Halloween

Halloween is kind of a non-event around here. A lot of kids are getting more interested in the holiday (probably because of all the American shows on TV), but nobody really decorates their houses and the grocery store is the only place to get a carving pumpkin ($20 for a very small one that rotted in 2 days!). Matt likes to tell the story of how his brother Josh went trick-or-treating once when they were younger and came back with fruit, canned goods & even a pair of shoes.Not only do people not decorate though, but many houses don't even allow trick-or-treaters to knock on their doors! Ours was one of about 4 houses on our whole street that didn't have a big sign on the door, saying, "NO TRICK-OR-TREATING! DO NOT KNOCK!" Instead, we (Liam & I) dressed up as Americans ;-) and answered the door with a big bowl of candy bars (which Liam then attempted to drop into each person's bag), wishing everyone a Happy Halloween.Matt was off studying that night (yes, on a Saturday...we're both so ready for exams to be over!) and Julia was at Gran & Pop's (Matt's parents) house for the weekend, so earlier in the week we did a mini Halloween trick-or-treat through our house. Julia's friend Caydence was over here, and the girls picked out their favorite princess/ballerina outfits. Liam was not game to dress-up (can't blame him when most of his options are either covered in feathers or bright pink or both), but he did let the girls put a big hat on his head. I'd made simple little Halloween bags (about the limit of my craftiness and creativity), and I'd hidden little treats behind each of the closed doors in our house. They all thought it was great fun, and as much as I always loved Halloween, our version was probably much more appropriate for 2 pre-schoolers and a toddler (and far easier to control the sugar intake as every other door had something non-edible like bubbles or stickers).

Watergun Take Down

*Note: Julia was not injured and the rest of the video (too long to post) is of her laughing hysterically for about 45 seconds and then getting up to do it all over again (and again and again).

Big Boy Bed

Liam has struggled with his transition to the "big boy bed" in the past few months.  He liked being free from the crib (and I liked that he couldn't catapult himself over the crib railing anymore), but he spent about 3 weeks sleeping on the floor (we did put a small mattress there for cushioning) right in the doorway.  Anyway, he's now sleeping in the bed, and usually snuggles in the normal way -- head on a pillow, covers pulled up.  Last night, however, we went to check on him, and this is how he was sleeping....

Mt Tamborine

One of our favorite weekend excursions is Mt Tamborine.   The drive is not too long and has gorgeous views of the Gold Coast, and at the top, there are some easy hiking trails for the kids, quirky shops to explore and yummy pies (Matt's favorite reason to go).  We headed up a couple of weekends ago, intending to hike and window shop and, of course, eat pies, but the weather turned on us when we were already on the mountain.  Our clear blue skies turned grey and the hot spring day turned cold.  No worries!  We ate our pies, took refuge in the funny shops, and the children still had a great time. 

My little girl, looking like a true Aussie....

Sleep Update: Adenoids, Tonsils & Asthma - Oh My!

A few people have commented or e-mailed to ask whatever happened with Julia's sleep problems and all, so here's a post to follow up with that.  As many of you know.  Julia didn't sleep through the night for nearly 3 years despite trying everything (controlled crying, massage, nightlights, sleeping with us, nasal sprays, vaporisors, etc.) Even on the nights when I thought she'd slept pretty well, she was incredibly tired (and cranky) the next day.  She drooled profusely even after all her teeth had come in, and her speech was delayed.  She did not like eating meet or crunchy fruits like apples.  The ENT and speech therapist both suggested removing the tonsils and adenoids, but that option scared me.  She just seemed so little for invasive surgery.

In May of this year, however, I gave in.  We visited our Mississippi ENT, Dr. Sneed (it helped comfort me that he's a family friend), and 6 months later I am still very happy with our decision to have the surgery.  Julia is sleeping through the night, and even though she still wakes early with the sun, she generally wakes up refreshed and happy.  The drooling has stopped (although occasionally I have to remind her to close her mouth when she's concentrating hard and has it open out of habit), and she is eating so many more foods (especially all the meats that she wouldn't before).  When she gets colds now, they are generally very short lived, and she looks peaceful now when she sleeps.   And, of course, she talks all the time-- very clearly! 

But just a warning for those moms who said they're considering the surgery for their children, the recovery may not be all popsicles and milkshakes.  Julia had a very hard recovery and ended up back in the hospital for a week after the surgery to get IV fluids and different pain medications because she refused to eat or drink anything and got dehydrated.  That said, I still don't regret it.  In fact, I wish we'd done it earlier, but as Dr. Sneed pointed out, the mother has to be ready, and for my own peace of mind, I had to rule out all the non-surgical options first. 

**Note:  Little Liam fortunately does not seem to have any of the problems with tonsils and adenoids, but we have found out that he does have asthma.  The pediatrician is pretty certain it can be managed with Singulair (non-steroidal tablets, not inhalers), so we are hoping this will finally rid him of the persistent cough he's had for about 6 months and stop his recent trend of interrupted nights.

Spotlight on Julia

My Pig-Tailed Princess

The blog spotlight has certainly been on Liam for the last few posts, but my little drama queen sure still steals (demands) the spotlight at home. At age 3, Julia is becoming wonderfully self-sufficient...not only does she insist on doing most things by herself, but she's now actually capable of doing them unassisted! Just this morning I came back from a run at 6:30am to find Julia happily awake, fully dressed and ready for school with her little sheet set for naptime and an extra set of clothes. She had already helped herself to a banana from the fruit bowl and didn't mind entertaining herself while I showered before fixing her breakfast. Of course not every morning goes so brilliantly, but it's nice to brag whenever it does happen!

In many ways Julia is a girly girl. She loves all things pink, carries her baby dolls everywhere and loves playing dress-up. One of her favorite games right now is to play mommy to Liam, especially putting him to bed (amazingly, he loves this game too...maybe I should let her have a go at putting him down for the night cause whatever we're doing isn't working!). She tucks him in, "reads" him a book, and even sings songs to him. Her other favorite game is hide-n-seek, though her version of it is actually count-n-find-me-where-I-told-you-I-was-gonna-hide. She is very interested in cooking, and she's actually becoming very helpful in the kitchen, helping to stir or sift or measure out ingredients. She told me that breaking the eggs is the best part of cooking, so making a quiche (with 5 eggs) was a huge hit the other night.

For all the girliness, though, Julia sure can keep up with the boys (even the big boys) when it comes to running and climbing and jumping. She races up play structures and climbs rope ladders with such speed and confidence (but fortunately has a healthy notion of danger too, unlike her little brother). She's already telling everyone excitedly about starting gymnastics again (in January).

I think my favorite of her interests is singing. She loves music of all kinds and has a really good memory for song lyrics (can't get her to do memory picture games at all and I've experimented with telling her grocery items to remember, but it seems to only apply to music). It keeps us really amused too because her song repertoire is really diverse. My iPod has a lot of children's music that we listen to often, but Julia also likes for me to just scroll through a couple of seconds of each song in the playlist (from Van Morrison to Counting Crows, Metallica to Bach) until she decides what she's in the mood for (Keb Mo singing "Better Man" is a current favorite). Matt has a very limited repertoire, but it ranges from "The Purple-People Eater" to the Dirty Dancing classic, "I've Had the Time of My Life" and even an Australian jingle from the 80's for the shampoo Decore (which Julia just calls "The Shampoo Song"). And Julia has learned at least the chorus to pretty much all of them. Since that seems to be the best medium to get her to listen, we sing A LOT around our house. Now when she gets annoyed with Liam invading her space, we all sing Sting and the Police "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

Pneumonia

As you can probably tell from the tired, sick eyes in the picture, our little man has not been well. We'd been having a really active week with new outings and a new playgroup, and the kids had been having a wonderful time. Liam has had a mild cough that he just can't seem to shake, but the doctor had said he was still getting over his cold and not to worry. So I didn't...until we were on our way home from the grocery store on Wednesday afternoon, and Liam started making a sort of grunting noise. Not to be crass, but at first I thought he was just "working on his diaper" (as my grandmother called it). We were only a few minutes from home, but it was clear pretty quickly that that wasn't it, and when I took him inside he just lay down on the floor looking really limp and pitiful. I called the doctor, put the kids straight back in the car and headed to the doctor's office (fortunately it's only a few blocks away!).

By that point it was obvious to me that he was having trouble breathing (breathing troubles and head injuries are my two major fears when it comes to childhood accidents and illnesses...2 weeks ago it was a mild concussion and then this?!? seriously, this boy is going to give me a heart attack!). While we waited with the nurse for the doctor, Liam's temperature spiked. The doctor said it could either be a "simple" respiratory infection or pneumonia. We were sent away with antibiotics and orders to go to the hospital if he got worse, come back in the morning he stayed the same, or say a prayer of thanks and continue the antibiotic for a week if he got better.

No sleep that night (or the next 4 and counting...) as I watched him and listened to his ragged breathing. No worse but certainly no better, so back to the doc the next morning where the doctor confirmed pneumonia. I'm a bit paranoid about hospitals (as in, I think you're just as likely to get sick as to get well there), and our doctor actually shares those feelings, so he upped the dose of antibiotic, added in a second one and got us on a strict routine of fever-reducers and sent us home (again with orders to go to the ER for any change). By Friday morning, his breathing sounded MUCH better and he actually started to perk up & play with some toys for a bit (I knew he was feeling better when he put on Julia's high-heeled princess dress-up shoes).

The doctor was very pleased with his progress and we were able to drop the meds down a bit (good news since they were not making his tummy happy), and we had a pretty good day on Friday. But as with most illnesses, we had a bit of a backslide on Saturday (see pictures above and below)...
Since he didn't want to be more than 2 inches away from me all day, I sat him on the kitchen counter and stood next to him while I fixed lunch. Within a few minutes he had stretched out and fallen asleep, ragged breathing and fever again. Not good. I called the doctor and gave a rare thanks for the Aussie medical system that lets doctors make house calls! Of course, the doctor then took nearly 5 hours to arrive and by that time (and 2 doses of antibiotics and a dose of Tylenol later), Liam was up and playing and breathing like a champ! Guess the bug just needed to raise its ugly head for one last hoorah (let's hope that's the end of it).

As an aside-- Liam has refused to sleep in his own bed since Thursday. I know I should just be thankful for his relatively speedy recovery, but I am really really hoping this is not a permanent side effect of the illness!

Spotlight on Liam

Liam at 18 months

This little man is a ball of energy! Liam is tall for his age--he usually stands at least a head taller than the other children his age-- and any child even an inch smaller, he immediately declares "Baby." Liam walks and runs (though still in a drunken-sailor fashion as he gets ahead of his feet at times), and he climbs EVERYTHING -- jungle gyms, slides, furniture, the curtains (before pulling them out of the wall...), the bookshelves, and me.

Liam is still a very happy-go-lucky boy. He wakes up smiling and can keep himself entertained very well. He loves looking at books (though will rarely sit still long enough for me to read one to him), he's great with puzzles, and he is obsessed with trucks. He absolutely loves nature too -- trees, birds, the sky -- he can sit outside for hours just looking in awe (at something as spectacular as a sky full of stars or something as mundane as a single brown leaf on the ground). He laughs a lot (he's even got a great fake laugh for when he's missed the joke that has everyone else cracking up), and he's even a little comedian himself too. Mostly slapstick -- pretending to bang into a wall, smearing food on his face, putting strange objects on his head as hats, etc.

He's also very affectionate! He'll come running with arms outstretched, saying, "Cuddles!" and give a big hug. He also give lots of kisses-- he makes the sound, "mmm-ma" and then bumps his face into yours. He's can be really persistent with his kisses too. He's had a cold most of the winter (yes, it's been winter here), and I must say we all shied away from his snotty kisses, offering a cheek instead. But Liam wouldn't settle for that. He'd take your face in his hands and pull you around till he could plant a slimey kiss right on your lips (no wonder we all caught his cold!).

But that's not to say that he hasn't also figured out how to get his point across when he's frustrated or upset. He's got a grip better than a badger when you go to take something away from him (you know, the butcher's knife or China teapot that he's managed to get hold of after circumventing the house's child-proofing). And most times instead of just screaming in upset, he growls at you, as if in warning..."You may think you're teaching me cause and effect, but just you wait to see the consequences of taking away my beloved bludgeoning stick."

And he talks...a lot! His favorite words are "truck" and "water" and "cuddles" but he has quite a repertoire. I can understand most of his single words, but he also tells whole stories at times and that just becomes a blur. He's a good imitator as well, and he is forever trying to copy Julia -- in speaking, in their play, in how he eats (he will only eat a banana if Julia is eating one too).

Liam and I are about to have two days a week together-- just us while Julia's at pre-school-- and I'm looking forward to my one-on-one time with my little man.

Julia's 3rd Birthday

My 3-year-old!

Julia had a great birthday! She woke up to find her new dollhouse waiting for her, and then after breakfast we headed to Rocks Riverside Park for her party. Since we are always hearing so much about her little pre-school friends, we decided to invite her whole class this year. It was so fun to see all the littlies running around together, and I enjoyed getting to know some of the parents better. Of course, we also had a great turnout from the extended family and friends as well, and with fantastic weather, lots of food, and lots of space to play, we had a fabulous day! Here are some of the pictures (in no real order):

"Yesterday, I was this many"

"But now I'm this many"

Uncle Michael, Auntie Di & Cousin Scott


All eyes on Julia as she prepared to blow out her candles

Julia took too long to blow them out, so Elana stepped in and helped her

"Hip hip hooray!"

Close-up on the cake:
Julia chose a butterfly and was very particular about the colors as I iced the cake

Liam did his part to help the men with the tent

Then he tried to make off with someone's bike...
Hard to steal a bike when your feet don't reach the pedals!

Relaxed and contemplative.
I think Simon's blowing bubbles.
(Note: all the children were actually distracted elsewhere so this was purely for his own amusement)

Shyly opening her many wonderful presents


These next two pictures are my favorites:

Dirt-smeared and tuckered out

More presents

Cousins Melia and Cooper

Biker dude

Liam waited till he thought no one was watching then made of with one of the presents

Liam & Julia's friend, Indiana took off across the park...we found them in these bushes playing hide-n-seek -- very cute!

Kickin' back with seconds of cake

Cousins Connor, Maverick, Quinn, & Drew playing footy

School friends Emily & Monica

Cousin Tracey & son Cooper with Aunt Julia

Unwrapping her butterfly cupcake (round one of cakes)