Monster trucks

Two big events in Bax' life: he got to ride in a big truck and he got to drive under a big truck.

G was in charge of refilling the playgroup sandpit. So off he went with the kids in the ute to get a special golden sand from a special golden sand place. When they arrived at the yard the friendly man instructed them to follow and he drove off to where a big digger thingo scooped up the sand. Then G drove UNDER the digger and it dumped the sand onto the ute tray. Bax was apparently gobsmacked at being under this huge contraption.

And then on Friday G was chatting to the guys over the fence who run the truck yard next to our place (read: having a beer with..) Bax was oggling the big trucks and so the chaps hauled him over the fence and he got to sit up in the truck AND go round and round with the steering wheel AND beep the horn.

He couldn't stop talking about it!

Having cake and eating it

It was Master Theyer's birthday today, he's two. I met Bax and Iz and G there. They had come from playgroup, I from work. Master T had an apple cake.

G told us that he'd had a funny confab with Bax on the way over.

G: Allessandro is having an apple cake for his birthday.
B: Ah-uh, not chocolate?
G: No, apple.
B: When I have my birthday we'll have a chocolate cake.

Guess that means my idea for a carrot cake goes out the window.

We had a lovely afternoon tea and all the kidlets, Theyers, Soutars (Barrons) and assorted played together outside. Master T got a merry-go-round-see-saw contraption his grandmother found at Cash Converters. He and Ms Iz had a terrific time going up and down and round and round.

Izzie is using so many words now it's hilarious. "Booo -k" "Soo" "Buddle" "Juu" "Booo-t" "Sohks" No idea what on earth she's on about but she is very cute.

She's such a happy kid that when she went a nasty shade of red and her eyes began to water half way through her piece of apple cake this afternoon none of reacted very quickly and she nearly choked on one of the sequin stars Master T's Big Sister had used to "decorate" the cake.

A big hoik and some vomit on the carpet and she was as good as new.

(Too much information! I hear you all squealing)

It's a dog's life

You know how sometimes you feel as if you're living a whole year's worth of experience in a single week?! Well this week that's our Django.

On Saturday we had a new dog trainer come and give us our first session on Clicker Training a new fangled way to get more out of the mutt.

On Sunday we had the chap from across the road come and tell us Django had been spotted all over town "bothering" people.

On Sunday night we had an anonomous call from an angry neighbour saying the same thing but in more colourful terms.

On Monday G fixed all the holes in the fence and the latches on the gate.

On Tuesday Django went to the vet to get neutered.

On Wednesday (today) I heard from a work friend in the local paper, in a column called Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, the following had been listed in the Thumbs Down section: "People who let their dogs run riot in Otane".

On

No no noes

Izzie, to our amazement, has begun sharing her thoughts with us. She'll come up and shake her head and "No no no ". She'll say Book and Sock and Yellow and Hello and Up and Stop, and she'll attempt Shoe - It comes out in a whisper as if she's not sure "Sue..."

And Dando.

I go out into the garden to call the dog "Django Django Django" and I hear behind me a shy but firm "Dando dando dando".

But when you put your finger on your nose and say "Nose nose Izzie nose" She just shakes her head and says "No no no ". So maybe noes is something else in Izzie-ish.

Hello yellow

Bax and Izzie have invented a funny game. It can be played anywhere, and it is. The bath, the car, at breakfast, at bedtime.

Bax says a word and Izzie copies him and the result is so funny that Bax starts laughing and that starts Izzie off. They giggle manically then when it settles Bax tries the same word again which sets them off again.

This morning the word was yellow. "Yellow" says Bax. and Izzie says "Lello" and the giggling begins. Then "Yellow" says Bax grinning already. "Lello" says Iz sticking her tongue right out.

There are actually two sets of photos below

But for some reason one did a switch-eroo and ended up lower down.

More photos

All moved in

Truck with boxes arrived Friday. Saturday we unpacked. Sunday we shopped. Monday we flopped in an exhausted heap.

The house is splendid. Children both love it to bits. And have taken to its size in very different ways.

Last night we put Izzie into a real bed for the first time. She wasn't too happy about it, especially when the firen sirens from the fire station went off. Her eyes popped open and she said oooo in a very quiet little voice.

I left her with the light off and the door pulled closed but not snibbed.

Then I went down stairs to call GAS. While on the phone I heard crying in the dining room. I ignored it at first thinking it was Bax. But when I heard him in the other room I opened the door to the dining room and found Izzie. She had climbed out from under her covers, and in a pitch blacjk room, found her little shopping trolley. pushed it to the door, opened the door, pushed the trolley down the landing, left the trolley at the top of the stairs, worked down the stairs - there's about 23 of them - come along the hall, through the dining room to the door which leads to the kitchen and cried at me til I opened it.

I took her all the way back again, put her into bed, told her to stay, then left. G had to go back in she was kicking up such a storm. Then he left her, snibbed the door. She cried for about 5 minutes then all was silent. I went in later and she was fast asleep on her sheep skin rug on the floor.

This am thought we'd have to put the damn porta cot back up but G stuck with it and she had a three hour nap in her bed today so it may be that we've cracked it.

On the other side of the house...Bax was in one room and I was RIGHT NEXT DOOR in the kitchen, I took one step into the dining room and Bax came running in saying "I lost me! I was crying! I was feeling a little sad and I lost me" The big sook.

Two other funny little things happened this weekend which I must share.

We were in mitre 10 which is a hardware store and Bax had a toy car with him and he was driving it all over the shelves and then he said Ooops in a loud voice and when we asked "What?" He said the little car had gone into the house. We turned around and there was a whole aisle of letter boxers - hundreds of them - and Bax had put the car into a letter box but didn;'t know which one. We look into slots for a while and then said we'd have to say bye bye to that particular car. So he grinned and pulled it out of his sleeve where it had been hiding all along.

And then yesterday we wetre in the supermarket and Izzie was eating a box of raisiuns and she wanted more so she reached into the trolley and grabbed the whole bag of little boxes of raisin and the bag split and little boxes went sprialling all over the supermarlket aisle - that was fun.