The neighbours have been complaining about a rogue toddler bikie gang terrorising the streets		Splashing in the puddles!	Now THAT'S a slippery dip!	Uncle Simon lends a hand (or, rather, a lap)
Riding down the ramp	Training for the 2016 Olympics	Hanging with Simon	Kate sings Humpty whilst Aiden does the actions	Hmmmm....they have new magnets. This is a great reflection of their differing personalities
Kate opens her presents with gusto	Aiden opens his at a snail's pace	Aiden's on his second present. Kate has already opened all of hers so she starts coaching Aiden	The party!
"The" cakes	Kate blows out the candles (before we even finish the song)	Aiden blows out his!	Playing on the equipment

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE AND AIDEN!

Friday July 16th, 2004

Yes, 3 years ago the fun started and today we began our celebrations for Kate and Aiden's 3rd birthday. We had a present opening frenzy and then headed off to a Play Cafe for the first in a series of 2 birthday parties. It was a hoot and we can now open our own toy store! Amazing thing is there are still more presents to come.....we'll have to start getting rid of our furniture to fit it all in. On Sunday we have another (joint) party with their best friend Will who is 4 days younger. 

For their birthday I thought I would save money and make their cakes, I priced the cakes at about $15 - $20 at Coles. I figured they'd like a character cake for their first party so I invested in an icing round which can lay on the top. One was Teletubbies and one was Sesame Street characters.  Then to save time I thought I would pop into the Supermarket and buy ready made sponges and ready made icing. Trying to be even cheaper I bought a double pack sponge and decided they could have two small cakes - there weren't that many kids to feed so I figured this was smart thinking. I got the cakes home opened the packet and realised that some pre-pubescent Coles baker was obviously having a bad morning and threw the cakes into the oven in  fit of rage because they were lopsided. Oh well, figured this would look like I had baked them. Silly me didn't look too closely to see that each one sat on a peculiar angle and that a simple solution would be to trim the tops so they would be flat. They ended up small, flat and at the same time crooked. As I stared at the final products I had flashbacks to a conversation with one of the Mum's who would be at the Play Cafe party. She is obviously a cake-making queen and is looking to move onto to 3D cakes at her son's next birthday. I wondered how I would face everyone when I produced these flat, lop-sided cakes.....maybe I could say Aaron made them? Even worse was the fact that they ended up costing more than if I had bought them! I ended up building up the lower sides with icing and the kids didn't mind because they all only ate the icing anyway. After the feast all we had left amongst discarded hats and whistles were naked pieces of cake.

Lord help me I have to make a Donald Duck cake and a number 3 cake by their next party on Sunday!

Onto other life non-birthday events:

We've discovered the wonders of McDonalds and  Happy Meals. It's saved many a feral day. We saw a new advert about the way McDonalds is putting nutritional information on its products, it cuts to a boy who is happily munching on a burger and to his Mother who "wants to know what her son is eating". Crap says Aaron, all she cares about is that he is happy and quiet. I think we may have visited McDonalds just a little too much as instead of singing, "Old McDonald had a farm...." my children sing, "Old McDonalds had a farm...." The closest I have come to murder in recent years was when the girl behind the counter informed me that all but one of the toys had sold out.

Since playing his new alphabet game which he received 3 weeks ago, Aiden now knows 20 letters of the alphabet! We take absolutely no credit. His number knowledge is still excellent and we expect him to be doing our tax return next year.

Kate's latest comment is, "One day I might be a grown up." She continues to build on her repertoire of nursery rhymes. The latest is Goosey Goosey Gander which she sings like this," Goosey goosey gander, where shall I wander? Upstairs and downstairs defey gooty lunder. Greessy greesy goon dah....etc" Worse thing is she expects us to join in.

I know the photos have white borders around them.....I'll fix it just as soon as I have servants, plenty of time on my hands and a luxury yacht.

Playing together		Aiden and Itchy have a mutual admiration happening	Kate has taken to having her hair in piggy tails	"Please can I...."
		Playing in a ball pit	Kate washes the dishes	Aiden's feet
	Kate adores her friend's Mickey	"Please can I have your drink Mummy? I promise not to spill it...."	Kate spills the drink	Kate's morning hair
Wearing Mummy's ugg boots		Supporting Red Nose Day		Brushing teeth

Wednesday July 7th 2003

Hey, guess what? Kate and Aiden are almost 3! Next week is their birthday. So what's 3 like? Aiden hit 3 with a semitrailer and all of a sudden became completely feral, overbearing, demanding, emotionally out of control and afraid of leaving the house. By the end of his first week like this I was basically the same!

3 weeks later he is beautiful; happy, well mannered, generally OK with going out. So what happened? After initially wanting to jump into bed and hide under the covers I assessed the situation and tried to work out what was happening. Much of it was about Aiden wanting to be in control and not being able to, or not wanting to control his emotions. So I started proper time out. I gave him warning when he was misbehaving or having a tantrum over earth shattering events like the spoon being put down in the wrong spot. I counted to 5 and then he went into his room for time out for 15 minutes or until he stopped crying. The first day he was in time out more than time in! But each day got better and now if we are somewhere and another child is screaming or crying he wants me to put them in time out. What is obvious is how much he likes and needs boundaries. As a teacher I know this and it's interesting to see how necessary it is in a 3 year old.

The problem of him not wanting to to go out, screaming and thrashing when I put him in the car was very very challenging and very stressful. What I decided to do was instigate a reward system. Kate is part of this too so it reinforces it for Aiden. When they get into the car without crying they get a stamp on the hand as soon as I have strapped them in (immediate reward) and when they get home they can stamp their special chart (long term visual reminder). It's been amazing how effective it is. Aiden no longer cries when it's time to get into the car and I can remind both of them about the stamp on the chart if they aren't behaving when we are out.

Aiden now asks permission and understands that he is no longer boss. He seems happy and secure with this now. I know it won't always go smoothly and I know so much of what happens is a phase. This is always my mantra "It's just a phase, it's just a phase"

Kate takes it upon herself to teach and discipline Aiden. When he does something that she thinks is naughty, she looks at me with glee and says, "Start counting Mummy!" She also ensures he uses manners. I heard them playing outside. 

Kate: "Aiden would you like Kate to help you?"
Aiden: "Yes."
Kate: "Where are your manners Aiden??"
Aiden: "Please Kate."
Kate: "OK. Lovely manners Aiden."

Kate has an incredible repertoire of songs. She has a song for every occasion, all sung nicely out of tune. She talks NON stop. She has the same conversation and asks the same questions until you think you will go mad. In her defense she is so incredibly lovely, bubbly and happy that you can forgive her. Her name changes constantly throughout the day. She's Mickey, she's Donald Duck, she's Blinky Bill. We were at a play cafe when a Nanna came up. "What's your name dear?" she says to Aiden. "I Aiden," he replies. "What's your name dear?" she asks Kate, "Mickey Mouse!" she yells.

Aiden has taken to the computer like a duck to water. Within a week he was using the mouse and navigating around his favourite websites. He is now in the process of learning the alphabet on his favourite game. He learns quickly and has excellent concentration. His sports skills are coming along slowly but at this stage it looks like he will be the waterboy or scorekeeper for the football team.