Navy

The weather has turned decidedly towards winter around here. A week of constant rain.  It's all a bit glum really as we really were hoping for a few more summer days and a final trip to the beach before we packed away the bathers and towel for the year. Through the rain I've been knitting.  Knitting, knitting, knitting.  Nothing like rain, a cosy couch and some good quality knitting time to sooth the soul into winter.  A quick wander through my house today and I found five knits in various stages of "finished".  Yes, that's two hats sitting on the flour jar (it's the perfect shape for wet blocking), and that rather tiny ribbed square is supposed to be a beanie.  It's not finished, but I'm still not convinced.  I'm still working on Dad's jumper, but in the inbetween times I've been having fun with the hats in Bambeanies - finished photos to come soon - and perhaps, a proper review of the book (but just quietly, I love it.)

Seven months

The milestones are tumbling at the moment. In two weeks I went from having a non-mobile, non-rolling kid to a sitting, rolling, bum-shuffling babe with two bottom teeth and a love of her own voice. Seriously, there is rarely a moment when she's quiet. She even hums her approval (or otherwise) while eating the food we dish up to her. Soft coo's for 'good' and high pitched whinging when we haven't quite got it right. Lately she's been waking up and practicing her 'da-da' and 'ba-ba-bas' at 2am in the morning. It's kinda cute until you realise it's two in the morning and actually you'd prefer to be sleeping than listening to your kid ticking off developmental milestones.

But even if she's kept me awake for what seems like all night and really, I'm pretty grumpy because this working-Mama thing needs sleep for it to function, one look at those cheeks and I'm done. 

Emilia at: six months, five months,   four months, three months, two months

Favourite places

So, that favourite place we visited? This is it. McLaren Vale on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. The summers are magic there. Four days of looking out at this sunset while drinking a glass of red and waiting for the BBQ to be cooked. Even better, watching the same sunset looking out over the sea. Yes, we did that too.

And then spent the days doing this.

And this.

Yep, that'd  be - let's pretend to taste wine but really we're all staring at the baby who is hamming it up for the camera.

See, told you.

It was a pretty awesome long weekend which seems far too long ago now.  Never mind, I'll be seeing this lot again soon (yippee) - in two weeks we're heading down to Melbourne again to celebrate my Mum's "big" birthday.  They'll be more photos, more wine, more hands to cuddle and play with E.  I'm counting the days already.

Ooff!

Ooff! Our internet got sick. I lost my camera charger. I went back to work. We had a mini-holiday to one of my favourite places in the world. I did some knitting. Our internet stayed sick for much longer than it ought. Eventually I managed to find my camera charger (in the linen closet) and we got our internet functioning again. In a nutshell we've been busy and I haven't been blogging. But I've been thinking about it and now I that I have both a functioning computer with an internet connection and a working camera I might get back into the swing of things again.

Growing Pains

Today I have a sick baby hanging out with me as I go about my day. Mr Hippo in hand, dummy firmly in mouth and head gently resting on her Mamma's back.  Her nose is full of snot and she sounds ever so slightly like a Pug dog as she sniffs and snuffles her way through slumber.  And while I am so happy to know that just being with me is enough to make her feel a bit better, this was not what I had planned for today. Nor this week, for that matter. Oh no! This week was about getting the car fixed, buying safety gear for our soon-to-be second vehicle (a putt-putt motorbike), storing up breastmilk in carefully labelled bottles and orientating Emilia into childcare. This week was supposed to be about getting everything ready for me to go back to work.

I do not feel great about going back to work.  It is necessary and I know once I am there I will enjoy oiling the intellectual cogs in my brain and using skills that I had previously worked so hard to acquire. Mattthias will start looking after Emilia one day a week, which I think they will both love (no pesky Mamma poking her head in wondering if everything is okay) and eventually Emilia will love childcare. Over all her toys and the games that we play at home, her most favourite thing in the world is visiting people.  No matter where we go if there's someone about she'll lean in towards them and give them a big gummy smile. She will love the opportunity of playing with other kids at childcare. And she will still hang out with Mamma or Papa four days a week. It will be okay. It might even be great. But right now it all seems too much.  Right now she's nestled on my back sleeping and there's no where else I'd rather her be.

17.01

18.01

19.01

20.01

21.01

22.01

23.01

Little Dresses

It all started with this dress. Spotted and bought from here. And while we ooh'ed and ahh'ed over it at Christmas, my Mum remembered that she thought she might have kept a few of our old baby dresses somewhere for safe keeping.  You know, just in case.  A little while later I was presented with a not so small handful of beautiful cotton dresses and a few velvety ones for when it gets cold.  I'm still not entriely convinced that dresses are the most practical thing for little girls to wear. But they really are so very cute and the vintage ones have some wonderful detailing that you just can't get anymore.  And really, while Emilia is still mostly immobile they aren't that impractical to wear.

And then to add to my good fortune I found this dress at the local op-shop.  It was the polka dots that drew me in initially but when I got up close I noticed all the beautiful little details and I was sold. When I got home I discovered that it was, in fact, a Mama-made dress.  Someone's Mama or other loving someone (someone's someone, that is) had stitched all those details by hand. Goodness knows who had the heart to send it the op-shop but I am so very glad that I found it and only a little sheepish that I paid only $1.50 for it. Less than a coffee!  Happy days my friends.  Little op-shop, I'll be back.

6 months

And just like that my little babe is becoming a girl. Sometimes, just for a moment, I catch a glimpse of the girl that she is becoming. For an instant her baby cheeks and gummy smile give way to a studious and inquisitive gaze and I see the girl she will be at 10. And then 'poof' it's gone and she's a babe in my arms again. 

A babe who (touch wood) is sleeping again!  I'm writing this with slight trepidation for there's a real risk that I might jinx things by blurting it out here, but, just quietly, we seem to have repaired her sleep.  Thank you to everyone who sent words of encouragment and helpful advice.  I'm not sure that we're completely out of the woods yet but we're making progress, and that's more than enough for now.

Emilia at: five months four months, three months, two months