Insta-snow sensory tub

Geekling has never seen snow, having lived only in the tropics.  I've only seen it on the ground when we travelled to Russia in Winter, it was hard and dirty.  I've still yet to see fresh snow falling.

This was such a fun tub, although very messy!  Next time we play with it, we'll set it up outside I think.  I am hoping to let the insta-snow dry out and reuse it, next time with ice cold water, and perhaps coloured water.

Excuse the poor lighting.

Melbourne Zoo

Hubby, Geekling and I took a trip to Melbourne over Christmas - New Years.  We visited lots of family and friends, went to our favourite restaurants and souvlaki place and of course went to a few tourist spots like the Queen Vic Markets, The Museum and the Royal Melbourne Zoo.  I have been dreaming of taking Geekling to the zoo since I was still pregnant!  I love Melbourne Zoo, and have so many memories of visiting with my family as a young girl.

Watching the bear

Geekling loved the animals (the ones he could see easily, nocturnal, distant or otherwise hiding animals were not interesting to him) but was not such a fan of the walking between exhibits.  By the end of the day we were all a bit weary of constantly picking him up, putting him down to walk, putting him in the stroller (which we took knowing how much walking would be involved).

Mummy and baby elephants in the feeding pen

I think it was especially valuable for Geekling to see the giraffes and elephants and get some idea of the scale of these large animals, something that isn't as obvious in books or in film.

Geekling loved the giraffe

Taggie Owl Rattles

I made these taggie owl rattles for my two new nephews and our friend's new baby for Christmas using the pattern from  Dolls and Daydreams.  Each has is made from scraps of fabric I had at home, and features double seams and two bells in the head which jingle well even though surrounded by polyfill.  My hand stitching at the bottom leaves a lot to be desired, but overall I am happy with them.

 Hoot hoot!

GoMA "Obliteration Room" and "We Miss You Magic Land" exhibits

GoMA has a couple of fantastic kids exhibits on at the moment, and best of all they are FREE!

First we saw "The Obliteration Room" by Yayoi Kusama - a home environment painted bright white, with children and adults given a sheet of coloured circle stickers and invited to place them wherever they wished.

 "Stick!"

The exhibit included a working piano!

You can see more of the dramatic transformation here.

The "We Miss You Magic Land!" exhibit was adorable but a bit 'old' for Geekling, as it was quite detailed and delicate, and he wasn't allowed to touch it.

 One of the scenes

Geekling did enjoy the computer program - you can create an online scene like the ones in the exhibit, including photographs of yourself as a character in it.

What Geekling loved most about this exhibit was jumping on the big pillows and on his daddy.

These exhibits are on until 12 March 2012.

Another new cousin!

On Tuesday morning , two weeks early and after a very speedy labour (which I am terribly envious of), Geekling's newest cousin arrived: introducing Baby C!

Baby C is Geekling's 13th cousin!  Its been a busy couple of years for babies in our family, but I don't think there will be any more for a little while.

Geekling's Christmas presents

Would you like a sneak peek at what Geekling is getting for Christmas from his daddy and I, and from Santa?

From his Dad and I:  This Felt World Map we picked up some months ago at ALDI for $30.  We are packaging it up with the individual cultural packages we've received so far from participating in the Chasing Cheerios Cultural Exchange - we have packages from the USA, Germany, Canada, Korea and more.  We hope Geekling enjoys playing with this and learning about the world.

From Santa: We did Geekling's Christmas shopping for Santa in one hit - its all from Bright Bugs, who sell a wonderful selection of educational and handmade toys.  My friend Kelly is a consultant - if you're in Brisbane check out her facebook page.

Every year we give Santa gives Geekling three gifts, which represents the three gifts that the wise men gave Baby Jesus - its our way of linking the religious part of the holiday with the gift-giving custom.  His gifts this year:

Melissa & Doug Wooden Clock Puzzle

Great for learning about shapes and colours, telling the time and more.  Geekling has just started to learn his colours (he knows red, blue, yellow, green, orange, black and white) and shapes (he knows stars and circles).

Melissa & Doug Magnetic Dress Up Joey

When I saw this on a fellow Montessori blogger's site, I plotted to get one for Geekling.  He is just starting to get interested in getting his own clothes and trying to put on his own shoes.

Mix & Match Animal Puzzle

(Sorry - I cannot find a picture of this one)

Hiatus

Apologies for the long gap between posts - I realised its been 3 weeks!  I am struggling to compose posts when I can only get half an hour or so of power out of my laptop at a time (of which I can only use the whole 30 minutes if Geekling is asleep :) but when we get this sorted I'll have plenty to post about!

I hope to get a few things posted before Christmas, in part because its a bit pointless posting Christmas themed activities afterwards, but also because we are heading away for a week and a half on Christmas night.

Please bear with me :)