I don’t know when it happened but sometime a few days ago ‘mummy’ was gone and was promptly replaced by ‘mum’. I’m not sure how I feel about this forging ahead into little kid-dom. But I think it’s fair to say I’m not a fan. Not even a little bit. I was initially reluctant to be called ‘mummy’ just because I always called my mum by her first name. But now I’m actually quite attached to it. And this mum business? Just doesn’t cut the mustard.

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This morning we braved sub-zero temperatures to go to the park and take some photos. Ok. It probably wasn’t sub-zero. And drama queen tendencies notwithstanding, I’m told that yesterday was the coldest day in 30 years.
It always amazing how much I enjoy new words. Today it was ‘pel-can!’ (translation: pelican). And as the lone pelican moved away from the shore ‘home. Bye-bye pel-can, soo-soon!’ (translation: see you soon). And even more fun, is the unexpected words that tend to make it into Riley’s vocabulary. We saw a dog on the …

Who wouldn’t want to kiss those mooshy cheeks?
It’s no secret (if you twitter) that I’ve been feeling a little low. A few things happened today to cheer me up.
When I got in the shower this morning there was a lovely message from Mr Goog using the foam letters that we have in there for Riley to play with. And he had to get creative because he could only use each letter once.
I was tickled pink to have Riley tell the doctor her age when I was at my appointment today. …

Riley has started talking. Even when she’s not actually saying words (at least not ones that I can understand) she babbles. Today she sang along to ‘Twinkle Twinkle’. I nearly died from the cuteness of it alone. She has been starting to say words and mimic words for awhile. But I have really seen it explode over the last week. She was slow to talk, at first. Probably because she didn’t need to.
Mostly she says single words like ‘shoes’, ‘shorts’, ‘help’ (finally! It’s a welcome change from the grunting), ‘Josh’, …

I am extremely soft-hearted when it comes to Riley. I don’t think twice about her sharing our bed when she wants to, lying down with her if she needs company to go to sleep, reading her a story when I’m trying to get work done or cuddling her through a tantrum. It’s not always convenient, somtimes it’s even boring (I challenge you to sit in a dark room for over an hour and not get at least a little bored) and it can be tiring. But I wouldn’t have it …

The theme this week at i heart faces is hands on fun. My struggle? Getting the energiser bunny to stay still long enough for me to even have a hope of capturing those busy, busy hands. And in the end I was only able to get one of them. It’s a victory, trust me.
It’s amazing how there is nothing gradual about development in toddlers and babies. It only seems to happen in a great giant leap, that leaves you wondering where your baby has gone. Riley had one of those …

I think it’s quite possible that all I will hear for the next year is “No! No!” and “Me!, Me!”. My ears are bleeding, seriously. I can even here the phrases echoing in my ear when she’s not saying them (because she’s asleep). I’ve been threatening to walk around all day with headphones on for days. And so I guess she’s cottoned on to the idea that it’s an idle threat on my part. You’ll remember I was the one who wanted her to talk. So I got what I …

I never thought I’d be one to particularly enjoy the toddler years. The tantrums, the not having a clue what they’re saying half the time, the wilfullness. But in true, biased parent style, every age is my favourite.
And there’s a lot to love about the toddler stage. The beginning of words (even if I can only decipher some of them), the emergence of a little person with distinct ideas and preferences and the way sheer joy that they demonstrate on any given day.
Today, I loved that even though I was …

Fair Warning – this is going to be one of those super mooshy posts where I wax lyrical about how much I love my baby. If it’s not your kind of thing you may want to skip over it or get a bucket. But don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

I’ve had a rough week. And I suppose I haven’t been my usual Christmas-enthusiast (rabid fanatical) self. I’d hoped to be pleasantly pregnant during the festive season, but my miscarriage threw me a bit of a curve ball. Physically, I’m …

I read Best Blog Posts of 2009 at Scary Mommy and thought it was a pretty cool idea – if I have only got 6 months to choose from. I started this blog in July, thinking that it would be fun to do every now and then, but it quickly became more addictive than I’d imagined it could be.
July: Things I Learnt In My First Year (Part 1)
Breastfeeding: not as natural as you’d think
August: Things I Learnt In My First Year (Part II)
Sleep: apparently it’s optional
September: Crying It Out to …