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Theo and I recently went away for ten days to visit family in NSW and Victoria and while we were in Newcastle, I threw a little park picnic birthday party for Theo. A nice bunch of our friends and family attended. It was Theo's first real time eating junk food and he sampled each jelly snake and salty ridged chip with delight and reckless abandon.

Below is the little digital invitation I illustrated for the occasion.

I took a couple of photos on the day, just with my iPhone, but my sister, sister-in-law and Aunt also sent me a few photos that they took, so please excuse the varied quality of these shots!

I bought a dozen fantastic cupcakes from Cupcake Espresso for the party and despite Theo being fascinated watching the cupcakes being made through the glass window inside the shop and delighting in getting to choose each of the twelve cupcakes that were placed into the box, he did not care for the taste of the cupcakes whatsoever. Everyone was poised to capture photographs of him stuffing his face, but he ran off to play on the grass instead. And, he refused point blank to wear a party hat. Oh well, haha. 

The amazing balloon monkey pictured above was created by a rogue balloon artist named Michael AhMazing who approached us and asked if he could gatecrash the party as he'd just moved to Newcastle and was looking to get his skills known in the local area. Of course, we couldn't refuse and he didn't disappoint! 

It was fun to spend time with our interstate family and friends. Theo and I got a terrible flu while we were away and I lost my voice for the second half of our trip (this seems to happen to me in Winter every year). Theo wasn't really himself while we were away and had lots of tantrums and meltdowns, which are usually very rare for him. I think the travel took it out of both of us. I am happy to be home and back to my creature comforts (despite it being sub zero most nights/mornings lately!). Some of my highlights from time away included attending the Other Worlds Zine Fair, spending time with my beautiful half sister in Melbourne and her two sweet boys (Theo and Connor are two months apart and were inseparable) and seeing Morrissey at the Sydney Opera House in the second row, center with my friend Ash for free!

Any glimpses of Theo looking like a baby these days are quickly disappearing, it is of course bittersweet! He is two! He's a real boy! Wow. It's such a good time being his mother.

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1. That beautiful, indescribable scent on the top of his head. It is delicious, it is calming, it is pure happiness. It is like an instant antidepressant for me. I know it will go away one day and be replaced with other, possibly less pleasant scents, but I so wish I could hold onto it forever in a little vial! 
2. The way he tilts his head, raises his eyebrows, looks to the side and smiles really sincerely when he really wants something.
3. Watching him play and run; so upright, so precarious, so fast, so joyous.
4. His little head on the pillow next to mine. He has his own single bed now which I put him to sleep in when he stays with me, but sure enough, at some point in the night he’ll wander out and make a beeline straight for my bed, where he’ll immediately curl up and fall back to sleep. I know that him sleeping in my bed will be a temporary, fleeting thing, that one day he’ll stop wanting to do, so I relish it. I love his little sleeping sighs and snores. Sometimes I'm even lucky enough to get woken up by a wet little kiss on the face.
5. His gorgeous little baby body, quickly turning into a little boy’s body. Living in a reasonably cold climate, we don’t get the opportunity to let him run around nude very often, but he loves it when we do and I love that round little belly and bottom! I love looking at his little hands and feet and noticing what his features really look like. I love kissing his big, soft cheeks and looking at his little teeth (with the cute little gap in the middle at the front) and tickling his neck and trying to push his hair to the side so he looks like a little boy from the 50s. 
6. That I see so much of myself in his face and expressions.
7. His communication. I love the way that when he really wants something he'll say "Moooooooooore", getting higher in pitch as the word ends. I love that anything round is a "Ball" and most animals are "Cats". I love it when he loses something (usually his dummy) and turns his hands out and says "Wheredigo?". I love the way he says thank you (or “chan chu!”) so often, without us ever stressing that he say it - today he said it to the bus driver when we exited the bus. I love that despite not being overly talkative, he has extremely good comprehension and can be given directions. 
8. His interminable cheekiness. Oh that cheek. SO MUCH CHEEK.
9. His dancing. So many moves, no self consciousness. He can’t help himself but dance when there’s music on. I hope he keeps doing that for a long while!
10. Watching him observe. It is just such a joy to watch him experiencing and taking in the world. It would have to be one of the best things ever. Is it a highlight of my life.

"But Ma, I don't want to stop playing in the dirt and come inside for bed" - Theo.

My brother and niece have been visiting us for the past week and start their journey back home tomorrow. We've had a lovely time together, their first trip to Tasmania, and I've really enjoyed having art supplies spread across the kitchen table and drawing for hours on end with Rose and Luke. And I think just being in the company of an older child for a few days has helped Theo with his development. He is a bit obsessed with Rosie and I'm sure he'll be sad to see her go. They've spent lots of time playing. I love that the weather is warm enough at the moment for Theo to run around outside sans clothes. It's just hard to convince him to come back inside!

Theo posing for me with a package we posted last week.

Theo has a lovely internet friend named Jack. Jack is a total sweetie and lives in the UK with his mum, dad and sister. Theo has been the lucky recipient of some lovely little presents from Jack, including a video of him running around his backyard talking about Theo. I finally got around to sending some little goodies to Jack in the little package above. Theo helped me to send it/tried to tear it up/eat it. I spent many a night painting the front of the package while watching Outlander. I've been painting lots of envelopes lately, I just need to write the letters to put in them!