growing boys, so fast!

The gherkin turns three in less than three months. Little pickle turns one in just three weeks. Time goes by so quickly! They are becoming little boys, not so much my babies (but they'll still always be my babies).

The gherkin is telling some great stories, having some fantastic conversations. He is empathic - he gets sad watching sad parts of movies (like in toy story) or get worried for characters in stories, he is very concerned if we are out and about and he hear another child crying. He is imaginative - he imagines that there are little people in the shower sliding down the inside wall of the bath (water droplets), he plays shops (three sandpies in a sandpie shop!), and is a brilliant dancer and "free-range" musician. He asks me to sing the cuddle song ('It's so nice to have a cuddle with someone that you love') and gives me the biggest koala cuddles with his legs wrapped all around.

Little pickle is action man. He is walking (no, sprinting!), and is using words - hello, bye-bye, ta, dadda, bath. He knows what he likes, he's sure of himself. And confident! He has no fear, climbing up on windowsills, crawling up stairs, without hesitation. He loves his big brother. He follows him around, laughs at his funny faces and dancing.

Our home is filled with joy... it's overflowing! We are truly blessed.

Take care xo

2233 homemade jam is the best

2233 homemade jam is the best
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Every now and then I get to beating myself up about being dull and uninventive... it's new to me, this full time stay at home mummy thing - the pressure is on. But then I remember what I have done with my days. Yes I have done washing, nappies, swept floors, made sandwiches etc... but perhaps I have also read books to the boys in a cave under the kitchen table, made scones and homemade jam with the gherkin, splashed in the (world's smallest) "pool", danced and played the ukelele, decorated items with glitter. So sometimes I think I am doing ok. Other ideas always welcomed though! How do you spend your time with the kids at home???
have fun xo

gorgeous gorgeous baby boy

gorgeous gorgeous baby boy
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

oh my. i love these creases, these rolls, these yummy yummy thighs. what a delight is our little pickle. xo

now sydneysiders...

Hello! Well, here I am in our new home in Sydney, tap-tap-tapping away after a whole month without internet. Heavens above!

Surpised that we ended up in Sydney? Yes, so were we. When the house sold we sat for half an hour in silence. Then one of us suggested the move north to be closer to family. The other agreed. Not a couple to mess about, we then started packing. So here we are.

The boys are doing beautifully in their new home.

The gherkin grows and grows and is becoming such a big boy. He is adjusting well to a new home, though I think he misses socialising with other small people (as much as I miss big people!). We are working though our list of things to do when you arrive to a new area with small people, things like finding new playgroups, childcare, join the library, find our local ABA counsellor and group, etc etc etc. So life seems very busy and yet seems strangely quiet - I will confess to being quite lonely - I miss my friends in sunny Melbs. I have also caught myself by surprise - in particular I miss the women I have been meeting with every week for the past two and a half years, who it seems I have been taking horribly for granted and undervalued until  they were gone, my playgroup. But I am sure I will find some lovely likeminded mums nearby. This will all just take time.

The gherkin is a hoot! His language reveals things about him we would not have otherwise known. He tells us what he likes, "I'm loving this song mummy", what he doesn't "No! I don't like it mummy", asks us questions "Where's my's cup?", disagrees with us, tells us about his dreams (this is just starting and is magical - not surprisingly Humpty Dumpty features quite strongly), cries with happiness when daddy gets home from work, sings so many songs - he does requests - and has started to play around with the words (how much I laughed when he cheekily sang "Happy birthday poo poo!", mad grin on face). He is incredibly beautiful, with such a gorgeous heart, and is hard work (he is two, after all). In his new home he has discovered a love of the sandpit, lizards and dancing under the sprinkler, all things he would possibly not have known in our little semi in Brunswick.

Little pickle is also growing way too fast. Though chubbier by the second, he is also on the move. He started to crawl a week ago, and has also started pulling to stand on the furniture. The gherkin has become his motivator... he wants to be with him, playing with him at all time. Little pickle is still our big frowner, but as I get to know him better, I understand this to be a studying look, rather than an unhappy one. He pays attention. He waves hello/goodbye. He is bossy, believing himself to be king of the house and expecting all to obey. He cackles with laughter (especially with the gherkin, especially in the bath). He loves his mummy and he loves his food (hard to separate the two). He is delightful.

And James Brown has settled in too. It is a long way from the house to the water bowl at the top of the garden! So much space, I am not sure he knows what to do with it. He spends most of his time on the back verandah, sleeping on a cane chair (a dog's life). That is, when he is not being chased around our big back yard by a certain two year old or around the verandah by a certain crawling 8 month old.

Photos will follow soon... just have to get myself organised! But it is good to be back in blogland again. I hope to connect with you all soon... will have to play catch up for a while.

Take care and have fun xo

quick update on the boys

and we're rollin'!

the boy who does nothing by halves has rolled onto his tummy from his back for the first time today (about 10 minutes ago) and then from his tummy onto his back abd from his back onto his tummy again. straight off the clean mat onto our dusty dirty floorboards. smartiepants.

xo

not seventy six, but still thrilling!

liamtrombones1
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

The gherkin has a new fascination. Trombones. Who would know why (though there was a redheaded trombonist called James on playschool recently), but he is hooked. It's all about the brass.

So this week, we caught some of the Melbourne International Festival of Brass. Did you know it was on? We didn't, I only stumbled across it by chance.

So on Thursday, off we went, the three of us - gherkin, mummy, little pickle. But not to a whizzy-bang concert. Instead, we went to the trombone warm up. This $20 ticket gave us an hour and a half of pure trombone joy. The gherkin was not overwhelmed by the noise, but thrilled by it, not bored by the repetitive drills, but entranced. What an amazing morning!

One of the exhibitors then gave us one of his trombone pamphlets. You can see the gherkin reading the trombone end of this pamphlet in front of the South Melbourne Town Hall in this photo. The "trombone book" is such a treasure now at our house!

There is always so much going on in this amazing city, [sigh] I love Melbourne.

I wonder what the gherkin will be like when he grows older? Still loving music? Brass? Trombones? What were you fascinated by when you were younger? Does it still tickle you?

Chat soon xo

playing around... and scaring myself!

There are some days when living with a toddler is just heaven. There are other days when it is just plain old hard work. Today was one of the better days. Yes there were tantrums, there were tears, there were toys thrown*, but there were also great cuddles, there was dancing, reading books, giggling. But even though today was fantastic, when I was skyping and playing with my new laptop (and webcam app), I scared myself silly. I put on one of the filters when skyping with mum and dad, just for a laugh... and look what happened..

I am impressed by each and every one of you who has twins. Just seeing gherkin twins on the screen was enough to make my heart miss a beat or two (and not in a good way!). Ah, living with a toddler can be hard, but at least I am not outnumbered by a pair of them!

Chat soon xo

* and that was just me... no, I'm kidding.

yes, it is that time of year again...

yep! it's nearly september everyone! nearly spring, which means nearly nearly summer!

so... it is that time of year again... time for family and friends to start browing the summer pickles flickr page and selecting your favourite 10 photos of the two small pickles of the past year. and to make it less tricky, this year you can select 20 photos each (as we have two boys now, and we know how hard you found the challenge last year!).

so.. get cracking! you can continue to make photos a favourite until mid-November and then the door will be firmly closed for voting.

don't forget that you can also nominate photos from December 2009 as favourites.

have fun everyone! xo

ps. please mark photo as a favourite using the favourite star above the photo. you can also type in fave [your name] in the comments so we know if there are more than 2 votes for the one photo coming from the one house.

yummy mummy 101

It has occurred to me in the past few days that perhaps I am letting my little family down. There are plenty of gorgeous yummy mummies out there... surely all it takes is for me to make the decision that this is how I will be, from this day forth?

So. here goes, my new commitment to becoming a yummy mummy, from this point forward... in my new life as a yummy mummy I hereby pledge:

1. to wipe all vomit from my shoulder/collar/back immediately
2. to put on makeup each and every day
3. to relegate all trackie pants/saggy jeans/those grey leggings with baggy knees to the local charity store
4. to ensure hair is always done - straightened, cowlicks flattened
5. to wear highheels at all times
6. to ensure each outing involves carriage of a designer handbag (carting nappies, of course)
7. to lose baby weight immediately
8. to allocate any spare moment available to appropriate coiffing, peeling carrots (see point 7) or engaging in home workout
9. to ensure children are always wearing coordinated outfits, clean noses and freshly washed faces
10. to change outfits (mine and theirs) immediately if they come in contact with dirt, bodily fluids, food etc

Hmmm... by extension, would this mean...

1. to cease all digging in the dirt in the frontyard with the 2 year old, hair scratched back by an old hairband
2. to end trackie day - an almost religous event in our home involving children remaining in their pjs and mummy wearing trackies and staying at home all day (also known as slow day)
3. endless hours of managing our appearances, which could have been spent playing with playdough, hiding in cardboard boxes, singing songs, cooking together, painting

Nope, the yummy mummy life is not for me. I am hereby signing up for more of the grubby, cuddly, dirty, cheeky, somewhat crazy mummy. I hope the boys won't be too disappointed.

Chat soon,
xo

mmm delicious

mmm delicious
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

we have all heard of the two year old food fads. of toddlers who will only eat pies, or go off their veges all together, or will only eat cheese if it is cut into triangles...

our boy has a new love... of frozen peas. his love of this new snack of choice, it seems, is genetically predetermined, with a mummy, a nanny and a gran who have all habitually stolen the odd frozen pea from the bag when making a meal for the family... poor little man didn't have a chance!

frozen peas... mmm... delicious!

picnic at the park

picnic at the park
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

nothing beats fresh anzac bikkies in the park on a cool melbourne day.

a few of my favourite moments

Having a newborn in the house again has been a bit of a shocking experience, no, more like a surprise, a happy shock, and certainly less of one than the first time around! Life is completely different. It circles around feeds, carefully stolen moments of precious sleep, settling over those few intense hours of the evening. And this time, for the pickles household, also involves ensuring a certain fabulous toddler (aka the gherkin) doesn't feel deserted or that he has lost his place.

I have had the time this time around (and the ability, being that much calmer) to reflect on some of my favourite moments as a mum. So here they are, just in case I forget them later...

* the very special time in the wee hours, when only little pickle and i are awake and feeding. it seems at this time that we are the only two people in the world... it's quite romantic.

* watching the gherkin show little pickle to his friends at daycare, with such pride and ownership!

* discovering what little pickles likes (quite different from his brother), such as being upright and bounced gently, having his feet massaged, having a bath, being awake (!), having his head rubbed.

* waking up in cuddles with the gherkin, after he has come into our bed in the early morning. being woken by having my face poked and hearing "hello mummy. i love you." ah, being a mum is the best job in the world!

* singing songs, dancing (and dipping), translating what the gherkin is saying, feeling proud of my two boys and all they are, feeling so fortunate to have a fantastic man in my life (yep, that means you mr pickles), the list goes on and on...

ah... this is a good job. today at least, i wouldn't swap it for anything in the world.

have fun xo

here he is...

here he is...
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

welcome to the world little pickle!

born 29th april, weighing 3.69kgs, measuring 51cm long.

mum and bub are well, dad is thrilled to have another boy in the clan, the gherkin is adjusting, and the pug has no idea what is going on.

lovely to meet little pickle and to be well and truly out-numbered by the boys in my life.

chat soon xo

our little boy in his big boy bed

big boy bed
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

It's happened already. The boy is out of the cot, and into a real big boy bed bed. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown... seems like just a couple of months ago he was sleeping across his cot. Time has flown.

He is such an amazing little boy - singing songs, making us laugh, starting to put together two word phrases (like "open door" and "bye mum"), dancing, throwing almighty tantrums (!), giving the world's best spontaneous cuddles. I am still completely smitten by this beautiful little boy.

I can't imagine having another little person in the pickles home, but we have to get used to the idea --- only 5-6 weeks to go! I wonder... pink or blue? big or small*? sleepy or alert? feeding or not? So many questions, and not long now til we get some of the answers.

xo

* what a daft question... no pickles child is going to be small... and at not quite 33 weeks we're measuring at 35 weeks, so this bub won't be a petite surprise!

day in the park with boy and dog

day in the park with boy and dog
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

picture a boy and his mum, on a day out together.

they've played on the swings, the boy has gone up and down the slide countless times, energy is running low.

must be time for a fruit picnic on the way home from the park.

they all sit down. boy. mum. dog.

yum, grapes.

yum, peach.

yum, apple.

oops!

happy dog.

clearly unimpressed boy!

xo

hello!

hello!
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

wow, he is just gorgeous!

a pug & a pregnant pause

a pug & a pregnant pause
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

people kept telling me that when i hit the 2nd trimester i would have an instant burst of boundless energy...
... perhaps chasing around a toddler has something to do with still being tired?

(pugs are the best spooners.... or at least, ours is!)

will catch up again after i have caught up on some more zzzzzzzs....

oh dear... time for an update!

Okay, so it is time. Long past time in fact for an update on the goings on in the pickles household.

The Gherkin is turning into a big boy, right in front of our very eyes, with new words popping out each day (he now would have at least 30 words, but probably more - ex-speechie mum is quite proud!). He sings songs - twinkle twinkle and baa baa black sheep, and can ride his push-along bike. And tonight (very exciting!) he said wee-wee and wee-ed on the bathroom floor, then stopped, said it again, wee-ed again. Our baby boy is growing up! He is throwing big tanties, full face down on the floor, trying to jump on the kitchen chairs, and loves rubbing noses (nose kisses) with his mum. And I am convinced he thinks I am his special girlfriend - heaven knows we have had enough kisses involving tongue (his, not mine, obviously!) for him to start to think this might be the case!

Hooray for babies, but hooray hooray hooray for seeing little people becoming themselves.

Poor little gherkin, we have a big long list for him over our three week tourists-in-our-own-town holidays... moving to a big boy bed (well, a mattress on the floor), and toilet training. And even more plans afoot for the doggie-child of the household.... Wish us luck!

xo

[sigh] he is lovely

IMG_99422
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

yep, there's no doubt about it, our boy is delightful!

he is walking, he is talking, he is laughing, he is making us laugh, he is cuddling, kissing, being cheeky... he is just a delight! he loves the wind, loves trams - "ding! ding!" - and loves his dada (he loves his mummy too, he just doesn't know her name yet... still!).

he uses lots of words: more, ta, dadda, nana, ding ding, car, gone, up, tickle, mummy (for dummy), boh-boh (for bottle) mumma (for water). he says moo, snorts like a pig, kisses like a fish, says "whee" when he sees a slippery dip. he can let us know if he feels like a banana or an orange. he understands no (though doesn't always stop what he is doing!), looks for something when you name it, enjoys playing boo, and makes us sing on request by singing little snatched phrases from songs, with their actions - "up above". oh, and he thinks he's hilarious! (which, we think, he really is).

he is delightful. just so lovely. and we get to share him again with family over the next few weeks! can't wait.

chat again soon xo

mmm orange

mmm orange
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

A new favourite food has arrived in the Pickles household... oranges.

We've spent many afternoons and evenings now giggling at the gherkin as he tries to make sure he has every last bit of orange off the peel. He hits the highchair table now as soon as he sees an orange come out of the fridge, and he cries when there is none left.

Mmmmm.... orange.