Relief

Not many of you know that we lost Caleb's Second Skin arm splint. This is made to fit his arm and he wears it for 12-16 months at least. We haven't had this one for too long, and it has been three weeks since we last saw it.

Grandma looked everywhere. She felt responsible because she took it off Caleb's arm. It always sits in their bathroom upstairs or on the change table downstairs. But it wasn't.

For three long weeks I have been hoping that it would appear. I was too scared to make a huge deal of it and tell everyone involved, I was putting it off. I felt useless and irresponsible and stupid. How could we lose such an important (expensive!) item. We thought that maybe it got caught up in rubbish and it was long gone. I had even made a rough estimate of it's replacement cost in our budget.

Today was the last day of searching. It takes a few weeks to make and Caleb has his second round of Botox injections in a few weeks . . . they wanted to see his arm splint and check out how the arm is managing. I needed to start the ball rolling to get a new splint for this appointment, Caleb also needs to be wearing it (most importantly), and lastly, the company that donated for this splint wanted to have an afternoon tea sometime in the near future. Tomorrow I was going to ring up the manufacturers to organise a new one.

Grandma and I lifted the lounge chairs and everything in between. I think I have injured or strained my back doing so! Grrr. I packed up some of the million and one toys to put into the toy cupboard and dragged them over. I was going to turn that cupboard upside down to make sure the splint wasn't in here. Caleb likes to put a lot of things in here. It is a small cupboard of which he has access and likes to monitor.

In one small dark crack, behind the books and crayons and next to the blocks sat a little, lonely, scared and cold arm splint. Thank. You. ThankYouThankYouThankYou!

Talk about a sigh of relief and a LOAD of our minds. Unbelievable. Caleb would have put it away 'somewhere safe' thinking he was being a helpful little lad. In future when *anything* goes missing, that is the first place to look.

Small side note: Grandma did look in there originally, but cause it was dark and her eyesight isn't the greatest, she didn't actually see it. I should have looked for it earlier than today, I was just scared of confirming that we had lost it.

The final word? Relief.

Project Haircut

was a success!

Friday afternoon Caleb, Zali, Mel and I headed over to Carindale. Thank you for helping Mel! Caleb still wasn't fussed on getting a haircut, but, it had to be done. Thankfully the place we went to at the beginning of the week were busy, so we dropped in to Price Cutters and could get two appointments (in approx 30 minutes).

We walked around and shopped and browsed for a bit. Caleb ran and jumped and had a ball, in this huge adventure playground other people call a shopping centre.

I was worrying so much about the haircuts, I made myself sick. Couldn't eat any lunch, the calm sit down and eat ice creams and chippies afterwards was where I could just chill and wind down and take a breath.

Back to the action. While we were standing waiting, Caleb and Zali were both starting to get bored. The kids had been driving me crazy all day and by this stage, as well as working myself into a tither, my patience was on short supply.

The hairdresser, Alex, called us in. Caleb fussed around and didn't want to get in the chair. I sat him up there, then Alex took over. He talked to him and encouraged him and then sprayed water on him. Caleb giggled. It all turned into a game when he was given the water bottle and sprayed everything in sight. All good. Alex talks constantly and is fantastic. He is just perfect to cut children's hair (prob. adults as well but that wasn't the purpose of Project Haircut), and made us all feel at ease.

However, Alex is very keen on himself! He will tell you, don't worry! I think he likes the end chair in the shop so he can perve at all the women walking past. Caleb was spraying Alex and me (and the entire shop) so said he would point out a nice lady who was walking by for Caleb to spray water on so they could have their own wet tshirt party. I said he was a bad influence. Caleb was just sitting there giggling spraying water and being sprayed.

Zali got her haircut next. She sat up high on the chair, and had the look on her face like 'what. is. going. on. here?!'

She did fabulously for her first ever haircut! She smiled and clapped and loved seeing the world reflecting in the mirror. Meet Alex, who thinks he is god's gift to women. When I asked him if he minded being in the photos, he said 'no worries, make sure you show all the girls!'

This photo shows perfectly what went on. He really did talk to Zali, he told her that she isn't the only one who can talk 'baby language' and made all sorts of odd baby sounds. As I said, he was really good with the kids. So glad to accidentally find him. He helped made Project Haircut a success and we will go back when Project Haircut II launches.

We headed off to Maccas for a treat. Zali had an ice cream (dropped half of it on the highchair leg) and a few chippies. Caleb had half an ice cream, half a burger and a chocolate milkshake. They were happy, Mummy was happy. Happy that they both had haircuts, happy that it was a fun experience, happy that now I could take a breath, un-knot my stomach and start to calm down. Mel was definitely calming to have around and helpful with the kiddies, very much appreciated her!

This is the first photo, taken last Saturday, of Zali walking! She is totally loving it. She walks around as much as possible now and is really happy with her new skill. Very cute.

Monday afternoon I pushed Caleb and Zali on their trikes (my poor arms) down to the park. We met up with Ida and Macey for a play. Everyone enjoyed themselves, but do you think white trousers was a good idea?

They were pretty filthy, the bark happily left them with black feet, knees, hands, faces and everywhere in between.

I have a whale size headache and tablets don't seem to be working. Now I have shared some photos (finally) I am going to bed. My plan is to wake up headache-free. Good night.

LC

The London Club. That is where I had dinner with Mel and Sonia. We checked it out as a possible venue for Mel's hens night. It was cosy and fun. Decorated tastefully with nice staff and nice food. Driving in towards the city was pretty exciting for me, due to normally being at home with my kiddies and having quiet evenings. Mainly the lights, I loved all the pretty lights from buildings and offices and the bridge and the shimmering reflections bouncing off the river. Through to Teneriffe, I drove up and down the street to find it, and it was near the beginning of my search! It is really hard to see street numbers in the dark and when THEY AIN'T DISPLAYED!

It was a nice evening and lovely company too. Was home at 9pm - yep, and I was thinking 'man, it must be soooo late!'

The kids had a nice day at kindy, I did a little scrapping, had my Sumo Salad (wasn't overly great, won't be in a rush for another), generally a nice day. EXCEPT for Caleb throwing the biggest wobbly. He was hysterical. When we got home from kindy, he turned into a howling moaning crying snotty crying hysterical banshee. The only thing I could pin it too was a very tired boy? Nothing, absolutely nothing we did was right. I let him splurge all his emotions and frustrations for a while. The neighbours probably thought he was being murdered or something. Finally, he had the option to sit on me and calmly watch some Hi-5 or go to his room to chill out. He picked the nicer option and sat with me. He did calm down, and eventually I could get him to laugh. He went back to being normal Caleb after that and the world was a good place again. I don't think we will be inviting that 'other' Caleb back again!

Okey, off to read a few pages of my new scrapbooking magazine and then rest my weary eyes. Good night.

Eating?

Well I hope not. When I walked in the house this morning after a doctors appointment, I let the dog outside, turned around and the cat gave me a glare. We were standing in an area of tiles, you know, the easy to clean flooring? On the one lonely little mat near the door, Cat proceeded to throw up. Then ran, her work was done. Great to be home, isn't it! And why did said cat do such a nasty? Cause she ate a little lizard, her insides mustn't agree with that delicacy. Neither does mine.

However, my insides do like the cup of tea and green apple that is calling me. I think I can smell morning tea . . .

Before I toddle off and hassle the kettle, an update on our little boy.

Caleb had a hearing test yesterday at the Mater. Third attempt. Again, his right ear had blockage. The chart thing is supposed to show movement, his printout had a flat line. We moved to the puppet show. When you hear a noise, a puppet lights up and dances. We played with coloured blocks in between to get his attention away from where the puppets danced - we needed a specific reaction of looking if and when he heard something. Next step was to focus on the single ear, so a little tiny soft earpiece was inserted in the ear and we continued. The results showed that his right ear has some hearing loss. It is upsetting because it is *another* problem we now add to the list and have to 'manage'. The audiologist is recommending we get a referral to see a Ear Nose and Throat specialist and see what we can do. After the letter arrives I will head off to our GP and get that ball rolling. The long term blockage of his ear can be causing some damage to the area, and we don't want that. The positive side is that his other ear works fantastically, thus he will not have any difficulty with speech and language development. Which we know, cause lately HE-DOESN'T-SHUT-UP!

Today both little cherubs are at kindy. Nice. To make up for the 'project haircut' debacle, I will be having my Sumo Salad today for lunch. Nice. Well, I hope so after this build up!

An update on Project Haircut. Another attempt is scheduled for 1500 hours tomorrow. I am taking backup (Grandma) and Zali to have her first haircut also. I need assistance cause there *has* to be photos taken of Zali's first haircut. I am hoping that Mr-fussy-pants will be more agreeable when he sees Zali cooperating. Oh please Lord, please make her cooperate!

Okey, off to scrapbook a little before heading to Carindale for my salad. Have a spiffy day!

No Coffee

Adrian and Zali drove to Toowoomba Sunday lunchtime. Cause it was too big of a drive for Zali to turn around and come back, they stayed for dinner and bath and drove home at night. Arrived home safely around 8.30pm. Zali went from sleeping in the car to sleeping in the cot, all good. Caleb went from just woke up in the car to mummy lying in his bed to get him back to sleep. When I thought all was good I snuck out. Minutes later he was beside me and said 'let's go downstairs'.

Downstairs we go to watch some television. He sat clinging to me for ages. Numerous times we thought he was asleep and he would turn around and look at us. He was tired but needed some cuddles and reassurance from Mummy. Least he didn't have a huge cry, like previous times when he is away from me. It is like he suddenly realises that Mummy hasn't been there, and he lets it all out. This was a bit better, but Monday he was still tired and was pushing the boundaries. He spent more time in his room for undesirable behaviour than ever before, but about time the threats are continuously followed through. Evening bath turned manic with both of them tired and . . . well, lets move on, shall we.

Monday was a nice day though. Janene and Amy came over in the morning. Janene was looking stunning, glowing with happiness and truly loving being a Mummy. Amy had grown and was sticking her skinny little neck up. Always nice to have bubby cuddles. When they left, Caleb kept asking 'where is Amy?'

In the afternoon we met Ida and Macey down at the spaceship park. Otherwise known as the Carindale Recreation Reserve. The kids had a lovely play and feed. They were totally filthy. The bark is dirty and messy and Zali might as well have dived in and swam through it. She was covered, but having a good time. Caleb plodded around and played with some other kids. Macey crawled all over the place, investigating and chewing a few pieces of bark. After a banana snack we all went home. Ida is back at work today, first day back from maternity leave and turning up for two days a week. I won't say working, she might be doing coffee and biscuits more so! he he. Hope your first day went well Ida!

The kids went all nasty around dinner and bath time, then Zali was in bed and Caleb not long after. Thankfully we could sit in peace and watch Home and Away. I need to watch all this week because something bad is going to happen between Alf and Sally. Can't miss it!

Right now Zali is at kindy and Caleb is asleep. This is the first Tuesday for Zali, we are trying two days a week and she how she settles. Caleb and I went to his normal playgroup. There weren't many there so he was bored. On the way home we discussed going to the 'big shops' (Carindale) and having a haircut, then sitting down at Maccas for lunch. I wanted to try something from Sumo Salad. Yep, all good, he was happy. We drove past home and got some money and headed over to Carindale.

I was excited, how nice, just the two of us hanging out. Quick painless haircut, sit down and eat and watch the exciting happenings going on around. Oh maybe I would have a latte also! This is going to be a great day, I thought.

Enter Mr-I-don't-want-a-haircut-now and the tides turn. He digs his heels in and no longer wants a haircut. Did I mention he looks like a cross between Crusty the Clown and a golliwog? His curls are so long the ringlets could strangle an adult, and it is so thick and bushy. I try and persuade and bribe and threaten. He squirms and fights and kicks his feet around. The young girl stands there, with too much attitude for my liking, and says 'if he moves I could cut him or myself'. Good on you, love, you are a great help.

We move away from the dodgy little salon to some nearby seats. We sit there for what seems like forever. I told Caleb he cannot move until he gets a haircut. He can't sit on the other chair, he can't dance on the mat, he can't have his apple or walk or run or see anything. Nothing is happening until he gets a haircut. Two options: you can have a haircut, we go and sit down together and have a nice lunch or we go home and you will go straight to your room. He tried to get out of both options for a while, then I put my foot down. Make your choice. Ok, so we going home. I start walking and he starts stomping his feet and letting out a slight moan. I wait, he whinges, last chance to make a choice. Right off we go. Second tanty takes place. Holding hands we then exit the centre and ride three travelators to the car. He has mini tanty's before each one. In the car, no Wiggles playing, no talking.

Home, I take his packed lunch to his room, along with his water. Do not leave this room until I say. And I want quiet. And I walked off and watched Oprah and ate my lunch. When I checked on him he was asleep. Other than feeling stupid myself with the whole scenario, I am shatted off that I missed out on a bought lunch and coffee. It wasn't even a fantastic Oprah episode.

Nearly time to go pick up my little girl. Fingers crossed she had a better day.

I hope to post some more photos soon, I just need Adrian to stop stuffing around with his computer so I can plug in the cord to download the camera. There is an issue with my machine and the cord. My machine must have the attitude of a three year old boy, u-huh.

Walking

Zali is walking. As of today. In the past week she started to do a few steps between Grandma and I, as we called to her. It was all a bit of a game, she would dive when she was close to us to be caught and cuddled. In the past few days she started pushing 'things' around the house; her Dora car, the activity station or her little trike.

Today when we had the gorgeous Mel and Brent visiting we were showing them her new 'skill'. She did more and more walking, getting braver and braver. By the end of the night she was standing and walking and clapping (herself) all the time. She is loving it and is mighty proud. So are we. She still likes to take a dive at me/her lounge/carpet, just for fun.

I knew it was coming, but it happened quick. On Thursday talking to my sweet friend Kerry, she said 'in a week she'll be walking!' I said 'yeah', but actually thought, man she has been walking for so long hanging on to things, I don't think she will ever let go permanently and do little walkies. Kerry was right!

The first wobbly jerky steps are. just. so. cute! I am unable to download my camera at the moment, but I did get a couple of (bad) shots today. Sadly I didn't get any from during the week cause I couldn't hold the camera and catch her! Hopefully tomorrow I will take her outside and see if she will work for the camera.

She also had an easy day without Caleb. She got some time and space to move and trip and walk without being shadowed. It is so exciting, can't wait for tomorrow!

Talking about Caleb, he is currently in Toowoomba staying at Nan & Pop's place. Zali and I drove him up on Friday. Dad is going to get him tomorrow afternoon.

We were very happy to meet with Sheree, Campbell and Finn at McDonald's on Ruthven Street. The kids were excited to see each other, and had a lovely play at the McDonald's playground. Caleb asked 'where's Daysid?' I replied 'Uncle David is at work today'. When I hear him say 'Daysid' I think of a Daisy. We had lunch, made a mess with ice cream cones, and finished off with another little adventure at the playground. I did ask for kid size cones, but the lad filled them up pretty high. Poor Sheree had to hoover down some ice cream from each of the cones so they were manageable for the kids. She did an honourable job, I don't think she got brain freeze but I am sure her eyes watered a little from so much cold so quickly!

We said goodbye and headed out to Telfer's shed. Caleb got comfortable pretty quickly and Zali was tired. After half an hour or so, (then having to grovel to get a goodbye cuddle and kiss from Caleb) Zali and I headed back to Brisbane. It was a long day. I was falling asleep on the way home, but cause Zali was having a sleep and not wanting to wake her, I kept driving. Sheesh.

The kids did go to kindy on Thursday. Thankfully Zali woke up well, her eyes looking good, so both were piled in the car and off they went. It was really nice to have a few hours to myself. I picked them up early afternoon, where Zali's carer said 'She's a real mummy's girl, isn't she!' A-huh, story of my life!

Kerry and I had decided to pick the kids up early and head across the road to McDonald's for an ice cream (hmm, this is starting to sound like a habit, this ice cream business). Caleb, Zali, Kerry and Riley enjoyed their cone. I had a decaf coffee (erk! Not again, they are yuck!). The kids had a play at the playground, running around like crazies. Happy Anniversary on this day for Kerry and Damien. They were lucky enough to have Riley looked after so they could enjoy a dinner out. Hopefully we helped tire him out so he was a quiet and tired little boy in the evening.

To finish I need to send my best wishes and love to Liz! It was her birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Lizee! The lucky duck spent her day at the paper crafts festival at Exhibition Grounds, doing a class and buying lots of nice goodies. That is a pretty cool birthday!

Time for some play for me now. Just a little, still tired and up early as usual for the markets in the morning. Least with Caleb being with NannyPop (that is what he calls them), he won't be coming in at 4.50am asking to come to the marskets. Have a sleep in, Caleb!

Love to all.

P.S. I just viewed this post to have a check before I hit publish, and it is too long to check right now. If I have made any mistakes, please forgive me. Oh, and sorry it is long, hope I don't bore you. Actually, if you have gotten down here, good on you! Full of stamina, you are! I'm off to play.

Them

Cripes what a week (note to self: it ain't over yet!). We haven't left the house due to Zali's conjunctivitis. It is much better tonight and my fingers are crossed she wakes up all better. Tomorrow is kindy. Thank the lord. Thank. The. Lord.

Caleb has been a bit stir crazy. And annoying. I do feel sorry for him, wanting some action and excitement and we can't do much with a sick sister. He is loving his swing and outside play, and DVD's.

Today I loved my bed. My turn to be sick. I felt awful in the stomach, weak, head was spacey (different to normal spacey I mean!) and very dizzy. Constant dizziness actually. Moving my head was difficult. Adrian stayed home from work and looked after the kids. I spent most of the day in bed, I had a sleep for 2.5 hours. Nice. Feeling a little like I been hit by a truck with no obvious bruising.

Oh, did you hear about that poor little child being bashed by his father. This totally makes me sick. That the child had just been returned to the family from foster care is more heartbreaking. He only had a short life but it was obviously a rough one. I honestly cannot fathom how anyone could do this to another person, let alone a toddler. What a tragedy. Disgusting, pathetic tragedy.

Other than being sick, Zali is turning into a little girl. Very much losing all baby-ness and is becoming a little person. It is really nice. She is taking a few steps on her own, loves to walk holding my hand and prefers to walk up the stairs with help also. She is chatty and cheeky, she is playful and cuddly, she adores her 'piggie' and enjoys playing with her brother, especially chasey. She is a lovely girl and it will be fun to watch her grow and develop in the coming year.

You know, hearing horrific and unimaginable stories like the toddler bashed to death by his father, really makes you want to hold your children and never let go. I love them *so* much.

To close, I want to give *you* a big big big hug.

Point Form

• the cat must have been extremely excited (not) about seeing the vet cause she did some nasty in the cat carrier. nice. there and back. nice.
• her health is good, the vet said she had the best teeth she has seen for a while. cool.
• her grooming. hmm. it seems very rough, and they left her tail on. grrr. that was supposed to be trimmed. long fur hanging around the 'danger' end is not desirable.
• last day of little school for two weeks. he had a nice day. he is already asking if he can go on the bus again and see 'lachy and zac', his friends at little school. u-huh.
• had two hours of intense scrapbooking with an online crop (cybercrop). it was so fast and made a huge mess of my stuff with a scavenger hunt of scrapbooking items. sheesh.
• groceries, sleep, eat, play, read.
• caleb wakes up at 4.50am, walks into grandma and says 'i come to marskets?' she normally gets up at 5am to wake me up. off to the 'markets' we go, basically all caleb wants is the warm hot choccie and raison toast at the end.
• grandma, caleb, zali and i went for a drive to bunnings (etc). caleb went to sleep so i had to stay in the car and read junkmail. zali went to sleep in the pram soon after. they both had tiny sleeps then we went for a drive out to redland bay. do you know how far that is with mr-million-questions-who-won't-shut-up? oh my. actually, have something funny to share. we checked out the endeavour prize home, which has a pool with clear glass fence. caleb saw the water and went running out saying 'big water, big water' and walked smack into the fence. grandma and i couldn't help but laugh. he even had a little red spot on his forehead. in his defence, the glass was clean and had no markings to indicate to little excited people that it was there. but it was funny.
• i mowed the front and back lawns. i haven't mowed in ages. it felt good and it feels even better seeing freshly cut *green* lawn. i also dropped in shed's padlock key in the grass (yeah, don't ask me how!). the only way i found it was when it went *thonk* in the mower's blades. instead of being straight it is more 90 degrees. oops.
• today, caleb drove me crazy. c r a z y. he constantly wants you with him to do e v e r y t h i n g. zali will crawl off and explore or play. he either follows her to take over whatever she wanted to do/is touching, or whinges and whines about wanting food/play/wiggles/hi-5/food/bikes/swings/blah. he is cuddling/tackling/following zali constantly. i think he is bored, jealous and three. if we can survive the week, it will be a true miracle. at this stage, i don't have much hope for next week.
• and joy of joys, zali's conjunctivitis has returned. insert expletive here! it was only a month ago she had her first dose. which means we won't be able to leave the house tomorrow to go to playgroup, crap oh crap. the three of us are locked in solitude. uh-oh.

A-huh

Grrrrrr. Zali didn't go to kindy today as she was unwell. Her nose needed to be wiped all the time and she was not happy. A-huh. That makes two of us. She was miserable and cranky and whingeing and crying all day. I am so over today. I don't know what the problem is exactly, other than a slight cold. I am slapping the Bonjella on her gums, she has had Panadol. She didn't eat normally, so there is an obvious sign that she isn't well. She took ages to go to bed, just cried in misery. She would have been overtired as well, so things couldn't have been much worse for her. I am so wound up, I think I need my cup of tea and a scrap page to play with to help me wind down. Cause that I what I had planned for today.

I picked up a cat cage from our vet this afternoon. Molly is going in tomorrow morning for her annual needle and checkup, then going downstairs to the 'parlour' for grooming. She AIN'T going to like her adventure. Last time we took her in, she walked around in the car. And did some 'nasty' in the car because she was scared. 'Nasty' is hard to clean up and, basically, not nice.

I will leave it there. Need my cup of tea. Desperately.
Chow.

Elvis is Alive!

We left Toowoomba Sunday and headed to Crows Nest to visit Sheree, David, Campbell and Finn. What I didn't know was that Elvis had moved to their house!

Okey, so David just needed a haircut. But he had the whole full front hair thing going. The family was getting all their hairs cut on Monday, so, Elvis has left the building.

Caleb was busting to get out to the trampoline, he was asking for it not long after we arrived. We all wandered down the back yard and the boys had a great time on the jumpy-jump. David laid across the tramp and was obviously begging for a stacks-on moment, thankfully the two boys came to his aid.

The boys giggled and jumped and jumped. And jumped.

Zali crawled around and investigated. Maybe she should have investigated the whereabouts of where those humongous mozzies were hiding. Sheree just *had* to smack a mozzie on me, yeah, she *said* there was a mozzie. There was one the size of an elephant sucking the good stuff out of Finn, but that was the last bit of pleasure the mozzie had before I got him a good one.

Finn thought it was a good time to do the mowing. If only he could whipper-snip also!

Oh look, Zali found something to play with, um, I mean, eat!

The photo is actually in focus. David was bouncing the boys and they were leaping all over the map with limbs flying everywhere. The loved it.

Sheree and David made a yummy dinner for us. David made a great Diane sauce for the steak, Sheree made a great, thick, cheese sauce for the veggies, plus we got some hot chippies to dip in the yummy Diane sauce. We were full. Oops, and here comes the trifle for dessert! Sure, we all had a serve of the delicious concoction and yep, through on that cream. Mmmm. Ohhh, I can't walk . . .
Thanks to both our hosts over the weekend, we had a great time.

Today Sharon visited. She is *very* pregnant. She looks great. She is tiny, with a *huge* belly, it is very much all baby. She has less than three weeks to go. Can't wait to meet him/her. Another baby to have cuddles with. We were talking so much I didn't even think to take a photo, doh! Good luck for the last few weeks.

Zali has a bit of a cold. Runney nose and bit miserable. She really must be sick, she slept for two hours this morning - holy! Caleb had a lovely day at Little School. Friday is the last day before the school holidays. I don't think he is going to like school holidays because he really enjoys going. Hopefully we can catch up with his bestie, Riley.

Had my cup of tea already, think I will read my Woman's Day. Had to get a few salad items at the shop today and splashed out on the current issue. Mainly cause it came with a goodie bag. Plus, it has Sarah O'Hare/Murdoch's baby heartache. And Ricki-Lee's wedding exclusive. All very interesting reading that I must attend. Take care.