This is a vaccination-free zone...

 

Big day yesterday- bought a thing called a Bumbo for Bryn to sit in, went to a rehearsal of something called "Rockin' the Baby" for Freo Festival and also caught Isaac Golden at the Homeopathy conference currently being held in Fremantle- bought the latest edition of his book on Vaccination vs Homeoprophylaxis, which contains some very credible research findings supporting vaccine damage and effective homeopathic alternatives.

Was completely knackered, but enjoyed catching the free CAT bus into town and had a relaxing bath at a friend's last night while she sort of looked after him- he ended up in the tub with me, but slept long and deeply last night 51/2 hours straight without a feed or a nappy change!... 

My Little Pyromaniac...

 
 
\
Maybe it's because he's a Leo, but Bryn looooved the fire at last night's dinner!

The other pic is a cuddle from daddy while Hare Krishna-ing around the fire... 

"Hare Krishna, Hare Rama"...

We dragged Grandma Pam to a community dinner, a one-off Hare Krishna meal cooked by an ex-resident who had moved to Sydney and found his true calling in "The Movement", complete with celibacy vows. Now, I like the odd bit of chanting, and Indian spirituality, as does D, though I am comfortably not interested in HK. Pam, predictably polite, was clearly out of her depth and comfort zone. The empowered teenage girls all asked poignant questions about male bias- quite funny really!...

 

More Merriment at the Lake...

Bibra Lake in the background, picnickers in the foreground 

Piquenique by the Lake..

Another picnic, this time by Bibra Lake where all the swannies and cygnets are currently swimming merrily along!
B from our local communitycelebrated his Birthday. Lots of willing baby-holders gave me a break and the rest of the time Bryn was content to doze and feed inside the comfort of the purple sling ( a bit cold and threatened rain, but din't actually rain). He isn't generally keen on leaving home so early in the morning (around 9am) but dozed there and in the car, then would have slept soundly, but for the cannons and fireworks going off down at the fishing boat harbour, which kept startling him awake -today was the annual 'Blessing of the Fleet', when all the Italian and Portugese sardine fisherfolk start there season at sea...I manafged to do dishes thoguh and clean up a bit and fill a new beanbag, in between his naps... 

Colour Co-ordinates, Colds, Companions & Cuteness!...

I confess, it's fun to dress Bryn in colour co-ordinated outfits. Pictured here in his orange giraffe-emboidered all-in-one suit, bought exclusively from Coles supermarket, teamed with complementary blue hand-me-down cardigan, by an anonymous knitter, outgrown by Baby B.C., fawn corduroys with cute doggy applique courtesy of The Family Nurturing Centre clothes swap bins and his cream faux-fur 'My Bear' label beanie from fashion-conscious Aunty L. I believe I put him in mauve and purple seahorse socks bught recently from the sock kiosk at Garden City...
Bryn's first wee cold! Well, a snuffly nose and weepy eye, perhaps brought on by the wild Spring winds at the picnic on Monday and when Oma took him walking by the river on Tuesday, while I was at T.C.'s homeopathy course. He slept more during the day, even nodded off in his bouncer which was most uncharacteristic. Nothing a bit of medicinal Mummy milk couldn't remedy though, both orally and topically (ie in the eye)...

C.D.'s windswept picnic on Monday in Valley Park nearby - me in the foreground with Bryn snug in his purple sling, plus a bunch of Mum's and toddlers celebrating a Birthday with icecream cake...
And this one is just plain cute! it''s a still shot from one of several videos taken with D's kids, including his son and son's new partner last Saturday. Bryn's 11-week-old, chucklesome responses were due to D's "who's a cheeky boy?" routine, plus my silly songs and B (D's 26 year-old son) playing the recorder, which Bryn seemed to enjoy!...

Calling all Grannies...

As my Mum isn't closeby or readily or regularly available, and D's Mum has Altzheimers, I might need to find some surrogate Grannies for Bryn! He is pictured here with N's Mum at the 4yr old birthday party a couple of weeks back, staring fixedly at his Mummy! Today, while at a LETS picnic at Freo Arts Centre, I spotted M.B. who has offered to be a stand-in Granny, so already things are happening...
This photo depicts a typical bedroom scene, with D playing with Brynnie on the bed and the aforementioned 'Noah's Ark' mobile which hangs from a rice-paper lightshade in the centre of the room, at the foot of where his cradle (not that he is in it much!) usually stands (it's on wheels so it gets moved about our small space a bit)... 

Kiwi Fruit...

My oldest childhood friend in Australia was visiting from New Zealand where she has lived for the last 15 years, so she rang wanting to catch up on Thursday. Her partner is a dairy farmer and they have 4 kids aged between 4 and 12! Her Mum, who chauffered her here, snapped us with Bryn and Charlie Brown at home.

We all reminisced and filled in the gaps for each other. I remembered that we started school together, but were separated on the first day because we chatted too much! Such cruel practices imposed on wee 5 yr olds in those days. The school we went to had a bell. I remember being very disappointed when I changed schools in year 2 that the new school had a siren and not a bell that was rung by hand!

Today we had lunch with G's kids and ex, so Bryn finally got to meet his 26-yr-old half-brother and his new girlfriend. We had lots of fun videoing each other, but we left the connector so I can't transfer the pics and vids onto the laptop yet! Bryn doesn't sleep well away from home, so will hopefully have a long sleep tonight. He' scurrnetly in his sea crature decorated yellow cradle, a few hours of respite where I (and D) can have some respite before he joins us in the bed again... 

Lean, Mean Growing Machine...

Baby Bryn was weighed by the lovely D, child health nurse, yesterday at the clinic. He hasn't grown hugely, having gone from 4.1 at birth to 5.28 now after 11 weeks...The growth has mainly been in his length- 53cm at birth, 58cm at 6 weeks and now he is 61.5cm- nothing Michelinesque about him, just one 'crease' at each thigh and upper arm! He is still fitting into 0000 clothing width-ways, but his 'grosuits' give him a bit of a 'wedgy' (crotch tight, legs too short, although actually I think it is his body that is long)!!!

I mainly talked about both D & I needing support, separately and as a couple and she referred us to a few agencies and people. I'm aware that there is less out there for men, so it was good to find people who work a lot around supporting guys through the challenges of juggling everything with a new baby on the scene...

Happy 'bout the Nappy

I finally did a thorough online search for fitted cloth nappies yesterday and decided that clorful, one-size, all-in-one adjustable 'pocket' nappies with breathable covers included was the way to go. We've been using biodegradable disposables, but there is evidence linking them to male infertility (due to testicular temperature in baby boys) and it works out so much more expensive in the long term, and of course the environmental/landfill issue.

Anyway, there is an absolute plethora or home-based businesses run by women in Australia selling their productd on the net. I shopped around for the best combination of features and price. I bought six like the one pictured in red, periwinkle, aqua and baby blue which included a complimentary hemp (highly absorbent) insert (the bit that absorbs the wee), from a local Perth site. They arrived today already! Check out www.greenkids.com.au . I bought a further six called 'bumGenius' from a Melbourne source (see www.theweewuns.com.au) in yellow, grass green and blue (pictured here), along with inserts and a dozen or so mixed inserts/boosters from a woman in Queensland (she appears to have hte best value hemp and microfibre inserts and boosters for added absorbtion at night etc.(www.cushietushies.com.au). Ideally, as they are adjustable for small or large babies, rather than having to upsize as he grows, the same set will see him through to toddlerhood...

Playtime...

When he isn't working or suffering from the bloke version of post-natal depression, D plays games with and amuses Bryn (songs & silly noises). Bryn can really chuckle now, in response to these things. He also shakes his first 'rattle', a small blue elephant with a bell in it, given to us by N.T. In the photo in which he appears distracted, he is gazing at a Noah's Ark mobile which hangs from the lampshade above his cradle in the bedroom.

Today we have our second clinic with the child health nurse. It will be interesting to see how much my slimline bub weighs- he's so looooong and yet quite lean. ...

 

I'm Popeye The Baby Man..

I can't resist sharing this pic, which is among my all time Bryn Favourites (am currently using it as my desktop background image too). It was taken two weeks ago by J.A. who babysat for me while I had my hair done by a friend at her home. Although Bryn had been smiling heaps, it was quite difficult to catch the momentary smile, however this one really captures his squinty grin!..

Arty Farty Sunday Arvo...

We took D's Mum P to the Courtyard Music at Fremantle Arts Centre, at the invitation of D.C. He was there with his wee girl S who is now 4. The band, the first of weekly acts for the season, was called Urban Eccentrics, featuring a versatile male operatic voice, double bass and assorted instruments and genres from folk to Italian. I videoed while a beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was sung. Ran into a number of frineds and generally had a pleasant day on the lawn, then checked out the annual Fremantle Print Award exhibition in the main gallery. Prints from al over Oz . We bought one by local artist Emily Holt, titled Dream Chair, which depicts a cosy lounge room scene centred around a well-worn armchair, in vivid reds yellows blues and greens (see photo below, Bryn in pram and Pam in front of 'our' print). It was Bryn's first culture vulture outing, apart from those in utero (captured in second pic)! The pic above is of me and a contentedly full, sleeping Brynnie on the lawn, with the cafe behind us...

Spring Really is Here...

I really needed some support and some time out and about and in the fresh Spring air. I'd arranged with midwife Th. to get some homeopathic remedies from her. So, after yoga and a loooong nap with Bryn, we took ourselves off to South Beach where I had (decaf) cappuccino at the Kiosk and bumped in to N who is 1o weeks pregnant, before popping into Th's to collect the remedies and have a chat. She recently midwifed for a woman who home-birthed twins that were 9 and 10 ponds respectively!

Yesterday, I took Bryn to 4 yr old R's Birthday Party- lots of kids, mums some of whom had new babies too (mostly 2nd timers) and a violinist playing along to The Little Mermaid soundtrack. May post a pic or too from there.

Popped in to Cl & D's enroute home and l was in- they gave me a gorgeous aqua coloured grow suit from Broome, part proceeds from which go to Timorese community projects. Another solid, wise woman to chat to who understands the challenges and need for validation as the mother of a young baby.

Today is a public holiday. I've declined offers of picnics etc because I just want to mooch around after a somewhat social weekend