I’m sorry I’m so short of patience.   I’m well aware of how incredibly lucky we are in this crisis.  How we are in the best possible position; one parent with secure full-time work (from home) and the other with the ability to stop work easily and pick up full-time childcare.   And I’m so glad we have two kids, who (unbelievably) get along for...

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Funny Arlo age 2.10yrs sayings: You think people's names are a link to what they like...eg: Shelley; "Does she like Shells?" Heidi;  "Does she like hide and seek?" So yesterday when we were reading a book with an Uncle Willy in it... "So does he like penises?" We were having a particularly stinky ride in the car with Louie farting (ok, me too...)....

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For Louie and Arlo, As I sit here writing to you, you are both snuggled deep in your beds.  We have just read books, snuggled in pjs, played lego, rushed you through teeth brushing and tucked you in. You boys are the best thing that ever happened to us. Tonight, when Daddy was settling in on the couch to help you with your...

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I've not written about so many of your 'firsts'.  First day at daycare, first night staying at Nanna and Grandad's, first sentences.  And while they feel so crucial, so incredible at the time, I know the details will slip from our memories.  But that is life.  It is wonderful and fleeting and transient and joyful.  But my boy Arlo, know that every first...

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Today is one of those days that glow.  In fact it's been the last few days, where everything is pretty, meaningful/full.  Where I look at my boys shine and grow and I just stare at them non-stop, trying to make it sink deep.  These numbered days, when my boys are little, will most certainly be the days I look back on and yearn...

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Two or three times a year I get this way, a deep yearning feeling and a need to tap into that which resonates.  I often look to books, to specific authors - Hunter S Thompson, Herman Hesse, PJ  O'Rourke - but more often than not I reach for Tom Robbins.  I gather about me the books I have of his (I should really...

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The leaps babies make are astounding.  Huge and imperceptible all at the same time.  One day they seem nonplussed about the stacking cups, the next they can sit for many minutes putting one into another on repeat.  When you add dozens of these tiny developments together it's like a flower blooming on time lapse every day.  Mind blowing. Arlo boy, at 11 months...

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The complete 360 degree turn you've made is unbelievable!  From a pained, emotional, constantly over-tired, refluxy poor wee baby to this chilled-out, joyous little boy is nuts.  You are the sweetest, calmest, loveliest creature...happy to explore a basket of toys for 30mins ++ before the slightest peep for attention, I just can't convey how peaceful and ridiculously adorable you are.  We sit together,...

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I just finished watching 'Boyhood' but didn't feel as moved by it as I had anticipated.  Then I went to check on Louie in his bed.  He was all stretched out, star pose, his body all lengthened and leaned out, his chubby cheeks, long legs....a dichotomy between baby and boy.  The nappy and roundness of his face the only thing really keeping him...

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I feel a little like we've come out the end of a dark tunnel Arlo-boy.  Your first six months of life haven't been the smoothest with all your poor tummy pains and reflux and inability to sleep.  But pretty suddenly, things are much, much better.  I've stopped breast feeding you which was part heart-breaking, part liberating.  I celebrated six months of successful breastfeeding...

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Trying to get everything done these days is tough, I have to spread myself so thinly between everything/one that I don't think I do anything justice, least of all this blog.  My poor baby Arlo, if it wasn't for your Nonna (hi Mum!) texting me every now and then lamenting the lack of entries for you, there wouldn't be many at all.  But...

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I didn't think I had mother's intuition.  With Louie I followed Plunket's guidelines pretty closely, finding most of it made sense.  But Louie was a text-book baby and the 'norm' fitted him well.  With Arlo, we have been on a bit of a different journey, a tough one but one that has ultimately led me to find and trust my intuition. From our...

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Poor Arlo Joe, your blog posts are a wee bit less regular than Louie's but it is much harder to find a time when you are both asleep and I'm awake enough to write a coherent paragraph.  In any case, right now I am living the dream and you are both asleep.  Here goes.... You are 10 weeks old.  The sweetest little thing...

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