Dad's home, Mum's back at work....

Yep, well the year has avnished before my very eyes and I'm back in the working world, starting to clear my way through the haze of the first year of motherhood...

Andrew came back from Japan last Friday, not soon enough for Austy who had been through yet another chest infection in his absence and also started getting his 9th tooth, showing up as a big snowy mountain on a very fat sore looking gum. He missed his Dad tremendously, and Andrew brought back Austy's smiles with his return. We had a nice relaxing weekend reaquainting ourselves as a family and now Austy is getting used to a whole new routine as I head off to work three days a week.

His affectionate nature is blossoming now though, he gives us the tightest squeezes on our arrival home and giggles infectiously. His speed crawling and leg climbing are sports he has mastered to almost olympic level, and he demands a lot more attention now, wanting to be with us the whole time, or else he's escaping and getting into mischief chasing poor Gryffin, turning off the computer (he LOVES pressing buttons... why oh why did I teach him that - I never thought he'd apply it to the computer!), opening and closing drawers and cupboards... you name it, and he'll be into it!

He's a keen botanist, always studying nature as closely as possible, especially leaves, plant clippings and seed pods, and he wants to spend 90% of his time outside no matter what the weather. Wheel technology is still a specialty for him though, I think he is yet to decide whether he wants to be involved with machinery or nature ;)

He frightens quite easily though, especially with noisy things like the front awnings going up or down, and dogs barking, and just wants cuddles from Mum to fix it. Other times though, he is full of confidence even reaching out to strangers in a queue.

I'm hating being away from him, not being there to make sure his every need is met every second of the day, but the new role I am filling at work as a simulation engineer is interesting and I feel comfortable with a much better supervisor to teach me how it's done.

Andrew on the other hand is getting the hang of rinsing nappies and finding tricks to make Austin have his meals and naps when he needs them. I think he loves the freedom of Austy all to himself three days a week!