Monday, March 27, 2006

Yawn

This morning I was so tired I thought I was going to puke. It doesn't seem to matter what time I go to bed or what time I wake up, I just don't seem to get enough zzzz's. I am in pure zombie mode which I guess goes with the lobotomy feeling I've been having with my brain but leaves a lot to be desired in terms of functioning like a regular human being. I can't think straight, have a decent conversation, write coherent e-mails, figure out what day it is, read my favorite blogs & come up with anything witty to say here.

Things that are making me tired:
  • upping the physical exercise - i am sore all over & going up the stairs has become a problem
  • eating crap
  • picking up rattle / click & spin flower (one of her favorites)/ stuffed kitty off the floor repeatedly after they've been thrown down a million times by cookoo baby
  • stupid dog barking at anything that moves outside
  • kicky mcthrashy tossing & turning in bed beside me all night
  • bizarro dreams that end on weird notes because of being woken up by thrashy baby
  • anxiety level about anything bad possibly happening to baby or me - at least Bert if not Ernie
Terror Alert Level

And so my friends, I apologize for the lack of posts, the lack of comments on other people's blogs, the poor writing & especially to Calvin, for only being able to point & grunt at objects I want you to pick up instead of actually being able to name them. Oh, and for being able to cry at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason. In less than two hours my mother arrives for a 5 day visit so I'm hoping she can take over for at least a few hours of doodle bug quality time so I can attempt to catch up on my sleep. Perhaps then I can catch up on life.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

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? Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

My Little Highland Dancer


My little gal, she's got rhythm & feets o'fire!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Take a memo mummy


Well hello there

What shall we discuss today?

Hmmmmm. Perhaps the relative benefits of mammarian sustenance versus the introduction of solid victuals at an early stage of development.

Gosh darn it, but I like the boobies!

And number two, I love milk!

So in conclusion I'd like to say that I am quite content to continue in my role as a very cute little parasite & also that I love this new chair because I can see all from it. Yes I am now omnipitent! Worship me please. Posted by Picasa

Monday, March 13, 2006

Oh the laundry

It never ends but some of the stuff is just so cute. Case in point:


Exhibit A: Laundry gal

Exhibit B: snuggly warm

Guess where she gets it from....

early basket case Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

4 Months Old!

Where has the time gone?

My little scruncheon Posted by Picasa

Well my little monkey, you are 4 entire months old & I love you like nothing else in this world. You make me laugh everyday & some days you make me cry (sometimes out of love & sometimes out of frustration). Right now you are singing to yourself in the bassinet when you really should be having a nap. Today for a celebration we had a glorious nap together and we both got some much needed sleep all snuggled close to each other while you fed or at least sucked for about 2 & a half hours. Yes, my birthday present to you was to let you have free unlimited boobie access & all the kisses you could handle.

You have grown so much over the past little while though we still aren't too sure how much you weigh. Calvin guesses around 14 pounds when he stands on the scale with you. Me, I'm too scared to stand on that scale so I just look at it with disdain out of the corner of my eye. I'm trying hard to get back into shape but I think I'm going to be one of those gals who won't lose it all until we stop breastfeeding. This week we started going to a Post-Natal Bootcamp at Cyclefit which sounds much scarier than it is. It's a combination of spinning (indoor cycling) & strength exercises with a bosu which is basically one of those yoga balls sliced in half. It's hard for me but it's nice to get back on a bike & you love to watch the wheel spin while I make faces at you from above. I am sore all over & my pelvic bones hate me despite the padding in my cycling shorts but it's probably the most action that area has seen in months.

Things you can do now include laughing hysterically at Daddy when he comes home & makes ridiculous noises at you. You'll laugh at me too & at other stuff like Cookie Monster but no one makes you laugh quite like Calvin so I guess we'll keep him around. You have rolled over a few times both ways but we think it's been mostly by accident because you're not quite consistent with it yet. You'll grab your toes & make it to your side but from there you need a bit of a nudge or some extra motivation to make it onto your belly. You are liking tummy time a bit more now & can hold yourself up pretty well but it makes you really frustrated to not move forward like you want to. I'm sure it will all happen much too soon & then you'll be rolling everywhere so I guess I need to start taking more precautions like changing you on the floor instead of the bed since we don't have an official changing table.

Other things you like are bath time & swimming at the pool. Well, I suppose you can't really call it swimming & you hate it when the water splashes into your mouth by surprise but it seems as though you enjoy the water for the most part. You also love it when I give you a massage & get all excited when you see the blue bottle of oil. You are enamoured with the baby in the mirror & get a good giggle at yourself every morning as you realize you can pat your hands on the surface. Ah, young love, how sweet.

You also love the Jolly Jumper & will bop around like a highland dancer on too much sugar. Must be those Scottish genes acting up. Fun times too are when we hang out downstairs & dance to the Galaxie satellite music stations though I can't decide if you like the 80's or the Rock 'n Roll station the best. At least it's not the Easy Listening one. As for the Icelandic genes I think they come into play with your fascination of the written word. Doesn't matter if it's one of your books, one of mine or even a magazine, you just love to see the black letters against a crisp white page. I'll be feeding you lying down in bed while reading at the same time & once you notice the book you play what I like to call "snack bar". This involves taking a hit off the ol' boob, then rapidly turning your head so you can see the words, having a chat with them & then quickly scraping your turning noggin along a very sensitve area so you can take another hit. When I read you a story you will talk to the pictures especially the ones in Good Night Moon. I think they freak you out. I think they freak me out.

So life is pretty swell and I have you to thank for that doodles. I just hope that I can always keep you safe & happy & not too smelly. Love you forever, mum.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

No I didn't have a hangover

Sorry about the drunk post pals. You know when you've had a couple of drinks & everything is sooooo funny and then the next day not so much. Well, I still find it amusing but I think this is one of those times when you just had to be there. At least we all now know for sure what a cheap drunk I am. All 15 of you. On a good day. I look at my sitemeter & know how pathetic my numbers are. Not like I try very hard to make them larger because even though I peruse about a trillion websites a day (really, a trillion!) I never really make the effort to comment. And that is apparently the key to making friends out there on the wonderful internets. Commenting is like making conversation for me - hard work. I just end up thinking to myself why bother? Because I'm just going to basically repeat something someone else just said. By the time I figure out something intelligent & original to say someone else has done it for me. Doesn't help that I feel like I've had a lobotomy.

Seriously, my brain just does not work like it used to. The other day it took me about 10 minutes to relate a stupid story that should've really only taken about 2. Words get lost, synapses don't fire and my mouth spits out gobbledygook. It's a constant fight with my gray matter to make things matter. I'm sitting here now staring blankly at my laptop waiting in vain for some spark of genious to take over me & make me start magically typing the next great essay. I feel like Ralph Wiggum from the Simpsons but at least I'm not drooling like my precious little doodles.

The copious amount of drool that my daughter now produces could fill our pool out back. It's really quite gross in a cute slimy kind of way. Everything she sees she tries to grab & put in her mouth so she can rake her gums & tongue along whatever edge she can find. She gave Calvin a hickey on his forearm the other day & anyone who's hand she sucks on is amazed that I'm still breastfeeding. So am I folks. So am I. It's actually going surprisingly well at the moment. It's as though something just sort of clicked for us. There's still quite a bit of pain from the Raynaud's but it's not every time we feed anymore so I can handle it a hell of a lot better now. For those who want to know it sort of feels like having frost nip & yes I get the pun.

Anyway the little monster is squealing with glee in her bassinet so I must go and entertain her until she decides it is time once again to latch on like a barracuda to my fingers or my boobs. Here's some stylin' baby pictures to keep you appeased until next time.


Bored 'n sweet

Guess it won't hurt to smile

I so rock this dress Posted by Picasa

Thursday, March 02, 2006

because i am drunk

I give you this portrait of me as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

lashes Posted by Picasa

This is great/ I've had two glasses of white wine and am feeling fine. My styping skills are sucking real bad & I just jhad a conversation on im with my sister that went something liek this.....
(i've edited this not because I am embarrassed by my drunkeness - it was just really boring)

me: ive had a couple of glasses of wine so i'm a little slow at the moment
me: i tried to feed her before i got too tipsy though
me: hence the bad typing & etc
me: oops
sis: maybe the spiked milk will make her feel better
me: ya i hope so - maybe she'll sleep longer through the night (kidding!)
sis: brynn is playing in a cardboard box
me: hahaha that;s too funny
me: freyja was laughing at the ceiling earlier
sis: that's even funnier
me: i know she was was cracking herself up

me: i am cut off
me: i suck
me: and i wish i looked like my avatar
me: she looks happy
me: and well dressed
me: i think i'll do a drunk post on my blog now
me: have fun making dinner - i'd recommend some wine

sis: the boys should talk
me: ya maybe when we cme visit we;ll let them get drunk on sake by themselves
sis: maybe they can have a little brokeback mountain love
me: hahaahhaahhHAAHHAAHAHHAAHA
sis: gross32
sis: can't believe i just said that
me: caLVIN just called me on my cell phone from downstairs to tell me survivor is on - and baby just started raying
sis: raying?
sis: ok, yay
me: ya raying,,,,,
me: no crying

gets baby...
me: awh so snuggly
me: okeedokee
sis: aww, feeling better?
me: ya - its amazing what an hour of sleep will di
me: do

whatever dudwes... the wine is good & I needed it today. Calvin is taking fcare of the raying baby. Later.

Go to sleep!

The little bugger has been refusing some much needed nap time so I haven't had many chances to post in the past few days. Right now she's lying on the bed singing to herself & laughing hysterically. Normally I'll let her do this for a while and she'll eventually go to sleep on her own, but this has gone on way past the point of that happening. Guess I'll go get her up & let her talk to cookie monster or a book. What a weirdo.

But oh so cute.

Buds Posted by Picasa