A Work In Progress

Apparently Mums are allowed one toilet story a year so as not to annoy others with the billions of horrendous toilet stories we could tell over the life of our kids.  So here is mine.....not horrendous at all, just a celebration of bodily functions executed in the correct place. We had our first pee in the potty! More by accident than design but still super proud. Yay Grace!! In other news Grace has started singing "mummy on the bus goes oink oink oink".  Thanks Grace. Points for creativity but points off for not winning any friends (except daddy who thinks it's hilarious).

So proud of Grace!! Last night I sang her favourite bed time song to settle her (Lavender's Blue aka "Dilly Dilly") to settle her then off to sleep she went. Today did same at nap time. She has asked for dummy a couple of times but once shown the broken dummy, she was fine with not using it. So proud. I know how hard it is to try get over a habit and I have failed many times.  She is coping so well and finding other ways to keep calm when she gets stressed. Well done Grace!

The genetics lottery can be a bitch. Sorry Grace from Mama.

I'm so proud of Grace. Her dummy "broke" this morning (we cut the end off) and through today we keep showing her and she has understood that it doesn't work anymore (so cute seeing her explain to her grandpa that it's broken and showing him the dummy).  She has gotten through the day including a nap and bed time. It's been hard because she has had to think through new ways to settle herself but she has done it. Well done Grace!! Hoping tomorrow is just as successful!

Getting ready for duck negotiations - round two.

So here is my issue: I want my bridesmaids to look good, but not so good that they outshine me. My bridesmaids are all petite and gorgeous. I'm leaning towards wearing something outrageous in order to at least draw eyes to me. Thoughts?

There was a hostage situation at Grace's play group today. It started when Grace arrived. She took 10 ducks hostage and WOULD NOT share. Grace spent the whole session holding the ducks. When she grew tired of carrying them she found a trolley to carry them in. She guarded them with her life. Grace's Dad convinced her to abandon them for a moment to ride a rocking horse but this resulted in the loss of 8 ducks to assorted kiddies. Grace was NOT impressed and increased her vigilance on her remaining two ducks. And then it was time to go home. Silly Dadda thought they would leave without the ducks. Silly Dadda. Grace outlined her conditions...which essentially boiled down to "I'm only leaving if the ducks go with me". Expert hostage negotiators were bought in. Trades of stickers for ducks were offered. This was raised to stickers with googly eyes. Grace remained resolute. Tonight I came home to a new duck in our house. She also got the googly eye sticker. Gra...

As an adult it's hard not to be obsessed with your phone.   As a two year old, this magical device offers sounds, images and the chance to look at pictures and movies of yourself. It's the must have accessory and means the word "phone" is become a word used far frequently in a child's vocabulary than ever before. As a parent, it's hard. I love pictures of Grace and when she has taken them herself they are even more delicious. It's hard to resist watching in awe as she navigates the device to find her favourite videos of herself and her cousin blowing bubbles or see her find her way onto YouTube to watch the Simon's Cat cartoon. My techno girl met me for lunch yesterday and "Phone Mum Peeeease" was requested. I know I gotta watch this screen time thing as there is so much research that shows its not good. Parenting is hard - being bad guy in the moment in order to set them up for the future. I often lie in bed at night wondering "how ha...

Our little girl is getting more independent and has started with a play group. Dad still attends but each session Grace gets braver at stepping a wee bit further away from her dadda. I'm proud of them both. They are both growing as people and I love them more every day (if that's possible!!). My second day at work went well. I'm exhausted but I'm equally energised by the challenges ahead. The one thing I struggle with is comparing where I'm at professionally with other people my age. It's not a good thing to do. It's fine to be  competitive but it's not great to constantly compare yourself to others and find yourself lacking. For one thing, you never have the complete picture of someone else's life. What can seem like the "perfect life" can actually be anything but. My constant mantra at the moment is to find joy in the life I have - and there is a lot!  Yes people earn more than me, have more status. But that is only part of their worl...

1. The commute! 30- 40 min each way of free flowing traffic. 2. Free beverages and fruit 3. Great offices - decor is cool 4. Nice people. Made me feel really welcome. 5. Super awesome projects to work on!! I'm really excited about what I will doing. So yay!!