A recount, life with small children
I am really good at observing and deducing. After all I studied science (zoology to be precise) and then 4 or so more years doing a PhD studying the teeth of teeny weeny dead (very dead and bony) mammals--paleontology.
Now most of the day I look after my two little ones.
Preschool
Joaquin is now 4 years and a half. He does not go to school. He attends preschool now three times a a week. He seems to enjoy it, after many years of not enjoying it. Last year and in 2010 he used to cry and did not want to attend preschool or daycare. He has two friends that go to pre-school with him, who we have known since they are 6 weeks old. Just like Joaquin.
Already the second week back he got "Preschool student of the week" and on Tuesday when we picked him up he told us he received a trophy. We asked "Why?" He told us as he correctly knew the visitor who was coming to preschool. Then the teacher told us "In assembly they had been told that a visitor the Mayor of Randwick was coming to visit, and then a few days later when all the kids were asked "Who is coming to visit?" No one remembered, only Joaquin who after asking 10 people said "The Mayor of Randwick" other kids had said "Jesus was coming". The teacher told me he is doing very well, he has matured a lot since coming back from the holidays.
So when J and I picked him up, we were very proud to hear this and i had a smile on my face all the way home. I think Joaquin will be a quiet achiever, like his father.
He can not read yet, he recognises letters, and knows the letters words begin with.
He loves maths and knows how to add and subtract and count to 50 or more.
Sleeping
He sleeps well at night. The bedtime routine starts at 8.30pm with teeth brushing, milk drinking and story telling and he is usually asleep in his own bed by 9pm. Most nights he comes into our bed, usually after 3am. He wakes up at around 7am, sometimes 7.30am and is always so happy to see his little sister that they kiss and cuddle in bed and he always says "I love you Zalia". He sometimes has bad dreams and tells us. He used to worry about meteorites falling to earth, and dying and monsters. He has had dreams where dinosaurs drive trains.
Eating
Joaquin is still a fussy eater. He does not eat fruit. Only bananas in banana smoothies or in banana bread/cake. He also may eat banana dried chips. At preschool he says he eats apples and pears. He drinks apple juice every morning. He has a bowl of wheetbix with milk for breakfast, apple juice and a piece of toast with vegemite and butter. He loves dippy egg (boiled egg with solider toast) and home made pancakes with honey.
Lunch he eats either ham sandwiches with mayonnaise, (he is not into cheese now), he also has pasta for lunch (if he is home), he loves tomato sauce ( I make him homemade tomato sauce with real tomatoes and passata), he loves pesto (he also is keen in cooking and wants to help make pesto with the mortar and pestle).
Dinner, he loves fish and chips (we make baked salmon and baked vegetables). He loves loves loves salmon and even loves to eat salmon skin. He eats corn, peas, boiled carrot and potatoes. I also make him spinach fried balls and he eats them thinking they are pesto. He loves pasta, home made pasta and any type of pasta. He eats meat, chicken, lamb cutlets, chicken schnitzels (milaneza), steaks, pork (that his grandparents make with crackling).
He really is eating well his dinner, and does try new food.
Being sick
For the last few months Joaquin has been having high fevers up to 40.5 degrees Celsius but no other symptoms. He may vomit too. When the temps reach so high I panic and take him to the children's hospital (it is usually a weekend and no doctors available or late at night). The doctors see him, check his throat, ears, chest, tummy do urine tests and say everything is fine, just his glands are up and it is probably a virus. These episodes last a few days.
So far they have happened in November, January and February. At first i thought they could be just a virus, or even related to growth spurts. I was told an old wives tale by my mother, that after a fever a child seems to grow in height. Who knows if this is true or not, all I know is Joauqin is tall for his age and is always growing. I also used to suffer from these bouts of fever, tonsillitis and sore throats. Another thing i just read is something called Periodic fever syndrome. I need to go and see a dr and not rely on Dr. Wiki for this and see if this is the case for Joaquin.
He had fever yesterday and last night 39.5 but during the night he sweats it out and no fever for the rest of the night after 9pm and this morning. He also seems to eat nearly normally during these episodes.
Yesterday he wanted fish for lunch, he ate it, plus chocolate milk, then had an afternoon sleep and vomited when he woke up. He had a banana smoothie and for dinner a boiled egg, toast and peas. I put him down for bed last night, in our bed with a book. I read him a book. He wanted a sugary, milky weak tea, had a few sips, we read a dinosaur book and he asked me to stay awake with him while he slept and then fell asleep. He had 39.5 degrees but had a bath before bed and water and then the tea as well as panadol. He told me his eyes play tricks on him and he sees things. When he was 2 and had high fever he remembers seeing dinosaurs talking to each other in his room at our old flat on Carrington road.
When he gets fevers they are always high, over 39. Anyway he finally fell asleep at 9pm, in our bed and then sweated all night. I know when he finally sweats that his fevers are finally coming down and will stay down.
What he loves
He loves his little sister and is always hugging her and playing with her. He always tells her he loves her.
He loves trains still, not so much Thomas but still plays with his Thomas trains.
he loves lego, has been building cars and other things lately. He loves his lego train.
He still loves dinosaurs and his favourite one is Parasaurolophus.
His favourite colour is yellow. He loves to draw and make things. He loves watching Mister Maker on tv and wants to make things. I need to make more things with him and let my creativity flourish.
He is ok with music now, he used to be scared of music on tv and did not want to hear music. He loves going to the Museum, seeing the dinosaurs, animals. He loves animals and wants to know about them.
He loves his pillow pet, a triceratops.
Now most of the day I look after my two little ones.
Preschool
Joaquin is now 4 years and a half. He does not go to school. He attends preschool now three times a a week. He seems to enjoy it, after many years of not enjoying it. Last year and in 2010 he used to cry and did not want to attend preschool or daycare. He has two friends that go to pre-school with him, who we have known since they are 6 weeks old. Just like Joaquin.
Already the second week back he got "Preschool student of the week" and on Tuesday when we picked him up he told us he received a trophy. We asked "Why?" He told us as he correctly knew the visitor who was coming to preschool. Then the teacher told us "In assembly they had been told that a visitor the Mayor of Randwick was coming to visit, and then a few days later when all the kids were asked "Who is coming to visit?" No one remembered, only Joaquin who after asking 10 people said "The Mayor of Randwick" other kids had said "Jesus was coming". The teacher told me he is doing very well, he has matured a lot since coming back from the holidays.
So when J and I picked him up, we were very proud to hear this and i had a smile on my face all the way home. I think Joaquin will be a quiet achiever, like his father.
He can not read yet, he recognises letters, and knows the letters words begin with.
He loves maths and knows how to add and subtract and count to 50 or more.
Sleeping
He sleeps well at night. The bedtime routine starts at 8.30pm with teeth brushing, milk drinking and story telling and he is usually asleep in his own bed by 9pm. Most nights he comes into our bed, usually after 3am. He wakes up at around 7am, sometimes 7.30am and is always so happy to see his little sister that they kiss and cuddle in bed and he always says "I love you Zalia". He sometimes has bad dreams and tells us. He used to worry about meteorites falling to earth, and dying and monsters. He has had dreams where dinosaurs drive trains.
Joaquin is still a fussy eater. He does not eat fruit. Only bananas in banana smoothies or in banana bread/cake. He also may eat banana dried chips. At preschool he says he eats apples and pears. He drinks apple juice every morning. He has a bowl of wheetbix with milk for breakfast, apple juice and a piece of toast with vegemite and butter. He loves dippy egg (boiled egg with solider toast) and home made pancakes with honey.
Lunch he eats either ham sandwiches with mayonnaise, (he is not into cheese now), he also has pasta for lunch (if he is home), he loves tomato sauce ( I make him homemade tomato sauce with real tomatoes and passata), he loves pesto (he also is keen in cooking and wants to help make pesto with the mortar and pestle).
Dinner, he loves fish and chips (we make baked salmon and baked vegetables). He loves loves loves salmon and even loves to eat salmon skin. He eats corn, peas, boiled carrot and potatoes. I also make him spinach fried balls and he eats them thinking they are pesto. He loves pasta, home made pasta and any type of pasta. He eats meat, chicken, lamb cutlets, chicken schnitzels (milaneza), steaks, pork (that his grandparents make with crackling).
He really is eating well his dinner, and does try new food.
Being sick
For the last few months Joaquin has been having high fevers up to 40.5 degrees Celsius but no other symptoms. He may vomit too. When the temps reach so high I panic and take him to the children's hospital (it is usually a weekend and no doctors available or late at night). The doctors see him, check his throat, ears, chest, tummy do urine tests and say everything is fine, just his glands are up and it is probably a virus. These episodes last a few days.
So far they have happened in November, January and February. At first i thought they could be just a virus, or even related to growth spurts. I was told an old wives tale by my mother, that after a fever a child seems to grow in height. Who knows if this is true or not, all I know is Joauqin is tall for his age and is always growing. I also used to suffer from these bouts of fever, tonsillitis and sore throats. Another thing i just read is something called Periodic fever syndrome. I need to go and see a dr and not rely on Dr. Wiki for this and see if this is the case for Joaquin.
He had fever yesterday and last night 39.5 but during the night he sweats it out and no fever for the rest of the night after 9pm and this morning. He also seems to eat nearly normally during these episodes.
Yesterday he wanted fish for lunch, he ate it, plus chocolate milk, then had an afternoon sleep and vomited when he woke up. He had a banana smoothie and for dinner a boiled egg, toast and peas. I put him down for bed last night, in our bed with a book. I read him a book. He wanted a sugary, milky weak tea, had a few sips, we read a dinosaur book and he asked me to stay awake with him while he slept and then fell asleep. He had 39.5 degrees but had a bath before bed and water and then the tea as well as panadol. He told me his eyes play tricks on him and he sees things. When he was 2 and had high fever he remembers seeing dinosaurs talking to each other in his room at our old flat on Carrington road.
When he gets fevers they are always high, over 39. Anyway he finally fell asleep at 9pm, in our bed and then sweated all night. I know when he finally sweats that his fevers are finally coming down and will stay down.
What he loves
He loves his little sister and is always hugging her and playing with her. He always tells her he loves her.
He loves trains still, not so much Thomas but still plays with his Thomas trains.
he loves lego, has been building cars and other things lately. He loves his lego train.
He still loves dinosaurs and his favourite one is Parasaurolophus.
His favourite colour is yellow. He loves to draw and make things. He loves watching Mister Maker on tv and wants to make things. I need to make more things with him and let my creativity flourish.
He is ok with music now, he used to be scared of music on tv and did not want to hear music. He loves going to the Museum, seeing the dinosaurs, animals. He loves animals and wants to know about them.
He loves his pillow pet, a triceratops.
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