26/52

Ellery: our original Storm Boy

Aubrey: spotting 'tweet tweets'

Ellery, you are energy itself. An amazing composition of a boy. Loud and wild and dramatic, and also prone to quiet, thoughtful bookishness. You're full of spellbinding wordsmith-ery far beyond your (almost four!) years. Highly resistant to change, you shun affection and yet crave it, it soothes you. You're becoming so long and lean. You've recently learned to skip, and you've almost got whistling down. It's your last month of being three.

Aubrey, you are such a sweet, sweet child. You kiss and cuddle your teddies, animals in books, and us. You insist on rounds upon rounds of kisses when saying goodbye. Your dimpled smiles and cheeky looks melt us all. You are mad for pretend drives in Daddy's ranger car, real drives in Daddy's tractor, dinosaurs, birds and balls. And you've started to sit still for books!

24/52

Ellery: little merman

Aubrey: chasing seagulls

A big week, filled with lots of little memories and milestones.

Rainbow star making, outdoor orchestra playing, road network building, whole body mud squelching, cubby making, bed jumping, make believe games of billy goats and angry trolls ... the smallest's first chocolate cake and first paintings ... the big kid learning to skip.

And gems like "You're my favourite brother in all the world!".

And no illness! Hurrah!

23/52

Ellery: wild and wonderful

Aubrey: delightful little imp

These portraits. Gosh. They pretty much sum up my relationship with each of these kids.

Ellery, at a distance, hard to pin down, let alone photograph. And so. much. energy.

Aubrey, the face says it all. Cheeky and delightful, he likes most of all just to be with me.

And yes, a wintry beach. My forever favourite.

22/52

Ellery: the lopsided mouth! - pretending to be unimpressed

Aubrey: exploring all the things

You wouldn't know it from these pictures, but it has been the week of gastro.

Please, please, please, let it end this week!

21/52

Ellery: the boy and the sea

Aubrey: small boy, big sky

So much to say about life right now.

It will have to wait. 

Because life speaks for itself. Loudly, relentlessly. 

20/52

Ellery: moody

Aubrey: walking

So much growing around these parts.

Ellery, you are more self aware, more independent. You're doing so much testing. And screaming, hitting, rejecting. Exhibit one: 'You're not my mother!'. Exhibit two: 'I want to buy a new Daddy!'.

Aubrey, you are walking! And becoming more audacious in your climbing.

19/52

Ellery: he has wings to fly

Aubrey: seedpod finding

Ellery, we're keeping tantrums in check with more stimulation ... new audio books ... your appetite for them is insatiable ... you disappear for a very long time into their magical lands. As a consequence, you've been confronting me with requests like this: "Let's pretend I'm a statue made of cheese!"

Aubrey, you've learnt to say no with a shake of your head, and it's your answer to everything, even when the answer is yes! You're on the cusp of walking, it's becoming very fluid for you. You're a snuggly one, volunteering lots of kisses and back patting. Super divine. May it never change.