A bedroom move and a new phase

Saturday, 27 May
Saturday we went out for a going-away bush camp dinner at a working
cattle ranch called Ooraminna. We were contemplating even going at all
because we made a move in the house to have Delenn's crib put in with
Logan in his bedroom. Logan was so excited and spun up about it that he
wouldn't go down for a much-needed nap. After Mom's valiant attempts
failed and she had to go to her Field Hockey game, Dad coaxed the boy
back on his bed and into slumber with an ultimatum. No games, no books,
no movies or TV, no playing at all unless he slept. Well that finally
put him in his place and down he went, HARD! He didn't get up until a
few minutes before we need to leave (good 2 hour nap). Once out at the
cattle station, we first explored an old town that had been built for a
few movies (Australian films like "The Drover's Boy"). There was an old
pub with a piano, among several other ram-shackle buildings, and Logan
loved investigating each one. Onward to the outdoor dinner grounds at a
ranch house on a hill overlooking the rocky hills and valley
surroundings. The moonless night gave way to the awesome outback starry
sky with the easily visible Milky Way and one of Jupiter's moons (by way
of binoculars). Logan, however, has been settling himself into a new
phase as of late. He is very shy and averse to playing with other
children he doesn't know (adults as well to some extent). He spent the
night mostly clung to Daddy (and Mom). But he was also petrified of the
cast-iron fire pits that were lit around the dinner table grounds and
made useful for extra light and warmth. While spending the evening
mostly holding Logan in his arms, Dad found it difficult to socialize
because any move he made would get him a bit closer to a fire pit, which
would then send Logan into death-hugs and shrieks of "Daddy, don't go
near the fire!" or "No, you'll get burnt Daddy!" Even deliberately and
calmly showing Logan how fire can be good and keep you warm by getting
close while holding your hands out didn't abate his fears. Strange when
he did so well only a few weeks ago at our campout at Boggy Hole and
loved sitting around the campfire.

Sunday, 28 May
Before Dad went to play soccer (Mom didn't go because her achilles
tendon was really hurting from the previous day's field hockey game),
Logan noticed our porta-crib in our main bedroom that we decided to use
as a back-up for when or if we needed to take Delenn out of
Logan/Delenn's new combined room. Logan said, "Wow, look at that Dad.
Is that Delenn's new crib? It's absolutely wonderful, Daddy!" His
intonation and pace of language (almost a slow drawl) along with the
over-the-top "scene-stealing" exuberance all because of a fold-up crib
was quite comical (you had to be there as it went on for a good minute
or two).

Monday, 29 May
Logan today (Monday) had fun playing games with Mom and Delenn in the
afternoon. Earlier they had a great Kindermusik "Sign & Sing" class in
which the teacher (Robyn) did a great job of matching Logan's attention
span and pace, bringing in toys like trains and doing the train sign,
etc... even Delenn had a blast! When Dad came home from work, Mom has
gotten into the habit of getting the kids out of the house to walk down
and meet him at the bus stop where he gets off. This makes Dad very
happy and he especially gets a kick out of giving them big welcome
hugs. This time, however, Logan had Dad run alongside him as Logan
pedaled his trike as fast as he could. Dad needed to do a little jog to
keep up, a difficult feat considering the state of Dad's health. The
previous day Daddy did two face and chest plants at full speed into the
ground while playing soccer (ate grit and grass for about 5 minutes
afterwards) and did a mid-air head-bang full impact collision which
caused minimal nose bleed and a few stars. This caused Dad to have to
sleep on his side all night as he couldn't breathe laying on his back.
On a bright note, Dad got to be a forward striker for the first time and
'almost' made two goals. Anyway, once back inside the house, Mom sat
down and indicated to Dad how tired and exhausted she was as Delenn had
kept her up the previous night. Both Mom and Delenn had also been made
more tired by being so cold at a 3 AM feeding. Evidently the thermostat
had been turned off the previous day and the temperature right now in
the Australian desert outback winter gets down to just a bit above
freezing at night (it's fantastic at around 70 F in the afternoon
though). Normally for the past 5-6 months Logan has had a horrible
habit of telling Mom and Dad to "STOP TALKING DADDY" or "NO, DON'T TALK
TO DADDY, MOMMY" whenever we talk to each other. It's usually because
Logan wants to play with Dad and the talking distracts Dad's attention a
little bit from whatever game or activity we are playing. Okay, so Mom
was exhausted and sitting (breastfeeding) Delenn in the Lazy Boy chair.
Dad was heating up left-overs for dinner while Logan sat at the table
waiting for his food. Mom's eyelids were dropping fast, or perhaps
fluttering, as she was trying to maintain some form of conciousness.
Logan must have noticed this and as he so ably proves time and time
again, locked into the overt weakness Mom exhibited and wasn't about to
let her get some rest, so he struck out with "MOMMY, TALK TO DADDY!"
At first we were simply too stunned by this outburst and it took a
minute to digest it... but then this previously unheard-of phrase
actually sank in. Both Mom and Dad couldn't control ourselves as tears
streamed down from an overdose of laughter. Even Logan looked at us
strangely and joined in with the laughing. Delenn spent her time
looking around and around perplexed by the sudden departure of the
family she thought she knew.

Yep, Delenn is still a horribly messy eater compared to Logan. She
decimates everything in her path.

A couple years ago Logan got to say it... well now it's my turn, "Where's the Beef !?"

Food, glorious food.

Trying to get on the fast track and jump ahead one rung at a time

Peering through the portal of his youth

Watch your step or it might just be the "Bridge on the River Cry"

Brace yourself!

Eating an elegant meal overlooking the valley below and surrounded by a starry skied performance overhead

Is there a ghost in here? Let's check it out and see!

Some cowpokes are diggin' in the dirt gettin' mighty figgity fer grub

The old Hotel and Pub at the cattle station

Sun starts to set at the Ooraminna Bush Camp cattle station

Delenn wants to 'Walk like an Emu' or at least hum the song

Modeling clothes for the new Desert Park bird catalog collection

Mom's birthday week

Mom made some biscuits for dinner and as she brought them out of the
oven, one dropped back in. With quick reaction and without much
thought, Mom said, "Aw shoot, I'm probably going to burn myself when I
try to quickly get it out." So Mom quickly reached in bare-handed and
took it out with little fanfare and luckily no burns. Unbeknownst to
Mom, Logan was standing on the kitchen stool beside her and monitored
the proceedings. When he saw Mom reach in and pull the biscuit out, he
exclaimed, "NO Mommy, you could BURN yourself and then you could DIE and
I WOULD NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN!" Logan was visibly shaken and upset by the
episode, so while Mom felt foolish for what she had done, especially in
front of Logan, it was great to see that Logan understood the serious
nature of heat. Incidentally, he puts on equal serious weight when
talking about electical plugs and/or outlet sockets. Whenever Daddy
holds a plug, he gets very concerned that "Daddy might get shocked" and
for him NOT to touch the electrical sockets by any means. In fact, at
the "Sign and Sing" class, Logan made oratory attempts to keep one of
his fellow students away from the electrical outlet she was approaching.

If ever Logan needs to go wees or poos on the potty and he is watching a
'movie', he will go over and hit the pause button, saying "I have to
pause the movie because I have to go pees." Then afterwards he'll come
back and restart the show on his own. A simple thing to us, but fun to
watch a 2 3/4 year old do.

Mom took the kids to the library and didn't realize she'd gotten there
during the scheduled storybook reading time for kids. Logan sat down
with the other kids (primarily all older than he) and with friend Linda
and Mom Le who also happened to be there. Mom then went off with Delenn
to look for more kids books. In the background, Mom could hear that the
librarian must've been reading a book involving numbers because all the
children were counting aloud. Only thing is, Logan was clearly heard
and was the loudest, practically yelling out the numbers in proper
order. We don't know if that's because he knew the numbers, or because
he was simply being too loud :-)

Also at the library, Mom asked Logan (after she got a bunch of books),
are there any other books you want. Logan said, "I want... I want... I
want... let me think about what I want... I want a motorcycle book"
They went down an aisle and Logan asked, "What's this, what's this,
what's this for each book" Mom said "That's a book about plastic".
Logan then asked, pointing at things, if that was plastic.. Finally
they got to the motorcycle books and chose one. But Logan then spotted
a racing car book (very thick) and wanted that as well. Luckily Mom
managed to draw his attention elsewhere and avoid lugging that book.

Logan is practically there in terms of sleeping through the night
without needing a diaper. In the morning for the past 3-4 days his
diaper has been dry. Oops, well, the fifth morning it was pretty
loaded. Never mind.

Delenn drinks milk somewhat well from a 'sippy' type cup, but water and
any sort of food goes hurricane style all around. Hmm, although tonight
she seemed to finally keep the water from spewing out. She is getting
better and better at actually eating the food, but you wouldn't think so
to look at the table, chair, and floor in a 4 foot diameter surrounding
her. Dad just wants to know how she manages to get the back of the
chair and the chair next to her encrusted with food as well!? She can't
even get her arms and hands barely high enough to be above the height of
the chair back so how does she do it! Logan was never remotely this
messy. With Delenn, we are averaging two wash cloths per meal
(breakfast, lunch, dinner), 4 spoons, 2-3 bowls, one baby chair tray,
one bib, one bath, one filthy chair and table and ground mat. Ugh!
Amazing! She is fun to watch though and she really enjoys it, giving
everyone big smiles throughout.

Tonight Mom found that Delenn will giggle up a storm whenever she takes
a bath and has water flowing down from a cup into the bath tub in front
of her.

Tonight after Delenn's mandatory bath (mandatory because of her extra
layer of skin, er, I mean food), Delenn made deliberate and overt
gestures indicating her desire for a good breastfeed. Mom was going to
appease her but decided to first say outloud 'It's time to read books',
not really expecting any different reaction. Instead, Delenn
immediately calmed down and sat quietly as Mom read her some of her
favorite stories. And when Mom says things like 'touch the chick',
Delenn does so. We are trying to pay close attention to find out if it
is really a fluke, but we'd like to think that she's actually getting it!

For Mom's Birthday this week, Mom's big gift was a new digital SLR
camera (Canon D30) so that we can hopefully get the twinkle in the kids
eyes we so often see in real life :-) We had a grand time getting to
put the camera into use by going out to feed the wallabies at dusk.
Delenn seemed to enjoy seeing the furry critters and Logan, who has
never previously shown fear on previous feedings, actually was skittish
and kept a cautious and restrained approach to feeding them (primarily
dropping them on the ground in front of him rather than hand-feeding).
Mom also got some new books in the mail, mostly kid books, with which
she could share with Logan and Delenn. Yay!

Delenn is mesmerized by the dropping of water in front of her before it breaks her into fits of giggling

See, I told you it was funny. You didn't believe me, but now the truth is in the bathwater.

Has this comedy act been taken on the road yet? If not, it should be... it's a real hoot!

Okay okay now let me have that thing

Two pals, Logan and Nicholas

Learning about the sun, the weather, sun rays, how to spell 'sun', and how to beat the heat with a home-made fan

Delenn gets her bedtime stories before the dreamtime comes upon her

A beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived for Liesl's birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Cyrus

Logan helps blow out the funny candle with the number three on top of the cupcake for Mommy's birthday

Logan loved the flowers as well, only not quite as much as Delenn's desire to devour them

While on Mom's birthday walk around the neighborhood, Logan insists he be given a boost over the fence so he can blast off on the rocket to Mars.

Check out this Thunderbird rocket Daddy

Mom and Logan decorate cupcakes for Mom's Birthday

Nothing like eating a cupcake with your eyes closed

I've got my TV show on pause in the background while I sit, eat, and watch the show going on at Delenn's chair

Okay, let's get ready to RUMBLE!

Noooo, I don't want more food in my mouth... I want it in my armpit... that's the only place left that it didn't get to yet!

MMMmmmmm, finger lickin' good!

Luckily the Australian customs officers weren't around to charge Delenn with having rabies

Delenn tries to figure out how to scoop food off of her body

Typical dinner meal these days

I'm down here... now feed me!!

No, please don't eat me Mommy.

It's all downhill from here

Push Delenn, now push me, now push Delenn, now push me, now push Delenn, now push me, now push Delenn, now push me, now push Delenn, now push me, ..., you get the picture.

Swinging my cares away at the DET playground

.

Mom reads and signs one of Delenn's favorite books, a touchy feely book with animal pictures

Who dares enter my castle?

Dad and Logan build a castle borrowed from the toy library

Looking through the castle window and preparing for battle

Delenn sleeps in her maiden's chamber

Logan isn't feeling too well so he cuddles in the chair with Dad and is good enough to give Momma one good smile

Yummmmm, those wallaby pellets really do taste great!

Wallaby with her baby joey, kinda like Momma with Delenn in the sling

Sizing up the competition for food pellets

A look of bewilderment as Mom and Logan feed the wallabies

Mom has warm eyes for her Boy

Delenn tries to figure out what the fuss is all about

Logan works up the nerve to feed a wallaby from his hand

Feeding the wallabies at dusk, there's a little joey in the pouch of the Momma closest to Delenn

I could walk if that lummox behind me would stop holding on

Some first attempts at doing Michael Jackson's moonwalk

Yummy, this is the best way to eat, chunky food like papaya that can be sucked out through a mesh cloth bag :-)

Logan ponders how to keep his ambulance from looking like food, but apparently he's losing that battle.

Quick sickness, Mum's Day, and some good happenings

Last Thursday, May 11, the Family all went out to a wedding at the
Telegraph Station, followed by a reception at the Windmill Restaurant
and Function Center. The wedding ceremony was for Logan's Day Care
provider, Rosalie, who has watched Logan since he was about 1 year old
(nowadays she watches him for about 2 hours every Thursday morning).
Anyway, it was a beautiful event and was well-attended by children as
well as adults. Dad was dressed in his suit, tie, and sunglasses, which
made a number of other boys think he was a secret agent... so Dad played
up the appearance by making sudden 'karate chop' type movements without
giving any notice.
Throughout the ceremony (2:00 PM) and on until about 7:45 PM Logan
kept complaining about not feeling well and towards the end he really
wanted to go home. He avoided playing with all the other children and
didn't even want wedding cake or ice cream. Mom and Dad relented to the
Logan and left the festivities a bit on the early side (apologizing to
Rosalie and Michael). Upon entry in to the house, Mom put Delenn into
her crib while Dad started 'processing' Logan. Within one minute of
being home, Logan asked for a bowl and summarily vacated his palate out
the end it had entered. A series of these vomiting episodes ensued
leaving somewhat weighty remnants. There was then some crying and much
'wanting' of cuddle time followed by an exhausted boy succumbing to
slumber... all in the space of about 20 minutes.
Both Dad and Mom felt bad for not having understood the level of his
discomfort during the day, but were extremely impressed and proud that
he maintained good behavior throughout the event and was somehow able to
keep his composure enough to ask for a bowl and then purge himself once
back at home! Mind you, it would've been fine if the poor kid had lost
his cookies and grasp of staying civil while being away from home too...
just amazing to us that he kept himself together.

Saturday, May 13, Mom and friend Kristen hosted a 'Welcoming' Party
for pals Rachel and Tom who just had a new baby girl, Amanda. This was
also at the Telegraph Station and it was funny to see the size
difference between 7 month old Delenn and an under-2 week old baby!
You still think you've got a small one until you realize they actually
do grow. Delenn was perhaps three times larger!
At the event, Logan tended to stay away from the other kids and only
associated himself with his good pal Nicholas (Holly was sick in the
stroller). It seems as though Logan is a bit like his old man and is
shy or introverted enough that he only wants to play with kids he's
grown acquainted with. With that being said, Dad and Logan and Nicholas
went on an adventure around a hill of rocks looking for dragon caves.
In the afternoon Mom went to play Field Hockey and came back
jubilant! She had played very well and had given an assist which
resulted in a goal. Also, she had received an assist and was easily
within striking range and clearance to make a goal herself.
Unfortunately she made a little mistake and missed, but was still
excited and upbeat all the same. Yay!

On Mother's Day, May 14, Dad and the kids stayed away from Mom so that
she could sleep in (well, sleep in meant only another 1 1/2 hours of
sleep). Then we all gave Mom a brekkie of waffles in bed and a tub of
'lush.com' hygiene and body products. Delenn helped open the gift by
chewing on the paper packaging. Later, after nap time, Mom went ahead
to our soccer game to play the first half while Dad got the kids ready
so that he could take over and play the second half. While this took
place, Logan said he needed to go use the big potty, which concerned Dad
since he usually uses his smaller potty. But Logan had no trouble
pulling his pants off, climbing up without a stool, straddling the
toilet, and then proceeding to do his business. No problems! It's
great these days because for a little while now Logan is pretty much
self-sufficient. He's been taking his pants and underwear down, going
wees, and then picking it all back up without any need for help. Only
when he does a bigger number does he then call for assistance to help
with the cleaning up. Unfortunately, at night we still can't trust him
to use the facilities and put a diaper on him, but nap time in the day
he is just fine sleeping in his undies and pants.

Today, Monday, May 15, just before going to Kindermusik Sign & Sing
with Logan and Delenn, Mom was attempting to use the telephone to call
relatives for Mother's Day. By accident Mom caused the phone to go into
SMS mode and she couldn't get it back into a normal phone mode. Logan
was still asleep until Mom pushed a button that caused the cordless
phone in the kitchen to beep loudly! Rushing out of his room, Logan
yelled "Mommy Mommy FIRE FIRE!!" just like Mom and Dad had instructed
him to do in the event the fire alarm ever went off. We were very proud
of Logan for following orders and remembering what to do even though it
didn't turn out to be a real fire alarm.
Tonight at dinner Logan was laughing himself silly because he was
explaining to everyone what happens to the food when he eats it. "First
I put this food in my mouth, then it goes down my throat into my
stomach, and then it goes down into my feet and toes!" He then would
laugh, say that he was being funny and that it doesn't really happen
that way, and proceed with somewhere else the food ends up. It's great
when kids can start to entertain themselves!

Throughout all of this, Delenn grows to be much much more smiley to
everyone out in public and is like the angel baby. It's only at home at
nighttime when poor Mom has to deal with the constant wake-ups and
crying fits for some milk that the devil child emerges :-) But all in
all, she's a dream babe who LOVES playing and entertaining herself with
toys on the ground and watching Logan run around. Her smile melts
Dad's heart and he has to force himself not to give her multitudes of
kisses. Dad tries to spend as much time as he can with Delenn before
Logan becomes excessively demanding of Dad's attention. But Logan is
very good with her, dotes on her, and unquestionably loves her. Just
Dad would love it if he could get a bit more of that quality time with
her as well. Otherwise maybe Delenn wouldn't be quite so much of a
Momma's Girl as she is right now!

Logan and Mom are all smiles giving Mommy her breakfast in bed for Mother's Day!

I mean they REALLY were ALL SMILES!

Even Delenn joined in on the breakfast-in-bed joy

Holly, Rachel, newborn Amanda, Kristen, Liesl, and Delenn all hang out at Amanda's Welcoming celebration

The cute little babe Amanda, already capturing the hearts of all those around her.

Hey, what are you doing in here! Only pirates can come in the pirate ship! And to be a pirate, you have to at least have one missing tooth!

Having a little tea party and drinking all those worries away

All dressed up and the big boy wants to roll in the grass while the little girl just wants to eat it (not really, they were good for these pics)

Or maybe just a little grass, you know, for the constitution

Marriage ceremony for Rosalie and Michael Coyne at the Telegraph Station (with flower girls Christina and Kimberley)

Mad dash for a couple quick pics before our friend's wedding ceremony

And another quick pic into the sun

Two young boys practice learning how to wee... WARNING don't do this at home kids!

Lost in a sea of round colored heads

Who is happy? Who is sad?

Now who is happy?

It appears as if he's fixing to give Delenn a choke hold, but really Logan is usually really good and gentle with his Sis these days

The "yes, I'm gonna get what I want look 'cause I've got 'cute' down" look

Getting ready to grow plastic cups, er, seeds, in the garden

Preparing the soil for planting more seeds, Logan is excited since he's been using the garden tools to try and grow pumpkin and other yummy veggies

It's 'Pounce on Daddy Time!'

Tracing his roots one DNA strand at a time

Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin'

Dad gives Logan a cuddle but can't handle it, so he's forced to...

... give Logan a good tickle!

We heard every cry for every moment those two bottom teeth pushed their way out... now they're free and we're happy... for one or two days until the jealous upper teeth demand equal rights.

If she could just scrunch her face up a bit more (which she loves to do when she's really smiling), then she could one day be a Yoda impersonator

A little park picnic after a tough biking excursion

Delenn is always happy when she brings her milk supplies along

Logan shows off his dirty hands after climbing and making a mountain out of a molehill

Inside the "Caterpillar Dreaming" sculpture, the kids attempt to metamorphosize into obedient, self-sufficient little adults... NOT!

Logan takes the outside lane as Delenn watches in horror as her lead slips away

Just cruisin' along

Communications...

Earlier today when Mommy was in the shower, Daddy happened to call from
work. Logan answered the phone and proceeded to have a long (5 minute)
conversation with Daddy. Logan explained what he was doing and that
Mommy was in the shower. Logan initially didn't understand that Daddy
couldn't see what he was pointing to when he was explaining what he was
doing. Dad told him that he couldn't see what Logan was pointing at, at
which point Logan then explained that he was playing with his fire
trucks and was watching Muzzy (a Spanish language-learning kid's movie).
He would talk for a bit and then say "Bye, bye" and he'd put the phone
down only to pick it up again a few seconds later and continue talking.
Eventually he said his final "Bye Bye" and actually hung up the phone.
When Mommy came out to see what Logan was up to, Logan had the phone in
his hand. "Are you talking to someone?" Mommy asked (not knowing about
the phone call from Daddy). "Yes, Daddy" Logan replied. "Oh," said
Mommy (listened to the dead phone) and called Daddy. "Logan said he'd
like to talk with you," Mommy told Daddy. Daddy laughed and said "I've
just spent the last five minutes talking with him!"

Tonight Daddy was in the room with Logan playing with the castle that
Logan had borrowed from the Toy Library. Logan asked if Daddy would
play a game with him. Daddy said, "Yes let's play a game. What game
would you like to play?" Logan thought about it a moment and replied
"First, we're going to investigate a fire in the castle. Then after
that we'll drive the fire trucks to the castle. And the firemen will
put out the fire with the water hoses." Then he said, "Do you want to
play that, Daddy?" What astounded Daddy was his use of the word
'investigate' -- that and the imaginative nature of the game he devised.

Bikes -n- Books

Just a few days ago, Logan showed interest in riding his tricycle for
the first time. Up until now, he had been using a three wheeled bike
that he pushed along with his feet. Early this morning Logan wanted to
ride his bike again. We bundled up (it was around 55degreesF) and
headed down the sidewalk. Mommy kept asking Logan if he wanted to turn
around, but he insisted he wanted to keep going. Logan's now got the
hang of pedaling. He road his bike a total of about four blocks! Mommy
was very impressed and proud of him since yesterday he had only ridden
down the driveway to the neighbor's driveway and back (a total of
perhaps one block).

We also stopped by the library today after his morning with Kimberly (at
Rosalie's). He enjoyed picking out books and kept asking for a "scary"
book. This was the first time he's really shown expressed interest in
choosing his own books. It looks like regular trips to the library are
in order! Meanwhile Delenn is paying a bit more attention to books and
especially likes the touchy-feely ones. Her favorite (the one she'll
look at the longest) is a book Auntie Wendy had gotten for Logan about a
little chick (who squeaks when you tickle her fuzzy tummy).

Delenn enjoys watching her brother play with his foldaway activity pirate ship

Delenn creates a big splash

Seed growing science experiment is serious business

Visiting the Largest Bird Ever to Have Lived

Mommy, Logan and Delenn have been going to the Strehlow museum (Strehlow Research Centre) every two or three weeks. It's located just one block from where we live. It has a wonderful display of lizards, snakes, spiders and various mammals. It also has some meteorite fragments and skeletons from extinct and non-extinct animals.

Below is a picture of Logan with the largest bird ever to have
lived--the Dromornithid. The biggest bird ever to have lived was a
DUCK! Read the excerpt below...

For more than a century scientists have been misled by the size of the
biggest bird to have ever lived, the extinct Central Australian
Dromornis stirtoni who stood 2.5 to three metres tall, into thinking
that it was a probable ancestor of present day ratite birds, ostriches,
emus and cassowaries. New finds at the Alcoota fossil site north east of
Alice Springs, have turned that theory on its head: the big bird is
actually the grandaddy of ducks and geese.

One good thing about the Dromornothids (and others) was that they were
able to eat very poor quality vegetation which they recycled into great
dollops of dung, high in nitrogen and other nutrients, dropping them
across the countryside. This helped replenish the environment. Once
these giant ducks were gone there were only termites left to recycle
this vegetation back into the system.

Another interesting fact: There were 10 to 15 species of big kangaroos,
up to TWICE the size of the red kangaroo, as recently as 20,000 years
ago, and that many other browsing forms once roamed this region.

Logan stands with the skeleton of the largest bird that ever lived. This bird once lived in this region.

Logan was really interested in the skeletons this time. "I have bones inside my body," Logan told Mommy as he looked at this animal.

Checking out the lizards and snakes

Delenn and Logan check out some of the native wildlife.

Logan looks at the mice and bats

Logan rests in the caterpillar sculpture at Araluen Arts Centre.

Look how high I am!

Climb every mountain

Enjoying the Activities in Town

Scrolling down, I can see it's been a while since we last wrote. Life
here in the DingoDen is going just fine. We are all healthy and happy
and doing well. With the weather so lovely now (highs in the 70s during
the day), we've been spending a lot of time outdoors -- going on "nature
walks," riding bikes, playing hockey and soccer, and enjoying the
activities on in town.

A couple of weeks ago, Delenn had her six month checkup. She is
hovering around the 60th percentile for height and weight. She has no
problem sitting up on her own and playing with the toys around her. When the midwife asked me if she looked for dropped toys, I said yes -- as she said "Oh no wait, that doesn't really develop until they are about nine months old." So, she took out a pom-pom and dangled it in front of Delenn. She then dropped it on the floor. Much to the midwife's surprise, Delenn looked at her for a moment after the pom-pom dropped -- and then looked on the ground to see where it had gone. The midwife seemed impressed and said that Delenn may develop a bit ahead of schedule.

Delenn still shows no signs of wanting to crawl (but has very strong legs and makes stepping/walking motions when we help hold her upright). She naps twice a day and still goes to bed around 6:30pm and gets up around 6:30am. Sometimes she sleeps well at night, but other times she wakes frequently. We have the feeling that she's having lots of teething pains (since she sleeps well the nights that we give her infant Tylenol). We started Delenn on solids a few weeks ago. She never has liked pureed foods much, but once we started giving her food with a bit more consistency she started eating better. Still, she seems to like holding rice cakes best of all (and really liked the plain graham cracker Logan fed her in the stroller the other day!)

We also started Delenn on a straw sippy cup. It's amusing to watch -- she goes through 1/2 cup easily in about 3 minutes. She sucks up the water and spews it out like a fountain!

There have been a number of interesting town activities lately. We went to the Anzac Day parade last week (the equivalent of the American Memorial Day holiday). Logan loved watching the police car and army trucks as they rolled on by. On Friday evening was the heritage day
celebration at the Telegraph Station. Logan watched a horse getting shoed and enjoyed looking at the exhibits (how to make damper bread, make biscuits and jam in an old-time oven, gather native plants. He also enjoyed looking at the old equipment and tools -- the wagons, washing equipment and so forth). He was especially intrigued by the spinning wheel (perhaps because we have read him Sleeping Beauty?).

On Saturday it was "family day" at Pioneer Park Race Track. Logan rode a horse (on a carnival ride, that is!) and watched his first live horse race. Then on Monday was the "Bangtail Muster" Parade in town. Again, he seemed to like the police cars, fire trucks and ambulance best of all! Still, he enjoyed the floats and got to see the Viking Ship as it made its way down the Todd Mall.

Last week, Logan and Mommy talked about plants and how they grow. Logan got a number of different seeds and "planted" them in glass jars to watch them sprout. He was excited that less than two days later the mustard seeds had roots. The other seeds (pumpkin, peas) have been slower to grow. Logan also got his own patch of ground in the garden and planted some green bean plants. He told Mommy they'd grow really tall overnight (because of Jack and the Beanstalk!). While they haven't grown quite that quickly, he runs out every morning to check their progress and waters them with his spray bottle. He's obviously proud of his plants. (See the pictures below.)

I think we mentioned that Mommy plays field hockey once a week for a team here in town. This past weekend, Mommy's team won 17 to 2! It'll probably be one of the few wins of the season, but we were all pumped up after the game! Both Mommy and Daddy also play soccer on Sundays. We both had VERY sore quads (from kicking the ball) for over a week after our first game! Logan now spends a lot of time in the backyard playing hockey (hitting a ball through a hole cut out of a piece of cardboard) and soccer (kicking the ball and running after it).

Mommy is also getting ready for the Eisteddfod Music Competition as the Alexandria Quartet (wind ensemble) will be playing two pieces next Saturday evening -- the Magic Flute (by Mozart) and Funeral March of a Marionette (better known to the masses as the theme from Alfred Hitchcock.) When Mommy was practicing over the weekend, Logan came into the room, listened for a moment and then said with much enthusiasm "Good job, Mommy!" Hopefully the judge is as pleased!

Mommy, Logan and Delenn started a new Kindermusik class offered this term called Sign and Sing. Logan did really well -- and he and Mommy had been signing/singing the Bear Went Over the Mountain all week. Of course, our song includes the all important verse -- "The ROCKET went over the mountain..."

Our friends Rachel and Tom (parents to Holly who is often shown in pictures here) just had a baby girl yesterday (May 1st). They named her Amanda Louise. Rachel and the baby are doing well. We hope to visit them at the hospital tomorrow.

Logan and Delenn in front of our house. We've been doing a lot of bike riding recently because the weather is so nice.

CHEESE

Ready for some wild rides

Logan with Holly, Tom and Rachel. Rachel had her baby just a mere 10 hours after this photo!

Logan waves to Yamba

Logan and Nicholas watch the Bangtail Muster Parade

Every Alice Springs event features the famous viking ship

Logan's favorite part of the parade!