Skinner and Me Friday, 8th August, 2008
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I’ve had an uncomfortable feeling growing on me for quite some time now – a feeling that Freya is part of a dark psychological experiment that is unfolding in our lives. Anyone having a passing familiarity with B. F. Skinner’s experiments with superstitions in pigeons knows what bizarre behaviour you can introduce if you randomly confer reinforcements on a subject. Skinner’s pigeons associated the delivery of food with whatever chance actions they had been performing when it was delivered, and they developed some very strange “superstitious” rituals.
This domestic pigeon is about to participate in a psychology experiment
Well, we are clearly not far evolved from pigeons, and Freya is a powerful random reward system. If once I successfully get her to sleep, then the next time I am desperate to settle her down I develop an overwhelming desire to re-enact whatever peculiar action I may have been performing the last successful time. No matter how bizarre. It’s really amazingly powerful – and completely unreproducible and unscientific. Never before have I had such a clear window on what makes people swallow superstitious claptrap. By keeping Skinner in mind, I have managed to refrain from many weird rituals – but still I find myself singing Guantanamera at night to Freya far, far too often.
Bip and Hems Come to Visit! Friday, 1st August, 2008
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Our good friends Bip and Hems have just been to visit us from the UK! I think I scared them a bit when I used to rave on about how great it was in the Australian summer when it was really really hot. So instead they came in the bitter middle of winter. Still, it was great to have them here, and we went platypus viewing (didn’t really see one), touring (saw some wineries) and late night beer drinking (saw some Coopers, but mostly the blurry ones).
Hemel and Bipin at Light's Vision, Adelaide
Hemel cooks the best curry in the universe, and Bip has the magical ability to make Freya laugh hysterically at will. Which made us laugh hysterically, of course. It was great! Now they’re off to Sydney to see their son Mal beat Australia at rugby.
Time Speeds Up Tuesday, 1st July, 2008
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Hard to believe it’s been almost two months since our last blog. On the one hand that’s because nothing much has happened, on the other it’s because we’ve been so busy. The paradox of parenthood I guess.
I want to look back through my diary for all the highlights of the past two months – but I can’t because one of the definite lowlights was the recent theft of my backpack, with my diary, notebooks and my work computer in it. But that lowlight has been balanced by lots of fun Freya moments – laughing, proto-babbling and always, always, always trying to stand up.
I’ve been back at work part-time for the last couple of months, another reason that time has been compressed.
So, life has been full of:
Freya:
Music:
Movies:
and Books:
Image credits: Freya: Mike and Helen; others: Amazon mostly.
Freya at 3 Months Friday, 9th May, 2008
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Another baby story? Yep. Because Freya’s just turned 3 months old! And looking back over her photos from the past months, she’s really changed a lot.
12 Weeks
8 Weeks
5 Weeks
1 Week
0 Weeks
-20 Weeks
Yes, it’s just an excuse to show more pictures of her. No contest, your Honour. But at 6.3 kg, she’s now almost twice her birth weight – putting her in the 75th percentile for her age – and making her a little Budda. She clocks in at 50th-%ile for length, and 40th-%ile for head circumference. Which is way, waaaay up on her head measurement at birth, which was something like 3%-ile. If only Helen had known that during the birth, maybe she wouldn’t have screamed quite so much?
Image credits: Mike and Helen on Flickr.
Trip to Tassie Tuesday, 22nd April, 2008
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Helen, Freya and I have just returned from a week’s holiday in Tasmania. Actually it was Helen, Freya, Helen’s mum Margaret, her partner Ian and me. So it was quite a family trip, but we did manage to all squeeze into a single car – but with all our luggage, it was a close run thing.
Helen, Freya, Margaret, Ian and Mike in Hobart
We spent a couple of days at Taranna, East of Hobart, where I met Helen’s aunt Ako – and where we hung out at the local folk festival. Then we went up to the central highlands of the Great Western Tiers where Ian has a holiday shack at Miena, on Great Lake. (Not a very imaginative name for a lake, I grant you). We did a couple of day-trips and visited some local sights, including the rainforest on the way to the beautiful Liffey Falls.
Liffey Falls
Back at the shack later that evening, we were quite worried about some spots of blood that appeared on Freya’s wrap – but we couldn’t figure out where they came from. Not until I discovered the runs of dried blood caked onto my leg where it seems a leech had had me for lunch and hadn’t used a napkin. The blood had oozed through my jeans when I’d knelt down to wrap her. At least it didn’t hurt – they use a great anaesthetic.
Helen took one photo of me holding Freya when we were in that rainforest. And in it I think I can just make out a small black slug on my jacket.
Image credit: A Yorkshire tourist visiting the Botanic Gardens, on Mike’s camera; Mike on Flickr
Freya – a star at 20 weeks (gestation) Thursday, 20th March, 2008
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It’s a funny thing, but every time we check the stats on our blog, one story has been the consistent favourite for months now. And no, despite recording the most page hits on a single day when we announced Freya’s birth, that’s not the most popular post ever. That honour goes to her 20 week ultrasound image. We couldn’t work out why – until we started looking at the list of search terms people had used to find the blog. And what do you know – googling “20 week ultrasound” currently brings up Freya’s ultrasound as an image at the top of the page. Wow! That’s the kind of fame that only Google can bestow.
Freya demonstrating that at five weeks she now comes with – facial expressions!
Image credit: Helen
Womad Magic Wednesday, 12th March, 2008
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We’ve been playing host to a couple of visitors who came over for the weekend for the Womadelaide ‘world’ music festival. They very kindly managed to arrange for us to get in for the final night, so we waited until the evening cooled down and headed down to Botanic Park, with Freya in the pusher. It’s a record-breaking heatwave here in Adelaide, 10 days straight over 35C, with another week in store. As I write this at 10:30pm the temperature is still over 30C. (Update, 11 days straight over 35C, and counting.)(Another Update: we endured 15 days straight over 35C - including several over 40C.)
It was a bewitching evening – after a 40 degree day, the energy of the crowd in the cool of the night was tremendous. It reminded me of the feel of an Egyptian market, when the entire population emerges to enjoy the night air. Late in the night, I slipped off with Freya to a secluded spot under a tree, and we listened to Tibetan monks chanting in the distance while Freya watched her very first flames – a fantastic fire installation by La Compagnie Carabosse.
Fire, exotic music, the cooling night air, the smell of dry grass, the distant hum of the crowd and the sight of Freya transfixed by the dancing flames – what a night!
Image Credit: Handby at Flickr.
Culture Continues Tuesday, 4th March, 2008
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While Freya takes up most of our waking hours, and provides amazing entertainment, we have managed to keep up with some cultural pursuits – and give her a taste of what the world outside our doors has to offer.
It’s Festival time here in Adelaide, and we’re trying to make the most of the family friendly and low-budget events. Thanks to a generous friend who is a musician in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra we got tickets to the dress rehearsal of the Festival headline act: a modern opera by Osvaldo Golijov “Ainadamar” (Fountain of Tears). Freya came along, safely tucked away in the sling her Oma (that’s grandmother) made for her.
We’ve so far also smuggled Freya into the outdoor Tropfest short film screening in The Garden of Unearthly Delights and a preview screening of In the Shadow of the Moon – a fantastic documentary on the moon-landings, as well as taking her around a marvellous exhibition of the works of Robert Hannaford (who comes from Riverton, Mike’s home town):
Robert Hannaford self portrait “Illness”, 2006.
and the Festival opening night lighting extravaganza.
So don’t feel too sorry for us, we might be missing out on some sleep, but we’re not missing out on everything.
Image Credits: Ainadamar- Adelaide Festival, Robert Hannaford – Robert Hannaford, Northern Lights – Badjonni on Flickr.
A Cornucopia of Joys Thursday, 28th February, 2008
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Freya has just turned three (weeks). Already she’s changed a lot – she’s grown nearly half a kilo, and is alert and awake for long periods during the day (and, often, at night). She can make and keep eye contact, and follow things happening around her.
I’d always thought this period of her development was going to be dull – she can’t even smile yet – but to my astonishment it’s fascinating. And wonderful. So many of her small things bring us so much joy. We have been trying to teach her to settle herself on her own when it’s time for her to sleep.
But sometimes we give up, and instead just get what sleep we can…
Image credit: Helen
We’re home! Friday, 8th February, 2008
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After just two nights in the hospital, Freya and I were allowed home. Everything is a learning curve, but so far so good – she’s well, I’m well, she sleeps, I’m tired! I find it hard to believe she’s already lived her first 100 hours.
Her hands are in almost constant motion while she’s awake, and a fair bit of the time while she’s asleep as well. She can get them out of the wraps in seconds, and they are often both in the way when it’s feeding time, to her frustration, and occasionally mine. I like to think she’s conducting some unheard orchestra, although Mike suspects she’s casting enchantment spells.
Freya shows off some of her hand flourishes
More photos will be online soon.
Image credit: Mike
