one

To our cuddly, doe-eyed, double-dimpled little fellow.

You are a happy, independent soul. You bop along to music (your arm-flapping dance moves have given way to whole body grooves) and love pointing at everything and saying 'dere!'. You love a good game of peekaboo, and hiding things under the couch. A lover of water, you're also partial to peering out windows and watching birds. You have, hands down, the best little dinosaur roar. In fact, you roar when presented with any animal: monkeys, chickens, giraffes, frogs, whales. It is unbearably cute.

Over the past couple of months you've become quite mobile, playing crawling chasey with Ellery, pulling yourself up on everything, climbing onto low furniture, and starting to walk with exaggerated sticky-footed steps, with hands held. You insist on feeding yourself and most love banana, rice, peas, corn and yoghurt. You have four teeth (more on the way) and SO. MUCH. HAIR!

For your birthday, Ellery and I made you a vanilla and coconut spelt cake with lime icing whilst you put up with sitting in your highchair, playing with a dinosaur and munching on rice rusks. (You liked the icing but piffed the rest on the floor!)

Your special day was lovely. I didn't have to work, so the three of us hung out together at home, and had cake when Daddy got home.

You are the light in our lives, sweet Aubrey Finn.

Forever and ever adored.

Happy One!

7/52

Ellery: reverence, and a whale skull

Aubrey: kiss the baby

My big kid is growing up. Dressing himself, and voluntarily (gasp!) washing his own hair. His imagination and language floor us daily.

And the last portrait of Aubrey as a baby. He'll be one next week.

My little boys are growing up. Sob!

6/52

Ellery: dancing

Aubrey: flying

On a blustery day, Ellery wrote his name for the first time, tracing over my writing. Together, we wrote a letter to 'Magic', telling Magic that he'd like to fly. He had his first flying dream recently ... and magic made it happen.

On the same day, he also drew his first face. And we started reading him his first chapter book, George's Marvelous Medicine. He is in its thrall, begging for more each time we put it down. Suddenly so ready.

Aubrey is pulling himself up to standing on everything now. He is super mobile, after a few weeks of crawling practice. He loves to point and say 'dere!' and especially likes watching birds. Grandma will be pleased. Almost as much as Pop, who scored kisses over the phone. I can't believe he is almost one!

4/52

Ellery: big-rain watching in his Dad's ranger cap

Aubrey: babe in the big wide world

The heatwave, the monsoon.

Beautiful times with the big kid. He is older in the face. I'll try and get a nice close up this week! But those curls!

The smallest. Eleven months. ELEVEN MONTHS! Waay too fast. He is such a delight. Off and crawling, just before he entered his last month as a baby!!

3/52

Ellery: dinner in the lagoon

Aubrey: boy and truck

The golden hour at our favourite beach lagoon, cooling off after a few very hot days in the city.

Dinner is often had in the drink.

Milestones: Ellery using his new (Christmas-gifted) kickboard, feet off the ground! Aubrey, brrmmming, roaring like a dinosaur, and crawling (for the past four days).

2/52

Ellery: I can see the boy

Aubrey: ocean dreaming

We went to the city... then it was back to our regular programming.

1/52

Ellery: little chocolate ice cream mouse

Aubrey: dune mouse

Homemade chocolate ice cream. Two ingredients, unsweetened. I blew both our minds.

The last day of the year he was born. It started pretty sweetly and ended with a beach lagoon swim and two happy sleeping babies in the backseat (holiday miracle right there), the smallest clutching my phone playing this, his favourite bop-along song.

For the record, Aubrey likes sand, but there is way less of it being eaten than his brother did. So much more moderate, in every conceivable way.