How Life Has Changed

Four days ago I turned 34. Not a big birthday, but it was my first with the bambino and as you’d expect, it was quite different to previous years.

Toby’s selfless gift was to spend as much time as possible with me post-midnight. This meant single sleep cycles until he eventually got up at 6am. Thanks dude.

My wonderful husband’s gift was a SEWING MACHINE! I was super-excited to see it had arrived while I was at my post-natal training session (yes, how good was I to go on my birthday). The enormous package was placed on the dining table to be ceremoniously unwrapped with much glee and paper ripping. And there it waited. And waited. And waited… until well after midday when I finally had a space in Toby’s feed/play/settle schedule to open it.

There was glee! There was paper ripping! There was a small child and rabbit both clambering to eat the wrapping paper! Alas there was not much playing to be had beyond pulling the machine out of the box and setting it on the table. Sad really, but not as sad as the fact that since Friday (it’s now Tuesday), it has sat in the same state. The machine is out of its box. It has not been plugged in. It has not been played with at all. Woe!

My birthday afternoon was marked by a coffee and cake date with another FTM (First Time Mum) survivor. Coffee & cake is what FTM’s do best and what better place to indulge an insatiable sweet tooth than a cafe DEDICATED to cake and coffee? Kurtosh has just opened up in Crows Nest and it is likely to be my dietary downfall.  The cake – white and dark mousse with a berry coulis and white chocolate base – was amazeballs. We chatted, the boys flirted with younger, prettier women than their mums (ha!), and  we managed to get through the entire catch-up without baby X putting his newly hatched fangs into Toby’s foot during their mutual toe-sucking session.

Because I hadn’t eaten enough during the day, the husband had another surprise up his sleeve in the form of a babysitter (my sister) and dinner out. Dinner! Out! We managed to get the little man bathed, changed and fed without him getting wind of our intended plans and making us horrendously late for our 8pm booking.

We ended up at our go-to spot in Circular Quay for what was to be three courses of fabulous food. Entrée’s of salmon trio (him) and beet salad (me); mains of lamb (him) and Mediterranean mille-feuille (me); and desserts of strawberry pannacotta (him) and apple caramel custard (me) had us stuffed to the brim with happy grins. In previous years my birthday dinner has also involved drinking (at least) half of an amazing bottle of wine, dessert wine and a sneaky cocktail or two. This year I found myself two glasses down feeling like my brain had floated out my ears and was hovering just above my head. Breastfeeding, you make me a cheap date.

My day of birth celebration was rounded off by one final Toby gift – getting to sleep until 1:30am! Thank you darling. Now with a bit of luck tomorrow will be the day I actually get to play with my new toy.