We're in Berry

I just scanned my previous post and so much has happened since then. Kiran went from crawling and then two weeks later started standing as as of his first birthday or a few days after, Kiran started walking and now as 14 months or nearly, he is getting across the floor on wobbly legs, but walking none the less.

Now how did we get to Berry, well, I will talk about that in my next post, but the short of it is that David saw a job advertised and interviewed a few weeks before Christmas and was offered the job on December 23. We moved to Berry on January 24 and have hit the ground running. The transition has gone beautifully and we couldn't be happier. My only real loss is Maia's Montessori school and her lovely teacher Simone. We thankfully found another beautiful school, but it still doesn't compare to what was offered to Maia at her other school. So I am going to try and fill in the gaps and explore home school. I am driven to try and work to open an alternative school here as there is a great interest and another lady who has done quite a bit of research on the subject.

But before I got to bed this evening, I just wanted to start to get in the habit of writing about the kids and our lives as so much is happening with the two of them. They are so darn bright and curious about life. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail that I wrote to my mother. I will try and be better at writing more about their developmental mile stones.

We had a nice weekend and went to a local farm show in a place called Kangaroo Vally about 30 minutes from our house. We live in one of the most beautiful places in Australia. Mountains surround our little town and the beach is just 15 minutes away. We have started to meet many
like minded people. David and I are involved with a co-op that has started here and we get fresh produce from farmers around our area. Crazy, it started up based on one women's drive to get organic produce available to the local community as the local supermarket wouldn't buy
a local farmer's garlic because they had a contract with sellers in Sydney. Anyway, nice to support our local community with how we are buying our food and it is fresh and delicious.

Kiran is so cute and I have to video him walking and staggering from side to side as he walks across the room, but he makes it and is very determined to walk instead of
crawl. Both our kids are so sweet.

Weather here has been hot, in the 90s and we have been mainly indoors with the kids. Tomorrow Maia goes to pre-school in the morning and then I pick her up before lunchtime. The kids go from 9-3, but I have decided to get her at 12 noon as all they do is have lunch and then a
nap and she does not usually have a nap and I would rather her be at home with me. She is such a lovely little girl. So darn smart Mom. She is adding up numbers and wanting me to read the numbers on houses and license plates. The other day she said, Mommy, 2+2=4+1+5. She is just
3 and a half. She was also talking about where England is located on the map and so I bought a few books on different countries, cultures and maps and we read about a different child each night and look on the map to see where they live as she is fascinated by geography and
where other children live as I think the fact that our family lives in a different country really increases her curiosity. Tonight she saw the map of the world on a page and pointed to Australia and said,"Mommy, that is Australia." I couldn't believe she remembered where it was on the globe. She blows me away. Here mind is so quick and she is so interested in learning, so I just try and meet her where she is and encourage her. I don't push her to learn, she just wants to and so I am going to start teaching her math with numbers and small counting rocks as that is what she would have started to do at her old Montessori School. She loves to paint and the pre-school is so
impressed with what she is doing as she is miles ahead of the other children. They told the story of the Very Hungry Catepillar and she drew it like an older child would have with a long body, face, antennas and legs. I am also going to start teaching her Spanish as she is a very verbal child who speak in such an adult way that I think she would enjoy learning another language. She still asks to watch those Signing Time Videos that you gave her and tells us what the
different signs are for different things.

Kiran has turned a corner after his first birthday and he had started waving bye-bye at ten months and then we noticed him connecting up what we were saying to him, but now he is trying to communicate verbally with sounds and signs. I will write more about this in my next post as it is after 11 pm and I think Kiran may be waking up as he seems to be teething or something. He was not himself before going to bed this evening.