Monday 22 October 2012

Keen Teeny Rastafeeny's Rapid Arrival


I had a phone call at 7.45 this morning. You know how you always fear the worst, especially when you’ve just woken up. Of course, the obvious passed me by in my half-asleep state. One look at the caller ID though and I knew instantly what had occurred.

‘Kat woke up at quarter to two with pains,’ said Peter. ‘And he was born at 3.15.’

‘3.15?’ I said, incredulous.

‘Yep. We didn’t even get time to set up the birthing pool.’

It seems the midwife didn’t get there in time either. So who delivered little Teeny Rastafeeny? Well, Peter of course! Luckily it was two pushes and he was out. Peter had planned to cut the cord, but the midwife arrived before it was necessary. Having done the important bit he had to leave her something to do.

I knocked on Uncle Jack’s door as soon as I got off the phone. ‘Your new nephew’s arrived,’ I told him.

‘Wha’?’

‘Teeny’s been born.’

‘Ay?’

‘Kat and Peter’s baby’s arrived.’

‘Uh? Really?’

‘Yes. Do you want to come with me to see him?’

He considered me blearily. ‘Um…’

‘Later?’

‘Yeah, later,’ he confirmed, yawning and snuggling back into the bed.

Pa and I arrived about quarter to nine to find Kat sitting serenely in the living room cuddling Teeny, her mum seated with a cup of tea and big brother Ben choosing his Christmas list from the John Lewis website (‘Sometimes you’ve just got to let things go,’ said Kat, who’s not keen on kids spending lots of time on computers). Peter was on tea making duty. Anyone would think we’d popped into a coffee morning, so calm was the atmosphere.

Pa took a few photos then left for work as Aunty Giovanna and LHG turned up. LHG took a brief look at his new cousin before toddling off to find something more interesting to do, like fiddling with the fridge magnets.

The conversation inevitably turned to who Teeny looks like. So far he seems to favour Ben with Peter’s forehead, Kat’s ears and smidge of the ‘Turnbull’ nose (ie, with a ridge down the bit in between his nostrils). If LHG is anything to go by, in six months’ time he’ll look completely different. The ‘Turnbull’ ridge and the cleft chin are the only recognisable features left. Giovanna reckons the current LHG ate the original one!

So, it’s welcome to the world to Teeny Rastafeeny (his parents don’t seem to have revealed his name to the world, [ie facebook] yet, so neither will I) on this cold and misty, autumn morning.


Teeny with his Aunty Giovanna and cousin LHG

Friday 19 October 2012

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall and Other Endlessly Fascinating Things


Last weekend Giovanna, LHG and I had a lovely break in the West Country with his Aunty Carmela and Uncle Simon (formerly named C and S on this blog, but they’ve told me I’m allowed to name them). The weather was kind to us and we had a lovely time eating, walking along beaches and getting lost in a maze. Little LHG enjoyed it all, but among his pleasures was the simple one of looking in a full length mirror that Carmela had propped up against one wall. Every time he passed it he’d turn and regard the other baby, lifting his hand to it, only to find a barrier. I don’t think he’s quite got the idea that it’s him yet, which apparently comes around the 18 month mark.

Seeing him stare into Carmela’s mirror reminded me of an incident three or four months back when Pa and I took him into John Lewis to look at clocks. Next to the clock department they keep the mirrors, big and small, fancy and simple, so I wheeled him round them to keep him occupied. Poor soul, he didn’t know where to look first. There were babies everywhere and they all looked the same. What’s more, they all had a pushchair and a nonna that looked like his!

What a strange and fascinating place the world must be to a baby. It makes me wish I could come afresh to it like that, to have that wide-eyed wonderment every few seconds as some brand new experience is rolled out. Even the leaves on the trees, waving around in the wind, are an endless source of wonderment to LHG.

As for the clock, we intended to buy a small mantle-type one to put on one of the bookshelves in the living room. What we ended up with was a huge black, distressed clock face to put on the wall. It sat for a day or two on one end of the L-shaped settee. LHG kept eyeing it up with relish. At the time he was at the walking-along-holding-on-to-things stage. Eventually he shuffled his way round from the end of the seating where his toys were, to where the big round thing sat at fondling level. The temptation when he reached it was too much and his little fingers stretched out to pull at the clock hands. At this point he was whisked up and back to his toys, only to start the process again.

Ah yes, such an endlessly fascinating world for babies, and so much of it sadly out of bounds.

Just five days now until LHG’s little cousin, Teeny Rastafeeny is due. So far there’s been absolutely no indication that he’s about to pop out, but hopefully I’ll have some news soon.








Friday 5 October 2012

Sproggs, Dogs and Baby Showers, part 2


…So, Nonna and her brood had this little problem. How were we to get Kat to the baby shower? Kat is always very busy, making a list each day of everything that has to be done. We hatched a plan. Peter told her Giovanna, C and I were taking her out baby shopping and that C was really excited about it. Since C was only here for the weekend, he wanted to guilt Kat into being on time! He also told her it was a secret and not to let on she knew. A kind of double bluff.

Sunday lunchtime came, and as it happened it was us who were running a bit behind schedule. Luckily, we were meeting at the house of Giovanna and Kat's friend AM (who was kindly holding the do) an hour earlier. People started turning up with food and presents and everything was coming together. At quarter to two C and I left to pick Kat up. She was ready! Peter was pottering about with Ben, not letting on that he was soon off to the local pub to meet with some of the other abandoned males. We went in the opposite direction to shopping centre so I explained we had to pick up Giovanna and LHG who were currently at AM’s house. Kat, thrilled that her nephew was coming didn’t question this, even when we had to stop for Pa, Uncle S and T at the zebra crossing on their way to the pub!

When we arrived at AM’s I thought we’d have to find some reason to get Kat out, but luckily she decided she wanted to say hello. We got through the back gate to be confronted by a group of  people  gathered on the patio and lawn. At first, Kat looked utterly confused. After all, there were people from different parts of her life – her mum and aunt, friends from various places, Peter’s family. Slowly we saw the light dawn, and she steamed off up the garden screeching with delight! Not easy when you’re over 36 weeks pregnant!

Eating, drinking (mostly soft drinks!), chatting and present unwrapping took place and a jolly afternoon was had by all.  

Little LHG was one of only two babies there. The other little boy wasn’t old enough for him to play with but he didn’t seem to mind. He escaped into the garden to splash his hands into all the little puddles of water that had gathered on outside toys. Then he came in to do the same with the drinks! One photograph perfectly captures a stream of liquid pouring from a cup onto his clothes, people looking on with various expressions of disbelief and amusement. The party might have been about his little cousin, but he wanted to join in the fun. Bless him.


Best of all was a further surprise Kat hadn’t expected. Having decided to opt for a home birth, she’d set her heart on purchasing a birthing pool (a bit like a high sided paddling pool). Realising their budget couldn’t quite stretch to it with all the other expenses, she’d resigned herself to going without. After examining the large card that Giovanna had made for her (with a photo of the scan) and that everyone had signed, AM presented her with a shoe box she’d carefully wrapped in pretty paper. Peeping inside, Kat was baffled by the loose money. ‘It’s for the birthing pool,’ someone said.

Kat burst into tears! Nonna felt quite overcome herself. When Kat had recovered, someone said, ‘Count it. Let’s see if you’ve got enough.’

Would you believe, people had donated the exact amount needed to purchase the pool? I think it's what Peter would call letting the universe take care of it!


With thanks to Peter, Giovanna and AM for all their work in organising the party, and to all the lovely friends and family who were so generous.


                                                                        Overcome!
                                                                

Thursday 4 October 2012

Sproggs, Dogs and Baby Showers, part 1


My, what a frenzied weekend Nonna has just had.

Little LHG’s Aunty C arrived from the West Country for the weekend with Uncle S. Along with them came their dogs, Briar and Bronte and Uncle S’s 9 year old son, T. This wasn’t purely a social visit, a date plucked at random from the calendar, no. They’d come because Aunty C was keen to partake of Aunty Kat’s baby shower, celebrating the impending birth of Teeny Rasatfeeny, her latest nephew.

It just so happened that it had been Aunty C’s birthday in the week and it seemed a perfect opportunity, and excuse, to hold a family lunch party for her. Organising any such event once upon a time would have involved the six of us. Not so these days!

Along with C, S and young T, there was Peter, Kat, Kat’s 8 year old son Ben, Giovanna and little LHG. And of course, Jack, who at least made this party even though he didn’t make his own birthday dinner a fortnight before. Ho hum. Anyway, along with Pa and me, that made 11. Add three dogs to the mix (Kat’s Maisie joined us) and you can probably guess that it was a pretty hectic affair: LHG pulling at the dogs, dogs getting entangled with boys, boys interrupting adults and adults talking over each other. Great fun though. Needless to say a buffet won out over a sit-down meal.

Poor old T, it was the first time he’d met any of us, but he seemed to take it all in his stride. C tried to explain to him how he and Ben were kind of step step cousins, but I think it’s only ever women who understand the complexities of family relations, let alone those of the modern family. Luckily, he and Ben just got on with it, spurred on by a shared love of Lego and Bionicles (‘originals ones!’ they enthused). See, it’s worth hanging on to toys, even when your children are all past 20.

Little LHG loved all the mayhem and attention: adults to cuddle him, other children to follow round and idolise, dogs to stroke and wonder at.

Day turned to evening and the conversation inevitably turned to baby names. Just three-and-a-half weeks to go and so far there is only one boy’s name that Kat and Peter agree on. Now they’ve discovered a friend is desperate to use a similar one should they have a boy. Dilemma. Still, I don’t know what’s wrong with Bud, Carlsberg and Peroni, or Bilbo, Frodo and Gollum, or even Thyme, Basil and Dill. Yes, we’d stooped to categories. Apart from beers, Lord of the Rings and herbs, we rummaged through trees, soft drinks (particularly liking Um Bongo!), fruit, veg, pagan gods, elements, To Kill a Mockingbird and, well, just about everything.

Beneath the surface, and what Kat wasn’t aware of, was a whisper of another dilemma. How on earth were we going to get her to the secret baby shower scheduled for the following day? More of that in the next post.

In the meantime, I don’t think the baby name discussion covered weather and cheeses. Now where’s Kat and Peter’s number…