Spring is in the Air

It's been too long since I posted and I apologize for that. There's a bunch of things going on right now and in general, I'm busy as a bee taking care of Petite; she's an active lil girl yanno! But here's the scoop on the goings-on in our house.

Petite is talking up a storm. I hear the "Mama" syllables in there frequently but I know she doesn't do it deliberately yet. I am looking forward to the moment when she does. She's sitting very well on her own, rolling all over the floor and scooting backwards. She's pretty much covered the area of our living room with no trouble, even though she doesn't move forwards or crawl. I have a feeling she's going to be one of those who jumps right to the walking stage; she's always begging to have us hold her up on her feet! She is constantly and forever moving, even when having a bottle. Her hands are continuously exploring our faces or her own and she loves to sit and rock back and forth on her bum. She's ALMOST able to pull herself from her back to a full sitting position. Heavens knows, she's certainly trying!

She's eating pretty well: she likes veggies (carrots, peas, squash), cereal (rice, oatmeal, rice + banana, mixed), and yogourt. Oh yeah, and she had a turkey and squash mix last week too. She isn't keen on fruits yet but I'm sure that'll come. I continue to expose her to them anyway. Like my sister (the dietician) told me: it takes an average of 15 times of trying before a child will try any given food. So maybe on the 15th try, she'll like that applesauce after all. And if she doesn't, no big deal.

Her nighttime routine is back to normal after the RSV had messed us up entirely. At 5:30 she eats dinner, by 6:30 she gets her bath (she loves the water), and around 7:30, after a story with me, she has a bottle and goes to bed. We'll feed her once more during the night, usually around midnight, and she goes back to bed til about 7:30 a.m., which isn't too bad at all.

The RSV was terrible. Petite was sick for a good two weeks but she did well in getting over it. Unfortunately, friends of ours have a little boy who is six months older than Petite and he went through it too and was hospitalized for a number of days. He's over it now, but I know his parents were pretty scared for a day or two. It isn't fun, that's for sure.

Petite finished her first series of swimming classes and I'll be enrolling her again in the same series. Here, for the Parent and Tot class, in order to move up from Level 1 to Level 2, a child must be at least 1 year old. So we'll keep practising at Level 1 to keep Petite familiar with a pool and be comfortable in the water and all that. Besides, it's a wonderful way to get me out of the house and doing an activity with her. And we definitely enjoy that.

That's been hard for me. Being unfamiliar with what is available for children in the city (or the province for that matter, having moved here when I was 26), and being an older mom (I'll be 40 in less than 2 months, OMG), I've found it hard to find others in my shoes. So I'm putting some efforts into finding out where to go and what to do with young infants in our area. I've found a few things, and I know there are more activities and groups out there. I'm still looking. After all, if Petite isn't exposed to other children, putting her in daycare at the end of August is going to be VERY difficult, for both her and me!

I've started looking for a daycare too. I'm putting out feelers but of course, word of mouth is frequently the best way to find someone reliable. And I just can't afford to pay $1200 a month, as some daycares ask. No, I'm looking more in the $600 to $750 range, so likely in a private home. I've found one that seems really good and I've been in contact with the caregiver already. An added bonus for that particular caregiver is that she is known to two of my friends (outside of caregiver circles) and very well-liked by both. We'll see.

For the moment, I'm busy with tidying things up and getting ready for my mom and my aunt to visit. They arrive in early April for three weeks. I asked them to come to take care of Petite for a bit, while I recover from gallbladder surgery. As some of you may remember, I never had an issue with my gallbladder until the pregnancy but I had a bad attack while pregnant with Petite. After Petite was born, I thought all would be well. Alas, a meal of greasy fish and chips at home in December promptly set off another attack or two and I ended up in Emergency at the hospital at home. End result: gallbladder ought to come out and I'm scheduled for surgery on April 13... assuming the MRI that I need first is a "go." And I need someone to take care of Petite while I recover. So they're coming to visit and spend time with her. Towards the end of their visit, my other two aunts will come join us as well. They all want to see Petite and spend as much time as they can with her. And I'm very lucky that they are all well enough to do so and WANT to do so. It'll be a zoo for a few days around my house, but it'll be worth it. And I know they'll enjoy their time with the baby as they always do.

This week, we have some activities to keep us busy and I'll be returning to the gym again. I went twice last week with some success; on one occasion, the staff had to come get me off the elliptical because Petite was really upset and they couldn't soothe her. But the more I go, the more she gets used to it and the better it is for me too. So we'll go again. Hubby has this Friday off, as it's Good Friday. The temperatures are supposed to be lovely by this weekend (in the low to mid-20s apparently) so we hope to get out for a walk in the sun with Petite. And of course, next weekend is Easter. So I'll sign off by wishing you and yours a very Happy Easter! May your baskets be filled with chocolate and goodness and may spring be sprung in your neck of the woods! Oh, except for my Aussie friends; I hope your fall is beautiful and picturesque.

Hugs to all in blogland. Til next time...