December 2010

• Ada and I used a free ticket to take a train trip together up the Taieri Gorge.
• Ada turned 3! This was celebrated by our first ever family trip together (minus Daddy) to the Salt Water Pool accompanied by friends CB, AG, and IG, plus the usual Playcentre and home “Happy Birthdays”.
• Christmas happened much as it has every other year, except that this year Bob and I had a nephew to spoil!

January 2011

• With a friend and her family, we went camping for the second time as a family. We went to the Catlins like last time (although a different camping ground), but unlike last time there was no tsunami alert to cut our trip short (although the gale force winds were pretty exciting – thank goodness tents can be repaired!).
• Linus can READ! This has obviously been a gradual process, but it was in January that I stopped saying “Linus can almost read” or “he’s getting good at reading”. No qualifier needed – he can read
• I started a private blog called “Living Arrows” (part of why this blog has gone very quiet). This is inspired by: (1) the idea of a “one-sentence journal“, i.e. committing to writing just a tiny amount every day about something important to you; (2) my being more and more concerned about the children’s privacy as they get older; and (3) wanting something more personal and honest written to each child as an individual – I feel that I sometimes hold back the very personal or very negative on here because it’s public.
• Zoe and I are joining the others on the weekly swimming trip, and I’m loving it!

February 2011

• Linus and I have started having a fortnightly date morning while the girls are at Playcentre with Nana. We’ve hung out at a beach, the museum, and the Botanic Gardens so far. I hope it’s nice for him; I know it’s nice for me to be able to go at his pace, answer his questions, and not have to worry about nappies or toiletting or safety (much).
• Ada started gym classes. After much humming and hahing, I chose to put her in a separate time-slot from Linus. I figure that, being home-schooled, they’ll probably get to spend more time together than average siblings, so when they have a chance to enjoy things separately (and the logistics aren’t too awkward), why not let them?
• Linus turned 5! To celebrate he took three friends (SM, MM and CB) to Discovery World.
• Christchurch was rocked by a devastating earthquake, which was terrible for all involved. But from a purely selfish point of view, we’re delighted that Bob’s sister, husband and baby have returned to live in Dunedin just a few blocks away from us.
• I’ve started Zumba once a week. This is nothing to do with the kids (except that Linus walks around the house singing “Waka Waka E E!“).