Events from 17 thru 20 Oct

There is one thing of note about Delenn that we may have neglected to
mention earlier, but in so many ways makes her birthdate all that much
more meaningful and magical to us as well. Delenn was born on the 12th
of October at 3:29 AM, which is the same day that Dad's Aunt Karen was
born. Aunt Karen died when she was only 16 years old after growing up
with heart problems (Unfortunately Dad never got to know her).
Additionally, Mom's Mother, Virginia, died on 11 October, which is the
date it still was in the U.S.A. when Delenn was born. So in a sense
we've got a formidable spirit within Delenn that is a glowing re-birth
of life of sorts.

Monday morning Dad and Logan went out to hike up Anzac Hill. Logan was
keen to do it and for the first time ever he made it all the way up and
down without needing to be picked up and carried (just hand held). At
the summit we spent time looking around and having a nice relaxing bite
to eat on a bench. Once we were back down, Logan still had plenty of
energy in reserve and so he decided to use it to explore another trail
for a while. Yikes this kid is gaining in energy levels!
In the evening Logan, Grams, and Dad went out to see the normally dry
Todd river. Only this time it actually had water in it! It's been 2-3
years since the last time it flowed and Logan has never gotten to
witness such a thing. The concept of water in a river was up until now
more of a fantasy from a book. It's strange and interesting that ever
since Delenn was born we have been getting daily rainstorms. Quite
unusual, but we are so happy to have it. The environment is so much
greener and 'livelier'. The flies are also giving us a break as is the
blast furnace sun. Let's hope it continues a while longer.
While looking at the Todd river flowing, Dad obviously did his usual
thing and took a few pictures. Soon thereafter Dad got chewed out by an
aboriginal man accusing him of taking the man's photo since he was
further down the river in the direction of the pointed camera.
Aborigines tend to not like their photos taken (at least not without
prior permission and/or some money) as it is thought to take their
spirit away. Of course it was dark by this time and the flash from the
camera had no hopes of picking up the man on film when he was at least
20 meters away. But it was difficult to convince him of this.

Tuesday Dad got to make his first ever visits to Kindermusik and
Kindergym, leaving Mom and Delenn at home to 'relax'. Grams tagged
along as well and we had to put a raincoat on Logan for the first time
(in Alice Springs). Others around us were amazed to even see a
raincoat. Logan did exceptional at Kindermusik and played and danced
along merrily. At Kindergym Logan had fun but wasn't quite as much of a
sharer as he could be. Hopefully sooner than later he'll get past that
phase and will be willing and accepting of sharing and trading toys
around. Until then, there will be little fits and tantrums that must be
dealt with. Oh well, just makes life all the more interesting. Enroute
between Kindermusik and Kindergym we stopped to take a look at the Todd
river flowing, only this time it was in the daylight. Yep, pretty funny
that we've got to make a special trip to see a river flow! Maybe
Delenn knew it was about to happen and didn't want to miss out on the
opportunity either. She and Mom got a chance the next day when they all
went to the Telegraph Station to go swimming in it (after the water
receded a bit and wasn't very deep).

Dad went off with Logan on his bike to get the mail. Logan did great in
pushing and 'directing' the bike along the path for part of the trip
rather than letting Dad do it. He indicated to Dad, "Don't you do it
Daddy, I'll push it in the proper direction" and sure enough that's just
what he did. While this was going on Mom took Delenn out on her first
'girls only' shopping trip. They went to K-mart. Grams stayed at home
and cooked us up another grand dinner meal of country fried steak,
mashed taters, veggies, and salad. Yum, thanks Grams!

Wednesday Logan went to Rosalie's for 2 hours of day care and did
surprisingly well with no sign of being upset when Mom dropped him
off. During the day with Delenn, both Mom and Delenn went through 4
shirts. This is in large part because Delenn tends to do a lot more
spitting up than Logan ever did. However, she's not much of a burper
like Logan... so we don't have to pick her up nearly so often and keep
her upright as we did with Logan, but she's still a great sleeper!
In the afternoon everyone got together to witness Delenn getting her
foot and handprints placed for all time on paper. It's always fun,
especially for Delenn, as she just loves acrylic paint getting gummed up
on her hands and feet. This followed by a bath and then a hard & fast
sleep.
In terms of Logan's behavior, he tends to do well with Grams when Dad
and Mom aren't around, but the second they come in to the picture,
suddenly Logan becomes negative towards poor Grams. He'll say "No
Grams!" or "Stop Grams!" at almost anything she does or says, from
singing to helping to simply looking at Logan. Yikes! Poor Grams.
Luckily this was a phase and Logan stopped some of this (except the
singing) a few days later.

Thursday Grams took Logan to the Desert Park. There Logan experienced
his first-ever time in a big screen theater (well, he was a baby asleep
when he saw a couple other movies a year or so ago). They watched the
last 20 minutes of the visitor center nature movie and evidently Logan
was enthralled and sat quietly and attentively during the time. After
the Desert Park and back at home, Logan got a little crabby and pushy
with Delenn while she was in Mom's arms... and apparently wanted to have
Mom more to himself. Again, this seemed to be a one-off event as Logan
hasn't really acted this way again. He does occasionally forget Delenn
is in a person's lap and will be a bit clumsy when sitting down next to
her, practically landing on her.
In the afternoon Mom took Logan and Delenn to the flowing Todd River at
the Telegraph Station. It only took 3 minutes upon arrival for Logan to
slip in and get drenched, HA!