Yana is 2.

Hi everyone,

it's me again, Yana, writing as a two-year-old "big girl" (Well, I always say that I'm a boy. I don't really understand the difference yet.) It was my birthday last Monday. I celebrated with a picnic with some friends on Sunday and a breakfast with a couple more friends on my actual birthday. I got a nice birthday cake and lots of cool presents.


This photo was taken on my birthday with my tricycle. Aparently I am going to get a big bike soon (a balance bike), which I'm very excited about. I love bikes.


I really like dressing up at the moment. I have been trying out different head- and footwear and a few capes. What do you think? Does this suit me?


This is me with my friend Julia on the swing at Lydiard Park playground. We were having a great time.

My favourite game at the moment is "raining" - I think that it's raining and I cover up my teddy in the buggy so that he doesn't get wet. Sometimes I cover up myself too. The game was developed on one of the many rainy days we've had recently.

Here I am sitting in the baby car seat that Mama and Daddy have put into the spare room. They say it's for the baby. I'm not quite sure what baby they mean, but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

This video shows me doing a roly poly. I can do them all by myself now.

A well-deserved weekend off

Last weekend I had a well-deserved weekend off. After 23 months of being a full-time parent and not having a single night away, I decided to leave Yana with Lindsay and head away for a weekend. I took the train to London and spent a couple of days with my friend Clare, who recently moved to London from New Zealand.

The weather was really nice and sunny. Most of our meals were picnics in the park consisting of salads and lots of yummy berries. We visited the Borough and Camden markets, went to different parks around the city, walked along the canals and Little Venice and caught up with a bunch of other kiwis. On the Sunday morning I had a nice brunch with my friend Cynthia.

It was great not having to look at my watch in order to maintain Yana's eating and sleeping routine, not being woken up by the Yana-alarm in the morning (although I still didn't manage to stay in bed past 8am), being able to concentrate on my own meal without having to worry about Yana making a big mess and not having to change any nappies.

Berries at the Borough Markets

Anna, Clare, Natasha and I

Southwark Cathedral

Camden Lock

Regent Canal