Il Picolino

'Bella baby!', one lady says to us as she pinches Isabel's cheek. 'Bellisimo!'. 'Que Bella' they shout at us. We are on holiday in Italy and the Italians love Isabel. She has her own paparazzi.

She toddles through the museums with her backpack (aka harness), all blonde hair and big blue eyes, so different to all the dark-haired italian bambinos. That, and the fact that she insists on walking practically everywhere, just like us. She reminds me of that play 'Annie get your gun', where they sing 'anything you can do, I can do better!'. If we're walking, then she wants to walk too (she has walked several baby marathons to date, I am sure). If we're having coffee, she wants one too (no, of course we don't let her drink coffee). 'Watch out for 'Il Picolino'!' one father shouts at his son as she attempts to climb on a moving roundabout with the big kids. Or at least I'm pretty sure that's what he said as he did some mad Italian gesturing at Isabel and the roundabout and his son. Some things transcend language barriers.

Where did her babyhood go? Sigh.

Dear people who read mummy's blog,

Things are all a bit weird lately. First, these big boxes arrived at our house and some men took all our stuff. I mean, like, everything. Even my books. Then, everyone kept saying 'bye' to me over and over (as if I didn't hear them the first time?!). And mum kept wandering around our house with water in her eyes, even though she hadn't been peeling onions.

Then, we arrived somewhere called Italy. But none of my friends are here like Mateo, Maia, or Ariya. And every time I ask Mum about them, she shakes her head at me and says 'bye bye'. But luckily, Mum and Dad brought lots of paper and pens. Though a few days ago, I drew all over my shoes, and they got really mad. So, now I say 'oh no' every time I put my shoes on but they just roll their eyes at me.

Anyways, here are the best things about this new place so far -

1 – The boats. Kind of like the tube in London with lots of people. But on water. Awesome.

2 – The stairs at the Peggy Gugga-whatzit-heim museum. Lots of people pointing at pictures with splashes of paint. Really, I could do that. The stairs are WAY more interesting.

3 – The bridges in Venice. I shout 'up' and mum and dad fly me over in my pram, like a spaceship. Then we go down. Then 50 metres on, there is another one. Way cool.

4 – The ramp with the stairs near this big statue of david thing. I mean, it's a giant man. But who's seen a ramp AND stairs together before. Way, way cool.

Ciao

Isabel xx

PS – Nearly forgot to mention the puddles. They are EVERYWHERE and mum let's me walk through them with my gumboots on.

One year on

So Bundle of Joy is now 1 year old.  A whole year of this baby business has gone by would you believe?! I'm not actually sure I can still label a one year old as 'Bundle of Joy'.  I mean she's hardly a Bundle anymore.  She crawls and she talks i.e. babbles and points at stuff that she wants me to fetch. And she has quite definite opinions on things.  Her food, her clothes, her toys.  So, not exactly a wee helpless newborn bundle anymore.   

I am also back at work three days per week.  My one year of statutory maternity leave has expired.  But they did kindly agree that I could go back part-time.  Which is just as well because both Isabel and I are suffering greatly at the transition.  Me probably much more so than Isabel.  I mean there's nothing wrong with the nursery.  They take excellent care of her.  They play games, eat yummy food, and she hangs out with her new friends.  All very exciting.  It's just that it's not her mum.  Mum is at work helping to prevent another financial crisis, furthering her career, and earning cash to buy more baby stuff.  At least that's what I tell myself.  She's not buying it either though.  But it is only week two.  I am sure we will be a bit more settled into our new routine in another month or so .....

Have legs, will travel

Was it only a few months ago that we were wishing that Bundle of Joy would crawl? Now I long for a day where she would just sit still.

Admittedly, the full impact of crawling didn't really hit me until we were back in London. Only a few weeks ago I was having such a wonderful holiday in NZ. Relaxing, reading my book, supervising Bundle of Joy's little helpers, having glasses of wine in the sunshine (because supervising is a very stressful job requiring many glasses of wine every day to relax).  
Now I have to constantly watch Bundle of Joy, with hardly a spare minute. I am starting to think that if she just makes it through to age 3 without seriously injuring herself, my job will be done. I mean who knew there were so many dangerous objects in the house?! I need a house with no sharp corners, no long cords, and several motion sensors that shout 'BLEEP, BLEEP, GET AWAY FROM THAT'. Actually, that last one is not a bad idea. Has anyone invented that yet? I'll have to put that one in the mum-preneur file. Then again, she would probably take about as much notice of that as when I tell her 'NO' in my sternest voice.

In fact, just the other day, 'no, don't eat the pot plant' was her favourite game, involving much giggling and crawling at the pot plant to eat the dirt. Speaking of which, everything goes in her mouth. It wasn't so bad when she sat still. But now, any small speck of dust, fluff, or dirt is fair game. And you know what comes after crawling? Walking! It's lucky that babies are born cute is all I can say.

Is it 2012 already?

Sorry folks. It's been a while between blogs. I've been busy feeding Bundle of Joy, navigating the craziness of Oxford street for xmas presents, and soaking up the sun in NZ. Excuses, excuses, I know ....

And now it's 2012 already. Just like that.

So how was new year's eve with our new family of three? Definitely a bit different.  It was lost in transit on our way to NZ. We left the UK on the 30th Dec and arrived in NZ on the 1st Jan. 

Resolutions?  Well, a few I guess.  Though I prefer to think of it as my checklist of good intentions:

1. Get 8 hours sleep.  In a row.  On a frequent basis.  The world is a happier place when well-rested.
2. Grow eyes in the back of my head.  Bundle of Joy is now crawling. 
3. Get Bundle of Joy some golf lessons so she can become Tiger Woods the second.  Or maybe tennis lessons so she can become the next Venus Williams.  Or maybe both.   
4. Related to the above, become Tiger mother, grrrrrrr, grrrrr .......

Postscript - No babies will be harmed in the making of the next golf superstar.