I was about to leave after dropping Grace off at school today, but I couldn’t find Eli’s dummy which I knew I had picked up when I took them out of the car. I looked around the car, went back into school and checked the ground along the path, and even checked that it wasn’t somewhere in Grace’s locker with her bag. Nope, nothing.

Later I got message from the teachers, “We found Eli’s dummy in Grace’s boot.” Somehow in the getting two children out of the car and putting shoes onto the one who was walking around in her socks it had landed in Grace’s gumboot.

Grace was apparently very upset when they found it, she was crying and saying, “But Eli needs his dummy!” Luckily Leonore reminded her that we have more dummies at home – after that she was fine.

This afternoon Grace looks out the window and says, “Strawberries! It’s summer time!” Um, Grace…that’s a bottle brush tree, and those are not strawberries. So she continues, “Can I pick one? Can I clean a bottle with it?”

Donné was busy with Eli, and Grace was taking a look at one of the basic colour books. She then goes, “r-e-d,” spelling out the letters perfectly. Her letter recognition is clearly going quite well, as it took us by surprise. If there is something like a “p” then she will go “b-d-p” or something along those lines, and an “e” is sometimes an “a” and so on.

Reading letters

Grace hasn’t never wanted any, but yesterday she decided that bread with cheese is a marvellous idea. In her words, “This is so yum.”

And for supper last night we were running through some options for dessert, “Strawberries, pear, apple…” and Grace jumps in, “Avo!” So avo for dessert it was.

Eli gives a kick in the balls

Eli went for his first swimming lesson today, and really enjoyed it. He did put his face into the water in the first three minutes or so, recovered well, and then went on to do that two more times. After that he seemed to twig that it was better to hold his head up. He was relaxed, floated nicely on his back, and was grabbing onto the wall. It was nice to have done it before, so at least I felt comfortable holding him in the water.

Pooped after swimming

Balls, balls, balls

Chilling out in the ball pit

Brothers and sisters are fun playmates

Not the easiest ponytail….

Yes mom, we’re cute

One of our goals for this year is to be more disciplined about our finances, and we are really happy to be able to say that we’ve been successful so far. It has been a process of being more careful, saying no a bit more often, and tracking our finances more carefully. It is not that we were doing anything seriously wrong, but just that we were spending a little bit too much, a little bit too consistently, and that shortfall was accumulating quickly….and we’d rather be adding to savings than taking from it.

The most important change we made was to track all of our money in detail which is really easy with 22seven. Once we had a feel for how our spending was split up it was much easier to set up a realistic budget, but one that also pushed us to cut down in certain areas.

We still have a road to walk with this, but I do feel we can celebrate the victory that we’ve had so far.

Eli spent about 45 minutes playing in the sandpit with the boys

We were having lunch today and Grace says, “Business is business…and business must grow!” and points up at an angle like a growth chart. Maybe she got the wrong message from The Lorax (she is loving the book at the moment). She did follow that comment with another shortly after, “Accidents are accidents….and accidents must grow!” (along with the growth chart pointing).

It’s hard to explain in writing why it was so funny, but just before bath time I went to the toilet and Grace comes up and says, “Why do you have a willy, Duncan?” There was something in the tone, the fact that it was aimed directly at me (not just boys in general), and the timing, but it did have Donné chuckling away for quite a while.

Grace was very patient today, waiting for me while I was on the phone before lunch because she had made a special surprise lunch…

Our special surprise lunch

From left to right: Daddy, Mommy, Eli and Grace

Having lots of fun with the rice

Over the last little while Grace has really become a helpful and useful little helper. We will ask her to do something (like fetch a tissue for Eli) and she will often (not always) pause, say, “Okay,” and then toddle off to execute her task.

She is even able to independently help clean up the house at the end of the day, packing away her toys, or whatever it is that she has been allocated. It doesn’t necessarily happen at the pace we want, or on the schedule that we have, but it does happen (amongst the singing, dancing and playing with the things she needs to pack away).

And just in case it isn’t clear: we still have plenty of moaning, complaining about being “too tired” to do something, and so on, it is just that she is generally more willing and more helpful, which is great.

The toothie pegs have appeared! Eli’s two bottom front teeth have inched their way through his gums and can be seen and felt. He is now 6 months and 2 weeks. For the record, Grace got her first teeth at 5 and a half months.

We were just saying yesterday that he is not really into eating the sand…

When I was packing up my office at the end of the day Grace kindly picked up my pencil case and put it into the drawer where it belongs. I said to her, “Grace, thank you so much – that was very kind of you.” She replies, “That’s what friends are for.”

Princesses need their nails done

Today was a princess day

Just having some fun

Would you like some fries with your tutu,sir?

Now that the weekend is over, we’re gradually all feeling better 🙂 Yet we managed to spend some good time connecting, regardless of the circumstances.

My beautiful wife and boy

I got her pinned!

If there is hair nearby, I’m going to grab it (and it just brings him so much joy, not matter how many times he is scolded for it)