lovely moments

When Cam and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary last Tuesday. Woohoo! Our present to each other was an evening out alone. It was such a treat to go to Secret Thai Garden in Otahuhu, South Auckland's finest thank you. Thank you to Aunty Jo for babysitting.

When watching Frozen Planet I confess to Cam that I love baby animals way more than I used to. How lovely is it that Cam said he loves them more now too?! I am not really an animal person and don't think I have ever been so enraptured by baby animals.  While watching the polar bear cubs I find their floppy bumbles in the snow similar to Ada's kicks and squiggles.  Sooooo cute!  I am ridiculous. This also happened watching mummy and daddy FISH. I love Attenborough, a lot. 

When Ada slept through to 6am on Friday! Amazing! We eagerly await the next installment. Sleep is a truly lovely moment.

When Ada propels herself forward pushing with her feet against my hand while lying on her tummy. She looks so pleased with herself and can travel some centimetres.

When Ada sings along with me in the mornings. She is really into the cooing and the throaty sounds, it will be so fun when she uses words!

When Ada had the widest eyes at our first trip to the supermarket, taking it all in from her view in the front pack before giving in to sleep half an hour later.  She really seems to love new things. I was so relieved that she enjoyed it and I could replenish the pantry again after 7 weeks.

When the Plunket nurse came to visit on Monday, Ada is 2.5kg heavier and 6 cm longer than at birth, not bad at 8 weeks old. The loveliest moment was when she fussed I lifted her up and down in this way she has always liked and elicited her first giggles. Best sound ever. This photo is a month ago. Evidence of her growing fast!

When she smiles and coos at her mobile, these magical musical underwater pals circling above her. I have to remind myself not to be jealous of it's powers to entertain her. I have placed her underneath it with tears in her eyes and a grizzle in progress and she has stopped  to enjoy it. Her glistening eyes smiling back at a smiling octopus in a bow tie or a dolphin in a sailor hat, that is a particularly lovely moment. 

predictable

So motherhood does irrevocably change you. 

There are those clichés about not understanding this until it happens to you and it is true. I have come out of the first month haze. Yay! But this means less adrenaline sadly, so I am feeling a bit tired. I am also feeling a bit boring. All along I have been aware of how my mind has become rather singularly focused on baby things. Practically speaking this is a good thing, as you can see Ada is not only surviving, she is thriving.

When I receive email about baby developments and potential mommy issues updates I read them all because they apply so much to me in that very moment. Oh how I love to learn. However, I still want to be interesting to others but I am afraid I have forgotten how. I am socially aware enough to ask people lots of questions but in terms of holding up my end of the conversation I feel a bit flat. I am still not able to concentrate on a book or a newspaper. O dear! Does this get better?  

Here is Ada requesting a fist bump.

This week I learnt a lot about octopuses (that is a real word) and I am a little obsessed with them. A topic unrelated to babies that is holding my interest! Here is something to whet your appetite… The male pillow octopus is a few centimetres long and 40000 times smaller than the female. When he finds a lady he breaks of his special sex tentacle and gives it to her, she then stores it in her mantle for later use. The lucky gent then dies a slow death after this. Oh, and this tiny guy uses man o war tentacles to defend himself. Um, amazing. 

Better watch this link on silent if you don't like cheesy American narration, the style akin to AFV: shark vs octopus, who will win?!.

I also highly recommend the show, Beauty and the Geek. You will fall in love with both the earnest beauties and geeks. Many laughs to be had at the beauties ditzy comments and the geeks witty self-depreciating quips. Dreamy.

Ok that is all.

 Who wouldn't obsess over that face? Sheesh!

training wheels

So far those who have asked me whether I love motherhood are not mothers themselves. It was a hard question to answer truthfully. The first time someone asked I was out for my second social event since birth and it was my first time attempting to interact with strangers. Cam and I were to at a lush Chrissie party. Ada took 1.5 hours to go to sleep making it her most unsettled period to date. (Some of you will have now guessed she isn't a colicky baby and must be pretty darn good and she is and of course I feel very lucky.  However, it was still stressful for me to be out that night, I was tired, a bit overwhelmed and hungry. My initial response was that motherhood was too much of a learning curve at that point to ‘just love it’ but that I loved our wee girl. Then I proceeded to show one of 200 pictures I have on my phone.

Ada is 6 weeks old and every day is different. We find joy in her smallest achievements. Those who are not in baby land would see this as an inordinate amount of joy in the tiniest of moments. Tracking something with her eyes. A burp. Lifting her head of the mat and looking rather chuffed herself with the achievement. Full nappies are a sign of wonderful ingestion and digestion. A big toothless smile and a faint hint of a giggle. She can be very intent and gives us a bit of chatter but her playmat really gets her talking, she coos away at pictures more than us!

I am sure I will love 'motherhood' in time but as yet I still feel like such a beginner. The first 3 weeks were truly feeding and sleeping and burping, that was true for both Ada and I.  Thanks to those who have said Cam and I are doing great, we totally think that is all Ada’s doing, but appreciate the encouragement.

Curly hair!

A few laughs! 

 Cheeks and a power suit.