31/365 – His Mario Headgear

So J saved all of his pennies and eventually just over a week ago he finally had enough to buy the Goomba, (a baddie in Mario), hat. He now wears it constantly!  Obsessed……. well maybe a little but he does look cute

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30/365 They Began This Week – Silent Sunday

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Project 365 Day 29 – Meet Billy Bones

Meet Billy Bones!

J has been fascinated by the human body for about 2 years now and has various books explaining what each organ is, where it is in the body and what it does and so on. A few months ago he started collecting Billy Bones. Each week he gets another body piece and a booklet with various facts in, (J loves his fact books). J is always looking at Billy and then trying to work out where on his body are the bones and organs that Billy has. It’s proving to be quite expensive but he is learning something as he collects each piece/issue. I guess, long-term he’ll may be able to help J when/if he studies Human Biology and of course J loves him!

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28/365 Thank Goodness For Pink Playdough!

This is how I left my little man this morning, happy(ish) with some pink playdough.

(taken with phone whilst escaping, picture quality not great, sorry)

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Perfectly Peaceful Prep……………Almost!

J had his 1st day at Prep yesterday. He started school full-time on Monday but he goes to the ECDP (Early Intervention Centre) at the school on a Monday and Tuesday.  Yesterday Morning J woke up telling me that he didn’t want to go to Prep……. at 5.50am!  Anyhow he waved Daddy off to work and then I asked him what he would like for breakfast.

“Do I have to go Prep if I have breakfast?” was the reply I got. *sigh* not going well.   I explained to him that he would still have to go to Prep and it didn’t matter whether he had breakfast or not, but if he didn’t he might get really hungry whilst he was at school.  He gave in and ate a cereal bar, after which he began whining again. I simply plodded on, brushing his teeth and getting his uniform out for him to put on……… cue meltdown!

I had planned on leaving the house by around 8am so that we could park at the school, that way if the worst happened I wouldn’t have too far to carry him.  I finally got his clothes on him by 8:05 then we had socks and shoes to deal with!

Anyway once he was all dressed with his bag on his back, (Mario bag ofcourse), something inside of him seemed to click, it was like his head had told him “look you’re going to have to go anyway so you might as well just give in, smile and try to have fun”.  He stood at the door posing for photographs, (to show Dad later) and then calmly climbed in the car!

When we arrived at the school we walked around to his classroom, he was quite cautious at first. We put his bag and his lunch away and then he spotted the pink playdough  J’s favourite colour is pink and he is a fan of playdough, as I looked at him I saw a smile appear on his face. After sitting with him for about 5 minutes or so I decided that maybe I should go while he was happy so we had a kiss and a big cuddle, I assured him that I would pick him up later, after lunch and I left.

6 hrs later I returned to pick him up from school and I simply couldn’t believe how good  a day he’d had!  On the way home he had a “moment” in the car because I went around a roundabout! and then another for something else when we got home. He stripped off once again as soon as he got inside the house, (really doesn’t like his uniform) and then spent the entire evening playing on his DS, yelling at me, calling me names like “pooey!” LOL  But for once I didn’t care because he’d had a good day at Prep and I was prepared for whatever he might throw at me. It must be very hard for him to be “well-behaved” and controlled whilst he’s at school, but he did it and so I knew he’d have to release when he’d got home so I was ready.

I’m so grateful that he has the teacher that he has because so far she seems to be very open with her thinking and very understanding and helpful. Here’s a couple of quotes from J, re his 1st day -

“We played outside and I even went down the slide, it was dirty but Miss C showed me that the dirt was stuck on so it wouldn’t come off!”

” We had to sit on the floor outside but there was a clean bit for me to sit on”

I know it’s only little things but being messy/dirty is one of J’s big things so for his teacher to be making an effort to find solutions, however small they seem is a huge thumbs up from us.  I also discovered that whilst J was at the ECDP, (which is right next door to Prep) Miss C had waved to him and said hello to him whilst both groups where out playing.  Little gestures like this also big thumbs up!

As for this morning, once again he didn’t want to go but once at school he was fine, I left him once again with the pink playdough, (sitting in the same chair as yesterday)  so I’m hoping he’s had another good day and I know there WILL be bad days but for now so far so good.  I’m so incredibly proud of him, he’s done so well, so much better than everyone, (including me and his Dad), thought he’d do, here’s hoping it lasts.

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Project 365 Day 27 – His Castle

J built this before we left for school this morning

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Our Australia Day!

When we were in Australia last time we were here for Australia Day but didn’t really celebrate it because I’d already decided that I needed to go back home to England and we were really struggling with J.   This year Australia is really starting to feel like home. We’ve started to settle into life here in Queensland,  we’ve made some great new friends, J is enrolled in school and has friends too!

So this year we thought we’d “do Australia”.

It’s no secret that J loves animals so where else could we start our day but Australia Zoo.  We had great fun there as usual, it’s a very hands on place to visit and one of the rare times/places that he doesn’t mind getting dirty hands etc.

We stroked Koalas and a baby alligator, we saw the crocs, the tigers, the wombats, the elephants, the Tasmanian devils and the birds, we fed the farm animals and ofcourse the kangaroos and pretty much just had fun!  J even got a small treat from the gift shop.

We only spent the morning at the Zoo, I’ve learnt over time that a morning or an afternoon is a full day out for J and if we try to do much longer than that he enters meltdown heaven!

He almost fell asleep in the car on the way home which very rarely happens so when we got home he was still a little grumpy sleepy and decided to have a rest for abit whilst he watched his Cats and Dogs DVD.

After which we went into the garden for a play. J bounced on the trampoline, we kicked a ball and ofcourse, (since it is Australia Day),  we even tried our hand at cricket………..  J and I were both pretty useless at throwing the ball but he did manage to hit it a couple of times and so decided that he won.

After a busy day filled with fun and laughter bedtime arrived…….. unfortunately he knows it’s Prep tomorrow so started to have abit of a panic but managed to change the subject.  …………………… as for tomorrow, I’ll deal with it in the morning!

Goodnight everyone, I hope whatever you did today, you all had a great Australia Day!

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26/365 – Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day everyone, hope you all have a great day……….. beach, BBQ, cricket whatever you do, have fun!

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Project 365 – Day 25 – Not Slipper Weather!

It’s 33 degrees here today and J is insisting on wearing his thick slippers!

His feet must be melting!!

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His First Day!

It was J’s first full day at school today. When we chatted yesterday about him starting he wasn’t keen amongst his excuses for not going was,

J “Mum will you miss me?”

me  ”Yes ofcourse I will, I’ll miss you lots”

J “I better not go then, if you’ll miss me!” lol  mmmmm sorry little man but it didn’t work

Anyway this morning he willingly put his shorts on and just when I thought things were going well, he decided that he absolutely couldn’t put his socks or his shirt on!  A little negotiating later we put everything on just before we left, ofcourse all the messing about meant that we were a little late leaving and so couldn’t park at the school and so had quite a way to walk when we’d finally parked the car. Luckily his friend’s parents had also parked next to us and J went running off into school with his friend, M.

Unfortunately, despite me talking with him several times he was still under the impression that he would still be in his old classroom with his teachers from last term. When he was told he would be in the other EI classroom with a new teacher, (the one we had been talking about together) he freaked. He quite simply did not want to go into that classroom. One of his teachers, Miss C, came over to us and explained that due to the class sizes J and a couple of his classmates, (including M) , would be in the old classroom with her and Miss S, however it was only temporary. Mini meltdown stopped immediately once he realised that he was going into his classroom.

Once inside, he hung his bag up, got his water bottle and snack out, he spelt his name and then it was time to say goodbye. I gave him a big squeeze and told him I’d be back after lunch to pick him up, he asked how long he would be there for so I told him and he had a minor moan about how that was ages but nothing big. As I said goodbye I saw his lip quiver but no tears so I left while I could, turning back to see him chatting with Miss S.

When I picked him up, he was incredibly happy telling me that he had eaten his raisins, (he NEVER eats them at home), and that he had played outside and made a pattern by hammering nails….. quick quote “and they (the nails) were even real, they were metal and sharp on the end and everything, but the hammer was rubbish so I just pushed them in!”   ………………………. Then he remembered that Miss S had taken a picture of him with the hammer and nail peg board and wanted needed to show it to me right there and then! He didn’t want to listen to myself, Miss S or Miss C as we tried to explain the picture had to be put onto the computer first and then it would be printed out, maybe I could look at it tomorrow……………… maybe not! Miss S had to get the phone that the picture was on, she had to show me the picture and told J that she would print a copy of it off for me tomorrow.  He was still a little cross about it but he was ok, I hope they don’t forget tomorrow because he certainly won’t!

All the way home he told me everything that he had done and more importantly everything that he hadn’t done, e.g ” And I didn’t even punch anyone!”  :$

He’s done brilliantly well today but I’m not forgetting that he was in his old classroom with his old teachers, whom he adores and some of the children who were in his EI class last term. Thursday will be completely different, a different and bigger room, different teachers, different kids, different furniture, different smells etc etc….. And ofcourse being with Miss S and Miss C in his old classroom is only temporary, it could be for the term or it could only be for a week or 2 and when he does have to go into the other classroom it’s going to be really tough on him. I hope they’re ready.

As for today, Well done baby, Mummy’s very proud of you xxxxxxx

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