It is cold and rainy, but Robert and I still managed to get out today. I wanted to go to the Cape Town Book Fair and I was on a mission to increase my mobility with the baby. I do not have a car, and it is unlikely that I will acquire one any time soon, but I am not going to sit at home with the baby or be confined to the radius of few kilometers around Jackie’s house. The stroller that Ron bought us before Robert was born is a huge and bulky thing. It is a mission to push it around in supermarkets, and a drag to stow it into the boot of a car. There is always an epic struggle to get it in and out of the house, even though we only have three shallow steps at the front.
I have been looking for reasonably priced buggies for a long time. The cheap ones I found were likely to last for a day or two, and the good ones were horribly expensive. My objective today was to visit the shops on the taxi route and maybe buy a mini stroller that I can take on board the minibus or the bus, and thus give myself more flexibility. I strapped Robert on my stomach and got on board a taxi. I think the first time I took him aboard a minibus he was small and unaware of his surroundings, this time it was different. He socialized and “talked” with other passengers and tried to charm a lady into allowing him to take her cell phone, it was really funny. On our first baby shop stop we found what we were looking for, a lightweight Aluminum buggy, that looked easy to fold. I used it immediately and proceeded towards town.
The Book Fair was interesting but a little bit too noisy for Robert. The buggy was also a little uncomfortable, and he started acting up after a couple of hours. I still manged to enter a competition, buy a map book and get a few goodies from the fair. I also met one of the moms from our Moms and Tots class. The trip back home was relatively uncomplicated. I was able to travel on the minibus with baby, baby bag and stroller. Tomorrow I will try to take the bus to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. I want to buy a backpack, to put baby’s things in it. Then I will be all set to make some mileage.
The stroller is a pleasure to drive around, and I can’t believe how I ever used that heavy unwieldy pram before. Of course, my little buggy is much more expensive than the big pram. But I always believed that one has to pay good money to get real good stuff. I also love to spend money on little treats; Robert and I shared an ice cream at the Book Fair. I hope that we will cover many more miles together in the near future.
Robert’s update this week:
He can stand by himself now for a few seconds, and watching him is becoming more challenging as he wants to explore everything. He is also beginning to cruise, walk while holding on to furniture. For example he moves from one side of the sofa to the other to get to my cell phone.
On the vocal side he now makes a whooping noise on an indrawn breath, and speaks complex syllables with tongue clicks.
The Loskop Diaries 