Other than that, it’s been business as usual coming out of Winter in our house. A few more temperatures and runny noses, Sarah breaking in a couple more teeth, and a general desire from all and sundry for the Sun to make more than just a five minute appearance in a week!

Teeth issues aside, Sarah has been very cuddly of recent. This involves taking anything she can cuddle – usually soft toys – picking them up, cradling them close, and saying “Awww.” It is the cutest things ever! Poor little thing has been perfectly content to see through her colds and ear infections cuddled up on the nearest parent or grandparent, and we find ourselves sorry that she is sick, but glad for the remedy.

David has been his normal characterful self. Nanny took him to two movies recently, including Beauty and the Beast in 3D. This has resulted in hours of “shows” that he puts on, with costumes, stages and lighting – the latter being very important: don’t make the mistake of thinking the lights are off for no good reason and turning them on! Lest you ruin the atmosphere of the theatre!

He also still has moments of insight that would make the kid in the Emperor’s New Clothes fable very proud. Like, the other day, when wearing some oversized sunglasses inside, the little munchkin turned to me and asked “Daddy, why do rockers wear sunglasses inside? It’s not sunny inside! Silly!”

Oh son, where do I begin with that one?

So, Christie took him to the main War Memorial Museum last weekend. They met up with Kath and Hamish to run around looking at dinosaurs and cockroaches and the lollies in a jar (”that Daddy would like, eh Mum?”) and all the other sites and sounds that make up a modern museum like our one. I then took advantage of the Maritime Museum offering free admission to city ratepayers (which we are definitely one of!) and headed there with David this afternoon. It’s quite a cool set up, with different theatres/buidlings covering off parts of our maritime heritage…hence the name. David had been there in the past with Mummy, so was looking for specific exhibits that I don’t think are available any more. But he still seemed to enjoy himself, and ran around enough to fall asleep in the car on the way home.

As for a Sarah-update, she is as cute as ever, and is watching David like a hawk! She literally watches everything he does, and I just hope she’s picking up what not to do! She’s standing unsupported now, and is also waving when encouraged by grinning adults all saying “waving!” like it’s the only word we know. She must find it hilarious that with a bit of movement of her arm, she can have a whole room of grown-ups at her beck and call!

Speaking of which, the little munchkinette is right into her eating at the moment – and her communication. Take, for example, when she doesn’t like some food put in front of her. She will pick it up, examine, crush/squish, taste, screw face up, and then extend hand over side of high-chair and let it drop to the floor. Which is her way of saying “I don’t like this.” We’re also trying to teach her baby sign language (kinda) and she is starting to pick it up, touching her throat today to say she wanted a drink.

Recalling that has suddenly parched my throat…need…water…now…blog post….finished.

A great thing they do after Big Kids is send through an email to the rest of the Playcentre parents letting them know what went on “on session”. Christie has just forwarded me through the latest one, and I thought I’d share a couple of the stories that are in the email, for posterity’s sake and because they are great examples of the character our little boy is.

“After lunch we set up the collage and carpentry table with boxes, wood, lids, tape etc. and attempted some junk construction. William made a robot and Jack made Spongebob Square Pants. We headed off to the library and acted out the story of Little Red Riding Hood for the second time. Ella was the mom, Isabelle was LRRH, I was the woodcutter, Jack and William were the wolves, Davey was the pilot that saved LRRH and Kana was the granny. At the end of the story everyone chased the wolves away around centre.”

(I have to go and re-read my childhood copy of Little Red Riding Hood, as I wasn’t aware it featured a pilot. )

“We chatted about various topics and then I read the book “Tony’s hard work day”. This has been very popular at big kids sessions as it is about a small boy who builds his own house. It always inspires some building and so we gathered up the house bricks around the centre, made some sand/water/flour concrete and built a brilliant brick chimney/fireplace. This was a great activity for using strength and coordination in mixing and spreading the concrete and shifting the bricks around. Isabelle remembered where the bricklayers tool was and had great fun spreading the concrete with it. Nikau, Davey and Jack donned hard hats and fluro vests. When complete we went down to the real building site to ask if the builder would come and inspect our work. He kindly obliged and declared our workmanship excellent. We gave him a cup of tea as thanks and then got on with the business of lighting a fire in our fireplace. ”

I just love these little stories! As a Playcentre kid myself (a while ago now!), I love the fact that David is getting the chance to enjoy and play and learn in such a creative environment. Suits him to a tee!

However, more than a couple of you out there have made note to Christie or I that the blog has been lacking – which means that you are reading it…which means I should write it more often. Not only that, but since there are actually more friends and family overseas (or at least not in the same city as us) now, all the more reason to be on my game. Plus, it is nice to have the record of our lives looking back.

So, I’ll try and jump on the horse again and aim for weekly(ish) updates.

As for this week’s update, well we’re still working off the excitement/recovering from the exhaustion of David’s 4th birthday party the other weekend. We held it at Playcentre again as that place is just built for kids – which helps when you have 20-something kids running around inside (because it was raining), high on sugar. I’m not too offended that my attempts at fairy bread weren’t the raging success I thought they would be; if you had seen what else was on offer, you would have moved past my bread too…even though the arrangement on the plate was a work of art!

The theme was dress-ups, as the little munchkin is quite the creative type, and loves to dress-up in all manner of costumes and disguises. As mentioned last week, he was a lucky boy who got a lot of dress-ups for his birthday (and even more at his party), and of those he chose to go as Woody from the Toy Story movie. He had a great day, and was surrounded by firemen, doctors and various other TV characters who I don’t know at all but everyone else seems to (who, or what, is Ben 10?!)

A big thanks to all those who came, and those who sent well wishes – and for everyone else who has prayed for him and us, directly and indirectly, over the last four years. We’re very happy to have such a character for a son, and we can’t believe how fast this birthday has come around. Here’s to 4-score and twenty more years of him!

As for Sarah, she is becoming quite the little talker. Still only has two “words”: “a-Dah!” and “Mmmm-mum-mum!” Both with an exclamation mark at all times as they are usually said with force. Oh, and I forgot “Sssss.” But that’s more of a letter than a word. With regards to the other two, she is regrettably liberal in their application. I am “a-Dah!”, but so is David, the floor, the TV, assorted stuffed toys and various parts of the couch. Still very cute.

She absolutely idolises David. Everything he does, she watches. And he is a very good big brother (most of the time!) He knows how to make her laugh, and he is “teaching” her how to stand, after he taught her how to crawl…apparently.

Very cute to watch them both in action. Especially with Sarah smiling all the way.

(P.S. I’ve uploaded some more photos of the birthday up in the Photos section – feel free to check them out and enjoy!)

I’m pretty sure that I will spend most of each of my children’s birthdays thinking to myself how fast time flies, and how you don’t really realise how fast until you’re there reflecting on it but, man – time flies! David has had a wonderful birthday. We bought him his first two-wheel bike (with training wheels) that is orange and has dinosaurs on it…a paint-job I think would look great on my car let alone his bike! He has been lavished upon by all his aunties, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, friends – he is a lucky boy.

The order of the day seems to have been dress-ups, with Toy Story characters (Woody from Gabriel and Michelle, and Buzz Lightyear from Aunty Kelsey) and a kingly outfit (thanks Nanny and Poppa) complimenting the Elmo jumper (thanks Aunty Hayley) and other normal clothes…all of which he can wear while watching his DVDs (thanks again Hayley). Seriously, a very lucky little boy.

The day was spent with Mummy taking him on a ferry with Maree and Jack from Playcentre, over into the city to get a hot chocolate and then back for “Big Kids” Playcentre session (for 4-years+) and then kindy. This was all followed up with dinner with Nanny, Poppa, Aunty Kelsey and Uncle Joseph who had all just finished (mostly) moving house…again. So spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread and yummy Mummy-made banana cake for desert for all!

A great day, for our favourite little boy. Happy birthday Davey – we love you soooooo much!

It was very rough being away from the family for two weeks (three weekends). Especially so when I was leaving an ill family knowing Christie would have her work cut out for her. So thanks go out to all the grandparents and family and friends who helped out and let me come home to a happy and (relatively) sane household last week.

Travelling provides a different perspective on things, and I was amazed how much I missed the little things. Thank God for Skype and video chat! It was quite disconcerting for Sarah to see her daddy on a computer screen when he wasn’t in the house, but she quickly adjusted. To the point now that whenever she goes past a computer screen, she looks expectantly at it and calls for me.

Which brings me to a current bone of contention in the house – namely Sarah’s ability, or inability, to say my name. For the last month or so, Sarah has been trying out different sounds. The first one she really mastered was “Dah”. Now, you tell me: if you were dialling in from the other side of the world, and your dribbly little girl was looking surprised at the screen, then looking back at mummy, then looking back at the screen, pointing and saying “Dah! Dah!”, would you or would you not think that she is basically saying “Daddy!”?

Of course you would.

I don’t care what people say about 8 months being too young to talk – my girl can pretty much say “Dad”, and that’s her first word(ish).

Her mother’s counter to this is that Sarah says “Dah” when she sees people other than me, like her brother for example. I respond that you can’t say “David” or “Daddy” without “Dah”.

The little munchkiness and the munchkin are both on and off again healthy. I’m told this is what it is like during Winter, and that we should basically get used to the concept of them being sick most of the time. Usually one gets the sniffles, then gets better right when the other is getting sick. And we get caught in the crossfire.

But for Sarah, it’s currently a sore throat mixed in with teething – so lots of dribble flying everywhere. Poor little thing.

We console ourselves by saying that we’re over the hump now, and on the way to Summer…only a few short months away. Bring it on!

We had our little munchkin assistant out helping with us…well, “helping” is maybe a bit too generous for what he was doing, but it was all pretty cute. Christie says that she read somewhere that 4-year olds ask 400 questions a day. I reckon David asks 400 before breakfast! Some of the questions are deep and surprisingly philosophical. Others are ones he already knows the answer to, and I think he just likes to ask them to get a reaction.

Anyway, today while I was trying to get the paint sorted, David was asking a series of questions that he already knew the answers to. He was also giving me a blow-by-blow account of what he and his mum had just been tidying at the other end of the garden. “Daddy, um…did you know that we have been tidying the rocks down there?” he inquired.
“Yes mate,” I responded, “I know that.”
“Oh,” came the response. “Well, did you know that we’ve been digging up the weeds?”
“Yes mate. I know that.”
“Okay. Well, did you know that we’ve been using the hose?”
“Yes mate!” I exclaimed, somewhat frustrated at the seemingly unending stream of conversation. “I know!”
Not perturbed in the slightest, the little munchkin cocked his head to one side and said (just as Christie was walking past) “Huh, Daddy – you know everything!”

Love. It.

Things have been a bit strained in the house this week, with all four of us fighting colds and sniffles and (in the case of the kids) ear infections. To couple that with a bit of bad weather restricting their ability to play outside, and David and Sarah have been more than a handful for poor Christie!

Aw, who are we kidding? Sarah’s been an angel baby (as per usual). Most of the trouble has come from the now-nearly-four-year-old. I blame cabin fever, for which there is no antibiotic prescription.

It didn’t stop them both being very cute though. Like today, as we drove past David’s kindergarten on the way to Nanny and Poppa’s, the little munchkin exclaims “Look, there’s kindy!” Then, addressing the empty building, he calls out “sorry, Kindy, but I can’t see you today because I’ve been sick, but hopefully I’ll be better soon and come and see you then, okay?” Priceless.

He’s also been a bit of a help when it comes to the munchkinette working her way across the floor in the living room, chewing and slobbering on everything in her path. Whenever she gets hold of a book or coloured paper or something else we don’t want her destroying and/or smushing into the carpet, David has taken to calling out “uh-oh – rescue!” As in something needs rescuing. How cute is that? (Probably something Mummy was calling out a few times her self this week!)

The only real highlight over the past couple of weeks has been the visit from Nan and Pa from Australia. They came over to visit their two great-grandchildren, and both put on quite a show of cuteness and well-behavedness…just like we rehearsed. I kid, I kid. But it was great to see the four generations together at Nanny and Poppa’s, and to spend that time together.

I also took David to the zoo yesterday with Dave and Hamish, and also Colin, Jill and Matthew. We managed to fit in a good couple of hours running around looking at the animals and – more importantly – eating morning tea, before the torrential rain hit!

So, with us all on the mend (hopefully) this week, here’s to a less stressful go at it!

Sarah is nearly 7 months old now. She is still smiling like it’s going out of business and is almost crawling. In fact, she can get herself across the room by a mixture of rolling and shuffling. Her motto seems to be “when in doubt, smile or chew on it”. With six teeth already, and being on solids, she is also less than slight size-wise. I think last time we checked she was 85th percentile for weight and 97th for height? (She gets the weight from me, and the height from…well, me too I guess ) She’s also a very inquisitive little creature; always looking around to see if there is something more exciting than what she is doing right at that instant. And with David for a brother, chances are that the action is wherever he is.

Speaking of the munchkin, David is doing well as he nears 4 years old. He’s now going to kindergarten in the afternoons, in addition to Playcentre most mornings. He always has funny stories to tell about his day – and one of the problems of infrequent blogging is that I forget the stories when it comes time to write them down! Must do better on that. He has started to draw discernible people shapes now; while fingers and toes may not be in the right location, and legs are usually the length of the page, most of his people have two of the latter and ten of the former, so that’s progress! He’s also – under the expert tutelage of Christie – learning his letters and is able to write his name…sort of. He can write the letters with little prompting, but the order is still a bit confusing for him.

All in all, things march on. With today being Christie’s fourth Mother’s Day, it is fun to look back at how far we’ve come…and far there is yet to go!

I think I need to fess up to the fact that with Twitter and Facebook making it easy to provide short, txt-like updates, the longer form of this blog is a bit harder to keep up and maintain.

So, maybe what I’ll do is make this blog a monthly, mega-update where I re-cap the highlights of the month, rather than trying to keep up with all the weekly updates. It’s funny – when David was born, I was taking thousands of photos and making updates every week religiously for nearly three years. At the time, I had a few people remark to me that I wouldn’t keep that up with the next child, and with each subsequent child, coverage would be come even more sparse.

Ha, I laughed to myself, I’ll show them! However, I’m sad to admit that there is an element of truth in what they said. It’s not that I don’t have plenty to write about with little Sarah, or that David has stopped being interesting (far from it!), but I do seem to have less time available to catalogue my thoughts than in the past.

Oh well – we’ll see how things go.

So, now for my February update. It’s been a lovely, hot, summery end to Summer this year. We’ve had plenty of outings to the parks and beaches around Auckland – so many to choose from! We have tried (and succeeded) to get the kids out of the house on a regular basis. For David, this is crucial as he has all sorts of extra energy and testosterone to burn off. He’s in a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde mode of late: switching between saying “you’re a lovely mummy” to “silly daddy smelly stinky!” – which means he’s also had a lot of time in Time Out to contemplate the great paint job we did in his room.

The only problem I can see with providing monthly updates is that I might forget all the funny anecdotes from the month. I can only think of one right now, and that’s from Friday! We went to a Fun in the Park event, where the local council puts on free toys in a park around the region. This particular evening was at a local park with a flying fox. I had come straight from work, and met Christie and the kids there.

“Take me on the flying fox please Daddy” came the request, and I happily obliged. I took the little adventurer up the ride, put him on it, and then ran and flung the fox down the track. “Hold on, Daddy! Too fast” came the cry. “You’re alright mate,” I responded as I ran alongside, “just hold on and you’ll be fine.”

Sure enough, after a couple of runs, he was addicted, and we repeated the game a few times over. It wasn’t until we got back to Christie that I found out that each time she had taken him to the ride, she’d held on the whole time. Good for toughening him up, I thought.

That is until later that night, while Christie and I were relaxing upstairs, we heard David call out in his sleep: “no Daddy – that’s too fast, no, no, no!” I think I’ve broken him!

Sarah continues to impress everyone with her vocal range. The little princess holds court from her bouncer, singing and blah-blahing away to anyone who will listen – Mummy, Daddy, Chair, Lamp, Carpet – which is very cute. We think she’s starting to teeth, so there are snail-like trails of dribble as we carry her through the house.

So, summer draws to a close. Autumn brings promise of puddles, leaves, and crisper evenings to take some of the madness of the heat out of the day. Let’s see if the madness in our house is even remotely related to the weather at all!

Bets are it aint.