Three Small Steps…

 and my baby is not a baby any more.

After a few weeks of standing solo and getting more and more stable including “baby dancing” (jiggling up and down) Chiq took three little steps yesterday.

I had a feeling she might walk before her first birthday, but I still don’t feel ready for this new stage of mobility. As well as those little steps, which at the moment are quickly followed by plonking down on her bum, she has also learnt to climb up on to the bench seat at the kiddie table.

She looks so pleased with herself – like she realises that’s she’s now this close to reaching the textas, scissors and glitter! This next stage is definitely going to test my multi-tasking Mummy skills…

Christmas Photo Success!

I always said I wasn’t going to post pictures of the kids on this blog, but I am so happy with the results of our Christmas photo “shoot”, that I can’t resist putting them up here.

Mum & Dad gave the girls matching “Christmassy” dresses, which are a bit naff, but it made them happy. Guerita was pretty keen on the idea too and they do look cute. I’m not sure I’d take them out of the house in matching clothes though.

I took a lot of photos, most of which were terrible. There was a lot of squirming

and sulking

but I finally got the shot I wanted.

I downloaded the frame from a digital scrapbooking site, popped it straight on top of the photo and, voila! Christmas Cards done! Even better, I am sending them digitally since I can’t trust the Mexican mail to send them all to the right places, so the job should not be too bad this year.

I also used some of the digital scrapbooking downloads for backgrounds on the family calendars, which have all been sent off the printers, and (fingers crossed) will be delivered by Christmas. Phew!

The Well Known Oom-pah-pah Bands of Australia

I took Chiq to her Gymboree class today. We go twice a week for one “gym” class and one music class. I really enjoy going to these classes and I think you can see the benefit the kids get from it, physically, musically, intellectually and socially. And for me its a good chance to practice my Spanish.  I used to take Guerita to Gymbaroo (the Australian equivalent) when we were living back in Australia for a while and it was very beneficial for her particularly since she was not that physically confident or adventurous, partly due to her nature, I guess, but mostly I think because she was born with clubfeet*. She spent the most part of her first 18 months in full leg plaster casts (the first 6 weeks) and then foot splints. She was a late walker and never the first to climb, run or skip. Gymboroo changed that and now you would never know that she had any problems with her feet – she runs, jumps, skips, and dances everywhere. Anyway, let´s just say, I am sold on the concept of Gymboroo/Gymboree. The Gymboree teacher here is the loveliest lady and in Chiq´s current clingy-separation-anxiety-only-wants-Mum-or-Dad stage, she is one of the few people she will go to happily with a smile and a squeezy cuddle.

So we head off to our music class today and sing a few songs, shake the bells and dance around a bit. Then the teacher says “Today, we´re going to listen to some songs from around the world”. Being away from home, I´m much more attuned to things that define Australia, that you can say are categorically Australian, so I´m immediately thinking about what you would use for a typical Australian song. Waltzing Matilda? Advance Australia Fair? Land Down Under? Great Southern Land? It´s all hypothetical since I´m not expecting them to have an Australian song – Australia´s not really on their radar.

So, I´m quite surprised when, after the Japanese song and the African song, the teacher says “This next song is from Australia“. My ears prick up, but I´m a little confused when I hear the rollicking beat. Doesn´t sound like a song I´ve ever heard. Hmmm, what language are they singing in? It doesn´t sound like English and I don´t think its Spanish, but sometimes its hard to tell in songs. Then that ummistakable tuba starts up with its “Oom-pah-pah Oom pah-pah”. The first thing that pops into my head is an image of Chevy Chase in liederhosen trying to dance the ländler in National Lampoon´s European Vacation, and I suddenly realise they are singing in German. A traditional song from AUSTRIA.

Common mistake.

*I´ve linked to the Wikipedia article on clubfeet which lists one of the possible causes of clubfeet as being the use of ecstasy in pregnancy. Just for the record – I didn´t take ecstasy while I was pregnant with Guerita (or at any time for that matter) and in fact none of the causes listed apply to her. The reality is that its the most common birth defect and in most cases (as in ours) they don´t know what causes it. Just so you know!

Cookie Exchange

Yesterday was the Christmas meeting for my book-club. I love going to these meetings when I can, because its such an interesting group of people. Its more of a book exchange than a book-club; we don’t all read the same book each month and then discuss it, we have a library of books that we all borrow from each month. Its a godsend in a place where English language books are hard to find. The club has been meeting for over 30 years and its members are ladies of all ages, many with English language background who have been living here for many years. One of the founding members is an American lady who married a Mexican and moved here nearly 50 years ago. She tells some fascinating stories about what Mexico was like in the 50s – it was a huge culture shock for her, and I’m sure, much harder to adjust than for us in the ’00s.

One of the Christmas traditions of the club is a cookie exchange. Each person brings 3 dozen cookies and we all share them out.

This was my contribution:

They don’t look that appetising in the picture, but they were pretty yummy. I chose the recipe out of a Better Homes and Garden Magazine because they were called “Super-Easy Chocolate Bars”. And they were. Here’s the recipe:

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1¼ cups)
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
½ teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). For crust, in a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt, scarping sides of bowl. Beat in the flour on low speed until combined. press two-thirds of the crust mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 13×9x2-inch baking pan.

For filling, in a medium saucepan combine sweetened condensed milk and chocolate pieces. Stir over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. remove from heat. Add nuts and vanilla. Spread hot mixture over the crust. Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over chocolate mixture. Bake in preheated oven about 35 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Makes about 25.

To Store: Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

I came home with an awesome selection of sweet treats – almond cookies, cinnamon streusel muffins, coyotas (a specialty of the region – flaky pastry with treacly-golden syrupy type filling – yum), empanadas, brownies and oat and raisin cookies. The kids and my husband are very happy (and, me too!)

“Relatively” Cold

I know that feeling cold or hot is really a subjective thing and its all relative to what you’re used, but I still chuckle when I see how people act in winter here. To put it in perspective, during summer where I live it is consistently over 35C(95F) for at least 6 months of the year, and consistently over 40C (104F) for about 3 months of the year; in other words, its STINKING HOT.

Fortunately, the winters are not quite so extreme and although it can get cool overnight, the minimums are usually around the 10C(50F) mark. But to the locals, this constitutes FREEZING weather. Today was an example of why I chuckle at this. The forecast for today was sunny, with a high of 31C(88F) and a low of 13C(55F). When we got up and got ready for school it was cool-ish. Cold enough for Guerita to wear her tracksuit for sports day, instead of the skirt, but warm enough that she wanted to tie the jumper around her waist (partly to show me this new skill she has learned – Look, Mum. I can tie it in a knot!).

So we drive up to the school gate and I notice that there are no other kids in the playground. At 10 minutes to 9, I’m pretty sure we’re not the first or the last ones to arrive. The lone teacher on drop off duty (dressed in parka, scarf and gloves) comes to the car to fetch Guerita, so I ask her “¿Dond’estan los niños?” “Where are the kids?”. “¡Hace frio! Estan adentro.” “It’s cold! They are inside.” She hurried Guerita off to her classroom, out of “the elements” and I chuckled.

When we lived in London we saw the reverse of this attitude. The weather in London is pretty grim and over one of the summers that we lived there, I was only able to go to work without an overcoat for 2 months – the rest of the year was COLD (from my perspective ). Londoners would complain about the cold and the rain and pray for a sunny day, but as soon as the temperature crept over 25C(77F) they would be sweltering! All the parks would be filled with sunbathers and everyone was in their flimsiest summer gear. When the mercury reached 30C(86F) the papers screamed “Punishing Heatwave”!

Having lived in some places with extreme heat (Mexico and Saudi) and extreme cold (skifields of Canada and France) I think I’m a bit more objective about hot and cold these days, but after a few seasons in a place, your internal thermostat does start to re-adjust. Maybe after a few more summers here and I’ll be rugging up with the Mexicans, as soon as it drops below 25C(77F)! 

A good start for the new government

Its great to see a politician making good on an election campaign promise – Kevin Rudd’s first official act as Prime Minister was to formally ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

I am probably being naive; I’m sure there’ll be things our new government does that disappoint me – maybe the distance has curbed my cynicism, but I’m filled with hope and pride for our country at the moment.

How great is it that the new frontbench has a diversity of sex, age, sexuality and race amongst its members? Seven female ministers, our first female deputy prime minister, an Asian-born Australian, an openly gay woman, the youngest minister ever (30) and people of all ages, with young children, older children or no children. There was an even split between those who swore their oath on the bible or gave an affirmation – maybe there’s a chance this cabinet and government can truly represent the diverse Australian population.

Family Overdose

Our latest visitors left today and life will go back to normal for a short time – until the next lot arrive of course!

One of the things I sometimes struggle with, being an expat living a long way from home, is that when we see our family its always “all or nothing”. We stay with my parents or my mother-in-law when we visit Perth and when they come here they stay with us, of course. While we love seeing them and miss them when we’re all apart, it can be a bit much to cope with when we are suddenly spending 24 hours a day together for weeks on end. I do look forward to the time when we are living back in Perth and can have a “normal” relationship with them – weekly dinners and regular contact in small doses!

It is lovely for the girls though, and for the grandparents to have such concentrated and uninterrupted time together. They get a real feel for the little people that they are and also get a good idea of how we spend our days here. They see the good and bad too, as my parents discovered in this last week. Chiq has not been sleeping well at all, which I suspect might be from her first molars making their presence felt. They will probably be looking forward to going home for a good night’s sleep! 

Yesterday, on Mum & Dad’s last day we had a little Christmas celebration with them, so they could give the kids their presents in person. We put the Christmas tree up and although it feels quite early for us, we’re probably the last person in the street to have their decorations up, and the only ones not to have some sort of life size Santa statue, masses of twinkling lights, or 10 foot inflatable Santa snow-dome in the front yard.

So now, its starting to feel like Christmas time. Being Chiq’s first Christmas, there’s an extra element of excitement, and Guerita is relishing the big sister role of showing her the Christmas ropes. Chiq was quite awed by our tree, and not quite sure how to go about unwrapping presents. We have quite a large (artificial) tree because last year I left my tree purchase a bit late (by Mexican standards, I bought it the second week of December) and all that was left was an 8 foot or a 4 foot one. We lived in a house with very high ceilings last year so the 4 foot one would have looked like a miniature. At the time we thought we’d be spending this Christmas in Perth and would only get one year’s use out of it. In the end a friend’s February wedding plans delayed our trip, so we’re having another Mexican Navidad.

I do like the traditions of Christmas and we decorated the tree together yesterday. Each year we collect a few special tree ornaments, including the cute ones that Guerita has made at school or daycare. One of my favourites is this one

 

a Christmas camel, which we bought in Saudi – I like the irony of it!

Potato & Leek Soup

Time for a recipe post!

I have been meaning to post a recipe for a while now, because I love reading about other people´s recipes and trying them out. I have just finished making up a batch of Potato & Leek Soup because there happened to be leeks available in the supermarket this week (not that common).

When I was pregnant with Guerita I never had cravings for anything weird or disgusting, but I would get obsessed with a particular food and need to eat it every day for weeks on end. It was very strange. At one stage I was craving hot dogs, which was not a particularly healthy thing to be eating daily, although at least they were the homemade kind and not those awful ones that have been kept warm for hours. The other thing I had a major craving for was Potato and Leek Soup and I would make batch after batch and have it for lunch and sometimes dinner too every day. Probably explains why I put on so much weight during the pregnancy, what with all those carbs and cream!

So, I can pretty much make this recipe in my sleep, and although I couldn´t face it for a while after Guerita was born, its back on the menu again these days. Its a very simple recipe with no fancy ingredients, but it sure is tasty.

Potato & Leek Soup

55g butter
115g leeks, white end only, finely sliced
4 cups (1 litre) stock
350g potatoes, peeled and chopped (if you like your soup thicker, add more potatoes than this)
pinch salt & pepper
150ml double cream
12 green leek rings for garnish
4 sprigs of fresh chervil

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the leeks and sweat gently over a low heat for 10 minutes until translucent but not coloured.

Add the stock and potatoes, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Leave the soup to cool slightly before blending it to a creamy smoothness in a liquidiser or with a hand blender. Return to the pan to heat through again. (I usually just use the bamix straight in the saucepan)

Just before serving, stir in the cream. Serve piping hot, with a few rings of leek and sprigs of chervil for garnish. (I don´t bother with the garnish unless its for guests. I am too keen to scoff it to bother about decoration!)

There´s probably a million variations on this recipe – if you´ve got a special ingredient for your Potato & Leek soup, let me know – I´d love to try different versions!

Breastfeeding Images Banned!

Recently I have been following the story of photos of breastfeeding mothers being removed from social networking sites such as Facebook and My Space. Now it seems that YouTube has removed a video of breastfeeding mothers, banning The Great Breast Fest Montage released by The League of Maternal Justice, a mother´s group whose mission is

To use the power of the mom internet community to expose the injustices perpetrated against mothers everywhere and to exact vengeance through aggressive finger-wagging and online shaming.

The video was removed by YouTube for inappropriate content and inappropriate nature. I still find it incredible that, in this day and age, people are so uninformed and bigoted about such a natural process. Bill Maher, an American comedian who hosts a late night talk show recently compared public breastfeeding with public masturbation!

Personally, I´ve never directly had problems when I’ve been breastfeeding in public, although I´ve certainly had plenty of sideways glances. I´ve always taken the view that if me breastfeeding my child makes other people uncomfortable, that´s their problem, not mine. It has bothered me more when my paediatrician has asked if I am still feeding Chiq (who´s nearly 11 months old) – with that slight but noticeable emphasis on “still”, or when my mother tries to hide her shock when I remind her I fed Guerita till she was 22 months old, and intend to do the same with Chiq. I guess she was from a generation with very little support for breastfeeding and consequently gave up when things seem to drying up after a few weeks.

The one place I did censor my feeding was when we lived in Saudi. This is a country where a flash of bare ankle, wrist or neck is considered pornographic. I have no doubt that whipping a boob out in a restaurant would have landed me in jail, probably with a few lashes to go with it. I remember once watching a Saudi woman on a plane trying to breastfeed her baby. I was amazed that she was even breastfeeding at all, as bottles and full time nannies seemed to be so common there. She struggled away, draping a heavy blanket over her head and the baby creating a cocoon for them both, so that all that could be seen was a shapeless form. I sat across the aisle, comfortably (and discretely) feeding Guerita, probably shocking them all!

My lifestyle here in Mexico means I am not as often in a position to need to breastfeed Chiq in public. Our trips out tend to be short and her routine is fairly predictable these days so I can plan around her feeds. Not that I hesitate to feed her when I´m out and about, if necessary. I´m sure it shocks some people, partly because to be still feeding a baby her age is not common here, but it all goes over my head. I choose not to notice if someone else has a problem.

I know that combating prejudice and discrimination against breastfeeding in public is not always as simple as to not let it bother you. There are loads of examples of women being asked to leave a place, to take the baby into the toilet to feed them, or generally being harassed about feeding their babies, like these examples:

• Kirstie Marshall being evicted from Victorian parliament for breastfeeding her newborn
• The uproar when Kate Langbroek breastfed her son on live national television on The Panel
• Delta airlines ejecting a passenger for trying to breastfeed her baby, prompting rolling breastfeeding sit-ins at Delta counters around the US, dubbed “lactivism” (love that term!)
• This story about a woman in the US who was harassed and bullied while feeding her baby in her local hospital

I find the Delta airlines example particularly concerning. I´ve travelled a lot with Guerita and Chiq and breastfeeding them on take off and landing is essential! Not to mention when you´re on a long haul flight, you have no other choice but to feed them – they can´t go 24 hours without food after all.

So, I´ve put The Great Breast Fest button in my sidebar and I´m now following the League of Maternal Justice´s campaigns. If only I´d known about their call for breastfeeding photos, I would have sent in a great one I have of me feeding a newborn Chiq, sitting up in bed, while Guerita sits beside me trying to feed her baby doll the same way (although the doll was aimed more at the bellybutton than the breast – we´ve since corrected her anatomical misunderstanding!).

Ruddy Bewdiful!

I woke up this morning to great news that Australia FINALLY has a change of government. After 12 years in power, John Howard and his liberal cronies can fade into the past and Australia can move on with important things like ratifying Kyoto and getting our troops out of Iraq. Now all we need is the Democrats in power in the US next year and all will be sweet.

OK, that’s enough of my own personal political views. Everyone’s entitled to their own views, its the bedrock of democracy and all that, I just had to express my pleasure at a change in direction for my country.

It’s strange being so far away from home when there’s an election on. I access a lot of news from Australia online and probably get a more balanced dose of current events than I would if I lived in Perth and only read The West Australian, as I used to do. I was up late last night and thought I’d check how the counting was going on the ABC Election site before going to bed. The seat count was a bit mesmerising so I’m feeling a bit bleary eyed today. You know you’re getting old when you stayed up late following the election, not partying till the wee hours. Even though I’ve read a lot of news stories about the election campaign in the last few months, I still feel very removed from it. I didn’t even get the chance to vote, which was pretty disappointing. We “fell off” the electoral roll last year when we sold our house in Australia and moved to Mexico and didn’t manage to get back on the roll in time for the election. I don’t think our vote would have made much difference though since our future electorate (ie the one we’ll be in when we move back home) is a safe Liberal seat.

We hear a lot about the US elections here, with a lot of exposure to US news. I can’t get over the difference in the process, although I guess its not surprising. The US campaign machine is an enormous beast and even though the election is a year away there is a truckload of money being spent by candidates, and only a couple of them will even end up in the running for the presidency. Its incredible to me how much goes into the campaign just to be the nominee for each party (is nominee the right word?). It seems like such a waste for all those billions of dollars to be spent on a candidate who isn’t even chosen by his/her party to run for President. Its an interesting time in American politics, though, with a woman and an African American emerging as frontrunners for the Democratic Party.

By contrast, the Australian elections are very low-key. The parties have been unofficially campaigning for a while now, but the official campaign was only 6 weeks long. Even after that short period everyone must be thoroughly sick of election talk! I can’t imagine if we had to put up with it for another year.

Well, that post gave the old mother’s brain a bit of workout – I can hear it creaking now! Might have to post something about the kids or food or something next, just to even it out