Aibhe turns 2

The reason it's a cliche is because it's true (Lloyd Cole). Time goes by so quickly - we can scarcely believe it's 2 years since Aibhe Catherine Marian Foley hit the world. I feel pretty lucky to have had the opportunity to be able to savour and share most of the big moments so far and not be too engrossed in either work (or travelling to and from work) or other extra curricular things to miss out on too much of Aibhe's life so far - as they say you can't get it back. Certainly, it changes the direction and course of your life - but only if you had another direction mapped out. Exhausting, worrying, frustrating, occasionally infuriating.... but the most incredibly rewarding aspect of the daily existence.

And she's only 2 - as you can see with the blowing out of candle event. God help me when the teenage years approach. Having witnessed the behaviour of a few of that age group while down on the Gold Coast for the past few days - I would like to say, my daughter won't be like that. But who knows. Back to the now. Aibhe got a trampoline for her birthday. A very safe (and expensive) version - bought pretty much by her grandparents and godparents - with an element of contribution from her parents. This thing was built to last and theoretically should last for a good number of years. Until she starts wearing make-up or something along those lines.

A great thing about the age she is coming into now is her attention span has increased when it comes to watching DVD's - full length movie versions and currently, Toy Story 2 is the number one choice. Which is of course great in that I get to watch it too - each time I pick up something I missed the previous occasion. Pure genius that stuff.

Right, I know I always said this blog would not be a verbatim account of Aibhe - but the fact is we haven't got an awful lot to report from over here right now. This is a good thing of course in that it means the pregnancy is going along relatively normally and Alissa has hit the post 28 weeks stage now - and has all the discomfort that goes with this stage.

We've just spent a few days on the Gold Coast (Burleigh Heads) - only just over an hour south from here (Aibhe pictured above taking an afternoon break following a busy morning on the beach). A break from the norm in that we usually head north to the Sunshine Coast, but the boss, his wife and 2 little girls were there so we joined them and let the girls entertain each other to some extent. I actually wanted to 'do' the Gold Coast just to see what it was all about. Have to say, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are like polar opposites and the people in Brisbane tend to fall on one side or the other. The former is high density, high rise hustle and bustle - with all the class of Torremolinos during an England - Spain soccer match. Stuff is just going on constantly. Surfers Paradise is basically cheesey Manhatten by the sea. The Sunshine Coast on the other hand is sleepier, but far more beguiling. Noosa being the beautiful village-like summit. Maybe it's an age thing, but I have firmly placed my loyalties with the Brisbanites going north and that's where future beach holidays will be.

So, for the time being, we count down the clock to number 2. We congratulate Ginge & Michelle on the arrival of their little girls, Kate and Isabelle. And we remember Mattie, Ferg's gentle and lovely father who left us recently after a very short battle with cancer.