Yesterday morning, early, I bundled Tabitha and myself (and our numerous belongings!) into my parents' people mover vehicle, in the middle row with my sister Q. Tabitha's rear-facing car seat was, of course, installed as well. We have the Meridian AHR Safe'n'Sound car seats, by the way, in both The Daddy and my cars - I think it's an excellent car seat from my research, and fits from newborn to 18kg (roughly 4 years old).
We then drove FOUR HOURS to Lakes Entrance, stopping briefly at Sale McDonalds - or Stale McDonalds as it was quickly re-appropriated by dad and I. This was a fairly dire pitstop, although we did see two super-cute French Bulldogs. Tabitha slept for a good amount of the trip, after which I broke the 'no TV' rule and let her watch My Neighbour Totoro on DVD to amuse her for a little. Which is an incredibly beautiful animated Japanese childrens' film, well worth a look!
Upon arriving in Lakes Entrance (actually we performed an accidental Lakes Exit and drove straight through the town. We had to do a U-turn and go back!), we checked in at The Esplanade Resort and Spa. We then went straight over to the care facility where my Great Grandmother Dorothy lives - she is actually the OLDEST person in the place!
Dorothy was incredibly moved and overjoyed to meet her first Great, Great Grandchild. Dorothy was born in 1913, living through two World Wars and the Depression, so she has certainly seen a lot in her life. However she was still thoroughly thrilled to meet Tabitha!
I love this photo - they have the same expression!
And again, the same expression!
You will notice the blanket on the right - cream soft wool, which Dorothy knitted for me when I was born, and is now Tabitha's blanket.
Tabitha wore a Liberty Print dress and bloomers for the occasion - suitably classic and pretty. Tabitha also grabbed and stole Dorothy's glasses at one point, cheeky baby.
For years, I had hoped and hoped that I could have a baby while Great Grandma is still with us, so it was an emotional and joyous visit for me. I feel that we have given her a wonderful gift, to have a Great, Great Grandchild.
We gave Dorothy a photo of Tabitha and I, taken three days after she was born, in a silver frame. She got a little teary at this point, and after a while said that the photograph reminded her of the song "When a Child is Born".
Mum was also thrilled to see her Grandmother - since Dorothy is so old now, she finds it difficult to travel, and the four-hour car journey to Melbourne is too much.
Here is Q, mum, Dorothy, my aunt Karin and cousin Lissy.
The place where Dorothy lives is actually very nice! Lovely gardens, there is a cat, the staff are all kind and chatty, and her own room is beautifully personalised. If you have ever wondered what might await you if you end up in 'a home', here is a glimpse into the future.
The menu looks nice. A little heavy on the custard perhaps, but it all smelt mighty good! Also, at approximately 3pm, Devonshire Tea is served. I could get used to that...
All the bedroom doors are decorated with the names of the residents - it is a little like walking along a corridor of children's rooms!
Although the large resident cat is, strictly speaking, a 'communal' cat, Dorothy had claimed him and has food, water and litter in her area. She adores animals, and kept a large flock of chickens, ducks and geese (as well as cats and dogs) for most of her life. She doesn't eat chicken, because she became too fond of them over the years.
Dorothy is a mad keen St Kilda Football Club fan.
Her room opens out to a large garden area, and she has lots of her own plants in pots along her windows.
We found her stash of lollies and chips!
Outside showing Karin and Mum her latest plants:
Q and Lissy playing in the gardens:
The five generations. From left to right, aged .5, 26, 40s, 70s, 97.
Dorothy kept asking me, "Are you sure you want her? I can keep her here!"
We then all went out to lunch at Kalimna Hotel, a Greek restaurant with a spectacular view. Going against my general rule that restaurants famous for their views have pretty average food, our lunch was brilliant - fresh, flavourful classic Greek food, lots of juicy gyros, dips, a lovely walnut syrup cake.
Here is Q with some of the view:
Tabitha showing off her cute Itti Bitti d'Lish Snap-in-One nappy in cream, which looked pretty under her pink and cream linen dress. This dress used to belong to Q 9 years ago!
Tabitha started getting hungry and tried to eat a plate.
Thankfully, the food arrived soon, and she tucked into some freshly baked hot bread smothered with taramasalata dip. I am a huge tarama fan, and Tabitha seemed to love it too! She certainly covered herself in it...
An old favourite, grilled lamb chops , juicy and tasty and complete with a handle!
Eating a large slice of cucumber from the Greek salad - but you will notice she is still keeping a tight grip on her lamb chop!
Her pretty dress is COVERED in lamb and taramasalata! Nothing that won't come out in the wash - you can't be precious when you're doing baby-led weaning.
After lunch, we popped Tabitha straight into the car and started the drive home. After nearly two hours, she woke up and got mighty grumpy that she was still stuck in her car seat! So we pulled over in Moe Botanic Gardens (probably not as nice as you might imagine) and had a play and a stretch.
Sadly, after that, we had to put her back in the car. The remaining 1.5 hours were NOT FUN. It was between 5:30 - 7pm, which are generally her 'difficult' hours, where she likes to be worn close to me and cluster fed. So she was very grizzly, and I sat in the back with her and sang nearly the whole way home. She also has her two front top teeth coming through, so that added to the grumps.
Oh - and other exciting news is that she has started getting right up on her knees and doing that bouncing, rocking back-and-forth very quickly thing. She has also managed a 'step' or two of crawling while doing this. It is incredibly cute, and means that she will probably start crawling soon. Meanwhile, watching her madly rocking her bottom back and forth is great fun to watch!
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