Crazy Children

Teddy is so, so adorable. His latest interest is wheels. When he's playing with one of Harriet's vehicles, he'll give it a cursory push across the floor but the real excitement comes when he turns the things upside down and checks outt he wheels spinning around. Oh man, the thrill! The excitement!

But that's about on par with the thrill of sitting INSIDE something. Did you know that sitting inside the laundry basket is pretty much the best thing you can do when you're nearly 9mths old? You didn't? Well get thee to a laundry and check it out for yourselves. If he's sitting next to the laundry basket he'll start pulling it over and trying to get inside, it's very cute (if not slightly dishevelling for the clothes inside). Combine that with the thrill of sitting inside something with water in it and...well...that's up there in competition for milk. This was the sight that greeted me today when I went outside to hang the washing up. Both children naked, hunkered down in their own little waterworlds. Looks quiet doesn't it? Sorry to burst your bubble but Harry still manages to find a way to make noise even when doubled over - in this photo I'm sure she was counting up to 50 very loudly if memory serves me correctly.

Speaking of counting - she has this big poster that has the numbers from zero to 99 on it and at the top it reads 'Counting is Fun' (blergh I know). Anyway one day she went out to her craft drawer, cut up some pieces of paper, got the sticky tape and went up to the poster and covered up the words 'counting' and 'fun'. HA! Love it! She said "It's not fun, just counting on and on like that". But she does seem to have a reasonable grasp on numeracy, and can perform some basic mental arithmetic (stuff like "What's 3 plus 2?") without pausing to think about it much. She's also right into the ABC Reading Eggs site. She sped through all of the maps and got up to Map 9 - only to find out that there was no Map 9! So her interest in it waned somewhat while we waited for the new map to appear. But the site has been a godsend for me, sicne it keeps her entertained for the ten minutes it takes to put Ted to sleep during the day.

It really only takes about 10mins for him to go down to sleep but Harriet seems to come in at 9mins to ask me in a really loud stage whisper just above his head "MAMA! IS TEDDY ASLEEP YET? I'M REALLY STARVING RIGHT NOW". Bless her little heart she really is trying to be quiet, and she really is always starving that's no exaggeration. I can't wait for the summer stone fruits to become readily available and cheap so that there is always something available in the fridge for her to eat.

Teddy started on solids recently and when I say he started on solids, what I really mean is that he has occasionally let the smell of solid food waft past his mouth. We're doing baby led solids with him (which basically means no pureed food, just normal adult food that he can hold and feed himself) as well as no wheat products or sugar or processed foods...which basically leaves him with fruit and vegetables (which is all he'd need if that). I think today was the most he has ever eaten, and consisted of two dobs of babganoush on my finger that he eagerly jammed into his mouth and about half of the inside of one prune sucked out of its skin. A discerning palate. Nothing matches my awesome milk! It obviously has some fantastic weight gain properties, I should start marketing to body builders.

The relationship between Harriet and Teddy is really gorgeous. Harry calls him her "gee-jah" and that's about as close to a phonetic interpretation of it that I can manage. Not sure quite how it evolved, but he gets called Geejah quite a lot around here. She loves to hug him...and it's not that she hugs him hard or without recognising his cues of distress, it's just that she always chooses to give him massive body hugs whilst he's in a ridiculous position - such as midway between being picked up by me or something. One thing they do love to do together is jump on the bed. Ted is mental for a great big jump and Harriet thinks it's hilarious to see him jumping with her so with a little help from me the two of them have jump and giggle time most days which is totally adorable to see. Unfortunately I can't video it because I'm holding up 11kgs of lard at the time.

He is in the middle of about three teeth erupting at the moment too. He has two fangs, two lower incisors and is cutting the top middle two incisors and one of the lower ones to the side of the middles as well. And you barely know it! It's incredible! After Harriet's mammoth teething experience it seems a dream to have this baby who continues to smile and laugh and play despite having two big holes in his gum when you peek inside his mouth. The amber necklace seems to be worth it's weight in gold and so DEFINITELY worth the $40 or so it cost. The one we bought is beautiful - nice rounded pieces of amber, on gorgeous silk with an awesome silver clasp. I highly recommend this place to buy them from - Karri Tree Lane. He's not rolling, not crawling in just the same way Harry didn't either. He does go on his belly and flail around wildly though. In the last couple of days he has started making very deliberate "buh" and "bah" sounds as well as constant raspberries which must make his lips tingle. I can barely repeat it to him, my lips can't handle it!

Harriet has been taking heaps of videos of late, so I'll scour through her collection and see if there's anything I can post that is particularly representative of our day and the craziness that goes on. I'm not sure quite how we're managing it but we all end up being fed, clothed in clean clothes, well stocked kitchen and entertained. How it happens seems to be complete luck but it's definitely fun. And anyone with more than two children - how do you get anything done?!