Little Miss Riding Hood

Seasons are definitely changing here, and the endless summer had to come to an end eventually :( At least now Maya has a good excuse to wear all the great sweaters, hats and blankets that friends and family having lovingly knit for her! This one was made by Linda, the wife of the US Ambassador in Congo, and it was Maya's very first present -- thanks, Linda! I'll admit, that it seemed a little strange to see a baby sweater when we were in Congo (avg. year-round temps 80F-100F), but it's an essential wardrobe addition here in Sydney, where the temps have plummeted (ok, ok, maybe I'm being dramatic, as they're still in the 50's - 70'sF; but when you're accustomed to living in the tropics, this feels cold!) and the rains have started over the past several weeks. Because of the moderate climate here in Sydney, houses aren't well insulated, so the mornings can feel pretty darn chilly. I cope by wearing fuzzy socks, sweaters, and drinking lots of tea. Maya crawls around like a crazy munchkin and builds up enough heat to be impervious to the cold. Lola finds the only patch of sunlight in the house and curls up in it. Chris is finally comfortable and not sweating for the first time in months. Now the down comforter battle begins (I pull it on, he kicks it off)!

Luckily, since Maya doesn't have a built in bed warmer like I do, she has a combination airconditioner/heater on the wall in her room that blows out any temperature air of your choosing. I'm still trying to figure out what "room temperature" should be, in Celcius, for a baby, but it seems turning the remote to 26 seems to do the trick for the time being. In the bathroom we have a space heater that we turn on thirty minutes before her bath to make the room nice and toasty, lest we end up with a cold, shivering baby come bath time. Who knows, if the temperatures and grey skies keep up, I might just start drinking my tea in the bathroom....

Hooray for Mother's Day!

Here's a shout out from Maya to all the Mums out there, chasing after little ones, wiping snotty noses, and sharing all the best bites of your lunch with your offspring. We had a fantastic weekend, and Chris planned a wonderful 1st Mother's Day surprise for me by taking me out to dinner (without Maya!!), where we didn't have to spend the entire meal shoveling yogurt into a squirmy kid, picking up peas off the floor, and dodging slimy, food covered fists. Simply exiting a restaurant without food smeared all over my clothing was decadent enough, but then we enjoyed a slow stroll around Darling Harbor, finally experiencing Sydney "nightlife", which for us counts as anytime after 7:00pm (Maya's bedtime). As if it couldn't get better, he then steered me into the Sydney Entertainment Centre, where it was obvious that some sort of concert was about to begin, but he wouldn't tell me who. Cue the strobe lights and the screaming girls, and out walked John Mayer! What a great surprise and an awesome concert.

Today, which is officially Mother's Day, began at 7am with a family snuggle in bed. Maya was cute, giggly and cheerful, and we were basking in our domestic bliss, when she suddenly turned toward me, laughed, and barfed all over my face. Yummy. Ahhh, yes-- the glamor of parenting. Needless to say, teethbrushing and showering commenced at 7:15. The day turned out to be gorgeous, despite it being "winter", so we spent the afternoon at our local beach, picnicking and enjoying the sunshine. If only EVERY day could be Mother's Day....

Iron deficiency or Cookie deficiency?

It was a rainy day today, so it seemed like the perfect time to make cookies. Maya seemed intrigued by the sound of the blender, but hasn't yet learned to associate it with raw cookie dough. Imagine when that day comes...

Anyway, although I love the open floor plan of our house, the absence of doors or natural barriers makes cooking & baking a bit of a challenge, and I'm finding that she is rather hazardous in the kitchen these days. Between opening all of the drawers (often accidently, because she leans backwards while holding onto the handle and pulls them out, at which point I find her screaming and holding on at a 45 degree angle), squishing her fingers in them in her overzealous attempts to close them, pulling out all of the tupperware and strewing it under my feet, playing with the oven timer buttons (which I find necessary to use since my attention is now divided between cooking and childwatching), or licking the oven, I find it's a difficult to get much cooking done. Too bad I wasn't born with 8 arms...