The boys must separate.

I once said in a talk- "I have good children but they are really active boys and egg each other on like you wouldn’t believe. It’s like everyday is a sleepover party with their best friends." Well things have not changed, in fact they have escalated. Literally while I type I can hear my oldest boys, who are meant to be asleep, chatting away in their room, rather excitedly. I've already been in there to tell them to go to sleep. Moo Moo responds 'but Mum we want to talk'. I softened and said 'ok ten more minutes' because its so adorable to see them enjoy eachother's company.

But back to the point I was wanting to make - it's time to separate Monkey and Moo. These bestie brothers can only remember life with each other, they are so close in age (14 months apart). From early on in Moo Moo's life we moved Monkey out of his cot into a toddler bed and put the boys in the same room. So as you can imagine they are pretty tight. Too tight for my liking lately. I find myself wishing I could say- you go to your room and you go to your room. At bath time they hype eachother up so much that after they make it impossible to get their clothes on. So we now put Bunny in his gated room, Hubby takes Moo Moo to our room and I take Monkey to his room. What's interesting is Monkey will actually put on his own clothes if his brother isn't there to distract him.

They can be found pulling all their bedding off their beds and having what they call a "Wiggly Party" amongst the mess. Thanks Wiggles for somehow inspiring this very different past time.

Side story - Henry the Octopus came and visited my house the other day. And I had to feed and care for him. Yes he was Moo Moo's imaginary friend.

Well back to the point - we are soon moving to a house with an extra bedroom and for a while all the boys will have their own room. This goes against my natural grain where I feel like I should somehow live more like a humble pioneer. You know like they didn't even have separate beds in the old days. I know I have weird issues with progression. Maybe I will elaborate on that one day.

Will I ever get to my point... I cannot wait to have separate spaces for my little bestie brothers for a little peace every now and then. Fingers crossed it helps.

Flying with One Wing Clipped

"God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage: if he brings you to it, He will bring you through it." - Helen Traves Smith (Mater's 100 Stories page 52.)

Helen shares her experiences with the Mater Hospital whilst battling breast cancer. At the close of her experience she relates the above expression. I thought it was a wonderful saying and wanted to share it too.

Moo Moo the comedian

Our boy Moo Moo is quite the comedian. His latest joke he made up was funny to hear as he was literally cracking himself up as he tried to tell his brother and I.

Moo Moo - "I spy with my little eye something that (giggle) that begins (giggle) just with the letter I (more giggles) .... Its just an eye (roar of laughter).

Maybe you had to be there but it was pretty funny.

This 2 year old really comes up with some good one liners.

What do you wake up to?

Hubby is looking for a good alarm song on his mobile phone for tomorrow morning. He's found it - Bob Marley's 'Get Up, Stand Up.'

Too funny!

Baby Bunny not so small

I don't often get to write about Baby Bunny even though his personality is beautiful he often gets overshadowed by his bigger brothers. But I wanted to record mostly for my own benefit that I am so happy that he is a part of our family. He is an affectionate little boy who when he hugs gives you these cute little pats of the back. Mimicking me I guess when I comfort him.

Of late he has been doing this funny laugh that sounds like a loudly forced harrghh harrghh (that's the best I can do to describe it). But its so funny because he seems like he's trying real hard to laugh with real enthusiasm. He also has a natural belly laugh but the other forced laugh seems a little put on so he can get a reaction from us. Of course this works!

Bunny is not a huge talker and his vocab is mostly - Mama, Dadda, Nana, bye, ball, bir for bird, gog for dog, car, mama for banana, maow for cat, moo for cow, Bob for Bob the Builder, and a little more. His clearest and most frequent word except for Mama and Dadda is 'MORE MORE' for food.

For whatever he lacks in talking, he makes up for in moving. Bunny has no fear and is down right dangerous. I believe he thinks he is a 3 year old when in actuality he not long turned 1. He's a climbing machine. Our dining chairs are constantly stacked on the table out of reach. He opens the oven and stands on the open door. As soon as he could climb the stairs, he would repeatedly climb up them, climb through the rails and then do a forward flip onto the couch. All for a reaction of course. In such cases my reactions are not as approving.

He loves his brothers so much and voluntarily gives them hugs when they are upset. He's also tough and gives them a run for their money. I think they better watch out when they all grow up.

We love you Bunny.

Quote to remind us to be careful when criticizing children

Are you guilty of constantly criticizing your children? Two young boys were closely examining a work of art on exhibit. Suddenly they heard footsteps, and one exclaimed to the other, "Let's go! They'll think we did it."

Anonymous (cited Thomson, L., 'Somewhere I've Read...' pg. 46)

Our first pet.

Last week our lovely neighbour now hailed as Aunty brought over some strawberries for the boys. As I prepared the fruit for eating I noticed a little dark brown grub. I showed our excitable Monkey. He didn't fail to get to get excited and squealed with delight. "Oooooh our first pet!". We cracked up laughing and my neighbour said oh that's pretty bad if a grub is your pet. We laughed some more and I contemplated getting the children a fish.

We cant have a pet at the moment because we rent in a complex. I can't wait for a little pet for the boys though. I have always thought that I would get Monkey a puppy when he gets baptised. At the moment the closest thing we have to a pet is the chicken we host at my mother's house. There are two laying hens whom the boys named Sophie and Sam (borrowed names from a story book). I love to save all my scraps for the chickens in my fridge. When Mum and I cross paths we trade eggs for scraps. Even though we take turns buying chicken feed, I'm always tempted to give them special foods. But I remind myself that I don't want to turn these free-range eggs into super expensive eggs.

I often think too many modern children miss out on the joys and responsibilities of pets. Renting, smaller yards, registrations costs and desexing practises are factors that all contribute to many children missing out on having pets. As a child I loved our family pets and it was amazing to see them have babies. We try to expose the boys to the wonder of animals as much as possible. We visit theme parks, pet shops, family with pets, and stalk that Baby Barnyard organisation that visits shopping centres with all those adorable baby farm animals.

Anyways I got a kick out of Monkey's simple and positive outlook on life. Its a shame my hubby threw our first pet in the bin. My thoughts were more brutal - give it to the chickens :)