26 April 2007

Birthday bonanza

No, it's nowhere near my birthday, nor C-chan's. But E-chan is 10.5 months old, and some of his "mates" are turning One. So the inevitable "let's have a group birthday party" suggestions get floated, and we, inevitably not wanting to be party poopers, but thinking the idea is a tad on the ridiculous side, bumble along semi-enthusiastically. Please don't think of the three of us, sitting there in the corner with glum faces, making sarcastic comments all afternoon, while the rest went overboard with helium balloons, "happy birthday" banners, and Elmo cream cakes. (I think I avoided sarcasm, and only managed to utter one "they're only one years old! they won't remember this!" comment, at which point some of the other parents nodded heartily in agreement but decided it was wiser to remain silent).

It's always fun to catch up with other parents, and see how the babies are all so similar, yet so individual. 3 of the other babies are walking, and little E-chan sits there watching quietly, occasionally getting pushed, shoved, or climbed over, but bearing it like a trooper. He's such a gentle baby, and he's often content watching and interacting with adults because other babies rarely return his smiles. He'll probably just bypass crawling and go straight to walking, as I hear some babies do.

The group we caught up with yesterday are from our Antenatal class, who are an interesting bunch to stay in touch with. When we met them, we felt we had little in common. We had a reunion after the babies were born, and I kept an open mind about the whole thing. From a purely pragmatic point of view, there are 2 ladies and 1 man who work in Preschool/childcare industry, and another lady who is a Primary teacher. As I have no close friends or family in this area, inside knowledge is useful. Strangely, but as I half expected might happen, gross-out Dad (who always asked questions about epesiotomies in our antenatal class) and his partner are the ones we possibly have most in common with, and he's being a stay-at-home Dad, which is rare and very cool.

The whole birthday and christmas thing is so wierd for the under 2's. People are so impatient to make a fuss about it. But in reality, the kids play more with the wrapping paper than the presents. We felt it unnecessary to give E-chan chocolate at his first Easter, nor did we give him cake yesterday. We're waiting until he understands what it's all about. However, E-chan's actual birthday falls on a long weekend, and all the rellies are coming over from 'delaide. And we're not about to knock back visits from doting family because we want to keep his birthday low-key and not go overboard with buying stuff...

By the way, if the weather's fine, we might have a picnic on the Queens B'day long weekend (his birthday). Too late to catch Bsharp I understand :( but others are welcome if you want to come along and give him a birthday cuddle.

24 April 2007

Cabin fever

Today, the rain is pouring down. My windows also look like the cabin window of a boat out at sea, just like BSharp observed out her windows the other day, except, the sea is a long, long way from my window. You can just see the sea (oh deary me, that's as far as can be)*. You can actually see the massive crains out at Botany Bay, but they look more like giraffes than cranes from this distance. Actually, you can't see them today, as it's too rainiy and misty. Maybe the giraffes will come out of the mist later, and the clouds will hopefully lift and we can go for a walk and get some fresh air.

E-chan is snuggled up in his sleeping bag in his cot. Babies have it good, if you ask me. He still doesn't crawl, but he can roll pretty much everywhere.He's just worked how to do a bit of his own sign language - he thumps his tummy or points to the kitchen when he's hungry. He points at the bedroom when he wants to go to bed!! He points at whomever he wants a cuddle from!! He waves hello and goodbye. He points at his water bottle when he wants a drink. He points at the bookshelves when he wants to be read to. He points at things and goes "Da!?" which I think means "What's that?", and I name it for him. Once he knows something, you can ask him where it is, and he'll point to it. What's my point? I'm really just boasting, but I suppose understanding what he wants is only going to get easier from now on.

So why aren't I in bed too, snuggled up reading? I'd love to be, but have less than 2 weeks left until I start work! And E-chan starts child care next week! (Of course there are huge conflicting emotions going on in the background here, but I don't want to talk about that). Anyhow, I have stuff to get done, none of it interesting, which is why I'm blogging instead.

Before I go, a big "hello" to Mermaidgrrrl and Little Mister, who are expecting their own bundle of joy any day now!! Enjoy the ride!! And welcome to the world, little Phoebe, who was born to my friends A & D nearly 2 weeks ago.


*yes, I've been reading Dr Seuss again

15 April 2007

Faith in workplace's ability to accommodate working mothers restored...

A lot has happened over the past few weeks. OK, so I still haven't received a letter telling me that my former position will be cancelled. But old job and the regular long commute out west is not really an option for me any more, and my hope that I could work part time in the main office seems to be out of the question.

So off I went on a quest to find "quality part time work". This is a phrase that someone I talked to at EOWA introduced to me. It's part-time work that isn't secretarial or clerical, and with a higher salary rate (even though the annual salary is down due to you not working the full complement of hours). It means creating jobs that go for less than 5 days a week that aren't casual or shift work, and are actuall worthwhile taking up (ie would cover expensive inner-city child care costs, and bring in enough money to cover living costs where one household income is not enough). Finding suitable quality part-time jobs to apply for is hard - opportunities don't come up often.

But alas! One came along that I thought I could apply for, is with the same employer I'm currently with (ie is close to my home and where I am down on childcare waiting lists), and pays enough money to be worthwhile. They advertised 4-5 days a week, but when I rang to see if they would consider me even if I could only work 3 days, they said it was more about getting the right person. So I applied.

And got an interview.

And got offered the job. I'm doing 3 days a week, plus another 1/2 day from home. We'll see how things go after 3 months and review whether we need to get someone else in part time, or whether I'm likely to want to go up to 4 days (I'm not sure how I feel about that, and won't be pressured about it).

So yay. Can relax about paying the bills, and wondering where I'll work for the next year.

06 April 2007

Help! Our son has a banana problem...

It started with a fondness for banana. This gradually became a strong preference to banana over any other fruit. We tried to distract him, give him a taste for a wide variety of fruits, and mix his diet up a bit. Porridge without banana would result in long, tiresome breakfasts, whereby each spoonful would have to be coaxed down the hatch, with many silly faces and other entertainment put on by whomever was feeding him. So for a while, we decided we'd be permissive about banana habit. Maybe it would lose its novelty if we didn't make a big deal about it?
Then this morning, we tried to feed him porridge with apple and peach. It was awful! Tears, tantrums and screaming!! Clear withdrawal symptoms. He wouldn't eat another spoonful until a small wedge of banana had been mashed up and mixed in. We realised at this point that our son has a banana problem. We are destraught! What would we do if there was another banana shortage, sending banana prices skyrocketing? Would we have to turn to a life of crime? Does anyone know of a good banana detox clinic?

05 April 2007

Crumbley deliciousness

Fruit with Crumble Topping

This comes courtesy of Stephanie Alexander's Cooks Companion. It's great, because it's healthy, does 6 serves (ie all week for 2 people!), and has a bit of zing.

Stew some fruit. Roughly 4 large apples, or 3 apples and a couple of peaches or apricots does this recipe. (We stew a bit extra and put some aside for us and E-chan to eat with yoghurt or breakfast).

100g (just over 1/2 cup) brown sugar
1 tspn baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
60g unsalted butter
150g (just over 1 cup) plain flour
2 cups drained poached fruit

Mix sugar, baking powder and ground ginger. Crumble butter into flour with fingers until pea sized pieces form, then mix wtih sugar mixture. Spoon fruit into 1L ovenproof dish and pour topping over it. Bake at 180deg until topping is golden brown and bubbling at the edge.

Not another conjoined twins special....?

Is it just me, or is there a TV special every couple of months about separating conjoined twins? I know, I know - terrible situation to find yourself in, no doubt. But is the TV air time really justified? OK so TV isn't exactly the window to our lives. And there are some things (such as Alan Jones ranting about issues) that I don't want to see, but understand that there is a big chunk of the population out there (not my friends!) who do think they are interested in what he has to say. Seeing someone give birth on TV used to freak/gross me out, but now it makes me teary and brings back all sorts of happy memories.

But there are some things I sympathise with and agree are serious issues, but JUST DO NOT WANT TO SEE EVER AGAIN. Specials on conjoined twins is one of them.