How Life With Baby is Now A Musical
I've noticed I have an increasing compilation of new songs. I'm hoping I'm not alone in this, but singing has this strange power over baby. Baby either grins happily (super cute) or becomes distracted from crying or potentially crying (still a bit cute.)
There's a song for changing nappies. There's also the song where I just commentate what I'm doing in a sing song voice. Then there's the song where I accidentally collide lyrics with a well-known tune. A hymn once sprung to mind whilst washing her face (maybe I needed a small miracle to try and get under that chin!?) and so now “Washing your face that the Lord hath made...” is weirdly part of the daily routine.
In addition to this, once ordinary objects are now triggers for singing. For example, I recently entered the ice cream aisle in a supermarket and BAM- musical moment: “My girl lollipop do boo do do...” (I mean, where the heck do these songs even come from in your head? I wasn't even born when it was released?!) But baby seems to think it's the coolest thing ever. For now.
My husband has developed this habit too, of turning our life-with-baby into a Webber-style production. What I find entertaining about his musical performances are the fact they often feature the same 'voice.' I would describe it as the same high-pitched voice he uses to talk to dogs. But, folks- it WORKS!
Parenting gets more weird every minute.
But I love it. Baby smiles at us lots now and it's incredible. To tell the truth, there is one song I sing to her as our own special lullaby and it's Katy Perry's 'Unconditionally.' We were sat in the car in Sainsburys' car park once, not long after she was born, and the words just seemed so apt: 'there is no fear now, let go and just be free, I will love you, unconditionally.' This song pops up into my head at the most precious of times. Cute.
Aside from singing, we've been pretty busy, hence I've been quite quiet on the blogging front for a couple of weeks. We've hung out with family; visited Quarr Abbey and Blackgang Chine; and took baby swimming for the first time. I say swimming- we clutched onto baby, bopped up and down and floated her on top of the water for 20 minutes. She seemed to think it was alright: a blank expression was all we received the entire time, so we are to assume in baby language that she was impartial to the experience. Poor baby even remained blank when she experienced her first ever face plant into water- a result of Daddy not realising quite how bouyant the waterproof nappies were (he wasn't expecting her bum to 'boing' up behind her with such force!)
There's something a bit unnerving about a baby who doesn't cry at situations like this, but instead glares at you both vacantly. It's as if she's looking at us thinking, 'you two have been on this world for twenty-plus years and you accidentally face planted a baby. Wow.'
That said, she did scream her head off in the changing rooms when she had to get out, and all eyes were on me as there were no family changing rooms for my husband to help. I yet again proved how cack-handed I am by pulling one of my bags along the floor by hooking the handle over my foot and dragging it, simply because her screaming stoppered my ability to think of any other way to bundle two large bags (yes I overpacked!) and a baby (who can't hold her own head up for long) into a squatty changing room. Cue a desperate situation for more please-stay-calm-singing.
I did get to do some actual swimming this week though, when my friend treated me to a spa afternoon. It was my first baby-free time: baby had an afternoon at Nanny's where I'm led to believe she had a lovely time (yeah, Nanny and the baby!)
But I've got to be honest, I thought leaving baby for the first time would be some big momentous, nerve-racking moment (when you think about it, baby and I had been physically attached for more than just 11 weeks.) But as I cuddled her and turned to leave, she let rip one of the wettest poos I'd seen to date. So instead of running late due to an imagined emotional-Mother-goodbye scene, I ran late because I had poo up my arms. Finally sitting in hot water at the spa was a welcome break indeed!
The only rookie (new Mum) error I did make was in leaving the pair with a small-scale dairy. I'd expressed all week 'just in case' baby required a production line of milk. Turns out baby's tummy is only the size of a large egg so she only took one of the bottles...but at least now I've got a frozen stash for when I want to run free....
Tenuously talking of 'running,' I did mention in my last blog that I was going to try and start exercising properly. Apart from the bit of swimming I did, I haven't been very successful. However, I have learnt a reassuring fact! 10-40 calories are burnt for every 15 minutes spent laughing per day and at the moment I'm definitely doing at least that. Not only are babies pretty hilarious in their own right, but I keep finding the most ridiculous of things hysterically funny! It seems to occur whenever I am with friends and family, so I guess it's just the over-excitement of being out of the house. My sister (who's due to have her baby this week- yay!) had to endure a whole lunchtime of me crying with laughter the other day. I said 'blam' instead of 'ham' or something equally as stupid, and I just couldn't get over it!? At least soon she'll join me in this delirium.
Anyway, I'm extremely excited to be an Auntie for the first time soon and I hope that next time I post that will be the case! I also hope that our style of parenting (a mixture of singing and hysteria) isn't just us... I'm not sure I'm ready for a 'crazy Auntie' label just yet...
