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.
 

And here are the brothers exploring a snow-cat

The hangi

Some of the guys put down a hangi in the garden at work to celebrate Matariki weeks ago.  I don't have pictures so you'll have to imagine.

A hangi is a roast meat-and-vegetable dinner cooked on hot rocks in an underground earth oven.  There's a certain way to prepare the fire, to assemble baskets of food for cooking, for arranging the rocks and food in the pit, and to cover it all with moistened fabric and soil.  And then for opening it up after a few hours to uncover beautifully tender food.

Our hangi featured a big beef roast and several whole chickens (I was kind of expecting pork but there wasn't any), kumara, potatoes, carrots, succulent bite-sized fried bread bites, salads and lots of gorgeous desserts.  The hosts portioned everything out onto small plates for everyone who turned up, and we all ate with our hands.  Some of our clients led some songs.  It was a great way to celebrate. 
 

Amiri totally needed a nap during bike-riding

The brothers feed the birds

There were some peanuts that got all contaminated on the floor.  But they're still good food for birds!  So out we went to give our little friends some treats.

We sat on the bench and I doled out the peanuts one by one to the boys, who very nicely threw them to the ever-growing flock of hungry little sparrows.

They loved it so much!

Morning goodbyes

I say goodbye to the brothers every morning as they're having their oatmeal.  (And, this morning, knocking the full bowl onto the floor.  Thanks, Arram.)  It goes like this:

"[Child 1], I love you so much and I hope you have a wonderful day.  I will see you tonight when I pick you up at school.  Here are hugs and kisses, I will think about you all day."   *hug, kiss*  (Repeat for Child 2, wipe oatmeally kisses off my cheeks in the elevator.)

This is a heartwarming thing.  I know.  But wait for it...

Arram, who has always been good for a non sequiter, has been a little obsessed of late with our most recent trip to Underwater World.  So after my Goodby Speech (tm), he's been asking me, very earnestly, "Stingray?"

"No, darling, I'm going to work.  I won't see any stingrays."

"Oh."  brow furrowing...  "Penguins?"

"No, no penguins at the office either."

"Oh.  Shark mouth?"

"No.  There will be no shark mouths to play with either at Mama's work."

"Ohhhhh."  An expression of true regret passes over his face.

Over both of our faces.
 

A clever kid finding a solution

Amiri, at the computer:  Mama, can I watch Berenstain Bears on Youtube?

Mama:  Yes, sure.  Type 'Berenstain Bears' into the search box and see what videos come up.

Amiri:  How do you spell Berenstain Bears?

Mama:  How does it sound?  Buh, buh, sounds like...

Amiri:  B!  Oh, but wait.  I know how to find out.  I don't need you to tell me the rest.

And he hopped down to fetch his much-loved Berenstain Bears DVD from the TV cabinet.   Used it as a template to fill in the search box.
 

Just a silly little before-bed photo

They're having a chocolate-milk picnic on the living room floor.  Arram is drinking his with a straw.

Number 8 wire

A common gauge of fencing wire used in New Zealand's early history, no. 8 wire has become an iconic representation of Kiwi ingenuity and adaptability.  You can use no. 8 wire for anything.  Fixing a handle on a bucket, building a bridge, setting up a rudimentary communication system.  Number eight mentality means figuring it out and getting it done.  Maybe not perfectly, but in working order and on the cheap. 

It also refers to a forum for true fans of New Zealand rugby and is also a good example of the South Island accent; I'm still not sure what is happening here.
 

The South Island accent

I've mentioned before how it took me some time to learn to 'hear' the NZ accent.  Of course, I'm based in Auckland, so I learned to hear the Auckland accent.  But on a recent train ride where I was situated next to an extremely chatty gentleman, I learned that just as in the US, there is indeed a dramatic regional variation across NZ.

About 20% of the country's population lives in the South Island, and most of them in Christchurch and Dunedin.  The rest are spread across small rural enclaves with their own local flavour.

This gentleman of my acquaintance was from a village outside of Invercargill, right at the very bottom of the South Island.  But, he sounded (to my ignorant ear) like a Scot with a mouth full of food.  In our half-hour chat, I learned that he used to paint houses and once worked as a law clerk or something.  And that is all I learned.  It wasn't that he didn't volunteer much about himself... trust me that he gave me lots and lots of commentary to work with.  But I lost 95% of it because I simply couldn't translate it into something that made sense for me.  I eventually gave up on asking, 'Excuse me?'  'I'm sorry?' because I found that I couldn't understand the slower-and-clearer version either, and resigned myself to just having to make do with catching the odd word here and there, and hoping I could fill in the blanks.

So there is still work to do regarding assimilation.
 

Fun with our new wind-up toys

Hello

A trip to the past

Last weekend we went to see the stage show Walking with Dinosaurs.  Wow, what a show!  Here is an exciting clip from the second act, wherein the Mama T. Rex rescues her baby from a sticky situation with well-armored and overly-defensive plant-eaters.  The camera periodically pans away to the seats in order to capture the boys' reactions to the action, but unfortunately the arena was too dark to register their shining little eyes.


So I'll just show you how the boys looked when the show ended and the lights came back on.


They really liked it and Arram tried so so so hard to stay awake, but he just couldn't make it until the end of the matinee.  He slept with his head on my shoulder all the way until we got out into the sunshine.
 

He came home today and, completely out of the blue, could just do this.

Earlier, he surprised his Daddy by counting all thirteen stairs.

The little ducks

Amiri decided that he wanted to dress up as a duck for school the next day.  Not being a school-sanctioned costume day, we didn't think that was exactly a reasonable request, but we did manage this:

Matching duck shirts from Woot, and orange-coloured origami beaks.  Both big hits.
 

Hilarity ensues

Daddy picked up some noses for Red Nose Day and we pretty much had the best time with them this morning.

He has yet to figure out coasting, but...

Amiri has been asking for a scooter for a while now.  "The one with Toy Story on it, Mama!"  So this weekend we got him one.  He had to settle for Thomas the Train, though.  He seemed to be OK with it.  Here he is after only five minutes of practice.

The view from inside the sno-cat in the Antarctic enclosure

A proper high tea

Here is what a proper British high tea looks like.

On the bottom it's a meat pie, a spinach pie, and a tomato pie.  In the middle there are salmon-and-cream-cheese, chicken, and cucumber sandwiches.  On the top there's... oh, I've forgotten exactly, but I think it was a lemon madeleine, a chocolate brownie, a lemon tart, a date cake, and a strawberry tart with cream.  Plus any kind of tea you like, in a fancy loose-leaf filter apparatus and plenty of fresh cream and sugar.

I fully endorse high tea as the absolutely most civilised way to press 'pause' on an otherwise hectic day.
 

Emergency extrication

We went out for an adventure today -- just another rainy-day trip to Underwater World-- and afterward had a few minutes to wait at the bus stop.  The boys sat nicely on the bench, but before long Arram got agitated and started yelling, 'Help, Mama!  Help, Mama!'

What was the problem?   The metal bus stop bench had little holes drilled in it.  They were just the right size to stick two-year-old fingers into.  And, two-year-old fingers being chubby little things, to resist letting them being pulled out again.  Arram had been ensnared by his curiosity and was dancing about and hollering his concern.

In a caring and empathetic response which will surely be Item #1 on my Mother of the Year nomination form, I managed to stop giggling long enough to aim the camera under the bench to snap a photo.

Then I got to work extricating him-- the bus was due to arrive in three minutes so this was definitely a McGyver situation.  I assessed the likely tools in my backpack:  water bottle, baby wipes, and lip balm.  Those should work, right?  I hope!  Amiri helpfully reminded me that we can always call a fire truck to come and help. 

A little splash of water was all it took to release the hole's grip on Arram's finger, and we were able to catch the bus as planned, none of us any worse for wear.  But, I think Amiri was disappointed that the fire truck wouldn't be needed after all.
 

Now boys, please keep the entropy under control

The audience poll reveals that the SSS-blog is instant therapy.  Well, that's it, you've egged me on, now you're going to get it!

Oh yes, here is one of my all-time favorite photos in the world.  This is from Osman and Noor's wedding back in December.  I have that 'Mom' look on my face; if I recall correctly I was reminding them to listen to Mama and to not act like tiny tornadoes.  I love how they've gotten down too to listen carefully.  My babies.

Where is Old Zealand?

This question occurred to me the other day.  I know where the old York is, where old Mexico is, and Old England...

The first Westerner to discover our landmass was a Dutch man by the name of Abel Tasman.  Much like Columbus thinking that the Caribbean islands were India, Tasman thought that he was visiting a part of what is now Argentina that already happened to belong to Holland.  But later, when the Dutch government realised that he had indeed been in a new territory, they named it Nova Zeeland after the westernmost Dutch province.
 

Pre-naptime fun

He did it!

Arram tends to be timid in unfamiliar situations.  He has a hard time trying new things because he gets intimidated.  He needs extra time to warm up.  At the park, this means that he likes to sit on the seesaw and be passively bounced.  He'll acquiesce to sit on a swing but refuse even the gentlest of pushes-- I'm happy just dangling, thankyouverymuch. 

But he turned over a new leaf this weekend!  I swung him and he liked it.  He asked to go on the merry-go-round and begged to be spun faster.  He didn't even ask for Mama's help to clamber around on the giant frog.  And for the most impressive bit, just watch this.  I was so proud of him I could have popped.

The fluffy

As a long-time aficionado of restaurants' secret menus (grilled cheese animal style, amirite??), I have been inordinately pleased to learn that every cafe in New Zealand has a secret menu.  First off, you can grab any variety of toastie for a few bucks anywhere you want, even if they don't advertise it.  But today, we're here to talk about fancy fluffies.

As I've previously mentioned, all cafes have a deluxe espresso machine with milk-frothing attachment for satisfying the nation's addiction to beautiful cappuccinos, flat whites, and lattes.  A fluffy is just some nice hot frothed milk, minus the coffee.  They're half-sized and given away for free (or nearly-so) along with another purchase.  Fluffies' sole purpose of existence, I believe, is to act as 'something to occupy the children for a few minutes while the mums finally get to have a quiet chat'. 

After an outing to the park today a friend and I utilised them for just such a purpose.  And these were some fancy fluffies, let me tell you!  Milky on the bottom, airy on the top, and sprinkled with chocolate powder, they were served in tiny ceramic espresso mugs on saucers with little plastic spoons and tiny cookies on the side.  The brothers were beyond delighted to be having a boy-sized drink in a fancy cup just like Mama's.  I think I've just set the stage for them developing a coffee habit in their later years.

It really was only a matter of time.

Check the comments here.  Saimi Auntie for the win!

A tragic obituary

Shrek the sheep has died.  The CNN article.  The Stuff article.

Memorable quotes include:

"...found living in a cave after six years on the loose... with 27 kilograms of fleece."

"...shorn on live television on an iceberg floating off the coast of Dunedin."

"His memorial service is slated for later this week at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tekapo."

This is so New Zealand.

 

Parnell and the Museum

What a big adventure we had this Queen's Birthday weekend.  First we got on the bus (collapsing and stowing the stroller in the luggage compartment), and went to Parnell Road.  We started at the west end and walked all the way to the east end, a whole kilometer of window shopping in the boutiques and cafes and peeping into the historic homes (note: clicking that link will download a PDF).  And get this: Arram walked the whole way.

And then we arrived at the Museum.  Got ourselves checked in and the official Entry Stickers placed on our shirts.  Took care of the essentials (potty, snacks and drinks), and then headed upstairs although the elevator situation was a comedy of errors amusing only in retrospect.  To the ...drumroll... Dinosaur Room!  Wow.

I have a new phone that I used to take these photos.  I obviously don't have all the settings figured out yet since I couldn't manage to take a single decent photo of our wiggly little boys, but hopefully these will give the impression of the happy and duly impressed little guys next to the articulated skeletons and fossilised displays.  Inspired, Arram played Dinosaur all night complete with sound effects and Dino Claws (tm).

New Zealand being a bird-based ecosystem, there were also bird exhibits.

And then OH MY BARF I saw like eight kinds of wetas.

 

And then we spent like fifty bucks (!) at the cafe on one adult and two kids' fish and chips (it's OK, the museum entry was free so it all worked out), and the bus back to home picked us up right in front of the building so no more long walking.  Later, after naps and because they'd been good, Daddy surprised the brothers with cute little knitted frog and tuatara finger puppets that he'd sneakily bought in the gift shop.

 

I found the CUTEST video on the camera the other day.

I love my three guys so much.
 

The face of a boy who's about to be given an ice cream cone