Monday, July 21, 2008

Roast chicken, edamame beans and poo

Saturday began with a wake up cry at 5am from Little Planet. She had last fed at 10.30 the previous night so this was the cry of hunger. We've noticed that if she takes a full feed of 140-150ml last thing at night, she will stay asleep longer until morning. If she takes less then she will wake up around 3.30am. M fed her then we all dozed again until 7.30am. After another feed, M went off for a run in the park and I had my shower as Little Planet napped.

Later in the morning, and after a spectacularly explosive poo incident (Little P, not me!), we took Little Planet to the park to meet the other parents and babies from our NCT antenatal group. We mothers and our babies meet up once a week, but this was the first proper reunion for the dads as well. I felt very proud as everyone kept commenting on Little Planet's hair and how beautiful she is and how alert and observant she is compared to other babies her age. She was the only baby of the group looking all around and the only one who looked directly at the camera during the photocall. Someone said we could make alot of money from her from baby modelling. I felt my ego swell to gargantuan proportions - I need to watch that.

On the walk home, M and I discovered a Chinese grocery selling a wide range of Asian foodstuffs. So we bought fresh tofu, edamame beans and lime leaves and will return for a variety of Chinese greens and fresh shell-on king prawns. With a Vietnamese grocery also nearby, we now no longer have to rely on Soho's Chinatown.

Back at home, we lunched on Manchego cheese, membrillo, lomo and crusty rolls, then M tackled the garden and I read. Later, M roasted a chicken and served it with a hearty Rioja, roasted sweet potatoes and a salad of fresh spinach leaves harvested from our own garden with avocado, pine nuts and balsamic vinegar. As we ate, we chatted about what we would plant next.

After dinner, we ate our dessert of fresh nectarines and Green & Black's hazelnut and currant chocolate in front of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's lovely and languid movie based on the meeting of his parents, Syndromes And A Century. We both miss Thailand very much.

An evening much like the old days, except with a little baby asleep upstairs.

We usually have 3.5 hour "windows of opportunity" between Little Planet feeds during which we can go out and about. She often cries while out but not for long and, like all babies, the movement of the pram calms her down so we rarely stop walking. I know we can feed her outside, but I feel that at six weeks she's too young to be taking on longer jaunts, so all in good time, all in good time. On Sunday, we popped Little Planet into her buggy and onto the bus and went to Spitalfields where we bought assorted chocolate - white chocolate and cinnamon, dark chocolate with orange and geranium, and dark chocolate with chilli - from Montezuma's. Spitalfields really has changed alot - on our visit it was packed with Spanish and Italian students with identikit fluorescent backpacks. We also bought kitchenware from Labour And Wait off an equally heaving Brick Lane.

We hailed a cab and wheeled the baby, still in her buggy, into it (her first cab ride) and returned home. We lunched on crusty rolls stuffed with grilled chorizo and home-grown spinach, then M had to go into his office to work on a deal that is supposed to close on Tuesday, so it's crunch time, and I started reading Ann Packer's The Dive From Clausen's Pier. M didn't return until after midnight.

A day much like the old days then, except frequently punctuated with feeding, burping and settling a new baby.

2 comments:

Olivia said...

Sorry, I laughed again! But this time at the "explosive poo incident".

A few months before leaving London I too discovered the new shopping area behind Spitalfields and bought a gorgeous aquamarine enamel and cabochon bowl from Morocco at one of the home decor shops there. The only thing I bought at Montezuma was the chili dark chocolate! However, you must must try the one from Hotel Chocolat, it was a little piece of heaven!!!

Anonymous said...

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