Huggy Monster

This has been the week of “I want ____” and “Mine!” (even said while taking something clearly mine, that I was in the middle of using or eating). Also “I need some ice” for every little itch and bump. (Must admit, though, ice does have great powers.)

Last week saw the rise of the “huggy monster” who runs full pelt up to her victim and hugs their legs/arms/etc. She’s also greatly enjoyed going “boo!” and “rarrrr!” while menacing with curled fingers.

Anya's favorite book at the moment is a library book by Terry Pratchett, Where’s My Cow? The main character, Sam Vines (a DiscWorld character) comes home every night to read Where’s My Cow? to his son. Over the course of reading out the story, Sam starts to think how silly you’d have to be to confuse a chicken with a cow. He then alters the story to be Where’s My Daddy? and introduces a number of other DiscWorld characters such as Foul Ole Ron and Coffin’ Henry. Anya loves this idea so much that we play it all the time, even without the book.

Anya spent a day at home with David after the Easter break, because she was getting over a mystery illness (developed a fever with no other symptoms except for a loss of appetite). By the next day, she was back to her normal routine, although still not sleeping or eating completely normally. But I’ve noticed since then that she’s much more willing to do things with David and have him take care of her. It is amazing what one day can do!

She’s also really fond of Karen, the group leader at Kindercraft, and actually cried about not going with her, when I took her home last week. I was astonished, as it’s usually the other way around!

Bad Dream

Anya's been saying lately, "I had a bad dream," when she wakes up. I try to ask her what it was about, but she doesn't know. Then this week she said, "I had a bad dream -- on my arm." David thought this was a hoot...

Boy o boy...

The 20-week scan was this afternoon. We learned that our baby is going to be a boy! I'm feeling a bit scared...

David told Anya tonight, "Mama has a baby boy in her tummy." She responded sceptically, "No..."

David's Cute Anya Story

David has been telling this story to all and sundry with delight this week. Picture him driving home with Anya in the back while the radio plays Alanis Morissette. David is singing along full blast: "You, you, you -- oughtta know-ow..." On the final chorus, he hears from the back: "I know!"

Nice to meet you!

We all went to a barbecue at my boss Stefan’s house this afternoon -- lots of people meeting their partners’ colleagues and families for the first time. There were about six families altogether. Most of the kids (including Anya) were too young to take any notice of each other, and just stayed with their parents. After about three hours, the guests started trickling away. I didn't really pay much attention but Anya must have been... Anya and I were sitting on the bench next to Stefan’s 3-yr-old daughter Elise watching the last family (except us) leave, when Anya turned to Elise, took her hand, and said, “Nice to meet you,” while shaking her hand.

First Scan

We had our first scan today. I had to drink 600 ml of water an hour ahead of time (and hold it). The appointment was for 9 am but I think I didn't get in until 9:45 or 10, so I was in dire straits!

Besides that the scan went really well. Perhaps it was better equipment this time, or just experience, but we could easily interpret what we were seeing compared to our first scan of Anya. Arms moving around, legs bicycling, even the hand rubbing the face (sucking the thumb already?!) The baby kept turning too, but never in the right direction, so the technician had some trouble getting the necessary measurements (back of the neck).

She let me relieve myself (what a relief!) hoping that would prompt the baby to move into a more helpful position. We eventually got the measurements by a combination of the baby moving a little and me lying on a slant. The measured risk result was very good (equivalent to a teenager's baseline) so we are continuing without any invasive testing.

I read somewhere that stronger morning sickness is statistically linked to a higher successful pregnancy rate, so I must console myself with that thought, as I am still not really enjoying eating or drinking. Meanwhile, three mothers in my mothers' group have had second babies already and one other is expecting in six weeks. I wonder who's next?

Koalas to Bandicoots

Today Anya started back at Kindercraft. She's been moved from the Koalas room (babies) to Bandicoots (toddlers). It's another milestone in her growing up! Luckily for us, her natural schedule actually matches the toddlers' eating and sleeping schedule, so the only real difference will be sleeping on a low cot rather than in a crib. I learned at the end of the day that she'd slept an hour, so it seems that the change of sleeping venue didn't worry her at all.

Meanwhile, I'm not working yet this week, but I took the bus out to the University of Queensland, just to see how long it would really take, and familiarise myself with the bus stop location and how to get to the office (located in the Engineering building). It was so strange to be wandering around a campus again. A friendly student escorted me to the Engineering building, and he took me on a shortcut through a building (which I would have no hope of remembering). There is definitely a distinctive university aroma -- is it books? Chalk? Chemicals? Dust?

The Saga Continues

Suffice to say that the fridge still smells (see previous post). David moved it outside, and alternated running it with leaving it open to the elements, all to no avail. After arriving, Don also cleaned it repeatedly and seemed convinced at first that it just needed his efforts to come good. He finally conceded after a week that the smell was not going away. It smells a lot less than when we first came, of couse, but it's still not usable. We lived out of an Esky after Don's family arrived and took over the downstairs unit.

Other than that minor discomfort, the rest of our stay at Peregian was good. The weather became fine by Friday, and Don & Ann Maree arrived on Saturday (30th). Every morning we all went to the beach together, dug a bath-sized hole for Anya to loll in, and swam in the surf. Anya didn't really approach the open water much, but loved digging and running around on the sand. For some reason, running laps around the bath-sized hole while carrying a bucket seemed to be one of her favorite activities. Afterwards she generally had a great big nap, too.

Anya's developed the endearing mannerism of putting her hands on either side of my face and asking intently for something she really wants: "bottle?"

New Year's Eve was pretty quiet. Don & Ann Maree went to their friends' party, leaving Raema in charge downstairs. The kids struggled to stay awake but none of them made it. David and I were both in bed by 9 pm, embarassingly enough.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day & Boxing Day

Christmas Eve we all went over to Rob & Julie's around lunch time. They served a lovely meal and it was nice to have all the family together. Christmas itself was pretty quiet -- this year David's brothers spent the day with the "other" in-laws. David's mum (Raema) came over mid-morning and we all opened our presents together. Anya received so many presents she got bored with opening them. She really loved her new jungle gym (from David & me) and baby dolls complete with stroller (from Raema). In the afternoon we went over to Don & Ann Maree's and had a little swim. Anya's main interest seemed to be in walking around the edge of the pool and jumping into my arms at random. A little scary when she did that near the steps!

Boxing Day was possibly the worst day for both David and me in recent memory. We packed up for a two-week holiday up the coast, picked Raema up from her house, swung back by our house for some last-minute items, and were finally on the road by about 12:30. It was about 2:30 when we got to Coolum -- we had to stop because I was getting a bad headache from not having eaten. Unfortunately I'd forgotten that nothing would be open due to the public holiday. Luckily, a pie shop was open so instead of yummy fish and chips I had a pie. I couldn't wait to get to the unit at Peregian and settle in with some additional munchies.

Instead, when we arrived at the unit, a foul smell greeted me as I went up the stairs. I thought at first it was the house next door, whose family doesn't clean up after its dogs very well. Even after finding that the odor was coming from inside, I still thought that perhaps there was just a dead lizard stuck in the window, as has happened before. I walked into the kitchen, opened the freezer door, and realised that this decomposing mass was the source... remember that I was nauseated (pregnant), tired (pregnant), and had a burgeoning headache (again, thanks to being pregnant I'm sure!) I exclaimed, "GROSS!!!" with great feeling -- whereupon Anya burst into tears (she had followed me in).

I carried Anya out, feeling bewildered & overwhelmed. Thankfully, Raema kept her cool, and suggested we move into the downstairs unit until the situation was resolved. I did the bare minimum of carrying some bags in, made up the queen bed, and collapsed on it, completely incapacited by my headache. (It lasted for 3 days in the end.) Again, thank goodness for Raema, who looked after her while I lay and groaned.

Meanwhile, David worked out that there was no power to the whole building, contacted Energex, cleaned out the fridge (retching the whole time), finished bringing all our stuff into the unit, cleaned the fridge some more, kept cleaning, cleaned the fridge again every time he went back upstairs for something... you get the picture. Every time he returned from a foray, the stench came with him and even after he left the room a bit of the smell remained behind. It was truly terrible.

Don & Ann Maree & their kids were meant to arrive the next day, but we called them to ask them to wait a day or two. It was raining, so going to the beach was not really a big attraction anyway. We spent the evening waiting around for Energex to fix the power. Dinner was a very haphazard affair, eating ham and bits from our Esky. Anya was probably a bit perplexed about sitting in the dark and using torches. Three Energex staff came out separately to look at the situation before a crew was finally called in. It wasn't until 10:30 pm that power was restored. The failure had occurred from a neighbor's tree rubbing away the insulation on the power supply line to the property. They trimmed off some branches, but probably not enough. We really need to contact the owner (the property is a rental) and have the tree properly trimmed back.

Next time, I'm going to make sure to bring camping lanterns and some sort of gas stove, just to be safe. I'd really be happiest if we didn't have a fridge permanently loaded there, either, but the boys like to keep their bait in it. Sadly, we ourselves had left two Magnum ice-creams in the freezer on our last trip up, forgetting to eat them. :(

'Twas the Week Before Christmas...

...and all through the house, not a creature was sleeping... it was teething time again. Meanwhile this poor woman is drooping with pregnancy fatigue... in the end we got 2 new teeth (bringing the total to 8) with possibly one more hanging about in the wings.

On Friday my office had an end-of-year/Xmas/etc. morning tea and I went along despite it being my day off, as it was the only day that they could fit in a farewell activity for me as well. I brought Anya along, which kept me and most everyone entertained during boring speech moments. Afterwards, we went along to David's office as well, so that Anya could wow even more plebs. She was pretty tired after all that socialising and fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Big news

We're pregnant! This was our third try, and we implanted 2 embryos this time to increase the odds of success. I was just starting to feel defeated, and wondering at what stage we would give up, so I was surprised when the test came out positive. Wow! (Now I just hope I don't have twins...) The due date is calculated as 38 weeks from the moment of fertilisation, which makes it mid August.

For the curious, the IVF timeline was:

• 23-Aug...start treatment (nasal spray)
• 28-Aug...start injections (twice daily in the tummy, self-administered)
• 11-Sep...egg pick up (13 eggs)
• 13-Sep...1 embryo transferred, remainder frozen
• 20-Oct...1 frozen embryo transferred
• 24-Nov...2 frozen embryos transferred

Baci

Do you eat Baci? (it's Italian for kisses...) They are delicious chocolates featuring a slip of paper inside the wrapper with a quote about love. Sometimes they're corny, but I liked the one I got today, as it made me think about Anya:

Love me when I deserve it the least, because that's when I need it the most.

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

Well, thanks to lavish praise and encouragement, and our new springy mattress, Anya became airborne this week. This followed just a couple of weeks of hopping from one leg to the other in an effort to "unstick" her feet from the ground. After making the breakthrough on the parental bed, she progressed to jumping on the floor and has been doing it with verve ever since. I was very excited, since this is six months early compared to "normal" development -- and those who know us well, know that David and I are not exactly the most coordinated people in the world.

Love Yoooo?

Every Thursday, Raema (Anya's Grandma) minds Anya for the day. Today was extra special as the first time Anya said, "love you" [aw-w-w-w]. Raema was so thrilled, she got Anya to repeat it all day so that she'd remember how to say it when we came home.

The funny thing is that Anya says it like a question with a drawn-out "you" so that it sounds like "love yoooo?"

The Punishing Schedule

For my own amusement I've set out the punishing and rigorous schedule that Anya followed today:
3 am - cry suddenly and get taken into Mama's bed [in Anya's defense, this is an unusual occurrence]
6 am - toss and turn until Mama wakes up
6:30 - visit Grandma's bedroom and potter around the unit on important bubby matters
7 am - eat half a bowl of porridge, then abandon it
7:30 - eat some of Mama's pancakes
8:30 - the beach: digging, and flirt with the notion of swimming
10 am - visit the downstairs unit, and insist on bringing 2 more pint-sized chairs back upstairs
10:30 - playing with the table out on the balcony, accidentally fall over backwards hitting head on the railing post; cry lots then abruptly demand to see the Wiggles
10:45 - get into Grandma's lap, snuggle in and fall asleep
12:15 - lunch: 2 entire bananas, few slices of cheese, and peanut butter (leave bread for future amusement)
1 pm - drawing
1:30 - bottle of milk
2:30 - the beach again: running straight into the waves with joyous abandon; getting in and out of the "bath" (a hole Mama and Grandma dug)
3:30 - afternoon snack: inspect sandwiches like a customs officer (do not eat)
4 pm - more drawing, followed by a good cleaning of all chairs, tables, balcony railings, etc. [I kid you not!]
6 pm - dinner
7:30 - bottle of milk and out like a light

Recipe: Zucchini Fritters

This recipe is from a local newspaper's weekend magazine. The fritters were quite tasty and we had them as lunch as well as to supplement other meals afterwards. Below the recipe are some notes, as I think it cam be improved. Anyway, here is the original recipe:

Lightly grease 4 egg rings with some butter. Combine: 2 small zucchinis, coarsely grated; half a small red onion, finely chopped; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 50 g freshly grated parmesan; 1 Tbs flour. Heat 2 Tbs olive oil & 40 g butter in a pan. Place the 4 egg rings in the pan and fill with the mixture. Brown on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes altogether.

Place half a round of matured chevre on top, and grill until browned. Also grill some endive sprinkled with butter and brown sugar. Serve fritters with grilled endive on the side and zucchini chutney. (I skipped all this but the recipe included directions for making zucchini chutney, which basically looked like a sweet ratatouille to me, with onion and tomato.)

Some notes: the zucchini started to release liquid as soon as they were mixed in, which made the second batch of four sloppier than the first. I might try variations to firm up the mixture next time I make these, as the egg rings were not terribly effective, and I ended up browning the fritters under the grill to finish them off a bit more. Some options I've thought of are: less egg; more flour; grated potato; ricotta cheese. I also happened to have a bunch of coriander when I was making these, so I chopped up a generous amount and included it in the mixture, which tasted great.

Boo!

Spending the week "up the coast" at the family beach unit with Anya and Raema (Anya's grandma & my mum-in-law). David, unfortunately, couldn't take a week off work and is waiting until the weekend to join us, if the weather holds.

I didn't realise until settling in to write this that it's Halloween today! It's been sun and beach for 4 straight days, so it's hard to believe that it's dark and spooky on the other side of the planet.

Anya's vocabulary has just exploded this week - I tried to write down all her new words, but there are so many now that a list is meaningless. Some sources say that they are learning 90 words a day at this age, and I can believe it.

The main word of the week is pasta (often lazily pronounced as "pa-pa") which Anya insistently requests at every meal and snack break, while encouragingly patting the fridge door. She even asked for some as part of her effort to postpone bedtime. I can't believe she can be so cunning at just 18 months old.

Her other obsession is the Wiggles, which she calls "bow-wow" because that's the first song on "Top of the Tots." I have heard her asking, "bow-wow? bow-wow?" and "pa-pa? pa-pa?" so many times now that I hear her voice in my sleep...

Day 22

FET (frozen embryo transfer) today. Yesterday I had to decide whether to put in one or two. I decided on one. During the procedure I mentioned that it had been a tough call, and Dr Kilvert said he thought I made the right choice.

Here it comes...

It appears that terrible two-dom is coming up fast. Bright side is, this means Anya's precocious...?

Latest naughtiness includes: smacking me in the face despite all warnings to stop; climbing on to the dinner table while saying, "NO!" at the top of her lungs; extreme tantrums over being thwarted (about anything).

On the cute side, this morning she said, "Coco!" (talking about our neighbour Cora) so I asked her, "Can you say 'Sam' ?" (Cora's husband) and she said, "Am!" Turtles are also popular at the moment.

Changes Imminent

A lot has happened since my last post and a lot is happening soon! Family: negative result on the IVF cycle, but due to try again soon (we have 3 embryos left from the egg pick-up and fertilisation). Work: someone sort of offhandedly offered me a job, I pursued discussions, and they should get back to me soon with a firm offer. Home: David has pushed ahead with getting builders and architects to visit us, to discuss renovations for our house, so we'll be committing to a course of action soon (yikes!)

Foremost in my thoughts recently is my work/life balance, as I feel quite tired all the time, and at the same time constantly yearn to spend more time with Anya. Meanwhile, I actually like working, but have gotten burned out on my current role. At the same time, when I'm with Anya, she's so full throttle that I get tired out and wish I could get a break! Oh, if only I were rich and could have a nanny and work only as many hours as I felt like...

In any case, I'm very hopeful that this prospective job turns out to be as imagined. It's with a software company that makes hydraulic modelling software that I've used in both my current and last jobs. This would mean getting to focus more on my favorite aspect of work, computer analysis, plus getting to deliver training, also something I enjoy. Even if this doesn't pan out, it's made me think about what I really enjoy in my work.