Cheeky Brat





















Sweet Brat
My terrific two year old twins!
Where has my hat gone?
PEACE
I work in a warzone. there are three 'faculties' and a lot of dysfuntion. It was depressing me but luckily I have been told that (as I requested) I will be ont he 'peace bus' next year. YAY!!! That means that I am fully in the most peaceful of the three faculties so I am very hopeful for a harmonious time. I will have two subjests that I really enjoy teaching too and the faculty head was able to organise for different teachers to job share with me on the days that I cna't work. For all the problems there management have been very supportive of my return part time even though it is not as convenient for them. They understand that part of the reasoning for that is meeting Hannah's needs and so I am grateful for that.

For now there are three days of teaching left. A bucket full of marking and loose ends to tidy up bebefore my students go on stuvac and then there will be therir final exams and the marking of those. Whew - the end of my first year back post babies is in sight and I am rather relieved.

The brats have been going well. We went to a birthday party for a little boy in Hannah's EI play group. He has 'global development delay' otherwise known as 'no diagnosis'. It was in a local park and there were quite a few other kids and their families from the wider EI provider. It was lovely to see such a mixed bunch of kids enjoying themselves. The 'special needs' of probably half the kids there just wasn't an issue or even noticed by any of us there. It was a lovely and supportive environment to celebrate the birthday of a very cute little fellow who has been working very hard in his first two years of life. Congratulations J! We love you! (sorry no pics as I forgot my camera and I don't have the technical expertise to share the wonderful thankyou photo montage of the day that J's 'super' parents put together.

Found it!

Oodles of noodles

October is good food month in Sydney so last night we took the twins into the city to Hyde Park for the Night Noodle Markets. I think the photoes demonstrate how much fun we had!

One Mischievious Monkey
Before I go any further - can I just say that I had an absolutely revolting incident with a colleague today at work?? I HATE working this way - oh for the days of collegiality, vision, leadership, professional behaviour and respect ... the list goes on so I had best leave it there!

Our Hannah has turned into one mischievious monkey - some kids I know are natural climbers. Kit climbs a bit but he has been more interested in moving around, walking and running. Hannah loves standing on her own and taking a couple of steps towards an adult. When she tires of that she likes to climb so now I can't leave her anywhere unattended for - mmm - 20 seconds??!!!! The little brat just loves it!




Yes, they are undies on over her jeans. My Aunty Anne gave her two pairs for her birthday. Ridiculous I know but also very cute and they love them. Kit is wearing the other pair - and he even brought out a pair of mine and a bra to show that he knew what they were!

TWO! Happy Birthday my precious ones. Watching you learn and grow has been wonderful. You have taken us on an unforgettable journey - and we are loving it! Congratulations on all of your amazing achievements so far. It is only the beginning ...

The brats had a lot of fun and so did we at their birthday party on the weekend. I know I should be embarassed but I was very proud of Hannah who at one stage in the afternoon demanded both 'More presents!' and 'more cake'! Kit had a lot of fun playing with SUbash in his 'boat' out the back. An excellent acknowledgement of thier turning two. Last year the party was really for us - a celebration and an opportunity to thank all our family and friends who had been so supportive during some tough times. THis year it was for the twins - they love singing Happy Birthday and really got intot he whole party thing.



Unfortunately our first 'Walk With a Mate' was on the same day - but I hear that it went very well and so hopefully we will be able to go and show our support next year.

Alma Park Zoo

The brats had great fun visiting a zoo when they were in Brisbane. Kit loved feeding the animals and was always grabbing for the feed bag - Mr Independence wanted to do it himself all thetime. Hannah bear was already tired when we arrived at about 10am but fought off sleep until we left at about 3 she was so taken by all the sights. She didn't like touching the beasties though. Her favourites were the Koalas (not surprising given her love of bears) and the pigs! Kit liked them all - he had a ball seeing all his book critters come to life!



With a Baa Baa here ...

Feeding the roos

Checking out the little chicks

Blinky Bill

Our mob

Hannah's new dress - a present from one of my Townsville cousins.



Kit's new T-shirt - from the same cousin



Brisbane
I have just returned from visiting my parents in Queensland. I flew up witht he twins on my own - lucky it was not a long flight - an hour and a half! Kit was wonderful and so was Hannah but she screamed during takeoff on the way there and refused to drink or chew or suck a lolly for me - so my bag of coping goodies was useless! Panadol seemed to help on the return trip though.

It was wonderful to spend some time with my parents and my sister and her husband and their little boy who is exactly one year and one day older than the twins. He is an absolute darling - but such a petrol head! One of my Aunties and her partner came over for a bbq too which was lovely and there were lots of goodies for the twins - some sent down form Townsville by another Aunty of mine.

My Mum has been very sick lately so it was really good to see her and to know that she is on the mend. Hannah played to the gallery of course and impressed her mum by consistently taking 2-3 steps between me and her grandmother. It is looking like my goal for her to be walking by Christmas is becoming more likely - such a good little brat. Kit had fun but is naturally more wary of strange places than Han is - they both missed their Dad too - their smiles were huge when he came and got us form Sydney airport - and Hannah wouldn't stop chatting and saying "Dad, Dad" all the way back to the car.

The twins and their cousin Daniel






How wild is this child???

Carers Week - Oct 15 - 21

I don't consider myself a 'carer' and to be honest I feel uncomfortable calling myself one. I am Hannah's MOTHER - so why do I feel this way? I don't know. I know that 'carers' do amazing and important work but for me - at the risk of playing semantics - Hannah is first and foremost my most gorgeous daughter.

There are currently more than 2.5 million carers in Australia. According to Carers Australia they provide a service that is worth about $30 billion a year in wages and operating costs. We have two gov't payments available - one is means tested and the carers allowance is not. In an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey in 2003 - 19% of carers received the full carer payment. 20% had not even investigated the possibility of receiving support as they did not consider themselves 'carers'. 13% had never heard of the payment.

So I am one of the lucky ones - the doctors I saw when Hannah was born were diligent in making sure that I knew about the payment and they were happy to complete the form regarding the nature of her disability. This allowance that I get covers Hannah's EI cost and a bit more. Perhaps when she is older and her developmental delays become more obvious and affect her life choices more then I will start thinking of myself as a 'carer' too but I hope that I never feel more like a 'carer' than a 'mother'.

The survey showed that few carers actually took advantage of the respite available - I hope that Carers Week raises awareness of the service provided by carers and also an awareness of life in all its fullness - life when someone you love has a debilitating illness or a disability. Yes it could easily be you. Yet in a caring and civilised society it should not be cruelly burdensome or isolating but embraced as part of life. An important and valuable part of life. Where the person in need of care is recognised as an asset to the society. A person who gives as well as receives because after all isn't that what life is?

Lunching with Work Friends




The sandpit




The twins and I had lunch with some friends from work yesterday. The kids had a ball playing with our host's little girl who is about four months older than they are. Hannah played happily in the sandpit with Kit and Eliza. Then Kit and Eliza went over to another piece of play equipment. Hannah stayed happily playing in the sandpit. After a few minutes I got up and took Hannah over to where the other two were playing. I showed her where she could climb up and join in if she wanted to. One of the other Mums said to me as I went over to Hannah - "Oh she is having fun in the sandpit. Leave her there". And so she was but she had fun on the climbing equipment too.

Later the kids were back in the sandpit for a while and this time when the 2 'bigger' ones left and went back to the climbing equipment/playhouse - guess who was right on their tail? It highlighted for me in a small way how important it is for Hannah's childcare to do the same. Once she had an intro to that equipment she didn't need any coaxing to keep up with her peers - even though she is not walking and her speech is way behind them she played happily and enthusiastically with them. Needless to say both twins were very tired by the time we left that house!



The climbing equipment

Queen's Birthday, Long Weekend

Hannah is patting Kit to sleep. As I said they both are really enjoying role playing and imaginery play at the moment. They are jsut adorable together.

Stella - our child substitute has done very well since the twins were born. She is my first pedigree dog - a poodle (the manly name of Stella was kept so as my husband's first ever dog he could call her at the park - in imitation of the gutteral STELLA! from Streetcar Named Desire or for the more pop culture oriented as Elaine did in a fabulous Seinfeld episode some years back). Anyways I used to walk her every morning at our local park - even while I was pregnant, she sleeps with us and Phil has her trained to expect treaties after our dinner (a sample thanks!) and marshmallows/snakes or BBQ shapes as a midnight snack. She is great entertainment for hte twins. Kit is a bit more of a cat boy I think (must be in the name) but Hannah in particular loves Stella and signs 'star' for her name and has a good attempt at vocalising 'Stella' too. Stella for her part is a friendly dog who won't tolerate childish abuse but is happy to be around people - especially if they throw her favourite toy - a yellow duck she got as a welcome present form a friend of mine who also likes dogs. One day I would like to get teh twins their own dog - or maybe cat as they both respond so well to animals.



Melbourne

The twins and I have survived 5 days without my husband - Whoo Hoo! I know - for many people that is nothing but we are a very close family who also rarely spend time away from each other - I need him home for the 'witching hour'! Anyway I must admit that I have quite enjoyed it - am feeling a bit tired because the days are so full on and I tend to sit up late at night just pottering and setting my own agenda which is a bit of a treat I admit - not one I would want all the time but every now and again it is rather enjoyable! It reminds me that often I tend to end up doing 'jobs' on the weekend while Phil gets to play with the twins. Today I didn't get many 'jobs' done but had a ball at the park with the brats. We also had a lot of fun in our courtyard with its 'boats'.
Hannah's boat:


The separation is hard on the twins as they are not used to it - and Kit was already going through an 'I want Daddy' stage. He has coped beautifully - we have talked to Dad on the phone and I have reassured him whenever he asks that Daddy is coming home - in a little while. It has been a bit harder with Hannah as she doesn't communicate as much as Kit - one morning she kept signing Daddy (he normally gets their breakfast and feeds her her dinner too) and then one evening when I took something off her at the dinner table she cried and cried all the while saying (quite clearly - the good girl!-) 'Daddy, Daddy'. I tell her the same as I do Kit but I am not so sure that she accepts my explanation - after all at 2 the whole concept of someone being miles away, going on an aeroplane and the notion of time itself is pretty much on the can't grasp yet list.
Kit is a great helper. He is determined to do what we do and imaginary play is also very popular with him at the moment. Here he is sweeping out the back as he has seen his father and I do countless times before.


I know they will be overjoyed to have him return - even without the little gifts I happened to pick up for him to give them as treats - I know that it is unlikely he will have time to go to toy shops while he is there - when he isn't working he will be watching the football grand final with some friends of ours.

As for me - I am on HOLIDAYS!!!! Yay! Two weeks to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather we are having at the moment.