Just a Bit Wet..

Let me tell you all about our interesting wake up call at 1030pm last night!

We had just fallen asleep, early for a change, when I was woken up by a huge roar! I looked out the window, and just under Josie's balcony, there was water billowing, gushing, like a geyser, everywhere!

Apparently there were plumbers working there yesterday.. and well.. need I say more?? ;-)

Turns out a fire hydrant sprung a leak..

Its never dull at the estate ;-)

The Monsta Cow in the Big Pwuck !

We had a lovely drive to kindy this morning !

Josie spent the entire time chatting to her dolls and pony. There was hugging and kissing and helping and generally love all around ;-)

It was so cute.

I had to hug a few of them too.

She is SUCH a little mother! She kept holding the doll by the hand danging over the seat and saying: Its ok. Ill help you. Are you ok? Awww [hug].

She made the doll and pony kiss a lot too, and hold hands.

And then she put her doll behind her head and I asked her what she was doing there.

Josie: She's scared! She's hiding!
Mari: What is she scared of?
Josie: A monsta cow!
Mari: A monster cow?? Where is the monster cow??
Josie: In the big pwuck (truck) !

Heheheh..

So next time you are driving past a big pwuck.. watch out for the monsta cow !

ARGH! Patronising!

I am SO annoyed!

As some may know I have a council parking permit for my car for work. It is clearly displayed on my dashboard.

A couple of weeks ago I found a parking ticket on my car. I was ropable! I took some photos clearly showing my parking permit and sent off the ticket and a letter back to Infringement Processing Bureau.

WELL!

Today I got a letter back from them. It says this:

Dear Ms Hill,

We are writing about your contact with us regarding penalty notice: blah blah

We have examined the offence and found the penalty notice was legally issued. However we have considered the issues you raised and have concluded that a caution should apply in this instance.

We have not processed your request to have the matter heard in court. If you wish to reject the 'caution' and proceed to court, please advise us in writing.

You do not need to pay the penalty.

Well for gods sake! They have basically said: Well we won't admit to doing anything wrong, but we'll give you a warning anyway.

Absolutely incensed!

Bloody Beaurocrats!

Month 38 Josie Update

I don't know if I will continue doing these updates.. since starting this blog, I have been 'updating' quite regularily, not sure there is much left to tell.. but Ill give it a go..

Lets see..

Josie's vocab has just exploded. She is speaking in full sentences, with not very many mistakes. She can tell us exactly what she wants, and while we sometimes have frustrations and mini tantrums, I am happy to say the big, full blown, high frequency screaming tantrums are a thing of the past.

Also, after about 12 months of ongoing staf infections, we haven't had a problem at all in about 4 months or so *spit* *spit* *spit*. Its a relief to be honest.. cut down on medication costs ;-)

She is at kindy 3 days a week now and absolutely loving it. She comes home and tells us all about how she did this or that at kindy. Especially the singing and dancing. She does a lot of that. In the car when there is music she knows on, she will quite happily sing along, which is lovely.

We are now on tenderhooks waiting to hear from the private school where we want Josie to go about whether Josie is going to pre-school there next year or not. Apparently the waiting list is quite long and their prefs are siblings of enrolled students and while Josie's cousin Becki is in year 7 there this year, they dont count cousins. Next are the people who sign up for kindergarden there as well, which we have, and then its the date when the application was sent in (for us it was last June).

I worked out that it was $400 cheaper if we sent Josie to the school, 5 days a week, then if she stayed where she currently is next year, 3 days a week! Its crazy! So we are hoping and praying that she gets in.

The school has an open day on March 30th which we are going to. Hopefully we will find out then!

We are doing really well with the toilet.. fully day trained (with an occasional accident here and there), but still in nappies at night. Ive been told that the night training will take a while.. which is fine.. im just wondering how to kick it off or whether she will just do it herself..

She has now been in her toddler bed for a couple of months and its so great not to have the cot up. She has slept over at her cousin's place once, but it was all too exciting and she didnt get to sleep till about 10pm, and even then she refused to go to the bed and fell asleep on the floor in the living room !!

Tony and I have been talking about starting a Token Economy at home. This is where you give the child a token when they are good and when they have a number of these tokens, they get a special present or something. We are thinking of doing it with stickers, since she loves stickers so much. Vika and Becki have started doing this at their place with her, so I think we might have a chat and set out a game plan for how to manage it across the various households. I'm not sure Josie is old enough yet, but we will see.

Oh and we have finally been able to put her hair up!! As you can see by the photos, I've even managed 4 pony tails at once! Amazing!

And thats about it I think.. well it turned out to be a good sized update after all ! ;-)

And now for a quickie..

At Baba's place today..

Josie (picking up doll): This is Vika..
Josie (picking up another doll): This is Becki..
Baba: What about Mat ?
Josie : Not at Baba's house!

Hehehe..

Another one of *those* conversations..

..with my father.. he wants to get broadband at home..

Mari says: broadband companies will put you on a contract
Mari says: you can pay less and have more contract time, or pay more and have less contract time
george says: how long contract
Mari says: 18 months or 24 months
Mari says: this is with iinet..
Mari says: different companies, different contracts
george says: what you have
Mari says: i just need to know if you prefer a shorter contract or longer contract ?
Mari says: uhm
Mari says: i cant remember
Mari says: i think 18 months
george says: how much it will cost
Mari says: well it depends on the company..
george says: so
Mari says: its the connection fee thats usually dropped if u go on contract
george says: give me price
Mari says: connection is usually between one and two hunmdred
george says: and then per month
Mari says: well yes of course
Mari says: im looking at $40 plans
george says: 40 dollars per month
Mari says: but if u go on a 18 month contract with iinet, they drop the connection fee
Mari says: yes 40 dollars per month
george says: ok i will talk to mum (how much she pay now??)
Mari says: i just spoke to mum and she said to ask you
Mari says: she pays $22.68 per month for dial up internet
Mari says: all i am asking is if you prefer a longer or shorter contract!?
george says: so she pay less??
Mari says: dad
Mari says: we are talking about broadband
Mari says: of course she pays less for dialup!
Mari says: we have discussed this already!!
Mari says: we agreed on a $40 plan!
Mari says: remember? your friend has a $40 plan.. you said you were happy with that?
george says: for 18 month??
Mari says: well hopefully for longer!
george says: ok what is max month
Mari says: $40 !!!
george says: with discount
george says: so it will be fof 18 or 24 month
Mari says: this is what I AM ASKING YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Mari says: do u want 18 or 24?!
george says: give me more conditions for broadband
Mari says: what do you mean ??
george says: I want for 24 month if it cost less
Mari says: right, thank you!
Mari says: thats all I wanted to know!
george says: more conditions-- do I have free calls?? do I have free ...
Mari says: i dont know.. i am still looking around at different companies.
Mari says: i just needed to know about the contract!
george says: tell me if it is chipper if 24 month??
Mari says: oh my god!!!!!!!!!
Mari says: I will tell you when I know!!!!!!!
george says: or my god
george says: ok
Mari says: you drive me insane!!!!!!!!
george says: what is insane??
Mari says: ME!
george says: i want just full info
Mari says: when I have full info, I will tell you full info!
george says: what is insane?? -don understand
Mari says: sumashetshaya !
george says: now i now
Mari says: oh good
george says: thanks
Mari says: excuse me while I go bang my head on the wall..
george says: how is speed of this broadband--find
Mari says: fast
george says: how fast--like aeroplain
Mari says: faster than sound
george says: ok
Mari says: ok now go away
george says: no
Mari says: why not?
george says: you bdid not unswer if it is chipper for 24 month
george says: then for 18
Mari says: not necessarily cheaper.. but there may be other benefits.. like free connection or a free modem etc..
Mari says: and it *depends on the company* !!!!!
george says: ok thats good let me now
Mari says: and I am NOT going to list every single company and their plans for you
george says: before you connect send me all info
Mari says: yes yes.. I cant connect you without your input dad!!
george says: thanks , now yoy free
Mari says: thank god
Mari says: now go away
george says: and me
Mari says: yes thank you too
Mari says: go
Mari says: shoo
george says: ok

*sigh*

And so I am left with one tiny strand of sanity..

Virii anyone?

I started feeling quite off at work yesterday afternoon. Feverish and tired.. so I decided to go see my doctor before picking up Josie. Luckily I did.

The doctor examined me and said I was in the initial stages of a virus and my symptoms pointed towards shingles, or meningitis, or legionnaires (there has been an outbreak of Legionnaires, 6 cases in about a week, in the next suburb to me) or some other virus.

ACK!

So I left Josie at mums overnight and worked from home today. Tony is picking Josie up after kindy and will be brining her home quite late so hopefully she will be asleep by the time they get home.

Meanwhile I had a steady fever all day, up to 38 degrees at one point. No fun.

Feeling a bit better now, but still feverish. The doctor said to look out for blisters (shingles), sore neck (legionnaires) or trouble breathing/coughing (legionnaires). Or my body may successfully fight it off and nothing will break out. Im hoping for the latter ;-)

So I have been watching Season 1 of The OC all day. I am about half way through.. and I have to say thank you to Jacqui, cause I _love_ it !

So better get back to it now! LOL

Not a peep !

My baby has an infected finger!! ;-(

However, according to Daddy, Miss Josie has more kahones than her mummy ;-)

Tony took to Josie's finger last night in order to eradicate the puss from the sore. From what both my mum and Tony tell me, she was a little trooper! She held her hand out to daddy, and while daddy squeezed the very painful pus out, there was not a peep.

Baba was just amazed and commented to me how impressed she was both with Tony (explaining what he was doing to her and why he was doing it) and with Josie for being so brave.

I am very proud.

I think the key to Josie being quite self sufficient is communication. We have always made sure we explained to her exactly why we want her, or dont want her to do something. For eg. Don't run out into the garage area because there are cars all around and you never know when one might be going in or out, and you are very small and they may not see you. That illustrates to her both the reason and the consequence. And although at first she was obviously to understand reasons and consequences, now she does understand.

I have noticed a significant drop off in the number of tantrums we get, which is a relief! Its so good when they start to understand and become reasonable ;-)

The Little Mother

My little mother hen ;-)

Apparently, the latest news from the kindy is that Josie looks out for the little kids. She is in the middle class at Kindy now, so there is a whole class of younger kids in the same room as her and apparently she looks after the little ones. Comforts them when they cry, gets their dummies for them, or toys, when they ask and generally plays mother hen ;-)

Thats so cute ;-)

A Little Bit of Sticky Tape..

Ok so we are driving home from Baba's place and Josie is looking out the window.

We pull up beside a bus, and Josie is very excited. She loves buses.

Josie: Look! A bus!
Mari: Yes bubby, a bus.
Josie: Awww Bus broken!
Mari: Is the bus broken?
Josie (confidently): Yes, broken.
Mari: Thats ok, they will fix it.
Josie: I need a little bit of sticky tape..
Mari: A bit of sticky tape?
Josie: Yes, the man will fix the bus.

heehee..

Who's Been Sleeping in Our New Bed ?!

Whats big and firm and very, very wide!?

No, its not my backside!

Its our gorgeous, new, king sized bed!

Its soooo comfy!

And such a nice change from our flat, 9 year old mattress that we have had forever! Well for 9 years ;-)

The first night that we put it together we were all so excited, all three of us lay down on it (it was about 9pm) and Josie was asleep within 10 minutes. I was almost asleep too ;-)

The mattress is so high though that I can't just sit down on it, I have to climb up!

Anyways, we are mega excited about the bed. Have been getting great sleep!

Beds are wonderful things ;-)

My Father's English

Example 1.

georgek says: marina
Mari says: yep ?
georgek says: i try to contact some one to msn it was ok when i type email adress and it is is not on my msn window
georgek says: why
georgek says: what schould i do
Mari says: i dont understand
georgek says: i try to added on msm one person and come thru generalk presidure but cant contact him
Mari says: is he online ?
georgek says: no
Mari says: well thats why you cant contact him
georgek says: i swish of and again on but...
georgek says: why
Mari says: because he is not online
georgek says: explain
Mari says: he is not logged into msn
georgek says: ok do i need do it again when he on line or he will be come on msn in time when he will be on line
georgek says: so i need only contact when he is on line??

Turns out what he meant was that he tried to add this person to his MSN contact list but the person did not appear on the list. I tried it and found that this person did not have an MSN ID.

The lesson here is to always read the messages the computer is trying to deliver to you.

And the moral of the story? Breathe deeply when you get an MSN msg from my father.

Why me!?

Ok so here's the latest shenanigans.. and this time, nothing to do with Josie..

So as you know it was our anniversary on Wednesday and we went to a lovely french restaraunt called Chez Rene, and left Josie with my mum and dad for the night.

This morning I get an MSN msg from my sister, oops!, she suddently remembered it was our anniversary and wanted to wish us a happy one and apologise for forgetting (even tho a month ago she wished us a happy anniversary, but for the wrong month LOL!!). So I told her not to be silly and that it was not a big deal at all. In fact mum never wished us a happy anniversary and has probably forgotten as well, which is not surprising cause my mother has the worlds worst memory.

So Vika suggested that we should remind mum, so she gave her a call. I told her to make note of the reaction cause I knew it would be good ;-)

So she msgs me again after her phone call, You'd better call her! She is horrified! I think she's having a heart attack! I laugh. Too soon.

She rings me exactly 3.294 seconds later, in hysterics. Why didn't I remind her?! I know her memory is bad! Its all my fault!

Hey! Why am *I* getting into trouble for not reminding HER to wish ME a happy anniversary?!?!

Ugh! I told her not to be silly and sent her on her way. Then I msg'd dad to ring her and tell her to stop being silly. Dad tells me she is "angree" (his english is really bad!). Why me!?

So now I ask you, are wedding anniversaries such a big deal!? They really aren't to us.. we have been together for 13 years now, and married for 8yrs.. and really, we don't really expect people to remember our wedding anniversary anymore.. it was ages ago..

Birthdays are different. I would totally be upset if mum forgot my birthday.. but sheesh.. a wedding anniversary!?

Anyways.. back to work..

Cause when mummy bird says..

Went and picked up Josie from Baba's tonight and since she slept for 2 hours today I thought we may as well hang around since Vika and Becka were there too.

Becka and Josie had a ball dancing around the living room to The Wiggles.

Then they went to have a shower (Josie's second one of the day) and by that time Baba was begging us to leave ;-)

So 830pm we started leaving. Baba warmed up a bottle of milk for Josie and when I put her in the car I went to give her the bottle but she refused with a big resounding NO. This is no surprise, so I said I would just leave it beside her leg in the child seat and when she was ready she could have it.

So off we went, with me suggesting she have some milk every so often. Finally we stopped at lights, and the conversation went like this:

Me: Josie, Mummy Bird, you know Mummy Bird? Well Mummy Bird told me that she wants you to have your milk..
Josie (picks up bottle): Where ?
Me: Over there in that big tree. She just told me, she said "I want Josie to have her bottle of milk".
Josie: Where?
Me (Points to tree): In that tree.. she is sitting there..
Josie: The green..?
Me: Yep, the green tree!
Josie: No WAY !
Me (laughing): Yes Way!

Josie puts the bottle in her mouth and starts drinking.

I was almost in hysterics ;-)

Now this is about 830pm, but as she was falling asleep she asked for her sunglasses, put them on, and fell asleep.

On the Phone & Anniversary night !

My sister had the funniest conversation with Josie this morning, here is her account:

Rang mum this morning, had a conversation with your daughter (mum and her on two phones)

Josie: Hey Vika, where is Becka.
Vika: At school.
Josie: I want to come to your house.
Vika: Ok you can come tomorrow, I will pick you up from kindy tomorrow and we will go to my place with Becka.
Josie: But Becka at school.
Vika: No tomorrow.
Josie: Oh ok. My dummy not here, at home, I will get it later.
Vika: Ok.
Josie: I want to go to your house.
Vika: Ok, tomorrow we will go to my house.
Josie: I am at baba's house talking to you…. hehehe. Baba's house is very very pretty.

At which point me and mum just burst out laughing.


She's so cute.. ;-)

So last ngiht Tony and I went out to dinner at Chez Rene. It was a delicious as last time. Tony had venison and I had beef. It was yummy. And we got a bunch of phone calls from Harri from the USA cause she was making some international test calls for work, which was also lovely ;-)

And even though we said we were not going to get eachother presents (!!) because we had just bought a new king sized bed, Tony got me a gorgeous big metal covered black photo album for me to keep some special photos of our family in ;-)

Then we went home and watched another episode of Battlestar Galactica.

Had a lovely night ;-)

She's a-talkin' !

Driving Josie to kindy in the morning is such fun..

She has taken to singing along to songs now..

"We're going on a bear hunt.."
"blah blah bear hunt"
"Were gonna catch a big one.."
"We going catch big one.."
"I'm not scared.."
"I not scared.."
"Its kinda dark in here.."
"Its dark here!"
etc

Very cute ;-)

She spends much of the trip sitting in the back chatting to her dolls and doggie..

"What Happened?"
"oh.. doesn't matter.."
"Let me see your back.."
"It hurts?" "oh.. doesnt matter.."
etc..

And I always ask her to take her dummy out when talking (which she seldom does!!).. and this morning when she started trying to sing, I asked her to take her dummy out.. and she rolled her eyes at me, took the dummy out and said "Ugh! Fine! Here! Take it!"..

I burst out laughing. She said "What happened?", and I said "You're funny!" and she sighed and said "oh.." LOL.

She's a funny little monkey.