Crocodile themed second birthday party

Before Isaac, Nathan and I would attend our toddler nieces' and nephew's lavish birthday parties. We would look at the number of people, the money invested in balloons and food, the time invested in invitations and decorations, shake our heads and vow that if/when we had kids, we'd keep it simple. Fast forward to Isaac's second birthday and of course I did anything but.

Isaac's actual birthday falls on the 24th December, but the past two years we have had his birthday party mid January to avoid Christmas conflicts. As most of Isaac's friends are born in November, my thoughts turned to birthday season a few months ahead of time. This is a double edged sword - I had plenty of time to prepare and plan but I also based the theme on Isaac's November obsession - crocodiles. Whilst Isaac's obsessions are passionate, they are not necessarily long-lived and by the time December started we had well and truly moved onto trains (in particular Thomas the Tank Engine). Nonetheless, we had planned a pool party around crocodiles and that is what we went with.

Isaac's birthday party date ended up falling smack bang in the middle of the Brisbane flood clean-up weekend. With a fair amount of angst (and failing ice supplies) we decide to go ahead with the party as we thought a bit of joy wouldn't go astray.

For anyone else thinking of a crocodile theme, here are some tips:

• A foil crocodile balloon was bought online for $9, and then filled up with helium at the local party store for $6. This is much, much cheaper than buying the whole thing from party stores, which would have been around $25.

• I made little crocodile pegs to top brown paper bags. These served as the party treat bags. I simply spray painted wooden pegs green, added googly eyes (they have to be the smallest you can get), added teeth with white out and placed cardboard ridges on top. You could add magnets to the back of the pegs, so that they become fridge magnets to hold artworks etc. Pegs and paper bags are dirt cheap, so this is a really cute cheap way to make party bags.

• His gorgeous cake was created by Janelle from Big Cake, Little Cake - . http://www.facebook.com/bigcakelittlecake (Brisbane only)

• I made a big crocodile for the centre of the table out of egg cartons, and he held lollies and chocolates.

• I also made some little crocodiles out of cardboard to hang and place on the tables.

• The invitations were made out of cardboard and in the shape of crocodile, whose mouth you opened to read the details.

• My mum and sister made gorgeous little cupcakes, topped with lolly crocodiles swimming on blue icing.

Do I think Isaac and his friends appreciated all of this? Maybe, maybe not - Isaac certainly loved the cake! But at the end of the day, it's nice to indulge in a bit of art and craft and I had a ball making and planning it all. And after all, isn't this kind of thing one of the perks of parenthood?

What I thought would be floods of tears

I am four days into my first full time working week after two years at home with Isaac. I would have presumed this blog post would about missing my baby or not remembering what five days of work felt like. Instead, I find myself amidst the worst natural disaster Brisbane has seen in three decades. When Isaac was ten months old, I returned to full time work for a couple months during the hurly burly of a move and then a merge. After that, I had a welcome reprieve and the option to work two days a week for a year. I had rather hoped my second return to full time work would be less exciting.

My workstation overlooks the Brisbane River. Over the past few days I have watched that river steadily expand her breadth, swallowing bike paths, then ferry stops and finally onto museums, ferris wheels and city streets. Like every other person I know I have been watching in amazement as helicopters stream footage of a swamped Suncorp Stadium, suburbs submerged and the roofs of flooded buildings that are nowhere near the river. I have been sent emails and seen images on Facebook of friend's houses that were inches away from being swallowed by the relentless tide. Everyone in Brisbane would know a dozen people barely spared and another half dozen who have lost everything. Yet against this devastation the sun has been shining for the first time in weeks, coinciding with an unexpected few days off for many. Looking out on my back yard, shiny and new after weeks of rain, the sun beating down on too-long grass, it is hard to imagine the destruction only a few suburbs away.

As part of an IT team, our job is to ensure continuity of service and for the last few days that's exactly what our team has been trying to achieve. Today I was in the office and the city was a surreal. Even those that were at work were dressed casually - not a suit in sight. Families were cycling, tourists were taking photos, people lined bridges to watch the debris rush by on the wake of a rapidly receding river. The atmosphere was almost rebellious and carnival like. When I picked up Isaac from care, there were families playing at every park I passed. Older kids were riding bikes or playing games on deserted roads. There was a nostalgic kind of joy about people unexpectedly freed up to do nothing but enjoy the sunshine.

Watching the relentless stream of media, which is surely as adamant as the river herself, one would never see this other side of the flood. Instead there seems to be a focus on trying to create the most upsetting headlines. When I was trying to assess whether we would be without power, the Courier Mail's sensational headline "plunging the Brisbane CBD into darkness" was less than helpful. Instead, updates from friends in the know on Facebook were much more useful. In the end of course only portions of the CBD were without power.

Facebook has proved its worth as a communication tool, with the QLD Police providing excellent updates and many businesses (ourselves included) utilising it to communicate with their staff. It has also provided a forum for people to connect quickly with necessary donations and volunteers. The number of my friends on Facebook that have offered their homes and their help is staggering. I, like many others I know, have been cheered by the generosity of so many.

We will gather our strength as a city. We will rebuild her and we will gather around our neighbours and help them back to their feet. But we will do so with a good measure of humour and enjoy the good with the bad. Just take a look at the bronzed Wally Lewis, sporting scuba gear and floaties in front of Suncorp Stadium.

One of my friends once said to me that Brisbanites always consider their city just on the cusp of growing up, but never quite there. This might be what pushes us into adulthood.