Possum Update

Big drum roll for Possum.....

at 1 year and 10 months...

Possum now weighs...

10kg!!!

What a long time coming that has been!  We had a review with the paediatrician this past week and he was satisfied that Possum is finally putting on some weight even though it's very slow.  We now have a green light to start some dairy and gluten food trials again.

We also had a review with our feeding team which consists of a speech therapist, occupational therapist, dietician and physiotherapist.  They were all VERY impressed with his progress.  He is biting and chewing his foods better.  He is not as scared of foods as he was.  He is more willing to try things even if he spits them out.  They were satisfied to the point of saying they now feel his food preferences reflect a more normal fussy toddler than a child with feeding issues and they don't see a need to see us again.  He's also drinking plenty of water both from a straw and a sippy cup, this was another of his issues.

All the hard work is paying off!

He's such a happy boy.  I had to share these photo's taken today :)

Amber xx

Checking in

Busy, busy, busy!!  Possum has been sick with an ear infection going on 3 weeks, poor baby.  He's been quite brave and we seem to finally be getting back on top of it, thank goodness because the sleep deprivation from comforting him all night has been taking a huge toll.  I don't know if i make sense half the time LOL.

In spite of all this school continues to cruise along.  I say cruise because we have been taking a bit of a lighter approach.

Bugsy has completed Kumon Word Problems Grade 1 and i will hold off on Grade 2 until he has completed more of Miquon Blue.  Flossy worked on them concurrently however i can see the benefit of waiting just a little before starting this one.

He has also completed the dark green I See Sam Readers and his reading is going swimmingly!  3 more levels of I See Sam to go and he will be done, then will come the challenge to select school related reads for him.

Flossy has worked hard to finish Miquon Yellow.  There are some challenging questions in that book!  Miquon Purple is next and i'm sure she will find it just as challenging.  Then to decide what to do next. I though i had that mapped out but now i'm having second thoughts.  I will just see how she goes with this book and decide closer to the end i think.  Very proud of her and she is proud of herself knowing how close she is to completing the series.

Chicky is motoring along with reading, phonics and handwriting.  For maths we are working on counting to 100, she makes it to 12 no worries but we have a long way to go LOL.  I am hoping by teaching her to write the numbers she will see them easier which might help her to remember their names.

Possum apart from being unwell with his ear infection and trying to cut his molars which are taking forever to come through is good.  He's started using more signs, yay!  So far i have seen sleep, food, baby, teddy bear, bath, cat, dog, bye and i think that's it.  I'm so pleased we are finally getting somewhere on the communication front.  Last night we actually had a little game and conversation and he signed in context.  It was enough to melt your heart!  He is walking everywhere with confidence now too and his understanding seems to have come on in leaps and bounds!

Lost our groove & an update

We hit the ground running at the start of the year and worked really hard and really solidly. Our days seemed very fluid with only the occasional speed bump. Lately though we have lost our groove. It doesn't take much to throw you completely off track. At the start of the year Possum was napping in the morning. He'd go to bed around 10am and wake around lunchtime or shortly after. This gave me a great solid block of time to really get stuck into the one on one subjects with the kids. Now Possum has moved his nap to the afternoon. He's going to bed around 12.30pm and that means I'm juggling every morning. The big kids are not in the right frame of mind to focus in the afternoon so we really have to focus in the morning. Unfortunately I am finding Possum is a big time sap and I'm struggling to keep everyone on track. Sometimes my day just capitulates into fun and games and no formal school at all. I have to keep reminding myself that homeschooling is a marathon not a sprint and this season of busy toddler, will pass.

In spite of all of that we have been making some forward progress. Bugsy has completed Handwriting Without Tears, My Printing Book and has made the big transition into Writing With Ease 1.

Bugsy has also completed Miquon Red so will be moving into Miquon Blue.

Chicky has been reading more of the I See Sam readers. We've instituted a 'reading time' where everyone except Possum is required to read allowed to everyone else. It's really helping promote the reading culture and Flossy has even declared that she is finally enjoying reading allowed. Bugsy has started putting on voices for different characters now that he isn't struggling with decoding each and every word.

Possum is finally walking, woohoo!  I posted a little while back that he had taken a couple of steps and he kept that up but preferred to crawl until last week when he suddenly took off!  In very exciting news he slept through the night for the first time ever last week, hopefully there are more nights like that to come.

Jasper (our dog) is feeling much better 4 weeks on from his surgery.  We still have to keep him quiet and he is still crated much of the day but the vet has advised that we can begin to give him more yard time over the next 2 weeks so that by the time he is 6 weeks post op he should be back to his normal self.

We rescued a baby rainbow lorikeet last week.  Whilst out for a morning walk we came across a baby with a broken wing.  We threw a jumper over it and took it to our local vet who was going to assess it for suitability for rehabilitation and send it on to a wildlife carer.

I got a new camera a Canon 550D with a lovely 'fast' 50mm prime lens.  Photography was a passion of mine in high school and is something i would love to have devoted more time too.  I've got some photo shoot ideas in mind for my kiddies.  Here are a couple of snaps from day 1.  See the difference between these and those ones of Bugsy above (the one of Possum is with the new camera).  Doesn't it take a much nicer picture than the point & shoot, swoon.  Lucky i know how to use it properly, no auto settings for me :)

Hopefully i will be back to regular blogging shortly.  I've got an award to pass on!

Possum Signed!

Just a quick note. I had to share that Possum signed his first sign this evening! Proud Mummy moment :-)

He signed 'sleep' several times. We were getting ready to pick Flossy up from Cubs and I was putting on his jumper as it's cold and he signed 'sleep' and looked at me and I said 'sleep' and he immediately signed it again with a huge grin. He did it several times over the next 15 minutes including once we got to Cubs to pick Flossy up.

I'm so excited! This is his first attempt at proper communication! He babbles plenty but doesn't have any words yet. Woohoo! All our hard work is paying off!

Technology ~ Is it robbing us?

Sometimes it's interesting how things find you at a pertinent moment in life.  Just this week on a premature baby forum i am part of, a lady posted a link to this blog post.  It's not the first time in the last little while i've seen something like this.  I was reminded of this post by Carrie @ Live, Learn & Love Together.  I was so sad to read it, but could completely understand her position.

Unfortunately i think it is too easy to fall into the black hole of the internet.  I will just sit down and do x invariably turns into an hour and several rabbit trails.  In the past i have really tried to keep myself in check, open new tabs for the rabbit trail and come back to them another time but we all fall off the bandwagon at some point and need that reality check to get us back on track.

I'd like to think that i use technology intentionally.  I certainly don't spend hours chatting on the phone.  Clearly i don't spend hours and hours editing photo's and making my blog pretty and perfect.  Sometimes i don't even get to edit posts before hitting publish (sorry for the typo's and missed auto-corrects!).  But i do 'surf' the net and research 'stuff' and Facebook and get caught up in threads on message boards (homeschool or prem baby related).

It's all relevant and justified but it is a huge time sap and i have to wonder, is it robbing me?  Does the benefit of all this gained knowledge really help me?  What could i do with this time?

Well, i could spend more time 'playing' with my kids.  I could spend more time cleaning the house or cooking.  I could spend more time on 'Amber's Knowledge Quest', or reading, or sewing, or ... anything really.

BUT, i can't help but wonder is this just a new crisis in the ever changing world.  Were parents of previous generations really engaged in their children's lives?  There was the era of 'children will be seen and not heard'.  There was the time where mothers slaved for hours hand washing clothes.  Did they really have more time and inclination to engage in their children's lives?

I am not by any stretch suggesting that not engaging is a good thing, or normal.  I am just highlighting that it isn't limited to the current generations technology time sap, it's just that the time sap has become a new thing using up peoples time if they let it.

So, i'd like to challenge my readers to really have a good hard look at the time you spend with technology, whatever your black hole might be and make sure your being intentional about that time and not robbing yourself and your children.  Before you know it your kids will walk out the door.  What will they remember about you?

 

Washing Baskets

Do you use your just for washing?  I've heard library books take up residence at several peoples houses, sometimes toys.  At my place it seems the baby gets the basket :-)

Here is Possum on his first trip to the beach.  What better place for the baby than a washing basket bed under the sun shelter.

Here is Possum helping me hang the washing.  What better viewing place than the washing basket complete with comfy pillow so he could see what i was up to.

Here is Possum helping to squish all my clean washing.  What better place to snuggle than clean washing.  This was taken this evening.  I wonder if he remembers me putting him in there as a tiny tot or if it just looked like fun.  He played in that basket for a good 15 minutes whilst i cleaned up the kitchen from dinner.  So cute!

ECHO

Last Wednesday we had the pleasure of attending our very first ECHO cushion concert.  It was performed by WASO as part of their Music for Kids program.

From their brochure ~

Toot, whistle, plonk, boom, shake, rattle and roll!  WASO's Education Chamber Orchestra (EChO) is a high-energy 15 piece ensemble, featuring one of each instrument of the orchestra.  We invite all our young friends to join us and have a go on our instruments after the show.  Enjoy 50 minutes of musical celebration as we dance, sing and have lots of fun.
Suitable for 2 to 7 year olds.

We caught the train to the city, then found the right CAT bus to get us close to the Concert Hall.  Then we had to find the entrance to the building, because it isn't in a logical place!  It was a rainy morning, but thankfully we didn't get wet.

The venue was lovely and the carpet very comfortable.  We got a spot right at the front which was excellent as Flossy and Bugsy were chosen as helpers at one time.

The concert itself was just wonderful.  They had a story line which was captivating.  All of the instruments were introduced throughout the story and the children were engaged in clapping, dancing and singing.  On conclusion the musicians allowed the children to try the instruments.

Flossy tried the trumpet and actually managed to make a lovely note.  The musician was quite impressed.  Bugsy tried the french horn.  Chicky tried the violin.

The concerns run again in July and i will be contacting WASO to find out if it will be the same storyline or if they will have a new show as we loved it and the kids are keen to go again.  I've also managed to find two other WASO performances aimed at children aged 6-13 called Play me a Picture and Witches, Wizards and WASO and it is highly likely that we will attend those too.

Flossy and Bugsy are now resolute that they would like to begin music lessons again.  This time Flossy would like to try the trumpet and Bugsy the french horn.  I might have a challenging time finding teachers but it will have to wait until we move back to the city.

*Sorry about the quality of the photo's, there was no flash photography permitted and my little point and shoot struggles in the dim light.

'Knock em Out!' Smoothies

When i first got my Thermomix i was making quite a few smoothies, it was summer and it was a great thirst quencher.  As i got busy i stopped making them so much and left it for weekends or once in a while treats.  As Possum has struggled with his weight gain quite a few people had mentioned to me about making smoothies to help him along.  That was all well and good but the little lad had only just worked out how to drink water from a cup and i didn't want to mess with that.  So i was patiently waiting until he worked out one of the other cups.  It wasn't happening, then to my surprise one afternoon he picked up one of the kids Thermos water bottles which have a flip top lid and straw and he drank from the straw!  Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather!  He sat and drank and spat water out and had a great time until the water bottle was empty.

Next time i was at the shops i was on the hunt for a toddler friendly drinking cup with a silicone straw, BPA free, with no fancy stop leak valve or anything.  Do you know how hard it was to find?  I went to 5 different shops before finding the perfect cup in Woolworths.  Home i went to make smoothies :-)

Possum loved his smoothie!  As did the other kids.  They will now be a regular feature on our menu.  Most likely for afternoon tea.

When asking the kids for a name for these smoothies they came up with 'Knock em Out!' Smoothies which is really cute :-)  They know the smoothies are packed full of goodies to help their 'good bugs' fight off the 'bad bugs'.  Love that they are so keen to take good care of their bodies!

Here is what we had ~

Knock em Out Version 1

2 bananas

1 heaped tablespoon raw cocoa powder

1 heaped tablespoon coconut oil

large handful almonds

large handful baby spinach

large handful frozen blueberries

1/2 small tub vanilla soy yogurt

sugar to taste

soy milk

Knock em Out Version 2

1 heaped tablespoon coconut oil

1 heaped tablespoon raw cocoa powder

2 bananas

large handful frozen blueberries

4 broccoli florets

1/2 small tub vanilla soy yogurt

large handful almonds

1 tablespoon linseeds

large handful baby spinach

raw sugar to taste

coconut water

My method is simple and you could use any variety of ingredients to suit yourself.

First mill all of the seeds, nuts, grains on 10 for about 45sec.

Add all of the fruit and other ingredients except your thinner (soy milk, coconut water etc)

Mix on 10 until smooth and pasty, about 30 seconds.

Add your thinner and mix on 10 for a few seconds then re-evaluate and continue to add and mix until it reaches the consistency you desire.

Taste test and add sweetener to taste.

Serve in a large glass with a straw.

My receipts above made enough for 4 serves.

There is no end to what you can put in these smoothies.  Enjoy!

Jasper

From my previous post you would be aware that our dog was hit by a car last Sunday night and ended up needing extensive surgery.  He is doing well now although he still has to be confined.  The vet is confident he will make a good recovery and all indications are excellent so far.

Hand Hygiene

With winter rapidly approaching here and the cold and flu season already started it's important to refresh ourselves and our children on the importance of good hand hygiene.  Research shows there is a significant reduction in the transfer of 'germs' when good hand hygiene is implemented.  Having a child who has compromised respiratory function (Possum) makes it doubly important to our family.

Here is an article on the importance of hand washing and a guideline on when to wash.

Here is the poster that we have in our bathroom to remind everyone of the correct way to wash your hands.

We also have antibacterial hand lotion available on the kitchen counter at all times.  Whilst we use it regularly it is no substitute for hand washing.  If your hands are soiled they must be washed and dried properly to thoroughly remove germs.

I hope this has prompted you to remind your own children about the importance of good hand hygiene.

Things have been a little quite around here ...

I can assure you that is because we have been BUSY!  That and my internet connection dies in the evening :(  Thought a change in service provider would solve all my problems, sadly, they have returned! Looks like i will have to change my blogging habits.

So what have we been up to?

I've been busy in the kitchen mostly.  Some of the recipes have made their way onto the blog some more need refining and then i will post them too.  At the moment i am working on chickpea chocolate biscuits, or maybe that should be chocolate chickpea biscuits.  I'm using some 'different' ingredients as I am trying to fill up Possum (he eats like a bird) and also put some weight on him so we are going for high energy foods.  If he had a full tummy he might actually sleep, that would be bliss!

We ended up taking some time off school over Anzac Day and the following week as my niece came to stay then we had a bunch of appointments both in the city and at home.  We are back to regular programming this week although we are heading to the city Wednesday as i am talking the kids to the symphony cushion concert.  Should be loads of fun!

Anzac Day was great.  The kids enjoyed the march followed by wreath laying.  Then everyone went into the town hall for an hour long presentation.  There were various speakers speaking about their experience at war, playing the last post, hymns, prayers, songs, poems etc.  It was a really lovely way to honour those who fought for us and one of the best services i've been to.  Afterwards everyone had a sausage sizzle for breakfast before heading home.

It's never too early to buy books for next year, right?  Here are some new Anzac books that have arrived.  Many thanks to Jeanne @ A Peaceful Day for recommending these new titles.

Flossy has been busy reading.  No surprises there it's her favourite pastime.  She's recently found the author Michael Morpurgo and is really loving his books.

Bugsy has been busy riding his bike!

Chicky has been busy with her reading and maths.  She read her first I See Sam reader this week!  She's been working more in Miquon too.  Mini Math Monday should be back next week if i can tare Chicky away from Miquon long enough to fit in some living maths!

Possum has been playing and trying to take a few more steps.

Rusty has finished up his local work and has now gone to the city.  It will be hard with him working away but we have been there before.  Hopefully this time it won't be for very long.  We have plans afoot for our move back to the city later in the year.

Sadly our much loved Jasper was hit by a car last night.  He is in surgery as i type having his shattered pelvis and fractured hip repaired.  I'm busying myself waiting for the vet surgeon to call and let me know how it went.

Well, back to the books with the kiddies before packing to go to the city for the concert.

Bugsy Bike Riding

I posted the other day to say that Bugsy had worked out to ride his bike.  Here he is in action.




There was no seat holding and running alongside him.  I showed him how to scoot along a couple of days earlier and whilst at the park we just encouraged him to try the pedals once he'd scooted a bit.  He had it in no time.

A couple of days later and he can now start from standing, no scooting required.  Great work Bugsy!

Possum ~ 100 days in NICU

What will tomorrow bring?

Yesterday Bugsy taught himself to ride his bike.  Today Possum taught himself to drink out of a straw.  What will tomorrow bring?

Bugsy's bike has been out of action for quite sometime with a flat tyre.  Rusty fixed it a couple of weeks ago and Bugsy immediately wanted the trainer wheels off.  He's been scooting around for a week or so after i showed him how and had Rusty lower the seat.  Yesterday we we down to the park in the afternoon and Bugsy bought his bike.  He was scooting along when Rusty suggested that he might try and pedal if he liked.  So he tried and off he went!  He was so very proud of himself and Rusty and I were pretty proud too.

Today all the kids were playing together when i hear Flossy saying, "He's drinking it!"  I was thinking "What?!"  Off i dash to find that Possum had picked up Bugsy's drink bottle and was drinking from the straw.  He's never drank from a straw before, he's always bitten it.  He drank lots of water then had a hissy fit when it was empty and taken away.  This is a massive achievement and means that we can look for a straw cup for him and perhaps introduce some protein packed smoothies to help with his non existent weight gain.  Hopefully he will enjoy them.

So, i wonder, what is install for us tomorrow =)

Anzac Day

This morning we are up early.  We are rugged up because it's quite cool out and we are headed off to a nearby town so that Flossy and Bugsy can march for the very first time with the Scouts on Anzac Day.  We will attend the dawn service and listen in silence to the Last Post.  Today we remember the fallen soldiers.  Those who fought so hard despite adversity, to keep their country safe.  There are no winners in war.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Lest We Forget

('The Ode' from For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon)

Possum's First Drawing

Enough said :-)

Possum Newsflash!

My heart is bursting, I just had to share ...

today Possum ...

at 1 year, 6 months, 1 week and 2 days ...

 took 2 steps independently!

An absolutely amazing achievement for my little man born at 25 weeks weighing just 865g.

Happy Easter

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely Easter with your families :)

Preparing for Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance in Australia.  It is a day to remember the soldiers who have fought for our country.  It is not a day to glorify war.  The day is observed nation wide as a public holiday and there are many dawn services and marches held around the country.  Anzac Day is commemorated on April 25.  You can see what Wiki has to say about Anzac Day here.

We have always 'done something' for Anzac Day.  We've attended the dawn service or gone to the diggers breakfast or watched the RAAF flyover or simply visited our local war memorial.  This year with Flossy and Bugsy joining Scouts we will be attending the dawn service and they will march with their group.

This year, for the first time i've felt the need to get them ready, to get myself ready.  A couple of years ago i read this lovely post by Jeanne at A Peaceful Day.  She has reviewed a number of picture books about Anzac Day.  At the time it was too late for me to purchase these books for Anzac Day as the post was only a couple of days in advance.  I promised myself that i would come back in 2011 and buy some of the books.  Sadly with Possum in hospital right before Anzac Day in 2011 the year also passed me by, but not this year.  This year i again read through Jeanne's list and went in search of many of the titles.  Sadly some of them are currently OOP.  I was able to purchase a few including -

Anzac Day Parade
My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day
My Mother's Eyes
Simpson and his Donkey
Why are they Marching, Daddy?

I also came across The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded.  It's not on Jeanne's list but I picked that up too.

I've put the books in our Morning Basket and plan to read from them every morning in the lead up to Anzac Day.  Hopefully we can add a few more next year.  Have you got any recommendations?

Amber

Bugsy... gifted too???

From all my reading on giftedness i know that siblings are generally close in IQ however i've never really felt that with my kids, well not until recently.  Flossy was so clearly different right from the start.  She was amazing and quirky at 18m.  Bugsy is completely different, he's a boy, LOL.

Flossy is clearly language inclined although she can hold her own in math too.  Bugsy is not language oriented at, all.  Just over two years ago he started getting into Lego and building and more recently has started to explode with it.  It wasn't until the last week that i realised that he has a STEM mind!  Where have i been?  Under a rock?!

I'm not sure why it took me SO long to wake up to myself LOL.  Perhaps i was secretly in denial hoping that he wouldn't be gifted too.  Perhaps with everything going on in my life it just didn't enter my mind.  Perhaps because it's through his play and not through his lessons that i have come to realise this and that is why i didn't notice earlier.

So, this week i have been busy looking at STEM things that might interest him.  We pulled out the Snap Circuits and i have given him free range and he has built some great designs.  We already encourage Lego and i've been looking at Lego WeDo and Lego Mindstorms for next year.  We've downloaded and started using Scratch and he's spent hours having fun with that.  He also has a knack with logic puzzles and games which he already has access to on his iTouch.  I'm not sure what else we will get up to, but i can see it will be fun.

Ironically, Bugsy and I are so similar.  I loved all things STEM as a kid.  I built a solar powered car from bits and pieces at age 11 and took it to school to show the class.  I wanted to be an engineer and went to women in engineering workshops at the local uni's.  In the end i never followed a STEM career, math makes your brain work, and everything else was much easier than that! LOL, i guess i was lazy, i had so much potential.