home

he

Although he thrives on the activity, variation, observation, stimulation and company of our daily outings, in those first moments of returning home each afternoon, being out of the pram and sitting in the yard or on the carpet, he is clearly thrilled and relieved to be back.

me

And I am thrilled whenever we get to eat our home-grown or home-made goodies. The muffins are made with our own bananas, eggs and yogurt, and the pasta has our own home-grown basil, tomatoes and snow peas.

just the two of us

he

B is away for work. Just for a night, but it's the first time they've been apart for this long, and the first time it's been just the two of us for this long! Here they are skyping over breakfast this morning.

me

I got started (and finished) on my Christmas baking!

blondie

he

Swimming at Southie with Daddy. And some dear old friends. Our little blondie needs to keep to the shady parts!

me

Blondie (band, not baby) played at Riverstage on Thursday night so we walked down to Kangaroo Point with our housemates to picnic and listen.

toowoomba

he

Grandparents!

me

We made the most of his Grandparents/babysitters and spent the evening with some of our favourite friends. And Stump Jump and gelati.

important

he

He has no doubt that he is the most important thing in the world and that we'll drop everything to lend our hands to help him "walk", whenever he chooses! Luckily (for my lower back) he is also content to walk around with the help of furniture, sometimes...

me

I just uploaded a book to the online printer. You can preview it here.

tuesday

he

We ran into some familiar faces in the city today. He received a rock star's reception (as always)! 

me

I catch up with an old pal for lunch on Tuesdays, which is always lovely. 

Today he looked after himself a little, and let us girls catch up over our tasty focaccias.

nan

he

Had a great time staying at Nanma and Pa's place over the weekend. He said 'ta' to Nanma when she handed him something and encouraged him to say it! He's also been saying 'star' when B reads his shapes book to him. His 'ta' and 'star' sound the same, but he really seems to be saying them!

me

At the rellie Christmas celebration today, I spent ages with cousins and aunties, looking through Nana's old photos. There are tins, boxes and bags full. Each tell a real story. It was so special and such a highlight of my weekend. One auntie shared a memory: Nana never had these photos in albums, just in a suitcase. If the kids were sick, stuck inside on the couch or in bed, they would beg to be allowed to look through the photo suitcase. Nana would get it for them and they'd spend hours, days, looking through them as we were today. She remembers spending her chickenpox days like this!

heat wave

he

To escape the heat wave this week, he visited 3 (air-conditioned) libraries in 3 days. Such fun!

me

I know that this looks like a 'he' photo and not a 'me' photo but it'll make sense in a moment. Next to the Stones' Corner library is a Govindas (tasty vegetarian), which is air-conditioned, but also has low tables with big cushions to sit on, and a basket of toys, which means that he can stand and tap on the table, play, eat, chatter, and I can have a lovely, relaxing (seriously) lunch out. SUCH FUN! 

live music

he

He started a drummers-only band with his big friends. They haven't agreed on a name yet, but they have already had their first ("intimate") gig (pictured above). He is enthusiastically committed and practises constantly, tapping on whatever surface is handy. The esky lid has a great tone. He also quite likes the sound quality and volume of the metal shelving trolleys at the library. I can tell by the way that all of the grown-up people browsing books nearby stop to watch and listen to his drumming that they also like the sound and are potential fans.

me

Saw Regina Spektor last night. She may just be the nicest performer in the world. She's been unwell this week, and the show was delayed and delayed throughout the evening; the announcer kept thanking us for our patience and saying it wouldn't be much longer... B was convinced it would be cancelled but I was sure she'd at least say 'hi'. She did! She played and sang and finished each song with a big smile and a cute 'thank you so much'. Everything was gorgeous. Our 2nd row seats (!) let us watch her hands throughout the journey. They were spectacular, I've never watched a pianist so intently before, but it was entrancing. Each time she began a new song, it was as if that first chord was heralding the beauty that was imminent - you could hear the crowd's collective breath-holding every time, and the cheer as the song unfolded. 

wine tasting at the clare valley

he

Paying close attention to his Grandpa at the Magpie & Stump.

My family spent three days in the Clare Valley for my Mom's 70th, instead of a big party. It was a great decision! Such a lovely, picturesque part of our country, oh so many wineries, markets, wood-fired pizza, and a mid-1800s cottage, the Peppertree, which was our home for the duration. 

me

Sis and I being cheesy at Kilikanoon Wines. We tasted a lot. 

robert louis stevenson

he

He chose this book at the library yesterday. We borrowed it, and two other board books: One Christmas book and one awesome book about collective nouns.

me

I think it's  the most one of the most beautiful books ever, it's a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson with gorgeous illustrations. I showed it to my Mom on skype last night, and asked if she knew it - I suspected she might. She didn't just know it, she responded by reciting it. This demonstrates why I think my Mom is so cool.

decision made

he

With obvious intent, and great determination, he climbed over the ukelele to get to the electric bass. He's clearly made his choice.

me

B and I usually order the two tastiest sounding vege meals on a menu, and share them. This time, we thought that this was what we were doing, as usual. However, when the meals arrived, they put the vege nachos in front of B, and this in front of me, and we both paused, looked up at each other, and said, "You don't really want to share, do you? I could just eat this." Decision made! So I got the whole bowl of chilli vodka gnocchi and I couldn't have been happier. Oh it was so much better than any nachos could have been. 

cheese

he

It's been one of his very favourites since his earliest days of eating. Naturally!

(He was happily showing me the tasty half-chewed cheese in his mouth but reached out to grab my phone as I was snapping the picture.)

me

Cheese-tasting at Witches Chase, Mt Tamborine.

We came here (winery, brewery, cheese factory) when I was pregnant, on our 'We don't have a baby yet" weekend, when I wasn't really eating soft cheese or drinking wine, which was a bit of a silly excursion decision. Thank heavens for hard cheese and a cup of tea. 

Came here again last weekend with no baby growing in my belly and therefore no cheese-tasting/buying restrictions. However I honestly find it quite overwhelming to be presented with THAT many options. But I can deal with it. I've become very mature. I take my time and collect as much information as I need to feel comfortable. There is always a happy ending to cheese-tasting stories.

recipes

he

I bought this little tupperware tower at Lifeline (pre-arson Lifeline) quite a while ago, and have found the perfect use for it. Every day, when we go out, he has a selection of foods to snack on, in their own little sections. Life just got that little bit better the day we realised that a rice cake fits perfectly. His other favourites at the moment are hommus on flat bread, kiwi fruit, dried apple, vegemite and cheese spread sandwiches, cheese (of course), olives and tomato wedges. 

me

I've been putting together a recipe book using recipes that Nana had hand-written on scraps of paper over the years. My last few weeks have been all about Nana and recipes. Last night we sent it off to the online publishers! With an order of 35 copies so far. It's a big family. 

swim

he

He has swimming lessons on Mondays with his good mate. I just thought it would be fun and a bit funny (he's just a baby...), and that we'd just go and check it out, but it turns out I really see the value in all of the activities (as well as enjoying the outing with our lovely friends), so I'm afraid I've decided that this is a weekly activity I'm happy to keep paying for. Afterwards, we play and picnic together.

me

My friend and I take turns hanging out with the lads while the other goes for a baby-free swim (when we can be bothered). Feels great!

santa + scrooge

he

For my staff Christmas party this year, we registered a team in the Variety Children's Charity Fun Run. You get a Santa suit as part of your registration fee, the whole thing is walking distance from our home, and we were having a cafe breakfast afterwards, so obviously I was in. And so was my family. 

He decided he needed his energy drink just before the run began, so we spent ten minutes as pictured above, while we watched 1500-odd (quite) Santas begin, runners first, then the crowded, bouncing sea of red and white walkers. We weren't looking forward to trying to push the pram/sleigh through this to find the runners, so we took a rogue long-cut cross-country around the museum and library, down an elevator, past the theatre and cultural forecourt and joined the throng further along the river. It felt like a teeny tiny adventure. Just my kind.

me

It was fun and lovely, as ever, to catch up with my teacher friends who are reliably sillier than the kids as soon as the kids aren't around.

I had a great time - the run went pretty quickly. The pants were a bit of a (comedic) problem. I tore mine while bending down to pack the pram and they ended up looking like a skirt (making me the most stylish and feminine Santa present). B just found them irritating to keep on but ended up not being able to get them off.

we

As we headed off up the street on foot at 6am, Caffeine-deprived Scrooge grumbled, "It's not even frickin' December yet". He perked up a little. 

empty space

he

It was too crowded downstairs in the library kids' corner today, so he found the stairs and started crawling up to the quieter space (well, he crawled up one step - first ever)!

me

There's no one here! He's out with his Dad for a few hours. It's just me! How odd.

neighbours

he

Chatting to his downstairs sisters/neighbours (currently in Alice Springs) on skype. 

me

Our lovely next-door neighbour has been building a boat for many, many years in his back yard. The Brisbane floods last year failed to remove it for him, so he had to enact Plan B. It finally happened this morning! A crane, much impressive lingo ("Woah, mate, hoist down!") and many onlookers (including Alice Springs skyping in) and there is no longer a boat docked next door! It was quite an exciting morning. B even shuffled his schedule to be here.

reading

he

He spends AGES sitting at his bookshelf, choosing books and reading them. He loves to turn pages and lift the flaps. He talks to them. It just warms our hearts. 

me

I love to read, too. I read articles in the Big Issue and the Monthly, and various books on my kindle. At the moment I'm reading a delightful, refreshing, amusing, articulate (and a bit rude) feminist reflection on growing up, "How to be a Woman". Yesterday I had a postcard from my 95-year-old Grandma in the USA, saying that the book she's just started with her book club is "House Rules" by Jodi Picoult. I'll get that today and start reading it too, so we can have our own highly inefficient but much cherished cross-hemispherical, cross-generational, post-card-based-discussion book club, which we've done a couple of times in the past!

leaves

he

He loved playing with and munching on the mint leaves from my iced tea.

me

My peace lily. We go for ages without a lily, but nevertheless loving the beautiful dark green leaves. Then, once in a while, a perfect white lily sneaks up on me. I usually don't see them coming - they are sneaky - but it's always such a nice surprise. They hang around for quite a while. There's another one on the way, too. 

pin

he

"Pin-hole camera" view of solar eclipse. Surely holding sunglasses in your hand is better than no sunglasses at all?

me

Pinning. The next step on my way to actually doing some sewing.

bottle of white

he

This morning. I think I need to reassess my recycling pile/bin processes. 

me

Over a lovely bottle of white last night, we enjoyed dinner, chats and laundry-folding with one of my dearest old friends.

dinosaurs

he

We see them most days in the park. He just likes to watch them watching him. (I watch him watch them watch him).

me

Every single time that I see these mini-dinosaurs I (quite understandably - read on) have vivid flash-backs to the Double Dragon Lap Land Incident of 2011 (seriously, every single time - this has not diminished with frequency of seeing them). I was quite balloony-pregnant and immobile, sitting on the ground with legs stretched out under the shade of a tall leafy tree, with two friends and their beautiful children. Suddenly, like a bolt of scaly lightning, two massive reptiles, locked in a wrestling embrace, fell from the tall leafy tree to land with a thump directly on my lap. I screamed, my friends deftly bolted from either side of me (with complementary screams) and the dinosaurs quickly recovered and hot-tailed it out of there. I was still unable to move (due to a combination of shock and massive boy-child growing inside me), sitting there alone with my legs stretched out, reclining under the shady tree, laughing hysterically. Can I just stress that the one pictured above is a very small specimen, whereas the TWO that fell from the heavens onto me were very large. I have witnesses.

park

he

Park Play. Sooo many parks! Sooo many picnics in parks! Sooo many birds to hear, kids to watch, pram wheels to inspect, dry leaves to crunch, puppies to giggle at, friends to play with and climb on, picnic rugs to dribble on, sunglasses to destroy, people to grin at...

me

Park Run. Went with a friend to Parkrun (a weekly, free, timed 5km run along the river). We decided that the fact that we were able to chat the whole way was an indication that we were extra fit, not that we were walking too much or running too slow. 

I've been running (shuffling) 5km every other morning since we got home from the USA. I won't lie and say it feels incredible, but it doesn't feel awful and a small part of me enjoys doing it.

 This is a picture of that small part.

reflection

he

He loves his own reflection! We adore the new installation at the State Library. Remi and three of his best friends all played in the mirror maze on Thursday but it was quite clear which little stripey one loved it the most. He also loves to play with his mirror at home. Frequently. I'm glad that he really seems to like that cute little baby that he sees everywhere!

me

The idea of this he&me project is that - now that he and I have spent 9 months being very attached (oh that umbilical cord) and another 9 months being fairly attached (we hang out day and night) - I want to make sure that I regularly reflect on and acknowledge that there is 'me' stuff, separate from the 'he' stuff. Big or small stuff. I'm finding that it feels very healthy and refreshing to do this, and I'm finding that I have to be quite intentional about it or it can be tricky to find the 'me' to highlight. Which, I guess, is the point.