The future's so bright

Why is it, Maud muses, people feel compelled to put sunglasses on babies and dogs?

Of course, there's the cute factor.

But heaven's above, it's so common.

Oh dear, Mistress Anna obviously thinks she's channeling Anne Geddes here next to the vegie patch. Go on then, take one last picture, sigh...

Under the radar

Although a few months too late to celebrate her birth, those lovely people at Radar finally came through with a very well-wrapped present for Maud. She thought she'd be polite and start with the card.


Unfortunately it wasn't one of those scratch and eat cards that she liked.

She thought the bag containing the present might be tastier but suddenly it seemed to be difficult to breathe.

What was this? Funky on the outside and nothing to show for it inside? Typical of those creative agency types...

Ahhh, sorry, there's the present, it was camouflaged on the candy-striped daybed cover.

But the ingenuity of those guys at Radar knows no bounds and the gifts kept coming. Maud discovered a tissue paper wrap present as well!




Thanks Radar! These are all truly presents to show off to the other babies at playgroup.

Lord of all she surveys

Maud can be a very imperious taskmaster in her armchair.

Work harder on that shed renovation, she commands Big Daddy-o, or I'll have to renegotiate your AWA.

Mistress Anna tells Maud that's not the way to go about winning friends and influencing people.

So Maud practices her charm on an unsuspecting teddy bear.

Multinational conspiracies

The Maudster has survived Mistress Anna's fumblings as a new mother and is now six months old. Here she is, looking relieved.

One of Mistress Anna's feeding machines (aka her right breast) is no longer functioning. Given Maud is now slurping up milk to a level which is potentially beyond her mother's ability to provide, Mistress Anna decided yesterday to purchase a tin of artificial hydrogenated baby drink mixture, manufactured by a patriarchal multinational corporation (aka infant formula). The conversation in the shop went like this:
Pharmacy assistant: "Can I help you?"
Mistress Anna: "Yes, I'm looking for some infant formula, my baby is six months old and I've been breastfeeding so far so I wanted to know which ones you might recommend?"
Pharmacy assistant: "Ahhhhh, I think it's only the brands 'n' that that are different..."
Mistress Anna: "Right. Well. Obviously."
Sheeesh. Maud is not alone in thinking she'd get better advice from Alice in Wonderland or the Easter Bunny.

A celebration of the man who made me

In celebration of Father's Day, Maud weed on Big Daddy-o's leg...


And ingeniously managed to get vomit on her head.


Fortunately, Big Daddy-o's other daughter was more considerate and baked him a delicious cake.




Mistress Anna hopes that when the Maudster is her sister's age, she will no longer be weeing inappropriately and will keep her vomits out of sight.

Yes, I've grown!

Funny old Maya! She hasn't seen the Maudster for over three months and, when she clapped eyes on her this weekend, exclaimed: "But she's grown! Is that right? Has she really grown?" Hmmm, Maya, yes, that's what babies do...


Perhaps this dramatic growth stems from all the jolly jumping Maud has been doing. Contrary to osteopathic advice, Mistress Anna has been sneaking little playtimes for Maud in it. It's one of Mistress Anna's guilty secrets. But Mauderly loves it so much! It makes her mother's heart sing to see how she laughs and squeals with joy! Can it really be so bad? Can it? Is it really so unmotherly to let Mistress Anna have a chance to eat her lunch, read the paper, write emails, wash Kippy dawg, knock back a couple of gins at the pub....?


But neglect has a price to pay. Mistress Anna turns her back for half an hour and Maud and Big Daddy-o morph into the local hoods! They grow up so young these days...

Maud's milestones I

It's been a week of milestones for Maud. She got her first taste of homelessness (Mistress Anna and Big Daddy-o may be joining her depending on the RBA's decision tomorrow)...

...before checking out places that were either too small...


...or too full of party animals... those LA families really know how to live.


Maud also learned how to:
Hang onto Mr Crinkle Toy...

Sit at the table like a proper grown-up (not much fun when the milk's out of reach)...

And avoid dribbling on the brand new bedroom rug. Love those bibs, thanks Daisy Nelson!

What an exhausting week! So Maud always has to be dressed ready-to-go!

A week in the life

Maud excuses her lack of blogging over the past week due to a busy social diary. Before her readers scoff, Mistress Anna has collected the evidence to prove it. A typical week in the life of the Maudster goes something like...
Wakes up, stretches and wonders what to do with herself:


Experiments with different outfits depending on the weather and her mood:


Tells Big Daddy-o the garden's looking a bit tired and could do with a splash of rainwater revival:

Entertains at home and elsewhere...here she is chez toi with Melanie and Sofie, new friends from Marrickville ABA group:

And with the gorgeous Sally, in her chic East Sydney terrace. Mistress Anna loves the purebaby organic cotton jumpsuit Sally bought for Maud, so much so she had to rip off Maud's clothes then and there to try it on her:

It's often all too much for the Maudster, and several times a day she succumbs to slumber in her favourite position next to the kitchen.

I don't know much but I know what I like

Mistress Anna woke up this morning and the day stretched out ahead of her: long, empty and bereft of any planned activity unless you count the plodding walks around the block with Maud in the shoulder-straining sling. Which she didn't. So a spontaneous trip away from the Wood of Earl was required. But first Maud needed washing, given she hadn't been submerged in water for over a week. Pooh!

Maud is not a big fan of the bath, which is why it's undertaken so rarely. But Big Daddy-o finds if he wraps her up tightly enough, he can keep tears at bay.

So Mistress Anna headed off to the NSW art gallery for a bit of kulcha. But Maud only deemed the nineteenth century artists, and a little bit of Drysdale, Friend and Nolan acceptable, before indicating a desire to leave.

Fortunately, the day was not cut too short, as Mistress Anna unexpectedly bumped into Holey Doley Jane at a DJs lipstick counter, who couldn't keep her hands off Maud's scrumptiously clean body!