One year on... already!!!

One year old already. Where do I start with a review of the last week. It's been one long week of celebrations that started with the return of Derrick from Ireland. With Derrick's return came a massive bag of presents, just for Maeghan. There were so many cute clothes to put away for Winter next year. She will probably be big enough to wear some of them for our trip back in July next year.



The day of Maeghan's birthday started with the shredding of paper. The paper and the box got a little bit more interest than the toys inside. Besides all the clothes that were brought home from Ireland, she got a Little People stable set, a couple kiddie lounge chairs, dolls, musical instruments... more toys... more clothes... we need a bigger house!!!

We did have a bit of a birthday party for her. It was a "Bee's & Butterfly" party. There were a dozen or so kids there, most of them with wings or antennae on. I have to say... Maeghan looked adorable in her little butterfly outfit. There were a lot of snaps taken, so I'll just put a heap on them on the end of this blog.

Maeghan seriously stood at the table and ate 3 or 4 cupcakes in a row. They were only mini-cupcakes... but still! I think she enjoyed herself. I was quite proud of my first ever birthday cake effort. We didn't stay up too late the night before getting everything ready for the party. Derrick was on balloon duty, Susanne & myself were on the cupcakes.

This used to be a white top. This is the sight of a child that has had a great time at her own birthday party. I've been a bit slack with the blog lately. I will make sure I get another one up soon enough, there are lots of new photos to put up. Derrick is threatening to do a blog on his trip home... might happen. The local news these days... well Maeghan is on the verge of really walking. She's been taking a few steps for a few weeks, but she's now getting a lot more confident. Today she walked about 4 metres. Her preferred mode of transport is still crawling, but I would say within the week she could be really walking. She's actually launching herself into a walk and then when she falls, she just continues in a crawl.

We have a few 'words', if you know what she is trying to say. She will sort of say 'hello'... which sort of sounds like 'woe'. She says this as she holds the phone to her chest? She will say 'bye' and 'ta' and 'dat?'... I'm sure in her mind, she is saying a lot more... we just haven't quite translated them yet.

We're really excited about the trip back to Ireland next year. Have been looking at all the flight details. We will hopefully be over for about a month, so it should be plenty of time to catch up with everyone. BTW... Congratulations to Jenny & Paul, we're very excited for you!

Thanks to everyone that sent gifts home to Maeghan.

Sydney Marathon 2008

Well, the weeks of lonely sunday mornings home alone with Maeghan while Derrick put a few miles into the legs have all been leading up to today... the Sydney Marathon. The weather yesterday was 30+, which is hot. The forecast for today was supposed to be cooler, which it was, but still hot when you're running on a black tarmac road. I think the air temperature hit about 26 degrees. The result of this polite weather chit chat was that it made for fairly hard going running in the race today.


After 3 years of spectating the marathon, I've got the routine down pat. The only difference this year was that I had a little tag-along in the name of Maeghan. After an early start, we dropped Derrick at the start line at 6.30am for a 7.15 start. Then it's off across town to the 10km mark to wait for the runners. The good thing about the point that I camp at, is the runners go past about 3 times as they work through the course.


At the first sighting, we were camped just near the drinks station. Maeghan was having a great time crawling around & exploring. The only problem was, she was also interested in chasing all the empty drinks cups being thrown around. A strong chance of being trodden on if you crawl onto the track. At the 10km, 15km and then 20km mark, Derrick was still looking fit and on track for a sub 3.30hr time. After the 3rd sighting, we high-tailed it across to the finish line with Maeghan catching a quick nap in the car on the way.

Expecting around a 3.30hr time, we were there at about the 3.15hr mark to cheer Derrick on. 3.30 came and went. Then 3.40... then I'm thinking that maybe I missed him run past, which I have done before. We decide to wander around to the recovery area to see if we could find him. We did, though he hadn't been cooling down for about 10mins as I thought, he had only just crossed the finish line seconds after we turned our backs. Seems that the downside of marathons is that on a bad day, the legs can also cramp up pretty badly and you have push through the pain and hope that you can recover enough to finish the race. Well he did it, with a time of 3 hours & 44 minutes. Well done Derrick, we're proud of you.

Maeghan was so proud of her Daddy that she volunteered to help with the recovery session by giving Derrick a free back massage.

Well that's the marathon for another year. I think there's some crazy talk starting already... something to do with the Canberra marathon in March, but I'm sure there's a lot more work to be done before we get to that.

Our 1st Father's Day

Well, today is Derrick's first father's day. Maeghan "helped" me write on a card and cook a nice breakfast. We also gave Derrick the day off his weekend chores while I cleaned his car for him... but more on that later. Maeghan was chuffed at getting to play in the mini, it's only marginally bigger than her toy cars inside the house.

Then we were all over at Mum & Dad's for dinner to celebrate Father's day. These day's Maeghan is following and copying everything that Isaac and Elissa do. Isaac is not too keen to share his things just yet, but that doesn't stop Maeghan, the two of them are continuously snatching things back off each other. One of Elissa's favourite games is getting us to 'make' her little people talk. It's insanely hardwork for us, but I figure that I'm also helping to develop her negotiation skills by making her work for my co-operation.

As penance for letting the dogs stay in the back of the mini during an Agility trial yesterday, I spent the morning vacuuming the dog fur out of the car. I might have gotten away with it, except that the dogs also made themselves comfortable on the front seats as well, so there was dog hair everywhere. Gemma's not old enough to trial yet, but Podger made up for it with a bit of success in the ring. He managed to win two of his events, but only after we had an incident on the first run of the day. It had been pouring all morning and when he got to the table, where he's supposed to sit & stay, he decided it was a nice dry spot to do a #2! How embarrassing!! He was disqualified of course.

10 Months and still growing...

Do you like my knee pads?

When did all the thousands of toys in this house suddenly become so uninteresting. When did the remote control, mobile phone, stereo... speck of fluff on the floor and anything that's not supposed to go in the mouth become so appealing. I caught Maeghan in the laundry this week eating the dog's food!!!



What are some of the things Maeghan can do these days? Well, she certainly has a much better understanding of what we say to her now. She loves her books and will go and choose one for us to read to her. There are definitely a few books have a preference over others... and if you are trying to read one to her that is not of interest, it is quickly pushed away with a flap of the arms. We're getting lots of kisses and cuddles now, the teddy gets kisses and cuddles and the dogs will happily lick Maeghan's open mouth as she tries to give them kisses as well... YUCK!



We're having a lot more bumps these days. That happens when the confidence outweighs one's physical ability. Maeghan has started to free stand a little bit as well. Mostly when she's distracted by something else. I think the record is about 20-30 seconds, but usually it's much less than that. The crawling has been getting much better and faster. My kitchen drawers are no longer safe, the dishwasher when I'm trying to unpack it, I've caught her in the bathroom getting into the bottom of the shower... the list goes on. I'll try not to be soooo slack with the blogs, but no promises.


Happy Birthday to Patrick.

Sunday sporting endeavours...

We had our own little prequel to the olympics today. This morning Derrick ran in the Sutherland to Surf race, which is 11km, mostly down hill. Easy... I've done it once, don't need to do it again. Maeghan and myself froze while we waited for him. After dropping Derrick at the start to warm up, we drove down to the finish line to cheer him on. We were expecting a finish time around the 44min mark. Somewhere in between saving Maeghan from launching herself off the barrier, saving the kids next to us from being grabbed at, saving the camera from being chewed on... we waiting around for nearly two hours at the finish & then missed him as he crossed the line. Hmmmm... maybe next time.
















From there we were on our way to Michelle & Ryans for a BBQ and the Chiew Family Wii play-offs. No-one told us we should warm up before getting stuck into the Wii, nor that you can throw a shoulder out playing that game. Though not particularly talented, fair to say we were enthusiastic. I won't be surprised if we're all a bit stiff and sore tomorrow. Doubles tennis is a very serious affair. Michelle & Ryan had the advantage of being the home team & beat all of us... just. Maybe next time...

I can get it...

Maeghan has a new nickname... "Wriggley". There's nothing safe anymore, nothing that is off limits and everything is get-able. If I want it, I'll just launch myself at it. Someone will catch me. See.. if I reach over, right on my tippy toes...

Nearly got it... just stretch a little bit more...
Got it!!!

Now you see me... Now you don't.

(don't worry, I did catch her... just)

ps... Happy Anniversary Mammy & Daddy

Maeghan at 9 months

There's not much news to speak of. It's winter, it's a bit cold and generally not our most active time of year. Maeghan has started to crawl a bit. She's not very good at it or particularly fast yet, but at least she's a bit happier these days. She's much less frustrated playing on the floor because at least she can get around a bit more. Given the choice of standing or crawling, she'll take standing anyday. In fact, she's far happier if I help her walk around than leave her on the floor. The only time she will actually actively work on her crawling skills is if I leave the room & let her fend for herself. If I'm in the room, she just wants me to help her stand and walk around. I'm kind-of her launching pad.

The little clip here includes two of Maeghan's favourite past-times at the moment - standing at the coffee table, grabbing at whatever is in reach and blowing raspberries. There's also a little video of her crawling efforts.

Since I've been pretty slack these days I've missed a few birthdays.

Happy 5th Birthday Amber
Happy 2nd Birthday Molly
and Happy Birthday Jenny