{"id":13794,"date":"2016-04-19T12:21:07","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T12:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=13794"},"modified":"2016-05-09T19:58:16","modified_gmt":"2016-05-09T19:58:16","slug":"bavarian-boy-6-months-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/bavarian-boy-6-months-2\/","title":{"rendered":"My Bavarian Boy at 6 Months"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"antique<\/a><\/p>\n

After a somewhat bumpy start<\/a>, I am happy to say that six months down the line (already!) life abroad with a new baby is pretty much what I hoped it would be. \u00a0Our “Bavarian” Boy (or Bua if you’re really speaking Bayerisch) is hugely laid back and a very welcome (and super cute) part of the family – it feels like he’s been here forever…<\/p>\n

Without wishing to sound overly smug, I can confirm that motherhood third time around is a breeze in comparison to those often stressful early days of first time motherhood. \u00a0 I remember wanting to do absolutely everything by the book, whilst simultaneously going through a mourning period for my old “normal” life, having exchanged it for endless days spent with my very own tiny baby. \u00a0Not only was I overwhelmingly responsible for her, but at the time I felt like I wasn’t much of a baby expert. \u00a0I hasten to add that at no time was I ever ungrateful, I knew exactly how lucky we were in comparison to friends desperately hoping for the same life – it was just a massive life adjustment…<\/p>\n

\"bavarian<\/a><\/p>\n

Bavarian Baby stork – announcing a new arrival! \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It makes me laugh now when I think back to how long it took to get out of the house for example, and the worry that every tiny sneeze could possibly (in the eyes of her over imaginative mother) lead to pneumonia. \u00a0 Swapping my daily London commute for days spent singing songs (I still have one about bubbles embedded in my brain from 11 years ago!) and typically covered in baby food were something of an eye opener, in a mostly fun, life enhancing way!<\/p>\n

Second time around I had less time to fret about things. \u00a0Life with two very young children passed by in a blur and was usually made up of lots of improvisation and throwing lots of self issued rigid parenting rules out of the window. \u00a0 \u00a0So it’s only natural that third time around motherhood should seem even easier then? \u00a0Except this time we are obviously abroad, and I could not rely on any of the baby framework I once had around me.<\/p>\n

So what’s life like when you have a baby in Bavaria? \u00a0 \u00a0Obviously we are not in outer-Mongolia so there are masses of similarities, but there are a few differences that take some getting used to. \u00a0 Being told off for not having the correct number of layers on Small Baby is something this anti-authoritarian mother will always struggle with (despite him dressed in several layers and a snow suit on the coldest of days), and I will admit to recently wanting to ask one elderly lady whether she was “the hat police”. \u00a0 Having to bite (or not) your tongue on the odd occasion is definitely part of the norm here when it comes to baby rearing, recently in the space of around ten minutes I had someone tell me to put the hood of the pram down as the sun was in his eyes, and a few minutes later someone else telling me to put the hood up as he wanted to look around. \u00a0You have to laugh…<\/p>\n

Generally most people are very sweet though, and as much as Bavaria is child friendly, it is equally as baby friendly too. In comparison to my old life, various things have come as a refreshing change this time around – not having to struggle on London buses with a pushchair for example – here we mostly use the UBahn (when I am not driving or walking) and trains aren’t usually crowded. \u00a0 Breast feeding is not frowned upon in anyway (as long as you’re quite discreet!), and there are nice little touches like baby changing areas complete with nappies and wipes in shops that are free to use if you are a customer, so adjusting to life with a tiny person in a foreign country hasn’t been that hard.<\/p>\n

Healthcare varies in that we visit a specialist paediatrician \u00a0(a Kinder Arzt rather than our usual GP surgery) where we have monthly appointments to chart weight, height and for various inoculations. \u00a0It did come as something of a surprise at our first appointment when Mr R and I were asked to produce our own vaccination certificates, and on not being able to do received several on the spot vaccinations ourselves (and the whooping cough one gave me a bit of a reaction – I have had tinnitus ever since so if anyone has any cures?!).<\/p>\n

And what about the boy himself? \u00a0 He has been busy cultivating two lower teeth to perfect his overtly gummy smile that he uses to charm all and sundry. \u00a0 At six months he can’t quite sit up by himself yet, but is happy to sit in his high chair to have copious amounts of food shovelled in. \u00a0He has a voracious appetite, and a bit of a penchant for spinach and apple – quite often but not intentionally together. \u00a0 His favourite time of the day is the afternoon when we pick\u00a0up his brother and sister from school – he has a bit of a fan club there and gets a lot of attention from a vast percentage of the school community. \u00a0 He differs very much from my other two in that he loves bedtime, maybe that’s a Bavarian baby thing. \u00a0It is highly likely that his German is already better than mine as well as most people communicate with him in that.<\/p>\n

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Just a spot of bedtime reading with frog. A change from my usual travel\/bavaria\/cake posts, but this tiny chubster has a “kleine geburtsdag” to celebrate. Where does time go? #blackandwhite #halfbirthday #sixmonths<\/a><\/p>\n

A photo posted by Emma (@bavariansojourn) on