Look at the snack Daddy made for the brothers

For the brothers, yeah, that's it, Mama wanted nothing to do with it in fact she hates cheese thinks it's soooo yucky...

A wedge of Kapiti camembert, and a heart of blue brie.  Face and various daubs courtesy of all the condiments in the fridge.  Crispy crackers, of which the first ingredient is cheese.

We put a good dent in this after naptime, and totally demolished it within 36 hours.  This is how we roll in our house.  Yeah.

They still fit, technically

Lately, Arram has been having a lot of fun going into the back of the brothers' closet and opening up the big plastic bin of too-big-and-saved-for-later clothes and the too-small-but-too-special-to-give-away clothes and pulling out something to play dress-up.  Of special interest have been two hand-knitted baby hats.

One of which he's been insisting on wearing to school, to the great amusement of his teachers.

The other has only been worn around the house, during naptime, but it's an even tighter fit. 

Picture day!!

Look at the sweet smiles in these school photos.

Arram's smiles, in particular, are deceiving.  In the morning before leaving for school, he was not happy about having to dress up.  Cried so hard that his shirt was soaked with tears and drool.

Amiri was rather amused by his brother's tantrum, and took photos with his iPod.  Our junior papparazzi.  Arram had been supposed to wear his tie too, but he was obviously not in the mood to do so.

Look at how much they've grown in the last year. 
 

Little guys looking out for each other

Scenario 1:

Amiri informed me this morning that he'd had a rough night.

'Mama, I had a nightmare while I was sleeping.'

'Oh dear!  Were you very scared?'

'Yes, I was.'

'Well, if you ever have another nightmare, you can come into Mama and Daddy's room.  Or call for us.  And we'll help you and you won't be scared any more.'

'Well, this time I didn't need to come to your room.  Arram hugged me and I wasn't scared any more.'


Scenario 2:

Amiri's class took a little field trip into Arram's classroom, and they had a Pirate Party with a treasure hunt.  The teachers told me at pick-up time that Arram had gotten a little over-stimulated by all the excitement and had started to cry.  But that Amiri had taken care of him, and shared his treasure.
 

LOOK AT WHAT I DID

This is me driving a car.  (Well, I was parked when I snapped this.)  Driver's seat was on the right --the camera apparently did a left-to-right reverse here-- and the driving is on the left side of the road.

And it was fine.  It was totally fine.  Just like any other driving.  It felt slightly weird at first but I think that was only because it was a new car and an unfamiliar area.  I noticed that I had a tendency to drift to the left side of my lane.  But after an hour or so I was feeling totally relaxed with it.  Why have I not been doing this all along?? 

I did a little sightseeing at Long Bay park.

Amiri was feeling sad, so Arram gave him a cuddle

For the first time in 80 years

It snowed yesterday in Auckland.  People didn't know what to do with themselves.  They bought up all the bread and milk on the store shelves.  They shut down the mail system.  It only got down to 1 degree, though, so it didn't stick and didn't disrupt traffic.  At higher elevations it did accumulate, though.  All part of a polar blast from the south. 
  

Arram's first trip with Mama alone on the bus

He sat very nicely on his bottom, all the way back in the seat.  We went to some specialty grocery stores, just the two of us.  I carried the meat home and Arram was in charge of carrying the dried apricots.  He ate most of them.

After all the planking he was so tired

Usually he requests his pony too, but this time he fell asleep with only two toys to hug.

'Lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location'

Arram planks.

The appearance of logic and grammar

A life lesson that Amiri has been learning recently is 'being patient'.  He is growing accustomed to waiting nicely for things without getting antsy, or rudely grabbing and snatching.  He frequently hears, 'Don't be impatient.'  His little ears interpret the word as 'in-patient', though, and I guess I haven't bothered to correct him.

Yesterday, while I was in the middle of doing the dishes, Amiri asked me to read him a book.  I told him I would love to, but that he would please have to wait until I finish up in the kitchen.  "OK, Mama, I will wait nicely for you," he replied, and went to sit on the couch and idly page through his book, looking at the pictures. 

I clattered my way through the dishes and then tackled the wiping-up of the counter and stove.  I was taking longer than Amiri had hoped.  But he dealt with it maturely and didn't make demands.  He simply made a hinting observation.  "Mama, I am still waiting for you nicely.  I am being very out-patient."
 

Amiri got the digits right this year

The birthday girl gets to pick, so I got...

The cake had four candles because I am thirty-four, just like Amiri is four!

And then they all sang Happy Birthday to me.  Amiri knew all the words, but Arram was a bit shy and needed some reassurance.

And then the boys watched with interest to see if I would be able to blow out all the candles.

I think my wish will come true.

Walking home from Westmere in a light rain, looking over the water in the silence

Of course there's a sandbox at the Fish Market

We went to the Fish Market on Sunday afternoon and had a snack of hot chips and juice.  While my back was turned the boys added salt themselves from the salt shaker.  I had to brush the heaps of salt off the chips when I came back.

And then they played and played in the sandbox.  I brought some throwaway plastic containers and they built castles. 

That night there was about a pound of sand on the bottom of the bathtub after they got cleaned up.