Merri Creek and other updates.

Here's what we've been up to:

-baby sleep training. (don't ask)

-class. (it's hard to study with a baby)

-exploring Melbourne on the weekends.

Speaking of weekend adventures, we went to Merri Creek for some exploring last weekend. We visited the labyrinth and wishing tree, enjoying the pretty surroundings along the way. I didn't take pictures, but I did take a few videos to practice using iMovie (as I'd like to make a few short videos during our trip to the States this July). The following is just a practice run for me to figure out how to use the program: please enjoy my mediocre filmmaking!


I'm also hoping to take some videos in a few weeks, when Ben's younger sister and nephew come to visit us...

That's right, we've got more family visiting Melbourne! The planning was actually all very last-minute. Ben and I were looking up childcare options for my intensive class in May, and the cost of hiring a full-time nanny for over a week was about the same cost as... a plane ticket from the U.S. to Melbourne...?

"We should just ask Saralyn if she'd want to come down to watch Arden for a week if we cover her ticket," said Ben.

"She'll probably laugh and say 'awww, I wish!'" I replied. "But sure, it can't hurt to ask?"

So he did. And she did not laugh. She did not say, "awww, I wish!" She immediately talked to her partner, asked for the time off work, applied for her son's first passport, looked at tickets... and they're officially coming in two weeks! Arden gets to bond with her auntie and sweet 6-year old cousin, they get to see Melbourne, and I have some peace of mind in leaving the baby with loving family for the week. Yay!

Ben is incredibly excited that some of his family can finally make the trip. My mom has stayed with us twice, but other members of our families haven't been able to (yet?) for reasons such as finances, health issues, fear-of-flying and other priorities. All understandable, but we always love hosting family (and friends, and even random acquaintances from college!) while we're still living in Australia. We love showing people around Melbourne. And Arden loves meeting her family, while sleeping really well during their visits.

Right, sweetie?

CK

easter adventures.

This past weekend was Easter, which in Australia means I get a 4-day weekend! Every year we have grand ideas of taking a trip during this long weekend, whether it be Sydney, Hobart, or Uluru, but every year those ideas always fall through. Last year our plan was Sydney, but by that point little Arden had begun the process of slowly sucking away all of Candice's energy (like a dementor, but much cuter) and she also felt like she was on a never ending journey across the Tasman Sea. But we still managed to get out and explore this beautiful country.

This year we settled on Hobart as the destination, as it's a very short plane ride away and a small enough city that we could easily explore it in 3 days. But then the sleep regression hit, and the flights and hotels were looking too expensive, so we again made the decision to postpone our trip to another time. After having seen Wilson's Prom last year, how were we going to top that this year? Fairy trees and bats, that's how!

On Good Friday almost nothing is open, so we decided to wander around the city and wound up finding our way to Treasury Gardens. It's a bit sad that we've never been there before, considering it's technically in the CBD, but because we live in Docklands we almost always end up walking around here or down Southbank, and hardly ever make it to the east side of the CBD. Treasury Gardens is pretty small, but they have a beautiful JFK memorial fountain/pond that was a perfect place to spend a relaxing afternoon. There are leafy trees providing plenty of shade, little fountains and a waterfall, and there were even baby ducklings swimming in the pond. It was another place to add to our list of great places to feed Arden (we love taking breaks in beautiful spots to feed her, so we can enjoy the scenery and fresh air while she has her meal).

JFK memorial pond

A few months ago, my co-worker had told me about the flying-foxes (aka giant bats with cute fox-like faces) colony along the Yarra River near Kew. I did some research and found out how to get there, and on Saturday we headed off to see them. We made a pit stop at our favourite cafe in Kew, Percy's Aeroplane cafe, to grab a coffee and the most delicious nutella doughnut I've ever had.

After a nice 30 minute stroll, we found our way to Bell Bird Park, and looked around in amazement at the thousands of bats surrounding the river. When we first arrived in Australia we had been amazed when we saw one of the bats in a park in Kew, but now we were looking on tens of thousands of bats. It was awesome. According to an informational sign near the lookout, the flying-foxes used to roost seasonally in the Royal Botanic Gardens, then established a permanent colony in the gardens in 1986. Growing populations led to concerns about the impact the flying-foxes would have on the gardens, so they were successfully relocated to Yarra Bend Park in 2003, where they have remained since. I can't imagine how they managed to relocate 30,000 flying-foxes without them returning to the gardens, especially when we can't even get Arden to nap on her own.

Yarra Bend Park

We took a bunch of pictures, a few short videos of them screeching and snoring, and settled down at the viewing platform for a snack. Candice was a bit concerned about them coming and attacking us, but since we didn't have any juicy fruit (they love that gum) I wasn't too worried. It's hard to believe that one of the largest flying fox colonies in the world is just nestled in the suburbs of Melbourne, and that we'd been here for over 2 years and never seen it. It reminded us a bit of Raymond Island, with its huge koala population - a place many people have never heard of, where you can see large quantities of awesome Australian wildlife.

Easter Sunday we decided to take Arden to church for the first time. We had found a church shortly after moving here, but had only gone for a couple months before I was on the road all the time and before we knew it almost 2 years had gone by since our last visit. All in all, it was a pretty successful first service for Arden. She was entertained by the music and watching all the people coming in, then got fussy during the sermon (insert witty joke here) so I took her to the side and rocked her to sleep for the rest of the service. We were a bit jealous of the other babies who were content to sleep in their prams, but that has never been Arden. After church we were able to reconnect with our good friends Cindy and David and their two boys, and had lunch with them and some other families while talking about the joys and struggles of raising a baby.

Arden's first church service!

Arden in her pretty Easter outfit!

Monday was Daddy-daughter morning, so Mommy could have some time to breathe and relax. Candice was a bit worried at first (and so was I truthfully) as when I loaded Arden up she was screaming and writhing around. Fortunately, Arden loves being outside so as soon as we left the building she was happy as can be. We took a nice walk around our neighbourhood, while she mostly slept in her Ergo, and I did a bit of shopping at Harbour Town. I then fed her a bottle (she's getting better and better, yay!) and bought a couple things before heading back home. It was great, and so nice to be able to have some one-on-one time with her. I also really enjoy feeding her a bottle, as she loves wrapping her little hands around my thumbs and holding them the entire time she is drinking. It's one of so many things I love about her.

Later in the afternoon we decided to explore Fitzroy Gardens, which is right next to Treasury Gardens, and another place we had never visited. On the way there we met a Mom and her two kids, and the little girl ran up to the pram to greet Arden and exclaimed "hello baby!" The kids then proceeded to chat with us for a while until they headed off in a different direction, with the little boy telling us he knew a shortcut to get to the dragon slide. Dragon slide? Sounds like my kind of park!Fitzroy Gardens is really beautiful. We visited the dolphin fountain, the fountain of the river god, saw the dragon slide in the kids playground, a fairy tree, and stumbled randomly upon the mini Tudor Village (a gift from the city of Lambeth, England in appreciation of food that was donated from Victoria during food shortages after World War II). Arden was awake the whole time, checking out everything with her usual puffy cheek stare. It was a great way to finish our long weekend together.

dolphin fountain

mini Tudor village

fairy tree

Our weekend walks to new areas of Melbourne gave us a renewed appreciation for how much there is to see here, and how little we have seen. It's inspired us to branch out a bit more, to search out other parks, walks and interesting attractions to visit and explore. We don't know how long we will be here, but we love this city and want to be able to say that we saw and experienced as much of it as we could. And since we have a little girl who loves taking in different sights and sounds, now is the perfect time to do it. On to the next adventure!

-BK

enjoying the moment, and other thoughts.

Arden is almost 5 months old now, and I find myself getting a bit emotional because she totally isn't a newborn anymore. Technically she stopped being a newborn at 3 months (babies are "infants" after 3 months), but for some reason her 4-month milestone held more weight for me this time.

Arden's 4-month photoshoot - time flies!

I find myself caught between wishing Arden would grow up faster, and wanting to hold on to her sweet babyhood for just a moment longer. It's hard to believe, but Ben and I have actually reminisced about the "good old days" when Arden was so young she would drift off to sleep in our arms at a moment's notice (none of this rocking/feeding to sleep craziness), or when she would cluster feed long enough for us to park in front of the television for an interrupted movie (I never thought I'd ever miss the cluster-feeding days!). She is a highly interactive child, always wanting to stare at things, fighting sleep almost every naptime or bedtime. In fact, her "4 month sleep regression" has gotten so bad that Ben has moved into the guest bedroom for the past two weeks and counting, and our attempts at corrective sleep training have not gone well.

more caffeine, pleeeease

Anyway, I'm terrible at goodbyes in general, and sometimes it seems like parenting is one long goodbye. The stages go by so quickly, and we are constantly saying farewell to sweet little quirks without even realising it. Like Arden's adorable "failed sneezes" as Ben likes to call them - where she would gear up for a giant sneeze, but only a cute little <sigh> would come out. Her sneeze success rate is almost 100% now - how bittersweet!

But parenting is also one long hello. Every week Arden makes a new discovery, or starts practicing a new skill or mannerism. Now when we sing to her, she breaks into a contagious and uninhibited smile, sometimes even in the midst of a crying spell - needless to say, I sing to her a lot these days! She likes to puff out her cheeks when she stares at people on the tram, and she looks kind of like Nien Nunb from Star Wars when she does it. She's also starting to show signs of interest in rolling over (but still hasn't), and likes to grab her growing collection of plush elephants. I love watching her learn about the world around her, and we're looking forward to eventually taking her to places like the zoo and aquarium and seeing her big eyes light up with wonder, probably years from now - but we're excited.

We've been trying to enjoy the Autumn festivities as much as possible, such as the Moomba Festival two weekends ago. We don't really do much at these events, but it's fun to take Arden in her stroller or the baby carrier, and just walk through the crowds and absorb all the energy. I was also reminded of last year's festival, watching the Birdman Rally on the grassy bank - scarfing down a bag of dry crackers because I was simultaneously famished and nauseous (yep, I don't miss that). It's hard to believe that I was pregnant with Arden a year ago! 

this year's Moomba festival

I got to try my hand at single parenting for four days, when Ben went to Wodonga on a work trip two weeks ago. It was pretty challenging, especially during the evening hours when I would normally get a little break to eat dinner before starting the chaotic bedtime routine. But we made it through. I even took Arden to class with me (usually Ben comes to the university to watch her), and she was pretty well-behaved. And now she knows a little more about journalism!

These days, I'm trying to actively enjoy the moment - something I admittedly have a hard time doing. I'm not the most anxious person I know, but I often look back on phases in my life and wish I had taken them for what they were, instead of worrying about the future. I recall 2014, when I got to tag along on Ben's work projects around Victoria, exploring little towns and taking artsy pictures of everything - "living the dream," really. I look back on those days with rose-tinted glasses, but I remember how dark that time felt without today's context, feeling worthless without a legitimate purpose in life (like a job, or school). I know I tried to enjoy those moments while they lasted, but those memories are tinged with feelings of despair and lack of direction.

So here I am now, in a completely different place - but still worrying about milestones and classes and whether or not Arden will ever be able to go to sleep at night without me. But I know I'll miss these days of constant caring for the baby. As the saying goes: the days are long but the years are short. 

Here's to the long days.

CK

white night 2016.

This past weekend was the fourth annual White Night festival! Inspired by Nuit Blanche in Paris (I actually got to interview one of the curators of both festivals during my internship last August), the one-night festival takes place on the closed-off streets of the Melbourne CBD from 7pm-7am. The event is dedicated to artwork, performance, exhibits, food stalls, and of course - intricate light-themed displays.

Ben and I have enjoyed this festival since 2014 (our first year was way too chaotic during prime time, so we went home and came back at 4 in the morning; last year was a bit easier to navigate from the beginning), and it's always been an end-of-summer highlight for us.

Things were a little different this year due to our little 3.5 month-old. We didn't want to stay out too late (she's going through a sleep regression, which makes us wary of messing with her bedtime too much...) so we weren't able to see everything in its illuminated evening glory. But we enjoyed walking along the closed-off roads during twilight, catching little glimpses of art and music for a few hours.

We passed by a flute beatboxer in a busking zone, saw an exhibit about German 1980's subculture at the RMIT gallery, heard a few songs from the band Thelma Plum, and wandered around some of the projections at the State Library. We walked down to the Victoria Gardens to see some sculptures and took selfies by the giant golden monkey at Town Hall.

Town Hall monkey!

watching the flute beatboxer

1980's subculture exhibit

State Library projections

The reviews of this year's event weren't entirely favourable, and we definitely noticed the lack of overall displays and fluidity between exhibits. But we still enjoyed the experience and the fact that Melbourne continues to put on such cool festivals and events. And of course, we're so glad that we can still have adventures around the city with Arden.

Also, in case you couldn't tell, I've decided that I need to take more videos during our time in Melbourne, because it's such a cool place. I'm really going to miss this city someday...

 

CK

the end of summer.

It's the last month of summer in Australia! While I'm a big fan of hot weather and sunshine, I'm very glad the season is coming to an end this year. Because babies are terrible at regulating their temperature, and Arden hates the heat. So, here's to cooler weather in the hopes that it'll make our baby happier!

Anyway, here are some updates from the past few weeks:

According to our parent-friends, the 3-month mark is when things start to get "easier". It feels like things are actually getting harder, but I guess some things are becoming more manageable. For example, Arden recently decided that she doesn't loathe the stroller - so I've been taking her on a nice walk every morning, just around the neighbourhood. She loves looking around at the waterfront, and people enjoy smiling at the "beautiful little boy!" - I guess Batman onesies aren't as gender-neutral as I thought?

stroller time!

dressed like mommy!

Arden still doesn't nap well unless she's carried, but I've been trying to put her down for at least one nap a day (a very short one, and fed-to-sleep which is a huge crutch... oops) to start training her to snooze independently. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but we'll get there eventually..!

napping in the mobywrap. I know I'll miss these moments, someday...

I've been attending a few meetings for local moms of babies around the same age, organised by and located at the Maternal and Child Health Services. I'm terrible at making friends and socialising (and bouncing a baby while trying to do anything social is a real challenge!) but it's been nice having something to look forward to outside of our daily schedule, and to see Arden in that environment. It's fun seeing a pile of babies in similar ages, each of them different and "advanced" in their own ways. Ben has also been joining us for a "Baby Makes 3" meetup, which discusses how relationships change from "couple" to "family" and how to adjust in a healthy manner. I have to say, Victoria definitely provides some pretty great - and free - services to new parents and families.

Arden loves socialising just as much as her mama does!

Arden's 3-mo. daddy/daughter photoshoot

We finally received Arden's birth certificate, which means we can get the ball rolling on all the official "you made a person!" paperwork. We took her to the U.S. Consulate to register her as an American citizen and apply for her Social Security Number and passport. As of now, she is only a U.S. citizen - Australia does not partake in birthright or jus soli citizenship the way many American countries do - but at least she's a citizen of somewhere! Security is super tight at the consulate, and normally we're only allowed to take our forms and wallet past the main lobby. But this time they let us include a diaper with our paperwork, which was kind of funny. I would have taken a picture, but phones aren't allowed either! :)

Arden loves reading.

This past weekend was Chinese New Year, and also Arden's first 100 days - a milestone celebration in many Asian cultures. There are New Year festivities all month long around Melbourne, and our neighbourhood is hosting the Lunar night markets, a new thing this year. Sadly, the giant light-up dragon that used to reside in our neighbourhood for the past two years is no longer there, but they replaced it with a phoenix and some jailed baby pandas. Cute.

okay, they're not actually in jail. just fenced-off for security purposes.

it's the year of the monkey!

phoenix.

yummy yakisoba. 

This was the first Super Bowl since moving to Australia that Ben and I didn't really care about (because the Seahawks weren't in it - sad!). But Arden and I had fun watching the halftime show before her afternoon nap.

slay, Beyonce, slay.

As February draws to an end, I'm getting ready to go back to school to (hopefully) finish up my Master's degree this semester. I'll be taking one regular class (two hours once a week) starting in March, and have registered for an intensive week-long class in May, but we'll see how things go. I'm a little nervous about trying to balance school and mommyhood, but I think it'll be manageable.

I really don't understand how mothers in the States can return to full-time work after only a few weeks of maternity leave. I'd be lying if I said I never wished I could escape the stay-at-home life sometimes (and I can definitely see the appeal of returning to work) - but Arden clearly needs her mother around all the time, and I'm pretty sure she's not the only baby who does. I know there's a lot of heated conversation about SAHMoms vs. working mothers, and I don't want to stir up any of that. But I wish that all mothers could be able to do what's best for themselves and for their babies - without pressure from society, lack of decent maternity leave or other external reasons - whether it's going back to work, staying home full time, or anywhere else on the spectrum. I'm privileged to be able to stay home with Arden for as long as she needs me. And I hope I never take these days for granted.

CK