our paper boat

Leaf rubbings

2012-02-07T00:41:00.000-08:00

The other day we were driving in the car and my son was talking about the different sizes of leaves on the trees. Aha I said, we should do some leaf rubbings! So a few days later we set off on a walk to collect some different leaves to try. It was still a bit hard for my four year old to get much impression from rubbing over the paper and leaves, so I did need to help him at times. My one and a half year old also had a go.

Toilet Roll People

2011-07-17T03:56:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Playschool and Onegirl. Ok, I did most of them because we were using wood glue and scissors, so it wasn't quite as child involving as I'd hoped. But I'm sure it will work better when the Cat is a bit older. He and I had a ball anyway so that's the main thing. I may have spilt a whole lot of glue on my new jeans but thankfully I got it out in a hurry! Meanwhile the Cat was shouting at me to help him get the masking tape off his fingers.

How cool is "the Monster" that the Cat made!? Originally it had enormous eyes but they were falling off because the Cat kept touching it before it dried, so later he changed them for little eyes. Ok now go read this because Amber Dusick is awesome.

For this activity we used:
toilet rolls
other cardboard tubing
wood glue
fabric scraps
pipe cleaners
old bits of ribbon
googly eyes
felt pens
rope from bag handle
rick rack
masking tape
mesh from garlic packaging

Next time I would get some yarn for the hair.

Winter fun indoors

2011-07-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

This winter has been particularly cold. I have been feeling it a lot especially considering that I was pregnant this time last year and I was feeling pretty toasty! So this winter the Cat and I have been enjoying some time indoors doing craft.

Visit to a maze park

2011-07-17T03:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Cat - 3 years 4 months

2011-07-17T03:45:00.001-07:00

You have recently been very sick with Bronchialitis. We have never seen you so sick. Generally when you are sick it doesn't slow you down, you just keep going at normal. But this time you slept for 3 1/2 days and had a temperature around 39 degrees celcius which hardly went down with paracetamol. Normally you like medicine, but we had trouble giving you anything and you wanted lights off, curtains closed, TV off and you just slept. I slept with you at night to make sure you were ok and keeping hydrated. Now you are much better but clingier than usual, you want more hugs and affection.

Your most annoying habit at the moment is to pick a time when I am really busy and attach yourself to me so I can't move. You know the exact way to make yourself really heavy and hindering. I can't wait until you get over this stage.

You are not sure about your sister "the monster". I think you are afraid of her when she cries or makes loud unintelligible sounds. But we have fun playing together with her sometimes. Today we rolled a ball around with her, we had a lovely time. She just adores you and thinks you are hilarious and also cries if you leave the room if I am not there.

At the moment you favourite thing is space rockets and planets. You love to watch the rocket launch on Apollo 13 (the movie) and also read your books on space rockets and planets. Your first word was star and we have to sing "twinkle, twinkle" every night before you go to sleep as part of your routine.

You like to help me cook cakes, muffins and biscuits and also recently you have taken an interest in watching me cook dinner. Your new habit is to get a stool to peer in my pot to see what I am making. I would not be surprised if you turn out to be a cook yourself.

You like to pretend you are different animals, one day you are a dog, the next a bird, then a cat or a bunny. We nicknamed you Cat because you love your little Kitty Cat toy. It is your best friend.

You are growing up quickly, you have just lost your baby look and you are starting to look like a boy. You are acting more grown up too. You will often help me with things when I ask you to.

You have been doing great at swimming, starting to follow instructions really well, wearing your goggles and kicking and blowing bubbles. We decided to take you out of swimming over winter because you kept getting sick. You might take up soccer in July with your friend Torren.

You are clever and pick most things up very quickly, I showed you how to use scissors today. We cut up some tissue paper for a craft activity. You said "mummy show the cat how to use the scissors" (meaning you kitty cat toy sitting beside you) and I showed you and you started cutting like a pro right away.

You can not stay still, you are not easy to cuddle because you are always jerking around. You are just full of beans. It is hard to get a photo of you that isn't in a blur, it doesn't help that you want to see the photo before it has even been taken!

Thank you sweet little man for being my son.

Mum

Dear little Monster - 8 1/2 months

2011-06-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

Just a little note to remember you at this stage in your life. You like to bounce. Earlier we used to put you in a Jolly Jumper, you don't need a Jolly Jumper, you can bounce quite well un-aided. You will bounce sitting on my knee or while being held, or held standing. This will be something about you I think I will remember overall about you as a baby. You have exuberance and joy. You love people - at a distance.

You are definitely Mummy's girl at the moment. You cry bitterly if I leave the room or if someone else holds you... this is flattering but frustrating at the same time.

You have three teeth now, the day you got your last two teeth you were chewing on my fingers like a Tassie devil.

Food You love your Mandarins, they are in season right now. When I am at the shops and you are in my sling you grab for Mandarins while I pick them of the shelf. Your eye's light up when I start peeling one for you and you love to grab and squeeze segments between your fingers. I peel the skin off the segments and tear the segments in two, removing the seeds for you. Otherwise you will eat pretty much anything, but you are not a huge fan of rich creamy things such as avocado or ricotta cheese.

SleepYou sleep well now. At night you will sleep from about 7pm (or when I get you to bed) until about 5.30 - 6am. I am so thankful for this because I value my sleep, I call you my dream baby. By day you prefer to sleep in bed and rarely nap if we are out and about, there is too much to look at and you wouldn't want to miss anything!

Your hair sticks up a lot. I love this, I like to imagine it is a mohawk. My hair was like that too at your age.

You adore your big brother. You will often stop crying if he is around or stop feeding if he is nearby. You follow his every move. You also love to watch Dad when he is home and you bounce in excitement when he is around. You like to "talk", saying "Ahhh" a lot and sometimes "mumumum", "bababab", "dadada", "yeah" stuff like that.

When you were a newborn you would scream if we put you in the bath. Sometimes you were ok with it if we put a warm wet washer on your belly. Now you love it! You kick you legs and splash with you hands and tease your brother. You don't mind to much if the Cat(bro) splashes you. You still enjoy a washer on your belly though.

You are great at sitting up, you can't quite lift yourself up from lying yet but you are very close. You are physically strong but not in a hurry to go anywhere just yet. This is A-ok with me right now. You'll do stuff in your own time. Today I think you waved back at me, but I couldn't be sure.

Love,
Mum.

Easter Eggs

2011-04-24T04:54:00.000-07:00

Easter craft with E. We drew on hard boiled eggs with crayons, mum and I dripped candle wax on some and we dyed them different colours with food colouring. I was reliving fond memories of my childhood. Easter is my favourite holiday.

In the nursery

2011-03-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

A work in progress.

3rd Birthday Party

2011-02-09T21:52:00.000-08:00

E's third birthday was last Sunday. We had a train party because trains are his current obsession. I had so much fun organizing this party, I think there is a frustrated party planner in me... what with the Wedding and High tea I planned last year for my sister. It is nice that he is a bit older now so they can play some party games. We did pass the parcel and some train craft activity. The train cake was the first cake I had made on my own. My mum made the cupcakes last year and for his first birthday mum helped me make the aeroplane cake.

Cookies and craft

2011-01-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

My friend organised a Cookies and Craft party for some little friends of her son. It was held at a cafe in a local park. The cafe holds these one day a week. They get out some little boards covered in non stick paper and fill bowls with various things to decorate the cookies. On arrival every child dons an apron, sits down, is given a ball of shortbread dough and selects from some plastic cookie cutters. Each child is given a baking tray of their own lined with baking paper to put their finished creations. These go into the oven and while they are baking the children are given a paper bag to decorate in which to put their finished cookies. It was a fun morning and I thought it was an interesting business model.

Christmas wrapping paper

2011-01-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

Star Wrap is white and blue stars drawn with crayon. Then painted over with my favourite kiddy craft supply - Dot paint dispensers!!

White, green and yellow Christmas trees with purple and green painted over it.

Gifts wrapped and under the tree. The wrapping paper was a big hit with the family.

Christmas activites

2010-12-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

My friend from Mother's group held a Christmas craft party for the kids, so I decided to make some gingerbread men with E to take to the party. I must admit I find it hard to relax and let him get too messy while cooking and crafting, I am too much of a control freak and my husband hates mess too. The recipe is a great one from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2. I want to use this recipe to make a gingerbread house because it made a nice sturdy gingerbread.

She read a book about the Christmas story, we sang Silent Night and we did some craft activities like these star pictures using bits of paper stuck on vellum with a star frame around it. When you stick it on the window it looks really pretty with the light shining through it.

O Christmas tree....

2010-12-12T09:38:00.000-08:00

When people ask what he wants for Christmas E's reply is always "A Christmas tree!" When asked what he wants for his upcoming birthday, he says "a cake!" Like, why are you even asking?

Feeding problems

2010-11-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

The last 10 weeks have been the hardest weeks in my life thus far...

Written at 7 weeks old Well my bub is 7 weeks old now. I must say that my first was not an "easy" bub but I can honestly say that looking after him was a walk in the park compared to my experience so far with Zoe.

E had reflux as a bub and was constantly regurgitating his feeds, where here I think Zoe has what is called silent reflux. I feed her on a slope so her head is up high so gravity helps her with digestion. When I put her down flat for a play, or on her front for tummy time she will scream the house down. I need to hold her upright on my shoulder for at least half an hour to an hour for her to digest after a feed and then put her in her bassinet which is propped up by towels. If I'm lucky she'll go to sleep. But mostly she is hungry again by that stage and we start the process all over again. She is using up so much energy through lack of sleep and crying that she isn't gaining weight. Although she is getting taller. If I need to put her down to tend to something else I put her in her bouncer which has a good angle to it, she is sometimes happy enough in this position for a short while unless she is having a particularly bad bout of reflux.

8 Weeks old. Her Paediatrician admits us to hospital "Failure to thrive." She is diagnosed with insufficient suck and reflux. We had tried feeding her with all different types of bottles at home and she couldn't get milk from any of them. We ended up feeding her with those plastic syringes you get with children's medicine. In hospital she has all sorts of tests for various problems that babies can have. She has an ultrasound, barium test (scary), blood test (just horrible) and urine test (messy). All of these tests come back clear thankfully except for the barium which confirms that she has reflux.

Zoe is 10 weeks old now and she is finally putting on weight. She is having breastfeeds and then is supplement fed with a nifty bottle called the Haberman feeder. This great bottle allows her to feed a lot quicker. She is also taking a supplement called poly-joule powder. It basically extra carbs to give her more calories (energy).

I am taking motillium to boost my milk supply since Zoe cannot draw the milk well and keep my milk coming strong. And I'm pumping when I can. I'm also eating all the things that are meant to help with milk supply.... Weleda breastfeeding tea (which contains fenugreek), steamed fish (the Chinese believe this helps) and sago (Indians say this helps).

And now I am looking towards breastfeeding her normally, am trying to see Speech Pathologist who specializes in infant feeding problems. There are only a few who practise in Sydney that I know of.

Some pages that have been useful...
Fact sheet on bottles

venturing into food production

2010-10-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been immersing myself in reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and watching "Gardening Australia" and "the Edible Garden" while feeding Zoe. I have been inspired to grow our own fruit, herbs and vegetables and have so far started planting a small amount of herbs and salad greens. We have been delighted with the results, enjoying salad from our own garden most days. It tastes so much better when it hasn't been sitting in storage for awhile, and it saves us buying a massive lettuce or bunch of herbs and wasting what we don't need.

Above is the Mizuna which is a Japanese lettuce with yellow flowers which you can also eat. We also have mustard greens, perpetual lettuce and sweet rocket (which is a delicious spicy flavour). In the herbs we have rosemary (established), lemongrass, oregano, continental parsley, mint, lemon thyme and garlic chives.

I have two types of strawberries, one type has white flowers and they were a gift from a friend, the other has pink flowers and has green fruit now. My white flowering strawberry plants have produced two ripe strawberries so far, but they where nabbed by birds before I could get to them. I might have to put netting over them so I get to try one this season!

And then there were four...

2010-10-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

Our Spring baby was born one stormy night in September. We named her Zoe which seems fitting as the name means "Life". There was something magical to me about the night she was born. She was a big girl at 4.35kg and 54cm long. Zoe and her big brother have been keeping me busy!

Bringing Zoe home.

Sleeping on Daddy.

Filth Wizardry

2010-09-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

I just discovered this fun kiddy craft blog called Filth Wizardry. There is an interesting interview with the blogger, Lindsey on the Artful Parent. I wish I was not so precious about the house and doing messy craft activities! Note to self : I would love to make one of these bandanna skirts for my little girl when she is older.

Finished quilt!

2010-08-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Finally this quilt is done! It is my first finished quilt for my firstborn. I used some Peas and Carrots fabrics and various others I picked up to match. I decided to hand quilt it in a circle pattern because I much prefer the look of hand quilting.

I love the binding that I chose recently to finish it off. It ties all the fabrics together I think.

Sewing for the nursery

2010-08-25T05:18:00.001-07:00

I'm making a flock of birds right now. The tulips were from my Mr, aren't they perdy? That bird feels right at home.

Finger painting fun

2010-07-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

We spent a few hours out the back with some fingerpaint. His favourite colours appear to be green and black at the moment!

Home made playdough

2010-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

This was my first attempt at making my own playdough since we have been given it by friends in the past. Ethan had consumed (yes eaten) all his playdough (which I do not encourage) so I thought it was time to make some myself. This recipe is from the side of the container of cream of tartare. It seemed to work really well. I keep half in the fridge to use at a later date, and the other half he is currently using is kept in an airtight container when it's not in use.

My independent boy

2010-05-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Onegirl inspired me to write an update about what E is up to right now. I am terrible at keeping track of what he is doing. Currently I have snippets written down and kept in different places.

27 1/2 months old
He still loves the moon (has to point it out in books and in the sky.)
Likes to eat playdough (ugh) and uncooked dough when we are making pizza.
Is afraid of his electric trains but likes us to turn them on for him.
Loves his "kitty cat" a soft toy kitten which he carries around everywhere.
Likes to introduce his cat to salespeople and strangers at the shops.
Says "Mummy!" with great satisfaction and pointing to me.
Says "Yes please" when he wants something.
Current favourite foods are bread, scones, milk, yoghurt, vegies, olives, vegemite on toast, zucchini slice and sausages.
Likes to pretend to be a dog "doggy is getting dressed", "doggy is having a bath", "doggy is brushing his teeth." Yesterday he was a horse.
Waves and says "Bye I'll see you next week!" when he gets into his toy car.
Loves books, his current favourites are "The Gruffalo", Hairy Maclary and "Guess how much I love you".
He knows all of his books by heart and will recite bits from his favourites at random.
Loves puzzles, the ones with lots of pieces.
Knows his ABC.
Can count to twelve.
knows his colours.
Makes pictures with his alphabet, letter and shape magnets on the fridge.
Is allergic to mosquito bites.
Likes to scratch himself everywhere in the bath.
His hair grows really slowly.
Prefers to play in the bush than play on the equipment at the playground.
Is very independent.
His favourite word is NO.
He doesn't like getting in his car seat.
He loves it when people sing to him.
He loves to go in Dad's shed and help Dad with things in the shed.

[Edit] He just started jumping with his legs together today! (Whilst saying NO, he didn't want to get in the bath)

Yum yum!!

2010-04-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

Pretty pricey but I covet one of these Laptop Lunch Bento sets.

Easter Craft

2010-04-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do some Easter craft with E so I got some sheets of square paper (I think it is canson paper for scrapbooking) and cut out some egg shapes which he glued on the paper and we did some stamping with some of his bunny stamps. We made some cards out of these.

I also found some little chick chocolates which were flat on the back so I glued them onto cards that Ethan had drawn and stamped on. These were for his cousins!

toddler play - coloured pasta

2010-03-03T03:30:00.000-08:00

What does a stir crazy (and sick with a cold) Mother and two year old do whilst waiting for the plumber to arrive? Dye pasta bright colours of course!!

Next time yellow, red and blue... and E's request purple. The coloured pasta is for playing with, not eating, incase you were wondering.

Customized gift wrapping

2010-01-01T03:16:00.001-08:00

In the garden

2009-10-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

Ethan and I doing some weeding.

Some Favourite Children's Books

2009-10-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

Ethan looooooves to read. I buy a lot of Ethan's books from thrift stores, but most of our favourites where bought new. Here are some of our current favourites.

"Lost and Found" by Oliver Jeffers. About a boy who finds a penguin and tries to take him home to the south pole. This book is a gorgeous blend of watercolour and acrylics. The story is a little complicated for Ethan to completely understand just yet, but parents are sure to love this one too.

"Time for Bed" Written by Mem Fox, Illustrated by Jane Dyer. Lovely bedtime book about baby animals going to sleep.

"Gossie and Gertie" by Olivier Dunrea. Lovely and funny story about some little geese who are best friends. There are quite a few books by this author about his little geese charactors. We bought the box set.

"How Loud is a lion" by Claire Beaton. Gorgeous illustrations all done in felt and fabric applique with buttons and beads. I have read this one to Ethan so much I thing he is bored of it now! I want to buy some more of her lovely books.

"Mr McGee and the biting flea." By Pamela Allen. I love her stories and illustrations. This one has made Ethan laugh from a very yound age.

"Look at you, a baby body book" Written by Kathy Henderson, Illustrated by Paul Howard. Everything about this book is perfect. The babies are so realistic and characterful they look like children we know in real life! The prose is rhythmic and easy to remember. I often recite bits of this book as I change Ethan or attempt to trim his fingernails...

What are your favourite Children's books?

A question about crayons...

2009-09-14T04:26:00.000-07:00

These crayons I just bought for Ethan because I'm not sure what shape is right for toddler hands. Previously we were using Crayola's triangle shaped crayons. The colours are gorgeous! But I thought I'd try these thicker ones. The tips break off every time Ethan and I drop one. VERY ANNOYING and could pose a choking hazard I'm guessing.

So what do other people use?

Hello spring!!

2009-09-14T04:16:00.001-07:00

This week we have really been enjoying the warmer weather. We have visited the park a lot, been doing some gardening, eating strawberries.... stuff like that.

Drawing with E

2009-08-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

How using modern cloth nappies CAN be simple!

2009-08-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

Do you want to try modern cloth nappies on your baby, but you are not sure it will work for you?

I want to share some ways that we have enlisted to make them work for us.

CHOOSING A NAPPY BRAND...
We purchased about 15 nappies from Peapods. We have been very happy with this brand, but I do know people who have used other brands who are not happy with the products. I recommend asking around or researching your chosen brands on the forums. There are plenty of nappy forums out there on the net. The Peapod nappies were too big for our little one for the first say... three to four weeks of his life. Don't be put off, use old fashioned cloth or disposable nappies until they fit your bub!

MAKE IT EASY...
We purchased something called a little squirt which is a toilet attachment that cleans nappies. We use the little squirt to spray the refuse into the toilet (it's also great for CLEANING the toilet!) We then throw the nappies into a nappy bucket for washing. Try to remember to pull apart the inner and outer before rinsing.

FREQUENCY...
We generally wash the nappies every second morning using the pre-wash cycle on our washing machine with a little nappy treatment detergent, then when it beeps for the main wash we throw in a little detergent and press go. We preset the washing machine on a low water setting so the machine doesn't need to do the "water level sensing". You may need to wash more frequently for your newborn. That said, follow the instructions for care on your particular nappies!

DRYING...
We try to dry our nappies in the sun, but some days are too cold to dry them completely so we invested in a dryer for those occasions. If you have modern cloth nappies you may as well use them!

I wish you well and I would love to hear your tips / tricks / queries on the subject of cloth nappies!

Dried fruit

2009-06-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

I've been making dried fruit snacks for Ethan. The dried banana, pineapple, apple, pear and kiwifruit have been the most successful so far. Citrus takes a really, really long time to dehydrate and I don't think it's worth the effort. I use fresh orange juice on the pear, apple and banana to preserve the colour. I like it with lemon juice, but toddlers prefer the orange juice because it isn't so tangy!

Something I've been working on...

2009-06-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

I just need to sand and varnish them. I've made about 50 of these so far. I'm finding it slightly addictive. I especially enjoy matching the papers, they're like mini patchworks! I'm having trouble finding papers I like that are more "boy-centric".

Baby food recipe - Congee

2009-06-14T03:43:00.000-07:00

This is a basic recipe for Chinese Congee but it has salt in it. You can cook a salt free version for babies. I add carrot, brocolli and peas. Ethan loves to pick out and eat the bright coloured vegetables. Sometimes he can be fussy so I like anything that persuades him that vegies are yummy. You can also add finely chopped chicken or fish meat. I have made this with short grain white rice or basmati rice. You can add a bit of brown rice for an extra nutritious version.

My friend Katherine makes Congee fresh daily, but I cheat and make a big batch and freeze it in little containers.

My inquisitve boy

2009-05-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've been through those sleepless nights and all those things that come with being a new mother.

But nothing prepared me for the interesting ride that is being a mum to a toddler. He's learning to ask for things, boss people around, get into EVERYTHING, fall down and get back up. He's developing a little imagination to. And he's a chip off the old blocks, he's always dragging me over to draw with the crayons (like Mum) or trying to connect things with cables (like Dad). And he probably gets too much attention right now!

I would love it if they gave you a manual for your own child. There are so many books about different ways to raise a child. And I also wish I had more time to read them!

Playgroup craft

2009-05-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

It was my turn to host craft today at playgroup. I drew this picture of an elephant. I printed copies for the kids to stick coloured bits of tissue paper onto the image. I thought originally to use heavier paper for the collage, but decided on the tissue paper so you can still see the image once the paper is stuck on. The kids loved playing with the glue pots. Its a cleaner way to get them used to the action of painting.

Ethan wanted to pop the cotton balls from the following craft activity into the glue pots!! He walked away with cotton balls stuck to his cord pants!! I didn't get a photo of it though, the mum hosting that craft hastily pulled them off his pants. I was tempted to paste more on just for the funny photo!

Mathilda's Market

2009-03-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I attended the Mathilda's Market in Sydney. I must say it was a great collection of craft products for children. As always the products for girls were over represented, however my Mum and I did purchase two cute t-shirts for Ethan.

One was a cute pirate ship t-shirt from Sandt. It looks great with his navy pinstripe pants he was given for his first birthday!

and the owl tee from The Raisin Did It. I also bought a gift for my sister from Gifts Created.

Boy in the mirror

2009-03-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

Ethan is growing up so fast!! He has put on a lot of weight all of a sudden and looks like a toddler now. Here are some pictures I took this week of him looking at himself in our bedroom mirror. It's quite spooky. On thursday I took Ethan to the park for a swing. Sometimes as a mother I wish I could take a video of parts of my life to remember every little detail.

Ethan's First birthday

2009-02-02T13:15:00.001-08:00

My little man is one year old. On the weekend we had a party for him in the local park amongst the trees.

We wanted to make a cake based on a train, plane or spaceship but I didn't like any of the designs in my kids cake book. So I created this design loosely based on Ethan's toy aeroplane. I found this easy and very tasty chocolate cake recipe. My Mother made up a new buttercream icing recipe using buttermilk and a dash of vanilla. It tasted amazing! The licorice was pulled at by one of the eager young ones before we sang Happy Birthday, that's why that part of the plane is flapping in the breeze!