What Photos?

When I was pregnant with Wyatt I swore I wasn't going to be one of those moms that didn't take as many photos of baby #2 as I did with Baby #1. I also vowed to keep an up to date baby book for the second child, and create a time capsule just as I did with Baby #1.

I've succeeded in keeping a baby book for Wyatt, and I'm in the process of putting together a time capsule (added to it today, USA withdrawal of troops of from Iraq). I admit, I still have way more photos of Luca than I do of Wyatt.....so out comes to camera for a bit of amature photo shoot!

Wyatt (6 months) and Mommy

Sick Day and photo comparison

Wyatt is home from Daycare today due to illness. While I was at school on Wed I got the dreaded call from his daycare to say he was unwell and I needed to pick him up. Everytime my cell phone caller ID says 'Lollipops Educare' I start to panic. Picking up Wyatt from daycare on Wed was a bit of a logistical nightmare since we only have one car, which was parked up in town (I carpool to my student placement as it's the next town away). Although we get away with only having one car 80% of the time, I do wish that we had two.

He seemed to be okay that afternoon and evening so we sent him back to daycare on Thursday. Sure enough Thursday afternoon I get a call saying he had been sick again. Luckily I had my car with me so it wasn't a drama to go get him, and luckily I had just finished teaching all my lessons. I took him to the Dr and it's just a viral tummy bug. As if on cue as soon as we step foot into the Dr's office he starts giggling and smiling and charming everyone with his dimples. I'd like to classify both our boys as happy sick people. The only time I haven't seen a happy sick child is when Luca got the chicken pox, and I don't ever want to go there again.

My Luca likes to hide in boxes

So Wyatt and I are home sick (although to be honest he doesn't seem that sick anymore). I struggle to get him to take naps at home, so I've been in and out of his room every 10 mins for the past hour. I just put mini applesauce muffins into the oven to suprise Luca when he gets home. Amazing, EASY, recipie I found on all recipies.com. No eggs, only a few ingrediants, and really tasty. Check it out if you looking for something new to bake. It's called Applesauce Cake I, and one of my staples.

Speaking of applesauce, I've got oodles of it in my freezer. You see, they don't sell applesauce in NZ (yeah, crazy!) so when I go to the fruit and veggie market I get a massive bag of apples for $5. You can cram as many in the bag as you can, and ours is usually over flowing, and almost at breaking point. Luca likes to help me fill the bag up. I then spend a good part of the day peeling, and cooking them down into applesauce. The boys love eating it (as do I), and it's also great for baking. When I'm making my masses of applesauce I often think about that movie.....Baby Boom (1987 with Diane Keaten) when she makes the homemade baby food and becomes an overnight success. Hmmm, maybe I'll go rent that some evening.

This is Luca at around 6 months

And this is Wyatt at 6 months. Less hair, but otherwise quite similar.

In other news, my last student teaching placement is going well (2 weeks down, 4 more to go!). I really like this school - so much in fact, that it's one of my top choices of schools to work at. The only down side is the commute - it adds an extra 40 mins on to my day. If I carpool it wouldn't be that bad.

The PE dept staff are much more relaxed than the last school I was at and I find that I'm teaching a few of the same classes over again - which means overall less planning time for me (yessssss!) It also helps that I know of few of the teachers already, and the staff are quite friendly. Did I mention that there's also a lady that serves you tea and cookies and morning break? By day two she knew that I drank my tea black - incredible for such a large school!

The students are more down to earth, and I can actually pronounce about 80% of the students names on the roll. I like that the disapline is more strict. They sweat the small stuff, so that they don't have to deal with the big stuff. This week, the PE dept had a crack down on earrings and jewerly - only plain silver or gold studs are allowed in your ears. Anything with bling, colour, or hoops were taken away and they won't get them back till the end of the year. No necklaces, bracelets, hair gel, facial hair, allowed.

I'm teaching

several classes of Year 9 PE - netball and minor games

2 classes of Year 11 Sports Science - a unit on volleyball, where they are focusing on teamwork and communication

1 year 12 Outdoor Education - I get to take them tramping!

Yes, being a PE teacher is definitly the way to go, but unfortunatly getting a PE job in this town is as rare as hen's teeth. I have a feeling I may end up teaching something else (as long as it's not chemistry or math I'll be fine!)

At this placement I've made my own schedule so I was sure to give myself plenty of time to observe other teachers as well. Especially health and social studies. Not to mention all the university papers I'm working on in conjunction with the student teaching. Ugggh. Such a hard year. I'll be ready for a celebration when this teaching course is finished.

Muffins are done and Wyatt is crying...gotta go!

Another Pic of Wyatt taken last night. See what I mean about Happy Sick? Funny as soon as he leaves daycare he suddenly becomes better. Hmmmm

6 months

Wyatt is now the ripe old age of 6 months and it seems like just yesterday that we were 'rooming' together at the hospital, getting to know each other, and trying to stay as long as we could before moving into our yet to be finished new house. I won't lie - those first few weeks were hard. I had been there before, but learning how to deal with a toddler bouncing off the walls and a crying newborn who wanted to eat every two hours was not easy. Oh, and then the little issue of the house being finished, and me starting full time study. Luckily things got easier, and now it's second nature having two kids in the house.
Wyatt is quite different from his brother. He seems more laid back, more relaxed (or maybe this is a reflection of our parenting - now that we're old hands at this?) I've relished his babyness a bit more than with Luca. Every time I pack away his outgrown clothes I feel a bit of sadness, because this is most likely the last time we'll have a little baby in our house. With Luca it was more like "I can't wait to see him (sit, crawl, walk...is that a tooth!?). We were always looking forward to what was going to come next. With Wyatt I know what comes next, and I love him just the way he is now. Sometimes I find myself wanting him not to grow up. I want him to be my cuddly baby forever. Selfish, isn't it?

I love the way his head smells of baby. His chubby little hands that instinctivly curl around my finger. I could squeeze his chubby little thighs and listen to his giggles and laughs for hours on end. Both our boys have dimples, and it just melts my heart when he gives us a big toothless grin. I also love how he has a total body response when he's excited.

Wyatt is fascinated with his big brother. He watches him like a hawk - and Luca loves playing with him and holding his hand in the car. It's quite sweet, and the one thing I do look forward to is watching how their relationship as brothers grows and changes. It will be fun when they can both really play together.

Wyatt is almost able to sit unassisted, and before we know it he'll be crawling.

This weekend we took a 'family field trip' to the SPCA (animal shelter). We looked at all the cats/kittens, dogs/puppies just for fun. We had no intention of bringing one home. We both agree that a pet would not be ideal for us, but I still was tempted to bring one home because of the cuteness of baby animals. It's hard to resist a puppy, but having to spend money on dog/cat food, vet bills, a massive fence for our new house, and deal with the hassle of finding them a home while we are out of town reminds me why we won't be getting a pet anytime soon. I resisted my urges to take a puppy home, and reminded myself that I had a cuddly chubby legged, giggly baby instead. Better than any pet - EVER.

My fondest memories of maternity leave (if you can even call it that this year) with Wyatt are our movie dates. Every Wed at our local cinema they have baby movies at 10:30am. Usually there are only a handful of moms/dads and babies that attend. It's cheaper than the other movies and there's no stress if your baby cries, and they have a change table set up in case of a nappy change.

I love cuddling Wyatt during these movies, and feeding him till he falls asleep on my lap. When he starts crawling the movies aren't such a good option, but until then I'm going to take advantage of as many movies as I can (sadly this won't be happening for the next six weeks).

I think the most wonderful thing about both boys is knowing that there is so much potential in such small packages. Love these boys!

Field Trip!

On my last day of freedom (before starting Student Teaching next week) I spent the morning with Luca and his friends and teachers on a field trip. This is the second field trip I have had the privilage of helping out with in between my placements. The first to see a children's play about farm animals, and the second was a trip out to the Linton Army Camp.

Obviouslly this is nothing new for us, as we tend to go out there to swim just about every weekend or to watch James play soccer (the season is finally over!) but on this particular occasion we got to ride a big bus with all the other children and a special programme had been planned for his school.

Amongst the activities was a trip to the fire station where we got a short firewise safety talk, a tour of the fire station, and then we got to play in the trucks and have a ride around the camp.
Many of the children were afraid when the firefighters came out in their masks, but Luca walked right up them and said "you being silly, eh!?" He loved riding around in the firetruck and even got to push the button to make the sirens go off.

At Luca's school, I'd estimate that about 75% of the children are from Army families. I think it's because the daycare is kind of 'on route' to camp and also that the daycare at the actual army housing facility isn't that great. So obviously with all the moms and dads working in the Army, we got the red carpet rolled out for our little trip.

All these army trucks, tanks (LAVS), ambulances, tents, and camo netting was out on display for the children - along with about 15 soldiers on duty to help out (and of course all the moms and dads that left work to come visit their children). In the above photo Luca is behind the wheel but you can barely see his head . The child in the middle, Luca has nicknamed 'The Fox' and whenever he runs away from him saying "The fox is coming!" It's actually pretty funny, and the nickname has stuck so now all the other children call him the fox too. Who knows why Luca calls him the fox?

All the children were given glowsticks, and had their faces painted in camo paint. We also got to have morning tea and lunch out at the camp. I'm amazed how well behaved the children are when they all get together. They sit when they're asked, and for the most part do what the teachers say. On the busride back to their school another mom said to me "your son is so well behaved!" Obviously we all know he has 'his moments', but it felt really good to get this complement. He really is a sweet boy, and generally quite behaved. He was very chatty to the soldiers. Saying things like "Wow, you're a good soldier" and "Where are we going Soldier?"

When James came to visit, Luca got really excited. He had this huge cheesy grin, and was so happy that he started wiggling around and pumping his hands in the air. He's totally over animated sometimes - all the other parents thought it was adorable.