Baby's first passport

Dear Matthew and Toby

After a lovely but unexciting 2018, your dad and I decided to mix things up in 2019 and make things a bit more interesting. First stop was an overseas family trip. Given Japan has always been on our bucket list, and kids travel around Japan for free until they're six, we decided to make it our destination of choice! So we're booked in to go this coming April school holidays for two weeks, and cannot wait.

Toby, this will be your first overseas trip so we needed to get you a passport. We took you to the chemist to get your photo (see below) and while I was expecting a repeat of the Santa photo situation we endured in December, you sat nicely and we managed to get such a cute photo of you! Your passport should arrive in the next couple of weeks and then we'll be all set.

You are also now 17 months, but it feels like you're about 3 years old. You have an incredible ability to watch your surroundings and just do things without me teaching you (you just copy Matt). It is incredible to watch a second child grow, given they have someone to look up to and learn from - everything just seems to be happening so much quicker, to the point where I keep exclaiming aloud 'you're not supposed to be able to do that yet!', over and over.

You're answering questions correctly in context with yes and no and you have beautiful manners, saying 'thank you' as 'tan oo' when I hand you something. You love music and dancing and will often bring my phone to me asking for me to play 'do do do do', which is LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem (incredibly, this is the song your dad and I did a choreographed song to at our wedding reception). You call Matt 'brother' and when you're trying to get my attention you slowly escalate your voice by saying 'mum. Mum. MUM. MUM!!!' However the first person you usually want to see in the mornings is your daddy, and you normally get down off the bed in search of him for a cuddle.

You are a delight Toby-woo, and with school going back we'll go back to enjoying just pottering around the house together on a few days a week together soon.

Love you boys,

Mum xxx