Being pleased

It has been a busy few weeks. The busyness itself might be a reason for my blog silence but perhaps also my blog persona decided to slip into a quiet state of recluse to enjoy the peace that my real life persona has been craving. Anyway, I'm ducking my head back in here to say hello.

Pull up a chair.

We have moved. Finally a lovely space to call our own. Sometimes the pieces all fall into place and you see God's hand at work. This long process of moving has been one of those experiences. Moving from small apartments and most recently a granny flat to a big house is a lovely change. I am adoring having a garden, something I did not at all appreciate when I was growing up. I think a garden is one of those things you don't really miss until it's gone. Luka is loving the stairs. Up and down he climbs, laughing every time as he peeks through the railings on his way up.

Helping Grandpa build a bed.

Our house it furnished with a few pieces that made the move from Tokyo, but mostly is a motley collection of lovely pieces generously gifted to us. I look around each room and see the blessings of family, the family by name and the family we have been adopted into. It is so beautiful to be a part of this network.

Lunch with family at our new house on Mother's Day.

Bedtime stories with Bibi.

I moved to Japan 13 years ago with two suitcases. Since then I have accumulated far too much stuff. With every move, I would throw a few things away. But I would also pack a couple of boxes and send them back to Mum and Dad. I finally have opened all these time capsules, containing things whose only purpose is to bring back memories. I had letters from 1999 from the Japanese embassy telling me the time to come for exams and interviews for the program which took me there to live for a number of years. I unpacked certificates from piano exams in high school. I piled up MDs (mini-discs?) which were all the rage in Japan when I was first there. I haven't owned an MD player for many years... I discovered the journal I kept as a twelve-year-old girl travelling overseas for the first time, to California for six months with my family. Unpacking them all has been fun. Some I have kept. Some I have finally thrown away.

We are funny creatures. I remember when I was younger learning about crows, how they collect shiny things just because they are attractive. At the time I thought that it was a decidedly odd thing to do. I have more rooms in this house than I've had before and I can think of so many shiny, pretty things with which to fill those rooms. We are just as odd, really, as crows. Most of us, if we are sitting at a computer or on a phone reading/writing a blog post like this, have very few needs that are not fulfilled. I would hazard a guess that most of what we buy - other than the food we eat - falls into the fun-but-quite-unnecessary category.

So I have been thinking about contentment, being happy with what I have. I love to dream about the future, I always have. It is fun and helps to be prepared, helps guide our learning and thinking. But it also has the danger of putting us in a mindset where we are not enjoying where we are and what we have. Instead of looking ahead at what might lie around the bend in the road, I am trying to remind myself to enjoy this, the here and now. As G.K. Chesterton said, "being 'contented' ought to mean in English, as it does in French, being pleased." I want to be pleased with what I have, as well I should be. It is, indeed, a very pleasing life!

Most pleasing of all, this little man is about to turn one.

I'm not quite sure where the year has gone but I know it has been the most delightful. There is no better reason than a growing child to enjoy the here and now. I am busy planning a small but special day just for him.

Catching the train into the city last week.

He started daycare last week. Just one day a week at the moment, and he loved it. No tears and no looking back. He hardly had time to say goodbye when I left; all he saw was new toys and new people to play with. And as for me, perhaps I should have been missing him more. But no, I relished the uninterrupted day of peace and quiet. Loved my day alone. And then loved the smiles on his face when I went to collect him at the end of the day! Gorgeous.

At the beginning of the day...

And at the end of the day.

Uninterrupted days are quite needed at the moment. I am in the third week of my studies and already behind. I have two law degrees from two different countries. Studying law again, in a third country, seems like a bit of overkill. But as I don't have much choice if I want to practise here (and going along with my efforts at being content), I am choosing to look at it as a privilege. How amazingly lucky are we to be able to study and learn and grow?

My boxes of law textbooks. There is one more still in the garage. I can't quite bring myself to throw them away.

And on a final note:

"He stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni"
"They all ran after the farmer's wife, who cut off their tails with a carving knife"
"When the bough breaks, The cradle will fall, And down will come baby, Cradle and all"
"Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater, Had a wife and couldn't keep her; He put her in a pumpkin shell, And there he kept her very well"

How did we grow up even semi-normal singing such weird nursery rhymes when we young?!

Free smiles

Our street in Paris

There are so many things I should be doing right now. I yesterday wrote a list of lists I need to write (life to-do, business to-do, to buy for new kitchen, to buy for new house, to write, people to be in touch with, etc etc). After a wonderful three-and-a-half weeks away not thinking too much about reality, coming back has hit me big time. We are moving in just over a week and not much is packed. I start full-time study the same week as the move, and Luka will start daycare one or two days a week. Life has taken off again.

To top it off, jetlag has set in. Luka is a little star. After a rough adjustment in DC, I was a bit scared of how he'd cope with the time difference when arriving back in Sydney. He has surprised me wonderfully and is sleeping through the night only three nights in. I am not so sensible, however. Although my eyes burn, I wake up between 3 and 4 absolutely unable to sleep. It is tiring and frustrating, so today I give in and am instead up with a cup of tea, writing. A much better way to get rid of the thoughts in my head than letting them all mull there, unattended to.

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Life is so much easier at home, sleeping in our own beds, knowing where things go, having space to move around, having areas where Luka can roam freely without me chasing after him pulling things out of his reach as we go. It has been a relief in some ways to be home. But, oh, travel with a baby is just such fun. Especially this baby. Even with all the inconveniences, there is so much joy and depth.

Enjoying the sights together!

The internet is already full of tips for travel with babies and kids. I'm not going to add to/repeat them but wanted - as much for my sake as anyone else - to put down a little of our experience.

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During this trip, I wanted to stay in apartments rather than hotels. I have done it before and it makes for a much nicer trip, in my opinion. It means having more space, having a kitchen, a washing machine, a separate bedroom. With Luka it was even more valuable having these things. It takes a little more time to arrange than hotels. There is more choice, each place with its own quirks. I had a great place lined up in Paris, only to get a message one morning a couple of weeks before leaving that noisy, dusty building work had just started in the building. Not ideal with a baby so I started the search again. And it took a long time. A lot of back and forth. But worth it. I used airbnb, which I've used before and it worked out well.

In DC, the location was of prime importance - we stayed just a few blocks from my brother's house so we could easily walk there. The apartment itself was weird. No living room, internet only in the bedroom or bathroom. (I did resort to going to the bathroom and working on my computer, using the toilet as a chair more than once.) The bathroom was bizarre. It had an enormous bathtub about the size of a single bed. In a tiny apartment. Very weird.

Playing in the bath, that to Luka must have seemed more like a pool. I couldn't actually bath him without getting half in myself.


Off for a walk with his cousin Maddy. So good to be close to them!

The NY apartment was a bit more normal. It was on the Upper East Side, with a view over the Queensboro Bridge. Annoyingly (and amazingly, for 2013 in a NYC apartment rented out to travellers!), there was no wireless internet and the wired connection we couldn't get to work.

Luka happy to be back in our UES apartment!

Our little Paris home for two weeks was so... Parisian. It was on the second floor and, of course, no lift. It was small - to be expected - and the kitchen was tiny. We could only fit one of us in there at a time. To open the fridge, we had to stand behind the door and bend over it with some degree of flexibility to see inside. The shower had no curtain so showers were an interesting - and much less relaxing than usual - experience. In all the apartments, we had to do some baby-proofing immediately on arrival and life was perhaps not quite as fun as usual for Luka, as he had more to explore and less liberty to do so, as we went after him taking things out of his hands. (He thought the toilet brush, broken floor tiles, sharp knives, candles and incense were all great toys.) The owners of the apartment left a gift for Luka - a very cute soft toy. Despite its oddities, we really enjoyed our time in this apartment. We managed to cook some good meals, settle ourselves in, and feel at home by the end of our stay.

Luka enjoying the apartment in Paris - hard to contain the mess of three people in this space...


Luka eating in his high chair, on the only chair in our apartment in Paris. We grew adept at eating on our laps on the sofa!


Easily entertained - the washing machine at Remy's apartment provided endless amusement.

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Luka must have set himself a task upon leaving Sydney: to take his smile around the world and infect as many people as possible with happiness. (You know the people who give out free hugs? Luka's free gift is smiles.) It was an easier task some places than others. Loud New Yorkers loved talking with him, laughing at him, making faces at him. Paris was not quite so easy. He would often ignore me and whoever else he was with on the metro, in restaurants, wherever, preferring to fix his eyes on a stranger near him. He would smile and laugh and talk to them, willing them with all his energy to communicate with him. Most people did their best French attempt at ignoring their surroundings and living in their own little world. Until Luka broke them. It was so funny to watch. He would get them smiling shyly and quietly back at him. And then, that one person now smiling, he would move his attention to the next conquest. It would start again.

He was particularly entertaining on the planes, he would stand up on my lap and peer over the seat to his audience behind him. (Don't worry, I didn't let him dribble on them, whack his hand on screens, yell loudly, etc. I don't want to be that mum...) For a long time, he would just smile and laugh with everyone, whether or not they would react. On one flight, we were near the toilets. Everyone standing there waiting would be suitably entertained with his antics.

It is exhausting on planes with a little person, but we had some great experiences. Qantas was great, American Airlines awful awful awful, and Singapore Airlines was superb. There were a number of long flights. At "night" (obviously a fluid concept when travelling between timezones), he managed a couple of longer stints in the bassinet when he had one. My aunt and I even managed to watch a couple of movies! When he was awake, it was quite tiring - holding someone who doesn't want to be still and entertaining someone with a very short attention span is not easy. But he was great. I am proud of my little traveller.

Sleeping on the seat between us; the one flight we didn't have a bassinet at least we had a spare seat!

We were going into the boarding area at Singapore airport, changing planes en route from Paris. The man checking our passports looked at mine. "Kate," he said, looking at me. "Robyn," looking up at my aunt. "Luka," smiling at looking who was putting on the charm. Completely straight-faced he looked back at me: "Do you live on the second floor?" Rob and I started at each other... Huh? "Excuse me?" I asked him. He repeated "Do you live on the second floor?" More blanks stares from us. Then he continued: "You know" and he started singing "My name is Luka, I live on the second floor..." As we worked out what he was talking about, there was much laughter from us and the staff and passengers around him. He thought he was pretty funny! Once in the boarding area, Luka crawled around, again entertaining everyone. He had them laughing and one even taking his photo.

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We are done with travel for a little while now, but new experiences will keep on coming, even in Sydney suburbia, and more smiles will be shared.

Luka means light. It is my prayer for him that he be a light to those around him, a prayer I already see happening before my eyes.

Coming to an end

I have decided I do really enjoy travelling with a baby. Our days are full and interesting, with new sights and sounds and tastes for both Luka and me. Our evenings are quiet. Once Luka is in bed, we sit drinking wine, cooking and eating dinner and unwinding. A little daily window of enforced quietness and relaxation. It does the soul good.

We were planning to put Luka to sleep one evening in the stroller and then take him out with us to a restaurant for dinner. But the prospect of carrying the stroller-with-sleeping-baby down two flights of narrow Parisian stairs, find a restaurant that would fit the stroller, try to relax through dinner while hoping he wouldn't wake and need settling out in a noisy restaurant, and then getting back home, up the stairs and all into bed... it got too much. The lazy nights at home have been lovely!

Only two more sleeps before we jump on a plane again for the long trip back to Sydney. In all the time we've been away, I think I've been by myself outside the house for about 10 minutes. I'm tired. But it is a good kind of tired. I knew this trip would be difficult in some ways, but overall it has been about the best I could have hoped it would be. Special places and experiences for me, special memories and family time for my sweet boy.

Many photos now, to piece together a story that my words tonight can't.

The view from our apartment window


Our metro stop. (I love that being here two weeks we have "our" bakery, butcher, supermarket, metro stations, etc...)


Our neighbourhood


Outside our apartment building


Luka is now quite the little restaurant connoisseur. Thank goodness for France and their never-ending supply of delicious bread to keep him entertained and happy! Although he doesn't eat only bread, by any means. Lunch yesterday, he had coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon, and poulet roti. A couple of days earlier it was duck confit and chicken with risotto. He has good taste!


Love drinking wine at lunch.


I've always loved the doors here. Walking down the street is such a lovely experience.


Nowhere is as fun without a fun travel companion. Thank goodness for Robbie! It hasn't exactly been a holiday for her but she is and has been wonderful.


Visiting the sights with my Luka


And oh, what sights there are to see...


Another door. Leading to nowhere.




A quick play outside before going in the Notre Dame. Always amazing.






I justify the number of nutella crepes I've eaten by reminding myself that we're only here two weeks...


Lots of fun. Lots of tickling. Lots of laughter.




Cardboard box tunnel. The best toy.


Sophisticated boy in the cafes of Paris. Love him.


Playing at the Cite des Enfants. He loved it!


Again at the kids museum. Hours of fun to be had!


Jardin de Tuileries, teasing us with its hints of spring. We've had a couple of nice weather days towards the end of our stay, but mostly we've had a very cold spring again.




La Duree macarons on the Champs Elyssees. I couldn't let Robbie do a visit of Paris without them!




The first day of real spring weather and we were in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont. With the rest of Paris. It was gorgeous.


Walking home from the park that same lovely spring day. The other half of Paris seemed to be on the banks of the canal.


Sacre Coeur. Breathtaking. I love it.




Streets of Montmartre






Sharing cuddles with Luka




Travelling has had a few moments of unusual breastfeeding places. Love this. More enforced moments of stopping and relaxing throughout the day.

Now to bed. Tomorrow to say goodbye to this place for a little while at least. Saturday to fly. Wish us well!