June 2015

Things to remember:
- How when asked what his favourite apple was, Luca's response was "the shiny delicious!" (and Annick added that hers was "the one with the lady")
- all the bisous
- how the post-bath nudie 'tadam!' for guests is still going strong
- the endemic gender play - Luca borrows a pirate cave from the toy library and Annick borrows a fairy treehouse, and the conversation goes along the lines of, "arrr matey, get away from here!"; "twinkle twinkle sprinkly sprinkly!"; "arr, the pirates are hungry, can we eat something";"if you are kind you can eat something here"; "arr, look at the scary pirate face!"; "can I see the face?  Hello dear!"
- The world's politest pirates and the world's most hospitable fairies had a picnic and lunch together and it turned out it was the pirates' birthday!  "I have cake for you pirates!" says Annick.  "Is it pirate cake?" asks Luca.  "It is pirate cake!"  "Ooh, we love pirate cake, arrrrr!  Thank you very much!"
- How later on, when asked "what is pirate cake?", we find out that it is cake made out of pirates.
- Annick: I will have three moneys, because I am three years old.
  Luca: Ohhh, then I can have five moneys!
  Annick: it's OK Luca, we will go to the piggy banks.

Annick spent a lot of time being a shark dentist, primarily because it meant she got to play with the flexy bedside light on mama and papa's bed.  Luca was a very patient patient.

The shark costume from the toy library has been one of his favourite borrows.

Still eats pasta like he means it.

Doing Melbourne things like the Melbourne kids they are.

Dog riding.

Making fruit art, just like Mr Maker!  Or was it Playschool.  Either way, both shows make lots of work for mama to live up to.

Little Blue Jays.

Annick's art is coming on brilliantly.  Apparently she has become quite the inspiration for the budding artists in her daycare class.  She is particularly good at drawing happy suns.

Sometimes you just have to get your brother's goggles and be silly.

Not lacking in personality this little lady.

Luca can name all the planets in the solar system in French, including poor forsaken Pluto.  He currently has three concurrent obsessions - space, pirates and construction, with a side order of dinosaurs.

Finally, here is Annick's monkey.  You can tell it is a monkey because of the ears apparently.

May 2015

Calvin and Hobbes and Luca and Annick.

Things to remember for this month:

- How they love the Octonauts and both of them claim Barnacles as their favourite character (although Annick has a soft spot for Kwaazi and does a great 'Aye aye matey' when required and Luca is fond of caring little Peso) leading to statements in the bath from Annick such as, "No, I'm Barnacles Luca and you can be my buddy."
- Luca: We need a baby!
  Annick: It's OK, I will go to the shop and I will get a baby.
- How we made rockets out of bottles and construction paper and Luca was launching a space mission, "we are going to a planet!"  "What planet Luca?"  "The planet... the planet BOB!  FSSSHHHHHH here we go to the Planet Bob..."
- How Papa reads Tintin to them in the evenings (or during the day) and does all the voices.
- How Luca likes to go 'ARRRRRR' like a pirate, but cannot say his Rs, so sounds more like Elmer Fudd being a pirate. 
- How the 'aquarium' is still up on the walls and even two months later the two of them went on a tour, exclaiming, "look, a shark!" "scuttle scuttle little crab!" "ooh, jellyfish!" "look, I see a turtle!" 
- How Luca has returned to playing the good papa for his toutous and when you go in to check on him at night, he has carefully laid them upon cushions at his feet and they are all sleeping peacefully together. 
- How Annick's ultimate pleasure if a 'cosy and warm' bed.
- How Luca calls DVDs "deeverdees"
- How Annick's most used word is 'sprinkly', meaning either sparkly or covered in dots or water from the shower.
- How we have finally worked out that Annick's song 'Round the coconut' is actually just a mishearing of 'Wind the bobbin up'. 

Public transport is their home.

Buses as well as trams.

80s poster girl.

Luca and Papa blast off!

Apparently this is 'helping'.

Still loves this dress.  Dress now actually fits!

As do polar bears!!

Luca's default crinkly-nosed smile.

Looking after their babies.

Making rockets!

Luca's literacy skills improving every day.

Still building some amazing structures.

Still struggling with the loss of her afternoon nap (her decision, not ours!)

Fashionista.

Le petit lecteur.

Luca avec son avion de Nonno.

When Luca is in time out, Annick takes advantage of the pirate ship access.

Sometimes everyone is sick.

Making stop motion pony movies at the NGV!

Mademoiselle.

Papa follows instructions to draw Elsa and Anna while Annick does more important things.

UN REQUIN.

Ce fromage papa.

Luca - 5 years old

Really really really a boy now, but always, always my baby.

Luca at 5:
- Nicknames: ti-gars, mini-beau, mini-butt, chonchounet, garçonnet, loupion
- Personality: serious but incredibly cheeky, quiet but incredibly noisy, aloof but incredibly cuddly.  A bubbling broth of adorable quirks papered over with a very thin veneer of solemnity.
- Favourite books: TINTIN, Maisy, vehicle books
- Favourite things to watch: Toc toc toc, Play School, Mister Maker, Octonauts, TINTIN, the Curious George movie
- Favourite toys: duplo (still) and Lego, boxes, vehicles, toutous
- Favourite things to do: build things, create little cities, play with Annick, annoy Annick
- Favourite foods: PENNE PESTO, fish and chips, tomatoes, cheese, carrots, chocolate, bagels, bread.

Luca is in his last year of kinder and next year he starts school.  He is a determined, stoic, passionate little man under his understated exterior and in the safety and comfort of home, he is full of energy and ideas and play.  He has his quirks and oddities that both add to his charm and to his challenges, but he is so much loved in this little house.  He is most often found sitting quietly in his room with a book, reading and learning and expanding his growing mind, but equally he can be found making a ruckus with (or without) Annick in some complex and fascinating game of fire engines or space stations or kitchen or hospital or school.

He loves to share his experiences and learning and is often so keen to do so he will be standing there with his trousers around his ankles because he needs to show papa his new pirate map STRAIGHT AWAY, even though he was on the toilet when papa got home.  When asked a question, he will be reluctant to reply unless you then say, well, OK, don't worry about it, then all of a sudden he'll need to tell you everything.  He loves to read with mama and papa and to take ideas from Play School or Mister Maker and then do them at home.

He builds amazing creations with duplo or Lego, soaring towers and complicated machines that defy gravity.  They always have a serious purpose, maybe cleaning or chopping up vegetables or putting things away.  He loves robots and machines and pirates and space and all the good things, and still has great care and affection for his toutous - orange bear, Stephen Harper, Ducky, Carey Ours, hedgehog, Humpty.  They are always tucked up with him in bed each night, comfortable on their cushions and under their blankets.

He is not the most demonstratively affectionate little boy there ever was, but his cuddles and kisses are much valued and appreciated, even though they can be quite squishy and moist.  He always has a cuddle for mama and papa, and we love it, and him, more than you can possibly imagine.

Annick - 3 years old

My little babylady is 3 years old.  How did that happen??

Annick at 3:
- Nicknames: babylady, fillette, minibelle, Adelidelo, minibug, bubba-lah
- Personality: a tiny little bundle of unpredictable energy who might be as joyful as sunshine or as grumpy as a dark cloud, but is mostly a chirpy, giggly, bouncy sweetheart full of kisses and laughs and jokes and cheekiness.
- Favourite books: Turlututu, la fee Fifolette, Inside Outside Upside Down, There Are Too Many Elephants In This House
- Favourite things to watch: Octonauts, Ben & Holly, Peppa Pig, Play School, Toc Toc Toc, Mister Maker
- Favourite toys: dolls, kitchen,
- Favourite things to do: play games with Luca like doggy or hospital or fire station, make meals for people
- Favourite foods: avocado, meat, cheese, tamarillos, alphabet pasta, prawn dumplings

My little Annick is probably not so little - such a big girl, tall and smart and funny and agile and competent and independent and beautiful!  Still in a little denial about toilet training, but otherwise capable of so much.  She is easily frustrated and easily teased, but throws herself into everything with equal enthusiasm and verve - everything gets a full response.  A little clown who loves to joke and laugh and make you laugh, who loves to sing and dance and sing and sing.  Her play and her day are narrated by song, her little toutous and dollies go on amazing adventures with a musical soundtrack.

She is cuddly and full of affection and kisses, she asks caring little questions and marks the end of her queries with an upbeat, "OK?"  She serves you tea and cake on a little plate with great delight.  She loves to offer you a taste of her food or a play of her toy.  She loves to involve you in her games - you are the audience to her show, or another princess in the castle, or a customer in her shop.  She is bafflingly girly with a love for things pink and princess and sparkly.  She twirls and leaps as a ballerina and loves to dress up in spectacular outfits from the dress-up box.

She is a classic introvert, despite her sparky nature amongst the familiar - new people or crowds send her into her shell and she needs her space and quiet.  She gets full drama when she is tired or hungry and spends a lot of time prostrate in despair on the footpath or the shop floor when mama and papa make her do unreasonable things like walk for five minutes.  She pouts and protests when told off and is nothing like the (relatively) obedient little soul that is Luca.  But she is quickly appeased and quickly warmed and it is never too long before everything is sunshine again.

On t'aime ma belle, FORT!

April 2015

Things to remember for this month:
- How Luca has gone unexpectedly full bogan in some of his pronunciation - "worda" instead of water, "ya" for you.
- How both kids have fully embraced the smug taunt of 'nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!'
- How Luca is all about space and pirates at the moment
- How Annick cuddles her Lapinot at night in bed and Luca always has his Ducky, although Annick also loves her doudou mouton and Jemima, and Luca tends to take Stephen Harper when he's going somewhere.
- How Annick loves to have 'Au Clair de la Lune' sung to her at night, with the key words replaced with 'banane' - "Au clair de la banane, mon ami banane..." - after which, giggling hysterically, she corrects you.
- How Annick was doing pinboard craft in Ah Ma's garden, only to be bothered by a wasp, who she shooed away with a grumpy, "go away from here, you can't do this, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY HANDS."
- How Luca likes to be 'Luca machine' or 'Luca robot' and you can press buttons in his back and he will do stuff for you!  And sometimes he says, "Luca robot is humbry" and when you ask him what sort of fuel he needs, petrol maybe, or rice and duck, he says Luca robot needs rice and duck because it gives him more energy than petrol.
- How Annick was found drawing lines on Lapinot's head with a green marker "because now he is a LION!"

Pasta factory!  Luca is of course making his favourite penne, but Annick is making incredibly delicate little 'tortellinis'.

If everything is quiet and the two of them are in the room together, this is often what they are doing.

We went bowling!  Annick nearly won!

Luca makes pinboard art.  From memory, this was a rainbow and the wind and a storm and the moon.

I can't believe they didn't make more of this opportunity to whack each other.

Doctor Luca checks his patient.

If you insist on sitting next to the window, it often means you end up sitting on your own on the tram.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE!

Making some little nests at Artplay.

This is probably not how normal Canadian kids do it.

Luca is all about the boats!

 Splash splash splash!  I had to tip water out of their boots at the end of this and Luca had to change his trousers and underpants.

RRRRRAAWR!

Annick is all about the hula hoops.

Sometimes Annick just falls asleep.

She paid attention at the space movie at IMAX for about 15 minutes.

Lovely babies.