Do something about it...

"Nicolas?
- No Eloise my listening ears are off.
- Nicolas?
- No, my listening ears are off!
- Nicolas!
- My listening ears are off and I don't know how to turn them on. I don't know where there switch is.
- Well then, find the switch!"

~ Nicolas, 6 y.o. and Eloïse, 3.5 y.o.

Attitude

**** the system.
With a smile.

Royal canine

"Mummy, my lip gloss is for everybody.
But not for Loki.
Loki would look like a Princess Dog."

~ Eloïse, 3.5 y.o.

Empathy

On a TV show called Inside The Human Body, Nicolas saw a woman in a world of pain, giving birth to a baby.

 

"(in shock) When I was born, did I come out of you?

- Yes you did.

- Did I come out of your mouth? Or (hesitantly) down there?

- From down there.

- (grimacing) Did it hurt? Like the lady?

- Yes it did.

- (frowning) I don't want Eloïse to do it…"

Thanks but no thanks

Ellie is unwrapping a cupcake.

"Eloïse may I have a bit of your icing?
- I'm ok. I'm ok to eat it myself."

Eloïse's first kindy photo

One in each port

Fabiola came to class today to pick up Nicolas and was greeted by Mrs Ryan.

"Who's this, Nicolas?
- This is Fabiola, my Spanish girlfriend!"

One down... 19 to go

Patience is a virtue

“Maman I want a banana!

- It’s not ripe yet, Eloïse.

- I want a banana!

- It’s not ready yet, we have to wait.

- Ok, I’ll wait.”

* Suspicious silence*

I turn around, and there she is, staring at the bananas with a stunned mullet look on her face.

In hindsight I should have let her stand there so I could get some work done.

At least till the bananas turn yellow.

Sunday rainy Sunday

It's freezing cold outside.

So what's left to do after we've eaten all the pikelets, watched all the Go Diego Go videos, painted all the nails and played all the iPad games?

- Build a Lego Duplo gun (bazooka maybe?)
- Build a Talking and Seeing Wall
- Ride the Papa Horsey

A lesson learnt

Nico was playing on the staircase, swinging from the handrail (which I've asked him not to do in the past) and making baby noises.

"Waah, waah...
- Nicolas can you please not make these noises.
- Waah, waah...
- Nicolas, what did I tell you?
- ... No swinging?"

Mr Perfect

"Maman who's perfect?

- I don't know who's perfect Nico, who?

- Mr Perfect is!

- Oh yeah!

- And do you know who else?

- Nobody. Just Mr Perfect. That's why he's called Mr Perfect.

- Oom Thijs is!

- Oh? Why's that?

- Because he hasn't got a hair out of place!"

Nico, 5.5 y.o.

What do you do when you can't reach the nail polish?

Why, use the Vivid within reach of course.

Ambitions and limitations

Nico, 4 y.o.:

"Maman, we haven't got a lift in our house.
- No Nico, it's because our house is a bit small. But we have stairs.
- Well my house is going to have a lift. It's going to be bigger than yours. It's going to go really high, and under the ground too.
- Oh? Well you'll have to listen at school so you can be smart, then you have to work really hard and earn a lot of money so you can buy a house.
- I'm not going to buy it, I'm going to build it.
- ...
Well bricks cost a lot of money too.
- I have a lot of money! In my piggy bank!
- How much have you got now? $4?
- I think I have $100.
- Ah. A house will cost you $1 million. You'll need to buy the land, and the bricks.
- I already have the land!
- ...
- In Coromandel! In the grass.
- And where will you work? In Auckland or in the Coromandel?
- In Auckland. It's a long way away.
- It is. 3 hours. You'll have to wake up at 5, to get to work at 8. So you'll need a car.
- No, you can drive me."

Ellawes the Mermaid visits Room 3

Oma had made Eloïse a mermaid outfit which was very much admired.

For Purple Cake Day, all kids at Bizzy Kidz dressed up in purple - perfect! But before, we dropped off Nico at school and a small crowd gathered around us.

A couple of weeks later, the kids at school made drawings. The last one (the one who spelt Eloïse correctly, down to the diaereses!) is Nico's.

The strongest insult a 3-y.o. can muster

Eloïse was having a tantrum on the toilet (as you do) and my nerves were starting to fray...

Then she angrily shouted "NO WAY, YOU SILLY BILLY!"

I think she wondered why Maman burst out laughing in the middle of a tantrum.

Proud mummy moment

Yes another one...

After just two months in year 0 and one month in year 1, Nicolas' reading skills are on par with kids at the end of year 1.

Below is a photo taken from his school's newsletter.

Our communist son

Conversation with Nico a couple of days back:

“Maman, can we buy Lego?

- Oh?

- Yes, a big box! But *you* have to buy it…

- But what if I want to buy something for myself?

- It’s ok, I’ll share with you.

- But what if I wanted to buy something else for myself, like clothes, or food?

- (matter-of-factly) Then you have to work more.“

All dressed up and ready to hit the road

Ambidexterity

Ambidexterity (n)

When two hands are better than one.