And then there were three

Today, HSS unlocked 3 consecutive achievements.

Firstly, the Almighty Nappy Change.

Morgan decided to go gently on him and refrain from going into Uber Pooper mode on him. Watching him trying to figure out how to undo her buttons made me realise how clueless men can be when it comes to these things. No wonder so many teenage boys never learn how to unhook a bra! Kudos to whoever invented the Dreaded Booby Trap's latching system.

Once Flying Potato was carried out and Morgan was dressed again, we moved onto Phase Two.

Feeding The Beast.

Having explained how the bottle warmer works, I then showed HSS how to check the milk's temperature to ensure that an optimal warmth is reached prior to the feed's commencement. I then popped the question.

The one question most men fear.

"Would you like to feed Morgan?"

Hesitantly but faking bravado, he accepted the challenge. He held Morgan securely and started feeding her.

That is when I needed to take the photo enclosed with this blog post. The scene unfolding in front of my eyes was the kind to make any women's uterus go *SQUEE!*

Right after the feed was over, task number 3 was carried out - namely reading "Guess How Much I Love You?" out loud to Morgan.

It was a "HELL YEAH!" kind of moment in my head.

Life is good!

All of the above was followed by HSS cooking, us nomming, and then I had to go to the Doc's for the Post-Natal Appointment. This is meant to be carried out after 6 weeks from giving birth. It has been 3 months, 3 weeks now.

I hopped on the bus with Morgan after bidding adieu to my HSS, and met up with my mum. We made a pit stop in Valletta as I NEEDED to go buy a book.

Destined by Aprilynne Pike. Book 4 - the final instalment - of the WINGS series. I marched in the shop looking for it and the salesgirl saw me and said "We received it today." I had been to the shop last week to ask about it. I told her "I know" - thanks to Davide who works in another outlet of the chain of bookstores who had messaged me in the morning to let me know.

Happy times will occur as soon as Morgan allows me to have some time to read.

We got to the doc's a few minutes late. Appointment was at 4pm.. By 5:20pm we were still waiting and there were another 3 people before us still. I told the doc's wife, who was acting as his secretary today, that I had to go and to call me to reschedule.

We made a dash for it, and I managed to get back home with Morgan just after 6pm - in time for her bath and bottle.

Oh - I almost forgot. On the bus, I caught Morgan red-handed - she managed to suck on her hand without spitting out the dummy. Sneaky baby! Clever too!

We are now chilling on the sofa, enjoying one another's company prior to bedtimes.

Over the hills and far away

Today Morgan and I embarked on an Epic Adventure!

I found 3 toys for her off "What Baby Wants, Baby Gets," and decided she _must_ have them. I contacted the seller and made arrangements to meet up today at 4pm in Sliema.

My good friend Rose texted me in the morning and asked Morgan and myself for a date this afternoon. Needless to say, we accepted! Thus, our adventure began!

 Morgan and Friends - ready, set, GO!

I cleaned up Morgan and put her in a fresh change of clothes, fed her, sterilised and prepared her bottles, got ready and left home. This process tool me a couple of hours, more or less.
Thankfully the first bus arrived just as soon as we got to the bus stop. An employee of the bus company helped me get Morgan's pram on the bus, and I found out to my dismay I'd have to stand up next to her as the foldable seat I'd normally sit on was broken. Ah well.

We got to Valletta safely, and Morgan fell asleep in the process. The same employee helped us off the bus, and so I walked us over to our next bus's bay.

I felt pretty smug, walking with Morgan amongst the crowd. Knowing she's mine made me adapt a Gollum kind of silent attitude.
We got on the 2nd bus, whereby the driver was nice enough to pull up close to the pavement so I could get us on the bus easily. This time, the foldable seat wasn't broken so I got to sit down next to Morgan's pram as she slept. It was rather worrying at times, seeing the pram sway slightly when the bus went round sharp bends. We made it in one piece though, and an elderly dude helped me carry the pram, with Morgan in it, off the bus.

I met with the Toy Seller and had a brief chat with her about Mummy Stuff. Her son seemed to take a liking to Morgan. Who knows if they'll meet again in the future!

After money and toys swapped hands, we bid farewell to one another and went on our separate ways. I then decided Morgan should get to meet a prime specimen of the male Homo Sapiens, so we went to say hi to Kris, who was at work - this was Morgan's first exposure to a book shop!  On the way we bumped into Christina as well!

 We can both be spotted from miles away :D

After a brief chat with the lovely Kris, we made our way to the bus stop to go over at Rose's, which is where I met a Bus Company Employee that was nice, but looked either like a Wood Spirit, or what Pinocchio would look like had he still be wooden once middle aged. We waited for about half an hour, and then got on our third bus of the day. Morgan started stirring as it was time for her nappy change and feed, so thankfully our bus ride was a short one.

 Suddenly, a Wild Kris appeared!

Once at Rose's, I immediately attended to my Fairy's needs. Once her bum was dry, Rose fed Morgan her bottle, and we had awesome banter. Rose being Rose, she couldn't help but embarrass her son by implying Morgan is his future girlfriend and wife. It was also pretty awesome to see Adriel hold Morgan - he is possibly the first male to accept straight away and to appear to be A Natural at it.
I rather enjoyed watching Morgan interact with them two - she behaves in a unique manner with Rose. She kept trying to chew on Rose's face and nose (rather successfully, I must say) which led to our discovery that Morgan is already teething! I wonder how long it will take for her first tooth to emerge! It is rather sad, mind you, as this means my baby girl is growing up VERY quickly. That _is_ good, but I can't help wish she would remain my baby for a while longer!

 

It started getting late, and so we caught the bus back home at 7:30pm. We bid our farewells, and started the journey back home. We switched buses at Mater Dei Hospital, and Morgan quickly fell asleep, lulled by the bus's movements.

A while later, we finally got home, where we found my parents waiting for us on the bus stop. Once home, I changed Morgan into something more comfy, as did I, and we are now chilling in bed.

It has been a fun albeit tiring day. I look forward to more epic adventures with Morgan!

 

Goodnighty!

Once upon a time, books were affordable.

This morning I woke up to an article on the local newspaper about some 13 year old boy who asked for a book over a Kindle for his birthday.  "Big deal," was my initial reaction, along with "At least the love for books seems to still exist within a small proportion of the younger generations. Maybe not all hope is lost."

It always is pleasant to see a child reading a book. It is an unusual sight nowadays.  I don't blame the parents though. Not entirely. Books have become so expensive nowadays, you would think they are a luxury.  For example - a simple board book [i.e. a book consisting of less than 10 pages, made out of thick cardboard, with minimal words and colourful picture, aimed at babies/toddlers.] can cost anywhere between €8 and €15. [go to www.xe.com for a currency conversion if you live outside the Euro zone].  That, my friends, is silly expensive.  How are you meant to teach your child how to read and what the joys of reading and book ownership are all about?  Bookstore owners [as well as toy store owners who mark educational toys at silly prices] need a healthy dose of reality.  With the income most households have, and the expenses they have every month, most cannot afford to buy more than one book every... 2? 3 months?

With such expensive pricing being placed on what should be a child's gateway to other worlds... their faithful companion, friend and teacher.... it is no wonder that so many parents don't even bother and would rather plop their child in front of the idiot box, also referred to as TV.

I myself am a bibliophile, and have every intention of passing on this quality to Creature once s/he is born. What I don't intend to do, however, is to fill his/her head with all the Happily Ever After nonsense.  I know, shocking isn't it?  What I mean by that is - I find Fairy Tales so much more enticing in their original format rather than the lovey-dovey unrealistic Disney influenced modified versions.  If you're still confused, I would suggest looking up The Little Mermaid. The proper version. The one with no Happily Ever After.  You know, the one with suicide and murder involved in the picture.

I can only hope that parents do some shopping around, and perhaps try to find the cheapest possible option to stock up their children's libraries. Charity Shops, Car Boot Sales, Bazaars, The Internet - all feasible options.  Don't deny your child the joys of reading. Try to include it in your budget.  And never be afraid of giving a book as a gift. Check with the parent/a family member whether the book you had in mind might already be sitting on the child's bookshelf though. Getting duplicates can be frustrating for a child.  And getting book vouchers can be frustrating for the parent[s] due to the majority of book shops on this island having a very limited stock of interesting titles.