Sparrow Lorelei photo gallery

Grandma's birthday visit, 2-8 October, 2009

Grandma (my mother Sandra) came to visit this month. She often visits around this time of year so that the two of us can do something for both our birthdays, unless I've gone over to her. It's a bit late for her birthday, but it's when the school holidays are. She was delighted to see how Sparrow is changing - she's much more interactive than when Mum last visited in July, "more like a little person" as Mum puts it. This page is a collection of random fun photos from the visit, and this photo was taken on the first morning.

Seeing as birthdays were the theme of the visit, I got the Spud to help me wrap Grandma's present. The paper is from the Made in Japan shop, and Sparrow thought it was fascinating. She also loved looking at the present itself, a glittery red and black top and long headdress that I got at the Eid festival the week before (the Islamic ladies really do wear some beautiful clothing!) that Mum might be able to use for bellydancing. Sparrow seemed a little puzzled that I was taking the shiny floaty things and making them into small packages. But she was quite willing to hold the present for me while we went to see if Grandma was ready for it. I had to keep a careful eye on her to make sure she didn't eat the package before it was delivered.

Who's this holding me? I'm not sure, but I'm having fun!

I know, let's try to get a three-generations picture with all of us sitting here. James is asleep, so I'll just point the camera at us and hope. This is the best of the attempts, most of which had only half of all our heads -grin-.

James came home from work to a vegieburger dinner with Mum and me fiddling in the kitchen while he played with an already exhausted Spud. So by the time the food was ready a few minutes later, she'd passed out on his lap. Here she is doing her best impression of a coffee table.

Mum brought a random handful of our extensive piles of children's books over for Sparrow. She and I have just been reading Ted and Fred. When we visit the farm in November it will be fun to look through the piles and see what would be good. I was an early reader, I think James was too, and Sparrow may well be as well. Not that it's important, it's just likely. Stories are good, though at this point she's more interested in hearing voices and looking at pictures.

First thing in the morning, the early risers amongst us (i.e. everyone except James) are up and conversing. It goes something like this: "Oh, hello, you're Grandma, and I get to be on your lap! Hang on, what's that over there?" -tilt- Sparrow is leaning towards things she wants now.

Our main task this morning was to get ready to go away for the weekend. So I'm about to have a shower - and I took Sparrow in with me. This was the second time she's had a shower with me, and it was good to have Mum there as an extra pair of hands to take the Spud away and dry her once I'd finished washing her. Showers are still a bit novel, the idea of water coming from the sky and hitting your face is both intriguing and a little scary. I get reproachful looks from her when we duck under the water together. But I'm trying it anyway, as it's helpful preparation for when she does swimming lessons.

After the shower - I'm in my dressing gown temporarily, and our little Nakkedei is on her tummy being dried off and talked to before I get her into a suit good for a car trip.

Back from the weekend away and having cuddles. We are all feeling much more cheerful post-pizza. Mum also got a walk in back from the pizza place - we'd not done much walking while away as I sprained my ankle Saturday afternoon.

Supported sitting and leaning - she sees something, she wants it, she leans down and grabs it, she picks it up, it goes to the mouth, she forgets how to hold it and drops it... and repeat...

We spent one day working on the spare room and sun room area, which has been a bit chaotic since Sparrow was born. It's not an easy space for me to work in with her, especially as she's starting to threaten to roll now and it's all concrete with stairs. So I never spend much time there when I'm on my own, unless it's just sitting on the couch. Here we are, and I'm sitting on the couch with Sparrow as usual, but Mum is getting active with the storage I've been needing to sort out for ages, and putting together a set of shelves for me. I took a turn as well, they really are quite annoyingly awkward to manage.

The sunroom area, almost sorted. Mum finished reconditioning the cot and scrubbed down the metal bars, and she and I have taken the main part of it inside (that's the removable side and the base leaning on the washing machine). She's reconditioned and weeded the mint collection and placed the pots in drip trays. The extra load of laundry's been done and hung out and mostly brought in. The second set of shelves are half-built, and I've thoroughly vacuumed and re-covered the couch. And how's Sparrow been helping these mammoth efforts?

With all due diligence.
(That's the wireless monitor on the table behind her. We put the cot where it is after she woke up.)

Wednesday morning was my birthday morning, and it was my turn to have Sparrow help me receive a present. The strawberry paper is very cool. I liked the mug that was in the box, printed with a photo of one of our peacocks from the farm.

Mum had also brought something which she bought at a woodcarving festival in Albany. It was meant to be a kitchen utensil, and it was very artistic. We decided it might be a slotted spatula, but we weren't sure. It is now in our jar of kitchen implements. Sparrow showed a tiny bit of interest in it, but then immediately turned her attention to the paper it had been artistically wrapped in.

Grandma, Sparrow and the cat, on the couch in the sun room.

We decided to go into town for my birthday and look at some of the art displays in the Fringe Festival. Unfortunately the one we started with, a piece encouraging you to explore hidden alleys, had its location printed wrong in the book. So we walked a very long way looking for it, found a different Fringe art show which was all right but very Fringe-y, and eventually just stopped for lunch someplace that had a good baby changeroom - the food court at QV. Sitting down was very nice by that point. We did eventually find the artwork, it was around the corner of an alley off another alley off a lane that we'd walked down, and we walked past the alley once before seeing it. Then when we found it it was the first in a series of four, and had a map to find the other parts hidden up other alleys. We gave up at that point. If we'd found it before doing all that other walking, it would have been fun -smile-.

Instead we just headed to the train home. We'd made a brief stop in one shop to buy a couple of toys. Mum had spent the week watching Sparrow and seeing what she could do, what stage she was at and what interested her, and then went and picked out a suitable toy that she could have in her new cot. And a rattle as well, as the rattle we keep in her changebag had unexplainedly stopped rattling. This is Sparrow discovering the new rattle, which has a double-helix as a handle. It's quite interesting for her to try and grip and keep hold of.

When we got home, James had made me his birthday present: lime meringue cupcakes. He's resting here on the couch having only just managed to get them finished - it took him the whole afternoon we were out. He's holding the cake plate in the air, waiterlike, because up until a second before I took this photo the cat was on his lap desperately trying to get one. They were in heart and star shapes as well, made in new silicon baking pans that appeared as an extra birthday thing. I suspect Sparrow will get plenty of value out of them, as they'll go into the section of cupboard of pots and pans and dishes that I will set aside for her to crawl and play in when she gets to that stage.

Spuddlecuddles with Daddy, while he sits on the couch totally stunned at how much time the cupcakes took to make. Nothing's better after a hard day than cuddling her.

A family threesome together.

And a final three-generations photo, taken by James with somewhat more skill than my efforts :-).