NOOOO!!!! December 28, 2011

Chris stole the glory of my 200th post! I knew I was getting close and after he hit publish on his “hacked blog post” it said “Congratulations, this is your 200th post”! and Chris bragged about him not even being aware that he was writing so often but thankful that WordPress recognized his efforts.

Anyways, Christmas was a bit of a blur. I often chose not to take my camera out and just enjoy the moment (and the madness). Henry seemed to like Christmas as well. One of his favourite things was a HMV gift receipt that he found on the ground and just kind of clung to it for a few hours. I won’t list all the things he got since I believe there’s a word limit on these posts, needless to say, he got a lot of stuff. It’s kind of spread out across 3 levels of our house. Both Chris and I got gift certificates to Ikea in hopes of remodeling our kitchen however we’ll probably use them to buy some of their Trofast storage systems.

something like this would do nicely

 

Anyways, we had a great Christmas and looking forward to the new year (minus the whole going back to work thing). Here are a few more pics from over the holidays.

Opening a gift on Christmas Eve Eve. Notice Chris' new glasses. Took 9 years of pestering but I finally got him to get a new pair.

 

Showing off my spa results. Got my eyebrows threaded for the first time instead of waxed.

 

Preparing Satay appetizers for Christmas Eve. All the food there was delicious.

 

Chris took this pic and I love it. We made a few calendars with pictures of Henry for each month. Look at the smile on his face as if he's saying "Yep, that's from me!"

 

Chewing Chris' belt while others opened gifts.

 

After opening his stocking on Christmas morning.

 

Look at all the stuff I got!

 

Playing with a new toy on boxing day

 

Destroying the little castle I built with his new wood blocks as Ginger looks on. Sidenote: Ginger seems to be lurking in the background of most of my pics of Henry these days. She just kind of follows him everywhere in hopes of receiving food.

 

We have more celebrating coming up. A family party on the 30th, my mom’s birthday on the 31st and Chris’ uncle Dennis is in town so we’re hoping to see him sometime this weekend. Next weekend we’re in sunny California. Ginger will be going to my mom and stepdad’s house and the cats will spend some quality time with their good pal Jenny who comes over to look after them (they’re a little too neurotic to go to a kennel, we’d have to give Purrl prozac so it’s easier to have someone come to us).

 

 

 

Hacked Blog December 27, 2011

Hello Everyone,

I have decided to hack Melinas’ blog in order to tell you all about Henrys’ visit to the RCMP.  For those of you who aren’t in the public service the last workday before Christmas isn’t much of a workday.  Unless there is an emergency, we spend the morning socializing and lots of parents bring their kids into work.  I decided to bring Henry in so I could show him off to all my coworkers and so Melina could have a complete morning to herself to relax and maybe finish up any last minute Christmas tasks.  As it turns out Melina was all prepared for Christmas and took the relaxing idea seriously.  She spent the morning at the spa getting a massage.

Henry was in fine spirits when we arrived.  Our first stop was the loading dock where Henry was immediately spoiled with a gift from Ralph.  He got a toy dog on wheels that zooms off when you push it down.  We then went up to Records where he was passed around.  After a short break for Henrys’ breakfast we then visited the Mail Room and Wireless.  Everyone was excited to see him and he spent more time in other peoples arms than mine.  Everyone was amazed and remarked how he doesn’t fuss or make strange.  In fact Henry seems happiest when he is in a  social situation.  I guess he is a party animal at heart.

Sooner or later all party animals crash and Henry was no different.  He started getting tired so we said our goodbyes and left via the loading dock.  Henry was so tired that he almost fell asleep in Ralph’s arms while I got my jacket on and pulled out Henry’s winter gear.  He then slept the whole way home.  Upon getting home he woke up and started to freak out.  He was too hungry to go back to sleep but her was also too sleepy to eat.  Luckily  Melina then arrived home and nursed him.  He then managed to get back asleep for a nice two hour nap.

All in all it was a great day.  I love getting to spending one on one time with Henry.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a great New Year.  And in keeping with the theme of the blog here are some photos from the holidays.

Henry playing with his toy from Ralph

Us spending Christmas Eve morning at Bruce pit

Ginger crazy excited to be at Bruce Pit

Henry was pretty excited too

Looks like Henry was on Santa's nice list

This gift is AWESOME

Wow look at all the cool stuff I got.

Packing List December 22, 2011

In just two short weeks we’ll be heading out to San Diego with Chris’ family for 8 days of fun. For those who know me, I can be a bit obsessive sometimes, especially right before traveling. I’ll make lists of for everything. Packing, things to visit, things I’d like to purchase, etc.  I’ll work on these weeks ahead of time and revise the lists constantly. There’s just something about list writing that I love. I’m totally my mother’s child, she carries a notebook around all the time and write everything in it. I’m pretty close to doing the same.

Anyways, making a packing list for Henry has been fun/stressful. The last time I stressed so much about a packing list was when I was getting ready to live in Haiti for a month. We can’t just pack our car full of stuff this time since we’re traveling by plane so we have to be strategic. Chris keeps reminding me that we’re not going to a third world country and that if we’re missing anything, we can probably pick it up at the local walmart or something but I like to be prepared. Luckily for us, the place we’re staying at comes with a playpen and a high chair so we don’t have to pack those.

Anywho, without further ado, here’s my packing list for Henry so far. I’d love to know what you pack for your baby when you’re traveling. Also, for those who have traveled with babies on a plane, what did you pack?

Henry’s list

– Diapers (Chris says we just need to bring a few and we can pick up more there. I don’t know why I stress about possibly not having enough).

– wipes and bum cream

– First aid kit (including Baby Tylenol, Baby Advil, thermometer, nail clippers, band aids, snot sucker thingy, some saline solution, teething stuff)

– toiletries (baby shampoo, baby soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, eczema cream, sun screen).

– sun hat

-shoes

-umbrella stroller for day trips to the zoo or Legoland.

– baby carrier (in case the stroller thing doesn’t work out)

– bed sheet (I read that babies sleep better away from home if they have their sheets on the new bed)

-sound machine

-baby monitor

-food stuff (sippy cup, spoons, bibs, snacks for the plane, food for the plane)

– sleep sack

-light blanket (if it’s too warm for the sleep sack)

– towel and facecloths

-nursing cover

– short sleeve onesies

-long sleeve onesies (who knows what the temp will be like)

-few t-shirts

-pants

-shorts

-socks/baby legs

– sweaters (in case it cold)

-bathing suit (there’s a children’s pool nearby)

-pjs

– soother + clip

– Toys (this is where we’re skimping a bit, mainly bringing things to entertain Henry on the plane such as his favourite ball, his stacking cups, rattle, bath book and his ugly dog for sleeping).

Anyways, that’s pretty much it. I’m convinced I’m missing something so if you see anything obviously missing, let me know.

 

Thanks for obsessing like this over me mom.

 

check out my cool side carry of my sippy cup. Pretty Gansta eh?

 

 

 

 

Self Weaning December 21, 2011

In the past week, Henry’s kind of cut back on nursing and focusing more on food. He’s down to nursing 3 to 4 times a day. A HUGE difference from when he was younger and it was 10 to 12 times a day. I’m both happy and sad about the whole thing. I’m happy that I can do more things without having to worry about finding a place to nurse. No more timing everything down to the minute. I’m also happy that I no longer have to nurse him to get him to go to sleep, for the night and for naps.

On the other hand, I’m sad that my little guy is growing up and doesn’t need me as much. I know he’ll always need me, but there’s such an intense connection that builds from nursing and I worry about losing that.  I plan on nursing Henry until he’s 12 months old but by then, it will probably be a twice a day thing, such as morning and night so as to get him ready for daycare (where my boobs won’t be so readily available!). That’s all I’ll say about daycare for now since the subject sends me into panic attacks. I actually find myself playing the lottery every few weeks in hopes of wining and not having to go back to work (I used to play maybe 5-6 times a year).

Anyways, back to the weaning. Henry’s become quite the good little eater and seems to rather eat our food than his own. Yesterday I made a bunch of mushroom rolls to bring to my mom’s place on Christmas Eve and Henry ate a bunch of the filling.

This stuff is delicious! I can see why Aunty Gill loves them!

 

This morning I tried getting a pic of Henry’s tooth and finally got it. You kind of have to zoom in to see, but it’s there.

I could only get a shot while he was putting a puff in his mouth. Click on the pic and then you can see better.

 

I thought I’d add some more recent pics of Henry since I’ve been kind of slacking off a bit with the blog.

trying to break into the diaper bag.

 

Ginger being a creepy stalker

 

Messing with Ginger's dog bowl= new favourite pastime

 

 

chatting wisuth me about his morning.

 

Right now we’re watching Home Alone together and he’s laughing hard as the burglars get their butts kicked.Especially when “Marv” gets the tarantula put on his face and screams really loud. I’ve had to rewind it a few times for him.

Finally, I’ve been thinking of what kind of traditions i’d like to celebrate with Henry on Christmas and one of them is doing an advent calendar, so when I came across this at Home Outfitters at 50% off, I couldn’t resist!

all made of wood and you can put little chocolates in each box.

 

Hubba Hubba Hubby! December 19, 2011

Today is Chris’ 33rd birthday! (For some reason when I typed this, I pictured Bilbo Baggins when he says “today is my eleventy first birthday!”, yep, total nerd!)

We had a weekend of celebrations where Chris got spoiled and then spoiled some more. Today he’s taking Henry to music class. I told him that if he tells Nicole that it’s his birthday, she may sing Happy Birthday to him but I think he’s too shy to say anything (Ps: Chris has a huge musical crush on Henry’s music teacher).

I thought it might be fun to put a few pics of Chris over the years like I do for Henry’s monthly anniversaries (it’s kind of a picture dump but once I started going down memory lane with these picture folders, it was hard to just choose a few). I don’t have any on the computer that go back 9 years but I have a few from over time that I can put in here. So here’s to my hubby, my best friend, great daddy,  spider catcher, high objects getter, snarky commentator, Christmas light putter upper, constantly laid back charmer!

The blue hair first got my attention during a summer class at Carleton. This is Chris after cutting down our first Christmas tree.

 

At my 23rd birthday party

 

Smoking a cigar on our balcony in Varadero in 2006, where Chris proposed

 

Doing catalogue poses with his new suit in 2006

 

at our first Christmas party in our new home.

 

On our wedding day in 2007

 

Drinking Guinness on our honeymoon in Ireland.

 

Spooked out in a Salem Cemetary on Halloween 2008

 

Enjoying a Mojito in Cuba in 2009, our second time there.

 

Enjoying the sunset in Carmel by the sea in 2009

 

A little sleepy on our second day in Krakow, Poland in 2010

 

Chilling out by a fountain in Warsaw 2010

 

Enjoying a beer in Postdam, 2010

 

Enjoying a bigger beer in Munich, 2010

 

Spending some quality time with Henry on his birth day. February 7, 2011

 

Easter 2011 on daddy's shoulders.

 

Lazy summer morning

 

My two favourite guys... sorry Atticus.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!

Picasso December 17, 2011

We did finger painting on Thursday at Baby Sensory. I thought Henry would love it but he wasn’t feeling it. I kind of had to force his hand into the paint and then spread it around on paper. He didn’t really want to do it and kept wanting to climb me instead but since he was covered in paint and I didn’t have a change of clothing, that wasn’t going to happen. He did make some cute Christmas crafts though with his handprint and then footprints.

 

Mama, let me climb you...

 

Washing up

 

Christmas crafts. We added little red pompoms at the heel of the footprints to make little feet holly.

 

After Baby Sensory I braved Westboro (why is there always a traffic jam there?) to go to Kiddie Kobbler to get some proper shoes for Henry. He seems to want to walk and with us traveling to San Diego in January, I wanted to get him a good pair that won’t hinder his feet too much. I knew kids shoes were expensive but DAMN!

 

Almost $70 bucks later

 

Henry doesn’t seem to really like his shoes. He’s kind of regressed a bit and drags himself around on his stomach as if he doesn’t know how to use his feet anymore. I think he’s protesting the fact that we got him shoes.

I HATE THESE!!! (don't mind the water stain going all the way down Henry's shirt)

Christmas Trial Run

Henry had a small Christmas gift exchange with his buddy Luis on Wednesday. Both of them loved the tissue paper and wrapping paper. The actual gifts were a distant second in their books. Sandra has a Christmas tree up in her basement and when we went down there, Henry made a beeline for it and took down a Christmas ornament within seconds. And when I say  “took down” I mean “ripped off it’s hanger”.  It kind of makes me happy with my decision of doing the tabletop tree this year.

 

The name of the game is "rip apart as much as possible"....GO!

 

 

Luis' side game was "how much of this can I eat before mom stops me"

 

Winter 2012 trend alert: tissue paper as a scarf will be the IT thing to wear for babies.

 

 

 

The game turned into a dogpile. For some reason, whenever Henry and Luis get together, this happens.

 

Henry playing with the bath book that we gave Luis.

 

Luis playing with the book he got for Henry

Christmas Crafting December 13, 2011

I decided to use up some Christmas themed fabric and made a crazy patch Christmas stocking for Henry. Here are the results!

 

One of my gifts to Henry

 

As you can see, he's a big fan...not

 

crawling away now mom

All I Want For Christmas Is My Bottom Front Tooth December 11, 2011

Yep, Henry FINALLY has a tooth. I was starting to get worried that he’d never have any. That we’d be pureeing his school lunch for him. On Friday night he started doing this weird thing with his tongue where he would roll it around in his mouth. I figured it was just another one of Henry’s quirks. Saturday morning I was tickling him and he opened his mouth wide and there it was. This tiny little white thing on his bottom gums. He’s protecting that thing with his life. He’s altered the way he smiles so that we don’t see it. Chris had to wrestle him a bit just to get a look at it. So if you’re hoping for a picture of a toothy grin, it’s not going to happen for a while.

 

My new half smile

 

We’ve had a pretty busy weekend. I find since we’ve had a kid, our weekends are much busier. I remember before when we’d sometimes just spend the entire weekend chilling out at home doing nothing. With a baby, the days get pretty long when you don’t go out.

Friday morning I had a somewhat high school reunion with a few friends from high school who are also on mat leave. We went to this child friendly cafe in Bells Corners and got to hang out while the babies played. Henry spent most of the time crawling around trying to break out of the play area although at one point he kind of dog piled on top of two of the girls, Delphine and Elodie. I think he was trying to be a smooth player and failed miserably. My dad came by Friday afternoon for his weekly visit with Henry (and me I guess 🙂 )  And Friday night I braved the crowds at the new Ikea. It was HUGE! I got super dizzy halfway through. I think some primitive part of me panicked a little and wanted to escape to get some fresh air.

Saturday morning Chris took Henry to swim classes and I went to my second pole dancing fitness class where I got these beauties on both arms:

I took this pic about an hour after class. The bruise just got darker and darker.

 

For those who think strippers don’t work for their money, they’re completely wrong. It’s one of the hardest classes I’ve ever taken and requires a lot of upper body and ab strength. I’m loving it though. I think I’m going to sign up for full classes come January since right now I’m doing a Groupon type thing.

While Henry napped Saturday afternoon, Chris and I were outside with Chris practically on the roof installing a digital antenna. We haven’t had cable for about 2 years so now with this antenna, we get 11 free channels that look like they’re HD. It’s great! I love alternatives to spending money with major companies like Bell or Rogers.

Last night we went to the Barley Mow for dinner with our friends Brian and Caitlin then came back home and played Scene It on the Xbox.  I get uber competitive with that game. I’m obsessed with Pop Culture so I get upset when I don’t win things like this game. Luckily I won!! 🙂

Today there was a birthday party for my nephew Logan who’s turning 3 on the 13th. He’s a pretty cool kid and spent a long portion of the time hanging out with Chris and I just talking about random things. At one point he asked his dad if he could open “just one gift” and his dad Martin said “go ask your mom”, so Logan went off, then came back and said “she said yes” and proceeded to rip open a gift only to have my sister Steph come running saying “What’s going on here? I didn’t say yes!” He’s such a trickster!

You can see the mischief in his eyes.

 

and now a few more pics of what Henry’s been up to this weekend.

Look, I can play the piano without my booster seat!

 

Helping his mom with crafting by holding her tape measurer.

Christmas Questions

I saw this meme on Matt and Kara Adopt, the same blog from which I got the awesome wreath pattern. I’m a sucker for memes. I’ll drop everything at work to fill one out. I just like sharing information about myself, probably why I started a blog. It could be the leo in me!

 

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate. I tend to gag on egg nog. Just can’t take it.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Definitely wrapped. I mean, the thrill of Christmas as a kid was tearing away the paper just to see what Santa brought.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Coloured. I’m definitely not mature or trendy enough for white ones. Our Christmas tree usually looks like a raibown threw up on it.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. I always thought that might be a more American thing. Or maybe with the way us French Canadians greet each other with two kisses, hanging a mistletoe would lead to just one continuous kiss-fest.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the first or second weekend of December. We get a real tree so any sooner and we’d be in pine needle city(although if you ask Linda our cleaning lady, she’d tell you that no matter when we get it, we’re still in pine needle city).
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I love turkey. It’s a staple however I really really love my Gramma Jeff’s(the background of the nickname would take forever to explain) Swedish Strip cookies. I make some each year for my dad and end up making some for myself because I just can’t resist.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? When I was really young, I’d wake up before everyone and then arrange all my presents at the front of the tree and then act like Santa just preferred me. I also loved waking up and hearing my parents complain about how messy Santa was and seeing a trail of ash footprints coming out of the fire place and with half eaten cookies and carrots (for the reindeer) on a plate. I would get so excited thinking “OHMYGOD SANTA WAS HERE!!!”

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was pretty young. I think around 8. I wish I could have believed a bit longer.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Now with all the families to visit, we end up opening some on Christmas eve. When I was younger though we got to open one on Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? See above, like a rainbow threw up on it. I have so many ornaments. Every time we travel, I buy an ornament for the tree and write underneath it where it came from and what year, so decorating the tree is like a trip down memory lane. I also do it with the ornaments other people bring back from far off travels.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it?Love it until January 1st. Then I wouldn’t mind it going away.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes but I haven ‘t in years since that fateful winterlude where my mom and stepdad took us skating on the Ottawal canal and I kept telling my mom that my skates were hurting and she thought I was just being a lazy anti social teenager until much later when we were done, I took off my skates to find that the skate had cut into my ankle and  my sock was covered in blood. To my mom’s defense though, I was a pretty lazy teenager. I wouldn’t put it past teenage me to make up something like my skates were hurting to get out of the activity.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I can’t remember an exact favourite one. I really loved getting my kindle last year.
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? I love getting together with family and just enjoying each other’s company, and then seeing each other so much over the holidays that we get fed up with each other.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Sweedish Strip cookies!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I love the Christmas sock at the end of the bed. I remember as a kid feeling something at the foot of my bed and being so excited to wake up in the morning to open it.
17. What tops your tree? Usually a light up star.
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving for sure! I love people’s reaction.

19. Candy canes: yuck or yum? Love! Especially the fruity flavoured ones.
20. Favorite Christmas movie? I’d have to say Love Actually. It’s pushed White Christmas to #2 spot.
21. Saddest Christmas song?Definitely BandAid’s “do they know it’s Christmas.” I cry everytime they say “tonight thank god it’s them instead of you” since it makes me feel so sad yet thankful that we have everything we have.
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by the Barenaked Ladies. Very festive!