Doh... after the excitement of getting the flash yesterday, I didn't get around to taking any photos Beth today because of playgroup and our other "social commitments"...
Hopefully tomorrow...
Have I mentioned she is doing lots of new things... so many I keep forgetting to mention... Tonight she figured out how to pull the plug out of the bath... She also wanted to stand in the bath without holding onto anything (a bit too dangerous and precarious for my liking!)... She can also drink out her sippy cup all by herself now... she holds it right up so she suck water out of it... I've been trying to teach her that for about 6 months and now she's finally caught on!
We also have gibberish conversations... she makes this "zzz zzz tzzz" talking sound and I imitate her and she bursts into giggles and does the sound even more... She also loves to crawl at the speed of light and make you run and chase after her... she did this after dinner tonight... it is tiring running after her and making her come back!
The best word to describe her would be "delightful"... She is just so happy and interactive... and just absorbing and learning new things so fast... I love watching her grow up... but I feel a pang of sadness that I'm losing my "baby" already...
Sorry no photos today...
We love playgroup!
Today Beth and I went to playgroup for the first time... I was worried she might not like it as she's been a bit of an anti-social baby... but in the last few weeks, she has really come out of her anti-social shell and today she absolutely *loved* the playgroup experience!
It started at 9:30am... ahd Beth had been awake since about 6:30am... My plan was to go and stay for an hour and then leave when she got tired and needed her morning nap... Well, that plan all kind of went out the window... because Beth fell asleep in the car on the way there... and then fell into a *deep sleep* where nothing would wake her... I was nuzzling her face and blowing kisses on her and she was totally motionless... plus even the sound of the traffic near by wouldn't even wake her (and there were trucks coming down the road!)
I saw Sharon and Emily arrive, so had a brief chat with them before playgroup started and Sharon suggested I just let Beth sleep and then join them when she woke up, since it runs for 2 hours. As it turns out Beth napped for a full 40 minute cycle (I entertained myself by reading the Brisbane street directory)... and then Beth woke up (hot and sweaty from the car!) and we went in to find out what playgroup was about.
It was really busy... apparently there were lots of new people checking it out because it was the first day that playgroup had restarted for the year... The playgroup is called "Jellibabies" (cute huh?) and it's held in a hall which is hired from a church. There a small annual fee and then it's $3 a session... but the first 3 sessions are free while you scope it out and decide if it's for you. My guess was there were about 30-40 kids and then parents on top of that... and all in varying ages from newborns up to 4 year olds... It was really loud and I thought Beth would be overwhelmed by all the kids running around, but she sat and watched Em do some art and crafts (she made an australian flag) and then after a few minutes when Beth had kind of properly woken up and started absorbing everything, she started crawling around and exploring... There were kids everywhere playing on all kind of toys... tricycles, ride on cars/scooters, a bobbing zebra thing, slippery dips, massive lego... and I could see Beth watching all the kids playing and particularly taking an interest in watching kids walk and I could see a bulb of enlightenment go off in her head as she absorbed it all... it's like she was suddenly understanding a whole bunch of stuff...
She wasn't afraid to go up to other children... there was a little boy (3 years old maybe?) playing on a keyboard and Beth came up and sat right next to him and then he gave it to her to play, and Beth played the keyboard to her heart's content... even dancing and bobbing along to the music and then squealing with delight! Just after 10am, there is morning tea (no junk, just fruit for the kids) and all the children line up and wash their hands in a communual soapy bucket and then jostle for a position at the table to get some fruit... after this there is more play (Beth played with giant lego and some playdough (tried to eat it and then spat it out!) and even sat on a ride on bike thing quite happily)... I was really amazed at how adventurous she was... At about 11am, everybody pitched in to clean up and put toys away and then for the last 10 minutes, the kids all get to pick a musical instrument out of the box (maraccas, tambourine, bells etc) and then everybody sits in a circle and sings some nursery rhymes.... and then we finish with ring a ring a rosies and then sing a goodbye and wave goodbye to everyone.
Beth really had a wonderful time and I did as well... got chatting to a few different mums who were all lovely and met a few mums who have only been in Brisbane for a year too... I really like how the playgroup is structured... there is an outdoor area with a sandpit under a shade cloth and there is outdoor equipment for the older kids to play on (like monkey bars/slippery dips) and a vast array of toys inside to play with, plus the art and craft and playdough tables... it is very well organised... and even though there were heaps of kids, it was really fun and there are no bullying kids... I think Beth and I will make this a regular thing... plus having Sharon and Em there to chat to is great too... we love hanging out with them... at one point Em couldn't found Sharon so she came up to me and asked me "Can you see my mummy?"... so I pointed her out and Em went skipping over to Sharon... it's so cute that Em knows who I am... :)
After playgroup went back to Sharon's place for a nice cold drink and some airconditioning (oh - the only drawback of the playgroup, it's in a big hall which has no fans or airconditioning... it gets pretty hot, but the kids don't mind... just got to make sure they drink enough).
Surprisingly, Beth wasn't intimidated by their house and was happily crawling around and exploring... mostly chasing after Em (I think she thinks Em is like a big sister or something)... Em kept squeezing Beth's cheeks and giving her kisses on the cheek... she is going through a "mothering" phase at the moment and it's adorable. We ended up staying for a casual lunch... The girls watched "Jungle Book" on TV while Sharon and I made lunch (toasted sandwiches and some rockmelon) (at one point I caught them both standing on the lounge, Em jumping up and down, Beth laughing with delight!) and then we all had lunch... Beth being really messy! Beth was even standing up and walking around their house... walking to Em and Sharon... and when she got sick of walking Beth would crawl around and chase Em... She even pulled herself up on Sharon's legs while Sharon was doing stuff... She is just so comfortable...
Beth catnapped in the car for 10 minutes on the way home from their place (1:30pm) and then I managed to get her to perk up and stay awake for another hour an half because I didn't want her to sleep so early... A big drink of water, cornflakes and toast did the trick. I feel like I'm always feeding Beth, but she's burning so much energy now that she's walking... She went down for her afternoon sleep at 3:15pm.
So all in all, a busy but very sociable and fun day...
Beth is also toddling around a lot more now (it's only been a day since I classified her as walking!)... she stands for a lot longer and can take up to 15 steps in a row now... She also will walk of her own accord in a direction that she chooses... but she does love to walk to me because she knows she can tumble into my arms and I will catch her... She smiles when I catch her and it just makes my heart melt!
Little Feet Disliking Little Shoes...
So I was playing around with my flash and I have no idea what I'm doing... just mucking around really... and then I realised, I should have changed Beth into some non-white clothes because photographing white is one of the hardest things you can do... doh! I've just made life difficulat for myself...
Anyway... I wanted to take some photos of Beth's new little shoes that I bought her (the $30 reduced to $15 pair)...
Here's what I got (don't examine the photography aspects of these photos too much - as I said, I have no idea what I'm doing, and it's going to take some time for me to "think with a flash" ...) - 
Aren't these feet so cute in these little shoes? They make me go "Awwww"....
Unfortunately, 10 seconds after I had taken the previous shot, Beth discovered the "velcro" function..
And exercised her right to loosen her shoes...
She is really not a fan of shoes....
It's here, it's here....
My new big flash (canon speedlite 580EX) just arrived from the courier about 15 minutes ago! (Thanks Mitch for the advice - I love it!) *happy dance*... I can resume my photography journey now... :)
Beth is having her morning nap, so I'm waiting for her to wake up so I can harass her with the camera... :p... I've just been taking photos of her toys for the last 10 minutes as practise.. :p
She's walking!
This morning, I have been encouraging Beth to take more steps and she can now traverse the length of the rug (up to 8 steps) all by herself... :) I classify this as walking... :) Although, I have to be holding something she wants for her to walk to me.
Right now, it is pouring with rain and Beth is sitting by the sliding door, watching and listening to the rain fall and she is shrieking along... as if she is singing along with the rain... It's hilarious! Now she's clapping her hands... I think she likes the rain.
On a different note... Beth is a fruit fiend... over the long weekend (3 days), between her daddy and herself, they devoured 1/4 of a watermelon, 500g of seedless grapes, 200g of cherries and a couple of gold kiwi fruit... it's crazy! I'm having to get out to the grocery store every 3 days just to buy more fruit!
More little steps...
Tonight we rang home to Ong Ba Noi's place... Phan put the laptop on the floor and angled the webcam so that they could see Beth standing up by herself and taking a few steps... she was pulling herself to standing quite easily... and then taking a couple of steps at a time between me and Phan... often with a bit of enticement (eg, her new shoes... the box her new shoes came in... a plastic tupperware box... anything really). She really was working hard, 'cos by the end of it all her head was sweating a lot... so much that after we had hung up on Ong Ba Noi, I was flattening her hair and she had sweated so much her hair was drenched and she looked like she had just got out of the shower! Despite, being tired and sweaty, Beth persisted in continuing to stand and take a few steps and at one point managed 6 little steps towards me before tumbling onto her bottom... Such huge progress... She is definitely over the roseola now ... back to being her good natured self and not as tired as she has been... so I'll be trying to encourage her to walk more now that she's not sick... I was reluctant to push her whilst she was sick, because she was so tired and so grumpy!
DFO is a very bad, bad place...
For those of you that have never been, DFO (Direct Factory Outlet), is (as the name suggests) a factory outlet where you can get a lot of bargains... It is a place full of temptation... It doesn't help that it's only a 20min drive from our place!
I had to go back there today to exchange some shoes which were too small that I had bought from Pumpkin Patch on Sunday ... And Sharon had to go and buy a new non-stick pan to cook pancakes in... So we arranged to meet up there... Emily had a sleep in a car, so while Sharon waited for Em to wake up, I exchanged the shoes... and managed to resist the temptation of buying any more clothes for Beth from there (even though, there were *lots* of clothes I could have got her... and they were all about 50% off too)... Then I bought 2 cheap $10 tops for myself from Portmans (just stuff to wear around the house) and browsed a few stores... and in the process, managed to lose one of Beth's pink sandals that she was wearing... she was kicking around frantically a lot, especially when I was trying on tops, so I should have known it was bound to fall off... will have to keep a closer eye on her shoes from now on to prevent further losses.
Em woke up about 1:30pm, met up with them and we browsed around a little (also back tracking in search of the lost shoe, to no avail)... We looked in Cotton On Kids... amd I bought Beth a little pink polo (good for wearing on sunny days to protect her from the sun) and a headband ($7.50 and $3 respectively)... and Sharon grabbed a bargain getting her some tops and a skirt all for $12.95 and then we stopped and had a coffee break... I had a mocha and a shorbread biscuit... well actually, Beth ate all of the shortbread biscuit herself... and Em shared some dried mango with her (which Beth loved) Em also had a babycino... it such a novelty... I'm thinking I should start ordering Beth babycinos, because she really wanted to drink my mocha! Then Sharon got some hot chips for Em to eat, which Em shared with Beth... it was so cute... Em would keep walking up to Beth (who was sitting in her stroller) and give Beth chips and Beth would gratefully receive them and scoff them down... it was adorable seeing Em sharing with Beth (Em is also going through an anti-sharing phase, so it was real progress seeing her share with Beth)!
Last stop was a sports store, which would have been the last shop I would have visited, but they had the BEST kids shoes... and I got suckered in and bought Beth another pair of adorable white sandals... (to replace the pink ones that we lost of course.. :p))... they were only $15... down from $30... so I was happy with that bargain! :)
And then we called it a day... left around 3:40pm and Beth fell asleep in the car about 5 minutes from home... but immediately went into a deep sleep, 'cos I managed to transfer her from car to her bed without her waking up! That's amazing!
I have to say, I'm enjoying hanging out with Sharon and Em... and Beth has really become sociable and loves their company... even though we've only seen them a couple of times, she perks up when she sees them... She was dropping her water bottle a lot at one point at DFO and Em kept picking it up and giving it back to her... Beth thought it was a game...
It's also been really weird weather... it poured down with rain at some points of the day, but it's still steamy and hot... not cool at all... so it's just super humid!
I'm just making dinner now (salmon patties) while I wait for Beth to wake up... I think I might have to go in and wake her up soon otherwise she won't sleep tonight!
And another LO
Yes... I know you've all seen this photos before and are sick of it, but it is one of my favourites taken with my new lens... so I scrapped it...
A relaxed day...
Well, after the bizarre start to the day with the super early nap, Beth woke up from her nap at 10:30am... She was in a reasonable mood for a couple of hours and then started to lose it a bit... but at around 1pm, Colin, Sharon and Emily came around for lunch (they brought some penang style takeaway food) and Beth perked up and was in a great mood for the duration that they were here... Beth has taken a real fancy to Emily... She kept watching Em during lunch... and she will quite happily sit there with Em, or try and touch her... something she has never really done with other kids... maybe it's because Emily is a girl... I don't know... but they get along quite well... Em loves to squeeze Beth's cheeks.. it's so cute seeing her do it... although Beth can get sick of it! Beth also quite likes Sharon and Colin... she kept giving cheeky grins at Sharon... Sharon think's it's 'cos she has a "mum" vibe... which I think she might be right about... and Beth was squealing with laughter and excitement went Colin went to tickle her legs... it was hilarious! They left around 3pm when both girls started getting tired and needed their nap.
And that was pretty much all we got up to today... low key... and relaxed...
Scrapping again...
This morning Beth cracked it and wanted to have her morning nap at 8:45am... weird since she'd slept through the night and had only been awake sine 6:10am...
Anyway... whilst she napped, I decided to scrap for the first time in 2 months... 
Damn these possums are noisy...
Seriously... these little critters make noises all the time... mostly in the early hours of the morning when you're trying to sleep... often scampering on the roof in the afternoon when you're trying to have a nap... and then squealing and making weird clicking noises in the evening when they are bored or running away from a cat.
It is so weird! The other night I saw one running along a powerline at the front of the house!
Beth is gradually on the mend... the rash is fading... less obvious on her face and body now... and she has been in a better mood... although she seems to get tired much earlier... I wonder if it's a combination of being sick and also the heat that wears her out... all she has to do is wriggle and move around like she normally does (non stop!) and she breaks out in a sweat!
Today we visited DFO near the airport... spent 2 hours there and Beth was in a good mood most of the time... it was quite productive... we all got some clothes... Got Beth a cute outfit from pumpkin patch and some hats (bargain prices - all half price!) and we bought Phan 2 pairs of shoes (all of his are falling apart) and a pair of sandals and some shorts. I got some shorts and a pair of sandals... I have decided my wardrobe is totally inappropriate for this weather... I really need more shorts and loose tshirts to keep cool in this heat!
The things that men buy...
A bit of a random post, but I've been meaning to write this since I arrived in Brisbane.
Phan had to do a spot of grocery shopping in the week when I was still in Adelaide with Beth... He bought non-perishable stuff, which I have been discovering over the last few days...
I asked Phan to buy some Weetbix so Beth had something for breakfast. I find a 1.3kg box of Weetbix in the pantry! Now, I don't eat weetbix and Phan only occasionally eats breakfast... So really how much weetbix can a 1 year old girl eat?!!! She only has one a day... It's going to last us 6+ months! Phan told me - "It was the best value". I said - "What if she gets sick of weetbix?!"
The first day I arrive here, I go to have a shower... I step in the shower and discover a 1 litre pump bottle of Radox shower gel!!! WTF? Apparently it was "on sale"...
Then I go to change the bin liner of Beth's nappy bin. What should I find but a box of 100 lemon scented bin liners??!! "I found them at Bunnings... and they were lemon scented... " - he tells me. "Was there a 1000 bag option?" - I ask myself... and hope that there was and that he had the sense to knock back that idea...
He also bought 3 litres of olive oil... but I won't complain about that, because we will use it ... and it was a good price! :)
Ahhh... he cracks me up sometimes with his train of thought... More is obviously better... ;)
Awful looking rash...
I can't wait for Beth to get over this roseola she has... it's affecting her temperament terribly... she gets frustrated and upset really easily... and sometimes just starts crying for no reason and no comforting will help her... It is really wearing me out...
The rash has compounded itself in the last 24 hours... yesterday she had a fine rash all over the front of her body and on her cheeks... today there is even more on the front of her body and it's all over her back, has spread to her upper arms and legs and has gone all over face... it is really *ick* looking... lucky she's not contagious. Apparently, it should all go away within a week...
Today, despite Beth being in a bit of an antsy mood, Phan and I decided to risk it and go out for lunch... I really needed to get out of the house after being housebound with a sick, whingy bub for 2 days. We went to a Yum Cha place at Aspley (which claims to have no msg in the food)... the food was okay, but it's not too far and easy to get a park... and it was efficient and the service was good and they were child friendly, so we'd most likely go again... Yum Cha is also good food for kids because of it's small portions... Beth didn't like radish cake... did like bbq pork bun in flaky pastry and in the banh bao type casing... we also ordered spring rolls just for her (which she enjoyed)... She kept staring at the people at the table next to us... I had to keep telling her it was rude to stare! Didn't do much afterwards... just went home...
This evening she was the happiest she has been in 3 days... she was even obliging and giving me and Phan "proper" kisses (and we didn't even have to ask for "proper kisses" just "kisses"...:))... We all had the same thing for dinner tonight - frozen crumbed fish for dinner tonight with a nicoise salad... Beth ate a whole fish fillet (sans breadcrumbs... wasn't fond of that) by herself and steamed potato... she doesn't like beans (like her dad!) and having previously disliked egg, tonight she took a liking to the hardboiled egg... although 2 pieces was enough for her... the third piece she decided to pulverise in her fingers... along with a piece of potato... what a mess! Phan was setting up her laptop for a webcam call with grandma and grandpa and Beth got excited when she saw it setup... but unfortunately, they weren't online... so she had no one to talk to... She looked a bit sad about that... But then we cheered her up with some icecream... :p
A little bit of angel...
My camera has somewhat been neglected during the past few weeks... Our new place isn't very well lit (it's actually quite dark)... so I will be getting a speedlight (big flash!) soon to try and combat this problem. However, this morning, I gave Beth some toast and she wandered into the kitchen and the morning sunlight was shining on her so beautifully... like a little angel halo of light...
So here is my little daggy angel ... in her pajamas and bib... licking the butter off her toast...
She has roseola...
Yesterday was possibly one of the worst days ever... Beth's fever was pretty bad and I was alternating giving her panadol and nurofen (surprisingly, she likes the taste of nurofen more than panadol!) for the whole day... I was also trying to get a urine sample from her... I tried ALL DAY... about 6 attempts... but it kept leaking... or she would do a poo... or the bag would come completely unstuck... it is a pain trying to get a urine sample from a girl... it is much easier from a boy!!! It was sooo frustrating and annoying...
I was at my wits end by 4pm when I still had no urine sample and Beth wasn't having very good day naps ... All this was doubly compounded by the fact Phan was on a long shift from 8am-10:30pm... Then she woke 5 times during the night (4 times between midnight and 3:30am)... but after 3:30am... she slept until 5:50am... so at least I got 2 hours sleep in a row...
But this morning... we are all much better... The fever has broken (I think) and she has now broken out in a rash ... which is a good thing... it should go away in a few days. She was mega grumpy, so I've put her down for her morning nap early... she's probably tired from the interrupted night's sleep she had.
I just can't believe the timing... this is the first time she has really gotten sick (other than her little colds last year) and it has to be during our first week in a new city! I'm just lucky Phan's boss's wife is a GP ... she has been looking after us very well... she rang this morning at 7:45am to see how Beth was.
We have been here in Brisbane for a week now... and it has been a very eventful first week and it has gone so fast. We'll be back home in Adelaide in no time...
Poor Sick Little Trooper...
Beth came down with a fever yesterday, which is still hanging around today, so I took her to the GP (Phan's boss's wife actually) in a suburb called "Camp Hill" (HA! Yes - I laughed too when I heard the name of the suburb...) and had her checked out. Her temperature was 39 degrees! The GP suspected either roseola (which is a harmless rash thing... rash presents 48-72 hours after the fever breaks) or possibly a UTI... for which I have to collect a urine sample using this weirdo bag thing with adhesive sticky stuff to attach it... The first one didn't work (came unstuck), so I will give it another go in the morning.
Surprisingly, despite her high temperature, she is in a reasonably good mood... she woke up at 1am really feverish... and after Phan and I dosed her up with some panadol and then gave her a drink she started smiling and grinning at Phan... funny girl. And this morning she has still been doing her normal tricks (her latest trick involves asking her where the fan is and she points and looks up at the ceiling where the fan is... she is a little smartie...) and standing and crawling around... although she does stop and have a little rest more often.
We are having one of those days though... because on top of this fever, I have semi-sprained my left ankle (I think it's from not being used to climb the stairs whilst I carry Beth... because I carry Beth on my left side, my left leg takes a lot of the weight)... so I am semi-hobbling around and it has started to swell up a bit... a mild inconvenience that is annoying.
And this morning, Beth also did a huge poo which leaked from her nappy and onto Phan (who picked her up not realising)... so Phan had to change into another set of work clothes whilst I cleaned poo off the floor, carpet, rug and lounge (don't ask me how it managed to get onto all those places when all she did was move from A to B!)
So... yeah well... that's been our very unexciting day full of little annoyances.
Hopefully the fever breaks soon... I don't like seeing Beth sick...
A Visit to the Biggest Shopping Centre in Brisbane
Today, Beth and I went to Westfield Chermside with Sharon and Emily. I met Sharon and Emily at their place and then we drove together to Chermside (me following in the car). It is one of the HUGEST shopping centres I've ever been too... second only to Chadstone in Melbourne. Apparently there are like 350 shops... It has basically every store you could ever want... Myer, David Jones, Woolworths, Coles, Kmart, Big W... then kids stores like Pumpkin Patch, Cotton Kids... Lots of clothes stores, homeware stores... then there is a section of high end designer type stores... like Oroton and some other places I've never heard of. It is great... everything you want under one roof. The four of us had a great time just walking around, chatting and enjoying the air-conditioned comfort of the shopping centre.
Beth must have been knackered after our shopping trip because she crashed in the car and I managed to transfer her to her cot without waking her!!!
Oh, last night was brilliant too... 'cos she slept through the night... 7 hours sleep in a row... ahh... that was wonderful!
Email Subscriptions Fixed Now I Hope...
Thanks to one of my regular blog readers (Hi Siobhan... *waves*)... I discovered the email subscription service for my blog wasn't working...
I think I've fixed it... so go ahead and subscribe using the form in the sidebar and if you're still having trouble let me know!
Beth the Climber
I forgot to mention yesterday that Beth climbed up on to the lounge all by herself... without the aid of a cushion, pillow or mummy and daddy's leg to boost her up. It was quite an effort for her 'cos she really had to use her arms to pull her up and you could see she was getting quite frustrated... but on the third attempt she got it... and she was as pleased as punch with herself.
Sleep Walking...
During the day Beth is taking little baby steps (up to 3 at a time)... she is gradually getting steadier...
Tonight, Beth woke up about 30 minutes after I put her down for bed... I went into her room to find her crying and standing in the middle of the cot trying to walk! I think she woke herself up trying to walk!
Today we managed to organise the 3rd bedroom... so all that is left is organise my clothes and organise the master bedroom... hopefully I can finish that over the next couple of days...
We went out for lunch with Phan's work colleague Colin and his partner Sharon and their 3 year old daughter Emily to Sunnybank (a kind of suburban Chinatown)... meeting them was lovely.... they daughter is so cute... she is a beautiful halfie... she has fully asian eyes (from her dad), but a caucasian complexion and blonde hair (from her mum).
After lunch we went out to a massive kitchen homewares megastore because Colin and Sharon needed to buy new pans (Colin's mum is anti-non-stick pans... so chucked them all out when she visited recently... not only that.. but they were Scanpan!!!) Anyway... this was a pretty cool kitchen place... had heaps of fun stuff... I bought a cherry pitter, so I can pit cherries for Beth to eat.... We passed the Ikea on the way... so now we know where the Ikea is.
That's pretty much all that happened today... tomorrow we're going to venture out to a Lutwyche Centro and see what shops are there...
Settling in...
Well, we are beginning to settle in nicely in our new home in this new city. Beth has adapted quite well... didn't really seem to miss the fact that there aren't lots of people around to shower attention on her... in fact, she really seemed quite pleased to be reunited with all her toys... she has been having a lot of fun setting off the various noises/songs/music that her toys make... often several at the same time! However, last night when we rang home to Ong Ba Noi and she saw them and Chu Phi and Phong, she did look a little bit sad and she was giving virtual kisses to Ong Ba Noi... so she definitely still remembers everyone!
On Thursday night (the first night we got here), Beth was sooo tired from being awake for 6 hours straight that she fell asleep whilst having her milk drink... and was dead to the world that I couldn't even pry her mouth open to put the dummy in! She slept soundly until about 1:30am... and this was when the fun and games started... she woke up... and was *wide awake*... I think she knew she was in a different/unfamiliar place 'cos she kept looking around and staring at the ceiling fan... I ended up patting her/picking her up and rocking her/lying down with her and patting her for about an hour... and then I gave up... put her down in her cot, let her cry it out and tire herself out for 10 minutes before going back and patting her to sleep (fell asleep around 3am)... and then she slept all the way until 6:20am... Not a bad effort for her first night... especially considering the time difference and all. Me, however... I woke up at 5am due to the sun rising (we have really crappy curtains that let in all the light in our bedroom... Beth's bedroom does too, but I have hung a big dark brown quilt cover over the window which blocks out the light... that will be a permanent fixture for now I think)... and then all the noisy "wild life" (birds, insects... god knows what other creatures!) starting making a racket... so it was pretty hard to sleep!
Yesterday, I spent trying to do a little bit of organising/tidying... sorting out car insurance... playing with Beth a bit... Our major highlight of the day was heading out to shops (I drove on Brisbane roads for the first time - not as scary as I thought it would be)... we made our way out to the Coles nearby and picked up some basic essentials and some things for dinner for the next few nights. Beth was great... very talkative during the whole trip... and in fact helped me pick potatoes from the vegetable rack thing and put/drop them into a plastic bag... very cute ... she is becoming more and more interactive all the time. After that, we ducked home, put away groceries, I grabbed a bite of lunch and then we went and scoped out a local green grocer/butcher/gourmet deli food place... really nice, good quality fruit... a little on the expensive side, but worth it for the fruit (I picked up some watermelon and mango... and they are yum!) and if I ever want to make something a little bit fancy... nice to have a "foodie" type place so close by.
After that little bit of exploring, came home again... Beth was knackered after all that exploring and cracked a fruitti ... so I put her down for her nap at 2:30pm... and then I grabbed a quick nap on the couch too ... we both woke up and I made a bolognaise (boosted with some carrot and zucchini for Beth) with Beth helping me (I have her mushrooms to play with, then I asked her to get them and bring them to me and she did... :))
As of lunchtime today, the downstairs area of our townhouse has pretty much been organised... just need to do the clothes in our bedroom and organise the 3rd bedroom.
Heading out to Bunnings after lunch to pick up some bits and pieces that we need, so that should be productive.
Be back later with another update today if I don't get too carried away with unpacking/organising the house... :)
Welcome to my new blog!
Here we are - in a new city (Brisbane), in a new home, starting our new life... and to mark this new beginning, I've decided to start my new blog. :)
My old blog at MSN was beginning to annoy and frustrate me with it's lack of versatility... MSN Live Spaces is very easy to use and intuitive, but it was time for me to step up in the world of blogging ... The "fun" thing about blogger is that I can muck around with my blog template and dabble in some html/xml stuff... so it's a fun in a technical kind of way... makes me feel like I'm not losing all my technical skills.. Geeky I hear you say? Definitely... but I can't help it... :)
One of the advantages of my new blog - you can subscribe to it and get email updates... :) Just scroll down and sign up in the sidebar on the right. I hear you all madly clicking and clambering to sign up... :p
Okay... so a brief rundown on our journey here...
This morning, I woke Beth up at 5:30am for a nice early start... I was trying to shift all her naps to the left a little so that she wouldn't be over tired on the plane trip at 4pm.... so she ended up napping at 8:15am... waking at 10am and then napping again 1pm and waking at 2:15pm... So I was very happy with how her naps panned out. Beth was very cute this morning... standing on the rug (sans mattress) all by herself... following Chu Phong around... crawling and sitting in front of Chu Phi's room waiting for him to wake up... :)... Watching the fish one last time with Ong Noi... Enjoying eating banh tieu with Ba Noi...
I was feeling a bit "meh" all around... Mixed emotions of looking forward to being with Phan and seeing our new home.... sad that we were leaving family just as Beth was getting used to everybody... and anxious about the flying alone with just Beth to Brisbane...
The airport was sad... Bao started bawling way too early, so I had to not look at her otherwise I was going to cry.... Lots of photo taking going on from everybody... and Beth seemed oblivious to it all and was just happy and determined to walk around and make everybody hold her hand and walk around with her! Very cute and funny.
The boarding call came way too soon... and I had tears in my eyes but managed to hold them back... Beth looked a little sad too... I wonder what she'll be like tomorrow morning when she wakes up and discovers there is no Ong Noi or Chu Phong to harrass.. :)
Well, all my anxiousness about the flight turned out to be unfounded. Beth handled the flight exceptionally well... didn't cry once... She was persistently trying to rummage through the seat pocket in front of us... loved playing with the little freddo frog pencil case thing-y we got (complimentary entertaintment pack for the kiddies)... She sucked on her bottle of water on take off and sang to her in her ear and she was fine. Then once we were in the air, she just ate *constantly* - arrowroot biscuit, orange, muesli bar... some craisins I had in my snack pack... She sat on my lap for the most part... standing on my lap when she got a bit annoyed and trying to peer through the gap in the seats to see the people in front of us. We had one mishap about 30 minutes into the flight when Beth's nappy leaked! She was sitting on my lap and I felt something warm... and then I felt something wet! She had pee-ed and it had gone through her nappy and clothes and onto my jeans. Lucky I had packed a spare set of clothes (which I almost didn't!) and there was no queue to use the toilet, so I ducked in quickly and changed her nappy... didn't help the little wet spots on my jeans, but they weren't too big and they ended up drying.
At about the 80-90 minute mark (the flight is 2 hours 10 minutes), one of the air hostesses came and said hello and held her arms out... and next thing your know Beth put her arms out and went with her happily. I can't believe she let a complete stranger hold her for 10 minutes! (And only came back 'cos she had to and we were starting the descent!) When I mentioned to the air hostess that Beth doesn't normally like strangers, she said "I get that alot... I figure, most babies must just get desperate to go out of the seat that they are happy to go with anyone!" So true I think! Landing... which takes much longer (about 1/2 an hour)... was a bit trickier 'cos Beth didn't want to sit still and was getting sick of her bottle of water, but I gave her some arrowroot biscuit and tried to alternate that with the water and that kind of worked... our landing was very bumpy, which I think spooked Beth into sitting still for 5 minutes!
I have more to write, but I am starting to feel a bit dizzy... so I think I'll stop here and resume tomorrow... I'm pretty tired from the early start!
I do have one last thing to write though - I really like our new home... it'll be great once everything is put away... but this hilarious thing happened tonight... Phan and I were downstairs tidying up stuff when we hear this strange pig like squealing sound outside in the backyard... like a feral pig... Phan gets a torch and shines it outside and finds a possum on the fence... we think it fell out of a tree and that's why it squealed... it's bizarre... we're only 5km from the CBD, but things like that plus the lizards that are around and apparently the massive spiders make me feel like we're out in the sticks! It will take some adjusting!
Okay... really need to grab some zzzs.... Thanks for reading and love you all!
