Girly

Only another week or two until the book I am editing goes to print. Y-A-Y! I can't wait for it to be done. I have been cramming work into every single spare minute, but that's OK. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.



I did take some time this morning to photograph the little girl sitting on our woollen underlay as we changed the sheets on our bed.

It's funny, I rarely dress her in dresses or pinafores or girly outfits. It's mostly little trousers and tops, or one-piece suits. Perhaps that's what comes of having a boy first? I'm not sure. Whenever she's in a dress or outfit I imagine she feels like I do when I wear my 'good' clothes or work clothes. I can't wait to get them off and get into something comfy!!

Fulfilling his dream

When I was pregnant with T we would talk to E about all the fun things he would be able to do with the baby. He would go along with us but only ever had one question: "Mum, when can I feed the baby yoghurt?"

E became a bit fixated on feeding the baby. I guess it is one of the very few tangible ways an older sibling can truly interact with a baby. He was so into the idea that when he visited me in the hospital after she was born, he asked if he could give her yoghurt yet.

Um, no.

So anyway, now she's 7 months and doesn't appear to have any allergies or intolerances I figured it was OK to give yoghurt a go.

The boy was excited. The spoon was overfilled. T wriggled in anticipation. The spoon hit her nose. The bib received more yoghurt than the baby.

But yoghurt was fed, the occasion was videoed.

E was so proud of himself (and now wants to give her yoghurt every day).

new wheels

We are lucky enough to live by an amazing bike path. About 23km of it, all up. Before I had the little lady we'd go for a ride most weekends. We'd take a ball, flask of coffee and a picnic. Good times.

However, since having T most of my cycling has been on the exercise bike, not the real one. She's still too little for the bike seat (E went in at 10 months) and while E can ride his bike pretty well we've never had him ride alongside us yet - for reasons of slowness and whinginess.

So when T was tiny Shaun made a bit of an impulse purchase: a twin stroller that doubles as a trailer behind the bike. We've been dying to try it out, so last weekend we propped T up with pillows, covered the harness straps in foam so they didn't cut in and, lo, she sat in there happily.

One of the reasons we've been keen to try it is that soon the boy will be too big to fit in there! Right now he's OK and he's happy to sit in with his sister (which is great because he yells out if she slips sideways). We haven't used it behind a bike yet, maybe in a few more months.

It cost $100 (new) on eBay and we're loving it - or we will once we get used to the bemused stares it attracts in the park!!!

Seven months

Noisy.
Giggly.
Topply.
Wriggly.

Heavenly.

I love this age.

Little feet

The arrival of some cooler weather provides me with a great excuse to dig out some of the beautiful little shoes T has. Even though all her pairs are still a little big I figure it's OK to put them on her for toe-warming purposes (it's not like she'll get sore feet, no walking). Alright, I'll admit it: I just can't resist a teeny-tiny shoe...

Easter

Easter is such a lovely time to head out into the country. Not too hot, not too cold - just right. We went out to my parents' farm for a couple of days. It's looking gorgeous, thanks to recent rains. I don't think I've ever seen this much water in this particular creek (one of my favourites).



The morning light was perfect. You can see there the Volvo hatchback we drove out and back - on a single tank of diesel (and it could still have gone another 200km). Incredible.



Sunday marked our 10th anniversary together and so we escaped from the little ones and went for a glorious bike ride. We rode along a (very) quiet, undulating road with spectacular views out to the mountains. With no helmets required the sensation of zooming along with the wind in our hair was pretty freeing. We made it about 10km or so, then stopped on the roadside for a picnic before heading back to the kidlets. There was hardly a car come by, but of course the one that did had to be my brother, didn't it? He had a good laugh at us city slickers, sitting in the burrs eating our camembert!



Did I mention the morning light? Glorious.



The young lady had a go in a rocking horse that was once mine (so, like, antique, yeah?).



The lad helped his Pop milk the cow and checked out her twin calves.

Memo to Baby T:



You'd get the hang of this eating business a whole lot better if you focused on chewing your food, not the tray of your highchair.



PS: Melody, thanks for the tip about trying pawpaw. She loves it (er, well, perhaps 'tolerates' is a better word). I also gave her a taste of my stewed rhubarb the other day and she ate that. Amazing. Especially when she will not even look at pureed apple or banana. Most peculiar...