And so, on 1/2/12, Madeleine turned 9. This must be auspicious, for she was born on 1/2/03, another pleasingly easy to remember date. We celebrated by going out for dinner and having the restaurant (our favourite Italian, NSP in Parnell) deliver a chocolate cake to the birthday girl. Alas, this is the only photo I took the entire day, and its really not a very good one.

Madeleine turns 9
I did get another photo the next day when she put on her some of the new clothes she got from her Nana for her birthday:

Madeleine's new clothes
Madeleine did have a great day, in spite of the fact it was also the first day of school for the year. (And yes, I did breath a huge sigh of relief when I was able to pull away from the school gate and then pull up at the door of a cafe, walk in, and sit down by myself. Not the least because I am half way through radiation therapy and its not much fun for anyone to drag the girls along to that fun fair every morning.)
So, thats the blog up to date! 2012 has begun in pretty good form, and lets hope it only continues to improve.