Some extra father/daughter and father/son+daughter time this week. Dad is starting to understand what each of them are looking for when spending time with them one-on-one.
For Puff, it’s a listening ear when he talks about his ideas for future (or current) ideas for video games or other ways of solving the world’s problems. For Huff, it’s catching as many trains as possible, ideally the ones where the seats can be reversed. Such seats are *amazing* – and she’s happy to tell anyone she encounters that little gem of information.
Wednesday, Mum took Huff to connect – she was a mix of good behaviour and more challenging behaviour. Here’s the calm before the storm.
We also took her for her pre-school orientation: she made seven artworks (4 paintings and 3 collages) in an hour and a half. We’re going to need bigger walls (or more strict curation processes).
A few screen-related treats this week, including the kids playing different games on the Wii: it seemed to be a war of attrition, each choosing a longer game than the other. Puff’s 41-minute bike riding effort seemed to be the high water mark, but there’s still time for that record to be broken!
On Saturday morning, Dad was doing sermon prep, and then in the afternoon we took the kids out for lunch. Huff slept through the whole thing, so it was a great chance to listen to Puff tell us his take on the world.
The next day, after Dad’s sermon was preached, we visited friends who were in Sydney for the weekend, and had Yum Cha. Our kids are big fans of the desserts at least!
While Mum took our friends for a drive, Dad offered to take the kids home via public transport. We had a great adventure, looking at the Christmas decorations that already adorn the QVB. And catching *three* trains on the way home, due as much to trackwork as to an attempt to create childhood memories.
Monday Huff and Mum had new haircuts. Huff’s is slightly easier to tie up than it was… is there any other criteria for a toddler’s hair style?
Today Dad had the rare chance to spend the day doing all the kid stuff. The school run, then a trip into the city to – well, to catch a train – drop off some paperwork, then go through the botanic gardens, past the opera house, to grab a coffee, and then two trains home. We stopped for a couple of photos.
Huff did an incredible amount of running. She runs with such utter conviction and happiness. It’s hard to imagine something more completely happy than the way Huff runs on the grass in the botanic gardens.
Huff is getting taller, Puff is getting taller.. the tiny children we used to have are slowly being replaced by these little people. Huff is showing more interest in reading letters and numbers, in her environment. As we walked through the gardens, she was asking me to read statue plaques and bench seat dedication signs to her. It’s great to watch her mind develop.