sunk

steam rising as little man washes off the day. he is growing to like splashing, and all things wet.

last week he went underwater in a big pool for the first time, and came up gulping.

getting it right

our little mate helped us peel off the old tiles from the kitchen today, exposing the red concrete below. he's also directed the yellow wall painting in the kitchen, putting black and white squares in the bathroom, and gave technical advice on the excavation of bamboo that was making getting out the front door difficult (and the neighbours cross)!

green kisses

our small one notices leaves, birds, smells, sounds in our garden. at least I think he does. I nearly dropped him in a pond at the foxhole yesterday, when collecting tadpoles. We now await the company of frogs. I hope that they are plentiful, and that they hanker our kind of slugs.

all clean!

he came out sparkling with the rest of the laundry! at 10 weeks, he is just starting to smile more...
his eyes now fix on mine, and if I am lucky, his mouth stretches into a great gum-grin. he is a treasure. this morning he lay in bed after we snuck out. he wiggled there happily, propped up on pillows looking up at a big picture of a bumblebee on the wall - - I could even have breakfast without him! (he had had long gulps of his brekkie since 5am).

sand sleeps

onewell beach. long. windy. sun inching through cloud. little plump legs and arms surprised by the sand and warmth. little sun hat. little eyes, lilting shut with the rhythm of AA's walk. (the only thing missing was a big galumphing dog to trail alongside us!) We slept for a while on the sand, watching young girls bravely wade into the tidal river - wondering what ourlittle fella will be like when he's all big.

our nap reminded me of one of our very first adventures as a family. we went to staverton, and walked along the river (bluebells, crocuses, the very last of the daffodils) and found ourselves on a bench in the old churchyard. and an hour later, still on the bench! we had all fallen asleep, and I thought what a picture it would have been for a passer by - the archetype of a young family - asleep at any given opportunity.

felt & frogs

sunny days in rainbow pants, a gorgeous bonds singlet from maggie (with ducks sewn on the front...) and a felt hat I suspect was not only sent by annie b, but also made by ms b.

he is a very lucky fella to have all these loving aunties across the seas.

sling saturday

the foreman

summer is coming! I honestly didn't believe it ever got hot in england, but I am happy to be proved wrong.

He liked swinging around in the hammock, being the chief advisor to our gardening efforts.

adrian's mum saved this bib from when he was little, so it has been passed from father to son. little man covers it in his own special milkshake very rapidly. today I noticed a lovely coating of milk dried under his armpit...? he also has a particular crease in his roly poly neck that is very efficient at collecting stray milk runs, and concealing them for later..

perfected in utero

" I take great pride in my backstroke technique, perfected in utero! "

Just a few minutes walk down the road is a pool with water like that of a shallow rockpool in the sun. toasty! I float my little man around and blow bubbles and am getting ready to go 1..2…3 underwater!

It is amazing watching other little babies surface from their dunks – wide eyes and looks of shock (or recognition?) I felt like crying a little the first time we went in – so exciting and new and kind of amazing for him (or is that just me?)

I thought I would be a big independent, strong, disciplined mum. Far from it – already I can tell (but don’t tell him!) that I will be a huge softie, and am wary of doing anything that may give him a shock…. like throwing him underwater. I’ll tell you all how it goes..

Adrian thinks he looks like a fat tourist on the beach in these photos. What a belly.

who is it?

Having moved into our dartington home just two days before he arrived unexpectedly in the bedroom upstairs, we are still unpacking.

2 months later, we found this mirror & as we were moving it I think little man saw himself for the first time!

The house is starting to feel much more like home, with hot spring days pulling me more & more into the garden.

the blue shed

the view from our kitchen window.

bean & sunflower sprouts basking. white & pink apple blossoms in a vase - we saved them when we unearthed the tree from what seemed like 200 years worth of climbing clematis crawling up its branches. the shrubs in the foreground are now in full purple-blue blooms, and peonies are peeking up beside them. perennials that I don't know the names for are flowering in a big hurry, lest I weed them without appreciating what they can do -

& as much as we love the blue shed, my spring planting verve is angling for it to magically disappear so we can replace it with a hearty, fecund vegetable patch.