Coop's latest favorite thing to do at the park is sweep. Yes, sweep. He likes to find branches with leaves that have fallen down and use them as brooms to sweep the leaves off the steps in the park. He has done it for two days now. He keeps trying to get me to help him, but I keep telling him that I get to do plenty of cleaning at home and don't need to do anymore at the park. :)
Tuck and I went out for an early morning walk today. We walked through the city on our way to pick up some nappies (aka diapers) at Woolworths. While waiting for them to open, we heard a bird screeching. I knew right away that it was a cockatoo- their call is very loud and distinct. Almost obnoxious. Anyway, I looked up and saw a cockatoo on the church across the street. Now, I know you are thinking, um, you are in Australia, there are cockatoos everywhere, but, come on! Seeing a bird we Americans normally only seen at a zoo or on TV in the middle of a bustling, city center-- it seemed surreal. So, of course, I photographed it. I even got one with his/her crest up! Pretty cool.
We visited a local bookstore this week. I love looking through the books written by Australian authors. Many of them- Mem Fox, Nick Bland- are authors whose books sell in the States as well, but many do not. I especially love the books about Dreamtime. Okay, here comes the teacher in me-- for those of you who do not know what Dreamtime is....
All the world's peoples have a concept of how the world was formed. The Australian Aboriginals believe that, in the beginning, the earth was featureless, flat and grey. There were no mountain ranges, no rivers, no billabongs, no birds or animals - in fact not one living thing. Then long, long ago came the Dreamtime. The Dreamtime was a time when giant creatures rose up out of the grey plains where they had been slumbering for countless ages. These mythical Beings looked like animals or plants or insects, but they behaved just like humans. They wandered across the vast grey wastes, digging for water and searching for food and as they searched, because of their giant size, they made huge ravines and rivers in the land. Thus the world took on the shape it has today. Aboriginal people believe that in the Dreamtime the traditional Aboriginal way of life was established by these mythical Beings: this way of life is still followed in traditional Aboriginal society today. They believe that their ancestors were taught about their tribal lands by the mythical Beings, and were told how they, as descendants of these Beings, should behave. This was their Dreamtime and this teaching is as important to them as the "Ten commandments were to the ancient Hebrews. The Dreamtime ended, no one knows how or why, and time and life, as we know it, began. For Aboriginal people the land has a very special meaning for all over the land there are features which are reminders of those giant Beings of the Dreamtime. When they see a mountain or river, a rock or a tree, they think of the mythical Beings that had a part in their own creation. The Aboriginals believe that they are directly descended from these mythical Being. When the Dreamtime ended, the people were left with a social and cultural heritage which came from their ancestors.
Okay, back to the bookstore. After browsing the books for a while (and deciding that $26 for a hardcover is ridiculous), we headed out. On our way to the escalator we saw the store's collection of Mr. Men books. Major weakness on my part. When I was in third grade, our teacher read these books to us and then we wrote our own versions- I wrote the book, Little Miss Preppy. Yes, it was the eighties. When I started teaching 3rd grade, I did the same with my students and every year after, this was one of the culminating activities of the school year. So I have been collecting these books. They were out of print for years, but have slowly been put back in circulation over the last 15 or so years. So, when I see one I do not have, I snatch it up! Also, Coop showed an interest so that made the purchase even better! These are the ones we found.
I bought some play Australian money some time ago and put it away for another day. Tucker loves money- kind of funny, huh? And Coop is finally starting to understand the meaning of money, so I thought this was a good time.
Cooper immediately decided that we needed to play taxi and use the play money to pay for our fares. He has been in a lot of taxis since we arrived here. We set up a taxi in his room- he was, of course, the driver and I would flag down the taxi, get in, tell him where I wanted to go and he would take me there. The fare was always the same- $69 and after he had collected all the money and I had none left, he decided he would pay me to take his taxi- not a bad deal, huh? At one point, the taxi broke down and he had to get out and repair it. He went under his bed just like a mechanic would go under a car and fixed it. You can see him in the picture below. Too funny.
Just about this time Tucker woke up from his nap and joined our game. He was in heaven! He would sit in the back of the taxi and hand the dollar bills and coins to Cooper. That was all he did and he was so pleased with himself.
Tucker finally said his first "Australian word" this week. He walked up to a pile of trash on the ground and said, "rubbish." Crazy to think of what is ahead.
Tonight he climbed into his rocking chair with his blankets, water with ice and a book (Jamberry) and read to himself. Then I read it to him while he sat in the chair. I loved being able to watch his face as I read. Usually he is in my lap so I cannot see his reactions. He studied each page so carefully- his eyes sweeping over the whole page- taking it all in. He would smile at some things and even laughed at others. He looked at all the berries on the last page and said, "mmmm." That is what Cooper said to him yesterday on that very page. A most precious and cherished moment. I cannot believe he will be two years old on Monday. Where has the time gone?
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