#331 Saturday 30 July

Missed a day! It shows how busy the day has been ... both cars in for repairs, Kaylia to school and back, battling with a new government process, dealing with phones .... phew! So now I'm up in the wee hours ... still battling with government online systems. I gave up during the day because there were so many outages due to the volume of users .... only to find that it's not much better in the middle of the night! There must be a lot of people trying the same tactic.

Kaylia? She's fine thanks. It's delightful to see how she's taken to Kat. She does the same for most people but it doesn't reduce the pleasure to watch.

There was a message from Sally tonight ... she's going to be in Bali for 31 days .... longer than her visa allows ...( asking for advice on fixing it) .... isn't she lucky to have that problem!! I'd love to be in Bali that long!!

Today we're going to pick up the car the Tina has given us .... then maybe Kings Park or a "slee-poo" .... and by then Naomi will have finished work and she'll be ready for a Kaylee fix!

2:20pm. We've picked up the car .. it needed a new battery .. and it needs new CV joints .. but it has been well looked after. Someone clearly loved it in a previous life!
We came home via the Craigie pool and HJs Midland. Now we're at HJs Mundaring in the playground (while Naomi & Kat go "op shopping". The playground is very noisy today but K seems to be coping.
Next we'll do the circuit round Mundaring Weir and Kalamunda.






Perth from the Zig Zag railway line.

#330 Thursday 28 July

Blogs are sprouting! Well done y'all. (Sally and Tina have both started the blogging trail.)

Kaylia is doing something different with speech ... yesterday she used two new words .... I'm struggling to know what they mean though. I think she's experimenting. At one point she was talking to herself and it sounded as though she was trying out different sounds.




Tonight was a delight .... Kaylia was into the play-doh and Naomi was orchestrating the fun. K was beside herself with enjoyment!

#329 Wednesday 27 July

She slept!

I went to the physio for the wrist yesterday .... as usual I've overdone it and I'm regretting being so enthusiastic with the suggested exercises! The advice was that the tendons are ok ... the aches etc are from muscles protesting and from nerves rebuilding. So ... continue with the massage. The joints are not moving freely enough and need more work. The fused joint needs work or it will lock into immobility. I find that "Tiger Balm" works well .... but it brings a chorus of comments about "... locker room smells"!

Today Kat will "tag along" to learn travel routes and routines. The poor thing has never driven on the left side of the road .... I clearly remember the terror I felt when I had to drive in the US for the first time... it's not nice.

Hey everyone ... Sally has a blog! We all have to sign on as followers! Here it is ...

http://sallysasiatravels.blogspot.com/

Yesterday I was observing Kaylia and how she reacted to Kat .... we have a delightful child who will grow into a beautiful person. I think it has been a real team effort .... all of you can feel proud of the part you've played in her life. Thankyou! Don't be strangers y'hear!

Speaking of "...not being strangers" .... we have decided that Team Kaylee members will be welcome to share time with us in the villa in Bali. That way you can renew your relationship with Kaylia while enjoying that delightful place! I've set up a private shared calendar showing the times we'll be in the villa. If you want to share this, send me an email .... I'll the send you the link to install it on your computer ... and you can start planning and dreaming!






Evening:
Kaylia is romping around ... Swapping between DVD upstairs and play-doh downstairs. She didn't eat much tea ... not surprising considering the after school num nums!

Naomi is home from work now ..... she and Kaylee are together on the bed .... watching J-Lo on YouTube .... singing along with "On the floor"!

#328 Tuesday 26 July

We expected last night to be bad .... after Kaylia had slept for the afternoon .... and it was! She tried to sleep but it didn't happen till about 2:30am. She was downstairs with her stims from about 1am ... hopefully with the return to school her routines will settle.

Night time .... As expected she crashed after tea. She did very well till then. As she finished eating we could see a very tired girl!

Kat has safely arrived and she loves having kangaroos all round. The possums put on a welcoming performance too. Welcome from us as well!

#327 Monday 25 July

Despite having her routines completely messed up by the travel etc, Kaylia got back into her groove and she was asleep by 9pm. She's slept well.

She was clearly very pleased to be home .... when we got home she headed downstairs and went straight into all her stimmy routines .... checking that all was in order in her world!
One interesting facet of this trip has been the reactions of other children when we've been out shopping. Kaylia is now quite a large child and she can be noisy! In public places we try to teach her to behave quietly ... not successful yet. So we have a child with very strange mannerisms behaving loudly. We get a few looks! Fortunately her behavior is happy ... It could easily appear to be distressed and then we would have big problems!

Today I have quite a bit to do .... at the same time as looking after K! It'll be a busy day.

Evening:
Late this afternoon I visited Lorna who has had a severe heart attack and is in a serious condition. Lorna is my "first mother-in-law" .... Anne's mother. Lorna is a wonderful person and honorary grandmother to Kaylia.

K and I spent the morning touring playgrounds ... and between playgrounds I managed to visit the "which bank" to set up the Perth side of the villa banking system. Hopefully this will allow me to transfer funds between Aus and Indo without fees.

Kaylia slept from 12 to 3:30! School tomorrow .... I hope she stays awake.

Kat .... aupair number 11 .... arrives tomorrow at 9:30am. It will be good to have her with us.

Location:Darlington

#326 Sunday 24 July

We fly to Perth today ... note .... not fly home .... this is feeling like home already.






It's 6:30am and I've been up for a while .... finishing accounts, tidying stuff, packing up the mini-CD player to take back for Pete. I thought of taking it "carry on" but if it doesn't survive the rigors of "check-in" .... then insurance will replace it!
We're putting all our regular stuff in the storage room even though there won't be any "clients'' in the villa yet .... it's good practice for then. ..... and the living area will be unsecured for several days this week while the guys replace the bifold doors and the garage door. These were manufactured using "green" timber and they've shrunk .... they don't lock and don't fit. Warranty job.

Evening: Home in Perth again after a "flightus perfecticus"! We gave Kaylia her meds before boarding and she slept the whole flight. Lesson to be learnt!

Location:Barwee