The sales

Today was the first day of the David Jones clearance sales, so Louka and I went out for a spot of shopping. Louka loves to look around these days, so instead of the ring sling, I took her in the baby bjorn.

Since one of Graham's two pairs of work pants is wearing out at the hem, we looked first for some pants for him. We found some that seemed ideal, at $79.95 with 30% off. Unfortunately the man behind the counter forgot to take the 30% off, and I didn't think to check till after I'd signed the chit. Then I checked, and pointed out that he'd forgotten. He tried to do a refund, but then the machine started playing up. Eventually with the help of another member of staff, I got my refund and we went off to the baby section to shop for Louka.

There we found a charming padded jacket with a hood, marked down to $29.95. It will probably be too hot for Sydney, even in the dead of winter, but hopefully we'll get some use out of it when we visit Perth in July and August. But there was only one in Louka's size, and it didn't have a price tag. So the lady behind the counter had to go off somewhere and get a barcode to put on it. The other lady there was on the phone, so the queue mounted up behind me.

Eventually we made it home with our loot, but it had all been a bit much for Louka. She alternated between feeding, falling asleep, and crying until Graham came home. Then she sat on his knee watching the ABC online news.

Unfortunately the pants we bought for Graham were too small, so we'll have to take them back: disappointing.

The babe's progress

I weighed Louka again today, and she is now 6.9kg. Last night we tried to measure her length - not easy - but we reckon she's 64cm. I entered these measurements into the percentiles calculator at http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_percentiles.htm (first using Google to convert them to U.S. units) and got the following results:

At 3 months:
your child is 15.225 pounds, and that is at the 92th percentile for weight.
your child is 25.25 inches, and that is at the 93th percentile for height.

92th? 93th?

Whatever. She's a big girl.

Big tantrum!

We went to Trishy and John's again yesterday, and most of the time Louka was a delight. She played on the swing with my mum, slept peacefully in the kinderkot in the back yard, and slept again in the sling while we all walked to the shops and back. With all that sleep she was in a very cheerful mood when Graham rang to say he was on his way.


So I left her with my parents while I drove to the station to pick up Graham. He was already there when I arrived, so I didn't have to park; he just jumped in and we were on our way. But as soon as we opened the car doors back at my parents place we could hear Louka. She wasn't just crying, she was screaming. And she'd started the minute I left. My poor parents. As soon as I took her back from dad, she calmed down, and when Graham came into view she was all smiles. A real little daddy's girl.

To Graham

I want to put on record what a wonderful man I married. Not only is he a lovely person, he's a helpful, considerate, loving husband and father - and dead sexy too!












It used to be that we shared tasks - I would do the vacuuming and Graham would clean the bathroom; I would wash the dishes and Graham would dry them and put them away, etc. Now he washes and dries the dishes, cleans the bathroom and vacuums (more thoroughly than I ever did) while I feed Louka. And he looks after Louka too; carries her, changes nappies, plays with her and rocks her to sleep.

Graham, I love you very very very much.

A milestone

Today is 12 weeks since we brought Louka home from the hospital, and 12 weeks since we hired the hospital-style bassinet for her to sleep in. In that time she's grown so she nearly hits her head on the top of the bassinet. And today they came to take the bassinet back. This afternoon Louka slept for the first time in her cot.

The cot is the one my sister's kids slept in, and my sister slept in, and I slept in, and my mother (Trishy) slept in. Mum doesn't know if it was new when she slept in it either. It's had several coats of paint and a new mattress, and Graham did a few repairs to the timber. Perhaps we should get the antique experts to value it.



Today is nearly winter, and grey and cold, so we put Louka in the outfit her other grandma (Graham's mum) knitted for her. It has multi coloured fluffy trims. It's still rather too big for her, but we took a couple of photos to send to Graham's mum.

Slow day at home

After such a big day yesterday, we needed to take it easy. So I did some sewing (have to sew the hem of my dress, then it's done, hooray!) some ironing and some cooking. I was at home when the parcel delivery man turned up with the wool I'd ordered from the Wool Shack to make pants for Louka. Then Louka had a big sleep and a big feed, and was awake and cheerful when I went to get my usual pane di casa bread roll from Bakers Delight. Jennifer in the shop had never seen Louka awake before, so Louka put on her best smiles.

Louka's definitely getting more alert and able to do things. She plays in her jungle gym on her own sometimes (only for a few minutes!), she grabs things, she smiles at people more, and she keeps trying, unsuccessfully, to say "hello". She also tries to stand up - she can take her weight on her legs, but she can't balance for peanuts.

By the way, I discovered yesterday that shopping is good for you! Last weekend, Willoughby council put on a "smart transport" show. The council was giving away pedometers with the injunction to walk 10,000 steps a day for an active lifestyle. In town yesterday I walked 14,000-odd steps. In contrast, today I've walked less than 600 steps.

Big day in the big city

Today we went into the city to have lunch with Graham. We decided to go to Bungalow 8 at King St Wharf. Nowadays Louka likes to see everything around her; she no longer hides her face against me when I carry her, instead she wants to be facing outwards.





At Bungalow 8 I had fish and chips and Graham had salt-and-pepper squid. The fish and chips were dearer than at our other regular lunch place (the grill bar in David Jones food hall) and not as good. I guess that's the harbourside location.
















After a nappy change, a feed, and a bit of a stroll, we went to the Mint café to have afternoon tea with my mum. I don't know how they manage, since there was no-one else there at all. Usually we sit on the verandah, but it was a bit cool so we sat indoors, where it was lovely and quiet. We had coffee and brownies with real thick cream. Mmmmmmmm.

Paedotrophia

And I, for suckling, no fix'd hour prescribe;
This Nature teaches best the nursing tribe:
Let her our mistress be; and when, with cries
The hungry child demands his due supplies,
Forbear not you the wish'd relief to bring;
Nor then be loath your snowy breast to bare,
That he may suck, and streaming fragrance share.

Sainte-Marthe, Scevole de, Paedotrophia. London 1584, quoted in Ted Greiner's History of Breastfeeding.

Visit from Grandpa Mike

Last night Louka slept for 9½ hours, woke up and had a nappy change and feed, and fell asleep again. She woke at around 10:30 or so when my friend Mike rang. He's probably my oldest friend (in terms of how long I've known him; I do have older people as friends!) and made a short speech at our wedding. He has two sons, and a number of small grandchildren of his own.

Mike had to visit somewhere in this vicinity, so he said he'd drop in and let me give him a cup of coffee in an hour. Louka spent that hour being very happy, and was playing cheerfully in her jungle gym when he arrived. She gave him a sweet smile, but it didn't last. By the time the coffee was made, she was crying. I thought with all her sleep she might well be hungry, and she did have a reasonable feed, but she didn't calm down till I'd rocked her to sleep. Mike and I had a nice coffee and a chat, and Mike commented that Louka is a very pretty baby. Even a doting grandfather can't deny that!

Feels like winter's here

This morning I dressed Louka in the green top she was given by Graham's aunt Clara, and the pink pants I bought when we went to the Blue Mountains - they're a bit fleecy and warmer than her other pants. She looked so pretty I had to take a photo.

She was grumbly at the new parents get-together and didn't cheer up much when I changed her out of her poo-ey nappy (she hates a dirty nappy). Grizzled while I weighed her - 6.575 kg at 12 weeks so she's slipping down the growth chart a bit. She fell asleep while I had lunch and walked home, and with her in the sling we keep each other warm.

Cousins' birthday

Friday was the birthday of Louka's twin cousins Lindsay and Max, so today we celebrated with a barbecue at Trishy and John's. Barbecues at Trishy and John's are a family tradition for all birthdays. Their barbecue is a rustic affair of a heavy metal plate balanced on some bush rocks: it hasn't changed since I was a kid and it gives sausages the real barbecued flavour and texture.

The twins loved their presents and were keen to get home and do some gardening. I hope the plants grow for them.



Louka got to sit on Trishy's shoulders and pull Trishy's hair. Then she had a go on my shoulders.

Around and about

At the end of my pregnancy, my blood pressure got very high, and didn't drop much for the six days I was in hospital after the caesarean, despite the drugs they gave me. For the next six weeks they gradually decreased the dose, then the following six weeks stopped it altogether. Today I had my checkup, and I'm fine - though Dr Love did say I should keep a close eye on my blood pressure if we decide to have another baby.

After the checkup we went to Macro Wholefoods to get some nice food to keep me fat (I've been losing weight breastfeeding, and my BMI is on the verge of being underweight). Bought some Pyengana cheddar and some Nairns ginger oat biccies. Also some veggies for dinner tonight.

Then on to Bunnings for birthday presents for my sister's twins, Max and Lindsay. What do you get for a nine-year-old boy and girl in Bunnings? Not a cordless drill: since they've recently moved into a house with a garden, Graham suggested some plants. Max might have preferred the cordless drill, but instead he's getting a punnet of snapdragons and one of strawberries, and a hand trowel. Lindsay's getting freesias and rosemary, and a hand trowel. I hope they enjoy getting something to grow, and aren't too disappointed that it's not a Nintendo.

And what about Louka? Well of course she accompanied me in her sling, and garnered the usual crop of admiring comments. What can I say? She's cute.

Mambo No. 5 (a little bit of Louka...)

A little bit of Louka in my life


A little bit of Louka by my side


A little bit of Louka, so petite


A little bit of Louka, ain't she sweet


A little bit of Louka in a wrap


A little bit of Louka in my lap


A little bit of Louka having fun


A little bit of Louka, she's the one

Chatswood doings

After today's new parents get together at Max Brenner's, I went to the child health centre to weigh Louka. She's now 6.4kg at 11 weeks. She seemed pretty happy about that.

Then I had lunch at Relish Cafe, bought some groceries for dinner tonight (we'll be eating those quinces from Blackheath growers market) and off to Babies Galore to check out the Kinderkot travel cot. Well I think it's great! So much lighter and more compact than a normal portable cot. I checked with Graham, and he agreed, so I bought it. I couldn't have carried a normal portable cot home on the train!

An uneventful day

Decided to give my parents a break so we didn't go to see them today. Grey, wet day. Louka cheerful this morning, but fretful in the afternoon. Graham held up latish at work. When he rang to say he was coming home, I told Louka, and she gave a huge smile, and stayed cheerful till dinner was over.

The Blue Mountains

Trishy and John have a weekend house in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. So we invited ourselves to stay for the weekend. We wanted to get away for a weekend before we were due to return the hospital-style bassinet we'd hired, since it's easy to take with us in the car. (I guess we'll end up getting a portable cot for this purpose.)

We stopped at Springwood for lunch of Blackheath Bakery pies. Tania had introduced these to us when we visited her for lunch long ago BL (before Louka). Graham had steak bacon and cheese and I had tandoori chicken and yoghurt, and they were very nice.

At Blackheath we walked down to Govett's Leap to show Louka the view - and she howled! Maybe she's afraid of heights. So we walked a little way down the Bridal Veil Falls track, where she promptly fell asleep.




That night, despite the strange surroundings, Louka fell asleep at 9:45 and slept for 7 hours and 40 minutes. After changing and feeding her, she felt a little cold so we took her into our bed.



Today is Mothers Day, and Graham and Louka gave me two lovely presents: a cardigan and a garlic chopper (Graham tried out the garlic chopper tonight and it did a good job). Then we walked up to the town to check out the growers market. We bought trout, duck sausages, olives, cherry tomatoes, quinces and plum brandy sauce - a pretty good haul.



We left after lunch to avoid the traffic (which we did) and Louka slept most of the way. She woke up and cried hard at the steep downhill sections, which maybe helped equalise the pressure in her ears. At Emu Plains she fell asleep and didn't wake till we were nearly home.

Another day, another outing

When I was made redundant (which was just what I wanted) I had a farewell/celebration lunch with the few remaining people in my team. But the team leader, David, couldn't make it; said he had work to do that was more important. Nor could my former manager, Tania, who retired last year and is now extremely busy. So we decided to get together for lunch again in our favourite work lunch venue, the Bayview Tavern.

Well this morning an email from Rob said David was sick and couldn't make it (again!) and worse, he was the only one of the team with a car. Should we postpone it? When would Tania have another free day? Eventually I realised I could easily pick them up in my car, so we decided David would just have to miss out again.

Louka was a bit upset at first, but after a nappy change and a small feed she cheered up and joined us in an enjoyable get-together. There's a baby change table in the women's toilets, so they obviously don't have a problem with under-eighteens in the pub restaurant - unlike Hotel Sweeney's in the city. We had a typically good lunch, then Rob and Anton had to go back to work. It sure is good being retired!

Nothing much ...

Today we had nothing on, but I was pretty pleased with myself for getting dinner prepared, ironing Graham's shirt, and actually starting sewing the dress I'm trying to make (it's been cut out for a week). I sewed all of two darts and a seam, with Louka asleep on her tummy across my knees! Then she woke up.

Here's a gratuitous photo of Louka:

Chocolate

The six weeks of the new parents' group formal meetings are over, but some of us were unwilling to give up our weekly outing and meeting with other mums. So we all got together at Max Brenner's chocolate shop at Chatswood Chase for some healthy food and drinks (got to keep your strength up while breastfeeding).

All the babies were on their best behaviour for the occasion. Louka sat on my lap, smiling and taking it all in, until nearly the end. Her funky yellow booties were much admired (thanks Paddie!).

At Trishy and John's

Mondays we have a standing arrangement with my parents to spend the afternoon at their place. My sister's kids call them Trishy and John, so that's what Louka will call them too. Graham's parents live in Perth, so we don't see them as often: in fact Louka hasn't met Graham's mum at all. We're planning to visit Perth for a week or two in August, when Louka will be six months old.

Yesterday was a bit cold and windy, but the back verandah was sheltered and sunny and very pleasant. Later Louka got a bit grumpy so we took her for a walk to Dence Park (Epping Aquatic Centre) where I used to swim as a child. It wasn't heated in winter back then.

Graham arrived from work and we all stayed for dinner. But the excitement was a bit much for Louka. She cried franticly all the way home, and instead of falling asleep between 10:10 and 10:15 as she has been doing recently, she didn't get to sleep until 10:18!

Didn't take any photos yesterday, but here is an old one at my parents' place:

Nappies

Louka's growing so big (6.1kg last week) that the nappy fold we learned at the hospital doesn't fit her any more. I've been trying out others, but they all seem to be too small, or too complicated, or something... The kite fold seemed to work well, but because the corners are folded to the middle, when she does a poo it gets all over the nappy instead of in one area. So we came up with our own fold. It's basically the same as the corners fold, except we don't fold down the two sides. This gives us longer corners to tuck between Louka's legs, giving more absorbency there. It doesn't look all that neat, but it seems to work ok.


Here she is in the sling while I dry the dishes. The sling will often calm her, or even send her to sleep, when nothing else will. Only problem: she wakes up again as soon as I take her out of it.







































And here she is on our "bush" walk yesterday. She slept through most of it!

Louka's first shower

Louka has been having baths with me, which she enjoys much more than she ever did in the baby bath. I was a bit nervous taking her into the shower, but yesterday was Saturday so Graham was there to help. I got into the shower and washed myself, then Graham handed Louka to me. I held her to my chest and washed her, and let a little water run over her face. She liked it! So I held her right under the water, and she still liked it.

Eventually I handed her back to Graham who had a towel, nappy and clothes ready. She wasn't entirely happy about getting out, but she soon got over it.

Today she is ten weeks old. We took her for a "bush" walk to Middle Harbour: I carried her some of the way in the sling, but Graham insisted on carrying her most of the way in his arms. I guess it serves him right that his arms are aching now.