Pattern blocks and Duplo

Pattern blocks are so much fun! I saw these and remembered them from my childhood. I had wooden ones and these are plastic but I couldn't believe that I'd not thought about them in 20 years then they appeared! 

I bought some for Hubs and she/ I have been having lots of fun. 

The shapes are standard size and colour and all fit together. The green triangles, red trapeziums and blue diamonds fit together to make the yellow hexagons. The orange squares and tan skinny diamonds don't make the hexagons but the size fits with all the other pieces. 

Duplo is a big favourite at the moment too, and I keep finding stray bits like this. I thought these were abandoned, but Chubs told me they were a train!

She's always so proud of everything she makes and often asks me to take a photo. 

Fabulous Croquet

I played croquet this afternoon with some long time girlfriends. It was truly lovely.

 

Chubs was having some Daddy time, and we had some yummy food, lovely conversation and great weather.

 

My croquet skills were moderate for a beginner (ie pretty rubbish...) The club had a staff member who walked around with us telling us what to do and what the rules were which helped a lot! 

 

 

Everything is better with cupcakes 

 

Sadly a lot of my photos didn't work out and I can't seem to upload them. :(   It was a lovely afternoon though - highly recommended. My best wishes to my dear friend xx

Well behaved children

A well behaved child acts like a child. Sometimes this is sitting quietly and drawing. Sometimes this is running about giggling. Sometimes this is having a bit of a cry because you are tired and hungry.

Today I went out to lunch with some lovely girlfriends - two with teenagers and adult children and one childless. Chubs came too, and acted like a normal toddler.

My friends were very welcoming and supportive. They were happy to arrange the times around nap time (which actually backfired anyway, since toddlers can be a little unpredictable...) The friend who booked arranged a high chair and no one minded when I didn't finish a sentence.

The other diners were very understanding. Middle aged and elderly women gave me the "I've been there and I understand" look as I raced after Chubs as she made a dash for the carpark. A young couple who sat near us were encouraging of Chubs when she showed them her trucks and danced around while they were eating their meal. The young man gently grabbed Chubs when she made yet another run for the door when I couldn't get to her fast enough. It's very comforting to know that a random stranger cares for Chubs' safety.

I rang the cafe to thank them for not treating a child as an inconvience and I spoke with one of the owners. He hadn't been there when we were, and he said when he arrived he saw the sultanas on the floor and asked his wife if their almost two year old granddaughter had been in. He assured me that normal child like behaviour wasn't a bad thing at all and 'you can't just tell them to sit quietly'.

Both the owner and my friend commented that having Chubs/ children around made for a more enjoyable, fun and happy atmosphere. It's a real blessing to go somewhere were he vibrant and bubbly personality is valued and celebrated, rather than seen as something that I should apologise for.

Jamie Lynne posted a similar article, and it actually came across my newsfeed just after I got home from lunch which I thought was wonderful timing. Of course I'm not saying that children should be undisciplined, disrespectful, unattended or unaware of their surroundings. It was refreshing to go somewhere where children weren't just tolerated, but celebrated as a vibrant and beautiful part of the mosaic of life.

Linked

Operation Sleep Rule Change - Conclusion?

Well, here it is. A tentative conclusion to the sleep changes that we've been trying. I say tentative as I don't want to jinx it, but it seems that we have success!!!!!
Chubs will happily resettle in her cot at night now. She's actually done so since the first night. It was an hour and a half of patting and rocking and panicing (on my part) and her pointing at the door and wanting to get out, but I was there to comfort and hold her. We made it to midnight and she came into bed with us then, but she seemed to have gotten the message about the 'rule change', that Mummy and Daddy's bed wasn't 'open' until later.

We moved bringing her in to our bad back by an hour each week, but she resettled fairly easily each time and we probably could have stretched her out longer sooner.

This week should be 2am, but we're just going to jump to 3am and be done with it. Whenever she wakes before 3am it's resettle in the cot, after that it's in bed with us. We could keep going and make it 5am, but you know what, getting up in the night is hard work. Perhaps the best thing about cosleeping is that Chubs can get milk, comfort and reassurance and all I need to do is roll over.

To be honest, Dear Husband and I aren't feeling as wonderfully well rested as I was hoping. As I supsected (but was dearly hoping I was wrong) I think at lot of our constant state of exhaustion is more to do with having a vibrant, beautiful, bouncy toddler than a cosleeping one. It is a bit better to have the bed to ourselves for a few hours, but the catch is that I have to get up for the first feed at 10 or 11pm, and then to resettle as required.The 3am rule will be a nice mix I think - I'll have to get up for the first feed (and then pat as needed which hasn't been often - maybe once every three nights?). It means when she wakes up at 3am/4am/ 5am she can come in to our bed and have a feed. It means that I'm only getting up for one feed in her room, then in our bed from then on. I think it's a good mix between the pros and cons of cosleeping and cot sleeping.

So, ultimately, I think that OSRC was a success. Through gentle parent led methods we were able to get Chubs comfortable in her cot for longer at night, but still have time for family snuggles in the morning. That's about as perfect as I think it gets x

Feet

Toes, tootsies, peggies on feet. So chubby and munchable. Where will your toes take you? What steps will you take? You will walk and dance and jump and hike. You will balance on a beam, dance the song in your heart and splash in puddles. Those precious peggies will grow, those chubby feet will stand tall. Those beautiful feet belong to a beautiful girl, a beautiful girl with beautiful feet. Step by step you will walk your journey, leaving footprints on the ground and in people's hearts. From kicks in my ribs to a heel prick test, from grabbing for nappy changes and oft slipping socks. To wobbly steps and stubbed toes. What next? Ballet shoes and nail polish, sneakers to run a race? Kicks to the back of the car seat, a stamped foot in anger? Gum boots and high heels and soccer shoes? I tip-toe from your room as your little piggies wrapped in your romper are snug in your cot, I hang too cute socks to dry on the line. I look at your precious, chubby toes as you leave yet more footprints on my heart. Tootsies will grow, booties become boots. Babies become adults, but still leave footprints on hearts.

Cornerstone

Cornerstone
noun

1. a stone uniting two masonry walls at an intersection.

2. a stone representing the nominal starting place in the construction of a monumental building, usually carved with the date and laid with appropriate ceremonies.

3. something that is essential, indispensable, or basic: The cornerstone of democratic government is a free press.

4. the chief foundation on which something is constructed or developed: The cornerstone of his argument was that all people are created equal.

Your cornerstone is what your life is measured from. For me, that is loving my family, being with them and caring for them. It is making a difference in the world, discovering new adventures and basking in the joy of life. To share with others this journey, to love, to laugh, to hold each other. To discover new things, to be challenged. To set off on new adventures, and return home to loving arms. To share beauty, to offer comfort, to create and explore and grow and love.

What is your cornerstone?

The prize for...

... something I'm grateful for is having a wheelie bin garbage service! I must admit I enjoy the modern luxury of having a truck come and pick up our garbage and take it away - wherever 'away' is.

I've blogged before about how we used cloth nappies, but we still have some sposies which fill up the bin quite quickly. We don't have a compost bin since we don't have a garden, and we recycle what we can. (The recycling bins are around the corner in the photo.) I use reuseable containers for Chubs' and my lunches and we try to avoid food that is in individual packaging to cut down on rubbish.

I still get the feeling though that we are making way too much rubbish for three people. What do you to to cut down on the amount of garbage your household produces? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Lots of people are Thankful on Thursdays!

ETA: Not all the bins in the photos are mine; they are the bins for the whole building complex, in case you thought I had four binsfull per week.