The ‘f’ word

Well it arrived without too much angst at all. The ‘f’ word being the big ‘forty’ (thanks for the card Mum and Dad!) I was speaking to a friend in Australia recently about my impending significant birthday. She mentioned to me how she and a friend (both approaching 38) had compiled a list of 40 things to do before turning 40. My first thought was “oh gosh,  I only have two weeks to do something significant!” I then thought about it a little more and realised that I didn’t want to treat the impending birthday as a life sentence – with an ‘end’. I recognised that my aim was to treat it as an opportunity for a new start – a time to explore new ideas. Besides, our last two years have involved enough excitement and change worthy of a decade or so! Gabrielle suggested I could have 40 drinks before turning 40 - I didn’t even have time to do that!

I realised that I have achieved several life goals: I have lived for a while in several continents, have worked overseas, completed my Masters, had a couple of children, travelled fairly extensively, am now happily married… all without giving it too much thought. The next start is a new business. But more about that later… 

Paul, my beautiful and big sweetie of a husband (and typically very reluctant party organiser) organised a birthday party for me. He planned this to take place in an independent local owner-operated coffee shop – Lincoln Perk - where we have come to know the owners and where they were happy to cater a private event. 

This was a lovely venue and the owners did some great catering with some classic and very delicious home Italian cooking. We had the largest cake from the Austrian Bakery – yum and made everyone left at the party at the end of the night take some home (including our baby-sitter Lisa). The boys have been enjoying  the left-overs (a little too much perhaps). 

Rowan (Paul’s brother) took the time to fly from Houston for the event – this was great and very much appreciated. It was a shock – although in hindsight, should have been expected, to see several guests leave the party well before 10pm (to feed a newborn, relieve baby sitters, check on sick children, attend school functions, travel back to the suburbs…). Ours is not really a demographic of party animals. True to form, it was the antipodean guests who had the most staying power ;-)

One of our guests, Rina, made it along although she was facing major surgery on Monday. Well done Rina – you rock! We have now found out that Rina does not have the suspected cancer in her cyst and tumor-ridden uterus and ovaries. She is on the road to a really good recovery. In Rina’s words, “It's so easy to get caught up in our busy lives and ignore potentially serious symptoms, or to go to this comfy place I've spent far too much time in; it's called 'denial.' So please, go to your doctors regularly, and go prepared with a list of anything that's been chronic or troubling.”  

Cotastrophe!

Last week I had left the boys in the family room while I went to the bathroom… when I came out, I heard a strange sound coming from the boy’s room. It sounded vaguely ceramic. When I went to investigate, the situation shown in the photo (above), was what greeted me. The strange sound was the boys knocking the cot (crib) uprights together. It was one of those moments that either sends a parent into either hysterical crying or laughter. I raced to get the camera! 

Luc has been going around singing a full rendition of “Happy Birthday to Mummy”, presenting me with a shoe box containing a ‘surprise’ – whatever the toy-of-the-day is. I think he should have it perfected by Friday (my birthday). 

Luc is usually very keen to learn the correct word or pronunciation for words… but there are several instances where he says thing his own way - and there is no means of persuading him otherwise. Luc loves singing the alphabet at the moment. When he reaches the end, he sings “Now I know your ABC’s…” we correct him “Now I know my ABC’s…” and he sings back to us “Now I know your ABC’s…” I guess it makes some sense. 

Luc counts to ten in French. When he reaches the end, he says “huit, neuf, GEESE!” No extent of explaining that geese are birds and not numbers seems to work. I heard Luc counting to four in Spanish the other day… I was quite amazed. I guess we have to thank Go Diego Go for that. 

Politic... tick... ticks

We find the whole United States election process very entertaining, as it is so different from that in Australia. Elections are held on a Tuesday (rather than on Saturday like Australia) – with little evident fanfare given to the actual voting process despite all the electioneering that goes on: the bumper bars, yard signs, phone canvassing, media hype, paraphernalia within peoples windows, canvassers in the street, etc.

Last week, elections were held for the office of Mayor for the City of Chicago. After the event, there was so little coverage it was blatantly apparent! I think Australian politics seem to be far more subject to the election post mortem. 

People in the US are very much Republican or Democrat – in much the same way as Australians are Ford or Holden!  Although people are willing to express allegiance to a particular party, this does not always translate into a vote – as voting is not compulsory. People appear to be more vociferous about stating their allegiance to a particular party as opposed to Australians who largely keep their voting practices to themselves. I guess Australians, on the whole, are more likely to ‘swing’ dependent upon policy, who might be standing, potential effect upon their own particular circumstances, susceptibility to scare mongering, etc.  

As voting is not compulsory, it is difficult to determine whether the population is made up of swinging voters or perhaps, which part of the population or party members might be more motivated to vote in a particular election. A great deal of electioneering that goes on is to motivate certain sections of the population to vote: young people, minority groups, the poor, etc. 

Even though the next Presidential elections are not held until November 4^th 2008, a whole heap of electioneering is currently taking place for party preselection. The Democrats have several possible contenders with Hillary Rodham Clinton (Bill’s wife, formerly or Illinois, current New York senator), Barack Obama (from Illinois, African American, senator for Illinois, anti-Iraq war), and John Edwards (former senator and nominee for vice-president with John Kerry in 2004) all formally announcing that they wish to be a candidate for President. The big question is whether or not Al Gore (former vice-president, ‘former next-president’ and champion of a green world) will announce his candidature. 

On the Republican front, John McCain (current senator for Arizona, lost out to George W in 2000, supporter of Iraq war), Rudy Giuliani (former very popular mayor of New York City), and Mitt Romney (former Massachusetts Governor) seem to be at the forefront and are running around the country seeking support.

Support for a candidate at this early stage is very much to do with raising money. A candidate needs a huge wad of money to run their political machine. This is why wild cards, including billionaire Ross Perot, have a chance – political nous and experience is not as key as having MONEY. It is expected that each nominee will need to raise $100 million this year in order to contest the primaries for the 2008 presidential election. 

This is quite a departure from elections in Australia where independents (who are not obscenely wealthy) are still able to run (even though they have no chance of being Prime Minister in Australia’s two party preferred system). 

The mood, as an outsider and at this early stage, appears to be positive. The apparent strength and popularity of the Democrat forerunners is palpable. I’m not sure if this is because both Clinton and Obama hail from Illinois (as were past presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan), but it can only be making the Republicans very nervous. 

Photo: some of the architecture found in Lincoln Park (named after the very popular Abe). Illinois’s state slogan is the “Land of Lincoln” 

Label for life?

There have been reported increases in the incidence of autism in the United States (as in other parts of the world).  Given the seeming ‘need’ to label children, is this any wonder? 

I had taken the boys along to the paediatrician for Nic’s fifteen-month and Luc’s three-year check-up a couple of weeks ago. 

The doctor asked if I had any concerns about the boys. I had none. He asked about Nic’s vocabulary. Nic has spoken a number of words, but with NO regularity. This is of no particular concern to Paul and myself as his understanding is very good and he has his own language – ‘babble’, or as Luc says “He is speaking French”. The doctor mentioned that he should have a vocabulary of about 6 words at his age. By eighteen months, he should have a vocabulary of 20 words… if not, then perhaps they would consider testing for autism! 

I was a little shocked at this – I have seen enough children to know that variance in language – extent of, and ability – can be marked. I am sure that Luc’s vocabulary wasn’t that great at the same age… and our doctors in Australia didn’t show the slightest concern or start travelling down the ‘autism path’.

I related my concern to my friend Polly. Polly recounted a similar incident. She had taken her son Callan in for a check-up last year, and happened to mention his then current obsession with completing jigsaw puzzles. Polly was shocked when the paediatrician mentioned that, given this obsession, perhaps they would test for Aspergers Syndrome. Polly, being British, was sure that in England, they would have given Callan a pat on the back and said “Good show, well done”. 

Perhaps given testing, the entire population would be diagnosed with autism, ADD, ADHD, or some other ‘condition’ – only the degree or extent of ‘infliction’ would vary. I wonder?

Birthday boy Luc

Last Sunday was a special day with Luc turning a grand three years old – and hosting his own Go Dog Go party. The theme of Luc’s party was decided by Luc last November when we held a One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish party for Nicolas. Perhaps Luc thought he was restricted to the Seuss school of party themes?! Guests brought dog friends or party hats and we had enough spare dogs and party hats to go around for those who didn’t.

We managed to squeeze some 24 people (parents and kids) into our small apartment for a morning party. Luc had a great time preparing for his party,  making and decorating alphabet cookies for the guest’s goodie bags and helping mix and bake his own carrot birthday cakes. I thought things were going to go south when Luc told me he didn’t want the (simple to make) bone cake that I had planned, but wanted a dog cake instead. A little subtle persuasion along the lines of avoiding dog-cannibalism seemed to do the trick and the bone cake endured. 

All the grandparents sent along some lovely books for Luc, but Grandpa and Nanna also sent along a Cherry Ripe (Australian chocolate bar). The Cherry Ripe produced nothing but envy from Paul and myself who each felt justified to lay claim to it. Luc has been eating the Cherry Ripe over several days (when we feel like we can cope with an extra energy burst from Luc). Not being able to stand the temptation anymore, Paul got online to order us some Cherry Ripes since our appetite for this special import has been provoked.  

See the movie of Luc blowing out his cake candles. 

Thank you Allen for the lovely photo of Luc at the top of this page and of Luc’s birthday cake. Photo of Nicolas’ birthday cake from last November. 

Out of the mouths...

Nicolas has reverted in language. I know he can say words (as I have heard him use the appropriate word), he just chooses to use his own ‘digga digga digga’ ‘noy noy noy’ language – spoken as a song, and often with a little dance or head-shaking to accompany it. Nic can carry on quite a long conversation in his own language, and seeks a response to his questions, and comment on his discourse. 

This morning, Nic was gabbling away, obviously telling Luc and myself something of great importance. I looked at Luc and gave him a knowing smile, he smiled back and explained Nic’s language: “He’s speaking French”. 

Luc is also guilty of speaking his own language. He has several words including “Gangoll”, “Ba-Bah” and “Kinnemon”, that he uses frequently and with some (obvious) purpose. When Paul and I look at him quizzically and ask him what he means, he bursts into laughter as if we are just so incredibly naïve and clueless. I guess this is the harbinger of what to expect during the teenage years! 

Luc and I were making caterpillars out of playdough. As his crawled into the container chrysalis, I asked him if his was going to turn into a beautiful butterfly, he told me matter-of-factly “No… Buzz Lightyear”.

I looked over to see a spilled mess in front of Luc while he was tucking into a pasta meal. Luc noticed me looking at the mess and explained innocently “It was the bowl’s fault”. 

No business like snow business

I had a problem on Tuesday that I had never encountered before, nor ever conceived of. It was a very chilly day -13°C (8°F), but the sun was out and it looked so beautiful that I decided to take the boys out (before we suffered extreme cabin fever). The boys bundled up in the stroller, with their winter clothes, jackets and hats in their Bundle Me’s and with the stroller’s storm cover, are very well protected against both the cold and wind (in fact, sometimes they are too hot!). Therefore, it is usually a matter of whether or not I think I can handle the cold as to whether we go out or not. 

We went to the Zoo and were some of the only people there apart from the zoo-keepers and a number of homeless who sit in the inside zoo exhibits to escape the cold. Several zoo-keepers noted that they were impressed that we were ‘brave’ enough to be out. While in the African Journey exhibit, we sat down to have a snack. I was just about to wipe the boys hands with some baby wipes that I keep in the bottom of the stroller. This is when I became aware of this ‘new’ problem. The wipes were frozen solid! Of course, as time went by, I needed to change Nic’s pooey nappy. I had to ‘defrost’ the wipes under a hand dryer and warm them before subjecting Nic to an experience that might have been somewhat unpleasant. 

It is a little hard to get my head around the fact that when the sun is shining brightly it can be bitterly cold outside. It looks so bright and fresh and still (with no leaves to hint as to whether there might be a breeze or not). Double glazing, central heating and well-insulated housing provides not a clue. I encountered somewhat of a similar problem when I moved to sub-tropical Brisbane. I would see an overcast sky and dress a little more warmly, only to swelter in the heat and humidity. Melbourne’s overcast skies meant that an extra layer, perhaps an umbrella were required – not good training!

Paul is Italy at the moment, which only exacerbates the feeling of cabin fever. Deb and Ann came to the rescue yesterday, dropping by with Emily and Rachel and Joshua to provide some adult company for me, and some playmates for the boys. I also met Polly in a local Starbucks this afternoon, half way between our houses. Only Luc and Polly’s son Callan ordered anything. I was very proud of Luc taking himself to the toilet. Callan went in to ‘help Luc’. By the time I got in to check on them, Luc was washing his hands and Callan was helping with the soap dispenser, and fetching a toilet seat cover for Luc to dry his hands. We left the coffee shop when the boys became a little too crazy and went for a walk to the Lincoln Park Conservatory (nice and warm inside), and then the Zoo. 

This morning Nicolas threw his breakfast bowl on the floor. I gave him the ‘mummy glare’ to show my disapproval. He looked back at me with big sorrowful eyes and a trembling lip. I almost felt sorry for him until he responded by blowing a raspberry at me! I don’t know where he picked this up from (if Paul taught him this then he is in big trouble).

Photo: Looking south towards the Hancock Tower from the Lincoln Park Conservatory - note snow!