This morning, I took Aaron to the Tiny Tots Playgroup at a nearby Police-Citizens Youth Club. It was our very first time at any playgroup.
I don't know what the usual crowd size is like but today there were about 30 kids there. It sounds like a big group but it didn't feel crowded at all. There was plenty of play equipment and the open area was large.
Aaron has had almost no experience in any group play or any form of led activities. So, he really surprised me this morning when he followed all the instructions for dancing, jumping, stomping and tip toeing. And, I'm so glad that we do so much with music and nursury rhymes at home because it helped him to enjoy the singing part of today.
He's in a 14-30 month age group and the cutest thing I noticed today was they don't speak to each other. They communicate with their carers and make all sorts of squealing noises but they don't say a word to each other. Instead, they get face to face, and then just have a staring competition.
I dressed Aaron in one of his "Thomas" shirts this morning and soon after we arrived, another little boy (holding a little train) came up to him for one of their staring sessions. It looks a little like how the betazoids communicate in Star Trek. This cute little guy was trying so hard to make friends. If we moved to another part of the play area, the boy would come looking for Aaron again. They were so cute!
I tried to see if Aaron would respond but he didn't seem to know what to do. In the end, I couldn't help it, I interfered and gave him some step by step instructions on how to play the "make friends" game with the boy.
We're definitely going back for this again next week. I've also been thinking of starting an informal playgroup once I get back to Palembang so I'll need all the ideas I can get from here.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Result of Disorganised Baking
We don't have an oven in Palembang so I have been looking forward to trying out a few recipes that call for an oven here in Brisbane. Yes, I've been here nearly 4 weeks but its only now that I got the first one out. (We've had something to do EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!)
Anyway, I had the afternoon free and just wanted to dive straight into things - Banana Bread. I needed 1.5 cups of banana puree but only had enough bananas for 1 cup. Never mind. I'll just cut all the other ingredients out by a third.
No major issues with the big measurements.
Then I needed just 2/3 of the required 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder. Do we have measuring spoons here? Of course not! this could be where my problems started.
And, how do I get 2/3 of 2 eggs yolks? I didn't, I just put two in.
Mix them all up and put it in a muffin tray since we don't have any bread tins here.
Finally, I felt so proud of myself when I finally put it in the oven. The self satisfaction must have been my downfall. I think apart from the questionable measurements, its because I didn't reduce the baking time that caused this to happen:
I'm sure they would have broken the kitchen windows if I threw them that way. Fortunately, there was a tiny bit in the middle of each of those rocks that was edible and Aaron liked it. I was making them for him anyway.
Oh well, I'll try again another day. Or maybe I'll move on to the Blueberry and Lemon Muffins. At least we have a muffin tray.
Anyway, I had the afternoon free and just wanted to dive straight into things - Banana Bread. I needed 1.5 cups of banana puree but only had enough bananas for 1 cup. Never mind. I'll just cut all the other ingredients out by a third.
No major issues with the big measurements.
Then I needed just 2/3 of the required 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder. Do we have measuring spoons here? Of course not! this could be where my problems started.
And, how do I get 2/3 of 2 eggs yolks? I didn't, I just put two in.
Mix them all up and put it in a muffin tray since we don't have any bread tins here.
Finally, I felt so proud of myself when I finally put it in the oven. The self satisfaction must have been my downfall. I think apart from the questionable measurements, its because I didn't reduce the baking time that caused this to happen:
I'm sure they would have broken the kitchen windows if I threw them that way. Fortunately, there was a tiny bit in the middle of each of those rocks that was edible and Aaron liked it. I was making them for him anyway.
Oh well, I'll try again another day. Or maybe I'll move on to the Blueberry and Lemon Muffins. At least we have a muffin tray.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Photostory Friday - Obsession #3
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
Aaron's two big obsessions, up until now, has been Thomas (and ALL his friends) and The Wiggles. Now, we have something to add to the list - Excavators.
When we're in the car and we :
A) See one: He lets out an excited squeal and yells out "Excavator!"
B) Don't see one: He repeats "Where is the excavator?" every 2 seconds until we see one.
We found this little bobcat parked down the street from us and it was good enough to serve as an "excavator" for Aaron. He loved it up there but we didn't have any problems getting him down.
As his itchy little hands were fiddling around with everything, they happened to press the horn. A LOUD one. That got him down nice and quick!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday Thirteen - Brisbane
13 Facts About Brisbane
1) Brisbane is pronounced "Briz-ban"...rhyming with "urban". BTW, if you didn't know, Keith Urban grew up in Caboolture, a place about an hour from Brisbane.
2) England stopped sending convicts to Brisbane in 1842 and that is when the free settlers starting settling in Brisbane.
3) It is the capital city of the state of Queensland.
4) It is Australia's 3rd largest city with a population of 1.8Million.
5) Two nicknames for Brisbane that come to mind are Brissie and Bris Vegas.
6) There is a casino in the city but I don't know if that it the reason for "Bris Vegas"
7) The timezone here is GMT +10.
8) In my opinion, public transport here is efficient and easily accesible. There are trains, buses, the CityCats (catamarans up and down the Brisbane river) and ferries.
9) There are fantastic cycle paths around Brisbane.
10) Average summer temperature is 30 degrees Celsius and average day time temperature in winter is around 15-17 degrees Celsius.
11) As of June 2008, Brisbane's median house price is AUD 495,000.
12) There are still many beautiful Queenslanders around. I'm not referring to the residents of Queensland. This is a type of house has been common in Queensland up to the 1960s. Many of the older suburbs in Brisbane still have many of them and in some areas, it is prohibited to demolish them. These are the types of houses I'm aiming for. Completely out of my budget at the moment but I can dream.
13) Brisbane is a very hilly place. There are some residential streets around here that are literally like a roller coaster ride.
1) Brisbane is pronounced "Briz-ban"...rhyming with "urban". BTW, if you didn't know, Keith Urban grew up in Caboolture, a place about an hour from Brisbane.
2) England stopped sending convicts to Brisbane in 1842 and that is when the free settlers starting settling in Brisbane.
3) It is the capital city of the state of Queensland.
4) It is Australia's 3rd largest city with a population of 1.8Million.
5) Two nicknames for Brisbane that come to mind are Brissie and Bris Vegas.
6) There is a casino in the city but I don't know if that it the reason for "Bris Vegas"
7) The timezone here is GMT +10.
8) In my opinion, public transport here is efficient and easily accesible. There are trains, buses, the CityCats (catamarans up and down the Brisbane river) and ferries.
9) There are fantastic cycle paths around Brisbane.
10) Average summer temperature is 30 degrees Celsius and average day time temperature in winter is around 15-17 degrees Celsius.
11) As of June 2008, Brisbane's median house price is AUD 495,000.
12) There are still many beautiful Queenslanders around. I'm not referring to the residents of Queensland. This is a type of house has been common in Queensland up to the 1960s. Many of the older suburbs in Brisbane still have many of them and in some areas, it is prohibited to demolish them. These are the types of houses I'm aiming for. Completely out of my budget at the moment but I can dream.
13) Brisbane is a very hilly place. There are some residential streets around here that are literally like a roller coaster ride.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers
I've finally downloaded the photos I took over the weekend. We went to Toowoomba for their annual Carnival of Flowers. This is an event held at the start of spring and has been going on since 1960. Each year, there is a parade, beautiful flowers at two of the main parks in Toowoomba and prize winning gardens.
Toowoomba is a 90min drive from Brisbane. On the day we went, there was road works and it took us over 3 hrs to get there. Aaron was almost like a wild animal in the car before he finally fell asleep. And then, on the way back, there was heavy rain and even hail at some parts. The journey to and fro was definitely trying but it was worth it!
I was completely blown away by the beautiful flowers and gardens. It was my first time at the carnival and it was amazing.
These two photos were taken at Queen's Park and shows just a very small area. I wish they built a taller platform somewhere so I could have captured what the entire place looked like. It truly was magnificent.
This is the 1st Prize winner for small gardens. It was at the home of a couple in their 60s. From the looks of things, I think they must spend every minute of the day out there!
I almost feel like making the trip out there again to see all this without the crowds. But then again, I'd rather not have to deal with wild animals in the car. I'll go again another year.
Toowoomba is a 90min drive from Brisbane. On the day we went, there was road works and it took us over 3 hrs to get there. Aaron was almost like a wild animal in the car before he finally fell asleep. And then, on the way back, there was heavy rain and even hail at some parts. The journey to and fro was definitely trying but it was worth it!
I was completely blown away by the beautiful flowers and gardens. It was my first time at the carnival and it was amazing.
These two photos were taken at Queen's Park and shows just a very small area. I wish they built a taller platform somewhere so I could have captured what the entire place looked like. It truly was magnificent.
This is the 1st Prize winner for small gardens. It was at the home of a couple in their 60s. From the looks of things, I think they must spend every minute of the day out there!
I almost feel like making the trip out there again to see all this without the crowds. But then again, I'd rather not have to deal with wild animals in the car. I'll go again another year.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
My children never did that
My mother often says "Nobody will believe it but my children were perfect".
Supposedly, my mother's children never whined, cried or threw any tantrums. They sat quietly in the car and went to sleep whenever they needed to. They also never needed to learn how to sleep and slept whenever they were told to. Nap times were from 10am-12 and then from 2-4pm again. And then bed time was at 6pm. I'm told that this was the schedule until her children started school.
She's right, I don't believe it.
She doesn't say it to make me feel bad or tell me I'm doing things wrong. She's actually just trying to understand why things are so different with Aaron. The only person who can vouch for her is my father but he can't remember ANYTHING from that far back.
My response to her is either "You were lucky" or "Maybe there was something in the formula!"
Sometimes I tell her that there is nothing to be gained by telling me how perfect I was 30 years ago. Every child is different. And, I think Aaron is perfectly normal at this time.
Still, I have noticed (eavesdropped) from conversations my mother has with her peers, that the parents who are around my parents age have memories of children who were much quieter and slept a lot more. I'm guessing that I'll probably be having those same conversations in 2038.
On a side note, she may have had the perfect children but she's getting her fair share of the normal child now :). HA! HA! HA!
Supposedly, my mother's children never whined, cried or threw any tantrums. They sat quietly in the car and went to sleep whenever they needed to. They also never needed to learn how to sleep and slept whenever they were told to. Nap times were from 10am-12 and then from 2-4pm again. And then bed time was at 6pm. I'm told that this was the schedule until her children started school.
She's right, I don't believe it.
She doesn't say it to make me feel bad or tell me I'm doing things wrong. She's actually just trying to understand why things are so different with Aaron. The only person who can vouch for her is my father but he can't remember ANYTHING from that far back.
My response to her is either "You were lucky" or "Maybe there was something in the formula!"
Sometimes I tell her that there is nothing to be gained by telling me how perfect I was 30 years ago. Every child is different. And, I think Aaron is perfectly normal at this time.
Still, I have noticed (eavesdropped) from conversations my mother has with her peers, that the parents who are around my parents age have memories of children who were much quieter and slept a lot more. I'm guessing that I'll probably be having those same conversations in 2038.
On a side note, she may have had the perfect children but she's getting her fair share of the normal child now :). HA! HA! HA!
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Magic of Sticky Tape
Aaron is often overly enthusiastic about turning the pages on his books and tends to make little tears on them. So, we're often fixing these up with sticky tape.
There have also been a few ancient Lego cars that have become so brittle that they cracked and fell apart. I tried putting those together with sticky tape as well. Don't laugh. It worked....for awhile.
Today, Aaron discovered scabs. (Strange isn't it, he's had them before but never noticed them.) He kicked his shin last week, a small scab formed and today, it started peeling a little.
This was while he was sitting in his stroller and we were walking by the river. I noticed him bent over. He was picking at it (of course!). He got it off and turns it over.
He then says to me "Oh no. This came out."
I told him that the little bit of brown stuff was called a scab and that it meant everything was better now. I'm not sure if he didn't hear me or just didn't understand.
He then insisted on going home so that we could get some sticky tape to fix it back. He believes it is a part of his body that is now broken and wants the scab back there. And, he also believes that sticky tape fixes everything.
There have also been a few ancient Lego cars that have become so brittle that they cracked and fell apart. I tried putting those together with sticky tape as well. Don't laugh. It worked....for awhile.
Today, Aaron discovered scabs. (Strange isn't it, he's had them before but never noticed them.) He kicked his shin last week, a small scab formed and today, it started peeling a little.
This was while he was sitting in his stroller and we were walking by the river. I noticed him bent over. He was picking at it (of course!). He got it off and turns it over.
He then says to me "Oh no. This came out."
I told him that the little bit of brown stuff was called a scab and that it meant everything was better now. I'm not sure if he didn't hear me or just didn't understand.
He then insisted on going home so that we could get some sticky tape to fix it back. He believes it is a part of his body that is now broken and wants the scab back there. And, he also believes that sticky tape fixes everything.
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