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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

22 weeks old – The Beach

This walk, between our local beach and the ones surrounding it has been a constant in your life, well before you were born. From the first weeks of knowing you were growing inside of me, your Dad and I would walk up and down this stretch of coast, at first a bit shocked and timid in our planning and then excited as you grew and we wondered about who you were. As spring arrived, the season in which you were born, we enjoyed the return of warmer evenings, sometimes eating dinner on the sand, sometimes walking, always planning and talking about you. Its where your Granny and I would have lunch some days once my maternity leave started and it's where I waddled slowly, up and down the foreshore, willing labour to kick in, once we passed your due date.

When you arrived it was the first place we used your proper pram (rather than the lovely vintage one which we used around the neighborhood) for the longest walk since your birth, which left me with aching but beginning to feel stronger again. It's where you joined your Granny and I for lunches and walks, and as summer arrived it's where we met friends for balmy nights eating chips and playing frisbee on the sand, or met up with our mum and baby friends for walks together. It's even where we stuck your feet in the ocean for the first time. I always loved visiting this beach but like everything else, I love sharing it with you more. I'm sad that the days before daylight savings ends are numbered and our visits will become less frequent, but I know come spring we'll be back and we'll be introducing you to sand castles, splashing in the waves and maybe you'll even toddle alongside us as we walk.