Circle of life

After our trip to the zoo (they have new pigmy marmosets, which are the cutest little things) and the aviary, we hung through the big pond in HK Park. Lots of fish, a few terrapins, frogs, and Eve can get so close that we have to watch that she doesn't leap in. All rather lovely. Until an unusual moment today.

"Look Eve, a mummy terrapin, baby terrapin and a froggie"

"Ah, the froggie seems to be held in the jaws of the terrapin and desperately trying to swim away"

"Hmm, maybe the mummy terrapin wants to eat the froggie"

"Oh, the skin on most of the other leg of the froggie seems to have been ripped off by the terrapin, although it is still gamely trying to kick away"

The Boy then says "Look, the terrapin is trying to drown the frog"

There then continued a discussion between the Boy and I about whether the terrapin or the frog would need to breathe first.

"Well, Eve, let's go and look at the pretty fish".

Cultural differences

As Eve gets older, more mobile, more vocal, I can't help noticing how different she is from most of the Hong Kong Chinese children in that she is, well, more mobile and more vocal.

Prime example today. We took Eve to the zoo and aviary today, she loved birds and animals. We then decided to take her to a local hotel nearby for the buffet lunch because it was raining a bit. After about 10 mins she decided she was bored and no number of toys, different bits of food, cutlery or a gift of the hotel's branded teddy bear, would stop her complaining about being seated. Once we took her out and let her run around (and trip up the occasional waiter) she was fine. However, she refused to be stationary without screaming at the top of her lungs. Normally I would ignore her tantrums, but this was a rather nice hotel.

As I carried out my wriggling, chatty baby, who had munched the nose of the nice branded teddy bear to such an extent that it was looking like it had been out in the rain itself, I couldn't help but notice all the nice, quiet, well behaved chinese children. I am clearly doing something wrong.

Waste not want not

Our apartment in HK is small. All HK apartments are small, and ours is probably considered quite big, but with two small bedrooms and no storage to speak of it is starting to seem smaller as Eve acquires more stuff.

If we were in the UK then this is when the loft and those funky bags where you can vacuum seal them would come in useful. We could put everything into the loft and forget about it until if and when number 2 comes along. My sister did this and, despite having a boy as her number 2, she has managed to offload all the pink clothes onto us and I have not had to buy a single outfit for Eve yet. However, in HK this option isn't available to us.

Most of the clothes we are giving away, although all of my friends have had or are having boys so not much luck there. H, our nanny, has given some to her niece who has just had a girl. This still leaves us with big stuff like the baby rocker, Eve's first car seat. All of this causes us two problems. Firstly, it is big and we don't have space as it is surpassed by the need to store rocking horses and pink bikes. Secondly, it was pretty expensive and I would quite like to use it for number 2 if it/he/she comes along so I don't want to give it away.

One of the Boy's colleagues is about to have his first and has only just moved to HK. After a bit of a spring clean the baby rocker has gone to them and they seem very grateful. We can take it back should we need it in the future and until then it becomes their storage problem. The car seat was relegated to under the dining table (like we ever have dinner parties anymore!), where the cat has adopted it as just about the only place in the flat she can sleep where Eve can't get to her.

Number two - wise advice

Got to love Mums, they just know how to say the right things just when you need good advice. Email from Mum today.

"I was always told to wait 2 years post birth for another pregnancy to allow the body to recover completely. Knowing that advice changes with the seasons I offer it as a suggestion only. Two are more than twice the effort and it is more like running up the down escalator than many people imagine".

Mum, I love you!

Bah Mother's Day humbug

Eve forgot it was mother's day today. She is only 14 months, so could be forgiven. The Boy, however, is not. He forgot last year too.

And then there were two?

Before I had Eve I was not in any way maternal. When friends ask me how I decided to have a baby, I honestly tell them it was because I had always promised the Boy that when I turned 30 I might be willing to have a child and because I had run out of reasons not to. Of course now I think Eve is the best thing I have ever done, but I was very happy with my life and it felt complete without a child.

Which means I am now experiencing broodiness for the first time and it is all a bit scary. I find myself thinking that I would rather like another child more often than thinking about it with horror. Eve is at a adorable age, she is lots of fun, and I think that doing it again and having two would be really special. However, I am not entirely convinced about it. The problem is twofold. Firstly, I hated being pregnant. I have only just got back my pre-pregnancy fitness and vaguely approximate my pre-pregnancy shape and I am not quite ready to give it up yet. Secondly, the first 3-4 months of Eve's life was by far the most miserable, hardest, and sleep deprived of my life. I am so glad that phase is over, and I am not sure I have the patience or mental strength to do it all over again.

The Boy is keen for another.

So, I am taking some baby steps to get a better feel for whether or not to take the plunge again. I have placed our copy of the Rough Guide to Babies in the bathroom to read on the loo. I am trying to engage a bit more with the babies in the playground to remind myself that they aren't all that boring. I am figuring out career choices to accomodate a possible second pregnancy and thinking about what might be timing that would work for all 4 of us.

Watch this space.

Young love

Jeremy, my playground admirer, has been a little less attentive for the remainder of the week. The other boys have finally let him play their games and so he has been mucking around with footballs and playing tennis with boys his own age, with not so much as a vague look in my direction. I was starting to feel quite rejected.

Until, that is, last night when from the top of the climbing frame he shouted out to me to watch him as he made what is known as the "ten foot jump" off the top of the climbing frame. He did it, was unhurt, I clapped, and he seemed pleased.

If only relationships were always so easy.