Friday, November 30, 2012

decision made

he
With obvious intent, and great determination, he climbed over the ukelele to get to the electric bass. He's clearly made his choice.

me
B and I usually order the two tastiest sounding vege meals on a menu, and share them. This time, we thought that this was what we were doing, as usual. However, when the meals arrived, they put the vege nachos in front of B, and this in front of me, and we both paused, looked up at each other, and said, "You don't really want to share, do you? I could just eat this." Decision made! So I got the whole bowl of chilli vodka gnocchi and I couldn't have been happier. Oh it was so much better than any nachos could have been. 


Thursday, November 29, 2012

cheese

he
It's been one of his very favourites since his earliest days of eating. Naturally!
(He was happily showing me the tasty half-chewed cheese in his mouth but reached out to grab my phone as I was snapping the picture.)

me
Cheese-tasting at Witches Chase, Mt Tamborine.

We came here (winery, brewery, cheese factory) when I was pregnant, on our 'We don't have a baby yet" weekend, when I wasn't really eating soft cheese or drinking wine, which was a bit of a silly excursion decision. Thank heavens for hard cheese and a cup of tea. 

Came here again last weekend with no baby growing in my belly and therefore no cheese-tasting/buying restrictions. However I honestly find it quite overwhelming to be presented with THAT many options. But I can deal with it. I've become very mature. I take my time and collect as much information as I need to feel comfortable. There is always a happy ending to cheese-tasting stories.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

recipes

he
I bought this little tupperware tower at Lifeline (pre-arson Lifeline) quite a while ago, and have found the perfect use for it. Every day, when we go out, he has a selection of foods to snack on, in their own little sections. Life just got that little bit better the day we realised that a rice cake fits perfectly. His other favourites at the moment are hommus on flat bread, kiwi fruit, dried apple, vegemite and cheese spread sandwiches, cheese (of course), olives and tomato wedges. 

me
I've been putting together a recipe book using recipes that Nana had hand-written on scraps of paper over the years. My last few weeks have been all about Nana and recipes. Last night we sent it off to the online publishers! With an order of 35 copies so far. It's a big family. 


Monday, November 26, 2012

swim

he
He has swimming lessons on Mondays with his good mate. I just thought it would be fun and a bit funny (he's just a baby...), and that we'd just go and check it out, but it turns out I really see the value in all of the activities (as well as enjoying the outing with our lovely friends), so I'm afraid I've decided that this is a weekly activity I'm happy to keep paying for. Afterwards, we play and picnic together.

me
My friend and I take turns hanging out with the lads while the other goes for a baby-free swim (when we can be bothered). Feels great!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

santa + scrooge

he
For my staff Christmas party this year, we registered a team in the Variety Children's Charity Fun Run. You get a Santa suit as part of your registration fee, the whole thing is walking distance from our home, and we were having a cafe breakfast afterwards, so obviously I was in. And so was my family. 

He decided he needed his energy drink just before the run began, so we spent ten minutes as pictured above, while we watched 1500-odd (quite) Santas begin, runners first, then the crowded, bouncing sea of red and white walkers. We weren't looking forward to trying to push the pram/sleigh through this to find the runners, so we took a rogue long-cut cross-country around the museum and library, down an elevator, past the theatre and cultural forecourt and joined the throng further along the river. It felt like a teeny tiny adventure. Just my kind.

me
It was fun and lovely, as ever, to catch up with my teacher friends who are reliably sillier than the kids as soon as the kids aren't around.

I had a great time - the run went pretty quickly. The pants were a bit of a (comedic) problem. I tore mine while bending down to pack the pram and they ended up looking like a skirt (making me the most stylish and feminine Santa present). B just found them irritating to keep on but ended up not being able to get them off.

we
As we headed off up the street on foot at 6am, Caffeine-deprived Scrooge grumbled, "It's not even frickin' December yet". He perked up a little. 


Friday, November 23, 2012

empty space

he
It was too crowded downstairs in the library kids' corner today, so he found the stairs and started crawling up to the quieter space (well, he crawled up one step - first ever)!

me
There's no one here! He's out with his Dad for a few hours. It's just me! How odd.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

neighbours

he
Chatting to his downstairs sisters/neighbours (currently in Alice Springs) on skype. 

me
Our lovely next-door neighbour has been building a boat for many, many years in his back yard. The Brisbane floods last year failed to remove it for him, so he had to enact Plan B. It finally happened this morning! A crane, much impressive lingo ("Woah, mate, hoist down!") and many onlookers (including Alice Springs skyping in) and there is no longer a boat docked next door! It was quite an exciting morning. B even shuffled his schedule to be here.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

reading

he
He spends AGES sitting at his bookshelf, choosing books and reading them. He loves to turn pages and lift the flaps. He talks to them. It just warms our hearts. 

me
I love to read, too. I read articles in the Big Issue and the Monthly, and various books on my kindle. At the moment I'm reading a delightful, refreshing, amusing, articulate (and a bit rude) feminist reflection on growing up, "How to be a Woman". Yesterday I had a postcard from my 95-year-old Grandma in the USA, saying that the book she's just started with her book club is "House Rules" by Jodi Picoult. I'll get that today and start reading it too, so we can have our own highly inefficient but much cherished cross-hemispherical, cross-generational, post-card-based-discussion book club, which we've done a couple of times in the past!

Monday, November 19, 2012

leaves

he
He loved playing with and munching on the mint leaves from my iced tea.

me
My peace lily. We go for ages without a lily, but nevertheless loving the beautiful dark green leaves. Then, once in a while, a perfect white lily sneaks up on me. I usually don't see them coming - they are sneaky - but it's always such a nice surprise. They hang around for quite a while. There's another one on the way, too. 

Saturday, November 17, 2012

pin

he
"Pin-hole camera" view of solar eclipse. Surely holding sunglasses in your hand is better than no sunglasses at all?

me
Pinning. The next step on my way to actually doing some sewing.

Friday, November 16, 2012

bottle of white

he
This morning. I think I need to reassess my recycling pile/bin processes. 

me
Over a lovely bottle of white last night, we enjoyed dinner, chats and laundry-folding with one of my dearest old friends.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

dinosaurs

he
We see them most days in the park. He just likes to watch them watching him. (I watch him watch them watch him).

me
Every single time that I see these mini-dinosaurs I (quite understandably - read on) have vivid flash-backs to the Double Dragon Lap Land Incident of 2011 (seriously, every single time - this has not diminished with frequency of seeing them). I was quite balloony-pregnant and immobile, sitting on the ground with legs stretched out under the shade of a tall leafy tree, with two friends and their beautiful children. Suddenly, like a bolt of scaly lightning, two massive reptiles, locked in a wrestling embrace, fell from the tall leafy tree to land with a thump directly on my lap. I screamed, my friends deftly bolted from either side of me (with complementary screams) and the dinosaurs quickly recovered and hot-tailed it out of there. I was still unable to move (due to a combination of shock and massive boy-child growing inside me), sitting there alone with my legs stretched out, reclining under the shady tree, laughing hysterically. Can I just stress that the one pictured above is a very small specimen, whereas the TWO that fell from the heavens onto me were very large. I have witnesses.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

park

he
Park Play. Sooo many parks! Sooo many picnics in parks! Sooo many birds to hear, kids to watch, pram wheels to inspect, dry leaves to crunch, puppies to giggle at, friends to play with and climb on, picnic rugs to dribble on, sunglasses to destroy, people to grin at...

me
Park Run. Went with a friend to Parkrun (a weekly, free, timed 5km run along the river). We decided that the fact that we were able to chat the whole way was an indication that we were extra fit, not that we were walking too much or running too slow. 
I've been running (shuffling) 5km every other morning since we got home from the USA. I won't lie and say it feels incredible, but it doesn't feel awful and a small part of me enjoys doing it.
 This is a picture of that small part.

Monday, November 12, 2012

reflection

he
He loves his own reflection! We adore the new installation at the State Library. Remi and three of his best friends all played in the mirror maze on Thursday but it was quite clear which little stripey one loved it the most. He also loves to play with his mirror at home. Frequently. I'm glad that he really seems to like that cute little baby that he sees everywhere!

me
The idea of this he&me project is that - now that he and I have spent 9 months being very attached (oh that umbilical cord) and another 9 months being fairly attached (we hang out day and night) - I want to make sure that I regularly reflect on and acknowledge that there is 'me' stuff, separate from the 'he' stuff. Big or small stuff. I'm finding that it feels very healthy and refreshing to do this, and I'm finding that I have to be quite intentional about it or it can be tricky to find the 'me' to highlight. Which, I guess, is the point.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

party

he
Went to his friend's 1st birthday party!

me
Had a clothes swap/recycle/mend party! It was really lovely, raised $100 for Christmas hampers for families that need them, and was one of those times when I reflect about how lucky I am to have the friends that I do. We went immediately from one party to the other, which provided a really obvious he/me juxtaposition. 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

train

he
For a gold coin donation you can jump on the lovely little train at Roma St Parklands and do some lovely laps of the lovely park and talk to the lovely volunteer train driver. 

me
Have a very close look and you MIGHT be able to tell whether the mummies or the babies enjoyed it more.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

grandmothers

he

His Grandma built a lovely lego tower for him. And, boy, can she read a story!


me
My Grandma sent me a lovely postcard. Since I was little, seeing her handwriting on the front of an envelope has been one of my very, very favourite things. 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

friday in the city

he
Met Dad at the Diwali festival in King George Square - awed by the colours and music! Woah.

me
Vege dosa and chaana bhatura. Mmmm. Happy times.

we
On the way home, we walked past the opening of an art gallery at QUT. And so, partook.

Friday, November 2, 2012

dishwasher

he
He loves discovering what's on the outside.

me
I love what happens on the inside.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

neighbourhood

he
Oh you little clown! He also had a painted red nose. Which only took 3 tries.

me
I found this note in our mailbox. A family has just moved to our neighbourhood from acreage somewhere far, far away, and the boy is very excited about trick-or-treating now that they are living in suburbia. Reluctantly, the Mum is allowing him to do it, but asked that people tie a black streamer (which she provided with the note) to their doors if they want a visit from her "Little Dracula". I was just so impressed with her approach, and thought it might be a great way to meet some friendly neighbours, that I thought I might just get over my hangups about the idea and tag along. It was lovely! One mum ended up putting on a party for all of the families beforehand, then everyone set off together to visit the homes of each of the families. I met a dozen parents and loved carrying my lilttle clown around. My mum and dad sat out the front of our place with lollies. B even met us on his way home from the train and joined in. He came dressed as a grown-up. And our housemates passed us, dressed as fit people.