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.
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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!
