The experiment

It was a sad day yesterday ..... in the cause of nourishing my gorgeous daughter I found out I need to give up ..... Chocolate ... my gold - my salvation after a long hard day ! My cherished two pieces of dark chocolate a day ..... which are medically very good for you. (O.K .... sometimes more than 2 pieces a day.)



My other addiction - being a beverage - just happens to be "hot chocolate" which yes has to be given up along with oranges, kiwifruit, mandarins and I imagine pineapple and tomatoes.



Why .... you may ask .... because little Hazel has runny poos which have ranged from flourescent green to dark poo yellow, (which means it has blood mixed in). After been told not to worry too much about it by my number of midwives after nearly 4 months now, the plunket nurse suggested I check it out. Dear Dr Rita, GP, just said straight off .... new borns shouldn't be pooing so much, so runny - it must be foods that you are eating that are laxatives - eg. coffee - (don't drink that - whew) chocolate ...NOOOOO - any ctirus etc !

So the experiment now begins .... 24 hours ... 48 hours ..... let's see if her poos improve ..... But so worth it for my wee cutie. Check her out in her little froggie ribbit jamas.



Why didn't someone tell me earlier ... imagine all the nappy liners I wouldn't have had to scrape !!!!!!!!!!!

On a more brighter note ...... it is lovely to see parents spending quality time with their children. One thing Andrew is great at !


Also 'doing' correspondence kindy with Anika helps me to do more creative things with Anika when I do spend time with her. Hence making choc chippie biscuits with shapes from the good old tupperware shape sorter.



I can't resist putting in the latest photo of our girls. They are a joy.

Whenua

Nourishment is the name of the game - our earth nourishes us - it is whenua. Hazel's placenta nourished her - it is whenua. Last weekend we returned Hazel's placenta to the earth.


Papatuanuku nourishes us - it is my role at present to nourish Hazel.

Hazel was extracted from my womb. She was stuck by my side and hasn't left ever since !! The photo below is for real - Andrew's gem.

Hazel is now 3 months old - time flies - she is now a smiling, chatting wee cutie - sorry Sally ... you can't beat a babe for cute ! Sleeping 8-10 hours a night .. so all good.


She has been to the orchestra, to a workshop, a staff meeting and a cluster group ... I am getting the feeling she might be fairly cruisy - the best thing is having my girls lying in bed ... side by side with us.

Learning and technology

What can't a kid do now that we have the technology to make it all happen so instantly. Makes learning relevant and fun.
Last night my 3 and a half year old got an email from her Gran - she was responding to one Anika had already sent - typed by herself with my help. She said "I want to send Gran a funny face." So out comes the camera ... which she can already operate fairly competently ... the funny face is captured and downloaded. The email is written - she can type the letters in as I sound out the word slowly for her and tell her the occasional spelling. She can send it. No worries about not being able to write letters down.



But what is very important in this process is the 1 to 1 guidance of a teacher / facilitator / mum - never will they lose their place in the process. Technology is fantastic but only a human can judge what the learner can and can't do and all of the little steps needed to progress from one concept or capability to the next.

Kids are amazing in what they are capable of. How much do we hold them back through our lack of exposing and encouraging them to play and experience stuff.

Read a school newsletter in which the Principal was encouraging parents to ask a different question of their children when they got home from school ... that is .... What questions did you ask today ?