And the forecast shows...

RAIN. All. Weekend. Long.

How lame is that?

I guess we'll see how fun our first camping experience with Maddie will be. Soggy? Check. Wet? Check. Irritable? Likely...

xxoo.S

Getting to know her

Now that Maddie is mobile, it seems like we're learning everyday more and more what truely interests her (because this is the stuff she crawls for when you put her down). It's very rarely her toys, unless you're sitting with her, then she'll play all day. Instead it's...

• kitties
  
• cat food
• dirt, lint or any other spec of anything that the Swiffer Vac missed on it's daily pass through the house
  
• door stoppers
• me
  
• vent covers
  
• tv remotes
• anything that sings or talks to her (or plays music in general) - including, but not limited to: her singing Elmo, her stand-up piano, and her Leap Frog fridge farm. I didn't realize just how much she loved this thing, until she could crawl and often makes a beeline straight for it when left to her own devices. Hmm, maybe it doesn't hurt that it's right beside the cat food as well.

Yeah, crawling is fun so far. And it's helping me keep my floors cleaner...

xxoo.S

Clap clap clap

Chalk another one up for Maddie's milestones. Just before Grandma Thompson left yesterday, Maddie started clapping. She loves to clap at her various musical toys, especially her signing/dancing Elmo doll. He gets many encores.

So we had Grandma Thompson visiting for the weekend and it went by so fast! We did a bit of shopping on Saturday, Sunday we watched Daddy play baseball in the morning and that evening we cooked a turkey for dinner and had Greg and Liz over to share with us. Monday we did a bit more shopping and then Tuesday I made my first pie. So I guess I reached a milestone yesterday as well! It's strawberry/rhubarb and I don't know if it's any good yet as Seth hasn't been home long enough for us to share a piece (and I don't want to eat the first piece of my first pie all by myself!).

This weekend we're going camping. I've been told several times just how crazy people think we are for taking an 8 month old camping. My response has been, if I can survive Ireland, I think a little bit of camping will be just fine. We'll see...

Now we're off to the zoo (fun!) and this afternoon we have another daycare interview (not so fun!).

xxoo.S

Daycare nightmare

This week has not been fun so far. I think I'm only starting to realize what kind of nightmare trying to find daycare is going to be. Yes, I know that I should have added our names to lists, like, 6 months ago. Yes, I realize that this should have been a priority of mine, back in January. Yes, I realize I'm an idiot for leaving it for so long.

I actually did contact a number of daycares back when I was six months pregnant, (while working in the office and had all the time in the world to research places online and take care of errands). But contrary to popular opinion, daycares don't really want to hear from you quite that early.

So I've gone on 2 interviews. Neither really seem like a good fit. And everyone else I call on the lists I've found are full. Um, nightmare.

And I don't think I really appreciated just how hard it was going to be to find someone to keep her until 6pm - which is honestly the earliest I can expect to be home from work. Most of the home daycares close at 5pm. Who the heck is done work that early?? And can I have a job??

I know we'll end up finding someone/somewhere that is suitable - even if it's only temporary until we find a *fantastic* place. But it still sucks. And it's making me so sad, thinking that I only have a few short months left with my little girl. As much as I like the idea of her hanging around other kids and having structure to her day, it still just makes me so sad.

So not only am I stressing about finding a spot for her that I can approve of, I'm also feeling sad/guilty/sorryformyself in the process.

Everyone said that the year would go by in the blink of an eye, but I just didn't realize how quickly. And trust me, I never thought I would be saying this, but I'm gutted at the idea of returning to work.

Sorry, a bit of a downer post. And really, I know it will all work out. It always does, right?

xxoo.S

Dear Miss Maddie,

Well this post is long overdue - exactly 9 days overdue in fact. But my excuse is that we were in Ireland for your 8 month birthday. How cool is that, little one? You are not even a year old yet, and you've been overseas. My little world traveler.

Aside from that major milestone, you've managed to accomplish so much this month. All month long you were pushing up on your knees, rocking back and forth, and actually getting quite adept at crawling backwards. You took your first lunge forward in Ireland, and I was able to get it on video so Daddy wouldn't feel left out. And you're still taking your time getting from place to place - you're no speed demon yet, which is probably a good thing, as I just went out and bought the baby-proofing gadgets the other day.

What else can I tell you about you? You love to play. You're obsessed with your singing Elmo. Really, you like anyone or anything that sings to you - you've definitely taken after us in your love of music. And you've started doing this hand-banging-arm-movement that I'm thinking is a form of interpretive dance. :)

You started waving bye-bye this month. It's still intermittent, and often happens long after the person has actually left the room, but as a concept, you get it. Which I think is totally cool.

Oh, and you high-five like a pro. In fact you're far more into high-five-ing than waving good-bye (which I, as a regular high-fiver, totally understand).

You've learned the "milk" sign and use it all the time now. You seem to think it also means hello, eat, happy, sleep - a lot of things. But it's cool to see 2 months of my efforts finally realized. Now we're working on "Mommy", "Daddy", "kitty", "eat" and "more" ... you seem to know the signs, but haven't figured out how to do them back to us just yet.

You are a happy little girl that wakes up smiling, rarely cries, is so curious and interested in just about everything that I wonder how we're going to keep up with you in these next few years.

I love watching you do something you've set your mind to (like getting to the tv remote from across the room), because you look so proud of yourself once you do it. And it seems like your little brain is working overtime lately with all the things you're learning.

I catch you smiling at the cats when you think I'm not looking. I can't imagine what they're in for now that you're mobile.

You are a charmer with that gummy grin. You charmed an entire rugby team on the flight over to Ireland, you charmed every single person you met while over there, just like you charm every single person we happen upon when we're out over here. People just gravitate to you, and you, Miss Thing, love the attention!

And last but not least - you are turning into a total daddy's girl. You only have eyes for Daddy once he gets home from work and you love that play time with him. You squeal and giggle and laugh when he swoops you around, and he's the only thing you want to look at while you sit in your highchair. It's okay - I don't mind. Especially as it makes him so happy.

You are very loved little munchkin. I can't wait to see what this month brings.

Love Mommy
xxoo

PS - nope, you still don't have teeth. I've given up thinking they are ever going to get here. Oh, and Hyland's homeopathic teething tabs are the best thing in the world.

And she's crawling!

As promised - here's the video of our little Miss Thing taking her first lunges forward in Ireland!





xxoo.S

And we're back (oh, and she's crawling!)

Yes, we made it home safe and sound from the green isle - still pretty jet-lagged and I promise to post pics soon, but in the meantime...

• Maddie is an excellent flyer. As in Rain Man excellent. I can just hear her saying to people as she's grinning and waving and doing her happy little screech, "I am an excellent flyer". On the way over she made friends with a rugby team (lots of large men cooing over her and passing her around - too adorable for words really). And on the way back she was kidnapped by the air hostess for a bit and taken up to first class to hang out. Yeah, I was jealous too.
• We visited West Cork and Co. Kerry (doing part of the Ring of Kerry - all on the seaside - gorgeous), we went to the most southerly point of Ireland (Mizen Head - beautiful cliffs), stopped in Killarney to shop, kissed the Blarney stone, visited the Cobh (Cove) Heritage Museum which was the last port of call of the Titanic, did the Cork City bus tour and rang the bells at Shandon Church (we rang Maddie's fave song - You Are My Sunshine), went to a real farm and saw cows, and watched all the latest episodes of Corrie!
• Maddie charmed absolutely everyone she met. I'm still not sure how my daughter is so amazingly good natured - must take after her dad in that sense! But seriously, I think her head may have grown an inch or two with all the compliments she was getting.
• We are now in full-on, official teething territory. She's had diaper rash, green poops, rosy cheeks, mild fever, pain, drools (gross, stringy drools) and chin rash. Still no teeth - but it HAS to be soon as this point, right??!?!
• And the BIGGEST news of all - Maddie is now a crawler! Yep, she started crawling on Tuesday night to Louise (of course, right?). Luckily I got it on video - which I will post soon.

It was a fantastic trip, gorgeous company and scenery, but we're both very happy to be home. I'm in a state of fuzzy-headed tiredness but wasn't able to sleep later than 7:30 this morning (which is really past noon for me with the time change), however Maddie seems to not have that problem. She's currently on her 3rd hour of a morning nap as I type. And lucky me has a besotted daddy to take care of her for the rest of the day while I take a long hot bath and maybe an afternoon nap. Fabulous.

I will post more soon I promise - but for now we're just going to enjoy Father's Day weekend and laze about. Bye for now...

xxoo.S

Wanted to post, but...

I wanted to post a happy birthday message to Miss Maddie before we left, but I'm quickly running out of time and still have a lot of things to get done, so I guess it will be post-mania when we get back from the land o' the green.

Until then - enjoy the latest pics I've posted on our Flickr page - that's May in a nutshell. And yes, I know I was a little photo happy this month - what can I say... I am an artiste! ;)

Speak to you when we get back - until then, lots of xxxxxx' and lots of oooooooo's ...

xxoo.S

The countdown is on

In just over 24 hours, Maddie and I will be packing up the car, picking up Auntie Liz and heading off to the airport. I'm trying to pack us both into one suitcase (well, not us literally, but our stuff). It's proving difficult. I know that I'm a bit of a clotheshorse. And we all know Maddie is TOTALLY a clotheshorse ... but to be fair, it's a bit difficult when the place you are going could be very cool, or very warm ... depending on wether the sun is shining that day or not.

I feel bad for Louise's mom. She's picking us up from the airport, and I expect she won't love to see the amount of baggage that we will be carrying. I'm sure she'll be wishing they let us take the train down to the city...

Wish us luck - I will try to post tomorrow - lots going on though, and it really depends on my success at packing today, just how much free time I'll have tomorrow.

xxoo.S

A garage-sale weekend

We actually hosted a garage sale this weekend - Saturday morning, bright and early. I can tell you it was no way near as fun as going out to the sales, but I was happy to get the stuff out of the house (and the money into my pocket for our upcoming trip - woo hoo!).

Seth's parents came up to visit for the weekend, so aside from the garage sale we got lots done around the house as we often do when they are around.

Friday night they kept him company while I went out with the girls for dinner/drinks and the Sex and the City movie premiere. I had an absolute blast out at dinner, enjoyed a few cosmos (mmmmm - alcoholic goodness) and the movie was okay. (They didn't screw it up totally, but it was a little less cheeky and sardonic than the show - which made me a little sad). Oh, and can I just say - a woman brought her 3 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER to the show. The 10:30pm show. The movie that used the word 'fuck' as a noun, adjective and verb. And had several full frontal scenes. It pissed me off (and distracted me) the entire time. Wow, I've turned into a judgmental mother...

In other news - Maddie (as of this Wednesday) is now waving goodbye to people (when she feels like it, not always on cue, but still...). She also gives out high-fives. Very rarely leaves you hanging. I love it.

We also think she is working on her first word (no, not dada). Kitty! Except it comes out sounding more like "it-theeeee". The. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

That started on Saturday and now it's a running battle over what she says more, 'dada' or 'kitty'. That's right. Still no 'mama' anywhere near her vocabulary. I'm so being shafted.

Four more sleeps until we board the plane for Ireland. I'm starting packing tomorrow. My goal is one suitcase for both of us. One big-ass suitcase, but one just the same. Yeah. We'll see how that goes...

xxoo.S

It definitely IS getting better

This weekend was one of my favourite kinds. Spending lots of time around the house, getting things accomplished, working (and playing) outside - pretty much up there with my definition of a perfect weekend. Although I did have a bit of an epiphany this weekend - I realized that while getting lots of tasks checked off the 'to do' list is a relaxing weekend for me (I always feel more relaxed and energized if I'm plugging away at getting something done - sounds counter-intuitive, but it's the way I am); however Seth's idea of a relaxing weekend is spending it actually 'relaxing'. Luckily I was good at the sweet talking and he was enjoying just being home that I was able to cajole him into working through the weekend. And it also didn't hurt that his 'job' most of the time was to hang out/play with Maddie, which gave me free time (and hands) to get the things done that I wanted to do.

Aside from finally getting our front and back lawns in order (all weeded, fed, cut, watered and gardened), we also managed to watch 2 (!!!) movies this weekend. It was like we were living a close semblance to our old life. Maddie's sleep is getting back to normal (meaning only up 1-2 times a night, not 4-5), so after getting her down on Friday and Saturday nights we enjoyed watching an uninterrupted movie. Bliss.

It's funny what you envision your life to be like once you have children. We've had this discussion a few times, and a while ago Seth nailed it when he defined it as, "I thought it would be pretty much like this, but less hectic, less stressful, and with more time to just enjoy stuff." So as we sat in our backyard on Saturday afternoon, leisurely enjoying the weather and eating BBQ'd hot dogs while Maddie napped for another 2 hours, I turned to him and said, "So THIS is what you thought it would be like." He was like, "Yup... well, it's definitely getting better."

It SO is getting better. I think this is going to be a fun summer...

xxoo.S

Garage sale bonanza

I think the best way to explain my love for garage sale "season" (as I call it), is to compare it will Seth's obsessive love of football. Anyone of you that knows Seth, knows how he gets excited like a kid in a candy store as the weeks to football season approach. That's pretty much how I feel about garage sale season. It's short - starting mid-April (depending on weather) to mid-June, it's competitive (gotta get there early or the best stuff will be loooooong gone), and it's so satisfying (if you like getting great deals that is).

Today I was still too sick to contemplate heading to my regular class at the gym, and so, without guilt, I headed out to the sales instead. Armed with $60 and a Timmie's double double, I started to work my way methodically across the village of Brooklin.

Oh - it was a garage sale diva's heaven today. I think I hit more than 20 sales. And 5 of those were street sales - which means a tonne of houses offering up their wares all at once. So many deals to be had...which I of course had to take advantage of. I picked up a walker for Maddie (that has the 2 legs push together and becomes a little riding scooter thing for when she's older - hard to explain, but multi-functional nonetheless). I picked up some Weebles (these toys are SO cool! I haven't seem them in stores, so I guess they're another one of those items like the peek-a-boo blocks that she likes, that can only be found on ebay and at garage sales - I'll definitely be looking for more - they're like the Playskool answer to Fisher Price Little People, which we also love). I picked up some baby gates, a mirror toy and a wooden block set that I've already ruined by letting it soak in the water too long while I was cleaning it (the paint started to chip off ... oh well).

So there you go - more garage sale success stories from the Vallier household. If I had realized what I know now, I would have bought all my baby stuff last year in the garage sales leading up (strollers, playpens, excersaucers, swings, bouncy chairs - they seem to be at every single sale I visited). Oh well, I will just have to be happy with all the toys I can get now (and will continue to get for many years to come I expect).

Yes, it's been a favourable season thus far...

xxoo.S

1 down, 23 to go...

No - not pounds. Items on my "project list" that I wanted to accomplish while I was off work... It's all going a heck of a lot slower than I ever really anticipated. Let's face it. It hasn't gone at all until just recently. I guess 7 months is when it finally got easier for me. That's not so bad right? (Yes, I can hear the snickers from the peanut gallery - for your information ladies, you are all like supermoms, making exclusively homemade baby food, baking pies and cakes from scratch, entertaining large groups of party goers while your babe(s) sleep soundly upstairs and you stress not one little bit. That's great for you ... but I am not that talented!!) Okay, rambling tangent over.

So I decided to put my list of 'to do's here. I figured that it would accomplish a few things. Namely, 1) helping to get rid of some of the clutter in my scatterbrain and 2) I've always been more motivated when I publicly announce a goal.

1. Paint and hang the letters for Maddie's room
2. Build toy box/organizer in Maddie's closet
3. Buy or build bookshelf for Maddie's room
   
4. Organize photos cronologically, add notes and put into albums
5. Re-organize spare room to make more 'guest-friendly' - get rid of second dresser
6. Take boxes of old stuff to goodwill
7. Post and sell not-so-old stuff on kijiji
8. Organize underneath stairs in basement - storage area
9. Repaint bedframe in spare room
10. Repaint dining room chairs
11. Re-uphoster dining room chairs
12. Refinish cradle in cherry stain for Maddie's room
13. Refinish bedside table in cherry stain for Maddie's room
14. Build workbench and shelving in garage
15. Clean out and organize garage - move tools, Christmas boxes etc. out to garage
16. Touch up paint on walls in house
17. Put up wall hangings
18. Put up knife rack in kitchen
19. Choose and print photos for empty frames
20. Hang collage of frames over sofa
21. Put up under the cupboard cd player/radio
22. Get Guinness posters professionally mounted
23. Unpack the rest of the moving boxes in basement
24. Plant herbs in large wooden planter in backyard

Well, at least it will be fun to come back to this list every once in a while and scratch off another item. Hopefully I can get through the majority of it before September. That's only 3 months away...

xxoo.S

Maddie stuff

This past Sunday we were at a friend's BBQ and there were 2 one month old babies there, and as much as I tried, I really couldn't remember when she was like that. I mean, I remember when I see pictures. But I don't really remember what it was like to have a little quiet (for the most part) blob that would sleep anywhere and not really notice all that much around her.

Instead we have this curious-cat little girl that is wanting to go-go-go all the time-time-time. Here's just a few of the things she's doing lately...

• Crawling! Albeit backwards - she hasn't really figured out the forward motion yet, but she is pushing herself around backwards all over the place. And she can pivot on a dime. Which helps when she finds herself in front of a toy she wants, and as she tries to inch her way toward it, she finds herself moving further and further away from it. So with enough turns and some rolls thrown in, she will manage to get herself where she needs to go. Or stuck under the couch - you know, either...or...
• Communicating! She does this high-pitched squeal thing whenever she sees one of the cats. Which I take to mean, "Kitty!" She really, really, really wants to get them. I kind of feel sorry for them when she does start to crawl.
• Understanding! She definitely understands some words + some signs (although not signing back just yet). If you ask her where Daddy is, she looks all over the room until she spots him. If you say, "There's the kitty!", she looks toward where you're pointing and then smiles the biggest grin. If you ask her if she wants more (this is a sign language thing) while she's eating, she groans/growls/grunts while slamming her hands down on her highchair tray and leaning forward - I think this is a yes...
  
• Playing! By herself!! Yes, she's a little Miss Independence. As long as she has interesting toys or things that make noise all around her, you can leave her for a while. Like 10 or 15 mins on her own. I think that's pretty good - and try to make sure I practice this a few times a day so she isn't reliant on us sitting with her and playing with her.

Other things include: saying 'dada' constantly (check out the vid of it on youtube); eating 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch/snack, and dinner); trying formula for the first time (and liking it); eating her toes every chance she gets; going into the crawling position from sitting; pulling up on your hands from sitting to standing; screeching just for the hell of it; telling me it's time for boob+nap by turning toward me and pulling on my pant leg while we're sitting playing; looking for stuff when she throws it (hilarious to see her long-necking to see where the toy went); um, banging stuff against other stuff - A LOT; having giggle fits over the most ridiculous things; turning the pages of the book while we're reading....

I could go on and on and on - but you get the picture. It feels like she learns something new daily - and I know it gets even crazier as she gets older. Buh, I hope I have the energy to keep up...

xxoo.S

Update from the infirmary

We are both sick with a cold. Me more so (I think whatever antibodies my body is using to fight it off is passing along to her in the breastmilk, so she's not got it as bad) ... but it's been a rough couple of days.

Last time I was sick she was a lot smaller, and MUCH easier to keep entertained (read: happy). I remember that we spent one of those sick days pretty much in bed where she played while awake, but also happily took 3 hour naps with me a few times throughout the day.

Yeah, those days are over. I tried to get her to nap with me yesterday - thinking she might nap longer that way, allowing me to sleep longer (which did used to be the case). Well, I think she's gotten so used to sleeping on her own and in her crib, that it's the only place she'll really sleep now. So we napped at the same time, but separately yesterday.

And when she's awake she's ALL ABOUT the playing. Which means I need to be slightly more awake than just comatose to entertain her. Or at least feign interest while she entertains herself on the floor. Thank god for the new toys she got this weekend - new toys are far more interesting than old toys.

So that's it for us. I've been wanting to post and we've got lots of updates for you all - but it's taken all of my energy to keep pouring glasses of juice and putting the kettle on for tea. I do promise that I'll post more interesting stuff soon.

Until then - send me healthy, germ-fighting wishes and wish me luck in my attempts at unblocking her nose with that bulb suction thingy.

xxoo.S

Weekend in Bancroft

Well, this past Friday we packed up the car and headed up to Bancroft to visit with my step-brother, Derek and his family. Mom and Walt were up there was well, so it was a little family reunion of sorts.

We got there on Friday night around 8:30pm and lucky for us, there was shish-ka-bobs left over from dinner for us to eat. After a quick visit with everyone, Maddie was ready for bed - so we put her down and joined everyone out by the fire and ate roasted marshmallows (lots)!

Saturday morning the men got up early to go fishing and the ladies got up early to go garage-saleing! Well, Grandma stayed and watched the grandkids and Auntie Amy and I went to the garage sales. They were great - I got some toys for Maddie, Amy got a few things for Rebecca and Victoria, and I bought a couple of boardgames for the girls (note to self: don't buy toys like Mousetrap that have a lot of small parts from a garage sale - likely there will be a piece or two missing and/or broken - resulting in 2 very dissapointed little nieces).

Saturday night was a big feast of all the fish the boys caught while out that morning - then it was an early night for everyone.

Sunday morning the guys went out fishing again and the ladies enjoyed a leisurely morning around the house. I bounced in the trampoline with Rebecca and Victoria while Grandma and Auntie Amy fought over who got to spoil/feed/cuddle Maddie.

We left early afternoon on Sunday and headed back to Whitby (made it back in 2 hours - Maddie slept the WHOLE way - woo hoo!). After a quick unpacking and shower for Seth, we headed back out to our friend's, Rob & Vone's for a BBQ (well, they BBQ'd and we all hung out in the basement hiding from the cold weather). It was great seeing everyone, but by 10pm Maddie was at the end of her rope and it was time to head home for us.

Yesterday Seth went golfing with the boys, while Maddie slept the morning away (she took a 3 hour nap - yes, I think someone had a bit of a tiring weekend!). I cleaned up the toys I got her from the garage sales (she LOVES the activity table - yay!), cleaned up the kitchen and finished unpacking. When Seth got home Maddie was just getting ready to go back down for another nap - so he took the opportunity to lay down as well and enjoyed a Maddie-Daddy nap in our bed for an hour and a half. Too cute.

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. The fireworks last night woke Maddie up a few times, but all I kept thinking was how cute it will be next year to have her watching them. And I finally managed to finish painting the letters for her room (one more project to finally cross of the list) last night before I went to bed - so her room will now have a bit of decoration. Yeah, only took 7 months. Oops.

Here's a few pics from the weekend ... hope you all enjoyed yours!
xxoo.S

Princess Maddie

Meeting of the minds

Holy fish!

She likes chicken

As I was cutting up pieces of chicken to make dinner (mmmmm green curry!), I decided that it was a good opportunity to introduce Miss Maddie to another source of iron instead of always feeding her cereal. A few pieces were cooked without butter in a separate pan - then thrown in the blender with a bit of water. It took a bit of effort, but finally got it all pureed and mixed it up with some sweet potatoes. Mmmmm-mmmm!

Her first bite was a little trepidatious. But after that she was all for it - ate it all up like gangbusters.

So there you go - pureed chicken. Add to the "Maddie Likes" list.

xxoo.S

Asparagus and night terrors

Maddie has a new habit that is not fun. Waking up screaming like she's being bloody murdered.

She'd done it a few random times before - but only when something happened that scared her (for no good reason - like me going 'ewwwww' a little louder than usual at a poopy diaper - that has caused one of those freak attacks).

However while we were staying at my Mom's house during our visit in Kingston, she started waking up in the middle of the night like that. Screaming and taking a looooooong time to console once I picked her up. At first we thought that it was a teething thing, or because she was in a playpen (sorry, playyard) and that was new and different.

Then when we were at Liz and Greg's for dinner last Saturday night, she woke up and did the "I'm missing my binkie" cry, so I went up and found it for her, gave her a few back rubs and went to leave. All was good. Until I shut the door, that is. Then the screaming started. And really didn't stop until we took her into the lighted hallway.

Then the lightbulb went on, so to speak. She has a nightlight in her bedroom at our house - there was no nightlight at either my Mom's or Greg & Liz's. So she must be afraid of the dark.

At least that was the theory until last night. She woke up at 10:30pm and I finally got her back down to sleep an hour later. (Yes we gave her Motrin, but after seeing the doctor today, she said that she did not have an ear infection, no signs of a cold or swollen glands, and that she saw no signs of teething --- ummmm, shiiiiiiittt. When the hell are those teeth going to come??)

So now we don't know what it is. My doctor theorized that she just wanted attention or to see me, and this was her way of making that happen. I tend to disagree - she's clearly freaked out, and me picking her up doesn't calm her down immediately - it takes a while. So I don't think it's just a matter of wanting to see Mommy in the middle of the night.

I wish I knew what it was - not only for her sake, but mine as well. Trust me, there's nothing that gets your heart racing better than to awaken to your screeching baby.

On a happier note - we had a yummy dinner (cedar plank bbq'd salmon, rice and asparagus) and Maddie joined us in eating some asparagus. I didn't need to add water - just pureed some of the steamed tips in the blender. She made a few faces, but ate it. Unlike the avocado experience. So we have another vegetable to add to the freezer now. Cool.

xxoo.S

In a month...

...we'll be flying back from Ireland. That means in less than a month we are flying to Ireland. Scary. I think I need to start a packing list now!

xxoo.S

Flying bullets

It's been a busy day and am just about to make dinner - but wanted to post quickly...

• I just used my new jogging stroller for an hour long walk (yay, me!) ... so maybe I'll actually start losing weight now. (goodlordIhopeso)
• Maddie's one ear is completely filled with wax. I'm not even sure if I can describe just how gross it is. And everything I've read online says not to do anything, it'll work itself out. Um, okay. But in the meantime, gross...
• We have an ant problem in our kitchen. We just discovered this over the weekend (think it was because Seth filled in the sand in our interlock brick in the backyard - he filled in their home, so they infiltrated ours). Ants are gross. And the ant traps don't seem to be working - at least not fast enough for me. So I keep spraying them with Fantastic. That's right. Fantastic.
• Tomorrow is our last Babyville group meeting - I really like the moms we met through this group and hope that we all do manage to keep in touch. At least over the summer, while I'm home and bored and (ALWAYS!) looking for something to do...
• Lastly - random thought: Have you ever noticed how potatoes will just randomly start growing on their own if you leave them long enough? Like start growing little arms and legs (sprouts?) with no help or outside intervention. Don't you think that's just weird? I mean, seriously - does any other food item do that? Just start propagating itself?
  

xxoo.S