Fiction

Evan has, in the last few months, found some excellent talking books for us (the boys, mainly) to listen to in the car. Most recently, he found the beginning of Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree series, The Enchanted Forest (read by Kate Winslet, no less). Declan has been very taken with the stories, and has recently insisted that I read them to him before bed every night. Callum has taken to creeping up and sitting on Declan's bed too. I've been very impressed with Declan's staying power for books which have very few pictures.

So the other night, after he had finished dinner, and Declan was still eating (a very common occurrence) Callum noticed the copy of Peter Pan sitting on our bookshelf behind him. He brought it over to me. I opened it carefully, and explained that it was very old ("older than Grandpa!") and had been owned by Grandpa's sister Aunt Anne. Now I'm reading a chapter of that every night at dinner. This one actually has more pictures, but Declan is usually still eating, so doesn't get to see them. They appear to have been coloured in by Aunt Anne, which I am more impressed with than either of the boys.

Spy Kids

Callum and Declan have a new favourite movie - Spy Kids. It's a thriller about two children who turn into spies. Callum would like to watch it every waking moment, and was a bit disappointed when our visitors yesterday expressed no interest, but instead wanted to watch a movie about cats.

Callum's favourite part is all the gadgets.

Girl toys

I mentioned to Declan this evening that it was Claire's birthday soon, and we would have to think of a present for her. "I think she will want a girl toy", he said. He was fairly vague about that, moving on to Winnie the Pooh with great confidence that Claire would love a Winnie the Pooh toy.

Later that evening, he told me with great excitement that his next birthday party will be a fairy party. I remain reasonably confident that they haven't imbibed too many rigid gender stereotypes.

Matilda Mudpuddle

Callum has a new favourite book character - Matilda Mudpuddle. She suddenly gets superanatural powers - a different one in each book - by eating an unusual food. In the first in the series, she eats a bright blue jellybean, and is suddenly invisible for three hours.

Callum is very taken with this concept, and has decided that the piece de resistance at his birthday party will be handing out blue jellybeans to each guest at the end. And suddenly they will all be invisible! Apparently the occupants of his table at school and several teachers are now clamouring for an invite.

Declan CAN read

After some feedback from his pre-school teacher, who is doing some extra work with Declan, we've decided we've been on the outer-edge of hard-marking regarding whether Dec can read (we've been convinced he can't). This evening he read:
"I pat a cat.
I had fun in the sun.
The cat sat on the mat.
I want a dog.
I gave him a cat."

He got a Mars bar (which he also read).

The octopus attack

Poor Callum's chest looks like he's been attacked by an octopus. His skin reacted badly to the adhesive used to attache the halter monitor electrodes and so he has a range of raised, round bumps across his chest.

Othwise the episode passed without incident. Callum was very calm throughout.

Heart monitor

Callum was fitted with a Holter monitor this morning. This is a portable ECG which he has to wear for 24 hours. It's unexpectedly bulky, especially as it involves several feet of thick wires. Callum has shown great forebearance about the experience so far although he's expressed serious qualms about having to sleep in the thing.

What a line!

Callum has been running around the last few days asking people if they'd like to smell his lips (they smell of strawberries from his chapstick - a current fad in his class). He's remarkably successful. I can't help thinking if he can do it as successfully when he's 20, it'll work as a great pick-up line.

Bruises and experimental logic

Callum has recently figured out what bruises are (your skin looks blue, and it hurts when you press on it). He's taken a leap of logic from there and decided that he has a bruise on the inside of each elbow, except that its a different kind of bruise that doesn't hurt.

I tried to explain to him that its actually a vein close to the surface, and it wouldn't go away in a week like other bruises do, but he clearly wasn't at all convinced. We've agreed to "do an experiment", though - we'll look at it again in a month and decide who was right.

Most improved

Yesterday there was a soccer game for the first time in about six weeks. Callum tried very hard, and got the most improved award. This is a small trophy with a soccer ball on it that gets passed to a different player each week.

He was very thrilled with it and showed it to any available adults (Val from Thomas St cafe, as it happens) and took it to bed with him last night.

The soccer team won 9-0 and Callum got quite a few kicks (although no goals).

A moment

We've been out to dinner at the local Italian restaurant. We're on our way home. The boys have been hiding behind pillars and are now running ahead, screaming with delight, as we chase them. Callum's trousers fall down.

Dentist

Both boys visited a fantastic dentist this morning. She said they're both fine and have excellent bites, Cal's slightly better because he has a little more room between his teeth (important as the second set come in). Both have to brush more thoroughly at the back and we have to watch carefully as Cal's second teeth come in because of the series of illnesses he's had.

Drama in the holidays

The boys have done a lot of drama the last week. Callum spent a week at ATYP and had a great time. Declan also had his first ATYP experience last Friday and also enjoyed himself.

Then Cal has spent the last two days doing a drama and problem-solving course at UNSW based around Alice in Wonderland. His final presentation was he and another boy making a paper hat while joined at the hip and so having only one hand to work with each.

Dec's course

Declan had his first GERRIC course over the last two days about pictures and art. He had an absolute ball and seemed to learn a great many things. We've gone collage-mad in the house today.

Counting update

As we were walking back home from coffee on Saturday morning, Declan began spontaneously counting by 10s to 100. We made much of him once he succeeded, upon which Callum immediately started counting by 5s to 100 (I'm afraid that these boys have competitiveness in their genes).

Then yesterday, Declan sat beside me, with the times table poster as a guide to help him, and counted by 1s to 100. Paused for a moment, then said, "now can we get a cat?" I think we'll stick to our previous promise to wait until after our overseas holiday, although Declan has promised to ask Jane and Peter whether they will look after it for us while we are away.