The Hard Life of Harriet

It's so difficult being Harriet. Receiving love and adoration wherever you go. Being picked up for spontaneous big squeezes and kisses because you're just being so damn cute. When Nana was over for a short visit Harriet was in heaven. Not only did she get to hang out with her, show her all of her favourite things (and sing it too of course) and just generally talk her ear off, she also got to....wait for it....watch The Sound of Music with her! *shock* Seriously, I don't think life gets any better than that for this girl. She was actually pushing James nad I out of the door saying "You can go to the cinema now" (we were off to see a movie, hallelujah).

There were many tears when she left but luckily we were able to discuss how she's going to see Nana and Grandpa again at Christmas which isn't too far away (gawd, how did that happen?). Plus she's very excited about the possibility of going on a boat with all of us - she keeps asking why she doesn't have a boat of her own to go sailing on the water in...hmm...eating and living in a house or paying the cost of a berth (let alone the boat itself!). So seems like she is keeping up her interest in all things water-based, and we have to get around to re-enrolling her in swimming lessons.

The other day Harry was suddenly overcome by the slovenly nature of her kitchen. You may remember it from Christmas two years ago (what, you don't memorise this blog? Maybe check here then). Well the pots and pans were apparently in need of a clean, so she sorted out her step adn brought over all the pots, pans, cups, saucers and teapot. She then set to work with her typically industrious nature and got all of her washing up completed. Then it was back to work making a tea party.

The other day I thought I would try to remember all of the games she would play in one day. After about 10am my head hurt with the trying, so I gave up. This photos is her in her spaceship - the outfit is not a random ensemble however, oh no. It is carefully executed galactic performance clothing. The hat is the visor to protect her face from the rays of the sun on Mars (oh we also went to Saturn, so not too sure about how it performed there), the gloves protect her hands from the space rocks she needs to collect to take back to Earth, the tshirt and shorts were selected in order to maintain optimum solar reflection and space dust danger ("it keeps the dust off my body and that makes me very happy") and just in case you miss it, hidden behind the sleeping bag that constitutes her spaceship sleeping bay lies the torch. The torch is a big hit lately and has been around with us everywhere - even making an appearance at Playgroup today.

A funyn little anecdote from today as well. Tonight we were sitting around chatting before Harry went to bed and she was telling us about the game she was playing with Ruby and another boy at the park. Turns out Ruby said "Let's go and hunt a bear for dinner" to which Harriet said "I'm going to find a baby bear and take care of it". Go Harriet the animal-loving vegetarian! James and I had a big laugh at that and I had to give her a huge hug. What a sweet chicken. And while we're on the subject of her vegetarianism, today we were paying at the supermarket and the man asked if I needed a plastic bag (since my green bag was overflowing). I declined and Harry piped up with a very assured "We're kind to the Earth, we don't use plastic bags". The man smiled at her and I and then Harry continued..."We're vegetarian too, that means we're kind to the Earth". At that the guy laughed out loud and Harry was very excited to think that she'd 'converted'. I think her shy period lasted for all of about two weeks, where she would hug around my leg for the first two minutes fo meeting someone new. Now when she meets someone new, she launches straight into telling them all about her life, her loves, her pretend play. Today a man knocked on the door and she ran up to him and said clear as a bell "I'm Liesl from The Sound of Music. Really I'm Harriet but I'm just pretending, ok?". He looked a little taken aback, but hey, he knocked on *our* door.

As far as being kitchen savvy goes, this chicky babe really is pretty clued in. She really loves making banana smoothies ("moovies") and will truly make the whole thing herself, including cutting up the banana into perfectly sized pieces. Here she's helping Jimbo make what we call a 'Jamie' - a big fry up (without oil) of eggs, sausages and roasted tomatoes. A weekend special!

And speaking of tomatoes, to take an aside here, we have a bounty of tomatoes just about to ripen. Well they're all big adn green, so turning red has got to happen soon, right? Although it feels like forever waiting! The other week we had the most incredible number of broadbeans so dinner was particularly scrumptious. Mmmmmm...

And in other news, today Snippy has been really kicking. He's had a few little pokes and prods in the past week or so, but today it has been undeniably forceful! He really liked it when I was reading books to Harriet. And seeing what a huge proportion of my time is dedicated to that particular pursuit, I'm sure I'll be feeling many more. And we think we've finally decided on a boy's name. Scan is in two weeks, so we'll know whether we need it or not.

This is Not Harriet

Sure, it looks like Harriet and by hell I can tell you it sure SOUNDED like Harriet. But ask her and you'll soon find out that it is actually Liesl. And believe it or not, she's 16 going on 17. She has a boyfriend named Rolfe and he's 17 going on 18. Sometime (at any given time during the day) it will start to rain and she will feel compelled to start sprinting to the 'gazebo' (read: any designated space about ten metres away from where she's standing). Once there, the gazebo will require much spinning, twirling and jumping. Some call it dancing - actually Harry/Liesl may be the only one to call her robotic contortions 'dancing' but it's done with gusto that's for sure.

If you have no idea what I'm writing about then you either a.) are male or b.) do not know Harriet.

ps - I am starting to find it hard to block out 16 going on 17 from my mind as I'm going to sleep....HELP!

Edelweiss

The funny thing about Harriet is that even when you expect the unexpected, you're still surprised. This morning she called out for me and I went into her room, laid down in bed with her and got all snuggled up together. In that drowsy, hazy, half-asleep frame of mind, Harriet turns to me with her face all smooched into mine and asks me : "Mama, why do people believe in god?".

*sigh*

I mean, give a woman a chance to have a cup of coffee in the morning, before dealing with major existential, socially inquiring topics. Oh damn, that's right, I'm not having coffee any more. Bummer.

The weather has been crazy here in Sydney lately, just so freezing cold that we're breaking out the winter hats and coats and heaters. My main concern has been the tomato plants in the vegie patch - they are taller than me and some of their boughs are heavy with fruit so they get bowed down very easily in the wind. Anyone know where I can grab some 2metre-odd high stakes? Are tomato plants even supposed to grow this high?!

We had Jan over here yesterday from Perth and Harriet nearly had a heart attack when she woke up and saw Nana lying on her lounge! After about five minutes of shyness she was back in with gusto and by the time we went to the cafe for lunch she was already serenading the waiter there with some Sound of Music classics.

Not much to write about at the moment. Snippy is growing and I'm at that awkward stage of being between normal and maternity clothes. We have a girl's name all picked out but that amounts to little when we're both pretty sure that Snippy is a boy, so we need boy name suggestions! We're going to be buying a new (well, second hand) car soon to accommodate Snippy's arrival and Jimbo's height. Poor boy has a saggy patch on the ceiling where his head scrapes it inside the car and he has Harry's legs swinging into his left arm as he changes gears. Time to upgrade!

Harriet Keeps On Talking

This photo shows a particularly happy Harriet. Well you may wonder why. See that in her hands? That is the camera we bought her for her birthday. And see that background? It's a hospital - we were visiting Naomi and her new baby son William. So there was Harriet, seeing a baby and holding a camera. It was her idea of heaven! In fact when we had to leave she collapsed on the floor sobbing "I don't want to leave, I love baby William". Tessa, watch out! You have a new rival!

This photo represents a wonderful moment for me. Silence. Here Harriet is immersed in her favourite book of the moment - The Wizard of Oz. This is a beautiful book that she received for her birthday from the lovely Jo and her hilarious daughter Daisy. In it there is a long but still abridged version of TWOO, Pinnochio and Alice in Wonderland. It has stunning illustrations and Harriet enjoys nothing better than to sit and immerse herself in the land of Oz for an hour or so with this tome. Jo we can't thank you enough! Harry is also sporting her first set of plaits in this shot. Earlier in the day we had gone to have Snippy's scan and whilst bored, lying there for over an hour waiting for the recalcitrant child to get into position (yes, it took that long!) I absentmindedly plaited a section of my hair. Harry was entranced and when we got home, requested her own plaits. To my astonishment she even acquiesced to the need for stillness and hair brushing to achieve the end result. Much self adoration in the mirror afterwards and then it was on to reading.

Speaking of reading, her recent move into the world of reading seems to coincide with a huge explosion in her talking. Not just what she says (but yes, that has become much more complex and detailed), but how much she says and how often! She does not stop all day! One of her latest topics of conversation is the story of William's birth, which she loves to tell in detail. Tonight (after a particularly trying day today - everything she touched spilt/broke/cracked, everywhere we tried to go took forever due to dawdling) she ran up to the door when James came home. "Where's Mama?" he asked her. "She's in the play lounge room. She's tired." "Oh, did she tell you that?" "No, I just know she's tired cos she's got a baby in her belly." It may also have something to do with the exuberant three year old I'm hanging around with all day too you know.

Last week we went in to Circular Quay to see the children's activity 'We Built This City'. Any Starship reference has got me at hello, but Harry wasn't so convinced. I had to show her a little clip online of what the whole thing was about. Essentially this group fence off a section of the forecourt and then make heaps and heaps of cardboard boxes of all different sizes and children (and their parents - in some cases exclusively the parents!) build houses, towers, freeform sculptures, or just sit and watch. It wa heaps of fun, but at first Harry only wanted to watch from the steps and eat her lunch. Once she saw a baby in there crawling around she felt like joining in, but by this stage it was their lunch break so we had to kill 90mins at the very boring CQ. But eventually we got in for the next session and Harry had a blast! It had started out being a really cool and overcast day but quickly and unexpectedly turned into a hot and humid day, so as you can see, poor little Harry was a bit on the hot and bothered side. But that failed to stop her love of all things cardboard!

Here she is inside a big house some older boys and their mum made, supervising by the looks of it. The mum took a shine to Harry and kept asking her to help with some boxes. Harry of course kept on studiously ignoring her as she built her own little tower. It was so much fun, my only suggestion though is that they should have had a sun sail over the area - there were quite a few beet-faced children around.

Also if Harry could see you all, she'd be yelling out "POKE!", poking you gently in the belly and then running away giggling. Don't ask us, the child is crazy.

Crazy Child

We're still dealing with her 'being Dorothy' (which sounds so suited to the Inner West lifestyle it's a little scary) on an hour-by-hour basis. Today she asked me to share the painting with her so I rolled up my sleeves and joined in. I painted a sort of blobby tree (anyone who knows me will be perfectly aware of just how substandard my artistic ability is) and showed Harry. She then grabbed her big paintbrush and painted all over it whilst saying "No, this is to go in an art gallery and you can't have pictures like that in art galleries". Not quite sure what that was all about!

We also went to a little play/musical aimed at 3-5yr olds today. Note to Self: Harriet is a pragmatist. All she knew of it was the title: Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat. So when we went inside and sat down, there was a musician doing some really cool stuff on stage. "Where's the cat, Mama?". Repeat x5. The play started and there was the woman playing Milli, she had a little intro part, then went off stage. When the actors playing the cat and Jack came on, Harry asked again "Where's the cat, Mama?". I explained how the man with the big tail coming out of his bottom was pretending to be a cat. Oh no! The tears began "That's NOT a cat Mama, that's a MAN! And where's the GIRL?". "What girl, Harry?" "The girl, Milli." "That was the girl who was on before." "NOOOOOOoooo, that wasn't a girl that was an ADULT and there is supposed to be a GIRL and a CAT".

You can probably guess that within about ten minutes she was asking me to go home. And after another five minutes she turned to me mournfully and asked "Why haven't we gone home yet?". So I don't know that Harry is a particularly astute theatre critic at this stage.

We were at a friend's house yesterday where we read a book about a princess who holds a tea party. We read the book at about 11am. We left after about 2pm, with no further mention of it until we were about five minutes from home when Harry pipes up with from the back seat "I want to have a tea party like that princess. And have smoothies. And have cupcakes like she had." So we did a quick detour on the way home and bought the couple of ingredients that we needed. Then came home and proceeded to have a tea party, where the party aspect was so much fun that she forgot until about 4.30pm that we had made the cupcakes at all. Since then we've had a tea party set up in the playroom most of the time. She obviously loves to entertain. When you ask her the names of her friends who are coming to the tea party, she says "I don't know, they haven't arrived yet."


Oh and I keep meaning to blog about her reading. The other week she was sitting in the playroom adn I heard her reading her phonics book out loud to herself. There are two large consonants on either side of a window which has a wheel showing each of the vowels. She was sitting there sounding out the letters and then putting them all together as a word. "Buh...uh..guh...bug!" Then she'd turn the wheel and sound it out again, "Buh...i...guh....big". And she can recognise by sight quite a few words as well, so I really should have blogged this by now! She is quite stubborn though and if she doesn't want to read something then she'll yell out "NO! YOU read it!" if you ask her what a particular word is. Funny chicken.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Disclaimer: the above video will make no sense unless you read on and also click on the links (well, the second link anyway).

Disclaimer II: the above video will probably still make little sense after you've watched both links and read the story. Welcome to our world.

When Harriet grabs hold of an interest, well this child really holds on with all fours and some darn sharp teeth. Case in point: today. For the past couple of months I've been singing her 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' as a lullaby when it's my turn to put her to sleep. She's been increasing her requests for it over the past few weeks and this morning I thought I'd show her the clip from the movie of Judy Garland singing it. This is what she watched here.

Then while we were watching that for the second time I remembered that I had watched a clip of a little girl singing it on a show in Britain. I found that too, here. I thought Harry would enjoy seeing a little girl performing and I was right; Harriet was entranced with both of them and we watched them over and over again. In the second clip I'm not sure if it was the pregnancy hormones or not but I was sitting behind her surreptitiously wiping away the tears. Something about that little girl's voice made me just lose it!

So anyway, for the rest of the afternoon, Harry would alternate between being the 'big girl' (Dorothy/Judy Garland) who "lives on a farm and loves her animals, especially Toto" and had her little plush dog in her arms (funnily enough, today he acquired the name Toto as well, in an amazing turn of serendipity) and being the 'little girl' Connie. Now Connie sings quietly and Dorothy sings loudly. And Harriet was more than eager to explain this difference by example all afternoon.

We were walking up to the vet's and Harriet started telling me all about how if you went in one direction it made the new country (the land of Oz, I told her a very abridged version of the story) come up and if you went in the other direction it made the farm come back. And Dorothy was very gentle with Connie and she went to school but Connie didn't, so when Harriet was being Dorothy she knew all sorts of things that Connie didn't (like how you can peel the bark off the paper tree we were walking past "You see that Mama? Connie doesn't know about things like that cos she is only a little girl. I think maybe that she even doesn't know about things like how horses eat hay and stuff" was one of the rambling sentence groups that kind of made up her very animated conversation this afternoon).

When we got home at about 4pm it was like she was completely drunk (and for all I know, probably she'd been swigging some of my Maison, the scamp) . This video was taken after she'd been awake for about 12hrs straight and if you remember that episode of The Simpsons...well, if she knew what a hummingbird was she would have been doing the same thing.

Essentially she gets the bare bones of whatever she is interested in lately and then "I make up my own version of the story now". So in the video she is talking about how Dorothy is watching Connie from the audience (but up the back which is why you don't see her in the video clip) and claps her and gets her down from the stage. Harry is often quite interested/concerned about how people get in and out of places, especially those shopfronts in food courts where they have a little counter that lifts up to get out.

Anyway, this video offers you a very long six minute window into our world of late. Harry gets very overtired by bedtime when she wakes up early in the morning and we often get these slightly hysterical rantings in a show-like form. Personally I love how she is quite expressive with her hands. Dunno where she gets that little trait from.

What She's Up To

Since it's been a while between posts (to say the least, I know) I thought I'd give you all an update on what Harriet likes doing and playing. I also just wanted to point out that this first photo looks much better if you double click on it and see it BIG. That is a whole lot of pasta sauce on her face there (and on her brand new top she was wearing as well!).

The Sound of Music is a huge hit here. When the full-on lethargy hit at about 7wks I could barely keep my eyes open by about 3pm. So we rolled out our tv (it lives in a little cupboard and doesn't actually have an aerial, so it's more a glorified computer screen for DVDs) and Harry got to live large by watching some of her very first screen time. I got out TSOM and just chose the chapters that had the child-friendly songs (Favourite Things, 16 going on 17, Doh Re Mi) as well as the introductory thingy where the children are all introduced to Maria. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time but she was so besotted with the experience that we have had to re-enact the secnes over and over and over again! She likes to be Liesl or Gretel, depending on whether she's scared of the thunder storm and wants to sing Favourite Things or whether she wants to dance and pretend that I'm Rolf (the boyfriend for the uninitiated).

She is obssessed (or in Harriet-speak, 'besest') with what things are 'good for the earth'. Today she was spraying water out in a fine mist with her spray bottle and said to me "This is a cloud that has been out to sea. It has picked up some water from the ocean and is now spraying it out over the plants to make them grow and be happy. All of this makes the earth happy". She also quizzes me about why we are using the car when there is the chance of using public transport or walking instead. Of course the answer to that is actually because of Harry! She's not able to walk far enough or we've been talking about how to look after her babies for so long at home that we're now running late for where we're going - these are the two major reasons and when I tell her one of those she gets quite upset and says "But I can walk very very far Mama" or "But I had to put my baby to sleep (for twenty minutes?!)". But she's always very ready and capable to discuss anything you might want to disagree about. Goodness knows where she gets that argumentative side from.

She counted to forty the other week without me knowing that she even knew about forty! The next day or so she also pointed to a big 40 on the road in a school zone and asked me why there was a big forty there (didn't know she knew what the numbers looked like either) . She is pretty clued in with numebrs actually and I feel a little guilty about that because being a big words person myself I don't tend to focus on numbers as much as I should. But she can count backwards from ten to one, count up to 40 that I know of, add and subtract easily with things under five and with help over five and recognises all of her numbers (although double digits in the teens confuse her a little).

We're also reading Charlotte's Web to her and we're now into the third chapter but that's after re-reading the second chapter a LOT. I would like to point out that the second chapter is about how Fern likes to look after Wilbur as if he is a baby. *sigh*

She got her first joke! Her first proper joke! It's pretty funny, because it was right at the end of a book that we bought on the weekend from a book fair. All of the animals love reading these books (that the hen got by saying "Book! Book!" - get it?!) but the bullfrog is unhappy about it. Why? Because he's already "read it...read it...read it". I was reading it to her and as I am I'm simultaneously thinking about explaining it to her..and then she starts cracking up hysterically. I mean she really, really, really lost it! And in typical three year old fashion we had to re-read it again and again and again. Then she had to tell Papa all about it again and again. Obviously she finds situational stuff funny but this is the first actual joke she's understood completely. I should have known that she'd love puns, I think she's at just the right age for it.

I noticed today that she talks a lot like her books (unsurprisingly of course!). In fact I have a bit of a problem with buying her books. Luckily I buy second hand ones but not always. *blush* But she says her sentences a bit like this for example only: "The bee flew over to the flower, stopping halfway there to listen to the little girl". She doesn't use conjunctions as much as she used to at all. Her sentence structure sound a lot like a children's book. The fact that we have honestly run out of space for all of these books and that she can recite any book that has been read to her ever in total detail (and get quite cross with you for not knowing it word for word as well) leaves me quite exhausted at times.

James made the comment when we were totally freaking out about #2 (that we are calling Snippy by the way. If I have to have a Snippy then James gets a 'snippy' too) that by the time Harry is 7, she's going to be one of those girls that sits in a corner reading all weekend and having Snippy might give us something to do on teh weekends too. Well here I was thinking that having a big reader woudl be great for those lazy beer garden Sunday afternoons I had planned, but hopefully Snippy can slot in there somewhere too.

Well that's about all I can be bothered writing up for tonight. Now that Harry has started sleeping for TWELVE HOURS STRAIGHT EVERY NIGHT (yes you read that correctly) it just seems like the perfect time to crankit all up again with another child, hey? *sigh* Off to enjoy my scream-free evening while I can people. Hope this satisfies the Harry appetite for a few days, will be back to do an event update rather than a development update too.

Finally!

Well I guess you thought this blog had gone to the dogs, yeah? Well you were kind of right. I have been more than a little uninspired by life lately and the main reason would probably be that I have a little parasite...a little growth...yep, I am knocked up. Again. And to say it is a surprise is understatement in the extreme. We had, in fact, decided on making our decision a permanent one. But this little sucker was sneaking in and we're going to go along for the ride. I'm only about 9wks along at the moment and am due mid-April 2009, so anything can happen of course but it's a pretty valid reason for not being on here to chat.

In fact I have been so fatigued that I took about three photos at Harriet's third birthday party. I have been totally uninspired to take any photos and have found it difficult to keep up momentum through the afternoon requirements of entertaining a three year old too. The evenings lately have been surprisingly relaxed as a result - I haven't been proofing photos but have been catching up on a pile of older movies that we haven't had a chance to watch yet.

Anyway, just to let you know that we're all still alive and well. Harry is awesome, a complete person unto herself. She just chats along like an adult and can engage in discussion about most things. Her latest maddening obsession is to describe everything that is going on around her - even when it's happening to someone else. Today for example we were in the food court and a couple sat next to us with a chicken kebab. Harry asked loudly "What's that thing they're eating?". I shared a smile with the people and said "That looks like chicken Harry", to which she (of course, I really should have thought about it before I said it) "But that's not good for the earth and not good for the animals! Why do those people eat animals Mama?" with a really pained and screwed up look on her face. It's safe to say that those people weren't sharing too many smiles with me afterwards!

But now I've broken the drought and have started to take some photos again, I'll come in during the week and start to pick up on a few things that we've done lately. For example we had a chicken pox scare today, a hugely successful visit to CityFarm yesterday, a last minute birthday party on Saturday and have generally been little socialites. But let me just say that right now I am ready for bed. Will be back soon I promise! Is anyone even reading this any more?

National Tree Day

On Sunday Harry wanted to go to "little park". When we got there it was so cold I asked if she would rather go to "big park" - I could see it over the other side of the highway and saw the sun shining down on it. When we got there, I remembered that it was National Tree Day, and Planet Ark were there planting some trees. Harry was very excited at the prospect of planting some trees and then watching them grow each time she went to big park! We ended up planting four eucalyptus trees right near the playground before we had to head off for other reasons.

Here's a picture taken with my fairly bad phone camera of Harry with a tree that she had planted:















As you can tell she's pretty excited by the whole thing ;)

"Why?"

Tonight while James is putting Harriet to sleep:
"Why does Mama need to take photos of every little thing Papa?"














Sunday night when Papa was giving her a goodnight kiss:
"Don't give me kisses all day long!"




When talking about not eating animals:

"Ouch, that hurts!"
"What hurts, Harry?"
"It hurts when people eat animals"


While James was away in Melbourne we had a new stove installed. Harry was telling James about it:
"I love our new stove"
"So do I Harriet"
"Why?"

Harriet's New Wardrobe

Yay!! We just won this on ebay for Harriet's room. Having never bid for something that I really wanted before (and couldn't get elsewhere) we were so excited to get it. What nerds we are.

In other news Harriet said to me a few days ago: "Why is Ruby be-sest with pink?" It took a couple of puzzled looks and a little prodding, but I worked out that she was saying "obsessed". Ha! Made me laugh!

She also asked Papa all about why there were microphones on the drums on stage at Justine Clarke, and then asked why there were different types of microphones on them. Needless to say this type of observation made Jimbo a happy chappy.

In other news I am in love with The Dodos at the moment, I've listened to Visiter at least three times a day for the past few days. Awesome album.

Will post a photo of Harry's room when it all comes together soon. Her bed isn't in until Friday (grrr....).

"No, I'm a Vegetarian!"

Harriet has been so interesting lately. We've started fielding some of the 'bigger' questions from her which has been interesting. Today, for example, we drove past an animal circus that is down the road from us. It evoked a discussion in the car about how we should and shouldn't treat animals and about our family's vegetarianism. When Harry was asking about meat we didn't hold back completely, but we didn't go into gruesome details. For example she asked us how people ate a cow. I told her that the first thing they do is cut off its head. At this, she just burst into tears.

It reminded me of a series called 'Frontier House' a few years back, where a modern family had to kill a chicken (I think). The young boy was hysterically upset and not one member of the family discussed with him how he felt or even posited the idea of vegetarianism to him. That has never left me and I didn't want Harriet to shy away from her emotional response to the idea of animals being killed purely for food. It is shocking and sad and emotional. We calmed her down by explaining that in our family we don't do that. That we respect animals and we choose not to eat them because we don't have to.

It seemed a timely discussion to have because I had been thinking about bringing it up with regard to her going to preschool next year. I thought we'd just ease into talking about animals and then about eating and somehow, over time, have a gentle chat about it, gradually leading up to a more serious discussion. Harriet, of course, doesn't do anything by halves, we should have remembered that! But we talked about how if someone offers her some chicken (for example) she should say "No, I'm a vegetarian!". And this became a wonderful note to stop the conversation on, because it became a game. We'd think of some animal and say "Harriet, would you like to eat some duck?" and she would laugh and say "NO! I'm a veg-ah-wear-een". Also we'd arrived at Spotlight, so it was time to get out of the car. The bigger issues in life and all that.


We were at Spotlight as part of our big changes at the house extravaganza. After acquiring a little windfall from the government, we have been doing a few much-needed jobs around the house. Buying a new hot water system (which resulted in Harriet needing "some of that water from the new hot water system in my cup please Mama" for the next day or two) has been one of those and has also had the pleasant side effect of creating a whole new storage space in our playroom. Both of the adults here have been getting some long awaited dental work, and Harriet's feature wall has this weekend changed from pink to blue! I've always regretted the choice of colour in her room. It was the last colour choice and reached with a little push from the colour consultant at the end of the day with next-to-no light. For one thing Harry is just so not a little girl with a pink wall in her room, if you know what I mean? So anyway, yesterday and today we cleared out the furniture from her room and repainted that feature wall a lovely lavender-blue-grey kind of shade.

I don't think there are too many almost three year olds who would be totally trusted to be involved with painting walls. But let's face it, Harry is just not quite your average little girl. I bought her her own little roller and tray, James showed her how to dip the roller in and roll off the excess in the tray and off she went! She was truly a big help and painted her 'area' (ie: the length of the wall at just above and below her shoulder height) thoroughly and with no mess.


On that note, let me also tell you about how Harriet helped out the other day. We decided to make a banana 'milkshake'. I went into the cupboard to get the blender. I was away for about 60 seconds. In that time Harriet managed to drag her step over, step up, peel the banana and cut it into almost equal pieces. I could barely believe it when I saw it! In fact I whipped ou tmy phone from my pocket and took a quick snap (excuse the smudginess but Harriet loved to place her fingers on the lens when pulling down the cover). She has just become incredibly self sufficient in what seems to be the blink of an eye. She can open our quite tricky and stiff bi-fold doors on her own, lets Smellie and Squeezmo in and out of the back door on her own (this is a huge help because as any cat owner is aware, the need for a cat to move between doors is perfectly inversely proportional to the distance you are from the door). She can go to the toilet completely on her own (although she prefers company - but only preferred company. She has been heard to yell out "Squeezmo get out of the toilet room! I need my privacy!"). Her independent play is amazing! She can play for aaaaggggggeeeesssss on her own now. Of course if someone comes over to our house then it's a whoel different ball game but otherwise I am amazed at how she has jumped from needing heaps of my interaction during pretend play to absolutely none at all.

And while we're on the topic of differences in play, I shoudl really mention what happened the other day when Miss Ruby came over to play. The two of them, with very little interaction from the adults, played together. They also shared and talked through their problems together. It was great! There were times when Harriet wanted something Ruby had and Ruby wanted something Harry had. Neither of them grabbed or cried, (although Harriet did give us a little whine to which we told her gently to tell Ruby what she wanted rather than us...which she did...and Ruby listened to...and responded to...amazing!) and neither of them needed an adult to intervene or move over to facilitate their discussions. They were acting in such a mature fashion that it really did seem to belie their age.

Today Harriet went with James to go and see Justine Clarke at the Enmore Theatre. He was apparently one of only a handful of fathers in the whole place! Bizarre. James was seriously one of the first people in Sydney to buy a ticket to this show. Consequently two of the tallest people in the theatre were sitting in the very front row. This is a photo James sent to me from his phone camera of Harry literally sitting on the stage. The two of them had a grand time and so did I (sitting there in a cafe on my own reading Dirt Music - hard ole life is mine). James did comment that whilst at the show he noticed that Harriet is different to most other children. There's some sort of unusual maturity to her. She doesn't really have a completely carefree, giggly demeanour. She's not overly serious or anything, it's just that she seems to be *thinking* all the time. For example when James was talking to her before the show, James was explaining that Justine would be on stage soon, to which Harry responded "Well then where is she right now?". Which seems rather astute!

Then tonight as she was going to sleep (I actually thought she was asleep so there you go) pipes up with this sentence: "I know that we live in 51 Gumby Street Blandsville, but what number does Cheryl (our neighbour) live at?". Obviously I've changed the real number, street and suburb name here but I thought it quite interesting that she had thought about how I would respond to her question before she asked it, and therefore phrased her question in such a way so that I would be allayed of her knowledge before I jumped in to correct her. In the morning I think we'll have a little adventure to explore how numbers work up and down the street. Maybe even introduce the idea of odd and even numbers...


But she is, still, a three year old. We have been discussing her upcoming birthday party quite a bit lately. She has told me quite firmly that she wants a frog cake, with the cake part to be apple flavoured. Where on earth does she come up with this stuff?!! I mean, she hasn't ever seen a cake that has been 'something' and she hasn't ever had an apple flavoured cake before. Who knows where she gets these ideas, but I'm happy to (try) and oblige. It will just be another little park affair like last year. We found a little kids totem tennis kit (after failing to find a proper cool retro one on ebay, boohoo) that we'll give to her and then take down to the park.

This is Harriet just this morning tackling her soldiers. Soft boiled eggs are, it turns out, a little tricky to peel. In other news we're going to be cutting her hair after her birthday. Yes, you read it here first folks. There will be many tears (from me) and no doubt much wringing of hands and copious photographs, but after Grandma has been for the party we will be snipping off those delicious ringlets. If only some things could stay forever...

Today

We were driving past the Vet Faculty (as you do). The following conversation occurred:

That's where I went to university to learn how to be a vet Harry

What were the names of your teachers Mama?

(I rattled off a few names)

When I finish preschool I think I'll go to university too.

That sounds like a plan Harry.

Yes. I'm going to learn how to be a vet and then a baby doctor. But I'm going to preschool first remember.

Sure. Do you think you'll have fun at university?

Yep. But I'll need you to give me some money.

Oh. What will you need money for?

(short pause) Cat food.

Are you going to have cats do you think?

Of course I am Mama!

You could have your own money Harry. Then you could buy your own things.

Oh yes! I could have my own? Hmmmm ok!


The days are getting funnier and funnier over here.

What Harry Did Today

Tonight, when I was putting Harry down, and just when I thought she must have been close to sleep, she pipes up with this conversation:

Harry: Papa, I want to tell you what else I did today!!!
Me: Ok, what else did you do today?
Harry: [10 second pause] ... not much, actually.

"That's Not Very Fair" says the Baby Doctor

Today we were walking into the house after a lovely afternoon spent in the glorious winter sunshine with our AP group. We walked past a pot plant that we gave Jan and Mike but which they had to give back to us because quarantine laws disallowed people to enter WA with any plant material. Harry said "Why do Nana and Grandpa give us back that plant?". I said "The quarantine laws say they can't take it with them to Perth". "What is quarantine Mama?". I tell her that quarantine means that people aren't allowed to take new things in to Perth that might damage things already in Perth. She looked right up at me, horrified, and said "That's not very fair!". Gawd, she cracks me up!

This first photo shows her clutching her latest love - Andi. We were in a bit of a quandry in the toystore, with a choice between a medical kit or this doll being put on the line. Harry didn't just get a little upset about it, she seriously immediately got HYSTERICAL and started sobbing deeply, leaning on me to stand and completely inconsolable. When she could calm down enough to talk, she told me that she was upset because Andi was very sick and Harry was the only person who could help her, but she needed the medical kit to do it. Now this was in no way a method of manipulating me into buying both of these things, she just doesn't have the ability to think like that at the moment. She honestly, genuinely, believed what she was telling me and was completely distraught at not being able to look after this doll. So yes, she now has both the medical kit and Andi. And believe me, that medical kit is getting a workout like no other!

We received her acceptance into the school we wanted which is great news. What was even greater was our tax return that arrived at precisely the moment of her acceptance letter and perfectly covered her fees! Alright, go karma! It also managed to cover the cost of a much-needed car seat upgrade for Harry. Her eyes were up at the back of the car seat which was the indication that we needed to upgrade. We bought her the Maxi Rider and as soon as she sat in it we realised how small her previous one had been for her! It got a good test drive in the playroom for a day because it has little cup holders on either side that perfectly fit her drinking bottle and a little Tupperware container filled with banana chips/cashews, etc. And getting into it is a lot easier because it sits lower on the seat, so she can also see easier through the windscreen. It also means we can't see her as easily in the rearview mirror. This can cause a problem when there's an *urgent* need to look at what she's doing to Doll THAT INSTANT, or to lament over the latest booger explosion across her cheek and so on, but sometimes ignorance is bliss (at least until you can lean across and wipe that face).

One of the wonderful developments with Harriet lately is that she is just generally happy. If we tell her that something will take a few minutes we're not met with dismay or even screams of despair, she just says "Ok" and goes on with whatever it is she's doing. It's amazing! Harriet can do up her own buttons, make her own sandwiches, make infinite cups of tea (with her own special tea set *wink*), use a screwdriver, sweep the floor (well!), read a few words, tie a knot, take a mean photo with my phone camera (her composition is truly impressive), know mostly which stuff is recyclable (although we still get asked every time she goes to the bin "Is this ok for recycling bin Mama?"), and a whole slew of other things that on a daily basis remind me of how this little person is moving ever closer to being an independent individual.

And apparently this individual is on her way to medical school. When you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she tells you without hesitation "A baby doctor". It definitely ties in two of her latest fascinations, babies and medical equipment. I sat still for about five minutes the other day and ended up with three bandages tied over my hand. Apparently I had broken bones, so she also had to take my blood and send it to pathology. Now I really have to get some video of her saying pathology, it is so cute! However since neither of us want her to be a doctor, we're a little apprehensive about this latest turn of events.

On the weekend we went to Biennale at Cockatoo Island. Wow! Well the art was less than inspiring but the whole day was wonderful. The weather was deliriously beautiful - 20 degrees, bright sun, cool winds. I love these cold brisk winter days. Harriet was in fine form all day, and when we asked her what the best part of her day was, turns out that it was "My pretty rock". She found this rather large rock that she squatted down and sprinkled all sorts of different coloured sand all over it, then topped it with some various rocks. Her very own art installation! Obviously the environment was inspiring for her.

While each of us had a turn at going in to see the Mike Parr retrospective (it was for over-18s only), Harry had a go at rolling doll this hill. The only thing is that Harriet, not being the most physical of creatures, rolled at a less than optimal rate. In fact she rolled about as quickly as James stepped up to volunteer for WYD. This photo is incredibly deceptive, because she actually looks active. In fact she would have been in this position for well over twenty seconds. And then the slow unravelling of limbs and movement gave the impression of a small purple performance artist on the hill doing a wonderful impression of a child rolling down a hill...just in very slow motion for us all to watch and remember what it was like to be a child again.

A Long Video

This is four minutes of interest only for those who have a dedicated interest in Miss Harriet! It's a couple of months old now, evidenced by the fact that she's only wearing a t-shirt and shorts and today she's dressed in tights and a long sleeved top, but I only uploaded the videos from my phone the other day - slack, I know! Hope you enjoy. Will be back to post more soon. Things are going very well here though, much better than the last post!

It's Been Difficult

So we're still living out a tricky little moment in the time of Harriet's life. To be fair to her she's been really very ill for about a week and it's been hard for her what with staying inside from the rain and feeling horrible.

One of the latest issues we'll be more than happy to see the back of is her latest selective food interest. She has gone from a child that would just try anything and eat *everything* to a little girl who will eat a choice of about five or so things. I know nearly every child goes through this phase but I'll just be glad when it's over. Mind you it has coincided with her sickness, so perhaps we'll be lucky to see it end when she perks back up.

When she's feeling ok though, Harry has been hilarious. She tells detailed stories and we have no idea where she gets some of the story lines. If only I could think of just one right now! James got in the car when we picked him up from the airport last week and her first words to him were "Hello Stinkybutt Papa!". She can use scissors properly (with just two fingers), she can write the letters "H, t, i, r, o" and she is really into counting at the moment. Just this afternoon she stopped as she got into the car in order to stand up very straight and, with strict attention, counted the cars in the carpark. She gets a little confused over 13, 14...18, but she really understands how many she's counting, it's not just rote (obviously, since she doesn't count it out 'properly'!) and I think I should probably concentrate on teaching her some more numeracy issues.

Is this what they call 'crab apple cheeks'? To me they look a little like reverse dimples.

To tell you the truth I'm a little tired tonight and don't really have a lot of energy to write up stuff but I have been negligent with this blog. I really am sorry and I need to keep on top of it because I want to have a full record of her life as she gets older.

One of the reasons I have been busy of late is my business is in the works. The website should be up and running sometime in late July, so I'll post a link here too if anyone's interested.