Let's Meet: Mummy

5 questions about Mummy

That Mummy's pretty great. She makes my lunch for school every day, makes my bed all comfy before I go to bed at night, and always rushes to look after me if I'm sad. We've even got kind of the same smile, if you look at the picture.

But Daddy wanted to see just how well I knew Mummy, so he asked me a few questions about her. Like, what's one of my favourite things that we've done together? That would be going to Australia when we went a couple of years ago. Or what would be a great job for Mummy to do? I think flying a plane, because flying's fun - plus then she can fly us to Australia.

Daddy had five more questions as well, but you have to watch the video to find out what they are and what I said. Let's get ready to meet Mummy!

Not sure if Mummy would agree with all of those answers. She might think Daddy had something to do with making me come up with these, but they were all mine - really!

Next time, let's meet: Grandma!

Making Waves and Bursting Bubbles

Super summer holiday

The school books have been packed away for the year, Santa has gone back to the North Pole for a rest... that means it's time for a nice long summer holiday. And what a holiday this year! School's out for six weeks, even longer than the usual holidays I've had. Now what will I get up to...?

Well, eating, of course. It's the perfect time of year to be enjoying ice creams, and I'll be saying "yes please" faster than you can say "four scoops or six?" William's learned how great it is pretty fast too, though he'd probably get a whole extra scoop if he actually ate it all instead of dripping it down his clothes.

 

Going to the beach is another fun thing to do over summer, so we visited a few on the holidays. We swam at Castor Bay and saw lots of tiny red jellyfish - lucky they weren't stingey ones. And we went to my favourite beach with the cave at Rothesay Bay.

I'm much more confident in the water now after all my swimming lessons, so I was able to go out even further this year. William wants to but he gets a bit scared by the bigger waves - and by falling over in the water, which he does all the time.

When we weren't out swimming or eating ice creams, there were our cool new Christmas presents to play with. Mummy set up our new waterslide in the garden so I could speed down it in a huge splash.

And if we weren't tired enough from doing that, we'd get out our bubble-blowing toys and chase them around the garden. Sometimes I'd even try to eat them if I was fast enough to catch one whole in my mouth.

So, it turns out being at school is even greater than I thought. Sure, I enjoyed my first six months there, but these long holidays are awesome! Before long Daddy, Mummy and William were all back at their works or daycare, but my holiday adventures just keep on going...!

Tis The Season To Be Ollie

What I got for Christmas (fa la la la la)

Yay, Christmas time! Out of the three best days of the year (Christmas for presents, Easter for cake, and birthday for presents and cake), this is the best one!

Like last year, we wanted to get into the festive spirit by looking at some of the amazing Christmas lights people put up on their houses, but if you wanted to see photos of us doing that... well, you've come to the wrong place. William was too rascally for photos when we all went out one night, and then it was raining too hard when Daddy and I went out on Christmas Eve.

But never mind - none of that stopped Santa visiting our house, looking for a chimney, not finding one, sending an elf to break in through a window, and leaving presents under our tree.

 

Lucky I'd made that awesome Christmas list earlier in the month, because I got so many of the things I wanted on it! You can see some of them in the photo, but they included the huge Paw Patroller vehicle, a dinosaur cuddly toy for sleeping with, an Octonauts activity book, a scooter, a backyard waterslide, a dinosaur puzzle, and heaps of yummy food.

William got some good presents too. He just loves pushing his toy vacuum cleaner around the house. He even seems pretty pleased with that pile of clothes he's just unwrapped.

Best of all, now that I'm at school I have a whole month left now to play with everything! Who said getting older was hard work?

Wrapping It Up

Christmas List for Santa

Jingle those bells, it's nearly time for Christmas! Yay, my favourite time of the year. And not just because it's a time to get lots of presents. It means a big, long holiday, going for swims, and lots of fun in the sun.

The first day of December is the earliest Daddy says we can put the Christmas tree up, so I made sure that on that day we all helped get it up and decorated. Every morning since then I've been in charge of counting down the days on our Christmas countdown ornament.

But speaking of presents, there are one or two things I'd quite like. Well, maybe three. Okay, quite a lot. To make it easy for Santa (and everyone else) I've written a handy list of what I want for Christmas, which you can hear straight from my mouth here.

So, no excuses Santa. It couldn't be clearer if I flew up to the North Pole, took your hand, and walked you to each of the shops myself. Now how many days does our countdown say that I still have to wait..?

Leigh-side By The Seaside

A weekend away

Well it's about time! Lots of times this year I've said to Dad how great our holiday in Waipu was - and that was over a year ago. Finally we get to go away on another holiday, even if it was just because Daddy won it at work. It was heading north again, but not as far this time - only as far as a place called Leigh.

We dashed up there after work and school on Friday afternoon. We were staying in a bach. Nice and big, but no sign of a TV. Oh well, at least I had my iPad.

I hadn't eaten in a whole hour, so naturally I was asking for food pretty much as soon as we stepped inside. We picked up some fish & chips and ate them on the beach at a bay near the bach.

William and I were sharing a room again, which we hadn't done since the last holiday we had to Rotorua. That was nice since it meant we could check on each other to make sure he was okay.

The next day was Daddy's birthday, so as soon as we woke up we bundled onto his bed to give him his presents. No time for reading that book or watching that DVD though - it's time to drive off to visit Goat Island.

But hang on a second... something's missing. Where are all the goats? Sure those trees are nice and there's some sand to play on, but someone's oversold us on the goats. Maybe they're up by that Maritime Centre up the hill...

...Nope, no goats anywhere near Goat Island. At least the Maritime Centre was fun to visit. There were some cool open-top glass tanks where we could tap the water and feel the seaweed and other little sea creatures. There was even a baby octopus in a tank (but we couldn't touch that one)!

The sun was still shining, so we next drove on to Pakiri Beach. It has a huge, long stretch of sand and sea, just perfect for paddling in. William's always copying me, so when I ran in to splash about a bit, he did the same. Which he thought was great fun, right up until he tripped and face-planted into the water. He sure wasn't as cheerful as he is in the photo below after that happened!

   

We'd had a couple of snacks during the day, but all this rushing about was making me hungry again. Luckily it was getting close to dinner time, and we were going to some place with lots of old machinery sitting outside. Hopefully the food is a bit newer.

Turned out it was my favourite dinner - pizza - at the Sawmill Cafe. We got a great table just above where some musical instruments were set up. Then, just before we finished eating, the band arrived and started to play. It was my first time seeing a real live band playing, right in front of me; the first time seeing people playing drums and "kee-tar"as William calls the guitar.

The next day was Sunday, which meant time to pack up our stuff and head back home again. But not before one last bit of excitement. It turns out my tummy isn't very good on long car journeys, and about a minute from home I was sick all over a towel. Uh oh. Maybe next time we should just take an aeroplane instead. Maybe back to Australia...?

Will's Words

The lexicon of William

Now that I'm at school I'm learning how to read letters and words, and am doing more and more writing too. But little William isn't as good as me. He's still learning to speak, so he only knows a few words. He is trying to speak proper words more, but sometimes they don't come out quite right. Like these ones...

bitty = bickie (biscuit)

cuggle = cuddle

One word he's only just started trying to say is his name. I guess it's a tricky word for a baby, but when he tries to say it, it sounds like he has something stuffed into his mouth. You'll see what I mean in this video:

Mostly he just says one or two words, but he has worked out how to say a couple of longer sentences. His favourite one seems to be "Go away lawnmower. Too loud.". He came out with that one after seeing Daddy mow the lawns, and he got really frightened with the loud noise.

Of course, one word he's immediately learned, maybe because I say it so often, is "cukky". It's handy that he knows the word, because he carries his cukky around everywhere - usually hanging out of his mouth, covered in dribble. Love for our cukkys is something we have in common.

Luckily for us all, most of the time we can work out what William means, even if he says it a bit funny. And luckily for William, he has a great teacher to learn from - me!

My Favourite Things

The best book, toy & show (at the moment anyway)

Coming up with a list of my favourite things to read, play with and watch is hard. Especially when Dad said that I could only say one for each.

My bookcase is crammed full of books (even with some of them being passed on to William for his little bookshelf), plus we're always getting new books out to read from the library. My toy box is also really full, so the toys have started spilling out across the floor of my bedroom. And my Netflix list of programmes I've watched is getting longer and longer...

So you understand just how hard it was coming up with only one favourite thing to read, play with and watch. But I've made up my mind. Want to know what I came up with? Then just watch this video of me and I'll tell you.

Now what could I do for my next list of favourite things? Maybe food, or games, or... Hmm, that's another hard question. I'll need time to think about it...

Where There's A Will

What's William been up to?

This year has been a big one for me. I've turned five, finished daycare and started school – and the year’s only just over half way through. But while I’ve been doing all this, what's that little William been up to?

Well, I’m not the only one to have had a birthday – he’s now a bigger boy of two. And it seems part of his growing up is wanting to copy me.

He likes having his teeth cleaned sitting on my bed in the evening, and in the mornings he sits at the coffee table eating his breakfast just like I do (except on the days I have brekkie at school).

He also puts his bowl away after dinner and his bottle after a drink of milk; the trouble is that he puts them away straight after eating, so that when someone next opens the cupboard they see a crusty, dirty bowl sitting there.

While I graduated from daycare to school, William moved to a new daycare. It doesn't seem to have made any difference to how dirty he gets though – sometimes he comes home looking like he's been painting on himself instead of on paper.

One thing he loves now are musical instruments, especially the guitar and xylophone he got for his birthday. This noisy guitar wasn’t a birthday present, but he sure loves making a racket with it.

William’s also started talking more. The words he’s using most are "more", "cacker" (cracker), “bittie” (bickie, or biscuit), "flower", "ball" and "shoe" (though for some reason he always says this one with internal muffling rather than speaking). Food-related words seem to be the ones he picks up fastest – I wonder why…?

His longest effort is “go away motorbike”, which is directed at the man who lives in a house near us and who has a noisy motorbike. At least, that’s what Mum and Dad tell me he’s saying – they must have a good imagination because he doesn’t say it as well as me.

Another thing about William is that he’s fixated with brooms and sweeping. Doesn’t matter whether it’s inside at home, outside on the deck or at daycare. Even walking through the shopping mall he’ll get all excited about a man sweeping the floor.

  

So, lots of things have been happening for William this year too. But some things are still the same though; he’s still playing with and losing my toys, or even just parts of toys (like my dinosaur with only one arm now).

He’s also still eating cat food from the cat's bowls on the deck. Maybe sometimes a cacker and a bittie just isn’t enough for a growing boy.

Watch and Learn

Starting School

Oh this school stuff is easy! I don't know what Mum and Dad were worried about. Mummy even took two whole days off work to drop me off, make sure I was okay, then pick me up later. She may as well have gone to work and got more money for me.

It's already been a whole month of school. A month ago I was still racing around at daycare, and now here I am at school. Well actually, I'm now in school holidays - two weeks holiday after only four weeks at school! Oh this school stuff is easy...

There's a lot of things school has different from daycare. Clothing for a start - I now have to wear a uniform every day, like on my very first day in the pic above.

Everything goes by the bell too - we only start class, go for breaks, eat snacks and finish class when the bell goes. Luckily going toilet isn't quite as strict or by the time the bell went they might have to send a cleaner in to mop the floor.

I guess we do have proper lessons now too; a little bit like at daycare, but with a lot more listening to the teacher and working in our workbooks. I've got a cool soundbook where we find photos, draw pictures and write words beginning with a different letter each week; it's also the homework I'm supposed to do, but which I often seem to forget when I'm racing to go on my iPad.

But there are a lot of things the same as daycare too - bringing books home to read every day, activities and art in class, even the long days since I go to before and after school care. That's actually helped my education too - on one of my first days I learned about Nutella on toast, my new favourite breakfast!

One of the activities I got to do was a cross-country run with all the other kids, around the edge of our sports field. Small snag though: I didn't quite understand what the deal was with the spare clothes I was supposed to get changed into for running, so put these on over the top of my uniform, then went running wearing everything! Lucky there weren't spare shoes to put on too, or that would have got uncomfortable.

Our school's been going through a lot of construction for ages now. But luckily not long after I started the new library opened - so I got to visit on the first day and take a book out. How cool having my very own library so handy.

The last day of term we had a special visitor at school: an air force helicopter. It flew in and landed on our field; it made so much noise I had to block my ears. We all got to crowd around and have a look inside; that's me on the bottom right just behind my teacher with the white puffer jacket.

I think school is starting to change me a little bit though, either from being in a new class, having a special teacher, or having bigger kids around. Mum and Dad say I'm becoming more authoritative, or exerting my authority more. Like when I use "no" when I'm explaining a difference of opinion, rather than just refusing to do something like I used to.

But that's only to be expected - I am a big boy of five now, after all. A big boy with two weeks of holidays stretching ahead. Yay, this school stuff is easy!

Gimme Five!

Superheroes and a super birthday

It’s birthday time again, and this time I’m famous five! As if that wasn’t special enough, this birthday even came with a party! A proper one with dressing up and all my friends.

I really must be super, because this birthday was filled with Superheroes – in presents, cake and the party theme.

Of all the superheroes, Spiderman was the one who appeared the most – in two toys, a mask and on the cake. But if you check out the big pile of presents in the photo, you can see I got lots of other cool things too.

I’m loving playing my new ‘Guess Who?’ board game – carefully studying the little pictures to check if they have red hair or glasses, then flipping them over (and sometimes flipping them back if I got too carried away) – even if I can’t read the people’s names yet. But then that’s what school will be for.

I’ll be getting creative over winter with all my new activity books – stickers, painting and puzzles. With plenty of dinosaurs too! These ought to help fill in those weekend afternoons if I can get Mummy and Daddy to help me with them.

I’d invited all my friends to my birthday party at a place called Party Kingdom. There were about 10 kids there altogether, though it could have been a lot more since I hadn’t quite understood that only friends who got a paper invitation were actually invited. I was busy telling other kids at daycare that they were invited too.

Luckily they (or their Mum and Dad) obviously didn’t believe it. The cake would never have been big enough for that many people.

Mummy had booked a special party room, which was covered with cool superhero decorations. When we weren’t all racing about in the play area, we sat around the big table in the middle, perfect for laying out all the food and cake. See if you can spot me in the photo - you'd have to be blind as a bat not to!

Another great birthday and another yummy cake from Mummy. But if I've just turned five, that means school must be starting tomorrow. Uh oh...