A Class Act

Getting ready for school

Summer seems to have long gone now. It's dark early in the evenings, I'm being dressed in long clothes for daycare, and we haven't been to a beach on the weekend for ages. That means we're into Autumn now, and after that comes Winter - and school!

In just two short months I'll turn five, graduate from daycare and go to my first school. Even when I've seen other boys and girls graduating, it seemed like ages away that it would be my turn.

So it's a good thing I've been getting myself ready these last few months, by working on my reading, writing and maths.

 

As you can see, I've got pretty good with writing my name and drawing - still haven't quite got the hang of drawing hair yet though. You can tell I'm concentrating on my drawing by the tongue sticking out of the side of my mouth.

I've also been practicing my ABC, and can now read about half of the letters of the alphabet. Somewhat strangely, I could spell the letters of my friend Damiyn's name before I could spell my own. But I can ace spelling my name now too.

My numbers and counting are getting better. I can count up to about 30 before things start to get a bit fuzzy and I need to ask for help. There are even a few maths questions I know the answer to now as well...

So, that's words and numbers pretty much sorted; wonder what else I'll need to practice before starting school? I'll find out soon when I go for my first proper school visit.

Hop To It!

A bunny good time at Easter

The only thing better than a long weekend where we can get out to visit some fun places, is having all of that – but with chocolate as well! I’m not quite sure what Easter actually is, and what chocolate has to do with it. But I do clearly remember that bunnies are involved. This Easter weekend we’d be seeing both chocolate and real bunnies.

The Easter bunny delivered the chocs which I expected, somewhat unnecessarily hiding them in various places in the lounge, but William and me had fun hunting them down in their hiding places.

On one of the days we went out to Kiwi Valley to see all the animals, and feed the sheep and goats from littler bags of food. There was actually an Easter egg hunt there too, but we didn’t manage to find any. At least we got to cuddle some real bunnies instead though.

We also got to have a ride on a couple of cool things – first on a tractor, which drove us up to see some paddocks with horses, then on a horse. It was my first time riding a horse, which might explain why I look like I’m concentrating so hard on staying on.

Another day we visited the Easter Show. There were more animals there – maybe this is all part of the Easter bunny theme somehow? We’ve been to the Easter Show before in other years, but this time I got to go on a couple of rides as well.

The first one was a bungie ride, where I was strapped in and could jump high up and down in the air. Like being on the horse, it took me a little bit of time to really get into it though.

Over the summer holidays I was watching a lot of PJ Masks on my iPad, so I was excited that there was going to be a live show of them on a stage. Daddy and I watched the show; I enjoyed the songs and wanted it to go all afternoon.

But then if it had done I wouldn’t have been able to go on the teacup ride with Mummy. This one wasn’t as bouncy as the bungie, but it was fun when the cups spun around while we were in them.

So, that was our Easter weekend – lots of chocolate and lots of animals. Hopefully next year I can go on some even bigger rides at the Easter Show. I know Daddy was keen to go on the ghost train, so maybe I’ll go on that with him and make sure he isn’t too scared.

Who's the April Fool?

William the trickster

If you ask Daddy for his opinion, he'll tell you that William is a rascal. He might sometimes even use other names to describe William. He'll almost certainly say that it would be more peaceful at home if William were in jail. Naturally Mummy would agree with none of this. But I think all of us would agree that little William is a proper trickster.

And since April Fool's Day is almost here, I thought I'd show some proof of just what sort of tricks that William gets up to.

One of his favourites is picking out toys from the toy box, carrying them across the lounge to the conservatory, pushing open one of the windows, and depositing the toys outside. Where they fall down to nestle beneath a rose bush, which has the added benefit of making retrieving the toys pretty tricky without getting pricked by the thorns.

Actually, it's not only toys. Quite often he'll wander down the rest of the house, find some item he likes the look of in one of our rooms (curiously it never seems to be from his), and drop that outside instead. For example, the bath fish toy and one of Mummy's slippers, as in the pictures above.

Dinnertime is another perfect opportunity for William the trickster to work his mischief. We'll all be sitting down, eating our food nicely, when out of the corner of their eye someone will spot some food dropping to the ground. Yes, it's William. It doesn't matter what the food is, or how much he likes or loathes it, all of it is fair game for dropping from the highchair onto the carpet.

And not just dropping either. Sometimes it looks more like throwing; I swear I've seen some bits of food far enough away from his highchair that he'd have to have thrown it. By the end of a meal, the lounge around him can look a bit like the picture above. For this dinner he's even thrown the plate onto the ground, which is a nice extra touch. Bet Daddy was pleased about that.

So who is the April Fool? William seems to keep on doing these tricks of his, and the growlings he gets doesn't seem to worry him. So maybe rather than a trickster, he's really William the Conqueror instead.

What's coming in 2018

Big things happening this year

It's only a month into the new year but already I can tell it's going to be a big one. And not just because I'm going to complete my Paw Patrol toy collection when I finally finish that reward chart Mummy made (still 20 stars left to earn - arggh!).

Mostly this year is going to be big because I'll be turning five. Woah, that really starts to feel like getting older. Only a couple of years ago Mummy was dropping me off at daycare for the first few times and I was howling like, well, like William when he wants food. Loudly and with lots of tears, I mean.

And of course, turning five means also starting school. It was exciting when Daddy said he was going to go back to school too to be a teacher (maybe we might go to the same school!). And then it was exciting when he said he wasn't (he can just be Daddy now, instead of teaching lots of other kids). So in a few short months I'll be putting on those scruffy secondhand uniforms which have hopefully been fully washed and de-cootied, and walking up to the nearby primary school.

I may not completely have the right idea of what school is going to be like yet though. Each time when I talk excitedly about going it's because they have cool playgrounds there that look fun to zoom around on. Apparently there are also long hours in classrooms in between. But learning to read will be awesome, because then I'll be able to start reading my books to myself! I even offered to help Mummy and Daddy with road signs while they're driving if they're not able to read them.

Something else which will make 2018 a big year is William starting talking. Finally. At the moment it seems like an equal chance between whether he or one of the cats will start speaking first. It'll be nice to know what he's been meaning all this time when he points at an object and says something which sounds like "ang-weh".

What else? Oh, hopefully another family holiday away somewhere fun. Ideally with a bit more beach and a bit less stinky mud pool. And if it's later in the year I'll be able to read the signs and chat to William along the way. So bring on the 2018!

A Beachin' Break

Fun fun fun in the sun sun sun

The Summer holidays are here; or, as I like to think of them, the Oli-days. The sun is out and I have three weeks away from daycare, so what better time than to stay indoors snacking while watching Paw Patrol and PJ Masks for hours on my iPad? Unfortunately Mum had other ideas, so we headed out to some places instead.

One of our first day trips was to the beach at Rothesay Bay. The water was lovely and warm, plus we found some cool rockpools with starfishes in them. There was even a cave around the corner from the beach; Daddy and I explored right to the back when we first saw it, and then a few hours later when we went back the water was rushing in and I had to cling to his shoulders. It felt like the sort of place a dinosaur or monster could be living in.

Only a couple of days after we visited that beach, there was a big storm that lasted for days. When we went back to the beach a week later, all the sand where we had been sitting last time had been washed away by the tides, leaving only big rocks where we'd been; needless to say, we sat somewhere else for our return visit!

Another day we did a coastal walk from Milford to Takapuna. This was sold to me as a walk along the beach with ice cream treats halfway, but actually meant we all had to scramble over rocks like some sort of mountain goat just to follow the path. Not so hard for Mum and Dad, but harder for me with my little legs. Lucky William was carried all the way, so all he had to do was look around and hold his hand out for ice cream.

It was cool learning about the Rangitoto volcano though, even if I didn't quite understand the timescales involved. I get that the volcano didn't erupt when I was a baby, but doesn't that mean that it must have happened when Mum and Dad were babies instead?

One day we visited Grandpa and Nana to go to Orewa beach together. As well as having a fun swim, Grandpa showed me how to ride a boogie board in the waves. The first attempt wasn't a big success - I was barely on it before I immediately came off it and face-planted in the water. But I got the hang of it; I reckon I'm a natural!

It's been a great beachy summer; lots of swims at cool different beaches, and at Grandma and Grandad's pool. Maybe it would have been good to have a few less stormy days, but at least then I was able to do my snacking and iPad watching!

A Cracker of a Day

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Because Christmas is such a great day, I wanted to really get into the spirit this year. So a couple of days before Christmas I was allowed to stay up late until it got dark, then we went out to look at some houses decorated with colourful Christmas lights. One house had a great snow machine, and I danced around as the snow fell all around me.

Another house had thousands of lights; we walked down to it through a tunnel of sparkly lights, and at the end were glowing reindeers, a huge Santa, and a strange black car that Daddy was especially interested in. Maybe it's the car he wishes he drives.

If you've seen my video, you already know that Santa did a good job with my Christmas present wishlist. This year was the year of Paw Patrol - I got lots of awesome toys, including a big Lookout for the pups to play in, plus most of the Paw Patrol pups as well. So far, every day after Christmas when the sun comes up on my clock, I get straight up and start playing with it.

Christmas Day was at Grandma and Grandad's house, with my cousins as well. Grandma had set up her garage as a kids' room with toys, balloons and a special kids' table for us to have our Christmas lunch on. Pretty soon the garage looked like a delivery of toys had crashed and spilled toys everywhere.

The weather was so good we also went swimming in Grandma's pool. I was so excited about it that as soon as we got to the pool area I jumped straight in - right on top of the big mat that covered the whole pool! Well, if they didn't want people jumping on it by mistake they shouldn't make it blue like the water!

Thanks to my swimming lessons I'm super confident now, and loved jumping off the edge. Daddy kept hanging around trying to catch me, but I told him I didn't need it - I'm a big boy now.

It was a great end to a great Christmas Day. Just a few days later it was New Year's Day, but this isn't an occasion I'm quite as interested in. First thing that morning when I went into Mummy's room she said "Happy New Year Oliver", but all I said back was "Yep, but can you wipe my bum please.".

All I Want For Christmas (part 2)

What did Santa actually put on his sleigh?

He's been! Santa arrived during the night and left a bunch of presents in thoughtfully tidy piles under our Christmas tree. More importantly, the largest number of presents seemed to be for me. And most importantly, the biggest one was addressed for me!

So here's me explaining exactly what I received from Santa first thing on Christmas morning 2017.

Seems like he followed my wishlist pretty closely; I'll have to write an even longer one next year since this strategy obviously works.

But the best thing of all is that we still have a yummy Christmas lunch and even more presents to come later today. Merry Christmas!

All I Want For Christmas (part 1)

Oliver's Christmas wishlist

Yay - Christmas time! It's the time of year to put up a big tree in the lounge, play some jaunty music, anticipate loading up on chocolates and other treats, and get ready for Santa to arrive.

This year I'm pretty certain about the things I'd like to get for Christmas, so I've made a present wishlist and videoed it - just to be sure Santa knows exactly what I'd like.

Now we'll be able to compare what was on my wishlist with what I actually get on Christmas Day! I sure hope Santa sees the video; maybe next year I'll write a letter too...

By the Book

Ollie's Book Reviews

Books have always been one of my favourite things. Every night before bed I need at least two books read to me, and every weekend morning I sit with Daddy in bed and get him to read as many books as I can before he tries to get up and do something else.

I've got quite a good collection of books in my little bookshelf (I used to have more but now they've been given to William), and Daddy is always getting me more out of the library. With reading so many, the books I love most can change a bit sometimes. But I've given it some thought, and these are some super-short reviews of some of my absolute favourite books of all time (so far).

Digger and Skip - I like this one because it has lots of cool building site vehicles

Hairy Maclary - I especially like the ones with Scarface Claw, and get all mock-scared when we're about to turn the page to show him there.

Bedtime Bear - this one has lots of flaps to lift up and reveal hidden things, plus it's a good "finding book" where Daddy gets me to search for things in the pictures.

The Little Yellow Digger - I like this one because it has lots of diggers in it, and some I've never seen before; I also like the "constructions".

 

The Last Tiger - this book is one I've had for a while, but I like the tiger and the beautiful garden at the end of the story.

Anything by Richard Scarry - I've recently discovered all these books about Busytown, and love reading the stories and finding things hidden in the pictures. Luckily the library has lots of these books, so it looks like I'll be keeping Dad pretty busy with trips to get me more out to read.

A Holiday That Stinks

Roadtrip to Rotorua

Exciting news: we're off on another family holiday! Hurrah, it feels like ages since we had the last one. Somewhere new to explore, somewhere new to stay with new toys to play with... But hang on - we're going on holiday to a place that smells of farts? Is this some sort of joke? I can get that smell at home without leaving the house.

Anyway, we packed up the car and headed off on what turned out to be a very, very long car ride. We hadn't even left Auckland behind before I asked if we were nearly there for the first time. But it certainly wouldn't be the last time I asked that favourite roadtrip question...

This holiday would be a bit different though as we were going with family friends and their little girl, all staying together in a big house.

Hours later when we arrived we went out to look at some boiling mud pools in Kuirau Park. It was actually a bit hard to even see the boiling mud through all the big clouds of hot, smelly smoke that came out of each pool. After the first couple of sniffs I decided the smell was "gross"and took to holding my nose to keep the stink out.

Paradise Valley was a cool place we visited where we could walk around some tracks looking at animals, birds and fishes, all surrounded by huge trees and a river. We even saw some lions and got to hear them doing a fearsome roar.

The water comes up out of the ground from natural springs, and I was able to drink some of the water by kneeling beside the pool and scooping up water in my hand. All the pools were so clear you could see the bottom and any fishes swimming around so clearly.

We'd bought a small bag of animal food, so when we got to the wallabies I gave them some food to eat from my hand. I wasn't so keen on feeding these big horn-headed goats when we came to them later though.

One thing you can tell from the photos is that it rained almost the entire time we were in Rotorua, so everywhere we went we needed to wear these plastic ponchos. They covered me from the neck all the way well past my toes, so I may as well have stayed in my cosy pajamas.

In fact, the only time it didn't rain was part of one afternoon when we all stayed indoors while Mummy and her friend went to sit in some thermal spa pools. They chose the one time it wasn't actually wet to go and sit somewhere wet!

This holiday was the first time I shared a bedroom with William; I had a bunk bed and he had his portacot. Luckily neither of us made any big noises or woke up wondering where we were, so we both had great sleeps.

By the end of the holiday we hadn't seen as many thermal places as planned because of the rain, which was fine by me because of the gross smell. But even before we had left Daddy was threatening to take us back again another time; I'll need to be prepared and plug my nose up with something next time.