Rugrats

We've been uber busy, and now I'm sick. I blame Jo, who bought the sickness home, where its been festering in ever corner just waiting for me to inhale. He's been out of it the last 4 days, but I'm hoping i don't get it as bad, because my immune system is generally better than his, which is awful. The thing is, how are you supposed to avoid getting sick when you work in an office? It's the worst kind of breeding ground for germs. They LIVE in the air conditioning.



Maybe i should become one of those weirdo's that wear face masks everywhere.



So we've been in kiddie-land the last couple of weekends, doing the rounds, seeing the peeps, that sort of thing. I haven't seen Max and Joshua in a little while, and their cute-ness has increased by at least 20 points since i saw them last. A word on my cousin Susie - she went ahead and married an Aussie, and in a big Italian family, that can be a rarity. When it DOES happen, the union will usually produce an Aussie-looking child, which results in said child becoming a total novelty. That's what happened with Max. I mean look at him - does this kid look like he has an Italian mother at all? Sometimes she looks over and thinks "Who the hell is that Aussie kid in my kitchen?" It's hilarious.







Then his little brother came along and evened things up a bit. Joshua has the darker feature we're used to, which meant he was frankly boring for a really long time, despite Susie's attempts to up his profile. I mean we just weren't interested. Bring us fair-haired novelty child please.



But as he got older, i realised she had a point. Joshua was pretty cute. Look at this face.

We took Jack to see the dinosaur exhibition at the Australian museum, which he was sort of wary of, i think. Dinosaur toys are altogether different from life-size models. When you're a kid, you're thinking - this shit could come alive anytime. Get me the hell out of here.

He's been very entertaining lately. I don't even know how he comes up with some of the stuff he does. For example, this exchange:

Me: "Where's your mum?"
Jack "She's dead."

Oooooooo-k. I won't even try to dissect that one. Or this:

Grandma: "We have to change your nappy."

Jack: "No."
Grandma: "Yes, we have to change your nappy now."
Jack: "Don't you say that again or I'm calling the police." "Hello, police? Nonna is being very naughty and you have to come and get her."

Or you'll hear a crash from another room and his voice drifting down the hall - "I did nothing!!!" Yeah kid. Way to prove your innocence.

Luckily he does, at the tender age of 2 and a half, have his basic tactics sorted out. After we left their place the other day, Maria spotted ALL of his toys tipped out on the floor and asked him who had made this big mess. Caught like a deer in headlights, he reasonably did what any other person would in a situation like that, and that is blame someone else. "Jo did," he promptly responded. Nice one!

Lastly, his current favourite word is "fantastic." As in, "this pasta is fantastic." But he will also use it in the negative. About his juice the other day, he told Maria witheringly "This juice is NOT fantastic." Solid gold.

The pest

I have been doing lots of reading and movie-watching, but i don't have anything intelligent to say about any of it at the moment, because my brain is in ibuprofen-induced coma, so i'm going to go and curl up on the couch and make Jo wait on me for the rest of the day, or week. Who's counting.