Christmas Eve

Again, where does the time go? Life with a toddler is a whirlwind yet, when I am asked what I have been doing, I can never think of anything. Routine is the key to happy toddlerhood but it doesn't make for many exciting stories.

Max is a talker. Funny story. He awoke overnight last week with a tummy ache. He seemed fine except when we tried to put him back in his cot. At some point, Tim was lying on the couch with Max at his feet. Max was babble talking at him. Tim closed his eyes (it was in the wee hours of the morning, after all) and, when he opened them, Max had his face 10cm from Tim's. Max was still talking. It still makes me chortle imagining that scene.

Today, we sat around the table on our patio. Each of us had our own chair. Max talked for close to twenty minutes. Monologue mostly but he'd answer some questions if he felt they were worthy.

Max "brushes his teeth" in the bathtub. He usually eats the toothpaste and once in awhile he'll jiggle the toothbrush in his mouth so his parents will exclaim "good brushing." Tonight, he decided to rinse the toothbrush in his pee while he was urinating. Fortunately, I was able to take the toothbrush from him before he pretended to brush again.

Cast Off etc

Max shows off his reading ability.





Our "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" meal (out of the mouth of Tim): beets, turkey loaf and toast



Where does the time go? I seem to have missed another week.

Max had his cast removed on Thursday. His arm was still a little swollen but it has not caused him any pain. The doctor said that even after 11 days, it had healed enough to go without a cast and will heal better with a bit more mobility now.

Tim has been busy studying for the CFA examination which he'll take on Sunday. He says that he doesn't feel very well prepared but he'll take the test anyway. He figures at least he'll know what it is like: if he fails, then he can better decide whether or not it is worth his time to study for it again in the future.

Since my miscarriage the doctor has been pushing us toward doing another IVF. I'm willing to meet with a fertility specialist but I am still not ready to head down that road yet. She thinks that it is the age of my eggs that MAY result in more miscarriages down the road. I think that I need to have more than one miscarriage before I feel like my age is becoming an issue. I'm feeling fine about it all.

We are very happy to announce the birth of our niece, Olivia Lee Wonhof, who arrived on 11/14/07. She was born with a rare condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bone Disease). Many of her ribs were broken at birth and she has had some trouble breathing on her own. She has casts on all of her limbs. Poor darling. Her parents have spent most of their waking moments with her and got a chance to hold her on a special "bed" over the last couple of days. We feel fortunate that Children's Hospital in Denver is one of the top three facilities in the country for treating her condition. Olivia has a lot of family living in the area so she and her parents have lots of support. We are thankful for that, especially since we ourselves are so far away. We look forward to getting back home for a proper introduction!

Big Week!

So...I thought the big news this week was that I miscarried. Yes, I was pregnant (probably 5-6 weeks but it was hard to assess) but it never felt right so I wasn't surprised at the news. Still sad.

Instead, the big news is that, sadly, Max fractured his arm today (on the day he turned 17 months). He does this little protest wriggle when we pull him away from something he shouldn't be doing. Anyway, he did that wriggle when he was up on Tim's shoulders this morning and Tim lost his grip on him. Strangely enough, I had told Max (not that he understood what I was saying) a number of times that he was going to hurt himself sometime when he did that wriggle. I had no idea it would be something more than a little bump on the head. He has a little cast on his left forearm that he'll have to wear for three weeks. Poor little guy.

Other events this week: Max attended his friend Janosch's third birthday party on Monday. Janosch got squirt guns for his birthday. The kids had a great time but poor Max never figured out how to work the guns so he was only on the receiving end of the squirts. Janosch and his parents are returning to Germany for two months so Max won't have his weekly playdate with Janosch for awhile.

We've had a visitor every few days this week just after Max goes to bed. This possum stole one of our precious mangoes off our patio. Guess we shouldn't store fruit outside at night. Silly foreigners.

We are within a week of the start of "birthing festival." Between family and friends, we have four upcoming births over the next two months. We send along our love and prayers to those families!

Daddy's Home!

Tim just returned from a two week trip to the U.S. It sounds like he had a good time visiting family in Denver, friends in Chicago, and family & friends in MN/SD. He managed to run the Denver half marathon while he was there and said he was pleased with his time.

I gotta say that I commend all of those single parents out there. It is really hard to remain patient with a toddler when you don't get any breaks or have any help nearby. Fortunately, I knew it was only for a short period of time.

Max has finally decided that he is old enough to sleep through the night (the decision was made with a little prompting from Mom & Dad). Anyway, he sleeps from about 7 until 5:30. I love it! We are early birds ourselves so 5:30 is very reasonable, especially after a full nights sleep!

Now that Tim is home, Max is back to calling me Mommy (with a few "Rachels" thrown in now and again). It was cute when he first started saying "Rachel" but I missed being "Mommy". He also started tugging on his clothes this week b/c he wanted to run naked. It amazes me how much kids enjoy being naked.

Max has also become a pretty good eater again. He actually ate a taco salad tonight (greens and all!) for dinner. He still doesn't eat with a spoon or fork very well so he uses his hands most of the time. I find that I can mix just about anything with rice and he will gobble it up.

I had a soccer game today. My team made it to the final match to decide first and second place in the league. We walloped our opponents! I guess the other team had not lost a game in four seasons so it was a pretty big deal. I was voted player of the match...which is always a little more exciting when you are playing with a bunch of younguns. Just a little tooting of my own horn :-)

The pic: Max has new swimming duds!

"Acting like a toddler"

I took Max to the doctor this week: he seems more irritable and prone to tears lately. He's also running a slight temperature. Her explanation after looking in his ears and throat was that he was acting like a toddler. He now gets frustrated by what he can't do or what I won't allow him to do. Lots of tears. Although it felt like a waste of money taking him to the doctor, it was nice to get the reassurance that he is not sick and that he is acting like a typical child of his age.

I hosted my Mom's Group this week. It's easy for me to do now that the weather is warmer because we spend a bit of time snacking and visiting then head into the pool. I made banoffee pie--I have this really easy recipe that seems to be a hit everytime I make it.

Max's new accomplishments are: pretending to talk on the phone (he uses his mobile phone, telephone or the remote control for the TV--says "hi"), says "ay-toe" for Rachel (I think he has heard my friend's son say my name frequently--I hear "ay-toe" more than "mommy" this week), he tries to put together a wooden puzzle. I continue to be amazed at how often he understands what I tell him.

Today Malia (a friend we met in Oxford who lives in Brisbane and works with Tim) came over for lunch. Max was strutting around for his audience, checking frequently to make sure Malia was watching him. Very cute. She took us to the Mt Cootha lookout where we could see all of Brisbane, the ocean (I was surprised at how close the ocean really is), the mtns inland from the Gold Coast. There are a restaurant and a cafe there so it'll be a great place to take visitors when they come (hint, hint).

No pics again this week b/c the camera is out of commission.

The Two T's

Teething and tantrums...those two words guided my week. Yes, our little boy has entered that phase. He's a little drool machine: he's wearing bibs again and still needs his shirt changed 4-5 times per day. I've heard mixed opinions on whether or not the teething is painful, but all I know is that little Max is very clingy and whingey these days. I think it's the teeth.

As for "tanties," he threw a really good one this week. He didn't like that I wouldn't allow him to push the keys on the telephone while I was talking on it. So he threw his little bottom onto the floor and leaned forward to place his head on the floor too. Then, after I hung up the phone and was attempting to comfort him, he spotted my mobile phone (another "no touch" item). Now he was very upset. A friend of mine told me part of a toddler's tantrum behavior has to do with their attempt to reconcile the fact that they desperately love their mommies but sometimes they hate them too. They don't know what to do with those conflicting emotions. Whether or not you believe that, it seems to support Max's behavior during his tantrum. He'd crawl into my arms for comfort but, once there, he'd through himself away from me (he wanted Mommy's comfort but then he'd realize that I was the one causing him anguish in the first place). I started to wonder how long this internal struggle could go on within Max...he must have eventually forgot WHY he was so mad. He just kept running with his anger. Anyway, after what seemed like ages but was probably less than twenty minutes, I put him into the pram for a bit of walking and shopping. That seemed to do it.

On a brighter note, Max learned to enjoy swimming underwater (the enjoyment came from not inhaling the water anymore). He kept trying to swim to me from the pool steps. He'd step off the ledge then kick his legs and generally wiggle around in the water until I retrieved him (which was probably no more than a second). It was really cute to see how much he enjoyed the water. He also decided that he wanted to jump to me from the edge of the pool. He only did that twice in a row today, but I think he liked the splash he made as he entered the water. And as I was helping him float in the pool today, I kept repeating "kick, kick, kick." Eventually, Max started saying it too (although his version sounded more like "ki, ki, ki").

We accompanied Esther and Janosch to the Brisbane Museum this week. It appeared to be an interesting museum, especially if you have a desire to see the creepy and scary things that live in this part of the world. I say "appeared" because I spent the whole time chasing a little boy who mostly wanted to ride the elevators and escalators, push buttons, walk through doors, and generally expend energy. We visited all three floors of the museum in 15-20 minutes just so Max could get his elevator fix. We spent most of the afternoon at the State Library in the Kid's Corner where there are computers, puzzles, books (of course), and other toys. Max spends at least 25 minutes of the time just pressing the keys on the computer's keyboard. It amazes me how much pleasure he gets from pushing buttons! No wonder he throws a tantie when I don't allow him to touch the phones.

The following two paragraphs of this week's entry will include our usual schedule. Skip them if you're not interested. They are tedious...but I know people like grandparents enjoy knowing a bit of the routine.

Max and I did our regular activities this week. Monday we got together with Esther and Janosch for swimming. Tuesday was Mom's group at our local park. Wednesday we went to Toddler's books and rhymes at the local library. Thursday was something new: we went to Tiny Tots in a nearby suburb. I think it is a bit like gymboree in that there is a great indoor play area and time to play and sing together too. Friday we went to Baby books and rhymes at the library (I think that is the last time we will go to that--he mostly wandered around the library plus next week he starts swimming on Friday mornings). Most evenings just before dinner, we go to the park. Some afternoons we go swimming. Tim leaves for work around 8am and returns 6:30-7pm. Max rises at 6:30ish and goes to bed around 8pm so Tim and Max have some time together before and after work. That's the extent of our weekday routine.

Saturday I play soccer while Tim and Max have some time alone together. Sunday is usually a family day, but this week, Tim is helping Eman plant some trees. After his nap, Max and I will take the citycat to New Farm Park where he can play. Malia and Eman live nearby so we will bbq at their place sometime this afternoon.

Max decided to become a pro walker this week. He doesn't crawl at all anymore. It's so fun to see him toddling around with his arms in the air for balance. Tim posted a video of Max on his facebook site: in the video, Max is wearing a kiddie towel with a hood (see photos) while he carries a book to me. The first time I saw him wearing that towel, I thougth he looked like a Jawa from the original Star Wars movie, especially when he was walking. Pretty funny.

Max is also trying to imitate some of the sounds that we make (and some words). I think he prefers the sounds like uh-oh, ei ei o, and panting ("dogs pant when they are warm") because vowels are easier. It's great to hear him trying to say things after I say them.

Things he loves this week: taking laundry off the drying rack and putting it into the wash basket, splashing in any water he can find, playing peekaboo, running with Dad. Things he dislikes: diaper changes, that he is not allowed to touch the computer.

Hervey Bay

We just returned from a weekend with our friends, Malia and Emmanuel, at Noosa and Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay is about 5 hours north of Brisbane and is famous for whale watching. We saw many mamas and calves. These humpback whales were on their way to Antarctica for a summer feeding frenzy. For some reason, they stop in Hervey Bay for a few days enroute.

Max really enjoyed playing in the waves at Noosa. A bit different than our trips to the beach last summer when he didn't want me to wade into the water if I was holding him. We had a great weekend.