Baby Cakes - We have a Winner!

In a hurry at the library, with the Sprocket leaping from the furniture and tantrums imminent, I grabbed books at random from the board books table and struck a winner. 
Baby Cakes by Karma Wilson is a book that both the Sprocket and the Poppet adore and listen to with grins, giggles and, in the case of the Poppet, appreciative squeals.
Of the board books I've read to the wee ones (quite a few!) this one is in the running for the coveted number one position. It's interactive, it rhymes, it's sweet and number one criteria - the kids love it and I love reading it to them!
Like a nursery rhyme, (I think it might have been based on Pat-a-Cakes)  every page has an action - kissing noses, nibbling toes, tickling  and the words are easy to remember and use as a rhyme even without the book. 
I didn't go 'oooo' at the illustrations but they're sweet and well matched to the words (different children with their teddy bears.)
Love love love this book for curling up in bed and having two arms full of happy, giggling kidlets. 
Verdict? Most definitely a keeper and I can foresee that we will go through many copies - and that's even after the Poppet stops trying to eat everything! 
Nostalgia factor? Yep, I'll never be able to see this book without remembering my little ones as they are now. Sigh. 

Cancel January

I've had a while to think this over. 
All of January in fact. 
And I came to the firm conclusion, that basically, January is a BAD month, and should be cancelled, if not promptly, at least before next January looms menacingly around. 
Surely I'm not the only one who has had doubts as to the usefulness of January. 
It's like the Monday of the months. It's like a Monday with a really, really bad hangover, except instead of knowing it'll get better within 24 hours you know that you have a whole 31 days until you arrive (thankfully) in February and can start picking up the pieces. 
Of course those people with their Birthdays in January should be free to pick a different (obviously better month) June or July would be my pick, but basically, any month that is not January.
I know there might be a few sentimental attachments to January but think about it, wouldn't a birthday in the bliss of mellow fruitfulness (autumn) or delicately scented spring, be so much more enjoyable?
The more cluey among you might have picked up that I did not enjoy January this year. 
There are many months of the year that find me with a spring in my step and a delight in the natural world. January is not one of them. It has never been one of them, and this year was no exception.
I suspect that moving house (and state) with a rambunctious toddler and a baby is rarely the stuff that gets you popping the champagne and exclaiming on the wonder of the world. Add that the house is a 'renovater' and needed to be re-floored and re-painted and generally cleaned out with a few gallons on sugar water and disinfectant, and the garden resembles a jungle and is littered with asbestos (okay, I'm exaggerating a leeetle, it has a few small pieces scattered about one area, but that does mean the kids can't play there until we get all the hazard stuff to clear it out) and you have someone not exactly spreading lightness and joy. In fact, in my humble opinion child-birth is less painful than renovating avec little terrors,  and I'm talking about without the drugs. 
And I am talking as someone only very minorly effected by the floods, fires and hurricanes that have beset others this January. (My husband nearly drove through Towoomba on the night the 'inland tsunami' swept through, and rising waters chased my in-laws with a trailer load of our trucks, teddies and sundry other assorted goods.) I'm thinking there are other people who dislike January far more than me. 
So, who's with me. 
Let's cancel January, step smoothly from December (fun fun fun Christmas stuff) into February, relaxed and civilised. 
.....
Hey, I can compromise! 
I'm willing to just cancel it in the southern hemisphere! 
Northern Hemisphere Januaries are fine! (Okay, I've only experienced one, but it was brilliant!) Snow, sleet, invigorating chill! Cosy indoor fires. Bliss. 
Now if you can just tell me who to approach I will submit my request and hopefully, hopefully next year we will have a much better start to the year.


Please note. I do not think I will ever be nostalgic about this January. 
But I could be wrong.