july-- all in a month's fun

a bit of the quotidien this month

a rainbow in our backyard:

island weather... lots of rain and shine. i love weather and i love living somewhere i get to see rainbows quite often. i would personally never chose to put a big metal shed in the middle of the view.... but i am so grateful to have a big green backyard for liam to play in.  this would be nearly impossible to find or afford in vancouver.

liam has quite the sense of humor and loves to be silly ( esp with papa). he started imitating his talking bear from nana... "nana loves you" and laughing with glee. super cute :)

liam's creche celebrated matariki with a family lunch... was just as we were beginning to really plan the benefit gala i chose to co- chair and i took the chance to "network" with some of the parents... haha. scored a bach getaway for the auction and lined up a bread donation from one of the best bakeries in town. wohoo! ;)

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/matariki-maori-new-year

i love that the maori culture and language is taught as part of the curriculum in the schools here. very cool.

 it's a big thing here for the kiddos to get a "fluffy" when their parents get coffees.. the coffee culture is quite serious - the flat white is my perfect coffee. this was liam's first fluffy... i held off as long as possible- they are usually served with sprinkles or a shake of choco powder and lollies - but a naked one is just steamed milk and usually pretty cheap. it's a nice way to include the little ones in the ritual :)

i gave liam some dulce de leche ice cream- his dad's favorite- and i asked him:

"is it too sweet?"

"too sweet"

"are you done then?"

"nope!"

haha. kids can never get enough sweets! i know i was the same..... !

 

liam has become quite the proficient helper! he can help me measure, pour, stir and of course lick the bowl :) think we were making the ubiquitous pumpkin muffin here... pumpkin is a staple in our CSA box and demands to be used somehow! he impressed me by using a kiwi knife (plastic serrated) to cut a banana and add it to his porridge!

when i asked him if he wanted to have waffles and ice cream for dinner he exclaimed with serious concern: "nooooooooo! it will make us sick!" haha. job well done ;)

 

we took liam to a kid friendly exhibition at the city gallery.... a korean artist  sueng yul oh

http://www.citygallery.org.nz/exhibitions/seung-yul-oh-moamoa-decade

was really cool and i would love to do more things like that with liam. looking forward to travel in december... all new museums and zoos in sydney and melbourne!

he drew papa a yellow circle. first circle i have seen  :)

 

and also getting more and more creative, liam's latest zoo: quite a pretty fantasy

 

last but not least our friend tom ( henry joan's dad) celebrated his 40th birthday at the end of july.  HJ and liam had a play at ours while the party was getting set up. the party was at the surf club and was great fun. at tom's request i made a flan chococake- a layer of cake topped with flan! pretty decadent all right.

intimidating strathmore biker gang

the kids impatiently waiting

and the end of the day as we left the party.... really, doesn't it just take your breath away? i am in love


competative games are coming more and more into play.... "i'm the winner and you are the leader!" haha. sure it won't stay that way ;)
we started a car game: spot the cab! after our aukland trip. we took a bunch of cabs there and now liam spots them from the car window and calls out the colors of the different companies.

dinos are still number one... liam sang a version of old macdonald with only dinosaurs and here he made an "alienasuarus" i think that's pretty clever. he makes lots of words replacing syllables with "saurus" and has made songs with rhyming lyrics! wish i had made a note of what they were....

liam's play has become more imaginative in general with more connections. he told me that light blue is morning blue :) but dark blue is his favorite.

we have lost the bibby and the booby. by the end of july liam is asking me what words start with a lot... especially people's names. i am in no rush for liam to learn to read but it is exciting for me to realize that child led really works.. it just happens... and you just make sure help support where they want to go :)