The kiwano

$2 for a mystery fruit at Foodtown?  Sounds like a deal to me!

Kiwanos are native to Africa, but grow very well in NZ.  They are in the melon family.  Their spines are very firm.  I bet a thrown kiwano could do some damage...which is why we kept it on a high shelf and out of monster hands until we ate it...

There it is on a small dinner plate, and sliced in half.

This tutorial suggests a squeeze-and-slurp method for consumption.  First-hand experimentation revealed that that is not the way to go, unless you LIKE picking seeds out of your hair after the kiwano explodes in your face.  Cooler heads then prevailed and the remaining kiwano was eaten in a civilised fashion, with a spoon.

Imagine if a cucumber had seeds the size and texture of watermelon seeds.  And each one was encased in a slippery packet of cucumber jelly.  That's pretty much a kiwano.  It was fine, but I didn't love it.  It seemed like more work than it's worth.

Our ANZAC day walk

We had a relaxing afternoon at the Fish Market.  Just look how relaxed Arram is.

Then we walked home along the water.  Amiri showed off his biggest dinosaur smile.

 

Arram thought it was pretty exciting and wanted to get out and pose too.

Monster quote.

Little dickens!

Amiri just mimicked something on TV and yelled aggressively at me, 'Get out of my house!'

I disapprovingly told him that that was a rude thing to say, and he shouldn't speak to his mother that way.

He immediately quieted down and said, 'Sorry, Mama.  Get out of my house, please.'

Graduation

Amiri officially started preschool today!  There were some tears of insecurity this morning, but he calmed down quickly.  His teachers told me that he was a very good boy today: sleeping well, eating well, going potty, interacting nicely.  They were very impressed with his spelling ability, as well.  (His spelling list includes 'Amiri' and 'kiwi'.)  When I arrived to pick him up, he was sitting at the table and listening to his teacher explain about waves in the ocean.  Apparently, there is a more defined curriculum for the older kids.

The only bad thing about him graduating is that he had to leave his friend behind.  He has become very close friends with a little girl in the Toddler room.  Holly has blond ringlets and just turned two--she's adorable and tiny, and Amiri is very gentle with her.  Amiri made sure to say goodbye to her tonight.  Maybe she'll graduate soon too.

It's ANZAC day!

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Day, that is.  It's analogous to the American Memorial Day.  It was initially established to commemorate all the A/NZ boys who fought at Gallipoli, Turkey, in WWI.  Now it largely honours all veterans and occurs on April 25 every year.

It's celebrated in low-key fashion, as are all NZ holidays.  There were early-morning parades and services.  People wear poppies on their lapels.  By law businesses can only be open from 1-5 pm, at the maximum, so it was quiet on the streets.  The weather was beautiful, a gorgeous fall day.  We all took a walk.  What a nice day.

ANZAC foods are popular at the grocery stores just now, as you can imagine.  ANZAC trail mix has mixed nuts, chocolate chips, and lots of super-sweet, fluorescent-bright dried fruits.  ANZAC biscuits are crunchy bits of coconut and oatmeal.  Both are wonderful.

Debriefing after the fire drill

Also regarding lawn care

My office mate told me that if your lawn gets away from you and it grows very long, you should cut it like hay in big armfuls, and then take it to the zoo and give it to the animals.  The zoo will let you take home all the free 'fertilizer' you want, in exchange.

Presenting: Amiri! Live in Concert!

What we worked on tonight.

Oh boy, tonight was a big night!



And then, a few minutes later...


I am SO PROUD of our little guy.

He's been creeping around while holding onto furniture for what seems like forever, but never taking the next step, as it were, to walking on his own.  But he changed that overnight and is now a superstar!

(PS, we did not get a peacock for a pet.  Those sounds in the background are Amiri having an exciting game of Pretend.)

Lawn care

Today the landscaping guy was doing a THOROUGH job of cutting the grass outside the office.  It got me thinking about how Kiwi lawns are different than American lawns.  Well, Californian lawns.  Well, rich peoples' Californian lawns.

For one thing, the grass here isn't some engineered hybrid bought with the intent to instill envy in one's neighbours.  Kiwi grass is hardy and native and making do with what it has, co-existing with the weeds because hey, they're not bothering anyone.  Grass just IS, it HAPPENS, it is not perceived as a commodity to be leveraged into status.  If it goes brown, so be it.  It's just grass.  It's for playing on, and walking on, and for sheep to eat.

As I mentioned, there are plenty of landscaping companies here who will come over to do your trimming.  The one my office uses is run by a white guy (come on, when's the last time you saw that in Cali?), and he seems to like his work, as evidenced by the time he spends puttering about at it.  Come to think of it, his job description is actually pretty straightforward-- cutting grass.  I've never seen a sprinkler system or even any obviously-fertilized lawns.

Arram is clearly up to some mischief

As an example of mischief-making, this afternoon Arram opened the dishwasher, pulled out a plate, and dropped it on the tile floor where it shattered.  He was grabbing for another one by the time I arrived to scoop him up out of there.

Tax time

Tax day is nearly upon us.  We haven't done ours yet... haven't even sorted out our documents.  Luckily, the IRS grants an automatic 2-month extension to ex-pat citizens, without us even having to apply for it.  Whew!

NZers don't do their taxes.  There's no need.  The system of taxation is so straightforward that unless you're self-employed or have some special circumstances, it's moot trying to 'settle up' at the end of the year.  Tax is even automatically taken out of the interest we make on our bank accounts.  Easy!

Mother-Son adventure

Amiri and I went out adventuring.  We got to the bus stop JUST in time and Amiri decided that we should sit in the front seats.

We got to the mall and since it was such a hard trip to get there (sarcasm, that), we had to start out with a nice snack.  Amiri got a small ice cream cone with a face made of m&ms and sprinkles for hair.  It took him like 45 minutes to eat it but he loved every second.

We went to Pumpkin Patch to take advantage of the sale and did lots of shopping for nice warm pants and fuzzy shirts for the upcoming winter.  Now our little guys will look sharp and feel comfortable.

On the bus ride home, Amiri did an experiment and we sat in the very back seat.  And we sang every verse of 'Ten Little Monkeys'.  And walking back is when he called me Sweetheart.  We had a good day.

Amusing words

Arram uses three words consistently:  Mama, Dada, and Uh-oh.  Every morning, he wakes us up by throwing his teddy bear at our heads (his crib is next to our bed) and yelling, 'Uh oh!  Uh oh!  Uh oh!'  He's also very good at saying Mama and Dada, and uses our names for the right person.  But usually only in the context of complaining.  "I don't want to take a nap!  Mama! Mama!  Mamamamamamama!"  "Pick me up, Dada!  Dada!  Dada!  Now!"

Amiri is talking a lot more now--I guess it must be all the mental stimulation at school.  He's learned so many songs by heart and constantly makes me smile with his innocent little renditions of Old MacDonald or Itsy Bitsy Spider.   What really melted my heart, though, started yesterday.  We were having a nice day together and I peppered my sentences to him with pet names... 'Here comes the bus, sweetheart, get ready.'  'Please hold my hand and we can go over there, sweetheart.'   

He picked up on it and began calling me sweetheart too.  'Mama sweetheart, I go see?'  'I have some, sweetheart?'  'Look sweetheart, I run fast!'  So silly and sweet.

Independent verification

When I picked Amiri up at school this afternoon, his teacher told me that he's been doing well lately, being very friendly and social with the other kids.  I said, 'I'm glad to hear that.  I know he likes it here.  And he can be standoffish at first, so I'm glad he's joining in now.'

She nodded and we both looked fondly at the little guy for a second.  She started to say something, then paused, and then just said it.  'He really like to play with the girls, in particular.  He runs around with them and tries to make them laugh.'  Which made me laugh, because I know how that little guy is... he loves him some ladies, all right...  and she admitted that she and the other teachers had fun watching him at his games today, calling him the 'class flirt'.

Sweet sleeper

Ponsonby spa

A while back, I took one of my (many) days off and walked to Ponsonby.  I don't get lost any more going there.  Ponsonby Road reminds me somewhat of Main Street in Santa Monica--lots of funky shops with character, usually higher-end.

This is one of the buildings I passed.

I went there because my considerate husband had gotten me a surprise, a day at the spa.  I had a massage, a facial, and lots of other pampering.  I was even served lunch!  It was a really lovely day.

Amiri enjoys a giant Chachacake...

And ends up rocking a Class D 'stache.

Sleepout

Back when we were apartment hunting, we checked out the whole range of apartments, just out of curiosity.  Like, what kind of apartment can you get for $1200+ a week?  Answer:  an insanely nice one.  What kind of apartment can you get for less than $100 a week?  A sleepout.

I don't know if this is another uniquely Kiwi thing, but it's certainly new to me.   A sleepout is a little cabin, maybe 2-3 meters on a side, that's built in the backyard of a family's main house.  They're wired for electricity, but have no water hookups due to NZ's odd zoning/property tax laws.   So they make a cozy little private bedroom, but the renter has to come into the main house to use the bathroom or kitchen.  Sleepout rentals usually come with the option to have meals with the family. 

Here, take a look.  'Extreme' efficiency apartments.  Kind of like living in a garden shed.  It costs more to rent a downtown carpark than one of these.

Huh.

Art and its critic

Amiri brought home these wonderful art projects from school.  A card he made himself by gluing glitter and sparkly bits onto construction paper, and an Easter basket with a real blown-out eggshell that he painted himself.  Isn't he talented?

And then I turned my back for TWO SECONDS and heard crunching.  Here's the scene a minute later.  The tears are because I disapproved of Arram's snack and intervened to remove the eggshells from his mouth.  Amiri was hugely entertained.