Wordless Wednesday: Karate Ninja

It's Karate Week in our house. 

Lots of upper blocks, machine gun kicks and other general ninja moves being practiced in our house. It's grading week.

Therefore, its yellow belt time. 

And so for my first ever Wordless Wednesday, I have dedicated this blog to a whole lot of pics of our little ninjas karate journey this far. 

It began here: He looks so little.

And I was shocked here. Yup, that's head gear.

I liked this. A little more my style. 

And this was the one lesson I missed. Of course, he was awarded a trophy for performance on that day.

And this was a special black belt presentation to Noah by his absolute hero, Sensei. He is an amazing man! 

And here he is being his sensei.

My how much you have grown in such a short amount of time mister Noah. 

You amaze us everyday, so proud of you my little Ninja.

Love Mum xxx

If you like my blog, you might like to vote for me over at Circle of Mums Top 25 Blog contest. Voting closes in 9 days. 

 

Where everybody knows your name.

You know the Cheers theme song... 

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
And they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see your troubles are all the same.
You wanna be where everybody knows your name."

Go on... Keep singing. Ill wait for you to finish the piano keys too.

What a great song and can I just say how right Gary Portnoy was when he penned those now-famous lyrics.

He is singing about belonging and belongingness has long been know to motivate human behaviour. It is what motivates us to volunteer at our local kindergarten, to offer to keep score at the local football game and it keeps us frequenting the local shops.

It makes us feel as though we are part of something bigger and more important than ourselves.

For us, we belong to a community in Ascot Vale, Melbourne. There are a strip of shops, which we visit often,  almost daily. There is an op shop, a butcher, a florist, a local physio, a deli, the library and some funky little coffee shops. 

A little community in an otherwise big city, where people genuinely care for one another. 

There are some eccentrics in our community. For example, there is Tom, as in peeping Tom. He is a recovering alcoholic who you'll spot reading the back page of the Harris Scarf Catalogue {the undies section}. He once told me that he used to like hiding behind the trees and perving on the girls at the beach in his younger days.

*step away from Tom*

And there's some darn right amazing people like Mary who is a devoted Bombers supporter. The recent drugs saga nearly sent her to death bed. Bless Mary. And then there's the 3 Italian stooges who sit and drink coffee all day. They always wave hello. And George who nearly died from a king hit back in the day. His got the scars to proove it and he will happy show you. Sweet Judy is one of our favourites. She has had too much sadness for any one person. Her mum passed away on the day she was told of her 5th cancer diagnosis. Yes, 5th. AndJasmine. Jasmine has a disability. But she doesn't let that her hold her back and let me not forget, Chris and Jenny. Jenny has dementia. She has lost the ability to speak but she loves babies and Chris loves her. They are love. And, Louise. Louise is undergoing her 4th IVF treatment. She admits to feeling a little emotional. And Sally, well Sally just wants to sleep. Sadly, her new little newborn baby, Harry does not. 

Poor Sally.

Oh, and then there's me. I am Noah's Mum. I just had another boy, but noone can quite remember his name. Jeremy? Julian? 

Juuuudddde, I say.

And see this is our community. There are others of course, but these people are my favourite. Their stories are amazing and at times inspirational. I listen to them as I know they listen to me. I often think we could write a book with all their stories. 

A story about our local community, where everyone knows your name, well, kind of. 

Love Noah's Mum. xxx

Where do you belong? In a sporting club? In a pirates club or at the local gym?

Noah at the deli where everyone shares their story and knows your name.

Kindergarten Woes.

Today, we received Noah's kinder placement letter. No sooner had the postman dropped the letter in the box had I ripped open the envelope and read its contents. I was looking for 4 words and I find them:

"Noah has been accepted."

I do a little happy letter dance and Mr Postman looks back at me. I proudly wave that letter in the air and exclaim:

"We got into kinder."

He smiles and nods. And keeps on posting.

We got into our local kinder. A kinder just like my childhood kinder. A kinder with a climbing a-frame in the yard, a wooden fort for the boys to play pirate ships, a sandpit for castle competitions and colourful paintings in the windows. 

Its a place where childhood memories are made. And in Melbourne, these kinder places are highly sought after. This is because there are more 4 year old children than 4 year old kindergarten places. This makes kinder highly competitive and sadly, some kids miss out. 

Its like uni all over again.

Except to get into these kinders, there are no tests, no special formulas or magic interviews, its just your name, address and list of preferences. 

All in very neat hand writing, of course.

After opening my letter, I text the other kinder-wannabes, "we got in, how did you go?" I wait anxiously for their replys. One replies "waiting list". 

She is not doing the happy letter dance. I wonder, did they not like her hand writing? There really can be no other explanation. It seems unfair. But it is out of control. And it is out of the councils and kindergartens control. 

Too many kids, not enough funding is their response. She is told to wait.

We will wait with her with our fingers tightly crossed. 

Love Jo xxx

Did you go to kinder? What's your favourite kinder memory?
What's your thoughts on kinder education; is it a right or a privilege? 

What's in a kiss?

Today, our little bundle of joy is 5 months old. 5 months. Thats 1200 nappies, 900 breastfeeds, 300 outfit changes, 600 vomits and 15,000 kisses. 

Yup. 15,000 kisses.

Don't believe it? Dont worry, I didn't either. But here is the breakdown, kiss by kiss. There are kisses from big brother Noah with the very first kiss captured here:

And there are kisses from Dad and nanna, as well as odd stranger kisses and of course, mama kisses. Ill admit that I am by far the worst offender. See here...

And so with all these people planting kisses thats about 100 kisses a day by 150 days, which is 15,000 kisses.

That's insane.

But that's what these tiny little people do. You see their perfect toes and you kiss each and every one of them. You see their round tummy. And, you kiss it five times, maybe six. You spot a cheek. You kiss both sides twice over.

And then there's their tiny squishy lips. Kiss, kiss, kiss. 

 I remember when I was pregnant with Jude worrying that I couldn't possibly have enough kisses for two babies. It was a horrible parent thought that scared me. I would ask other mums, "how do you do it?" "How do you spread the love?" "And make it last with all those kisses?"

But, it was all unnecessary worry as quite often worry is because once our little Jude appeared on March 25th. My lips exploded and he was covered in a smattering of kisses. And that's why today little baby Jude, aged 5 months has a grand tally of give or take, 15,000 kisses. 

Love Jo xxx {you get kisses too}.

Happy 5 months beautiful Jude 🎈

I wonder how many kisses Noah has had? How many kisses do you give a day? Is it possible to kiss your baby too much?

Johnny Depp, Amber goddesses and Teething baby.

Today, like pirates sailing the seven seas, in search of elusive treasure we set off on an adventure to find jewels of much worth.

We were searching for the mystical jewels of baltic amber.

For those of you who aren't child wrangling, this post may make you want to poke your eyeballs out with a hot stick. So, you are excused to do whatever it is that you {without child} do. 

Lucky buggers.

Right, so back to the search. With Johnny Depp by myside we set off, baby, toddler and I on our search.

Goddamnit, Johnny, you are so hot! 

Sorry, back to the Amber search. We were on this search because baby Jude has decided that he would like to bust through two shiny, white dangerously sharp and pointy teeth.

He is teething.

And teething, well, teething is a bitch.

And amber, you ask? Well, the husband has also been feeling the affects of teething with a few lost hours of sleep each night and this has not gone unnoticed in the school staffroom. Some lady friends enquired about Jude's sleep status and he muttered "teething" and they uniformly cried one and all and all as one... Amber. Must get Amber.

He returned home with his new found wisdom and shared night after night, "amber, amber, amber". I would ignore him {as you do} and say "whatever, your friends are all hippies," and would persist with shooting down another load of Paracetamol. Now thats a fun Saturday night, right there. Actually, let me share with you the aftermath of a recent panadol dosing. Here it is, in all its glory. Vom vom.

Yup. That did happen. Thank you Jude.

And so last night tired of hearing the whispers of Amber and being vomited on I jumped on the Internet and found this.

Rachel Zoe with son, Skyler sporting amber beads.

And its not just Skyler wearing these beads, I was bamboozled with thousands of images of babies and toddlers drapped in their amber jewels. 

Now might be a good time to fess up and say that I have seen babies wearing these necklaces in the past and I may, or may not have pointed out the ridiculousness of putting a fashion accessory on a baby. A necklace on a 6 month old baby. 

Scoff, scoff.

Bad, judgemental scoffing mummy. I am sorry. I swear I didn't know your baby was teething. 

And so with that I was ready to give this amber thing a shot. But there were warnings. There are fakes. Be sure to buy the real deal warned the pages. Don't buy off the internet. Be sure that the amber beads are accredited. Feel the beads. Buy from a trusted source. 

God. Its like buying a diamond. 

Come on Johnny let's find the jewels.

The first shop we went to had sold out of the beads. Crap. The second shop was awaiting a new shipment and the third shop... Snap. Hanging on a magical wooden stand is where I spot the elusive amber glistening in the light exuding warmth and a promise of a good nights sleep. 

"Hi, I would like some amber beads please. I have a teething baby." I told the shop lady of say, 22.

"Sure. They're great for teething. They are easy to clean and are made to break only one bead at a time." Replied shop lady of 22.

"Hold on, what? Break?" I reply.

"Yup, break. You know, like snap from chewing or something. This necklace is designed to break only one bead at a time so if the baby were to swallow a bead you can be assured it would only be one bead and one bead is like, totally safe." Replied shop lady of 22.

Bead swallowing. Safe? 

"I would rather no bead swallowing. Is their a necklace that doesn't break?" I reply.

Laughing shop lady of 22 says "No".

"Hrm. Ill take it. And supervise closely."

"And there are necklaces for adults too." Shop lady of 22 informs me.

"Oh no, I am okay. Thanks. My teeth are well and truly happy. No more tooth growth for me" I reply proudly.

She didn't laugh. She hands me my beads in a bag and we leave the shop.

We stop for a coffee to celebrate our successful jewel finding journey and I glance over the beads. I read that the beads are JAA accredited. Great. I go onto read that this baltic Amber is sourced from ancient pines and that it is attributed with many mystical and curative powers. Brilliant. 

And then I notice the lady on the packaging. Good lord. It's an Amber bronzed Goddess. 

Why is their a naked booby lady on my babies beads? These beads are for my baby, not my husband. Interesting marketing strategy you have at The Amber Centre. Very interesting. Rethinking that anytime soon? 

Perhaps, a cute baby with a toothy smile might suffice. Not that I know anything about marketing. At. All. 

Maybe that's why the husband was so insistent on the purchase of these beads. I shall leave amber bronzed goddess on his pillow for tonight, while I dream of Johnny. 

Wish me luck with the beads.

I think they're already working :)

Love Jo xxx

Does Amber really work? Will I get a good nights sleep? Has your husband or partner ever insisted on a baby product?

Thursday is the best day for... sex.

Everyone has their favourite day of the week. And for me, my favorite day is Thursday. Thursday is my happiest day! It coincidently happens to be my only toddler-free day.

But my love for Thursday goes way back. Before child. Not many people agree with my preferred day of choice. Most choose Friday for its obvious reasons. 

But that's okay. I heart Thursday. 

And today is Thursday so it did get me thinking. 

Who else likes Thursday? Surely, I am not alone here. So, in celebration of today {its Thursday!} I fired up my friend google to find some like-minded Thursday lovers.

I typed in "Thursday, love" 

And wham!

I discover an interesting fact about good ol' Thursday.

Thursday is the best day to have sex!

Snap.

According to London School of Economics and Population {source entirely unclear}, the fourth day of the week is when a couples natural cortisol {sexy hormones} are at their highest. And therefore Thursday is when a couple is most in sync for a romantic romp between the sheets. 

How bloody interesting. Thursday just became a little more amazing. And without further ado here was my happy Thursday... Minus the romantic romp.

First stop: Frankie, coffee & sweat treats.

Second stop: Sydney Road stroll w baby

Third stop: photo snaps of street art. She and I are sporting the same fur trimmed jacket on this Thursday.

Fourth stop: Vintage shop heaven. Stop. Me. Now. Love.

Fifth stop. Quirky find. This made me laugh. A Tony Abbott pin cushion. Yup, still laughing. 

Sixth stop: Vintage craft inspiration. Must do something with my vintage plate collection. Weekend task, perhaps.

And that's another happy Thursday. 

Love Jo xxx

What's your favourite day of the week? Do you like a Thursday or are you a Friday baby? 

Library Monday

Mondays are our library day. 

Library Monday.

Noah knows it. I know it and the local librarian {LL} knows it. It's the same drill every week.

 

We hit the pavement and walk to the local shops. We grab a coffee and cupcake at our favourite deli.

And then we hit the library. Noah races ahead on his bike. I push the buggy with our book bag slung across the pram hood. It threatens to topple off every week. Too many books. Must borrow less, I mutter to myself.

We enter the library.  

LL spots us from a distance and gives us a little wave. LL greets Noah, "hello Noah." It's a strained hello. It's a Monday. She is speaking quietly. 

Noah is not. He shouts "hello LL" and proceeds to dump his bike in the doorway. He is at the DVDs. I pick up his bike and tend to his requests;

"Maaarrrmmmm, I want this one and this one and what's this one? Marrrrmm!"

"Noah, shhh". I remind him. I ask LL how her weekend was. 

"Fine", she responds.

We read some books. We borrow the books. And I call out to LL.

"Thanks LL. See you next Monday."

Library Monday success. Off we go.

But not today. LL has something on her mind. She calls me over to the desk and asks me if I remember the day when Noah asked her if she had a baby in her tummy?

Oh god. I blush. Do I?

Of course I do. We missed a month of library Mondays as a result. Upon hearing his question, I cowered in the corner wishing I couldn't hear. 

"Please god, strike me down with sudden deafness, or just take my ears, go on, take them." I pleaded.

Nope, no luck. I was forced to action. 

I watched as LL laughed. Do something Jo. Come up with something. Anything.

I waffled something about him thinking everyone is pregnant. And hushed him whilst apologising.

LL cut me off. "No, I am fat".

Oh god. This is bad. Could it get any worse? "What's fat?" asks Noah.

Just got worse. 

I can't remember her response because my own body conscious angels were cursing me for being a bad, bad parent.

I blush again at the memory. And reply to LL, "oh yeah he was obsessed with babies in tummies back then."

LL politely smiled. She knew better. She said "No, he was 3. He was just speaking the truth. I was fat. And because of him I am back enjoying the gym."

Oh. My. God. 

I have died inside. My child forced her back to the grind of the gym. I feel bad. And I apologise. She laughs. 

I say she looks great, which she does and I slink my way out the door.

Bloody toddlers and their questions. Looks like library Monday is on hold again for the next month.

Love Jo xx

What's your toddler asked a stranger? Have you ever wished you had no ears? 

Babies clutter your Life {with stuff}.

"Congratulations on your new baby. Here's a whole lot of stuff. I hope you like stuff cos you are about to be surrounded by it for the rest of your life." That's what people should write in cards for new parents. In fact, I must start writing it.

Becuse kids are the ultimate accumulaters of stuff. From the moment we discovered we were pregnant with Noah, the accumulation of stuff begun. The purchasing of stuff...

Ha ha. The word stuff is beginning to sound funny.

Stuff, stuff, stuff.

Anyway. Pretty much, if it had baby written on it or, if it was designed to make baby rearing a tad bit easier, we had it. All the stuff.

I was a marketers dream. 

And very early into my first pregnancy, I stumbled across a list, a checklist of "baby must haves that listed everything a newborn baby needs in one neat list. All the baby stuff listed from A to Z.

I like lists. So, I genuinely appreciated the brilliance of this list. All the hard work and research had been done for me {Yup, marketers dream!} This list became my friend. With every purchase, I would tick off each item and proudly exclaim to the shop assistants, "only 452 items to go".

And so the accumulation of stuff begun! Our house was filling with everything a baby needed to make him the smartest, cleanest and healthiest newborn on the block. 

And then one day he outgrew all this stuff, so I put it all away. High up in the cupboards. Out of sight and out of mind.

With the news of baby two, I went to the cupboards and pulled out the baby stuff. I knew we had it all, all 453 items. The diaper geanie, the wipe warmer and bouncers. I proudly exclaimed to the husband that "we had everything for baby two and that we didn't need a thing." I had ticked all the lists back in 2009.

Well that was until I spotted a new must have baby list at the super-baby-mega-store. You know the one.

Oh, my! 

That list had grown. And it was all sorts of techincal. On the list were pocket nannies, which promised to help a tired mummy care for her newborn baby. And mini fetal monitors to listen to your unborns heartbeat. Slings, sterilisers, and sound machines. This stuff was amazing. And it was promising to make parenting a dream. 

I know the first time, scared out of my pants, marketing dream mum would have bought all these things and more. And as I looked around me I couldn't help but have a giggle as I watched the new bewildered mummies ticking the must have items off their list. 

Me, I scrunched up that list and threw it in the bin. And I promptly banned myself from any future list viewing. 

Love Jo xx

What newborn items did you buy for your first child? What's your must have baby list got on it? 

If you like this, there's a fair chance you'll like this too: 

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