Our first camping "holiday"

David, Maia and I just returned from a camping trip. We laugh about it now, but it was hell not a holiday...laugh. We lasted one night at the site that was supposed to be "beautiful"...we arrived after traveling (seven hours...through bumper to bumper traffic...the drive was supposed to take three hours...) and when we finally got to the site, black storm clouds were on the horizon and it started raining...people around us helped David get the tent up. He was soaked and once we were in and settled the tent started leaking....thank goodness the storm passed quickly. We went to bed exhausted, but since the tents were so close to one another, our neighbors sounded as though they were having a conversation with us in our sleeping bags, then at 1:30 a.m., we heard another set of campers yelling out in a drunken state, "LOOK AT THE STARS!!!," amidst other choice words...who knows what they were on. The next day was bright and sunny....so sunny that our tent heated up like a sauna....there were no trees around us and so Maia and I headed down to the beach while David tried to get the tent in better shape as it was looking worse for wear given that it was put up so quickly and our things were thrown about the inside. Maia and I came back for lunch and then came the flies....swarming around Maia and gnats all through her hair and in her food....we laugh now and say that it reminded us of a refugee camp and to think that people actually go there year after year for a holiday is beyond our comprehension. David took Maia inside the tent to finish her food, but the heat was unbearable and so we piled in our air conditioned car to escape and go for a drive and decide what we could do to remedy the situation. (That morning, Maia had thrown up and then had diahorrea and did not eat much, so we were also concerned about whether she was getting sick and was affected by the heat.) A short distance away from the camp site, we came across a 25 acre farm that had holiday cottages and grew flowers. They did not have a cabin open for that night or the following, but they said that we could camp there and use their facilities as well as their large cooler where they stored flowers. We were so relieved that we went back to the "refugee camp site" and pack it all up while Maia slept in the air conditioned car. We got back to the farm and found a beautiful tree overlooking the yard with chickens, ducks and geese nearby. David then proceeded to spend three hours trying to get the tent up again as it was a new tent and we had people helping us the first night during the storm. Needless to say, we were exhausted and felt we needed a vacation, so we went and had a meal which turned out to be the best pizza that we have ever eaten in Australia. It was just like the ones that we had eaten in Italy...nice thin crispy crust...with a full stomach and a much needed break...we began to feel more hopeful. The next morning we woke up and organized the tent, went to another beach which was gorgeous and should have been called "Pretty Beach" (ironically that was the name of our first camp site) and we were told by the forest ranger that young party goes tend to go to "Pretty Beach", but that this particular beach and camp site called "Depot Beach" was more for families. At least we will know where to stay that next time. When we got back to our tent, it started to rain and so we spend the night indoors and cooked soup on our portable gas stove. We woke up the next morning and went back to Depot Beach and played in the sand with Maia and had a lovely morning. Then, we headed back to our camp site on the 25 acre property, packed up the tent and car for the third time and went and stayed in a cottage for a night. We thought that we were in heaven and it was only then that it really felt like we could relax and enjoy our vacation. It was a shame that the family only had the cottage available for the one night as we then packed up to get ready to head home the next day. We took a slow drive home and went blueberry picking at a farm near by....sort of "nearby"....it turned out that the blueberry farm was 12 km down a dirt track road...but when we finally got there...it was really delightful for us to hear Maia continue to say..."More..." after eating her first blueberry and I could hear hear with David in the next line of bushes making noises of delight as she continued to eat blueberries off the bushes, the ground and out of buckets during our time there. (Funny, the sign said not to eat any blueberries while picking, but how do you stop a toddler...and one of the ladies who owned the property agreed that young toddlers were exempt from the rule...Maia also quickly learned her colors and the difference between green and blue blueberries...and me, well, David had to help me pick out blueberries from the middle of my teeth before we went to the pay station...I was trained by the best in terms of fruit theft as my Aunt Veronica would always eat her grapes as she rolled her cart around the supermarket isles...so who could blame me....good thing that they don't check people's tongues or I would have been caught....red handed...or should I say...blue tongued....). The trip back took much less time and we stopped in a few towns along the way. There was a lovely vegetarian restaurant in a town called Milton where we had lunch and then we stopped in the town of Berry where we bought our home to take a break and have a play with Maia in the park. Arriving home was a bit of a relief and we are so glad to be back. We have decided that the next time we go on a "vacation" we are going to save our pennies and go away where we can just relax and have someone look after us. David's friend Peter raves on about Vanuatu which is only three hours by plane from Australia, so we are going to set our sights onto going there the next time. "Vanuatu" was a word that we often said those first few days as a joke between David and I highlighting the fact that we would have much preferred to be on that lovely tropical island....maybe next time...

Five and a half months

Dear Maia,

You are an amazing communicator. At 15 months, you are able to try and repeat at least 100 words. We have a set of signing cards with photos of different images and you say out loud each of the words and there are fifty of them and you have been doing this since you were about 14 months old. Although your enunciation is not always clear or perfect, you know what the word is and you attempt to say and repeat the words that we are saying now a days.

Yesterday, you surprised me when we were looking at an animal picture book and you spontaneous said, "baboon" when we came to the photo of the baboon. Today, I was so surprised when you said, "I fall down," after you slipped on a piece of paper and fell on your back. A few days before you had been dropping objects and saying, "Ooohhh, fell down."

The other really cute thing that you do is when you hug something you snuggle it up against you and pat the object on its back or if it is a person, you pat their back. It is so very sweet.

You are such a happy and content child who loves books.

Rhino

Dear Maia, If I only wrote in this blog as often as I thought to do so, we would have a beautiful collection of little stories from the first 15 months of your life. I often write in emails the many adventures we have had in the first year and a half of your life, so we will have to go back one day and just read a bit more through my letters to family and friends. What I have decided to do is each day just write down a favorite memory of today. Today, your Dad and I were grinning from ear to ear as we heard you say for the first time "Rhino." It was not just the fact that you said it, it was the way you said it...so clearly with a nasal "--no" at the end of "Rhino" and your lips coming together in a pucker at the end of the word. I will write more, but in summary, you are a gorgeous little girl who is so very bright. You started saying your first word at 10 months of age..."Bird" and really started to pick up lots of words over the last two months. You amaze us and the biggest surprise we have had as parents is how much we love you and how quickly you grown and change from day to day. We love you to bits and so enjoy being your parents. 

Sleepless nights

Well, one thing you won't be remembered as is a good sleeper at night time. Last night was probably the worst night since you were born, but there are so many bad nights that it is hard remember now which one was the worst...I guess the night you woke up every 45 minutes might have been the absolute worst and you did that a few times when I was still breastfeeding you to sleep. You must have been teething and you have a cold or something and we were up between 12 am till 3:45 am. Your Dad took the day off from work so we could all rest. I was in tears I was so tired and frustrated that after six months I still am getting up 2-3 times a night. It was hard last night as you were awake and you could not fall back asleep. Sleep has been a bit of a drama for me in terms of figuring out how to get you to sleep for naps and at night time. You are now easy as to put to sleep at night. We just close the door to your room and say, "Nite Nite Sunny Sun." and close the blind in our room and say, "Nite Nite Sunny Sun" and you immediately know it is time to sleep. I change your nappy, feed you and then wrap you and sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" twice and then put you in bed and sing a song that I invented to the tune of "Good bye Ladies" except it is "Good night Maia." And you usually just hum yourself to sleep or if you are so tired...just go right out like a little light.

What you did today that was funny. Well, you have decided if you don't want any more food and I ignore your closed mouth and insist on giving you more that you are going to blow raspberries with a mouth full of pumpkin for instance and then today, you started spitting your food at me. I started to laugh as it was so funny to see this little baby girl spitting food and blowing it out of her mouth in my direction.

Well, I am going to go to bed now. You seem to be sleeping very soundly and we hope that you will surprise us with a good night. We would like to keep you in our room, but the three nights we slept in another room separate from you, you slept through the night. So we may have to put you on your own, so we can all sleep. Not really what I had planned to do as I like you sleeping next to me, but I am so worn out after so many nights without a good rest.

6 Months old

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Maia is now six months old and headed for her seventh month. I have so much to catch up on in this blog as you can see I have not written anything for months and months, so this week, I would like to write an overview post of Maia's life and what has happened in the last six months, but for now, I will start with today and move forward.

This week Maia has started to move across the floor by picking herself up when she extends her arms and then moving either side to side or backwards. She has not figured out how to go forwards yet, but I am sure she will be there in no time, so this weekend we will be childproofing the house.

Maia when you read this one day, I want you to know that I LOVE you SO much. You are the best thing in our life and we adore you. You are such an easy, happy baby and you and I have so much fun together. You will read in my summary that I really hit a ruff spot in trying to figure out how to get you to sleep, but thanks to your Dad and some great support from my friend Cass and the Australian Baby Whisperer, Sheyne Rowley, life is bliss and I am so happy being a mother and you are so much happier as a consequence of my change of mood. Babies feel their mothers' emotions and I was so worried that you may have thought that you were a "problem," but I was having a problem, it was not you sweet angel. You are a gift from the Gods.

So today, what did we do? We went to Montessori 0-3 program and you were very interested in how to hold and pick up small ping pong size balls with your hands. You still have not figured out that you can put them in a hole in the box and they come down the shoot to the side, but you will before I can blink an eye. You LOVE putting things in your mouth and so where did the balls go...in your mouth, of course! After you woke up from your afternoon nap, you and I went down to Como Pleasure Ground and went for a swim. You weren't exactly thrilled with the water temperature, but I eased you in gradually and then pulled you back and forth the length of the pool a few times. Then, we went for a short walk and came home. You are laughing so hard when I was playing a game with you on the bed before bed time when I would cover my face and then brush the cloth across you. You thought that was the funniest thing you had ever seen as I have never heard you laugh so hard. We got the second round of play on video, but the first time around, you were laughing even harder and it was lovely to play with you.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Today is now Wednesday. We went to your third music class and had lots of fun. I had a great time watching you take it all in. You are so observant and everything in life is so new that you are just gob smacked every time you hear or see something new. One of my favorite moments in the class today was when you were given the stick and the instructor held your hand while you hit a beat and then looked around at everyone's reaction as they responded to the rhythm that you hit on the drum. Your reactions to the world around you are so much fun to watch and most of the time you just have your mouth open in wonderment as your little brain seems to be whirling with the newness of each day and experience.