Monday, July 23, 2012

Dora The Explorer, anyone?

Saturday afternoon... 2pm... Molly had been asleep for 1 1/2 hours... It was time to wake up and get going to the biggest thing that has happened in her young life so far...

I sneak in to her room, put the light on low (she has a fancy dimmer switch in her bedroom, don't you know..). 
She stirs a little and I whisper "I'm sorry darling. I just got a phone call from Dora. She is having a party and wants to know if you can come. Are you awake."
Two little hazel eyes pop open, she sits up and say "yes. I go Dora party".
One quick outfit and diaper change, and we were on our way!!

The whole drive in, she kept asking "we at Dora party, mummy?"
I kept replying "soon, baby, soon. Dora wont have a party without her Molly. It's ok."




Much to his horror (pre-show), Jasper had to come with us... At the time of buying the tickets, we did not know what Paul's work schedule was going to be like, so I thought it best be safe and get him a ticket. Here he is before the show, eating a mandarin, and trying SO HARD to be invisible!
 The kids were given stars as we walked in the doors to wave during the show.
 Jasper got a star too, so he promptly gave his to his delighted little sister!
 Waiting for the show to start... The seats were right at the back, but Dora, being a real girl and all, was plenty big enough for us to see.
 Super excited eating popcorn and waiting for intermission to be over already!!!
 

 We weren't allowed to use a flash during the performance, so I have no photos... But the show was pretty awesome!
Jasper even secretly enjoyed it! (he says it was lame, but he couldn't take his eyes off the stage the whole time!!)

Molly was stunned and a bit shocked at the beginning... It was like she couldn't really believe Dora (and Diego) were there on stage for HER! They blew her kisses and EVERYTHING!
The second part of the show, she was a lot more into it... Screaming and yelling at Swiper to stop swiping, and singing all her favorite songs!!
It was a worthwhile trip, and something she is talking about 2 days later...

After the show, Jasper had a Scouts outing at Scitech. We were 10 minutes away from the venue, so dropped him off on our way home. It was a late night for him, 10pm bed time for the first time... well, ever I think!
He even slept til 8:30am the next morning!!!

Here is Molly playing with a glass barricade above some elevators... She was smooshing her face up and waving at people!!


So, no photos of Jasper... He was in a MOOD from the Dora concert, and would rather stab himself in the big tow than admit he was there, let alone that he enjoyed it!!!

Another post soon... on our trip to the animal farm..

thanks for reading

Brooke

Friday, July 20, 2012

The Dinosaur visit that wasn't

So, today, I planned to take the kids to the museum in the city.
I had heard from a few people there was a great dinosaur exhibit there.

We were going to pick up my folks, catch the train, have some lunch.
It was to be a great morning!

Oops.
I maybe should have asked some more questions, and researched a little more... I am used to the museum just being free, and a donation on entry if you feel so obliged (we always feel obliged to donate something). Exhibits are normally just stuff in the museum you can walk around and look at...
This was an actual SHOW.
That you had to get tickets for... and they were sold out until the 2pm show.
No good for little girls that need naps, and big boys who need to go to friends houses for sleep overs!!

We wandered around in there anyway, and had a lovely time!

Molly got to be a dinosaur...

The kids being silly and snuggling their poppie


Jasper kept hiding, so his poppie said "just take a photo of me, I'm the best looking one here anyway!"


 See that sky? That's what winter in Perth was like today!!! Perfect!
 Molly and her mandarin means mopping up from her poppie!!!
 There was this big arse meteorite there. It was found on the Nullabor. I could not believe how huge it was... and it came from outter space!!!! Imaging that landing on your house! Not much house left!!
(the kids are playing with some dinosaurs poppie got them!)
 Home on the train, then off to bed for one little girl, and one 9 year old boy... He has had a few late nights and early mornings, with busy days in between, so it was enforced nap time.
He sobbed and cried "but I'm not tired. Let me do some maths..."
HAHA! I KNOW he is tired when he actually BEGS me to let him do math!!!

What he would rather be doing....

what he is actually doing...
(if I took an actual pic, he would wake up!!!)

Ok, another busy day tomorrow, with Jasper at football, then a Dora the Explorer concert for Molly, followed by a big night excursion for Jasper with his Scout pack..

Another update to follow soon.

Thanks for reading

Brooke

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

She doesn't get her crazy from me...

Yesterday, I made the kids "snack plates" for lunch.
These are a long time favorite for Jasper, and since neither of my kids are huge sandwich fans, Molly is loving them too.

Here is an example:
some pita bread, strawberries, olives, pickles, roast pork from the night before, cheese... Basically bits of whatever I have in the fridge or cupboard to put on a plate.


I had a pita bread with chilli sauce and pork on it.. Molly saw the sauce, and demanded some of her own. I gave her some tomato sauce, interested to see what she was going to do...


                                    

Well, of course. You would get your strawberry and dip it in the tomato sauce.

What next, I hear you ask?

Oh, why yes. You would eat it.
(repeat and then insert olives in place of strawberries...)


When I asked Molly what it tasted like, she said "mmmm, deliciouso" as she proceeded to pick up the beat up old bowl and LICK IT CLEAN!!!

Let's just make one thing VERY clear.

THIS CHILD DOES NOT GET HER CRAZY FROM ME.

Thanks for reading!

Brooke

Monday, July 16, 2012

Quarterly Blood Results

I hate blood test day...
I hate the days leading up to it.
I really hope I am going to get awesome results.
I seem to come away with something flavored with bitterness and disappointment..

April 2012 was our last blood counts. Now it is July... time to go again.

Jasper doesn't cry. Doesn't get nervous, anxious or worried.
If it was a vein drain, he would scream the place down, but a little thumb prick, and he is OK.

I am torn between relief that he is calm, and a desperate sadness that he is so used to blood draws.It is just part of what happens in the school holidays for him.

Here he is waiting in the chair for the needle...
 Holding his blood afterwards (they only need a tiny bit, and he is a good bleeder)
 Getting weighed (he looks slightly crazy here!)
 Getting measured.. Sister Lee refused to get in the pics here... so I go her arm instead!

Molly came with us this time, and I weighed and measured her the same way as Jasper... Just imagine a cute little blonde girl with piggy tails, instead of this handsome young man!

Let me tell you Molly's results first...
She is 12.80kg (or 28.21 lb)
Height is 90.8cm (or 2ft 11 3/4inches) - very close to 3 feet tall!!!

She is tall and skinny (although to pick her up, you wouldn't really know it!!)

Jasper's results...
Height 124.4cm - up from 123.7 3 months ago.
Weight 21.35kg - only up by 0.05kg from 3 months ago.

I will put his blood counts now:

Haemoglobin - 125 (was 130) (Normal range is 115-155)
White Cells    - 4.10 (was 4.3) (normal range is 4.5-14.50)
Platelets        - 105 (was 115) (normal range is 150 - 400)
Red Cells      - 3.46 (was 3.6) (normal range is 4.00 - 6.00)
MCV            - 103 (was 103) (normal range is 75 - 92)
Neutrophils  - 0.94 (was 1.27) (normal range is 1.50 - 8.00)
Lymphocytes - 2.67 (was 2.51) (normal range is 1.50 - 7.00)

To any doctor / medical person / FA parent, these counts are really good and awesome, and you would be happy to have them!

I am not a doctor / medical person or any FA parent.
I am Jasper Alan Miles' mum.
I track his blood counts at EVERY blood test.
I have the charts and graphs to prove it.
I see the trends of these counts.
I see the pattern.
It scares me.
I am not in full panic... as I said, for any other FA kid, the counts are good!!
I am allowed to worry.
I am allowed.
Because I am the mum. I am Jasper's mum. It's my job!!!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Holidays, Part 1

We are currently in the school vacation between second and third term.
2 weeks of not rushing around in the morning to get to school, no lunches to be made...
Not having to remind Jasper 47 times (before 8am) to remember his glasses/shoes/sweater/bag/library book/homework folder (well, you get the picture...)

Ok, so On Friday (first day of holidays for our school), we went to the gym (well, I went to the gym.. the kids went to the creche). It was Jasper's first time.. he said it was "kind of awesome". Pays to be the big kid there!!! Then we went to a friends house for a quick cuppa before the airport run to pick up the man of the house.
The weekend saw some football played and won (but I think both teams think they won... it was perfect winter weather. Blue sky, and a freezing, bone chilling wind...

Monday saw some of the babies (and their mummies) coming to our place for playgroup. Again, Jasper was king of the hill, when he felt like it... and after distracting him from some inappropriate talk (he was oblivious anyway), we had a pretty chilled out afternoon.

Tuesday was the BEST day so far.
We took Molly to our friend Carly's house for looking after, as Jasper had an Ophthalmology appointment at the hospital.. He was scared out of his wits.. Every other time, he has had these drops put in that make it feel like broken glass is being rubbed in his eyeballs. Last time I had to physically restrain him while they put them in. Not pleasant.
We talked about just not stressing, and that the mind makes it worse than it really is... like blood tests USED to be a screaming fight, now it is almost fun (for Jasper at least, I still feel faint!!), and he likes to watch and learn. He calmed down, and at the result  was that he didn't need the drops this time, and they...

DISCHARGED HIM FROM THE CLINIC!!!!

that means we dont need to go back. EVER!!! He still needs to see an optometrist every 6 - 12 months, but we can do that locally.
We LOVE it when we lose a doctor, or clinic. It is rare, but it has happened twice for us so far!!!
This what being discharged from Ophthalmology looks like:

(he dressed himself - the hat anyway... I am not accountable for my little Amish boy...)

Wednesday saw Jasper have a friend come to sleep over... they watched a movie and were in bed ASLEEP by 9pm!!!! Jasper woke at 5.30am (OUCH), but I made him leave Coll til 7am.
Then we went to AQWA. That is the aquarium near us. We met my mum, and 2 of the kids cousins there (there are 3 WA cousins, but one was feeling sick, so did not stay :(.  ).
The kids (well, my lot) were exhausted, so it was home for Coll at 1pm, and an afternoon of rest for us!!
Here are some shots of our day... it was really hard to take good pics in the aquarium, it is really dark, and no flashes allowed!

The kids thought this was pretty awesome... it was above us as we went down the stairs... (it wasn't real, but we did have real ones over us in the tunnel, but it was too dim for decent pics without a flash!)
Jasper and his mate Coll (plus the back of my mum and nephews head) sussing out some seahorses (before I saw the "NO FLASH" sign - not that the flash helped here!)
 Smoochie loving time with Molly and her grandy!
 Flash was allowed here, and probably not needed!! My babies
 My nephew looking brave with his hand in the crocodiles mouth... Jasper and Coll watching on, not as brave!
 Molly and her cousin.
 My brave niece with her arm in danger...


 Jasper magnifing some clown fish
 Grandy and grandson with 2 grand daughters following. There was much love to go around!
 Loving cousins.
They dont see each other that often, but when they do, it is always fun!!!
 Molly loves her cousin.. he wasnt so co-operative all day... she kept holding his hand, kissing his shoulder and basically crowding him!! (it was super sweet!)
 After the aquarium, we had lunch at the grass area next to the aquarium.. I packed ham or turkey sandwiches with fruit, crisps and other snacks - along with "rock solid frozen" juice boxes!

I asked for nice pics of my kids... Jasper started off nice, but I thought this was more fun to share... the REAL Jasper...
 My girl being a super model (biased I may be, but try and tell me she isn't beautiful... I'll know you are a liar!)
 There was running and frivolity
 A certain young man chasing seagulls for all he was worth..
 He looked like he was having so much fun, so Jasper joined in...
 and Coll joined in too! 
 Molly chased her best boy-cousin down.. again!!
there was hide and seek (but I couldn't take pictures for fear of giving away their awesome hiding spot...) tree climbing and general crazy fun.
It was a fun day, and was capped off by a good afternoon sleep by Molly (and a nice 15 minute kip for me!)

There will be another post next week at some stage... Jasper has his 3 monthly blood test Monday, so depending on the results, and the time I have, the results will be up, as well as some more school vacation tales.

Thanks for reading

Brooke