Eli spent some time with Sue Ann today while Donné, Grace and I went to a meeting this afternoon. We weren’t sure how he was going to be when we left him, but we dropped him off and he smiled and waved goodbye – a very different child to Grace.

After our meeting we are on our way to collect Eli, and Grace is angling for some play time at Hannah’s house, “Can I play for two minutes when we fetch Eli?” Then she says, “Are you going to talk a bit?” as in, “are you going to spend some more time there so that I can play for a bit longer?”

So we say to her, “Grace, you can play a bit, but when we say it is time to go, then it is time to go.” She says, “Okay, but then I’m going to do this.” She drops her head, slumps her shoulders and leans forward a bit, giving her sad walk pose. Yip, that is pretty much what we expect to see when it is time to leave. When time did come to leave she was really good about it though and didn’t even slump her shoulders.

Eli had a good time with Sue Ann, eating her food and attacking her fruits. Well done my boy.

Eli has developed this laugh….I’m not quite sure how to describe it….it is kind of like a his evil laugh. We’re worried that he is plotting against us.

In group today the teacher asked the children what makes them happy, so Grace says, “My brother.” Sweet.

Clambering, climbing, getting up onto tables – that is what Eli is having fun doing at the moment. If he can climb it, he will.

The garden fairy helping me with the watering this morning

Having a little bounce on the counter after helping to make muffins yesterday morning

26 October is here, which means it is time for the Room on the Broom party!

Room on the Broom is a book by Julia Donaldson (with very cool rhyming and rhythm), and a couple of weeks back they started advertising for the short animated film of the book. Grace saw the advert and decided she wanted to invite her friends over to watch, and so it came to pass that we invited all the girls (and their families) over for breakfast and the screening of the film.

And everyone just had a heck of a good time. The girls were so excited to be together again (Emma has left the school), and played full on for the entire time.

Onto the broom they go!

And off they fly

After some make-up and a clothes upgrade it was time to bake something in the kitchen – Emma was reading the recipe, and the rest were executing

Jungle gym time

The friendly kitchen fairies

Water play fun

Grace says, “Let’s play ‘baby, baby’. You can be the daddy, and I can be the mommy, and Eli can be the baby, because he is baby shaped.”

Grace had a play date with Hannah this afternoon, and after I collected her I asked, “What did you have for lunch Grace?” She replies, “Chips, and chuckles, and grapes.” I’m pretty sure that Sue-Ann gave you something more that just that to eat Grace….

We were having dinner and Grace said she wanted a yoghurt, so we tell her that she has to eat more of her food before she can have a yoghurt. She says, “But my tummies full,” and I say, “Well then Grace that means there isn’t any space for yoghurt either.” Well, she has an answer for that, “My tummy has a spot for yoghurt.” Ahh, that dessert tummy does develop early.

Eli and I go into Grace’s room shortly after waking up and she’s still lying in bed. Eli zoots to the bookshelf and starts to pull books down, and she says, “No Eli! Don’t make a mess so early in the morning!”

Grace points at me and says, “Bigger,” then at Donné, “Medium,” then to herself, “I’m a little big,” and finally to Eli, “and Eli’s small!”

I did an experiment today, and it turns out Eli can swing on the monkey bars.

His current mission in life is to find something to climb – chairs, couches, sand pits, beds, out of the bath. What he is doing now is pushing a plastic chair up to his high chair at the table, climbing on the the plastic chair, doing a celebratory dance and squeal of delight that he can reach the table, and then trying to climb up his high chair….which doesn’t generally go too well….yet.

Eli has started training early to be the sack race champion of the world.

Eli loves doing “row, row, row your boat” on someone’s tummy. Lie down on the floor with your legs up and along he comes saying “row, row” and climbs on.

Eli saying, “row, row”

Checking out the neighbourhood