We did nothing but potter around the house and sit in the garden all weekend, so this round up is all about the food we ate.
After work on Friday, M marinated some chicken pieces with soy sauce then grilled them and served them with a finely chopped umeboshi plum paste. He also tossed mixed salad leaves with a sesame seed dressing he made with tahini, dashi, rice vinegar, soy sauce, caster sugar, toasted white sesame seeds and chilli powder. We drank buck's fizz with homemade freshly-squeezed orange juice.
On Saturday, M marinated beef in finely chopped lemongrass, black pepper, brown sugar and fish sauce then skewered them and grilled them (they were originally destined for the BBQ but thunderstorms and torrential rain put paid to that plan). He served the grilled beef skewers with rice noodles that he lightly stir-fried with ginger, dried shrimp, oyster mushrooms, spring onions and soy sauce.
Tonight's dinner will be Maryland crab cakes and salad, most likely followed by Alfonso mangoes.
Little Planet dined well too this weekend - beef ragu and cauliflower cheese, both made by Daddy. Her childminders are Indian and they feed her such delights as lentil dal, khichuri, pilau rice and spaghetti bolognaise.
Aren't we lucky girls!
And now I am off for a few days to Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid on business. Back to London on Thursday. Hopefully will be able to Twitter through the trip though.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Three day weekend
Saturday began with a leisurely hair appointment for me at the Aveda Institute in Holborn. Meanwhile, M also took Little Planet into town. He got takeout coffee from Carluccio's in the Brunswick Centre, then took Little P to play on the swings in the delightful Coram's Fields. He strolled over to Russell Square to show her the fountains, but she had fallen asleep so, while she napped in the buggy, M wandered through the Indian garden at the British Museum. By 11am, it was time for them both to meet me at Aveda. Together, we popped into Pages on Shaftesbury Avenue where we bought a mouli and some ceramic oven dishes. We stopped off at the newsagents on Old Compton Street for the FT and International Herald Tribune, then bought strawberry millefeuille, passionfruit cheesecake, olive bread and walnut bread from Princi on Wardour Street. We stocked up on macaroni and mozzarella from Lina Store and on Japanese rice, tofu and yuzu concentrate from Arigato on Brewer Street.
Back at home, we lunched on sandwiches stuffed with Red Leicester and Stilton cheeses M had bought during the week from Covent Garden's Neal's Yard Dairy. Both the Princi breads we used disappointed - too lightweight and bland for my tastes. While M worked, Little Planet napped then played all afternoon and I gave her cauliflower cheese for her dinner. Our Ocado order was delivered and Little Planet played with things as I put them away.
After Little Planet's bedtime, M cooked macaroni cheese with spinach and bacon, inspired by my favourite dish at Automat. Our Princi desserts were sublime, which was a relief after the disappointing bread. The millefeuille was flaky and the strawberries were sweet; the passionfruit was refreshingly tart. We ended the evening watching Scorcese's surreal but dated and stilted After Hours. Even the terrific shots of late night 80s Manhattan couldn't hold my attention and I fell asleep on the sofa.
Most of Sunday was spent at my mother's house. Little Planet was particularly whingy: she whined in the car seat, she cried whenever we turned our back on her, and she was particularly hysterical when we washed her hair before her bedtime - so much so that she threw up. This incident was traumatic for me, but within minutes she was happily playing on our bedroom floor as if nothing had happened. Thank goodness babies have short memories. But for the most part today, our happy girl played contentedly all day long. She crawled all over my mum's house and played with the new toys my mum had bought her.
After Little Planet went to bed, M roasted a chicken he had marinated in soy sauce, garlic, sugar and pepper. He dressed a salad with olive oil and yuzu concentrate. And we dipped the chicken pieces in two types of dips he made: one made with red chillies and fish sauce, the other made with grated ginger, lime and fish sauce. Then we re-watched Hirokazu Koreeda's Maborosi - perhaps not the most appropriate movie to watch on Father's Day as it features the life of a young woman raising her son alone when her husband dies.
M and I took Monday off as annual leave. We dropped Little Planet off with her childminders and then headed into town. We breakfasted at the Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchfield Street. M had a ham and cheese rye sandwich and I had a salmon and egg rye sandwich - both delicious. We shared a cinnamon bun with our coffees. It was nice sitting outside in the early morning sunshine watching people go to work. If we stay in London, then we would love to retire to an apartment on one of the roads off this street. It's low-key yet still in the heart of it all. I would also like to retire to Manhattan. Fortunately M would like this too. It's still a long, long way off, I know, but I like to dream. We're both city diehards, despite having grown up in the country (M in Shropshire and me in Kent).
Afterwards, we bought a nice bed in Selfridges (as you do!) - the kind of bed that will definitely last us for a long time. Then we went to the British Museum to view the Garden And Cosmos: The Royal Paintings Of Jodpur exhibition. It was tranquil, serene, meditative... I felt supremely rested strolling through this beautiful collection of paintings. We also meandered through the South and South-east Asian room at the museum looking at the Buddhist sculptures.
We decided to have Korean food for lunch so we went to Koba behind Charlotte Street. We've been here several times and the food is very good. We ordered an assorted BBQ, fried rice with kimchi and pork, assorted namool (beansprouts, spinach and sliced radish seasoned with chilli and vinegar), pamoochim (sliced spring onion with chilli and vinegar), and sangchoo (fresh lettuce to wrap our BBQ meats in, and seasoned soybean paste). We were stuffed, but as it was our day off, we headed back to Wardour Street and Princi for desserts and coffee: M had a lemon meringue tart and I had my favourite strawberry millefeuille. We bought some Kiehl's products from Space NK and magazines from Borders, then headed back home.
We relaxed at home for an hour or so, then headed out to pick up Little Planet. We played with her and we've just put her to bed. Now we're about to have vodka and freshly squeezed orange juice. We'll make homemade pizzas later on and watch a movie.
I am back at work tomorrow, but lucky M has another day off. He will be sorting out arranging builders and painters to come give quotations for various pieces of work we want doing on the house this year (fixing up the loft so we can use it for storage, re-doing the bathroom, painting the interior and exterior of the house) and generally pottering. He may come into town, he may not. He is a man of leisure.
It's nice taking odd days off on annual leave. I should do it more often.
Back at home, we lunched on sandwiches stuffed with Red Leicester and Stilton cheeses M had bought during the week from Covent Garden's Neal's Yard Dairy. Both the Princi breads we used disappointed - too lightweight and bland for my tastes. While M worked, Little Planet napped then played all afternoon and I gave her cauliflower cheese for her dinner. Our Ocado order was delivered and Little Planet played with things as I put them away.
After Little Planet's bedtime, M cooked macaroni cheese with spinach and bacon, inspired by my favourite dish at Automat. Our Princi desserts were sublime, which was a relief after the disappointing bread. The millefeuille was flaky and the strawberries were sweet; the passionfruit was refreshingly tart. We ended the evening watching Scorcese's surreal but dated and stilted After Hours. Even the terrific shots of late night 80s Manhattan couldn't hold my attention and I fell asleep on the sofa.
Most of Sunday was spent at my mother's house. Little Planet was particularly whingy: she whined in the car seat, she cried whenever we turned our back on her, and she was particularly hysterical when we washed her hair before her bedtime - so much so that she threw up. This incident was traumatic for me, but within minutes she was happily playing on our bedroom floor as if nothing had happened. Thank goodness babies have short memories. But for the most part today, our happy girl played contentedly all day long. She crawled all over my mum's house and played with the new toys my mum had bought her.
After Little Planet went to bed, M roasted a chicken he had marinated in soy sauce, garlic, sugar and pepper. He dressed a salad with olive oil and yuzu concentrate. And we dipped the chicken pieces in two types of dips he made: one made with red chillies and fish sauce, the other made with grated ginger, lime and fish sauce. Then we re-watched Hirokazu Koreeda's Maborosi - perhaps not the most appropriate movie to watch on Father's Day as it features the life of a young woman raising her son alone when her husband dies.
M and I took Monday off as annual leave. We dropped Little Planet off with her childminders and then headed into town. We breakfasted at the Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchfield Street. M had a ham and cheese rye sandwich and I had a salmon and egg rye sandwich - both delicious. We shared a cinnamon bun with our coffees. It was nice sitting outside in the early morning sunshine watching people go to work. If we stay in London, then we would love to retire to an apartment on one of the roads off this street. It's low-key yet still in the heart of it all. I would also like to retire to Manhattan. Fortunately M would like this too. It's still a long, long way off, I know, but I like to dream. We're both city diehards, despite having grown up in the country (M in Shropshire and me in Kent).
Afterwards, we bought a nice bed in Selfridges (as you do!) - the kind of bed that will definitely last us for a long time. Then we went to the British Museum to view the Garden And Cosmos: The Royal Paintings Of Jodpur exhibition. It was tranquil, serene, meditative... I felt supremely rested strolling through this beautiful collection of paintings. We also meandered through the South and South-east Asian room at the museum looking at the Buddhist sculptures.
We decided to have Korean food for lunch so we went to Koba behind Charlotte Street. We've been here several times and the food is very good. We ordered an assorted BBQ, fried rice with kimchi and pork, assorted namool (beansprouts, spinach and sliced radish seasoned with chilli and vinegar), pamoochim (sliced spring onion with chilli and vinegar), and sangchoo (fresh lettuce to wrap our BBQ meats in, and seasoned soybean paste). We were stuffed, but as it was our day off, we headed back to Wardour Street and Princi for desserts and coffee: M had a lemon meringue tart and I had my favourite strawberry millefeuille. We bought some Kiehl's products from Space NK and magazines from Borders, then headed back home.
We relaxed at home for an hour or so, then headed out to pick up Little Planet. We played with her and we've just put her to bed. Now we're about to have vodka and freshly squeezed orange juice. We'll make homemade pizzas later on and watch a movie.
I am back at work tomorrow, but lucky M has another day off. He will be sorting out arranging builders and painters to come give quotations for various pieces of work we want doing on the house this year (fixing up the loft so we can use it for storage, re-doing the bathroom, painting the interior and exterior of the house) and generally pottering. He may come into town, he may not. He is a man of leisure.
It's nice taking odd days off on annual leave. I should do it more often.
Monday, June 15, 2009
I'm now on Twitter. Follow me from this blog in the sidebar, or on my Twitter site direct:
Planethalder @ Twitter
If you have a Twitter feed, please let me know so I can take a look.
Planethalder @ Twitter
If you have a Twitter feed, please let me know so I can take a look.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Fast, slow
The title characterises my weekend perfectly. Saturday was spent in a busy whirl of activity, accompanying my mother up to East Anglia to check on her house one last time, collect her car, hand over the keys to the estate agent and then drive four hours back down to London where she now lives permanently. We were both exhausted.
M, meanwhile, had spent the day at home in London with Little Planet.
Sunday epitomised just how lovely it is to have my mother now live not four hours away, but thirty minutes away: she was able to pop over to our house and spend the day with her grandchild. After the frenetic Saturday, Sunday was altogether extremely tranquil. M did bits and pieces around the house, while my mother, my daughter and I relaxed the entire day in the garden. And that was all we did. Bliiiissssss...
M, meanwhile, had spent the day at home in London with Little Planet.
Sunday epitomised just how lovely it is to have my mother now live not four hours away, but thirty minutes away: she was able to pop over to our house and spend the day with her grandchild. After the frenetic Saturday, Sunday was altogether extremely tranquil. M did bits and pieces around the house, while my mother, my daughter and I relaxed the entire day in the garden. And that was all we did. Bliiiissssss...
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Happy 1st birthday
I feel so guilty. I have been in pitch mode at work (we are pitching for a new account) and have not had time to document on here a far more important event in my life: my baby daughter turned 1 on Sunday. She was surrounded by family and friends and had her first ever taste of chocolate cake. I was (pleasantly) surprised that the small piece of chocolate cake we gave her did not impress her much, and that she was far more eager for a bite of the less sugary Victoria sponge cake we had also baked. She was, of course, very happy with all her new toys. Happy birthday, my darling! You have made our life complete xxx
Monday, June 01, 2009
Chilled interruptions
As every parent knows, the concept of a "chilled weekend" takes on a new dimension once you have a baby. Before having a baby, M and I would spend uninterrupted time doing anything we wanted during the weekend. If we wanted to read the paper all morning, we could; if we wanted to lie in bed until late, we could; if we wanted to go into town and spend all day long drifting from one art exhibition to another, we could; if we wanted to watch a movie all afternoon, we could.
Now that Little Planet has graced our lives, we can still have such chilled moments but, unless she is sleeping, then they are just that - "moments". For example, we can still read the paper, but we read it in bursts; we can visit shop after shop, or exhibition after exhibition, but only if Little Planet does not become tired, cranky and bored; we can watch a movie from beginning to end, but only after she has gone to bed at night; we can have a lie in... but really only until 7 or 7.30am and even then only if we are lucky.
In short, we can do many of the things we used to do but in short bursts of time. With babies, you are always being interrupted. Sometimes these are glorious interruptions; other times, not so wonderful ;-).
This weekend, we spent a leisurely Saturday morning in Islington. Little Planet had her first taste of panettone at Carluccio's. Her response? "Hmmmm yum!" She is also beginning to say "Tanku" (Thank you) when you pass her something and has also begun to say "Na" (No) repeatedly while shaking her head furiously (the toddler years have begun!).
We also took her to the delightful After Noah toy shop where we bought some presents for her 1st birthday next week - a wooden shape sorter, plus a basket full of miniature play food (similar to the photo above) such as canned plum tomatoes, milk cartons, mineral water, baked beans and butter. She fell asleep in the pushchair, so M and I browsed the magazines and books in Borders and in Waterstone's.
We spent the afternoon at home. While Little Planet napped, M and I sat out in the garden and lunched on pitta sandwiches stuffed with hummus and tomatoes. Then we played with Little Planet when she woke up. We gave her a long bath and then spent a good hour before her dinner rolling around our bed with her - we chatted with each other and with her, while she clambered all over us or tried to bite us with her five sharp teeth... ouch.
After she went to bed, at 7pm, M and I had a barbecue in our garden of lamb chops, chorizo and tabbouleh. We stayed outside eating, drinking and chatting until 10.30pm.
On Sunday morning, we took Little Planet to have her hair cut (her third in her short life!) in Crouch End. She was fine and enjoyed playing with the toy cars the hairdresser provided to distract her. Afterwards, we bought some oranges and raspberries and visited M's sister nearby. There, we made fruit smoothies.
We returned home to give Little Planet her lunch and to put her down for her afternoon nap. While she slept, M and I sat in the garden again and lunched on grilled sardines and capers on toast. We then spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the garden with Little Planet in her Wendy house and reading the weekend papers when she was content to play on her own. M had made refreshing ginger and lemon drinks which we sipped.
Later on, before her bath, I took Little Planet out around our neighbourhood on her smart trike while M pruned the front garden. After putting Little Planet to bed at 7pm, M and I ate roast chicken with homemade potato salad and broad bean salad. I don't think we had the TV on at all this weekend, so lovely was the weather.
I wish the weekend could have lasted at least another day...
Now that Little Planet has graced our lives, we can still have such chilled moments but, unless she is sleeping, then they are just that - "moments". For example, we can still read the paper, but we read it in bursts; we can visit shop after shop, or exhibition after exhibition, but only if Little Planet does not become tired, cranky and bored; we can watch a movie from beginning to end, but only after she has gone to bed at night; we can have a lie in... but really only until 7 or 7.30am and even then only if we are lucky.
In short, we can do many of the things we used to do but in short bursts of time. With babies, you are always being interrupted. Sometimes these are glorious interruptions; other times, not so wonderful ;-).
This weekend, we spent a leisurely Saturday morning in Islington. Little Planet had her first taste of panettone at Carluccio's. Her response? "Hmmmm yum!" She is also beginning to say "Tanku" (Thank you) when you pass her something and has also begun to say "Na" (No) repeatedly while shaking her head furiously (the toddler years have begun!).
We also took her to the delightful After Noah toy shop where we bought some presents for her 1st birthday next week - a wooden shape sorter, plus a basket full of miniature play food (similar to the photo above) such as canned plum tomatoes, milk cartons, mineral water, baked beans and butter. She fell asleep in the pushchair, so M and I browsed the magazines and books in Borders and in Waterstone's.We spent the afternoon at home. While Little Planet napped, M and I sat out in the garden and lunched on pitta sandwiches stuffed with hummus and tomatoes. Then we played with Little Planet when she woke up. We gave her a long bath and then spent a good hour before her dinner rolling around our bed with her - we chatted with each other and with her, while she clambered all over us or tried to bite us with her five sharp teeth... ouch.
After she went to bed, at 7pm, M and I had a barbecue in our garden of lamb chops, chorizo and tabbouleh. We stayed outside eating, drinking and chatting until 10.30pm.
On Sunday morning, we took Little Planet to have her hair cut (her third in her short life!) in Crouch End. She was fine and enjoyed playing with the toy cars the hairdresser provided to distract her. Afterwards, we bought some oranges and raspberries and visited M's sister nearby. There, we made fruit smoothies.
We returned home to give Little Planet her lunch and to put her down for her afternoon nap. While she slept, M and I sat in the garden again and lunched on grilled sardines and capers on toast. We then spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the garden with Little Planet in her Wendy house and reading the weekend papers when she was content to play on her own. M had made refreshing ginger and lemon drinks which we sipped.
Later on, before her bath, I took Little Planet out around our neighbourhood on her smart trike while M pruned the front garden. After putting Little Planet to bed at 7pm, M and I ate roast chicken with homemade potato salad and broad bean salad. I don't think we had the TV on at all this weekend, so lovely was the weather.
I wish the weekend could have lasted at least another day...
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Shifting junk
While my husband and mother-in-law enjoyed the long weekend with my baby daughter in London... this is what I spent all Bank Holiday weekend doing: filling this skip with my mother's unwanted junk. For she is moving back to London from East Anglia just so she can be closer to her only grandchild. Hurrah!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Lazy weekend
A lovely weekend is coming to an end. Yesterday, we spent the morning in Marylebone. Little Planet enjoyed the swings, roundabout and see-saw in Regent's Park and then we bought her some new clothes in Bonpoint. We also bought wine from Oddbins, fillet mignon from Ginger Pig and assorted vegetables, cheeses and bread from La Fromagerie. Dinner back at home was butter-soft fillet mignon with mushrooms, tomatoes and mashed potatoes. Saturday was also the day Little Planet stood up by herself for the first time!
Today was spent chilling at home. Little Planet played all day (aside from her afternoon nap) and we read the weekend papers. We also cleaned the house, but managed to limit it to an hour. Poor M had to work a little, but in between he managed to bake two loaves of bread and a cheesecake. He's now on a conference call, but somehow has managed to roast a chicken for our dinner later (as well as steam and mash a week's supply of carrots and broccoli for Little Planet). I am such a lazy wife!
Today was spent chilling at home. Little Planet played all day (aside from her afternoon nap) and we read the weekend papers. We also cleaned the house, but managed to limit it to an hour. Poor M had to work a little, but in between he managed to bake two loaves of bread and a cheesecake. He's now on a conference call, but somehow has managed to roast a chicken for our dinner later (as well as steam and mash a week's supply of carrots and broccoli for Little Planet). I am such a lazy wife!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Typical day # 6
Now that I am back in fulltime work, our morning and evening routines with Little Planet are carried out with military precision, with M and I essentially tag-teaming.
At 6.30am each work day, M will get Little Planet out of bed, take her downstairs to the kitchen, put her milk on to warm then bring her back upstairs to change her nappy. Then he will take her back downstairs, collect the milk, bring her back upstairs and feed her. Usually she has 8 oz of milk. Meanwhile, I am brushing my teeth, washing my face, and having a shower. If a load of laundry needs doing then I will have put it on a quick 1 hour cycle at 6.30am when we all get up.
By 6.50am, I am out of the bathroom and have popped downstairs to make a big pot of filter coffee. M has finished feeding Little Planet her milk. Then I am back up the stairs and I get dressed in the bedroom while M takes his shower. I put BBC News on and Little Planet plays on our floor while I get ready for the day. Once I am dressed and have put my make up on, I dress Little Planet.
By 7am or 7.10am, both Little Planet and I are downstairs. I have my breakfast while she plays in the kitchen with me. We have a bag of her toys in most rooms of the house. I will tidy and wash up a few things - I hate clutter and like things to be in their correct places. I will also prepare her breakfast.
M is down by 7.15am and he gets his breakfast ready and then around 7.30am he feeds Little Planet her breakfast of solids - usually some Weetabix and milk or some oat porridge plus fruit and rusks. Little Planet's appetite has grown substantially now she is crawling around and trying to stand and generally is burning far more calories than ever before. The laundry is usually done by now so after he has fed Little Planet, M transfers them to the dryer or hangs them out.
Between 7.30am and 7.45am, I am out the door and headed for the Tube to work in central London. I usually get in by 8.15am (luckily we live in zone 2). Meanwhile, M puts Little Planet in her playpen with CBeebies on, or he brings her upstairs with him into the bedroom, while he gets ready for work.
By 8.15am, both M and Little Planet are out the door and he drops her off at her childminders' house by 8.30am. Then M jumps on the Tube to work also.
Little Planet has a busy day in daycare. There are two other babies there. While she is 11 months old, they are 16 or 17 months old and both boys. She has a great time there, apparently. The childminders already consider her part of the family and she is often the centre of attention because she is so doll-like!
Now she is 11 months old, it is hit or miss whether she will nap in the morning. Usually there is too much going on and she is too distracted to want to nap. During her weekends at home with us, she tends to nap for 30 minutes in the buggy around 11am. But she will always take an afternoon nap around 1pm after lunch for an hour or so, both at home and with the childminders. After her afternoon nap, she will have an afternoon bottle of milk - anything from 4 to 8 oz. This is the bottle we will drop soon and replace with a snack.
The childminders feed her both lunch (around 12.30pm) and dinner (at 5pm) and she has finger food snacks throughout the day. Now she has four teeth, she loves munching down on things. She is eating so much more now she is more mobile and has more teeth. There was a time when we were worried that she wasn't bothered by food. No fear of that now!
I leave work around 5.15pm to collect her by 5.45pm. I bring her straight home and I immediately take her upstairs with me. I run the bath and undress the both of us. I change out of my work clothes and plop her into the bath. She splashes around for 5 minutes while I sponge her down and then she's out by 6.10pm and I dry her and dress her in her nightwear. During weekends, her bath times are much longer and much more fun. I also lay out both her and my own outfit for the next day so I am not rushing around with indecision in the morning (see how hyper-organised everything is now that I have returned to work?!).
By 6.30pm, we are in the kitchen. She's had a snack - usually a banana or rusk. She plays while I wash up her bottles and the breakfast things. We chat and I sing with her while I also prepare her bag for the next day. I put her bedtime bottle on to warm. While the bottle is warming, I carry her round each room to say goodnight to her toys - she waves at them all. Then we go upstairs to M's and my bedroom, where we still always change and feed her. I change her nappy. By this time, she is very tired and fights me while I change her. Sometimes she is crying by now as she is so tired.
By 6.45pm, she has a bottle in her mouth. Sometimes, she falls asleep on this feed. When she has finished - usually around 7 to 9 ozs - I like to keep her upright a little, so we read a bedtime story. If she is virtually falling asleep, then the story is very short! By 7pm, I have carried her into her bedroom. The light is on and we say goodnight to her toys and I place her in her cot. "Goodnight, sleepy tight" I say and leave her. It is a rare night that she doesn't quickly settle and then sleep through to the morning.
From 7pm, the rest of the night is my own. I tidy up upstairs and then I go downstairs and prepare the night's meal. We have already planned the week's dinner menus at the weekend and have already bought all the ingredients we need for the week as I no longer have time to shop during the week. While the dinner is cooking, I catch up on work emails or read or watch TV until M returns home - usually around 9. Then we eat dinner together. I save the vacuuming and dusting and other house cleaning for an hour on Saturday or Sunday. I may hate clutter, but I am not afraid of dust bunnies!
So that's a typical day for Little Planet at 11 months with a working mum. It's been great being back at work and using my brain. I am very busy, which is exhausting at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have been craving being back in the cut and thrust of advertising for many months, so I am not complaining. It is odd working early and leaving early, but that is the way it is. As it is, I only have an hour with Little Planet after work each day. I have tried seeing if we could move her bedtime from 7pm to later, but at the moment she is too tired to last beyond 7pm.
I miss Little Planet, but I work in peace all day knowing she is having a great time with her two childminders. And I really look forward to the weekends with her. We take her out for lunch in baby-friendly restaurants such as Giraffe, we take her into central London (we've discovered the excellent Coram's Fields park near Russell Square where adults are allowed in only when accompanied by a child), we take her out on her baby tricycle and to the swings and slides in three or four parks local to us, or we simply potter about at home and in the garden.
And when my mother-in-law is here, M and I go out together - just the two of us. This weekend, for example, we saw Bill Fontana's Silent Echoes at the Haunch Of Venison - hypnotic audio and video footage exploring the sounds of five Buddhist temple bells in Kyoto when they are not ringing. We saw Thomas Steinert's stark photos of public and private lives in 1970s' East Germany, at Mummery+Schnelle. We perused the peaceful Buddhist Sculpture Gallery at the V&A. We also viewed Gerhard Richter's brilliant overpainted photos at The Photographers' Gallery. I bought Humanoid blouses from the excellent Folk Clothing store on Lambs Conduit Street, and M bought a jacket from Oliver Spencer on the same street. We bought a grey jersey dress for Little Planet from So Tiny London on Great Titchfield Street and I got very excited when they told me they are expecting some charcoal baby t-shirts with David Bowie's face on them. We lunched at the Nordic Bakery and had dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant Kikuchi.
At 6.30am each work day, M will get Little Planet out of bed, take her downstairs to the kitchen, put her milk on to warm then bring her back upstairs to change her nappy. Then he will take her back downstairs, collect the milk, bring her back upstairs and feed her. Usually she has 8 oz of milk. Meanwhile, I am brushing my teeth, washing my face, and having a shower. If a load of laundry needs doing then I will have put it on a quick 1 hour cycle at 6.30am when we all get up.
By 6.50am, I am out of the bathroom and have popped downstairs to make a big pot of filter coffee. M has finished feeding Little Planet her milk. Then I am back up the stairs and I get dressed in the bedroom while M takes his shower. I put BBC News on and Little Planet plays on our floor while I get ready for the day. Once I am dressed and have put my make up on, I dress Little Planet.
By 7am or 7.10am, both Little Planet and I are downstairs. I have my breakfast while she plays in the kitchen with me. We have a bag of her toys in most rooms of the house. I will tidy and wash up a few things - I hate clutter and like things to be in their correct places. I will also prepare her breakfast.
M is down by 7.15am and he gets his breakfast ready and then around 7.30am he feeds Little Planet her breakfast of solids - usually some Weetabix and milk or some oat porridge plus fruit and rusks. Little Planet's appetite has grown substantially now she is crawling around and trying to stand and generally is burning far more calories than ever before. The laundry is usually done by now so after he has fed Little Planet, M transfers them to the dryer or hangs them out.
Between 7.30am and 7.45am, I am out the door and headed for the Tube to work in central London. I usually get in by 8.15am (luckily we live in zone 2). Meanwhile, M puts Little Planet in her playpen with CBeebies on, or he brings her upstairs with him into the bedroom, while he gets ready for work.
By 8.15am, both M and Little Planet are out the door and he drops her off at her childminders' house by 8.30am. Then M jumps on the Tube to work also.
Little Planet has a busy day in daycare. There are two other babies there. While she is 11 months old, they are 16 or 17 months old and both boys. She has a great time there, apparently. The childminders already consider her part of the family and she is often the centre of attention because she is so doll-like!
Now she is 11 months old, it is hit or miss whether she will nap in the morning. Usually there is too much going on and she is too distracted to want to nap. During her weekends at home with us, she tends to nap for 30 minutes in the buggy around 11am. But she will always take an afternoon nap around 1pm after lunch for an hour or so, both at home and with the childminders. After her afternoon nap, she will have an afternoon bottle of milk - anything from 4 to 8 oz. This is the bottle we will drop soon and replace with a snack.
The childminders feed her both lunch (around 12.30pm) and dinner (at 5pm) and she has finger food snacks throughout the day. Now she has four teeth, she loves munching down on things. She is eating so much more now she is more mobile and has more teeth. There was a time when we were worried that she wasn't bothered by food. No fear of that now!
I leave work around 5.15pm to collect her by 5.45pm. I bring her straight home and I immediately take her upstairs with me. I run the bath and undress the both of us. I change out of my work clothes and plop her into the bath. She splashes around for 5 minutes while I sponge her down and then she's out by 6.10pm and I dry her and dress her in her nightwear. During weekends, her bath times are much longer and much more fun. I also lay out both her and my own outfit for the next day so I am not rushing around with indecision in the morning (see how hyper-organised everything is now that I have returned to work?!).
By 6.30pm, we are in the kitchen. She's had a snack - usually a banana or rusk. She plays while I wash up her bottles and the breakfast things. We chat and I sing with her while I also prepare her bag for the next day. I put her bedtime bottle on to warm. While the bottle is warming, I carry her round each room to say goodnight to her toys - she waves at them all. Then we go upstairs to M's and my bedroom, where we still always change and feed her. I change her nappy. By this time, she is very tired and fights me while I change her. Sometimes she is crying by now as she is so tired.
By 6.45pm, she has a bottle in her mouth. Sometimes, she falls asleep on this feed. When she has finished - usually around 7 to 9 ozs - I like to keep her upright a little, so we read a bedtime story. If she is virtually falling asleep, then the story is very short! By 7pm, I have carried her into her bedroom. The light is on and we say goodnight to her toys and I place her in her cot. "Goodnight, sleepy tight" I say and leave her. It is a rare night that she doesn't quickly settle and then sleep through to the morning.
From 7pm, the rest of the night is my own. I tidy up upstairs and then I go downstairs and prepare the night's meal. We have already planned the week's dinner menus at the weekend and have already bought all the ingredients we need for the week as I no longer have time to shop during the week. While the dinner is cooking, I catch up on work emails or read or watch TV until M returns home - usually around 9. Then we eat dinner together. I save the vacuuming and dusting and other house cleaning for an hour on Saturday or Sunday. I may hate clutter, but I am not afraid of dust bunnies!
So that's a typical day for Little Planet at 11 months with a working mum. It's been great being back at work and using my brain. I am very busy, which is exhausting at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have been craving being back in the cut and thrust of advertising for many months, so I am not complaining. It is odd working early and leaving early, but that is the way it is. As it is, I only have an hour with Little Planet after work each day. I have tried seeing if we could move her bedtime from 7pm to later, but at the moment she is too tired to last beyond 7pm.
I miss Little Planet, but I work in peace all day knowing she is having a great time with her two childminders. And I really look forward to the weekends with her. We take her out for lunch in baby-friendly restaurants such as Giraffe, we take her into central London (we've discovered the excellent Coram's Fields park near Russell Square where adults are allowed in only when accompanied by a child), we take her out on her baby tricycle and to the swings and slides in three or four parks local to us, or we simply potter about at home and in the garden.
And when my mother-in-law is here, M and I go out together - just the two of us. This weekend, for example, we saw Bill Fontana's Silent Echoes at the Haunch Of Venison - hypnotic audio and video footage exploring the sounds of five Buddhist temple bells in Kyoto when they are not ringing. We saw Thomas Steinert's stark photos of public and private lives in 1970s' East Germany, at Mummery+Schnelle. We perused the peaceful Buddhist Sculpture Gallery at the V&A. We also viewed Gerhard Richter's brilliant overpainted photos at The Photographers' Gallery. I bought Humanoid blouses from the excellent Folk Clothing store on Lambs Conduit Street, and M bought a jacket from Oliver Spencer on the same street. We bought a grey jersey dress for Little Planet from So Tiny London on Great Titchfield Street and I got very excited when they told me they are expecting some charcoal baby t-shirts with David Bowie's face on them. We lunched at the Nordic Bakery and had dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant Kikuchi.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Days of leisure # 2
M has had this week off, so we have been gallivanting around town together while Little Planet is with her childminders. On Monday, we dropped Little Planet off at 8.30am, then headed into central London on the Tube...- We strolled through Russell Square to Soho, where we breakfasted on Monmouth coffee and Chelsea buns generously studded with sweet currants at Fernandez & Wells. It felt quite decadent leisurely partaking of breakfast early on a Monday morning while media workers rushed in and out of the cafe grasping their takeaway coffees before work
- At the National Portrait Gallery, we viewed the Gerhard Richter Portraits exhibition (photo above). I had not seen much of the work on show, but I was blown away by the fleeting brushwork and found refreshing the artist's insistence that "I don't think the painter need either see or know the sitter. A portrait must not express anything of the sitter's 'soul', essence or character". He is content simply to paint what can be seen on the surface
- After a quick browse of new fiction books at Hatchards on Piccadilly, we caught the Kuniyoshi show at the Royal Academy (photo below). Looking at the prints of this prolific and masterful nineteenth century Japanese print artist, I was struck by how much contemporary manga and anime artists are rooted in the print traditions of Japan's past
- We popped into Lina Stores to buy pumpkin and ricotta tortellini for the night's dinner
- At Bar Shan, in Soho, we lunched on a variety of Xi'an and Sichuan delights: 5 spiced beef salad with fresh coriander and garlic, lotus leaf steamed buns with beancurd and vegetables, pork and chive dumplings, prawn and water chestnut dumplings, Beijing noodles with minced pork sauce and vegetables, and vegetable guotie or fried dumplings. Each dish was delicately balanced and very fresh tasting. The service was also both attentive and informative. Like the Korean restaurant Bi-won, I can see myself popping in here on a regular basis for lunch
- We spent another couple of hours shopping - Chinese (Sichuan) and Japanese (pub food) cookbooks from Foyles, a baby toothbrush from Boots the Chemist on Tottenham Court Road, storage boxes and wine glasses from Heals, and lampshades from Habitat - before heading back home to fix our bedroom curtains then collect Little Planet at 5.45pm
We spent Tuesday closer to home, in Islington...- We browsed bath suites and fittings at Aston Matthews and Bathstore, before realising that we do not need to actually change our existing bath suite, which is of very good quality - we simply need to spruce it up a bit, re-tile the bathroom and re-paint it
- In our favourite baby clothing store, Green Baby, we bought some colourful t-shirts for Little Planet
- We bought New Zealand Pinot noir and Ribera del Duero wines from Oddbins, parenting, photography and gossip magazines from Borders, and red snapper and samphire from the excellent and enthusiastic Steve Hatt Fishmongers
- Then we lunched at Masala Zone: bhel puri and aloo tiki chaat to start, then kadhai paneer and Malabar green chicken curries for mains, all washed down with a spicy masala Cola (Coca Cola with spices, crushed mint and lemon - very delicious and refreshing). Though it is a chain, I like eating at Masala Zone because the food is still fresh, light and flavourful
- For dessert, we crossed the road to the always busy Ottolenghi. M devoured a chocolate and raspberry tart with his coffee, and I demolished a lemon and raspberry cupcake with mine
- Every where we go, we talk about Little Planet - we can't help ourselves, we are boring parents! - thinking that we cannot wait to take her here and take her there, when she is old enough to appreciate and enjoy it all. We certainly hope she becomes a foodie like her parents, though at the moment she is generally non-plussed by food
- We returned home and were able to spend a good hour or so in our sunny garden before collecting Little Planet at 5.45pm
- After we bathed her and put her to bed at 7pm, M pan-fried the red snapper with lemon, garlic and capers, and served it with steamed asparagus and samphire tossed in olive oil, black sesame seeds and garlic
M stayed at home this Wednesday morning while I dropped Little Planet off with her childminders at 8.30am...- I headed to Holborn where I got my hair cut and treated at the Aveda Institute in preparation for my return to work tomorrow
- At 11am, M joined me and we walked over to Lambs Conduit Street, which has a great selection of small, independent clothes stores and cafes. M looked at jackets in Oliver Spencer and I bought several Humanoid tops at Folk
- We lunched at Life in Old Street. M had a tempura set and I had a sushi set
- Then we walked around Hoxton for a bit before returning home to collect Little Planet
- Tonight, we're having spaghetti with artichokes, lemon and garlic
See you on the other side!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Random Little Planet bits
- Separation anxiety?! In a previous post, I talked about how exhausted I was because, after months and months of being a contented little baby as happy to play on her own as with others, Little Planet was now beginning to cry every time I even turned my back on her. Well, that phase of separation anxiety lasted all of 1 week when she had a cold and when she was cutting her first tooth. Well, that first tooth cut through, her cold eased off and she reverted back to being my happy, contented, independent little baby girl again
- In fact, we now have separation anxiety of a different kind. She is having such a good time with her childminders that she cries each night when I collect her and take her away from them! Last night, she cried as soon as one of the childminders put her into my arms, and she twisted away from me to reach back out for her childminder. Fortunately, she was soon babbling happily away and smiling at me once she was on her way home
- Little Planet's latest favourite activity is to prod at a trail of ants as they meander their way across the childminders' garden
- In fact, she loves fingering all teeny tiny things. She will spot a single grain of rice across the other side of the room and, despite being surrounded by all her books and toys, she will crawl zealously toward that tiny grain of rice and prod at it for minutes at a time. Ditto a blade of grass or a piece of thread. Whenever she suddenly goes quiet, we now know it is because she has found a teeny tiny object on the floor to poke and analyse
- She enjoys throwing the coloured bricks out of her playpen at home and then crawling out (we leave the door open) and throwing them back in
- She babbles non-stop, all day long. Her favourite "word" is currently "gungala", often posed as a question, as in "gungala?" She will definitely be a chatterer
- She enjoys sucking on cucumbers and satsumas and munching down on bananas
- She loves looking at herself in the mirror and shaking her mass of curls around. If she is grouchy, then placing her in front of the mirror instantly makes her forget her woes
- She also likes shaking all her toys at this other little person in the mirror
- She is very big on looking at other people's reflections. I often catch her grinning up at me through the reflection on the oven door, for example
- Books are her favourite toys. She is now beginning to leaf through our books. Her favourite adult book to pull off our shelves and leaf through is Banana Yoshimoto's Hardboiled / Hard Luck. I think it is because it is a thin book and has a colourful blue cover
- Her second tooth has finally cut through
- It looks like she may be dropping to one nap a day. She mainly fights her morning nap nowadays, preferring to save her daytime sleep for the nap after lunch. This is fine by me, as it means we can go out earlier in the day now. Her night sleep is still long and deep
- She understands the word and concept of "no". If she tries to touch anything she shouldn't, for example the DVD player or an electrical wire, then I call out her name, say a firm "no" and then look away. So far, it works. She's not a willful toddler testing boundaries yet, though. I am the disciplinarian in our household; her daddy is the softy and one day, I am sure, she will take advantage of that
- I am sorry I am no longer posting photos of my baby. Believe me, I think she is so, so so beautiful that I long to show her off here every time I post. But now she is getting older, I think it is only fair to stop posting photos of her, especially considering that I do not post photos of myself and M. Take it from me, though, that she is as cute as ever and looks more like a little girl than a 10 month old baby!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Staying local
We didn't feel like straying too far from home this lovely, sunny and warm Spring weekend. On Saturday, we bought pungent Old Amsterdam, Brie de Meaux Donge and Pyrenees Chevre cheeses from the imaginatively titled Cheeses in Muswell Hill; we bought cod fillets from the fishmonger Walter Purkis & Sons; Little Planet crawled around the equally imaginatively titled Children's Bookshop and we bought her some colourful and bold Jan Pienkowski books (Faces and Food); and we ate brunch at the local Giraffe, where M had eggs tostada, I had a full brunch plate complete with bacon, sausages, baked beans, potato wedges, fried eggs and toast, and Little Planet got distracted from eating her lunch by all the orange Giraffe balloons bobbing away.Then we spent the afternoon at home gardening and playing with Little Planet on a picnic blanket. The day ended with cod roasted on a bed of potatoes and tomatoes and served with chermoula, and our first ever viewing of The Sopranos, season 1 on DVD, which we are watching now we have finished all seasons of The Wire.
Aside from a walk in the park and swing rides for Little Planet, all of Sunday was spent playing with Little Planet at home, reading the newspapers and generally chilling out. M baked bread with rye, wholemeal and white flours combined, and we ate it with our cheeses for lunch. He also made meringues, which he served up as pavlova with blackberries, raspberries and strawberries and whipped cream for our dessert after our Sunday dinner of roasted lamb shanks and watercress salad.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Days of leisure # 1
With Little Planet in fulltime childcare and with still a little time left of maternity leave, I have been indulging in a lot of "me time". I have...- Bought jeans, blouses, tights, shoes and ti-shirts from French Connection, Gap, Cos, Uni Qlo, Selfridges and Wolford
- Lunched at Itsu (sushi) on Regent Street and Ikeda (mixed tempura) off Bond Street
- Breakfasted with M before his work, at Konditor & Cook (sausage rolls) on the Greys Inn Road
- Stocked up on provisions at the John Lewis food hall (mainly salad leaves) and teas at Postcard Teas (Sparrow's Tongue, First Flush and Masala Chai)
- Watched the moving Genova and poignant Gran Torino at cinemas in the West End
- Viewed Kutlug Ataman's engrossingly familiar family home movies at the Thomas Dane Gallery (photo above) and Andreas Hofer's mythic art constructs at Hauser & Wirth
- Eaten spaghetti carbonara, chilli tofu and chickpea and tomato stew at home for dinner
- Househunted in North London with my mother, who is planning on moving down here to be closer to her only grandchild
And at the end of next week, I return to work. My maternity leave is coming to an end and I am both excited and nervous about this. Excited, because I am returning to a job I love; nervous, because... how am I going to fit it all in and be good in my roles as professional, wife and mother?
Time will tell.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Precious times
So Easter has come and gone. I am amazed how quickly this year is rushing by: it's already April! We had a lovely four days with Little Planet. We've been missing her now that she has started in fulltime childcare, so the four-day Easter break with her was so precious.On Saturday, we took her to the White Cube gallery to see Fred Tomaselli's colourful photograms, newsprint collages, watercolours and intricate tapestries (above). She was mesmerised by the colours and shapes, as was I. On Easter Monday, we took her to the Barbican to see the Le Corbusier exhibition. She wasn't so taken by this, preferring to gawp at all the people in the gallery instead. I wasn't taken by the exhibition either: I would have preferred a more thorough focus on his architecture than his paintings. It was great seeing his work in Chandigarh though.
The Barbican is very baby-friendly: its vast, carpeted spaces enabled Little Planet to crawl around to her heart's content. At one point, another little baby suddenly appeared on the carpet too and the two babies started to crawl eagerly towards each other. They sat in front of each other and then bumped noses. It was so cute to see. Then they exchanged toys - Little Planet and her green frog and the other little girl (who, coincidentally, was also 10 months old) and her Teletubby Po!
We also let Little Planet loose in Waterstone's bookstore on Piccadilly, where, in both the children's and fiction sections she crawled around and pulled books off shelves. She is now very much into books with buttons that press to play animal sounds or nursery tunes. So, of course, we bought several.
Most of Easter, however, was spent at home playing with her, as we no longer have the opportunity to play with her during the week. All in all, it was a very chilled four-day break with our daughter.
And of course, alot of eating got done. After Little Planet went to bed each night, M indulged in his passion for cooking. He made pizzas on Good Friday, boiled ham on Saturday, roasted Indonesian duck from a Sri Owen recipe on Easter Sunday (when we had dinner guests) and nasi goreng on Easter Monday.
And now Easter is over but I still have two weeks' of absolute leisure. Bliss.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Pottering
I spoke too soon in my last post: my cold lingered on and I passed it onto M, so the both of us had been coughing away and blowing our noses and generally struggling through each day. We finally called a doctor on Sunday, who prescribed us antibiotics; M took Monday and Tuesday off work; and we generally tried to take it easy.
Fortunately, my mother was able to spend an entire week with us last week to help look after Little Planet. Little Planet's cold has also lingered, but thankfully it is not as bad as ours. And this week, she is spending most of the day at her childminders' house so I've had the chance to take it easy on my own. I'm sleeping, reading (Graham Swift's Tomorrow, Gillian Slovo's Black Orchids, Richard Yates' Young Hearts Crying), listening to music I haven't listened to since my student days (Mercury Rev, Divine Comedy, Radiohead), and generally pottering around.
It feels strange being in the house without Little Planet. It is so quiet. I have spent many days in the last 10 months of her life away from her, so being apart from her has not been sad for me. However, whenever I have been away from her I have been away from the house - spending the day in central London or visiting my parents in East Anglia. This is the first time I have been away from her, but able to stay in my own house. And it feels so wonderful pottering around the house on my own. Not since I started maternity leave a month before she was born have I been able to have uninterrupted "me time" to simply potter and chill in my own home.
It's lovely.
Instead of feeling sad that Little Planet is no longer here with me during the day, I am happy. Happy because she is so obviously having a wonderful and stimulating time with her childminders. They are qualified childcare professionals; their house is large and warm and homely; they look after just two other babies (both 16 months, so six months older); they sing and dance and read and play; they are very much into early, pre-school, education. She is napping well there and feeding far better than with me. She has developed so quickly in the last two weeks she has been with them. She spends alot of her day trying to copy what the older two babies are doing, which is great.
I do not doubt my abilities as a mother, but I honestly believe that she is now in better care.
And today, M was able to return to work and I too am feeling much better. I am still coughing but less than before. This week, Little Planet has been spending 10.30am to 4.30pm with her childminders. Next week, after Easter, she will go fulltime - 8.30am to 6pm - in preparation for my return to work two weeks later. Next week, I hope to be better enough to spend leisurely days in central London: eating out, visiting galleries, shopping...
I have to make the most of it, because soon, too soon, my days of leisure will be over.
Fortunately, my mother was able to spend an entire week with us last week to help look after Little Planet. Little Planet's cold has also lingered, but thankfully it is not as bad as ours. And this week, she is spending most of the day at her childminders' house so I've had the chance to take it easy on my own. I'm sleeping, reading (Graham Swift's Tomorrow, Gillian Slovo's Black Orchids, Richard Yates' Young Hearts Crying), listening to music I haven't listened to since my student days (Mercury Rev, Divine Comedy, Radiohead), and generally pottering around.
It feels strange being in the house without Little Planet. It is so quiet. I have spent many days in the last 10 months of her life away from her, so being apart from her has not been sad for me. However, whenever I have been away from her I have been away from the house - spending the day in central London or visiting my parents in East Anglia. This is the first time I have been away from her, but able to stay in my own house. And it feels so wonderful pottering around the house on my own. Not since I started maternity leave a month before she was born have I been able to have uninterrupted "me time" to simply potter and chill in my own home.
It's lovely.
Instead of feeling sad that Little Planet is no longer here with me during the day, I am happy. Happy because she is so obviously having a wonderful and stimulating time with her childminders. They are qualified childcare professionals; their house is large and warm and homely; they look after just two other babies (both 16 months, so six months older); they sing and dance and read and play; they are very much into early, pre-school, education. She is napping well there and feeding far better than with me. She has developed so quickly in the last two weeks she has been with them. She spends alot of her day trying to copy what the older two babies are doing, which is great.
I do not doubt my abilities as a mother, but I honestly believe that she is now in better care.
And today, M was able to return to work and I too am feeling much better. I am still coughing but less than before. This week, Little Planet has been spending 10.30am to 4.30pm with her childminders. Next week, after Easter, she will go fulltime - 8.30am to 6pm - in preparation for my return to work two weeks later. Next week, I hope to be better enough to spend leisurely days in central London: eating out, visiting galleries, shopping...
I have to make the most of it, because soon, too soon, my days of leisure will be over.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Cures for the common cold
What a week it's been.
We spent last weekend at home - a rare weekend simply pottering around the house and walking in the local area. We spent much of our time in the garden as the weather was so fine. But then both Little Planet and I caught colds, which have plagued us all week. It's been a particularly stressful week, because Little Planet is now - in her ninth month - going through separation anxiety. She has gone from being a baby as contented to play alone as with others, to crying every time I walk away from her. Plus she's teething. In fact, her first tooth (the bottom left) cut through today. So she has been very cranky and irritable and I have been doing the best I can, with a cold, to give her the attention and cuddles she needs. But it's been hard. I've hardly seen M as he's been working long hours. So I've been home alone at night feeling completely sorry for myself and worrying about the baby.
The upside of the week is that she has started crawling in earnest and she's suddenly gone through a major developmental spurt, which is amazing to witness. She's copying actions and sounds more, she's trying to mimic words and sentences, she's interacting with her toys in ever more dexterous ways, she's showing a preference for her books over her toys, she's pulling herself up, she's dashing from one end of the room to the other, she's anticipating actions and words, she's waving hello and goodbye, she's feeding herself finger foods... just so much.
Life is ever more hectic now and much more exhausting. Trying to keep up with her and trying to keep her entertained, and having to hear her cry so much because I have dared to turn my back on her for a second, has been particularly draining with a cold. Fortunately, my friend came to spend the day with me and keep Little Planet company while I took some rest. And yesterday, my mother-in-law arrived to take over the reigns as I had a meeting at work to discuss the account I will be working on when I return to work in a few weeks.
I also took advantage of being in central London on my own and scoured the shops for a lightweight Spring coat. I found a gorgeous black tiered trench coat at the Burberry store on Bond Street and treated myself to it. Retail therapy is perfect for curing adult colds.
And a grandmother's loving attention must be perfect for curing a baby's cold, because Little Planet has also recovered.
So now the weekend has rolled along again. I think it will be a good one...
We spent last weekend at home - a rare weekend simply pottering around the house and walking in the local area. We spent much of our time in the garden as the weather was so fine. But then both Little Planet and I caught colds, which have plagued us all week. It's been a particularly stressful week, because Little Planet is now - in her ninth month - going through separation anxiety. She has gone from being a baby as contented to play alone as with others, to crying every time I walk away from her. Plus she's teething. In fact, her first tooth (the bottom left) cut through today. So she has been very cranky and irritable and I have been doing the best I can, with a cold, to give her the attention and cuddles she needs. But it's been hard. I've hardly seen M as he's been working long hours. So I've been home alone at night feeling completely sorry for myself and worrying about the baby.
The upside of the week is that she has started crawling in earnest and she's suddenly gone through a major developmental spurt, which is amazing to witness. She's copying actions and sounds more, she's trying to mimic words and sentences, she's interacting with her toys in ever more dexterous ways, she's showing a preference for her books over her toys, she's pulling herself up, she's dashing from one end of the room to the other, she's anticipating actions and words, she's waving hello and goodbye, she's feeding herself finger foods... just so much.
Life is ever more hectic now and much more exhausting. Trying to keep up with her and trying to keep her entertained, and having to hear her cry so much because I have dared to turn my back on her for a second, has been particularly draining with a cold. Fortunately, my friend came to spend the day with me and keep Little Planet company while I took some rest. And yesterday, my mother-in-law arrived to take over the reigns as I had a meeting at work to discuss the account I will be working on when I return to work in a few weeks.
I also took advantage of being in central London on my own and scoured the shops for a lightweight Spring coat. I found a gorgeous black tiered trench coat at the Burberry store on Bond Street and treated myself to it. Retail therapy is perfect for curing adult colds.
And a grandmother's loving attention must be perfect for curing a baby's cold, because Little Planet has also recovered.
So now the weekend has rolled along again. I think it will be a good one...
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Catching up and chilling out
In just over a month, I return to work and so I have been spending the last week or so preparing. I met with my boss and he told me that they want me to work on a major new account (I work in advertising). The account will involve some travel, occasionally in Europe. After nearly a year of maternity leave, I'm very excited. I've discussed my daily hours with my boss and with HR. I will start work early and leave the office at 5-ish pm each day in order to pick up my daughter from childcare by 5.30-ish and spend some time with her before her bedtime. M will drop her off each morning. I can work at home after Little Planet goes to sleep. And I can travel or work late so long as I have notice. This is the theory, and I pray very hard that it will be the practice. I think the key is not to over-think it, but simply to get on with it as all working mothers have to do.
The impending return to work has also meant trips to Aveda in Holborn to get my hair done, as well as several trips to the shops for my new working wardrobe. No hardship there! I've made an inventory of my existing clothes and have been focusing on shoes, handbags, blouses and a trench coat. So far I've looked around Selfridges and the shops around Bond Street and Regent Street, but once Little Planet starts childcare (just under a month before I go back to work) I will start looking (and buying) in earnest.
What else have I been up to... Well, I saw the excellent and moving movie Milk, on my own. Sean Penn was a revelation (and it was so hot seeing Penn and James Franco kiss). I ate, alone, at my favourite Korean restaurant Bi-won near the British Museum. M was away for 10 long days (in Chicago) and I was incredibly lonely even though I had several guests and even though I spent some lovely days going out for lunch with Little Planet and other mothers and their babies. Now that Little Planet can sit up in a highchair, is eating solids, and is enjoying entertaining herself by watching the world go by, eating out with her is such a pleasure. But now she is teething, she gets irritable quite quickly if I am out with her for too long. The other day she had a major screaming session on the bus home from a morning out in Islington. Poor little thing.
Little Planet has watched the birds and swung on the swings in Hyde Park and Regent's Park. Yesterday, M and I took her to the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery. We lunched with her at The Diner on Ganton Street in Soho. We ate thick bacon cheeseburgers with fries while she had beef and French bean puree. Then she watched the hustle and bustle from her pushchair as we shopped for provisions at the Japanese mini-market Arigato on Brewer Street and at New Loon Moon in Chinatown. We went out after her morning nap and came back home in time for her afternoon nap. After her bedtime at 7pm, M made a dinner of chicken and baby aubergine yellow Thai curry. We ended the day watching the funny Hana, a Japanese Samurai movie we first watched at the London Film Festival.
Oh yes, and since my last post Little Planet turned 9 months!
I tend to read while Little Planet naps during the day, saving the chores to when she's awake as she finds it hugely entertaining watching me fold laundry or hoovering the rugs or cooking! M bought back a thick New York Times and Chicago Tribune, which I've been working my way through. I've also finished Tony Parson's My Favourite Wife and begun Shyama Perera's Do The Right Thing. This weekend, M has spent Little Planet's naptimes gardening as the weather has been so mild and clear.
Today, we pottered around the local shops and park and then spent most of the afternoon in the garden as the weather was warm and sunny. Tonight, M is making a few Korean recipes from the current edition of the every excellent Gourmet magazine: warm tofu with spicy garlic sauce, shrimp and spring onion pancakes, rice and kimchi.
A lovely weekend with my little family. And so another week begins. M is a lawyer and one of his cases goes to trial this week so I will not see much of him over the next few weeks. But at least he is in the country. And we always have our weekends...
The impending return to work has also meant trips to Aveda in Holborn to get my hair done, as well as several trips to the shops for my new working wardrobe. No hardship there! I've made an inventory of my existing clothes and have been focusing on shoes, handbags, blouses and a trench coat. So far I've looked around Selfridges and the shops around Bond Street and Regent Street, but once Little Planet starts childcare (just under a month before I go back to work) I will start looking (and buying) in earnest.
What else have I been up to... Well, I saw the excellent and moving movie Milk, on my own. Sean Penn was a revelation (and it was so hot seeing Penn and James Franco kiss). I ate, alone, at my favourite Korean restaurant Bi-won near the British Museum. M was away for 10 long days (in Chicago) and I was incredibly lonely even though I had several guests and even though I spent some lovely days going out for lunch with Little Planet and other mothers and their babies. Now that Little Planet can sit up in a highchair, is eating solids, and is enjoying entertaining herself by watching the world go by, eating out with her is such a pleasure. But now she is teething, she gets irritable quite quickly if I am out with her for too long. The other day she had a major screaming session on the bus home from a morning out in Islington. Poor little thing.
Little Planet has watched the birds and swung on the swings in Hyde Park and Regent's Park. Yesterday, M and I took her to the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery. We lunched with her at The Diner on Ganton Street in Soho. We ate thick bacon cheeseburgers with fries while she had beef and French bean puree. Then she watched the hustle and bustle from her pushchair as we shopped for provisions at the Japanese mini-market Arigato on Brewer Street and at New Loon Moon in Chinatown. We went out after her morning nap and came back home in time for her afternoon nap. After her bedtime at 7pm, M made a dinner of chicken and baby aubergine yellow Thai curry. We ended the day watching the funny Hana, a Japanese Samurai movie we first watched at the London Film Festival.
Oh yes, and since my last post Little Planet turned 9 months!
I tend to read while Little Planet naps during the day, saving the chores to when she's awake as she finds it hugely entertaining watching me fold laundry or hoovering the rugs or cooking! M bought back a thick New York Times and Chicago Tribune, which I've been working my way through. I've also finished Tony Parson's My Favourite Wife and begun Shyama Perera's Do The Right Thing. This weekend, M has spent Little Planet's naptimes gardening as the weather has been so mild and clear.
Today, we pottered around the local shops and park and then spent most of the afternoon in the garden as the weather was warm and sunny. Tonight, M is making a few Korean recipes from the current edition of the every excellent Gourmet magazine: warm tofu with spicy garlic sauce, shrimp and spring onion pancakes, rice and kimchi.
A lovely weekend with my little family. And so another week begins. M is a lawyer and one of his cases goes to trial this week so I will not see much of him over the next few weeks. But at least he is in the country. And we always have our weekends...
Sunday, March 01, 2009
The weekend list
Hot croissants with raspberry jam and Brie cheese for breakfast on Saturday / Apple and mango rice pudding for Little Planet / A stroll through Regent's Park and a play, for Little Planet, on the swings there / Hot dog for M, sausages, mash and onion gravy for me, and beef and green bean puree for Little Planet outside in the park's Honest Sausage cafe / Walking down Marylebone High Street and buying wine and toiletries / Strolling through Selfridges while Little Planet napped in her buggy / Walking down Wigmore Street to the John Lewis Food Hall for provisions / Cab home / Carrot and apple puree for Little Planet's dinner / Homemade lamb shanks and steamed green vegetables for our dinner after she had gone to bed / Fried eggs on toast with hickory Tabasco sauce for breakfast on Sunday / Oat porridge for Little Planet / Lahmacuns, humus, pitta bread and spicy Kurdish sausage for lunch in Antepliler (sweet potato and lamb puree for Little Planet) / A play on the swings for Little Planet and watching the birds being fed in the leafy Finsbury Park / A thorough read of the weekend FT while Little Planet napped and M had a conference call / Spinach and apple puree for Little Planet's dinner / Homemade tonkatsu, miso soup and shredded cabbage for our dinner / Catching up on 90210 (my new guilty pleasure) and Eastenders (which I have started watching again recently) while M worked / Being amazed at the thought that Little Planet will be 9 months old at the end of this week / Feeling sad that M is back in the States again - for a whole week / But looking forward to the week filled with guests and outings (so far, a friend and her two babies on Monday, my cousin on Tuesday, a baby singing class on Wednesday, an outing with just Little Planet and I on Thursday, and my mother-in-law this Friday) / Also looking forward to some solo trips into town on Saturday (getting my hair done and doing some shopping) and the following Monday (seeing work colleagues and catching a movie) while my mother-in-law looks after Little Planet
Friday, February 27, 2009
It's overwhelming...
... how sad I get sometimes when I look at my daughter and think how much of her life I will not be witness to. I am neither old nor ill, and yet there will come a day when I will pass away and not have the privilege to see how she develops as a woman, how the rest of her life will turn out... Do other mothers feel this way?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Cotton days
My husband returned from a work week in Chicago with a bunch of flowers, a good bottle of wine and a couple of filet mignon. For two years ago today, we were wed.
The days and weeks since my last post have been filled with activity: sharing my days and nights with my baby, spending time with my mother (who cooked lovely homestyle Bengali meals for me while M was away and who helped me look after Little Planet), having visitors over, eating out at local restaurants with some mothers and their babies from my antenatal class, preparing for my return to work (making hair appointments, for example, and going through my wardrobe to see what new clothes I may need)...
But I have missed M desperately and he returns to the States again next week. We have vowed to each other not to invite any people over for the Easter break. It will be the week before I go back to work and the three of us need to spend time together, alone.
In the meantime, we have this weekend. Oh, I can't wait!
Happy anniversary, my love xxx
The days and weeks since my last post have been filled with activity: sharing my days and nights with my baby, spending time with my mother (who cooked lovely homestyle Bengali meals for me while M was away and who helped me look after Little Planet), having visitors over, eating out at local restaurants with some mothers and their babies from my antenatal class, preparing for my return to work (making hair appointments, for example, and going through my wardrobe to see what new clothes I may need)...
But I have missed M desperately and he returns to the States again next week. We have vowed to each other not to invite any people over for the Easter break. It will be the week before I go back to work and the three of us need to spend time together, alone.
In the meantime, we have this weekend. Oh, I can't wait!
Happy anniversary, my love xxx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)