Lunch for your nanna

Dear Matthew

 

Last Saturday we celebrated your nanna's birthday by having lunch together at The Royal, which is a beautiful restaurant in East Perth. Your cousins were with their respective other parents so you were the only kid at the lunch and spent most of your time (after eating your chips) running outside to the waterfront with either me or your dad, attempting to catch a bird/body-slam a dog.

 

It was a beautiful day and plenty of people were out and about playing Pokémon-Go, the latest app craze on their phones (I must admit I've downloaded the app and have caught a couple of Pokémon for myself!).

 

It was also just lovely to celebrate your nanna - she is a beautiful soul and we are so lucky to have her in our lives.

 

Love you Matt,

 

Mum xxx



Your aunty Wobin

 

Dear Matthew

Last weekend we celebrated your aunty Wobin (as you call her) turning 21. Your aunty and I have quite a large age gap (almost ten years), as she was your grandparents' miracle child who was conceived even after your gramps had had a vasectomy - there was only a 1 in 150,000 chance she'd happen, and lucky for us she did.

We celebrated with a family party and a few of her friends but will celebrate even more when we head to Bali in a few weeks together.

Your aunty Robyn and you are actually very similar in personality, more so than you and me or you and your dad. You are both very caring people and you look out for friends (you are always sharing without being prompted- amazing for a 2 year old. I love hearing you say 'eer da go' (here you go) again and again when we're eating food together and you will still share despite the sugar content). You're both quiet but loud when you're in surroundings you're comfortable with and you love to laugh. She loves you so much and was so happy the other day when you tried to get her attention about something by saying 'Wobin!! Wobin!!'.

Here's what I wrote on your aunty Robyn's Facebook page on her special day:

'Happy 21st birthday little Robyn! I remember the day you were born and thinking (after many years of wishing for a sister) that the final puzzle piece of our family had arrived.
Some of my strongest memories of your childhood include your birthday parties where you were always surrounded by friends all vying for your attention. It is no coincidence that things have not changed- your loyalty, commitment and genuine care for your friends is inspiring.

Your incredible talents ...for creating both in the kitchen and at the sewing table leave me dumbfounded that our DNA is so similar given my uselessness.

Your love for dancing and performing was evident early on and I'm proud to say this is a love we share- this cute little toddler in the photo below is in fact wearing her big sisters' clogging costume.

Sorry I'm usually 'so annoying' but thank you for being a wonderful sister and for being the best Aunty Wobin to Matt. Looking forward to partying with you tonight and chilling together in Bali soon xxx'

 

 

Love you little man,

 

Mum xxx



Ferret racing.... it's a thing!

 

Dear Matthew

The other week you, your dad, your grandad, Maree and I had a lovely picnic at Jackadder Lake with the dogs, Soda and Beau. It was the most perfect winter's day, so much so that you were dressed in shorts and a t-shirt (something I can't comprehend at the moment given it was 2 degrees this morning and is still freezing at midday).

We enjoyed our lunch and then (oh so slowly) walked around to the playground. We were surprised to see that there were in fact a set of tunnels set up for ferret racing! I didn't even know this was a thing, but you were so intrigued by the ferrets (animal lover that you are), that a lovely lady, who said at once stage she owned up to 50 ferrets, let you pat and cuddle a few of them. I have never seen you happier than when you were cuddling one of them (see the beautiful photos below), despite the fact that at one stage it actually bit you on your neck. You just loved holding it and it was so gorgeous to watch. There were lots of exclamations of 'oh! It's sooooo cute!'.

We then watched the racing and patted a few more before having a play on the playground. We ended the day with a cup of tea at grandad's house before heading home. It was such a lovely day and inspired me to consider a ferret for you in the future should we end up a cat-free house for some reason!

All my love my beautiful boy,

Mum xxx

 

 

 

Postgrad studies... and chickens!

Dear Matthew,

 

I have recently reapplied to start my postgraduate studies at Notre Dame after a three and half year break from studying. I'll be looking at studying the Master of Counselling this time (having already completed two of its required units before you were born as part of a different course).

 

I'll be doing the course very slowly, probably only one unit per semester, to try and ensure my study doesn't eat into family time too much and because Notre Dame will be paying for a unit per semester so it makes sense from a financial perspective (it would cost me $46,000 otherwise!).

 

I understand that this may mean you and your future sibling/s won't have as much mummy time, but I'm hoping you see me studying and that it inspires you to do your own study one day. No doubt during the course of this degree you and I will, eventually, be doing our homework together.

 

So here's to a new challenge to help stimulate my mind a bit more and to hopefully, make me a better mum as I'll have a greater understanding of human development and experiences. Below is a photo of the two of us sick and huddled together while I try and draft my re-admission letter. I have a feeling this scene is going to repeat itself many times over the next five or six years!  



 

 

In other news, you have enjoyed catching up with you nanna lately, especially now that she and Darryl have three chickens! You are always keen to check their hatch for eggs and a few weeks ago you were lucky enough to collect one, while still warm. That's my boy, forever interested in animals! Maybe you'll be a vet? We'll have to wait and see :)

 

All my love,

 

Mum xxx