Moppet, where's DuDu Bear?
Excited baby runs to the sofa where DuDu Bear is resting his furry butt and points.
Yay! Now tell me, where's Poochie?
Poochie is lifted up by one floppy blue ear and waved about.
Well done, baby! Ok, now where are the masks?
Genius baby turns to the living room wall on which hang our Indonesian tribal masks and points.
Clever girl! Now, Moppet, where's Mama?
Big eyes turn to me with a blank look.
Baby, where's Mama?
Little face scrunches up. What is this 'Mama' thing?
C'mon, sweetie - MAMA, MAMA...WHERE'S MAMA?
Baby has had enough. This game's not fun anymore. Little back is turned and new adventures sought.
*********
Ok, so this episode has been dramatised a bit. But it is the sad truth. Moppet can identify so many things around the house, but ask her where Mama is, and she just doesn't know! :-(
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Poolside happiness
This was Moppet's first big pool experience, and she took to it like, well, a fish to water!
Okay, so this is a teeny bit bigger than my bathtub...but I'm cool...just don't let go of my hand, Papa.
Wow, this is even better than bathtime!
Okay, so this is a teeny bit bigger than my bathtub...but I'm cool...just don't let go of my hand, Papa.
Wow, this is even better than bathtime!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Looking back
If you had told me in early 2005, that in 2 years time I'd be a stay at home mother to a one year-old, I would've laughed in your face. Rudely.
Fat chance, I would've said. I'm going to travel the world. Learn how to scuba dive. Take flying lessons. Make VP at work. Maybe after all that, I'll think about having a baby. Maybe.
So, in August 2005, when the possibility that I might be pregnant dawned on me, I crossed my fingers and hoped it was something else. And when I saw that second pink line appear on the home pregnancy kit, I refused to believe it. These things aren't reliable, I told myself - and tried another one (I had bought 3). Damn pink stripe! Showed up again! And yet again!
I sat on the toilet and cried. This was all wrong. It was too soon. I was not ready. It was absolutely the wrong time in my career. There were so many reasons why this was a bad time to get pregnant.
By the time Moppet's Papa got home I was a blubbering mess. He was actually quite delighted, but since I was behaving like my world had come to an end, he wisely refrained from any yahooing and asked me what I wanted to do. He'd support my decision, he said - either way.
We sat down and talked. About what this baby would mean for us, our careers, and our future. And the more I thought about my options, one thing became clear - I did want a child. It was just that the timing was SO inconvenient. (It makes me laugh now - this thought of inconvenience. But spare a kind thought for a clueless 26 year-old who didn't know at that time that babies are born with inconvenience hardwired into their little brains (and butts)!)
In retrospect, I realise that I would probably never have been completely ready for a baby. There would never have been a 'convenient' time. I would have had to consciously decide to stop running on the corporate treadmill, and risk falling off it altogether. I would have had to deliberately consider the strain it would put on my comfortable marriage where we were happy doing our own separate things in a vaguely together sort of way.
I don't know that I would have had the courage.
As it happened, Moppet decided to take matters into her own hands, for which I am eternally grateful. And my life since she arrived is far richer than anything I could've imagined 2 years ago.
This is why I'm telling all my friends who've been saying they want babies but just don't know when (you know who you are :-)) - NOW is the time!
Fat chance, I would've said. I'm going to travel the world. Learn how to scuba dive. Take flying lessons. Make VP at work. Maybe after all that, I'll think about having a baby. Maybe.
So, in August 2005, when the possibility that I might be pregnant dawned on me, I crossed my fingers and hoped it was something else. And when I saw that second pink line appear on the home pregnancy kit, I refused to believe it. These things aren't reliable, I told myself - and tried another one (I had bought 3). Damn pink stripe! Showed up again! And yet again!
I sat on the toilet and cried. This was all wrong. It was too soon. I was not ready. It was absolutely the wrong time in my career. There were so many reasons why this was a bad time to get pregnant.
By the time Moppet's Papa got home I was a blubbering mess. He was actually quite delighted, but since I was behaving like my world had come to an end, he wisely refrained from any yahooing and asked me what I wanted to do. He'd support my decision, he said - either way.
We sat down and talked. About what this baby would mean for us, our careers, and our future. And the more I thought about my options, one thing became clear - I did want a child. It was just that the timing was SO inconvenient. (It makes me laugh now - this thought of inconvenience. But spare a kind thought for a clueless 26 year-old who didn't know at that time that babies are born with inconvenience hardwired into their little brains (and butts)!)
In retrospect, I realise that I would probably never have been completely ready for a baby. There would never have been a 'convenient' time. I would have had to consciously decide to stop running on the corporate treadmill, and risk falling off it altogether. I would have had to deliberately consider the strain it would put on my comfortable marriage where we were happy doing our own separate things in a vaguely together sort of way.
I don't know that I would have had the courage.
As it happened, Moppet decided to take matters into her own hands, for which I am eternally grateful. And my life since she arrived is far richer than anything I could've imagined 2 years ago.
This is why I'm telling all my friends who've been saying they want babies but just don't know when (you know who you are :-)) - NOW is the time!
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