Then and Now

One of the great things about living back at Mum and Dad's while we've been waiting to move into our new home has been discovering lots of old bits and pieces that Mum has saved from when my sisters and I were growing up.  Turns out that babies needs haven't changed that much in the intervening years and little E has been having a great time playing with all our old stuff. Check out the then and now picture of me and Emilia at about the same age playing with the rolly-polly Clown. I'd like to say that we look 'just the same' but really, Emilia is still Papa's girl in the looks department.

Life is still pretty topsy-turvy around here. If the rain ever stops pouring, tomorrow we'll be packing up the trailer and driving up the Hume Highway. The keys to our new place will be ready for picking up Monday morning. It'll be nice to be our of our suitcases finally and into our new place. I already have grand plans for putting our stamp on our new pad, including (I hope) the planting of a vegie garden and maybe, perhaps, even some chooks!

Back in Oz

So, yes. We've moved back to Australia. It's something that I've been dreaming about for such a long time but I was never quite sure it was going to be possible. There seemed to be so many obstacles; jobs needed to be found and visas applied for, not to mention the uneviable task of finding a new house and the logistical challenges of moving across the world with a 4 month old baby.  It all just seemed too hard. And then it happened. Just. Like. That. 

Well that's how it seemed anyway. In truth it was many months in the making. Matthias and I actually applied for our jobs way back when I was still pregnant. But these things always take longer than you think and we sat around wondering whether it was going to become a reality until the end of October. And then we were offered jobs and a few days later Matthias' visa came through and we looked at our diaries and said, "Well, really, the most logical thing is to be in Australia in three weeks". Yes, we really did say that. And truthfully even if it was not the most logical choice there is something to be said for doing these things fast. Moving is never fun and perhaps if we'd had more time we would have procastinated more and had boxes and endless 'to do' lists floating around for ages. When you move in two weeks there's no time to 'umm and ahh' about whether you keep your sister's ex-boyfriend's crappy birthday gift (it got ditched) or your 'Boston winter coat' (kept). You make decisions fast. You pack up and you leave.

And now we're here. Temporarily calling my parent's spare bedroom home.

In case you're wondering, Emilia coped splendedly with the flight right up until about the 18 hour mark. Like almost everyone she'd had enough. She screamed pretty much solidly for the next six hours with intermittent bouts of sleeping on my shoulder, whimpering as she slept. One week on she's still jetlagged. If anyone has any tips on curing baby jetlag I'd love to hear them.

Four months

A lot can happen in a month...

You can find your hands.
You can take a big breath and turn something you've been dreaming about into a reality.
You can learn to stick fingers in mouths and laugh when you make yourself choke.
You can pack up a house.
You can buy flights and hope that your little girl will be a good traveller.
You can find your voice and delight your parents with your 'talking'.
You can say goodbye to two years of memories, two years of friends and a European winter.
You can meet two aunties for the first time.
You can spend 30 hours in airports and airplanes and fall, jetlagged, into the arms of a waiting family.
You can say Hello Australia!.. Home for the next little while.

Yep, it's been a big month. Too big for blogging. Too many decisions and plans and then boxes and suitcases and goodbyes and hellos and in amongst it all our little girl has been growing into a big baby with a voice and hands and a strong personality bursting to get out.

I've missed this space. I'll be back. Soon.

Sleep

I'm a good sleeper. Really good. So good in fact that I'm probably a little too good. On a bad night it takes me five minutes to get to sleep. On a good night, I'm asleep almost before my head hits the pillow. I've even been known to fall asleep mid-conversation, at the dinner table and once, just once, while standing up listening to a midnight mass. I was the girl at uni who always fell asleep in class. When the sleep-bug hits I'm a goner.  It's safe to say I have very little understanding of the difficulties some people have in getting to sleep. 

 But I am learning, and quickly. Emilia is sleep resistant.  Catch her at the right time and it takes half an hour for her to calmly and quietly drift off to sleep.  And this is after she's been fed, changed, swaddled, given her sleep toy, has her dummy and has her Mama or Papa sitting quietly by her side.

I kind of feel sorry for the kid. Kind of. A little bit. Although there are times when I'm reminded of that book by Adam Mansbach.  You can listen to Samuel L. Jackson narrating it here. It'll make you laugh, particularly if you're just a little bit sleep deprived.

Sud Kunstpark

Sometimes in the most unexpected places you find curious things. Like this Artpark, tucked away in a remote and very small village in the Austrian countryside. The name is as much of an enigma as the works within - there is no north, east or west Artpark to speak of. If you were geographically minded you might argue that the park sits at the southern tip of the village, but geography has never been my strong suite so I really couldn't say. Anyway, there it is, nestled between the forest and the vineyards, a curious collection of bright, whimsical sculptural pieces by a Canadian artist.  You might also wonder what a Canadian artist is doing in southern Burgenland but that, again, would be something I couldn't answer. 

So with very little explanation other than the little I have said above, I give you the artwork. I loved almost every piece. Some made me smile, a few made me giggle. The man in the second photo only began to relieve himself when you stood within a few metres of him. Fun to see a group of adults regressing into 5 year olds when the question of wee comes up. Poo and wee jokes never really get old, do they?

But I think this little girl was my favourite of the lot. I've forgotten the title now, but it was something along the lines of "dirt in eye". There was a small amount of moss growing on her gumboots from her constant crying which somehow added to the whole piece. And I just love her posture and the position of her feet. The artist got it just right.

3 months

Yesterday Emilia celebrated her three month anniversary with a trip to the doctor for her regular check-up and second lot of vaccinations. Apart from screaming loudly enough that even the doctor commented on her "healthy lungs" she coped with the whole ordeal suprisingly well and at this stage of the developmental game she's tall and lean.

She's also turning out to be a bit of a people person, flirting with everyone who passes by, listening to coversations, cooing and ahhing and giggling at anyone who cares to listen. Doesn't care much about anything else though. Toys? Boring really. Hands? Why bother when you can manipulate your dummy (pacifier) with the flick of your tongue. Milk? Overrated when you can listen to a conversation instead.

Emilia through the months:

- See here for her one week,  4 week and 2 months photos.

Off the Needles

Off the needles... well, mostly anyway.

This little hat, the Organic Beanie by Mel Clark was initially destined to be a 'welcome baby' gift. It travelled down to Burgenland with me and was quickly finished and ready to be wrapped up and given away but fate had other plans. It somehow never made it to the present wrapping stage, morphing instead into Emilia's go-to hat to keep the chilly winds at bay. The pattern is a great little, quick knit. Simple and the options are endless once you start playing around with the accent colours, as it's Ravelry page shows.

I also managed to finish this Garter stitch Kimono on the train back to Berlin from Burgenland. I was a little worried that the self-striping sock yarn wouldn't look very good on the v-neck and I'm still not sure that it was really that great a choice of yarns.  It's old sock yarn from my stash that I was keen to use up and, really, at this end of the year it's warmth that counts. Right?  The buttons also came from my Op-shop button stash so all-in-all a very cheap baby gift for little Baby G.

And finally, mittens for me. The first one has been finished for a few weeks now, but it took a chilly evening playing backgammon outside at our favourite Arabic Cafe before I realised that the time for gloves will be quickly upon us and really, it'd be a shame not to give the left mitten a mate.  Plus the pattern is quite addictive. The rounds are quick and the patter materialises before your eyes. Yup, happy knitting days are upon us now that the days are shorter and just a little bit chillier.