Photo Challenge Day 21 ~ Something New

A new, unbreakable, father-son bond.

Photo Challenge Day 19 ~ Something I Drew

A gasp of air.







No, I'm not pregnant. This was our first realization of Jonathan.

Photo Challenge Day 19 - Hobby

Buying, selling, trading, reviewing and, well, using cloth diapers.

Is anyone surprised?

Photo Challenge Day 18 - Written Words

Beautiful written words of encouragement and advice from those we love the most. Yes, these are our wedding cards. And I've kept them aaaaaaaaall of them for nearly 5 years! Every so often (usually in the middle of a move) I find them, and sit and leaf through them - loving the care that went into them and the wonderful advice they provide. I'm usually not one to hang on to things for sentimental value, but I don't see these being recycled any time soon.

Photo Challenge Day 17 ~ Trees

Beautiful Costa Rican trees. *Sigh*

And see that thin line running from the bottom right to top left (ish)? That was out first of many cables on a zip lining tour. *Big Sigh*

I love Costa Rica.

Photo Challenge Day 16 ~ Self Portrait

How would a self-portrait be complete without my awesome sidekick?! This also serves as an update to the Pea in a Pod taken last July. My how time flies.

And, umm, it's kind of tricky taking a photo of yourself with a baby on the hip. Please excuse the poor composition and focal points!

Photo Challenge Day 15 - My weakness

Okay, okay. This one isn't my photo - but it is my weakness and I don't have any around for a shot (surprise, surprise?)

Tomorrow: Self portrait

Photo Challenge Day 14 - Favorite Colour

I love all sorts of colours, and it usually depends on the item... But red is often high on the list.

Photo Challenge Day 13 - Water

I know. I actually missed posting this on one time. lol

This photo is of an HCJB fresh water project we had the honor of visiting while serving in Ecuador two summers ago. This day - with all it's joy, hard work, and come-tegoetherness-to-make-a-difference-in-the-community - had such a powerful effect on me that no words can describe. This photo is of the members of the community, working together, to hand dig a trench for he new water pipeline.

Photo Challenge Day 12 ~ Where I ate breakfast

Okay, so this wasn't from this morning's breakfast (obviously) because I forgot. But I ate breakfast here none the less!

Photo Challenge Day 11 ~ Black & White

Fantastic memories with fantastic friends :)

Photo Challenge Day 10 ~ Summertime!

Jonathan and I have been having a blast hitting up all the splash pads and kiddie pools around the neighborhood. Yay summertime!!

Photo Challenge Day 9 ~ Hands

The night of our engagement - March 2, 2007 :)

Photo Challenge Day 8 ~ Books

We read a lot of (children's) books in this house. But not one of them compares to the amazing busy book Jonathan received for his 1st birthday from his grandmother. It's a very special book, for a very special boy, received on his special day. Love it.

Tomorrow? Hands

Photo Challenge Day 7 ~ Transportation

Photo Challenge Day 7 - Toes

One of my most favoritest photos ever. October 28th, 2007. The day after our wedding.

Tomorrow: Transportation.

Photo Challenge Day 5 ~ Filthy

A sand box and water table on the back deck makes for a lot of fun. And a lot of baths.

Tomorrow: Toes!

Photo Challenge Day 4 ~ Clean

Jay and Tom in a friend's pool earlier this summer. The first thing I thought of was "Wow, that pool is so CLEAN!"

Tomorrow: Filthy!

Photo Challenge Day 3 ~ Lunch

I had all sorts of intent to take a pic at lunch today - but alas, I couldn't resist posting this little cutie with pizza on his shoulder.

Tomorrow's theme: Clean

Photo Challenge Day 2 - Street

Maybe I didn't take it recently, but I did indeed take it :)

Tomorrow? Lunch!

Photo Challenge Day 1 ~ Maple leaf

please remind me

The photo challenge starts tomorrow (well, technically today, but I have to go to bed before I can actually call it tomorrow. But then I'll call it today. But whatever, you know what I mean).

If you don't see a pic on here by the end of the day PLEASE TEXT OR EMAIL me to remind me.

That would be swell..... No, I didn't plan ahead at all.

Photo Challenge!

For the month of July, the Bloggin' circle (well, at least all the cool kids from the bloggin' circle) are doing a photo challenge. Stay tuned for some posts (finally!) and hopfully some great practice with the camera.

Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

the cat's outa da bag

Surprise!

http://candiceandtom.com/home


(Yeah, I know, most of you already know.)

Journalism?

Journalist, I am not. But check out this article I wrote anyways!

http://www.diaperdeals.ca/cloth-diaper-wahms

It's from an interview I conducted while in Manitoba in May. It was a ton of work, but I like how it turned out :)

Happenings

We are nearly busting at the seams to talk about the HUMONGO news we have (which most of you already know about) but alas, it still isn't ready for the world to read on the internet, so we wait... And completely neglect the blog because it just seems awkward to talk about anything else.

But I'll try...

We're back into the swing of life out east since returning from Manitoba earlier in May. I'm still working part-time at the Montreal Diet Dispensary and am loving that I get to work from home 95% of the time. When I do need to go to the office (about once a month for meetings) I'm so thankful they have a lovely nursery on site with fantastic ladies that dote on Jonathan while I'm busy. The little guy really enjoys going there.

I have a line-up of reviews to write for DiaperDeals.ca, and really enjoy the photography aspect of it, but dislike the post-processing.

Check out this cutie:

Speaking of photography, I took another short-course this past Saturday. It was an on-location type deal and I was excited to get some pointers on outdoor photo shoots... What I didn't expect was the theme to be 'fashion magazine'. Considering I have absolutely no sense of fashion and haven't purchased a magazine in well over a decade, I found the shoot to be challenging to sat the least. I think I got a few good shots though:

The model was much more co-operative than my usual one ;)

I have another course next week in studio photography; it's a private session and I get to bring my own studio lights - VERY much looking forward to that!

And there you have it. A blog post. Finally.

14 months

Jay has been developing in leaps and bounds these days. He even took his first independent steps from mommy's to daddy's arms this past Sunday April 29th. What a proud moment for us all!!

As of late he loves to clap, play peek-a-boo with everyone (even to the person behind us in line at the bank) and tells all sorts of stories with his babbles. He's developed this social laugh. It's hilarious. If I'm talking with someone and we laugh, he tilts his bald little head to the side and lets out 3 little hahahas to join in on the joke. So stinkin' cute.

He went to 'daycare' for the first time yesterday. I had a meeting at the office and he happily played with the caregiver and other babies in the nursery downstairs. He was a such a star. It seriously couldn't have gone better.

I know, I know. I haven't taken the camera out in a while. I've been too busy taking it all in to remember to stop and photograph it.

workin' in

I know, it's been a bit quiet around these parts. Between gearing up for our big announcement with HCJB Global and me working again part-time (I know, I know  I said I was done. I really thought I was going to be too! Why am I so naive?!) there hasn't been a lot of extra time. And lately blogging time seems to be going to writing reviews. I love writing reviews... Sigh.

My parents were visiting too, did I mention that?! The visit was awesome. Even awesomer is us coming to Manitoba for a visit again real soon.  Like next week real soon!

because you haven't seen Jay's bum in a while

Check out our latest review.

awesome weekend

I had a fantastic weekend. Most weekends around these parts are great, but this one just took the cake. Participating in a Guinness World record and sporting a bridesmaid dress (again!) makes for a pretty good day.

Friday - sushi date night with Tom. I love paydays. 

Saturday - The Great Cloth Diaper Change! Thousands of parent-baby pairs from 16 countries participated in an effort to break the world record of number of little bums simultaneously changed into reusable diapers. Why? To promote the environmental alternative to disposable diapers of course. All around the world at 12:30pm (EST) on April 21, 2012 we attempted to break the record... I can hardly wait to find out if we did! It was load, a bit chaotic, and loads of fun. We all received great loot bags too. I love free stuff.

Can you spot Waldo? I'll give you a hint, you can't see Waldo's mommy.

And here's Global TV's raw footage of the event:

Saturday night we had a fabulous dinner. One of the youth from our church had a class project of hosting a dinner party. She researched dishes to make, cost of ingredients, how to properly set the table, make and serve a meal, etc. Tom and I were honoured to be the guests of honour! So we dressed up for the occasion. 

Yes, that's a Winnie the Pooh tie. No, it's not really his.

A huge thank you to the crew of baby-sitters that tagged team so Johnny could stay home and sleep. You guys are awesome! And so was the food. 

Sunday was church and family day. Days of sticking around home and spending time with those you love the mostest are the bestest.

And now it's Monday. If April showers bring May flowers, May is going to be very flowery!

if you happen to come across this:

Please buy it for me. 

I'll love you forever. 

guinea pig

I sold bodily excretions to make a little spending money during my undergrad years, so it really isn't surprising that Jonathan has already been a subject in two research trials at the ripe age of 13 months.

Yesterday we headed downtown to McGill's infant development center where we took part in a psychology study on perception. Jonathan was hard at work watching a puppet show while sitting on mommy's lap.  Unfortunately for the researchers one of the puppets was a yellow duck. The moment it appeared on stage my mind screamed BIAS! and wished them luck in whatever it was they were actually looking for. He growled loudly (a form of affection, I assure you) and pointed vigorously at the duck. HA!

He still got a new sippy cup for his participation and was presented with a certificate for a BSc in Infant Science. If watching a puppet show is all he had to do for his first degree, then I'm a real sucker for what I had to do for mine.

In training

We are back in training with HCJB Global! You may remember that we spent some time in Colorado Springs in summer of 2010 (while I was deathly ill with 'morning' sickness all day long) to undergo training with the mission organization. Well, we are back at it! But this time we have a much better idea of what we will be up to and when that will be happening - more to come on that soon!

The training is so much easier this time around because (1) I'm not vomiting every hour and (2) we're doing it via distance (yay Skype!)

Aaahhhh....

The house is clean and quiet. The baby is taking an afternoon nap and the laundry is drying on the line in the beautifully hot sun. I have a cappuccino in hand and a computer on my lap...

I should probably go grab the cookie bag to celebrate.

Tasty

I plopped Jay down into his highchair for lunch. I had heated him some homemade organic Dahl (an Indian dish of spinach and lentils) and organic brown rice. Unlike usual, he would have nothing of it. He was in no mood for eating - not even a bite.  He wanted down right now!!!

Alright, so down he went, but I wasn't going to let that spoil my lunch. I ate happily until I glanced over to see what he was up to. Apparently when I put him down, he crawled straight over to a pile of shoes, picked off a big lump of dirt from the sole of my runner, and ate it. Without wincing.

Is my cooking really that bad?

Our second review

Is up!!

Check it out (and support a mama!) here.

I'll let you guess what happened...

(An update to this post)

A) Parenting is totally predictable. Of course you can schedule in an extra hour of sleep on the calendar! And good job stating from the roof tops, for all to hear, that you had a fool proof plan. That was sure smart. 

B) Children are mysterious creatures. He was up at 5:20am sharp, wasn't he?

Giveaway alert!

Want to win some Paypal cash?!!

As a promotion for my friend's new blog site, she's doing a $40 giveaway! Check it out:  http://clothdiapertrader.com/blog/40-usd-paypal-money-giveaway

We're moving

For those of you who resist change, I'm warning you now: We're moving. 

I started to find blogger to be a bit boring so I tried the exciting and new dynamic view... Which apparently sucks because it isn't compatible with some products (such as the iPad) and looses some features that some readers really enjoyed (like spying on our friends). Soooo.... After 5 years with Blogger we've decided to ditch loyalty and head on over to WordPress. It will take us a while to get things set up over there, so I'll continue blogging here in the meantime. I'll be sure to invite y'all on over when we're all settled in.

Have no fear, we'll be taken all the content from here with us, or at least Tom tells me so.

another big debut!!

WOW! I had no idea these would be going live so close together!! But alas, here's the other one:

http://clothdiapertrader.com/blog

It's where I've been spending a lot of my writing time as of late, as eluded to in this post.

It's a brand new blog that has been added to one of my favorite sites (clothdiapertrader.com). I've become friends with the mama that runs it and was honoured when asked to write a few entries. Not only am I the premiere post, but the secondaire (is that a word??) as well.

And.. yeah... I couldn't help but notice NONE of you said a peep over on yesterday's big debut :(  Come on, say something! Anything?

Our big debut!

Today's the day! Our first cloth diaper review has been published over at DiaperDeals.ca
Please, please, please go over and say hi... I'd love the support!!  We'll be updating it with a giveaway soon, which will bring the comments, but I feel so lonely over there right now ;)


Also, Jonathan's baby pic made it into a Newborn in Cloth photo challenge. I think he holds his own amongst all those cute babies, don't you?

path of least resistance

Jonathan usually gets up early. Like early. 5:20am to be exact. He wakes because he is one regular boy these days. Yup, he poops at 5:20 (or maybe it's 5:19?) and can no longer sleep. And if mommy comes to change him he figures it's time to SOCIALZE! Alas. It's time to start the day.

A baby that wakes at 5:20 takes early naps and, of course, an early bedtime. 6:30pm to be exact. I've tried putting him to bed later but each time it resulted in an overtired baby who coulnd't fall asleep and a super tired baby the next day when he woke at exactly 5:20am.

Because pushing his bedtime/wake-time hasn't worked, and mommy thinks she should sleep in more than that, I wrote to the leaders of the nations requesting that maybe it be easier to change everyone else's schedule instead of Jonathan's. The leaders obliged. So this Sunday we are to all change our clocks by one hour. This way Johnny can keep his same schedule but instead it will be 6:20am waking, 7:30 bedtime. Another hour of sleep, another hour to spend with daddy after he gets home from work. Life will be grand! 

 I thank you all in advance for being so accommodating. You're such good sports.

Smashing!

There once was a baby who had just turned one. 

His mommy baked a cake, thinking it would be fun. 

But that little baby was a little bit shy...

Until, well, until he gave it a try!

 And then... Oh my, OH MY! 

Happy birthday baby Jonathan!!!

lessons from the first year of being a mom

• Sleep is optional. No really, you can get by on next to nothing. Just don't expect to be in tip-top shape. Or look it. Or have your home look it. 
• This too shall pass. And all too quickly, if I may add. 
• After *finally* getting the baby to sleep, you will miss him. 
• Don't ever even think "Wow, glad my kid doesn't do that!" Because your kid will. Like, next week. 
• Never say never. Seriously. 
• When you think you couldn't possibly love someone more, just wait and see how you feel tomorrow. 
• Days can be looooooong, but the year is so short. 

Haapy Birthday Jonathan!!

As of 11:16 this morning, you will be exactly 1 year old.
We love you more than words can explain.

Happy Birthday my sweet baby boy...

by golly, I'm gonna do it!

I'm going to get us to the library this morning! Finally!!

Yes, it's only 2 blocks from my house.  
Yes, it's open exclusively for young family use every Wednesday morning.
Yes, I'm usually too lazy and sloth-like in the morning to get us there on time. There. I admitted it.

But today's the day people!

Crunchier by the day

Ever since I was pregnant I've been giving more thought to the environment, especially that of our home. It's a slippery slope, to be sure. Once you start reading up on chemicals and toxins and realize how FULL our houses and lives are of these silent seepers then the more you are convicted to do something about it. Well, at least I am.

Yes I'm tempted to remain in my ignorant bliss, but it's the thought of Jonathan's exposure that makes me uneasy and unable to shake it from my head. But then there's that slippery slope again of becoming an uptight alarmist. I'm not a fan of uptight people, so I most definitely don't want to become one. But I do want to become more aware of the choices we have as consumers and use my purchases as a 'vote' for what I believe in. As consumers we drive what's available on the market. We also drive what kind of agricultural practices and ethical standards are used around the globe to produce or manufacture the things we are purchasing and bringing in to our homes.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe I don't need to jam everything on this topic into this one post but instead state that lately I've been giving more thought to the environment, especially that of our own home, and have been making new choices to reflect said thoughts. And as an added bonus we've been saving quite a bit of money in some areas... Which is super cool in itself... But then are also able afford the premium price of organics in other areas. All the while making better choices for our bodies, our home, and our earth.

Yup, I'm gettin' a little crunchy aren't I?

Yes, you're at the right place! CLICK HERE

Okay people, hang on to your hats! The renovations in Sonya's kitchen has inspired me to update the design of this blog. It's been years since I've done anything to it, so it's time. Please bear with me.

Oh, and give me your thoughts on it. You likey? Or is it just annoying?

been busy writting, just not here

My passion for all things cloth diaper is leading me in to new writing territory. In addition to writing reviews at Diaperdeals.ca (first and second review to be published *soon*) I may also be a frequent guest writer on a new cloth diapering blog. I'm very excited about this, and will let you know more as to why soon... But until that blog is officially launched it's not my place to talk about it.

However whenever any of my brilliant pieces of workwomanship are posted elsewhere I'll be sure to beg all (ten? lol) of you to go check 'em out and leave a response of some sort. Partly because I'm terribly nervous and partly because... Well, yeah, I'm terribly nervous.

Did you know?

Do you know how dryer sheets work?

I didn't.

I didn't give it much thought though, either.

Essentially they are sheets of fat with a coating - they're solid at room temperature, melt with the heat of the dryer, and spread a thin layer of fat on your clothes to reduce static conductivity and provide a smooth/slippery feel to the touch - which we interpret as soft(ner). Kind of gross, eh?

I have heard not to use these sheets with baby's clothes, which I thought was because of the strong scent and sensitive baby skin combo - but it's actually because the thin layer of fat increases the flammability of clothing. I kid you not, read the warning on the side of your little box next time you're laundering.

Also, I did not know that these little fat-spreaders reduce absorbency of fabric. Not exactly the best thing for towels... So I stopped putting in an extra sheet with the towels after finding that out during my research of all things cloth diaper before Jonathan was born.

Matter of fact, I stopped using dryer sheets all together. The thought of them weirds me out a little and I'm all for saving money by skipping things we don't need to use but use out of habit.

Anyone else have an odd fact for common household products they'd like to share?

Happy Valentine's Day

We made a valentine's day card today for Daddy, Granny, Papa, Baba, Grandpa and, especially, Great Granny.

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

This quote has been resonating with me a lot lately. Even if it's uncertain who actually said it first.

looks like mama ain't the only one

who loves the new washer!

11 months

home appliance witness protection program

Someone around here may need it.

Apparently the fridge told the washer that if you conk out, you'll get some extra lovin' from the Mrs and a visit from the appliance doctor. Unfortunately for the washer, she's not worth saving.

So here I sit on Monday morning frantically looking up washing machine options as the laundry continues to pile up... Add to this the fact that I forgot to renew my license, which expired last Friday, and you can image the happy Monday I'm having.


On a MUCH brighter note, my bestest friend is at the hospital this morning to have her BABY!!!

fortunately, unfortunately

Unfortunately I haven't been blogging a lot lately

Fortunately I have friends with easy blog post ideas (and they don't mind me plagiarizing)

Fortunately the heater in the kitchen hasn't acted up again like it was last week post-power outage.

Unfortunately the fridge hasn't fully recovered from the power outage/surges and she ain't keeping things cold anymore.

Fortunately the (usually awesome!) fridge was free from a friend so it's worth the dough to see if we can get it fixed.

Unfortunately until the repair man comes tomorrow we are throwing out spoiled food everyday.

Fortunately we are getting take out for dinner tonight.

Fortunately I introduced dairy into Jonathan's diet last week and so far there have been no ill effects, so...

FORTUNATELY we get to order PIZZA!!!

"Anything going on in your life worth blogging about?"

I just received an e-mail, it only had one line:

"Anything going on in your life worth blogging about?"

Well, I guess it depends on who you ask.

***

Life has been pretty good around these parts lately. Although there are some hiccups here and there, JayJay and I are settling nicely into being home most of the time. I absolutely love the kid and cherish this time I get to spend with him. {Although sometimes I fear Tom has set up a camera that I don't know about and he'll see what kind of goof balls occupy this house during the day... But who am I kidding, really? Tom already knows what kind of nuts live here.}

I love that I have girlfriends that are willing to stop by for an afternoon to offer adult conversation and a little freedom to get other things done. And that I have friends' places to go to when we need to get out of the house. Haven't gone anywhere lately though, too much rain. Yes, you heard me, rain.

I'm also loving the fact that we haven't purchased bread in weeks. Ever since the bread machine arrived we've had nothing but fresh, preservative free bread around here. Both of my boys just love the (organic, 75% whole wheat, flax) bread that I make. Please don't tell them the description in parenthesis ;)

I'm also super stoked about my photography class. It's been fantastic (even if I haven't been practicing enough during the week). I wish I knew all of this a long time ago! But I'm really glad I'm at least learning it now. One major draw back though? The LIST of photography items I now pine for... Including more classes!

Now, if I could quit being so lazy and actually get around to sewing something...

power, baby

Yesterday morning I was doing laundry and surfing the net while Johnny was enjoying a long nap. A rarity, but more about that in another post.

The apartment felt a bit cool, but we had a cold snap going on (-20!) with a bit of a wind so maybe it was just the lack of adequate insulation that was the culprit.

But then it started to get quite chilly... Then I noticed our downstairs thermostats, which usually have a digital output of temp setting, current temp,time, etc, were blank. Uh oh, this can't be good.

I was bit confused though seeing as they're baseboard heaters (not a furnace)... And the lights were on (so we weren't out of power). I contacted Tom at work and he got me to check the oven (which didnt' work either) then explained the difference of 220 vs 110 power. It seemed that anything that ran off of 220 wasn't working. Unfortunately this includes most major appliances and baseboard heat.

I phoned Hydro, they told me to contact my landlord as a problem with 220 power is RARELY their fault. Our landlord would have to get an electrician to come out, check the issue, and either fix it himself or call Hydro if it was indeed their problem. (Right, because he all have a few hours to spare looking for an electrician while our homes are freezing over...)

The landlord stopped by and ensured me he was on it, but I decided a home with no heat was no place for a baby to be when it was -20 outside. I packed up (and realized how unprepared I was for a situation such as this!) and headed to a friend's house. On my way out of the driveway I saw our landlord again and he informed me that the electrician had already come and the problem was indeed with Hydro (it's times like these that it's awesome our landlord knows everybody). Apparently the whole block was having the same problem.

I spent the afternoon at my friend's then on my way to pick up Tom from work I swung by the house and saw the Hydro guys working on this issue. Perfect! I thought. We will be in before dinner.

When Tom and I returned after his work, there was no power at all anymore. Never mind an issue with 220, the street was DARK. None of the houses had any power. And what was worse, the hydro guys were no where to be found.

We headed back to our friends', who graciously made us dinner and kept us occupied for the evening. Hydro Quebec has a lovely automated call in system that informs you when they think you'll be back up and running... They predicted 3:00am. Great.

Now, we had been sleep training Jay for the previous few nights and he had made AMAZING progress. I was so upset it may have been for nothing considering we may be bunking at our friends' house for the night. I was desperate to get back home. Desperate to get Jay back in his crib for the night. So around 9:30pm we decided to take the little man for a spin so he could get some sleep (there were quit a few people over at our friends' house, which was great for a distraction but not so good for a baby to fall asleep.)

We picked up some Tim's and went for a ride. Around 11:30pm we swung by the house and saw the Hydro guys working again. They had replaced the transformer and were in the process of packing up. YAY!!

We continued to stalk them thinking it was only a matter of minutes before they flicked the switch and we would be back in business (and going to sleep in our own beds!) Around 1:30am (yeah, not exactly a matter of minutes...) they were done, the power was on and we were in our home.

I was so thankful we were home! The thermostats read about 15 degrees so we put an additional heater in Jay's room to get the temperature up sooner than later so he could go to bed. We woke Jay and began the process of suiting him up in his jammies. Right when I had him stark naked the equivalent to fireworks went off right outside our bedroom window. Major cracking, flashes of light, loud sizzling/hissing and then, of course, total darkness. The whole block was out again.

I sat holding my cold naked baby in the dark and was furious. We were thisclose to sleeping in our own beds. Now it's nearly 2:00am and we need to pack back up and leave. To make matters even more interesting the hydro line in front of our house was on fire. Yup, on fire. The line is about 20 feet from our bedroom window... So right at eye level for us. Funny thing is I was so mad at this point it didn't scare me, just pissed me off even more.

Our town's security was there within a minute (probably the most exciting thing ever to happen on his shift!) and the firetrucks arrived 9 minutes later.

We put our poor tired baby back in the car and headed back to our friends' home. Thankfully we have a key and they were half expecting us back anyways. But I must say, I consider anyone willing to let us (and our baby - who probably wasn't going to sleep after all of this) in with welcoming arms at 2:15am to be awesomest people ever. But I already knew that about them ;)

Jay did fall asleep, eventually. And so did we. A call to the landlord this morning and we had the great news that we had power again (and had for about 2 hours already... Meaning maybe it was worth returning again). The tree in our front yard had been chopped to bits and our heater in the kitchen apparently decided to retire after all of the excitement.

But besides that we are home. Unscathed. Twenty-four hours later.

I need to write more down

I read a baby blog recently and thought to myself: What a great journal this mama has!
Then I thought: Umm.... Get on it woman!

So here's a list of what the Jay man is up to as of late, not for your benefit but for mine.

• He does indeed call me mama. It took a while for Tom to admit it, but he does :)
  
• He calls Tom Dah.
  
• He's still wobbly on his legs, but is getting better. Although walking is still a ways off, he's getting pretty good at scaling the walls/furniture/chairs/anything to get where he needs to go. For some reason he hasn't figured out that he can take a straight path if he was willing to get down, crawl, then get back up. Nope instead he goes aaaallll the waaaay arooooound the room to get to the other side. Oh well, buys me some time! Sometimes he scales his way to his car (one of those little push/ride on things) and then drives across the room...giggling all the way... He's so proud of himself when he does it!
  
• He loves playing peek-a-boo. He'll hide behind the wall to the kitchen and duck out from behind it to look at daddy on the couch... Grinning from ear to ear waiting for daddy to say "Wha!" Jay then bursts out with laughter and hides behind the wall again... giggling with anticipation of doing it again. And again. I love this kid.
• When he was sick the week before last he kind of gave up on solid foods. Thank goodness I'm still nursing so we had nothing to worry about nutrition wise. I figured he wasn't feeling well and simply didn't feel like eating. Then he got better but still wasn't interested in eating. It escalated to the point that when we put him in his high chair, he'd turn 180 degrees away from us and screech to get down. What??? I thought to myself... My son LOVES eating and usually accepts whatever organic mashed up goodness that was offered to him! I'd shovel, he'd open, mash, and swallow contently. Hhmmm.... I got to the point of tricking him into eating some, but then remembered my dietitian friend proclaiming the benefits of the division of responsibility when it comes to infant/toddler feeding and nutrition so I put away the trickery. I also realized that he was still eating his finger food, just not his spoon-fed food.... So a few nights ago I baked some sweet potato sticks, cubed chicken, and lightly mashed some peas and placed it all on his tray for him to explore... He ate all of it. And has been eating contently again ever since. Yup, my baby no longer needs me (or WANTS me) to spoon feed him (sniff!). Although I'm a little heart broken over it, I'm loving the extra time it takes him and the freedom I have to clean/cook etc in the kitchen while he munches away. Yay for real meals for the whole family!
  
• He likes to point at things now to show me. I find the ability for him to comunicate this way with us so heart warming.
  
• When hthey say goodnight to each other Tom points at Jay and Jay points at Tom... Tom slowly moves towards him until their index fingers touch. This. Is. Thrilling! for Jonathan. Oh heck, we all love it!
  

sorry, we've been sick

Blah!

It all started over Christmas holidays. The boy wasn't feeling well, then I wasn't feeling well. Both of us had separate trips to the (amazingly available, very friendly, way better than Quebec's) Manitoba doctors' office. But nothing was concluded. Then we got home (to Montreal) and Tom came down with a ruthless head cold. I crossed my fingers that Jay and I already had it, that it was the same coodies that we had but just manifested differently in Tom.


I should know better than to cross my fingers.


Jay and I came down with the same terrible cold a few days later... You know, a few days after Tom started back at work and there was no one around to take care of us. (SOB!) I had a whopping migraine to go along with it the first day too. Not sure if you know this, but being a sick mom (with a sick baby) is no fun AT ALL.

Ugh.

It's been almost 2 weeks now. We've been on the mend for the past few and (dare I say) I think we're pretty much over it. But thanks to all the phlegm Jay had been routinely getting up every couple hours at night... Sadly this hasn't passed with the cold symptoms. Crap. I HATE sleep training. :(

On a brighter note, I started my photography course! I love it and it's exactly the level I need right now. I'm such a lucky girl to have a guy that insisted I find one, signed up for it, and got to go to it. I'm so looking forward to my next class on Saturday but have lots of homework to do before then!

Enrolled

GAH!

I'm so excited (and nervous).

I enrolled in a photography course! It's just a short one (2 hours/week for 3 weeks), but I think it will be a great start. I start next Saturday!

10 months

Today I stopped.

To take every little bit of you in

Time is slipping by so fast

My baby is slipping away

I couldn't be prouder, nor sadder.

So today I stopped

And loved your sweet little nose

Your round soft cheeks

Your pursed little lips

And your beautiful bald head

Today I stopped.


And marveled over your dimpled elbows

Your round ears

And line-y little hands

Today I stopped

Because you will not.




I love you sweet baby of mine

I cherish you so much

But our time together is short.

New Year's Resolutions

Yes, this year I have some! And to ensure I stick to 'em, I'm posting them here on the World Wide Web. Feel free to ask in the year ahead if I've been successful.

1) To not use plastic disposable shopping bags.
Pamela was the inspiration behind this. One year she decided to not use plastic bags for the month of January and if it went well (and it did!) not to use them for the whole year. What a fantastic idea! Over Christmas I acquired an awesome stash of reusable shopping bags (and produce bags and bulk buying bags!) so I should be set.

2) To not use paper towels
Although I didn't receive any unpaper towels for Christmas, I have scrounged up some fabric items around the house that I plan on re-purposing (YES, a sewing project!) into unpaper towels. If I make it through the month of January maybe I can reward myself with a few fancy purchased ones from Etsy. Maybe. The obvious exception to this rule is when I'm at someone else's home.

3) To not use any non-environmentally friendly diapering options
I pulled off using only cloth or biodegradable options for the most part of last year and we were traveling a lot of the time. I can totally do it this year. However let it be known that I'm always willing to accommodate for any person wanting to provide free child care but doesn't feel comfortable with our diapering choices ;)

So yeah, definitely an environment friendly theme... How about you? Any challenges for yourself for the new year ahead?