New cousins

 

 

 

Today, Julian met his American cousins for the first time in his memory; he'd only previously met Bianca when he was 6 months old, and had never met Anton or his uncle Alan. The whole gang arrived - with my sister Lilianne, of course - for a brief holiday. Julian was immediately taken with them all, but especially Anton. I don't know if this is because we made a present for Anton before he got here (we bought the others), but whatever the case, it was love at first sight. Tonight, Julian did everything for Anton - ate an incredible meal at my mum's, and even made number two on the toilet for the first time ever - and all he wanted as a reward was a "big hug from Anton." I don't think Anton knew what hit him! When Rebecca arrived, Julian announced excitedly, "We have new cousins - and there's a boy named Anton!" He loves Bianca too, but can't quite connect her with her name - he calls her "the pretty girl with the long hair."

Creche and kinder

 

 

Julian's last day of creche is today: next stop, kinder! Here he is photographed with his teacher, Debbie. I think he really did well at creche, and was always happy when I picked him up. However, in the last few weeks, he still resisted going there, the stubborn thing...

Recently, David and I had a crisis about where we're sending Julian for kinder. We chose a Jewish school out of process of elimination. We had too much baggage about the one we went to, one was too liberal, another too religious. The one we liked had some nice elements - a fantastic program for young kids, the only school with that catered for part time hours (the others are all full-time) and hot lunches! But, recently, I found out that the one we're sending Julian to is far more secular than I thought. Plus, the headmistress, who I liked, has retired. And it's got a very affluent cross-section of kids, while I'd prefer more of a mix.

Then I heard the new principal of our old school speak. Man, he was impressive. And I realised a lot of our old ideas about the school are unfounded in the present day. It offers a nice, religious (but not too religious!) background and strong sense of Jewish pride, and has a better cross-section of kids from different socio-economic families, because it subsidises a lot of its students. However, for the short term, it still held some problems for us: it is full time, and at age 7, the kids commute by bus an hour's drive away. For the short term, we're sticking where we are, with the thought of putting him into that school long term. We'll see....

Today, ay home, I finally put up a wall of children's artwork I'd been collecting. The donuts were painted by my nephew Anton, and the teacup is by my sister Lilianne, both of whom arrive in Australia from the US next week. Hooray!

 

 

Julian seriously has more clout than I do. We went to a restaurant tonight, and when I called, they said they weren't going to take any more bookings...until they heard it was Julian!
He's been saying the funniest things. At creche, they told him he was a "star" for using the toilet all day. He said, "Yes, and some people call me a rock star!"
Earlier in the week, we heard a busker on the street singing , "All Along The Watchtower." Julian went up and said, "I like Jimi Hendrix!" (I think it was kind of lost this zoned-out guy and his half-dead canine at his feet.)
Today, I was explaining an ad to him that he was asking about - a photo of a Husky dog with an explorer. He said, "That's a nice name for a dog, Husky, don't you think?" The way he says things cracks me up.

We're going great guns on the toilet...I went to Sydney for a wedding earlier in the week, and when I was gone (all 24 hours of it!) Julian decided to use the toilet. He's been wearing pull-ups, but hasn't had a number one accident since he decided that! I'm pretty sure it was the jelly beans I'd bribed him with just before I left...

Julian loves his nanna!

 

 

At a restaurant tonight for dinner, Julian turned to me and said, "Why are your eyes so beautiful?" I laughed and replied, "Because they're filled with you."

 

Julian had hand, foot and mouth virus for a week, and as a result lost a fair amount of weight. Now he looks all grown up.