sunday stroll

You can barely make them out in this photo but Schuyler and her mum are actually trying to see some ducks. Unfortunately, the ducks aren't as keen - especially with a ferocious dog barking at them. Strangely the ducks terrified our little cub who jumped into her mother's arms shouting "Keep me safe!".

We all headed out for a walk at Ferry Point Park but were cut off by a squall. So we turned the car around and headed to the botanical gardens where the squall found us again. So a short walk covered in blowing rain at the end.

saturday snapshots

Just a glimpse of some typical Saturday moments in our house. Looks nice and peaceful doesn't it? Well...its much harder to wield a camera when you're battling a tantruming toddler or rescuing the infant from a dangerous sibling. It might be good training for a career in war zone photo journalism though.

storytime

gardening

Our neighbours being the wonderful people they are (having already lent us everything from eggs to a bike pump to a hack saw without any probing questions), offered us carrots from their garden. This meant that Schuyler got to wake up an pluck her breakfast from the ground, clean it and eat it all before 8am. I wish the idea of vegetables in the morning made me as happy as it made her. Still, a great memory... maybe Schuyler will grow up thinking it's normal to have fresh vegetables from a garden. Scary to think how rare that kind of thinking will be then.

chatty charlie

This first video features Charlie chatting a bit while his Mom tries to stop his sister from causing bodily harm through "affection"



Charlie is really chatting us up these days. Mostly vowel noises but he is trying his best to get out a consonant. We attempted to capture some of his cute little cooing on video...Schuyler quickly became involved and the whole session turned into something very different. Watch the beginning of the second video carefully...!!

our 3rd bedroom...

Once upon a time, we had a third bedroom. Sure it was an office and sleeping in it made you feel a bit like you were guarding a nuclear silo but still it was somewhere we could put you all when you came to stay. Now, "Charlie's room" is interchangeable our beloved office meaning that the only time we can meaningfully spend any time working on our computers is daytime on the weekends. It's been an adjustment. Now more than ever we want you all to come and visit and yet we can only offer a surprisingly comfy sofa. We have to figure something out. Also, Schuyler YouTube fetish took a turn for the worse with her discovery of the "We will rock you" version by the tough girl triumvirate of Pink, Beyonce, and Britney.

pigtails

I know I will say this for the rest of her life but I can't believe how grown up my little girl is sometimes. As she put it, she was so recently a "little tiny baby actually". She's so often like a teenager these days: she talks back, deliberately challenges almost every parental wish, and doesn't like to be awakened in the morning. I already think of her wedding and the toast i'll give to her and some guy who will never be worthy of my little girl. Schuyler is a strong-willed little person who definitely knows what she wants. Her favourite colour appears to be purple. She's really loving Where The Wild Things Are which both she and her Dad discovered for the first time ("I like this book, Daddy. Yes, I really do."). She really digs yoghurt. And green beans. Sometimes together. Any interesting shaped bread attracts her (eg. hot dog buns). She'll eat spoonfuls of olive tapenade on its own. She takes care of her dolls Dee Dee and Alexandra. She builds forts and loves playing hide and seek.

tummy time for two

Schuyler shows her little brother how it's done in a Tummy Time face off... apparently they have found something they both love: their reflections.

funny faces

Naturally, Schuyler has had to spend some time working out how this new situation works and where she fits into the whole picture (join the club, Schuyler!). Currently, if Charlie is doing it, chances are that Schuyler wants to do it too (I'm sure this situation will reverse in a couple of years). This includes such fun-filled activities as "sitting on Mummy's knee" (in addition to things like wearing a diaper and other activities - suckling! - that are best left to infants). [Above] Schuyler works her way onto a lap that was built for exactly one kid. Fortunately, Charlie and Mummy are good sports about the whole thing.

It's odd how primordial jealousy is. We see it in ourselves (jealous of people with more free time, jealous of our former selves). We see it in Schuyler (jealous of attention given to this New Kid). We see it in Magic (jealous of everyone who is now ahead of him in the pecking order). Kids, jealousy is natural but it gets you nowhere. Just ask Magic.

a walk in the park

With everyone either fighting off the stomach bug that has infected half of the island (Schuyler) or surviving on way too little sleep because of it (Mum and Papa) or just plain sick with some chest cough that sounds like it belongs in the middle ages (Charlie), we thought we'd all benefit from a nice stroll through the Botanical Gardens. Magic enjoyed himself immensely. Sadly, our other kids were either too little to realise that they had left the house or too tired to enjoy the walk. Still, the parents breathed fresh air and walked farther than the distance between the car and the house, which was an improvement on their current exercise routine.