NO MORE BINKY!!

Where to start from the last 2 weeks. The kids are goofier than ever and we haven’t been very good about keeping notes on their various shenanigans and comments, but we’ll do our best to give a flavor for where they are at and what they are doing. Adelaide is cooling down … FINALLY! We had a couple of really hot days last week, but for the most part we are down around the 70s again which is a welcome relief for sure. Hopefully our lawn will start a turn for the green instead of the sickish yellow that it’s been in for the past couple months :)

Ok, so moving on to the fun stuff. We gave Hunter’s binky the boot last Monday. We happened to forget it for church on Sunday and thought, “Well, we’re coming up on his second birthday and we’d rather he be used to not using it when we go back, so let’s bite the bullet and do it now.” So, Monday is garbage day and he loves the ‘garba man’. Kelli went out with Hunter and they waved to the garbage man as he took our garbage and drove up the street. On the way down the street again he stopped and waved at Hunter and gave him a ‘beep beep beep.’ Talking with him over the phone he was so excited and told me, “Garba man, go beep beep beep!” Kelli seized the moment and told Hunter that the garbage man took his binky and that he wouldn’t have it anymore. Well, the first nap after that was terrible. He screamed a terrible scream trying to get to sleep. He finally settled into something that I guess you could call a state of sleep … but then we had to deal with the night-time. He’s always been one to go to bed quickly and on his own, but that was with his binky. Now without it we felt like we were on square on again. We gave him a break the first two nights and held him on the chair downstairs, but the third night we had to let him cry it out. Now a week later he’s back to his normal sleepy self and NO BINKY!! So, we’ve crossed that path … now for the potty training … after a few weeks of relishing this victory of course. We should also mention that he is talking in pretty much full sentences right now – albeit with incorrect grammar. Things that come out of his mouth just make you laugh. The other day he did a ‘tooter’ and told Kelli, “I toot … [pause] … you like it Mom?” He is also a very polite boy saying, “bless you” and “dank you, Dad” all the time. We also have him swimming right now and he’s king of the class. Of course, last week Kelli made the mistake of getting Collin an ‘ice block (popsicle)’ right the beginning of Hunter’s lesson. When Hunter laid eyes on the ice block there was no keeping his concentration on swimming and all he wanted was one of his own. Some things never change with the kid – he’s definitely got a short circuit from his tummy to his brain. He does do really good swimming and doesn’t mind going underneath the water but especially loves being thrown up in the air. And one more thing on the little man – the other day he got mad at Savannah and yelled at her, “Sannah Jones!” We’ve heard “Collin Pachik Jones!” quite a bit, but this was a new one for his sister. Oh, and this morning Hunter was the first one up (as usual) and we were downstairs together. When I went upstairs and Collin got up, Hunter came wandering up the stairs. On his way up he said, “Dad – where Collin?” … to which I replied, “He’s right here.” … to which he replied, “Cool –“ We’re not sure where he’s picking ts stuff up from, but it’s coming in waves right now!

Ok, now that we have Hunter well-documented, what do we say about the other two? Collin is loving all sorts of sports and his bicycle. We went fishing on one of our recent bike rides at a local pond and although we didn’t catch anything in the 5 minutes we were there, he thought it was pretty cool. He’s really into basketball right now and is a goof in and of himself. He and Hunter fight quite a bit, but they have their good times as well. We think he’s growing quite a bit right now as he sleeps heaps at night and eats a full peanut butter, jelly, and chocolate chip sandwich (including crusts) for lunch … which he’s always struggled with before. He’s really good about making his bed and wanting to do his other chores. And as always he’s our little pack rat carrying everything and anything around with him during the day. I bought them some cap guns the other day and you would have thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Hunter doesn’t like the noise, but Collin thinks they are great.

Savannah is loving school and everything to do with netball and swimming. She also went to a birthday party last week and had a great time hanging with her friends and singing karaoke. She did a ‘me bag’ at school the other day where she showed a picture of her family, piano music, tennis racquet, art projects, netball trophy and swim goggles. I stuck around to watch her present her stuff and it was so cute to watch as she’s sitting in front of the class and after she’s shown everyone her things she says, “Are there any questions or comments?” Two kids raise their hands and each say, “I go to swimming on Wednesdays” and “I go swimming, too” … to which Savannah stares blankly and replies, “Are there any more questions or comments?” Some other kid says something random and Savannah replies, “Are there any more questions or comments?” Good times in 2^nd grade.

Kelli and I have been sicker than dogs the past week. Thankfully we’re both coming out of it, but the nasal congestion, sinus pressure and chest cough have been horrendous! Finally I can think reasonably straight and get back on the bike (hit 4,000 miles this week!) With only 2 ½ months left until we return home we’re trying to figure out how to get rid of all of our stuff … and in a manner which allows time to still have transportation and sending money back to the States from our Aussie bank account. Should be another adventure just waiting to happen :) So that combined with our computer having 70 viruses on it from the time our anti-virus software ran out until we got new stuff has provided us with some crazy last couple of days. Stay tuned for more looney tunes to come! Cheers!