My son wakes from his nap. I can hear him in his cot, gooing and giggling at himself. I creep up the hallway to see whether he is likely to go back to sleep, but he hears me instead. I can see him wiggling and smiling, just waiting for me to come and get him. I pick him up and kiss the softness of his exposed skin, he doubles himself up into a ball and laughs, long and loud. Smiling, I carry him out into the lounge room and lay him down on the floor. A moment later, I lay down too. I kiss his... Read Full Story

Yesterday we received the results of Amy’s blood test results for Coeliacs. It was negative for the antibodies commonly found in people with Coeliacs when they’re eating gluten. However. Amy showed all the classic symptoms of a child with Coeliacs when we put her back on gluten. Tummy upsets and pain, bloating, rapid and insane mood swings, and finally, the big one, drastic weight loss. My little girl? She weighed 1kg less than 8 weeks ago when she was weighed in the Paeds office.... Read Full Story

Dear lady in the blue top eating lunch at Eastlands today. Hi. I was sitting just behind you with my partner and our baby. I don’t even think you noticed me, you were interested in eating your lunch and talking with your friend. I’m thankful for that, truly I am. I was eating my lunch and sharing bits with my wiggly son. Eventually he cracked the shits with his stroller and started throwing food around. So I did what anyone would do in my situation, I gave up on solid food and bre... Read Full Story

Yesterday was shit. Even though Isaac standing up on everything was very cute, it was slightly less cute when he used my ponytail to haul himself to standing. Once there, he tried to remain standing, using my eye sockets. He’s very um, grabby. And his grabby hurts. Sometimes I’d just like to put mittens on him so he can’t keep trying to claw me to bits. Add the grabbing, standing, falling and clawing to a lovely tummy bug and Isaac was miserable yesterday. So was I actually,... Read Full Story

Just oh dear. He pulled up on the couch for the first time a few days ago. It was a wobbly start with plenty of falls. Today though, he has his feet sorted and he is upright and standing at every opportunity. Even if the only thing to pull up on is my hair, he is managing it. He’s still so tiny! He’s meant to be my baby, not my upright mobile toddler. Shit. *** Update: In other news, remember that ChupaChup challenge I did a few weeks back? I would love it if you could head over ... Read Full Story

Today I went out to lunch with Mum, a day before my birthday. We went for sushi MINUS the children and oh, it was lovely. Why, you might ask, didn’t we go out tomorrow on my actual birthday? Well tomorrow (today by the time I finish typing this, as it’s 11.53pm and Amy has just woken again) I reserve for sleeping in late (if I make it to 9am, I’ll be pleased), eating cheese and biscuits (well, rice crackers, but whatever), demanding foot rubs at every opportunity and general... Read Full Story

I can’t talk about it anymore. The grief, it is crushing and although I laugh and smile, I can’t breathe. Often, I have to remind myself to keep breathing, to keep moving, otherwise I’d be found, struck dumb with tears streaming down my face. Unmoving and uncaring. I cope  by moving through my moments without thinking about it. If I consciously don’t think about her, then I can move through my day without hurting. Then something will happen. And the enormity of what we... Read Full Story

I rang poison control today. Yes, it finally happened, I had to ring them. Amy took the lid off a spray bottle filled with pine-o-clean and eucalyptus oil and used the straw part (you know, the part that actually sucks up the liquid so it can be squirted? yes, that part) as a straw to drink her milk. The cup smelled like pine-o-clean, the straw smelled like pine-o-clean and her breath smelled like, you guessed it, pine-o-clean. Sigh. We were given instructions on what to watch for and what to... Read Full Story

When the highlight of your day was finding two freddo frogs inside one wrapper, you know it’s not been a good day. If when you found the freddos, you promptly snapped a photo so you could blog it, then it’s definitely not been a good day. NaBlo, it’s been lovely, but don’t think I can subject everyone to this quality all month. Gah. Read Full Story

AKA Too much information, so uh, walk away now if you’re one of my male readers. **** Today is day #5 of my period and I’ve bled through 3 pairs of underwear already today. Despite using tampons sized the equivalent of a small nation. Last night I bled through another 3 pairs of underwear and 2 pairs of pajama bottoms. I was still awake every hour to go to the toilet. Yesterday I bled through a tampon, a full sized maternity pad AND 3 panty liners I’d put on underneath the m... Read Full Story