Four Kids

Last weekend, we played mum and dad to 4 kids. We were minding a friend's 5 year old son, Isaac, for the day.

We had 4 child restraints in the car, the third row of seats in our 7 seater SUV resurrected. It was the hubby's dream come true! In fact, he bought the car for exactly this reason. To fill the seats with kids. Though I'm pretty sure he ain't getting anymore from me!

So off we went, Isaac, Lachlan, Lucas, Lily, Gary and I to attend not only one, but TWO birthday parties that day. Packing the family into the car was uneventful. Pffftt... easy. 2 minutes tops per child. It just felt like the whole house was coming with us. Bag for Isaac, bag for Lachlan and Lucas, baby bag, water bottles, stroller, baby carrier, sun screen, hats for everyone, birthday presents, costumes etc etc etc.

The first was a party for a pretty little girl. She turned 4 that day. It was held at a park. What an awesome park it was! The kids had a ball, running free and wild, climbing, swinging, sliding. (Mental note: must have kids' birthday party at a park next time.) It was a lovely day for that too. They decorated gingerbread men and fairy biscuits, did crafty things. 4 hours and lots and lots of cupcakes, sweets, jellies (and maybe a little too much sun) later, we were ready for the next party.

A superhero party for 2 year old super-e!

Just imagine 4 little superheroes, tearing into the house of our next hosts. Cape flapping, a little worn out from the previous party, maybe a tad (ahhh just a tad) sugar high. Sheer terror, for me that is! I don't know how the hosts felt. It was a great party no doubt!

I had the darting eyes all day that day. Uh, where did he go? OK, now where's the little guy. Eeeps, I'm sure he's just hiding in the bush. What? You mean a 15 year old got shot in this very park? Gaaahhh better keep both eyes on the kids. Yeeeeekkk, where are they. Can't they ALL stay in just the ONE place at the ONE time? OK, so you need to use the toilet? What I need to go with you? Here use this tree.........

By the end of the day, I really didn't care if the kids ate chips for dinner.

The best part of the day was when Isaac called out to me... "mum, mum, mum!" I was like "huh? you're calling me mum?" Isaac says, "yes mum, I want to be part of this family FOREVER!"

*smiles*

4 kids? Pfft... easy. Uhmm... but no thank you.


Happy Birthday Master Elliot! You are just too cute!
Photo credit: "borrowed" from someone's facebook page. :) Just can't resist it!

Bilby blues

Earlier this year during Easter, my friends gave me a large Haigh's chocolate bilby and I wondered how on earth I was going to eat all of that chocolate! It looked so gorgeous, all wrapped up with a cute blue and chocolate bow and sitting on little chocolate eggs. I thought I was never going to eat it. So it sat perched on one of the shelves of my pantry, tempting everyone who opened the door.

So this week is my third week after giving birth to Lily, and I feel bloody fantastic. Except at 5pm, when the boys are getting closer to turning our place into a mad house, and I am feeling like a ship wreck tending to the needs of a 0, 2 and 4 year old. Where have all my happy pregnant hormones gone?

I sat on my big comfy chair in my bedroom, and fed Lily with tears streaming down my cheeks. And then hubby crept into the bedroom with Mr. Bilby. Don't eat it all at one go... he said, kissed my wet cheeks and then left the room.

So now Mr. Bilby is missing his ears and a large part of his crown. Sorry!

Moments like this, I feel like the luckiest woman alive.

Sleep Deprivation

Two words. Every new parent get to know very well.

When Lily was born, she let out this loud, high pitched wail and Gary and I looked at each other... oh no.

Day 1 in hospital: She cried and cried and cried and cried... especially when night falls. A lovely nurse took her at night, and said to me, have some rest. All I could hear from a distance was Lily's high pitched cries. No rest for the wicked.

Day 2 in hospital: Same nurse, same baby. Uh-oh, she said, I think you have a colicky baby. Err. No. Thanks. Can you take her back? I held her all night, rocked her to sleep and whispered sweet nothings into her ears. She slept, like a baby. But as soon as I put her down, she wails.

Day 3 in hospital: She slept and slept and slept. 10 hours straight. I was getting a wee bit worried. I pushed my boob into her mouth, but she refused. Come on Tiger, I thought, if we don't make the weights tomorrow, we won't be able to go home. I was the one prancing about at 3,4,5am, wondering when she would wake for her feed. She's looking a tad yellow, first sign of jaundice. The same nurse warned Lily, if you don't wake up, we will have to prick your heel for a blood test. She woke up.

Day 4: We made the weights despite the long sleep. She weighs 3kg on the dot and we were discharged home with a nurse to check on us for the next couple of days. She slept like a baby all the way home into her new (hand-me-down) cradle. She does 5-6 hour stretches, and even when she wakes, she only makes little kitten like noises. My mother-in-law remarked oh what a good baby she is. What she doesn't know is that the jaundice is making her sleepy.

Day5-2 weeks: She still does her long stretches during the day, but wakes up every 3 hours at night. She must have her nights and days all mixed up, which is what I've expected anyways. It has been like that all these while in utero. She feeds well, poos and wees and putting on enough weight. But she is still jaundiced.

2 weeks-2 days ago: She wakes every 3 hours, she's like a time machine knowing when the seconds are ticking over to 3 hours on the dot. She feeds like a hungry baby. She filled her 0000 suits right up, and now jumping into 000.

Last night (3 weeks old): She woke at 10pm, stayed awake till midnight, would not settle and cried and cried till 2am. She woke at 2.30am, 3am, 4am. She finally went to sleep but then woke up at 6am. And it's 7am, I could hear pitter patter feet coming into my bedroom. Gaaahhh... now Lucas is awake. Good lord!

Now I look like a zombie, and I think a good cup of coffee is coming my way. And if by chance I could evict everyone out of this house, Lily and I would have a nice long sleep. We can only hope...

April (And May) Babies

It's that time of the year again!

Birthday parties, cupcakes, more parties and more cakes! We have birthdays coming up back to back, and a very pregnant mother in her final nesting mode. She is making sure the presents are all wrapped and ready, the cornices and skirting boards are free of dust and cobwebs, her hospital bags all packed and she's ready to pop! She looks forward to all the birthday parties with glee, so she can kick her boys out and have the house all to herself.

So how about my Ben 10 Alien party mom? Says her almost 4 year old son. And he decided that this year, she will make him an Omnitrix birthday cake that could transform into 10 various alien forms. And he could invite all his kinder friends over for a party with green jelly, green spaghetti and green drinks. It would be aweeesommee says he, and baby could come too. Yep, his week old baby who undoubtedly will also be exploiting her services and be hanging off her boobies just like tassles! Wonderful.

And how about the second born child, who will soon turn 2, going about his usual business, oblivious to the hoo-haas of birthdays and parties (Because no one has told him so)? Should she just turn a blind eye and pretend oh it's really nothing, re-light the candles of the Omnitrix cake just minus two and sing him a birthday song. What cruelty would that be?

Oh bother.... two Panadols and I'm off to bed!

Snippets of... Parenthood

I came across this from one of the blogs that I love to read, Karen Cheng's Snippets of Life. I thought it was absolutely hilarious... and tragic. But so true...

The Evolution of Parenthood

Your Clothes -

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes are your regular clothes.

(Although, at the moment, I feel like throwing out every single maternity wear that I have UGH!!)

The Baby’s Name -

1st baby: You pore over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favourites.

2nd baby: Someone has to name their kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you.

3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger falls. Bimaldo? Perfect!

Preparing for the Birth -

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.

2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

The Layette -

1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau.

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they?

(Girls can wear blue, sure they can!)

Pacifier -

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby’s bottle.

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering -

1st baby: You change your baby’s diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.

2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Worries -

1st baby: At the first sign of distress – a whimper, a frown – you pick up the baby.

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.

3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Activities -

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out -

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home -

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

...

Ahhh.... joy!

Rebellion

Since returning from our very long holiday, I have been preoccupied with boring house-keeping stuff, getting the house back in order, the dust of the shelves, the boys back in their routine and turning into a scary mum-zilla. Why is it that the chores seem never-ever-ending? There's constantly things to be picked up, toys to be packed away, laundry to be done, mouths to be fed... and little people (boys, in particular ONE very cheeky toddler, are we mentioning any names here?) getting into misfits and making me very VERY annoyed, angry and basically turning me into that ugly monster of a mom!

Phew!

*Takes deep breath*

So anyways, this morning, as I was yelling away at Lucas to get out from behind the TV before he gets zapped, and Lachlan to not touch my furnitures with vegemite fingers, only to get mischievious grins in return or be completely ignored. Toys were strewn everywhere. Ben 10 blasting on TV. That was it! Enough already...

What's happening here? Am I getting holiday withdrawal syndrome? For 6 weeks, we had somebody cleaning up our mess, doing our laundry, cooking our meals. Bliss! But I was more than happy to come home, call me nuts but I actually like doing my own laundry. But now I feel like I'm the house maid! Gaaaaahhh....

*More deep breaths*

So I figured, stuff it! Let's be messy, dirty, lazy. Let's eat pizza's tonight, or KFC I don't care. There were warnings that mum-zilla might turn into one of those ugly, angry aliens from Ben 10 if he doesn't get off the TV. So we stirred up a batch of playdough. Stick the boys on the kitchen bench. And had my 10 minutes of calm, before the storm starts all over again.


Pushing, shoving, snatching, not sharing, biting, hitting, screaming, crying ............................



Hard to imagine such cuteness can wreck so much havoc in a home!

Winter Coughs and Colds

This is the time of the year where coughs and colds and other viral miseries become inevitable.

KIDS: They are the best medium for spreading germs. And because of their developing immune system, they're the ones who get sick first themselves. You can't stop them from passing it on, else you might as well have them quarantined all season and of course that ain't happening! In fact, the general thought is for them to have at least 7-10 infections in a year in order for them to develop a "healthy" immune system!

Walk into playgroup, you'll see snot flying everywhere, nasty coughs being heard at different corners, little kiddies slobbering over bits of toys. Germs! Ah well, spread the love.

Having said all that, Lachlan and Lucas are both sick. They have snot running down from their nostrils like a leaky tap, they're both grumbly and grumpy, they're tired and lethargic, they have a cough that makes a mother with a shopping trolley full of kids cringe, and they're hot with fever. But, they're OK. They've just caught some love from our friendly playgroup.

Grandparents READ: They're FINE!

So apart from the obvious, rest well, eat and drink well and lots and lots of TLC, here are some tips and tricks from a SAHM and a once-upon-a-time-ago Doctor.

1. Don't be afraid to use Paracetamol and/or Ibuprofen. Panadol and/or Nurofen. Whatever you like to call them. They both have analgesic (pain relieving) and antipyretic (fever relieving) properties, can be used on their own or in adjunct. Always use as directed, an appropriate dose for age and weight, and take note of the time interval.


2. I steer clear of cough medicines because coughing is a defence mechanism. I want them to be able to bring out the gunk from their chest instead of suppressing it. Instead, try a humidifier or a vaporiser with a few drops of Eucalyptus Oil. It helps break down the phlegm and congestion.
   
3. Almost always, these infections are caused by viruses. It does NOT need an antibiotic. But if in doubt, always see your GP. Trust your maternal instincts.
   
4. Someone once told me to rub Vicks onto the soles of their little feet and then put socks on them. It works! Try it. Perhaps it's the soothing touch of a foot massage. Or the hot tingly feeling of menthol. Who knows? It's nice anyways, and whatever works right?


5. A nice warm bath always calm my hysterical baby down. My boys have a love affair with their bath tub. Although, the Chinese ancient saying would probably forbid this, saying you might catch a "chill" or the wind will seep into your bones etc. Who knows? Whatever works right?


6. Keep the fluids up! Your child may be off food, but just as long as they're properly hydrated, they'll be right. Trust me, they'll catch up on their calories later on when they're better.


7. And lastly, stay calm. The last thing a hysterical child needs is a hysterical parent. They get your vibes.
   

Enjoy the rest of winter! And stay healthy.

What we do with our time - Part 2

Today is another day where it seems like we're doing everything but absolutely nothing!

The day started early. Lachie goes to kinder.

I picked him up from Kinder at 11.30am, and with Lucas, we went to the Caribbean Gardens and Market. I bought some cheesy bread sticks, mandarins and bananas and we sat by the lake, eating our lunch and watching the ducks.

Lucas learned the word "duck".

We went for a walk at the Market and I bought some fruits and organic vegetables. The boys then spend some time at a playground. That's half the day gone.

Then, it's home time. Back we come to a very messy home, dirty dishes piling high in the kitchen sink and toys strewn all over one half of the house. At least it's one half. So the boring housekeeping stuff starts ALL OVER AGAIN. Sigh...

Fish and chips for dinner, the boys bathed and tucked in bed, and here I am blogging. That's another day gone!

Where did all our time go?

What we do with our time - Part 1

I'm a stay-at-home mom, and I devote all of my time for my children. But what have we been doing with our time? Blink of an eye, Lachlan is no longer a toddler. Lucas, he is now a toddler! Eeekks!

Yeah, so what do we do with ourselves? Admittedly, I have been quite slack in the last few months. My kids sleep in, and I do too. They watch TV, and that is a lot of TV, they play by themselves, they read to themselves, while I busy myself doing boring housekeeping stuff like laundry, cleaning, cooking and more laundry. We spend some time at the local shopping centre too, grocery shopping and just hanging out. Gaaaahhhh, is that all I've been doing with them? Seriously, how can that take up so much of my time, the past three years of my life! It seems like it never ever ends although I spend all day, everyday doing it!

A little over half a year ago, I wrote about our typical Thursday, the busiest day of the week. Things have changed a now. We still attend Playgroup. It's still the busiest day of the week. This is what we did today:

8.30am I woke up and have breakfast, read the newspapers. Start the washing machine.

9.30am Lachy woke up and have breakfast.

10.00am Lucas woke up!!! Yes, 10.00am! Usually it's 9.30am. O.o He drinks his milk and have a piece of toast.

10-11.00am I prepare lunch, and in between, tidy up the house, put all of last night's dishes away, hang up the laundry, make the bed, change the boys, and change Lucas again, take Lachy to the toilet, attempt to vacuum the floor etc. Break up the boys fighting, give Lachy a time out for pushing Lucas, change Lucas again, put breakfast away.

11.30-1.30pm We go to Playgroup!

Today, we were the only ones there because our friends were either unwell, or their moms had kinder duties for their older siblings. So, we hung around for a little bit, had lunch and left early. We went to a friend's place for a play. Actually, it was more like I dropped Lachy off at their place, so I can quickly dash to the shops to pick up some things. Yes, without Lachy, that means less time spent on coin operated machines. So I can't say NO to invitations such as these!

3pm We came home, Lucas had a nap. Normally it's difficult to get Lachy to nap in the afternoon, but he fell asleep in the car, so he had a little nap time too. That gave me some time to tidy up my bedroom, throw some unused items in the wardrobe for charity collection.

4.00pm I attempted to do some of the things that I've planned for earlier during the day. The boys watch telly. They both have a cup of warm milk.

5.00pm I start dinner. And in between, take Lachy to the toilet, change Lucas, play a bit of Wii fit with Lachy, he loves doing "Yoga" and jogging. Roll about with Lucas for a bit. Give Lachy another time out for hitting Lucas.

6.00pm We have dinner.

7.00pm Watch MasterChef on TV. I haven't missed a single episode. Hee Hee. Gary does the washing up.

7.30pm Get the boys bathed and ready for some "quiet time". Is there such a thing? Nope. We just "hang out" for a bit, doing nothing much, just like what we did ALL day!

9.00pm The boys go to bed. I blog or surf the net, while Gary does a bit more work.

Midnight. Wash up and go to bed.

So where did all our time go?

Sleeping Habits

Lucas, now at 13 months of age is sleeping all through the night. 12 hours, in his own bed, in his own bedroom. All. By. Himself. Sometimes, all I have to do is kiss him goodnight and plonk him into his cot and wave bye-bye.

Lachlan, my 3 year old baby, on the other hand, wakes up at LEAST twice a night if not thrice. Without fail, he would run over to our bedroom to snuggle up between us. Every. Single. Night. At least now he falls asleep himself. For a long long time, he would want one of us in his bedroom, laying there next to him, lending him one of our ears physically for a very painful half hour rub. He needed to touch our ears to sleep. Kid you not.

Now we tuck him in. He's allowed to read a little before bed. But he falls asleep by himself, next to BullsEye (Toy Story), who's next to Elmo, who's next to a fluffy brown giraffe called Daisy and a few hundred of his toy cars, hazardously placed on the floor.

He will wake up at midnight, calling out. And we'd have to put him back to bed. Then somehow in the morning, I'd wake up to him kicking off my warm, snugly doona or being pushed off the bed. (It's usually Gary who gets pushed off the bed!)

Those who know us would know that we've actually come long long way, trying to get Lachy's sleeping habits right. We played musical beds, even musical bedrooms! It's our fault really. We chose to co-sleep, which I think is absolutely fine. It feels right, and natural then. But we're now paying the price. How much longer will he be sharing our bed? For the next 18 years? I hope not...

I guess with Lucas, we were a lot calmer, a lot more experienced. We don't give in to the first cry. We just wait... and wait... And sometimes he falls back to sleep (Which is the way they learn to put themselves back to sleep). And sometimes he just needs a little pat on his back, some soothing words to get him back to lalaland. Ahhh... he is just such a good baby!

Big Kid Big Trouble

I did mention a little earlier, that I haven't been blogging about the boys. Truth is, these last few weeks have been a real challenge for us as parents. I am talking about Lachlan, our terribly-tantrum-throwing-two-year-old, turning terrificly-three at the end of April. And I don't like to write about negativity. But I guess sometimes there is so much to learn from the hard times. It just makes us appreciate the good moments even more than before.

Life with children is full of ups and downs. Like a roller coaster ride. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Every single day I wake up to a battle ground. It's a battle of having to repeat myself nearly 10 times, to ask him to do a simple task. Like your breakfast is ready, sit down and drink your milk...etc. This will be met by a very defiant NO. He completely ignores my requests, deliberately do something to annoy me or sometimes even physically hurting me or someone else, usually someone smaller than himself and you-know-who!

I find myself in a really scary rage, turning into some kind of monster that little kids are afraid of, raising my voice so much so that my dog curls up in a whimpering heap!

Sometimes I feel like a twisted knot, I'm stressed and angry. And I keep reminding myself that this is part of him growing up. That he is a healthy and happy 3 year old with so much to explore and so much to learn. I count my blessings he is full of energy, he is smart and often testing the limits. It's just part of normal and healthy development.

But.

Rules are rules. Boundaries need to be set. So I may be that ugly monster of a mom for a little while, but I sure do hope that he grows out of this real soon.

2009 Aspirations

Last night, I sit back quietly and reflect on what it had been in 2008. My son, Lucas was born. Lachie became a big brother. It was a year of simple pleasures, a year for celebration. It was a year of joy and contentment. I have been blessed with not one, but two beautiful, healthy boys. I am the happiest I've ever been.

I am not one for making resolutions. Nowadays, it seems like it's a common theme. It's great though to set a few goals just to give us some directions. So, this year, I have made a few aspirations for 2009.

Motherhood

I have enjoyed this role tremendously. I am sure a fair few of my close friends and family would agree that it suited me to the bone. Looking back at my journey, I have not one single regret. The decision to give up my full-time job as a medical doctor to start a family was not a difficult one despite spending close to a decade training to be one and not to mention my dad's life savings spent on my tuition fees for med school. In Australia, medical jobs are abundant and locum shifts paying big bucks come easily, and hence it didn't bother me one bit. The last year proved that there's NO role greater than being a mother.

Being a mom has made me appreciate the love for my own mother more than ever before. Growing up I have been close physically and emotionally with my mom. She's the one I look up to, a multi-talented, kind-hearted woman, a Jill of all trades. She has been an entrepreneur, a florist, a beauty-therapist, a volunteer for many charities, a wonderful cook. But most of all, she has been a confidant, a mother. Now being apart, we're drawn into our own separate little worlds. I am thrilled that mom and dad will be spending some time next year with us, and this time I would like to make sure that we spend good, quality mother and daughter time.

Career Wise

I would like to work a little bit more this year. I am thinking weekends at the ED might just iron out the creases of my thinking cap. Plus, it would keep me updated of the latest happenings in the medical world. I think it would also be a great boost for my ego, being someone somewhat important, a completely different role.

One with the boys

It's scary to think how much TV Lachie watches in a day. I would love for us to spend more time outdoors keeping active, be it just pottering about in the garden or walks to the park. He has a brand new bike sitting in the garage and a shiny blue helmet. I must learn the art of juggling two boys in the swimming pool, I've seen many moms with 2 or more in the pool!

Cailler

Cailler is our attention deprived chocolate Labrador. She has been at the bottom of my list not been on my list in the last couple of years. Sometimes I find myself barking at her for her misdoings more than she has ever barked in her entire doggy life. This year, I must include her in our walks to the park and try to let her mingle with the boys when we're out in the garden. (She's always been restrained due to her extremely boisterous behaviour and the fact that she licks Lachie's face to death when she's out and about!)

Time for two

My husband and I have been devoting our time for our two children that we often neglect time spent on ourselves. It would be lovely if we could get away a little more on our own without the kids, or even thinking or talking about them. Sounds like mission impossible, but definitely on my list!

The weighty issue

I'm not one for dieting. I love food! Just as the French Women Don't Get Fat, I would love to enjoy my chocolat and pâtisserie without the guilt of what it would do to my thighs. The word is moderation. Although I have achieved a healthy BMI range of 24 and have come down to my pre-pregnancy weight, my goal is to achieve an ideal BMI of 22. I must continue to do 1/2 hour sessions at the Curves, three times a week because it has been working for me thus far.

Photobook

A brainchild of my brother, this year marked the birth of our family business here in Australia. The last few months proved that our pride and joy is booming. We are busy, happily busy. Well, I am anyways on behalf of my husband. Just like our children, with the right amount of nurturing and love, this business will grow big and strong. I would like to be able to help in any way that I could. Stay tuned for it will be a busy year of blogging for me, on this site as well as at photobookfanati.

.....

Here's to a wonderful and fruitful year ahead. Here's me wishing you a blessed new year. May your 2009 be filled with wonderful opportunities, great success and good health.

Lucas @ 7 months

Blink of an eye, Lucas is 7 months old and he's on the move! He could flip, flop and roll about and flip again from one corner of the room to the other in no time. The other day I found him yelling out, half his body stuck under the couch! Ouch! And this morning, I left him on my BIG bed right in the middle surrounded by fluffy BIG European pillows, just to brush my teeth. I popped my head out 30 seconds later: eeeeeekkkk he was about to nose-dive 3 ft down to the ground!

He gets up on his hands and knees, rocks back and forth, inches forward a little and flops down. I think he will be crawling in no time, before he even learn how to sit still on his own. He loves "bouncing" on his tummy, flapping his arms and legs about. It is so so darn cute!

He pulls both his feet up at the same time and puts them BOTH in his mouth. He puts not one, not two but three fingers in his mouth. He puts my necklace in his mouth, Lachie Ko-Ko's toy cars in his mouth, breadcrumbs from the floor in his mouth and everything under the sky in his mouth.

He can laugh a big hearty laughs! He loves funny sort of noises like burps and *bum noises*. It makes him laugh. Lachie loves to make him laugh. A tickle is a sure giggle! He is so ticklish on his feet.

He loves his food. He's eating breakfast, lunch and dinner plus 4 breastfeeds a day. He gets a bit rashy on his cheeks still with dairy and wheat but it is definitely improving. He loves chewing on a stick of celery straight from the fridge. I think it doubles up as a toothie peg! There were times when I think I'm about to give-up breastfeeding, but then I'd change my mind again. Feeding him is such a joy. Lucas is such a boobie's boy. It is going to be difficult to wean him...

There's been ups and there's been downs, just as everything else in this world. There were days when I think work in the Emergency Department with a waiting room full of thugs pale in comparison. But when I look at my boys, I wouldn't change a single thing. No ED's thank you! That's not to say I will not be returning to work, I will. Just not now... I don't want to miss a thing.

A Time for Reflection

2008 has been a very important year for us. It marked the birth of our second born son, Lucas. He has brought with him so much joy and happiness into our lives.



Lachlan turned 2. It was a year of transitions and he made us tremendously proud by adjusting so well. He has bloomed into a vivacious, chatty and happy boy and is such a great big brother to Lucas.



In 2008, not so long ago, I started this blog. I would like to share with the world, through my writing and photographs, how being a mother is a privilege, how wonderful and beautiful life is with children and how every challenge we face each day makes us better. I wish to inspire others as I have been inspired many a times through reading blogs by others. I have met people through blogging, people with the same passion in life, people who love life.

I am truly honoured to get readers from all over the world and I thank you all for visiting every so often. And most of all, I would like to thank my two darling boys for making each day so interesting and for making blogging a breeze with so much to write about, just as it is...

Dadda Cool

L1 and his dadda, they're like joined at the hips! They have this wonderful relationship that is different from mine and L1/L2. L1 could be very engrossed in something like watching Thomas or playing with his cars... and all of a sudden, where's dadda??? where's dadda???? He'll run upstairs to his office, or if he's not there, he'll run to the front of the house just to make sure his car is in the front porch. If he's not home, he'll need some sort of explanation like dadda went to the post office or to see a customer etc. He MUST know! He is very emotionally and physically attached to his dadda. Most boys his age would go looking for their mommies. L1, however... is his dadda's little boy. Dada showers his love and attention, abundantly. (I shower him with scolding and nagging, just as opulently!). He is the one to run to when the batteries run out. He fixes little broken cars. He builds soaring lego skyscrapers. He gives him his bath. He tucks him into bed.

We are truly blessed, dadda works from home. As busy as he may be, he'll always find time to come downstairs, to sooth the crying baby or to lend a hand with poo patrol. If I look like I'm tangled in sticky tape, a pair of scissors will magically appear in front of me. Or if I'm about to have a nervous breakdown at the end of the day, he knows to shoo me off to the gym.

I love dadda. He's so cool.