The Aquarium

In an effort to escape the heat, yesterday we went to the Melbourne Aquarium.  The Daddy studied marine biology at university, and loves all things oceanic, so he was very keen to see the baby hammerheads currently on display.

Entry to the aquarium is $33.50 per adult, incidentally - that seems expensive to me!  $10 more than the Melbourne Zoo, which I think is much more exciting.  Anyway.

I hadn't seen the penguins before, and I must say they were very impressive!  So tall and majestic and clean and white.  They are funny creatures - so graceful and lithe underwater, and so awkward and clumsy on the land.  We watched one guy trip and stumble about a dozen times before managing to clamber up into a rock several inches off the ground.

There were two penguins who stood together, right against the front glass, peering out at the people and happily posing for photographs.  It was quite surreal - they really looked as though they were at the zoo themselves, checking out the People Exhibit.

Here is Tabby with the posing penguins:

Here they are again - don't eat the yellow snow!

So graceful under the water...

I could have sat and watched the penguins for hours.  They are so amusing!

Going to the Aquarium with The Daddy is excellent, because he knows loads about all the creatures and will answer all my silly questions, such as 'why does that fish look so sad' ('well, it's not actually a fish, it's an X, and that's because it is a filter feeder so it's mouth is shaped like blah blah' etc.).  

There were some enormous lionfish - they are so beautiful!

I adore sea dragons - they look just like Dr Seuss characters, even the way they move.  Here are two of them drifting along...

Sadly, you can't really see the scale of the below, but these are no ordinary goldfish - they are giant koi, as long as my ARM!

Again, there is nothing to show scale here - but these are tiny, tiny little baby stingrays, around the size of side plates.  So cute!

I like this frog.  He is a happy little dude, sitting there smiling to himself...

Tabitha got up close and personal with some creatures in the rockpool - although I didn't trust her with the sea stars, she could have injured one by accident.  Here she is feeling a Port Jackson shark egg:

She liked the teeth on this crocodile...  It made me laugh, because she is always fascinated by mouths!

Tabby having a grand old time - sure, she thought the colourful fish were interesting.  But only in the same way that people are interesting.  Or pigeons.  Or serviettes...

Here is a really enormous octopus.  Cephalapods are incredibly intelligent, so aquariums generally provide them with baby and dog toys to play with...  Below, you can see his Mr Potato Head, lying on the bottom of his tank!

A few very cute baby sharks, hanging out together on the bottom...

At last!  One of the many adorable baby hammerheads.  They are the most bizarre creatures, you could not imagine a stranger design...

Last time I was at the aquarium, I fell in love with this funny fella at the end - so I was pleased to see him again.  He swims around with a very determined air, and has a cute little expression with wide eyes and pursed lips:

Tabitha thought the stuffed hammerheads at the gift shop were far more interesting than the real ones.

Meals and Allergies

Some people have been asking me about what, exactly, Tabitha eats.  If she doesn't eat pureed chicken/sweetpotato/pear sort of things, what does she eat?  Well, in short, she pretty much eats what we eat, with some modifications (nothing that is a choking hazard like whole nuts, whole grapes or cherry tomatoes, food needs to left to cool, and I try and keep things in vaguely 'finger' shaped pieces for ease of handling).

When I cook our meal, it can be a pain having to let Tabitha's food cool down, because we all want to eat together at once.  So I keep a plate in the freezer while I cook, and put her food onto the cool plate as soon as it is ready - this cools it down super-fast!

Tonight, The Daddy and I had teriyaki salmon with rice, toasted sesame seeds and broccolini with sesame oil.  So Tabitha had a few bits of broccolini sprinkled with sesame oil and sesame seeds, plus some rice (which I firmly pressed into a rectangular block), some bits of salmon dipped in teriyaki sauce, and a few sticks of raw capsicum (because I happened to be snacking on some myself while I cooked dinner).  Here is what her meal looks like - although I take her food off the plate and just put it on the table, because otherwise she tries to pick up and eat the plate!

Normally, Tabby picks out one or two bits of food from her 'meal' to focus on, spending the whole of the time (10 - 20 minutes) working on eating that food.  Today was no exception - she became quite transfixed with the broccolini, holding one piece in each fist, and really getting stuck into it.  She tried a little salmon too, and enjoyed playing with the rice.

Here she is offering The Daddy some broccolini:

Yum!

Happily, I have given Tabitha nut products several times now, with no reaction.  This morning she tried crumpets with peanut butter and one with golden syrup (treat from The Daddy).  She really likes peanut butter!  Because peanut butter tends to be high in salt, sugar and fairly processed, I prefer to give her (and eat myself) a more nutritious nut spread, such as Almond Spread or the delicious ABC Spread, which are high in good fats.  If you haven't tried them, you should - they are incredibly good!  Generally available in the health food section of the grocery store.

Last week, on two separate occasions, Tabitha seemed to have a mild allergic reaction to a food - each time, a red blotchy rash (the colour of sunburn) developed around her mouth.  It didn't seem to bother her, and both times disappeared within an hour.  Thinking back to what she ate at each of those meals, I suspect the allergy is to egg.  Next week I will try her with a little plain egg and see what happens (I chatted to my local ABA counselor about this).  Here is her allergic rash:

Another food which has given Tabby some grief is 'sharp toast'!  A couple of times, we have given her some toast made from rustic dense sourdough breads, which make an impressively sharp crust along the top.  Each time, she has burst into very upset tears, so we concluded that the toast was cutting her gums.  Only soft toast for a little while I think - until we have some more teeth.

The other day, my mother offered Tabitha a little bit of chocolate ice cream on a spoon.  She tasted it, and looked at me with an alarmed face!  After the initial shock of cold wore off, she decided that it was delicious and went back for more.  Incidentally, at the same time, I tried a 'banana pavlova' ice cream from Trampoline - it was so good, banana ice cream with passionfruit pulp and chunks of meringue through it.  I recommend!

Today Tabitha also tried some home-baked, warm date and walnut loaf.  She definitely approved.

Toys

When I was pregnant, I kept falling in love with really beautiful, simple, classic and often Waldorf-style toys.  My mother kept telling me that even though I liked these toys, the baby would prefer colourful, garish and loud toys, whether I liked it or not!  I would pick up some stunning pastel blocks, and mum would laugh and point to a pile of brightly coloured plastic rings.

Being stubborn, I persisted and bought lots of simple toys.  They look gorgeous in her nursery (we call it that even though she sleeps in our room), and she likes to chew on some of them, but overall she does prefer the hideous colourful Lamaze-style toys.  Que sera, sera.  I just make sure that I choose good quality colourful toys, without BPA and generally from Europe.  These toys are generally a little more expensive, but I feel more confident that they are free of scary things like lead paint, and the quality is brilliant so I know they will last for a long time.  And we both love Sophie the Giraffe - what is it about this simple toy that all babies love so much?!

Some of the pretty toys that her Mummy likes:

The sort of toys that Tabitha prefers - this one makes a jaunty barn-dance style musical outburst when you touch the hand pads.  This elicits peals of hysterical laughter from Tabby:

 

My mother bought Tabby a lovely wooden colourful fish that moves around when you hold it.  It is a perfect mix of classic wooden, and colourful baby-friendly.  Tabitha likes it - but she prefers a hot pink plastic cup from Ikea that mum also had lying around.  Ahhh babies!

 

Speaking of toys - isn't my sister's toy poodle Posy beautiful?  She is a little exuberant, being only two years old, but is very sweet.  She weighs less than 2.5kg.  I had a little black toy poodle, Alice, for nearly 18 years.  She passed in April, two years ago.  In fact, she passed the day that Posy was born, which is a massive coincidence.  Alice was the most beautiful soul I've known.  I might talk more about her one day.  Anyway, here is Posy:

While I had the camera out at mum and dad's, I snapped a photo of my mother's Limoges tea set.  I adore the pretty colours, like a pile of jewels.  I wish these lived in my house!

 Look!  Tabitha can sit up now!  She will sit up and hold a toy and generally freak out with excitement until she gets so excited that she wriggles too much and falls over:

She is also nearly crawling.  For a few days she's been up on her hands and knees, rocking, and now she can take one or two 'steps' of crawling forward.  Won't be long now - uh oh!

 One of Tabitha's other new favourite things to do is to wave around a colourful, noisy maraca, and then giggle when Possum (our youngest cat) bats his paw at it.  It keeps both of them happy for quite a while!

My current favourite places to buy toys are:

• Jasper Junior - really the best toy store in Melbourne, in my opinion.  Located in a few places including Royal Arcade and Chadstone, stocks the most beautiful stuffed toys, wooden toys, wind-up and tin toys, little cars, art sets, hand puppets, costumes, dollhouses, and so much more.
• Parenthood - there are two locations, both near my house, so I often pop into Parenthood if I need a gift.  It has a great range of books and toys for ages 3 - 10 in particular.  Also really lovely Christening / birthday / new baby cards.
• Windmill - primarily educational toys, this store supplies a lot of kindergartens and schools.  Lots of large wooden items like play kitchens, balance bikes, puzzles, art supplies and lots more.
• Honeybee - this is such a beautiful little shop.  I always feel very peaceful and happy when I walk in.  They have incredible wooden sets of Noah's arks, castles, dollhouses etc., lots of Waldorf and Steiner toys, art supplies, great European baby toys and teethers, music etc.
• Readings - although a book store, I definitely consider books to be toys, and Readings is really one of the best book stores around.

Favourite Things

In the spirit of feeling (and looking) overtired, these are a few things that are keeping me happy at the moment:

The Sacred Truth face mask from Lush, makes skin look plump and glowy and luminous.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat (number 2 for me), makes skin even and luminous and fresh and healthy.  Unlike cheaper versions, it is not a cream / concealer, but more of a tinted fluid.  Recently had its price reduced from $79 to $55 (I think), often I just wear this and some mascara (my eyelashes are invisible, courtesy of being a redhead).

Fernleigh Farms Hot Chorizo, made from Wessex Saddleback pigs.  I have visited the farm, these piggies are amazingly happy and well cared for and have loads of bushland and mud to romp around in.  And their products are incredible.  For the easiest, quickest dinner, I put on some penne, pan fry some sliced chorizo, add a handful of chopped tomatoes / halved cherry tomatoes, cook them down, then add the drained pasta to the pan of chorizo and tomato, add a handful of freshly shaved Parmesan, stir and serve.

Camelbak drink bottle - the easy bite valve means I guzzle it all day, and manage to always drink the 3+ litres of water a breastfeeding mother seems to need.  I have a black one.

Elevit.  Even though I'm well past the pregnancy, I am still taking these vitamins.  I stopped taking them for a while and noticed I felt so much more tired.  Once I started taking them again, I felt better within a couple of weeks.  I'm not sure if it's the iron or something else, but these are working for me, so I'm sticking with them.  Chemist Warehouse often has them for an insanely decent price in the bulk packs.

And a final one for the women - my Lunette.  Wow.  This has kind of changed my life, in an amazing way.  Less pain, shorter duration, less waste, cheaper, brilliant.  Took me a while to get my head around the idea but now I love it!

High Chair Number Three

Yesterday I realised that our fantastic HandySitt portable high chair does not fit on the very high-backed dining chairs at my parents' house.  I had to hold a very wriggly baby all through dinner last night.

So today I decided to purchase an inexpensive high chair to store at mum and dad's house, since Tabitha eats there fairly regularly.  I have heard countless rave reviews about the simple Ikea Antlop high chair - costing only $29.99, plus $10 for the tray, it is incredibly simple to assemble, and the whole thing can be easily wiped clean or even washed in the trough.

It is plain white and fairly unassuming, but can be quickly pulled apart for easy storage.  Really, at under $40, it's hard to go wrong, but this is genuinely a great high chair.

While at Ikea, with Tabitha in the Ergo, I bought one of their $1 hot dogs (which are a highlight of any Ikea trip for me, to be honest, but don't tell anyone!).  Tabby kept trying to eat my hot dog - there is no way I would let her eat it, who knows what garbage is in them.  This made me laugh, of course, because I was happy enough to eat it myself!

In other eating adventures, I found Tabitha's Moosie (my mother) feeding Tabitha jam on toast for breakfast.  She pointed out that it is nice handmade jam from organic fruit on my aunt's farm in Tasmania, but it still seemed like quite a sweet treat to me.  Never mind, I suppose that's what grandmas are for!  Tabitha and I are sleeping at my parents' house for a couple of days, since The Daddy is re-painting our house - he's a good man.

Tabby also had avocado on toast, a sneaky bite of hotdog bun, some pita with dip, some salmon, dill and potato croquettes, and a bit of calamari.  She developed a slight rash after her evening meal, around her mouth, which has me wondering what could have caused it - dill?  Seafood?  Tomato in the dip?  It disappeared completely within an hour so I'm not too worried, but I am interested to see if there is any reaction next time she eats seafood.

Porta-Cot Adventures

My parents have kept the porta-cot that was new when my sister was born, 9 years ago.  It hasn't had much use, so we planned on using that one and not needing to buy a new porta-cot.

However it is SO heavy!  No kidding, I can barely lift the thing on my own.  It is large, bulky, heavy, and when unfolded, takes up a lot of room.  So after trying it out, The Daddy and I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a new porta-cot after all.

As with almost any baby product, there are seemingly infinite options out there, with each one being hailed as The Best Option by some people whilst being panned as Absolute Rubbish by yet others.  After some research, I ascertained that there are 'bells and whistles' models, with features such as built-in change-tables, vibrating soothing action, night lights etc., as well as 'cheap and basic' models, which are large and simple, and finally 'new generation' models, which tend to be very compact.

• Bells and Whistles models - the most popular and highly rated of these seems to be the Chicco Lullaby.  Doing multiple duty as a porta-cot, basinette, change table and musical play-pen, this model costs around $400 and weighs around 11kg.
  
  
• Cheap and Basic models - Target and Toys'R'Us have a number of large, heavy options which are nevertheless sturdy and safe, costing well under $150.
  
  
• New Generation models - Phil&Teds Traveller is a brilliant option, and is generally reviewed highly favourably.  It is seriously light (3kg, less than most newborn babies) and folds up to around the size of a sleeping bag in its case.  Other awesome features include:  a) You can access the baby from the side, not just the top, which is handy for being able to pat and settle young babies, or easily lift out heavy toddlers.  b) It is large and long enough for a tall 3-year-old yet takes up much less room than a standard porta-cot.  c) It is relatively inexpensive at $199 or less, when on sale.  It also is great for camping or the beach etc. since the whole top zips up, enclosing the entire cot in mesh, and the mattress is thermo-insulated, keeping away any chill from the ground.
  
  

Things to look for in a porta-cot:

• Mattress comfort - most porta-cot mattresses are really nasty, thin and hard.  The Phil&Teds is excellent because it is an easily inflatable insular mattress (the type adults sleep on when hiking).  Some of the top-line models like the Chicco are also decent.  A cheaper porta-cot may require some additional padding such as a sheepskin.
  
  
• Size and weight - some porta-cots are seriously heavy.  I mean, I can't even carry some of them.  They are also massive, taking up a large section of most car boots.  This is probably fine if you are using one for a long time in one location (e.g. set up at a grandparent's home).  If you plan on actually traveling a lot, and / or hiking, a light and small option is a better choice.
  
  
• Cost - some options are quite expensive, so do consider how much use it will get (e.g. multiple children, cousins to pass it on to etc.)
  
  
• Use - will it just be used for sleeping?  Do you need a change-table or are you happy to change babe on the floor?  Do you want to use it as a play-pen as well?
  
  

After doing a fair amount of research, and traipsing out to a few baby megastores, we decided on the Phil&Teds Traveller.  I think we were a little traumatised by the weight and size of the hand-me-down, so we gravitated to the lightest possible option!  We are also going on two holidays in the coming months (Tasmania and the US) where we will be moving location several times, so we want to minimise the junk we need to carry.  

The main complaint people have with the P&T is that it is a little fiddly to set up (I've had people tell me it took them 20 minutes the first time, and someone even told me it was 'completely impossible'), however most people report that after a few uses, it doesn't take any longer than a regular porta-cot.  Well, sure enough, I set it up today and it took maybe 10 minutes, tops.  And I am positive it will be much quicker next time.  So I don't know what all the fuss is about!

The other concern some people have is that the mattress sits within a pouch at the base of the cot, meaning you can't tuck a sheet in (the baby is supposed to sleep straight on the nylon bottom.  Tabitha is a tummy-sleeper, and I don't like the idea of her face being pressed against the nylon.  So I did some research, and learned that Phil&Teds advise that the mattress can instead simply be slipped into the bottom of the main cot area.  So you can use a fitted sheet.  Although a fitted sheet doesn't really fit properly, so I am planning on simply sewing a 'slip cover' for the mattress - this will just require a length of cotton or flannel fabric and a few straight seams, and it can then slide over the mattress like a sheath.

I will report back with more after our trip to Tassie in mid January - hopefully she sleeps well in it for the trip!  Here is a short demo clip from Phil&Teds:

 

One last tip - they claim the mattress is 'self inflating' however I recommend breathing in a few puffs of air.

New Years Eve and Day

Well Godmother Sophie and her sister (also my long, longtime friend) Rose did come over for a visit.  Sophie always finds beautiful, ethical gifts from a shop in Fairfield (also North Carlton) called Fairground Child, which stocks gorgeous items like fair-trade toys, organic clothing and eco-friendly wooden toys.  A great place to go gift-shopping!

In the early evening, my best friend Amy came over to spend NYE with us, since her plans were all for NY day.  We had a few amazing bottles of Champagne, my favourite of which was a 1999 Pol Roger.  Sadly, of course I could only drink a few half-glasses throughout the night, as I wanted to make sure there was no alcohol in my breastmilk.  Incidentally, the Australian Breastfeeding Association has published an excellent guide to drinking alcohol and breastfeeding - you absolutely CAN have a drink or two, and this guide is useful for understanding when and how much you can drink.

The Daddy and I got out our Tiffany toasting flutes, which were an engagement present from one of my bridesmaids, my beautiful aunt Annette:

We got a load of cheese from Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder, which has an excellent cheeseroom.  We all got a little carried away and ate far too much Clarines, which is an exceptional but very rich cheese (also amazing baked with some pinot noir and garlic - see this recipe from the incredible Master of Cheese, Will Studd, who was a client of mine in my former life as a PR strategy manager)

It was over 40 degrees yesterday - our younger cat, Possum, who is only around 9 months old, looked like he was dying.  It was his first really hot day in his short life so far!

Tabitha ate a prawn - she really liked it, and likewise really enjoyed waving it around!  She managed to actually eat a fair amount.  We ate WAY too many prawns.  I have never felt ill from eating too many prawns before today, and I am a massive seafood fan!

We blew up the wading pool that Tabitha got for Christmas, and she enjoyed being dunked in it every time she got too hot.

I also enjoyed dunking my legs in it!  I predict we will all be spending a fair amount of time sitting in this little pool over Summer...  WARNING:  At this point in the evening, The Daddy started taking 'artistic photographs'!

Note the half-dead poor Possum cat in the background!  I really felt for him - but unfortunately he is not the brightest cat.  The older, wiser cat, Pudding, was lying on the cool floors inside.

Amy complained that her 'very comfy' Gorman dress was unflattering, but I think it's quite sweet.  At least it's more elegant than the cotton nightie I was wearing for our NYE celebrations!  Well that's what happens when you only have your nearest and dearest around, and are not leaving the house - PJs and not a scrap of makeup!

Tabitha on to prawn #2...

Oh, here is a photo of the Trampoline Ice Cream Christmas Pudding that I won last week in the Twitter competition!  We had a little of that last night.

Amy looking pretty happy with her cray:

I ate nearly as much melted butter as cray meat.  I think the melted butter is my favourite part:

The Daddy grilled his cray on the barbecue with loads of garlic butter.  I was too greedy to wait for that!  Here, Possum is somewhat revived (the sun was setting) and decided to finish off the crays and melted butter:

Well, we may not have gone out and partied, but we had an excellent and memorable night with Tabitha at home!

In the late morning, we walked to Friends of Mine in Richmond (so pleased to read it was open!) for brunch.  With a walk of around 40 minutes each way (Tabitha snug in her Ergo), I started to feel better about the butter/cheese/Champagne/mountain of prawns overindulgence of the night before.  Sadly, the very young man behind the counter cheerfully noted that I have another baby on the way, gesturing at my stomach.  Erm.  No, sorry son.  This is just what happens when you have a baby.  Boooo!  Perhaps time to lay off the Clarines.

At the end of today, we visited our friends Jasmine and Sam for a BBQ / pool party.  Too cold to swim, however enjoyed some excellent meat from Jaz's family farm!