Euna's Tiger Tea Party...

"The Tiger Who Came to Tea" is a firm favourite in this house. Euna appears totally convinced that all tigers do is drink tea and is forever holding her own tea parties with her stuffed tigers and I love reading an old retro classic from when I was a kid. So having it as theme for her second birthday party was a no brainer, especially when I found this easy party kit! 

So here's what our version of a tiger tea party looks like...

Oh the negotiations to not have this as her party outfit...

Phew! How she humours me... :D

Party girls ready to go!

 Just add friends...

Suffice to say tiger tea parties make for easy bedtimes. 

And Two She Turned!

As birthdays go it was textbook. A relaxed family morning. Presents in our pyjamas. Real coffee for big people and Weetabix with candles and paper windmills for the birthday girl. Family and friends gathered for celebrations and I felt very lucky and very proud. 

It's rarely ok as a parent to say out loud I feel proud of myself but, as sadly unpopular a statement as that can make a Mum, I did feel proud. The human being we made and put on this earth is two years in to a life that we have sustained. We've worked hard, made sacrifices, poured our whole hearts in that little soul and I spent a lot of time on her big day looking at her and thinking we did good.

That's why birthdays are such good anchors. We forget the small stuff and take a wider view of that person and our relationship to them. For a child's birthday that means we forget that not all their meals are nutritionally balanced and often they watch too much TV and we remember they're happy and healthy and beautiful and we think about everything we've already showed them about the world.  It was like a little holiday from the day to day guilts about little things and we pitched up with some perspective and thought happily about all we have done and all that they are. Felt wonderful. I had a wonderful day and I can say with the most confidence that I've ever had on a big occasion that Euna also had a bloody brilliant time. 

Here's a few snaps from the morning... A post on her "Tiger Tea Party" is to follow... 

SHE'S TWO!

This blog started out so I could record it all. I started it when I realised having babies would always go too fast for me to ever remember it all and I needed a means to get the best bits of it down. Maybe we'll look at it together one day, maybe just the act of doing it will cement it in a little better. Either way this blog is built especially for recording these milestones, milestones like second birthdays...

So... Two. Years. I see being one was all about turning baby to child. She became such a person this year. Words, steps, skills, lessons learnt. She went and got her teeth, a head of hair and first shoes. How carefully and delicately she learnt to walk. How her feet are only just big enough for real shoes. How she has favourite books and has had them read to her so much she can "read" them to herself. I think my favourite has been the talking, especially all the words she's personalised and entered in to her own little dictionary of Euna-isms. "Gagas" are bananas. "Ralph" was toast for a while. Steve's personal favourite are "durkadurkadies" for butterflies. Mine would be her impression of a cat "wowaaaawowaaawowaaaa".

Now two with more firsts to come. Starting Tuesday her first stay at preschool. I'm not cool about it either. Whilst I am on board with it being 100% right and healthy that she starts to take small steps in to the independent world every fibre of me wants to bundle her up and sweep her off home and never ever let her go. Because it's scary and I've never practiced trusting anyone but Steve and my mum with her. 

Regardless of how I feel, to preschool she will go. Onwards and outwards to the first of many places where I can't be. It feels like we spent two years nesting down at home. Being safe, feeling cosy, feeding up, getting strong. Now it all starts. She'll reach out and I'll have to let go. 

Here's to you Euna. How brilliant you are and how lucky the world is to have such a wonderful new person ready to bust out in to it. We are so incredibly proud of everything you do and are and everything you are to do and be. You couldn't of convinced me I'd be able to love you anymore than I did the day you were born, but I do, everyday. Happy 2nd Birthday Darling <3 xxx

My favourites from your past year... Her first birthday...

Her first steps...

 Her first shoes...

The first time we took a walk together...

I just loved this one...

3 Things I Worry About Less Now...

There's a lot of things I worry about now I have babies. A LOT. But it's like you have a worry quota in your head, so now I have new things on my worry list some things have been bumped off. Here's 3 that occur to me right now...

My weight

For two reasons. Firstly my body made the two most awesome people I have ever met in my life, if it can do that then it's amazing and I'm not going to be so hard on it all the time. If my body allows a cellulite dimple here or a muffin top there I'm not going to worry, my body's worked pretty hard the last couple of years and if this is the price then that's cool. Secondly no one in this house seems to want to cuddle me any less for the acquire dimples, crinkles and cushioning and if they don't have a problem then neither do I.

Tomorrow

From the second I first got pregnant the ante got upped on every level of things I have to worry about. In an instant I had more to lose than ever and everyday that has passed since then I've only had more and more to lose. So whilst this means I have in the region of 4 million more things to worry about since becoming a Mum, that kind of means I need to learn to enjoy today. I've got my eye on tomorrow and I'm doing my very best to keep everything and everyone all good for tomorrow but being a Mum has taught me the meaning of savouring the moment more than any other experience of my life.

Being Important

When I was 17 my sister joined the Navy and served for 8 months in Iraq. As well as all the worry for my big sister came this awe at how important she was to the world. She was changing things, affecting lives, seeing history... It was the first time anyone really close to me became seriously "important" in that sense and I wanted to be too. From then on I always worried the things I was doing with my life weren't "big" enough. But now I'm a Mum I know in my own very small corner of the world I am very important. I'm someone's mother and to them for now and always that's enormous. Our parents influence so much of who we will be and what we will do. So I am important and that's very cool (and terrifying).

Working Girl!

First up! I am experiencing teeeerrible technical difficulties here so sorry for the gaps between posts! Long story short... Apple is not my friend right now.

Anyway besides the technical faults, the photography has been keeping me more than busy! I'm bussing through everyday with the two wee-ones and every evening is an editing and formatting fest... Its a good kind of busy, obviously there are fates far worse than staring at scrunched up brand new babies all evening and I've got a couple of quid earned by my own fair hands and it feels good.

I'm still riding a real roller coaster of self-confidence with this, so it's probably best to not have a huge amount of time to be thinking about it too much. Just need to keep reminding myself there's no shame in being on a learning curve. As much as I'd only like to be putting myself out there once my photography is at a higher standard I'm just not going to get there without throwing myself in to it now... Big deep breathes.

So whilst I sink back behind my pile of editing here's a few of what I've been doing this week... :D

Happy weekend! :D