Yum cha with Grandpa

Graham's father was paying a flying visit to Sydney and invited us to have lunch with him in town. We had yum cha in Chinatown.


Afterwards we wandered round Darling Harbour, where Louka found a sheep sculpture she liked.

At the pool

It was a bit crowded at the pool today, but we still enjoyed it. Louka is getting much more confident and independent. And we met the little girl who lived next door to us before we moved to West Ryde.

Edible face paint

We went to the meatball shop today to do some gift shopping. As usual we had to stop for meatballs. Louka still hasn't mastered clean eating, and managed to get a spot of "jam" (lingonberry sauce) on the tip of her nose. There was also quite a bit round her mouth. When I pointed this out to her, she proceeded to add more with her fingers. Thank goodness Ikea has child-friendly toilet and washing facilities.

Flower girl

Louka has been sleeping quite badly recently, waking often and crying. Then last night she slept through till daybreak. As a reward I thought I'd take her to the Carriageworks Lucky Dip Workshops. However, as usual she took a long time to get ready, and when we got there it was too late to join in. They were doing flower arranging, and Louka would have really liked to try it out, so when we'd bought bread and sausages at the markets I decided to buy some flowers to take home. I chose a bunch of hellebores, while Louka chose lavender. They went together quite nicely.


At home I put the hellebores in a jug and let Louka add the lavender flowers one by one. She did quite a good job.

Dentist

Louka has a few problems with her teeth, so she visits the dentist about four times a year. She has a crack across a couple of front teeth and some defective enamel on her upper molars. Today, the crack on the front teeth was not deteriorating at all ― I do concentrate very carefully on brushing those teeth. However, the defective enamel was getting much worse. The dentist cleaned the molars with "medical grade aluminium oxide" and applied some sort of coating or filling. He wants to see her again in six weeks to see if the coating is holding. Otherwise we will have to take her to a paediatric dentist ― apparently a rather expensive undertaking.

New playgroup

This one is at a church in Roseville. I wasn't too sure if it would be any good, after a previous experience of a church playgroup, but it was fun. Louka spent almost the whole time (we were late, so not much more than an hour) in the play kitchen, "washing up" and "making soup". But there was also painting, playdough, jigsaws, train set, ride-on toys, sandpit and cubby house. And they provided morning tea of strawberries, watermelon, banana, apple, cheese and Jatz. And it's cheaper than the North Sydney one ― but you have to pay for a whole term. Still, if we go three times it will work out cheaper than North Sydney (which I think is better, but mainly just because of the space and dedicated rooms there).

Zig Zag Railway

I've wanted to take Louka on the Zig Zag Railway for quite a long time ― ever since she started to be interested in Thomas the Tank Engine and other steam trains. Last week I finally just said lets go, and Graham consented to come along. The weather was fine, if cold, and my parents said we could stay with them at their Blue Mountains weekender.

The trip started well with an easy drive, followed by Louka enjoying her dinner (mum made pasta al tonno) and coming back for seconds and thirds. Things didn't go so well overnight, with Louka sleeping in 10-minute bursts then waking and crying. No-one slept much. She seems to be coming down with a cold.

In the morning everyone (except Louka) was a bit tired and lacking in energy, but we headed off in good time and got there easily. We looked at the engine but Louka wasn't game to take up the driver's offer to go inside. We did get to see the fireman shovelling in more coal. We took our seats and the train started, then stopped. It waited for all the people arriving up to ten minutes late. Then we set off for real. The train chuffed along then went into a long tunnel. The carriage lights came on then flickered out, and the only light came from all the camera flashes. Louka put her hands over her eyes to shut out the dark.


We got out at the reversing station and climbed the railway overpass, then got back in for the short trip to Bottom Points. There the boiler was refilled with water ― apparently the same spring water you could buy bottled at the station shop. There were people waiting at Bottom Points station and we had to share our seats, but we were rewarded by these pleasant people sharing their strawberries with Louka.


Back at my parents' place, Louka wasn't hungry for lunch (probably because she'd consumed two cheese twists, a chocolate wheatmeal biscuit, a banana, two dried peaches and two strawberries during the ride). Then she fell asleep for most of the trip home.