Howdy people and festive greetings to you – from me, my husband and a little elf that showed up in our living room recently xxxx
Its time for an update: the first 6 months of my life with a baby. And not just any baby – the mini-man we call Fela.
Fela continues to light up our life. It is hard to go back now and remember him as a little squirmy newborn, so different as he is already. But let me think..
He was (is) an easy baby. Or at least easy to make happy – just pick him up, chat to him and preferably even have a little dance. Or take him for a walk. Or better still, a party. Yep, Fela strikes us as a sociable chap who is happiest when there is plenty going on around him, especially if there is a good chance of being on a hip as it does. And so the North Adelaide café lifestyle seems to suit him very nicely, thank you very much.
Its easy to get him to eat. Fela never looked back after that first lusty feed at the age of about 2 hours. And the introduction of rice cereal, apples, bananas and that other nutritious staple, chocolate, has gone as smoothly as the food itself. And so he “blossoms”…
Fela probably wouldn’t win any awards for sleeping though. Not when there’s more fun things to do, at least. There were a couple of moments early on there when I wondered if there wasn’t some way of putting a baby back. But then I came to the happy realization that in fact I wasn’t going to be any better than all those other mums circum-ambulating their bedrooms, wishing to chew their arm off rather than risk hearing that heart sinking cry as they extricate it from under their finally slumbering baby, or driving around like a madwoman at midnight. Actually we never did the last – Fela just seemed to get the day-night thing very early on. Matt’s and my madness extended just to dancing Fela to sleep to our favourite Ghanian pop song “cheeky cheeky bum bum” (take the link to Matts Utube site, Kwamematt, if you want to see and learn how its done…) over and over, and over, again.
Not really the stuff of great poets – sleeping, eating and nappy changes. But 3 things capable of completely (ful)filling the life of a new mum or dad.
Then of course there’s all the fun stuff. Smiles, giggles, incomprehensible babbling, looks of utter adoration and joy. And then there’s all the stuff Fela gets up to too…
He’s done a bit of travelling in his first half-year of life. He’s been to the great Australian outback (the Flinders Ranges and Broken Hill), for a weekend of luxury at someone else’s expense in Melbourne and a number of trips to our very own Shangri-La – the beautiful Port Willunga beach half an hour south of Adelaide (sshh don’t tell anyone about it – I’m sick of all the talk and new people who seem to be turning up there these days..)
I had the first 3 months of Fela’s life “on holiday”. Matt has been working full time from home. So if ever I needed a break from the cherub it was always a possibility. Lucky girl I was – I even managed a shower nearly every morning, unlike those many who don’t manage to get out of their (attractive maternity style) pyjamas until its nearly time to get back in. Then at 3 months I put the vomit encrusted leisure suit aside and went back to work. Only 2 to 3 days a week though and only 5 minutes down the road. So, again, it wasn’t too hard to take. And getting out of the house makes coming home so wonderful: I really do feel I have the best of both worlds that way. Even though Matts here we do have a nanny for a few hours a week. She is closer in age to Fela than me but she’s really kind and Fela loves her (could have something to do with the fact that she’s beautiful – how early it begins) and I hope we will all grow and learn together.
Another little preoccupation this year for a (remarkably short) while was finding a new house: an honest red brick family home in a rose garden filled suburb near the grand mothers. You might not call it a glamorous choice but we reckon the park out the back ,gumtrees full of birds and sometimes koalas, a back lawn and a shed will see us through many happy years ahead. Especially if we manage to keep the truly beautiful garden alive.
And so, sadly, my beloved little cottage in Forestville has gone onto the market and we depart our sunny townhouse, the pubs and parks of North Adelaide. IN 2 WEEKS! I think it may be the last time I pack such boxes for quite some time…
Its time for an update: the first 6 months of my life with a baby. And not just any baby – the mini-man we call Fela.
Fela continues to light up our life. It is hard to go back now and remember him as a little squirmy newborn, so different as he is already. But let me think..
He was (is) an easy baby. Or at least easy to make happy – just pick him up, chat to him and preferably even have a little dance. Or take him for a walk. Or better still, a party. Yep, Fela strikes us as a sociable chap who is happiest when there is plenty going on around him, especially if there is a good chance of being on a hip as it does. And so the North Adelaide café lifestyle seems to suit him very nicely, thank you very much.
Its easy to get him to eat. Fela never looked back after that first lusty feed at the age of about 2 hours. And the introduction of rice cereal, apples, bananas and that other nutritious staple, chocolate, has gone as smoothly as the food itself. And so he “blossoms”…
Fela probably wouldn’t win any awards for sleeping though. Not when there’s more fun things to do, at least. There were a couple of moments early on there when I wondered if there wasn’t some way of putting a baby back. But then I came to the happy realization that in fact I wasn’t going to be any better than all those other mums circum-ambulating their bedrooms, wishing to chew their arm off rather than risk hearing that heart sinking cry as they extricate it from under their finally slumbering baby, or driving around like a madwoman at midnight. Actually we never did the last – Fela just seemed to get the day-night thing very early on. Matt’s and my madness extended just to dancing Fela to sleep to our favourite Ghanian pop song “cheeky cheeky bum bum” (take the link to Matts Utube site, Kwamematt, if you want to see and learn how its done…) over and over, and over, again.
Not really the stuff of great poets – sleeping, eating and nappy changes. But 3 things capable of completely (ful)filling the life of a new mum or dad.
Then of course there’s all the fun stuff. Smiles, giggles, incomprehensible babbling, looks of utter adoration and joy. And then there’s all the stuff Fela gets up to too…
He’s done a bit of travelling in his first half-year of life. He’s been to the great Australian outback (the Flinders Ranges and Broken Hill), for a weekend of luxury at someone else’s expense in Melbourne and a number of trips to our very own Shangri-La – the beautiful Port Willunga beach half an hour south of Adelaide (sshh don’t tell anyone about it – I’m sick of all the talk and new people who seem to be turning up there these days..)
I had the first 3 months of Fela’s life “on holiday”. Matt has been working full time from home. So if ever I needed a break from the cherub it was always a possibility. Lucky girl I was – I even managed a shower nearly every morning, unlike those many who don’t manage to get out of their (attractive maternity style) pyjamas until its nearly time to get back in. Then at 3 months I put the vomit encrusted leisure suit aside and went back to work. Only 2 to 3 days a week though and only 5 minutes down the road. So, again, it wasn’t too hard to take. And getting out of the house makes coming home so wonderful: I really do feel I have the best of both worlds that way. Even though Matts here we do have a nanny for a few hours a week. She is closer in age to Fela than me but she’s really kind and Fela loves her (could have something to do with the fact that she’s beautiful – how early it begins) and I hope we will all grow and learn together.
Another little preoccupation this year for a (remarkably short) while was finding a new house: an honest red brick family home in a rose garden filled suburb near the grand mothers. You might not call it a glamorous choice but we reckon the park out the back ,gumtrees full of birds and sometimes koalas, a back lawn and a shed will see us through many happy years ahead. Especially if we manage to keep the truly beautiful garden alive.
And so, sadly, my beloved little cottage in Forestville has gone onto the market and we depart our sunny townhouse, the pubs and parks of North Adelaide. IN 2 WEEKS! I think it may be the last time I pack such boxes for quite some time…
posted by jobhawkins at 1:57 pm
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