We met up with Dan and Kalara, Bruce and Karen and Grandma Randall in Caloundra early in the month for lunch beside the beach. The next weekend, Jon was working Friday night and all Saturday (for CMI, not sound work), and we had another picnic with Dan and Kalara and friends on the Sunday. This past weekend we had a BBQ at church to welcome home a family who has been doing missions work in Thailand. And this coming weekend we will be having a picnic in Wynuum with Uncle Jono and Grandma Sheehy. Good times!
Jonathan has been kept very busy with his work (over)load. He works for two departments, is covering some of the work of a colleague on leave, as well as some other responsibilities on the side, so he has been doing extra hours throughout the month to try and get on top of it all. He is looking forward to things hopefully settling down a little in another week or so with the return of said colleague, so that he can try to clear all the urgent things off his plate and make headway on projects that keep getting pushed aside.
My days have been longer with Jon gone the extra hours, but I feel I have made a lot of headway with the various projects that have been piling up around home for me. Decluttering and organising has certainly featured in my month, and I even cleaned my fridge (Have I cleaned it since Caleb was born?? Jonathan says it just goes to show how unimportant cleaning a fridge is. Hmmmm.).
I have been surprised and impressed with Abigail's reading progress (we are using a book called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - a well reviewed book in homeschooling circles; it certainly is very easy to use). She has currently learnt the sounds a, e, i, o , th, r, m, s, d, t, and c. Her latest lesson ended with her reading This cat is sick. This cat is sad. I am so proud of her. It is certainly a privilege and a marvel to journey with her in this world of the written word.
Standing on her hands while walking her feet up the fridge has been Sarah's recent novelty. Recently and unexpectedly, near the start of a meal, Sarah thanked me with a lovely smile for the 'good food', and she has continued to do this regularly at dinner meals (Abigail follows suit). I have, of course, found this very endearing and wonderful, and also left wondering what prompted it (in the past Jon has encouraged them from time to time to thank me for the food, but this still seems to have come out of the blue). It is funny though when she says it when I know it's a meal she doesn't like (dahl curry, for example. Both girls loved it as babies, but aren't so keen on it these days). I spend so much time cooking and shopping and planning and thinking about food, so it is nice to have appreciation shown, especially from the girls.
Caleb is in that delightful stage where he chows down his food at meal times. Jon and I enjoy watching him (it is a nice contrast to all the times where we have to remind/bribe the girls to get on and eat their food). Climbing, jumping into the pool, and throwing a ball back and forth are his current favourite activities. I have decided to start night weaning Caleb. Slowly. But I'm starting to think 3-6 feeds a night is quite unnecessary (okay, okay, I just want a decent night sleep!), even if he is only 15 months old now. So we'll see how that goes.
This month saw us switch to the evening service at church. I have stopped going to MOPS (the girls have never been keen on it, and we weren't happy with having Caleb in care yet), and we've been getting to the church playgroup more regularly. The girls and I dressed up and went out for 'tea' one Sunday (Caleb was in bed; Jon got a break) and Jon took all three to the library another weekend to give me a break. We've continued dinner at the park most weeks, and even did a (very) little geocaching at Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary (after nearly a year off). We are both very much looking forward to an upcoming camping holiday on the Sunshine Coast for some downtime together.
