Harry in Newtown Today

Cass just sent me this photo, I though it was pretty cute so posted it! Harry looks like she's about 10 years old in this one...

Playing House

The weather was stunning today, so we did what most families did today. Absolutely nothing special at all. But of course those are the days that end up being so wonderful. It started with a lot of pruning in the backyard. By pruning I mean ripping out significant portions of the backyard, much to Harriet's delight. She helped us do lots of pruning (you can see in this first photo that her little hand is on the large garden shears to guide Papia's hand). Then whilst we broke down some of the larger parts of the plant, Harriet requested her own scissors (kiddy paper scissors) to cut off the leaves from the smaller branches. She was quite insistent on "Finish job Mamia, cutting leaves to help make garden nice for when people come over", even though we were trying to move along and go shopping at this stage.

Then it was out for a little shop, buying stuff for a bbq later today. We went for a drive to see a house that some friends are hopefully buying on Monday and then it was homeward bound, where we sat outside in our newly prned backyard. The mosquito coils were in overdrive (Harry is incredibly sensitive to mosquito bites) but it was pure heaven sitting out there drinking our beers (Harry downed hers pretty quickly), eating our burgers and licking the beetroot juice. Harriet has found a new love - baby beets! She kept asking for more and more baby beets and delighted in showing off her beetroot stained fingers.

I had to laugh though. In just the last entry I described how she scrubs down the chair at Montessori. Well today I was in the kitchen washing down her step (that allows her to stand up at the bench with us) and I stopped. I thought "What the hell am I doing?!", reached down, took the step outside and grabbed Harry's scrubbing brush and some water. She then spent a good twenty minutes scrubbing down her step and did a good sight better job than I could have done!

ps - remember to click on the photos to see them a lot larger

A Bit Boring Around Here (apparently)

Harry told me the other morning as we were chatting in bed "Mama, bit boring in bed now. Let's go out playroom maybe." I love how she's been talking like this lately. We can have proper conversations about things too. Last night she was a bit upset in her swimming class (not anything to do with swimming, one of the boys threw his arm [accidentally] across her and she got freaked out by it, she's not a fan of children touching her, they're too unpredictable I think). Anyway, today we were able to have a little discussion about how "You don't like Emma anymore" (Emma is the teacher). And it was great, she was able to articulate her reasons and emotions. She is a real little person now and we can be assured of her letting us know exactly what she's thinking and feeling at any given moment.


In other unrelated news to this blog, I am now the proud owner of a 24-70mm f2.8 L lens. If you know what this means then you know why I'm excited! It wasn't until today that I finally got a chance to take some 'proper' photos. The first shot in this entry is Harriet with the delectable Miss Tessa, born a couple of weeks late (Nadia has a very comfortable womb apparently) on the 20th. I am so excited - a newborn to practise on. YAY! But this photo here is one I took as a complete snapshot on Saturday when we went to Paddington Markets. I could not believe just how crisp the image is!


*ahem* So, suffice to say that the blog may be a little picture-heavy over the next few months as the love affair continues between myself and Larry (the lens). So back to the main topic here - Miss Harry. Last week she had her first day at what we have been calling 'little school' - her Montessori playgroup for 0-3yr olds. The facilitator there discussed with me how it normally takes children about five weeks to stop wanting to grab everything off and want it *now*. Of course you already know what I'm going to say. By the end of the first morning Harriet was totally in the rhythm of bringing one item to the mat and then returning it carefully to where it came from. She also mastered pouring the water from the little water jug, using the tongs to pick up her own food and buttering her bread. This girl is pure Montessori!

In the chair photo she is doing one of her favourite activities - chair washing. They have these little 'stations' set up where the children engage in all of the 'work' surrounding on activity. Here Harry has collected water from a big tub in a cup adn then poured it into her little tray. Next she wet down the chair with a sponge, then rubbed the nail brush over the soap and scrubbed down the chair with lots of suds. Once that was over she wiped it down with another sponge and dried it off with a teatowel. Of course she also loved to wash it down with the washboard there as well.



Ummm...what else have we been up to? Harry loves to tell us when we're doing things incorrectly. "No Marm, not like that, like this". She'll then demonstrate her specific method of flicking a marble across a room/pushing a doll stroller/holding a marker, you get the picture. The 'Marm' thing is specific to that sentence too, funny monkey. Her sense of time is functional too, she's often telling me all about how she wants to do this "later" and "right now". Actually 'right now' is a funny one, becasue I'll say to her "We're going in the car" meaning that I am about to pick up my bag and we'll be heading out in the next minute - she looks at me and says quite emphatically "Not right now". Wel of course she's technically correct, we're not getting in the car right now. Damn this toddler logic!

These photos of her look almost evil, she's having so much fun! She's having the very occasional meltdown lately when things happen that neither of us can control adn which she doesn't really understand. Today for example, we couldn't get out her favourite book from the library because it was on loan already. Oh dear. She got very very VERY upset about that and wandered the library telling me not to follow her. She doesn't like to be consoled or touched or anything when she gets upset and is quite happy to engage with her emotions. I'm currently reading 'Raising our Children, Raising Ourselves' by Naomi Aldort which is a timely tome for me in my parenting journey. I highly recommend it.

Hairdresser

Here is a video of Harry pretending to be a hairdresser. Just trying out the video upload feature. Unfortunately we have to be really sneaky with our videos so they're few and far between and only on the silly phone video. But she is still super cute.

Cute Sayings

* Apparently everything can be removed with a "wet finger". Harry will see a mark on the floor or wall and say "wet finger", pop her finger in her mouth and then wipe it over the offending spot.

* "Come ON Mamia/Papia" - said with absolute impatience whilst waiting for Mama or Papa to drag their feet along (read: pick up the various assorted items left in Harry's wake)

* "Harry-ret [surname] Dora" is how she says her name. The funny order is because we taught her that her name is Harriet [surname] and then later on included the Dora, but the order that she learnt it is what sticks now.

* "wailing cry" - when she gets really upset (what others no doubt call 'tantrums'), Harry runs crying to the back glass door and bangs her hands on it as if to say "Let me outta here, these people are killing me!". Poor child, you'd think we deprived her daily.

* "ROCK! Look Mama, you doing rock now" - She says this when she almost gets the horns of Satan up and running, but really what she has is a pinky up, a thumb out and all the rest of them folded down.

* Pronouns are still a source of fun/confusion! She wet James in the bath and said "My shirt wet" (meaning his shirt was wet). It can make for some confusing moments especially with other people!

* " You want new one" - this is doled out pretty much whenever something has been used once or dropped on the floor. If you ask her where to acquire this new one the answer is invariably "shop". We're working hard on that consumerist issue.

* "shit" - said quite clearly when she is asking for her daily 'fish' (omega 3 capsule). She says 'f' as 'sh' all the time.

* "Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Mmmm, yeah!" - this is something that needs to be heard rather than written, because it's a series of intonations that she and I do to each other that just makes her crack up laughing.

* "boybunny duck" - the name Harry has given to her little duck in the bath. The Mamabunny, boybunny phenomenon has been discussed in a previous post, and it resonates within every fibre of our existence, even progressing to making an in-bath appearance.

* "Mama coot", "Mama miss you lots yoga", "Papa miss you lots work" - awwww.....birds and butterflies dancing around our heads with the whimsy and love of it all. Yes Harriet says these things to us and we melt accordingly. Goddamn but she is adorable.

* "Good sleep" - Every morning when we come out into the study, James is sitting at the computer and Harry and I walk in. James asks me every morning "Good sleep last night?". Yesterday Harriet walked out, looked at James and before he could say anything, said very matter-of-factly "Good sleep" and kept on walking. It was classic!

* "Konnichi-ha" - this is how she says konnichiwa, it's very 'coot'.

* "Talk about someping" - When Harryret is sitting down on the toilet, in the bath, eating some food, she'll often ask you to engage in conversation with her in this fashion.

* "Just hanging around" - The answer given when I asked her what she was doing as she was leaning against the wall with her arm up and her ankles crossed.

We've had this list in the drafts section of here for a while now and almost forgot to post it!

Paternity Testing Unrequired

We went in for a big day last week to the Art Gallery, yum cha and then the Museum on a weekday. We were able to cajole Jimbo away from work for the yum cha and an amble through Hyde Park to check out the photography exhibition they have there.

Check out these two would you?! Harry loves going on her Papia's shoulders and Papia kinda likes it a little himself. I love the touch of her hands reaching under his chin in the first photo. So cute!

New Favourite Song

Well, Harriet has a new favourite song - and it takes a little explanation. As mentioned before, she has lately been getting into learning words and letters at Starfall. One of the animations has a little boy saying "I am a boy!" said staccato fashion. Well, Harriet became somewhat obsessed with this particular animation and started running around saying "I am a boy!" all the time. We were in the car with the iPod on (Play School, as you do) and she started saying it over and over. Not missing an opportunity to hopefully play some real music, I said "I know a song about 'I am boy' - I have it on my iPod". This elicited much excitement and exhortations to "play 'I am a boy' song". So, I put on "For Today I am a Buoy" by Antony & The Johnsons. She loved it, and now makes us play it every time we get in the car. I'm very excited that she loves a non-kiddy song, and in my opinion it's a particularly interesting song for a two year old girl to be into... (if you don't know it you can hear a sample here). The biggest problem is that now she wants me to sing it, and it's not that easy to sing (actually, impossible if you're as bad a singer as me)

Our Daughter, The Realist

Some developmental changes are gradual, slowly accumulating over time so that one night it feels as though you're compiling a list of words Harriet says on the blog and then the very next night you're writing about how you and her were chatting about how her 'friends' are coming over and discussing what they may and may not like to do and eat when they get here. Then there are some developmental changes that are black and white, with change occuring in the blink of an eye and you realise that irreversible change has occured whilst you lay sleeping next to this amazing little girl.


Overnight Harriet has decided she likes to draw people. One day she went to sleep just drawing circles and spirals and the odd triangle. The next morning she woke up and started drawing people with 'features' (well as close as you get with a two year old). She does a running commentary whilst she draws, some of which I've added in on the second photo. She talks to herself but it's in her 'soft' voice which means that anyone within a five metre radius can hear it over a jackhammer (rather than the usual twenty metre radius in action).


She has a running commentary "Ok, head... hair... (sometimes long hair) with eyes.... looong legs... then body... forgot ginah... round bottom... more hair... (sometimes glasses too)", all said as she is drawing her little masterpiece. In this shot you can see in the middle of the whiteboard there's a lady with a baby too. She's drawn various additions to these figures, such as clips in the hair and glasses, but hasn't progressed to drawing arms unless you prompt her. If she drew the separate elements of her figures in relative proportion, rather than all over the top of everything else she's drawn, she would actually be going close to drawing proper stick figures. Sure, they'd be armless, but I never was that great at anatomy either.


Today we had a few people over for a barbecue. Harry was so excited and after people had gone kept talking about how her "friends came over your house". She is just so self regulating it's unbelievable. Here she is helping James with the food, but she kept a good distance from the hotplate, refusing to get any closer because "hot there Papia".

Another thing Harriet says lately which is a crack up - "somewhere" and "something". You aske her where she'd like a doll or toy to be put down - "Oh somewhere Mamia", she'll say, waving a disinterested arm over in the direction of another corner of the playroom. However don't be lulled into a false sense of security. If you fail to place said item in the secretly determined correct spot (that "somewhere" is not as negotiable as it may suggest) then Harriet will gently reprimand you. "No, Mamia, put it over here where you can play". Okkkkk......

No, Mamia

Michelle, I'm sorry about the lateness of my post! Last week we were all, one at a time, struck down with varying degrees of gastro. Poor Harriet woke up at 3am vomiting which was less than fun. She watched her first ever television that day, 30 minutes of Play School, because all she could do was sit there listlessly but didn't want to actually engage with anything poor babe.

But this week has been much brighter! Harriet is really using much more sophisticated language lately, saying things such as :

"Look outside Mama, beautiful day"
" You worried about Doll falling out"

" You not sad Mama, you upset"

"You don't like Ruby playing with your dollhouse"

Of course the pronoun issue is still with us, although she still does have the odd lapse into using the correct term every now and then.

Everything about her this week has really matured. Her play is much more autonomous now. In the first photo she has all of her dolls lined up on their cushions to keep them "comfortable" and then went along giving them all cuddles, checking their ears with her otoscope, giving them a kiss goodnight and "lie on top of me" which, in real life is when she lies on top of me to go to sleep, but in the case of her dolls was her lying on top of them. She can get very cosy with those dolls I tell you.

Just to show that I'm not lying or making it up, this is a little artistic installation she constructed while I was making Doll a dress the other day. She loves playing with the pins and I have stopped worrying about her because she is so careful with them, picking them up tentatively by the correct end, placing them in the little rosette and here putting them in some buttons, funny bunny.

Last weekend we washed Gromit. Gromit has had a rather hard life so far, and the colour of the water after we washed him was testament to that. He now looks so clean I worry that it's a different plush toy swapped secretly in the backyard where he lay drying overnight.

Harriet's issues of ownership seemed to have skipped the manic grabbing and screaming of "MINE!" that toddlers seem to have and moved on to a quiet authoritative, propriety. Admittedly she does occasionally say "Yours!" (her equivalent of mine of course) but she will more often push your hand away gently and say "No Mamia, Harriet's. You need your own [cashews, doll, book, etc.]". She also has no problem telling you exactly what she wants - one of the most oft heard phrases around these parts is "No, Mamia, no touch Harriet's hair ok?" as I trot after her trying to tame the birds nest exploding from the back of her head after yet another night's restless sleep.

For those of you interested in how her interest in reading is progressing, well it is quite firmly established. After only a couple of looks at Starfall, she now confidently knows all of the letters we've had a chance to look at (so I'd say about 80% of the alphabet) although she does still get 'o' and 'e' mixed up but that's more to do with their similarity of shape I think. I have been so worried about not pushing her that I think I've gone the other way! She was so excited to play with the starfall site that she kept asking for "more letters at the puter Mamia". I didn't even think it was doing much more than acting as light entertainment for her to tell you the truth, but then in one of the sequences I asked her which shape to put in place to make a word (they have shapes with letters inside that you put into a 'jigsaw' that spell out 'jump' in one section) and instead of saying "triangle" like I thought she would, she said "em, mmm, em", pointing at the 'm'. And she then proceeded to do similar things when I asked her, so it's definitely something she's enjoying.

We also met up with my lovely friend Melinda up at the hospital the other day, and Harry was in fine form, chatting away, posing for photos with the ease of a supermodel and generally being lots of fun. Melinda's daughter Luca is apparently very chatty too, so we're planning a get together with the two of them which will no doubt involve us not being able to get a word in. The other big event of this week was having Miss Ruby over for a play. Harriet had an absolute ball! Except of course for when Harry told me at the time and afterwards that she wasn't happy about Ruby touching her dollhouse. But I think she was more than just a little bit happy when she was covered from head to toe with in paint, mud and water from playing outside with Ruby. I think Ruby may have even had more fun than Harriet, but they are definitely great mates an d can play together pretty much effortlessly which is mighty handy considering Nadia is due any day now!