33/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014"

Jimmy: No longer sick, but still a snotty, drool monster with plenty of kisses for Mum.

Kisses! All of the kisses! All of the snotty, drooly kisses have been coming my way this week, because Jimmy and I have been under the weather, Jimmy more so than me. His runny nose has kept us away from playgroup and seen us walk to uni a fair few times, just for some sun and something to do. We've also read all of the books at least 3 times everyday, listened to the Wiggles so often that I know most of the words to most of the songs. We've also eaten a lot of chicken (asparagus, corn, noodle) soup and garlic. Two bulbs of garlic... Yep, I'm sure people could smell it coming from our pores. The funny thing is, that despite being sick, despite only having Jimmy for company during the day (unless we went out and found Michael, who had a bit of a virus too), I've had a lovely week. It's been slow, but it's been full of rest, lots of cuddles, lots of laughs (mostly when I went to wipe the snot from Jimmy's face and tried to get him to blow his nose), lots of learning (Jimmy is getting pretty good at this walking business), and lots of kisses! P.S. we're all well again.

Oh and I've been knuckling down and working out the return leg of our upcoming road trip to Canada. We're going with my parents who will be here in a week, then we'll go visit my Mum's brother and his family. I'm excited but I'm also a little nervous about so much car travel with Jimmy, who has a love-hate relationship with car travel.

I need to thank Michael for taking this lovely photo, and framing it so that the snotted on part of my top was out of the photo. And as Michael pointed out, the last lot of photos went up without any descriptions. That is now fixed. Michael does take lovely photos.

The 6 week slump...

The view from our front yard in Vaoala, Samoa, 2008

About 6 years ago I sitting on the grass in our front yard in Vaoala, looking at this view, and bawling my eyes out, crying into Michael's shoulder. He doesn't remember it, but I do because I was the one crying. We'd been in Samoa for 6 weeks and I was hitting the "6 week slump" hard. We had been warned, probably at our Pre-Departure Training (PDT) for the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYADs) in Canberra, that at about 6 weeks we would probably have a little breakdown, not be happy with things, want to throw in the towel, etc. etc., but this was normal and things would improve.

Looking at this photo, I find it hard to imagine ever being unhappy there. Samoa is a beautiful country, and where we lived for most of that year was possibly one of the best spots around Apia, and for the most part, Michael and I loved it there.

But I was miserable that afternoon. Just plain miserable. It wasn't that I wanted to go home and I wasn't really homesick, but I missed my anonymity, I just wanted to be able to walk around Apia without having guys call out "hey pretty" or "want a Samoan boyfriend"* or similar, I was probably frustrated with our limited internet access, I missed public toilets that came with toilet paper and soap as standard features, I missed being able to go where I wanted when I wanted because I was a little scared of the dogs in the area, I wanted to be able to eat whatever and not have to worry about whether or not it would make me sick, and I was probably a little over not being about to drink water straight from a tap.

Well, I hit slump last night. We've been here for just over 7 weeks, but Michael has been at work for 6 weeks now, so we've been living this new rhythm for just on 6 weeks. I'm still a little that way today, so writing about it at length isn't easy, so I'll be brief: family and friends know that you are missed; JNY, our car, you are missed but not by Jimmy (sorry...); our bicycles, oh how we miss you; Brisbane City Council buses you are also missed, as are you, foamy cafe latte's. It's mostly the physical isolation and not having spent much time with another young mum in a month or more, but a good cry and a pledge to go to bed before 10 pm from now on, plus plans to finally contact the playgroup people and hire a car for next weekend, and I'm getting there. Michael is not entirely happy either, so provided we get work in Australia for next year, we'll only be away from home for 12 months.

Oh and I think I have mastitis, which doesn't help... and Jimmy is a drooling, teething mess with only 2 teeth to show for it...

It's been a rough few weeks, but we're still alive, with food in our bellies and cupboards, a solid apartment to live in, and a good internet connection.

*I need to say that Samoans are lovely people, and that it is a safe country to visit, and that these invitations were always made in good humour and never with any malice, but it was annoying.

14/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week of 2014"

Jimmy holds on to his teething ring, while his aunty (and my little sister) holds on to him.

We're flying to Manhattan, KS, tomorrow after enjoying a few weeks at my parents place, ending with birthday celebrations for my Mum, who has reached a significant milestone. We surprised her by successfully arranging for her in-country siblings to visit. It's been a lovely weekend filled with family, laughter, lots and lots of food, and a few tears. This photo was taken just before the birthday breakfast, which Jimmy enjoyed eating and wearing. Photos of the breakfast will come later. Happy weekend and we'll see you when we're on the other side of the world.

A rather big day...

Last week, during dinner on Tuesday night, we heard the sound of something hard against the spoon Jimmy had in his mouth. Could it be? After all this time? But we didn't check...

And then 2:30 am, or so, rolls around (Michael and I have only been in bed a few hours due to packing etc.) and Jimmy is not interested in going back to sleep. No amount of bum patting or breast milk seems to do the trick. Michael takes Jimmy to change the little man's nappy and administer some paracetamol - things need to be eliminated so that we might go back to sleep quickly! And quickly and exited is how Michael comes back with a newly toothy baby! With not one, but two freshly cut teeth! No wonder our little man was not interested in sleeping. But the paracetamol kicks in and we all get about 4 hours more sleep (broken with the odd feed).

We may have had a good nights sleep, but we were all still a little out of sorts. Nothing a yoga class can't fix, right? Jimmy and I head off to a yoga class that we haven't been to before, but are going because we can't make it to any others. The location is the same, but the time is earlier... Jimmy refuses to nap more than 20 minutes, which is not unusual, but I dose him up on paracetamol before the class just in case his teeth are bothering him. We rush off, because we loose track of the time. With an unhappy Jimmy in his seat, my bag goes on the passenger seat, I lock the passenger door but the window is down for airflow, and we head off but not without a quick thought about a package I need to send, but we're running late... We arrive yoga, Jimmy is unhappy again so I quickly throw the car key into my bag, get out, lock the drivers door, whip around to the passenger door, go for the handle and...

Yes. It was locked.

Yes. The car key, my phone, and my baby were all in the car.

But the passenger side window open! Not enough to allow me to unlock the car, but enough for airflow and a coat hanger...

I race into the venue, ask for assistance and a coat hanger and race back to the car. By this time Jimmy has settled, but quickly becomes unsettled again. I tried to unlock the car, but that didn't work (wrong lock type) and then I realise that I know where my key is in my bag! So I start working on that while one mum is on the phone to RACQ (and the automated screening process seems to be taking forever), and another mum offers to help with the coat hanger while I talk to Jimmy.

The key is fished out. Jimmy is removed from the car. Tears. Hugs. Melting into a mess. It all happens. Apparently I was calm through out the whole thing, but I was shaking on the inside.

The yoga class was lovely. It turns out I already knew some of the mums, because they were in my regular class until their babies grew too old. We had a good time. Jimmy was understandably clingy and I was understandably teary, but it was good. And Jimmy and I got what we needed: a cry for me (because moving overseas is a bit of a big thing) and a sleep for Jimmy (because teething is a lot of work).