“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” – C.S. Lewis
Let’s be clear. My apparent desire to spend lots of quality time at home with myself, a book and a cup of tea does not mean that I do not like people. I mean, I do have friends, and I value them intensely. So much so, in fact, that I rarely feel the need to make the effort to enter strange territory in search of new ones.
But sometimes it is necessary.
Like when you just gave birth to a baby and are questioning your sanity.
So, after spending nearly ten months successfully avoiding any kind of new personal connections, I’ve made a few friends.
They are fellow “new mother” friends.
I’ve already learned a number of valuable things from them.
For instance, the occasional homicidal thought is normal. Frequently curling up into a hysterical ball on the floor is perfectly acceptable.
Sebastian’s preference for staring at shadows on the wall instead of colorful toys is not necessarily an indication of autism. And I’m not the only one singing Christmas carols to my darling baby in the middle of May because my repertoire of kid songs is severely limited and if I have to sing about one more barn animal,
I am going to (further) crack.
The new friends have also given me insight into “baby friendly” places and activities around the city.
(diaper change area: clear sign of baby acceptance)
(basket of toys in middle of cafe: probable sign of baby acceptance)
You see, it just dawned on me this past weekend that some places are not “baby friendly.” As Lawrence, Sebastian and I drove around the city Saturday night, trying to determine from window shopping if certain new restaurants would be accepting of a screaming three month old, I suddenly realized that certain parts of the world are now closed off to us.
As playgrounds and toy stores and dinosaur plays finally become acceptable territory again, chic restaurants and bars are now a thing of the past.
Fair trade, though.
Sebastian Sasuke Tasman – Week 12
Three months old! The Plunket nurse told me that we are half way there. Half way to where? I’m not sure and was afraid to ask.
Sebastian now weighs a whopping 5.6 kgs or, for you elitist American snobs, 12 lbs and 5.5 ozs.
(the view on the walk to the Plunket nurse’s office)
This week, Sebastian has started to display signs of a T.V. addiction.
It is clear that he is his father’s son.
In an attempt to sway him to some of his mother’s hobbies, I have signed up for a weekly Mom and Baby yoga class (called “Mum and Bub” class here – don’t ask).
Here is Sebastian at our first class.
Here he is starting to freak out on my mat.
And here he is being held by the teacher so that I can attempt some poses without holding a screaming baby.
The teacher is named Oli, and he is very popular with the mothers. But he’s happily married with three kids, ladies.
(photo of Oli with his daughter)
I implemented some of the things learned at class into my exercise routine at home.
Upon discovering the onset of a slight diaper rash, I have started giving Sebastian periods of play time without his diaper.
He seems a little disturbed by it.
This weekend we went to Central Park.
Not as cool as the one in New York.
But just as scary and ghetto-fied.
On Saturday, Sebastian had a videochat with Grandpa Chippy…
…before we went out to eat some really gross Japanese/Korean food.
We should have known it was going to turn out that way. First of all, the place serves “Japanese/Korean” food. Second, noodles and rice in one dish? Third, fried fish sticks and kimchi?
Blugh.
Then we watched an equally terrible movie.
Don’t see this.
I don’t write movie reviews because I would inevitably say exactly the same thing every time, i.e. ‘the script is horrendous.’ So, I’m not going to write a review of this piece of crap.
But I will say that THE SCRIPT IS HORRENDOUS.
The two most epic lines of the film were as follows:
“For a few to be immortal, many must die.”
“Is it stealing if it’s already stolen?”
And both were repeated throughout the movie so that you were sure to spend adequate time in deep thought over them.
Blugh.
The next morning, we went to Wellington’s bird sanctuary called Zealandia.
It was $2 day. The place was packed.
Once we made it inside, we watched a documentary about how humanity has destroyed all of the wildlife on the island.
This was what the Moa looked like before the Maori killed them all.
Here are some of the foreign animals which were introduced on the island by the British before they subsequently began killing off specie after specie of bird and plant.
The story closed with humans finally figuring out/beginning to care about what they were doing to the island and then beginning the mass murder of all of the foreign animals they had introduced.
It was less like a documentary, more like a horror flick.
Most horrifying, Lawrence and I found the retarded lines from the previous night’s movie suddenly relevant.
Anyway, we then went outside and walked around the sanctuary in the rain with a bunch of other families.
Several of the paths were inexplicably closed off to the public that day. I surmised that the closure was because all of the good stuff was on those paths, and the owners wanted to force us to come back on a “regular price of $30” day in order to see it.
I spent most of the rest of our trip complaining in regard to my theory.
Fortunately, Lawrence tends to find my bad attitude humorous.
And we did end up seeing at least four different types of birds.
But, alas, no kiwis.
We finally escaped the rain for brunch at a cool cafe in the city.
Hamburgers involving fried eggs are always good.
Sebastian did not agree.
Yesterday, I joined the neighborhood playgroup. It takes place at the Wellington Cathedral every Monday morning.
Tea is involved which was enough to get me interested.
There were lots of toddlers and a few other babies. Sebastian seemed to enjoy watching all of the children play. I can’t wait until he can play with them.
Sebastian particularly enjoyed song time. His favorite new song is “Wheels on the Bus,” followed closely by “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” He also really likes “Hokey Pokey,” but only if I perform the moves.
He is also a fan of soul music. You can seem him dancing to it here, but, unfortunately, you can’t hear the awesome song.
G.P.S.
(gratuitous photo section)
And now I’ve got to go to bed so I can make it up in time for “Baby Rock and Rhyme” at the library tomorrow. Sebastian is going to love it, I think.
Good night!
crackerjackchan 