A cat's life

It's hard to be a cat, sometimes.

Alia says: *le sigh*

An array of Princesses.

Blurry Circus snaps!

Lolly has started her very first class!  In circus!!  She loves it about as much as you might imagine, and has tried a huge range of amazing cool stuff.

On the ring!!

Plate twirling.

Balance beam, with fancy plate action!

Tightrope!

She's also done trapeze and that awesome fabric stuff they hang off.  And pole climbing and juggling.  We're loving it and have signed up for next term!

When I say "Lolly wants to be a vet" I am NOT kidding!

We have a VERY serious play program here for prospective vet surgeons.  Here are some recent shots, she is operating on a very bad tooth problem that her pet toy snake developed.

Here's the vet in surgery.  Gloves and all. 

Sharp implements are required!

Complicated lego jaw restraint system, co-designed by DinnerDad.

You can see it's a delicate procedure....

Her tools all laid out on a "sterile surface".

This Blog has no continuity: or, Lolly's sixth Birthday some more...

Because of course, Lolly's birthday comes 9 days before Snail's!  And also, it's in March :p

We had a small party after school with some friends, including a late season swim (it's mostly still hot as anything here in sunny Brisvegas!).

The highlight was the piñata, though the puppy cake was a close second!

As for me, I have the usual parental disbelief that my baby is SIX!!!  And we've *almost* recovered from the sugar overload.  Almost.

Some Birthdays are Bittersweet

Snail turned 15 last month.  It's a sweet and sad day.  She has no idea it's her birthday, or what birthdays are.  Though she likes presents and cake and attention.

The hit of the day was this Bananas in Pyjamas book!

It's hard to get presents in the toddler aisle or online at special needs places.

And there's just something about birthdays that make her seem more different. They are markers that show how much her life is different from other 15 year olds.

But she had a nice day, some big smiles, a bit of joy, and a big piece of cake.  That's something.

Cat and Kitten

On a rainy day, Pickles and Alia contemplate the rain, and each other's existence.  This post has nothing else to add, other than supporting the Interwebz cat addiction.

Pickles is 4 months old, Alia is 13!  Be sure to especially admire the moustache.  It is adorable!!

Art and puppy-kids

Here's how to have a lovely day.

First, have a fabulous Modern Art Museum in your hometown.

Second, get them to have some kid-friendly and future-vet-friendly animal-lover art.

Third, have a kid who wears cat ears (or lion or cheetah or leopard or puppy ears) everywhere.

Fourth, have a section at the gallery for kids to make their own art!

Fifth, combine and enjoy!

Six!! Now with more kittens!!

Lolly turned six recently!  This year, we made the big call of getting her a kitten for her birthday.  This is still the most awesome thing ever.

So we have a new Memo-er: Pickles!

Also, little kittens make small people very happy.

Here she is on her first day!

Meeting Alia, the cat of grumpy.

Yes, she has a moustache!

Meeting Squirtle!  

School Holidays, in Picture form!

We're coming to the end of our very first big 7 week school holiday.  We've had a lot of fun at home this year, no big trip as we'd just been to the US in October (will photo-bomb in a future post).  Some snapshots of our time at the end of Prep holidays!

Lolly found some colourful bug, insect and lizard toys and spent a happy day making "zoos" out the back.  Here she is proudly showing me around the zoo.

The zoo also had a very fierce cheetah...

We're encouraging Lego play, and Lolly got a big "Friends" house set for Christmas.  DinnerDad has a long and abiding love of lego, so on weekends they build new things with it.  Here's a vet surgery.

Tasty bones.

This puppy is getting an x-ray!

Dressing up is a BIG favourite of Lolly's, and has been her whole life, really.  She spends a lot of time being a puppy, cheetah, cat, and a range of creatures.  Okay, mostly puppies.  This one is Christmas puppy.

This one is a movie-watching puppy.  It's basically all of the cute.

Lolly has been more interested in dolls, though mostly as vets/zoo keepers.  She has taken lately to taking "her girls" around with her, brushing their teeth, and putting them to bed.

Of course, the pets are still the favourites, even when they're asleep!

We've had some fierce hot weather here, but with the air conditioning on, you need a blanket while watching your favourite kids TV (Backyardigans and Lazy Town).  For a while there it was basically too hot to leave the house!

Yes, this is the best couch in the world.  Yes, those are cupholders!

We like to head out for lunch, wearing our Disney Princess hat, coz that's how she rolls.  

She learnt some fearsome new stunts from her older brother!

She's very interested in Snail's chair and standing frame, I had to get it out for her the other week so she could be "just like my sister".

Here are the girls out with their "cousin", puppy, Lou-Lou!

And finally, the awesome Elmo, modelling Snail's doll wheelchair that we bought in the US at American Girl!

Lots of home time, lots of playdates, lots of family, and back to school next week!