Our Weekend

We had a reasonably busy day on Saturday. It was out to a birthday party in the morning which also involved a swim at the beach, then home for Ted's sleep and lunch for the rest of us. And after we went to EQ to meet up with Fiona and her boys for the shoot I organised to do for her in the SCPBA group. Then it was on to dinner at a Vietnamese place in Marrickville.

Actually despite what the photo implies, Harriet was in a great mood for most of the day. At the party the swim was so refreshing, and the weather was stunning. However Harry was trying to show the mother of the birthday boy a trick with her Bear (she placed him in a hat, spun him around and he 'flew' out in a dramatic fashion) and she was too busy with guests to pay her attention. Harriet was completely gutted and spent a teary moment in the corner of the gazebo where James and I tried to reason with her about the demands placed on a host.

When we came home she hyped up enough to help us fold some paper aeroplanes for Fiona's shoot and organise her own photo shoot for Bear and Chloe. I had a look through her shots in the car and they were pretty good! There are some total crack ups in there, with Bear and Chloe perched in precarious playground equipment and even a video specifically for me to watch which was a 'present for Mama'. Nawww she can be so sweet.

And now on Sunday - the two sides of Ted. In just this last week Ted has developed a particularly annoying habit - throwing food. Since he usually is eating on the floor you wouldn't think this could cause too much of a problem.

However we tend to eat a lot of messy foods - Vietnamese bowls were on the menu for tonight's dinner for example. So we're all sitting there sticking our hands into bowls and (what no doubt seems like to Ted) throwing our food around into our own bowls. So Ted decides to take it up on himself to try out this new idea - approach EVERY bowl and throw all the food inside each bowl randomly across the playroom floor. Within the space of about a minute there was cucumber, mint, vermicelli and (almost) crushed peanuts everywhere.

Moving into preservation mode, I managed to move him from the food quickly enough to prevent major disaster. He then proceeded to cry, hit his head, fall down on a wooden box with his bare butt, demand to see the moon (cloud cover prevent this dream from occurring), go into bed to sleep, come *out* of bed to continue playing, and cry again...did I mention crying?

AAARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this age, I really do. I'm not a baby person and when children start to be able to communicate life starts feeling a whole lot more free and fun. But there's a price. That communication means they will no longer be ignored or placated. NO WAY! God help us all - Ted is on the path to independence.


Although I wrote about Ted's current insatiable need to throw food and cause (relatively mild) chaos, I should still let it be known that he is incredibly gentle for a nearly-two-year-old. He doesn't feel the need to pull everything out of its place. He is quite happy to play with one toy and then move on to the next one. He will watch Harriet carefully without running in to destroy what she's doing (although he does do the latter every now and then!).

He listens. He responds. And when he's old enough I'm sure Harriet will put him to good use as her house servant (as her mother did to her younger brother before her). I love his gentle soul.

BUT WILL YOU PLEASE GO TO FREAKING SLEEP BEFORE TEN THIRTY AT NIGHT SO I CAN GET MY PAD DONE?!!!! ;o)