Category: week in review

Big week. Puff’s first couple of days of school. We broke out the “good” camera a couple of times: it’s still a good camera, even after all these years. Puff has a new set of mechanical pencils. He was holding one of them, and he kept calling it “the object”, and asking that Dad photograph it. Here he is with it.

He had his “best start” interview, where he spent half an hour with his future teacher – he seemed to really enjoy it.

Mum took the kids to the Powerhouse museum for a last look around before school started, and then met Dad for coffee afterward.

Huff has been a little out of sorts in the last week or so: getting up in the middle of the night and asking to be resettled. We’re not sure if it’s because she wasn’t sure what was happening with school – knowing that change is coming soon. 

Saturday was a chance to play in a playground – here they are playing with this dual-control helicopter – they made up quite an inclusive game, but Dad had to do a lot of climbing to rescue Huff a couple of times when she didn’t want to slide down the tunnel by herself.

This ground-floor tunnel was much more her kind of adventure that day.

We managed to visit Grandma and Doc over the weekend, and see some of Dad’s old first-day-of-school photos – such a long time ago! We also caught up with some other friends, managed to start off kids church for Puff and Huff’s final year of sitting with us in church before kids’ church starts for her, and had some family time playing and visiting cafes. It was a solid end to the long school holiday that has been Puff’s life to-date.

Finally monday morning rolled around. Puff was (despite his expression in this photo) really keen to head to school – he’d been literally jumping up and down with excitement in the lead-up to school starting, and was keen – even as early as 8:30 – to head to school to ensure we weren’t late.

Huff was, perhaps, in a more playful mood that morning.

This was a little staged, perhaps, but they were each happy to hug each other in our driveway before we headed off to school. Dad even managed a little family prayer (something of a regular occurrence this last few weeks).

We knew one of the other families there: we took a family photo of them, so they reciprocated. We held the kids up to make the photo work a little more easily – you can see how huge Puff’s school bag is.

During the school day we took Huff to swimming lessons, and to some cafes. She was glad to have Dad around for the first day of school, but has already made her piece with his return to work.

Overall, it’s an exciting new chapter – the morning routine is slightly more complicated, but we seem to have negotiated the challenges well so far. 

We made the most of the tail-end of the Sydney festival. Kel took the kids to see the inflatable Stonehenge (called Sacrilege) – they had a great time, and queued very patiently).

After a long time of being fairly protective of the path from the car to the front door, we’re at a point where both kids can climb out of the car – Puff can even unlock the door if the mood takes him. Huff is very careful climbing out of the car (and up and down the steps), but they make the most of this little space.

For our second trip to the inflatable Stonehenge, Dad was able to come too. Here’s Puff trying out the airy floss that was on offer.

Here’s a family photo. The kids were okay about sitting still for a photo, but you could tell they were keen to get back to bouncing around madly like everyone else on the structure.

Saturday morning Dad and Puff went out for a walk so Puff could get used to his new school shoes. He was a bit surprised that his feet were sweating: something for him to get used to, sadly.

After that, we had friends over to our place, so we had lots of fun playing with all the kids who visited. There was much playing Wii, and Puff had to learn how to share his toys.

Sunday we went to church, then went to a friend’s house for Australia Day (we didn’t really take photos while we were there). It was a late finish, so the kids were pretty tired.

Monday we did some cooking at home, and then Huff slept on Dad’s chest for about an hour.

Next week, we’ll be celebrating the start of Puff’s schooling. It may be time (finally) to password protect the blog.

It’s been a slow week for photo-taking, but we managed to take a few. The kids had a chance to play a little violin for the first time. 

Huff took to it like a duck to water.

Puff was a bit more self-confident, but needed to work a little harder to figure it out.

We spent Saturday afternoon having lunch at a friends house: the kids spent much of the weekend playing with screens.

It’s been a week of trying to give them a lot of access to screens, in the hope that they end up better able to regulate their own use of the screens. So far we haven’t seen much success with it – we’re seeing the downsides of their behaviour with too much access to screens, without much of the benefit. Behold: dinner with screens – a late finish, and the kids too hyped up to go to sleep readily.

That’s about it for the week. It was good to be back at church again after a couple of weeks travelling, and the kids enjoyed having some time running around. After church, we went out to lunch with friends and watched the kids run around for a long while. Puff has also been getting back into playing some games on the Wii – he was keen to show off some exercises he’s learned from Wii Fit.

Big week. Late nights, travel, friends, lots of good things, but tired kids.

A few highlights. Huff and Puff coming to visit Dad at work. Huff was so excited she could barely keep still on the waiting chairs.

Puff, on the other hand, had the chance to try out a kid-sized recliner – it looks like he’s not going to be kid size much longer!

After his Christmas-present-related eye mishap, we took Puff back for a follow-up visit with the optometrist. All clear. He wasn’t even particularly worried about the effects of additional light coming into his eyes. A trooper.

In what seems to be a family trend, Huff had some problems with her sunglasses. It didn’t seem to bother her, though. She was still grinning away.

Friday night Dad cooked dinner for the kids (their choice of menu) so Mum could go out for a while.

Saturday night we went to the Hunter Valley Gardens to see the lights again.

Grandragon met us there too. The kids enjoyed having an additional adult around. In fact, her appearance may have been their favourite part of the surprise trip.

Huff was very cute in the sculpture garden. The child sculptures are almost exactly her size, so she was trying to dance with them and cuddle them as best she could. Puff was copying her, getting in on her act.

The child-size sculptures weren’t the only ones present. Puff had to climb up a wall to get this picture sitting next to Humpty.

Puff was very excited to see penguin light sculptures.

Huff was excited too, but mostly to be allowed to stay up as late as she did

Back at home again and the week has started up: the kids are still getting some screen time in the holidays. They’re currently both obsessing over the Toca Labs game: a mix of animated characters and the periodic table.

One of Huff’s latest tendencies is to go to sleep on Mum’s lap: hopefully we can find a way to migrate that into a longer night sleep, or longer afternoon sleep.

See you next eek: the countdown to school grows ever shorter.

Happy New Year! This is a big year for Puff – he starts school, which will mean a lot of changes for both Huff and Puff as they adjust to life apart.

On New Year’s Day, we managed to fit in gelato for lunch, a visit to Grandma and Doc, and a visit to see some friends from overseas as well! Due to a miscalculation, the kids filled up on gelato and weren’t interested in a more sensible lunch.

On Thursday, it was time for Dad to go back to work. We called in at a cafe on the way in.

The kids played in (well, near) the fountain.

Huff was a bit out of her depth playing the board game Tsuro with Puff, but gave it a go.

Puff was a bit fixated on an iPad puzzle game called “The Room”. Lots of his stories this week were about the game, and he was playing it as often as he could.

After a swim (sadly no photos) on Saturday afternoon, we ended up at a friend’s house where Huff had the chance to play with a wig. We couldn’t help but laugh at how she looked, but she was thrilled with it.

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Back to a cafe again, Puff was in fine form sampling babycinos, but a bit restless.

Huff was tired enough to fall asleep in Mum’s arms. Twice in one week.

Last of all was dinner with an old friend. Huff and Puff had a good time playing with their toys, but the light sabre was her favourite.

See you next week!

Christmas and New Year’s Eve – a big week, but also one characterised by relaxing. We had some new dressing up clothes. Grandragon made costumes for both Huff and Puff. After reading a lot of “Where’s Wally”, Puff asked if he could have a “Woof” costume. When he opened the costume, he said “Oh! It’s my Woof costume!”. They then wore them all day, and some of the next day.

Aunty C made a lovely costume for Huff: she liked it enough to be coaxed out of the Woof costume, at least for a while, before returning to the Woof costume.

It seemed like a good time to get the “proper” camera out for a quick session – Huff was happy to be photographed.

Puff was a bit harder to photograph – it was an exciting day.

We also called in to our neighbour as part of our Christmas tradition – the kids were somehow able to choose fruit rather than all the other treats that were on offer.

Huff slept through Christmas lunch at Grandma and Doc’s house, so Dad spent some time down at the kids table with Puff.

Huff has now reached the age where she was really excited to open presents. Here she is with a new tea party set, unable to hide the delight. When you experience the day, you miss the smiles, but looking back on the photos, it’s clear that they were both having a great time.

Boxing day morning Dad helped Puff make his Meccano set. He was getting the hang of it throughout the process, needing less and less help.

Dad also took the kids out for babycinos (well, small hot chocolates, which Huff expertly drank with a spoon), to play Tantrix.

We also went for a walk – 5kms – together to get Slurpees. Huff yet again only wanted half of hers, so we’ve moved her on to other drinks when we go out as a family.

Huff was given a giraffe costume, which she insisted on wearing immediately.

Later in the week we were back to church. We let Puff play with the tantrix tiles so he could stay quiet, but he still managed to listen to the sermon.

We also had a long overdue visit with Uncle M and Aunt ML, and we went for a walk to the park.

One Christmas present that was noteworthy was a sunflower for each of Puff and Huff. Their interest in watering it has already waned, but for the first couple of times, they were happy to look after them.

Monday we went into the city to go to the Australian Museum. We let the kids play in this fountain on the way, but it didn’t go completely smoothly and we had to get them out in a hurry.

Dad isn’t usually one for selfies, but this seemed a good way to capture how engaged the kids were with the trip to the museum. We only went to the normal dinosaur exhibition after Huff was a bit stressed when a fire engine drove past, so we opted to avoid the other, fancier exhibition. 

We spend New Year’s Eve visiting some old friends, and some family, mostly playing this game that was a gift from Uncle A – Tsuro.

So that’s it for 2013. See you next year!

More screen time than we might have hoped this week. We’re realising that Puff is far more expert at the screens that little Huff, and trying to find some screen games for her. Thus far she’s a big fan of Toca Tea Party, and Toca Kitchen Monsters.

Puff and Huff came into Dad’s work for a visit this week, and to drop off some Christmas baking. Puff (after asking permission) made up some maths problems to solve on the whiteboard wall.

Later in the week was a dentist trip for Mum, Huff and Puff. Puff is now using toothpaste when he brushes his teeth, and is the proud owner of an “adult” toothbrush.

Huff enjoyed her time at the dentist, and now has a (sigh) pink toothbrush.

Friday night we visited Uncle M and O for dinner. The kids liked being on the balcony and looking at the view, though there was some confusion about whether thunder could be seen, and lightning heard.

Dad and Puff went for long overdue haircuts on Saturday.

They were less happy at a cafe, after arguing about who should be allowed to play pick-up-sticks, and who should play dominoes.

Eventually (at a different cafe) the smiles returned.

There was even some time to pose for photos.

We also managed to find time to catch up with A&D, and Puff had the chance to play a much stronger opponent at chess. He took the defeat well, and we look forward to a rematch in a year or so. Huff also showed off her prowess in saying “Yellow” rather than “Lellow”.

Family Christmas Eve celebration this year was watching the new Octonauts Christmas Special with the kids, then dinner and a relatively early night. The kids are excited to see what will happen on Christmas Day, but you’ll have to wait until next week to find out! 

Another week: we draw closer to Christmas, and with it a sense of busyness for each day. At the same time, the normal structural events of the week are drawing to a close. We’ve had the last music class, we’re closing in on the last swimming lesson, and we’ve even had the last preschool day, and the last preschool event.

Dad decided that it was time Puff had a go at programming a computer, or at least a tablet. He’s now been reintroduced to hopscotch, and is starting to enjoy telling a computer how to do things.

The last preschool event was a disco, with picnic, and with face-painting. Puff initially wanted to be a penguin, but was persuaded to be a dog by the poor face-painter, who had to handle the whole of the preschool class in a single shift!

Dad had never been to a disco for preschool aged kids (neither had Huff for that matter). The group organising the disco did a great job involving the kids and making the dances fun. Huff loved the lights, and the music, and – when it wasn’t too crowded – liked running around and dancing.

Puff had a great time – he was trying to learn the different dance steps, though sadly has all the grace on the dance floor of his Dad. 

On Saturday Mum was out, and so Dad had a chance to spend some time with the kids. We went to the park, to the shops, then forgot one of the bags and had to go back (Puff gently teasing Dad for his forgetfulness), then did some cooking together. It was a pleasant afternoon.

Sunday was the end-of-year Sunday school presentations. Huff was very grateful to receive a book about Jonah (after a few repetitions, she was reading “her words” to the story).

Puff was given a book about Moses, and for once he didn’t just sit and read the entire thing as soon as he saw the book.

Huff has been enjoying being able to get out of her bed now that the cot walls are gone – this means that instead of one child getting up first thing in the morning (usually around 6:30am, but sometimes later), we have two kids. It’s great to hear them playing together when they’re getting along. 

One morning, Huff woke up and was showing off the glasses she’d found in a toy box. They have yellow lenses, so she was excited that the whole world was “Lellow”. We spent a bit of time practicing the way to say words – she can say “Yell”, and “Yell Oh”, but won’t say “Yellow”, preferring “Lellow” instead. Still, just having her prepared to have a go is progress!

Back next week – just before Christmas!

Another week gone and we edge ever closer to Christmas. Carols was the theme of the week, though there were quite a few cafe visits crammed in, and we had safety week at swimming lessons, where the kids swim in clothes and with no goggles – many tears were reportedly shed.

Thursday night was Aunty S’ carols service – there was a grown-up-centric reception, but the kids enjoyed snacking, and the first of several consecutive late nights. It was great to see some family members we hadn’t seen in a while. The kids sat impressively quietly through a Catholic carols service (though Huff was a bit sick of Dad picking her up and putting her back down again so many times).

Friday night was more carols, this time at Woonona. The kids had a great time listening to Uncle J on the drums, and seeing the various musical items.

It was a second late night in a row, but all par for the course this time of year.

Saturday, Dad and Puff were up early to play chess together, then we caught up with some friends and family, visited Spire Markets, and then headed across town for our own church carols. There was free face painting – Puff wanted to be an angry bird.

Dad was singing in the carols service, and the kids were in an item – this might be the first time we were all on stage together!

Then Sunday was church in the morning – Dad and Puff walked to church together and met up with the remainder of the tired family. In the afternoon the kids went shopping with Mum and the Grandragon, finding a star for the Christmas tree. Huff handed it to Puff, and he was lifted up by Dad to be able to reach the top of the tree!

Another week gone! Back to the normal pace of life, with the return of work and all the usual commitments. At the end of the year, we have a lot more little events to go to. In an attempt to slow down, we stayed home on Saturday, and Dad showed the kids Despicable Me 2. As it turned out, it was still a bit too scary for them, so we might give that a while longer.

Puff had his end of preschool concert this week: the kids were very cute, all sitting together singing a range of preschooler songs. Given how many kids there are at preschool, this didn’t seem like a good thing to upload to the internet, so instead, here is a picture of Huff playing with trucks at the preschool.

It was a bit encouraging to see that Huff doesn’t always pick the gender-specific toys, though she was using female pronouns for all the drivers. It still surprises me (growing up with mostly brothers) that Huff’s default gender for a toy is female. She even referred to her hungry caterpillar pillow pet as “she” – I’d never been conscious of the caterpillar having a gender, but I’d assumed that the caterpillar was male.

After the concert, the kids were given bags that they had decorated, and inside the bags were new picture books they hadn’t seen before. Puff was the only one who sat and read his book, even after the kids were allowed to get up and have afternoon tea.

After preschool we went out for gelato. Here’s Dad trying to photobomb Puff. We were just excited that he chose pineapple flavour instead of his traditional mango.

One of Puff’s preschool friends had a birthday, and so they had someone do face painting at the preschool – Puff wanted to be (predictably) a penguin.

Huff was a bit tired today. She’s been a bit grumpy and overtired for a couple of days, and she’s catching up on sleep.

We decorated the tree together. Huff was very excited that we have a tree – she doesn’t remember having one the previous year, so it’s all new and exciting. They did very well working together on the tree decoration.

The other recurring theme this week has been a viral video – what does the fox say – has been on high rotation. The kids have been a little obsessed with it, wanting to listen to it again and again, and Puff has been trying to learn the words, even the crazy onomatopaeic ones. 

We’re trying to find the balance between too much screen time and keeping the kids distracted at opportune times, and wanting to share with them something of the world of media that we’ve enjoyed.