days like these

 

It wasn’t a weekend I thought I’d have anything to say about, but the more I think about it, the more I reflect on what’s truly worth documenting, and the more I’d say this weekend was as memorable as any other I’ve had in a long while.

After the chaos of last weekend’s birthday party and a week of more emotional ups and downs than I care to experience again for a long while, it was somewhat of a relief to approach the weekend with no plans and enough prior organisation to be able to actually relax, rather than running around trying to get things done and be places.

Saturday morning saw the return of Ollie’s swimming lesson, which we’ve missed for three weekends now due to snotty noses, the Noosa triathlon (which I never did write about) and Ollie’s birthday party.  It was a well timed break, as Ollie’s been less than enthusiastic about his swimming lately, not so much about being in the pool, but about having to be told what to do (nothing new there, then).   We’ve even ended lessons early, letting him tell us when he’s had enough, instead of making him go through the nursery rhymes and monkey-monkeying when he’d rather not.  But he seemed to enjoy swimming on Saturday, and after his lesson he had a splash in the mushroom pool, a little wading pool with mushrooms that spray icy cold water, pretty good fun for what ended up being a hot, sunny morning. 

And then we came home and hung out in the garden.  Ollie helped pot one of the many houseplants that need repotting (he really did help) and seemed to love it.  Max watched from his shady spot under our sweet jacaranda and I took a few photographs, lamenting the coming end of spring and the glorious green and floral display that is our garden.  

An impromptu visit from his Great Aunty Anne, possibly Ollie’s favourite person pretty much sealed the Saturday deal, especially when Will’s cousin Ben came with her, giving Ollie the perfect opportunity to show off his toys, practice giving ‘respect’ and shaking Ben by the hand. 

Sunday was almost as good, but we didn’t sleep well, as Max has an ulcer in his mouth that is preventing him from enjoying his food and so he’s hungry, all the time, drinking only milk.  Poor little guy seems so forlorn, but I guess we have to accept that it will take time for him to feel better and it’s not so bad now that we know what’s wrong.  Ollie handled a trip to the bakery, a visit to the doctor with his brother and the dull task of grocery shopping in his stride and even seemed to enjoy his meals.  And I can't quite believe that the boys both slept for over two hours and lunch time, and even more unbelievable is that I took a nap too.  

So, none of this seems terribly exciting, important or noteworthy, but it all happened without a tantrum, without tears and with the kind of enthusiasm and sweetness that I crave with my boys.  Maybe it's because we didn't let the expectation of a tantrum ruin what we wanted to do, or maybe Ollie's just realising it's actually a lot of fun when he tries to communicate with us.  Or maybe it was just a one off great weekend.  Either way, it’s days like these that make it.

party time!

We've just finished a weekend of birthday partying.  The threat of bad weather remained just that, and we had beautiful clear, blue, sunny skies.  We held the party indoors anyway (the forecast was for showers and a thunderstorm) and our little house didn't feel so little once we'd moved the furniture around, put up my bunting and opened up the doors and windows.

The house looked so colourful and the we made just the right amount of food, cake and party bags (paper lunch bags, tied with string and filled with home made cookies, a Matchbox car and stickers) and every toy was scattered around the house with little people's sticky fingers on and in everything.  The food was delicious and home made (cookies, birthday cake, sandwiches, fruit, corn chips, avocado dip and salsa, obligatory chocolate rice crispies) and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, kids and grown-ups alike.  It was just how a party should be.

And Ollie?  He had a blast.  He was a little over excited when the first guests arrived and a bit miffed with his favourite truck being so popular with his cousins, but he soon settled down and handled everyone playing with his toys and taking over his territory remarkably well, especially since he decided not to have a nap before his guests arrived (yikes!).  Ollie even seemed to love the chorus of 'Happy Birthday' and was pretty happy with his birthday cake, not to mention the cookies he managed to consume.  There were a few moments in the afternoon when I caught him sitting quietly, playing with his cars, noise and activity around him, in his own, happy little world.  Max was a good little guy, too.  He's had a couple of unsettled days (teeth?) but seemed to take the 30 or so mainly new people in his house in his stride (although the balloons did make him cry).  His kind eyes and sweet, calm temperament were a predictable hit with everyone.  

After the boys were bathed and in bed, Will and I ended the day with a quick tidy up and a well earned early night, and thankfully our boys let us sleep until the morning.  And today, we spent the day slowly opening each of the very thoughtful and generous gifts from Ollie's friends and family.  My feet still ache and I'm knackered from the build up to the big day, but it was all worth it.

happy diwali

A wish for light, love and peace.

bunting

Finally, a finished project to write about.  It's taken a week of dedication to self imposed deadlines to complete this very festive, homemade fabric party garland.  I'm an inexperienced sewer so I didn't embark on this with any level of skill, but I did know what I wanted it to look like and that's always a good start.



I used this fabric bundle from Purl Soho, which I bought a little while back.  It is a collection of 52 fat eighths of fabric, enough for the coloured bit of their colour wheel quilt.  Though it's stunning, I didn't want to make the quilt, but I knew I could do something with all that fabric as I have an affinity for all things colour ordered (our vinyl, cds, books and dare I admit to it, my wardrobe is all ordered by colour) so I convinced myself to buy the bundle.  I'm glad I did, because a few weeks ago, I was lying in bed, not able to sleep, frustrated with my lack of progress in getting to know my relatively new sewing machine and decided I needed a project to mark Ollie's second birthday.  And so it came to me that a party garland of every colour of the rainbow would look brilliant in our green garden, or against our white VJ walls.  I had the fabric, I just needed to get on with it.  So I did!

Cutting the fabric was the most time consuming part of the process, but I like repetitive, meditative labour, and a couple of hours over a couple of evenings saw the triangles cut and ordered.  I managed to get two flags out of each fat eighth, but these are double sided so that the garland should look good from any angle and added to the colour wheel bundle from my own stash.  (I saved a small scrap from each piece of fabric and I'm thinking of making a permanent mini-garland (with ribbon rather than bias tape) for Max's room.)

I sewed along the longer edges of each flag to prevent the raw edges from fraying too much (I think a little fraying will look nice over time), and I used a pale grey thread (I couldn't find any invisible thread, but the grey is hardly visible).  I realised half way through that I should be chain piecing them together rather than doing them individually and once I'd had this epiphany (I am a beginner) I zipped through them and the flags were all ready to go.

I made some bias tape, double folded (in half lengthways and then raw edges folded into the middle) and pressed it, ready to sew to the flags.  I had some cute blue binding leftover from Ollie's quilt but it was a little wider than I needed it to be and there wasn't quite enough.  But, I did have enough natural muslin to make the 20 or so metres of tape that I needed and before too long, it was done and ready to use. I pinned the flags to the tape and started sewing last night and this afternoon, sewed the last couple of dozen flags onto the tape.

I couldn't wait to hang it, so while the boys were sleeping, I haphazardly hung it in our dining area, took a shaky snapshot to email to Will at work and sat back to admire my handiwork.  I am very happy with the end result and it's better than I had envisaged it.  Our house is now ready for a party.

jacaranda

Before they disappear, here are some photographs of the blooms on our jacaranda tree, which we planted just after we moved into this home four years ago this month.  It's the first time the tree has blossomed; we've waited and waited and finally, it has added some beautiful colour to our garden, giving us that final nod that summer is well and truly on its way.

I will miss the jacarandas when we leave Brisbane.  But I won't miss the summer.

new tooth

Little Max has a tooth!  I didn't think I would be as excited as I was to discover the tiny little white tooth, but it was so lovely to see our little boy reach his next milestone.  He's yet to sit up for more than a short moment and doesn't like spending much time on his tummy, so it's going to be a while before he's mobile (he'll know when it's time) but he's definitely growing up, reminding us that while we're lavishing attention on his louder, bigger brother, he's there too.  Cute as a button.

another journey around the sun

Oliver James Downes:  Two years old.

Ollie's birthday was the most brilliant day I think I have spent with him in a very long time.  We chatted about this and that, we played chase, we read stories, we ate our meals with enthusiasm, we played with our new wooden workbench and a new orange car and I got more spontaneous hugs than I could count.  Ollie's dad spent a couple of hours with him in the morning before work, setting up his workbench and chatting to his nanni and nanna on Skype, and while the boys were asleep at lunch time, I started planning his birthday party and spent more than a moment reflecting on the incredible day I gave birth to Oliver.

It was a day that reminded me that in between the chores and tasks that can't be ignored, it can be so much fun to hang out with Ollie (although he wouldn't let us sing 'Happy Birthday' to him) and I forget this all to easily when I'm struggling to juggle everything and Ollie's having a bad day.  It was so refreshing and energizing to have such a positive day with Ollie, made even more special because it was his birthday.


He's just a normal, crazy haired kid with good days and bad, and I don't think I'd appreciate him nearly as much as I do if everyday was easy.  Happy birthday, Ollie.

first cut

Last night, Will was working late.  The boys were fed, bathed and went to bed with no fuss (may this become a trend) and I ate a dinner of beans on toast.  It was deliberate that dinner be so quick and easy (and satisfying) because I wanted to make the most of the quiet time to start on a little project to mark our son's second birthday.

So, with Radio 4 streaming on my laptop and the evening rain for company (a surefire recipe for homesickness), I sat down, rotary cutter in hand and made the first cut.

difficult days

The last couple of days, my patience (what little there is of it) has been almost entirely worn thin.  I love Ollie so much, but right now, motherhood is not proving enjoyable.

The screaming at bedtime is particularly tough, and we are going through a difficult period of hysterical tantrums and clinginess, making daycare drop offs and pick ups emotionally trying.  Each night for the last few, I've gone to bed feeling inadequate for losing my temper and shouting at Ollie when he needs patience, something which I've always lacked and am struggling to find more of.

I suppose I am looking for some reassurance that what I'm going through is normal, and that our son is going to grow up to be a charming, well mannered, kind hearted and communicative young man.  Somebody, anybody, please tell me this will happen.

gardenia

They are short lived in the sun but they are spectacular.  This is the first year they have bloomed so incredibly; you can smell the perfume as you pull into our driveway!