Reading numerals

We all helped dad tidy up the lounge this morning, and then we got to play trains. I showed dad that James had a number 5 on his tender and pointed out the black coal and dad told me about how the trains used the coal to make steam. Later I found Henry and showed dad the number 3.
Dad asked me about Peter Sam and Toby and I correctly spotted the number on their sides was a 4 and a 7 respectively. Dad thinks me recognising numerals, up to at least 7, before I'm even four is pretty brilliant.
I've been really interested in numbers and counting the last few months, and I regularly count things and spot numbers and letters. I've been spotting the letter B around town since Christmas. When I start counting things dad often joins in and we count together. Today I told dad I was three and would be four at my next birthday, and five after I'm four. So we counted everyone's birthdays in Maori and English.

"Playing with my trains. (finding trains in the box) Number 7, number 3 and number 4 too."

Alex's birthday

Alex turned two, so we had a little party at home, and will have his friends over on another day.
Ben "Alex's birthday party. We sing a song, happy birthday to you."
Annie "and we also sung it in Maori."

New Drum kit

Mum saw a drum kit for $25 in pak-n-save a few weeks back and decided to put some money aside for it.
Dad helped me clean up the lounge, my room and the sun room and then helped me set it up.
But it didn't last day. Dad had been watching to make sure I didn't hit them too hard, but they still broke. He looked at it and found it had a design fault with the skins held in place by six screws, rather than tensioned evenly around the drum. He tried replacing the plastic skin with a tough hide skin, but again it ripped where the screws held it in place. Mum and dad are now looking at other options. A $125 plastic and metal kit, a $600 kit, or Getting 3 tough drums for $200, +$40 + $40 from MTA and adding feet and attachments to them to turn them into a kit.
Sounds like we've got some saving to do. Meanwhile dad will see what he can do to repair the drums again. Ben ended up taking his drum sticks to bed with him. He took to the foot pedal liek a duck to water.
"I'm playing my drums, I bang, bang banged them and they broke. The little one broke, and I bang, bang, bang a bang, bang. I banged that one with my drum sticks."

Bunny Show

With the girls away on their secret bus trip with Nana to see cirque du soliel, we took the boys to the bunny show.

Ben' s voice "We look at them. I pat them. They were in a cage, we were looking at them in."

After that we went to look at the meat in the supermarket and get some groceries, as we'd been talking about how you can eat rabbits and Ben hadn't believed me. We looked at which meat came from which animal, but no rabbit meat was there. Later Ben took me back, telling me which meat came from which animal.

New bed

The boys new bed arrived!
Before it got here mum managed to find some cheap carpet offcuts to go over the floor boards, and the whole room is much warmer now.
Both boys love their new bed, now we're just waiting on the electrician to reposition the light, and add an extra one. (The boys have already killed one bulb in the mean while, so we may need to pull their fuse.)

Ben' s Voice "Me and Alex climb up. (I like) climbing up the ladder. I like sleeping in it. Alex's is a cold bed. I like mine, my bed is warm. I don't like bouncing on it, it's made of wood. I like getting out of it, I climb down the ladder. I like getting into mum and dad's bed, mum and dad's bed is warm, I've got two warm! Dad is warm. Alex likes my bed, I like doing this on it (bent arms up and down alternativly, thumbs out )du du du duuuuu! Mum told me it's made of wood. dum dum dum, we will, we will rock you! on it and I like playing my guitar, dingy dingy ding on it. Wiggle wiggle wiggle, wiggle wiggle wig, I like doing that. I like doing, monster, monster moooonster."

Ben loves to drum

Now I've figured how to reduce video for upload in moviemaker, here's a video of Ben with one of the drum kits he makes himself, playing along with Queen.

Not his favourite song (we will rock you) but it's one of the ones he likes, watch how he gets both hands and a foot going, and adapts his kit.

Not to mention the great rhythm he keeps up.

I'm also working to capture the dingy dingy song he sings.

I wonder take him shopping to get him a drum kit or just let him keep making his own?