big girl? baby girl?

Ok we are back. I guess we have been busy. Me growing another little bubba human being and Miss T perfecting a fair few new skills

1. how to throw a good old tantrum (if this isn't the terrible 2's I am terrified!)
2. how to quack like a duck, bark like a dog (or Popo in our case) and roar like a lion
3. how to feed herself with a spoon (she has become quite the pro and really delights in this new skill)
4. An almost mature understanding of item in the house and who they belongs to…mum’s bag, dad’s hat, popo’s ball…she says and delivers...this seriously blows my mind.
5. And probably the most endearing of her new achievements…an absolute gusto ritual of saying goodbye or goodnight to Apollo. This involves a repetitive ‘night night Popo or bye Popo” followed by a massive cuddle and kiss on the lips. We do not leave the house or head to bed until this is completed.

Yes Miss T is growing up before our very eyes and most days we see this big girl who is well on her way to becoming a big sister in November.

But not on Tuesday. Instead I saw a baby girl, my precious baby girl terrified by a 4 year old Iron Man at the park. The playground was full of other little kiddies having a great time and Miss T seemed to be the only one impacted by a little boy dressed in costume from head to toe. I watched her spot him and observe him from a distance with serious concern before bursting into tears and running for comfort. And with me she sat until Iron Man headed home. I felt such compassion for her little mind that was trying to understand why he looked so different and so scary but I won’t lie, I quietly enjoyed the long cuddles and company I received at a pace so foreign in the busy world that is Miss T.

Keeping a close eye on Iron Man

Not convinced about this guy

 

FOMO

We have known for quite some time now that Miss T has a fear of missing out, you know the dreaded FOMO that prevents her from ever slowing the pace, or sleeping too long or sleeping at all when we have friends and family over. It's a facet of her robust personality that we have always found hilarious. Nothing changed on our recent trip to Bali. Miss T woke like clock work every morning at 4.30AM! (Woo! love a family holiday). Our fabulous 4.30am starts meant the hubby and I took turns on the graveyard shift and desperately waited for the sun to rise (while trying to entertain a highly 'spirited' 14 month old ) so we could make a dash to the beach and restore our sanity.

What we did however discover during our little get away was that mumma in fact also suffers from a severe case of  FOMO...we were lucky enough to have a divine nanny helping us with Miss T for portions of the day. While she took our darling to the kids club, for a swim at the pool or watched her while she slept, the hubby would routinely counsel me, mumma as I descended into a FOMO moment.
The hubby would whisper sweet words of encouragement to get me through...

'honey I know you want her to want to sit with us while we sip coffee but she wants to play with the kids and all the toys'
'you deserve a break'
'babe, she is sleeping your not missing out on anything'.

Now if I had known that for the entire week after returning from paradise Miss T was not going to sleep properly, nor sleep more than 30minutes max during the day( perhaps to catch up on our time apart!? Thoughtful daughter I have...) then maybe I would have dealt with my FOMO moments a little better bit who was to know...

Like mother like daughter it seems.

 

 

pure magic

Everyone tells you they grow up so fast. That before you know it they will be teenagers, getting married or having their own babies. They say that, believe it or not you will miss even the hardest moments and all those sleepless nights. And I believe them. My baby girl is growing up so fast. And over the last week or so (that has been a little trying- hand, foot and mouth virus for poor Miss T) I have tried to remember these words. When she has insisted on extra time, cuddles and attention even at 2am I have tried to remember these words.



I'm sorry my post has been a little delayed but with a sick, clingy bubba I have had to put Miss T first and to be honest I have felt like I have had little to offer. And any down time I have had, I have spent panicking about whether Miss T would be well enough for our up coming holiday in 5 sleeps time...And all I've got to say right now is, arn't they just pure magic. When Miss T hurled herself at me for extra cuddles all day today I knew it was her way of saying thank you. When she repeatadly said ' Dadda, bye bye Dadda' all morning long, I thought she certainly knows how to work her father. And when she proceeded to inform me that we were going for a walk by collecting her backpack, my hand AND by turning off the TV. I thought yep they are pure magic 

Trying to tell me something Miss T?

Even unwell this girl knows how to smile x

See you when we get back from our little getaway x

don't sweat the small things

Miss T is heading on 14months old! Seriously! What has surprised me the most is that I am much more relaxed now about the small things. Obviously I care enormously about her health and well being but I am far less fussy or (obsessive perhaps) than I thought I would be…I like to think this is a good thing. This week saw Miss T enjoy her new day bed... while some would see germs, dog hair and grime (including the hubby who just can’t handle it) I see a cheeky little lady enjoy her best pals place of rest.

Miss T even enjoyed the odd TV lunch (something I swore I would never do!) but on these few days guess what, I did it and Miss T ate fabulously and mumma enjoyed a slightly less challenging experience…

And we even enjoyed a bit of gelato at 3.30pm. Yep that’s right, just before dinner time, to celebrate the news of a dear friends shortly arriving baby girl…yep life is good x

 

homework

I had my first piece of homework last week. For daycare that is. It made me a bit excited about all the little future projects Miss T and I will work on together. I absolutely love the idea of the dining table being overtaken by pre-school, kindy, school, high school and university projects in the many years to come. I know Miss T didn’t request an enthusiastic art and craft obsessed mumma but that’s what she got. We are going to have sooo much fun. Ok maybe by university (or even high school) she will be letting me down lightly when I make assignment suggestions but until that day I am going to be her little second hand. For Daycare I needed to complete,  in visuals two little work sheets titled ‘ About Me’ and ‘Our Family’. The questions were simple but they really made me stop and think.  As she would be putting it up in her classroom wall I wanted to be authentic to Miss T and her family and I wanted to put the biggest smile on her face in the process. Is I completed my work it was amazing to see how Miss T's identity is already so complex. I have always said to the hubby, 'isn't it amazing that she has been on this earth for just over 400 days ( give or take depending on when I get all deep and emotional) but already it is clear that she was always meant to be here. We have just spent the first part of our life waiting for her'. And doing this little bit of homework cemented this for me. On these two little worksheets all the most important and influential people in Miss T's life are present, her history is spelt out, her loves, passions and strengths are already present. Poor Miss T better hope mumma doesn't get this soppy over every assignment...

Walking home from daycare. Miss T is getting the hang of her new routine.

A snippet of our work in progress...

It went down like this...

There have been a number of incidents over the last few days that havn't been exactly note worthy mumma moments for me. I am not proud of them but when I look back on them this morning they are kind of funny. I do take pride in the kind of mumma I am most of the time so it is hard for me to decide which of these moments I am confident enough to disclose. All I can say is, it isn't always easy being a mumma, especially being a sick mumma and atleast I can laugh at myself.

Should I tell you about the two men (working for a pretty worthy cause) outside the local supermarket that I ever so slightly attacked. Who to my defence wouldn't leave me alone when I was feeling slightly faint (yay for gastro)... ok why not...My internal dialogue should have been 'stay calm and carry on' but it wasn't. It went down like this.. me storming out of supermarket, Miss T in pram losing her mind, hubby with dog vanished, me furious and obviously not really coping...

Young man(YM): are you looking for something?
Mumma(M): yes my hubby and dog
Miss T (MT): still screaming
YM : I havn't seen a husband with a dog here lately! (HELPFUL)
M: well that's interesting because they were here with me 3 minutes ago

YM: why don't you talk to us instead?

M: Seriously, I don't feel well and I am not in the mood (hands waving, feel stomping)
MT: still screaming
Hubby (H): cruising down the street loving his sunday
M: gives pram to hubby, tries to lock pram, pram wont lock, kicks pram lock a number of times...
M: ranting about young men who won't leave me alone
H: babe, they arn't in your world, they don't understand that you are stressed out and unwell. They are just going about their day...sunday bliss I tell you

 



Or should I tell you about my mexican stand off with the hubby this morning  Much less aggressive but never the less I was determined to win. It went down like this...

 

6.20 Miss T wakes and starts crying, I roll over and look at the time, I snuggle back into bed and hope that the hubby will attend to our crying bubba. It should only take a few minutes. (It is a tactic I have used often and had a high success rate with. Why? Because as Miss T spent a good part of her first year as a notoriously bad sleeper, the deal was I did the nights and dadda did the mornings. This worked well but now that Miss T is a pretty good sleeper we do occassionally have a stand off).

 

6.23 Miss T continues to cry (I swear I am not a bad mumma), I look over in hubby's direction to see if there is any movement, nope nothing. I roll back over and keep trying, bubba is still crying (I swear I am not a bad mumma), hubby seems pretty determined himself this morning...I jump out of bed with a little huff and puff, look back at out bed and all becomes clear. There is no hubby only pillows. Hubby has gone to the gym...

 

Atleast I can laugh at myself. I like to think I am not the only one who sometimes sinks instead of swims...I would love to hear of some of your meltdown moments?

 

Mumma has had a few of these moments...



so obviously there was no hubby!

 

our fav haunt

We have been a little bit out of action over the last week as poor Miss T has had a nasty cold and cough. We have had our fair share of sleepless nights and we are both suffering from serious cabin fever. I've also had to decline a bundle of social mumma activities this week and I am well and truly ready to have a well bubba again. Come on bubba get better!!!

So today as she was feeling a little bit better and the rain had temporarily subsided we headed to one of our current fav haunts...This gorgeous little hole in the wall cafe. We sipped hot coffee, nibbled on some goodies, read the Sunday paper and people watched...ha! Who am I kidding!!! Our fav haunt pre-Miss T may have been an inner city cafe but today we headed to a humble suburban park. Who would have thought this would bring mumma and dadda (and bubba of course!) so much satisfaction.

Before heading to the park the hubby drove around the neighbourhood in circles trying to get Miss T to catch up on some much needed sleep while I ran around in circles in the supermarket stocking up on much needed baby supplies and we collected take away coffee's and lunch on route. By the time we arrived at our fav, our coffees weren't so hot, neither was our food actually and there certainly wasn't time to people watch and read the paper...but Miss T was delighted and that was all that mattered. The fresh air and family time was exactly what the doctor ordered. Bring on the sunshine and a healthy Miss T.