them time.

 M took Willow to a playground the other day. Just the two of them. They had fun. (Still not feeling very autumny). Last time M supervised Willow, when Willow saw me again she came running up to me and happily shouted "Mummy! I'm still alive!"

M's supervised Willow since these photos were taken, when I went to kick boxing class. Willow really, really wanted to come "foxing" with me, claiming she's big and strong enough. When I got home, I asked Willow what her and M did while I was out.
"Oh. M played foxes with me," Willow explained. (M: "Oh yeah. She was still talking about foxes and foxing, so I tried teaching her how to box. She just stood there with her arms out looking confused.")

Willow has two toy foxes- Foxy, and Mummy Fox. She gets a real kick out of the fact that there's a mummy and baby fox pair. Foxy is one of her favorite toys.

Bizarrely, Willow can't hear the difference between "boxing" or "kick boxing" and "foxes" and "foxing." It's unusual for her. She's using "foxing" and "foxes" in the correct tense for what she thinks we're talking about ie "Mark and I played boxing" vs "Mark and I played foxes."

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She's fallen off about three times so far going too fast around sharp corners. With training wheels on. Her ability to take corners at high speed is truely heart stopping.

Willow & Peppa, take 2.

Willow unwrapping Peppa, part two. You can click on the settings and tell it to play in HD, and it will, and it will look a lot better than it does in the low default setting.

Sydney #6

Not pictured: Me, obvously going through my folders and realising there's quite a few photos I haven't shared yet.

1) Willow with Digger, Mel's dog. She tried very hard to order Digger around like she saw us doing- sit, stay, lie, go away- with zero success. She doesn't have a commanding voice. Oh, Digger obeyed her once- Willow was telling him to sit, and he was bored of standing, so he sat anyway. Willow was so excited and came running to drag me over to look.

2) We went Ikea, which is right next to the airport. Only because M decided it was the lesser of two evils. Later, we drove down a little side road and parked and got out. Right under the planes on their flight path, we watched them come in and land. Willow loved sitting on M's shoulder's and being an airplane.

3) Airplanes. M could tell you a lot more about this than me. Err, this one is from Jetstar and carries people? Sometimes, after we go to Ikea, we find ourselves sitting in his car for nearly an hour, just decompressing and watching the planes fly in.

4) Random train yard. M swore that it looked like something out of a war movie.

5) Another airplane. M was impressed that my phone's camera could capture those propeller things in action.

6) $109 (on sale) doll's pram. We went to some baby shop, just because we can.

loading... loading...

Yeah. I'm working on it. I'm not very good at this, and they kept getting cancelled when my laptop ran out of juice, or when I closed the lid.

Willow says...

What is your favorite food?
Strawberries!
What else?
'nana.
What's your favorite insect?
Spider.

Willow and Peppa Pig.

I was working in my garden when the mailman rode up and handed me a letter from my Aunty Jen.  (thank you.) It was a lovely letter, and she mentioned she had sent up a box of things for Willow. It turned out the box- filled with mysterious pink parcels- arrived a few hours after the letter.
Naturally, we decided to dig straight into it right away. Well, not the bits marked for Easter. But everything else. M filmed Willow's reactions as she opened stuff. For some reason, I can download a new HD episode of the walking dead in 30 minutes, but it takes 117 minutes to upload a shaky film off a phone to youtube.

 Expect the longer part two in another week or something.

Willow's birthday.

Shamefully late, I know. The table arranged for Willow's birthday. One of the small parties, anyway. This was a few days early, held just so we could celebrate with Mel before she had to return to Sydney. Nothing very grand, but Willow was delighted.

beading

Willow asked me to take a photo of this because she wanted to show off her fruit beading to her grandparents. :)

Chinese New Year (thoughts)

So, obviously, this is an out of place post since the lunar year was last month. But since Willow associated Santa with Chinese New Year and thinks Sacha Baron Cohen's charactor, Thénardier, in Les Mis, is also Santa... and seeing as I've been eating a lot of miso lately as I've realised it's delicious with just about everything.... anyways, it popped back into my mind.

Pictured: Santa.

It's weirdly freeing having no one else around to celebrate the lunar new year with. Sad and lonely, but you're free to do what you want. Beat your own path, so to speak.

In the car, before we saw the lion dance, Willow was asking about the whole thing and asked if Santa would be there too. Later that night, she was telling us how Santa was there, with the dragons, and they said "how do you do," and Santa let her pat the reindeer.

Right.

But it got me thinking. And so when we went home, we left out a red paper plate of salad for the dragon to eat. At this point I feel like I should clear something up. We went to the lion dances, but I call the things that dance dragons. There's a difference between a Chinese lion dance and a Chinese dragon dance that wikipedia explains, but.... Willow knows what a lion looks like. You know, roar lion that lives on the savanna. And Willow can be very literal. Like sometimes she scolds me for calling her honey, because she's not honey, she's Willow! Anyways, I decided it was easier to call it a lion dance, with dancing dragons.
So anyways. We put out a paper plate of salad greens for the dragons to eat, since the dancing dragons that we saw dancing were jumping for lettuce, so Willow now understands that dragons eat lettuce.
In the morning, Willow found a toy dragon (one I got when I went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" last year, but shhhh) and that the dragon had taken a bite out of the paper plate. The dragon taking a bite out of the plate made an impression on her as she still mentions it, even though the lunar new year was a month ago. It's something I think we will totally do every year now- a new tradition for our hybrid family. I mean, we leave cookies out for Santa, why not leafy greens for a dragon? Next year too, we might also make paper lanterns.

But best thing of all? Willow's finally started to eat her leafy greens as they are "dragon food."

New year goals #64

64.Tell willow stories. Lots and lots of stories.

We read at least a book a day. Normally two. Willow had LOTS of books in Darwin, but I had to be really selective in what I brought down with me due to the weight of books. I'm tempted to say that the ones I choose to bring down with us makes them the creme de la creme of her collection.... but that's not really fair. Some got left behind because Willow wasn't into them, or she liked them but she had grown out of them, like touch and feel books. Some got left behind because I didn't like them, or like the art work, or simply because I had to be totally ruthless about what I could bring. There are three I really wish I had brought with me, that I didn't. I left them out, meaning to pack them at the last minute... Oh well.

There is a lovely second hand bookstop that we go to, and the lady there always gives Willow a book to take home. We try to get Willow Australian themed books... I had the horrors last week because I realized we don't have Possum Magic! (Nor do we have the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Oh dear.)

Here's some of Willow's current collection. I think it'll be interesting to do this again in a year's time, don't you think?  (Her Easter ones and Christmas ones are packed away for now.)

There was an Old Bloke Who Swallowed a Chook- The Australian version of one of my favorite rhymes. I picked this one up in Grafton when it was raining and I hadn't brought any books with me. By the time we left Grafton my mother was ready to burn it, I am sure.
One very tired wombat- I love this book more than Willow does.
Come Fly With Captian Kangaroo- Can you tell I'm trying to keep Willow's library well stocked with Australian books?
Mulga Bill's Bicycle- Willow seems to like stories that fall into a rythem, like "There was a Bloke Who Swallowed a Chook." I really want to get a Bush Christening, which is my favorite Paterson tale, and the Man From Snowy River. Willow doesn't seem too keen on this book.
Willow and the treasure hunt. My parent's got this for Willow. The first time I read it to Willow she was outraged and said "That's not Willow, I'M Willow!" Also, Willow wombat is a boy.
Stellaluna- Who DOESN'T love Stellaluna? Willow loves dressing up as Stellaluna, so I'm eyeballing this bat mask and wing set as a Christmas gift for her.
10 Little Fingers and 10 Little Toes- this one is so sweet it chokes me up a bit. Plus again with Willow seeming the like the rhyme and rythem.

The Echinda Leaves Home- There's no point reading it has a hedgehog, since Willow's seen an echinda, and knows what an echinda is... and who cares about european animals, anyway? Pfft. This book is from Ikea, so a lot of her hand and finger puppets feature in this story, including her favorite toy, Foxy.
One Minute Greek Myths- Because you're never too young to start on a classical education. This is one of my old books.
The Sign of the Seahorse. This is a story for adults. Or to read over several nights to children. There is a lot of reading in this, and it's all rhyming. M and I have never actually read this to Willow. If she ever asked it, the book would quickly go the way of "There's a hair in my dirt!" (Hidden at the back of my cupboard.) Graeme Base is amazing, and I'd like to get more of his books.
Little Bear is Ill. Since Willow loves playing doctor/ hypochondriac, she loves this book.
10 Green Crocs Sitting on the Wall. Again.... with the whole rhyme and rythem thing.
Avocado Baby- Because avocados are good for you, and I have high expectations of getting Willow to enjoy this slimy tasteless fruit.

Toffee takes a nap- Christmas gift from M's mother.
The Velveteen Rabbit- one of my old ones. Willow enjoys it.
Tasman Turtle- My parents got this for me when we went to Tasmania in 1998, I think.
Numbers: I got this one down here. It's very well put together.
That's Dangerous!- Willow likes this one.
ABC: This whole series is very well done. M and I are trying to teach Willow her letters and numbers.
In the Bath: I got this from Newtown last year. Willow loves pulling it apart to see what's hiding between the pages.
The Dino Race: M loves this book more than Willow. He loves making the eyes move and making silly noises. I like that it names the dinosaurs by proper names, not calling them "long neck dinosaur" or "flying dinosaur."
Sea Creatures: Another gift from M's mother.
That's not your mummy anymore- a gift from a good friend who knows what I love. Willow loves this book. M worries it's too gory for her.

The very busy spider- Willow still loves this book.
Busiest Fire Fighter's ever- On a random note, Willow loves to ride up and down her bike, pretending to be a lady fire engine.
Chipmunks ABC: Willow's still learning ALL her letters. We're getting there. I hope to have her recognise all her letters before the end of the year, and all her numbers up to somewhere in the teens. This is a goal for me, not for her... Because I'm the one who needs to set aside some time every day to go over this with her. Oh time. I need to learn how to live off six hours sleep, otherwise I'm going to turn into a harridan.
Paddington Bear: I love Paddington.

Sometimes I look at her collection and I feel bad. I feel like I should get her more books, because everyone else seems to have more books than Willow. But eventually, I realise we're doing ok. We have enough. Not just with books, but everything around the house. We don't have every book or toy or gadget under the planet. But we don't waste what we do have. We are not grand, but at least we are not cluttered or cramped or dirty. We're doing ok. Things get read and used and doesn't get much of a chance to collect dust or to be forgotten about. It's easy to keep our place tidy, and Willow is never bored. Willow doesn't ask for more books, and she seems happy with what we do have. She has her favourites that are in high rotation. Her favourite part though, isn't being read to every night. She loves it when I lie beside her in bed and we chat. Often she'll play with my hair. But we chat about whatever it is that Willow feels like talking about, and I look at her, and I'm amazed at all the growing she's done.

things eaten- pizza.

Topped with garlicky olive oil, tomatoes from our garden,  herbs, rocket, spinach, pamesan cheese and I tried buffolo mozzarella for the first time. Yum. Very melt in our mouth.

The tomatoes from our garden and I have had a very passionate love affair. Like all good love affairs... it's simply too short, and there was always others getting in our way... in the form of Willow, who kept picking and eating all the tomatoes as they ripened. All this rain has caused our tomatoes to swell and split, plus it's the natural end of the season, anyway. Willow's been a bit sad about all our tomatoes dying off, so she's been regularly watering them with her watering can, hoping to bring them back to life.

New year #48

48. Make Willow a play kitchen. Somehow. Somewhere.

So, it happened peeps. Our low cost play kitchen for Willow. We don't have a lot of money for a play kitchen, plus we don't have a lot of room. Plus you know me well enough that going out and buying something cheap and awful wasn't an option.

Would you like to have a look?

CAN YOU SEE IT? There's no built in storage in Willow's room, so this large bookcase serves as her wardrobe, as a room divider (my study is on the other side), as her bookcase, our linen cupboard, toy holder... and play kitchen. Can you see what's on the shelf with the saucepan?

And no, they're not monster eyes. Yeah. So one day, it occurred to me that I could just draw some hot plates on some red paper and blu- tack them down. These are so badly drawn I feel like they don't belong online, but keeping it real guys. Willow doesn't seem to like it any more or any less then the fancier play kitchen she had in Darwin. Sometimes we bring in her all purpose wooden stool/ table and shift a hot plate to that, so she has more cooking room.

At the back of her kitchen, for some reason, live these gnomes that I gave her. I got them from the flying penguin in Sydney, which is one of my favorite shops. They were plain, so I drew the little faces on them. They also serve double duty as "medicine" when Willow plays doctor. I'm not sure if now they are kitchen gods in the Asian tradition... or condiments.

Some of Willow's play food you might recall from this post or this one, back when Willow was still a tiny baby in a play gym, and she used to bat at the tomato with her hands, rattle the pea, or cuddle and suck on the bean. I do feel like it's a pretty sad play food collection because the lamington and the fish are the only thing there that didn't grow on a plant. I have plans to add a wooden sushi set and more sweet goods... Perhaps when Christmas rolls around.

Come and see us sometime. We can't offer you tea and cake, but Willow is happy to serve you tea with asparagus, lemon and fish. Which is healthier for you, anyway.

noah.

 
Surely someone, somewhere, is building an ark.

All this rain means the mines won't operate, which means M doesn't go to work, which means he doesn't get paid. But like Noah, we are prepared for 40 days and 40 nights of rain. I think. We have board games for the adults, and activities for the little one. We have lots of shows we can watch on tv, and I have a pile of books just begging to be read. We have money in the bank, 100 tea light candles and three lighters, snuggly warm blankets for our bed and our couch, and a secure roof over our head.

It's not heavy tropical downpours here, it's just a constant drizzle. Like our noses. The first cold epidemic has swept through, leaving behind runny noses and nods that "everyone seems to be getting sick this week."

When the sun comes out, I frantically start loading up the machine, and sit with eyes on the sky, alert for any more rain.

M took me a drive last week after church, but the roads were flooded out.We made many really, really bad jokes at how he really knows how to sweep a girl off her feet... by getting swept off a road.

1. What animal does that footprint belong to??? M and I couldn't figure it out. Surely it's not a kangaroo? Because if it was a kangaroo, then why don't they have a kangaroo pictured?

2. Previous photo tells us that the indicators will show depth. You know there is really no point trying to road if you can't see indicators. We also couldn't even see the layout of the road... like, ok, the sign says to turn left, but if you look left, there are a row of trees so where do you go after turning left? M and I are so bugged by this that we've vowed to return when the water levels go down, just to see where the road is.

the little show that never was

Apparently every year, the Little Town Show gets rained out. Also, apparently every year, someone gets stabbed at the Little Town show, but I chose to not focus on that.

The three of us decided to go to the show since we were sick of being indoors, and they offered free entry. I figured that maybe, they would have animals there or something. They didn't. They did have a lot of puddles for Willow to gleefully jump in. There was also a very bogged semi trailer that Willow enjoyed watching trying to get unbogged.

Then M and I went for a drive and found Little Town Gaol. The weird bit was, we thought we were driving around the golf course...

Indoor things and eaten things.

It's been raining. Not cats and dogs, more like flies and floods. Or flies and ants, invading the house. Willow is very concerned about us not hurting "her" ants, which led to the following discussion.
"Mummy, there are lots of ants here!"
"Mmm. Ok, we'll ask M to poison them later."
"No, don't kill my ants mummy! Let's relocate them!"
"... Relocate? Um, where would you like to relocate your ants?"
"Inside."

How do you relocate ants? Do you pick them up one by one? How does my daughter even know the word relocate? Inside isn't the solution, Willow.

The next day Willow was digging in the garden. I asked her what she was doing and she explained she was digging a whole for grandpa. Which raised a few more interesting questions- did she mean FOR grandpa, like he was supposed to go into it at some point, or did she think he was going to come along and use the hole for something, like putting in a plant?

We've planted bird seed in our garden. Mostly just to plant something, anything, in the mud that used to be our veggie patch. I need it to dry out so I can actually dig. It's too wet to dig. Even walking on the lawn I sink in and water wells up around my feet.

Things eaten and enjoyed: banana with yoghurt, chia, cocoa nibs and honey. Yum.Willow certainly agrees.

Willow likes flash photography. Sometimes when she spots me taking photos she asks for me to turn on the flash, and she pulls faces when the flash goes off.

New Year Goals #23

23. See her play with her doll's house! And train set! And maybe improve the doll house set up, to take better advantage of space.

Willow's doll house is actually make up of two parts. One is three levels and bigger, one is two levels and smaller. The biggest problem with Willow's dollhouse is that we have had only the biggest level out, and it doesn't fit on the old entertainment unit that we use as her doll's house. In this photo we've got it running sideways, and while there are gaps in the wall for your hands, it's not as great as when we have it facing the front (because the front has no walls to impede play.)

So it's always been awkward and annoying in this little corner, especially seeing as you can't really get to the WHOLE table, since the yellow chair was blocking access.

But without the yellow chair, the spot between bookcase and the play table just looked even weirder.

So the whole thing was like a puzzle that didn't fit together. At all. Or wearing clothes that didn't feel right. Constantly and quietly bothersome.

The solution? 

Dumbest solution ever.

So yeah. I took the smaller part of the doll's house out, and put the largest part away. Willow hasn't complained or mentioned it once, which goes to show... you think you're doing things to make things better for kids... but they honestly don't care. She's actually playing with it more now, in fact. I suppose she'd rather have something easier to play with, then something grander and complicated.

You can totally tell we have loads more room now on the play table, and we don't have weird over hang. We moved the play table and couch down a bit because we put the birds in the weird awkward space between the bookcase and the window. The chair is still there, but Willow can easily shift it, although it's mostly used so she can easily climb up to look at the birds. 

As for all the toys that go with the doll's house, they live in the basket on the shelf under the table. Our old entertainment unit is perfect for Willow's doll house. I got a set of Christmas baskets post Christmas- just under $15 for the set- and they've been fantastic.

I don't even know why this is worthy of a post. But I guess I spent so long being bothered by how everything didn't fit, and the solution was so simple... a mixture of time, because we got the birds which filled up that dead area, and obvious.... just put out a smaller doll's house. I really should remember this lesson more often.

The second bottom shelf of the bookcase is also dedicated to Willow's toys. The things that aren't suitable for the toy tubs, or things I want to have on display.

Please ignore the powerpoint. Willow does.
L to R: M's nephew's old tonka truck. Found it in the shed at his parent's last year and brought it home with us. Fruit dominos from Sydney. Grimms Spiel & Holz elementals puzzle. One of my favorite things in the house. It's so beautiful and feels so amazing, and it's so much harder then it looks. Wooden Noah's ark, with animals, that I got from the op shop in Darwin for $5. Possibly my favorite bargain. Elephants from Emily. They're sturdy ceramic and not a single one is broken or cracked. I adore these, and so does Willow. She went through a period of sleeping with them. Emily is an amazing artist, and we, as her friends can't get enough of her art work. This isn't empty flattery as I'm her friend- we all genuinely love getting art work from her, and we all proudly display it in our homes. Willow and I have gone to a few of her shows. I can't help but love this elephants, as ceramic has a tactile quality that plastic does not.

As for the train set, Willow totally loves playing with it. It's stored in a plastic tub under the tv, and it's perfect as it is. The interesting thing is, if you leave Willow to it, she'll only take out a short length of track and play with that. If her grandfather or M are around, they insist on setting up the track properly- and setting up the whole thing. Then Willow play with it for a bit, if she's already bored waiting, and leaves M or my father to play with it alone.