But Enough About Me

tch, the main reason I started the last post was to tell you that Princess has her first tooth! Just a sharp little sliver coming through, but most definitely a tooth... bottom middle left. The bottom middle right one looks totally immanent too.

She's been ok with the teething thing - a bit clingy and short on naps, which makes me think she's in discomfort - but no screaming or wierd poo. No wierder than usual any way!

Bedtime in general is a little more fraught now that I've taken her dummies away (because being summoned to find a dummy at midnight is not my idea of a good time). We can expect a minimum of half an hour of wailing, sometimes with shrieking, sometimes not. Once she's asleep though she's usually good until dawn.

The new sound for last week was a tongue click - you can see it in a vid I uploaded a few days back. Very cute. This week she won't do that anymore but is saying "k". We have "k" conversations...

What else? Princess still gets stuck on her front but I think she may be close to figuring out how to roll back to her back... She can almost sit up unaided, and is getting very strong at standing.

Oops - someone is stuck on her front - gotta go!

Whazzup?

I don't believe in apologising for not blogging, but I have been a bit scarce lately, haven't I?

Just busy, or tired, or a little blue and not in the mood. Or all of the above!

My new life took a lot of adjustment in the beginning. Milord and I used to divide the chores fairly evenly - the one who cooked didn't wash up, Milord vacuumed and I cleaned the bathroom, and either one of us would throw laundry at the washer from time to time.

However, when we decided to have Princess the deal was that Milord would support me and I'd look after the domestic duties until she goes to school and I go back to work. Suddenly I was the only one shopping, cooking and cleaning, while doing 99% of the baby-wrangling. Plus my main source of self-esteem, my IT career, was out of the picture. I struggled there for a bit!

I sucked it up, and have been ok with all the drudgery for some time, but lately it all got a bit... draining. Wake up, baby, laundry, cleaning, baby, shopping, baby, cooking, baby, cleaning, bed. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. ugh

This week Milord has suddenly stepped up and after nearly 8 months of not helping around the house he's volunteered to cook 2 nights a week - and he even washed up after himself! Now, I promise I didn't nag him to do this... He has also started putting Princess to bed after the bottle he gives her at night, which frees me from about half an hour of baby settling.

Oh, the relief! I didn't realise how much this was weighing me down until now. I'm making it very clear how much I appreciate his help, so I hope he keeps it up ;-)

I'm making a point of getting out for walks, as that always makes me feel better too. I'd got a bit bogged down with errands and chores and wasn't getting any me-time. Luckily Princess enjoys being out in her pram for hours at a time (with stops for meals and dry bum changes of course!).

Sydney in autumn is glorious...

Milord's Birthday

Our backyard used to look a lot like this.


Then we ripped up the cement.


Put down foundations for the shed.


Moved all our tools etc onto the slab, and put a tarp down over the dirt. Sadly we ran out of time and money for decking, which is what will eventually go over this.


Milord has also made a few baby barriers - pretty good ones!


This is the first wave of guests who came by on Milord's birthday last weekend. We had about 50 people come through in all. As I didn't know who was coming when I catered as if everyone would be with us for lunch and dinner. My freezer is full and we'll be eating roast pork and jacket potatoes for some time to come!


That's the only picture that got taken. I was just too busy to think about it - I didn't sit down with my guests until about 8pm... prepping food and cleaning up (and looking after Princess's meals and bath and naps etc) ran me ragged.

I'd say it was a great success and it was nice to mark the occasion of Milord's half-century with a big bash. I must admit though that it was very hard work to organise with a baby in tow and I'm very glad all events are now over for a few months.

I've been feeling a little meh since... just a bit run down maybe.

Your Princess Fix - videos

Been very tired and not in a computer mood... just a little overwhelmed after a hectic week and weekend.

A little something for the family ;-)

Your Princess Fix

Grandfolk are agitating for pictures and vids...


Sometimes it is scarey how much she looks like her Dad...


Gorgeous smiles...


Swinging again...


Starting young...


New skill - nomming toes....


We are now bathing in the bathroom because the kichen keeps getting flooded...


Wrapped in a fluffy new towel...


My beautiful girl...

Party Planner

All is great over here, I'm just a bit flat-out.

Milord turns 50 this weekend and has invited 50-odd friends to drop by between midday and midnight on Saturday. He was supposed to be organising the whole shindig, but with a week to go handed it over to me. On top of getting the house shipshape and looking after the Princess... grrr.

Tasks complete (since Monday):

• Roast meats ordered (14kg of lamb for around 3pm and 12kg pork around 6pm). This is trickier than it sounds because our local butcher and baker who do this service are both very Greek and their English is a bit dodgy.


• All the timber moved from the middle of the backyard onto the concrete slab.


• Crawlspace bug-bombed - I keep finding deadly redback spiders so no way was I going under there with anything alive!


• Everything moved from our laundry and back deck to under the house or onto the new concrete slab in the backyard (under a tarp). Tools, planks, drills, screws, toolboxes etc. My back is killing me!


• Planter box side scrubbed free of cement mud, dust and sawdust.


• Outside of windows scrubbed free of cement mud, dust and sawdust, including flyscreens.


• Barbeque and party coolbox scrubbed free of same.


• Laundry/outside loo scrubbed to sparkling


• Frosting film applied to outside loo windows (I can SEE you!)


• Ceiling fan blades wiped free of a summer's dust collection.

Still to do:

• Order bread rolls.


• Hire wineglasses.


• Wash the inside of the windows.


• Get tablecloths, paper plates etc.


• Buy salad, corn cobs, jacket potatoes, chips, dips, soft drink.


• Buy charcoal etc.


• Spring clean house.

Milord is going to pull a sickie tomorrow to level out our dirt backyard before covering it with a tarp to stand on, and to finish off the planter box and side decking. Oh and make us a non-lethal set of back steps!

It's still going to be a bit of a building site out back, and it's a shame I can't afford to fill the planter box with shrubbery for the occasion. Oh well.

Right, must get back to it!

Rainy Day - Slow Roast Duck

I'm going to try a "live blog" entry, where I update as I go. This is inspired by a favourite post over at Amuse Bouche where she slow roasts a duck.

On the forecast the other day I saw it was going to rain a lot this week so I got in some slow cooking ingredients. Today: Duck.

7am - Milord wakes up. It is gloomy and rain is in the air. Princess would usually have woken us before this but on overcast days she often sleeps in a bit. Heavenly!

7:15 - Milord leaves for work. I lie abed for a little while then get up and make a cup of tea and tidy the kitchen.

7:45 - Princess wakes. I get her up and bring her into my lap on the couch for a bottle in front of the morning news on telly. She drinks half of it, then plays on the floor for a bit while I check email and put on a load of laundry.

8:30 - Princess finishes her bottle then cuddles for a while - she is getting sleepy.

9am - Princess goes back to bed for a nap. Laundry into tumble dryer. I realise our muck-diverting-downpipe-thing that keeps dirt out of the rain tanks is blocked and get drenched from the knees down while clearing it. Then I have a cup of coffee and 2 slices of toast while downloading photos from my camera and writing a blog post.

10am - Some more materials for the shed foundations arrive. I stand in the rain talking to the delivery man who wants to debate the merits of store-bought vs home-grown tomatoes. Then my elderly Greek neighbour pops out of his front door and discusses Milord's plans for a spit-roast bbq on his birthday in a couple of weeks time... at least I can stand on my porch out of the rain at for this chat!

10:30 - Princess wakes up. I bring her into the lounge room and she plays on her mat with dangly jingly things. Finish blog post.


I take the duck from the fridge, remove the packaging, wash it and pat it dry with paper towels. I place it on a rack in a roasting tin and put it back in the fridge, uncovered, to dry the skin further so that it will go crispy when cooked. I should probably have done this last night. Oh well.


11am - fiddle on the computer. Princess complains that she can't see me so I drag her mat over to where I am blogging...

Todo in the next hour or so: Fold laundry, wash dishes, dye hair roots, shower, dress, feed Princess, vacuum and mop floors.

****

12:30pm - Hair done, showered and dressed. I pulled Princess' mat in front of MTV on the telly while I was in the bathroom. Bad mummy. Then I made her a bottle and she fell asleep on me drinking it. When I got her up on my shoulder for a burp she fell asleep there too... not like her at all. I hope she isn't ill. I put her to bed and she went to sleep immediately.

Google a few duck recipes. Eat 2 apples and drink a glass of water. Preheat oven to 150C (300F). Back in a bit...

****

It is now 1:30pm - Can't find any recipes I like, so I shall make something up. Send a couple of emails.
Assemble ingredients, realise kitchen bin is niffy, empty it. Still raining so I leave the bags of rubbish on the front porch - I'll take them out to the bin later. Princess grumbles as I go by so I comfort her back to sleep. Wash dishes. Wash kitchen bin. Line with a plastic bag... now where was I? Oh yes.

Roughly chop ginger and garlic and the bulb end of some spring onions. Quarter a lime. Stuff everything into the duck cavity and tie the legs together to keep it all in. Pierce the duck skin all over with a sharp skewer thing, without piercing the meat.

Cooking without a glass of wine feels very wrong, however not only am I determined not to drink during the workday, but Milord and I also have a new pact to not booze Monday thru Thursday. For health and economic reasons... *sigh*


Princess is calling - pop duck into oven, set timer for 1 hour, go and get her. She's smiling and wriggly and happy to see me. Put her on her playmat and turn off MTV, turn on radio instead. Good mummy.

Still todo in the next hour or so: Fold laundry, prepare some solid food for Princess, vacuum and mop floors.

****


2:30pm - (1 hour) flip duck over, set timer for 1 hour.

Peel one small potato (quartered) and one carrot (julienned) and a chunk of pumpkin. Pop into steamer with a couple of brocolli florets.

Fold one load of laundry, but when I go to fetch the next lot from the dryer I find I must have got sidetracked earlier and it is still in the washing machine. Crap. Bung it in the dryer.


When soft mash potato and brocolli together with a little butter. Mash pumpkin. Open a can of peach slices and cut a slice of banana. Hoik Princess into highchair - bolstered with towels because it is too big. She loves the brocolli mash, is not sure about the pumpkin, and only eats the carrot because she wants to please mummy. The fruit gets "thbbbt" so I clean her up and we go for a walk through the house to settle the food.

Stand on the back porch looking at rain falling on the devastation in the backyard. After a good burp go to put Princess down - she grumbles. Change her nappy, but she still grumbles. Zip her into her sleeping bag and put her to bed - she goes straight to sleep. Huh, she's really tired today, I hope she's not ill.

Stream XFM London off the internet - I really miss UK radio. It is first thing in the morning there and really cold... I don't miss that!

3:30pm - (2 hours) flip duck over and prick skin some more, set timer for 1 hour. It is starting to smell awesome! I could murder a glass of wine. *sigh* Have a glass of water and make a chai tea.

4pm - I am going to sit down with my book and my cup of tea and relax for a bit.

Still todo in the next hour or so: Fold laundry and vacuum and mop floors. Maybe I'll just sweep the floors quickly instead... this blogging thing takes a surprising amount of time!

****


4:30pm - Flip duck. Drain fat from roasting pan and set aside. It looks as good as it smells!


Princess wakes. I give her a small bottle of milk, then settle her in her rocker where she can see me in the kitchen.

5pm - prepare side dishes. Peel potatoes and carrots. Slice carrots and zuccini and get ready for steaming. Peel and eat a carrot...

Cut potatoes into roastie size and pop into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 min then remove from the heat and drain. Heat a decent glug of duck fat with a crushed garlic clove and a sprig of rosemary in the same saucepan - when it's just starting to sizzle add the potatoes and take off the heat. Put the lid on and shake frantically until the potatoes are well coated, then tip them into a roasting pan.

Mix honey, balsamic and soy ready for basting.


5:30pm - flip duck. Drain fat from the roasting pan again, then pour over the honey mix. Return to oven and set timer for 15 min.

5:45pm - baste the duck. Set timer for 15 min. Try to figure out why my blogpost has gone spazzy... Prepare Princess' bath.

6pm - turn everything off. This could be a very bad idea, but for the next hour I'll have my hands full and I can't be in the kitchen... Bath Princess and give her her bedtime bottle (Milord would usually help with this but he's carting a heap of gravel from the front of the house to the back. In the rain).

7pm - put Princess to bed - luckily she falls asleep easily tonight. Take duck out of oven, pop in the potatoes and turn oven to 180C. Hopefully this works! Milord is starving and snacks on crisps...

Aha! Running the spellcheck kills my embedded photos - don't touch that button again!

7:20pm - put duck back in oven. Baste again.
7:25pm - Set steamer going under carrots.
7:30pm - Add zuccini to steamer...
7:35pm - turn everything off!

Phwoar...


Succulent and falling off the bones...

Dish up half a duck each and drizzle with pan juices. Serve with roast potatoes and steamed veggies.


This was delicious (although it would have been even better with a crisp dry white wine. *sigh*)! The only possible criticism I have is that the duck skin and the potatoes were not crispy, but that's probably because I had to pause everything for an hour right at the end.

I could only eat half my duck portion in spite of eating very little all day in expectation of a blowout dinner. Having simple steamed vegetables balanced the richness of the duck and potatoes.

8:15pm - clean up. Stack dishwasher and wash up what doesn't go in it.

8:30pm - Now I just have to tidy up the baby bath stuff in the bathroom and I can relax. I never did fold that last load of laundry or clean the floors... maybe tomorrow.

I'd love a glass of wine right now. *sigh*
I'll put the kettle on for a herbal tea...

It is still raining and Princess is fine by the way - sometimes rainy days just make her sleepy. She was full of smiles and happiness watching me in the kitchen and in her bath.

9pm - I'll go and join Milord in front of the telly. Nighty night.

7 Months

In 2 days time Princess will be 7 months old. She is thriving and happy and gorgeous.


She rolls a lot now, although she still gets stuck on her tummy and has to be rescued, sometimes a couple of times in the night... as she is fast asleep even as her back touches the mattress I can't complain too much!

Lots of chatter noises and raspberries. A constant vocalisation this week is a sort of gargle with a tune behind it: "gggggGGggglaargleggggggggGGgl". I do it back to her and we have a conversation! Milord can't join in because all the soft bits of his throat got taken away during his sleep apnoea treatment...


(that's rain in the background)

Food is going fine, although I think I might be overfeeding Princess at night. Twice now I have ended up wearing the regurgitated bedtime bottle, evening solids, and a little extra milk and solids from earlier... yuck. I've never worn someones vomit before - I guess it's a mummy thing, eh? And it won't be the last time, I'm sure!

I don't think it's been gastro because Princess is quite happy afterwards, goes straight to sleep and sleeps well until morning with no further vomits or poos. I start the next day's feeds with water to rehydrate her and she's just fine thereafter. So I have to move the solids to earlier, or give less solid food, or give a smaller bedtime bottle. Or all of the above!


Princess' motor skills are developing marvellously. It's a delight to see her shakily reach for an object and carefully pick it up. And put it straight in her mouth of course! She likes to feel our faces - usually quite gently, although if she gets a good grip on a nose or ear it gets a thorough twist. When carrying her against my shoulder she grabs a fistful of hair for balance... or a handful of neck skin - ow. Necklaces and dangly earrings got packed away a long time ago!

Princess is a bit more clingy these days - she likes to know where I am and to see me if possible. Some days I have to bring her into the bathroom during my shower and the bedroom while dressing etc to keep her happy. At naptime she tries to go to sleep wrapped around my arm, which is adorable but not really practical! I have recently introduced a small soft toy into her cot - "Skinny Bunny" - who gets a good cuddle and suck during naps.



I'm still loving the mummy thing, and it just keeps getting better. "Thank god for that!" says Milord.

Park Life

The past week has been gorgeous. Sunny days that are not too hot (around 26C)... Princess and I have taken a walk in various parks every day.

Monday - Boot Camp. Eish, the trainer nearly killed me! No photos from this one, but Princess was an angel during the class, then drank her bottle and had a snooze while I went for a walk to stretch my aching body.

Tuesday - Long walk by the river. Here is Princess having a stretch under a tree. She is not asleep but it's a bit bright and she is squinting.


Wednesday - Walk to a park near the river. Princess' first time in a swing! She was more interested in nomming on the swing though - erk. "Germs are good! Germs are good!" (Still squinting, mummy keeps forgetting to bring along the baby sunglasses)


Thursday - Mums Group meetup in another park. Princess doesn't much like her sunnies but if enough is going on she'll forget about them for a while...


Friday - second time in a swing. Either this swing is a different size or she was more into swinging. Wheee!



The housework slipped a little because we were out so much, but who cares! The weekend has been rather hot and sticky, but from Monday we'll have cooler weather again and I'm looking forward to it. No weight loss which is a surprise, but I'm feeling very bloaty so maybe it's pending?

In other news, Princess is getting the hang of rolling, after a topsy turvy week of needing to be rescued from her tummy during the night. Mummy is a bit knackered and Princess has taken to sleeping on her side. She still gets stuck on her tummy but I reckon we are close to her figuring out how to roll back again...!

Latest foods: tuna (tinned): indifferent; apricot (tinned): yum; avocado (fresh): yum; peanut butter (mixed with a little rice): yum; chicken and rice meatball: indifferent (maybe too dry); cheese (cheddar, mature): yum.

I've searched the net and I can't find any consensus on peanuts. Some studies say if you are allergic it makes no difference when you try them, and others (mostly laymen) say leave it until age 3. I reckon peanuts are so ubiquitous in our society that I'd rather know asap if Princess is allergic, so we're giving it a shot. No affects so far although she gave us a scare shortly after bedtime with a screaming fit... seems she may have poked herself in the eye perhaps as she calmed down and went to sleep once Milord and I both ran in and checked her all over!

Smug Mummy

I am so proud of my Princess! She is coping admirably with my decision to skip puree and to start her journey into the world of food with lumps and chunks. It's not true "Baby-Led Weaning" because I do hand-feed Princess, with the exception of anything from a spoon. Spoon stuff I load onto the spoon and then hand the spoon to Princess... with messy results but she seems to enjoy the autonomy and I reckon about half gets inside her. The rest she wears!



The added bonus to the route we have taken is that I don't prepare special meals for Princess. She gets what we are eating (before I add salt and spices). We had pasta bolognaise the other night and so this was Princess' dinner the following day: Bolognaise in spelt pasta shells (we are avoiding wheat until 9 months) with steamed carrot batons and garden peas, tinned peach slices and mummy-peeled grapes, and a mini fromage frais yogurty thing.


She ate almost all of it (the pasta shells were not appreciated) finishing with the yogurt. Princess smelled like a strawberry for the rest of the day, even after her bath!


I am the smuggest mummy in town! I have friends with much older babies who can't/won't eat lumpy or whole food, and my clever girl gobbles it all down...

Oh yeah, and the nappies are way smellier now. I don't mind because they are less explosive and easier to clean up!