Toxic house?

Is our house toxic? Are bacteria and viruses lurking at every corner, waiting to attack when they see fit. It sure feels like it. One of us has been ill for over 4 weeks now. From Gastro, to colds to croup to throat and chest infections, we have had a plethora of ills. I can only hope this is the last of it, and we can enjoy the upcoming silly season in good health. Roland and I can cope, but it is awful when you baby is crying with exhaustion because he is struggling to sleep due to having a horrible cough and a runny nose. End whinge!

This week has seen Brodie starting to stand all by himself and take his first very tentative step alone. He has yet to repeat that task, I think he scared himself when he realized that he was “going it alone”, and promptly fell to his knees with a strange look on his face J He gets so very excited to be standing by himself, and grins madly, which is usually followed by some very loud cheering from Mum and Dad! He has also discovered the word Ouwwwe, and uses it frequently. Very cute.

Granma arrives today to stay with us for the week. I sure hope she has her sleep bank in tip top shape and has boundless energy. I wonder, does she know what she has let herself in for ……… :-)

Ciao

Changes..........

Another week has passed and a lot has happened this week. Roland and I have had crazy weeks at work, and not enough sleep! I have some experiments that need to be finished ASAP, before I start writing my first major grant as a chief researcher (which is a scary thought) and which I am in two minds about writing. On one hand it will be exciting to take full control of a project from its inception and put myself out there in the scientific reviewing community, but on the other hand the I have yet to grasp the enormity of the task and of how I will deal with any criticism that is not constructive (if this come my way).

Our nanny has quit and given us 1.5 weeks notice. She has a job offer in her "real" job field and so we have advertised for some new to work 1.5 days per week for us. We have interviewed some already and we believe we will find someone just right. Additionally, we were so fortunate to have been given a place for Brodie at a childcare centre literally 3 mins walk from my workplace. it is a lovely centre. Brodie will be going on Thursdays and Fridays and I believe that he will be very happy there once he has settled in. maybe he can show the others how well he "reads" books :-)

Thought I'd include some recent photos of Brodie, these two are my current favorites

Well, enough for tonight, it is nearly 9 m and I am ready for bed. How sad!

Ciao

Recovery weekend

Gastro has hit the whole house. Roland first, then darling Brodie and then me. Poor Brodie, it hit him the hardest and he was unwell most of last week. But, he still managed a smile and a cuddle for Mum most days. He has pretty much recovered now and is back to his "cyclone child" self. Full of energy and as cheeky as ever.

We had a very relaxing weekend this weekend. Breakfast at da Cellini on Sat morning, with toast and a babychino for the bear. A bit of shopping in the afternoon for shoes for Brodie and lots of play/rest at home. On Sunday we hit the furniture stores and ordered a high boy with matching bedside tables for Roland and I. Brodie had a great time. The furniture place we ordered our furniture from has two resident dogs. They are those dogs with the loose, floppy skin, can't remember what breed, but they are the most passive, relaxed beautiful dogs. Brodie *had* to pat them, he just had to. So with myself positioned between Brodie and the head of the younger of the two, Jaspers, he attempted to pat him. Poor Jasper got a bit scared of Brodies boundless exuberance and left pretty fast!

This afternoon we went to Glebe park and Brodie had a wonderful time on the baby swing and the see saw, and plenty of time crawling through the grass. So a relaxed weekend was had by all.

Ciao :-)

Not feeling so well

Our poor Brodie bear is not feeling so well at the moment. He has had diarrhoea in the last 24 hours and that's just not very nice (for anyone!) and certainly not for a little one like him.

We make sure he has lots of water to drink to keep him hydrated and hope that he will be better soon again.

Lions and Tigers and Bears. Oh my!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY BRODIE BEAR!

Brodie bear celebrated his first birthday on October 6th. We had a jungle party – complete with a Leonardo Lion cake! Which was easier to make than it looks, and comes complements of Granma. Thank you Granma! My Mum, Dad and brother came up for the weekend to celebrate, and we had a party on Saturday afternoon. We had our friends Janine, Neri and Antonio (and their wonderful friends from Scotland), Megan, Ryan and Isobel (10 months old),Cate and Maya and Zach (9 months old), and Isobel (age 10 months) and Zach (age 9 months) to help celebrate the day.

Photo by J.M.Young

Brodie had a lot of fun out on the balcony, checking out the other babies and getting cuddles from everyone. He wasn’t so sure about the cake at first, but after 1 taste of the orange icing, he was hooked. He was covered in orange icing by the end, and so was I. Mental note – do not wear a white skirt and pale pink top when celebrating Brodies birthday next time. It was a lovely day, the weather was great and I think everyone had a nice time. Especially Brodie, who was very tired and slept very soundly.

Ciao

Start from the very beginning

'Cause it's a very good place to start!

Brodie is our delicious son. We decided to start a blog for him, so that our family and freinds can keep up with the whirlwind day to day happenings that constitutes Brodies life.

Brodie was born on October 6th, 2005, at 1.44 pm. Cute as a button, as you can see. I cannot believe that it has been 13 months since he was born! In many ways it has flown by. In other ways, I can't remember life before he arrived, and it seems like he has been with us for such a long time!

Obviously, he has grown so very much since then! So I'm including a new piccy to go with the before piccy! We had a quite relaxed weekend, after our big week with Rolands conference we needed some R&R. Basic shopping, playing at home, a trip to the park and an early dinner with Rod, Maya and their 9 month old son, Zach made up our weekend. Feeling much more relaxed now. Well, time for bed for us, lets hope the coming week is more relaxed than the last.

Ciao

Photo by J. M. Young