Twangy Tune

I was serving up some yummy chicken rice porridge when Raina made up her first song. It has a bit of a country twang to it..."chicken bone, chicken bone..." At Grandma and Grandpa's place that night we were treated to a roast chicken dinner, and out came the same tune... "chicken bone, chicken bone..." Now Darwin has added some extra lines in his silly version. It has been fascinating to watch the new language coming out in the past few weeks. Miss R is constantly commentating on everything going on around us. She has to count everything, and so far the numbers go like this: "1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, ten! Wow!"

Her absolute favourite thing to do at the moment is to play "cubby bed" when Daddy gets home from work. They pile up all the pillows and blankets around them and giggle and hide away until I come and find them. Her next favourite thing is babycino with Grandpa. I get ordered to "call Papa come, go car babycino!"

Baby Kaylee

My baby sister has had a baby! Gorgeous Kaylee was born Saturday morning to proud parents Fei-Lee and Ernesto. With beautiful black hair, big dark eyes, she weighed in at only 2.75kg/6 pounds. Welcome little Kaylee!

Quick Study

I love getting surprised by my daughter. Last time I did the laundry I got her to help place the clean mat back on the toilet floor. This afternoon, after another clean load was piled up in the basket, she went and took the mat and put it back in its place, unbeknownst to me. What a lovely surprise to see that I've got such a willing house helper! Also today she started putting her hand over her mouth when she coughs. I've only once explained how we do this, to be polite. I think some of the kudos has to go to a new book called "How do Dinosaurs Eat their Food?" The pictures of the dinosaurs doing all the things we shouldn't do at the dinner table are fantastic, and Raina just loves it. We had to read it 3 times today!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

We went to Taronga Zoo last week with our Mums and Bubs group; what a blast. It was Raina's first experience with so many different animals, not to mention the ferry and gondola rides and being out and about most of the day. I think her favourite was Miya the Seal - perhaps because she is really into swimming at the moment. We were lucky to see the usually sleepy lions and tigers because we arrived at dinner time. Thank goodness we weren't part of the menu!

A song dedication for my recently fasting friends...

...written by my marvellously creative sister-in-law

Song for Stew
by Price Melanie
(to the tune of "Song for You" by Elton John)

It’s a little bit hungry,
this feeling inside.
I’m not one of those who eats
Kentucky Fried …
I should eat more breakfast but
I must admit
Dawn just doesn’t feel like a
Banana split

If I had more breakfast, that would have been nice
Or more dinner last night with some
Tadik and rice
I know I’m a poor cook but it’s the best
I can do -oo-oo.
My pot-luck is simple and
This one’s a stew

And you can tell everybody
I'm Fasting all day.
They may show understanding when,
I pig-out this way.
I hope they don't mind,
I hope they don't mind
when I eat quick and run –
I get up for brekkie at
5:41.

The Puddle Tap

This is what happens when a toddler comes across an enticing puddle of water...!

Toes are Hiding

What fun to hear Raina's new sentences rolling out. Today's sentence was "toes are hiding" - she was referring to being all cozy and zipped up in her sleeping bag. Her first sentence ever was "Mummy eat porridge" a few weeks ago. She's already telling us what to do!

When you live on a big island, you've got to learn how to swim, so we've started "Aquatots" classes and Raina is enjoying it immensely. In just a few weeks she has learned some great skills along with lots of singing and splashing. She's still a bit wary of doing the "Humpty Dumpty" though - jumping in and going underwater. Problem is, she goes to scream as she hits the water, and then of course takes a mighty drink!

Entering the "bubble tunnel"

Thank you Auntie Charmie for your wonderful drawing of Bert and Ernie!

Happy Naw-Ruz / Baha'i New Year everyone!

Paper Only Please!

I turned my back on artist Raina for a few moments this morning only to find her happily decorating her pjs with purple crayon. Last time it was the kitchen floor. Oh la la, more cleaning for Mummy!

And here's a cute kitchen clip (1min): Raina making apple juice with Daddy

Surprise bladder control!

"Raina toilet," she said this morning right after two bowls of organic porridge with flaxseed. How interesting, I thought, she's never done this before. So I asked if she wanted me to help her take her nappy off and she nodded yes. Then there was a lot of mucking around with the potty... sitting down, standing up, sitting down again... up on the big toilet, playing with the radio (yes, we have a radio on the wall right next to the toilet so you don't have to miss a ball or a kick or whatever game you can't tear yourself away from - came with the house!), back on the potty. And suddenly she did it, for the very first time! For all of you without kids, this is a BIG deal. It's HUGE. I'm already dreaming of a life without nappies and wee and poo and washing and soaking and leaking...

Lounging with Daddy

Baking "mutty" (muffins!)

View Baking Mutty video

Sorry, sorry!

It was a very moving moment to hear Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying "Sorry" today, personally and on behalf of the Australian Parliament, to the Aboriginal peoples for all they have suffered. What made it even sweeter was that every time he said "sorry," Raina chimed in too, saying "sorry, sorry!" It's about time.

"Let the healing begin," as one onlooker said.

Sydney Morning Herald: The day we said Sorry

Piglet Hat

A little pink pig moved in last weekend...

Sweet Lorraine's Surprise

Sweet Lorraine, Momma Price, Grammie Nonna, what a gal! She turned 75 this week and did we ever surprise her! What started out as a "small family lunch" turned into what looked like a phenomenol episode of "This is your life", with a stream of over 80 friends from far and wide walking through the door to celebrate.

Boon and Sork

We have officially entered the "mine" phase! Raina has figured out the concept of ownership this week: "Mummy's plate, Raina's plate", "Mummy's shorts", "Raina's swimmers" etc. And new words are coming out every day...salt and pepper, orange juice, cabbage, salad...a lot of food! She announces these words like she's doing advertising spiel. By the way, we are currently eating with "boons" and "sorks" :)

Raina having a giggle with her Nonna

Melbourne Trip

We 3 explored Melbourne for 4 days last week - Darwin had to go for work, so Mei-Ling and Raina tagged along for a wee adventure. We had a great time riding the trams (the Melbournians are so considerate towards mums with prams!) and one merry-go-round, eating delicious - Afghan and Italian - food, and catching up with good friends.

At Southgate

With Corinne on our way to the Royal Botanic Gardens...

...where we came upon a kids' drumming circle - what fabulous timing!

Enjoying some Italian food on Lygon St. with Hooman & Stephen

Credit Card Baby

George Michael hit it on the head with the song "Credit Card Baby" (yes, I am a WHAM fan!). What is it about purses and wallets and credit cards and cash? Raina goes crazy trying to snatch my handbag whenever she can. This time she was successful...

And just in the past few days she has started putting two words together, so that is pretty exciting - "sit down", "knife cut", "Daddy car", "up Mummy", "Tia ball" (Tia is Grandma's poodle). Today she saw Aunty Fei-Lee's belly and couldn't stop repeating "bubby tummy" for a long while afterwards. Ooh, it's going to be fun having a little girl cousin soon!

Holiday Happenings

We've enjoyed lots of visiting these holidays and beach time too. Here are some photos:

Raina with her Aunty Su-Yin, Uncle "Adda", and cousin Lachlan

Little Cousins: Sunil, Yoshni, Lachlan, Tushan, Raina, Ayla and Ethan

"What's up?" at Sandringham Beach

Staying up late with the Chandras for the New Year's Eve fireworks on the beach at Brighton-Le-Sands

Raina was hilarious. We'd been preparing her all day for the loud booms of the fireworks in case she got scared, and when the time came she enjoyed the first few minutes and then decided it was more fun to muck around with Daddy's mobile, ignoring the rest!

"Happy!"

It was indeed a happy day. I was woken by Darwin and Raina dancing into the room while singing "Happy Birthday to you" (with Stevie Wonder singing backup, quite well I might add). Raina very sweetly wished me "Happy!" - she hasn't quite got the birthday part yet :D - and I received a glass of fresh mango juice to savour. Ahh, what a way to start the day; heart and tummy spoilt at the same time! The rest of the day was just as lovely with friends visiting for a cuppa and natter, and then a yummy Mexican dinner - our first Mexican since leaving the US. Not as tasty as our local Nashvillean taqueria, but pretty darn good.

Regular Hero

I'm so proud of my hubbie - he helped to catch a "crim" today!

We three were walking down George St., Sydney, this morning when we saw a man attack a woman and her child. Who would do such a thing?! (In retrospect we think he may have been trying to rob her.) First he hit the child (just a bit older than Raina) on the head with a full beer bottle and then he kept circling around them taunting them with his bottles and threatening to hit them again. The poor kid was screaming with pain and fear and the mother was just beside herself. We were so shocked to see this happening in broad daylight! A few pedestrians rushed to her aid, including Darwin, and the crazy guy just sauntered off watching the mayhem he was leaving behind. When it looked like the woman was being taken care of, Darwin and two other men ran after him, and the chase was on.

They chased him for quite a few blocks until he disappeared from their sight, but luckily Darwin had been calling the police on his cell phone while running, so the downtown cops immediately ran out of the station and nabbed him!! Woohoo!!

Translator's Guide

We now have some new vocabulary in use in the Price household thanks to an ever-babbling Miss R:

mamone = watermelon
popoje = porridge
mook = milk
chi-chi = cheese
bape = grape
shishen = chicken
hoot = hot
bubbee = rubbish
bah = bath
I'd know = I don't know
I see = I want
bye-bye-dom = the state of being finished with something

Raina has invented a new sport: Mop-Jousting!

So She Thinks She Can Dance

Raina has developed her own style of dancing. It's called the Cute Step. Problem is, she gets a bit dizzy and falls over.