handprint art

Lucy and Audrey and I decided to set to work on a canvas I'd had stored away for some time. I don't like things looking too done, too calculated (a statement which might go some way to explaining my dress sense, not to mention my hair) so decided to hand over artistic direction to Lucy. I did choose the colours though, but playing with pink paint is hardly hardship for Lucy. I like the true randomness which quite possibly only a child is capable of . I know whenever I've attempted to paint in a random manner, it usually ends up looking not so random, a little more planned.

So, voila!, we have a new artwork above our fire place. Mostly Lucy's handprints in varying colours, but also two of mine and one little pink pint-sized one, that being Audrey's chubby little palm.

It might not sell at an auction, but I love it because it has my two girls written all over it.

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