dale's thoughts

Home and Family

Last Thursday morning Callum and I picked up Cassandra and Annabelle from hospital. Annie settled in well during the first day, sleeping for most of it and seeming comfortable and happy. Then night time hit! She was active and up most of the night, seemingly wanting to play. This has lasted for a few days, the first was the worst but it is slowly getting better. Best guess is that she is trying to break out of her old 'in womb' cycle: sleep during the day when mummy is moving about, play during the night when mummy is still.

It's nice having a baby in the house again. I've called Annie 'my boy' or 'Callum' several times now - she is so similar to the way Callum was as a baby but she also has her own traits. The hair is the obvious similarity - both Annie and Callum had long black hair when they were born, with the slightest tinge of red. Their faces are similar but not identical so it will be interesting to see Annie develop.

Callum is very protective of 'my Annabelle' or 'my baby' and I know already he will always take care of her. The other night I took her away to settle her when she was crying. Not long after Callum sat up in bed and yelled out 'what is daddy doing to Annabelle?'. Cassandra comforted to him and had to explain that she was upset and needed comforting. Callum is helping out at nappy change time, bath time and the occasional bottle feed. He's quite happy to hold her even when she is crying. He is very proud of being 'big brother'.

The weekend didn't really feel like the weekend since I'm on holidays and paternity leave. Saturday night we went for a Christmas gathering at Garth and Rebecca's place with Grant, Jenna and Alastair. Rebecca put on a mighty fine Christmas dinner. It was great to catch up with friends who've become somewhat neglected as time goes by and since we've had the pregnancy to work around.

Today we went to see Cassandra's grandmother Doreen, who had a minor heart attack last week and is still under observation at Bowral hospital. She was looking well (Cassandra tells me that seeing Annabelle picked her right up) so hopefully she will be able to go home soon. I hope I look that good at her age, but I doubt I'll get there (85?). I've always had a feeling I wouldn't make it past 75, if I was lucky enough to get that far. We'll see. Grandma is a lovely person and I've seen more of her than my biological grandparents (because my grandparents on my mothers side have passed away as has my grandfather on my fathers side). Bill (who has caught a virus and isn't doing too well at the moment) and Doreen are very welcoming and lovely people and have accepted me from day one. I'm not sure when I started calling them 'grandpa' and 'grandma' (probably because it was very early on) but they as real a set of grandparents to me as anyone could ever be. I hope they get better soon.

Christmas is in about 8 minutes as I type this: bah humbug!. I used to love Christmas as a child and I still like the idea of getting together as a family, but in my 'old age' have become quite cynical about the commercial slant of Christmas.

Best things about Christmas:

1. The look on a child's face as they unwrap a present.
2. Family and friends get togethers.
3. Christmas pudding!

Worst things about Christmas:

1. The perceived need to buy your child a large present (to make up for the fact you neglect them for the rest of the year).
2. Double demerit points (why can't this be year round to get bad drivers off our roads?)
3. The perceived need to spend money on presents and not to be seen as a 'stingy miser'.
4. Realising that Christmas time is the only time you make an effort to see some of the people you love.

There, the 'nays' have it - Christmas is bad, let's cancel it ;)

That being said, we've decided to give Callum a small book and some Smarties from 'Santa' leaving two of the slightly larger items (I think we spent around $25) as having come from his parents. Everyone else pumped him up so much about Santa and Christmas that I can't bear to break his heart. He'll be getting a bigger bicycle as a present sometime in January when everything comes back to normal price and it will come from his parents, not some marketing mascot.

Today we'll be visiting gramps at some stage and having lunch with Cass' father Colin and Cheryle. It will be fun playing with Callum and his present in the backyard if it isn't raining. If it is we'll be playing 'Dora' cards and the game he likes to call 'whoever gets caught by the joker'.