Will wonders never cease?

It's a two-nap day!

I am doing a victory dance (albeit the quiet kind that involves sitting at a computer drinking tea).

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Morning Interlude

I am not sure I approve of a 9:30am nap (even it is is following a 5:15am wakeup) as it will probably mean that all sleep for the day is over by 11:00am. Or if I can possibly persuade Little E to have any more it will be just as we're ready to go to playgroup this afternoon. But I do approve of the opportunities it allows:

Perfect for a day when the weather gods conspired against us and denied us our morning walk.

Happy Friday to all near and far!

Today is the morning that follows one of Those Nights

Screaming and Panadol and refusals to sleep from 11:00pm to 1:00am. A return to midnight milk to wash down the Panadol. After five minutes or so of frantic sucking Little E looked at me, somewhat perplexed and said "no mo?" And I thoguht "too right there's no more, you're trying to have dessert only six hours after you had dinner and the poor boobs aren't used to it anymore. They thought they didn't have to come up with the goods for another 18 hours. So yeah, there's no more. Sorry about that." But she still decided that chomping away even if there wasn't much there to chomp on was worth it for another 20 minutes or so, until I had had enough and took it away. Whereupon she screamed some more. I was so cold from what felt like hours of sitting by the cot patting and sssshhing and sneaking to the door only to have the protesting start again that when it finally ended I needed a hot water bottle to defrost with.

Blah. So this morning is the morning after all that. Where despite D's generously letting me sleep in a bit, although I'm sure he didn't really get much more sleep that I did, I am sitting here feeling tired and grumpy and unenthused about the whole full time mothering thing. And playing on the computer whilst E variously grizzles on the floor next to me, torments the cat and dumps folders full of paper on the floor. And I keep swearing I would stop playing on the computer whilst she is awake and needing my attention. Blah. Am going to go attend to those scattered papers and stop being a bad mumma.

Hello, Sunday house

Soup in the pot, waiting for it to be dinner time. 

Bread in the oven, nearly done. 

Stewed apple (for crumble) on the stove. 

Clean clothes on the line.

Grey skies outside. 

Stories and giggles from the bedroom, as D is here to entertain E whilst I manage all of the above.

Grandparents arriving soon.

Happy days.

Today I am grateful for ... autumn

On the other side of the country it’s all looking a bit grim and chilly. But here in Perth, city of endless sunshine, it’s just about perfect. Cool nights, ideal for sleeping.** Crisp mornings hosting our wonderful long walks with two other playgroup mums and bubs. Adventures in local parks and playgrounds that don’t require lashings of sunscreen and wrestles with toddlers and their hats. Sun drenched afternoons. If this is global warming, then I have to say I’m enjoying it!

** At least that is the theory. Darling Little E, Mummy loves you. But she does not want your company at midnight.

Quite possibly the cutest pair of shoes in the world

I would wear them if they came in adult sizes. 

They certainly come in adult prices!

Hello, neglected blog

Not quite sure what happened here. Part of it was that D was on holiday for the whole Easter week and I became various kinds of lazy.  E and I also got a round round of colds for the month which did not inspire me to spend time after she went to bed writing.

As well as writing lazy, I became was parenting-lazy. I let D change all (well, most) of the nappies. Every second day, after I fed E, I poked D out of bed and got back in it myself for another hour or so (the other days it was his turn to sleep in). While we played in the garden, I let D get up and chase after E when she ventured out of sight. I let him read her book after book whilst I read the paper. His holiday was my holiday as well, and, I have to say, it was great. The two of them seemed to enjoy it as well.

Some other stuff that has happened over the last couple of weeks:

1. E had her first chocolate on Easter Sunday. She was curious about it, but not enraptured.

2. E decided that if she was going to bed at 5:30pm she was going to wake up at 5:00am. Not cool. So we spent four or five days pushing her bedtime back a bit. She now goes to bed at between 6:30 and 6:45pm and sleeps until about 6:00 or 6:30am (if we're lucky).

3. We are in the process of cutting out E's morning milk feed, leaving only the bedtime one. We've reached the point I thought we'd never get to: the thought of stopping breast feeding entirely saddens me. Much as I enjoy the little person E is becoming, I selfishly want to hang onto the times of day when she is mine alone. However, she is a stubborn little one year old and shows no inclination of stopping the milk feeds by herself. I think if we left it until she was a stubborn two year old it would be much harder. So far cutting out the morning feed has been quite painless - D gets up when E does, and shovels porridge into her quick smart. I don't appear until after her little tummy is full. It seems to be working so far.

4. E is much more articulate. A few days ago she used two words together for the first time: "mo boo?" ("more book?") Her favourite phrase is currently "no mo!" ("No more!") It's usually accompanied by a vigorous hand push of the offending bowl. D also taught her that tigers, lions and cheetahs all make growling noises. When asked "what noise does the *insert animal* make?" she replies with a fantastic, French-r-rolling growl. She has such a sweet, high little voice.

5. She's also much steadier on her feet. She needs a hand to hang onto when stepping over the door sill, and wobbles about in sand, but for everything else she's very quick and sure. She hasn't resorted to crawling in a couple of weeks.

5. We've started doing looooong early morning walks a few days a week with two of the other playgroup mums and their bubbas. We've been heading out at about 7:30 and not getting home until about 10:00, having incorporated a playground or two and a cup of caffeine. We take plenty of snacks for the babies and they babble away to themselves and each other and are remarkably tolerant of the extended periods in the pram. The cool mornings are lovely and so is the exercise.

And that's where we're at folks! I hope everyone had a happy Easter and a bit of a break too.