Update - Hallowe'en, shoes, and more!

Tabby is growing so fast, it's hard to keep up.  Some of the latest things I don't want to forget:

• Tabby clomping around in my high heels
• Tabby swanning around in Chris' bright green soccer pinny
• Tabby eating piles of pickled ginger, miso soup and edamame, and even cucumber with wasabi!
• Tabby wiggling her noodles across the table making snake noises "sssss!"
• Tabby climbing on the shopping cart to ride at the front holding onto the cart like a big girl

Tabetha in handknit coat, made by mama

Mama's shoes!

Kisses from the black kitty for Hallowe'en

Peacock baby 

Lazy update

A lot has happened since I've posted regularly.  We had some trouble at the daycare Tabby was attending and made the decision to move her to a different facility.  Thankfully we stayed on all the waitlists iI signed up for a year ago, because we got a spot just when we needed it most.  I wrote a post about all the reasons why, but in the end, it wasn't the right place for us.

I'm already much more excited about the new place, and not just because it's a block away from my office and well over $200 a month cheaper - the level of professionalism and care she is getting is just miles above.

We've been busy doing summer things in these short, fewer-than-usual weeks of nice weather.  Tabetha has had her first cob of lovely Silver Rill farm corn, her first dunk in the ocean, her first run around the yard naked, her first ice cream, her first time touching a horse, and so many other things.  Fall is coming fast now, though - the chill is in the air in the mornings.

Which leads to another thing I've been doing instead of writing - I took up knitting.  I taught myself by way of Youtube videos because I didn't know anyone who knits continental, but I've joined a local knitting  circle as a means to get out of the house once a week, and I'm really enjoying it.  It's amazing to me how much can be done just with two basic stitches, let alone the fancier stuff.  I am very excited about making things for Tabetha and for gifts.

But even I can't type and knit at the same time!

Anyhow, I've forgotten the camera for a few crucial events lately - such as the trip to the fall fair and today's swim at the beach - but I've captured a few really super moments too.  And made slippers.

Jammies

It's funny. I loved pyjamas with feet on Tabetha.  When she was tiny, I even went out and found a pair of little pants with feet so that when she was wearing little dresses I didn't have to worry about her chubby little ankles getting cold.  As far as I was concerned, Tabby was going to wear pyjamas with feet.  I was going to send her off to university with a supply.  I mean, I knew she'd want jammas without feet eventually... maybe sometime after being elected to the house of commons, getting married, and being the first woman on Mars.

But in the last month or so she has start freaking out when things are on her feet.  She has these overalls with blousy legs, and if her feet go in and she can't see them, she completely freaks out.

Plus, she's outgrown the largest size of Pekkle footed jammies from Costco...

So now, Tabetha has NO jammies with feet.

And I am sad.

Catch up, another long weekend, and Tabby's first trip to the lake

Highlights of the weekend:

• Tabby cruising around the party stealing bites of everyone's food, from hamburgers to wasabi quinoa salad
• Tabby wandering around with sidewalk chalk marking everything (and everyone) in her path
• Tabby catching the remote control car and dragging it back to the bbq, like every proud hunter
• Tabby staying home with grampa Gord and grama Jo while mommy and daddy went to Filberg festival and bought her presents
• Tabby's first splash in McIvor lake
• BBQ on the foreshore in the glorious sunshine

and the lowlight of the weekend:

• Tabetha vomiting in the car while on the highway
• Tabetha vomiting in the car while on the highway - again

Things are going well here.  Tabetha has two new words (Daddy, book) and has learned to use inflection to ask questions - so now?  everything she babbles?  is in the form of a question?  Yes!  Tabetha is now ready to be a contestant on Jeopardy!

Sinful luxury

Tonight, I did something that felt sinfully luxurious.  Naughty even.  I revelled in it, and I didn't feel a bit guilty.

I went grocery shopping.

Alone.

It used to feel like a chore.  Now?  It's one of my favourite things.

Canada day long weekend

It's not quite over, really, but it's been so packed with good times and firsts that it seems like a good time to sum it all up.

Tabetha has now gone 8 days without nursing to sleep for her nap!  Normally she only does that at daycare.  This weekend she has nursed only at night and first thing in the morning, and my goal is now to day wean, I think.

Mom and Don have been down visiting since Thursday night and it's been great.  They've really enjoyed tabetha being old enough to take to the park without us, and we've enjoyed it too!  Plus, it's finally been lovely warm weather.

There are lots of things not in these pictures - Tabby playing with her new IKEA kitchen, grandparents reading her stories, Tabby eating chinese food at Ho Tong and bbqed hamburger on the front lawn - but it's been a wonderful weekend and the pictures do show that.

Dear Tabetha: 14 months

Dear Tabetha

According to the calendar, you will be 15 months old in just a couple of weeks.  I say according to the calendar because it just doesn't seem remotely possible that so much time has passed.  The last three months especially have been amazingly quick, now that you're in daycare and I am back at work.  I think it's partly because you're one of the youngest kids (the oldest is just over 24 months) but you keep up just fine, and you're always coming home with new tricks.

You are rapidly becoming a toddler.  You walk like a champ, and sometimes you already refuse to hold my hand.  Your knees are bruised from tumbles, but it doesn't seem to concern you in the least.  Some of the things you've done recently that I don't want to forget:

• This morning your daddy came up and got you, took you downstairs, changed your diaper, and put you into your high chair before you woke up.  Sort of like saturday, when you fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep when I got you out, took you into the store, and tried several pairs of shoes on you.

• This evening I started singing "Baby Beluga" to see if you would dance for me.  You did, but not until after you brought me the "Baby Beluga" boardbook, in case I forgot the words I guess.
• You love trying to feed your Stella doll with your water bottle.
• You bring books to us to read.  If we don't take them from you immediately and start reading, you hit us with them two or three times.  If we still don't obey, you collapse to the floor and start howling like your heart is broken.
• You love to put your dolls on your wheely mouse and push them around.  If they fall off, you just put them right back.  In fact, I think you like that more than actually riding it yourself!

• You recognized grama Sherril on the computer!  you waved at her and carried on a "conversation"
• Saturday night at supper you ate tamago on brown rice with wasabi, tempura yam and zucchini, teriyaki chicken and veg, sunomono salad with crab, and pickled ginger.
• You won't even put mango in your mouth.  No one knows why.

There are so many other little things that happen every day that make me smile and make me so glad to be your mama.

May long weekend

We headed up island for the may long weekend, our first trip since I went back to work.  We went up to visit family.

The trip was really almost perfect from start to finish.  We decided to make it easier on ourselves by coming home from work, having supper, bathtime, baby jammies, etc and then instead of putting her to bed, we put her in the car and headed for Campbell River.

It worked great.  The holiday weekend rush was over, and there was a Canucks play off game on, so the roads were beautifully deserted.  The trip took just over three hours, we got to my Dad's, unpacked, and got a decent night's sleep.


Saturday the weather wasn't wonderful, but we still had a great time playing at the park. It was the same park I used to play at when I was a little kid - though it's had a complete change in equipment since then - so it was really fun to go there with my Dad and Jo and see Tabetha playing there, too.  In the summer I want to take her to swim in the outdoor pool, but it wasn't open yet and it's much too cold yet anyhow.

That was pretty great, but I think my favourite part of Saturday was after supper when Chris and I went to the movies to see Thor, and Tabetha stayed home with Grampa Gord and Grama Jo.  She had a nice bath, looked at books (Apparently she spent some time looking through a song book and singing and dancing to herself) and by the time we finished watching the movie and came back, she was happily asleep in her lovely new Valco playpen, which seems a whole lot nicer than the playpens available in Canada.  If they ever release it here (we bought it second hand from a family who brought it over from Australia) I think they'd make a killing.

It was awesome.

Sunday had two main adventures, starting with brunch at the Kingfisher Resort which I recommend VERY highly.  The food was wonderful.  I'll probably forget something, but Tabetha ate:

• scrambled eggs
• cheese omelet
• blueberries
• blueberry muffin
• quince
• canteloupe
• smoked salmon
• prawn
• crab
• sunomono salad
• cottage cheese
• hummus
• watermelon
• bocconcini
• tomato in pesto

I can't even remember what else.  She was an eating machine, and she was storing up energy for...

Her first steps!

It was so exciting.  Finally!  She walked!  We were all very proud.  Of course, her current attitude seems to be that she did it once and therefore doesn't need to ever do it again, but hey.  We know she'll get there, and Daddy captured it perfectly.

Sunday also involved music and a trip out for some mexican food.  Tabetha enjoyed some refried beans, quesadilla, enchiladas, guacamole and rice.  How did I give birth to such a culinarily adventurous child?  I won't even eat half the stuff she ate that day.

The trip was much too short.  Monday we headed back for home.  We set out from Campbell River around 11 am.  We were fortunate in that Tabby fell asleep before we even made it to the highway, which was fantastic.  We stopped in Nanaimo for lunch and a trip to the park to burn off some baby energy.

Tabetha enjoyed colouring on the table mat (though we sometimes had to stop her from eating the crayons) and she enjoyed her glass of milk and her grilled cheese sandwich, and she warmed up to the grapes by the end.  

The park was super, though I think she'd've liked to have stayed longer - I was pretty sunburnt from the day before, though, and we wanted to head home.  We had to stop again in Duncan because she had just had it.  A snack and a drink and a few times walking around the Dairy Queen set her to rights again, though, and eventually we made it home.

I could certainly have used a day to do laundry and rest when we got back, of course, but it wasn't as much work as I was afraid it might've been.  It was great.

All night? Really?

Two nights ago something magical happened.

unrelated cuteness

At 8pm, I put Tabetha in her crib.  So far so normal.  We headed up for bed at 9pm (the wild life of working parents) just as Tabetha woke up.  I nursed her back to sleep, we brushed our teeth and crawled into bed.  Around 9:30 or so, Chris went in because she was whimpering a bit; he patted her on the back for maybe 15 seconds, and he came to bed.

And we didn’t hear from her again until 6.  In the morning.  As in, eight and a half glorious hours during which she did not cry or whimper or fuss or even start giggling and playing with her feet.  As in, my first uninterrupted night’s sleep since well before she was born.

what, like I was going to take a picture of her sleeping for this?  get real!

It was so unexpected and so wonderful, I forgave her for waking up at 6 when we didn’t need to get up until 6:45.  It was so surprising and discombobulating, I forgot to pack fresh diapers in her bag before sending her and Chris off to daycare, and I had to run quickly home at lunch because she didn’t have enough to get through the whole day.

It didn’t repeat itself last night, but that’s okay.

I know she can do it.  And I’ve had a taste of sleeping without a baby calling for my attention or jabbing feet into my face.  And I liked it.

Gat!

Tabetha has indisputably said her first word, and it is "cat!"  We know that's what she means, despite the lack of clear "c" sound because she then proceeds to squeal and chase the nearest four legged animal.  It's pretty wonderful.

The secret joy of the sick baby

Tabetha has been sick since wednesday.  When I picked her up from daycare that afternoon she was a bit warm, and I was informed she'd been really clingy and cuddly all day, which is not her usual behaviour, so I wasn't surprised that thursday she was feverish and miserable.

Now; of COURSE I would rather she were healthy and bouncy and happy.  However.

There is something about a sick, clingy baby who doesn't want to play or crawl or wiggle, who just wants to be held and sung to and cradled and nursed that's like a return to the first couple months of her life. (only without the blood loss, stitches, hormones or shellshock!) I have to say, it's a pretty good feeling.

Of course, today she is still feeling unwell but has chosen to express that with a sleep strike.  She's been awake for probably around 10 hours, which is NOT normal!  Normally she takes about three hours of naps a day, and today none of the magic tricks have worked.  Not nursing, not going for a walk in the stroller, not going for a drive, not white noise or even listing to "Cecilia" at top volume on endless repeat.

All she wants to do is play and wiggle and crawl - but she's very cranky and annoying.

Clearly this is my payback for luxuriating in my snuggly baby yesterday and thursday!  (though frankly, I thought having her vomit down my shirt was payback enough....)

Again?

I recently found out that a third woman I was pregnant with is already pregnant again - and all three of them are having their second before the end of the year.  Our babies were born in 2010, these little siblings will be born in 2011.

My first thought each time was Holy Crap.  How on earth did they find enough grown-up time to do that?  do you take care of one baby while sick and exhausted with a second?  eeek!

People have been asking me when we're going to do it again since... before Tabetha was born, actually.  And our midwife asked us at our 2 week check up.  Ummm... sometime AFTER the stitches heal?


I don't think we're even totally settled on WHETHER we'll have a second, let alone when.  I don't even know how anyone in victoria can afford to - daycare is wildly expensive for a little one, and so is housing.

We'll see.  And in the meantime... I can get my baby fix from other people's little ones, since mine insists on growing!

Daddy day

Today was the longest that Chris and Tabetha have ever been alone together.

Both of Tabby's ears are infected, and she's been coughing a bit, so I wanted to keep her home from daycare.  I'd already missed three days of work this week, so today daddy was on!  Now, if she were being a normal sick baby, all whiny and clingy and unhappy, I probably wouldn't have.  But one of the mysteries of the Tabetha is that she was her absolute normal happy wiggly giggly self.  So cool.

The day was set up very well by last night - she slept 6 hours in her crib, nursed, slept 2 more hours in her crib, and then Chris brought her to bed with us because the alarm was going to go off in half an hour anyhow.  So we basically got a whole night of no baby in bed, and she got a really great solid night's sleep!

And, as I expected, it went fine.  The big if was nap time - the good people at daycare have her trained to go to sleep in her bed after just a moment or two of back patting, but apparently what happens at daycare stays at daycare - at home it's rare for her to go to sleep without nursing.  I've been okay with that because hey - no kid ever went off to college needing to nurse to sleep, anyhow.  It's our special quiet time and I think I'll miss it.

At any rate, when the time came for morning nap Chris loaded her into the stroller and her eyes were half-shut before they made it out the door.  She slept for an hour and a half  before he woke her up.  The same thing happened for afternoon nap, though she refused to take a long nap then and I had to nurse her back down for another short nap when I got home from work.

Meanwhile, I got lots done at work, met the new provincial Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, and Chris got a taste of what my life has been over the last year.  Good for everyone.  :o)

Being a working mother

So far, it's not too bad.  Bearing in mind, I've worked two days! I'm really glad I spent so much time at the daycare last week.  I was really freaked out about the idea of leaving Tabetha with strangers all day, but after last week I don't really feel like they're strangers.  I'm able to focus on work and not worry about Tabby, and I really wasn't sure if that would be the case.  Huge relief.

We've only had one phone call from the daycare so far.  There's a kid in her group who's vegetarian, so when the rest of the kids had some meat in their lunch, he had peanut butter.  And I gather one of the caregivers looked over to see Tabetha leaning wwwaaaay over, stealing peanut butter off his tray!  They don't know if she actually ate any or not, but she doesn't have any known allergies anyway - it's just that peanut butter isn't supposed to be tried until after a year.

She hasn't shown any signs of allergies, so no worries.  I figure if that's the worst call we ever get from daycare, we're laughing!

Today she was still napping when I came to get her.  It was neat going in to the nap room - she was the only one still sleeping - and getting to wake her up.  Then we go home, and have some quiet mommy daughter time before Chris comes home.  It's pretty nice.

Now if only she'd either agree to sleep all night in her room or stop crawling all over us in her sleep, I'd be even happier.

Playdate

Once upon a time there was a baby named Tabetha

She loved to explore! 

Her friend Molly did too!

Such pretty girls.

Tabby got all excited!

Molly loved Tabby's soft hair.

Awww... 

Okay now I think you're hamming it up for the camera!

Bubbles!

Yay!

Too weird.  Oh well, time time to go pick daddy up from work!

Daddy's girl

This is a post about poop.  Don't worry, I'm not going to describe bowel movements, Tabetha's or anyone else's.  And there won't be any pictures!  This is a post about the fact that Tabetha loves her father more than she loves me.

Sure, when she's tired she wants her mommy, and after a couple hours with daddy she starts to miss me.  That's nice and all, don't get me wrong.

The true test however.  The reason I know she favours her paternal parent over the one who carried her around for 9 months and all that?

She saves her poops.  She waits until 10 minutes after Chris goes to bed, or 15 minutes before he gets home from work, or - my personal favourite - until he's JUST gotten in the shower after being with her for the past two hours.  THEN she poops.

So not fair.