This blog post is late again, because Arley has been putting us through the ringer again, and I have been a bit of a zombie. Thankfully my parents gave us a night off last night, so we got some sleep.
It was a busy week. On Sunday afternoon we decided to take the kids down to Mollymook beach to play in the rock pools. We haven't done this before, because we haven't really trusted ourselves to being able to keep Arley from running headlong into the waves like he did last summer, and the rock pools can be slippery, so we usually take them to Dolphin Point. Well, the kids had a great time, and it was really fun. We were saying how we should do this every afternoon, that it was so nice to be down there with them. And then, just as we were getting ready to leave, Arley started screaming shrilly and rubbing at his leg. I picked him up and he was writhing in pain, and screaming. OMG, it was awful. I couldn't put him down, and I had to carry him from the Bogey Hole to the Mollymook Surf Club (no easy feat!!!), where they put him in the sink and doused him with hot water, while he screamed and cried that he wanted to feel better. I wanted to take away the pain for him, it was dreadful. We assume he was stung by a blue bottle, but he didn't have the typical blue bottle rash where you can see the stingers. His rash was fiery hot and from his right hip to his knee, wrapping around the whole leg, as well as patches on his other leg, on his foot, and on his right arm and hand. Pretty much a quarter of his little body. So awful, I felt so bad for the poor little guy. And meanwhile Carmen was crying and acting like a drama queen because no one would carry her! We took the kids home, and gave Arley a bath, and loaded him up with antihistamine and put him to bed, and he woke up the next morning as good as new, thank goodness! And we haven't been down to the rock pools again!
Valentine's Day came, and Carmie was very excited about it, so I made them each a card, and Carmie got breakfast in bed. Then we met Lolo & Dida at the club for lunch, and the kids had a play at the park. While the kids were at school one day, Jeffrey and I took our dog Bella down to the rocks at Dolphin Point, so she could have a run and a swim. It is amazing down there, we seriously live in the most beautiful part of the world.
Arley is still waking up at night. Boo hoo. His talking is improving every week, and he copies everything Carmie says. He has been obsessed with his green shoes, and wouldn't even get out of bed without wearing them. He has been refusing to wear any other shoes for months, and they were getting very smelly, and were a size too small. At breakfast the other day, he climbed up at the breakfast counter and announced to me, "Stinky shoes and stinky nappy!" No truer words were ever spoken. So, we bought him three pairs of new shoes (thanks Mum and Geoff), and we had to pin him down to get the stinky green shoes off him. He screamed and cried, but we ultimately won, and now he is super proud of his new shoes! The dramas of a two year old!
Carmie is a goose and very sweet. She says the funniest things, but of course I can't remember any of them while I'm typing this blog. She draws at least ten pictures a day. She's not liking school as much right now, but she says it's because she misses me all day. She counts down the days until each weekend, and is horrified at the thought of going to school five days a week next year. It's a long way off, thank goodness :)
Here is a very cute video of Arley getting his own cereal for breakfast:
At school
Mollymook rock pools, before the drama
Valentin's Day
At Mollymook park
At the Golfy
Having a nap :)
Floating like a champ! This is the kid who refused to lie on his back for over a year!
New shoes!!
At Dolphin Point
