The other day Linus wanted some fresh batteries put in our little musical keyboard. When it turned out that the keyboard no longer worked, I suggested we take it apart, and Ada took over the task.

She blew me away with her fine motor skills, her concentration, and her persistence. She didn’t really want or need any help, and tackled the 10 or so tiny screws mostly on her own. We looked at the internals of the keyboard, played with the magnetism of the screwdriver and screws, and wondered if we’d get electrocuted (we didn’t).

Today, out of nowhere:

Ada: “My farts smell like chocolate!”

Mummy laughing a lot, then finally: “Where did you get that idea from?”

Ada: “From my bum.”

Over the past few weeks Linus, Ada and Zoe have had the chicken pox. Ada got it first, having (according to timing) picked it up during the school holidays – maybe we’ve introduced an exotic Wellington strain to Dunedin? Then 2-3 weeks later, just as all the literature indicates, Linus and Zoe got it.

None of them have suffered too much. Ada was the worst – for a couple of days she seemed in quite a bit of pain, and it’s HORRIBLE not being able to cuddle your child when they’re in that state. She seemed to have a lot on her chest and under her arms, and so being picked up was very sore for her. With Zoe, the sores seemed to cluster on her bottom, while Linus ended up with a beautiful spotty face!

Juggling three children in various states of illness or contagion (is that a word?) has thrown our routines off a lot, but today – with Linus and Zoe spotty but hopefully no longer contagious – we are finally back to our normal routines just in time for the onslaught of Christmas and summer events.

Today I was lying on the bed feeding Zoe. Linus came onto the bed and snuggled up on the other side of Zoe. Then he said “If I’m touching Zoe, and Zoe’s touching you, then that’s kind of like I’m touching you and you’re touching me. Zoe’s sticking us together!”

Toilet News – or No News

Ada is gradually using the potty and toilet more often.

…Funny, I just searched the blog to find when I’d last mentioned this. It was 9 months ago, and Ada’s toiletting behaviour was virtually identical to how it is now *sigh*.

Yes. I know. She’ll get there. You can’t rush these things. But MAN, I am SO looking forward to my future life when I DON’T have someone else’s poo on my hands – literally – every day!!!

My Girls

Recently Ada was on the toilet and I was oohing and aahing about it, and in my gushing I called her “my big girl”!  She looked decidedly hurt by this, and informed me that I was wrong – she was my LITTLE girl!  She’s so right.

Zoe is growing up fast: walking around; getting up and down steps; doing messy play at Playcentre; trying to put on anyone’s shoes that she can get her hands on; LOVING pushing around Ada’s toy pram; flinging plates, bowls and cups off the table if they’re not what she wants; and recognising and using signs for waiū and kai. We’ve also put her down for some naps on our bed recently, and had the pleasure (just once, so far) of having her happily walk through to us when she’s woken up. It’s very sweet.

So right now I enjoy confusing everyone by referring to Ada as “my little girl” and Zoe as “my big girl”

My Young Man

Today when Zoe walked into the room, Linus said matter-of-factly “Zoe needs to use the potty”. I was a bit surprised – up until an improvement in the past week or two, Zoe’s potty usage had become pretty rare for a couple of months. But I decided it would be rude to not listen, so I sat Zoe on the potty, and bingo! she “went”.

I asked Linus how he’d known, and he said it was because she had been walking around with her hand down the front of her pants/nappy. How observant!