Sunset in Burlington

Bearfoot Adventures

Cookie is a bit too young for travelling. Or perhaps the perfect age, she doesn't have many complaints. So long as she is fed and slept. Now we are travelling the world us her playground. Luckily because our first apartment in New Jersey was so dirty we quickly became accustomed to a lower level of cleanliness than before. Wherever we go she us put on the ground and allowed to crawl around.

I just can't work out what the rest of the world does?

  

What do normal people do when they share a hotel room with their children? Or do they not? This is Xss and I in our comfy bath boat reading in the light of the bathroom as our kids sleep in the bedroom. I'd say we don't mind that much, in the same way as we don't mind that much settling an awake baby to sleep at 4am - there's not much choice.

It was particularly comfortable this one though as there were loads of spare pillows and towels.

Deadly donuts in Cambridge

We felt like locals as we joined the line for donuts sold from an old fashioned van parked on a residential drive in near by Cambridge. There have been a handful of moments so far when we eat something on this trip and exchange looks that say, 'it tastes good but surely you would die of a heart attack after only a couple'. Can you spot the maple bacon donut?

Piano playing

Who knew that our first airbnb venture was to have a grand piano in it! Cookie loved playing it.

Who attacked me this morning?

I've forgotten two crucial things for this blog. 1) the battery charger for my camera and 2) the memory card thingy to upload photos via USB. So for the foreseeable future there will be no photos of our adventures. Sorry.

We arrived in White Creek, New York last night to stay in a beautiful converted school house. It has a massive open room stretching from kitchen, over the grand piano, sofa/lounge area to the old black board on the opposite wall.  It is quiet here, and VERY dark at night. I didn't realise that I had adapted to urban living so well as when I turned the light off last night and experienced such a darkness it seemed to absorb me.

There is a rooster around. Last night Xss shooed him away, but as I think I am superior to him in understanding animal behaviour (one of my numerous random superiority complexes - don't get me started on breeds of dog, or which way is north), when he described the chicken as 'mental' I thought he was over reacting. So this morning when it came over near the swing set as Starbucks climbed on, I simply thought it was curious and generally ignored it. Suddenly it darted at Starbucks and began attacking her, pecking her backside and scratching at her. She was obviously terrified and screamed, trying to run away as this giant bird chased her. It didn't seem at all perturbed by me trying to kick it and shouting at it. I began screaming 'help' as loud as I could. Hahah. What I scene. This event has obviously made a big impression on Starbucks and in her usual way she has been digesting it all morning.

It's become slightly comical now as the mother of the person whose house we are in, (airbnb) began texting me to help and became labelled 'the chickens mum' in translation to the 3 year old. Then the chickens owner became involved and he has become the chickens dad. I'm not sure if these human characters have made it even more confusing. Eventually after the police and animal control being called (I think Starbucks is secretly delighted that the police have been contacted to tell the chicken off, but is as of yet unwilling to give up her victim card) the chickens father pulled up with the chicken sitting in the passenger seat of his car. He said he is fed up with the chicken being naughty and he was taking it to a farm. I think the inference was that he doesn't care about what happens to it, and has been letting it run wild a while. Problem solved. Calm has been restored to New England, the naughty chicken is gone.

I'm happy my children are safer, but there is really not much to do in White Creek now the naughty chicken is gone.

P.s when I woke up, correction, when I was woken up this morning by Cookie, as I settled her back to sleep in the early morning grey I saw two deer a few mets from my window frolicking. This being our first airbnb experience, is it normal to not have any curtains in the whole house?

New York wasn't my thing

New York wasn't my thing. We saw many great buildings but found it hard to really get under it's skin. We ate hot dogs, we saw the Empire State Building, we picnicked in Central Park but we didn't really engage with New Yorkers.

To be fair we stayed in New Jersery and got the tube (PATH - Pronounced paff don't be fooled) in each day, to save money ( when I say save money I mean be able to afford to visit) so we didn't exactly live in a NY neighbourhood and get to know how they work. We did enjoy our stay in Jersery city, but Xss susinctly labelled it the Croyden of New York. Regional offices and a functional area lacking personality. We did manage to make friends with the local Starbucks staff and Starbucks was a hit, giving high fives to the regular staff she knew. But some aspects of America are hard for me to take. It's unusual for us to have a mature adult working in an entry
Level service industry job, and it makes me sad how hard some american have to work to support their families with so little leave for so little pay.



I'm having issues with uploading photos (in that I forgot several gadgets and things in Britain) but I'll upload pictures soon. Cookie has two new top teeth so has been waking up a lot at night, but it's not really a problem when you are on holiday everyday is it.

I fed the baby.

Today marks something, I'm not sure what. Perhaps a homecoming? Something happened which helped me realise I've realign my life.

As I wandered around tescos tossing the baby from hip to hip due to the duration that I had been lugging around her weight; breast milk visibly leaking from my left breast and darkening my navy vest top from the overdue bedtime feed, hugging the baby with the items of shopping I had chosen whilst wandering around the supermarket looking for what to feed the girls 1.5 hours overdue their healthy dinner which was one step away from the table when I left the house. I chose a cucumber, some Sharon fruit and some baby food pouches. I also decided to carry with me a pack of nappies, some feta cheese also. The definitive moment arrived when Starkbucks, who had been trailing me around the store wining that I wouldn't carry her, sneezed. An inch of snot appeared below each nostril, swinging away. As I'd bolted out of the house (as much as you can bolt with two small people - I minimised the leaving routine by grabbing Cookie a skirt and Starbucks a t-shirt, oh and locking the doors) I had nothing on me child related. Well apart from the child I was lugging around. There was nothing for it. I stooped, said, 'Don't worry Starbucks' and I clamped the snort tendrils between a fold in my t-shirt. True story. No snail trail on my t-shirt here, oh no, a snail has died and tried to burry itself on my shirt.

I'm no saint, so in this moment I did care that I looked terrible, I was embarrassed that I was wiping my daughters nose with the bottom of my top, I regretted that I had not planned better and grabbed the baby bag on the way out, and the pushchair, and the tissues. But I was also complete. In all this chaos I was not swayed, I did not feel particularly stressed or undone, because I was on a mission.

As I turned to put the dinner on the table the doctors rang to say that a test result had come back and Starbucks was to take antibiotics as soon as possible. Starbucks had been really struggling with a temperature this afternoon, and for several days previous. Since it was Friday night I had to get onto it now. The doctor even agreed to leave her window open so that I could holler into her room when I arrived as I would almost certainly arrive after closing time.

This is the thing about babies, and perhaps one of the things that makes childless people annoyed/jealous, having a child gives you a purpose. It might not be a Nobel one, or one with any particularly clear meaning, but they refine what you are doing with your life, and help define goals where previously there was a collective rush of trying to achieve.

In this moment my purpose was clear, to get medicine for my sick child. When babies are really small it's always really clear, stop the baby crying, feed the baby, change the baby, or get the baby to sleep. These, although emotionally tiring at times are so much clearer than the goals you feel like you have to achieve in the real world. Without kids people feel the need to balance career goals, with a social life and intellect and art and being part of a meaningful relationship. When you get a baby you seem to be allowed to opt out of all of this and replace it with feeding a small person. You are then allowed to feel complete. It feels a bit like a cheat. When anyone asks about my 'career' (non existent), my love life (currently on pause) or my opinions on politics (can I vote Green because it's my favourite colour?) I can legitimately now just point to my baby and say 'I woke up 3 times with her last night' as if that's an answer. on days when I am not clear which way is up, it's a relief.

The Warm Up

I am excited to announce that we have named our upcoming journey 'The Warm Up'. We are staying positive and presuming that travelling for 10 weeks with a baby and a three year old will only inspire us to go on a longer more adventurous trip in the future!

This is slightly to disguise the fear I have developed of not knowing how to cope with the following issues:
A) how to keep a baby cool outside, when it is not cool outside
B) how to go anywhere without a double pushchair and a 3 year old that is allergic to walking
C) children waking up at 6am, here or away this is an earthly hour
D) what to talk to my husband about when there are no household chores, internet surfing or other jobs to do in the evenings. (Perhaps this is what I'll talk to him about!)

So Team Geek is off to see what it's like to have two parents constantly on hand and to learn a little more about the world. The basic intinery is as follows:

Week 1) New York
Week 2+3) New England (upstate New York, Vermont & Boston)
Week 4+5) Aruba
Week 6) Florida
Week 7+8) Mexico
Week 9) Minnesota
Week 10) New York

Is this a stupid idea with two small children? Possibly, but at least we will find out. My integrity to my future self will be intact. I don't want to regret not having done it, and if it goes well we can go again (preferably to Thaliand, Vietnam the carribean , new zeland in a camper van and pacific islands) and if it doesn't work, at least when people ask we will be able to tell them a lot of stories which might be comical then, but will be enough to reason with ourselves not to go again.

Christening Cookie

It's taken me oh-so-long to really accept that Cookie is not Starbucks. Or more concisely, that I don't have a clue how to look after a baby, I only know how to look after my baby, Starbucks. Cookie is a whole different person, and despite her being my second baby there have been more times than I can count when I've been completely at a loss as to how to stop her crying. In public. On two occasions other mothers have taken her from me to try and settle her.

It's been a much harder journey than I envisaged with Cookie. I thought two babies might mean double the work, less time to myself and a much messier house. But these were the least of my worries. Two babies means letting go of that cherished relationship with your first born. It means never feeling adequate when there is no solution to impossible situations, it means not being a 'perfect' mother to either child, it means betraying the intimate relationship you built up when you have to stand up for the gooseberry that turns up and cries interrupting private moments - even though you feel the intrusion too.

And although I feel like I've finally accepted this and found a way through it, i doubt i have. I have managed to scrounge moments with both my daughters without the other around. during nap time, after bedtime, or whilst Xss is looking after somebody. But i am yet to work out a harmonious way for us all to be perfectly content as a three for long.

But the relationship between the siblings is crazy to witness. There is such strong love between the girls already. They have moments together that could not have been created by a friend or parent, only a sibling. They are a pair.

I do love Cookie. Sometimes i struggle to like her, but i certainly love her. I love that she smells like a wet dog when she is dribbling (MY wet dog), that she has the most brilliant smile. She smells like partially baked cookies when gently warmed. She has a can do attitude, life is so exciting to her so she never wants to sleep, she is certainly her own person, and often thinks that she is funny. So we had a Christening to celebrate the gift that she is to us. Thank God for Cookie!

Starbucks: I've certainly changed a little lately. This dress is positively almost pink!!

Ok. So taking photos whilst taking part in the Christening sort of detracts from the moment, so these are post Christening in our garden.

Every time when i am just about to shout to Starbucks to stop, i catch Cookie smiling. Here she is enjoying being abused in her homemade cape

 Whats the word for this expression on Starbucks' face?

 I made the cape very pointy. I love it. no half measures here.

Trying to find out whats going on where she is not...

 She's off