Wednesday, March 25, 2009

One night stand or sperm bank?

After reading a recent article on one of my regular reads, Mia Freedman's blog, I felt the need to post my thoughts (something I seem to be doing more of these days). And to comment on it here.

It was interesting to see how much scorn and even anger Kate Spicer illicited in the comments box on Mia's site. I can see why some people would think that she was a selfish woman, entering motherhood with little thought both to her future offspring and the man she's casually slept with to create the child. I can also see why other readers had defended her - isn't it a woman's right, as a woman, to bear children if she so wishes?

Ah, I'm such a fence sitter. My own opinion, as a new mother, is just that I am so darned thankful that I had my partner with me throughout pregnancy, birth and now (and hopefully for a long time yet!). It's lovely to watch him with our little babushka, playing with her during Tummy Time and singing along to her sweet little coos and gahs and pacing up and down the hallway to settle her at night. I'd forgive anyone for thinking that our little girl was a 'happy accident' - Pat and I had only been together for six months when I became pregnant, and he was only 23 at the time. But the truth is that we'd been talking about the possibility of a baby from pretty early on, and the fact that I was pregnant within about a week of going off the Pill only cemented the feeling that we made the right decision.

Anyway, back to the subject...now that I know what motherhood entails, the thought of doing it without my partner-in-crime scares the bejesus outta me. Single parents everywhere have my utmost admiration!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Obsession du Jour: AA

Soooooo...I'm a little bit obsessed with American Apparel at the moment. Actually, I've been coveting various items of clothing from their online store for over a year now, but I have only recently taken the plunge and actually purchased some of it (both as a little celebration of having my pre-pregnancy body back...well, mostly, anyway...and also because my taste in clothing seems to have changed now that I'm a mama).

My parcel arrived yesterday, containing:

- a hoodie (a birthday present for my brother Dave - he got back from 2 years in South-East Asia last December and he is not equipped for anything that even slightly resembles winter)

- an organic cotton tee in my favourite colour

- a stripey 50/50 tee

- a pair of trackies (okay, so the change that my taste in clothing has heralded is not a very glamourous one at all)

And the legend is true! These clothes really are as rad as everyone seems to be saying. I tried on the hoodie and it's cosy as all hell, the t-shirt is the best colour and the v-neck is much more flattering on my now-DD chest than crew-necks, and the trackies, wow! Ridiculously comfortable and they completely lack frump-factor.

So now I'm hooked, and another of my brothers, Tom, is too. Whenever he comes over for a cup of tea (which is most days, on his way home from uni), the conversation will invariably turn in an AA direction, and it's quite scary how we know exactly what the other is talking about when me mention a particular style or colour. I'm in the habit of putting myself to sleep by making mental lists of what I want to buy. Yesterday, I made a collage in Word with everything I want to get for Anouk (she already has a white hoody and a little turquoise tank).*

It's getting crazy. I think I need to go to AAA.

* I feel I should clarify - I do spend a bit of time on the computer, but it's almost always when I'm breastfeeding (net-surfing and email-typing are actually easier to do with a baby clamped to my boob than reading a book).

7 weeks











Friday, March 20, 2009

Tiki time

My dad recently told me of how, when I was not yet two months old, he and my mother took me to the movies, hoping to watch as much as possible (and planning to leave when I cried). As it was, I didn’t cry and they got to watch the whole thing. Which is impressive as the movie was Reds, which runs for 194 min.

So when Sunday arrived, chilly and overcast, I was secretly happy. It meant that we could go to Husky Pictures (my favorite cinema!) and test Anouk’s movie-going mettle. And - success! Not a peep. We got to watch to whole of Revolutionary Road, which I thought was great…in particular Kate’s gorgeous wardrobe.

**Attention! Possible spoiler ahead**

I am now convinced that I need a blue gingham shirt, tied at my waist to wear with crisp white shorts and cat’s-eye specs to the beach.
But what I’m really craving is a halterneck frock made from Hawaiian barkcloth, to wear to a retro tiki lounge and drink Mai-Tais and Singapore Slings (there's a scene in the movie where they go dancing at a tiki bar - Kate looks fab but I can't find any pictures). I’ve found a website that sells a huge range of barkcloth, I’m hoping to buy some soon (in addition to the Hawaiian floral styles, I'd kill for some of the rad atomic designs as well).


(pictures courtesy www.barkclothhawaii.com)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Birthday!

What better way to begin a new blog than with a birthday?!

Okay, so today is not strictly my birthday. Or in any way other than strictly. But I'm ignoring that fact and my first post is about the celebration of my recent natal anniversary, with pictures to go with it...

Last weekend, our little family journeyed south to my Dad's holiday shack at Jervis Bay...

I was hoping to teach babushka to swim, but we didn't get past dipping her tiny toes in the water.

Her dad wrapped her up so she was cosy and happy again...

...and then she got her hand caught in my messy hair, but we made it look as though we were having loads of fun.

Just cute.

And I got a Pantone mug for my birthday (colour 337C)! I love it far more than a person should love a kitchen item...