Do butterflies sleep?
How big are God's feet?
What sound do flying squirrels make?
Mummy, why don't you know?

-Daniel - 9am

Louise has recently learned that her brother can be almost as helpful as her parents, and is certainly more attentive, and perhaps even more in tune with her "needs" (candy, chips, juice, that fantastic sharp shiny looking thing just out of reach). Last night she gave up on asking Daddy for a drink (he was watching TV) and instead turned to 3 year old Daniel who was only too happy to open her cup and pour her water from the bathroom sink. He ran off in delight at the prospect of legitimate water play, with her toddling happily behind him. Here is a picture of them helping themselves to - more candy maybe - while camping at Alice Lake this last week.

Louise likes to put rocks in her mouth. Partially for my reaction I think. Following which she chases me with her tongue hanging out to wipe it on my clothes. She seems to think it’s funny.

Ever conscious of language development, I’ve been saying ‘yuck’ and ‘that’s yucky’ when she munches down on another mouthful of rocks. Toddlers are their own creatures though, and will learn what they will.

This week at Alice Lake camping, she had woken up from a nap fairly cranky, and was finally pacified with a banana. Naturally she decided to amuse herself by eating from the peeled side too. I said ‘yuck’ to her, and she burst into tears! I was perplexed… until the next day. I was drinking hot coffee, which she wanted to share. I couldn’t share piping hot caffeine with my daughter, so I told her it was yucky. She frowned at me in confusion, trying to see if I really meant it, then promptly bent down, picked up a rock and put it in her mouth.

Louise thinks ‘yuck’ means to have a rock in her mouth. I guess she didn’t want to have to eat a rock when she was enjoying her banana!

Louise loves shoes. Louise really loves shoes. We went browsing for sandals yesterday and she grabbed onto one pair and would not let them go. She insisted on trying them on, and immediately took off slap-slap walking around the store in delight. There was no catching her – despite Daniel's best efforts. There was no looking at other shoes – she had chosen. We battled to get them off to check her size. We battled to get them off for bathtime in the evening. We battled to get her to bed. Our compromise was that she could sleep in her shoes. She went to sleep immediately. Louise is 14 months old.

Finished the second cup of coffee - and the blog still seems like an ok idea. Or maybe just more fun than this morning's task at work. So...


One of my favorite photos of my son. He's about 5 days old here. I think he's smiling because he likes wearing clothes matching Mummy's (hah - see if he believes that when he's 14). I just love the focus & delight you see in a baby's eyes with their family.

Does it work?

After a short night, with enough energy from my first cup of coffee - but not enough sense from my yet-to-be-had second cup - this blog seems like a good idea. Caroline (gilbank@blogspot.com) captures so many memories of her children on her blog. Of course with her memory, I'm not always sure why she needs to. It's us poor common folk who can't even remember which suburb we're living in now (yes, that was a problem on my commute home yesterday) who need all the help we can get. I wonder if there are paid blogger/memory keepers out there. And how would they do it? Could I just phone & tell my whole day to someone (not unlike my daily calls with my poor patient Mum) & see it magically appear for perpetuity? Hmm... maybe that's an idea for a business... not that I really want to start yet another business. I'm not even working at the job I'm at right now. Maybe I should get back to it, and stop playing with this blog!