his love for people and also for his toys. He is affectionate and loves kisses and cuddles... when he is not being rough and tumble! He loves apples and his Slinky Dog, dinosaurs and olives. It is either dont like or love for our little boy, everything in extremes. This week he said to me "let's talk about ducks", and his monologue followed like this:
"Let's talk about ducks
Do you like ducks?
I love ducks
You love ducks
Daddy loves ducks
Everyone loves ducks
and dinosaurs
and houses
and people
and love hearts
and snakes".
Right now I am loving his super hero poses... and his need to chase every magpie he sees!
Clark loves to categorise at the moment. Especially by what things are made of. "This is glass", "this is not glass". "This is plastic". Glass is the particular material that he is fascinated with, mostly because we have large amount of tiling in our house. We had an incident a few months ago that Clark cannot let go of. We say "be careful carrying that Clark". He asks "this is glass?" and upon confirmation he often recounts the time he knocked the large pyrex jug of mashed potato off the bench and it smashed into a thousand smithereens... complete with bits of lovely mashed potato stuck everywhere. It was traumatising for both him and his father and now is a cautionary tale for both about leaving things on the end of the bench and being careful when you are standing up at the bench. And of course we all know you mash the potatoes last in the order of cooking sides for dinner. No mash was had that night. Clark does love explaining how he "smashed" the potatoes down onto the ground.
Clark also loves to cook and I cannot believe that it has been almost one year since his last birthday, the birthday we gave him his kitchen. Like all toys that are around often it gets played with sometimes and ignored others, but he does always put on an apron and use his glove. His latest is to make us cupcake cases full of dinosaurs. A dinosaur cupcake of course. I do hope that our boy grows up to love cooking as much as his Daddy. And not just for selfish reasons!
Now off to my long weekend and a boy with a returned cough!
Another busy weekend for our little family! With the addition of Clark's Uncle Steven coming to stay, we did a lot! School fete, swimming lessons and general mucking about. The next few months are hectic for us with birthday parties, trips away and long-planned play dates. A good sign that our family is really becoming busy is when I finally get the calendar out and plot our weekends on it. Of course this is when we realise that we have double booked, however the up side is often I find a weekend is not as full as we originally thought once we put it down on paper. Cue the need to find something to do in those mornings or afternoons that are now sitting empty on a calendar!
The weekend ended with a trip to see Uncle Steven off at the airport. Something that we thought would be fun for Clark. However he had a meltdown upon the realisation that not only was Uncle Steven leaving but that he wasn't going on the plane with him. Now there are a number of factors that came into play (time of day, empty stomachs, busy weekends) but on the outside for all to see was a little boy crying loudly and not wanting to say goodbye. It is so hard to explain to little people sometimes why things are hte way that they are, and dealing with disappointment. Thankfully a (late) trip to the shops on the way home to fill our stomachs made everything better. And not just for the littlest member of our family.
Late late late... of course. I think about posting during the week and then early evening runs into my need for an early bed time, and this blog is going to the wayside. Jodi from Che and Fidel has posted her Week thirty seven post already and I am still trying to cram in week thirty six. However I decided weeks ago (pretty much around the time morning sickness clicked in) that I need to give myself a break with a few things! Spending time with my boy is more important that spending time blogging about my boy. Some weeks that is simple, but the last couple of months what with being ill as well as being exhausted, it is simply not simple.
Last weekend we did A LOT. I think to make up for the fact that I have been feeling like I have been letting our weekends slide. A walk to vote (and eat sausages), hair cuts, a trip to the Dinosaur museum and our first visit to Stripey Sundae. We crammed adventures in and also got the groceries and the laundry done. Clark was wiped, as we all were, but it felt good to get things done. Finally cutting Clark's hair has made him look older and seems to have coincided with a developmental leap with his language. My favourite of his sayings at the moment? "Let's talk about something". Often the something is exchanges for dinosaurs. Of course.
We named our Clark after my Mum's side of the family and after my Pa, who is no longer with us. However as my husband is a devoted comic book nerd people assume that we named him after Clark Kent. It doesn't hurt and really Superman is my favourite superhero! So it amuses me greatly that Clark loves Spiderman the best (like father like son!). He can sing the song and does some amazing web throws. On Superhero dress up day at childcare Glenn was very excited to buy Clark his first Superhero costume, and Clark was even more excited to dress up as Spiderman! It was hard to grab a photo for all the jumping and diving and web throwing and I have NEVER seen our boy more excited to go to childcare!
Superhero day was short lived when I received a call from childcare saying that Clark was bleeding from the ear! Much panic and a visit to the Doctor with my Spiderman-clad bolognese (no doctor, that is not blood) covered boy later, we had drops and a diagnosis of a possible perforated ear drum. A week on and we now know less than we started with as the ENT does not think it is perforated. It has been a week of worry as for those that know anything about children with a uniliateral hearing loss know that protecting the "good" ear is of paramount importance. We have a few follow up appointments ahead of us, and who knows what else, but we will get there. Personally I do wonder if all of the Spiderman jumping popped his ear!
What it has done this week is make me reflect on my parenting and the strengths that Glenn and I have. I was talking with a colleague who reminded me (thank you Camille!) that I am a strong person and that everything we are faced with makes us stronger. I held it together while dealing with the crisis, and had a small meltdown on the phone once my child was safe and asleep in his bed. Yes, I have been worried and a bit stressed but these moments are short lived and I pick myself up and get on with what needs doing. I was worried that our GP would judge me for going back for a second trip and insisting on ear drops, fobbing me off as an overanxious mother. Glenn reminded me that I am Clark's advocate and that, no matter what people think, I am advocating for my child as he cannot do this for himself. And this is something that I have definitely felt solidified for me this week. Yes, I see the families I work with do this constantly and support them in doing this, but it is another thing altogether to be doing it for yourself and your family. It is ok to have those moments of panic and worry, but you need to lean on your supports. And we are so lucky to have the supports that we do. When my father showed up at my house not long after I had a bit of a teary on the phone when filling him in about Clark's ear, I was so grateful for the people in our life.
The same colleague also reminded me that Clark will be stronger for what he goes through. Yes, he will face challenges with his hearing, language and learning, however he will have to be stronger to get through it all. Our hearing support teacher said that often the children who have gone through the early intervention program (Clark has one hour of one on one hearing support a week) are often more disciplined when they go to Primary school due to the work that the teacher does with them. These hearten me and while we will have our moments of worry and panic we will keep coming back to these facts and just love our boy and do what we can to make his path easier. Which really is what all parents are striving to do no matter what the issue!
------------
On another note, it was Father's day this week and we had a lovely BBQ outdoors at my parents house. I thought I would include a couple of photos of Clark with his Father and his Grandad!
We have a surprise! A surprise that Clark has been holding on to for a couple of weeks... mostly. He has told many random people including a little girl at the library, with glee, that he has "a surprise". But we are thrilled that he is excited about having what he assumes is a baby sister. I am due in March next year and have been bursting to tell people our news from the start. As most people know I am a fairly open book and will share most things. So holding on to this for 12 (and a bit) weeks has been hard! Especially when I have had morning, noon and night sickness almost the whole way through. And the exhaustion. Being our second child there really is not the luxury of rest that we had when I was carrying Clark. Thankfully though my darling husband has been a rock and has been holding down the fort. Especially since I have also had a virus on and off for 5 weeks!
Clark is excited and from time to time the subject of babies comes up. Today we had a priceless moment when we had to go into a change room at the shopping centre to change Clark's nappy. I was sitting on a seat resting while Clark was playing in the play area (and Glenn was washing his hands) when another mother came in with her 5 year old and a baby. She asked me if I could hold her baby while she went to the bathroom herself. Of course I said yes! A minute later Clark looked over and exclaimed "it came out!". If only it was that easy! He seemed a bit put out that this baby was not our baby!
I am feeling so blessed to be carrying another tiny person to add to our lovely family. We have a long way to go but I cannot wait for our little boy to meet his baby sister or brother!
Spring is coming. Sunny days with a chilly afternoon wind that has put a lot of our gardening plans aside! Not to mention the general hullabaloo of busy weekends. By the time Clark is up from his nap the wind has kicked in, and when you have spent over a month being sick on and off you try your best to avoid the cold. However on Sunday Glenn went and picked up a truckload of compost for the garden beds and late in the afternoon it had to come off the truck and make its way into the garden. Clark loves helping out in the garden. Digging with his shovel, raking with his rake... and stomping in the fresh dirt. What is not to love? We planted some flowers which Clark was thrilled with and every morning on the way down the street in the car he exclaims "My flowers!". We have lots more to plant and plans for a worm garden project for Clark. As seen here: Gardening Australia Worm farm project
Growing your own veggies really is such a great thing to involve children in and encourages them to try new foods. Clark is super keen to plant cucumbers at the moment and tried them (and liked them) this week. I get excited whenever a new vegetable is added to his repertoire for all the usual reasons. Last year Clark delighted in stealing tomatoes straight from the plant and shoving them in his little mouth before we could get them inside to wash. It is also the sole reason he started eating snowpeas as he loved picking them straight from the garden and crunching their sweet green pods. We dedicate more and more of our garden to growing space and have two raised vegetable beds at the front of our house as our backyard is small. Plus the front gets the best sun. I love that we are teaching our boy to grow food and to respect the earth... we all get so much out of our little garden projects!
Our boy loves apples. Fact. He asks for them multiple times a day and happily crunches all of the "juicy juicy" flesh until he hit the seeds. No peeling, no cutting, just the whole apple. In fact we do not dare cut the apple up as to Clark this is a travesty of epic proportions!
Yes, this is late this week. I have two posts to write and upload and I haven't gotten the camera out this week. We are yet again sick. So much for that old 'apple a day' proverb!
Yes, this post is incredibly late. I have been ill for weeks now and
finally crashed earlier in the week and was told to stay home by my doctor. I
realised I needed to listen to my body and take the time to just get better. It
is now Saturday and I am still unwell. So while my boys are out at the park
soaking up the sun, I am in the house, recuperating. I plan on spending an
afternoon sitting in the garden, in the sun, readying our garden beds for
planting. But first... my late late blog post!
Last week (I can not at all pretend it is "this week" anymore)
we were all sick (house of germs!). Clark had been home for two days with Glenn
and by Wednesday was restless and itching to do ANYthing. It is still so cold
here right now, so in the morning Clark and I went on his first trip to buy
something with his money. We counted out some money from his piggy bank (which
included a lesson on saving) and put it in a purse and off we went to the
shops. We went in search of Mater, as Mater is truly Clark's favourite
character at the moment. While searching the shelves, Clark saw a box of ugly
cheap dinosaurs. And had to have an ugly plastic blue 'dinosaur'. I found Mater
eventually and gave him the choice of Mater or the 'dinosaur'. Both. Clark
wanted both. I relented and up we went to the counter. I gave Clark his money
to give to the cashier, which he did happily. Until he realised that he didn't
get the money back. Another lesson learnt.
All was calmed with the knowledge that we were going to get a 'special drink'.
We sat, he played, and on leaving I had to buy us both a donut for later. Those
that know us know we do not give Clark a lot of sugar. I do not think he has
ever had a dinosaur donut, but it was what he chose and I was in a relenting
mood. It was a treat morning. You have to have a treat now and then...
especially when you have had such a rubbish cooped-up week! He finally ate that
donut at the park in the afternoon and I have to say that nothing has ever
looked more delicious than the glossy chocolate icing in the late afternoon
sun. Thankfully Clark is good at sharing! Clark jumped off the slide, climbed
and climbed and scoured the horizon for airplanes with his binoculars. Simple
pleasures that made our day feel full and like winter may soon be over.
We have since decided that the 'dinosaur' is really a wingless dragon. That is what you get for $2 apparently!
Things our boy said this week while at the park:
"I don't need help"
"I can do it by myself"
"It's not hard"
"It's easy"
"I did it!"
There is that moment when your boy who normally avoids the slippery dip suddenly finds his groove. At the park on Wednesday Clark shed his hesitation and went down the big slippery dips all on his own. Without coaxing. And he climbed across the rope bridge carefully but bravely and jumped up and down with glee when he got to the end. I had to take a step back and let it be... and simply cheer him on. My heart in my throat I stayed within arms reach yet gave him his space. And obviously felt confident enough to get the camera out! He loves climbing up the side (rather than using the steps) and I love him for finding his own way. Something to be encouraged both now and for life.
Somehow week twenty nine almost crept by without the camera coming out. Sure, we took some quick snaps on our phones, however mostly we just were this week. Through the end of colds to pushing through the second week of the school holidays, we just were.
As a family, seeing friends and having sleepovers with much loved cousins. At the end of the weekend, when my folks popped over late on Sunday afternoon, Clark went outside to join his dad digging scraps into the garden. "Do you need help?" is a question Clark so sweetly often asks at the moment. So even when it means we all have to pause while finding gumboots and beanies or pushing back what was hoped to be a quick dinner preperation, we do just that. Let him help. He loves it and I believe it is an important to his sense of belonging and also his sense of generosity.
That his response to me asking him to help clean up his toys is sometimes met with a "no you do it" is another story!
In the midst of days and days of rain and wind we had a glimpse of blue skies and slightly warmer weather on Saturday afternoon. Clark was down for a rather long nap when the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Glenn and I tossed up the options of making it out to the Arboretum before the sun came down. I went back and forth between an Arboretum adventure of just going to the nearest park. In the end we decided to brave the lowering light and make a mad dash to the Arboretum once Clark woke up.
I am so glad we did. The light extended itself and did not end our adventure prematurely. We had a small play at the new Pod Playground, where I have never seen so many children in one place! Clark was a bit intimidated at first and sat high on a slope and surveyed the scene. After he finally had a play, we went for a lovely walk, climbing hills and looking at trees. And Clark's favourite thing? Chasing the magpies. He was relentless, running after them and, oddly, mooing. For how do you scare away something? You moo at it apparantly.
I truly believe that it is when you cannot fathom the idea of upping and heading on an adventure, that you need it the most. I am sure I have said this before, but I mean it. However when it is cold and grey or the week has been long, it can be easy to forget that once we arrive at our destination and get out in the air everything is simply better.
-------
On another note, and for prosperity sake, this week Clark finally received a mould for his FM. This was something a bit new for Australian Hearing and I am grateful that they extended themselves and were innovative. The FM receiver was not sitting properly in Clark's ear, so the audiologist suggested an ear mould (similar to when he had a hearing aid). It finally arrived and we have had two days of Clark using the FM during group time at childcare, and have had huge success. Besides the obvious outcome of Clark being able to hear his teacher better amongst the noise of the Toddler room, it also really highlights to the teachers how much extra attention Clark needs in order to hear. That although you can have a one on one conversation with him in close proximity, he really struggles at times to hear specific sounds when there are other noises to distract him. This knowledge can only be a good thing and mean that the staff will be more aware of his hearing loss. This is something that Clark will use when he is at big school, so the more we use it now the more used to it he will be down the track. Another positive!
Clark went to his first birthday party today that was for a friend, his best friend Jack. Clark woke this morning and when I asked what he was doing today, he said he was going to Jack's birthday party for cake. A birthday for Clark at the moment is all about the cake. And generally Clark thinks it will be a purple or pink cake, And that presents should be purple or pink. This birthday party also involved Clark learning about present-giving. Yes, he knows we give presents, but this time when he saw what the present was he wanted it for himself. Explaining to him that it was for Jack's birthday, Clark wanted to know if he could share the present. Sweet boy. Thankfully he coped fine once at the party and I feel that that lesson is learnt. He also learnt about lolly bags, and raced inside when we got home to show his daddy 'my bag'. I allowed him a lolly from the bag on the way home (which he decided he did not like) and said he could have the Freddo Frog after his sleep. Of course the first thing he asked for when he woke up from his long nap was "my bag". And happily devoured the Freddo Frog. And that is his first friend birthday party done and dusted!
Just a short note today, as our boy is rugged up on the couch watching Mister Maker (which he finds hilarious) as he has a cold. We are all a bit worse for wear today, so all plans of an afternoon outing have gone out the window and we are just going to hide out in Chez Ware. Lemon and honey tea for me!
This weekend we went to Sydney for a cousin's wedding. We took the opportunity to take a mini-break as a family and although it rained and rained and rained (and rained some more) we had a wonderful time. Three nights away flew by. It is the first time our boy has been to Sydney and he was a bit shell shocked. The crowds threw him, and he was rather off his game in the hustle and bustle. It brought out his rude side, with Clark shouting 'go away' at the strangers that we passed in the street. Unfortunately we missed out on going to the Zoo, which was one of the big reasons we took an extended break away. Clark learnt about disappointment, and thankfully handled it with grace. We did go to the Aquarium and also the Australian Museum, both which caused delight and trepidation in our little man. He was thrilled with the Monorail and I am so happy that he managed to have a ride before they shut it down forever. The whole holiday really was geared around Clark, which of course is how it should be.I have spent my life traveling to and from Sydney, and it was strange not only to not visit my old haunts, but also to visit new ones.
It was really lovely to get to see Clark meet my family that he has not met. Trying to explain to him who people are and how they relate to him, and also feeling incredibly proud of my little family. Yes, Clark was rambunctious at the wedding, however what is one to expect from a two year old? Calling out 'what comes next?' during the wedding reception thankfully had people smiling. Later during the reception, my usually shy boy decided he wanted to play with the older boys running around the dance floor. He had met a little boy (5) who tried to engage with Clark, however Clark ran away and hid. Later when we were sitting down, he asked me about the boy and when asked, said he wanted to play with him. I encouraged him to do so, and he asked me to come. I was terribly proud when upon my answer of 'Mama will sit here and watch you' he got up and ran off to find the boy. He had a ball, and we struggled to convince him to leave the party and head home. I loved seeing him playing with the other children, engaged and happy. I delight so much in seeing him interact with other children, not only because I so want him to make friends, but because I see another side to his personality. This part of him that is separate to me and means that one day he will go off into the world a whole and individual being.
