Blob.

Swirl.

Squelch.

Slide.

Blend.

Marvel.

Explore.

Create.

Delight!

The boys learned about water and waves.

We explored the rock pools (one of our all time favourite family activities).

We discovered new and interesting creatures: hermit crabs, fish, molluscs… and check out the amazing Spotted Sea Hare we found! (No, I didn’t know what it was without googling, though I guessed sea slug.)

And at the end of the day, we wandered the sandy shore together. Happiness.

*    *    *    *    *

Holidays with under 5s are full of beautiful moments, but you have to find them.  Holidays with under 5s can also be tiring, challenging, and an organisational nightmare!!  I spoke on radio this week about my top 3 tips for holidaying with toddlers.

• #1 = make bed times familiar
• #2 = work in with toddler routines
• #3 = take basic kitchen plastics (2 x plastic fork, spoon, plate, bowl, sippy cup)

Click the following link to hear the podcast if you’re interested:

SquiggleMum Podcast – Toddlers On Holidays

Justine is an absolute delight in person.  After meeting her pint sized fans, posing for countless photographs and signing autographs from the first concert, she had barely a moment to change before the second concert began.  She still managed to squeeze in a few minutes with us backstage, and we chatted about how the tour was going, which songs would be in the concert, and what it’s like juggling motherhood with stardom.

Then we found our seats, just three rows from the stage, and waited for the concert to begin.  Of course, the kids and I knew all the words to all the songs.  Mr Almost-Two loved that the drums were right in front of him too.  Here are some pics from the concert:

We clapped and sang.

We put on our dancing pants.

We did the Hullabaloo.

We made a dancing face.

And we loved it all!  Thank you Justine!!

If you are still hoping to get tickets to one of Justine’s concerts while she is on her Great Big World tour you can find out more info here about dates and venues.  And if you can’t make it to one of the concerts, make sure you get your hands on a copy of the album ($19.95 from ABC online).

Thanks for your vote!!

Mr Almost-Two is enjoying putting pairs of words together at the moment, often featuring the word ME.

Every time he falls over, which is quite often given that he is an almost two year old boy, he says “Alright me?“  Then he picks himself up and carries on with whatever he was doing.

It never fails to make me smile.

As a mum, I fall down sometimes too.  It wouldn’t hurt to take a moment and ask “Alright me?” before I pick myself up and carry on.

Are you alright?  Really alright?  When did you last ask yourself…?

As I write this post I have two sleeping kids – in their BEDS.  We dismantled the cot today, and my not-so-baby-boy is fast asleep in his big boy bed.  So far so good.  The only sound I’ve heard is snoring!

We talked a lot about the transition, so he was very well prepared for the move and very excited about it all.  He loves his new jungle quilt and striped sheets, he loves climbing up and down himself, and he just loved introducing his much loved bear to their new abode!  The first thing they did was lie down on the big new pillow together and pretend to sleep, then shout “Wake up!” and do it all over again.  Too cute.

To help with a smooth transition we also kept routine as normal as possible.  The bathtime-teethtime-storytime-prayertime-cuddletime-sleeptime routine is well established for both kids.  So tonight, everything was the same as normal, except that we had stories together on his new bed.

I was hoping we might be able to ditch the dummy with the cot.  I did give it a try but conceded defeat, as in all honesty it’s another familiarity which will aid the transition.  I guess he’ll give the dummy up when he’s ready.  Right??

I must admit I had a little sentimental moment today.  As we packed the cot away I realised that we are probably through the “baby phase” and are onto a new stage as a family.  I’m not sad really.  I love seeing my kids grow and change and embrace new things.  It’s just that they grow so fast.

I think I’ll go and check him one more time before I turn in myself.  It’s funny how he seems such a big boy in his bed, yet at the same time still so very little with all those covers around him!

It’s a pond, silly!

Here, I’ll help you:

Frog, rocks,

lily pads, fish,

dragonfly, reeds.

See?

A whole ecosystem!

(With night time stars reflected in the water…)

When I stop looking with grownup eyes and start looking with toddler eyes this beautiful creation comes to life.  It ceases to be a box full of junk mail and becomes the play world my daughter dreamed it to be.  Isn’t play a beautiful thing?

Come play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up…

There are very few things in our home which are solely mine, and my laptop is one of them.  It got a special mention in my 100th post, and in my blogaversary post.  It was even the star of one of my earliest posts about maintaining a sense of self!  But my gorgeous, purple, blossom patterned Dell Inspiron does NOT usually look like this:

Do you have any idea, any at all, how relieved I was when I discovered my son had only used the WHITEBOARD marker from my blogging wall calendar?!!  Exhale.  The pen marks rubbed straight off.  No big deal.

And I was reminded again that stuff is just stuff.

Yesterday the show opened with regular presenter Matt updating his blog on his laptop before sending a quick text to his co-presenter Karen, grabbing his digital camera and heading to the park!  Of course, the computer, phone and camera were all box constructions lovingly handmade out of recyclables.  I shared what I was seeing on fb and twitter.

and received lots of comments and positive tweets:

My readers were largely supportive of Play School’s hi-tech segment, but elsewhere online reactions ranged from bewilderment to outrage!  I for one fully support Play School’s inclusion of current technology in appropriate ways for the purpose of teaching our children about effective communication. It wasn’t an episode about playing computer games.  It was an episode about ways of sharing information, and helping our kids to understand the similarities and differences between online, offline, written, spoken and non verbal types of communication.  Like it or not, mobile devices are going to play an enormous role in our children’s lives, and our kids will need to be effective communicators in the digital world.

Here’s my daughter on her own box-construction laptop at 18mths of age:

And here’s her progression of laptop use from age 2-3:

Laptops, iphones, and other devices are a completely normal part of our world at home, and so they are completely normal for our kids.  Our three year old daughter already understands more about laptop usage than I did at thirteen (hang on, were laptops even around then…?).  I’ve posted about this before here.  As she grows it will be important for her to learn not only about the practical side of using technology, but also about the nuances between different communication platforms.  What we post on a blog is different from the information we would put in a txt and slightly different again from an update on facebook playbook (hehehe…. that was clever PS writers).  I applaud Play School for incorporating this understanding into their Communication theme this week.

What about you?

He could post anything, anywhere.

He posted things in the bin

and the toilet

and the dishwasher

and the laundry basket

and the sink.

He posted through the verandah slats

and out of windows.

The boy’s mother made him a postbox so that he could post sensibly,

but the boy was not interested in sensible.

He was interested in interesting.

It’s interesting to post necklaces in toilets.

It’s interesting to post toys in the bin.

It’s interesting to see Mummy’s reaction.

*  *  *

Anyone else been through this interesting phase and have any suggestions to share?  It’s driving me crazy!