it was a dark and stormy night

when mandy found herself awake past midnight with a sleeping baby...

If Abigail is sleeping, why aren't I?? Perhaps because this is the first evening in a long while where I've had the freedom to just "do nothing". And tonight, doing nothing meant playing Scrabble on FB, even though I'm terrible at it and feeling so brain-dead I can barely find 4 letter words.

Another busy weekend ahead: a games day with Robins' friends tomorrow with a BBQ dinner to follow, an evening out for me, then a baby shower for Abigail Sunday in St. Catharines. Abigail gets all the parties this year. I was recently reminded that I didn't have a birthday party for myself, which is unheard of for me!

Today Abbie and I had a picnic planned with a friend and her twins, but it rained. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves indoors and Abigail was quite taken with little Quinn. She even started laughing at him. Joyfully of course, not in a mean way. There is a lightning storm outside tonight (dark and stormy). Darla is not impressed. I should probably unplug the laptop incase of a power surge... done.

Good night to all from us.

PS We are still watching for seat sales to Wpg. You can trust I'll post the dates when we have them.

Teething

My poor baby has started teething. The worst of it is that, since she doesn't grab or hold items yet, she can't even hold one of her teething rings or toys to bite down on. I have to hold it for her - and then she is a little happier. I went looking for some alternative teething device today, but it seems noone has invented a magical solution for teething babes this young :( I did pick her up teething tablets at least.
It was a busy shopping day for us. I finally found something to wear to a wedding next weekend. Do you think I could find a breastfeeding dress? No, of course not. I even tried a specialty store and spoke with the clerk. Apparently I'm the first person in 5 years to ask about one! There just isn't demand enough she said. If I had time I would make one, but I don't. I even have a design in my head... I settled for a skirt and button up shirt. I even had to go to the mall after trying all the local shops. Nothing would ever fit over my chest...
I'm off to my favourite parenting online forums to see if I can get more advice about teething at this age...

PS A big thank you to the Stitch Women! Your card arrived yesterday.

Slumped Over

Abbie just fell asleep slumped over sitting in my lap listening to the Manha Manha song on youtube. I was tired of singing it and Mr. Lamp had also grown tired of entertaining her. She loves the brass lamp in the living room.

It's been a busy weekend. Today she got a lot of fresh air and spent a lot of time watching the trees and bugs from her shaded blanket location as I pulled another batch of dandelions from the front yard. Of course, she was far too interested in the sights to sleep, which led to a cranky period when she became overtired. But mommy got that straightened out before we had to go to the GRAB fundraiser dinner, which was very yummy.

Last night we popped over to Jay and Katie's for another BBQ (following our lunch BBQ wedding shower) to celebrate Jay's birthday. While there I used their scale to weigh Abigail (I simply held her then subtracted my weight alone)... at 11 weeks she's already 13lbs!! That's heavier than Robin and I were. I had been forgetting to record her weight and length in the baby book. Length was 23"

Abbie's not the only one slumped over. I find that my shoulders are always in some horrid position holding her up whether it's while nursing (no pillow for us, which makes it easy to nurse anywhere but is harder on my shoulders) or just carrying her. Tomorrow I go for my first massage therapy. Ahhhhh. I am looking forward to it! In the meantime, I do my best to adjust my posture and roll my shoulders back whenever I think of it.

As soon as she wakes I'll go get the camera and upload a photo of her outside today. I've been trying to call Robin, but he can't hear me over his video game and I can't risk shouting.
Summertime.... and the living is easy... (when you are Abigail. And Darla. And Monkey or Fenwick.)

Full Weekends / 11 Weeks

11 is such a nice linear number.

Another busy weekend looms ahead. Tomorrow morning is the neighbourhood yard sales, which we are not participating in selling, but I'd love to see what my neighbours have on display in their yards ;) In the afternoon we have a wedding shower to attend. Tomorrow is the GRAB Golf Tournament and dinner fundraiser. Monday Robin has the day off work, so I've booked a massage!! Tuesday we have sushi dinner plans with friends. Next weekend we have a games day with Robin's friends on Saturday followed by a baby shower for Abigail in St. Catharines on Sunday. The following weekend is my friend's handfasting. How can you tell summer is here? Must be the full weekends.

Time for baby massage followed by bed.

Nostalgia

I never thought I'd see the day when NKOTB reunited. From all previous reports, it was never going to happen. Nevertheless, here they are - going on tour in September with a new album. I only just caught the news by chance... MSN messenger window flashed a video clip about Ellen getting married and as I watched that ET (or some similar show) clip I learned of the reunion. Off to YouTube I went to see more clips and their May 16 performances on Today Show.

If I had the money to spare I would seriously consider trying to get a ticket to the added concert in Toronto. The first date sold out in 4 minutes. Can you imagine - an arena full of 30 year old women trying to recapture their youth with pop music. Okay, so an arena full of screaming women would be really annoying (I recall it being annoying when I saw NKOTB in Montreal many many years ago as a kid). What I've heard of the new album didn't impress me either, but then, I'm not a fan of pop music anymore.

I wonder who will study this phenomenon - of 80s and early 90s kids revisiting their pop youths at a concert... someone is bound to study it. I hope. So many angles you could take sociologically, performance studies, fan culture... If there's a religious angle maybe I should encourage my former supervisor Dr. Jennifer Porter to study it :) I really don't see a religious angle to nkotb though. But I'd be interested if someone else did and wrote about it...

Maybe I'll go dig out some of my old nkotb stuff... hell, if I ever wanted to profit from it, now would be the time to sell it on e-bay...
Anybody want to buy a framed picture - original brass frame with glass! - that is actually hanging on the basement wall of my parent's house. Oh, yes there is an NKOTB picture on the wall. It was found in the basement by someone at a party many years ago and hung as a joke. Over the years it has endured all sorts of things... such as people licking icing off of it... And unlike the stars that hung from the ceiling for many years after my space-themed party, the picture is still hanging.
I also have a cardigan, books, CDs... I think I did get rid of most of it many years ago. Damn. I could be making a tidy profit. ;)

Seriously, V, we should sell that picture. At least let's post it and see what we can get! Mwhahaha.

ROTFLHAO

On Friday, Abigail was enjoying herself rolling side to side on the floor (without a diaper to stop her!) She's accidentally rolled herself to one or the other side when being changed before, but this was the first time she'd done it deliberately, back and forth.
Today she had her first laugh. Out of the blue, with Abigail on my hip under one arm and the other hand washing my lunch dish, I hear what I thought was going to be a cry. I was surprised to discover that she was laughing.
I managed to catch some smaller laughs on video and will upload that as soon as the camera batteries recharge. (Of course they'd die now).

I hope you had a fun long weekend. Weather here was cold and cloudy. We didn't do much. I attended a Stag and Doe (social). It was fun to get dressed up and dance. Robin stayed home with Abigail. That's the extent of our activities. Robin is at work today but has next Monday off for the US holiday.

Mail

Not all letter carriers are created equal.

Abigail and I went for a walk with my NICU roomate and her son yesterday. I learned that she is a letter carrier. Anyhow, she's a very nice woman and I'm sure she is a nice letter carrier. Our letter carrier is also very nice.

Unlike whoever delivers to Aunt Joyce and Aunt Diane.

Aunt Diane has still not received her card and photo of Abigail. Apparently, I have likewise not received her card. And this is not for lack of sending. It must be a mail conspiracy against us!

Aunt Joyce has also not received her card, but that is because it was returned to us yesterday. "No such address" it reads. Upon checking my address book it seems I accidentally wrote 414 rather than 417 for the house number. A whole 3 houses away, big deal! And if the house number did exist (which it apparently does not), then it would be across the street! One would assume that the letter carrier would have recognized the name at least during sorting and delivered it rather than write "no such address". (Hell, I get mail for my neighbours and people with the same house number on the parallel street all the time. I just drop it at their house for them. Maybe I should start writing "no such person at this mailbox", but I won't because it is not the sender's fault. Which thus makes it a different situation than my putting the wrong house number. So never mind. But still... as if that letter couldn't be properly delivered!)

Aunt Joyce, you need to have some words with your letter carrier - you tell them how upset you are that you have not yet received your photo of Abigail because they refused to deliver it!

One other card was returned. Apparently Robin's cousin Chris D. moved soon after our wedding. There is a note: "moved 2005". I laughed because I do the same thing when I receive mail for people who moved years ago. Particularly when the same person keeps sending mail, like Christmas cards. Could someone please send us a new address for him?

Admittedly, a few others haven't been sent yet, but all family cards were sent. I ran out of envelopes that fit the photos. Alisha, I keep meaning to package up your much belated gift and send the card with that. I'll get to that this weekend. In fact, maybe I should do that now while Robin and Abigail are at the market - but who wants to do work on their one hour break?! I'd much rather sit here with my tea. English Breakfast, yum.

Let me see what I can post for today's picture... I've been taking more videos lately instead of photos. Month 3's compilation will be fabulous. I would like a larger memory card now... mine only holds 7 videos at a time. I'll have to keep an eye out for those dirt-cheap 1GB cards I hear about.

I title this: bed head. She had just been sleeping against my chest. (Meredith, note the lovely blue blanket you can see a corner of :)

Four Year Program

Four years ago there were a lot of new beginnings.

Robin and I were married.

We moved to K-W.

I began working on my PhD.

And the Laurier-Waterloo PhD in Religious Studies started.

Myself and five others were the first cohort (guinea pigs). Within two years we were down to four. Four candidates expected to finish the program in four years.

Today the first of our cohort successfully defended her dissertation and is, for all intents and purposes, done!

Congratulations to Joanne Benham-Rennick for showing us it CAN be done.

A mother of two, returning to school after many years, can complete a PhD program in 4 years. Children aside, it's remarkable when anyone finishes a Humanities/Social Sciences PhD in 4 years, especially when field work and interviews are involved! Last I heard the AVERAGE is 7 years.

In addition, this marked an important milestone for the program - our first graduate. Many faculty members and candidates were in attendance for this momentus occasion.

As for myself, I won't be finishing in four years. I'm aiming for 5 and a half. So long as I'm done by age 30 (2 years from now). I will be returning to full time studies this September, but I've already started picking up my theory books and getting back into my dissertation mindset. I intend to get back to interviews this summer as well.

And here is Abbie today.

Happy (Belated) Mothers Day

I would have written this post yesterday, but that may have constituted working on Mothers Day. Plus, I was busy looking after Abigail and attending a wedding rehearsal for my friend's upcoming handfasting.
We went for brunch Saturday morning rather than wait for Sunday. I was busy with the rehearsal anyhow, but regardless, I wouldn't want to wait for a table on Mothers Day. I wasn't even thinking of Mothers Day when I woke up Saturday and decided I wanted to go out for brunch. Instead, I was purely thinking "I deserve brunch today!" because Abigail hadn't been sleeping well. Robin is still sleeping on the futon because he had the flu earlier in the week. Having the bed to ourselves (Abbie and I) makes taking care of her easier for me anyhow... so he can stay down there ;)
Abigail gave me a lovely present too. And it wasn't a full diaper (although I did get one of those just as my food arrived at brunch). She gave me a decorative plate featuring Cicely Mary Barker's sweet pea flower fairies.

Two Months / 9 Weeks

I had not yet finished compiling Abigail's two-month video on the 7th. Today she is 9 weeks old.
Unfortunately, I've still not been able to catch a giggle session on video. Even when I've tried to have the camera on hand, she stops when I turn it on. She doesn't particularly like having a camera in her face. This month I'll set up the tripod and have the camera a little further away...

The past month, like the first month, has been full of wonderful times. Friends and family frequently comment on how she has grown/changed, but I don't see this as dramatically because I'm with her 24/7 and thus the changes are more subtle for me. She has certainly grown. She loves to look around - at everything! We spend a lot of time walking around the house and the yard when she is awake so that she doesn't get bored (--> cranky). We also have many outings together, which provides a nice change of scenery for both of us. To be honest, I can't understand why any mom with a newborn would want to stay at home all day! I'd go absolutely nutty. A spring baby is certainly ideal, IMHO, because we can go out easily and there are new sights every day. I am also fortunate that Abigail is (usually) such a happy baby (during the daylight hours). Our weekends are generally packed full of activities with friends and weekdays are when we garden, take long walks, and occassionally meet up with friends for coffee or tea. Abigail travels in one of her carriers (when we're not in the car) and can choose to sleep or look about her.
I've slowed down, already, with my photo-taking. I don't need pictures every day! Plus, she's pretty much worn every outfit for this size. More photo fun will ensue when she grows into the next group of clothes and I have to share pictures of her in gifted outfits. And, maybe she'll start grabbing toys or rolling or such this month. More photo/video fun. We'll all just have to wait and see what month three has in store!

Cousins

Abigail has yet to meet her cousin Dorion, but I thought it would be fun to compare pictures side by side wearing the same sleeper because I was told Dorion looked like me (as a baby). Thus, one might assume he and Abbie should share features.
I think it funny when people try to "see" mom or dad in a baby. I usually don't see it. Of course baby will share some features, but, ultimately, Abbie looks like Abbie :) Having recently received Robin's baby book, I can assure you she does not look like Robin as a baby. I don't think she resembles my baby photos either. She is far cuter than both of us. That's because she is the cutest baby ever!! That's right, you heard me - cuter even than her cousin. Shhhh [conspiracy tone] don't tell Veronica....

Just joking of course. They're both adorable. And they will meet this summer. "When?" you ask? That is a good question, one which you should direct to Robin as it is he who must book holidays. Mid-July at the earliest. Feel free to harass him on Facebook until he declares a date.

Abigail will be 2 months old tomorrow! Expect another video compilation soon. And maybe then I'll reflect on the last month.

PS - Abbie would like to wave hello to Jen's mom who, we heard, reads this regularly. We hope it's taking some of the pressure off of Jen rather than creating more ;-)

The Business of Being Born

This is, in my not so humble opinion, a must-see film for anyone who will have a baby.
http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

You can see the film here:
http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=45525

Abbie agrees with me.

I laughed when the midwife spoke of "a rock and a hard place" - because I remember that feeling all too well. Contractions hurt, but if you don't allow them to come on, you'll be in labour forever... I remember telling my midwives, obstinately, that *I* don't want contractions to come more often! And later I remember finding every possible position I could to bring them on more quickly, on top of one another, so I could finally see my baby.
This film brings back many wonderful memories.

My only critique of the film would be in its lack of a good portryal of breastfeeding and post-partum support. I noticed that the filmmaker was bottle feeding at the end. Of course, I don't know the circumstances because these are not discussed in the film, but I did notice when they showed her BFing her premie boy she was having difficulty and she later mentions she had difficulty with BFing. Where was her midwife or a lactation consultant? I would have liked to have seen something addressing how mothers and babies are cared for by midwives and other support women in the weeks after birth - an acknowledgement that this community of support is also a part of birth; women don't have to do it alone. (BFing=breastfeeding)

I almost forgot the obligatory picture!

Sara Bareilles

Abigail and I are fans of Sara Bareilles. Robin, less so ;)

We listen while Robin is at work. Daily. I'll be happy if Abigail continues to be a fan of such music. This song is Fairytale and is one of my favourites.