Meet Dion Krause, firstborn son of our friends, Andreas and Loping. He was born in early March and is a perfect image of cuteness and poop. Daniel got to practise on him directly after prenatal class and found it much more satisfying than holding and burping a doll.
Here are the proud parents, deftly giving Dion a diaper change in 5 minutes, in the middle of a carpark in Little India to boot. It was our first time out to dinner with a 1-month old baby, and it was quite an eye-opener. Our friends are typically European (or Western, whichever way you like to call it): they see no problem in taking a tiny newborn out to the mall or to public places. Whereas for me (call me Asian or kiasi, or crazy) the thought of a mall teeming with germ-infested people fills me with horror, not to mention a baby shrieking in a restaurant. It's not just the hassle of having to take turns to eat or having Daniel cut my food up while I juggle the baby, I am patently aware of the social code governing acceptable behaviour in restaurants which does not include a couple with a yelling baby. Luckily Dion only yelled for 5 to 10 minutes before a pacifier and Loping's reassuring rocking soothed him. She, of course, had to eat her lamb shank with one hand, but thank goodness for the tenderly-cooked lamb and a helpful Andreas.
Then it was off to the pub at the nearby arts college. There was a band playing and it must have been as noisy as any pub could've been, but Dion slept like, well, a baby after he had his feed. We were impressed. Women certainly were made for multi-tasking.
This is me barely stuffed into my old bikini.
As for me, I surely hope that I will be as adept at multitasking and keeping my cool as our friends. Two pairs of hands (and heads) are better than one, and raising babies as a partnership really has its merits, especially when you are bleeding like a stuck pig the first two weeks and being milked like a cow 24/7. Even though Daniel and I cannot get along in the kitchen or agree on the chores, or even how we're going to deal with some aspects of raising this baby, I think we will be fine. In for a penny, in for a pound.
