– 8:11 am

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, for your mother especially. From what we’ve worked out, the cost of childcare in our area is more or less equivalent to renting a two-bedroom flat. Nurseries are making a killing. The average childcare costs in the UK are… Wow! I don’t know how families are balancing this act.

So we decided to rent a two-bed instead… And move your grandparents closer to us. They’re super thrilled and very much looking forward to raising and spending more time with you. It beats putting you in the hands of strangers that’s for sure. Not only strangers but strangers on a clock. Our approach makes us way more flexible, especially with Liza’s working hours. Everyone wins.

Besides, it’s culture for us. Liza was raised by her grandparents and I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandmother. So the cycle is repeating itself with you.

For the most part, Liza has been handling the preparations, from finding the flat and furnishing it. Where we couldn’t find competitive prices, Facebook Marketplace has come in very handy. My mum used to say, “buy cheap buy twice”. That holds true today except that statement can be evolved to “Buy smart”. We’re still buying quality, just not from the shelves.

So Liza’s been running back and forth like a courier. I’ve mostly been the muscle, carrying stuff in or out. I used Airtasker to get most of the flatpacks built as I still have to work and don’t have as much downtime.

Last week, a cross-country ‘man and van’ dropped off your grandparents’ belongings. His mouth was full of gaps and the stained teeth remaining didn’t look like they’d make the road trip back to Latvia. The poor guy could barely handle the up and down to the first floor. He was that obese big and breathing very heavily. So despite paying for delivery into the flat, I felt the need to help him and ended up carrying nearly half of it. Afterwards, I texted Liza with, “Whatever you do in life, do not be obese“.

Shit! Is that the time? Brb.

– 3:08 pm

The thought of going back to work has at times reduced your mother to tears. She’s just about coming to terms with not seeing you for most working days. I’ve tried to reassure her you’d literally be a couple of minutes walk down the road. Her head understands but her heart doesn’t. It’s just one of those things. A thing only another mother can grasp.

What’s up with you since the last post? For one, we can no longer leave you unattended on anything high without protective edges ’cause you can roll over. You’re also banging on everything now. Anything close enough to reach gets slammed. I don’t know if it’s the sound driving your curiosity.

You had some sweet potatoes yesterday. Let’s just say solids are still not your thing. What little you ate was vomited throughout the day. Well done. Or as your mother has been saying (in Russian), “molodets”. It sounds like /mala-di-etes/. This is sarcasm by the way.

We’ve had some difficult nights getting you to sleep. We think it’s your gums. Grow some bloody teeth already. We’ve been massaging your gums with a Bonjela teething gel. It seems to be working. Nowadays, you go to bed at 7 pm, Liza feeds you around 10:30 or 11 and down for the night. There’s usually a scream in between and a cry for a dummy. That settles you to about four or five before you become a whingy little bitch aggy again. We try to keep you relaxed till about 7 am when I tend to feed you.

So yeah, weaning, banging, chewing, rolling and your grandparents are here on Sunday. Dassit.