Three

The first time you looked into my eyes. I was saying hello to you and you opened your eyes wider and looked into mine. A moment etched into my memory like it was yesterday.
This photo is so very special to me. Our wonderful Doula took it while Daddy and all your siblings leaned beside us looking at you, so excited to meet you.



Here you are at 6 months wearing a 'royal crown' made by your older siblings. They were having a wonderful time this day making hats and crowns. You, as usual, smiled the whole time.


Sisters. Here you are with your big sister. You can get along like a house on fire, but also can fight like crazy on the odd occasion. You love playing with together making cubbies, dressing up and playing with your babies. The kind of games the older boys are not really into anymore. Although they will amuse you and sit in your cubby made with the table and lots of blankets, which is cute to see.
I do hope so much that you and your sisters will be close as you all grow up together. It is such a special bond.


On your 3rd birthday you wanted to go to the library and the park. So it was! We go to the library every week and you love it. Piling up the books on the seat beside me and handing them one at a time for me to read to you. Some times you will stop half way through and hand me another book.
Only those close to us know the true fire cracker you can be. You are the little mouse that roared. You don't care how big anyone is, if you have a problem with them you let them know!
This can be frustrating, as you can scream, squeal or shout very loud. Not so good when you are sitting right behind me while I am driving.

You love telling people who bought you what. "Daddy bought this for me" "Mummy bought tis for me" and at times "I bought this for me" to which I will act surprised and say "You bought it? wow, did you go to the shops?" and you will say "Yes, I did" and raise your eyebrows as you do. It is so cute. You have such animated expressions, it often makes us laugh. Your eldest brother can never be mad at you as you make him laugh when you are yelling at him. He thinks you are adorable.

Another cute quirk you do at the moment is to say "I can't" I will ask you to pick up something, or put some rubbish in the bin, put your thongies on, shut the sliding door, basically anything you can do. But you will slump your body and pull a face and exclaim "I can't!"
You also throw in a reason at times, such as your legs are broken, or your leg hurts, or that you just can't move.
When you 'can't move' you will put your arms in the air and say "Carry Me" which we all usually do, your older brothers included. They just laugh at you and will pick you up, or give you a piggy back.

You have only been 3 for a few weeks, yet somehow it is like switch has be turned on, ramping up your quirks a bit more. You have been squealing and screaming louder and more often. Crying and being very upset very easily and over such little things, such as someone else walking in the door first. But these are clearly big things to you, so we take a deep breath and try to talk to you, or cuddle you, whatever helps at the time.

You are an absolute joy and we are all so glad to have you in our fun and crazy family.
I'm looking forward to the next year and watching you grow.

12

A lot happens in the first 12 months of a child's life. From snuggled against our chests, to crawling and for some even walking by the 1st birthday. In my opinion you can never take enough photographs, nor have enough cuddles and kisses.

We make a big deal about birthdays in our house. Of course we love and adore our children year round, but we love that we all have a special day, the day we were born and changed the world forever. With several children it also means the other children get excited too, for their own birthdays but also for their siblings, which I love to see. Sneaking into the birthday persons room early in the morning and waking them up by yelling Happy Birthday at them, and of course the obligatory gently jumping on them.
The day is spent as a family, at various places, depending on the weather and where the birthday child would like to go. We also have a special dinner and cake, again what the birthday person wants, within reason of course. For example I love that they have confidence in my level of baking skills, but some of the cakes they want, wow!

The last birthday in our family is our youngest member. You love it when I talk in cliches so I will indulge you again. In so many ways it feels like yesterday, but also feels like she has been here forever.
Her birth was as unique as she is. Proving to me that I did not know it all about labour and birth thank you very much, and that babes can and do turn right before being born.
She was so welcomed and loved the moment she was born.


My precious dark haired, chubba bubba. Locking eyes on eachother for the first time, after knowing eachother for a long time.


One week old with her namesake, my Grandmother. A woman I adore, admire and look up to in so many ways. A woman who raised young children before television, play dates, modern speedy appliances and a washing machine. I love hearing her talk about raising a family, and life 'back then'
I love that when I told her I was having another baby she laughed and said "Oh Clare, you're catching up to me, how wonderful. Are you having this baby at home too? It's so lovely to be at home isn't it?"



6 months old and where she still loves to be, on Mumma's back. I so love baby wearing, and how much easier it makes mothering several children. I especially love it in winter, babe and Mumma keeping eachother warm.


On her 1st Birthday. We took her to an animal sanctuary and she had a wonderful time, we all did. Here she is hamming it up for the camera. It never ceases to amaze me how she knows what a camera is, and how she pulls faces and laughs as soon as I grab it.

We visit our library every week, it is quaint and lovely. The librarians know ua by name and make an effort to get to know all the children. We all enjoy going. On our recent visit I noticed the book 'Hello Baby' on the shelf beside the table. I laughed when the older children pointed it out and thought it was marvelous that our library had it.
As I always do I put Bub down and looked at the Junior section with the older children. When I turned around I saw she had not only climbed up into the chair, but had grabbed the book and had it in front of her. So of course what a great photo opportunity!


I am still totally besotted with this little being. She is so close to walking. Her brothers and sisters all love watching and encouraging her, clapping and laughing with glee as she stands up and takes a few wobbly steps. She will fall on her bum and whack her hand against her forehead and laugh.

She is quite demanding about food now, and wiggles and reaches her hands up beside her seat reminding us to not forget about her. It is so cute having her sit at the table and nibble away on food.

She is growing up so fast, which I love, but also wish she would slow down. I tell her there is no rush, no need to walk and talk in a hurry. She just pokes my eyes or nose and laughs.