Catching up

It's been a long long time since the last post. Probably no coincidence that it announced Luke's birth -- I can't really recall getting anything much done since then :-). But now he's 10 months old: a happy, super-strong, bouncy, robust, sweet, impatient baby. Georgie is about to start school next week (gasp) and Owen is nearly in Grade 2. And in just three weeks, I'm back at work. How that time flew. In the meantime, we did manage a trip to New York (we had a wonderful catch-up with family) and Disneyland (a huge hit with the kids). Now life is getting back to normal, or as normal as it ever is. At least we're past the jet lag.

Welcoming Luke Joseph Hildenbrand

Serena and Marc are delighted to announce the arrival of Luke Joseph Hildenbrand on Saturday 19 March at 7:20pm, weighing 3.84 kg (8 pounds, 7 ounces), and 50 cm (20 inches) long.

Luke means “bringer of light”, and of course Luke was one of the four gospel writers.

Joseph means “may God add or increase”, which is certainly the case with Luke joining our (now) large family. Joseph is a family name on the Hildenbrand side (the middle name of Marc’s dad and grandfather), and we also wanted to honour Serena’s maternal grandfather, Joe Farran.

Owen and Georgie are very excited about their baby brother. Mother and baby are now home from the hospital, and everyone is doing well.

Another birthday

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday for yesterday, it was lovely to hear from you all. Marc and I took ourselves to a "Gold Class" screening of Toy Story 3, which was a nice way to enjoy the evening. (Though I have to say, the movie was fine but didn't really grab either of us. With everything going on in the world right now, it's hard to get emotionally engaged by the challenges facing a few toys. Possibly because our cupboards are overflowing with similar pieces of plastic...).

I feel like we're due for an update, so... Owen has just finished his first semester at school, and has been loving it. His enthusiasms include:
- footy (he's a rabid Geelong supporter, despite having watched only about 3 hours of footy in his life, and the extreme lack of enthusiasm seeping from his parents);
- chess (he's beaten me several times, but he's incredibly aggressive and erratic, which makes him kind of fun to play -- occasional flashes of brilliance, followed by suicidal loss of pieces);
- books (he heads off to read solo now, which I LOVE!).

Georgie is getting quite grown up, and talks non-stop. She spends a lot of time trying out sentence formations and various emotions (now I'm sad... now I'm mad.... now I'm hysterically happy). No, she's not insane, she's just 3. She's very charming and universally beloved, and now has real hair!

Marc is still working on those video games. Serena is still working half-time, and has completed 4 months working for the Victorian government, helping to draft legislation (road-related, generally). We're all doing well! Stay in touch.

"Maisie's gone all little!"

Georgie came out of her room yesterday, very upset and teary because (I eventually learned) her favourite big teddy bear had gone small. I asked what she meant and she said "Maisie's legs don't come down to my knees anymore". They're actually several inches short of her knees, which is a pretty good indicator of how much Georgie has grown. She's tall and skinny, not a plump toddler these days. Owen is also huge. They're now sharing a room, which makes Georgie feel very grown up. If only we could convince her that diapers are not really a sign of maturity....

Owen continues to love school, and seems to be more or less complying with all the new rules and procedures. His compliance during the school day may explain the increase in lawlessness at home (conservation of bad behaviour). Well, I guess we'd prefer that to the alternative.

First day of school

Owen started school today. We had a few tears, but for the most part he was pretty happy to put on his new uniform and see his friends again. He's fortunate that he already knows quite a few of the kids there. His backpack seems to be designed for someone at least 6 feet tall, he can barely stand upright....

Not a hairdo...

Five year old Owen was being rather cool, and saying to Georgie "Hey dude, where are you going?". Georgie's indignant response: "But I'm not a hairdo!".

It cracked Owen up. Nice to see him get a real sense of humour. And nice to see Georgie aspiring to be more than a pretty face (or hairdo, as the case may be).

The green eyed monster...

...emerged in Georgie today. When I dropped her off at childcare, she was very disappointed to discover that her special friend, Bobby, was not there. A few minutes later, her eyes narrowed as she noticed one of the other girls in her toddler class. "That's Sunday," she said. "She loves Bobby. _I_ love Bobby". I responded that it was great that Bobby was so well loved. "No, I WANT him", she shot back, giving Sunday a withering look. Goodness, it was like a scene from Days of our Lives, played out right there in the 2 year old room.

I have to say, Georgie's a pretty determined young person -- I don't like Sunday's chances.

"He not busy, cos he not a mummy"

This was Georgie's response when I asked her whether her favorite stuffed animal was busy. I guess I am a busy mummy, as was evident when I recently had 4 weeks of swine flu related illness and had to drop most things. And it must be showing -- the other day I asked Owen how old I was, and he said "80". And today he called me an old lady. Sigh. (We're working on his manners).

We're all doing well, kids are getting huge, and generally have far too much energy. The pictures below show them doing their favourite chicken dance on one of our out-of-town excursions (which Marc describes as our "see the State before it burns" campaign).

Owen starts his orientation for school next week -- incredible to think he's at that stage. (His teacher gave him a positive and perceptive report, though we were amused by her comment that "Owen can get quite upset when he doesn't get what he wants". Oh yes indeed). But he's apparently a loving, helpful and inclusive member of his preschool class, and we're very proud of him.

Bugs, bugs and more bugs

It's winter here, and we're trying to keep one step ahead of disease. So far... several high fevers, one emergency room trip, one vomit-soaked car, one bout of "slap cheek syndrome", one stomach bug, and (most embarrassingly), a brush with head lice. All lovely.

Despite all that, we're doing pretty well. Owen is now half way through kindergarten (which is technically pre-school, but he's doing longer hours there than he will be next year at school). He's come a long way this year and seems to be reading now -- the greatest benefit of this is that he can sometimes be persuaded to read Georgie a story. Ah, peace and quiet -- for a full minute and a half.

Georgie enjoys her childcare, now has an impressive amount of hair (a nice change after what seemed like years of baldness), and is mainly pretty happy and easy-going despite unavoidable bouts of Terrible Two.

Serena has just notched up a full year in the workplace (still employed!), and Marc is getting close to ship time on the latest game (for the Nintendo Wii).

Kid-isms

Owen has a habit of whining about being SO hungry after finishing dessert. (Meaning that while his main course stomach is full, his dessert stomach has loads more room.) This time, Georgie listened sympathetically for a while, and then said very loudly "NO, you not hungry, you TARVING". Ah, the poor kids.

The kids are suddenly besotted with Dora the Explorer (I'm hoping they're picking up some Spanish into the bargain). Georgie told me "Dora, he my best friend". I asked why and she said "a cos, a cos... he on my drink bottle". Which is true, but makes an interesting rule of thumb for picking a best friend.

Georgie seems to have really absorbed the concept that Jesus died on Good Friday. Everytime I mention him now she says joyfully "he DEAD!". And when I remind her that he rose again, she chirps happily "yes, he a little bit dead".

I see fire....

It probably hasn't escaped anyone's attention that this region has had more than its share of wildfires recently. So very sad. A little mountain town that we enjoyed (Marc and Serena took two holidays there last year) was simply erased from the map on Feb 7th. (Tho we should say that, apart from emotionally, Melbourne itself has not been affected).

Given all this, when Georgie came running down the hall last week saying "I see fire, I see fire" it was a bit shocking. She led us back down the hallway to the source of the problem -- a picture of a firefighter. I guess the "fighter" part wasn't in her vocab just yet :-).

Owen is starting to read a bit -- it's so sweet listening to him read books to Georgie. He really likes his new (5 day per week) kindergarten. Georgie has settled pretty smoothly into childcare too, especially because we let her take her favourite sheepskin along. Whenever we announce that she needs to go to childcare, she responds "I bring sheepie"? Provided it's a "yes", she's totally happy.

Heat wave

We've had our fair share of sweltering lately -- three days this week were well over 100, a new Melbourne record. We don't have air conditioning, and we thought the house was coping pretty well until day 3 -- by that point, the walls were so hot that we were sweating at 7am. It was an absolute treat to get to work and sit in an air-conditioned office (would have paid them for the privilege :-)).

Georgie is now talking quite a lot. Her current favorite phrases are 'I don't like it" and "don't shout at me" (both caught from big brother) and "what you doing?". She usually asks the latter when what you're doing is beyond obvious. But it's hard to resist that grin.

Merry Christmas!

We are now on Long Island for a visit with Marc's family. Amazingly, we all survived the plane flight (even toddling Georgie managed to sit still for 24 hours, a minor Christmas miracle). We're enjoying catching up with everyone again and enjoying the lights and traditions of a northern Christmas. Owen is beside himself about all the inflatable Santas, snow globes, and lavish light displays. Georgie probably is too, but prefers practising saying "NO" and "DON"T like it".

It's been a wonderful and (at times) challenging year, with many new friends and experiences. God has provided for us very well. We wish you all a wonderful, meaningful Christmas, and a joyful 2008. With much love, the Hildenbrands.

Hair conditioning

Now that it's getting warm, Owen asks us to put on the hair conditioning every time we get into the car. I guess he wants more body and bounce.

We've finally persuaded Georgie to accept a small ponytail in her hair. Her rejection of all hair ornaments was starting to get desperate -- her natural hair has a touch of the mad professor.

Georgie seems to be turning "2" (4 months early). We're getting a lot of push back, scrunched up faces, and inexplicable screaming. She's been such an agreeable bundle, that it's a bit of a shock to have her argue with us! Hope she behaves extra-nicely on the upcoming plane trip to the U.S....

Cup Day

Today is a holiday around here, due not to the US election but the Melbourne Cup (one of the world's richest horse races, apparently). The talk of the town is hats (large hats), fascinators (small hats) and the newly coined "hatinators" (medium sized hats). As we're not really hat people, we took a drive instead to a couple of lovely parks in a leafy part of the city.

The kids had a great time walking beside the Yarra, exploring new play equipment, and gathering leaves and suspicious-looking fruit. Georgie had so many things in her hands she could barely walk. (Notice her delightful hatinator). Owen is almost learning to smile for the camera, but as you can see from the shot below, he has some way to go.

The Melbourne Show

We took the kids to the Melbourne Show yesterday (a GIANT annual agricultural show that's a bit of a big deal around here). Foolhardy? Probably, but no-one got lost or ovewhelmed by the crowds, and we all had a pretty good time. Georgie did keep trying to leave us behind as she sped from exhibit to exhibit, but we're getting good at keeping up with her.

Highlights included the baby animals (lambs and piglets wandering around among us!), the decorated cakes, and the shetland pony steeplechase. We got to go on the train both ways, which is a treat in itself for Owen. And of course we got to eat some junk food (hot dogs! chips!) and get Owen a show bag with real live chocolate in it. He was very impressed.

Happy 4th Birthday, Owen!

We've just come to the end of a week of birthday festivities for young Owen. What with parties at school, playgroup, McDonald's and home, he looked rather jaded by the time it came to blowing out the candles on his 4th cake. Still, he had a wonderful time -- McD's being a particular highlight, what with an amazing playspace and 12 amped up kids. We parents survived too (even enjoyed it a bit), so it was all good.

Humility

In his prayers tonight, Owen asked God to make me (Serena) "righter", praps even right as often as him. He explained that I'd been wrong about something this morning and he would like God to smarten me up.

His favorite saying right now is "I already KNOW that". There's not a lot you can tell him without getting that response. Must be great to be almost 4!

We took a great trip to the zoo today. Georgie was delighted at the number of animals presenting as potential hug-ees (see her photo with the emu below: "But I just want to HUG you..."). Owen was pleased by the monkeys, but probably considered them intellectually lacking also :-).

To the farm!

We took the kids to a city farm today, because Georgie is an expert on farm animal noises. As it turned out, it was a much bigger hit with Owen. He loved milking a cow, feeding a lamb with a bottle, and meeting rabbits, pigs and kids (the goat variety) up close.

Georgie was perpetually frustrated by not being able to hug as many animals as she wanted, but she did get to spend quite a bit of time with the baby rabbits (and we narrowly managed to keep them all from being hugged to death).

Owen has announced that he wants to go back every day which is... unrealistic. As Marc always says, the best child-rearing experts tell us that you can't live at the park.

Christow

Most houses in Australia don't have names. Ours (a rented house) does: it's called Christow. We didn't think twice about this when we found the house, but took the chance today to check what the name means. We were very touched to find that Christow means "a place dedicated to Christ". May it be so!