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.

It's All Going Swimmingly

Making a splash

The last time I tried some swimming lessons it didn't go well. I resisted getting in the water, and when I did get carried in I spent more time crying than participating in the lesson. In fact, turning on my waterworks was about as close to an aquatic experience as I had then.

So it was probably with some trepidation that, two years and some cool Paw Patrol togs later, Mummy and Daddy enrolled me in another series of swimming lessons in this new pool complex close to home.

Fortunately for everyone, I'm much more confident around the water now. I look forward to my lessons, eagerly hop into the pool and am always putting my hand up to go first with practicing something. In fact, I'm so excited about it that my biggest problem is not always being attentive to the teacher, as Mummy and Daddy often call out to me from the side.

So far I've done lots of fun things with paddle boards and noodles. The teacher has also had us practicing diving from the steps towards her, although when I do it I always seem to go for height instead of distance, and end up jumping at her rather than diving!

I'm also likely to get a bit carried away with over-splashing when kicking my feet; quite often when I've finished this, the teacher has to wipe water off her face like someone's thrown a bucketful of water at her.

But one of the most fun parts of the whole swimming lessons experience is being able to play in the big pool and go down the waterslide afterwards. Now if only we had a pool at home I could practice in too; somehow the bath just isn't the same.

Go Your Own Way

Things William does that I never did

You'd think William and me would have a lot in common. We both have the same Mummy and Daddy, both grow up in the same house, both are slowly taking over that house... But as William gets older it turns out we have quite a few differences as well; things that William has started doing that I didn't when I was his age.

Like the fascination he seems to have with the toilet. Not that he's a fast learner and is keen to use the toilet like a big boy. Oh no, he's fascinated with putting things into the toilet. Any time the lid is accidentally left up, you can be sure the next time you check there'll be a little surprise floating in the water. It could be his bedtime cukky, or any one of my toys.

One thing we both do is make a bit of a mess with our toys, normally just because we've been playing with them and they've got spread around the house a little. But William takes this even further and actively seems to want to create mess where there isn't any, like with his habit of unpacking cupboards, shelves or toy boxes to throw the contents all over the floor.

When he's not putting things in the toilet or strewn across the floor, William also loves putting things in his mouth. Pretty much anything he can get his hands on is a target, from toys to bottles, but his favourite is his cukky. It's been in his mouth so often that it's now permanently discoloured.

I wonder just how similar or different we'll be as we keep getting older? Only time, and my blog, will tell!

Learning From the Best

Things I'm teaching William

Just a few weeks before my birthday, little William had his first birthday. A whole year has flown by since I first visited him in hospital and we packed him up to come home. He's been growing and learning so much since then, but it's important that he gets the best tutelage and learns from a master. That's where I come in; I'm training tomorrow's rascal.

Walking is something I'm helping with. Well, encouraging. After a few weeks of faltering steps made while holding onto the couch, coffee table or people, William is getting more confident every day, while I egg him on. True, I do sometimes tell on him if he's tottering his way over to something he shouldn't (like my breakfast), but soon it'll be a case of look out every ornament that's within reach!

I'm also helping encourage him with some new tricks. Mummy has taught him what the answer to the question "What noise does the lion make" is (answer: "rarrhhh"), and we're now moving on to clapping hands and waving goodbye. He hasn't quite got the waving right yet - when he tries it looks a bit like he's trying to get something sticky off his hand.

People have told me that my vocabulary is pretty good, so this is something else I can try to pass onto William. He's only just said his first word ("mama") though, so that could be a long road.

Mostly though, the things I'm teaching William are those things Mummy and Daddy wish I wasn't. Like when we're eating dinner and I slouch back in my chair, letting bits of food fall off my fork onto the carpet. William looks across at me, finds it hilarious, and before you know it there's food being dropped from two sides. Which is normally where threats and curses ensue from Daddy, but neither of us pay much attention. Being a rascal is just far too much fun.

Four He's a Jolly Good Fellow

Birthday boy turns 4

One of the best things about having a birthday in the middle of the year is that you're never more than a few months away from having a celebration and getting presents. Getting warmer? Must be near Christmas. Getting colder? Hello birthday!

In fact it's just long enough a gap between the two to work out a new list of things I'd like. The downside is that the weather sometimes isn't very good around my birthday and it's not as easy to go and play outside. But I never let that get in the way of my birthday fun.

Like every year Mummy asked what type of cake decoration I wanted, and this year I chose an Octonauts cake, in the style of an underwater cartoon I watch on TV. She did a great job, with some characters made out of icing and yummy hokey pokey chocolate for the coral.

I even managed to 'double-down' on my birthday cake, because she made another cake for me to take to daycare. Which was great because not only was it more cake-y goodness, it also stretched the birthday period out over a few days.

Lots of cool 'first' presents came my way this birthday, including my first iPad. Word on the street is that it previously belonged to Grandma until she upgraded hers, but it's still all mine now to load up with some fun games. And since he's so frugal, it's actually no older a model than Daddy's. Steve Jobs would never have got rich off Daddy.

Other firsts were my first tool kit and first Transformer toy, plus a cool scribble & write toy to help me with learning letters and numbers. Of course I also received lots of cars, but then I'd have been disappointed if there weren't some of them; the first couple of dozen I got just gave me a taste for more.

It wouldn't be a birthday without a party, so we had the family around to help celebrate and eat Octonauts cake. Do these Hartland cousins look like an awesome foursome or what? I'm the one hurriedly picking the candles off so as to get stuck into the cake quicker. William's the one looking startled because he was about to reach for a fistful of icing.

The next birthday I have will be when I turn 5 and am about to start school. Now that really will be turning into a big boy.

Surf's Up At Waipu

William's first family holiday

Originally published 12 March 2017

It had been a while since we went away somewhere for a few days; all the way back 18 months ago when we went to Australia, in fact. So it was high time that Mummy and Daddy took me away on an adventure of chaos and glorious misbehaving. In other words - a family holiday.

And just to ensure that we all set our chaos meters at maximum, it would be the first such holiday for baby William. How would he take to sleeping in a different cot? Sitting through long car journeys? Not having all his things around him? Only time and Daddy's rising blood pressure would tell.

The destination this time was somewhere called Waipu. I was immediately suspicious that this was a silly made-up place. Why poo? Sounded like a trick was being played. But turns out it is a real place with a big long beach, and Mummy had booked us a holiday house there. So we packed up our togs, sunscreen and summer clothes, got in the car and headed north.

Naturally the first afternoon we got there it rained quite heavily. Excellent - no umbrella or wet weather gear packed at all. Could be a long holiday... Luckily as soon as the clouds went away, the sun came out for the whole rest of the time. Perfect weather for swmming and playing on the beach.

Waipu's a pretty small place, so there's not heaps to do there, but there was a cool waterfall. We had to drive for what seemed like ages down this rocky road, then walk through a forest track, but the waterfall at the end was cool. Absolutely freezing in fact - the water collected in the pool made my feet feel numb when I splashed into it. There were a few other people exploring at the same time as us, though not all of them were dressed quite like we were; one lady's clothes must have shrunk in the cold...

When we weren't out and about, there was a goldmine of toys and books at the holiday house. Tucked into a cupboard were a couple of big boxes packed with toys. Two minutes after discovering them, the boxes were promptly unpacked and spread across the floor. Now it's starting to feel a bit like home. There was a passionfruit vine in the garden, so we raided that and enjoyed some yummy fruit too.

We had a fun dinner out one night too, at a place called Pizza Barn. It serves pizza and is decorated a bit like a big barn, with huge stuffed animals and fish mounted on the walls - what's not to like? I found the stuffed animal heads fascinating, just imagining them out in the fields a long time ago.

So that was our holiday in Waipu. And we were having so much fun I almost forgot to misbehave. William slept, well, like a baby in his new cot, and didn't mind the car journeys at all. We had a great time and managed to still be friends at the end of it. Pretty good for a family holiday - many weekends aren't that successful!

Here Comes the Sun

What I did on my summer holidays

Originally published 13 February 2017

Once daycare has finished for the year and Santa has gone back home again, it means it's time for summer holidays to start. It's the best time of year to kick back and relax; to get rid of all those things you didn't really want to do. Like wearing clothes. So why not get the holidays underway in comfort and style - riding my bike without wearing any clothes, just a sweet pair of sunnies.

When it was time to take some of this coolness away from home, we all packed up and went off on a few daytrips. On one of these we met up with another family and went to the zoo. I said that I wanted to see the tigers first, and we got there just in time to see one up close, walking right past the window. I enjoyed seeing all the anmals, except the spiders; Daddy's right - too many legs and too creepy.

Another day we visited the Silverdale Adventure Park, where I got to ride on a pirate ship and a rocket with Daddy. The only ride Mummy got was on the drive there - she looked after William all day. There was also a cool indoor playground with lots of things to climb up and slide down, plus a trampoline tucked away in one corner.

I got to feed some animals at the Matakana Farm Park on another day out. Well, I had a little bag of food, and was standing by the fences ready to give it to the animals, but every time they would come close my courage deserted me. There would either be some big-horned goat or sharp-beaked chicken ready to peck at my hand, so in the end the feeding was more like me throwing bits of food through the fence for the animals to scavenge from the ground.

The holidays weren't all about heading away from home though. One of the things I got for Christmas was a cool new pool, so after waiting for half an hour while Mummy and Daddy struggled to put it together (not sure why it took so long - it was only a few pieces then adding some water), I got to have a splash around in it. Handy timing too because some days were very hot, so were perfect for a dip without leaving home.

So those are my summer holiday highlights so far. Luckily there's still plenty of summer left, so lots more opportunities for swims and getting out to fun new places. And Daddy tells me we're going for an overnight holiday soon too!

Time For a Rhyme

Singing silly songs

Originally published 21 December 2016

I enjoy a good song, especially if there’s a bit of silliness included. It’s fun to sing along to silly words, maybe even incorporate a silly dance to go with it. Most of the songs I learn at home are silly ones, mainly because Daddy makes them up to make me laugh I think. For example, here’s one he made up that we sing together:

Two little turds, swimming in a stream
Front door, back door, never to be seen

We learn new songs at daycare too, but they tend to be a bit less silly. They’re also more polite though! One of the earliest songs I learned was called Two Cupcakes; here I am doing a rendition of it.

Silly Things Adults Say

Winning the war of words

Originally published 17 December 2016

Every day I’m watching the things going on around me, listening to the things people say, and picking up new things I can say and do myself. Since I spend so much time with Mummy and Daddy it’s natural that a lot of what I pick up comes from them. Which is a shame, since sometimes they say such silly things…

Here’s one example: When the sun’s out I love to play in my sandpit, getting little piles of it into my pants and hair that I can then distribute by walking through the house. I also enjoy building little piles of sand outside the sandpit, so that my cars can drive over it or diggers can lift it. One time when I was in the middle of tipping sand out of my sandpit Mummy warned me with, "When the sand is gone, it's gone".

That’s not much of a revelation really. If she’d said “When the sand is gone, it will magically refill itself”, that would be impressive. But knowing that it’s gone when it’s gone – I could work that out for myself.

Another silly thing they say is when they’re trying to get me dressed. They’ll get as far as changing my nappy, then try to convince me to put on something I don’t want to wear by saying, "It’s pants or nothing".

That’s the surest way of me always picking "nothing", since it gets me out of wearing the thing I didn’t want to put on anyway. It’s not quite the reaction Mummy had in mind, so she probably should have thought that one through a little better.

Dinnertime is another occasion when silly sayings tend to come out, especially if they’re trying to convince me to eat something that looks like it belongs more in one of the cat’s dishes. Often there will be bribes involved to get me to eat more.

A week ago we all went to the daycare Christmas party, and when we sat down to have our picnic dinner I wanted to eat a yummy roll instead of the sausage they’d given me. Mummy pointed to a part of the sausage about half-way down, and said, "You can have a treat if you eat as far as that". So I then skipped most of the sausage and took a bite out of only where Mummy pointed. There you go – I ate exactly where you told me to, so pass me the treat please.

Now who’s the clever one?