19/3/12: let me tell you about Elora. She’s 17 months old. She has a great sense of humour. She likes wearing shoes and socks and she’ll hand us her shoes and sit herself down so we can put them on. She brings us a clean nappy when she needs to be changed. She likes to grab her bag and wait by the door, ready and eager to go to childcare, where painting is her favorite pastime. She cuddles a giraffe to sleep. If she can’t suck her right thumb, she’ll suck her left index finger. Her hair is getting long and thick and is blonde, with adorable curls at her neck, where I like to breather her in and snuggle. She wanders around with her tongue sticking out. We think it’s because she’s thinking. She climbs on anything and pretty much everything. She is happiest when she is outside. She has only recently agreed that hats are necessary and she puts them on her head and generally leaves them there. She adores animals and she follows them around. She is expert at catching Naigee the cat. Elora loves the big kids and always wants to be part of their play. She is a fussy eater. I breastfeed her about four times a day. She has many words now, learning a new one each day. Today she said ‘car keys.’ At present her favourite words are ‘mummy,’ ‘mine’ and ‘me.’

20/3/12: I love my job. I can honestly say that something fun and interesting happens every day. Today a young grade 1 student excitedly showed me the very special invisible fish that her mother bought her. Lovely!

21/3/12: harmony day – celebrating cultural diversity in our country. I dressed Ella in the only orange I could find: a Harley Davidson suit that was once Matthew’s (she’s blurry because she doesn’t keep still). We had a lovely shared multi-cultural lunch at work. There was a beautiful sunrise; the sky filled with orange too.

22/3/12: I spent today sick in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. At the end of the day, after driving the kids around and doing the shopping, my beloved brought home some packages for me. Fabric, books and shoes (three of my favourite things!). It certainly helped me wake up, as frivolous as it seems.

23/3/12: he makes me happy. I’ve been home sick again and he has looked after me and organized everybody.

24/3/12: we went to dinner to celebrate our 19th anniversary. We talked about how we met as teenagers. We ate nice food but it was a quiet, sober evening. Our children were being minded by their babysitter, who is so good that we feel encouraged to go out more.

25/3/12: With Elora teething (it’s molars this time, and she’s not happy) and me still feeling sick, I have found today a challenge, just in terms of not feeling well and being really tired. I wrote school reports in the morning, being interrupted at one stage to help round up an escaped cow. I did get a chance to knit, as well as vacuum, play a game on the deck with the kids and have a quick nap. I did spend time outdoors, supervising monte build the dairy and then help move the cows to a different paddock. The day ended nicely, with a quiet porterhouse steak a la Ernie (succulent, melt-in-your-mouth meat – monte cooks steaks superbly), but the highlight of my day was finding a new box of baby paracetamol on my dressing table. I was able to help poor little Ella a bit more.

I should also mention the report-writing snack that my son made me:banana smoothie and apple almond cake.

Here’s to a brand new week. Enjoy. Keep well.