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.