So yes, it doesn't need to be said. 

Here is the news:

Lilly has finally worked out what day care is and now cries when we leave her in the morning and when we pick her up in the afternoon.  It still breaks my heart after a few weeks of it happening, but at least I can control my tears until I get in the car.  I'm compelled to ring them in the morning just to make sure she's ok and it usually turns out that she stopped crying not long after we pulled out of the driveway.  Ahh, the manipulation begins...

Speaking of manipulation, is it just me or is 13 months old waaay too young to have worked out temper tantrums?  Well, Lillian has them down to a science as of today.  We had a bit of back and forth over a piece of cheese, mostly because she's learning how to say please (which ends up sounding like a cat hissing) and thank you (ta) and she refused to do so at that particular moment.  I wasn't about to give in, so she had a spectacular tantrum; clenched fists, stomping feet, screaming....the whole lot.  She has a corner I make her sit in when she does something wrong, so we spent a couple of turns there until she could get it right.  After the 3rd or 4th try, she walked herself right over to that corner, sat down and threw the tantrum (while I laughed silently behind her back) then came back all manners and smiles.  What a kid...

It's taken awhile but Lilly has finally sprouted her first tooth.  It's still in the "just above the gumline" phase, but it's there and it's a good enough explanation for all of the sooking and whingeing that has been going on around here.  Well, that and the colds, flu and fever (in that order) that have barraged her over the past few weeks.  A week's worth of constant crying, little sleep and poor Wayne exiled to the back room left us a bit frayed.  I'm still not sure how parents of permanently ill children don't go mad, they certainly have all of my respect.

We had our second family trip to a friend's farm this past weekend which went surprisingly well.  I've put off taking Lilly up since we last went 6 or 7 months ago because I was waiting for her to start walking and make my life considerably easier (what with the dirt and cow poo and goat poo and....well, you get the point)  So walking she is, and to the farm we went.  It was a great trip, we all enjoyed ourselves and Lilly was mostly well behaved, sleeping well in her portable bed and wandering around after the dogs. 

Wayne and I went to see Jeff Lang perform (even though we couldn't really afford it, we try not to miss Jeff when he comes out) though the night began looking a bit rocky.  With Lillian being sick, she wasn't happy with anything other than status quo - and when Aunty Linda turned up on a Wednesday night she knew something was up.  After much bedtime cajoling and shushing and crying  (me and Lilly) we decided to let her stay up and play until she crashed.  Lucky for us Lillian inherently trusts Aunty Linda and didn't make a fuss when we left.  We made it in time for dinner and got to see Kara Grainger as the opening act (which Wayne now has a major crush on) and Jeff Lang.  It was a great night out which has become very rare for us.

I suppose this is what happens when I don't blog for nearly 2 months.  Here's some pictures and I'll just shut up.

Lilly's first fairy dress

A face only a mother could love.....(har har)

No, YOU stop!

I think she was mooing

What, no smile?

Ah, there it is.