Crazy Busy Life

I've been swamped this weekend. I was up at 8 a.m. doing my hair on Saturday morning before anyone awoke. I followed that with baking gingerbread pumpkin cookies for Halloween. Yes yes, I know I could have bought ginger cookies. But they're just not the same! Some of the cookies went with Petite to her Halloween party at daycare today. Some will go to a bake sale at the office on Wednesday. And some more, I'll keep for us at home.

I did even more baking: a couple of batches of Sugar cookies. Happy Birthday ones for one of the kids at the daycare (to coincide with the Monday Halloween party).

I made a macaroni and cheese casserole for dinner on Monday night. I contemplated baking bread, but I never got that far.

I shopped: picking up a snowsuit for Petite for this year as well as Halloween goodies for daycare kids. I have yet to get Petite's winter boots though. And I didn't buy enough Halloween candy/chocolate to hand out at my girlfriend's house yet. Crap. I knew I forgot something. I'll put it on the "to do" list for Tuesday.

I finished sewing some details of Petite's costume. She wore it today for the Halloween party. She loved it.

Hubby enlisted his son's help to close our pool (finally!) and then Hubby finished up the painting in the living room. Good thing. Our furniture from the east coast will arrive in the next couple of days.

I did some laundry, changed Petite's bed, all that sort of regular thing.

Hubby was recently in a car accident and the woman in the other car came to our house on Saturday with an estimate for her repairs. Ugh. Can I stick my head in the sand now? One good thing about seeing this woman: she bought all of the rest of Petite's old clothing that I was going to consign. I gave her a helluva deal because she is going to ship it all to Haiti (her native country). I know the need there is great, so I let it all go for a steal. I know some kids in Haiti will be very well dressed. I even threw in a huge bag of shoes/boots/sneakers for good measure.

Over the weekend, we hung up a bunch of Halloween decorations. We carved our pumpkins on Saturday night too. You can see the five here:

Hubby's bat, my witch (Petite wanted me to do that with her), my girlfriend's bat cavern,
her daughter's grim reaper, and my stepson's "Beware," which he took home with him, and it promptly became a squirrel snack!

A woman came today to buy our coffee and end tables that we had for sale on Kijiji. After the mother of all garage sales, we had a few big ticket items left that we were going to try to sell individually. I think we have only one or two left now. 

Needless to say, we're busy. I cannot wait until some of the busy goes away. (And some part of me is very, very thankful that I am this busy at all.)

I continue to be excited and happy for Mo and Will who welcomed little Magpie one week ago. What an incredible journey. What a gorgeous girl. How very lucky they were this time around!

And to Keiko, who is venturing into the early stages of a hard-won pregnancy after premature ovarian failure and a donor egg cycle. She is a wonderful advocate for the ALI community. I am keeping fingers crossed that all continues to go well for her.

I know many of you are dealing with Hurricane Sandy in the next few days. Stay safe everyone. Love to all.

Oh, I've taken up my "photo a day" blog again. I posted about 40 photos starting from a few months ago up to pics that I took today. I will try to pick it up and finish out this year. 

Sleeping in my own bed is a novelty.

My my, but time flies. In less than a week, Petite will be 11 months old; it feels like I blinked and a year went POOF! What the heck happened? July has been a total whirlwind of activity.

The 2nd was a rough day; Petite was teething. I was supposed to go watch a friend's son at his lacrosse game but it just didn't happen because of Petite being so very out of sorts. A bit of pain medication and a bottle and she took an extra long nap, which was sorely needed by the time she went down.

On the 8th, we spent a few hours at a friend's house. T just had a baby boy and before he gets too big, we really wanted to see him and T's little girl as well. Unfortunately Petite won't be able to attend the little girl's upcoming birthday party. I wish we were going to be here for that, it would be fun. We'll have to hope that she can come to Petite's party in August. Anyway, it was a lovely few hours to spend with T, her mom and both of her children. Petite had fun seeing new toys and experiencing someone else's house for a bit!

On the 9th, we spent the morning at the caregiver's house with the other children there. That was fun too; Petite was able to sit and play a bit with them, but obviously she's the youngest there so she can't quite do everything that they do yet. She'll get there. It was a great opportunity for Petite to spend time with the caregiver and get used to being there; my return to work is fast approaching much to my disgust. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working and all. But I hate the thought of leaving my little girl in the arms of someone else for five days straight when all I get is a couple of hours in the evening to spend with her before she goes to bed. It's not going to be easy on me at all. That's for sure. How do moms do it? I dunno. I guess I gotta figure that out though, right? Ugh. Talk about pulling at my heartstrings...

Starting on the 12th, we took a five-day driving trip to New Brunswick to see family members; three or four of whom hadn't yet met Petite but were eager to get hugs and kisses from our little sweetie. And it was a wonderful trip. I had the opportunity to see my cousin who lives out west (he's an RCMP officer) and he brought his fiancée home (she too is an officer). Family flew up and drove up to get together. One night at dinner, there were 11 of us. So absolutely wonderful to see them all... and all in the one place. Hopefully when the wedding is held next year out west, we can all do it again, and more will be able to join us.

For Petite, it was a journey that was full of firsts: first car trip (of any substantial distance), first night in a hotel, first night sleeping in the travel pack-and-play that we have, first time to meet said family members, etc. It was loads of fun and she did really well. Although I have to say that by the time we finally got back home, she was none too pleased with her car seat and I was glad to have a break from having to strap her into it... yet again!

We returned home on the 17th from that jaunt to the East Coast and then after two glorious nights in our own beds, turned right around and last week, we spent five days and four nights in the great outdoors. Tent camping with an infant... now THAT'S a blast and a half!!

We went with our good friends, K and her daughter K, and Hubby's two teenaged children. The seven of us went camping in a provincial park in Quebec and we loved it! It was hot on our first full day though, and of course Petite was out of her element entirely so she was not herself. By the second full day she found her groove though and was more comfortable, eating and drinking normally and sleeping better as well. We had some amazing experiences on the trip. Marshmallows and S'mores over the campfire at night. Scattering peanuts to attract the chipmunks and instead seeing a family of baby racoons and their mom come to our site to feed. Watching an incredible lightshow of thunder and lightning in the distance, after it had passed over us... it lasted almost 4 hours in total. Canoeing on the lake with my friend, and then with Hubby. Swimming in that same lake, and then taking Petite swimming at another lake close by with a sandy bottom; she loved it! Letting Petite try campfire toast and also pancakes (she enjoyed both, by the way). Watching the sky at night, and seeing a falling star. Trading stories with the kids and my friend one afternoon, snacking on munchies and letting Petite nap beside us in her pack-and-play. We returned yesterday, and today, I'm up to my eyeballs in washing. Every stitch that we brought smells of woodsmoke! Lovely when you're in the great Canadian wilderness, not so hot when you're at the shopping mall!

An update on another topic:
We did get a new car seat for Petite; it's the First Years True Fit (Rebound) car seat. We'd debated between the Safety 1st Complete Air or the Britax Boulevard seats, but when we got a good look at the True Fit, and after talking to a reliable source about all three models, we selected the True Fit and we're really pleased with it. I expect I'll be taking it home with me when I fly to Newfoundland in a few days' time just so I can ensure that I have a good, reliable car seat with me on the trip.

Yes indeed, another trip. Petite and I leave on Tuesday (her 11-month birthday) to fly to see my family for three weeks. It'll be the first time since January that my dad (Poppy in this blog) will see her. Nana (my mom) has come to see her on a couple of occasions since January so it won't be such a shock for her, but Poppy will see a huge difference in Petite between her development at 4 months and now at 11 months. What a change! While we're there, we'll have her one-year photos done, complete with a cake smash, and hopefully we'll be able to drive to the bay where my mom grew up and visit family and friends out there who've never met Petite either.

I am sure it sounds a tad morbid, but you know, I would love... really really LOVE to take her to my maternal grandparents' gravesite and "show" her to them. I was very close with my mom's parents and a beautiful photo of them hangs in my home. I know they would have loved to meet Petite and they would have been spectacular great-grandparents to her. I wish Petite could have that. In any case, when we go 'around the bay' to my mom's home, I usually find a few moments to spend at my grandparents' graves, just to connect with them again and remind them how much I miss them. I hope I can bring Petite there and let them meet her. Does that sound silly? Stupid? Insane? I don't know. To me, it sounds right. But then again, I'm a sentimental fool sometimes. One of my quirks I guess. What do you think? Should I take her there? Or is it best avoided? What would you do?

As for her development: Petite is cruising with ease (aka furniture walking as Hubby calls it). She is pulling herself to a standing position, both using furniture and using nothing at all! She rocks in place, sort of bouncing when she hears music of any sort (I sing to her all the time). And all of this lead to her taking her first single step on July 9. Just one step mind you, but she did it before flopping down on her bottom. We were so pleased to see it! She did it again while we were on our driving trip to NB as well: we were stopped at a rest area to let her stretch her legs and she was extremely engrossed by other little children. Barefoot in the grass, she took a hesitant step forward before she wobbled and plopped down.

She's experimenting with solid food too. Last night, she had chicken and peas for dinner. Tonight, she had whole milk in her own cup (rather than desperately sneaking some of the 1% milk from us!), peas, and some Cheerios. I expect she's well on the road to solids now so I'm going to have to figure out what she will eat and can eat until a few more teeth come in. She still only has two, but she's doing okay with those already!

She loves the water but I wish I could get her to stay sitting for her baths! Why is it that Hubby has no problem when he bathes her? Argh! It's like pulling teeth to get her to stay on her bottom instead of pulling at me to stand up!

Her syllables are getting more complex and she's able to repeat sounds. We've had her saying "Ma ma ma ma" and "Da da da da" as well as "Na na na na," "no no no no" (she picked that one up quickly!) and she tries to repeat "tickle tickle tickle" with a LOT of success! She knows many words in both French and English and boy, does she love her books! Then again, she loves trying to grab for the phone or the remote, or Daddy's electronics, so I'm not sure if she'll take after me or Hubby! The things that are yet to uncover... it's all so incredible.

And every day I remain awestruck that we have been so blessed. For there are many who would give much to walk in my shoes.

The post in which I admit I'm old. But old is good.

I still haven't done my "What IF" post. I need to sit down and get cracking with that. It's late, sure, but it's still ruminating in my head. There are so many of the "what IFs" that apply to me, it's sort of overwhelming, but I need to address them for my own peace of mind.

Petite has hit the 9-month mark. I can't believe we've gotten this far. (Will I ever stop saying that?) At the doc's last week, one day after her 9-month birthday, she weighed 19.5 pounds, and measured 27.5 inches. She's got lots of strawberry blonde hair coming in, and it's starting to flatten out the stand-up style hairdo she's had since she was tiny. Everyone comments on her hair! Strangers stop us in all sorts of places to tell us they love her hair, or how cute she is, or whatever. It's nice to hear those sorts of comments. We know she's cute, but we're kinda biased, yanno. Petite is crawling like crazy (we put up two gates on the main floor of our house). She's skilled at pulling herself to a standing position and cruising around the room using the furniture (i.e., walking while holding onto the sofa, ottoman, etc.). She is obsessed with catching the "meow-meows" and grabbing fistfuls of fur. She giggles fiercely when you play peekaboo with her. She loves books and soft toys. She enjoys outings like nobody's business. She has had her first swim in our pool, given that our weather is really warm these days. She loves blueberry dessert and yogourt. We've given her the chicken and vegetable dinner and beef and macaroni dinner too and she likes that. Although in the last three or four days, she's off her food because she's finally teething! The doc can see the little white bumps in her lower gums and figures that within a few weeks the two front teeth will make an appearance. It'll be the end of the gummy broad smile I've come to know and love and it'll mark a milestone in her development. And that means that Nana can forget the whole "We're going to have to get her dentures" thing! I still can't believe all this time has gone by!

My birthday was last week, a milestone birthday too. Forty years old. I'm not really 40, am I? Seriously? In my head, I'm still 16! (Okay, okay... 23. Cause I can drive, vote, have a good drink and all that good stuff.) But the years between my time in Japan and now have just FLOWN by. I dunno where it all went! It's incredible. But you know something? 40 is good. I'm blessed beyond belief. I have a roof over my head. I have two cars in the driveway. I have a good job that pays relatively well. I have a wonderful, caring, loving family. I have a husband that is too good to me; I don't know if I deserve him. I have an adorable sweet angel of a daughter. I have a great friend who offered to babysit for a few hours on my birthday so hubby and I could get out for a meal together, alone. (It was the first time Petite had a babysitter and she did great! Most likely because she knows this friend of mine pretty well.) I even have a friend who stopped by on my birthday with a card and flowers, since we didn't hold any sort of party or anything to celebrate (funds are tight with hubby in school so we plan very carefully these days).

For my birthday, I received cash from most of my family, which is always a nice gift! I got a couple of gift certificates to my favourite spa; I see a pedicure in my future! I got a sweet little pin from Petite, a Motherhood Angel pin. It depicts a mother in angel form and child in her arms, face to face. And my mom and hubby picked up a card from Petite for me, and hubby held her hand and helped her "sign" her name! It's too sweet. It's a keeper for sure. I also got to see my mom and my sister and that was wonderful! It's the first time I've seen my sister since Petite was one-month old. So she saw lots of changes in the baby.

And one other thing I got for my birthday/Mother's Day this year. Hubby bought a ring for me. A peridot ring with diamond accents. Those are Petite's and hubby's birthstones. I retired the emerald that has been on my right hand since I was 22 years old. For my 40th, there's something bigger and better than me; it's my family. And I'm so very happy to be where I am right now.

Upcoming stuff:

• A trip to the east coast to see my cousin, aunt and uncle. (My cousin called me last night actually; he got engaged this past weekend!)
• Also, a camping trip with my stepchildren, our friends and of course, Petite. If you have tips for camping with an infant, I'm all ears!
• A trip home in July/August for me and Petite, and maybe a bit of an early celebration for her birthday while we're there.
• And of course, the transition to daycare. Ohhh, now that's gonna hurt me more than it does Petite!

Before I sign off, a shout out to my girlfriend and her daughter, the people that just babysat Petite last week for us. These people are K and her daughter K. I've known them for 12 years or so. Last week, they got their black belts in TaeKwon-Do. My friend K conquered cancer a couple of years ago and of course had put her training on hold during her time in treatment and when she was ill. Little K also took time off to help her mom around the house and together, they got through a very difficult time. They ought to be very proud of this accomplishment and I was so happy to be there to watch the awarding ceremony. Congrats to both of you! Job well done!

Love to you all in blogland!

Easter, Birthday and Surgery

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We did, although it was relatively quiet. Hubby's kids and our friends K&K came over to spend the day. And Petite was a sweetie in her Easter dress. She is so social; she made eyes at everyone and smiled at the entire congregation at church on Easter morning. What a cutie.



Last week, I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. As some of you know, I had my first attack while I was pregnant with Petite. Talk about scary! I was terrified I was going to miscarry. Luckily it was just gallstones but damn, they hurt like hell. After Petite was born, I had hoped it would all be over and done with. Nuh uh. My gall bladder had other ideas and after a meal of fish and chips at home over Christmas, I had a second (and third) attack. Bloodwork revealed I was sufficiently jaundiced. And two ultrasounds revealed multiple little stones. Surgery was indicated and on Tuesday past, it was done. Considering I rarely had attacks and never felt pain like others with gall bladder issues seem to indicate, I wonder how urgent it was for me to have it removed. Regardless, it's done.

Lemme tell you... even with Ativan, hot cloths on my forearms, Emla (numbing cream), and a plethora of other ways to help, it SUCKED BALLS trying to find my vein for the IV. I remember the gas going on my face and I frantically clawed for something, ANYTHING to hold onto while they tried to get a vein. I remember distinctly rising up off the table twice as they tried and mother of God, what a helluva bruise I have on my left forearm. Not cool at all. I still feel residual pain down to the wrist in the left forearm. I hope that disappears soon. And I have four incision points. It's a total bitch not being able to bend over well, and it's terrible that I can't pick up Petite! Seriously. They told me after surgery "Don't lift anything over 10 lbs for 6 weeks." They're kidding right? They do know I'm the mom of an almost eight-month old baby girl? Maybe, just MAYBE they could have told me that BEFORE THE DAMN SURGERY!? Christ. Incompetence at its best. Never would I have imagined that sort of indication for that length of time. Tell me they're exaggerating... PLEASE.

Petite can tell that I'm totally out of sorts too. She's always looking for me or trying to get in my arms. And I hate not being able to take her. My mom and aunt are doing a marvelous job with her of course, but how do you explain to an infant that mommy hurts right now and can't pick you up? It just doesn't work. And it sucks. Hard.

Also last week, we celebrated my husband's 42nd birthday. How opportune that his MP3 player decided to quit working a few days before that, thus providing me with the perfect idea for a gift. Unfortunately, his birthday was two days after my surgery, so we couldn't do much on the exact day itself. However, Petite did give her daddy a birthday card.

And as mentioned, Mom and one of my aunts are visiting. They have been here about 10 days now. Next Thursday, two more of my aunts will arrive as well. I know they will see many changes in Petite. She's no longer the immobile little infant she was when they saw her last, that's for sure.

Petite is seven and a half months old. She's active and very happy during the day, but night time is completely different. She fusses and fumes and she doesn't sleep well at all. Some nights she is up 4 or 5 times, while others, she's only up once. It's the luck of the draw with her. So there are good days and bad days for mommy and daddy!

She still doesn't have any teeth. My mom laughed and said we'll get her fitted for dentures this week! Seriously though, not a tooth in her head, although there are some days when we suspect teething pain. So she's still eating cereals, pureed veggies, yogourt, some pureed fruits (although she doesn't like fruit much). She got a taste of ice cream at Easter and she loved that! She's still taking medicine for reflux; when we forget a dose, it's usually very noticeable in her demeanor.

She loves taking a bath and swimming; I'm hoping she'll be a water baby like my sister and I were. She adores outings. As I mentioned, she's a social butterfly. She smiles at everyone and goodness, doesn't a smiling baby bring out all sorts of comments from the general public?! She's a cutie, that's for sure. Her smile looks just like mine; I get a giggle when I see it and her whole face lights up. It's gorgeous.

Right now, I'm sort of investigating daycare options. I need to put some money aside for that (man, it's costly in this province!) and I have to figure out exactly what I need to ask people when I'm looking for daycare. If you have thoughts on that, I'm listening.

Best wishes to all. Hope everyone is well.

Happy Half Birthday Petite!

Today is February 27, 2010. Petite is exactly six months old today.


Where did that time go? Seriously, how did we get from there...

to here...?




Colour me grateful. Always.

Petite had a doctor's appointment earlier this week to check on the reflux. She still experiences it now and then, but it doesn't seem as severe as it was when she was younger. I guess she's getting better at getting rid of the gas and now that she's had some solid food, her tummy is able to keep the acids down.

The stats:
She's 15lbs 11oz, and 26" long. And yes, her eyes are still grey... exactly like my mom's. I expect they will stay that way now. I think it's beautiful on her.

She is sitting fairly well in the tripod position (with a wobble here and there). She transfers toys from one hand to another. She is making consonant sounds (ma, ba, pppp, those sorts of things), she scooches all around the floor backwards, and once or twice, has managed to inch forwards. She's starting to raise her hips and figure out the crawling position, though honestly, she much prefers to be up on her feet. Her legs are awfully strong; she just may walk before she ever crawls! She still has some eczema on her arms and legs and although we had tried a doctor-recommended over-the-counter cream, it wasn't working so we have a mild cream to treat it properly now. In three or four days, I already see a difference.

She has had rice cereal, oat cereal (she prefers the rice so far), butternut squash, carrots, peas (I made homemade peas the other night and she took to those really well), grapes and bananas (both in the baby feeder) and she launched herself at my plum the other day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZUMK_yM2zA

And her sleeping habits are improving. We are getting her to bed at approximately 7:30, we get her at midnight for a feed, and most nights she goes down again til about 7 a.m. A few nights, she's wanted to play in her crib at around 4 a.m. (!) but she's getting the hang of it. Let's hope it continues to go well.

For now, we celebrate her half-birthday! In a mere six more months, she'll be one year old. I can't believe it!