Charlie's Bird
living the dream with Charlie and Thandi and chirping all the way back to the nest.Archive for June, 2011
Book Review
…so after a good day with my Thandi girl, I headed off to book club last night, my second solo expedition. After bath time and a good feed, I left a sleeping baby in her cot with Charlie at home, and made my way to L’s, who was hosting. It was good to catch up, talk lots of nonsense and relax, although I’m finding I don’t laugh quite as easily as I used to… Supper was great, a slow baked chicken dish, which was delicious, served with a fresh green salad. After books were chosen, it was home to find Thandi just having woken, ready for her next feed, what a champion child! And she’s had a good night! Yay!
All this from a girl who gave us her first smile in the bath yesterday evening, that whole face lit up as she felt the warm water around her little body – our hearts melted, so precious!
And Angel, we missed you last night, thinking of you…
Foodie training
…and dinner was good last night, Charlie had headed off to his weekly guitar lesson, only to discover that his teacher was without power, so he came home early. Yay! Didn’t mean much though, we still ate in a relay, since a certain someone decided she was also hungry! This after she watched me prepare supper from the comfort of her pram, and put herself to sleep all by herself! (I’m starting foodie training early!)
And at her weigh in this morning, big T is now at 4.47 kg, what a champion grower!
Redicscovering the kitchen
…and the oxtail was delicious, slowly cooked over 6 hours, it was tender, melt off the bone kinda stuff, I cooked it off with some onion, carrots, celery, baby potatoes, fresh herbs, tomato, stock and wine, adding some butter beans towards the end of cooking – served with some basmati rice, it was magnificent! My parents joined us for bath time and dinner, and got to witness little Thandi’s first projectile vomits, yes, vomits, twice! Messy sausage! She slept ok last night, but with lots of moans and groans, huffing and puffing, but no wailing, yay! This morning she seems to be her usual gorgeous self, so we are off to tea with an old school friend of mine.
Tonight on the menu, cottage pie, with a difference, pumpkin mash on top.
They said there’d be days like this…
…good ones and rough ones!
And I can’t work out what triggers them. On Saturday night, after a very quiet, stay-at-home kinda day, missy woke up at 01h00, and preceeded to give me a hard time until 04h30, at which point I called for back up, Charlie took over, and so she continued until 06h00, and then finally had yet another feed and fell asleep. She then proceeded to feed every 3 hours, unlike her usual 4hourly option, and nearly drove me moggy. Then last night (being sunday) she had a great night – go figure! She remains a gem, and is getting closer and closer to that first smile, especially at bathtime, when she gets into that warm water – delicious stuff!
In other news, I am trying very hard to get back into some other domestic routines, and have cooked a few meals, I made some lamb ribs last week, (recipe in this months food and home) which although a bit greasy, tasted rather yummy, and some gnocchi, with a pancetta and blue cheese sauce – tasty stuff, and some fillet with a madagascar green peppercorn sauce – divine! So, for the long standing faithful readers, fear not, hopefully we’ll become a food and wine blog again.
I saw my physio socially yesterday, and she did confirm that running is out of the question for me, at the moment. Whether it will ever be again, I don’t know, but my pelvic instability will not allow for it currently. I must say, believe it or not, I was disappointed to have what I had suspected confirmed. She says low impact – swimming, is fine, but given my lifestyle and need to next to a mobile phone at all times, just ain’t really an option.
Anyway, I am off for my first solo expidition, off to get some oxtail (exciting, I know!), which I will cook off for dinner tonight – lucky Charlie!
Considering the polls
Sorry I have been a bit quiet, it’s been a busy couple of days, Thandi had a sleepy day on monday, Tuesday was a bit more sociable, with tea in the morning and a quick shopping trip. And in the afternoon, a visit from a friend who brought a gift from Germany, her first Kathe Kruus doll, very sweet. And today, we’ve been weighed, madam is all of 4.2kg, and then a trip to hospital, to visit all our friends there.
So last week I was going to do a poll review, except someone was hungry, so let’s try again.
Nappy bin? Yes, we got one with a vocher we were given, and its great!
Going out after dark in the first 6 weeks? Yes, the first one was to MJ’s at 8 days for photo’s and supper (thanks!)
Smacking? Fortunately we aren’t there yet.
Unnecessary products – baby bath – we’re using an old plastic basin currently, we didn’t have enough counter top space in or bathroom to use the handbasin, which was a good size; bumbo – I was given one, haven’t used it yet; jolly jumper – no; dummy – we have the freebie one discovery gave us, and have used it very occasionally, not dipped in anything.
Bathing time? We’re doing evenings, around 17h30
Monitor? Angelcare sound and motion – a very reassuring buy, for an aging paranoid mom
Pram? Quinny – love it!
Bottles and pump? Avent, although she’s only had like 2 bottles so far.
Sleeping arrangements? In her cot, in her own room downstairs
Nappies? Still testing and trialing them, I like the Bambo organic ones the most so far.
And that’s our lot so far. Thank you to you all for the support and love, meals, gifts, biscuits… I am blessed with a lovely flock of friends!
Secret baby meeting?
…so after a horrendous night last night, which saw Thandi awake from 01h00 to about 10h00 this morning, with little cat naps in between and lots of wailing, I was beginning to despair, until I spoke to a friend, and her babe had been awake from 02h00 ntil 06h00, I think I have them figured out. Remember in the movie, I think its 101 Dalmations, the dogs communicate via their barks after dark, to convey messages and plans, well I’m convinced that’s what these babes were up to – sneaky things! Anyway, its either that, or a sore tummy… she’s sleeping restlessly now, with moans and groans coming over the monitor, as I sit with matchsticks before my pc.
The weekend was good, it was great to catch up with my brother and sister-in-law. Thandi was spoilt with presents and lots of attention, my nieces were a little weary at first, but soon warmed up, and wanted to hold her and take photos of her. She lapped it all up and behaved impeccably! It was a brief visit, shame, the girls needed to get back to school after half term, for tests and all sorts of things, so yesterday they headed back to the big smoke.
And yesterday was of course Fathers Day, and being his and Thandi’s first, she did remember to get Charlie a present, and it was the old reliable, socks and chocolate. Such a clever girl! The day was spent quietly, with us popping in at the Home Expo, and having a walk around there, and then a memorable afternoon nap for all of us, which is what I think I might go and do again now.
Meeting the cousins
…and so the family introductions continue. Thandi got to meet her aunt and uncle, my eldest brother and his wife, and their 2 daughters, AN and JD yesterday. Quite a thing, the girls are 12 and 10, so there has been great excitement, and they seemed suitably impressed with their baby cuz. Thandi performed beautifully, not a scream or wail insight, plenty of ultra cute faces, and some Quasimodo smiles. And when she got the dreaded hiccups, they were floored! Too sweet!
On the way to my folks, I had a tear, remembering how I babysat AN once, when she was 18 months old, for a couple of days; when my brother collected her, I cried, assuming I would ‘never have one of those,’ and incredibly, now I do.
She grows!
Yay for Thandi! She grows! we’re up to 3.9kg now, so mom is still producing the full cream stuff for her! She is definitely starting to fill her clothes a little better now too, so the girl is doing well.
Mom is also doing well, and is very pleased that a kind of a rhythm is being established (I dread to use the word routine, in case I jinx it), and I am finding time to nap in the day, and run the occasional chore. Cabin fever is the enemy, although I am busy enough with her to not notice it as acutely as before. Yesterday, my Charlie and I even went out to lunch, and today I’ve fiddled around on a scrapbooking page – progress I tell you. I had decided that today’s post would be a review of the wednesday polls, but madam is starting to complain, and she needs her lunch, so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow – watch this space.
Days of miracles and wonder
…and the old Paul Simon track echoes in my brain, I am blown away by the very perfection in my little girl. She is my miracle baby, here against the odds, and every day I am reduced to tears by that mere fact.
My parents came out for a coffee with us yesterday, and my dad was wondering what her life will be like, what incredible things she will bear witness to, my parents were both born in 1937, before the second world war broke out, and if you think what they have seen in their lifetimes – cars, planes (commercial flights, transcontinental flights), computers (moving on from shorthand and typewriters), medical advances (Thandi wouldn’t have been born pre 1975, when artificial reproduction was born), lifestyle changes, fashions… and given that change seems to happen at a faster and faster pace, it is inconcievable to us what little Thandi will have experienced by the time she is 70. Truly, days of miracles and wonder.
The great flood
Well now, here in our neck of the woods, it’s flooding, it’s been raining for 4 and a half days, really heavy stuff, and the rivers have come down! The people living on the rivers’ edges are moving out, having lost jetties and boats to the flood waters already. The awesome force of nature! I must say, the rivers needed a good scouring out, things have been a bit clogged and grim in those waters of late, so here’s to clean fresh rivers. And this type of rain is pretty unseasonable for us, usually we have lovely sunny dry winter weather, it is all quite spectacular! Got to be grateful for a roof overhead and electricity to warm up and dry out. Let’s spare a thought for those who don’t have those luxuries…
Charlie's Bird 