Baby loves disco

Alice groovied on down in a real nightclub in the early hours of Sunday...afternoon, that is. We went with our old ante-natal class (long suffering Dads too) to Slide nightclub in Darlinghurst and averted our eyes from the real party goers, queuing for the club across the street (who didn't look as though they had been home since at least the night before - possibly longer). The theory is that nightclub space by day could be earning money so why not rent it out to people who will never make it there by night. Namely, parents of very young children.

I didn't think that the rest of the family would enjoy it that much - indeed, tickets bought in early August were only revealed to Stu within the last fortnight when another, conflicting arrangement was proposed. The price of them was only revealed as we were parking up outside. Alice has traditionally fought shy of events with lots of adults getting in the way of her socialising with other kids so I thought she might sulk. I also feared that it might be one of those sad events, where I get all morose that Alice would have more fun if she would walk on her own*

In the event, Stu and I couldn't fail to enjoy ourselves because of Alice's sheer delight - baby did indeed love disco! She was delighted by the music, the dancing, the flashing lights and the 80s/90s tunes. Most of the music was catchy but really anything with a beat got Alice up and grooving. Little friend Lila and Alice did their best bopping when "Girls who like Boys who like Boys like they're Girls" was playing, which I thought a bit questionnable (relating to the DJ's taste rather than the girls') but were equally happy with the Abba and Elton songs that flooded the speakers for most of the afternoon.

By the end of the afternoon, we were all exhausted and the club was as it might at the end of any "sesh" - the floor was sticky, the music got a bit rubbish, the lights came up... There were a few more feathers and cartons of organic apple juice knocking about and a few less men in dark corners (we are talking Oxford Street here), but otherwise looked in just the same state at 4pm as it had probably looked at 4am that very morning.

Dancing with Dad - just warming up at this point






Singing along to one of her faves





Shaking her feather boa on the dancefloor

God bless her, doing the Crocodile Rock, complete with sound effects and actions, "Snap!"

She demanded entry into the "Chillout" area, where there were books and children reading quietly, but found more feathers... And then a song she liked came on...

We popped to the bar for a drink, but even there, there was just too much fun to be had to sit still...

Happily dosing off in the car on the way home...thanks for the memories.


* Current walking status - holding our hands and walking faster than we can while doing so, completely solid on her feet, but still not quite letting go!

Dust storm

Sydney was blanketed in a dust storm today. Alice slept in, but I was up at 6am, running about the house excitedly, taking photos.

View from the kitchen at 6.15am - it would usually be light already.

Alice finally woke up to join in the fun, so here is her room's "sea view" at 7.30am

By 9am, you could make out the surrounding suburb from the kitchen. It was around this time that it stopped being fun. The advice was for all children under 5 to stay indoors with all windows closed, all day, and Alice and I were already tearing our hair out, not to mention each others. It was absolutely boiling (it was 30 degrees yesterday and the heat had built up in the house. Usually we have a sea breeze, but didn't fancy the 60mph winds and the dust they were carrying wafting through the house) and we had already exhausted the tea set, the Maisy DVDs and the new old toy - the tunnel (Me: "Where's Alice? I can't see her anywhere. Is she at the park?" Alice (giggling so that tunnel shakes): "Yes").

We popped to Bondi Junction in our now orange car (that doesn't count as going outdoors, surely) but that was even hotter because they couldn't have the air-conditioning on but did have all the lights on and a million other people there with the same idea, so we purchased an indoor-day-essential: an "In the Night Garden" DVD, and hurried home.

The afternoon was spent eating our lunches while pretending to be asleep (great new game), baking cheesey cat-shaped biscuits (went better than last time - Alice still got bored halfway through but didn't break anything) and playing shop. I set Alice up on a stool with her cash register and a bag to pack the goodies (we were playing Australian shops where the assistant does it for you). We got a few things out of the kitchen cupboards and I bought everything in the shop at least 25 times. I haven't seen her have so much fun since the last time she saw a cat.

It's a great shop. Everything costs "two" and the total for any combination of items is nearly always "two" (although bizarrely once it was "thirty". You give her any amount of money and you get "two taynge" (two change).

The skies cleared mid afternoon and before I learned that the pollution still was about 3 million times the usual level we ventured out to the beach. Even the sea had a reddish tinge. Apparently about 75,000 tonnes of dust were being blown into the ocean every hour last night and this morning and it's going all the way to the glaciers in New Zealand. Unbelievable.

Alice has told me, "Daddy work" hundreds of times today. Each time, I agreed and told her that Mummy and Alice were "at home". I didn't like to point out that today here has been quite hard work too - it seems a bit churlish. Here is the evidence of poor Daddy's tough day at the office and how the poor lamb lost his view for the morning...

Then, when the skies cleared, he went back to the grindstone in the difficult environment that is the view from his desk.

I dunno

Friends and relatives across two continents are quoting this catch phrase. Had to capture it on film before she develops some diction and especially for Nanna Keefe who has been requesting that it be preserved for posterity.


We didn't rehearse this, but she becomes a little Gielgud-esque towards the end. Then, the exertion tires her as she lies down to bid us "Night night".

Ladies who lunch

Alice caught up with her Australian fairy godmother, Auntie Niki, this week and spent the day doing what Auntie Niki likes best - lunching and shopping. We added glasses of wine and a visit to see "Lawro" the cat to ensure complete enjoyment for everyone. Alice behaved very nicely around the shops, especially in Lisa Ho, where she took a tour around the bridal room, admired the goldfish in the garden outside [shopping with Auntie Niki is not quite your standard browsing in Target and heading for McDonalds afterwards] and relaxed while leafing through the latest catalogue.

As a reward for her patience and for complimenting the Lisa Ho shop assistant on wearing a "pretty dress", we went to Max Brenner for a chocolate babycino (consumed in less than 5 seconds through a straw), where she also received a Dora toy from the staff there, which she clasped to her bosom for the rest of the day/night.

I intended purchasing a tea-set, as Alice has started "imaginative play" to quote her Auntie Bethan. If you ask me she is just pretending to pour cups of tea because everyone we saw in England brewed up about 10 cups a day and Alice thinks that is what one does. While she will happily sip noisily out of a cup made from thin air, I had been thinking about some plastic c&*p to make it more fun for her. Those who know Auntie Niki will know that she takes consumption to whole new level generally. The tea-set became a Christening gift of a china tea service from the Donna Hay store. Alice played with it when she arrived home. She seemed to realise it was a class above and stopped the noisy sipping. It even comes with napkins (you just can't call them serviettes - they are too beautiful) which she has been dabbing at her lips daintily. Then she reverted to type and started banging the cups on the table, Oliver Twist style.

Very sophisticated...

Well, almost....

I think I might need to get some back up plastic c&*p, as I am not sure my nerves can take the stress of a china tea service on a full-time basis. However, it will definitely be treasured. Alice was altogether so excited with the day that she was unable to sleep that night and kept yelling "Nitti" from her bed.

The journey home

Poor little Alice. The journey home was a truly torrid time, starting with excess baggage charges and us both being selected for random additional security screeening (where exactly was Alice going to squirrel away her explosive devices?) and degenerated into sickness in the plane bathroom and a raging fever for our small heroine, just a couple of hours into the flight.

We had already decided to break the journey by staying in an airport hotel in Singapore, which was really fortunate because a) I couldn't get Alice's temperature down on the plane since she couldn't keep down calpol or even water and b) she really needed a change of clothes and a good wash; but also bad since we had to channel Tom Hanks in "The Terminal" for 24 hours, because the 40 degree body temperature was not going to decrease if we had ventured out - there were similar temperatures hitting the mercury outdoors. A brief threat from the hotel doctor to take her to hospital passed, when she finally swallowed the medication and her temperature started to go down, at least for a couple of hours at a time.

The Grandads have a lot to answer for though, really, since as soon as she felt marginally better, she started demanding that we look for cats. We had been curled up in front of "Curious George" (which is a lovely film that we watched six times) and Alice announced "Bye bye telly" and had me walk her around Terminal 3, hunting felines. I'm pleased to report that none were found, but I am certainly looking forward to a new obsession, since there don't seem to be any in the whole suburb of Clovelly either and Alice is beginning to sulk.

Anyway, our second plane journey was more relaxed - "only" 8.5 hours in duration, it was too short for me to get any real sleep by the time the crew had finished distributing the congealed fish that passed for dinner, but Alice slept like a log despite drenching her sleeping bag as her temperature rose again.

Thankfully it all turns out to be "just" her little ears again. I'm writing this on Saturday - 6 days after we set off and it's the first day that her temperature has been below 38.5 in all that time. She seems happier again too and we were only up 4 times last night (although once was the car alarm so can't blame her for everything), so fingers crossed I'll be able to go back to work on Monday. If you had told me two years ago that work would have been the easy and restful choice - I wouldn't have believed you. Funny how things work out.

"Muddy"

Our final port of call in the Old Dart was the lovely village of Sherfield-on-Loddon in Hampshire. Alice renewed the acquaintance of the younger Pretsells, "Muddy" and "Dit". The acquaintance of Meggie would be an understatement, as Alice followed Meggie's movements and actions with a religious fervour. Meggie accepted this hero worship with good grace and the confidence that this was only her due.

Meggie has been enormously helpful both during the visit - encouraging Alice to walk, setting a good example of crafting (including getting mildly dirty hands), eating her greens and holding her own milk vessel - but also since we departed. Alice's adoration knows no bounds and the information that "Meggie sleeps on planes", "Meggie wears her hat when she goes out in the sun" and "Meggie goes to bed after her story" has warranted swift copycat action from young Alice. Easily the most popular new friend of the trip, I am just wondering how long I can milk this memory...

Tomorrow, while Stu plays an early round of golf, I think that Alice will learn that "Meggie sleeps in until at least 8am and then sits quietly while her Mummy has a leisurely breakfast while gossiping with Auntie Kirrily". Will report back soon on whether this works.

Fairy godmothers

The other day, I caught myself saying to Alice, "We know a song about that, don't we?"

In my best continuation of a Jeffrey from Rainbow impression, "I'll tell you a story":

(What feels like) long, long ago, in a (United) kingdom far, far away, Princess Alice set off for the city of London to seek her fortune at the palace of her fairy godmother Auntie Becca, and Uncle "Mite".

Her mother journeyed on ahead for a sumptuous (bbq) feast and the opportunity to sup nary a few goblets of wine without the need to get up early in the morning. Princess Alice was duly delivered by her grandparents the next day in her silver (Volvo) carriage, clutching a biscuit and settled into the care of her mother and fairy godmothers.

The godmothers set out to give Princess Alice all the riches that she deserved. She was wined and dined at the magical kingdom of Westfield at Shepherds Bush by FGM Auntie Shell...

...and taken to the park where, no sooner did she arrive, then she was forced to seek shelter from the rain in a (gingerbread) cottage, with FGM Auntie Becca.

Princess Alice didn't meet any wicked witches or frog princes but she quickly befriended the cats belonging to FGM Auntie Becca. The cats showed their affection to Princess Alice by cowering under the bed each time she approached, thundering into the room and yelling, "Miaow" at the top of her voice, but the little Princess was undaunted.

I don't have enough photos of this week, since Turner Towers has at least 10 floors and my camera always seemed to be on a different one to me, up a very softly carpeted staircase which the Princess found far too alluring. Princess Alice had a lovely time in her last week in London and Princess Alice's Mummy's liver came away intact, which was a magical gift and a surprise to all concerned (e.g. Princess Alice's Daddy's parting words when he left for Australia were, "Now, don't try to keep up with Rebecca and Michelle"). Princess Alice and her Mummy set off for the emerald city of Sydney in the land of Oz with many fond memories in their heads if not on film. And one would hope that the princess will live happily ever after too.