Louka in movies

In case you hadn't noticed, I've added a few videos of Louka (linked to YouTube) over on the right-hand side. I'll add more from time to time.

Visit from John and Meagan

John and Meagan were in Sydney overnight to do some Christmas shopping, and to catch up with us and Nanna Joyce.

Last night we went out to the local Korean restaurant, which has changed hands since we had our wedding reception there in 2002. They had run out of high-chairs so Graham went home and got our own.



Today we picked up Nanna Joyce and went to Café Saligna at Cumberland State Forest for lunch. There was a lovely drive through the forest, but when we reached the café they had no outdoor tables available, and some of the chefs were not there so there was a long wait for lunch. However, there was a gift shop and a native plant nursery to check out, and John had brought his laptop to show Joyce photos of their house in Orange. So the time passed pleasantly enough until the food arrived. My steak was excellent, and the prawn and mango salad also looked delicious.


Louka is nine months old today, so we decided to turn her car seat around to face the front. On the way to Joyce's place and on to Cumberland State Forest, she was smiling and laughing and it seemed she enjoyed facing forward. On our way back, she was clapping along to the sound of Abba on the car stereo, until she got tired and started to cry.

First toothbrush

Now Louka has teeth, they need to be cleaned. I bought her a fingertip toothbrush, which is like a long silicone thimble with bristles. She's quite happy to let me put it in her mouth and poke around, and she scrapes it over her teeth all by herself.

Graham's effect on Louka

Tonight Louka fell asleep sitting on Graham's shoulders while he watched the news. There must be something very calming about Graham.

Hot

Today was stinking hot: according to Weatherzone it got up to 38°C. Graham wasn't feeling well so he didn't go to work, and Louka didn't have much of a nap, or else the heat was getting to her, so she was a bit irritable. So I took her to Chatswood to hang around in air-conditioned shopping centres. We looked at the puppies in the pet shop, and I had some lunch. Louka had a short nap and a quick breast-feed ― she's not eating a lot of solids these days ― then I brought her home.

Our neighbour showed us where a possum was curled up beside a garage door to sleep. Apparently it had been there all day. Louka wasn't much interested, as it wasn't very active. I just hope the neighbour's cat doesn't get it.













After dinner Graham gave Louka a luke-warm bath, and she fell asleep on his chest! She's done that before with Graham, but she never does it with me.

Baby's got new shoes

Today at Eastwood we wanted to try Louka's new shoes, so we walked down to the local park. First Trish and John took Louka on the slippery-dip.


Then they helped Louka walk across the whole park; a distance of at least 100m. She loves walking!

Manly morning

Last time we were in Manly, we saw a stall at the markets selling baby shoes. They're quite similar to the Robeez styles, but much cheaper (I guess because there's no middle-man). This woman has been making them for 26 years, since her baby was little. Now Louka is walking (not by herself yet!) we thought it would be good to get her a pair so she can practice walking on rougher surfaces.

So this morning we headed back to Manly. We were a little later than usual, but it was a lot busier than usual. When we reached the beach, we discovered why: the Manly Surf Club Junior Surf Carnival was on. We ate at Café Steyne because we had an entertainment book voucher. It was nice. Then we walked round to Shelly Beach, looking at the bees on the flowers, then back to the market.


After trying on a number of shoes, we opted for a green pair with white ducks. They look very cute on Louka.











She slept well in them on the way home ☺.

Lunch on the Chinese side

Today we had lunch with Graham's Chinese grandmother Linda, and his aunt and uncle Clara and Michael. Linda is very old, in her nineties, so she had Ah-Sun (did I get that right?) to help Clara look after her. Louka took to Ah-Sun immediately, though she still cried for mummy when she was taken outside.

Clara had put on a delicious yum-cha style spread for us, with even chicken feet! I admitted to not liking chicken feet, but Clara said she was impressed that I'd even been game enough to try them. I did like everything else though, especially the egg tarts (my favourite).

Louka wasn't interested in any food, but she did enjoy some watered-down apple juice. Then she sat amusing herself while the rest of us ate. She was very good until about 2 o'clock when she started to get tired. Linda was getting tired too, so we said goodbye.

Wildlife World

We had some discount vouchers for Sydney Wildlife World, so we thought we'd give it another try. This time there was hardly a queue at all, so in we went.

Unlike the zoo, it's all indoors and the animals are behind glass. You progress past insects, reptiles, birds, nocturnal creatures and mammals. The best thing was the staff stationed around with animals you could touch. For example, just inside the entrance they had some giant stick-insects, which crawled up Graham's arm, then up Louka's arm. Unfortunately the photo I took is a bit blurry...

Further on there were various lizards, snakes, and a tame tawny frogmouth. But halfway through, Louka fell asleep, so she didn't get to see the mammals. Oh well, next time.


It was now lunchtime, so we adjourned to Yots café at the Maritime Museum to eat (we had vouchers from the entertainment book). While waiting for the food, Louka took us for walks around the other tables, and the children's play area. Then she ate most of her apple and berry pureé.

Lunch with Carmel

We had lunch with Carmel once before, back in July. Today I wanted to buy some weather calendars from the Bureau of Meteorology, and Carmel works in the same building so it seemed a good opportunity to catch up again. We had intended to bring our own food and eat in a park, but when I arrived it was raining a little, so we decided to go to a nearby café and eat our sandwiches later.

It was a bit too crowded in the café to feed Louka, so Carmel suggested we adjourn to her staff-room, where we could also eat our own lunches. It is a pleasant, quiet room with a piano! which Carmel has never heard anyone play. We ate our sandwiches, and Louka had some of her apple-and-quince purée, but she'd only had a short nap this morning and was a bit tired and grumpy.

As well as being a technical writer, Carmel writes fiction and poetry. She recently won second prize in a prestigious short story competition, and tomorrow is off to Dubbo to a poetry prize-giving to which she was invited, as a possible finalist.

When Carmel had to go to a meeting, I walked up to the CBD to see Graham. He was able to get away for a hot chocolate at the Lindt Café with us. Louka had fallen asleep in the sling, and only woke after we got to Graham's work, so she was in a good mood.

We have a tooth

This morning Louka had a three-hour nap, so it was past her normal lunch-time when she woke up, and we didn't get out to do our shopping till after 1pm. I bought a new pedal bin for the bathroom, since she likes to poke around in the open bin.

When she got home she was ready for a breast-feed. I didn't feel anything, but when she took my finger to suck, I felt it ― a sharp little tooth. Now I guess we'll have to start thinking about cleaning teeth.

Michaela's birthday

Yesterday I saw nothing of the Melbourne Cup. My sister's birthday always falls around this time, and this year it was the same day. To celebrate, my parents took her and Louka and me out for lunch. She chose Rowda Ya Habibi, conveniently close to the university. When we got there, the takeaway section out the front was very busy, but there was no-one else in the dining room. We ordered a banquet for two, plus extra garlic chicken and fried cauliflower.

The dishes arrived a few at a time, so the table was never crowded but there was always something to eat, a bit like yum cha. Louka liked the cauliflower so much she kept stuffing more into her mouth without swallowing the last lot.

After lunch we adjourned to Campos Coffee for coffee and cake. We were lucky to arrive before hordes of other people with the same idea, and managed to find four chairs together at the counter. We shared a mini-brownie, belgian fuss, caramel kiss and cube of nougat (Louka didn't get any). Then we felt we ought to give up our seats to the ever-growing queue.

Walking back to the university and station, we stopped to look at Mura Clay Gallery. They had some lovely pots, all the affordable ones being already sold. They also had some christmas tree ornaments in the shape of small wombats with golden wings, santa hats, lifesaver caps and reindeer antlers. But I was too cheap to pay $20 for one.

Lorikeets

Our neighbours put seed out for the lorikeets, and Louka likes to watch them when we pass. This morning though, they came to visit us. Louka was watching the one on the balcony rail when another landed on Dadsy's shoulder. Of course she reached out to make friends, and received a little nip on the finger!

The second-last farewell

Today it was Hulda's turn to say farewell to ACUS. That leaves only Anton. We went to the Phoenix yum cha restaurant again. Tania couldn't make it this time, but Rob and David were able to get away from their new jobs at Citect to be with us. They seem to be enjoying their work.





After lunch I had a craving for a date and honey smoothie at the One Earth Café, so we drove there. I found there was a little park just round the corner, where another girl of a similar age to Louka was playing on the swing. I'd only ever had Louka on the swing with me, but the other girl's mother showed me how to put the front strap on to keep her safely in the swing, so we gave it a go. It was such fun!