Milestones

It has been a big week for Mr M. Back to playschool on Wednesday, he enjoyed his last two days as a playschool toddler. Next week, he'll be joining the junior preschoolers in another room. Fortunately, one of his favourite teachers will be with him, as will a number of his pals. But the prospect of moving has caused him some anxiety. We tried to allay it by baking a 'farewell' cake for him to take in on Thursday. Of course, it couldn't be just any cake. It had to be a 'Thomas the Tank Engine' cake! This caused me some anxiety. I had white icing, store-bought red icing to pipe with (having never piped icing before) and a Thomas sticker squirrelled out of a sticker book given to Mr M at Christmas. The result was, I thought, truly horrible but when Mr M saw it on Thursday morning, he declared it 'perfect'. If only he was always that easy to please.

Last night, he had his first sleepover. Completely unplanned but perhaps that was the best way. We were invited to dinner at his cousins' and had a lovely evening sitting under the pergola in the rain (what relief it was after the heat of the last few days - the thing I love most about a Canberra summer, I think, is that it comes to an end) talking with family. Amy and Ruby did a wonderful job of babysitting before dinner, encouraging the littlies to 'be a fruit'. Mr M chose his favourite, watermelon. Then he decided he'd like to stay the night. So he did - although I suspect he might almost have been sent home, as he partied on until 11. That, though, meant he slept through the night and was quite determined he was sleeping over again tonight.

But tonight we have decided to try for another milestone. Mr M is having his first night without a nappy! It's been a long time since he's had a wet nappy at night so, with the heat giving him a heat rash, he decided he'd like to try going without. Fingers crossed I'm not changing sheets at 3am.

J took this photo of the back garden in early spring. If you stand in the same spot now, it is impossible to see the shed. The peach tree is heavy with rusty peaches and I've discovered the ease of making peach granita (this recipe isn't the one I used but it gives you the idea) and the joy of eating it in the heat of summer. The boughs of the Japanese plum are dragging with the weight of the fruit and the nectarine (whose fruit never seems to ripen before the birds get it) is now entwined with the grapevine. Tonight we ate the first plums from the tree behind the shed. This means that soon it will be time to try to make plum jam or plum sauce. Which probably means that the hottest day of summer is still ahead of us.