Documenting Delight: Day ninety one {finn's construction themed party}

My little guy turned 4 on Tuesday. Today we held a small party for him and four of his Playschool/Playgroup friends. A bonus for Harper, our resident social butterfly, was that each of Finn’s friends has a younger sibling who also attended the party. Harper acted as though it was her party too (asking me yesterday “Mummy, what time are my friends coming to my party?” and squealing with delight when the first guests arrived this morning). So it was win-win for both my kiddies.  

{Look at how you have grown!}

{worker hard hats for all the kids}

Since Finn was 18 months old he has been enthralled with construction vehicles. The love has never died down, only intensified as the years have gone on. So there was no doubt that this party was going to have a construction theme attached to it. It was a super easy party to plan and gather supplies for. Being a lunchtime party we decided to have a BBQ with just a few sweet treats for the littlies to nibble on prior to their meal. I was pretty strategic about what items I prepared for the dessert table. Anything that had less than four steps to the recipe was immediately selected. The choc-coated marshmallows were a hit with the kids. Super simple to make (push one marshmallow through a cakepop straw, dip in melted chocolate then dip in crushed up Violet Crumble then place on foil and pop in the fridge. It doesn’t get much easier than that!) It was quite hilarious to watch the kids eat one then hover over the remaining marshmallow sticks, waiting for the ok from their parents to dive in again. I am glad that I brought out these sugar sticks after the fruit towers, as I am sure the fruit would have been given the big old cold shoulder otherwise.

{Choc-coated marshmallows}

{Why hello, delicious sugar treat}

{Harper & Eli, standing very still while they munched away}

{Making the most of the Summer fruits remaining in the shops}

{Enjoying lunch in the backyard}

I kept the activities/games pretty low key; diggers and trucks loaded up in the sandpit, wooden blocks for building on a picnic rug and a craft table set up with some nifty road sign/construction foam stickers I found. Pass the parcel was a highlight, if only for all the parents witnessing how much patience their children had to muster up before it was their turn to unwrap a layer. Fellow Documenting Delighter Kate’s daughter Lily was the last to unwrap and boy did she do a top job of waiting. I think it was worth it when it was finally her turn.

{Harper- ripping up a storm in Pass the Parcel}

{Eli's turn. With assistance from his Dad}

{Lily: the wait is over!}

Then there was the cake. The Number 4 from the Woman’s Weekly Children’s Cake Cookbook, although modified from the classic 1970’s version. When Finn selected this cake I was thrilled. It looked easy, not too many ingredients and the decorations didn’t look like they would be too difficult to track down. All good, thanks buddy. The night before his party as I tried to scrape fluoro yellow icing in the tiny little section cut out of the number 4 I realised it wasn’t the dream easy cake I had imagined. There was also that white ready-made icing that involved lots of rolling and cutting to make the grey road. Fiddly, ridiculous stuff. Let’s never speak of that icing again. But like all home decorated cakes, the reward is when your child sees it for the first time. Finn’s reaction was gorgeous, although I could tell he was a bit anxious about his toy construction trucks getting dirty on all that icing. I did promise to wash them up after the party. Crisis averted.

{The cake!}

{Blowing out the candle}

{Mmm it was good.}

It was a perfect Autumn day and Finn was able to celebrate with eight gorgeous friends and their parents. Fun was had and cake was eaten. Hope you enjoyed your party little mate.

Documenting Delight: Day ninety {breastfeeding a toddler - how did I get here?}

Harper is 2 years and 4 months old and she is still breastfeeding. Sounds old right? Might sound odd to some too.  Before I had Harper, breastfeeding into toddlerhood wasn’t on my agenda. It was far from my plan, but we are here. So how did I come to be breastfeeding a toddler?

I have been beyond blessed by my babies seeming to know what they are doing as we began & continued our breastfeeding relationship. They latch on straight after birth and never seem to look back. On the technical side it has always been easy for me. Unlike some of my friends who have battled mastitis, sore nipples, lazy attachment, supply issues, I am one of the lucky ones. Sure, I have faced challenges along the way but nothing which caused me physical pain or decreased the confidence I had in my ability to feed my babies. I knew though, that most successful breastfeeding relationships aren’t  based on luck alone. While the beginning days and weeks unfolded naturally, as weeks turned into months I worked hard to keep my lucky start going. A complex combination of factors lead to a positive breastfeeding experience, and I feel grateful that whether they were the  elements that were there naturally or ones which I had to seek out and persist with, all my ducks lined up and I was left with not one but two positive breastfeeding experiences with my kids.

Finn stopped feeding when I was about 9 weeks pregnant with Harper. He was 13 months old. I had never set a goal for our breastfeeding relationship but when he refused to feed I was relieved as I was battling the normal first trimester tiredness.

Prior to Harper’s birth I completed a lot of reading on demand feeding and began hearing about Attachment Parenting. Unlike my experience with Finn’s baby days I wasn’t going to let the “Should Brigade” influence me (“Your baby should be sleeping through the night by now” , “Your baby should stop needing feeds over the night by six months” etc, etc). I set out to be an instinctual mother, to do what felt right for me, for my baby and my family.

Harper arrived and the attachment parenting style suited her perfectly. She was a snugly baby. A baby who didn’t like to go to sleep alone. A reflux baby who cried in pain and calmed down (marginally) when she was held. Breastfeeding was similar to my experience with Finn however this time I didn’t watch the clock, I fed Harper to sleep and I didn’t count nor worry about how many feeds she had had in a 24 hour period.

Breastfeeding Harper has never been connected with time. I didn't set myself an age for ending our breastfeeding relationship and to be honest I haven't thought much about her age in connection to her still breastfeeding. Harper isn't just an age, she is my baby who has gradually grown and changed whilst in my arms. While outsiders may see how old she is and question whether that is an acceptable age to be breastfeeding, I see nothing but her, Harper; a toddler who loves her mum and happens to love breastfeeding too.

My baby is no longer a baby but here I am breastfeeding her. It wasn’t my intention to continue to this point but my instincts kicked in and I am doing what feels right. It may not be right for society or for the majority of my friends but that is ok. When I go into my own little parenting bubble, when it is just her and I, I know that this just where we should be. Two years and four months and still breastfeeding.

Documenting Delight: Day eighty nine

Today was another back to back tantrum day. At 4.53pm when Harper pointed to the sink and said “How bout we fill it up, like a beach?” I could have easily said no. I said yes because ending the day with a soaked toddler and a few puddles on the floor wasn’t going to trump anything that had occurred before then. I said yes and it gave me 20 minutes to prepare dinner. 20 minutes of giggling and splashing, over throwing herself on the ground in hysterical tears.

I am glad I said yes.

{Quiet Harper}

{Oh so loud Harper}

Documenting Delight: Day eighty eight

Pink gumboots and a tutu.

Nothing screams “I dressed myself” more than this combo.

Documenting Delight: Day eighty seven {Finn's fourth Birthday}

My first born, my first baby is now a four year old. I have been a mother for four years. Sounds like a long time right? Parts of his journey, my journey, seem to have zoomed by and parts seem as though they were a lifetime ago. Prior to his first three birthdays I found myself in deep reflection but in the lead up to this birthday I was in the moment. Finn was aware that his birthday wasn’t far away and he was excited. Excited about the cake (which I will be making for his Party this weekend.....so I made him cupcakes on his actual birthday, to avoid cake disappointment of coarse), excited about possible fire truck/construction related presents and excited about a visit from his Nonna and Poppy. As his special day got closer I was excited for him too and forgot to cast my thoughts to the past.

{Finn's countdown chart- an important aspect of the birthday lead up for our number obsessed boy}

Being a non-playschool day I thought that Finn might like to visited Questacon on his birthday morning. I posed the suggestion to the birthday boy shortly after he had opened his presents:

Me: Finn would you like to head to Questacon for a play?
Finn: Um, I think I would like to just stay here and play with my toys.

He’s a homebody through and through.

So I deferred the trip to Questacon for a couple of hours so he could explore his new toys.

The day was topped off with our family tradition of choosing the restaurant for a Birthday dinner. Finn’s request was to have a “rice meal”. Restaurant selection was obviously on the challenging side. Both Finn and Harper enjoyed demolishing an impressive amount of Chinese food with their special guests Nonna and Poppy alongside them.

Finn, as each year has passed we have had the privilege of watching you grow into a funny, sensitive, caring, quirky, gentle and inquisitive child.

Our curly haired boy, we love you for all of these reasons and many many more. Happy Birthday mate.

{Finn's birthday in pictures}

Documenting Delight: Day eighty six {hand holding delight}

Hand holding doesn’t happen often between these two, but when it does Harper often appears as though she may explode with happiness.

This was one of those moments.

Documenting Delight: Day eighty five

{I see you Daddy}

Documenting Delight: Day eighty four

My firm preference is to stay behind the camera, not be in front of it. It’s always been this way. Lately though, and prompted by a beautiful post by my equally beautiful friend Andrea, I have pondering what this means for our family’s documented life. What will Finn & Harper think when they look back on all of these photos? Sure I was there but so far there’s not much evidence that I was a part of these moments.

Stepping in front of the camera isn’t going to be easy for me, but I will give it a try.

Documenting Delight: Day eighty three

Singing to your playdough gingerbread man.

Hold on tight to your quirkiness Finn. It sets you apart, and let's not forget that it makes your Mumma laugh. A lot.

Love you, my quirky and gorgeous guy.

Documenting Delight: Day eighty two

Documenting Delight: Day eighty one

Harper’s bed appears to be the hot reading environment at the moment. Apart from the days when Harper declares that there is no room for Finn, they quite happily share this space, read books separately and sometimes together.

This is a photo essay from our afternoon, because it was impossible to pick just one photo to summarise our day together.

Documenting Delight: Day eighty

There was a period of about four days last week where I stood back and noticed that Harper had mellowed a little, explosive tantrums were minimal, she was happily carrying out tasks and I even witnessed a few play periods were Harper and Finn were genuinely and lovingly getting along. It was four days and those four day have now gone.

I used to wonder what all my friend’s were talking about when they recounted their child’s tantrums when Finn was a two year old. Tantrums were never part of his make up. We were blessed by this by-passing of the ordinary toddler tantrum phase. It certainly wasn’t due to any wondrous parenting strategies we were employing, he just didn’t express his frustrations this way. Then Harper, who has been different  to Finn in more ways than I can recall, turned two and we quickly joined the ranks of all the parents of two year olds who are navigating (and trying to survive) the force that is “the tantrum”.

I’m a self-confessed parenting book devotee. I read to try and understand what my children are going through, what stages they are up to and how the heck I can try and help them through it. The thing is on an educational level I understand why tantrums occur, I work so hard to using positive discipline strategies to help Harper through them and there are days that I feel we are getting there, making breakthroughs however small. All of these things however, do not eliminate the fact that this stage has been so exhausting for me, for Lachie, for our family. Exhausting.

Here's hoping the next four day respite isn't too far away.....

Documenting Delight: Day seventy nine

Documenting Delight: Day seventy eight

Little fingers picking up passengers from the bus stop.

Toddler play {photo jigsaw puzzles}

Pinterest you have been my saviour this year. Yes you have also been the root of my time-wasting but I am willing to forgive you on this one for all the glorious ideas you have bought forward. With two kids under 4 who do not nap in the day I’ve got a lot of hours to fill in the day. A lot. Pinterest is my go to guide when I need a simple, play-based activities to engage Finn and Harper.

 

When I first joined Pinterest I was madly pinning all these far out creative ideas, awe-struck by how brilliant they were. After a great deal of time had been sucked from my life on this site, I made the decision to discipline my pins and focus on ideas that were actually achievable in this one income family of ours. It was a wise decision, if I do say so myself. Take this one that I pinned away months ago, a photo jigsaw. It’s inexpensive, easy to make, educational and fun. Ticking a lot of boxes right there.

Finn has never been too keen on puzzles so I was hoping this idea would draw him in. What kid doesn’t like looking at photos of themselves? I was right. I didn’t tell him what the picture was of and this really threw him. I don’t think he recognised it was a photo of himself until he had pieced together about 5 of the paddle pop sticks. Once he figured it out he exclaimed “It’s me as a baby!” It wasn’t, it was a photo of Finn taken about 7 months ago. Toddlers and time, they really don’t go together do they?

{Stored in zip-lock bags to be used another time}

Harper worked it out pretty easily. She’s more the puzzle lovin’ type.

So there you go a handful of personalised puzzles for well under $3.