26/52 {right now, part 4}

For the past two years I have been pausing every six months to take a couple of portraits of my two little loves and quickly jotting down their likes and dislikes.

Oh my they have changed since the first 'right now' post.

You can find the other two right now posts here and here.

And in the name of time management, I'm being completely cheeky and selecting these shots as my 'Project 52' entries.



Finn James  5 years, 3 months

 

[LIKES]

Playing fire-fighters, singing and discussing the lyrics to songs, library day at Pre-school, reading, telling knock-knock jokes, exploring information about war/the army, drawing, making vehicles out of mobilo, uninterrupted play sessions, riding his scooter, writing and posting letters, box construction, and drawing maps.

[DISLIKES]

Spicy food, having his hair touched/washed/brushed/cut, “scary” things and getting organising for school.

 

 Harper May 3 years, 7 months

 

[LIKES]

Dressing up as a princess or fairy, rough play/rumbling with her brother and dad, attending parties, fairy tales (except the ones with evil queens/witches or fierce animals), looking after her baby dolls, playdates, telling people that she is "three and a half", reading bedtime stories with Mummy and helping to prepare/cook dinner.

 

[DISLIKES]

Wearing jeans or tracksuit pants, eating mushrooms and saying goodbye to friends after playdates.  

 

The B-sides (because two photos seems a little minimalist for me…)

{trying to distract Finn during his little photo shoot. It worked.}

{a kiss for you}

{giving a little love back}

{Wearing her Dover & Madden dimple hat. This little hat has seen Harper through three Winters. I would say that is money well spent.}

{watching 'Playschool' with Little Ted}

{one more day until our road trip from Canberra through to Queensland}

25/52

{Harper} What was planned to be a quiet week at home, turned into a busy few days at work, after a colleague had a family emergency and I was called into work as the relief teacher at our local Playschool. There was no time to arrange alternative care for the kids, so I bought them along each day. Luckily they both don't seem to mind when I need to shift from Mummy mode to teacher mode, and happily joined in with the other children, sang songs, painted, played and listening to stories. They were flexible, patient and helpful in everyway.

On Friday I wasn't needed at work so with Finn at school I made sure Harper and I slotted in some quality time together. I asked Harper what she wanted to do today. Her response, without much hesitation: "Let's bake cookies, ones with shapes. Oh and stuff to sprinkle on top of them." It happened, and it was lovely.

{Finn} He asked how to write a few words and I told him that I will write them on his paper so he can copy them underneath.
"No thanks Mummy, I just want my words on here. Can you call out the letters and I will write them?"
Finn always has a very particular way he likes things to be done.

The B-sides (because two photos seems a little minimalist for me…)

{Love that 'Dad' was unintentionally followed by 'LOL'. Well, he is a funny Daddy}

{our friend Jess dropped off a terrarium that she wasn't using anymore. The kids set straight to work setting up a habitat for their plastic animals.}

{scooter buddies}

{the gorgeous assistant I work with bought along these princess figurines to entertain Harper before the Playschool session began. She was captivated.}

{During the week one of Lachie's work mates gave us his unwanted trampoline. Not only did he generously give it to us, but he arranged a trailer to transport it to us and helped Lachie put it together. Before the poles, safety mats and net went up we let the kids have a jump, just like we did it back in the 80s}

{patting down her static hair}

{when I gave Finn the "5 minutes till we leave for school" warning on Friday he immediately burst into tears. I assumed that he was upset that he would have to finish up playing with his toys (as it the case most mornings) but I was wrong.
"Mummy, I am feeling sad because I won't get to see Harper until the end of the day. I will miss her." Always one to creatively solve a problem he asked if he could have a few photos of Harper to take with him to school. He even popped them in a ziplock bag so "they stay safe".}

{diver's googles, designed and made by Finn}

{the finished product.}

24/52

 

{Harper} Party girl, at her cousins first birthday. She seems to have inherited her Daddy's family's love for dressing up.

{Finn} Homemade camera.

Finn: "Mummy, what is a person who takes photos of people called?"
Me: "A portraiture photographer"
Finn: "What about when they take photos of animals?"
Me: "That would be a wildlife photographer"
Finn" What's a photographer who takes pictures of cars?"
Me: "Um, maybe a commercial photographer?"
Finn: "What does that mean?"
Me: "Well you would take photos to become advertisements in magazines and newspapers and the companies would pay you money to do so."
Finn: "I want to be one of those then."

The B-sides (because two photos seems a little minimalist for me…)

{in the jumping castle you go}

{*after jumping on the jumping castle, runs over to me, a complete sweaty, red mess*
Me: "Finn, you look a little hot. Can I take your jumper off?"
Finn: "Nah, I am ok Mum. I'll just have this cupcake. It'll give me energy to jump on the castle again."}

{a day with no plans, so a bus trip to the city was decided upon. They were so excited you would have thought we were taking a plane trip to a foreign country. They soak up the simple pleasures, and I love it.}

{Canberra is blessed with an assortment of wonderful and weird sculptures. Once we reached the city we visited each sculpture. The kids were captivated by this new addition, although slightly disappointed that they weren't able to sit on her/climb on her like the rest of the sculptures}

{anything can become a slide}

{riding the greyhound sculptures}

{golf ball painting at playschool}

{rockin' her extraordinary brow}

23/52

{Harper} Coffee date

{Finn} A visit to the National Museum of Australia.

The B-sides (because two photos seems a little minimalist for me…)


{The sign says that you can't swim in the water but there was nothing about touching it right?}

{currently obsessed with books by Alison Lester}

{communicating via walkie talkies}

{making small changes to her room}

{after years of breastfeeding to sleep/co-sleeping/sitting next to her until she falls asleep, Harper is now happy to go to sleep by herself. And as she proclaims to anyone who will listen, "and now I sleep all the way to the morning."
A statement that is true, and glorious.}