This time last year we had to prop Ember up with sand so she would stay seated, and now I can hardly keep up with this little ball of energy.
We emerged from our holiday bubble to a world on fire. We are safe where we are, but the haze blanketing the city is a reminder that so many are scared and suffering.
I had been feeling utterly exhausted, with an unquiet mind. On our last day I joined the family for their crack of dawn beach visit which I usually sleep through. Instead of being drained I felt a hopeful energy buzzing at the edges of my consciousness. I tried to still my mind whilst walking among the rock pools, but there was still a frenetic buzzing in my brain.
Where the river meets the sea, I looked up with surprise to see Dylan doing a Warrior II pose. “Is this right?” He asked with sincerity. I smiled and joined him in some half forgotten yoga poses on the sand. Less cliched because our lack of skill, which made it all the more fun. There was a sense of relief, and focus. Concentrating on balance, on the body, on the breath. Suddenly things seemed a lot simpler, quieter. I could see I could be happy with less clutter physically and mentally. Just my family, nature and the bare necessities.
Dylan said this was how he felt when he rode, he swam, he surfed. The physicality allowed an overactive mind to relax. I had a new appreciate for his need to be active and away, so he can replenish himself in the face of this modern world we live in. Let’s hope that by writing this here, this little flame of insight can be carried home and nurtured into something meaningful.
We’re back home and I think even Emby feels that slightly hollow feeling after a holiday because she kept waking up crying in the night. After some good naps and play with grandmu and opa hopefully tonight is better. I made sure I got the ocean white noise cued up, fingers crossed it does the trick.
So I thought I’d just post all the last couple of days images to savour the last fragments of beach holiday vibes.
Ember’s return home seems to have coincided with another mental leap. She’s started really concentrating on her mmm sounds. Mmmmmm… Ma…. Mmmmmm…Mum is it too early at just under 6 months for her to be calling out for me with outstretched arms? She’s also started getting clingy and wanting mama in the evening. Oh oh, so glad I extended my maternity leave to May to slowly ease her into childcare. For both our sakes!
There were guests downstairs so we made a nest for Emby in Nanny Annie’s upstairs bedroom so her stomping wouldn’t disturb the visitors. For one so small she certainly makes a racket. Phil’s much loved teddy bear came out of retirement to keep her company as well as her Christmas caterpillar and a colourful iPad case that she wanted to gnaw on.
Another beach visited resulted in a full face of sand, but surprisingly no tears. I think we’ll be finding grains of sand off her scalp for weeks to come, it’s as tenacious as glitter even after a nice warm bath in a laundry trough. Her new skill of sitting up makes sink baths a lot easier than when she was a sweet newborn blob.
I got use to a berry breakfast fresh from the garden everyday and it’s sorely missed now I am back home.
On our last day while everyone sweltered in 40+ temperatures in Melbourne it was 10 degrees cooler down the coast, but still too hot to do much more than enjoy a cool bath in a bucket. Her new toy submarine is made from recycled milk bottles, but still not as eco as marigolds from the garden.
Dada Dylan had to exit the festivities early to rescue Phil who had ridden an hour from home and shredded his tire. Early rumours that his tires actually melted from the heat turned out to be unfounded, which was a disappointment to all. Especially those who thought it was madness to ride out at all in the heat.
The cycling tomfoolery was not at an end though, because while Ember was reclining on her cushion with nothing but a nappy keeping her decent three hot and hyperventilating cyclists fell at Anne’s doorstep begging shelter and refreshment from the heat. I think Emby was the wisest of the bunch, cool as a cucumber under her ceiling fan.
Ember made sure she kept uncle Bevan’s favourite couch corner warm in his absence. It will be interesting who wins the coveted spot when she’s older. She does have cuteness on her side and tears and a quivering lip won’t hurt either. She also polished Nanny Annie’s floors scrupulously everyday. Sometimes on a small purple cushion, but her favourite was the hilariously long patchwork cushion that had at least two body lengths on her. Another novelty was riding on Phil’s toy cow. Why does a grown man have a toy cow you ask? No not one toy cow, he has two! Of course the answer is disappointingly mundane, he won them in a bike race. Snore!
Our last day we went for a little walk in the bush out the back because it doesn’t feel like you’ve done grey river properly without it. The bush was alive with orange butterflies so thick that battered softly against our faces as we passed through to Emby’s amazement. She rode on Dylan’s shoulder on the way back, still too small to grab on. The coastline sparkled below us as we said goodbye, until next time holidays.
After a day spent obsessing over card shuffling like the pros we realised the sun was setting on our last days of vacation. So we set up at the beach to soak up the last rays of sunlight before the hot day to come. We nestled in a sheltered nook out of the wind amongst rock pools and beached seaweed. The dogs played with the ball until cheese, corn chips and frittata came on the menu thanks to Nanny Annie.
Ember tasted her first lime which looked like it tingled on her tongue, but she kept licking her sticky fingers with some interest after the remainder had long since fizzed in Phil’s corona. She didn’t sample the corn chips but the packet held her interest for the duration of the picnic.
Whilst little dog dashed into the surf for the ball, elderly grace dog hung close to the pack. Dylan set up his tripod for some ND filter magic as waves closed in almost sweeping the tripod of its three feet. Spirits were high as we climbed the steps home, despite the fact that sandy dogs have to sleep in outdoor cupboards not on their customary rag rugs in the laundry. Some things are worth the sacrifice.
Summer holiday mornings are idled away watching Ember back stroking on a sea of hardwood floor. With a cushion under her she frog legs along, ceiling gazing, until she disappears under the couch. This new activity seems to have usurped quacking and no new words have surfaced if you don’t count the odd “ungee” which can’t yet be confirmed as “hungry”. We pass the rest of our lazy days playing cards (together), painting and surfing (separately). Sometimes this routine is punctuated with baby sized adventures.
We took Babu on her first Bush walk, that turned into more of a Bush bash thanks to grandad by association, Phil’s neglect of the path. Emby enjoyed the view while dad, hampered by the baby backpack and mum, hampered by her choice of sundress scrambled, ducked and scampered over branches and through overgrown scrub.
Some sections were veritable fairy glades with moss covered carpet, fern umbrellas and mauve fan like flowers. Once out of the eucalptus, enjoyment dipped as the tea tree scramble was accompanied by a path that suddenly sprouted blades of grass or reed like a corridor of paper cuts.
It was pretty, many parts like a Totoro forest maze (thanks aunty Jessie for the lend of the dvd, we finally found time and a dvd player to watch it) but spirits were high once we exited into open air and spied that flat ocean horizon.
Little one was just about napping due to the gentle rocking of the walk but perked up a plenty once a snack and sand were on the table.
On the way back the scrub beside the path crunched and swayed like a dinosaur was barging its way through and Ember and I held our breaths to see what monster would emerge. Out of the wildly dancing ferns appear a snout and then the hilarious little body of an echidna. No wonder they need the spines for defence with the racket they make. I’ve only seen an echidna once before at Grey so it was a real treat. I suppose Emby will think it’s standard as she’s 1 for 1 echidna sighting per trip.
After her adventures she has some of her best naps and our strict routine is still rewarding us with much better sleeps.
