To Be Young

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

There is no end to the imagination and excitement of these two. I can't remember having even a fraction of their energy!


Cops and robbers is the newest game in this house but the younger Kirkham boy is the one with the most dramatic response to a shoot-out.

Specs McKirkham

Ben's glasses haven't slowed him down a bit! He puts them on first thing in the morning and plays with them some during the day, but otherwise they stay put until bedtime. His teacher today said he sat still for the first time during story time so apparently being able to see the book is much more entertaining! Hopefully his life just got a lot better. We still need to go back for an adjustment to keep the glasses from slipping but otherwise they appear to be perfect for him.

The guys went boating together at the playground last week.

Captain Alex is ready to go!

These boys manage to find water anywhere. This fountain is in Perth city (where we ventured Saturday to spend $15 on Welch's grape jelly, but it was oh so worth it...this blackcurrant stuff is not the same) and since I only had one change of clothes for the train ride home, Ben got the dry shorts and Alex got the shirt. Since people ride this commuter train barefoot and in bikinis during the summer, I didn't figure my half-naked kids would cause too much of a stir. Turns out the train was packed with people going to the AC/DC concert so we were definitely not the ones raising eyebrows.

Now that Ben can see more, he's helping Alex make more of a mess than ever. They found my extra makeup stash and Ben was thoughtfully applying lip gloss to Alex's mouth. I'm pretty sure it was mostly going on his tongue since it was peppermint flavored.

We had a picnic by the beach on Sunday and wheeled the kids down the street in the wagon...great fun!

The ocean was so calm it was more like a lake. We even saw a black swan...maybe he got the beach confused with the river?

There is a Sculpture by the Sea event going on at the moment. The people watching was much more entertaining thanthe big structures they hauled out to our otherwise lovely beach. Maybe I just don't get it, but I would call a lot of them eyesores. And most were for sale at prices starting around $5,000....I think we'll pass this year...

Extreme Makeover

There's only so much you can do to change the image of a 3-year old boy but we did it all today. Here is Ben's before:

And after:

We got him a good haircut and a great new pair of glasses (spectacles here, although that sounds a little old for him) and that really changed his sweet little face. He looks so much older already! We've been talking about getting his new glasses for a week now and I was really curious to see how he would react. The lady that helped us today explained to Ben that his glasses would sleep in their case next to his bed every night, then she gave him a little bag of "goodies" with the case and cleaner and wipes. About 10 minutes later at another store, I watched Ben take off his glasses and carefully fold them up, then wish them good night and tuck them into their case. I thought things weren't going well. I didn't want to push him today because I'm sure it's disorienting to be getting glasses for the first time but as soon as we got home he pulled his glasses back out and put on his favorite 3-D glasses, too. That may be a bit of overkill but it's making him happy and his real glasses have been on ever since. Hopefully he's seeing a big improvement in his vision with these glasses!

They haven't changed the attitude, though!

This little boy cracks me up!

And not to be left out...little monkey kept saying "cheese! smile!"

Update: As I was posting this, I noticed an odd squeaky noise upstairs. Ben was "cleaning" his glasses and putting them away. Somehow they ended up dirtier than they started. This could get challenging!

Motherhood

It's a tough job. It's being on call every waking minute (and some extra waking minutes overnight when needed) 365 days a year to little people that don't understand you used to have a life of your own. The details and to-do lists and tedium can be overwhelming some days. I've learned to appreciate things like 30 seconds of peace to use the bathroom alone or eating my meal while it's still warm instead of begging two little people to eat theirs.

But then I read a blog like this (www.laylagrace.org) and suddenly my head is clear. The fact the my boys can fight means they're physically healthy. The fact that they can yell "no" and ask 1,000 questions a day means they can hear and talk and learn and wonder. The fact that they won't go more than 5 minutes without asking what I'm doing means they love me and enjoy my company. And the real truth is that even while I'm dying for a little time to myself sometimes, my life would be incredibly empty without them and their hugs and kisses and leg-dragging affection. I cannot imagine what Layla's family is going through right now watching their 2-year old succumb to cancer but I'm praying for them and thanking God for our abundant blessings.

Mandurah

Today is Labour Day (yes, that's the correct spelling here and no, I don't use "ou" for colour, favour, or any other words since I'm still American) so we had a 3-day weekend. We took another trip out of town to check out Mandurah, a great town just over an hour south of Perth. It's been so nice to be able to drive and get out of town after two years of living on a tiny island nation and having to fly everywhere.

The boys had a busy day Friday getting ready. They washed their cars and Ben was busy drying his while Alex figured out the finer details of the drain. After I walked inside to put the camera away all those toys on the ground disappeared into that drain...will that ever lose its excitement? (but luckily my skinny arms can reach down to the water level to fish them out)

Afterward, the guys warmed up in a nice bath. It does amaze me that it can be 102F outside and any wind can make your wet skin cold pretty quickly because the humidity is so low. Total opposite of Houston where you can pour sweat for hours and feel hotter.

Then they had to play with boxes while I packed their bags. Ben filled his box with every toy from his room determined to take them to the hotel but I finally convinced him that we weren't staying in a hotel just to play with toys. But to all new moms or moms-to-be out there: yes, all you really need to give your kids are boxes. don't bother with the toys!

We woke up Saturday morning and wandered down to Mandurah, then had a nice lunch at a cafe off the river. It was a HOT day so we didn't explore the foreshore as much as I would have liked.

Ben was waiting anxiously for his food to arrive. You can see the brilliant aqua water over his shoulder. I didn't get a good picture but Mandurah is on a river and criss-crossed with canals so all the beautiful water made for great scenery.

We spent the afternoon in the pool cooling off (no camera, though) and Ben and Alex both had a terrific time. They jumped and splashed and played until they couldn't move any more which would explain why we saw this in the backseat after 5 minutes of driving:


On Sunday morning we hit the beach first thing. The sand was darker here but the water was still clear and we chose this beach since it barely had waves. Ours is the blue tent in the middle. The beach did fill up a little more by mid-day but can you believe this is the crowd on a holiday weekend? No US beach would be this empty.

Alex crammed as much watermelon as possible into that big mouth.

Ben and Daddy spent a long time working on a sand castle.

I finally got Alex to give in and take a nap in the tent! It took a lot of crying but he finally wore himself out and gave up. I love sleeping at the beach and have always hoped we could teach the kids to nap out there, too!

I watched several pelicans floating and fishing.

These two were diving together.

Ben with the finished masterpiece.

Nice work, Daddy!

But what's more fun that a beach? Or even a great box? A bucket full of water.

And balloons aren't too shabby, either.

The kids each got one at dinner and it kept them busy (and awake) while Matt and I enjoyed some of the best ribs we've had in years.

Alex and I were up before sunrise this morning so we took a walk along the waterfront to watch the ducks and pelicans.

This guy enjoyed the sunrise with us.

While we were sitting on a dock watching the birds a lone dolphin swam all around us while he was obviously hunting some fish. This was the best picture I got but it was a lot of fun seeing him so close to us for several minutes.

We made it back home before lunchtime with two happy, tired kids. I went to check on Ben as rest time because it was really quiet in his room and this would explain it. He totally passed out on his floor. Rest time works really well for us because I don't ever ask him to sleep anymore but now he usually does fall asleep if he's tired enough but other days just plays for an hour or so.
We got to wrap up a great weekend over dinner with our friend Aaron, in town from Houston for work. It is so wonderful to see old friends from home and get to catch up half a world away.
Thanks, Aaron, for stopping in and bringing treats for everyone!

Glasses

We got an official diagnosis on Ben's eye - severe astigmatism, probably because of his prematurity (contrary to what our family said, but I'm more inclined to believe the pediatric ophthalmologist who sees preemies every day). Looks like that glasses bullet we thought we dodged 3 years ago has come back around! But after reading up on other possibilities of a child's eye suddenly turning, astigmatism is not a big deal.

Here's a good explanation I found online:
Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is shaped more like an Australian Rules football than a spherical tennis ball, which is the normal shape. In most astigmatic eyes, the oblong or oval shape causes light rays to focus on two points in the back of your eye, rather than on just one. This is because, like an Australian rules football, an astigmatic cornea has a steeper curve and a flatter one.

So basically Ben's left eye is getting really confusing images and his brain is basically starting to ignore it and see everything through his good right eye. The muscles aren't working as hard and that's why we're seeing it turn in. To correct the turn and the vision, we'll start with glasses.

Okay, not the 3-D glasses but a real pair. Luckily Ben really likes to wear sunglasses and pretty much anything else on his head so hopefully these will go over well since he'll need to wear them all day. I'm talking them up a lot right now!

And Alex can't get left out of the action:

This is more along the lines of what we've ordered. There is no 1-hour service here so we're expecting them to be done next week sometime. And Ben's will be blue, not pink! They're incredibly flexible and will have plastic lenses so hopefully we'll make it at least a few days before either of the kids destroy them. After he's been wearing them about 6 weeks we'll see the doctor and evaluate his progress then decide if he needs to patch the good eye for a while.

While we're waiting on the big day, we're keeping entertained with all the usual activities. Only now there are two boys raiding our closets for shoes!


And one more cute picture from this morning!

It's weird to be talking about Ben's prematurity again after forgetting it for so long. I really thought we'd made it past all the problems and complications but have been reminded we may see effects for years. I'm thankful all over again for how well Ben has done and for what a healthy and normal little boy he has grown to be. My sister just crossed the 24 weeks and 5 days mark this week in her pregnancy (jump over to her blog if you want to read about it) and it still blows me away at how early Ben was born.

Buddies

These two are quite a pair most days. They're pretty inseparable and are nearly always playing with (or fighting over) toys together. I guess I should call them "mates" since we're in Australia, but whatever you call it I love watching them grow up into friends. My sister and I are two years apart and she is still my best girlfriend, even from 10,000 miles away, and I want so much for these guys to have lifelong friends in one another. Here are their latest addictions - little cars they picked out at the toy library. There was no discussion and has been no fighting over the fact that Ben's is blue and Alex's is red...they seem to go for those colors frequently and when we can find a red something and blue something it works out well.

"cheese!" Ben piled a bunch of junk in the back of his truck "so it would be like Grumpy's". Even at 3 years old he noticed that Grumpy keeps a LOT of stuff in his truck!


Hmm...not sure if he's exceeding the weight limit on the bed of this truck.

And sometimes they do sit down and play together, but about 10 minutes later the playdoh all ended up in the cars.

Of course, not all their interactions are pleasant. Here is the perfect example which I happened to catch while I was trying to get some smiles on camera. Alex was busy pouring water on Ben's head in the bathtub and I think ended up whacking Ben with the cup.

Yep, pretty sure there was some violence involved! But more drama than pain so it was just one of many situations I had to referee for the day. Thank goodness they still don't usually hit or push one another yet, but I know those days are coming.

Alex LOVES corn right now. He won't eat it by hand anymore since he discovered he can eat it straight off the cob and he puts some muscle into it to get every piece.

After he finally quits saying "cheese", you can see how excited this little guy is over some fresh sweet corn.

And later with a full tummy, he was ready to streak around the house a little before getting his pajamas.

Demonstrating his ability to get the door open in 2 seconds flat. Silently. The monitor never picks up his ninja moves in the morning when he wakes up so it's a surprise when he arrives in our room.

The 16th tooth has finally cut through so I think we'll have a reprieve from teething for a while now until the 2-year molars make their debut. Click on the picture to get a good view of all those little teeth.

A couple of days ago we went to an outdoor cafe/playground so the kids could play in a nice, fenced area. Much easier than chasing them in all directions in open playgrounds! Poor Ben and those crossed eyes...we're seeing the pediatric ophthalmologist on Wednesday and I'm anxious to find out what's causing the problem and how we can fix it.


Puppy still goes most places these days. And because of experiences like this, he's going to start getting baths while Ben is at school. He got his first one today and no longer smells like dirt and sweat.

Remember Ben's old shopping cart? He never went anywhere in our old condo complex without it so most people knew his as the "blue cart boy". It's on its last legs so we finally got a second cart and Ben insisted on pushing the new one (and ordered Alex to push the old one, of course) down to the beach last weekend. I think now we can say the cart has been everywhere.

Sweet baby toes in the sand!

And long little boy legs in the sand!

Mmmm...orange juice and milk...together!

Last weekend was the annual swim to Rottnest Island, 19km (11.8 miles) from Cottesloe beach. The swimmers left in 15 minute heats starting at 5:45am and lucky for me, Alex had me up already so we sat out on the porch watching all the action. Notice the helicopter...not for photographs, looking for sharks. Shark sightings aren't uncommon and people have been fatally attacked right out there. Just one more reason for me to sit on the porch and not swim!

Each swimmer has to have a boat accompany him the entire swim in case of emergency so there were tons of boats and kayaks out as well.

About 4 hours later the entire party have moved way off into the distance but most still had a ways to go. The winners made it in about 5 hours but most take around 6. That's a loooong swim!