Sibling cuddles + smiles.....

Big brother kisses. Its always lovely when Ari wants to give Mischa a cuddle, holding her on his lap. He's so loving to her sometimes....

I've been thinking about the sounds / noises that are special to me, or make me happy or thoughtful or content or....
::The slurping, guzzling, piggy noise Mischa makes when breastfeeding.

::Ari singing his beautiful songs - current favourites of his are "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Song a Sing of Sixpence" (he often gets his words back-to-front). Also, I really love it when he walks around reciting stories we've been reading or the talking CD's we listen to. It really surprises me, as I didn't realise he was taking that much notice of the CD - doing so much other stuff at the same time. Today he was walking around saying "Lock up your gold" and "Gordon's got a Snookie", from this wonderful CD that we listen to so much. We also do a lot of talking about "Whoosh went the wind. The balloon. Emily's Balloon". I'll talk more about this sublimely beautiful book another time, definitely a favourite of ours. Another of my all time favourites (from childhood), which I seem to have passed onto Ari is Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge. Julie Vivas' illustrations have to be amongst the best ever!

::The little giggle Mish makes when we kiss kiss kiss her cheeks. She's so receptive and interactive at the moment. Poking out her tongue and smiling and really interacting with people.

::The sound of our gate, when Sam's home from work. Usually we run to the door to greet him.

:: This CD has been on repeat - both in the CD player and in my head. (Though of course I can't think in music, but I remember the feeling this gives me). Please listen to this music, it is so hauntingly fulfilling. I love the name of this, as well as the cover art.

::The silence of both babes being asleep at the same time, during the day. When I don't have any really pressing chores to do. (None of my chores are ever really pressing - which is why we live in a mess most of the time!). But, when I have that silence, I need to not be washing up or vacuuming or cleaning. I need to be having my quiet time too.

This fruit + licorice + dried mango flower was afternoon tea - with a cup of warm milk (cardamom chai for me). This proved to be a very successful way to get Ari to eat fruit, asking for me to make him another flower. He didn't want me to photograph it - trying to eat it straight away, snuggled up on the couch.