is this 'ink?

Raf has an unusual way of expressing colours. Instead of saying the word 'blue', say, he prefers to use the name of a train that is the colour blue. So, blue is 'Gord(on)', red is 'James', green is 'Hen(ry)' or 'perc(y)', purple is 'Charlie', black is 'Mav(is)' or 'Deise(l)', brown is '(d)uke', yellow is 'Moll(y)', and so forth.

But since we don't have a pink train, pink is 'ink'. Sometimes we play a game were I go through the pages of a colour book and say 'is this pink/red/blue/etc' and we all have a fun time saying 'noooooooo' (such a toddler favourtie). Tonight Raf took the lead and went through the book saying 'is ink?'. He was so proud of himself for being a jokester and making us all laugh.

Funny boy.

A kiss, A kiss.

Raf has always been a big snuggler but lately he has been even more cuddly. What a nice treat for us as I know this won't last too much longer.

When he really wants a kiss and a cuddle, he exclaims, "a kiss, a kiss".

There's not a time I can resist this. So in the middle of the night, when I'm pretending to be asleep and he's woken up to 'play', he'll suddenly say, "a kiss", and I've not yet discovered the discipline to keep on pretending to be asleep. Instead I roll over and give him a big cuddle. In the middle of dinner this happens, too, and, once again, we always get up and go over and give him a kiss. Dinners can take a while.

Gym Class.

So much for our new year's resolution to be better bloggers! We're still very busy with the move and with my mum visiting, though we're settling in very nicely and Raf loves having his Nana here. One of the first things Raf says in the morning, before we head downstairs, is "where Nana"? In fact he says this a lot whenever she is out of sight. I think Raf thinks that Nana is now a permanent fixture of the household, so it's going to be a very sad day when she returns home. Being in the States, Raf sees very few of our family. In fact Mum and Dad have been the only family to visit since Raf was born and it's very regrettable to me that Raf doesn't see or have any regular contact with any of his other close relatives. This seems even sadder now that we've lost Raf's Papa, though we're glad that Mum is planning on coming back, hopefully, for his birthday.

But, that is months away, and today we took Raf to his first gymnastics class. Let me say that I had very high hopes for today, and I was in fact very excited about taking Raf to this class as he loves to tumble and climb and jump...

I should have predicted that after a difficult morning trying to get Raf dressed and his teeth brushed that he was not in the most cooperative of moods. Indeed he was outright oppositional! This is actually not the norm for Raf, though perhaps it is our emerging reality, but when we were in the car leaving for the gym we were all feeling stressed and sad and teary. I wasn't my best parent self on the way in the car, and I am guessing this didn't help prepare Raf for what was coming.

He was actually excited to be there, and though he wasn't happy about leaving his crocs outside (he is somewhat attached to those shoes right now), he was chomping at the bit to get into the actual gym. Well, 2 minutes into the class we realised that this would be tough going. Raf was taking absolutely NO notice of 'Coach Dan', and while every other single child followed happily long, Rich and I, slightly mortified, were trying to stop Raf making an escape for the big boy/girl apparatus.

He did have a ton of fun on the different 'stations', with lots of jumping, climbing, and rolling, but as soon as he wanted to do something that he wasn't supposed to he SCREAMED (oh, mercy, did he scream) with snot and tears pouring down his little face. I have to admit that I felt increasingly mortified by Raf's lack of 'obedience', and tried my best not to feel like a failed parent because our kiddo was the only one not playing along. Lots and lots of screaming and crying with every little setback, made for an exhausting time, and honestly, even though he had a lot of fun it was a bit of a nightmare.

The truth is we want Raf to be curious and to walk to his own beat, but in these situations it can be a wee bit stressful and I did find myself wishing he would be a bit more cooperative.

Catch-up

We have all been so busy, but I thought I'd do a quick pop-in to update.

There have been some firsts, and also some sad realizations that Raf has stopped - or almost stopped - doing certain things.

Amongst the things he's started:

1) He had his first proper play-date with his old school friend, Sawyer, a couple of weeks ago. It was a lovely time, and very nice to spend time with Sawyer's mum.

2) He's started pouting quite a bit, and looking absolutely forlorn when there's something he's unhappy about.

3) He's saying so many new words and putting lots together.

4) He's discovered Kipper! This is a lovely little cartoon and his nana says he likes it because Raf is a 'gentle soul', and also that it's teaching him good manners!

5) He has started his nanny share with his friends Nico and Rosa. While we do miss his lovely old school and all his wonderful teachers, this is working out really well. I will have to write much more about this very soon.

6) With more clarity in his speech, comes the realization that he knows so many things! I was so surprised that he knows lots of colours. Mind you, instead of saying the name of the colour, he often prefers to call the colour by the name of a train it corresponds to. Instead of red, for instance, it's 'James', and instead of black it might be 'diesel' or 'Mavis'. This might be my fault as I keep asking him which train is red/yellow/green/etc.

7) He's started to wear hats and gloves... phew.

There are a few things he's doing less, and it reminds us that he is such a big boy now....

1) He's stopped, for the most part, lying on Rich to get to sleep.

2) He's stopped eating vegetables (let this please be temporary), though he has started to eat brown sauce with his new spoon.

... I had a long list in my head but it must be getting late so I'll have to update this when I can think of some more.

Bits and Bobs

Busy times here in the Poppet household. We were of course very busy having just returned from Spain and then straight into a move followed by Christmas. We're still not properly settled in to the house, and tomorrow we're planning on a trip to Ikea to collect some bookcases, and so on. Wish us luck. We're all going down and we've hired a trailer...!

Hopefully once we get pictures up and books in bookcases, and more, we'll feel more settled in - but even so we are loving it here. We've been enjoying the trails and beach and Raf loves his room with his trains all set out. That said, he now has a huge collection of wooden train track downstairs and lots of trains to accompany it. Indeed the living room is one big train track. Luckily we discovered a really super train shop which carried second hand wooden Thomas track and trains. Today we snagged 8 wooden trains for $15 and tons of track for $12. Raf was in his element.

To catch-up on the week:

1) Raf started with his new nanny, Dani, last week. We were apprehensive since he loved his school but he really is a flexible little fellow and has adapted really well. We're doing a nanny share with some friends of ours, and he's already become fast friends with Rosa and Nico. He especially enjoys chatting with Nico in their own little language.

2) I had my first proper night away from Rafi on Thursday. I went away for a work retreat and was gone for 2 days. He did just fine without me! I was a little bit excited to sleep in my own bed on my own but the truth is I slept TERRIBLY because Raf is always right next to me. I think I missed him more than he missed me.

3) Raf also returned to Music Together on Friday. He had a terrible first experience when he was about 15 months, and we ended up withdrawing him and postponing enrollment. Yesterday was his first time. Very sadly I missed it (silly work) but he had a lovely time. Hopefully Rich will write more about that.

4) Raf is having a fine time with Nana. Nana spoils him rotten and he thoroughly enjoys it. When I was 5 a grumpy old lady commented to my dad that I was very spoilt. My dad responded, 'oh, don't worry, she thoroughly enjoys being spoilt'. That will be rejoinder should I ever need it.

Marching band

This evening we had a lot of pre-bath fun playing marching bands. Quite impromptu, as it happens, as Raf popped this drum over his head and used his glockenspiel sticks to beat it as he marched up and down the hallway, insisting that I march with him whilst whistling the recorder. Soon Rich had joined us - Rich utilizing Raf's new train whistle (thanks Aunty Alice and Uncle Christian), and then we managed to even get mum up the stairs to join us on the tamborine. Up and down the hallway we all went, looking like complete lunatics with our instruments - but Rafi had a super time! Sadly I didn't get a picture or film of us all marching, but I did get one of Raf who would have marched all night had we let him.

A New Year

Hurray for a new year! Perhaps the only good thing about this past year is Poppet himself. Two has been a fantastic age, and as I said to mum and Rich last night, I think this age - two and a half - is my very favourite age so far. I did love it when Raf was 15 months, too, but he is such a little boy now and I just love spending time with him.

Just recently, Raf's speech has exploded! We're so happy that he's doing so well. He's putting words together much more consistently and seeming to understand lots more, too. I sort of miss the grunting and hand signals (though he does continue with his finger pointing, etc). We're really proud of him.

The other highlight is our new home. Rafi has already adjusted really well to his new pad. It likely helps that he sleeps with us - but he loves his new bedroom (well, playroom), which is really big and comfortable. He gets to look out the window into the front garden and enjoys, very much, looking for Daddy as he drives up in his car. "Daddy's car", accompanied with a vigiorous pointing of the finger, signal the return of Rich. Raf also likes the downstairs of the house, which is very open plan. There's a cloakroom which divides the space, somewhat, and Raf has tremendous fun running around being chased by either me or Rich.

The very sad thing about our new house, though, is that Raf has left his beloved nursery. One of the reasons we moved was to cut down dramatically on my commute. Well, this we managed but the consequence is that we live too far away for Raf to attend his lovely school. We're hoping we can make it work logistically when Raf heads to preschool. In new adventures, we're doing a nanny share with Raf's little friends' Rosa and Nico, which should be a blast, too.

In other news, Raf seems to have two major passions:

1) trains - specifically Thomas. He's especially enamored with the Diesel trains - particularly Mavis, which mum managed to buy him a few days ago. His collection is getting so big, and he was a lucky boy to receive so many trains from Father Christmas (aka us, mum, my sisters, and Lou). Indeed he keeps getting bought them... (naughty Nana!)

2) Music - playing it, dancing to it, singing to it. For Christmas we bought him a big organ. Though it is a big boy present, he loved playing the piano when at nursery, and since we definitely don't have the room or budget for a full piano, this seemed like a good option. He really loves it! It has lots of extra features which provide background beats and all sorts of hip hop effects (he loves dance music and hip hop, especially!) Here he is practicing his singing, dancing, and music creating!