Nice photos

We took some nice photos of the boys at the Burwood RSL recently. I also have some nice photos of Abbey as a very littley at the Burwood RSL. I was still married to Tinkerbell then. 

Gardening

Mimicking Dad. Very cute.

Chook watching

We are babysitting chooks for a couple of weeks and The Chief  has them fenced in the back garden away from children and puppy.

We never imagined that the level of fascination with the chooks would lead to the invention of a new spectator sport.

Here are Little Miss and Little Monkey lined up at the back fence chook watching!

I must admit I don't much care for chickens, but they do produce some tasty "bok bok num" (eggs). Yes, Monkey's vocab is expanding and we're beginning to form sentances. We have:

"ho ho esh" (Xmas stocking)

"draw tu" (I've drawn where I should not have - pronounced tu(ck) with a silent ck)

"yummy dere" (give me the food that's over there)

"poo in dere" (that one's a no brainer)

"aa-a giu" (puppy get out)

And it looks like chikey is learning the language. He's becoming very vocal and almost walking. Then he has become very handy with that little finger. It stuffs food in the gob and points to that which his little heart desires. I like that little finger - I just want to bite it off and eat it!

Little Gremins

They are so cute yet so annoying. At least I can get photos of them all together now.

I was just observing the other day how many adorable and funny things Little Monkey does, but unfortunately, most of them are small and insignificant and forgotten about as soon as we've stopped laughing. It was the same with Little Miss. I always commented that you could not pay for entertainment like she could provide. 

There are however two cute recent stories:-

The boys have this party bag plastic recorder. When Monkey and Miss blow into it, it makes this horrendous high pitched squeal. Chicky is too young to understand the workings of a wind instrument, so when he is given the recorder, he puts it to his lips and makes the squealing noise with his voice. 

The other day in the backyard, after being told "no" by his father, Monkey went to find his fold-out lounge which was outside and threw himself on it to have a nice, comfortable tanty.

And you have Monkey's personal vocabulary which brings both regular joy and frustration. We have "Aaah giu!" (get out dog) and "Poo in dere" (I'll give you three guesses) and "Shhh! (finger on nose in a quasi correct gesture for silence) Dadda" (Baby is sleeping).

Then there is the time when Little Miss (@5yo) went looking for nature but only found trees. I'll leave The Chief to post about that one as I don't recall the incident (*prods Dad*).

Actually Little Miss is still good for a laugh.

It's also terribly cute the way the boys try to look after one another. Sometimes I'll make Monkey a meal and find it has been fed to Chicky.

Citrus Food

My poor neglected blog. It's been sooo long since my last post that I feel I should attend confession before continuing here.

And so much has been changing with the kids, particularly Chicky.

Little Miss is a bee's dick off 8 and becoming even more articulate. She is also developing an interest in reading which is wonderful. She's still good for a laugh too. The other day (ok, a couple of weeks ago) I had the "It's raining men" tune running through my head. 

It's raining men, hallejulah. 

It's raining man, amen.

After singing the chorus a few times Little Miss intercedes :- "Man, that must hurt!"

Monkey has been a total pain in the arse. Mummy obsessed; clings to me like a beep beep turd. His non verbal communication has improved but still not his speech. His latest contribution to the plight of my own amusement is the cockroach story, and boy have we milked that one.

"So how about the cockroach then..."

"Oooo!" [points to ceiling] [gobbledy goop] "tuck" (with a silent ck)

Chicky is pulling himself up onto everything (particularly me) and beginning to cruise. He now has 7 teeth and is so cute and yummy I think we'll have to eat him for Christmas dinner. Still stinks though.

Bwahahahahah

For almost seven years my world has incessantly echoed with 

"Mum.

Mum.

Mum.

Mum."

And now for some time in duplicate. ARRRRRGGGG!

Dad on the other hand has been longing to hear that sweet word (Dad) from his beloved son.

But finally is wait hath ended. Yes, that's right folks. Yesterday, I heard that wonderous chorus

"Dad.

Dad.

Dad.

Dad."

and I pissed myself laughing. And now the onslaught begins.

Growing up fast

Chicky has learned a few new very tricks recently.
He sits unaided when placed in seated position.
He's almost crawling. He does move forward but it's more of a drag and/or a lunge than a crawl.
And... He opens and closes his hands saying "tiao" (as opposed to ciao). This is his favourite trick at the moment. He's extremely cute when he does it. Unfortunately I think he's teething again, so he's been not so cute much of the rest of the time.

Monkey's comprehension is astounding. For a kid who's vocabulary consists of:
yum
Mum
giu (outside)
esh (shoes)
dadda (baby and just about everything else)
he does amazingly on the comprehending and following instructions front.

Little Miss seems to have had a bit of a step forward also. Her vocab and comprehension is awesome, she seems taller and can occupy herself more easily. She has certainly taken on the role of mother hen. Still throwing the odd super tantrum and is still eating like a pig. At least it seems the total unwillingness to handwrite is not uncommon.

At Woodstock

Here are the kids at the park. The boys were cute sharing a swing. Little Miss took Monkey down the big kids' slide. He nearly shat himself at first but got over it. She really is a wonderful big sister. Perhaps that's why he's sliding down on his own now.

Status Report

Well, Chicky has had a busy time. Here he is waiting to go into surgery to have his blood blister-gone-wrong cauterized. What a drama for a tiny little sore. He is almost crawling, trying to pull himself up onto his feet, is mostly over his reflux, looks to be developing asthma, has sprigged two top teeth and generally likes a good whinge.

Little Monkey went down the slide at the park all on his own today. Am so proud.

Our tabby cat still looks like a boy but is growing up. Have I mentioned that she is sprouting pubes? I shouldn't laugh but it's so funny! My little baby has pubes and a boy friend. Seems it's now official, Cassius and Abs have sealed their relationship with a kiss.

Cool Kids

This was cute. Little Miss opened this packet of Wiggles biscuits which conveniently contained these letters (and a few extra extraneous ones).

Woah!

So, I'm in the kitchen giving Mr. 19 months a sweet potato chip when I hear a blood curdling scream from Mr. 7 months in the lounge room. What has happened? Is he hurt? No, he just witnessed me handing over the chip to his brother. Fixed the problem with a second chip for the green eyed monster. Oh my god, who would have expected THAT reaction from a baby!

Guilty as charged

Here is Chicky Licky after having stolen a sausage from Zia. The little bugger ate a nice chunk of it too. This kid wants meat!

Braaaaains!

Brain rot.

A common symptom of motherhood. 

I have been desperately staving off mental atrophy over the last 2 years but alas, I feel I will soon throw up my hands and submit to the inevitable. No time or money to indulge the brain. (Sorry brain). Fuck motherhood is boring! And those who disagree can remember this -- this is my frigging blog and while everyone else is entitles to their own opinion, they are equally entitled to keep those opinions to themselves.

Bad to the bone

This morning my little boy gave me his shoes, I told him he needed socks.  He then handed me socks and insisted I put his shoes on him.  

Once shod he fetched his coat grabbed my hand and dragged me outside so he could ride his trike.

The photo says it all.

My sandwich!

I was particularly amused by Chicky Licky's (now 6 months old) attempt to appropriate his father's sandwich on the weekend. Dad was holding Mr Wriggly whilst eating his lunch when suddenly it was seized unexpectedly. He didn't manage to sink his two little teeth into it, but the whole experience did seem to excite the little tyke. Was very funny to watch.

And today, the other one was being terribly cute when, after wiping his hands with a wet-wipe, he coughed into it (I guess that's what you do with one.. he must have seen someone cough into a tissue!) and then.. wait for it.. threw it away. Into the bin. Without being asked. Holy smoking assholes Batman! After Little Miss Destructo, it's a bloody shock to have a kid who is learning to clean up after himself. Gotta love our little mimicker. 

Also so terribly cute, and so terribly gay, Little Sir was parading around in sunglasses with a bag hanging on the crook of his arm. He was so pleased with himself too.

Meanwhile, Little Miss Destructo is back at school, still has an ear infection and has actually grown out of her size 6 clothes. She is well and truly into size 8s. They're not so cute at 8, although the lovey-dovey thing she has going on with Cass is rather amusing. 

Abigail and Cassius sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G. (Heeheehee)

Neat Freak at 18 months'!

I was organising Little Monkey' s room and putting toys away into a toy basket. So what does my neat freak son do? He takes the toys out of his play tent one at a time and puts them away into the toy basket. Fuck me dead. Little Miss won't even do that now at 7.5 without major bribery or coercion.

Almost forgot..

The Captain is rolling. And how could I forget? Can't keep him on his back for longer than nanoseconds.

I feel pretty

For some reason this photo reminded me of Brnadon Lee in The Crow.

Jigga, jigga, jigga

Bounce, bounce, bounce.

Hey, this is great. Wait, I think I'm going to puke. Blek... Splat! That's better.

Jigga, jigga, jigga.

Little Monkey

Our little monkey has advanced to climbing the furniture rather than the mamma monkey. What a joy that development is. That and attacking his little brother. I wish to state here for the reference of all progeny -- I'm oh so sick of peeling the little monster off the baby. Can't wait until The Captain can retaliate (was that sarcasm.. perhaps, perhaps not. Works both ways).

Toothbrush in my...

"Mum, Daniel's put your toothbrush half way up my bum". 

Really, what comment is worthy here...?

Gummy no more

Our little fatso cut his first tooth, presumably over the weekend while his rother was in hospital. And for those who wish to know, he IS a little fatso weighing at just short of 9 kg. Despite the teething, it seems The Captain was in a splendid mood and up to his usual giggling fits. Good on ya kid!

Our sick little boy

Was in surgery for an abscess in the throat at 2am Saturday morning. Poor little fellow. Has a puppy in his foot and isn't able to walk at all; mostly too trashed to run around anyway. Westmead Children's hospital is fantastic (as far as a public hospital goes in particular).

Scout camp

Here we are at the region gathering. It was wet. It was muddy. It was fun though. Who would have guess Abbey has a fascination with fire! She did the mud course, but chickened out of abseiling. he boys stayed with my folks, and of was re-establishing a routine a lot of fun. The pain after camp causes one to wonder if the break away for the dirty little monsters was worth it :(

Teething, talking and flying

I find it curious that Mr 1.5 and Little Miss 7.5 are both sprouting molars at the same time. Teething is a lot of fun isn't it folks?

I also find it curious that B1 and B2 are both talking -- of sorts. B1 was heard saying "open" and "over there", and I heard quite a clear "out". B2 is, of course, just making baby sounds.

Ans most curious of all is B2's new arm flapping trick. Looks as if he's trying to fly. Very cute really.

Growing up

The boys are growing up; sometimes too fast and sometimes not fast enough.
Daniel is saying half words (mostly names) and those of us who heard it swear we heard him answer over there whilst pointing when asked Where is Nonno?
Sebastian is rolling over from front to back quite easily, but then he's been able to roll now and then even as a very little bub.
Abbey is being Abbey. I need to make myself a sign as a note to self:
What do you get when you argue with an idiot?

A smile makes the differenceh

No matter what happens, a smile makes it all worthwhile. The captain in a jovial mood.

Sleep

1. to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake.

2. an act undertaken simultaneously whilst feeding a baby (particularly one with smellypants)

Just wanted to note down the definition in case we forget it's meaning.. something we are certainly at risk of doing.

That's better

A far better pic of the three stoogers. This was on Mothers Day. They are a pain in the bum, but oh so cute.

17052008029

I been screaming all day. Play ball daddy?

Captain Smellypants

The Captain in growing up. He's been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now, and earlier this week he tasted his first solids (banana).

Astronomy night

Took Abbey to the UWS observatory and we all got to see Saturn through an electronic telescope. It was amazing. The image was so sharp it looked like someone had dodgied the picture.

Officer Rumble on duty

A fascination with handcuffs.. I wonder where she got that from?

What a naughty, naughty bear!

Then there were three

Some of the only photos of the three little darlings together.

Legacy Cover girl

An early start to anzac day distributing rosemary for legacy had Abby being photographed for their magazine.

Abbey's Lego house

Hey, what an accomplishment. This was put together by the kid with the attention span of a knat. She followed the instructions step by step and completed the kit. Well done kiddo!

Rumble-Ball family blog

The big guy has started a family blog where relatives can gawp at photos without my witty repartee. http://rumballfamily.blogspot.com/

Today

Two remarkable things happened today.

First, I caught our littlest one smiling in his sleep. He has been smiling and even laughing for a couple of weeks now, but it's nice to know he is even content in his sleep.

Secondly, I was reminded today that not all people are scum sucking arseholes, and that a smile and manners goes a long way. I asked a woman (a complete stranger) for directions to the station whilst lost in Penrith, and not only did I get directions, but also a lift to the station where I found a train to Strathfield waiting (just for me). Perhaps not a big deal, but this act made my day a whole lot better.

All growed up now!

The day they can sit in a normal chair, and feed themselves is incredible... now if only we had real food and not McDonalds!

A noisy family

The Captain is beginning to vocalise and yap away to anyone willing to have a chat "Awoo, awoo.."
B1 has taken to singing in a monotone "Naii, naii, naii.."
and Little Miss Sunshine holds the belief that she is, in fact, Little Miss Chatterbox.

Time to invest in some ear "warmers".

Daniel

Sebie

Pic of The Captain (or Sebie as suggested by Sam Ings).
He has his Mum's eyes. Wish he'd return them (haahaa).

Wait! Everyone tilt their heads to the left.

Test Photo

A test photo from my new phone.

Lego mania

A Lego Darth Vader. How cool.

It was on this same outing, whilst in the tunnels under the QVB, that Little Miss enquired "Mum, are we under the Earth's crust?".

Not quite as good as that infamous trip to the Power House Museum. After an onslaught of "What's this?"questions, we walked past the plastic injection moulder. Little Miss (5 at the time) casually observed "ahh, that's a brain sucker."

One for me...

And one for the dog. Yummy!

Manual labor

It's been a long time coming.. at least 5 years now, but finally Jack can claim to be taller than I and hence has been asked to "start sweeping baby".

Days to pine for

So I find myself brain dead again and staring at my Gmail account (again) noticing that noone loves me (again). Have to send an e-mail. What do I do? Hit "c" for compose..
Wow... that was a blast from the past... what do they call that? An old muscle memory? Not quite.
Anyway, that was from old pine days (hence days to pine for.. get it? Haa, ha. Never mind).
That was a lifetime ago!

Nom de plume

I was thinking it might be cool to have a nom de plume for my blog a little in the vein of that of erotic writer Violet Blue.
I was thinking Safety-vest Orange, as a warning to all who come near.

So is that what happens when I post without a title.

Everybody panic!
I've run out of chocolate.

The Easter horde

Little Miss with the chocolate horde from Easter.

Good god my mobile takes some crappy photos.

The Captain

The Captain with Nonno.
Ok, so it's blurry. You try getting the little bastard to keep still!

Sniff, sniff... what's that? Is that the scent of dirty nappies?
Ahh, smells like home.

Meet the Rumballs

In order of height (and possibly potency of stench):

- The Furball
- Captain Smellypant (B2)
- Young Master Ball (B1)
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Muuuuum!
- The Chief Horticulturist

What a mob.

How green is my cactus

God's help

I've always firmly believed that God helps those who help themselves, particularly as it is also my belief that God is the figment of some demented idiot's imagination. It seems B2 (aka micro-B aka Captain Smellypants) shared my philosophy as he helped guide a bottle randomly flapping outside his gob into the enthusiastically sucking said gob. Or perhaps it was the hand of God.

Helping with the washing

Mum: taa
B1: taa
Mum: taa
B1: taa ta
Mum: ta ta ta
B1: ta ta
Mum: taa
B1: ah ta

It's always good to have a stimulating chat!

The Zombie Lurch

B1 has now been walking for 2 weeks and has mastered the zombie lurch.
BRAINS!!!

The Mood Gym

Why settle for only a mood swing when you can have the whole play gym!
The joys of being female.

April Fool

The first day of the rest of my blogging life. Fitting it should be today.
Ah yes, here it is April 1.