Beach Picnic - Penguin

 

  

Merry Christmas

Kids up super-early and tired and overstimulated by lunch time...

   

There were the obligatory battery-operated noise makers from grandma and grandad for the little ones. Shmoo (thankfully the worst of his cold has passed) was absolutely thrilled with the remote-controlled helicopter from the grandparents and Hot Wheels walltracks from Aunty. Loo got a battery-operated triceratops from Aunty, Beanie a toy cash register, and Baby got a little dangly activity toy.

The big 3 all loved the iPod Shuffles that The OH and I bought for them as well as the waterproof camera that they're to share. We gave Baby Bear a lovely wooden rainbow set. He loves it, as do the older kids. It's the simple things that are often the best!

Santa visited overnight and filled their stockings (although I did have to have a grumble at the mess of half-eaten carrots his reindeer left in the driveway). They each got a new bath duck and bath mitt. The older 3 also each got a wind-up torch, a little wooden animal stamp, a wooden compass, scratch & sniff stickers, a few chocolates, and a little tumbling gnome. Santa gave Baby Bear a little wooden jingly bell rattle.

They've also got some money from Granny to spend next time we go shopping. Hopefully we won't end up with too much plastic, noisy crap!

And hopefully we'll all have a good night's sleep tonight. Baby Bear's restless with his top teeth on the move and he has started sitting and crawling about in the middle of the night.

ETA: Scrap the good night's sleep. Beanie's caught the cold and has been coughing terribly, poor thing.

The Bad Government

Over lunch one day The OH and I were discussing Tony Abbott and detention centres. Shmoo and Loo wanted to know what we were talking about. We explained it to them and they were perplexed, they couldn't understand why anyone would want to treat other human beings like that. And Loo's comment...

"Everybody has to fight the bad government!"

Concert, Carols and Christmas Lights

Shmoo and Loo had their final 2 performing arts performances yesterday. The first was a Christmas family concert and The OH had to act as a fill-in Santa.

Then it was on to the Latrobe Christmas parade and carols where Shmoo and Loo performed with their TPAC group. Beanie even got up on stage when the mayor called all the kids up to sing a couple of Christmas carols!

 

After that, we took advantage of the late night and did our annual tour of the Christmas lights on the way home. We saw lots of lovely displays, like these homes in West Ulverstone.

Vintage Electrolux Vacuum Cleaner

 

The other day Shmoo's singing teacher kindly gave him her old vintage Electrolux vacuum cleaner. He is in heaven. I don't think Santa's going to be able to beat that :) We don't know much about it but will hopefully be able to track down some info on it for him.

Milestones

[Just keeping track of what my little cutie did when...]

 

3.5 months: Open heart surgery.

5 months: Started solids.

6.5 months: Rolling front to back.

7 months: Rolling back to front; first tooth.

8 months: Second tooth.

9 months: Commando crawling; getting up on hands and knees; stays upright when placed in sitting position; suspected dairy/lactose intolerance; plays peek-a-boo; gives big, smoochy kisses.

10 months: Often copies waving and hello (says 'eh-oh' while waving); sits up unassisted; pulling himself up to kneeling and standing; climbing (crawling or pulling himself) up single steps (and falling off boxes!); shuffling forward a few paces on hands and knees; signs 'cat'; tries to say 'kitty' (says 'gi' and 'gi-ee'); attempts to clap.

10.5 months: Crawling properly; caught Roseola; tries to sign 'brother'; claps properly; puts a pre-loaded spoon into his own mouth.

11 months: Cruising

11.5 months: Taking a few independent steps.

12 months: Walking!

12.5 months: Tries to say 'more'; can climb on to the futon.

Weaning

My baby has almost completed the weaning process.

No, not this baby. He's still breastfeeding 'round the clock (and, at only 10 months old, I imagine he'll be boobing for a long time yet).

It's my almost 4 year old who is just about finished with the boobies.

Yes, I've still been tandem feeding both Baby Bear and Beanie. Beanie increased his feeds for a little while after Baby Bear was born but then we eased back down to 1 a day (the bedtime feed). I thought he might forget how to latch on correctly when Baby and I were in Melbourne for so long but he had no such problem.

In the last couple of weeks Beanie has been keeping his bedtime feed very short and often lets go as soon as my milk lets down. I think it's just the comfort of the familiar routine now. We've discussed it and he's happy to finish breastfeeding soon, by the time he's 4 we've agreed. From now on we're going to see how he goes with just some extra cuddle time to replace the bedtime boobies.

Summer Days and Little Balls of Fluff

Living in such a gorgeous part of the world. Beachcombing at Penguin. Discovering Chitons.

Enjoying summer fruits (so cute - chubby hands tightly grasping a slippery, juicy nectarine, and the delighted noises of a baby enjoying a sweet treat).

Doting on the 6 cute and fuzzy, future snake hunters that were born on our property a couple of months ago.

Coconut Water Kefir and Milk Kefir

Recently I had a go at making coconut water kefir. I used 3 heaped tablespoons of our spare water kefir grains in 1L of coconut water (just from a long life carton). The first time I tried it, I let it ferment for 24 hours. That ended up being way too long for our tastes.

The second time I made it, I let it ferment for about 14 hours (I was aiming for 12 but forgot about it!). It was probably still a bit too sour for us. I added a splash of apple concentrate and it wasn't too bad, a bit like those sour sweets that you can buy.

When I make it again I'll maybe only use 1 heaped tablespoon of kefir grains and ferment for 8 or so hours.

Both times the kefir grains did not like the coconut water at all. By the end of the process they were squishy and starting to break down so I ended up throwing them out. Only use your excess grains when experimenting!!

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I also recently decided to have a go at making milk kefir. I got some awesome milk kefir grains from Tumbletree and popped them in some fresh milk in a Fido jar. 24 hours later the milk looked exactly like I'd read it should, the grains had done their thing. Only... well, also as I'd read, milk kefir seems to be an acquired taste. We gave it several tries, including in a smoothie, but just couldn't get past that kind of off-milk taste. As we're not really into dairy, it didn't seem worth pursuing so we passed the grains on to a friend.

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On a side note, last month marked 1 year since we received our water kefir grains (again from Tumbletree) and they are still going strong!

Christmas Tree

It's fake, it's plastic and covered in sparkly decorations and noisy bells. And it brings the kids so much joy. :)

This Christmas we are remembering those who might have celebrated birthdays around now; those who are no longer with us; and we are extremely grateful for those who are.

End of Year Events

We've had the ECIS Christmas BBQ. The kids had lots of fun. Loo got his face painted (a fire-breathing dragon); and Shmoo and Beanie even joined him on the jumping castle (although Shmoo did wear his ear muffs).

 All 3 boys performed with their performing arts classes in a Christmas concert at an aged care home. So, so proud of them all. Shmoo was quite nervous but did beautifully once up there. I didn't think Beanie would even get up there but Loo held his hand and, unprompted, helped him with his props and actions... what an awesome big brother!

Piecing it Together

We've been trying to piece together exactly what happened.

As best as we can figure out, going around a rather sharp, downhill curve, they hit a bit of a dirt patch at the edge of the left side of the road. The OH over-corrected and somehow they ended up crossing right over to the other side of the road and beyond, unfortunately hitting a culvert which caused the car to flip several times, coming to rest lying on the passenger side and facing the opposite direction to which they'd originally been travelling.

They were so, so lucky not to suffer serious injuries. Or worse. Particularly for Shmoo. The passenger side, where he was sitting in the rear, came out the worst. Both the front and rear passenger sides were fairly well battered in the flipping and the landing. Somehow, by some miracle, the spot where Shmoo was sitting held together comparatively well.

Scrap Metal

We spent today sorting stuff out with the towing company, the wreckers and Service Tasmania. The tow truck driver couldn't believe that anyone had survived the crash, given how trashed the car is. In fact, there is hardly anything salvageable and it's now worth $100 for scrap metal.

It took my breath away to see it... To see the front passenger door ripped off; the underside of the car ripped and pushing right up to the passenger seat. To see The OH's blood on the seats and windows. To see shoe prints on the windows. The boot bent up and pushed close to the back of Shmoo's booster seat.

The back windscreen was gone. The OH said that he actually found neat little rectangles of glass at the crash site, shattered glass held together by bumper stickers. Maybe all those stickers helped Shmoo to avoid being showered with so much broken glass.

And Shmoo's booster seat... an old style Safe-n-Sound MaxiRider. If I had to buy a booster seat now I'd get one with the better head protection wings on it (Shmoo's Hi-Liner SG in my car looks really good as far as head protection goes, and in fact, I'm considering buying another of those for Loo as he's ready to move from the 5 point harness to a lap sash belt).

The OH is hoping he managed to recover all of his library books from the car. It was hard to check though as he could only really get access through the front passenger door, none of the other doors would open, and there was so much broken glass and metal on the inside.

 

 

   

(And, yes, those are dandelions tucked into the car - the boys had to give it a proper farewell.)

Thankful

It might not look like it but this is lucky. This is blessed.

The OH and Shmoo were in that car. I got a call from The OH just before 3pm this afternoon, saying that there'd been an accident, that the car was a write off.

They walked away from it with nothing more than bumps, bruises, cuts and grazes. Lucky.

This afternoon The OH was driving Shmoo to his karate lesson. It had been raining and hailing all day. They got 3-4 minutes away from home when, going around a curve, The OH hit a dirt patch at the edge of the road, over-compensated and the car rolled several times, coming to rest on its side - front and back smashed up and the front passenger side totally crumpled in. The OH had to get Shmoo to crawl through the car so that he could pull him out. People from other cars and a nearby property came to their aid, wrapping Shmoo in a blanket and looking after him while The OH was busy with the car and police.

I got there just after 3pm and was in shock when I saw how damaged the car was... how they managed to walk away from that I don't know. I scooped up a very shaken and teary Shmoo and carried him to my car, out of the rain and with the heater going, until the ambulance got there. The dear boy was so worried about how we would fix the car. I had to keep reassuring him that the car didn't matter at all, all that mattered was the he and The OH were okay.

Shmoo got the all clear from the paramedics but they forgot to check The OH so we ended up taking him to the A&E to make sure a couple of cuts didn't need stitches. Had a bit of a funny ASD moment when the doctor was trying to get Shmoo to talk about the accident. The doctor got down on Shmoo's level in front of him and poor Shmoo was desperately trying to look everywhere else to avoid the eye contact. The doctor asked him a bunch of questions about the accident, including if he had rolled. Shmoo looked puzzled and eventually replied "No, not me, the car did."

Thank goodness for car seats. Shmoo is 8.5 years old and we occasionally wonder when he will be old enough to sit in the car without the special kids booster thing that he currently uses. Well, he'll be using the booster until he no longer fits in it. His only injuries are a bump to the head, grazed face, grazed neck from the seatbelt, and a sore finger.

Tonight I am so thankful that my husband and son are okay. It could have so easily turned out differently. When I think of my eldest baby flipping over and over in the car like that... *shudder*

 

Slipstream Circus

The OH, Shmoo and Loo went to the Slipstream Circus schools performance today in Ulverstone with the local homeschool group. They loved all the acrobatics and juggling etc, and I was regaled with stories about people climbing up knotted scarves hanging from the ceiling. The OH said that he thought it was the best performance they'd been to yet.

My Kind of Flowers

The boys know that I much prefer my flowers to be growing out in the garden rather than dying in a vase inside so Loo Bear made me a gorgeous bunch of paper sunflowers :)

Walk Carefully

Today at ECIS the kids made reindeer biscuits - milk arrowroot biscuits topped with chocolate frosting, pretzels for antlers, smarties for eyes and a jaffa nose. One of the TAs bagged them up for the kids to take home and as they were given out at the end of the session she said "Walk carefully so the antlers don't fall off."

Beanie solemnly took his bag and gingerly held it high up out in front of him. He then proceeded to take slow, careful, measured steps all the way out to the car.

 :)

Reading

Gotta love the different reading preferences...

 Loo Bear with 'Spies', 'Hannibal' and a book about monsters and mythical creatures.

vs.

 Shmoo Bear with Dyson vacuum cleaner catalogues and a dictionary.

Peg Fairies

The peg fairies have been at work again.

"They have to be with the matching ones." he said.

Hmm. A touch of Aspie-ness there perhaps.

Spot the Aspie*

I looked up to see Shmoo walking circles around the iPod Touch. It took me a second to work out what he was doing: experimenting with the pedometer. The voice over instructions had told him to "walk around to activate the sensor."

*I know he's not actually a diagnosed Aspie, but The OH is and we suspect Shmoo is too... and it's easier to say than PDD-NOS.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Time to dig out our secular Christmas songs playlist and put it on the iPod!

With one new addition this year: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Bing Crosby.

Absence Seizures?

So, today the possibility of Beanie having absence seizures, a form of epilepsy, was brought up by his early intervention teacher. I'd never heard of these before. He has these little episodes where he just goes blank / switches off / shuts down. It happens frequently but more often during or after a meltdown where he's been crying hysterically. As his EI teacher said, it could be related to his possible ASD (referrals and paperwork have been put through for his assessment) or it could be seizures. We are waiting for a paed appointment through the hospital so this will be another thing to investigate when that comes through.

Huh. And now I'm remembering when Beanie was a wee babe and, on occasion, would do an odd, brief, trembling thing when he was feeding. I wonder if it's related?

Brave - Sara Bareilles

Awesome, inspiring, catchy song and music video.

1st Haircut

Loo has been asking for another haircut for months now so I finally got organised today and got the clippers out (gave him a #3 - should last him a while!). As usual, I asked the other 2 if they wanted a haircut too and, for the first time, Beanie said yes, he'd like a 'little' haircut. I did Loo first, giving Beanie a chance to change his mind but he didn't. I took about 20cm off his hair... it was down around his waist and now sits at the bottom of his shoulder blades.

Beanie did really well during his haircut but it wiped him out for the rest of the day. He spent the evening in total meltdown mode - screaming and crying over everything and nothing and unable to communicate, unable to eat his dinner. The OH had to lie down and hold him until he fell asleep. Poor Beanie was so exhausted, he still looked really pale and out of it as he slept. Hopefully he'll wake up feeling better tomorrow.

Tourism Film Shoot - Pioneer Park

We were asked to attend a film shoot for a tourism ad at a local camping ground today. The 15 second ad will eventually be shown on the Spirit of Tasmania and at tourism information centres.