Little Athletics

At the start of the year Milly asked me if she could do Little Athletics, which is a modified athletics program for children aged between 5-16 years old.  She had heard about it through school and so I investigated.  It turned out their season started in mid September the previous year and was due to end in March.  So with the program about to end I promised I'd sign her up for the next season later in the year.

She had previously asked if she could play soccer, but Michael and I knew she wouldn't enjoy it.  Basically, she isn't a team player.  She is very competitive and compares herself to others.  We were both hesitant to sign her up for a sport where she has to show commitment to a team, plus be a good sport.  When the emphasis should be on fun, we knew it would be anything but for all involved.  With Little Athletics the results are all individual based.  The kids are only competing against themselves and trying to beat their personal bests, all while having fun, keeping fit and learning different athletic disciplines.  So when September rolled round again this year I happily put her name down.  I also signed up Buster for a trial day and he was equally excited as Milly to have a go.  Unfortunately for Buster, the kids are grouped in ages dependent on month of birth.  As Buster is a November boy this placed him outside the cut off for the Under 6 boys and instead in a group of toddlers.  He gave it a try but really all the kids were a bit young for him and it all seemed a bit chaotic, so we didn't sign him up for the full season.

As for Milly, each week she competes in four events.  Two of these are always a running event, which is either 50m, 70m, 100m, 200m, 400m or 700m.  The other two events are either shot put, discus, hurdles, or long jump.  We are eight weeks into the season and already she has improved her times and scores in most events, which just spurs her on to better herself for the next time.  She is such a determined girl, she is even practising at home with objects found around the house.

There have been a few runs where she got upset at being last in her heat, and she didn't complete the 700m run when she first had to do it.  She is lucky all the girls in her age group are friendly and supportive of each other.  Slowly, she has accepted that winning isn't the goal but having fun, learning something new and improving are.  I think she also likes having a sport that no one else in the family does.  It makes her feel special and sets her apart.... and that's just how she likes it.

 

Outings with the Boo

 

I thought I'd share with you some of Buster's adventures with Nanoo.  He has been fortunate to have Nanoo take him to see some children's theatre over the past few months.  They head off into the city by train, see a show, have lunch and then it's home again.  He quite likes an outing if if means he can have lunch out and about.

Off on another outing.  This time to see the musical of one of Buster's favourite books "Pete the Sheep".

His most recent of outings was lunch with me and Nanoo to celebrate my birthday.  Complete with using his chips as vampire teeth.

The pet sitters

A few weeks ago our neighbours went away and asked us to look after their pets.  Their pets consist of a rabbit called Rosie; as well as three chooks named Grace, Jasmine, and Twilight Sparkle. 

Grace.

Henry was beside himself with excitement at the responsibility and the thought of having pets to play with.  Each of the kids was given a job.  Henry was to feed the chooks and keep their water bowls fresh.  Buster was to collect the eggs.  Milly was to feed the rabbit.  The animals are free to roam and hop around their backyard all day, so it was a matter of letting them out of their hutches in the morning and putting them back at night.

Rosie's hutch.

It would be fair to say that Milly is not an animal lover but she was happy to look after Rosie the rabbit.  She took great pride in feeding Rosie and letting her out each morning, but putting Rosie back in her hutch each night was a probably for Milly.  You see Milly didn't want to touch Rosie.  A cautious pat or stroke is all Milly can muster, so this job fell to me or Henry each evening.  Catching Rosie each night to put her to bed was made easy by her favourite pink ball.  Rosie likes to chase and hump her ball.  If we couldn't find Rosie each evening we would simply kick the ball and Rosie would come hopping and humping.

Just like the fictional Buster in the children's book "Oh Dear", our Buster found the eggs too.

Buster enjoyed his job of looking for eggs.  He'd check for eggs a couple of times a day and marvel how each chook lays a different coloured egg, with Grace's eggs being the biggest.  Buster loves a boiled egg for breakfast.

Embracing the whole experience was Henry.  This poor kid loves animals so much.  Henry would regularly jump the fence just to play and watch the animals.   He was a great guardian of the pets.  Although he did get a bit upset when Grace pecked at his fingers and drew blood.

Henry and his brood.

Milly keeping her distance.

Rosie LOVES her pink ball.

Rosie still LOVING her pink ball.

First orientation done and dusted

I think we may have put too much emphasis on trying to get Buster excited about his first kinder orientation.  The night before, as I put him to bed, he was very teary and emotional.  The build up to the big day was causing some anxiety and he told me he was scared and didn't want me to leave him.  I snuggled into bed with him and we had lots of cuddles and reassuring whispers that all would be ok.  He fell asleep with his cheek against my cheek and all was right with the world again.

The next morning he came down the stairs and told me he still felt a little bit scared.  I told him it was ok to be scared but what if the day wasn't scary at all.  What if the day turned out to be fun.  Had he considered that?  And with that he ran off and played with Henry and Milly while I got breakfast and school lunches sorted for the day.

The plan for his first orientation day was for him to spend time in the kindergarten classrooms and for him to meet his Year 6 buddies, who will be helping him and looking out for him when he starts school next year.  While he was in the classroom I was to attend an information session.  He would also be having recess with his buddies and then I would collect him.  It was also a preschool day, so after his orientation I would whizz him off to preschool.

When we arrived at school there were lots of little kids waiting in the playground for orientation to begin.  While we waited Buster played with one of his friends from preschool who is also starting school next year.  This little kid is a sweetie.  His name is Francesco, he is very timid, he is from Venezuela and English is his second language.  In fact he may be the only kid we know that is the same size or slightly smaller than Buster.  Anyway, he was following Buster around and copying him.  Buster led him to the bubblers and they managed to drench themselves with water just as it was time to head up to the classrooms.

As luck would have it, Francesco was assigned the same kinder room as Buster and they walked in together and put their bags down.  Buster then stood in the middle of the room, hands on hips and asked out loud "Now what do I do?".  He then sat down at a table, picked up a pencil and started to do some drawings.  I kissed him goodbye and left him with Francesco who joined him at the drawing table, relieved that he wasn't anxious anymore.

While I was at the information session I heard the recess bell and couldn't help but hope he was ok and was enjoying himself with his Year 6 buddies.  A week earlier Buster had received an invitation in the mail from his buddies, introducing themselves and letting him know they were looking forward to meeting him at the orientation.  Buster had been given two buddies (Alex and Xander).  Henry and Milly told Buster he must need two buddies because he is a naughty boy.

When the information session was over I headed out to the playground to meet Buster's buddies and collect him.  They were nice kids and they told me Buster had had a good time.  They also mentioned Buster showed them how he can stick rice snacks up his nose.  Later that day, Henry and Milly also told me they saw Buster at recess covering his eyes with his crackers.  I'm sure his Year 6 buddies are suitably impressed.

With his first big orientation over he was reluctant to go to preschool.  There were some tears and he took a long time to settle once we were there.  I stayed for a bit and read him some stories but then left him with his teachers.  They always take photos of the kids during the day so you can see what they were up to when it is pick up time.  The only photo they could get of Buster was one with his shirt over his head covering his face.  He had remained uncooperative most of the afternoon.  He is a stubborn little bugger.

So in two and half weeks time, he will have another orientation day.  Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly, he stays dry and his food goes in his mouth and not up his nose.

Buster's preschool photo

The only thing I could love more than this photo is the boy himself.

The kindergarten questionnaire

With the final term of school for the year upon us, the time is inching closer to when Boo will start school.  In a couple of weeks he'll have his first orientation day and as a reminder that children can be complex and are little individuals, the school have issued a questionnaire designed to assist them in understanding our child and help them best cater to his learning needs.

INDEPENDENCE
Is your child used to separating from you happily?
Um, the answer to this is sort of yes.  While Buster doesn't cry when we drop him off at preschool, at other activities like birthday parties he does get a bit anxious if we are not within close proximity or eyesight.  He always wants a reassuring cuddle.

Does your child attend preschool/day care?
Yes, two days a week for a total of 16 hours.

Is your child toileting independently?
Yes, but there are still the occasional wee mishaps.  For example, just this week he needed to go, dropped his shorts but had forgotten to drop his undies as well - hence while sitting on the toilet he did a wee in his undies.

Is your child dressing independently?
He sure is.

Is your child appearing ready to start school from an emotional stand point?
We really don't know how to answer this one.  Yes, he's emotionally ready to take his learning to the next level, but is he emotionally ready to be one child in a playground of a few hundred..... don't think so.

Does your child show responsibility for general belongings?
This answer is a big fat NO.  He has zero sense of responsibility.  It's not through lack of trying on our part, but with him it's in one ear and out the other.

Can your child state their full name?
Bless his little cotton socks.  When asked if he knows his full name he answers "Buster Boo Bryan John Hopson".

Can your child state their age?
Yes.

Can your child state their address?
Other than knowing the region he lives in and the number of our house.  No.

HEALTH
Does your child have any health related problems?
No.

Has your child had their hearing/eyes/speech checked?
Not yet on all fronts.  His preschool always organises eye tests for the kids going to school and they also have a speech pathologist who regularly visits and helps kids with problems.  He does have trouble pronouncing "th" and substitutes "w" for "r", but these are normal speech issues for a kid his age.

PHYSICAL SKILLS
Please comment about your child's physical development and skills.
He might be small but he is very coordinated and strong.  Running, jumping, climbing, kicking a ball and throwing (he loves to chuck stuff) are some of his favourite physical activities.

SNAPSHOT FROM HOME
Does your child learn things quickly?
Um, let's see.  He certainly hasn't learnt that throwing a tantrum doesn't get him what he wants, nor does forgetting your please and thank yous.  Again it is a regularly thing of in one ear and out the other.  However, if he's interested in the subject to be learned he quickly picks things up.

Does your child ask complex questions?
Does "what's for dinner" count as a complex question?

Does your child show a love of a range of books including reference texts, using the computer, talking on the phone, looking through the paper and specialist magazines?
A big fat YES for this one.  He loves nothing more than to snuggle up and be read to.  He's also quite adept on the computer.

Does your child demonstrate a high desire to get things exactly right; is a perfectionist?
Nope.

Does your child have a strong sense of right, wrong, social justice and the complexities of moral decisions?
Got to chuckle at this one.  Yes he knows the difference between right and wrong, the problem is he just doesn't care.

Does your child seek older playmates or adults?
He doesn't like to engage with anyone he doesn't know.

Is your child curious and motivated to find things out?
Oh yes.  He can sometimes be quite fearless with his curiosity without thinking about the consequences.

Does your child love to explore new topics, ideas and problems and to be challenged with new ideas?
He'll have a go at anything.

TEMPERAMENT
Please make a comment about your child's temperament.
Cheeky.  Playful.  Stubborn.  Likes to hold a grudge. 

Cartoon portrait

A couple of weekends ago the school fete was held and Peter Lewis, the editorial cartoonist for our region's paper, volunteered his time to help raise money by doing portraits. 



 

 

Ice magic

A little friend of Buster's from preschool invited him to his birthday party.  The invite said it would be held at the Hunter Ice Skating stadium.  I have to admit I was a little curious and cautious about it all.  After all, who invites a bunch of 4-5 years to go ice skating?  This could be the most challenging and high risk of injury style party ever.  Anyway, do they even make ice skates in tiny sizes?  Well yes, it turns out they do.

 

Henry and Milly were also keen to have a go at ice skating, so while I supervised Buster at the party, Michael supervised the other two.  There were frames for the beginners to lean on and skate with until they gained their balance.  So off they went.

 

It wasn't long before Milly had ditched her frame and was skating freely around the rink.  Henry followed not long after.  Buster didn't want to give his frame up. He said he could skate faster and with his eyes closed if he had the frame. Not sure ice skating with your eyes closed is a good idea, but Buster does like to add his own style to anything he does.  Danger is his middle name.

Buster and Milly

There is something about these two when they get together.  It's either fireworks with both yelling at that the other is a chatterbox, a bully or a meanie.  Or there is a beautiful kinship where playfulness and nurturing are the norm.  There are a lot of similarities in their personalities and it can be quite funny to watch sometimes, as Buster is not afraid of confronting Milly.  Yet every now and then Milly likes to mother him and he loves this type of attention and time she spends with him.

Brown belt

 

 

 

Book Week

Let me introduce you to this year's chosen characters for Book Week - Robecca Steam from Monster High and Steve from Minecraft. 

Things Milly says #11

On Monday Milly is getting an award at the big assembly at school.  It's a Bronze Award and signifies that she has received a total of 100 merit cards acknowledging her good work and behaviour.

Milly:  Dadda, I'm getting a big award at school on Monday.  Can you come to my coronation?

Blocks

 

The most played with toy in our house are these Lego Quatro blocks.  Recommended age on the box is 1-3, which is way outside our current age grouping of 4-9.  The creative play these blocks deliver in our household is priceless.  I'm sure these were a gift to Henry for his first Christmas or his first birthday.  Either way they really are the gift that keeps on giving.

 

The kids aren't allowed to watch TV in the morning on school days, so we often find them playing blocks together while breakfast is being made.  I've noticed they don't individually play with the blocks, they always play as a group.  They make people out of their blocks, and the blocks go to school or have sleepovers and parties.  Play is largely dictated by Milly, which generally works as Henry is happy to play along.  However, Buster is more like his sister and likes to do his own thing, so doesn't like to be directed in what to do with his blocks.  This quite often sees him excluded by Milly and results in pouts and tears.  After some intervention they are all back playing blocks together.