142 + 38 Weeks

I am very tired as I write this.  For the past three nights Carmen has been waking up and whimpering during the night.  Last night at about 1:30am she cried out in her sleep, "I want the iPad!" (addicted much?), and then between about 3 and 5 am she whimpered on and off every 15 minutes or so.  We haven't slept very well.  But the good news is that this past week, Carmen graduated to not wearing a nappy (diaper) to bed any more!  We've had no accidents, and she feels like a very big girl.

It has rained for most of the week, so we didn't get out much.  Carmie went to school, and Arley went to the farm to be babysat by his grandparents, and I got some paintings finished.  Poor Carmen was sick until Sunday, but as soon as she was better, she perked right up and has mostly been very sweet (a huge difference from the devil-child she turned into when she was sick).  She is very taken by Peppa Pig at the moment, and has an ongoing fascination with the planets.  She can tell you what order the planets come in, and she can tell you facts about each one.  And she loves to talk about the carnival that she went to at least a month ago.  Arley is pulling up on everything, and prefers to follow us around at the moment.  He wants to be wherever Carmen is.  Today he decided not to sleep for his second nap, and he was still a breeze to be around.  Such an easy baby!

 Arley-mon

 Calling Lolo

 Dad the trampoline

 Arley found Carmen's cream cheese sandwich and demolished it in about 5 seconds.

 Playing with home-made Playdoh

 Carmie learnt how to use a computer and a mouse this week :)

 Arley loves to eat bubbles in the bath.

141 + 37 Weeks

Carmie has been sick since Sunday morning.  Whatever she had last Thursday to make her miss school disappeared and then came back with a vengeance.  She ended up in the ER on Sunday morning because her tummy pains were so bad, and her fever was 39.6 and wouldn't break.  Her fever didn't actually break until Wednesday, the poor thing.  She has been as white as a ghost and miserable all week.  And this makes for a totally evil Carmen.  I can't really blame her, but OMG is she a nasty piece of work when she is sick!  And she had to be by my side at all times.  Thankfully she did spend some time at the farm so I had some reprieve.  She is just on the mend now, but still not eating anything.  On top of this, her bottom molars have finally come through (just waiting on the top ones now).

Thankfully little Arley has not caught her virus.  He is as happy as can be, and pulling up on everything.  He thinks standing is a laugh riot, so he pulls up whenever he is able, including in the bath which is making bath times much more difficult.  He babbles all of the time, but is very content playing in the playroom by himself.  He still has no teeth yet, but I think his gums are a little tender.  He eats like a horse - although this is probably very obvious considering the size of him.  Part of me wants him to start walking early so he can burn more calories, but part of me wants to kick his feet out from under him every time he stands, as chasing after two running kids will be difficult :)

Here is a rather gratuitous shot of our beautiful beach.  Jeff took this photo just the other day.

 Right before she got sick.

 On Thursday, still sick but on the mend.  This face is what we saw ALL week.

 Standing up in the bath.

140 + 36 Weeks

This week we have enjoyed the last of the sunny weather.  Carmen and I spent a beautiful morning at Narrawallee Inlet, where she insisted on wearing her goggles and a hand-me-down bubble, even though she didn't go in further than her waist.  She also had a ride on our friend Aido's paddle board.  It was so beautiful down there, it is very sad that the cold weather will be coming soon!  Carmie had two friends over for a playdate this week, her friend Hannah and a new friend, Emma.  The girls had a blast.  On Tuesday Carmen went to school in full witch's attire, and was still wearing her costume when I went to pick her up.  Then on Thursday she was complaining of a tummy ache, but I sent her to school anyway (I wasn't 100% sure she wasn't acting!).  They promptly sent her home again when she was listless and went to bed instead of eating, and when she came home she threw up all over me (punishment, I know!) and went to bed for 3 hours.  Poor thing.  Bad mummy.  Bed times have become a little easier with her, as I have found the key is threatening to take away her toys from her cot.  However, two nights ago she fooled me by saying she had to pee.  After 10 minutes of me demanding a wee and her crying, she went to bed, and the next morning she told me, "I was just playing, Mummy.  I didn't really have to do a wee."  She's getting conniving!

Arley is the same cool little guy he always is.  He loves to explore the house on his own.  He is pulling up on things now, and is very inquisitive.  The only time we really hear from him is when he is crawling, sometimes he gets too excited and faceplants onto the hard floor.  Then he has a good cry, but is back to normal within minutes.  He is squealing a lot, eating well, sleeping well, and dotes on Carmen's every move.  

Here is a video of the kids from this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHi0MZHyCUU&feature=youtu.be

Carmen's angry face

 Narrawallee Inlet

 Dress ups

 At the park

 Off to school

 Playing 5 Little Monkeys

 Arley's 'full-face' smile