New things for spring

So the first day of spring has come & gone & sadly there's still snow sprinkling down from the sky above (shakes fist at the heavens). Like many fellow Canadians this time of year I want to be somewhere warm & sunny & where someone serves me fancy colourful drinks with twirly straws, umbrellas & fruity bits. Poolside. I've never done this & I think it's about time I chalk this up on my list of experiences. One year we went to Mexico during Easter which was fantastic & warm but quite the opposite of an all-inclusive vacation package in that we hung out in Mexico City & rode widly careening buses & taxis & drank warm Coke out of plastic baggies. We did make it as far south as Acapulco where I was the whitest person on the beach & someone sold us .35 cent beer out of a truck. Oh & we saw the cliff divers. That was cool. Then Calvin ate a delicious taco from a street vender & followed that up with a dish of Montezuma's Revenge. Good times my friends. Good times. Anyway, the temptation of warm tropical air & spiced rum cocktails is mighty strong at the moment. Perhaps I'll throw a luau. Ya, that's what I need. A bunch of drunk yahoos in grass skirts doing the hula in my little basement.

Last week we did a little spring shopping & picked up a few fancy things for myself & mon petit bébé. I've already posted a picture or two (or five?) of the cool Bumbo chair. She loves it since it allows her to sit upright without having to always be in my lap (gives me a break too). The thing looks like hard plastic but it's actually a soft styrofoam sort of material so it's lightweight enough to travel around with. We brought it to the annual St. Paddy's Day party at Geoff & Katherine's where it was a hit with all the babies there. Even teeny Lauren fit in it when she came to visit.

We are now also proud owners of a lovely crib that Calvin's parents procurred for us. Hence the crib cam (sidebar link near the bottom) that I thought was a little creepy at first but now am loving as it allows me to type this up & check up on her at the same time without making any floor creaking noises. For instance, at this moment she should really be sleeping soundly but instead is waking herself up every few minutes by making sea-bird imitations. The girl can squawk like an albatross I tell you. I really didn't think we'd have much need for a crib since doodles still sleeps with us but she outgrew the bassinet last week & she's about to start rolling over so our bed is probably becoming a nap-time hazard despite the sea of strategically placed pillows. Anyway, love the crib, love the crib cam but honey, the dvd player has got to go.


We like to start 'em young around here.

Yes it's a joke & yes I took it down much to Calvin's chagrin.

Other shopping goodies that were purchased last week included this wonderful sling that is so much easier to put on than the Baby Bjorn we inherited & nicer on my back as well. Plus it's totally stylin' & I can squish it into my little backpack / diaper bag lickety split. I also managed to find some pants that fit as well as a shirt & corduroy jean jacket from The Gap. No luck with finding any jeans though which had been my ultimate goal. Why the hell does every single pair of jeans I like have to have stretch in them? Normally a bit of stretch is a good thing but when you've got the fitting room attendant & your mouthy husband insisting that you go a size smaller because they are going to stretch when you wear them despite the fact that your thighs look like encased sausages & your post-baby belly flab is pooching over the waistband, stretch is not your friend. At least not in denim. So I said goodbye to the jean fantasy and am promising myself that I will not go there until a bit more of the extra belly flesh has melted away. Because that's what's going to happen right? It'll all melt away like the snow that is still on my lawn & the icicles that are dripping from my eaves. Ya sure, whatever.

In the effort to achieve proposed melting I signed up for a 10 km running clinic at the Running Room with my pal Katherine. We started off this last Saturday with a 3 km run in the freezing wind & despite the frigidness I think I managed to do ok. There was no wheezing, the boobs didn't hurt too much & the lactic acid buildup over the next couple of days was not too bad. Our goal race is the MDS Nordion 10K on May 27th during the National Capital Race Weekend. I'm also spinning Tuesdays & Thursdays & do a 4.5 km walk at least once a week. So the melting? It better start soon. I'm trying not to be shallow & totally concerned about this but really, it would be nice to just feel comfortable in my own skin again.

I don't think the little monkey is very comfortable in her skin either at the moment as she has a bit of excema. Some of it is probably due to the constant coverage of saliva but she has some pretty dry skin patches all over. We had her four month checkup last week & the doc gave us some fancy ointments for it but the severity seems to change by the hour so I'm never sure when to put it on. Freyja also got her immunization shots that day and did not take it as well as last time. I forgot to give her the Tempra until a few minutes beforehand so that might have had something to do with the screeching but she tends to spit most of it out anyway making disgusted faces at the dropper so it probably wouldn't have helped. She really hates that stuff. Someone mentioned a patch you can use pre-needle that is available at the pharmacy so I think I might try that next time if I can find it. The rest of the visit went well & I win the weight guessing contest over Calvin because she's up to 15.2 lbs versus the 14 he thought she was. Methinks someone needs to do more baby carrying.


Right daddy?