sunny morning disposition

Fourteen teeth!

Audrey and sunglasses

Not a winning combination.

one

I honestly can't believe a whole year has gone since Audrey was born. She turned one yesterday, on St Valentine's Day, and we had a small family brunch to celebrate.

As fast as the year has gone, on reflection there were definitely moments when nights seemed as if they would never end (waking every 45 minutes during the night for two weeks straight). Somehow, though, the days and weeks have blended into one short, seamless year.

Audrey is the more laidback of the two girls (my mother's description of Lucy is 'fizzy' which is so fitting), and as a baby she is definitely of a more curvaceous build (she has a muffin top and juicy cutlets of thighs). She is infinitely more exploratory than Lucy was, getting into cupboards, dismantling bookshelves, climbing out of the bath, and disappearing out of sight faster than I could have thought possible. She is also very smoochy, and quick to learn (which is both good and not so good).

She started sleeping 7 until 6.30am a couple of weeks ago which is just the best present ever! I nurse her four times a day and ply her with as much solids as she fancies and this keeps her very content. She is down to one sleep now, and for the majority of waking hours she has a perma-smile on her face. She is also capable of amusing herself for long periods of time (not to say I'm not with her, but one could possibly read a book with her playing happily at your feet).

It's pretty amazing how different the two girls are, and it does make me wonder. Call me a sucker for punishment but we're already thinking about number 3 (but not. just. yet.).

For now, we will continue to enjoy the sweetness and light and shenanigans of Lucy and Audrey.








Images top to bottom: doe-eyed Lucy begging to unwrap all Audrey's presents; Audrey sitting at her handmade miniature table and chair set (my clever father made this from a fallen macrocarpa tree on his property); Lucy playing with Audrey's handmade Liberty patchwork ball (inspired by the one in Seams to Me); Audrey and Lucy playing Duplo; Audrey's new quilt, beautifully handmade by her Aunt Fiona, and a handmade Three Little Pigs doll, sewn by Nuns in a London convent); Audrey eating heart-shaped homemade shortbread, because it is after all St Valentine's Day; our little family

nursing audrey

She does love a tight-lip smile. Anyone would assume she has no teeth, but at last count (a couple of months ago) she had twelve. I'm still nursing. Just one short biting episode, but I think she was more surprised than I (and quite teary after I scolded her). I do hope she self-weans (rather than me force it) sometime in her second year, like Lucy did.

I really can't see that happening though - most days she systematically sheds books from our bookshelf, and nine times out of ten the first book she picks up is a tome on breastfeeding (doesn't everybody have one of these in their collection?). Mum remarked (affectionately, I'm sure) that Audrey is a bit greedy, especially considering her lovely, plump thighs (certainly not a case of 'failure to thrive'), and that she is reading the nursing book to see how she can get more milk, and to see how she can make it last longer. A harsh assumption, though quite possibly true. I have been asked by a number of people when I will stop nursing (it would help with weight gain, which is welcome) but Audrey is not ready and nor am I. I couldn't bear to give her formula either, which must be a throw-back to my vegan days.

Here are two shots of Audrey dismantling bookshelves; one at home and the other at a local library. Though I'm not fond of the work it creates for me at home, I think Audrey is helping keep someone at the library in a job.