Ten years (and nine days, yes this is late) ago, we welcomed our dear little Darby-doo to the family.

His birth was the most calm out of all four kids. It was just me, Frith, the only female obstetrician in Mount Isa who was Russian, and a midwife who was also Eastern European. I kept crying because they both sounded like my Nanny who had passed away a few years earlier, and it honestly felt like she was there with me. We were in a quiet, dark room, it was late at night, I didn’t feel the need for an epidural even though I had been induced, and Darby entered the world around midnight, after only about eight hours of labour (I think??) His birth needed the least intervention out of all of them, and I felt so empowered after not-so-easy births with Chance and Quinn.

I don’t know why I felt compelled to share that, but there you go. For the first two years of his life, he was my easiest child. He slept beautifully, he ate everything, and had a great sense of humour very early on. Then when he turned two, he went turbo in every way! I don’t mean that unkindly – we adore his energy and enthusiasm, and we are working hard on helping him embrace his uniqueness.

Darby has been wanting a sleepover birthday party for years, and this year his dream came true! He had six mates stay the night, and it was hectic to say the least! The last kid fell asleep at 11pm, and the first two were up at 4:30am. Brutal… But they all had a great time which is all that matters.

Darby was lucky enough to have his Uncle Felix up from Orange for the weekend before his birthday and all my kids got incredibly spoilt! A couple of months ago, Darby had a vision for a Captain America shield, and he and Grumpy designed it and Grumpy made it out of wood with leather straps (from our old couch!) Then Darby and Uncle Felix spray painted it, and this was the finished product. He treasures it so much.

We rounded out the birthday celebrations (which went on for two weeks!) with a trip to the arcade for his actual birthday. We had Marty’s son Thomas with us, and Marty and Jacob joined us for the last part. The kids had great time getting a bunch of tickets and then trading them for lollies (of course).

Darby really is one-of-a-kind. Even though he goes at life a hundred miles per hour, he is also very sensitive and kind and thoughtful. He loves reading and playing chess and thanks to his ADHD medication, these tasks are much more enjoyable for him and for those around him. He is very inquisitive and asks loads of interesting questions, some of which I can answer, many of which I refer to Marty and Grumpy and other support people around us!

Darby will be in year 5 next year and will have an incredible teacher at the school – Quinn had the same teacher last year and it was her best year at school, and I know Darby will do so well under her calm teaching style. 2025 is shaping up to be a cracking year for this kid. I can’t wait to see what it brings for him!