in our garden

From this

To this

To this

Or first go at a little vegie garden, we put in tomatoes, peas, cucumber, strawberries and carrots. So far we've had lots and lots of peas

We would have had strawberries, we almost have quite a few times

But there have been issues of impatience for one small girl and when we finally got her to stop picking them before their time, our lovely possum housemate has beaten us to them! So I guess we need a net now? The kids have had so much fun with it and learned a lot too. The boy still doesn't eat any of it but loves helping his sister find what is ready and seeing her munching what we have grown!

Lego Quest Kids

His aircraft creation for the challenge at Lego Quest Kids. They have a monthly challenge based on a theme (this month was aircraft), photos are posted on the blog after. He loved seeing his there along with all the other different takes kids had on the challenge.

bath refusal

Both of my kids go through stretches where they will. not. have a bath. Once we get them back in somehow though, they don't want to get out!

Things that entice them in to the bath when they are refusing are -
A novelty change of location like the sink or basin or a little pool or outdoor tub if its hot
We put a baby bath inside our shower they like to sit in that while we shower
Bath crayons and paint, both kids LOVE these! There is an easy bath paint recipe here
Taking non bath toys in with them (obviously ones that won't get wrecked in the water!), things like trains and cars are a hit with roads or tracks drawn in bath crayon
Spray bottles with a little food colour or just water
Potion making with liquid soaps, bubble bath and shampoo while in the bath, makes for very clean smelling kids afterwards!

harry potter

This was taken a little while ago but since we don't have to dress up for book week being homeschooled, I thought I'd share. Both of our kids seem to Firmly Believe they have a dress code that they MUST adhere to and will only wear certain things, not usually including dress ups of any sort. So Harry Potter here was a rare treat!

She HAS to do everything her brother does! If he rides a scooter, she needs to ride a scooter, if he gets a new helmet, she also needs a new helmet, like right. now. But it must be pink.

Check out his expression on spotting the goat! You can't tell from the photo but that goat was HUGE!

Kids often ask him why his scooter has two wheels at the front, he tells them because it's cool! He had a little blue one like hers which we replaced with a two wheeled one when he outgrew it but soon found he couldn't ride it. One of his sensory issues is with proprioception - the sense of movement and body position. So he got the bigger version with the extra wheel, which gives way more stability and he rides this one with no problem.

Oh, yes, it was such a fun walk home! He was tired out and decided to take a little lie down on the footpath! And she still can't go far at all with "Sore leg", she is still asking me to "I carry you" all the time! Lucky we only went 200m from home!

break a leg

Yeah, ONEatatime. But they didn't.

So she ended up with a fractured tibia. On her 2nd birthday. Poor baby girl. Yes, just from landing on the mat after being bounced. The rest of her birthday was spent in emergency, with lots of holding her down for x rays and painstop being spat on lots of nurses and lots of tears. Then the rest of the week in and out of the doctors and then a bone scan and even more tears and screams and holding down. Then the cast, where the doctor asked the nurse if she wanted earmuffs before they even started. So not fun. "Take it OFF, take it OFFFFF!"

But once that cast was on and we (sometime later) got over the fact that we can't wear two crocs for now and we asked Daddy one last time hopefully and far more politely "Take it off?", we got used to our new "big sock". We crawled with it sticking out at a right angle (it's a full leg cast), then a week later discovered how to hobble around on it a little. And that made us just about as proud of ourselves as our very first steps all over again!

The downside to the walking on it is that the cast is now dirty, really filthy actually. Anyone know how to fix that?

chop chop

No, he doesn't eat any of those foods. Yes, playing, touching, cutting up foods is one of the things recommended to get sensory kids to eat a bigger variety. He absolutely loves to help cook, cut up and play with food and has been doing so for over 6 years but it hasn't progressed to actually eating any of it! It is still awesome for his tactile sensitivity and the cutting is also good for his hand strength and endurance.

And yes, the firecat is more hinderance than help in the kitchen. She has a very short go at cutting, a bit of taste testing, then a whole lot of throwing. (They are kiddy knives they are using so she her fingers are quite safe in the above photo!)

this girl

She knows what she wants this girl of mine.

She loves to have "Glasses on" "GLASSES ON", repeat over and over to get someone to help with this, cause it's hard to get them to stay when your nose is only teeny.

And these bloody Crocs Joel got her, she has some beautiful shoes but mainly insists on these.