jiggity jig...is that how it goes? Well, in any event, we are home again! Hmmm...how do I summarize what our past three weeks have been like? Oooh, I know...lists!
Things I have learned: I can travel 12-14 hours on a plane with a baby and survive with some sanity intact!!!; a cranky mommy and a cranky baby makes a stressed out daddy; an unsettled baby will become constipated and take frustration out on mommy's boobs (ouch!); traveling someplace daily will make a baby scream at the sight of her car seat; space heaters are awesome!; a cold baby is a non-sleeping baby; our dog really isn't that spoiled; winter in Australia is at times warmer than late spring in Denver; Delanah likes to eat sand; teenagers love my pink hair, older generations just stare; things really aren't that expensive over here; I love my glider!!!!; I love my Boppy!!!!!; I love my Ergo carrier!!!; Australian humour rocks; jet lag sucks; recovering from an overseas trip with a baby is not looking fun; my MIL and I now get along quite well; I am not as tense as a mom and I am much happier that way; not all advice is criticism in disguise; I can visit Australia and not buy things for me; I cannot visit Australia and not buy things for Delanah; a vacation as a mom is not the same as a vacation before kids!; I understand my husbands childhood better; I understand my MIL better, Delanah is well loved by her Grandma and Granddad; Delanah will be greatly missed by the Oz grandparents and I wish they were closer; we are going to be traveling to Oz with more frequency now; I don't get small town politics; I did not see any scary spiders!!!; I missed my bird and my dog; Australia loves moms and babies, there were mother's rooms everywhere (really nice ones) and no one looked twice when I was breastfeeding (okay, there were those construction workers that pounded on the restaurant window and gestured at me in Newcastle, but as Maria said, they were just perverts and were upset I was covered up!); I can drive on the left side just fine and round abouts aren't as scary as I thought...still a little scary, but not as scary; I had a great time.
I think that just about summed everything up! Last night/this morning I was replaying the last 3 weeks in my head, trying to remember everything. I hate losing memories! We took a lot of pictures and I can't wait to get them in a scrapbook for Delanah. She won't remember meeting her Oz grandparents for the first time, but Dave and I will make sure to tell her lots of stories about this trip. Not many people get to leave the country in their entire lifetime, let alone before they were 1! She now has 7 flights under her belt and a seasoned traveler...now if we could just explain jet lag to her and get her to sleep tonight! 1am and no end in sight!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
My back...
...is done with this vacation! Between the hotel beds and the old spring bed (that has seen much better days), my back and neck have called it quits. I now have nerve pain down my right arm, again, my neck muscles are so pissed that I get a cervicogenic headache daily, I feel the constant need to "pop" my upper back, and to top things off, although it has been feeling better lately, this morning I went to scoot back on the previously mentioned saggy bed and crapped my wrist out again. I am done!!!!
The guys switched beds for me tonight and I have a much firmer bed (which I was informed that my husband was created on...ew, ew, ew) and I am going to block all icky thoughts from my head and hopefully sleep well tonight. I put Delanah down an hour earlier than usual tonight as she was tired as well, and I am giving an obligatory hour of uninterrupted sleep before I crawl into bed as well.
I will miss everyone here, and I have been enjoying my time completely, but I am so ready for home!!! I miss my bed, my kitchen, my couch, my bathroom, the nursery, the glider, my dog and bird.....I miss it all! Most of all, I miss the silence. The quiet when Delanah is napping and I have the house to myself. At night when everyone is asleep...during the day when there aren't people coming from far and wide trying to touch my child! Why the face people, why the face?! Delanah is getting tired of it as well and was pulling away from people...good girl!!!!! Tomorrow we are off to Brisbane. I know this is mainly for me...I hope I am awake and pain free enough to enjoy it!
The guys switched beds for me tonight and I have a much firmer bed (which I was informed that my husband was created on...ew, ew, ew) and I am going to block all icky thoughts from my head and hopefully sleep well tonight. I put Delanah down an hour earlier than usual tonight as she was tired as well, and I am giving an obligatory hour of uninterrupted sleep before I crawl into bed as well.
I will miss everyone here, and I have been enjoying my time completely, but I am so ready for home!!! I miss my bed, my kitchen, my couch, my bathroom, the nursery, the glider, my dog and bird.....I miss it all! Most of all, I miss the silence. The quiet when Delanah is napping and I have the house to myself. At night when everyone is asleep...during the day when there aren't people coming from far and wide trying to touch my child! Why the face people, why the face?! Delanah is getting tired of it as well and was pulling away from people...good girl!!!!! Tomorrow we are off to Brisbane. I know this is mainly for me...I hope I am awake and pain free enough to enjoy it!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Is it really winter?
So we are in day 3 of winter here...and man was it hot! This morning I took Delanah on a walk to a local shop and she fell asleep...so I walked a bit further to get some exercise in for me (which is much needed in areas other than the jaw) and a longer nap for her. Man was it hot! I ended up stripping off my hoodie and walked in my workout pants and tank. So there I was, matching from head to ankle (my shoes and socks didn't match) in hot pink and black :) I did get quite a few looks from the moms as I was passing the elementary school :)
It was almost too hot for jeans this afternoon! Man, I love this winter! I was sweating up a storm and Ros was grabbing her coat....I do think we are acclimatized to different weather, eh?
I got to drive us to Toowoomba and back today! I was a bit nervous as this is the longest distance I have driven without Dave in the car. I must admit I was glad to do the driving...in the short drive to get the hair done the other morning I was a bit frightened at the speed that we were traveling at...I much prefer to be in control of that when Delanah is in the car. I must say, I think I did a pretty good job! The hardest part was parking in the garage (Australian parking spaces are so tightly packed!), but we lucked out when Ros spotted a stroller parking space. Yes people, they make extra wide parking spaces for people with prams!!!! What a great idea! There were some closer to the doors than handicapped spaces! There was plenty of room to get in and out and if we had needed to get the car seat out there would have been plenty of room for that as well. Awesome!
They really do cater to moms and babies here. I have yet been someplace that didn't have a mother's room. In the US, it's a novelty to go to BRU and use their mother's room, here, it's standard to have a men's room, ladies loo and mother's room! This one had papers to put down on the changing stations, seats, a microwave for heating bottles and a closed off toilet so mum's and dad's could take their little ones to the bathroom. It can get so awkward when dad or mom is with a young child of the opposite sex and the kid needs to use the loo....which one to go to? The mystery cleared up here....go to the mother's room/family room! There was a bulletin board up that had no less than 3 papers on breastfeeding support.....why is the US so far behind?! Imagine how many more babies would get breastfed if there were private rooms in malls in which to do it in...that also had information on groups if that was needed as well? You know, for a country so far ahead in so many things, we sure are behind in this area.
It was almost too hot for jeans this afternoon! Man, I love this winter! I was sweating up a storm and Ros was grabbing her coat....I do think we are acclimatized to different weather, eh?
I got to drive us to Toowoomba and back today! I was a bit nervous as this is the longest distance I have driven without Dave in the car. I must admit I was glad to do the driving...in the short drive to get the hair done the other morning I was a bit frightened at the speed that we were traveling at...I much prefer to be in control of that when Delanah is in the car. I must say, I think I did a pretty good job! The hardest part was parking in the garage (Australian parking spaces are so tightly packed!), but we lucked out when Ros spotted a stroller parking space. Yes people, they make extra wide parking spaces for people with prams!!!! What a great idea! There were some closer to the doors than handicapped spaces! There was plenty of room to get in and out and if we had needed to get the car seat out there would have been plenty of room for that as well. Awesome!
They really do cater to moms and babies here. I have yet been someplace that didn't have a mother's room. In the US, it's a novelty to go to BRU and use their mother's room, here, it's standard to have a men's room, ladies loo and mother's room! This one had papers to put down on the changing stations, seats, a microwave for heating bottles and a closed off toilet so mum's and dad's could take their little ones to the bathroom. It can get so awkward when dad or mom is with a young child of the opposite sex and the kid needs to use the loo....which one to go to? The mystery cleared up here....go to the mother's room/family room! There was a bulletin board up that had no less than 3 papers on breastfeeding support.....why is the US so far behind?! Imagine how many more babies would get breastfed if there were private rooms in malls in which to do it in...that also had information on groups if that was needed as well? You know, for a country so far ahead in so many things, we sure are behind in this area.
Monday, June 1, 2009
So quickly...
My goodness this trip is passing by so quickly! We have a week and a half left...that's it! Today was a whirlwind and I really hope that means Delanah sleeps tonight! Last night, oye, where do I even start?! Dave and I went to bed around 10:30pm, first mistake (we were both tired but got sucked in to CSI), as we were trying to be quiet, Delanah woke up. Ever notice that when you're trying to be quiet you make the most noise? Hmmmm...why is that? Maybe tonight I'll go in there trying to make as much noise as possible and maybe that will make things very quiet....ummm...I don't think I'm game to try it!
Anyhoos, once she was awake I fed her, she fell asleep, Dave tried to put her in the crib, all heck broke loose. I was just exhausted (the only one in the house who didn't get a nap in the day before) and was trying to get some zzz's in; no go. When Dave started getting frustrated with Delanah I knew it was time for us to leave. So a little after 1am there Dave and I are, sitting in the living room, cold as can be, trying to ignore the possessed child in the other room. I went into Brendan's room to escape the screaming for a bit. After a few minutes the crying got worse, I went into the lounge, Dave was gone. Okay, another confession, I was irritated that Dave chose to ignore what I said about leaving her and go in there. You see, he likes to hold her in a position that initially makes more crying, not less, and I didn't think that was a good idea. You see, apparently as her mom I know best and no one can do anything as good as me....hmmm..think maybe I need a reality check at times?
There Dave is, cradling a screaming Delanah when he told me that he went in to check on her and found her on her stomach with her arm twisted and caught in the metal slats of the crib! I took her and nursed her and we decided that as uncomfortable as it was for us, we weren't going to be putting her back in the crib again. The metal scared me to begin with, and this was enough of a nudge to decide against using the crib again. I think I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night. Soft bed, soft pillow, crying baby...perfect recipe for no sleep for me! This afternoon we put a board under the mattress on my side, put a towel roll in the bottom of my pillow case (good neck support for those who don't want to buy the cervical support pillow) and we now have a pack and play that Delanah is sleeping in. Yay!
Today was quite busy as well, hopefully leading to an exhausted Delanah. We drove around town looking at all of Dave's old haunts, went into town to show off Delanah to Ros' coworkers, let Dave find something he wanted in the toy store, home again and then off for another drive to check out some more places further out of town and a chance to let me practice driving again. Oh it's just beautiful here! I took some great pics of Gallahs in the yard, saw some wild kangaroos on our drive, saw flocks of Cockatoos and heaps of other colorful parrots flying around. National Geographic right outside the door! Tonight was a lovely dinner and Delanah had so much fun with pear, chicken, broccoli, green beans and beef :)
We were cuddling with Delanah on the bed tonight and before we all knew it (herself included I think), she had rolled over and was practicing scooting along! Tomorrow morning I am heading into town to get my hair done (yay!) and Dave and Grandad are going to stay with Delanah. I requested some floor time as she has been getting so many cuddles lately that she's had no time to just play on the floor. I think we're approaching the start of crawling!!!
Anyhoos, once she was awake I fed her, she fell asleep, Dave tried to put her in the crib, all heck broke loose. I was just exhausted (the only one in the house who didn't get a nap in the day before) and was trying to get some zzz's in; no go. When Dave started getting frustrated with Delanah I knew it was time for us to leave. So a little after 1am there Dave and I are, sitting in the living room, cold as can be, trying to ignore the possessed child in the other room. I went into Brendan's room to escape the screaming for a bit. After a few minutes the crying got worse, I went into the lounge, Dave was gone. Okay, another confession, I was irritated that Dave chose to ignore what I said about leaving her and go in there. You see, he likes to hold her in a position that initially makes more crying, not less, and I didn't think that was a good idea. You see, apparently as her mom I know best and no one can do anything as good as me....hmmm..think maybe I need a reality check at times?
There Dave is, cradling a screaming Delanah when he told me that he went in to check on her and found her on her stomach with her arm twisted and caught in the metal slats of the crib! I took her and nursed her and we decided that as uncomfortable as it was for us, we weren't going to be putting her back in the crib again. The metal scared me to begin with, and this was enough of a nudge to decide against using the crib again. I think I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night. Soft bed, soft pillow, crying baby...perfect recipe for no sleep for me! This afternoon we put a board under the mattress on my side, put a towel roll in the bottom of my pillow case (good neck support for those who don't want to buy the cervical support pillow) and we now have a pack and play that Delanah is sleeping in. Yay!
Today was quite busy as well, hopefully leading to an exhausted Delanah. We drove around town looking at all of Dave's old haunts, went into town to show off Delanah to Ros' coworkers, let Dave find something he wanted in the toy store, home again and then off for another drive to check out some more places further out of town and a chance to let me practice driving again. Oh it's just beautiful here! I took some great pics of Gallahs in the yard, saw some wild kangaroos on our drive, saw flocks of Cockatoos and heaps of other colorful parrots flying around. National Geographic right outside the door! Tonight was a lovely dinner and Delanah had so much fun with pear, chicken, broccoli, green beans and beef :)
We were cuddling with Delanah on the bed tonight and before we all knew it (herself included I think), she had rolled over and was practicing scooting along! Tomorrow morning I am heading into town to get my hair done (yay!) and Dave and Grandad are going to stay with Delanah. I requested some floor time as she has been getting so many cuddles lately that she's had no time to just play on the floor. I think we're approaching the start of crawling!!!
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