{"id":14772,"date":"2016-10-18T11:43:53","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T11:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=14772"},"modified":"2016-10-18T18:54:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T18:54:58","slug":"moon-shadow-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/moon-shadow-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Moon Shadow – One"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"one<\/a>
Yes, I know the 1 is back to front!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you happened to have some form of music available, they say that you will always remember the song that was playing when your baby is first placed in your arms.<\/p>\n

The Small Girl, thanks to the wonders of Kingston Hospital FM (that, together with the gas and air had me hallucinating about ABBA at one point!) was born to the sickly strains of Shania Twain’s “Looks like we made it” when she eventually decided to grace us with her arrival. \u00a0Not a choice I would have made, had it been up to me and my incredibly organised list of “things that absolutely should happen during labour with my first baby”, which of course went out the window when reality struck. \u00a0 Anyway, as much as good old Shania is hardly my cup of tea, the words do ring quite true nevertheless, and I think of our first moments as a family when I now hear that song.<\/p>\n

With the Small Boy, my labour was very different, and a lot more relaxed (as much as these things can be!) – \u00a0and to suit the mood, he popped out to Simon and Garfunkel’s rather beautiful (if not overly played) Bridge Over Troubled Water (also on Hospital FM!) – whilst I wondered whether his hands were abnormally large, and whether he would remain a cone head forever (they aren’t, and he didn’t thankfully!)…<\/p>\n

The Baby and I obviously had a very different experience altogether last time around (not one I would wish to repeat), and we were deprived of hospital radio (but, given Bavarian radio’s obsession with bands like Status Quo, Genesis and Scorpions, in hindsight might not have been such a bad thing!). \u00a0 \u00a0Neither had we been organised enough to take any form of music of our own to listen to for the ordeal (not that I could have heard it with all the moaning from next door going on, and the bloody builders outside!), but we do have a song…<\/p>\n

Our first hours together obviously didn’t go exactly as planned<\/a>, but on that first evening in intensive care, and as darkness slowly fell outside, the nurse that looked after me bought me my baby to hold and attempt to feed as they felt I was now strong enough to try. \u00a0 And as I lay there propped up in the darkened room with a whole spaghetti of wires and tubes attached, and with moonlight streaming through the window, I sang Moon Shadow to my tiny perfect infant. Again its not a song I would usually listen to, it just appeared and felt right. \u00a0And when I hear it now I still think of that bitter, but totally sweet moment of our slightly delayed, painful but beautiful start…<\/p>\n

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

And in what seems like a flash, a whole year has passed and the Baby is ONE! \u00a0 \u00a0 Our turbulent initial days as a family of 5 are well and truly behind us, and he has brought nothing but joy and laughter to our lives ever since – especially as his cheeky personality emerges. \u00a0 I love this age as the first attempts at talking and walking begin. \u00a0So far every animal is “dog” and he has mastered “no” and a very cute “yes” which sounds more like “yish”. \u00a0 He has 9 teeth and a determination that I am afraid mirrors my own (and quite possibly my stubbornness too!) and the best laugh in the world. \u00a0 It’s been so lovely to watch his older siblings adapt to him being here, and envelop him with love (his brother decided he did actually love him after a few weeks of his arrival!). \u00a0He has quite the fan club when we go to pick them up to school, and it’s all I can do to stop the ladies in the cafeteria from gorging him on chocolate on a daily basis!!<\/p>\n

Being the youngest, he’s had no choice but to fit in with our slightly alternative lives, and living abroad with a baby has bought a whole new dimension to this expat life. \u00a0 \u00a0Whilst some things have taken some getting used to (the “hat police<\/a>” for example!), it has mostly illustrated just how much Germans love babies and children, and puts how child friendly we are in the UK to shame at times, it really does.<\/p>\n

\"Birthday<\/a>
A Typical Bavarian Brotzeit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

And the boy himself? \u00a0I think he enjoyed his first birthday celebrations, if he wasn’t slightly bewildered by them at the same time! \u00a0 We couldn’t be at home for his first birthday sadly, so as much as we missed being with family, we celebrated by spending the day at the fabulous Marchenwald (post to follow!) before picking his brother and sister up from school, and then popping into Munich for dinner. \u00a0 Of course we had to pay a quick visit to the Hofbrauhaus so that he can say he went there on his first birthday. \u00a0If you can see it (it’s playing up for me!) I just adore the video below. \u00a0Not only does it illustrate how cheeky he is, you can tell he was born here as he cannot resist a bit of dancing to any Oompah band! \u00a0We then went on to celebrate at the weekend with good friends over a traditional Bavarian Brotzeit, followed by birthday cake in the glorious autumn sunshine.<\/p>\n

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The baby is ONE today. We went to Fairyland this morning and this afternoon… It had to be done! You can tell he was born in Bayern. He does love an oompah band! 😂 #hofbrauhaus #bavaria #bavarianbaby<\/a><\/p>\n

A video posted by Emma (@bavariansojourn) on

Thank you for being you my sweet, we wouldn’t change you for the world. x<\/p>\n

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