There's a hole in my pancake

... also known as a pikelet. also known as a pancake.

Random Photos

 Going for a walk with Daddy. He kept poking Dave in the eyes!

 Stacking blocks! We love our local toy library.

 Slide climbing successfully.

 Promite (like Vegemite) on toast. Yum!

 When we went to the toy library today Asher gravitated towards this red car. He spent the whole time we were there sitting in it, turning the wheel, and beeping the horn.

So we brought it home. Thanks for the push, Kym!

Doing Dishes with Asher

After Asher and I returned to Australia, Asher became extremely clingy. Our guess is that he was stressed from leaving/reuniting with his Dad- he became very anxious about us leaving him. He wanted to be in contact with us all the time, and if we were sitting and moved like we would get up, he would fling himself on us and cry. He spent a lot of time giving us cuddles and just laying on us. He was only really happy if the two of us were together in the room with him, and then he would play independently. At church, where he sees people he adores, he clung to my legs so tightly I could not walk.

So, what does this have to do with doing dishes? Well, I had to figure out ways to get things done, so I started including Asher in more things. I swept, he played with the dustpan (and dumped stuff back on the floor). I did dishes straddling a chair he was standing in, and he swished a sponge over the dishes, and picked dishes out of the drying rack and re-washed them for me. And splashed a lot. He did 'help' already with a lot of things- unpacking groceries, putting clothes in the washing machine and taking them out. We spent a lot of time playing together.

He seems to be back to normal now, except I cna only do dishes when he isn't looking otherwise he gets grumpy when he doesn't get to participate!

Fun in the Sun with Daddy

Back home

Flights home in Summary-

The driver for the shuttle from Waco was a frenchman named Pierre. He was quite amusing, and kept muttering to himself in French. I was able to check in early and the airport had a children's play area with tables to eat at.

Asher did okay with the first flight, it was long but uneventful. He did sleep some in the bassinet and some on me. His sleeps coincided with meals, so I didn't sleep on that flight at all. I had an aisle (bulkhead) seat as well, which was great. The couple in the middle seats (between the moms with babies) were five months pregnant and were happy for Asher to interact with them. The lady he vomited on last time was on this flight, we had a good laugh about that! She was visiting her grandchildren in the US.

The hotel in Dubai was fine, Asher was pretty tired so dinner was abbreviated. He slept about 6 hours, which was great. We went back to the airport and he had about an hour long nap before the next flight. This flight had what I presumed to be a young, new flight attendant in our section, she was rather strict- no bassinet, and she kept telling me I wasn't allowed to sit on the floor and play with Asher (she eventually phoned someone who must have told her to let me stay). Asher slept for about four hours altogether. The seatbelt sign was on for a long time (nearly three hours at the end of the flight) so we watched a lot of in-flight entertainment (and Emirates has a HUGE selection).

We got to Perth, visited briefly with Ian and Evelyn, I repacked while Asher slept, and then got a taxi to the airport. Evelyn came with me and Illma met us there. On the way I got a message that the flight was an hour delayed... and it was actually an hour and a half delayed overall. I hadn't brought many snacks or toys for Asher because I thought he'd sleep on the plane. But with the flight delayed, he slept in the airport after a long and loud fight to sleep... and then spent the flight throwing things. At Exmouth airport he was practicing standing up and fell face first on the tiles and gave himself a bloody nose.

Since we've been back in Exmouth, somehow, with all of the random sleeping, we have been going to bed and waking up at normal times. Asher still has his cold, and has been quite stuffy and snotty. But he has been in a great mood, babbling (he said "milk" today) and pushing things all around the house.

I guess overall the flight was tolerable- not great (flying internationally with a baby and no husband is not great). The positives were that there weren't any negatives, if that makes sense. I was more prepared for this flight, and had the mindset that I probably wouldn't sleep on any of the flights (and I didn't) and I may not get to eat all the meals (I only missed one) depending on Asher's sleep. I never realized what a luxury flying without a baby was until I had to fly solo with Asher (now it would feel like such a luxury- hours with nothing to do but read, eat, and watch TV). I wasn't as sick-to-my-stomach worried on the return flight as I was the first flight. I knew we could do it and we would surivive. Not much could be worse than Asher throwing up on someone on the plane.

I definitely preferred flying Emirates with a baby. They were so much more baby friendly than Qantas, I will do a comparison another time.

Love, Heather