Kate is ironing the PJs she is going to give her cousin "Baby Alison" at Xmas	Pretending to be babies	Aiden practises being a Daddy	Aiden turns into a man "Wait Baby the sport report is on"	Kate's idea of high fashion
At the playground	Swinging	A picnic	Some old photos to fill up space!

Thursday September  30th 2004

Raising Aiden is a joint effort between Kate and I. She takes her role very seriously. She is aware that Aiden's speech needs some developing so she plants herself in front of him with her hands on her hips and says, "Don't speak like a baby, speak like a man!"

Her incessant questioning continues. I had to take her to the Dr. I got a barrage of questions along the way, "What's the Dr's name? Is he a boy? Does he have a beard? Can he touch the roof? Can he hop on one leg?".......not sure if that was part of his final exams.

Spring is here and I was aware that my exercise quota is lacking so I thought we would celebrate Aiden's recent ability to use the pedals on his new trike by going for a ride around the block. I could walk briskly and they could ride. Little did I realise that Aiden holds the world record for the slowest turning of the pedals. In all seriousness I could've lay on my stomach and dragged myself along by my fingernails and I would still have been faster than Aiden. Kate would fly on ahead, little legs going like pistons, hair flying behind her as she chattered and sung to herself. She'd spin in circles and return to us. My exercise quota is still low.

Kate was outside when she spotted a bug soft toy that has been hanging from the tree for the past 2 years. It's been outside in the elements and is dirty and looks worse for wear. Of course, being 3, she immediately fell in love with it and so begins the affair with "Buggy" who now comes everywhere with us. Disgusting critter but now totally adored.

Aiden is now wanting to spell his name. He has a natural inclination towards learning letters and numbers. He is still a total master on the computer. I think he will be an enthusiastic student when he starts school.

Kate, on the other hand is more worldy-wise than academically inclined at this stage. "What letter is that Kate?"....."Leeeee" she replies. We are still arguing over whether a 7 is really a 3.

Friday October 8th 2004

Spring is here and so are bugs and ants. Aiden dashed out into the sunshine and into the path of Mother Nature. He would go outside and play only to scream and come racing to me and leap into my arms like a fretful puppy. "Spider/ant/bug!" he would yell pointing to the nearby ground. I would investigate with false bravado, only to realise it was a tiny leaf moving in the breeze. "Spay spay (spray)" he was insisting. We would have to spray every part of the verandah. This started happening so often we sprayed with air freshener because a) it's cheaper and b) it smells nicer. Luckily he has made an uneasy truce with mother nature and can now play outside quite happily.

Three year olds can't be hurried and they need to do things for themselves at their own pace. 

Translation: You will need to develop the patience of a saint. 
Example: Getting into the car to go out.

"Time to get into the car kids." Are they ready to stop whatever they are doing? Probably not.
"Which stamp are you going to have today?" Instant reaction and willingness to get ready. A scramble over choosing the stamp. Then deciding which stamp their favourite toy should have as they have to come too. 

Shoes and socks time. Traumatic because they have no regard for matching at all and think it is perfectly fine to wear orange and green spotted socks with red shoes and heaven help you if you disagree. I have learnt to surrender (or bribe if necessary) because any dissent on my behalf results in further trauma and delay and makes the whole leaving the house virtually impossible. Luckily mine currently will only wear one pair of shoes no matter what they wear and they happen to go with most items. Several minutes delay as I explain that, no, we aren't allowed to wear Superman cape, Dorothy tail or bathers to the shops as the shop keeper will ask us to leave (thus playing on my children's love of rules)

 Head to the car. Get distracted on the way by the flowers/cat/helicopter/clouds/bugs. Eventually arrive at the car and I open the door. "No I open the door" Shut the door and wait patiently as they struggle with the heavy door. Slowly they climb into the seat taking as much time as possible. 

Ready to strap in......? 

"Hang on Mummy I need my Thomas/teddy/car/Percy" Can Mummy get it? Of course not. Stand back and wait as they climb down and set off to get aforementioned toy. Go to my happy place chanting the mantra "Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue". Child returns. Needs the door shut so they can open it again. Climbs up. 

Ready to strap in.....? 

"No Mummy I need to touch the roof." Of course you do. Stand back and wait, going to my happy place chanting my mantra as said child touches the roof, pulls the overhead handle down making "HONK HONK" noises and then switches the little light on and off no fewer than 10 times. Remind myself that any attempt to stop this delays things further. Wait patiently whilst they stamp their hand for getting into the car....and then have to stamp their teddy's hand too. Finally strapped in and I head around to the other child who does a similar routine. Fall in to the car only to hear "I want to shut the door!" Get out and open each door so that child can "shut it" Try not to let them see that it is really me shutting it (not an easy feat I might add).......all set and off we go. 

Moral of the story, start to get into the car 30 minutes before we need to leave.

Kate is an accomplished puppeteer. Now that they love to play together she controls the dialogue and the game. They love playing with their Thomas the Tank Engine trains. They sit at the coffee table and play with their trains. Kate controls the conversation. She is Percy, Aiden is Thomas. 

"Come on Thomas let's go to the shop.......say 'OK Percy.'" 
"OK Percy."
"Here we are at the shops Thomas......say 'Let's go inside Percy'"
"Let's go inside Percy."
"We need to buy icecream....say 'What's your favourite icecream Percy?'"
"What's your favourite icecream Percy?"

And so it goes. I tried it in the hope that I could get things happening as I wanted them.

"Aiden would you like to get dressed......say 'Yes Mummy'"
"No."

DOH!

Saturday November 20th 2004

Kate and Aiden have a fun time in the afternoon when they have their bath. They happily play together until it's time to get out. Rather than call for me, or if Kate does and I take a little too long to respond (don't worry I can see them from where I am so they won't drown) Kate starts to yell "Poo! Poo in the bath!" as much for her own amusement as for any other reason. She does this because it gets an instant and violent reaction from Aiden who freaks out and somehow manages to suspend him self in mid air in total panic screeching "POO! POO! POO!" because his worse nightmare is to be in a bath with a poo in it (can't say I blame him really). This fear is second only to being in a bath with the plug pulled out because we all know little boys can get sucked down that itty bitty drain. I wish Kate would find other ways to entertain herself.

Kate's experimenting with possible career options and at the moment she is running a Bed and Breakfast. At any given time you will find yourself surrounded by a whole lot of 'beds' with all of her friends (teddies, dolls, etc) sleeping in them - all fastidiously lined up, nearby will be every toy chair she could find also with friends sitting in it and finally it's impossible to find a bowl because they have been turned into baths.  I wouldn't mind this too much if we didn't get "shhhhh"ed all the time because the friends are sleeping and if we actually earned an income from this adventure it would be much more tolerable.