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

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

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.

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

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

baby in the making guessing competition - an update

So, here are the guesses so far.... good luck everyone! Oh, and a very special mention to Glen who has us going well past our due date... thankyou! And to Fi, who has decided that those born on the 4th July are genuinely outstanding people (I wonder where she got this idea xo), so is wishing that for our baby in the making!

Keep those guesses coming! Will update with another belly shot in the next couple of days...
xo