Gappy Happy

you can see the big tooth waiting directly behind the gap

Jasmine banged her wobbly tooth on the way home from an after school play group the kids go to on a wednesday.  Once she saw the blood she cried and cried and cried some more.  When we got home I held her whilst she let it all out, then inspected the damage.  The little tooth was barely hanging in there and sort of potruded upwards.  So Jasmine gained a new nickname....'Nanny McPhee'!!!  And she quite liked it too.  The this morning, whilst eating her bowl of coco pops, said tooth came out.  She just disappeared from the table and returned crying and holding a wad of bloody tissue to her mouth (she gets hysterical when she sees her blood).  In her hand she clutched her little tooth as tightly as possible.  I held her once again whilst she cried, all the while telling her how fantastic it really is because now she is a big girl (sob!) and how lucky she is that the tooth fairy is going to be visiting her tonight and leaving her some money under her pillow.  After the tears were dried I saw the first glimmer of a smile as she ran to Ben, gurning at him to show off her new gap.  I overheard her telling him how she was chewing her coco pops and her tooth came out and she was chewing it too thinking it was her cereal.  They were colouring together, but she ran back to say that Ben said he doesn't want to colour anymore because of her tooth.  I said he is probably a little jealous because his tooth hasn't fallen out.  Ben called down that he isn't jealous, just sad that he doesn't have a wobbly tooth too. ahhh.  Thing is, Ben doesn't have any wobbly teeth or big teeth in waiting.  Jasmine has 5 new teeth.  one each on each side, top and bottom, and one waiting to move into the new gap.  But I remember when each of them was teething it wasn't all that different then either.  Ben's teeth came in much more slowly, whereas with Jasmine, it seemed that every time she opened her mouth I saw a new tooth in there. 

Since this morning, Jasmine has kept a close eye on her tooth and keeps telling me she can't wait for her money (!) because she wants to buy some clothes.  "Clothes!"  I exclaimed.  "The tooth fairy doesn't give you enough money for clothes!".  But apparently Tilly in her class at school got a whole £3 from the tooth fairy.  Well, well.  In my day you got 20p - 50p if you were really lucky.  Nanny McPhee doesn't fit anymore, so Nick told her her new name is Gappy. Jasmine thought about it, but decided on 'Gappy Happy'.

My sister reminded me, when I told her about Jas' tooth, of when one of her teeth fell out and broke in two.  We each put half under our own pillow in the hopes of getting double the money.  Yes, we tried to hustle the tooth fairy.  My dad didn't put any money under either of our pillows and told us that it was because we tried to be greedy and cheat the tooth fairy.  Oh well, was worth a try - and shows we had entrepreneurial skill even at such a young age ;-)

Funny of the day

Ben and Jas were getting ready to go out to the park with Nick. 

Ben: "why does it always take so long to get out of this house?  It's always, 'Oh, I forgot my jumper, oh I forgot my shoes, oh I forgot this....". 
Jasmine: "yeah, it's always, oh, where are my keys, oh where is my hat, oh I just need to go to Sainsburys, oh I just need to go upstairs and have a nap first!". 
Me: "Are you talking about us?"
Ben: "No, just that's what some people say"
Me: "Some people like who?"
Ben: "I don't know any people that do it, I just know that they do"
Me: "So if you don't know anyone that does, how do you know that some people do it?"
Ben: "Because that's life! Some people do it to trick you because they don't really want to go out and that's just the way life is!" 

I just so know they are talking about me........shows you can't fool even a 5 and 6 year old.  At least not mine anyway.  Nothing gets past them.

National Book Week

For National Book Week the school put on a number of special activities for the children.  There were book swaps, book sales and an author visited and did writing workshops with them (and Ben was noted as a child with exceptional creative writing skills!).  On top of this, one the Tuesday all the children got to go to school dressed as their favourite book character.  So out came the kids' favourite costumes.....

And on Wednesday, they got the extra special treat of going back to school in their pyjamas, with a teddy/blanket/pillow, to have a bedtime story with some hot chocolate and a biscuit.  Exciting! They never did fun things like that when I was at school.

Happy (early) Mother's Day

I was so pleased to be able to attend this years' Mothers Day assembly as last year I didn't know about it (didn't read the newsletter in time!) and Ben cried when I was the only mummy not there to receive her flowers.  I could just picture him holding his little bunch with no-one to give it to (sob).  Also, I am now in a job that values family and so am given the time for the kids assemblies that I never would have been granted at any previous job.  And the added bonus is that this year, both Ben and Jasmine took part in the assembly.  They sang, danced, read out poems (Ben did one all by himself!) and then each presented me with a lovely bunch of flowers.  What more could a mum want or need?

Hurry up and have a baby!

We have discussed on and off with the kids the possibility of them having another brother or sister soon....from even before we found out the news.  As we are keeping things to ourselves at the moment, we have not told Ben and Jas that baby number 3 is on it's way, I can just imagine them telling their school friends or a family member that, 'mummy has a baby in her tummy'.....yeah, it feels bad to keep this from them, but it's not for much longer.

So, it's Saturday morning (last Saturday) and Ben decides that if we have another boy he would like it to be called 'Patrick'.  Uugghhhh!  I told him in no uncertain terms that no child of mine will EVER be called P*****k.  I can't even write it again I dislike it so intensely.  I can see where he got it though.  When we watched Marley and Me, the first child born was called Patrick.  Jasmine thinks we should call a boy 'Ben 10' or 'Four arms'....ever so slightly further up the likeability scale than 'P*****k if you ask me.  Ben then advises me that I'd better hurry up and have another baby soon because I'm gonna be old in two years!  I'm not going to be old in two years I protested!  "well, 3 years then!"  he grinned..... "In 20 years time, I will still be younger than Pippi is" I pouted.  Old huh!  I'm much younger than most of the other mums at the school gates, old?!  PAH!

So, now it's sunday and we are at a restaurant celebrating Nick's grandmother's 75th birthday.  At one point, whilst waiting for our orders, she across at me and askes me point blank when we are going to have another, because 'the kids are growing up'.  Later on in the meal, she asks me again when we are going to have another child......I think that telling her would have been the best birthday present we could ever have given her, but we've only known ourselves for less than a week and it doesn't seem right to tell everyone just yet and have everyone involved.  It's nice to have it to ourselves...our little secret if you like.

and Baby makes......5!

Yes.  We are pregnant and expecting baby number 3!  The tests were so faint that I went and bought a ridiculously expensive digital test which left no room for doubt.  How are we feeling?  A bit shell shocked actually.  We had decided that we wanted another one, we just didn't expect it to happen so easily or so quickly.  But I feel so blessed that this is never an area that we have struggled in, when so many of my friends have had difficulties. 

And yes, we are already arguing about names.....

Babies (children) don't keep

I hope my children look back on today,

And see a Mother who had time to play!

Children grow up while you're not looking,

There'll be years ahead for cleaning and cooking,

So quiet now, cobwebs; dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

I love this poem.  It is a beautiful, poignant reminder of how quickly our babies grow into children, then into teenagers and then into adults, and that we must make the most of each precious moment with them.

Kung hay fat choy!

Part 1 of Saturday:
As a little boy, Nick was taken every year to celebrate the Chinese New Year in London's Chinatown.  His family would go to Mr Kong's restaurant, where they would sit at the top of the restaurant, by the window.  When the drangon danced by it would climb up to the window and Nick would feed it lettuce.  Not surprisingly he has very fond memories of this and was really excited to introduce our kids to this tradition.  Chinese New Year was actually last weekend, but the festivities were being held this weekend.  The day didn't start off so well though.  Our mobile phone battery died and we were running late because the traffic in central London was heaving.  We were due to be meeting a friend who was joining us for the meal and had never been to this restaurant before, but we had no way of contacting him.  Then there was nowhere to park so Nick dropped me and the children off in Leicester Square, with me only having the vaguest of ideas how to get to the restaurant (I have been there a few times before, but am terrible at navigating the backstreets of London even without the hundreds of thousands of people swarming the streets).  So off me and the kids wandered into the masses and we squeezed and wound our way through the tightly compacted crowds until we could go no further.  I probably don't need to describe how distressed I was feeling at this point.  I didn't even know if I was going in the right direction and I was worried someone was going to crush or trample my children.  We retraced our steps and went down a street that looked at lot less crammed - and I started to recognise a few of the shops and restaurants.  I said a quick prayer that we would find the restaurant and that Andreas (Auny) would also find his way there too.  A few feet down the street and I spotted the green facade of Mr Kongs...I was so relieved!  We went in, sat down at our table and waited for Nick.  Once Nick arrived he asked a (very kind) stranger at a nearby table if he could please borrow his phone as his friend was lost and we had no battery.  Phonecall made, Nick set off to get Auny, who had lost himself somewhere on the other side of Chinatown. Whilst he was gone, we got our first glimpse of the Dragon.  He was dancing outside the restaurant door, but the corridoor was so blocked with people, we could only see flashes of his colourful body.  We were really disappointed until Mr Kong (yes, the same Mr Kong that was there when Nick was a boy) told us that he would be back again. 

Ben studies the menu

Then finally we were all reunited.  And the day just got better and better from there.  We started off with crispy duck pancakes (an absolute MUST), spring rolls, crispy seaweed, sesame toast and chicken satay.  Just as we were finishing our starters we heard the drumbeats getting nearer and nearer.......

The Dragon was on his way back!  And the corridoor was empty!!!  We scrambled to the door and waited for him to arrive..... 

 And it was the most amazing experience! He danced for us at the doorway, whilst the crowds looked on.....

And after his wonderfully, acrobatic, martial arts style dance, he ate the proffered lettuce.....

 

...then spat it all back out at us - sorry no picture of this, it made me jump!  But according to Nick, the instance the lettuce spewed forth, Ben's arms were in the air trying to catch it all.....his reaction time was lightening quick, and obviously better than mine.

Jasmine proudly shows her lettuce

Of course, they both wanted to keep their lettuce to show their friends at school.  And they knew, even after it got a little spread over our table, exactly which leaf belonged to whom!  So, before we left the lettuce was carefully put in a plastic bag provided by the management and promptly forgotten about!

So, back to the rest of our meal.  We had delicious king prawns with fried noodles, fillet beef cantonese style, special fried rice, prawn crackers and spring greens in oyster sauce.  Followed by juicy slices of orange and a hot cloth (I love those things!).

check out Jas using chopsticks! and yes, she did actually get some food into her mouth :-)

and Ben was pretty nifty with his too - once he managed to use them both the right way up!

Jasmine thought Auny's head needed a clean....

After stuffing ourselves with all that delicious food, we went looking for some little paper dragons and the kids raced Auny and Nick through the streets  like horses......

....STOP!.......GO!......SLOWER!......FASTER!.....and so on.  I looked on proudly and thought how they must feel delighted at being so much higher than everyone else, and how exciting it must be to be able to race under the lanterns and balloons in the dark, but well lit streets.  And I had a moment.  This is what life is all about.  Having fun with your family and friends.  In that moment I felt such a sense of elation, that it didn't matter that it was starting to rain and that I struggled to keep up after such a big meal (mental note: must go on diet)

And then we went to Hamleys and then to see The Thames, Big Ben, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament at night....but that's for another blog!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

(May prosperity be with you)