Poor little thing

Ivy has a fever, and she is sleeping. We moved her portacot into our room (cooler) and she's been asleep since 10.30 am. Hazel is up and happy, being the Captain of the Boat.

Bottle train

Last week, the girls had their last bottles.

We had been giving them a bed-time bottle for ages. They are such big girls, but they really loved their bottles.

When they were six months old, they were fully bottle-fed. At night, we would wash the 12 bottles from the day, soak them in chlorine solution, make up 12 bottles of formula, and line them up in the fridge. It took ages. I loathed the task.

Over the next year, we gradually dropped one milk feed after another, until at about 18 months just the bed-time bottle was left. It was almost pleasurable to make up just two bottles at a time. There was no need to "sterilise", because we were able to make it up just before using it.

Then one day, we switched to plain cows milk. No more tins of powdered formula. Just tip in the milk, and plug it in.

Last week, Trudi's suggestions that we stop giving the girls bottles clicked, and I suddenly though it was a good idea. That night, no bottles. No-one said anything, and bedtime was no more ridiculous than usual.

Last night Hazel asked for a bottle, so they each had a glass of milk instead. Tonight, nothing.

My grown-up girls.

T-shirt

Today at playgroup:

Me:You look hot. Wanna take off your shirt?

Ivy: Leave green one on!


Me: Yep, right. I'll take off the long-sleeve stripy one, and leave the green t-shirt on.

Ivy: (Hesitantly) Not nude?

Me: (Snickering) No, not nude.

Dishes

Look at this! They are finally useful!

Ever since I told Hazel that the scrubbing brush was for cleaning dirty pots, she's been very keen to clean a dirty pot.

And Ivy is always partial to a bit of tipping-water-from-box-to-box.

By the end, the pot was actually pretty clean.

This morning we voted. Our closest voting place is the Preston East primary school (yes, the one we've been playing at). They had sausages in bread, so we stayed there for a couple of hours. The girls stomped in puddles, waved sticks around, had bogus toilet visits (four visits and just one wee!). Trudi and I chatted with Fleur and Darren. It was a very pleasant morning.

The joy of Christmas

This was in Lincraft. I'd been trying to find a bra extender, because my intentions of eating less have not become reality. Didn't find it, but Ivy found a Christmas tree. It was a tacky cheap-looking thing, but of course she doesn't know that. She delicately touched the plastic tinsel and the plastic baubles, gazed up at the wonky plastic fairy, and wondered at the electric lights. I look at stuff like that and see infuriating short-lived ugliness, but I think Ivy saw luminous glory.

More about the school playground

More! Have you noticed the time of these posts? Commuting. Forgot to bring a book both days. Anyway.

When we were playing at the school grounds for the second time, a bloke came over to us. I expected that he was going to tell us to leave. Instead, he said if was really happy to see us there, and what do we want to see done around the place?

His name is Brendan and he is the principal of one of the schools that is quietly running in the building. His school is Pavilion, an alternative high school for kids not suited to traditional schooling. Brendan took us inside to see a class of girls whe were learning about solid shapes - cones and cubes etc.

Some of those girls are young mums, so there is a corner of toys. Ivy and Hazel threw themselves at the little fake kitchen. Brendan said we could come inside to use the toys and the toilet. How cool!

Rock babes

We are learning how to jump off things. It makes my heart speed up, but what can I do? It seems to be time to do this.

Our local primary school has closed, and its enormous grounds have been mostly unused. This week I had an email from my local Sustainability Street group in which someone reported that an Education Department person welcomed community access to the school.

So on Monday arvo I put the girls in the pram, walked over to the school, wandered in through the gate, and commenced to play. There is a slightly decrepit set of play equipment... Slide, monkey bars, you know. Once that palls (takes four minutes), there are rocks in a 'dry creek bed', grass, trees, wooden walls to climb and walk along, plus a vegie and herb garden to ransack for lavender.

On the way home, Ivy and Hazel each had a long stalk of lavender, another of grass, plus roses and dandelions on their laps. Birnam Wood.