Toothy pegs

It's all about the teeth round here. Mr Z has finally lost that first wobbly tooth - hooray! I was starting to get worried as it had been wobbling forever and his adult tooth was coming through behind it - his smile was becoming a bit reminiscent of a shark, if you ask me! I didn't get a picture of the wobbly tooth (wasn't allowed) but here is his very first grown up tooth in all its glory:

Unfortunately, when the tooth fairy visited she must have been drunk or something as she didn't leave any money. I've told Z he'll have to write a letter pointing out her mistake. Since his least favourite thing to do is writing, it's bought me some time to go and get gold coins at the bank (wink, wink). I was considering keeping their first teeth (still not sure if that is creepy and/or weird) but I guess that's not an option now... no way I'm going... ahem... looking for that thing!!! Maybe I can keep the second one to fall out instead (if it's all right with the fairy)

Meanwhile, the Small Boy now has four teeth (which incidentally 'hit') but he's not letting me get even a small peep at those:



I'm just hoping Little Miss doesn't want a piece of the action once she realises that wobbly tooth = a gold mine ;)

Bunting and burnt fingers...

Let me just start by saying this was Mr Z's idea (as I suck my poor burnt thumb). The last few days I've spent time sorting, cutting and ironing fabric ready to be made into three long strings of bunting

(yes a case of actual burnt fingers, not just a turn of phrase. There are almost 70 flags in that pile)

Small Boy's flags

Little Miss has some too

And finally flags for Mr Z who started this whole project off... I think some rocket fabric might be required to finish the job ;)



Now to start the actual sewing... I thought that pinked edges turned under would be easier than doubled fabric stitched and turned inside-out, but my poor burned fingers beg to differ. Maybe I should have started with a smaller project, but I'm not a small project kind of girl ;)

International Women's Day 2011

Hooray! Today we celebrate not only equal rights, but the right of women to choose their own destiny :) This might mean choosing higher education, working a high powered job or choosing to take a break to care for your family (whatever shape and size it may be).

I enjoyed reading this article by Amy Taylor-Kabbaz today. I'm not sure Germaine Greer would like my friends either :)

Ballet bag...

It's Monday, which at our house means ballet lesson after school for Little Miss. She's been going for just over a month and every Monday arfternoon I see a procession of little ballerinas with their gorgeous bags... followed by my messy-haired lookalike, carrying my old straw bag that I used to take to gym. I FINALLY got around to making something more befitting a princess, and today will be its maiden voyage :)



Gardening with the little people

As we are not good with green things, the kids have recently been reduced to watering dead sticks so last weekend we decided to let them choose some new plants for our balcony garden.

I love watching my little people in the garden. I think I've spent too much time reading about fairies, but there's something magical about watching a kid with a watering can! It took all my strength not to raid the dress up box for... ahem... gorgeous fairyland constumes *suitable* attire.

We decided to plant things we will be able to eat (what better way to get the kids to eat tomatoes!) and things we can't shouldn't be able to kill. So we planted cherry sweetbite tomatoes, child-safe chillies and portulaca (so cheerful and hardy).

Wish us luck!

Aren't they clever?

I've been wanting to decorate the walls in my house for ages. I wanted to get rid of the old prints we have from our pre-kid days and put up our own artwork and photographs. Look at what my kids did!

They're ready to be hung over the cabinet by the back door - we just need a trip to the hardware store for some 3M hooks :)

Here are some action shots of the Small Boy's effort:

Losing touch?

I love technology, I really do ... I believe it enhances our lives but I also believe in keeping more of the more traditional skills alive (says the girl who has a computer in the kitchen and married a man in a Star Trek suit).

In the Herald Sun earlier this week I read about a new iphone app to help mothering newbies (read story here). It's designed to remind you when to feed the baby, record sleep/growth patterns etc and give advice on baby friendly shops in your area. I was almost tempted to download it only 1. I don't have an iPhone and 2. I don't really have a newborn any more. So why was I so tempted to download it?

There's been a lot of research showing that people are losing the 'art' of basics like cooking, changing a tyre and all those things our grandparents could do in their sleep... I don't so much think that we've lost the 'knack', but I do think that we've lost all faith in ourselves as capable human beings... we're now more likely to ring an expert rather than muddle through and trust ourselves to get it right.

It's so easy to second-guess yourself when it comes to mothering. After all, your job is to keep your most precious posession (your child) not only alive, but developing into a socially conscious, capable human being. And mothering has now become a 'closed door' type of vocation.

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I read every book I could lay my hands on regarding childbirth and child rearing. As I had very limited experience with babies and toddlers, I relied on the experiences of doctors, midwives and parenting experts. And I found that my experience was NOTHING like the book!

Whereas a hundred years ago you would have helped your sister, neighbour, even mother (-eek!) give birth and care for infants in your teen years and right through your own reproductive years, nowadays the very first birth you attend is likely to be that of your own child. Women of today are unlikely to have seen the trials and hardships felt by other women in their own circle of friends and family - never seen 'the blues' first hand, never heard someone yelp as they attempt breastfeeding, never seen the destruction an unsecured nappy can unleash on a living room rug... So it's very easy to feel that you have it (mothering) all 'wrong' if it's not as rosy as it looks in the Huggies commercial. When you are experiencing the pain and confusion of childbirth and child-rearing all alone behind a big door, you tend to beat yourself up about your inadequacies and try to hide them from everyone in the 'outside' world.

This third baby has been really liberating for me (most days). I haven't felt the need to pick up a 'guide' to parenting, ring 13HEALTH or hide my emotions/flaws/inadequacies from everyone. I just do what I can, forgive myself my shortcomings and try to do better every day.

I finally TRUST myself to do an OK job. I wish I could have felt this in control with my first two experiences of mothering a baby! I still make plenty of mistakes, but I'm learning to celebrate my successes as well... and I'm so thankful for other mummies who are so open and honest about their own shortcomings (you know who you are) :)