Farewell blue skies

Final preparations are underway for Alice's trip of her little lifetime. Alice has spent most of the week accompanying her mother to various salons, shops and pharmacists to be beautified, conditioned and to purchase enough products to increase Qantas's fuel costs still further. I keep reminding myself that we will be visiting 2 civilised countries where they have shops and everything. However, I like the products I know and familiarity breeds content, as they don't say, but should.

Alice has been most obliging with the trips about the place and has sat quietly next to me in the hairdressers (she learned to smile politely at screaming queens who claimed they could "eat her up"), has been babysat at the beauticians (Russian lullabies went down a treat) and has charmed the various pharmacists (including the one who produced a secret teething remedy from under the counter in Paddington and rubbed his hands together gleefully, cackling about how good it was).

She's also been bidding a fond farewell to her little chums...


...and catching up on some Baby Einstein - here, she got most peeved when her photo was taken and refused to pose, but looked around the photographer to the TV (you can almost hear her sigh when you look at the picture)


The impending 6 month mark has meant the last lot of jabs for a while (thank goodness) and Alice is now immune to a load of 19th century diseases and is sporting a very swollen thigh to prove it. This lot have been the worst so far (I wonder whether they up the dosage as they get older?) and we have had a couple of bad nights. Monday is her 6 month check-up and I have dutifully filled in the questionnaire in her blue book, although I have been unable to express "concern with her preschool skills". I am concerned at my inability to understand what these might be at 5 3/4 months, but I think that Alice herself is doing just fine.

Our weekend holds many adoring Aunties and Uncles wishing to see our little angel pre-departure, but it is all somehow contrived so that Alice has all her sleeps in her own bed. I am hoping that resting her will help to make the flight and the jet lag that little bit easier. That and the homeopathic "Baby Calm" that we also purchased from the alchemist in Paddington. We will see you all "on the other side".