Letter to Noah 21 months

Dear Noah

You are my super sweet  boy.  You are sooooo gorgeous.  I don't know how one small person can contain so much gorgeousness.  I'm not the only one that notices.  People stop everywhere to smile at you, say hello, admire your sweet gentle but lively ways.

We are having so much fun together right now - you, me and daddy.  The year so far has been filled with so many adventures - days at the beach, time in the park, concerts, a trip to a farm, the zoo, AQWA - oh my we go to so many places and you are always a joy.  You are so interested and inquisitive.  You have no fear. 

You are quite the chatterbox - you say so many words I couldn't possibly count them.  Once upon a time I planned on keeping a list but your speech develops faster than I could ever have imagined.

Some of your most prominent words are;

No (always said in such good spirits and with a little giggle even when you really mean it)
Stuck
Sore
Raaf (Giraffe)
Moo Moo (Milk)
Bit (when you want something to eat)
Dater (Water)
Play School (oops)
Bye-bye
Woah
Car
Door
Mama
Daddy
Jake
Babbey (Abbey)
Ray (Holly???)
Nanna
Pa
Poppa

You can name more animals than any kid I know and have a fantastic repertoire of animal sounds.  You love to build Lego and play with puzzles.

You're a full-on kid and you leave a trail of mess in your wake as you pull out every toy and then move on to the next.  You are far more interested in real life than toys though and can play for hours putting things in and out of containers, playing in the garden, just hanging out with Daddy while he works outside.

You're also really good at packing away and like thing to be in the right place.  Sometimes when I'm asking you to get in the car and I'm in kind of a hurry you won't go until everything is packed away where it belongs.

You fall over and bang yourself a lot - you're a bull at a gate. You get up brush yourself off and get on with it though.  Al l you need is a kiss (in exactly the place that hurts and you are very good at telling me - knee, toe etc. ) Then we 'shake it out' and go back to playing.  Yesterday you split your head on the bath (at the Flora beach house) but you were so brave and didn't mind one bit when the Doctor poked and prodded and glued it together. You will have a scar but I've heard chicks dig them so don't sweat.

I am constantly in awe of how amazing you are - you're sweet, kind, loving, funny and oh so smart. 

Happy 21 months baby.

The new work/life balance.

{picture from here}

Wow - what an extra long weekend we've had. Rob had yesterday off as well so 4 days of quality family time.

The sun has not stopped shining on us - literally and metaphorically. Life is just so good at the moment I may be prone to gushing.

Today of course it's back to reality - but even reality is good.  Unfortunately our reality started with Noah splitting his forehead on the tiled bath (we're house sitting) and a trip to the doctor but a couple of steri-strips later and all is well again.

I've been so busy enjoying time with my boys I haven't even had time to check out any of the blogs from 'Flog Your Blog Friday' over at Mummy Time.  Thank you to everyone that visited this little blog of mine though and I hope you'll keep on dropping by.

Over the weekend we visited a new local Farmer's Market, had coffee with friends, played in the park, rode our bikes, walked on the beach, watched football, had naps and enjoyed a belated birthday brunch with family.

It was full of joyful spontaneous moments of fun and plenty of relaxation.  The house got a bit neglected but nothing that can't be fixed with a quick spruce this afternoon.

How was your Anzac weekend??  Did the sun shine where you are??

Spontaneous Date Night

Remember before kids when you and your other half would go out to dinner at the drop of a hat, spend quality adult time together - either planned or on a whim.  I'm certainly not complaining sometimes I really relish the change of pace that kids bring.  The days are hectic ( oh lord are they hectic) but we rarely go out at night these days and our 'night life' a a result is far more relaxing.  Lots of downtime on the couch and early nights (let's face it we need those early nights to get through the days).


Anyway - I digress.  Last night my husband and I were supposed to meet at the concert hall for a free lecture by Richard Louv the author of "Last Child in the Woods" (very interesting but I'll save that for another post).  The plan was he would go straight from work and I would get Noah to bed and leave my sister sitting for him - race in see the talk and then get home to relieve the babysitter.

As the day progressed my sister decided she would rather have Noah for a sleepover and even told me to drop him off early to play for the afternoon.  Then Rob ended up not needing to work late so wanted to meet early for dinner.  It was going to be a quick bite of Chinese but we ended up meeting at a lovely spot on the river instead. All of a sudden a quick bite became a lovely meal with a view and a stroll along the river to the concert hall.  After the meal we wandered back to our cars and the beauty of the Perth Ferris Wheel all lit up was to hard to resist (it's being taken down May 2nd). So we took a romantic ride on the wheel and chatted - something that is often hard to do between all the kid noise.

It was so nice and made us realise we need to set quality time like that aside for ourselves more often.  I have friends who commit a night every week to turn off the tv, share a nice meal and relax together - even if it it just at home.  But I must say it was nice to be out and about.

How do you and your loved one make time for each other in the hectic rhythm of day to day life??

Smile

In the spirit of making the most of life I thought I would share these words with you. I found them on a banner a few years ago and every now and then I dig it out to remind myself. (Author Anon)

The longer I live, the more important I realise the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what people think or say or do.
It will make or break a company, a relationship, a home.
We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change the past, we cannot change the way others act.
The one thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our own attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react.
Be brave, life is joyous.

Time to reassess

It's my birthday tomorrow - I'll be 36. I've lost touch with my blog this year and I want to rectify that. When I started this little blog it was for family and friends to keep track of our journey through IVF to parenthood. I was already pregnant at the time and really thought it would focus on 'the baby'. I never intended to be a blogger and at the moment I'm not - but I want to be.

In the beginning it was merely a broad information tool for far flung family and friends - I didn't even really know of blogging in a broader sense so I didn't aim for a public market. I always kept it more informative with some hints into more personal issues when we lost our son Banjo but didn't always talk openly about myself the way I would if my writing was more anonymous. Naturally there are things people don't always want to share and I am well known amongst my family to keep things pretty close to my chest. Let's face it there are things parents, in-laws, grandparents don't want or like to know about their kids.

I am now a big follower of lots of 'mummy' blogs and it is so refreshing to read about these women around Australia and the world and share their daily journey through motherhood with them. They all have different niches but what they nearly all have in common is a love of photography and a passion for pictures of their gorgeous kids.

I didn't really make any NY resolutions as such but I did know that my life needed an overhaul. I've really lost touch with myself and let things in my life that used to be a source of pride slip. So I'm trying to not only revamp my blog but my life along with it. So I invite you to join me on this journey.

I'm already so lucky to have my wonderful husband and my beautiful son. Noah is just so much fun now and he brings me so much happiness every day. I don't know what lies ahead but I am going to try and grab the bull by the horns and make my 37th year one of the best. I might borrow a few ideas from other blogs and get some regular features happening. I'm organising my mind, my home and my soul - should be fun. At first I might do some backtracking to record the year so far - after all this is the best record I'll have for the future when my mind is completely gone!!!

If you are reading this I have a job for you too -please pass my blog onto your friends and family or anyone who might be interested. I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Happy Birthday to me.