Sunday 28 September 2014

Eggs

Following my post from a few weeks ago about Miss 2 being a champion shopper, I've been a bit concerned that she thinks everything comes from the shop. While we have great aspirations to be some kind of urban permaculture champions, the reality at the moment is we have a few herbs and a chilli plant growing in the backyard.  Everything else pretty much does come from the shop.

So yesterday I had a bit of a win. We visited my parents for the first time in eight months and while we were there Miss 2 proudly picked up two eggs from the chook pen. I know this is everyday practice for many children and it was for me growing up too, but for Miss 2 it is pretty novel.  She proudly carried one in each hand and when we got home straight away put on her apron, scrambled them up, watched me cook them and ate them all up. It's only one little thing but it has got to be a step in the right direction.



Monday 15 September 2014

Beer babies

My husband is obsessed with brewing beer. As I sit here, I know the cupboards to my left which you would expect to be filled with books are actually filled with bottles of beer, the bathroom which we don't really use because Miss 2 is still bathed in the laundry trough (that's another story) has half-brewed beer stacked in it with towels over the top in case of explosion. Next there is the laundry where in amongst baby clothes I regularly come across what at first look like baby wraps but are actually some kind of muslin cloth that the beer is strained through. In the kitchen there are bottles with their labels soaking off and various brewing apperatus drying in the dish rack. It's all very neat and orderly and you may not even notice unless you look carefully but this hobby really is all encompassing. Often when we arrive home from somewhere, as soon as the children are sorted he nips out to the shed to check on the beer - his other babies.

A few weeks before the babies were born, Ed honestly sat me down and told me his efficiency strategies to ensure that the brewing didn't take up too much time and what he was hoping to achieve despite having three children under three. Namely this was to enter a brew in the Royal Show competition and to host several tasting events where his friends come over and literally sit around the table tasting beer and scoring it according to the Australian brewing standards. It all looks very serious until they each end up with a baby on their lap.

I genuinely love that he has a hobby. It's just a shame I don't really like beer. It seems to me that he manages to do most of the work while I'm not around or on sunny afternoons when we're all hanging around outside so still together. I have, however, noticed that the part which seems to take up a lot of time is waiting for water to boil which is neither fun nor interesting. So I've jumped onboard with his quest for efficiency and bought him a 40 litre electric urn for his Birthday. Problem solved! If it doesn't work out, we can just make lots of tea.





Wednesday 10 September 2014

The food shop

At the risk of alienating myself from what seems like every other parent in the world and jinxing my current situation, I'm going to say this - I quite like doing the food shopping with Miss 2.

I'm fortunate to live quite close so we tend to do lots of little shops. We walk up with the roadtrain; babies usually asleep in the capsules, Miss 2 on the board. As soon as we get there she jumps off and we have two activities which keep her very happy. The first is that she is in charge of the basket. Yes she is slow and sometimes she drops everything but if we're not in a hurry and its not too busy I just try to be patient and the worst thing that happens is we end up with a few bruised apples.

The second, my personal favourite, is when I read the list to her and she runs off to find the item.  "We need one red capsicum".  Run, run, run, "found it," she yells.  "Ok, now where's the milk?"  "In the fridge!" and off she runs.  I push the babies at my own pace picking up the rest of items as we go, she uses a bit of energy, makes a lot of people smile, a few people scowl (haters will be haters) and all in all it's quite a fun activity. 

I know I've only got one mobile child and it won't always be this easy but it is for now and that's all I'm worried about. Maybe in the future I'll be able to send all three off to get different things and be done in a third of the time. Maybe I'll take up online shopping. I don't know.







Thursday 4 September 2014

Appointment free week

I was looking at my calendar this week trying to work out what I'd forgotten as there was way too much free time. It turns out this is the first week in 2014 where I do not have to attend any medical appointments. Seriously. I am not exagerrating.  First it was all about the pregnancy, then the hospital stay and then the various check-ups, vaccinations and general baby related matters.  

When I was pregnant, people were constantly telling me how important being on a schedule would be with twins and I was also told pretty clearly that the babies would likely arrive early. However, no one told me that premature babies require approximately one million follow-up appointments and therefore it would be impossible to stick to a routine.  So now that the appointments are slowing down let's hope there is improvement.

However, I'm not confident this is going to happen as rather than staying home and working on the sleep issues, I'm excited to actually have time to get out and do things.  The weather is fining up and I'm looking forward to spending time sitting around in parks.  Much like I did for J's first Summer.