Clifton Gardens

Turns out Saturday's effort was just a non-dress rehearsal.

Mothers group met today at Clifton Gardens, where there's a nice playground as well as a beach and a long jetty. Louka played with the other kids and ran out to the end of the jetty with me for a couple of hours, until she got tired and hungry and wanted to go to the café.

But the café was about 100m along the beach, and the tide was rising. The waves were nearly lapping the rocks at the end of the beach, and I was afraid we would be trapped away from our car. So we drove round. It's a long winding drive of over a kilometre, to get to a spot you could just about throw a rock at.

Anyway, we got a good parking spot and went to the main café rather than the one down at the beach. After some nice bread rolls, coffee and babycino and a berry muffin we explored down to the beach, to see if we could see where we'd been before. And then Louka decided to completely strip off and run into the water. Perhaps it was fortunate we were the only ones on the beach. When the waves started to wash away our sandcastle we retreated up the stairs (oh, I put most of Louka's clothes back on, apart from the soggy trousers) to play a couple of games of hide-and-seek before going home.

Still no photos as Graham still has my camera.

Play School concert

We got moving quickly this morning for the Play School concert at North Sydney. I'd been advised to get there early to secure parking, and because there would be a queue. So we were there nearly an hour before it started. Someone was handing out stickers and balloons along with brochures for something, then we did some drawing, then we went for a little walk to check out the shops.

On our way up the stairs we met Lauren and her family, so we sat next to them at the concert. When the first presenter came out, I thought "that looks like Benita" and so it was. The second presenter was Alex. The girls got up and clapped and stamped and tiptoed and twinkled their fingers to the songs. It was good fun, though Louka would have liked to be able to meet the presenters afterwards.


We drove straight to Trishy's and Johnny's, where she promptly fell asleep for three hours.

(Thanks Sarah for the photos.)

In the wintertime we like to go to the beach

It was a cold grey day, so of course Louka suggested the beach. (I think I have Play School to blame.) As usual it took ages for Louka to get ready, so first we got some fish & chips to share with Daddy. Then off to the beach.

At first she said she only wanted to play in the sand, so we made some sandcastles and dug some holes. Then she found a shell and a stone, so she wanted a bucketful of water to wash them. Off came the shoes, socks and trousers, and into the sea in purple panties, which soon matched the purple of her cold legs. But even when we left the beach for a quick play in the park, she didn't want her trousers back on.

No photos, because Graham has borrowed my camera.

A cold

Louka has a cold. It started on Monday, when she was miserable, clingy and lethargic, with a slight fever, and I was afraid the previous illness had returned. But after a long afternoon nap, she awoke much more cheerful. But all this week, she's been less than her usual self, less energetic and less cheerful. She also has a cough and a runny nose. Hope she's better by Monday for the Play School concert!

Trishy's birthday

My mum is a determined woman. It was her birthday, and she wasn't going to let any old virus get in the way of her celebration. She'd wanted a family get-together, and someone suggested a restaurant with a private room. I looked up restaurants with private rooms and found Perama, which I'd heard was good. But when mum booked they said she didn't need a private room.


Louka had a nap from about 4pm, and woke just before 6pm so we quickly got her ready and rushed off. It helped that we were going out to a restaurant at night; it's something she talks about. And even better, her beloved Max would be there. We were about quarter of an hour late, but so were mum and dad.


A banquet seemed the simplest option for the ten of us, and a banquet it certainly was. We were all fairly full before the main course arrived. Max shared his meal with Louka, and by this time she'd had enough and was bored. So Max took her for a walk, and they returned with markers to draw on the paper tablecloth. Eventually the dessert arrived, and Louka happily gobbled up Max's ice-cream.


It was past Louka's bedtime when we left, but she didn't fall asleep in the car. Graham did though.

No visit to Trishy and Johnny

Now that Louka's better, I was hoping things would get back to normal, but I just had a phone call to say my mum is sick. Sounds similar to what Louka had. And it's mum's birthday tomorrow! I hope she recovers quickly.

I've put away the medicine

Louka was much better yesterday, so we went shopping and to Softplay. She was still a little fragile last night, but woke up cheerful again. So the medicines have been put back in the cabinet.

If it's not one thing it's another

Today, after a morning Nurofen, Louka seems a lot better, so I thought I'd take her to Chatswood to shop. Took the child car seat, which had been upstairs since she fell asleep in the car on Tuesday, down to the garage and strapped her in. Asked what music she wanted to listen to, and changed the CD. Turned the key in the ignition and... nothing. Oh great.

Louka now really wanted to go to Chatswood, but still didn't feel energetic enough to take the train, so she suggested taking the stroller. This is the first time in her life she's voluntarily gone in the stroller, and probably the first time she actually stayed in it all the way to Chatswood and back.

I called NRMA when we got home and they came and jump-started the car, and told me we needed a new battery. Graham got one on his way home. And Louka was pretty well until after 4 o'clock, when she got icy cold hands and feet.

No art & move either

Last night, just as Graham arrived home, the doctor rang to ask how Louka was going. When I said she was still mostly sleeping, the doctor said we should take her to the hospital.

We spent several hours there, where they did checks to rule out meningitis, asthma, diabetes and pneumonia. Then just as they were writing a letter for the doctor, Louka vomited in their cubby house. So we stayed a little longer.

Today again she was much the same, lethargic, miserable and often hot. She didn't want to be off my lap, and spent most of the day drowsing there. Then, just as Graham rang to say he was about to come home, I gave her some more paracetemol and she started to pick up. By the time he got home she was cheerfully watching Play School (thank goodness for Play School) and she "helped" me cook dinner, and even ate some.

No playgroup today

Louka woke up at 3am last night, and watched a couple of recorded episodes of Play School. After an hour she was grizzly, droopy and hot, and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. Then she woke up very hot - I managed to get some Panadol into her, and she slept till 11 o'clock. Then she woke up and wanted porridge, and more Play School.

But by lunch time she was miserable again, and clingy and lethargic and hot; however she spat out the Panadol I tried to give her. Eventually I took her to the doctor, who found her temperature hgh and her heartrate fast, and diagnosed non-specific virus. She prescribed paracetemol (hah!) four times daily, interspersed with ibuprofen, and gave me a letter for the hospital in case she didn't improve.

The rudiments of language

Louka is getting pretty good at talking (as she should be) and understands much of the structure of English. She knows how to make past tenses (add -ed), how to make comparatives (add -er) and how to make some verbs (add -en, as in shorten, darken etc). Of course, her grasp of these "rules" doesn't always guide her right. Strong verbs are a pitfall: she's just as likely to say "I falled" as "I fell". She informed me the other day that one activity would be "funner" than another. And this morning, she'd pretended to make something very big (by magic) but then she needed to "smallen" it again. Smallen is such a lovely word I had to check the dictionary ― but it wasn't there.

Dressing up

Today was dressing up day at playgroup.


I couldn't get the feather-boa'd witch to stop for a photo.


Painting also doubled as face painting.