March 17th - Day 73

Nana will hate me for this one but I had to take it after a busy week at his new centre Tyler has been asleep at or before 6.15pm and on this night at 8.30pm so was Nana and Simba the best cat friend where also in the bedroom either asleep or woken up by my taking the photo.

March 14th - Day 70

We had a lot of rain over night and it carried over to Sunday morning with the storm which seemed to race accross the city with hail, rain, wind and thunder storms.  The pot hole beside our driveway filled up with water and I let Tyler play in it.  He had a blast and loved every minute.

 

March 13th - Day 69

Daddy had a birthday yesterday, but given it was a Friday we decided to celebrate on Saturday with Tyler's idea of a birthday must haves - Cake, candles and presents!  I made the cake (choc zuchinni) and Nana iced it with choc icing on Friday.  Saturday morning after swimming lessons I showed Tyler how to work the icing tubes then let him loose :D  He had a blast and then ensured that Daddy got a birthday song (or three) and blew out the candles - he was pleased it was only 12 not 37!!!

 

March 12th - Day 68

A long road came to an end today - Tyler said goodbye to some of his wonderful little friends and teachers at his old childcare centre.  We provided his classroom (42 children!) with a morning tea of cheese and luncheon sandwiches and watermelon (healthy options rather than another cake, which has become a staple with all the birthdays of late).  

Tyler insisted on sitting with his best mates.  These three little people have been the best of friends since they started at the centre two years or so ago.  Any trouble or mischeif happening and you could count on these three  being in the middle of it.  I wondered at three such different personalities becoming such fast friends so quickly at such a young age - but they did and when one was upset the other two would offer cuddles and kisses and made sure all was right again.  While we will still have conact with the wee girl and her family (hopefully) regularly, we will not with the little boy......so is the way of life i guess.  The little girl was not a happy camper with the news that Tyler would not be at "school" every day with her and kept saying it was NOT a good day today!!!  Hang in there sweetie we will have a play date soon :D
 

March 11th - Day 67

Thursday at last, this was what I noted when I went to close Tyler's curtains for the night.  He had made his bed unassisted (I slept through my alarm and so was rushing) and tucked his special rabbit into his bed - this poor thing has been to hospital everytime Tyler has and we are not allowed to remove his hospital issue name tag.  This rabbit has had an IV, plasters, bandagess, splints as well as an oxygen mask on various admissions.  He only leaves the house to be transported to the hospital otherwise he is a home body.

 

March 10th - Day 66

Three days into our hard slog routine of in and out of the CBD and this photo says it all - in saying that there are also some medical tjings happening to aid to tired look and grumpy behaviours.

 

March 8th - Day 64

Offically Day one of my new job with Regional Public Health and a very busy day was had by all.  It was also the last week of Tyler attending his old centre.  So Nana was flown in to help out with the logistics of a 0730hrs drop off when I needed to be in the Wellington CBD between 0730 and 0800hrs......any one who knows traffic along SH1 and SH2 into Wellington from Whitby and Lower Hutt knows the chances of this happening a about the same as winning the big Lotto draw.   
So it was an 0600 start for us, but given my nerves I had been awake since 0430hrs.  Tyler did wonderfully as did Nana, but that afternoon we had a very tired 3yr old, who when home wanted to continue watching In the Night Garden on the MP4 player.

Check out the mossie bites on his leg - sand pit and humid weather - looked pretty sore.

March 7th - Day 63

After a dash to the airport to collect Nana who was coming to the rescue with Daycare drop off for the week the weather turned and it was a wet day so the train set came out - every piece of it!  We have been lucky to have been able to source either second hand or new both a table for the train set and a lot of original Thomas the tank engine stuff.  We also managed to find some cheaper tracks which connect with the Thomas bits.  Tyler managed to set most of this track up by himself, yes there was some help with some of the connections in the middle and getting things to meet, but mostly he was in charge - he did a pretty good job!

 

March 6th - Day 62

The weather held out and turned to sun after it threatened to turn nasty.  So this Saturday afternoon provided the perfect opportunity to play in the garden with Daddy and soccer ball in tow.  The pair of them played for about an hour before food was required to keep the busy lads active.

 

March 5th - Day 62

Ok I did not take this photo and it was taken the weekend we moved - but I have just recieved it so thought it deserved sharing.  We attended a very special 2nd birthday of some friends from the UK and it was the first birthday away from family for the wee fella.

Now Tyler just LOVES music and playing a new instrument is right up there on the fun scale for him.  This was his first "pie-an-ano" playing session - he must have spend a good portion of the afternoon playing.

March 4th - Day 61

After finding a new centre for Tyler the rush was on to settle him into it this week as next week I have to start work and need him to be happy in both places.  Well once again Tyler has show us and me specifically how versitile and flexible he is.  Not only did he feel happy on his first day but he let me leave him today after only 2 very short 2hr visits "byebye Mummy, have fun see you later" a wave and a blown kiss and off he went to play with the toys and kids.  So this morning I decided to take a couple of photos of him at the centre, unfortunately he was so happy that only two came out with no other children and him staying on the spot long enough for the snap.  Needless to stay I am very proud of him.  He is still managing to wear big boy undies with mixed success but definitely no worse than at home or his other centre!

 

 

March 3rd - Day 60

After getting dinner on tonight I came into the lounge to find thid photo (which wont go where it is told).  Now normally the desktop PC does not sit on our coffee table and Tyler is not allowed free rein with it.  But after the move I was unable to locate an extension cord that was smaller than 35metres when all I needed was a 5-10m cord......I know we have at least 2 of this size, goodness knows where they are but they are definitely here as the other house is empty! Tyler loves to be on the computer and this is the system he plays his Fisher Price Toddler game on with headphones and watches some programs we have on it - so I couldn't and didnt get too upset about it.

March 2nd - Day 59

Not only have we a new house (which thankfully both cats and child have settled into!) but also a new job for a new grad nurse :D  This means that Tyler can no longer attend his current daycare centre due to the nightmare-ish complications in drop off times and work hours between myself and Daddy.  So the wireless phone went flat with the numbers of call made and recieved.  The outcome was that Tyler now has a new centre closer to home and a wonderful friend is happy to have our mad-at-times 3yr old at her house at 0700 every week day morning, she in turn will take him to care every day!!  :D  What a wonderful friend and how easily this seems to have fallen into place - never look a gift horse (or daycare centre, or great friends) in the mouth besides the grass breath you will never know what you are missing until the chance has past you by.
Anyway I took Tyler to visit his new centre - within 3mins of walking in the door I had his shoes, hat and cuddly blanket and he was off playing.  The result of an hours play  after a full day at daycare and a weekends move is this photo.

March 1st - Day 58

Another week has started.  My angel has the final say on Monday.

 

Feb 28th - Day 58

Still on the theme of moving - this one is unpacking - the simgle more annoying thing about moving than packing and cleaning is the unpacking.  We have gone from 3 bedrooms to 2, we are lucky to have a gargae and a large-ish living area comparable with our previous house.  But still even when finished unpackiung there will still be boxes and beds in the garage due to the smaller house size.  On the positive note I have been able to unpack some books I have not seen in the 2yrs I have been finishing my degree - YAY!!!!!!!!!

 

This in addition to the small fortune in text books I still have been unable to resell and Daddy's entire bookshelf of sci-fi books and cook books and the like. Please note that books are so important in our house that they have been unpacked before some kitchen things :D

 

Feb 27th - Day 57

Moving day - all turned to custard about 7pm Friday night when the wife of one of our helpers gave birth very unexpectedly (no noticable contractions, just unconfortable) to a very beautiful little angel at 7.30pm.  Mum and baby are fine and big borther (mr4yr old) is fast becoming the best big brother in the world!  A text message at 10.30pm Friday night from our other helping family brought news of stomach bugs - vomiting and diarrhea so no muscle, no child minder and no trailer.  A real quick trip to the gas station a hire trailer later and Daddy and Mummy managed to load all the beds, dressers and some sound system gear onto said trailer.  Mr3 mean time was sat in front of Daddy's computer watching Mickey mouse and Dora the explorer (thank you very much Playhouse Disney!)  Reinforcements where called in about 1pm and we managed to clear out all the furniture and most of the boxes (I got the remaining boxes this week).  Beds up and Daddy built the TV and speakers together, cats moved in and that was a wrap for Saturday.

 

Feb 26th - Day 56

After all the packing and sorting and repacking - it was time to move stuff in, we where doing it ourselves so seats down and load the car - should have hired a trailer in hindsight but hey never mind - next time I am paying someone to do it ALL!!!!!!

For the record we are not big drinkers - tho the boxes of wine suggest otherwise....it is all nice wine but we just dont drink very much in the way of booze......btw there was another box with spirits and more wine in another load.

Feb 25th - Day 55

Ok - missed a couple of days this week with moving and getting occ health clearance for my new job.  BUt this one was a real classic and I had to take it.  Please ignore Home and Away in the back ground - it is my only soap.

 

Lately Tyler has been working really hard on his toilet training and I have decided that I am brave enough for the next step - big boy undies.  The last couple of days he has worn undies to daycare and has managed only a couple of accidents a day (usually only 1/day at home) so I am very proud of him and he is very excited with his new undies......I have just been and gotten several packs undies and they are just sitting on the coffee table (clean!!) waiting for his name labels so he can take and wear them to school. 

Feb 22nd - Day 53

I will let this one speak for itself.

 

Feb 21st - Day 52

Not so long ago Tyler brought this one home from his daycare program.  The teachers make their own playdough once a week and save the left overs for doing things like this.  It is made with plant parts - seeds, leaves and sticks etc.  A playdough garden.

This was an activity planned as a lead into the planting and growing of their own sunflowers, beans and watermelon along with flowers.  Tyler loves the garden and will often sit smelling the roses - literally!

Feb 20th - Day 51

This is one of our family - he is the friendliest cuddliest and one of the most tollerant puss cats I know.  Simba was originally one of two brothers (we owned both) - he has survived being an SPCA animal, 7 (soon to be 8) moves including living in Motueka, Nelson, Dunedin, Motueka and Wellington.  He has enjoyed adventures which have given me heart palpatations - rats, ducks, frogs, birds and mice being some of his most loved play things.  Simba thinks he is a dog and will come when called, sit, stay and chase sticks.  While he is not a huge lover of loud children and parties, he defends his family with love and a claws (as the vet bill shows).  Simba loves Tyler - he followed me everywhere (incl morning sickness attacks) while pregnant and spent hours sitting watching Tyler as a newborn and would never be far away when he was growing.  Now days he puts up with Tyler's love and cuddles and kisses and attempts to play with him, has never bitten or scratched him and has only once hissed at him.  

So this is my handsome "man-cat" - aint he the best?

 

Feb 19th - Day 50

Before we display the shocking photo for this day I must appologies for the quality of this shot, the subject kept moving in the wind and the windows are smudged with builders fingerprints.  Tyler called it a "walking stick"

 

This is the side door of our new house (moving day Saturday 27th).  The stick insect was on the outside of the door but the door was open so technically it was inside.

Feb 18th - Day 49

Just to prove that I did in fact win something - again i might add.  Now we dont normally buy things like M&M's for house hold use - generally it is a movie sneak in (shhh!).  But it was an impulse buy on the dash around the shops for milk, bread and toilet paper and it paid for itself.  Now before everyone gets excited I did not win a "big" prize, but hey who's gonna turn down a $100 gift card?

 

Not the clearest photo, but as you can see these M&M's are definitely naked.

 

Feb 17th - Day 48

Lot slack with updating again.  But have been shooting.

So here is last weeks effort for Wednesday.  It was a beautiful day with an amazing sunset.  Tyler pointed out that the sky was hot and it was and my little point and shoot doesn't really do it much justice.

 

Feb 16th - Day 47.

Today I thought that the collection of leaves in the pool had been there long enough and it was time to tip it all out.  After picking out a collection of toys I found this.......

 

It is a fully grown and dead male Tree Weta.  These insects are in huge numbers around our area and I am often fishing them alive and dead out of the cats water bowl and buckets etc.  They hiss and loudly and honestly I DO NOT LIKE THEM!!!!  No Sam-I-Am I do not like them here or there!  But in the interests of nuturing a healthy active male child I am brave and collected it in a sieve (I am NOT touching it - ICK!) and bottled it in a jar we had in the pantry for pickle (the jar is a large watties baby food jar filled with 50:50 water:white vinegar) so it can be taken to "school"/daycare tomorrow morning.  This specimen's body is about 4-5cm long.

Feb 15th - Day 46

Busy weekend and a lot of phone calls to follow up on yesterday (Monday).  During one call I look up when I hear "Cheese Mummy!".  Tyler had not only climbed on a chair to reach up and get down the digital camera but figured out how to open it and managed to not get his fingers in the way.  This is the second shot has taken - ever (the first was just really unflattering to poor unsuspecting Mummy).

Not too bad for a 3yr old - while he did manage to cut my head off in the first shot every shot after was pretty good!  With a computer geek for a dad (IT tech) and all the gadgets in our house it wont be long until i will be asking him to fix my laptop!

Feb 14th - Day 45

Valentines Day - well not really a huge event in our house hold, for the main reason that for the past 4-5yrs one or the other of us has been working.  This year was DP's turn to work.  So i thought I would head out and collect something I had won after making a purchase from this site http://www.kidsclubhouse.co.nz/   This is a Wellington home based company and the sell lots of different disney themed products in NZ.  Earlier in Jan I had gotten a pair of winter PJ's and a T-shirt for our Little Einsteins mad child. Then also purchased his Birthday present (an interactive rocket ship) and a pair of PJ's with Lightening MacQueen for our friends 4th birthday. 
Anyway I ramble - they run a monthly competition and every purchase goes into the draw.....I won and Tyler got to enjoy the spoils.

 

Feb 13th - Day 44

Weekends during term time mean sleep-ins (yes 8am is a sleep in!) and swimming lessons.  Today was the first day of a new class, with a new time and a new teacher.....so rather than 11.20am we had to be organised a whole hour earlier (we where late) and so rather than getting to play outside or watch an episode of mickey mouse it was toys only - Mr Potato-head is a favorate and today it was decided that rather than dressing up the spuds he would dress himself.
Introducing Tyler-big-teeth.

 

Feb 12th - Day 43

Friday's - adults learn to love or hate them and I have decided that kids do too.  After a long day at daycare and with myself in the kitchen cooking dinner (yes i do cook), Tyler wanting to "help" I decided it was time for some technological interventions - I could have turned the TV and DVD on, but he would have stood at the kitchen gate calling me.  The computer means he gets to sit with daddies headphones on and watch.........In this case Handy Manny (thank you Playhouse Disney!)

Feb 11th - Day 42

In my attempts at packing this afternoon I noticed this on the wall next to DP's desk and computer. He has been working many hours since before Christmas and has been on-call for 3wks this year already. This shows how often we rely on this esential piece of paper in our house......
In case you are having trouble reading it - this is a calendar showing Dec 2009.

Feb 10th - Day 41

We have been lucky to have been able to grow some of our own veg this year again, we grew more last year but wasn't sure most of our weather would have killed off the young plants this year. Tyler gets involved and loves watering the plants and picking the fruits of his labour......green tomato, very lightly pink strawberries etc. But one of the most loved would be green beans - not string beans or broad beans but round green beans.....we are now watching our second crop of them grow in hope that we might get another few feeds of yummmy beans. As we dont have a lot of garden space most of our vege live in cubes we scored from the warehouse for $2 each due to damages.

Feb 9th - Day 40

I am proud of myself - I have stuck to taking a new photo now for 14 days in a row - little slack at putting them up but still taking them :D

This one is of our handsome boy Simba the puss cat - he is a SPCA cat and is now about 9yrs old. We have had him since he was 8wks old (or there abouts). He is a very layed back cat, not too keen on strangers but usually warms up quickly so long as there are not too many loud little people involved.
He is Tyler's shadow and learnt very early into Tyler's journey into solids to sit under the highchair and he would usually gain the best bits - unless mum was mean and shut him outside. So while he drives me insane at times and has cost us a fair amount he is a member of our family.

Feb 8th - Day 39

This afternoon after a productive morning house hunting and weeding of the horrid gravel path around our house. I settled into some bill paying, clothes folding and general house work to the gentle sounds of the latest Oz Idol winner - Stan Walker. He has a very soothing voice and he is often requested in the car by the youngest family member.
I am even allowed to sing along :)

Feb 7th - Day 38

With the birthday party being such a great success, Tyler has a fixation with all things pirate - treasure maps, pirate money (play money), water guns, "pirate hats" and boats. This yesterday afternoon, he was playing outside and decided that his Mummy needed to be the "naughty pirate" and be squirted with lots of water while cleaning the leaves out of his pool. He is shown here filling this little yellow gun that was in his treasure bag from the party.

Shortly after this he was determined that he swim with his hat on and no swim wear - my son the original nudist :)

Feb 6th - Day 37

What a beautiful Wellington summers day....today we celebrated a little friends 4th Birthday (was yesterday) with a wonderful pirates and faeries party - so dress up was in order. A hunt through the closet, toy box, Christmas decorations and a trip to the local equalivant to the $2 store later and the result?


We had to compromise on the wings and sword - Tyler wanted pink wings - the end. So to make Daddy happy we settled for blue wings a sword with tinsel and a pirate get up with a touch of make up and a canteen bandanna from the dress up box. The other photos where better focused but this is the only one where he is actually looking at the camera and smiling.

Feb 5th - Day 36

How I have spent any spare minutes I may have these days - sorting, de-junking, packing and attempting to find both a new home and enough space in boxes for 3 peoples stuff. When we moved in 2yrs ago it was 2 adults a 1yr old and a couple of cats. Now 2 years down the track and it seems that a single 3 year old can have as much stuff as 2 fully grown adults and 2 spoiled cats! But as it stands this is part of our "spare" room. For the record - I really DISLIKE packing!!! Next time we will pay someone to come and do it I think. Only 4 days into packing and I am OVER it.

Feb 4th - Day 35

Another project completed..... I started this when we moved to Wellington 2 years ago, now 4wks from moving to a new home I have completed it. Frogs, lily pads and flowers all hand made by yours truely.

Feb 3rd - Day 34

A little late - I am laying blame on DP who had my car and the camera cable (in my glove box) for the day yesterday.

Wednesday's photo is Tyler and Simba enjoying a cuddle in the late afternoon. Simba is the cat who spent every moment possible while I was pregnant following me around like a lost puppy. Was always around at nap time and seemingly enjoys Tyler's company.

Feb 2nd - Day33

While the weather held out today it wasn't too hot so not really hot enough for swimming in the paddling pool. While I was making a cup of tea Tyler was entertaining himself with the pruning off cuts beside the deck. He asked to play with the water and as I was watching this was not a problem. He was soon engaged with his play and was "fishing". He has never been fishing and to my knowledge has only ever seen people fish on TV.

Feb 1st - Day 32

First of the month and a new moon on it's way out. In a vain attempt to show the beauty of this event at 10pm from our deck here at home with a slight shadow of cloud passing - I didn't really achieve what I set out to show, but thought this was a pretty interesting shot anyway.

Day 31

What I did this afternoon was to attend a friends Baby shower.....this lovely lady is of South African origins and is expecting baby #2 in 3-4wks. The photo shows the wonderful spread put on by her and her mother (mom as apposed to mum) who ran this event.
A learning experience for the kiwi's among us as this event was meant to be a suprise so to speak, as with S.A. tradition. In NZ the baby shower/kitchen tea events are known about by the mother to be and so is not a suprise.....we learn something every day :D

Day 30

Today was a great day - started out as it finished working up to be a hot day. At 9am we headed up to the lake to ride the bike and feed the ducks behind the Whitby Mall. Out of the reeds came a family of black swans, very friendly and happy to eat our offerings.

Day 29 (delayed)

Another nice day in the land of Wellington - though Tyler would NOT take his jumper off. I finally got around to buying a helmet to go with the new bike Tyler got for his 3rd birthday - which he has only just been tall enough to ride. Initially he wanted a nice pink "special hat" to go with his bike. But the shop only had blue or green in his size so the "special hat" with stars it was and he wore it the whole way to the park in the car too :)

Day 28 (delayed)

Day 28 - 3 sunny days in a row!!! What happy campers we where! This one is the roses at home getting a much needed watering care of the swimming pool.

Day 27 (delayed)

Day 27 was a beautiful day here in Whitby, Wellington. We have not had much of a summer to speak about so far sun has been a day here or there but nothing more. To have two days or more together meant that the paddling pool could come out and have a chance to warm up before it was used.

This photo shows a happy wee fella after a busy day at daycare enjoying the last of the afternoon at home in his swimming pool.

Day 25 (delayed)

Wellington Anniversary day - busy little day with most of the day spent out and about with friends and family enjoying the public holiday before another week at work. Most of the day was outside running about and this was the result

Day 24 (delayed) - I do NOT do mornings before 7am!

I don't do mornings well and most definitely not before 7am - this one was taken after a super excited 3yr old found the digital camera and brought it into our room before 0630!!! But other than that it is a pretty nice shot of him.