THE LITTLE ONE

When Ben was off work over the Easter holidays, he and Josephine spent many happy hours at the allotment. Coralie's still a little small to head there with them (if they want to get work done, and not spend the morning chasing after her ensuring she doesn't eat everyone else's produce!) so Coralie and I had a couple of mornings just the two of us. We're used to a few hours in the afternoon, post nap and before dinner when Phiney is at pre-school, but with longer to spare in the mornings we went to the park and the meadow. It felt strange to do those things with just Coralie. To only chase after one child, only have one baby to push on the swings.

Of course I did all those things with just Josephine before Coralie was born, but rarely only with Coralie. It's something we'll be doing a lot of though come the autumn when Josephine starts school.

I have lots of feelings about school, and most of them I'd rather not dwell on now...I'm still in denial that my teeny Phiney is almost ready to go. But the one on one time I'll get with this monkey will ease my Mama heart. I wonder what Coralie will get up to without Josephine leading the way.

As much as I'd wish time to slow down, as much as I want to savour each second of now and as much as I wish the girls would stay this age forever, there's also so much excitement about what's to come. So much excitement to see them grow and become more like themselves with every day.

Motherhood is such a rollercoaster ride...