Happenings 16.2.19

DOING: sitting at my desk. Walt is asleep in the carrier. It’s the weekend and Ben and Joan are at the shops while I’m getting up to date with emails. I just finished, actually, and he’s still asleep so, lucky me - I get to write.

HEARING: my laptop fan. It’s been working hard lately in the heat.

DRINKING: water. So much of it. I generally don’t realise how thirsty I am until I sit down to breastfeed Walt. If Ben’s home, I’ll call out to him to bring me two big glasses of water, which I’ll drink at once. If he’s at work, Joan might bring me her drink bottle. She’s attentive like that. Though sometimes she’ll brush me off, replying that she’s too busy, before cartwheeling around the house or jumping off the couch.

EATING + COOKING: popsicles! We often make our own by freezing leftover smoothies or blending fruit with coconut water. Lately, though we’ve been eating lots of these. I’ve been loving big salad meals, like these tacos I created for ABC Life (see pic at the top of the post). For a vegetarian version I use canned black beans in place of the mince. Sometimes I’ll skip the cooking step and just mix a can or two of black beans with a jar of salsa. We’ve also been eating lots of legume pesto salads, similar to another recipe I did for ABC Life. Along with our usual eats - toast, eggs, quinoa salads and such - Joan and I have been snacking on celery with peanut butter. It’s old school and so good. We’ve also made these almond meal cinnamon buns with condensed coconut milk twice this past month (see pic below). It’s a simple, fun recipe to make with Joan and we both love the end result.

WANTING: the transition to Kinder to go well for Joan. I don’t expect her to have a particularly hard time, but she’s never spent great lengths of time away from me (besides the days after Walt was born, when my folks came to stay). And while I say “great lengths”, she’s only doing 2.5 hours, twice a week. Nevertheless, it will be a big change, and one we’re both excited about. Her world and mind are about to expand and it’s just really exciting because she’s so ready for it.

LOOKING: I was looking for a playmat for the lounge room (something cushy and easy to clean, and like Joan’s one (that I mention in this post) but not so expensive) but I recently found one! Upon recommendation from a friend, we have ordered this mat, and I’m super excited for it to be delivered so Walt can have something good to roll around on. Our old rug kept shedding fibres and held so much dust.

DECIDING: little things: what pasta shape to have for dinner with freezer bolognese. I’ll let Joan decide (update: she chose linguini). Big things: what car we may end up getting in the next year or so. Our current one isn’t going to last too much longer.

ENJOYING: the nights when Joan goes to bed early and quickly and Ben and I can sit and watch a Seinfeld episode together. We’ve watched the entire series multiple times, but keep coming back to it, as the episodes are the perfect length for a quick couch date. It’s also completely hilarious and thus, is a great pick-me-up for Ben before goes off to do more work. While we watch, Walt will either be feeding or asleep on Ben in the carrier. Ben and I have less time for each other than ever before in our current season, and I so look forward to the nights when I close Joan’s bedroom door, find my boys and hear Ben ask, “Seinfeld?”.

WATCHING: I just finished Howard’s End on ABC iView. I really enjoyed it, but then again I enjoy most British shows that are set in that era or slightly beforehand. British police dramas, too. After finding myself without a show to watch in bed at night while Walt feeds, I decided to give Sex Education a go (I was persuaded by the good reviews online). So far, I’m really enjoying it. It is most effective in making me tune out.

READING: I am on the hunt for a good fiction novel. I would love to hear if there has been anything you’ve loved reading recently. I do have two non-fiction titles to read and am super excited to dive into them. Ben ordered us a copy of Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming, and Carly Findlay’s book, Say Hello. Carly is a friend of mine. I’m so proud of her, she is doing such fantastic, important work. I love the way she writes and am thrilled for her that her book is being so well received.

BUYING: I have news… we bought a fridge! It’s AMAZING. Our old one, which was kindly handed down to us by Ben’s parents, was 25 years old. It had a good run, but when it started freezing produce in the fridge section, like celery and milk , we knew it was time to say goodbye. Thankfully we got an astronomically good deal on a fridge our friends have (this one), which we fawned over at our last visit to their house. Now, every trip to the refrigerator feels like a treat.

PLANNING: what to pack in Joan’s lunch box for kinder. Packing a lunchbox is (clearly) a novelty to me. I want her to feel both pleased and loved when she opens it up. A year or so ago I bought her a planet box lunchbox on sale. I’d been waiting for them to go on sale for months and months and months, and finally they did! They’re SO expensive but get incredible reviews and are said to last for such a long time, making them worth it in the long run (provided it doesn’t get lost, that is…fingers crossed). Anyway, I’m really excited to fill the little spaces with bites. Watch this space! You may have some lunch box pics coming at you in the future. Weelicious is super inspiring, if you’re interested in colourful lunchbox options.

WEARING: light and loose summer dresses.

CRAVING: not much. My appetite isn’t the same when it’s hot. The only craving I can think of is cold brew coffee but, alas, I don’t drink it in addition to my morning cup, as I limit myself to one coffee a day when breastfeeding a small babe. Womp womp.

LOVING: our fridge! Joan named it Bing Crosby, by the way. I asked her if she wanted to give the fridge a name and that is what she came out with. Ha!

SAVOURING: this time I have to write. Thanks for having a long nap, Walt. These days, the moments I have to myself are short and scarce. Mind you, he’s on me in the carrier, so I’m not entirely alone, but I don’t mind. When he’s sleeping peacefully it’s actually the loveliest thing.

PLAYING: Joan has been really into playing hotels lately. It goes like this: she invites me into her hotel, which is her room, and serves me tea. Soon after the tea is served, the hotel becomes a hospital and we start treating patients. More often than not we tend to her toy elephant, Candy, who has been coming into the emergency room regularly after falling into the toilet. Upon Joan’s directive, we suction out the poo and wee from her nose, ears and other orifices'. It’s quite a dire situation but after some good care she’s fighting fit again. The hotel-come-hospital then turns into a hair dressing salon, which is my favourite part of the game. I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot with that one, actually, because I get to sit down for five full minutes while she brushes my hair and pretends to braid it. One night Ben snapped a picture (see below) while she “decorated” my head with clips.

FEELING: Excited for Joan to start kinder. As I said above, I’m really happy for her, and I’m also really happy for Walt and I, as we’ll get some more consistent one-on-one time. I’m also feeling much stronger in my body. Pelvically speaking (roll with me, here), I feel much the same as I did before Walt was born, which is a relief. In hindsight, I wish I’d pre-emptively booked an appointment with a woman’s health physical therapist for after the birth. But, as I didn’t experience any of these issues after Joan was born, I assumed I wouldn’t need any help. Lesson learned. Let’s see, what else am I feeling… I actually feel pretty well-rested. Last night was a good night, meaning Walt only woke me three of four times. That sounds like a lot, I suppose, but we both fall back to sleep pretty much straight away after he has a quick feed. Some nights he’s more wakeful but all in all, as I said, I’m feeling pretty well-rested. My mind feels a bit scattered, but I can deal with that, as long as I’m not bone tired every single day.

Well, he’s still asleep! I’m off to do some meal prep.

Happenings posts inspired by Pip.

Heidi xo