Blame It On The Boogie

Cleaning

2009-11-01T19:56:00.003+08:00

I have been searching every Montessori blog I can find trying to get ideas to do with Little One. The earliest age I found posts on was 15 months. For a while there I was getting frustrated with the lack of ideas from myself or anyone else. But, alas, the brain has begun working slightly and this is what we ended up doing at 13 months old.

Cleaning the barn. Did I ever mention I love Practical Life activities.

Halloween Fun

2009-10-31T19:26:00.003+08:00

We don't celebrate Halloween in Australia really so the boys had no clue. I imagine that they think this is Mum and Dad just getting there crazy out. It was fun and we should do it more often!

Tinkering school

2009-10-30T18:21:00.001+08:00

Would you believe he found a DVD inside? We had no idea! This old DVD player had been sitting behind of shed for months.

A day at the beach

2009-10-29T16:04:00.002+08:00

Morning tea

2009-10-28T13:41:00.005+08:00

I have developed a great little set up in which The Boogie prepares morning tea for himself and his brother! He is just so proud of himself! Yay for Practical Life exercises!

For Dada

2009-05-08T22:36:00.004+08:00

After a particularly bad bout of sickness a few weekends ago, Tuesday arrived.
By the time 2:30pm decided to appear the day had worn patience completely thin.
No love did dad receive as he entered the house.
Sensing all in one swift moment, a nappy was changed and the retreat to the park with two children began.
The hot water of a shower soothed the tension of the day.
Potatoes caught tears as respect and appreciation filled this heart.

Wooden Ball Stair Activities

2009-03-20T14:25:00.004+09:00

I have had some serious writers block of late but I can feel that Mama mojo returning!

February was a big month for us as I returned to work for six hours a week, Uni started again and The Boogie started kindergarten. My little boy has started Kindy! Little one has three teeth and started to commando crawl at five months. There is just no stopping the little fella now! He is very determined and makes his desires known to all. Just generally though we have been adjusting to life as a family of four!

I have been making an effort to get some baby free time and although I find it tough to leave Little One I know it is good for me. Last night a friend (who is expecting her first babe- so excited!) and I went shopping. We found this great Wooden Ball Stair set at target and both bought one for the others baby. I think it is going to be great for Little One's hand/eye coordination trying to get the balls on the rods, however, I have also thought of some different activities you could use it for.

By taking a few of one colour ball and just one of another colour ball, you could get your child to tell you which one is different and why. The Boogies speech therapist does this activity with pictures but I think it would add an element of interest doing it with the balls.

If you also get some wooden blocks you could have your child sort them into round and square (Credit must be give to Chasing Cheerios for this one- love her blog!).

Can you think of any other ways this Ball Stair could be used?

Boogie Says

2009-01-16T18:53:00.002+09:00

The Boogie was waving a small stick quite close to his dads face earlier today. After some discussion Ash asked The Boogie "Why do you like waving sticks around"
"Because it entertains me" Was his response.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-22T11:42:00.003+08:00

Can you spot three people?

Ahh It's Been Awhile

2008-10-20T17:19:00.004+08:00

My goodness I haven't written anything in such a long time! Where to start?

Our computer had a bit of an accident and it was looking terminal but it is okay. Not perfect but functional so all is well in the world.

My thoughts are very scattered at the moment so I fear that this post maybe too!

I had a funny incident with The Boogie a few days ago which I just never want to forget!

I was feeding Little One on the couch and The Boogie was out the front weeding. He comes to the window and knocks. I turn, he shows me a big handful of weeds and I congratulate him on a job well done.

"Look at the... Look at the books Mama" He says.

I briefly look away from the window to the bookshelf. I quickly turn back when he is not looking to see him "planting" his weeds in my pot bearing an eggplant.

"I saw that... you put the weeds in my pot plant" I call.

"I planting weeds. They're going to grow into big tomatoes" He informs me.

The poor chicken keeps calling my tomato plants weeds. I aways inform his that no they are not weeds they are tomato plants and they are going to grow tomatoes on them. Now he seems very confused about the origin of tomatoes. Whoops!

It was about 35 Celsius today so I kept the boys inside until late this afternoon. Then we hit the garden! I transplanted a bunch of tomato seedlings and am happy to report that quite a few zucchini seedlings are doing well! I'm not so happy to report that the tomato seedlings I transplanted with the zucchinis did not fare so well between The Boogie and the snails. We pulled up some carrots that I planted ages ago but they are all stumpy and short. Next time I wont do it in egg cartons first with The Boogie we will throw them straight in the garden and see if they come out bigger! Always learning :)

On a totally unrelated point my Little One is six weeks old today. It does feel like he has been here that long but it definitely shows. About a week or so ago he lost that newborn look and now looks like a solid infant! He is a little character. He looks a lot like The Boogie did but he has a very different temperament. It's exciting to see how we all develop with each other as a family.

WFMW- Boogie Free Time

2008-10-08T22:54:00.003+08:00

Works For Me Wednesday

We don't have a bath in our house but The Boogie loves a good bubble bath. When I need some Boogie free time I put our baby bath in the shower, add bubbles and get some time off!

Caution: don't leave young children unattended near water!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-08T21:09:00.003+08:00

My Wordless Wednesday

Tackle It Tuesday: Baby Shoes

2008-10-07T21:55:00.004+08:00

A friend of mine gave me his old sewing machine on Sunday so I decided my Tackle would be these cute soft sole baby shoes. This is my first sewing project in ten years that didn't involve straight lines (usually not very straight) and my mother! And ten years ago I had a home economics teacher for help!

The material is small fabric samples that a friend gave me and I stole the thread off my mother years ago so all in all a very cheap craft project for me!

Could You Forgive Your Child?

2008-10-03T21:25:00.002+08:00

We had a scary incident today. We were due to go out for Ash's birthday dinner and Little One was asleep in his carrier on the ottoman so I nipped in to our room to get changed. Ash asked me where Little One was and I told him. He went into the lounge to check on him and informed me that he wasn't in his carrier- he was on the couch.

My three and a half year old had lifted him from his carrier and put him a few feet away on the couch.

He seems fine and alert. We didn't even know it had happened as he didn't cry or anything. It does make me worry though- about what could have happened and about any long term problems such as neck issues if The Boogie didn't support his head.

It also makes me wonder if The Boogie had hurt Little One seriously could I have forgiven him? I hope so!

Could you forgive one of your children if they seriously hurt one of their siblings?

Wordless Wednesday: Parenthood

2008-10-01T14:03:00.003+08:00

Wordless Wednesday: Parenthood

Tackle It Tuesday

2008-09-30T21:01:00.005+08:00

It's funny- I remember I used to get grumpy if my favorite bloggers hadn't written a post in more than 24 hours.

Now I realise how hard it can be!

So in an effort to combine housework and blogging I decided to take part in Tackle It Tuesday! I swear it was the only thing that kept me going.

Before- my mountain of washing

After- my bed returns

Pimp My Nappies

2008-09-22T20:58:00.005+08:00

We have been copping a lot of attitude from The Boogie lately. What I've come to realise is that he is simply mirroring us and our tone so I decided that today would be a yelling free day. We didn't do to badly either! We must keep it up but it is hard to be patient, gentle and loving when your tired! It's sure going to be fun when Ash goes back to work!

To start the day Ash got The Boogie his cereal and crawled back into bed. Half an hour later no cereal had been eaten but it did have Nandos hot sauce in it! Yum!

We slowly got our act together this morning and went to the shops. I bought t-shirts to decorate for the kids Christmas presents (good special!), three packs of dye and some elastic bands.

After lunch we got on to pimping those boring white terry nappies we got off freecycle! We also did all the plain singlets too!

On the subject of nappies Almost Frugal is having an awesome giveaway which I would love to get my paws on! She is giving away her daughters outgrown TotsBots nappies and a wet bag from Babycat Goods. We could definely do with some more modern cloth (though our terries do look awesome!). We are yet to get a wet bag and are just using plastic bags at the moment so to win this would be awesome!

Lucas also did some chalk drawings- check out his Kookaburra

Getting Into The Swing Of Things

2008-09-19T11:36:00.004+08:00

I haven't written anything for a week! I guess I have a good excuse though :-)

Last night The Boogie came to my bed to kiss me good night as I was so tired. My friend came over the night before as she and her partner had been arguing. I ended up staying up until midnight- whoops!

We did a fun Montessori inspired activity which has been a hit (ha ha unintentional pun!) and has provided much entertainment- Bamming! I got the idea from Julie as he little boy loves it I figured The Boogie would too. We used a polystyrene block some packaging, golf tees and a rubber mallet. Eventually I think we will move on to soft wood, nails and a hammer but I had to think of the little fingers!

Like The Boogies self portrait? He told me what he was drawing with each feature which is a first for him. Normally he scribbles a bit and then demands that I draw something for him. I really hope that phase is over because it does my head in!

Meanwhile my little tomatoes are doing well- there are over 50 of them! We also planted some zucchini seeds and they shot up so we transferred them to small pots the other day while Ash and Little One slept inside. It was nice to have some one on one time with The Boogie- while also getting something done that I wanted to do!

He Is Here!

2008-09-12T19:26:00.005+08:00

Little one arrived on the 8Th of September 2008 via emergency c-section after 31 hours of labour. He weighed 3.93 kilos and measured 52Cm's. He is a lovely little boy- very mellow. He rarely cries but frowns all the time.

I started having contractions every 15 minutes around midnight on Saturday. I let Ash sleep until six that morning and then let him know. At 7am we rang my parents and they came to pick The Boogie up and we went to hospital at 8:30. I was hooked up to a monitor and the contractions died off. I had an internal which happily revealed that i was 2Cm's dilated at least! They let us go home so we went to a fathers day BBQ at my sisters. When we got home I got some sleep between contractions.

We finally went back to hospital at 1:30am on Monday and I was have 3 to 5 minutely contractions but had only dilated to 4Cm's. At 3:15am I finally got some pain relief in the form of an epidural. Ahh Bliss. I slept. At 6am Monday the midwife informed me (Ash was asleep) that Little One was distressed and we would have to have a c-section. At 6:45 we woke Ash and told him to get a cup of coffee as we were going to theatre in 15 minutes! He was born at 7:19 Monday morning!

I was disappointed I was unable to give birth naturally and felt that Ash let me down quite a bit in labour. He was asleep for most of it and at one point even told me to stop groaning as it was "really f***ing annoying". He was really lucky he only got hit by a pillow.

We used disposable nappies in hospital but now we have returned home we have switched to cloth... so far so good but it is only day one.

The Boogie has taken it fairly well. He is fine able Little One having milkies and has given him kisses unprompted but isn't really interested at this stage. That's fine- he will get used to the changes.

Maybe Baby?

2008-09-06T23:06:00.003+08:00

I think I might be going into labour tonight! I have had a bloody show and am having some pains eeee! Maybe a little fathers day present for the big man!
Today we had a fairly relaxed day as Ash began his three week holidays- yay! Boogie came in to our bed early and at 6:30 am said "I want cereal" to which i responded "Talk to your Dad" and rolled over and slept for another 2 hours! Bliss!
We polished off two loads of washing, had some lunch and then headed to the park. After playing at the park for some time we grabbed a few things at the shop. When we came home Ash cooked dinner and I did some more weeding out the front with Boogie. Oh the meal was heavenly, cooked to perfection. As a special treat Ash prepared some strawberries and we ate them covered with yogurt. Yum!
I went to work for a couple of hours and Ash made the bed and did the dishes. When I returned his parents were here. They stayed for a while and when they left Ash returned to the movie he'd been watching before they arrived so I jumped on the computer. I went out to the lounge about 2 hours ago and he was asleep in the arm chair, where he remains even now :)
Oh and my beautiful Boogie insists on picking me little flowers every time he come across one! Awe, this boy is too cute!

Three Grey Elephants Balancing

2008-09-04T17:57:00.007+08:00

I'm still pregnant :-(

Today Boogie and I spent pretty much the entire day outside, aside from doing a jigsaw twice, playing with the magnet game and snap for a short time. What did we do outside on this lovely sunny day? I weeded the garden while Boogie collected the weeds in his wheelbarrow. We managed to fill our big green wheelie bin about a quarter full! Not bad for 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant I think!

Between wheeling loads to the bin Boogie balanced up and down the small brick fence out the front singing "Three grey elephants balancing step by step on a piece of string..." He did really well too! I had been meaning to set up a balancing beam for him for ages as a Montessori exercise but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Its amazing how they just find the activities all by themselves!

Quite a few of my tomatoes are starting to sprout yay! Today I planted 12 more tomato seeds and a pack of zucchini seeds- fingers crossed!

My Labor, My Day And A Giveaway

2008-09-01T20:01:00.007+08:00

My Labor (playing along with Rocks In My Dryer)

How long were your labors?

No labor with Boogie- planned c-section as you can probably see in the photo above. Hopefully with Son number 2 we will experience labor!

How did you know you were in labor?
As above

Where did you deliver?
At a lovely little maternity hospital.

Drugs?
Oh yeah

C-section?
Yep

Who delivered?
My ob

Today Boogie and I played with playdoh and tidied the house. In the afternoon we had to fill the car and the cheapest fuel was a bit of a drive so we took some library books back and hit the shops. We found another button up shirt for me and a Thomas the Tank book for Boogie at the op shop. Then we hit Big W and I spent far too much money. I bought a couple of things for Ash's birthday and Boogie bought a present for baby plus I got some new rechargeable batteries for the camera. Afterwards we picked Ash up from work and went to the ob. Still no change... he's bouncing around up far too high :(

I also entered an awesome blog giveaway tonight- such yummy bags- have a look!

The Day Has Come And Gone

2008-08-31T20:02:00.006+08:00

STILL NOTHING! The count down to the 9th begins... fingers crossed. I really must pack my hospital bag though just in case! We have an appointment with the Ob tomorrow so we'll see if anything has progressed. I have noticed a lot of goop which I'm thinking might be the mucus plug! Here is an updated photo!

Ahhhh I'm huge!

We didn't do an awful lot today. Boogie played with the magnet game and jigsaw his early ed officer left him for quite some time. He asked to play with playdoh but strangely enough it didn't hold his attention for long. I was a grumpy old mama today and Boogie was just rubbing me the wrong way all day. Sometimes we just have days like that- I presume everyone does.

I did cover the baby wipes container with material as done on this great little site with all sorts of awesome DIY baby gear ideas. Mine doesn't look as good as hers but oh well what can you do.

I also cut the bamboo sticks for the bubble wands I'm making as part of the kids Christmas presents. The inspiration came from this blog.

So I have started the bean bags, the jugging balls and bubble wands.

I also plan on making tin can stilts, stenciled t-shirts, ribbon rings, gak, bubble mix, felt crayon rolls, memory cards and ribbon hair clips for the girls. For the parents we are also purchasing family zoo passes.

Still No Babe

2008-08-30T23:23:00.005+08:00

Its my big sisters birthday tomorrow. My baby is also due tomorrow. We went out to for a celebrationary lunch and I ate three whole jalapeno peppers as I have read the old wives tale that it spicy food helps bring on labour. After work the other half and I did the deed as per another old wives tale but alas... nothing! I'm not allowed to get mad until tomorrow, I know- but its hard! If he hasn't arrived of his own accord by the 9th of September then he is going to be delivered via Cesarean, which I'm trying to avoid. So COME ON little fella!!!

By the way I'm much bigger then this now... this photo was taken a couple of months ago. I really must take some new ones!

Thrift Store Friday

2008-08-29T22:05:00.006+08:00

I had a Boogie free day today (he was at daycare) plus I had the car so I did all the groceries and hit the op shops.
Boy did i hit the op shops! I bought a frame to make a Montessori practical life dressing frame plus some clothes for them. It worked out cheaper to get two extra pieces of kids clothes so I got a onesie for bub number two (I shouldn't have- we have so much already!) and a top for my niece. Later I also found a cute pair of jeans for my niece too (she is constantly outgrowing them!). I also got a summer dress and a button up shirt (breastfeeding friendly) for myself and a cloth nappy for bub. All this for $20.50.

Now all i have is make turn the three frames I've collected into dressing frames.

Meanwhile we have one more day until bub is due- come on bubba make your entrance already we want to meet you!