Today was a big hit. It went so well
most of the time.
It started early. 6.45 am or so. Atilla
was waiting patiently outside the loo for me. This was a delightful improvement
from his previous wailing behaviour of last week and every other previous
weeks.
He helped me get dressed, and we
accommodated each other to go downstairs. He held his special blue book, his
water bottle and I was tasked with carrying his giraffe and himself. I adored
him. I bau-bau'd him downstairs, though I would normally make him walk it.
A nice quiet session with his morning
milk bottle in the rocking chair. Then Change Nappy time succeeded easily
enough. Then a massive multi-tasking episode where I supervised Atilla while
preparing our grapefruit breakfast.
This started off well. He occupied
himself by observing the grapefruit cleaving, and de-seeding, and became bored
at the segmenting. He then rode his trike, but this paled when he had no
audience.
He decided he wanted another book from
his upstairs collection, so he independently made his way. He dropped something
down the stairs, so I went to investigate. This co-opted me into his morning
activity. I counter-proposed.
I mentioned to him that perhaps he could
draw in his book, or play with Giraffe. This sparked his brain wave, and he
began incorporating Giraffe into his triking. Giraffe fell off a couple times
and then was relegated to the sofa.
Other things happened which were sweet
to overhear - e.g."lost" in a high-pitched interrogative accent. He
came into the kitchen to inform me Giraffe was lost. He went out.
***
We sat down to grapefruit. It was a very
good grapefruit. So good that, instead of sticking with the juice as he
normally does, Atilla had 3/4 of the flesh and 7/8 of the juice.
As usual, I made tea for Dadee and I,
and Atilla and I delivered it to Dadee.
***
Well now. The household is out of bread.
What can we have for breakfast?
Fresh made Anzac biscuits? Pancakes?
Which would be quick and easy, toddler-wise?
Edmonds' recipe for Fruit Loaf.
This was a suitable choice. Atilla put
the 1C sultanas into the bowl, and was pre-occupied by eating the remaining
sultanas from the 1/4C measuring cup he had appropriated from the cupboard.
Once he finished that, he accepted
prune, and dried berry mix. This allowed sufficient time for the baking project
to get to the 1T golden syrup phase, and a backlog of syrupy spoons to lick
clean.
There was a tussle of chef-dom when the
2C standard flour and 11/2t baking powder needed sifting. I claimed rank,
though relented to have him help sift the last portion.
He held onto the wooden rice paddle (I
like to use this instead of regular mixing spoons) so we had a tussle over the
next bit of the recipe instruction: Mix quickly.
We shared joint honours. Atilla was
partially distracted by the syrupy spoon he had in his other hand :)
He complained at not participating in
the Put mixture into greased 22cm loaf tin.
I did my ritual of putting the baking in
the oven and sending a wish that all goes well.
Atilla was still spoon-licking, so I did
the washing up. Half-way through, he brought me his spoon.
He signed "thank you" at me,
and I replied back.
This could be when he began reading his
books.
Dadee joined us shortly. We were all
very happy.
***
The fruit loaf was a success. We could
have had porridge for breakfast in 30min or less, if I'd been quicker on the
uptake in locating possible food.
***
A tantrum occurred when Dadee said
"no" to screen time.
***
Patience, tolerance, a kind touch, and
Mumee milk assuaged and comforted his self-induced sad feeling.
He was trying to calm down himself, but
the slightest thing would set him off again. A kind touch, or loving words.
Anyhow, I was very proud that Atilla was
calming himself down.
***
Old Macdonald's Farm at the Stonefields
School and Rotary Club fair.
This was splendid. Animals who have high
tolerance for being petted and poked and surrounded.
Dogs, rabbit from Animates. Goat, sheep,
lambs, kids, rabbits, calf from Old Macdonald's Farm. We stayed here a while as
Atilla was suspicious and didn't want to associate with them. He did become
enthusiastic, wandering Brownian-like and pointing and touching the animals of
interest. Despite his appreciation of Cow in the abstract, the calf was often
ignored.
Lamb, sheep, goat, rabbit were his
popular choices.
Atilla has been enthusiastic about
horses for about a month now. The Rocking Horse encounter at the hospital was
particularly thrilling. So we put him on the Pony Ride. Aunty prepared him very
well for his turn. He performed very well on his go. So after waiting in line
10 minutes, and a 1-minute ride, his First Pony Ride was concluded.
***
The Second Hand book stall was a hit
with this family. Atilla took to book selection like a pro. He's had heaps of
practice at day care.
***
I had candy floss onna stick! I shared
it with Atilla. He ignored Dadee's snack in favour of the floss. (sigh. Now I
am reminded I shoulda flossed his teeth regardless of brushing.)
***
Aunty taught Atilla to roll down a
slope! They had so much fun. Atilla really goes wild at this.
***
I fell asleep while Atilla watched
Thomas the Tank Engine, and Dadee cooked dinner.
***
Atilla ate dinner very well. Mostly by
himself, and mostly all his food.
***
As a delaying tactic for Bath time,
Atilla convinced me to dance with him to the music of The Baseballs.
We created a new game for us.
He sits on the chair temporarily placed
by the patio door. I take his hands and twist about, like dancing at slow
speed. Then I'd let go of his hand and twirl under the hand I am holding on to.
His contribution: he launches himself at
me, I catch him, and gently place him on the floor on his back, he lies on the
floor and wriggles across the floor by kicking his feet. Sorta like the school
dance scene in Grease, but more innocent.
Our next movement: he places his feet on
my knees, I'm leaning down and holding his hands which are upstretched. In time
to the beat, 3 beats in, I yank him upright and he is momentarily weightless as
he springs onto his feet.
At some point he voluntarily goes to his
bath. More or less.
***
The remainder of the evening went very
well too. Bath, dressing, bedtime routine (exception of brush teeth).
He read a couple of books to me. He sits
companionably beside me, he puts Green Eggs and Ham onto his lap. He turns the
pages, and announces the salient point of each page.
Fox.
Mouse.
Boat.
Train.
Dark.
Goat.
Boat.
Thank you.
He's finished the book. Onto his new lift-the-flap touchy-feely book.
He went
quietly to bed. At lights out, he says, "good night Dadee" to me
again. I lie down beside him to keep him company as he tries to settle himself
to sleep.
***
I'm sleepy. Good night.
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