Saturday 29 November 2014

48/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

48/52: She eats with such expression.

We're dog-sitting Fabs at the moment and Olive's beside herself with joy. She's forever giving him food, cuddles, water, teddies and whatever else she can find, whether he likes it or not. Thankfully, he's incredibly patient and generally likes the attention (but also likes time-outs on our bed when she gets too much).

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.




47/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

47/52: A beautiful morning spent at The Lagoon with Steph and Ash.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

46/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

46/52: Watching videos on my iPhone with breakfast.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

45/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

45/52: Fun at The Farm.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

44/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

44/52: And she's 2! This is definitely the best age yet. All of a sudden she's really started talking a lot more, and she's so silly and funny. She calls herself "Yoyo", which I think is pretty perfect considering her up-and-down, ever-changing moods. She's sweet and full of cuddles one minute, and then screaming "no, me!" (which means, "I'll do it myself") the next minute. Some things I want to remember about her at this age:

* How much she loves to dance (unless it's post-bath and she's ready for bed, when she demands that the music be turned off). 
* The way she says "chocolate milk" ("chockit mook")
* Her favourite game is "where where go?" - a game she made up where she covers her face and we have to pretend we can't see her.
* Her favourite toys are her Peppa Pig, Sylvanian Families and animal figures, which she uses to play out little scenarios. She's always sorting them into families with a mummy, a daddy and either a "Yoyo" or a baby ("baydee").
* She's finally started saying "dummy" instead of "go-goo", but she mostly still calls teddy "tah-doo".
* That she says "whup" or "whup-eeee!" instead of "help!", and she asks for help a lot.
* That she sleeps! All night (mostly)! In her own bed! And she goes to sleep on her own, in her bed and, since moving to her big bed, has never resisted bed time. I thought it would never happen and I'm eternally grateful that it has (and that I didn't give in and do any "sleep training").
* That, as she's always been, she's fiery and demanding and strong-willed, but also sweet and silly and gentle and shy.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.






Friday 14 November 2014

43/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

43/52: After Roli's pirate birthday party (which we sadly missed most of because we were at Ruby's birthday party) they jumped on the trampoline for at least an hour.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Friday 31 October 2014

42/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

42/52: Checking out the displays after a lovely walk in the rainforest.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

41/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

41/52: I hate that Sarah lives so far away and doesn't get to see Olive all the time, but the aunty/niece relationship is a strong one, and they just pick up right where they left off. 

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Monday 6 October 2014

40/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

40/52: Tickle attack!

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

39/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

39/52: Olive and Frankie. Forced best friends who'll hopefully become proper best friends.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

38/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

38/52: Tall enough to reach the door handles (in her first pigtail plaits).

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

37/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

37/52: We spent all morning at the beach and park. She's getting so much braver near the water.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Sunday 7 September 2014

36/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

36/52: It's been a windy, rainy start to spring. 

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

35/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

35/52: She got obsessed with jumping in muddy puddles (thanks, Peppa!), so I had to make some.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

34/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

34/52: I can still kid myself that she's a baby when she sleeps.

Trying to do some serious catch-ups on this poor, neglected photo project. Only 18 weeks to go. I think I can, I think I can...

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Monday 25 August 2014

33/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

33/52: Always a mess.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

32/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

32/52: Dancing on the coffee table. 

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

31/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

31/52: The week she moved from her cot into a big bed. And she definitely looks big in this double bed - my childhood bed which was passed down to me from my great grandmother, Mollie. As a little girl I loved knowing that my bed had history. It felt special, and it still feels special, knowing that my own daughter will sleep in it too. And she'll have sleepovers in it with friends, and maybe she'll pretend it's a boat and save all her teddies from drowning, and maybe one day she'll lay on it and listen to awful music that her parents don't understand while she writes in her diary. So many of my childhood and teenage memories involve this bed and I love that it's now going to join me in motherhood too.   

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.


Friday 8 August 2014

30/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

30/52: Looking for "shish".

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Monday 4 August 2014

29/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

29/52: Pretending to go to bed after jumping around like a maniac for 20 minutes.

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Saturday 19 July 2014

28/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

28/52: Lucas left the choc-chip cookies out...

Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Friday 4 July 2014

27/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

27/52: Eating some breakfast in my hat and a hand-me-down Hello Kitty onesie. 


Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

26/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

26/52: One lucky toddler got a balloon and a lollipop while my phone was being fixed.

Update on the horrendous toddler behaviour: No smacking or throwing this week, so a lot of the "terrible two"ness must have been because she was sick and feeling so awful. Phew!


Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Thursday 26 June 2014

25/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

25/52: She takes a long time to wake up, just like her daddy.

We've had a rough couple of weeks, with winter colds and what seems like the start of the "terrible twos". This kid has always been a challenge, but she's taken it to a whole new level in the last few weeks. I'm sure a lot of it is because she hasn't been feeling well, but geez, she's got attitude! I think Lucas and I both knew from her first night in the World that she was going to test us. When she screamed for her first 6 months people would say "you watch, she'll be an amazing toddler". And she is an amazing toddler, but not in the sweetness and light, easygoing, compliant way that they meant. She is sweetness and light, but she's also stubborn, strong-willed, throw yourself on the floor screaming, slap mum in the face, throw anything within reach. Thank god for the internet, where I can read other people's horror toddler stories and know that we're not alone in toddler madness.


Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Sunday 22 June 2014

24/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

24/52: Obsessed with trying to dress herself at the moment. Shoes and hats are a favourite, but anything will do.


Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Sunday 8 June 2014

23/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2014"

23/52: Olive was a little too quiet while I was in the shower. I got out to find one toddler, a few teddies and dolls, a stereo, a heater and the carpet all covered in Curash.


Linking up with Jodi's 52 Project.

Monday 2 June 2014

Melbourne Trip

Olive and I took a little trip to stay with Sarah and Adrian in Melbourne last week. Travelling solo with a toddler isn't top of the list of things I'd like to do again any time soon, but we had a lot of fun and loved catching up with much loved and missed family and friends.
* Afternoon tea at Three Little Seeds, child friendly cafe in Thornbury. Olive had a great time playing in the toy corner while Sarah and I actually got to sit and enjoy our coffee (before Sarah got dragged into a game of bouncy ball). Considering that young families make up most of the population around here, it's amazing that we don't have anything like this. Such a shame!
* Waiting for her first tram ride. She was excited for about 5 seconds and then (in true toddler style) whinged all the way to the city.
* Lots of fun at Melbourne Aquarium - definitely Olive's highlight.
* Ramen date with my little Bro. Olive, amazingly, fell asleep in the pram on the walk there and slept through most of our lunch, which was a very welcomed treat for me.
* A three dollar packet of animal figures kept Olive and Uncle Adrian entertained for hours.
* Secret aunty and niece business.
* A morning spent at beautiful Bundoora children's farm. Olive was in a particularly crabby mood, but did love the guinea pigs and the baby goats.  
* Met lovely Maria for (a long overdue) breakfast at Birdie Num Nums (another child friendly cafe) in North Carlton.