AussieGirl

My “babies” are now two years old with quite amazing little personalities.  I thought it might be nice to share some of their favourite things in the world:

LEO

Leo’s favourite Phrase is “Daddy’s car” and he has been known to correctly identify BMW’s in various colours and models by this phrase (I think he recognises the logo).  Of course his favourite toys are his matchbox cars and his new ramp that we bought him for his birthday.  He loves running down the grassy hill at the back of the house and falling flat on his face at least three times.  He also loves playing with the water table (pouring things in and out) and riding his bike on the deck.  His favourite foods include:  ice-cream, cake, eggos, broccolli, sausages and prunes (no kidding) and he loves milk and prune juice.  Leo is generally a very good little boy who can play with his cars for ages quite happily.  He really only has a melt-down if he is engrossed in something and you have to ask him to stop (even if it is to eat!).

SOFIA

Sofia’s favourite phrase is “I did it” and is usually shouted at the top of her voice when she jumps off something like the couch or retaining wall.  She is a typical girl and loves dolls, princess dress-ups, colouring and books.  When we are outside she loves the swing, the sand-pit, water table, running under the sprinkler and weeding with Mummy.  She is a huge chatterbox and repeats nearly everynew word you give her in one or two attempts.  Sofia will eat most things but insists on the booster seat rather than her high-chair.  She basically wants to use anything or do anything that Eleni does. She is the queen of melt-downs but seems to be improving a little bit now that she can talk pretty well.

Both Leo and Sofia are very tall for their age (95th percentile) and both have been wearing Size 3 clothes for some months now.  I should mention that Sofia loves dresses and shoes - she is so girly and she definitely did not get that trait from me.  Talking of shoes, after many months of searching, we finally found a pair of shoes wide enough to fit Leo’sfeet.  They are called Vans and are skateboarding shoes I think.  He loves them, thank goodness.

They are both huge Wiggles fans but will also sit mesmerized by Sesame Street.  In fact, anything with music will generally have that effect with them both.  We are thinking of moving Sofia in with Eleni to share a room but I am a bit hesitant as she is an early riser and very, very noisy.  We can hear her singing in the morning songs like “ring-a-ring-a-rosey” and shouting to Leo to get up.  I am not sure Eleni will do well with this sort of morning wake-up as Eleni is much like her Dad, very slow in the morning.

Another busy month in the Politis household.  We started the month with snow which was great fun.  We did not get a huge amount this year but it was still great to play in what little we had.  Eleni has been busy with preschool and dance class.  She has a new pre-teacher (Ms Amanda) who is such a hit that she cries if I come and pick her up before 5pm!  She has been learning a dance routine with her dance teacher, Ms Melissa for her first performance which will be in early May - all the kids in her class just look adorable so I will post the video of the big event.  The routine is danced to the music of the song “A you’re adorable, B you’re so beautiful…….”

Divababy (aka Sofia) is a little bundle of energy which she has been channeling into terrific tantrums.  She is a smart little thing - says lots of words and does everything she can to be like big sister Eleni.  When we go into the van for instance, she makes a bee-line for Eleni’s carseat and sprints there to get in it.  When Eleni is getting dressed for school, Sofia will invariably take one item of her clothing and try to put it on herself.  She loves singing and can sing parts of many Wiggle songs and Dan Zanes.

Leo has come leaps and bounds with his language skills - favourite word at the moment is “no”.   He is totally obsessed with cars - on the tv, on the road, in magazines etc.  He loves his matchbox cars so much he has to take at least 4-5 to bed with him.  He is such a big boy too - his feet are huge.  Size 8 XXW.  Getting shoes for him is a complete nightmare.  He is very easy to look after (as long as you have his cars around) and will play with them watching the wheels turn, for very long periods.

In fact both Leo and Sofia are very big for their age which I forget until I see them with other kids their age.  They are wearing clothes for 3 year old kids and they are not even 2 until May.  Eleni also had a big growth spurt recently (which meant new clothes too).

Christos and I are still working on the basement but have made some good progress.  Christos installed the floors in the basement kitchen and we spent many nights putting in the cabinets.  Every cabinet (purchased from IKEA) had to be carried down from the garage.  Opening each one took a few minutes and then everything had to be put together.  I never want to do this again in my life!  But the kitchen is nearly finished.  The cabinets are in place but we have to put on the doors (another 25 boxes).

The bathroom as been a saga.  Laying penny-round tiles was a challenge as was getting the slope right on the shower pan (we think we still have a problem).  We then had to lay the glass tiles on the feature wall of the shower (not too bad) but due to the uneveness of the walls we have had a hard job with the white brick tiles.  So we have spend many a night cutting tiles, putting them up, grouting etc.  We have the plumber coming next week to hook up everything so we are at the end of the road.

The garden has been my little hobby but it is hard to get out there whilst supervising the kids (who want to visit the dog next door and go wandering down the road and into the bush).  I put in some daylillies, moved some plants and put in some new trees - dogwoods at the back of the property and more river birches at the side.  We also put up a Bluebird house and yesterday when I checked it was delighted to see a well established nest there.

That’s it for now.  In April we look forward to Easter, Leo’s nameday and of course my Dad coming to visit.

2008 finished for us with a visit to London for 2 months.  Christos had a job assignment at JNAC (Joint Narcotics Analysis Centre) which is located at Embankment right in the centre of London.  So we all got on planes to get there, having to fly separately because Christos’s work would pay for him only and Eleni, Sofia and I got a get a better deal on BA.  Leo flew with Daddy.

We moved into a flat in Baker Street which was old and a bit grotty, but a great location.  We had to get this tiny lift up to our flat (which would not fit a double stroller) so it was not really the best place for us.  It did have some great windows which the kids loved as they could sit on the ledge and watch all the traffic and people go by.  Every Monday there would be about 30 Police horses go down the street which was lovely to watch.

We ended up moving to another place which was right next to Paddington Station (famous for Paddington Bear), Sheldon Square.  It was pretty new and best of all, accessible with a double stroller!  Highlights of the trip:

- daily walks to the park for playtime

- visiting the London Eye (although Sofia cried for 1/2 the spin)

- seeing The Sound of Music theatre show with Eleni

- a day trip to Windsor to see Santa, my old neighbours and the castle

- catching up with friends - Nickie, Sophia (from Greece) and Leanne (who flew in from Norway to see us).

- Seeing Santa at Selfridges

- Getting home in one piece!