I’m sure anyone following this blog assumed I took the Gumnut and moved to Siberia… Or I sold her on the black-market… (Trust me the idea has crossed my mind once or twice!!!).
Well I’m back to put everyone’s mind at ease .. We have never been to Siberia although we did visit Esperance and that’s kind of the same thing. No the reason for my absence on my beloved wordpress community is my bloody book.. Like most first time authors I naively assumed my first draft was my final draft… I look back at myself and laugh my arse off… I was so far off the mark! But, I can proudly say, after the help of my awesome agent, ten drafts later we have officially taken the book to market. I now have to sit tight and wait for the verdict, something that may not happen until the New Year.
With nothing left to edit or revise, I finally have the time to give you the update on the Gumnut Kid! And boy what a year it’s been .. Using my Facebook timeline highlights of 2014, I will attempt to fill in the gaps, month by month ..
JANUARY
Started the New Year being woken up by a very happy Gumnut waving at me from her cot … Obviously the bottle she drank the night before didn’t contain 14% alcohol ….
The Gumnut Kid’s Dad , Dave arrived a few days later for a week’s visit. He helped us get ready for our trip to Esperance, where I was visiting an old mate and moonlighting as a Skimpy barmaid at the Trav (Travellers Hotel I think it’s real name is …)
We spent a couple of weeks in Esperance, which by the way when I compare the place to Siberia it’s because its fucking freezing! We arrived home on my birthday, which after red eye flight across Australia with a ten month old baby and driving 3 hrs home from Sydney airport I wasn’t in the mood for celebrating.
FEBRUARY
Was pretty uneventful compared to January. We recovered from our 2 week holiday and the Gumnut discovered the joys of hiding from me. I would find her in random paces like the bedroom wardrobe, the shower and behind the couch.
MARCH
The Gumnut turns one and celebrates by smashing a cake all over her face, hair ears and the carpet.
Cake smash
APRIL
Gumnut still refusing to walk, as being carried is a much preferable mode of transport. But she will walk if she can hold onto furniture and is kind of motivated by food. I start thinking about using it as positive reinforcement, like they do at K9 obedience school …
MAY
Its the Karuah Blues Fest and we got amongst it …
JUNE
Winter is well and truly here and the Gumnuts dad visits . While he’s here chops some firewood for us , enjoying the fact the house has a wood fire ( you don’t really see those in the topend of Australia !) After he leaves it takes me 2 days and 5 boxes of Jiffy’s to get the bloody thing going.
JULY
We are getting ready for our trip to Darwin, where we are meeting up with the Gumnuts dad and I am booked in for two weeks work. We have an unexpected house guest, which led to a chain of events including a car accident, loss of license (and almost my sanity). Cannot bloody wait to go to Darwin!
AUGUST
We spend a couple of weeks in good old D- Town, where the Gumnut gets to visit her old house in Darwin River. She gets right into the spirit of things and spends two weeks straight in a nappy and singlet, Territory style.
Gumnut in the Territory !
SEPTEMBER
The Gumnut finally starts walking!! I am trying to get my book finished and we face the daily challenge of getting around without a license. I start wondering if I should just buy a canoe but then I realise I’ve never been great at rowing and the Gumnut might be walking, but asking her to row a boat was pushing it ..
OCTOBER
I discover Shaun the Sheep and Giggle and Hoot just in time to save my sanity! Much cheaper than a baby sitter too. Gumnut is a little chatterbox and every day she busts out with a new word. Her first word was ‘Milo ‘because a little fox terrier called Milo sometimes hangs out at our house. For a while every dog was ‘Milo’ or ‘Maisy’. She can’t say Chaos yet .. But she has started pointing to her nappy and saying ‘ew yuck’ when ever its full.. and , embarrassingly enough if she walks into the room while I’m getting changed she points to me and says ‘ew , yuck’ … The little witch !
NOVEMBER
Well, here we are! Gumnut Kid has taken to wearing the dogs bowl as a hat, putting 3 DVD s in the DVD player at a time and rearranging the kitchen cupboards. All standard procedure for an almost 2 year old, or so I’m told!
The Tin Mans sister
The Gumnut Kid 