Kite Girl

Sofia

 

Our second trip to Noosa. Its only a short drive from Daddy's clinic and with the summer weather warming the water we are loving having the beach within striking distance of home.

 

This kite was a gift last Christmas. Previous attempts to get it properly airborne have been thwarted by poor conditions, trees, power lines and a lack of space. The kite was out of its bag and up in the air with almost no effort. You ran up and down the beach, beaming with joy as the kite lifted ever higher, the rainbow ties of the tail a gorgeous contrast against the clear blue skies.

 

We reminisced about kites from our childhood, sticks and brown paper, held together with tape and a string. I remember flying a kite at the back of our house, and it was a delight to show you how to make your kite dance over the sand.

 

Let's go fly a kite...again soon one day.

 

Tripping

Sofia

 

Daddy has started working at a new clinic at Cooroy on Mondays. Sometimes we drop him at work and then go exploring. Recently we went to the Noosa Botanical Gardens, following the brown tourist signs, and stumbled across a wonderful oasis.

 

Ofra was visiting from Israel, and we wandered around admiring the plants and the sculptures. Tucked away on the edge of Lake Macdonald, I knew that we'd found a place that will become a site for family picnics, regular visits and lakeside walks.

 

Suburbia

Sofia

We moved to this northern Brisbane suburb when you were six months old. Four years later and you stride, skip and run around the streets of our suburban pocket. You grow, learn, talk, share and I wonder, delight, observe and savour. These moments of suburban bliss are true, but fleeting. Much like your childhood. 

Melancholy

Sofia

I've been busy and distracted this weekend. Friday delivered some news that will change our lives dramatically. Saturday and Sunday have seen us start to prepare for that change. 

After all the distractions and busyness we walked to Hidden World park this afternoon, an hour before dusk, for a swing, a slide, a climb and a chance to get the sand between the toes. You tackle equipment you haven't dared approach before; climbing up the rubber webbing and clambering down the knobbly pole. 

I watch, take photos to capture the afternoon, knowing it might be one of our last regular visits to this space. I feel melancholy. This is the park where you crawled, toddled, walked and ran. Where you now get on the big swing and use your legs to propel yourself into the air. 

This is the space where you still stand back and observe the other kids jostling and negotiating, waiting for a clear moment to climb up the dinosaur. You wait on the edge, high above the sand, asking for help. I have previously stood below in the sand and caught you as your launched yourself into the air. This time I'm perched up on the fort, camera poised, and encourage you to take the leap and jump down solo. I watch you hesitate and count you down, "One, two....three, go!" You jump and land in the sand, face peering up with delight, "I did it, yay". I take your photo as you climb one more rung on the ladder of self confidence. 

The melancholy washes over me. We are going to miss this park. But the trade off will be worth it. 

Up Close

Sofia

Sorting through photos I took last year I discover these and can't help share them. We'd been playing soccer and your face reflects the heat and the game. I see this face everyday and marvel at your openness. You are quick to smile, laugh, share a joke and all of that shines in your eyes.  

 

 

Tenterfield Field

Sofia

Nana and Grandad were in Tenterfield house sitting for some friends so we joined them for a weekend in the country. A neighbouring property was explored and you took some photos.

And I took a photo of you taking a photo. Cheese.

October 2013.

Laidley lunch

Sofia

 

A flashback to October last year. Our search for a rural property has taken us to most corners of South East Queensland, including the lovely Laidley, where you tackled your first Aussie pie. Even though it was chicken and not beef, you smothered it in tomato sauce then lifted the lid and mined your way through the filling....just like your mother does it. With a utensil. I was so proud.

 

The Aussie male thing of lifting a whole piping hot pie to your lips and then shoving it in, flaky pastry falling on the ground while you juggle the slightly soft base pastry to make sure it stays in tact and the gravy meat filling doesn't also hit the floor...well, it's over rated.

 

May you continue eating pies with some delicacy and decorum, enjoying the deconstruction process, all the flaky pastry and the filling after it cools enough to no longer strip the skin off your palette.

 

My girl.

 

Bend It

Sofia

Soccer with dad at the park. 'No hands, just feet' he reminds you constantly.

I watch you for signs of a future soccer champion. You pick the ball up again.

Plenty of time before you need to worry about playing women's soccer at the Olympics.

Super Girl

Sofia

Hidden World is a park within walking distance of our house. We've watched you explore, play and grapple with the challenges as you've grown.

In November 2013 I took some photos of you trying out some of the equipment for the first time. You conquered the dinosaur and spun on the weird swing under the fort.

It must have been the super hero shirt you were wearing that day. Or maybe, just maybe, you're getting bigger. At least that's what you're always reminding me.

Your favourite catch cries are:
Look mum, I'm bigger.
Look mum, I can do it.

It's true.

Zoo for the Fourth

Sofia

The photos from your fourth birthday have been sitting on my computer since December, quietly waiting for some attention. We spent the day at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. You fearlessly approached the kangaroos, big and small, offering up your little outstretched hand for them to nibble at the pellets. We wandered by the towering emu, marvelled at the koala nursery and watched the sheep dogs round up their flock.

 

You were only six months old on our last visit. It was a special day with special friends from Japan. I think back to that day. You were strapped on to dad's chest, watching the world with a toothy grin, kicking your little legs and dozing off as the midday sun rose.

The four year old you are now is an inspiring creature. I didn't think you could be any more beautiful, or engaging or interesting than you were as a baby. How little I knew.

Spinning

Sofia

A local park has one of your favourite things...it's called a Spinna. Your face lights up and I remember the feeling of freedom from such childhood excitement and fun.

City Girl

Sofia

 

Last month we spent a day in the city. At the library, at the museum looking at the dinosaurs and then across the pedestrian bridge for lunch. As we waited for my friend you entertained yourself completely oblivious to the pastel architectural features above and the slate flooring beneath your feet. It was all about the climbing, balancing, jumping and repeat.

 

Frog Friends

Sofia

 

One February afternoon we walk up to Aldi through the misty rain. We found this little fellow on the path and he made himself at home of your jacket. Two little green frogs friends. 

Explore

Sofia

 

We explored a local park. I capture you balancing, swinging, climbing, jumping. As you run towards me you call out, 'No more photos now Mummy'. I put the camera down and come to balance, swing, climb and jump with you. In the moment.



Festival Eyes

Sofia 

Festival of Sails, Redcliffe, Good Friday. No explanation needed. 



Spikey

Sofia

You watched me make a Japanese style salad dressing with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard tonight while Daddy made a Japanese curry. As usual you were keen to test out the flavour of something coming out of a condiment bottle.

 

"Can me try please?" holding out your finger before I correct your pronoun from me to I.

 

It doesn't matter how hot it is - mustard, chilli sauce, curry - you always respond with "mmmm, it's good".

 

Half way through dinner as you pick up another edemame you announce, "You can get the spikey mum". 

 

I look at you, interrupting my salad munching. I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

"What spikey?", I ask you.

 

"The spikey, you can get it."

 

"I don't understand what the spikey is Sofia. Where is it?"

 

"In the fridge". You start to get off your chair, only to look at Daddy, remembering that you've already been told several times to sit down properly on your chair while eating dinner.

 

I still have no idea what the spikey is, so we agree you can leave the table to shed light on the spikey. You confidently open the fridge door and point up at the top shelf where I have placed the Dijon mustard.

 

"There, that spikey, you can get it for your salad mum".

 

Light bulbs flash. "Spicy Sofia, not spikey."

 

"Oh, spicy", you repeat. Daddy explains to you that it's called mustard, and I listen as you roll the word mustard around in your mouth a few times, helping cement it in the part of your brain that collects new words and sounds every day now.

 

I love hearing you learn new words. Even more than that, I love it when we work out what it is you are trying to say when you sometimes get it mixed up. It's like working on a cryptic crossword.

 

And even more than that I love it that at 4 years of age you go "mmm, it's good" whenever we give you something spikey to try.

NB: This photo was taken on Australia Day. We went to Bunnings for hardware supplies and got caught up in the Australia Day activities including a sausage sizzle to support the rural fire service. I diligently prepared your sausage in bread with tomato sauce. You quickly noticed mine was a bit different and asked to 'try' my 'yellow sauce', closely followed by a request for a 'line of yellow spicy sauce' on your sausage as well. A super happy Aussie girl was the result.

Parking

Sofia

It's a joy to watch you at the park. We stopped at a new park today. You headed straight to the swings as usual. Today was different though. I gave you big pushes, higher and higher, as you requested. In the past you have enjoyed the thrill for a little while and then seem to get scared, suddenly asking to get off. Today, I kept pushing and you smiled, giggled and loved every moment, not a trace of the fear as you flew into the sky, legs pumping, toes inviting tickles, my phone camera unable to keep up with your pace and movement.

You made your way around to every piece of equipment, investigating, exploring and testing. Occasionally, you discovered you were too small to climb up or use the equipment according to its designers intention. To my delight you found alternative ways to play on or around it.

We often watch you on the slide, intimidated whenever a boy (or pack of boys for they do seem to travel in packs) appears. Today, you were still a little wary but you seemed less interested in worrying about them and more engaged in climbing, sliding and trudging through the sand to do it all over again. I see these as small steps in building your confidence as important building blocks for the greater things you will do some day.

Photos at 3yo

Sofia

 

For some time you've been asking to use my camera. Slowly and with lots of supervision I've been giving you my digital camera to take photos for the last few months. You wrap the strap around your left wrist and carefully lift the camera up, mindful of your fingers in front of the lens, positioning your fingers over the shutter button, holding the camera still...all the tips we've been teaching you.

 

It amazes me to see the quality of the photos you are already taking. Of course, like any photographer there are many that are out of focus, badly composed or obscured by fingers. There are also a many that are of the floor, the table top, people's feet and the grass. But for your age it's fascinating to watch how confident and inquisitive you are about snapping away at the world around you.

 

Mirroring the fact that daddy and I have undoubtedly taken thousands of photos of you since you were born you easily aim the camera at us, instructing us to say 'cheese' before snapping away. I still find it a bit weird to be the subject of your photos; more often than not I'm the one behind the camera. But I'm happy to be captured by you. It gives me some idea of what you see, and how you perceive the world around you.

 

Yesterday you took some photos of me at the shopping centre. In the spirit of writing about all the things you do that bring joy into my life I'm sharing those photos on the blog today as they are infinitely more personal and interesting than any of the photos I took of you sitting in the big red car or sliding face first down the slide.

 

Selfie

Sofia

The best thing about our trip to the gallery today was looking at the photos that you took on my camera once we got home. It wasn't until I uploaded them onto my computer that I realised you'd taken two 'selfies' - a self portrait of yourself, as though it was to be uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or some other social networking site. As I write I wonder if any of these platforms will still be around in years to come when you revisit these words and photos. I also wonder how different the media and our current concept of social networking will look by the time you reach my age.

 

Regardless, the selfie will be something that sticks around as mobile phones with cameras, video and internet become more and more entrenched in our lives.

 

So I thought I'd keep these two selfies, so you can later reflect on what has or hasn't changed about your attitude to capturing yourself (on film as we used to say) and what eventually happens with those images. For now they are part of this little blog about the joy of you.

 

Gallery Visit

Sofia

This morning we spent some time exploring the kids activities at the APT7 - 7th Asia Pacific Triennial exhibition - held at the Gallery of Modern Art and the Qld Art Gallery. You and I visited with my cousin Stephanie another day and saw some of the bigger exhibition pieces including sculptures from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

Today we went into the Yellow or Blue exhibition, a series of rooms made from cardboard, painted either in solid yellow or blue. It got me thinking that it would be a cheap funky solution to create screening within a room from cardboard boxes glued and taped together and painted to create a cohesive look. The kids activity centred around yellow and blue cardboard boxes that were flattened. We made a car, while daddy worked on a blue aeroplane for you.

 

To my surprise you insisted on taking your afternoon nap with the car. You even took a photo of it.

 

 

We went on to making a mask, watching a short video about lights and lamps coming to life, and showing daddy the beat up Vespa that had toured Indonesia with a musician and the rainbow coloured plastic plant exhibit. The colours in it are particularly appealing and again you captured it on my camera.