Letter to Lily - 60 months (5!)

Dear Lily

On the 14th of March you turned five.

FIVE!

Morning of 5th birthday

I can't quite believe how big you are.

I also can't believe that I haven't written you a letter for 2 and a half years. I couldn't possibly hope to capture everything that has happened in that time. You have grown up so much.

Let me try to capture some of the detail.

Toadstool cake

When you were around 2 & 3/4 I introduced you to the Magic Faraway Tree books and you have been hooked every since. You know them back-the-front and can recite large swaths of it from memory. We even celebrated your 4th birthday with an Enchanted Wood party. You dressed up as Silky.

'Riding' to preschool - day 3

Just before your third birthday you started preschool at Blue Gum Community School in Canberra. You really thrived. It was an excellent place - inspired by Reggio and Nature Education philosophies - and you really loved it. While you were there you learned to swing yourself on the swing (after spending the first few months monopolising one of the teachers to continuously push you). You discovered a deep love of art and learned some amazing techniques like felting and mosaic and clay sculpture. You also made some gorgeous friends.

Snuggles with Charlie

When you were 3 & 1/2 your little brother Charlie arrived into our lives. You adored him from the start, but I have to admit that the transition from being our only child to being one of two was far from an easy one. We clashed a lot and I handled many parts of this transition particularly badly. We are really only just finding our feet again on this front.

Singing at the farmers market, Collingwood Children's Farm

When you were 4 & 1/2 we moved to Melbourne. It was a huge thing for us to do and again the transition was pretty unsettling for you, but I think we have all dealt with it a lot better this time. You were very reluctant to leave Canberra, but really gave Melbourne a chance and found that you really enjoyed exploring a new city. You particularly love the Collingwood Children's Farm, the new cafes and restaurants, the trains and trams, and our new neighbourhood. You also started a new preschool 3/4 of the way into the school year and still managed to enjoy it and socialise. I think that is pretty impressive.

First day of school

Walking home from the train

Then in February this year you started primary school. Again you have really thrived, despite being almost the youngest in the class. You truly love school and the rhythm and predictability of the Steiner curriculum really suits you. You have even brought many aspects of it home. We now say a 'blessing' before our meal, have a 'nature table' in our loungeroom, and you have firmly requested that I sing to you when I want your attention (which feels odd, but actually works).

with Tinky (the guinea pig)

For your birthday this year we welcomed Tinky and Winky (the guinea pigs) into our home. They (and their paraphernalia) were your main birthday present from family and it has been lots of fun watching them grow and settle in to our house.

Jungle Cake

We kept your birthday party small this year, but went all out with decorations. It was quite fun changing the dining room into a jungle, and I also enjoyed making your wacky cake. You dressed up as a tiger (with mama-made ears & tail and plain black clothing for the rest), Charlie was a monkey (though arguably the costume was superfluous). It was lovely to see you having so much fun with your new school friends. 

As part of your birthday celebrations at school they went around the class and everyone said something that they like about you. Your teacher, Alison, told us that many children commented that you were a good friend. This rings true to me Lily and makes me very proud of the person you have grown up to be.

Along with being a good friend, you are also great company, generous, witty, articulate, curious, compassionate, loud, analytical, sensitive, highly energetic, kooky, artistic and possess an incredible memory. Oh, and I love you so very very much.

love mama

xox

Last week

We went to the Zoo. The orangutangs were singing very loudly.

Charlie watered many plants.

Lil did some painting.

Charlie discovered that he quite likes raw fudge.

Flower girl

My cousin asked Lily to be a flower girl in her wedding the other week. It was a lovely day.

Fairy house

We've had a lot of freezing cold, cloudy days this winter and have spent far too much time indoors as a result. But today was glorious. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and it actually felt kind of warm (for winter).

So we spent some time in our garden, playing on the swings, digging in the dirt and building a fairy house.

I have been meaning to build a fairy house with Lil for ages, but I always think that I need more time and stuff. Of course that's ridiculous. She got right into it with the aid of leaves, sticks, flowers, shells and berries - all of which were not only right in the garden, but right in the very spot where she chose to build the little house.

I have to admit that I'm not the best at playing (I get sooo bored of 'mums and dads'), but I really enjoyed this too.

Four

Lily turned 4 on Monday and we had an Enchanted Wood party to celebrate.

There were many Silkies, but we also had a rabbit, an Angry Pixie, a Dame Washalot and a butterfly.

She requested a Fairy Toadstool cake, and I happily obliged (and it worked! Yay!).

I finally finished sewing the fabric garland that I cut out for her first birthday party.

They made paper plate masks and decorated biscuits.

Her new swing set was a big hit.

I can't believe she's already 4. Although sometimes she seems 15...

Remedial feminism needed

My mum dropped over the other evening and Lily asked her where her partner was.

"She's still at work," replied Mum.

"Why," asked Lily.

"She's not on holidays like you," replied Mum. "Today was a work day for us."

"Ladies don't work," said Lily.

"What!?" I said. "Of course they do."

"Mama doesn't," said Lil to Mum.

"Yes she does," replied Mum. "She works at home looking after Charlie and you, and she works on her PhD. Some people work at home looking after small children and other people work outside the home."

"You know T? Well, her papa looks after her at home and her mama works in an office."

"And who looks after M and E?" I asked.

"Matt," replied Lil.

"And what does Claire do?"

"She works with papa," replied Lil.

...

And so it went, but oh my goodness! I can't believe she said those words!

First of all, why "ladies"? I always call women, women. Where does she get "ladies" from? It's such a horrible restrictive word.

Secondly, bloody invisible PhD, you're always causing trouble.

Thirdly, argh. I'm totally going to have to get a job (once Charlie's bigger).

[And I still don't want to talk about the Pink Disney Princess Lunchbox.]

School's back

(Watermelon, banana, corn thins & tahini, choc-chip cookies, tempeh, salad)

Lily goes back to school (well 'holiday program') today and I have to admit to being just a little bit relieved. I am the kind of person who prefers one-to-one interaction and it turns out that goes double for children - especially when one of them is as much of a highly-strung extrovert as Lil. I have found the summer holidays a bit full-on.

And, yes, that is a Pink Disney Princess Lunchbox. I don't want to talk about it.

My baby girl is getting so very big these days. Here she is this morning helping with the dishes. She is quite determined to do absolutely everything for herself these days.

Mouths of the babes

As we were driving to the shops this morning Lily piped up from the back seat to say, "You're kind of a kid, aren't you Mum?"

"Yes," I replied. "What makes you say that?"

"Well you're little."

"That's true."

"Why?"

"I just am," I said.

"Are you going to grow into a bigger adult one day?" she asked.

"No darling."

"Why not?"

"I'm finished growing."

"One day I'll be able to pick you up."

"Probably"

Makin' toys for my babes

While Lily was unwell she took to flicking through my 'Softies' sewing book and asking me to make her some of the toys that she found in it. I was happy to do it too, because the process of choosing the toy and the fabrics and the process of helping me to trace the patterns and stuff the toys transformed her briefly from a listless little thing into an excited and happy girl.

The first toy that she chose was "Mabel Monkey" and I took the opportunity to make a second one for Charlie. I was really happy with the way they turned out too. It's a really simple and straightforward pattern.

As soon as "Mabel" was finished, Lily gave her a big cuddle, threw a birthday party for her and then picked up the book again to choose another toy. When I thought about it, I could understand why. When I was a child, if I could have made pictures in a book come to life within a day or two, I would have been all about it too.

I was also pretty happy with her next choice. I have always liked the look of "Polly" and I thought that Lily's choice of fabrics was lots of fun. Again, it was a pretty simple pattern to make and I loved how Polly turned out.

Finally, I have been intending to make Lily a Steiner doll to give her after the birth as a sort of "Big Sister" present. I got my lovely sister-in-law to help me get started quite some time ago and then it sat in my study/studio for a long time... Well, I finally bought the book "Making Waldorf Dolls" a few weeks ago and it gave me to courage to finish the doll.

I have to say that, unlike the softies, this was not an easy project. I found it pretty challenging actually and won't be jumping to make another one for quite a while. My sister-in-law makes these dolls for her business and only charges $145 for each doll (which comes with two complete outfits, including gorgeous hand-knitted cardigans!). Once you consider the considerable cost of the materials that go into making them, plus the time that it takes to put them together, I would have to charge upwards of $500 to even make a profit. I am in awe of her!

That said, in the end I was really happy with how Lil's doll turned out (especially if you look back at my first attempt at making a Steiner doll!) and I am kind of excited to give it to her after Charlie is born.


What do you think of them?

Something a little less serious

A catch-up post in dot points:

• Lily is completely obsessed with the Faraway Tree series. She has had it read to her (and listened to it) so many times now that she is talking in Faraway Tree language: "It was simply marvelous." "No, that's just horrid." etc... She is also making up "Saucepan's silly songs." They are quite funny.

• Lil's also been sick for over a week now. She's been up and down in that time and seems to be properly on the mend now, but it's been a long week. Poor kid.

• I am heading up to Sydney on Thursday to do a faculty presentation on my thesis and meet with my supervisors. It will be very useful, but I am sort of dreading it. I know that the list of things that I still need to do will be long and daunting...

• A lovely friend of mine gave us a pressure cooker as a present for leaving her our house to sit while we were in Mexico (they were moving to NZ and needed somewhere to be after their stuff had gone on ahead). It was ridiculously generous since it was just as beneficial to us to have people staying in our place and taking care of the garden etc. But, it has also been a revelation. I LOVE IT. I really like cooking, but it can be quite stressful to try making dinner when Lil is already hungry and is getting impatient and demanding. The pressure cooker means that everything is so quick to make and I can do other things while dinner is cooking. Win, win, win. It also makes cooking dried beans so very much easier, which means that I am resorting to far less cans.

• Lily and I finally planted our bulbs last week. I am hoping that it wasn't too late, as I love seeing the daffodils and tulips popping up in the Spring. I helped Lily to make little labels for the pots, but we didn't make them water-proof enough and they are fading already. Fortunately it will be fairly obvious what they are (if they survive).

• Winter has really arrived here in Canberra. It is cold. It has also been raining quite a lot, which is very un-Canberran. The absence of blue skies is starting to get me down a little - though, of course, the garden is very happy.

• My pregnancy is progressing well. We had a 20 week scan a little while ago and found out that we are having a boy. A new adventure! We are planning to call him Charlie. He is a very active little munchkin - especially in the early hours of the morning and whenever he can hear his big sister's voice.

• I made this banana bread with choc-chips on Saturday morning. It was truly delicious. I can highly recommend the recipe. (But, of course, you can rarely go wrong with anything from Molly).

• That's all for now, I think. I hope that you are well. I plan to get back on tops of things when Lil is back on her feet. Expect some Wintery photos and maybe even a few lunchboxes.
  

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Exhaustion and sickness fading fast. Sunshine, warm turquoise waters, sand and really big juices taking over. This feels like a real holiday.