My daughter used to be called Bob

Yes you read that title right.

When we were trying for a baby the first time around I was taking medication which had a high risk of multiples, so to keep ourselves occupied T and I would joke that we'd end up with twins. We ended up giving them names so we could talk to our imaginary babies to pass the time between the start of a cycle and when we could test. Yep infertility can drive you to do some pretty weird shit.

We tried to think of nicknames for them instead of Baby A and Baby B, because that's so overdone. We actually tried to think of the most boring names possible {can't really remember why} and we ended up with Bob and Fred. We chose boys names because I really wanted a girl but figured the universe would give me a boy just to laugh at me {thankfully it didn't, for once}.

As luck would have it not long after we dreamed up Bob and Fred, I got pregnant for real. When we went for the ultrasound the first thing I wanted to know of course was that the baby was ok, and that there was only one. There was a slight scare that a shadow in my uterus was another sack, but it wasn't. Thankgod. Nothing against twins, but I honestly don't think I would've coped with two at the same time {at least not the first time around}.

Once we found out we only had one bun in the oven I dropped Fred and the baby was referred to as Bob. For real, because I finally was pregnant with a real baby. Of course at 19 weeks I found out that she was a girl and I was overjoyed, but it meant the demise of Bob. So neither Bob or Fred ever came to fruition. 

Naturally I needed a new nickname for my little lady so we put our thinking caps on. We never went with the stereotypical names people use like peanut or bean {although for a few days I was partial to squishy - I blame that on pregnancy hormones}. Instead we went with the most uncreative nickname in history, bub. Yep you could argue that we just switched out one vowel for another, but there was a little more effort put into it than that, but not much. We figured once she was born we would just develop a nickname for her based on her features or personality. Yea well that didn't happen.

Bub kind of stuck. I honestly don't call her anything other than bub and her name. I can think of more than 5 different nicknames for my cat, but can't think of one for my child. Seriously, what is wrong with me? I think the time has come to think of a new nickname, but I'm still lost for ideas. I don't want to use her real name on here because you know there are some unsavoury people who hang out on the internets, I'm sure you guys are all lovely but I see the weird search terms used to find my blog, so I know there are some freaky people out there. So I'm still completely lost on what nickname to pick. Perhaps I should go back to calling her Bob?

If you've met her in real life let me know what nickname you'd pick for her. Maybe we can collectively come up with a nickname.

Toni x

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From the mouths of babes

As our babies grow and develop its amazing to watch them learn new skills and flourish. My proudest and most exciting moments with bub lately are when she comes out with new phrases. Less than a year ago she was only using single words to communicate and she only had a handful that she would use on a regular basis. She would mainly make her demands known by pointing at what she wanted, and when that failed to achieve what she desired she would launch into a full blown tantrum to express herself.

She's come so far thanks to speech therapy. It's great to hear her spontaneously stringing sentences together throughout the day, even if some of those sentences are slightly questionable, and sometimes delivered with her signature hint of sass. These are some of her favourites right now.

Oh my god mummy, you soooo bossy.
This is her absolute favourite saying right now. She likes to dish this one out a good 15 or so times a day. Nobody is immune to it either - mummy, daddy, gma {grandma}, we're all soooo bossy apparently. Its probably my fault though for laughing the first few times she said it, now she just says it to get a reaction. I still can't help myself, its so funny I have to laugh.

I don't know, it's a mystery.
I have no idea where she picked this one up? I'm assuming there must've been something in a tv show or youtube clip she watched {yes I'm a bad parent who lets her have screen time, oh well}. She's always telling me there's a mystery and I need to go solve it. If I ask her what's a mystery she goes "ah I don't know, let's find out". Its too cute.

Ah, I have an idea!
She randomly pronounces she has an idea throughout the day. When I ask her what her idea is she always says she doesn't know. I'm not sure she actually knows what an idea is, she just knows she gets a reaction when she says it.

I can't, I'm too big. 
This is a case of my own words coming back to bite me in the ass bum. She is constantly asking me to go on her {mini} trampoline with her or climb through playground tunnels etc. I always say I can't, I'm too big. So now when she doesn't want to do something she can't, because she's too big. Especially when we're talking about her getting in the pram.

Yes mummy that's riiiiight, good work.
When she says something I'm not sure of I repeat back to her what I think she's said. If it's wrong she says "no, not a {whatever I've said}" and when I'm right it's "yeeeees mummy that's riiiiight. Good work!" Being praised by a 2yr old is surprisingly delightful.

I'm sure there's a lot more cute {and sass} to come as she adds to her vocabulary.

Do your kids have any cute sayings?

Toni x

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Things I've still never done

Turning 18 is a huge deal in a person's life. Having an October birthday I felt like I always had to wait waaaaay longer than any of my peers, just to catch up to them and be the same age. Turning 18 felt like a particularly arduous wait as all my friends could suddenly do things that I couldn't. It felt like forever waiting until the end of the year to finally be 18, so while I was waiting I came up with a list of all the amazing things I would be able to do once I was "an adult".

Of course most of them were just frivolous activities that I wanted to do simply because the law said I now could. I had a huge list. Pretty much everything that required an age limit of 18 was on my list. In fact my friends used to joke and say "you don't have to go and do everything as soon as you turn 18, just because you can". But I wanted to. I'd waited so long already, I was determined not to wait any longer. However, 13 years on {yes that makes me 31 oh my god}, there are still a few things from my coveted list that I've never done.

THINGS I'VE NEVER DONE

Gamble in a casino. 

I've only been to a casino 3 times and never for the purpose of gambling. Once I went to the bar with friends because they had $3 daiquiri's, and really who can deny a $3 daiquiri or ten, especially as a young uni student. The other few times I've been was to eat at one of the restaurants, with my grandmother {not exactly the riveting experience most would envision when they think of a casino}. Funnily enough I still get asked for ID even though the last time I went I was 28 {and at least 5 years older than the guy who asked me for proof of age}.

Buy a proper lotto ticket.

One of the things I wanted to do most when I turned 18 was buy my own scratchies and enter lotto. Obviously I had dreams of getting rich quick. While I have bought a few scratchies over the years, I've never bought a proper lotto ticket. These days I don't have the spare cash to do this even if I wanted to so I imagine it'll remain on my list of things I've never done for quite some time.

Go to a gold class movie.

The thought of having a meal and a wine while watching a movie was insanely appealing when I was young. For some reason it never eventuated and now the cost of a gold class ticket is ridiculously out of my SAHM budget. I don't even go to see a normal movie at the cinemas now either. Netflix at home on the couch is much more appealing.

It's funny how some things seem so important and paramount at a young age and yet as we grow older they lose their lustre and don't seem as necessary. Perspective is such an interesting thing. Maybe one day I'll get around to doing all these things, but I'm not in a rush {clearly} like I was before. Also being younger than my peers for most of the year is suddenly appealing. Oh how things change.

Toni x

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Now you're two and a half

Dear bub,

You're now two and a half and each day you grow bigger and wiser right in front of my eyes.

Your speech has continued to expand in leaps and bounds. Each day you take books off your shelves and sit on your fold out couch and read them out loud to yourself. Of course you can't read properly yet, but you do a really good job of recognising pictures, letters and numbers and making up the story line from there. Your favourite to read at the moment is In the Night Garden. You're always chatting away "Iggwle pwiggle and macca macca and upsy daisy and tombliboos and ponipines all dancing. Theeeeee end." I love that you love reading and telling stories.

Today was your last speech therapy visit. We're all so proud of how far you've come in just a few months. To think last year you would only speak single words and now you make up weird and wonderful stories while playing with your toys. You also come out with some cracker lines like "oh my god mummy you so bossy" which is one of your favourites at the moment. Tonight you also came out with "mummy stop being so crazy". I think daddy has a lot to answer for there {we'll be having words about that later}.

I love watching you play and listening to your toys having big conversations. You love driving the sonny angels around in your wooden car and you always remind them to "hold on and be careful" {maybe some of me is rubbing off on you too}.

You also love playing with your babies and pretending to be a mummy. I have to admit that melts my heart a little bit. Ok a lot. You are so good putting them in the high chair and feeding them dinner, putting them to bed with a pillow and blankie; and pushing them around in the pram. You'll be a really good big sister one day and eventually a really good mum. I love your nurturing nature.

You still dislike sleep and fight it with all your might. You have officially given up day naps and I've finally given up trying to make you have them. It's not worth the battle, but some days I could still use a nap, even though you don't want one. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really do have no idea where you get your energy from. But if you weren't as crazy and on the go then you wouldn't be you and I love you just the way you are.

You're feisty, strong willed and stubborn. You're also caring, empathetic and compassionate to others {as long as they don't steal the toy you're playing with}. Today you made me snuggle in against your head and you stroked my hair saying "mummy I love you". And then you did it again four more times. These are the moments I longed for while waiting to become your mum, and these are the moments that make parenting worth it.

My life would not be complete without you in it. 

I love you more than anything.

Love mummy x

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