Queens Birthday Weekend

Well the season at the Mill has almost started so I've gone from having Greg at home for 3 day long weekends EVERY weekend to him doing all this overtime and barely seeing him!! He's suppose to knock-off an hour earlier than he used to but I've been getting these horrible phone calls from him at 3:30 to tell me he's got to stay for another few hours. YUCK! Then I'm racing off to Zumba when he gets home - so yeah, I see him in my dreams though. Poor guy is so hard up when he sees me in the flesh, his eyes roll up a little in his head, his knees weaken and then he almost passes-out.

André turned 6 months on the 7th!! And if the surface is right and his clothes not too slippery he crawls on all fours!! Such a strong little boy. Today he started saying Mum-mum-mum!

We've been spending heaps of time outside with all this beautiful weather. (Thank God the mozzies have diminished - I was nearly going stir crazy!!) We've been making a "camp" underneath the trampoline - but it obviously doesn't provide the depth of shade my little red-head needs, I've noticed he's a little bit blushed today. Poor love! But this winter sun is just SO nice! Izzy was here all weekend (ya-HOO!!) and we dragged a mattress onto the truck's roof rack and had a picnic up there!

Anakin went to the dentist today. He burst into tears when it was time to get into the chair. I ended up having to pass André to one of the dental nurses and lay down underneath him. He really needs a couple of fillings. He's been having trouble with his teeth for a few weeks now - waking up crying with a toothache and having to spend half the day with a tooth brush dangling from his mouth! But today, with all the time we wasted trying to coerce Anakin into going anywhere near the dentist he only had time to medicate it a little. Next time will be the real deal, and I'll have to recruit a babysitter for André! Poor love.

OMG you should see how tall Izzy is these days. Towers over me! And takes the same shoe size as his dad already! It was so nice having him home hanging out with his little brothers and he caught up with his best mate and his cousins as well. Greg was putting on his friendly face and they went fishing together and had a nice time, thankfully. I dunno what he's doing with his hair lately. He's dyed it black and it looks like a disaster! Apparently he's letting it grow so he can get dreadies. I can't really say too much when I actually stop and consider myself at his age. I was a complete fashion disaster. Plus his favourite singer of all time is Zach DelaRocher so I'm a little bit proud of that! He's enjoying Cairns and spending heaps of time with all the other side of his family, but it's virtually impossible meeting kids his own age when he doesn't go to school and I feel sorry for him in that sense. Can't wait until his old enough to get some work and he can get a part time job at Woolies or something. He tells me how he hangs out at JB HiFi and helps people out like he's a staff member, I dunno how much of his stories he makes up just for my amusement but it sounds like something he'd do. He must have sent 20 texts while he was here, tells me he's messaging his friends from Subway... I dunno..

Me and Greg met with a building designer on Tuesday out at the block. That was super exciting!!! I LOVE my floor plans so much and he had great ideas about building materials that really matched my ideas and the flavour of the place. I can't wait to hear back from him. We were toying with the idea of moving somewhere already established. We both fell in love with Coolangatta while we were down there with the kids on the May Day weekend and I found this lovely place at Helensvale and then there's this gorgeous home at Trinity Beach. Buying seems the more financially sensible decision over building in the current market, but we just can't walk away from our dreams of building at the block. Well I can't anyway. Greg would still be living in his family home at Mooroobool if I didn't shake him up and get him going! And now he's just as happy spending his entire life here, where his two children were conceived. I don't really think I could go back to living on a house block when I've spent all this time on an acreage either. The space and privacy and rural lifestyle are just too favourable.

Greg's brother Chris has bought a beautiful 5 acre property with 250 mature rambutan trees and mangasteens and all these other fruit trees. He moves in in a couple weeks. It's going to be awesome raiding his trees!! Better make sure I stay on his good side ;)

There's a Zumba party on this weekend to raise money for the PCYC. Can't wait to take the kids and Greg. I've got my legwarmers and my fluorescent bracelets all ready to DISCO DISCO!

Dear Tiff,

Well here I am and it's JUNE you tell me! Not one solitary entry in May and probably only one solitary entry for April. Just not good, and you check every day too! Poor baby. You know I love you.

You know what's been keeping me busy? Cleaning the bloody floors! There's nothing like a sweet white outfit on an even sweeter baby to let you know how grubby your floors are! Yep André is totally mobile now. I got a photo of him disappearing into the bathroom today, from the other end of the hall.


I think he was trying to tell me he needed a bath, after another coating of bird feathers and seed husks from our very messy (and noisy) budgies, a few hair balls (yes, I'm still malting) and some tuna grease and stray rice bubbles (Anakin now insists on meals being taken on the floor!).

Yes, he is a sweet baby. He stops people dead in their tracks to admire him. Hippy ladies at the markets tell me what a beautiful energy he has... His darling face absolutely lights up when he sees his Mumma's home from Zumba. He loves to grab the hair on both sides of my head to pull me in for a kiss. (All my kids have done that! - I must be tasty!) He is also a real difficult boy and sometimes everything I do for him is a struggle. Feeding him is a struggle - he grabs handfuls of my skin and pinches away, wriggles and carries on and wants to swap boobies all the time. He can be thrashing about on the boob right up until the moment he goes limp and falls asleep! I have to pin him down to change his nappy - another struggle! Travelling with him is the total pits, he still HATES his carseat. He cries just looking at the thing! On our trips to Cairns I resort to doing highly illegal things that the ladies on Essential Baby would totally roast me over the flames for! He hates his walker too - so that's out! Most babies I see just sit there happily looking about from their prams or from their parents laps, André will not relax - he is constantly struggling to achieve that next step in his physical progression. Thank goodness he's crawling because up until now it seems like he's been completely frustrated with all the things he can comprehend that his body can't manage to pull off!! He's too smart for his own good! All of my boys have been such DEMANDING children. I dunno how come I'm not completely nuts! I tell you what but, I'm going grey at a rapid rate of knots!

Anakin gives me a break only when he's watching his favourite shows, and then I worry about how much telle he's had! He loves being all over me and as soon as André isn't in my arms he wants to be up for a cuddle. He loves to wedge himself between me and whatever it is I'm doing! Yesterday I had André clambering all over me in the bed finding handfuls of very sensitive skin to pinch on and Anakin jumping all around my head on the pillows which gave me the sense that I was about to get my hair stood on at any second - and yep, some little artery in my brain went POP and I had an instant headache! This is how my life is. I'm actually getting a moments peace now but half the time I'm at the computer with Anakin circumnavigating my body using my neck (with it's vital airways) as a good grab-hold to pivot around and around my chair!

I can get away with doing my own thing with Anakin as long as I'm inventive enough to keep up a vernacular that makes him feel like we're having the best game ever! I managed to pull off a few hours to redraw my house plans (I think they're near perfect now!) only because I convinced him I was "designing a new dojo - a training facility of the likes never seen before, for Trunks and Goten to perfect their mastery of the Ka-Mi-YAH!!"

I've got more coming, but Anakin needs company on the toilet (!) and with André finally asleep I feel like I'm on borrowed time. XXX

Us Post-Easter

I've been so accident prone all of a sudden. I slurped boiling hot water all over myself after ordering a cuppa tea at the macca's drive through and ended up with a nasty burn on both my thighs - the one time their cuppas were actually high tide. I caught the back of my heel coming in through the screen door and took out a nasty chunk of skin. Talk about smart. Then Anakin fully headbutted me in the forehead. Geez. Hope that's the last of it for a while.

Greg spoilt the end of my Easter weekend with a gutful of rum or bourbons or something. It ended up with nasty putdowns (Greg), a big heap of profanities (Izzy), a kick in the shorts (Izzy's shorts), a hole in the wall (Greg), a broken tail-light (me), a crooked gate (me), a cold shoulder (Greg, getting my cold shoulder). More like a frozen shoulder. It's only slightly thawing now... a week later. Too right. I want my family home to be somewhere ALL my children can feel is a haven. Izzy has a mouth on him sometimes but Greg is suppose to have experience and maturity on his side, half the time he acts like more of a juvenile. It's so frustrating because he is father-of-the-year with his own kids but when he's mean to Izzy I feel like packing up all his belongings and throwing them out the front door. I wish all my kids had the same dad!

Anyway I picked Izzy up from his new place in Cairns to take him round to my brother's for a swim when we were up last week. He seems happy and relaxed and content there with his dad, so I'm relieved for him because as depressing as it is to say - it was really starting to get out of hand around here.

André has started on a bit of tucker now! I didn't think I'd be offering him solids as early as 4 months but he's really into it! Yesterday was his first go with a spoon and he is really good at it. Not too messy at all. Just before, I gave him a drink out of a glass - no spills. Clever boy! He's also had a couple of little stints in the jolly jumper, he really likes that. He is just so desperate to be on the go! An old Italian man at the shops was watching him wriggling and writhing around in my arms and commented "such a little baby and he already wants to hop down and run away!" It's even obvious to total strangers! His Nan bought him a 2nd hand walker and after reading Once Upon a Dream I ordered him an Ergo - I can't wait to see his little round ginger nut poking out from the top of that camel coloured carrier - they'll be well matched I dare say. All devices to give my tired arms a break!!

I made us juice this morning it was celery, parsley, ginger, beetroot, pear, apple, pineapple and orange!! Anakin drank up two glasses! Another one of his extremes is his eating habits! He'll either be happy to guzzle down fresh healthful juice and asks for extra salad with his dinner and loads of veges, or he'll just decide he wants mayonnaise for dinner, or bbq sauce or toothpaste! He's out fishing with his dad at the moment. He always apologises profusely when they get back with no fish. I tell him as long as he gets home safe that's all I care about.

Everyone came over for dinner last night. I made the yummiest pumpkin soup, Mum brought her homemade savoury bread to dunk into it, Nick brought her delcious beetroot and carrot salad with lime and honey dressing and some vegetarian nori rolls (she's gone vego). Mum's just got back from a holiday in Tazzie and stayed here half the night googling properties in St Helen. She reckons she's selling up and wants all of us to relocate with her. Sounds pretty good - no heat, no mould, no mozzies, no guinea grass or Singapore daisy, big lakes, clean oceans, everywhere has a view...

Easter!

Izzy left for his new home in Cairns. That kid has a very definite version of reality - not necessarily based on any semblance of the truth or steeped in any fact. I'm sure though that the more times he repeats his version of the way things are, the more firmly he'll believe them, he might even create whole new memories - how inventive! Man, I gotta laugh when the other alternative is brokenheartedness.

But anyway, it's Easter Sunday today and he got a lift back here with my brother Nicholas. We had a barbie at Nick's last night (my sister - yes they're both Nicks!) And a big easter egg hunt there this morning. The kids will all have excess chocolate induced diarrhea soon. I managed to get an apple, a grapefruit and a wheatbick inside of Anakin for breakfast this morning and he had a couple of nori rolls for lunch but other than that it's been Lindt bunnies for him! (At least it's good quality chocolate!) I was reading a book at Nicks all about the benifits of cold pressed coconut oil as opposed to all your trans-fatty acid, soy bean alternatives, it made me feel like being healthy for the entire time I was reading it! But as soon as I put it down it was like "where's that caramel tart?". Yesterday I made a batch of scones and we ate half a bottle of Rose Petal Jam! Man that stuff's good Tiff!

I'm still 7 kilos heavier than what I was 2 babies ago, but I don't really care too much. The less Greg looks at me the better!! Except it doesn't work! Poor guy's hard up most of the time and then I go around half undressed with my breastfeeding boobs out and he follows be around with his eyes boggling out of his head...

The Easter Bunny bought Anakin a great big box of Faber Castel colouring pencils and some tools for his playdoh. André got a new rattle (he loves his toys!) and this cool mesh contraption that he can suck fruit through. He's been showing a real interest in food lately and he's tried a little bit of pear and mulberry and this morning he had grated apple through his new sucking device. Izzy got a mini lime green colander to strain his noodles and pasta. That'll come in handy.

Last weekend we took all the kids to Coconuts with my sister's family to celebrate my nephews' birthdays. I love that place. Anakin kept saying "Can't you believe it?? We're finally at Coconuts!!" I had a ball with him running around and chasing one another around the slides of the new waterpark. We stayed for two nights and got a late check-out on the third day so it was a great old time. Greg took Anakin to see "How to Tame Your Dragon" on the Sunday and it was the first time he went to the movies!! He LOVED it! He sat up on his Dad's lap eating popcorn with his eyes glued. I wish I was there with him. But I got to stay back at the resort where Andre had a long sleep and I managed to paint my toenails and sharpen all of Anakin's pencils for him - he was very grateful. He always is the little darlin!

Plus I got to go op-shopping TWICE! I bought this whimsical little MinkPink dress that makes me feel like Carrie Bradshaw. The top section is just like a cream racer-back tank that finishes right under your boobs and attached is a pleated lined viscose skirt that balloons around - apricot with a cream, bird print - so dahling! But maybe not everyones cup of tea. Another find was a classic looking Jacquie E black dress and a sweet white frock I might wear to the "Bridal Couture" engagement party I'm planning for me and Greg. Can't wait to hit the op-shops when we go back up this week! The ladies have been bugging me to take Anakin. They miss him!! And they're interested in seeing the new baby too. The other night I dreamnt about the ultimate utopian op-shop experience - everywhere I looked there was cool garments - cool hats! cool shoes! Too good to be true!

André has been enjoying being passed around the family with Nan and Pa up for Easter. Mind you his eyes follow me around and he just beams big smiles at me whenever our gazes meet, which is pretty much the whole time, because I can't keep my eyes off him either! We got him up to go to the toilet last night and after his two early morning poo-poos he was "coo-ing" and "garr-ing", the SWEETEST talking sounds I've ever heard. He has a BEAUTIFUL, mellifluous voice, just like his great-Nanna. His movement have become very deliberate now. He reaches out to touch my face (or grab a big handful of hair! OUCH!) and can handle all his rattles quiet well. I lay him down over the top of a pillow with all his duplos and play things in front of him and given that his well rested and in a good mood, he can entertain himself on the floor for ages. (Well, ages being 10 minutes or so!) It's a bit scary but he LOVES the telly! He's stayed up 3 Friday nights in a row just to watch the footy ;) (His favourites are the Broncos ;) Neither of my other two even focused on the TV as infants, but this one fully twists around to check out whats on the tube!

Anakin has been a boy of extremes lately. He either thinks that it's been "The best day of his life!" or the "The best day in the whole world!" or it's "Humph! I hate this day!" (Usually when you tell him he's had enough Playstation and to turn it off. And usually on the same day!) He's always saying "I love my family. I love you guys so much." But it's always "I HATE Uncle Christo"!

I'll come back and add pix when Greg gets home with the camera!

Should be sleeping..

What I shit day this ones turned out to be. I woke up totally depleted and fragile after having a migraine all night and after one too many battles over Izzy's school work I packed up every last book into the car and drove him to his Dad's a whole week early. We're constantly at each others throats. He drives me up the freakn wall! He pushes all my buttons and makes me miserable and then wants to know "Why are you such a stress case? Why are you angry all the time?" It's like beating someone up and then asking them why the have a black eye and blood on their face! He accuses me of caring about him too much.. " No more puppy-cradle-death-syndrome for you" I told him as I dropped him off.


He hates school so much but hopefully he lands on his feet one day, he's got enough personality and confidence but I mean who wants to do school work when you're perfectly happy watching re-runs of Flight of the Concords all day?

Anakin is my saviour though, for as many times as Izzy tells me "you annoy me, I don't even like you.." I have Anakin telling me what a beautiful Mum he thinks I am and how much he loves me. Thank the Lord for him, if I only had Izzy to listen to I'd think I was a complete failure as a parent!

My sister had her second miscarriage at 9 weeks pregnant on the weekend and the poor girls relationship with Chris always sounds like it's on the rocks. My two little boys bring her lots of happiness though. They are darlings. Her oldest child gives her all the heartbreak too. She turned 16 in January and then by February had run away from home to Townsville with her 20 year old boyfriend. She texts her Mum photo's of all her new piercings! At least she enrolled herself in school. That'd be the last thing on earth Izzy would do!


André is thriving. I never thought Greg and I would have a blue eyed baby, but they never ended up changing colour much. He's got these beautiful eyes - the colour of denim. A thick band of dark denim around the rims and stone wash around his pupils. He's got long eyelashes like Anakin but they're ginger just like his Dad. His nose is just like Jacob Blacks and has been ever since he was born. His chin is like a little doughnut. He's got the loveliest personality, I think he's going to grow up to be a gentle and patient boy. He talks to us all and gives everyone big beaming smiles. He loves to roll and if the surface is right he can roll from one side of a room to another if you let him! He loves his rattle and loves chewing on his fist and sucking his thumb. I have to bath him so much to keep the smell of spewk and spit off his little sticky hands. He gnaws away at my knuckles all the time, he gets stuck in really furiously and dribbles all over the place - little fella will have teeth popping up all over the place before too long. He hates going in his car seat and basically being in any reclined position (rockers, trolley seats..) - he does a continuous stomach crunch to try and sit upright just like Anakin used to! His been a real little wiggly worm lately. My arms are constantly fatigued trying to keep him under control!

Anakin's a 'busy boy'. We bought him a wooden desk and chair at the markets last weekend and I set it up in our room so while I'm putting André down to sleep he can colour quietly close by us. He sits there colouring three pictures at once. He's moved on from dragons to pictures of Naruto Uzamarki and Charizard. (Those Japanese cartoons have given him a whole new vocabulary to muck around with. He's always rolling words off his tongue, he repeats something over and over and then asks "What means that?") He's renamed himself "Dragon Jujitzu Wasingahn". Nice name. While he colours he sings to himself quietly. I often overhear "S'cuse me.. while I kiss the sky.." ... "Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games... it'll bring you to your nana nana knees nacaknees!" He's learnt to operate the CD player and knows which discs he likes. He finds the one with the eagle on it when he wants to listen to "Jimi Hendric" and then he puts on a big dancing performance on the bed for the entertainment of Andre and I. When he's finished he says "Your turn Mum". His memory is incredible. He can here something a couple of times and remember the tune days later. He watched Pokemon on one occasion and could recall so many of the critters' names - totally made up words that you can't even relate to anything! He doesn't need any help putting on the playstation anymore either and navigates his way through all the menu's and folders like and old pro. It makes me laugh to watch his tiny hands operate the toggles and buttons so deftly.

Me. Physically - My hair has just started to fall out now, was hoping to avoid that this time round. I've still got a big fat guts. It doesn't really worry me too much coz I'm just so glad to be pain free again and I'd rather have a bit of extra padding than to be sickly, which I'm definitely not! (Cept for the occasional migraine from hell.) Zumba has been excellent fun, I just go on my own, don't even talk to anyone there - just straight in and straight out - always in a hurry to get back home asap! But it's so great to do a bit of dancing again. I love it!

Sexually - my libido has vanished into thin air. While I was pregnant and super smokin hot to trot I told Greg to store all the good times in his memory bank, that it'd be fairly likely he'd need to draw on them in the barren times that lay ahead. I wasn't joking. Nah, but I'm fairly generous. Just as long as he doesn't expect me to go all crazy about it and doesn't mind me talking, laughing, yawning or rubbing my eyes.. like it's not even happening.... He doesn't.

Can't keep a good girl down!

Just got home from being in Cairns for two days with the kids. Izzy had Activity Days at the Distance Ed school. The teachers there are awesome. Home schooling him is hectic! I stress out about the lecturettes and expositions and finance tests he's got to complete and he refuses to be phased. Stressing out is just not the way he rolls. Neither is staying on task for more than 15 seconds! ARRR!

Anakin is madly colouring in his 3rd colouring-in book in as many days! This one is full of intricate dragon pictures so should keep him busy for some time. Last time I took him to story-time in the library all the mum's were huddled around admiring his colouring and cutting skills. He just loves it so much and when he's not playing the PS3 (his other, newly acquired addiction - blame Greg), he's colouring, cutting and pasting all day long.

Speaking of story-time, the lady from the local paper took mine and Andre's picture while we were there and apparently it was in the paper today, groan, luckily for me my gorgeous baby will deflect the attention away from my general disheveled state, there's a substantial likelihood that my hair was a complete disaster considering I didn't even give myself a cursory glance in the mirror that morning. When I catch people staring at my crazy hair I say apologetically "if it looks like I just rolled out of bed, well.. actually.. that's just the way it happened." I can't really use the baby as an excuse though, my hair's always been a disaster!

I got it all cut off short again now. I was at the bank the other day chatting away to the ladies there when I ran my fingers through the back of my hair and discovered this long tendril stiffened by dried baby spewk! I thought nuh! It's time to go!



I started Zumba classes - it's fantastic, I love it! The household falls apart for the short hour and a half I'm away from home though! On my last return I got greeted by Anakin, (who had been sulking about my absence the whole time), with "I hate my dinner!" And Greg's voice booming this improvised opera to keep Andre agog instead of screaming for his Mumma. (Just looked up the meaning of "agog", so maybe not so much agog as... confused. Yeah, like confusion tactic.)



The trip to Cairns and back was fairly horrible as usual. There's only so many times you can stop on the side of the road to soothe and feed a crying baby before you think, shit, I've just gotta keep going or we'll never get there. That big Patrol we drive is so rugged too. Even when he does finally get himself to sleep, the first railway lines or pothole we drive over jolts him awake and then we're back to square one! Might have to try the Magna next time.

Greg coerced me into selling my beloved little caravan ;( I only had it for a year! But there's too many of us now and it was just a glorified cubby house for the boys to hang out in with their laptops. And for me to admire and clean lovingly like a giant aesthetic ornament.

It was sad for me coz I always saw myself in it, stealing weekends away on my own .. but that was never going to happen for a long, long time.. and with Centrelink being so slow to react (still haven't seen any baby bonus), we are feeling a bit of the pinch. Not that you'd know that the way I shopped (on the credit card) the last two days! A couple drove all the way from Victoria to come and pick it up! It'd been advertised on one website for only about a week or two! Anyway they're going to love it as much as me so that's all good, at least it will be getting some use. With all the rushing around getting safety certificates, gas certificates, rego certificates... plus all the home school stuff and kids and housework .. I felt FARK!!! I'VE GOT TOO MUCH ON MY PLATE. Izzy's Dad is going to take over being his home tutor in a few weeks when his job finishes up and then I'll be back to just the two littlies in the house. I few short weeks ago I was stressing out about Greg going back to work and being at home with them both alone, now I'm thinking it's going to be a breeze with the action that I've had lately!!

This and that and whatnot.

Greg's gone back to work today >.< and I've been dreading it for the last 7 weeks! It's been productive and peaceful so far but it's not suprising that I've managed to: take Ting-Tang to the toilet several times and give him his bath, have a cuddle and a giggle and a chuckle and put him back to sleep, put some dishes away, wash up the rest, put on a load of washing, and one in the dryer, sweep the floor and get some pancakes into me all before 10 o'clock because Nick has my other two kids! It'll be a different ball game when they get home though - I bet!

We're going to miss Greg at home SO MUCH! He has been Anakin's big playmate all holidays and I hope he doesn't feel too neglected with just one, mostly preoccupied parent at home. Anakin has been such a beautiful big brother to Andre - he hasn't showed the slightest bit of jealousy or one inkling of spite AT ALL. All he has to say about Andre is "Mum, I CAN'T believe we've finally got our baby!" and "I love Andre SO much" and "Isn't he just so CUTE" ... I thought he might struggle with having to share his parents, but he is just such a loving boy, he's always giving us all big hugs and swooning "I love our family." I seriously don't know what I did to deserve that little boy ♥

I took Andre to school the other day to sit in on some professional development and to sort out the forms to move from a provisional to full teacher registration. (Man, I'll be celebrating with a beer when that comes in the mail!) André got passed around amongst the teacher aides and was mostly a quiet little boy sleeping in his stroller and having a feed. I still like to stay home mainly, but we are making progress from the days when he would scream relentlessly in his carseat on the way to the markets or Woolies and I'd be like "PLEASE REMIND ME TO NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE AGAIN!!!"

I had my girlfriend Karen come and stay for a few days with her boy Jake. Jake and Izzy went to preschool together at Trinity Beach and she was my walking partner for a couple of years. She ended up moving to a beach further North and I ended up at a beach further South so we're miles away now but still try and catch up a couple times a year at least. She rides a Harley and is a prison guard, I told her she should do riot squad training and come back to sort my kids out for me ;) Jake has grown HEAPS - the boys are WAY taller than their mothers now. But they're still little shits ;) We got some tennis in while they were here. It's so good not to be in constant pain and to be able to run around again! (That pregnancy was HARD). But even with the heavy duty sports bras I'm still getting use to my big boobs. Greg reckons they're "happenin". I reckon he needs to take a photo coz they're not going to be around for ever.

I've got an interview with Cairns School of Distance Ed on Friday. I'm thinking I might home school Izzy. He got such a shocking report card last semester and it's not like he's stupid, he just thinks he know everything already! I lectured him for days over that report card, I was so upset with him. I told him he can't go around acting like he's smart and bring home marks like that! I sent him out in the yard over the holidays to give him a taste of menial labour and told him that's what he's got ahead of him if he continues on this road. He admitted it was pretty shocking and is going to try harder, concentrate more and be more organised this year. I told his dad that Izzy spending hours at home on his own in the afternoon before he gets home from work is not going to happen anymore. That he needs more supervision, more structure, more guidance... that he can come home to me in the afternoons where I will make sure he gets some decent food into him and supervise his homework etc. And then I'll drive Izzy down the road to meet him after knocking off work. Paul was ready to fob Izzy's bad results off saying "oh, you know, there's all sorts of people in the world, some people just aren't academic... ) And I'm saying "IT'S GRADE 8!!" And telling Izzy it doesn't generally get easier as you go along it gets harder! You need to put in the EFFORT now!!!! I was totally ropeable! (This is what I was dealing with two days after getting out of hospital.) Anyway I think Izzy appreciated my harder and MUCH more concerned stance on the whole situation and was very helpful and more respectful around here over the holidays so that's one thing. At the moment I'm sending him to school tomorrow to pick up his timetable so we can see if he got into the subjects he chose and collect some forms so he can sort out a tax return number (coz I'm sending him to work!). And then on Friday I'll have the home school interview, see if he can catch up on Japanese, which he is keen on taking... see how it all sounds. He is really keen on the home-school alternative and I like the idea of spending more time with him, I think it's much better for him here, being part of this family and being with his little brothers. I'm looking forward to getting stuck right into it with him and getting him up to speed with his schoolwork again and there's quite a lot of stupid shit going on at that school it wouldn't hurt him to avoid as well!

André is charging along! He's six kilo's now. He loves sucking his fist really hard - I think he's going to be a thumb-sucker as soon as he can co-ordinate himself. He still gets really flusted on the boob when my milk lets down, like he's half drowning. He pulls on and off and on and off and gets out of breath and grabs at me and claws. When he's not having these issues though he's such a sweetie at meal times. He has this little quiet moment of reflection before he attatches like he's saying grace. Sometimes he just licks at it like a little kitten. His eyes are still blue, maybe he'll take after Grandad "Frankie Blue Eyes".