We've just arrived in Melbourne to spend Christmas with my family. As we live over 2,000 kilometres away, plane travel with the bub was a necessity...
And yep, can't say it was a particularly fun experience... Gray and I are still slightly shell-shocked... I can't speak on behalf of the other 180 passengers, but I hope their ears have stopped bleeding...
Now, Graeme and I should have thought the whole thing through a little more and not used a budget carrier... We should have also realised that certain travel modes suit cool, happening people but not necessarily parents with over-tired babies...
Our fellow travellers were extremely good about Jimmy's blood curdling screams. The guy opposite was also really understanding when Jimmy's teething rattle donked him in the head courtesy of one antsy baby... And you can only commend the community spirit and grace of people accepting the pong of dirty nappies - well, would you be in a rush to change one at ten thousand feet?!?!
Things did improve when our little guy finally succumbed to sleep. Sure, Gray and I were grossly uncomfortable as he took up most of our seat, but that's ok - anything for our baby...
I am thinking though that similar to the Royal Family, Gray, Jimmy and I shouldn't travel in the one aircraft in case something should happen to it. Sacrificing myself to the safe guarding of family succession, I am very happy to travel alone and have Jimmy with his Dad whenever the need for plane travel arises - yes I know, very selfless of me...
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Monday, 10 December 2007
Baby Separation Anxiety
Everything is always more obvious once you've gone through it and know what to expect. This philosophy applies to babies - be it making one, carrying one, having one or raising the thing...
For the last couple of weeks, I have wondered why I can't leave the room without Jimmy grunting and waving his fists at me. And if he fails to arrest me in my steps, I get the full blown holler and melodramatic baby 'tantie'.
I've also been curious as to why he needs full body contact and insists on giving me regular kisses. Also why I have to watch him play and make eye contact with him exclusively when he feeds...
It all comes down to attachment and separation anxiety... You see, my little man has finally worked out that he is separate to me. I can laugh, walk, use the television remote control and eat really interesting things without him. I can also open the door, walk outside and play with 'his' tree, again, all without him - hee, hee.
So the little man is understandably hacked off and wants to ensure that I don't do all my cool things exclusively. So until he leans to walk or vocalise his feelings, we will continue to get the baby clingy grunty thing...
For the last couple of weeks, I have wondered why I can't leave the room without Jimmy grunting and waving his fists at me. And if he fails to arrest me in my steps, I get the full blown holler and melodramatic baby 'tantie'.
I've also been curious as to why he needs full body contact and insists on giving me regular kisses. Also why I have to watch him play and make eye contact with him exclusively when he feeds...
It all comes down to attachment and separation anxiety... You see, my little man has finally worked out that he is separate to me. I can laugh, walk, use the television remote control and eat really interesting things without him. I can also open the door, walk outside and play with 'his' tree, again, all without him - hee, hee.
So the little man is understandably hacked off and wants to ensure that I don't do all my cool things exclusively. So until he leans to walk or vocalise his feelings, we will continue to get the baby clingy grunty thing...
Hair Cut Disaster
There should be a universal law which makes it illegal for fathers to cut their children's hair.
In the Southern hemisphere, this law should be regionalised to specifically prohibit Graeme from going anywhere near a pair of scissors or sharp implements for any reason whatsoever. Any infringement should result in immediate castration...
As you've probably guessed, there's been a bit of a 'mishap' in our household concerning Jimmy's hair.
After months of listening to Graeme complain that his beloved bub looked like a girl, I caved in. There was some semblance of truth that his little comb-over was out of control, with the long bits getting matted and his rat tail disappearing into the fold of his 'chins'...
Truth be told, even I was a little disturbed at how 'pretty' he looked when we put some clips in his hair at our Christmas party. He looked like a mini-me...
So the scissors came out. I did the back and sides and the job was brilliant. Gray did the front - big mistake...
I knew we were in trouble when the phrase, 'whoops', passed his lips..... The resulting fringe over Jimmy's eyes is ridiculously short, uneven and is incredibly unflattering... Gray reckons it occurred because his young son moved - yeah right! I blame it on incompetence or a subconscious jealously and sabotage because Graeme has no hair......
As you can see, I'm still upset.... And I will be for a while.... Sniff...
In the Southern hemisphere, this law should be regionalised to specifically prohibit Graeme from going anywhere near a pair of scissors or sharp implements for any reason whatsoever. Any infringement should result in immediate castration...
As you've probably guessed, there's been a bit of a 'mishap' in our household concerning Jimmy's hair.
After months of listening to Graeme complain that his beloved bub looked like a girl, I caved in. There was some semblance of truth that his little comb-over was out of control, with the long bits getting matted and his rat tail disappearing into the fold of his 'chins'...
Truth be told, even I was a little disturbed at how 'pretty' he looked when we put some clips in his hair at our Christmas party. He looked like a mini-me...
So the scissors came out. I did the back and sides and the job was brilliant. Gray did the front - big mistake...
I knew we were in trouble when the phrase, 'whoops', passed his lips..... The resulting fringe over Jimmy's eyes is ridiculously short, uneven and is incredibly unflattering... Gray reckons it occurred because his young son moved - yeah right! I blame it on incompetence or a subconscious jealously and sabotage because Graeme has no hair......
As you can see, I'm still upset.... And I will be for a while.... Sniff...
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Baby-Centric Fabric Selection
Today I went to my local Ikea store to buy a rug for our living room.
I enjoy shopping for soft furnishings and the odd item for our house. It's become quite a hobby of mine and I've even starting consulting some of the home and garden magazines.... [I really am on the way to become a sad individual...]
I'm quite proud of how we have our place looking - it's fairly chic, with slim lines and bold pieces. It's fairly minimalist with some statement pieces...
But all this is going to change - and the metamorphosis will occur BLOODY QUICKLY!
It was while I was marvelling over the soft, decadent feel of a favoured floor rug that I realised that I could never again have ANYTHING that I truly wanted...
The whitish-cream, thick piled rug would look fab on my floor and perfectly compliment our colour scheme. It wouldn't look too crash hot however, with baby vomit, baby food or baby poo smeared on it. Indeed, all baby '[fill in the blank]' deposits would totally ruin ANYTHING of that colour or similar.
So it's 'goodbye' to future sofas, cushions, curtains and bedspreads of a light or plain variety. And 'hello' to multi-patterned designs, dark fabrics and scotch-guarding...
I enjoy shopping for soft furnishings and the odd item for our house. It's become quite a hobby of mine and I've even starting consulting some of the home and garden magazines.... [I really am on the way to become a sad individual...]
I'm quite proud of how we have our place looking - it's fairly chic, with slim lines and bold pieces. It's fairly minimalist with some statement pieces...
But all this is going to change - and the metamorphosis will occur BLOODY QUICKLY!
It was while I was marvelling over the soft, decadent feel of a favoured floor rug that I realised that I could never again have ANYTHING that I truly wanted...
The whitish-cream, thick piled rug would look fab on my floor and perfectly compliment our colour scheme. It wouldn't look too crash hot however, with baby vomit, baby food or baby poo smeared on it. Indeed, all baby '[fill in the blank]' deposits would totally ruin ANYTHING of that colour or similar.
So it's 'goodbye' to future sofas, cushions, curtains and bedspreads of a light or plain variety. And 'hello' to multi-patterned designs, dark fabrics and scotch-guarding...
Monday, 3 December 2007
Careful Where You Walk.....
I'm not used to tiny creatures walking and crawling around. I'm certainly not used to looking down and having to navigate around people who are less than knee-length in height...
Jimmy's still not mobile. You plonk him down and can be fairly certain that he'll be in the same place - albeit slightly more cranky- as where you left him...
But the same can't be said for some of the other babies and young toddlers we come across socially. These little super squirts can get around like there's no tomorrow.
You've really got to be careful around them or you find that you've inadvertently trod on a baby or kneed one in the head.
You also have to baby-proof the surroundings as the little bubs ricochet off anything and everything i.e. coffee tables, walls, doors etc., in their meanderings...
While we're safe for the moment, I can already see the suspicious glares that will be levelled at myself and Gray when Jimmy is walking. He's sure to be covered in bruises from head to foot... Ah yes, another milestone to look forward to...
Jimmy's still not mobile. You plonk him down and can be fairly certain that he'll be in the same place - albeit slightly more cranky- as where you left him...
But the same can't be said for some of the other babies and young toddlers we come across socially. These little super squirts can get around like there's no tomorrow.
You've really got to be careful around them or you find that you've inadvertently trod on a baby or kneed one in the head.
You also have to baby-proof the surroundings as the little bubs ricochet off anything and everything i.e. coffee tables, walls, doors etc., in their meanderings...
While we're safe for the moment, I can already see the suspicious glares that will be levelled at myself and Gray when Jimmy is walking. He's sure to be covered in bruises from head to foot... Ah yes, another milestone to look forward to...
Sunday, 2 December 2007
Jimmy Hates Santa
My mother's group Christmas party was held over the weekend. One of the star features was a visit by 'Santa' to hand out the babies' presents...
Poor old Graeme drew the short straw and had to don the red clothes and beard. He looked smashing - a very well built, fit Santa indeed... All the more fortunate that we had the costume the previous evening - mmmm
ANYWAY, Jimmy and most of the other babies got the beejezus scared out of them by this big, scary red bloke with extreme facial hair, glacial in colouring...
It took us over 20 minutes to calm Jimmy down and stop him from screaming even when Graeme had taken off his wig and beard...
We now suspect that we have irreversibly scarred our poor little baby who is likely to have a permanent aversion to strange old men with beards...
Poor old Graeme drew the short straw and had to don the red clothes and beard. He looked smashing - a very well built, fit Santa indeed... All the more fortunate that we had the costume the previous evening - mmmm
ANYWAY, Jimmy and most of the other babies got the beejezus scared out of them by this big, scary red bloke with extreme facial hair, glacial in colouring...
It took us over 20 minutes to calm Jimmy down and stop him from screaming even when Graeme had taken off his wig and beard...
We now suspect that we have irreversibly scarred our poor little baby who is likely to have a permanent aversion to strange old men with beards...
More Us Time
Last night Gray and I sat on the couch next to each other. It was quite weird to just sit... It was quite strange to just talk... And it was quite surreal to put our arms around each other - we just don't do this anymore...
Our usual night-time routine is not conducive to intimacy... Time is spent playing with the baby, feeding him, bathing him and putting him to bed. Then there's dinner to be made, dinner to be eaten, the garden to water, the house to clean, DIY jobs to continue, computer correspondence and bill paying to be done, exercise classes to attend, library books to plow through and exhaustion to suffer as a consequence. We then fall into bed.
The morning is no good either. We wake early, take the dog for a walk, do the morning jobs, get the baby up, eat breakfast, Gray goes to work, I morph into the Domestic Goddess - clean, neaten, prepare, wash and run around like crazy - then Gray comes home and we're into our night-time schedule.
Then we do it all again - the next day, the next and the one after that. It all happens again and again and again - on and on - continuous...
I think we've lost the ability to STOP!!! I also think we've misplaced the roses to smell - we're preoccupied with everything else!
But no more! Gray and I are implementing a 'date night' on Thursday evenings and 'Family Fun Days' on Sundays. We're going to take advantage of more baby-sitting offers and get to know each other again... We're also going to stop volunteering for everything and being so busy. I mean who cares if the floor is not vacummed and the house is messy - well, I do - but I'm going to learn to let go...
Our usual night-time routine is not conducive to intimacy... Time is spent playing with the baby, feeding him, bathing him and putting him to bed. Then there's dinner to be made, dinner to be eaten, the garden to water, the house to clean, DIY jobs to continue, computer correspondence and bill paying to be done, exercise classes to attend, library books to plow through and exhaustion to suffer as a consequence. We then fall into bed.
The morning is no good either. We wake early, take the dog for a walk, do the morning jobs, get the baby up, eat breakfast, Gray goes to work, I morph into the Domestic Goddess - clean, neaten, prepare, wash and run around like crazy - then Gray comes home and we're into our night-time schedule.
Then we do it all again - the next day, the next and the one after that. It all happens again and again and again - on and on - continuous...
I think we've lost the ability to STOP!!! I also think we've misplaced the roses to smell - we're preoccupied with everything else!
But no more! Gray and I are implementing a 'date night' on Thursday evenings and 'Family Fun Days' on Sundays. We're going to take advantage of more baby-sitting offers and get to know each other again... We're also going to stop volunteering for everything and being so busy. I mean who cares if the floor is not vacummed and the house is messy - well, I do - but I'm going to learn to let go...
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