January 2009




Babycino is the drink of the moment in our house - frothed milk with a dusting of powdered chocolate... January was a month that ended up being quite busy. Jessi and Supratim are in India getting married in Kolkata and then celebrating in Delhi, we wished we could have been there! Jasper's walking is slowly getting better it now about three weeks after having leg casts for two months, his muscles were still weak, and he limped a lot and I was concerned about the correction but brace wear every night has improved things. We have been spending many afternoon, days and weekends renovating. The front porch is tiled in sandstone slabs laid by zoran and his dad, and grouted by me, with a decorative strip of black river pebbles. Zoran's dad stayed with us for ages helping out to the background noise of macedonian oboe music and macedonian news radio. We have a new front door, and a waterproofed, tiled and fitted bathroom/laundry downstairs. We just have to put up plaster board (drywall) and a bathroom door! We have also stripped out all of the tiles, glue and fittings (thanks to the great help of trene, Zoran's brother) in the old upstairs laundry ready for waterproofing and tiling as this is going to become the main toilet - the old toilet room will become the door to the backyard... Not having a laundry was a pain so the deck looked like this after a visit to the laundromat with TEN loads of washing...



Also, we had renderers in who rendered in a cement mix the huge retaining walls Zoran and his dad built last year to landscape the front of the house and drive, they also covered the surfaces of the interior walls downstairs which were never finished when the house was built. We spent quite some time painting all of this and also staining/varnishing the new front door which is cedar and sanding back the old side door and windows so we could varnish them to match. We still have SOO much to do, but we are getting there, in between kid wrangling, Zoran's work and doctors visit for both kids normal followups and constant colds/infections.

We were still painting on New Years Eve when at 6pm we decided to jump on a train into town to catch the fireworks!! It was so much fun. We sat on the north side of the harbour right under the harbour bridge looking across to the Opera House.
I had raided the dollar shops earlier in the day for glow necklaces and we had a ball with other other million or so Sydneysiders out for the evening. Zoran's dad had never been before and it was so nice to have him with us and the kids.



The kids were missing the cat Pushkin, who passed away from tick poisoning, (we have paralysis ticks in the yard, as well as leeches and snakes, spiders and all the other dangers of Australia!) so Jasper and Sequoia decided they would like a fish, and as we had recently been given an old second hand tank I agreed. We filled the tank and had numerous trip back and forwards to the pet store with water samples and a myriad of drops to correct the water balance until eventually it was perfect for goldfish. Jasper chose a white one with a fed crown and Sequoia chose a bright orange one. Bravely overcoming the urge to shake the bag, Jasper carried the fish home and we put them in their new home.
Both kids were so excited and they watch the fish each day. We have put the tank on mum'd console table right outside their bedroom and jasper feeds them each morning. Jasper called his fish Lillypad and Sequoia called hers Ikthy - which I thought was great as unbeknown to her, ichthyology is the study of fish.






We hadn't been down to Wollongong for a while so we took the opportunity to go down for the day and drove Zoran's dad Vanco, home after he had spent so much time up with us helping out. Jasper loves their cut down broom as it is the perfect height for him - as Milica (zoran's mother, the kid's baba, is quite short many of the things around the house are for her height which Jasper thinks is great!) Sequoia's favorite thing is raising and lowering the hill hoist - free standing clothes line then running through the wet washing, having it tickle her face!



And a pic of Milica, the kids and Zoran's aunty Maca.


We also went to the zoo and met up with Jenny and Craig and their kids, Chloe and Holly.
Jenny and Holly

Chloe, who is Jasper's age.



Sequoia LOVED it and especially loved the aquarium with the seals and fairy penguins. There was this amazing animal moment when Zoran took her to see the chimps and there is a large glass window where you can look into the enclosure. Sequoia stood at the glass and a mother chimp was frolicking with her baby when she laid back at the bottom of the glass and and her baby climbed up onto her shoulder and Sequoia put her hands up against the glass and the baby chimp mirrored her from the other side, The two babies stood palm to palm until they both became absorbed in other things!! Jasper didn't have such a good day. He tripped soon after he arrived and ended up spending the day in the pram. His foot ended up swelling up and we took him up to the children's hospital the next morning (always a Sunday when it is a skeleton staff) and three xrays later found it wasn't broken but the doctor said a bad spain exacerbated by the time in casts and weakness of the legs and feet, so he had a few weeks of pain and limping.
It was now coming up to two months since casts and Jasper still could put no weight on his big toes and we still couldn't get in to see his orthopedic specialist so I decided to book him in with another specialist down in Melbourne and as we found some cheap flights, the kids and I went down for a mini-break. It just so happened that the only day the Dr was free was also the day Jess and Sup flew home from India, so we stayed that night with them and flew back to Sydney the next day - leaving them free to have some quiet time to overcome their jet lag. The kids loved being at Jessi and Sups flat, we all slept in the one bed like a bear and her cubs, and played in the days. It was a real break for me as it was just us, there was no real housework to do apart from tidying up and cooking and no renovating to do!! Here are the kids at Jessi's (Sequoia with her trademark pout!), and one of Jess with Sequoia.


The doctor seemed to think Jasper's feet were oK but that there was still forefoot movement so he may need a tendon transfer at some stage, so now I am busy looking up Physical therapy treatments and other options. We will be seeing our surgeon up here on the first monday in April (after they cancelled and rescheduled our March appointment) so hopefully we will know more then.

Jessica and Supratim's marriage ceremony in India took a number of days. There were purification ceremonies, prayers to the ancestor ceremonies and marriage ceremonies. Here are some photos...









Four weeks until their Australian wedding - and the legal one in the eyes of the law here. The kids and I have planned to go down ten days before to help with preparations as Jessi and Supratim are doing it all themselves - self catering, organising, funding, cleanup and they have no more leave days from their jobs as all of their annual leave was used up traveling to India for five weeks!!

More soon on that!
Tamsinxx