Jesus in Candyland

Our household has been counting down the days until Christmas since the beginning of December. Inspired by a friend, I went out and got the Playmobil nativity scene with the supplementary wisemen set and each morning this month D has gotten a piece of the sets. We already had a cloth Advent calendar shaped like a Christmas tree with little pockets for each day. But because the pockets were too small for most of the Playmobil figures we put a clue in the pocket that led to a hiding spot somewhere in the apartment where D would find a little blue sachet with the Playmobil piece inside. (I realize as I type this that this is the kind of seemingly elaborate activity that I usually scoff at on mommyblogs!).

I didn't anticipate how magical this would be for D. That is, she didn't assume that her parents were orchestrating the whole thing; instead she asked me a number of times how the clues got into the calendar. On a few forgetful nights we even neglected to set it up before going to bed - but she remained unphased. The clues were little pictures we drew of the hiding spots. Since LePapa and I took turns drawing them, we had fun teasing each other if she didn't recognize what we'd attempted to sketch!

D definitely understood that when we got to the last pocket it would be Christmas. So this morning, although it's is only December 23, we put the clue in the final pocket. In our family, Christmas started today! This morning we opened presents together and had a special breakfast (cinnamon rolls, sausage, yogurt with blackberries, and that expensive natural apple juice).

The first present that D opened was the box set of the four Shrek films. Although Shrek has been the defining narrative of 2011 for D, she didn't actually own all four films until this morning. She was so thrilled that she refused to open any other gifts and watched Shrek 3 immediately. (This was not unwelcome, as we had to finish cleaning and prepping for our trip.) When her movie ended, she immediately got down by the tree and ripped open another gift all by herself (i.e. we weren't even there to see her open it or to confirm that it was indeed a gift addressed to her!). It was a princess-y domino game that we played together while we ate. After that we all opened all the other presents. Classically, baby A was interested in the wrapping paper although I'm sure he also liked the very trendy hand-printed onesie that we bought for him at l'Arterie.

We played a game called Storytime that we got for D and then we played Candyland. D decided to forgo the usual gingerbread man marker and to use the Playmobil baby Jesus as her gamepiece. Jesus reached the Candy Castle first.

Miraculously, we managed to clean up and pack up and get on the road in time for the afternoon naps. So now we're away for 2 weeks celebrating Christmas with much enthusiasm.

Four for Four

Four years ago today a 6-pound-13-ounce baby girl came out of my body at 10:29pm.

To celebrate her fourth birthday we've had four mini-parties, as well as a pre-party a couple weeks ago when we were visiting her grandparents in QC. One friend joked that D's having more of a birthday festival than a birthday party!

Three boxes of chocolate cake mix and two batches of homemade cream cheese icing provided us with enough sugar to produce: cat cupcakes to share at housechurch and daycare, a rainbow princess cake for a party with neighbour friends, and a neon coloured layer cake with a vague Lion King theme for our family celebration tonight. By the time we got to the final cake, she was just as eager to blow out the candles but didn't even want to eat a piece. For the main courses we had sushi on Sunday and Vietnamese take-out this evening with her beloved uncle. Yum yum.

I made these, inspired by these ones.

She got a lot of presents including a bunch of books, some Shrek stuff, some princess-y stuff, a magnetic fishing toy, a flashlight and a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. She wanted to try everything out immediately. When we played Hungry Hungry Hippos she called the marbles "murmels." We also played an old-school Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game and did a treasure hunt with one of her best friends. Fun times were had by all.

I got a little lazy on the back of the cake as I ran out of icing.

D is such an amazing little person, always pretending to be different characters and acting out different scenarios that usually involve parents and their babies or princesses and mean guys. She is communicative and expressive and curious and smart and oh-so beautiful. Okay, enough with the maternal gushing. Happy 4th birthday, baby girl.

I love this jumper dress. And those big brown eyes.

Body Heat

IF Baby A and I are out for a walk on a normal winter's day... and if he is wearing his fat cloth diaper, socks, pants, warm slippers, a onesie, a long-sleeved shirt, a fleecey hoodie and a winter hat... and if I am wearing him against my body in his baby carrier... and if my long winter coat is attached around him so that only his hatted and hooded head is peaking out... THEN no, Concerned Stranger, he is not cold at all. In fact, more often than not, he's at least a little sweaty when we get back home.

The Nature of Reality

We were treated to some existential ponderings while we prepared lunch today. (What was D having for lunch, you might ask. She was having steamed broccoli, tuna with mayonnaise, and a breakfast cookie.)

So all of a sudden, she says, "Am I really real?" Before we could answer she formulated another option: "Am I in a book, or no?" We told her that she is really real but of course we were much more interested in her own thoughts on the subject: "I think someone's reading a book and it's extremely long because we're really real."

And who do you think is reading the book?
"A mama is reading the book to her children."

I have to say, I think this is a pretty sweet worldview. Can you tell she has two parents with graduate degrees in literature? If any family believes in books, it's ours!

In Which I Learn to Insert Photos

 I do not guarantee that this will occur with any regularity, but - behold! Photos!

Baby A's really getting into his grabbing skills, as seen below. We offer him a rattle and he's so eager to gnaw on it that he immediately shoves one hand into his mouth as the other reaches out for the toy.

I'm so cute in green.

And here's one of D. She is decorating some cookies with extreme concentration. (Note: When we want to use our cookie-cutters, we always end up doing sugar cookies instead of gingerbread because so many gingerbread cookie recipes call for the dough to chill for hours in the fridge. Well, let me tell you that impatient toddlers and lazy parents can now make use of prepared gingerbread cookie dough from Pillsbury!)

Raw cookie dough + sprinkles give me energy to decorate.

You'd never guess from this sweet and serene shot that this little gal has actually had 4 or 5 of her Mont-Royalesque freak-outs since that particular day. Ugh. Perhaps I'll save the gruesome details for another post. Suffice it to say that while I don't want her to stifle her emotions, screaming the same phrase over and over in disappointment/anger/hunger/whatever isn't acceptable either!

But mostly, I hasten to add, things are great.

Here We Go

Baby A has discovered the joy of rattles. He's been grabbing at things for weeks now but in the car yesterday (we don't own a car but rented one to visit LePapa's parents for the weekend) I put a rattle on his lap and observed. It was that classic plastic rattle with the three fruits hanging off of it. (Or maybe I just think it's a classic because D had one when she was little?) Anyhow, with much concentration he managed to pick it up and thrust it towards his mouth. This was the first time that I felt certain that he was using his hands with intention. It's amazing, really, to see this relatively helpless little creature learn how to use his body.

I remember when he was a newborn with limited newborn vision he would stare at the black-and-white Nikki McClure prints that we have on the wall, or at one of my brother's paintings that has a lot of black/white contrast, or out the window. Now he eyes the cat, his sister, and brightly-coloured toys - and one afternoon had a total fixation on D's doll, Chicken. Pretty soon he'll be sitting on the carpet playing with blocks, eh?

An Amusing Rebuttal

In an attempt to explain to D why we limit her screen time, I told her that although movies are really fun, they're not always a good choice because we just sit there watching, rather than playing or exercising. In response she was adamant:

"But movies IS exercise, okay Mama? Movies and running is exercise!"

I envision it as a new tagline for Netflix or something: Movies Is Exercise.

Mont Royal

My lovely cousin has been visiting from the USA. I decided that we should take her up to the look-out point on the mountain at the centre of our beloved metropolis. (Incidentally, this is also the spot where LePapa proposed to me way back in the year 2000!) It was a beautiful day to walk through the woods and then look out over the city. The air was crisp, the sky was cloudless, the sun was shining. As we sauntered toward the belvedere, A fell asleep in the sling and D was enchanted with the very tame squirrels. What a perfect morning outing, I thought.

Except.

Shortly thereafter and until we got back to the car, D had a huge freak-out. First she started whining that we hadn’t brought any toys. Then the whining escalated to tearful outrage because we didn’t have any snacks, we didn’t have any change for the vending machines, and the car was “tooooo faaarrrr awaaayyyy!” Yes, I admit that I made some fundamental parenting mistakes: I didn’t bring the stroller and I left the snacks in the car. Sigh. As if I haven’t already been at this gig for almost four years.

She refused to walk back to the car but wouldn’t allow my cousin to carry her. She screamed and cried and was totally irrational (“Yes you DO have a special treat for me!”). Strangers offered empathetic smiles (which, frankly, I find more distracting than helpful).

“I’m not being a very good co-parent,” said my cousin.

“There’s nothing you can do,” I replied.

Eventually baby A woke up and I handed him to my cousin and I put D on my back in the sling. She felt better immediately and was chipper again once she’d had some food. Back home later that afternoon, we processed what had happened and apologized. When her uncle came over for supper tonight she summed it up for him: “Guess what, Uncle D?! When we went out today I was extremely grumpy!”

Félicitations!

It was a tight race between Grand-maman Danielle and Larry M., but the winner is... A's grand-maman! Félicitations à toi - je t'envoie la photo sous peu. For the record, A weighed in at 13 pounds 12 ounces. He is 63.5 cm long and his head measures 42.4 cm.

Thanks for playing, commenters!

You Could Win!

I've decided to host a little guessing game contest on this here blog. It makes me feel like a real mommy-blogger geek to do this but whatever. So, yesterday we took baby A to get some shots* and he was weighed for the first time since our last midwife appointment in August. How much do you think he weighs? Here are the previous stats:

At birth (July 7) he weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces.
On July 25, he weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces.
On August 25, he weighed 10 pounds 8 ounces.
On November 17, he weighed...???

Leave your guess in the comments and I'll announce the winner on Monday night. The prize will be... ummm... a really cute photo of baby A delivered straight to your email inbox!

And if my mom ends up being the only participant then she'll still win fair and square and all my gazillion other readers will be jealous, so there!

* Baby A didn’t seem to have any adverse reactions to the shots but he was certainly upset about them when the needles first pierced his chubby little thighs. When the nurse administered the first vaccination, it seemed to A’s agonized parents that his cry was full of surprise, betrayal, pain and outrage! The second shot followed immediately and his indignation reached new decibel levels. Of course he was fine and calm within minutes. Still, it’s heart-breaking to witness. I found this so traumatic when D was little that I once paid fifty dollars (fifty dollars!) for an over-the-counter baby-friendly topical anesthetic meant to reduce the pain of needles. Financially speaking, I find that a rather embarrassing confession!

Wish List

The four of us were walking home before suppertime and D started listing gifts she'd like for her up-coming birthday:

1. "a Snow White Barbie and all the seven dwarf Barbies"

2. "a real hot air balloon"

3. "a real sword so that when I'm grown up and I go extremely far away in the ocean I can use it for mean guys or if I see a shark"

Vocabulary

I love it when D busts out a word that we didn't know she knew and I get a big kick out of figuring out where she picked it up. Example: walking home from the market the other day, we passed a parking lot full of yellow school buses. "A depot!" she exclaimed. Explanation: we have a book called Down at the Station that has a page about a bus depot.

I was similarly amused when D told me recently that she knew what "smoking" meant. (The subject came up when I closed the balconey door because a neighbour was smoking outside.) "It means dirty," she told me. When I asked her why she thought that, she referenced Sheila and Michael, who are characters in Robert Muncsh's The Fire Station. They hide in the firetruck and get all "smokey" at a fire so that they have to spend days in the bath when they get back home.

Here are two more anecdotes showcasing the way her words work: 

D thinks its funny when we pretend to mix up words. For instance, we were talking about her Wiggles DVD but I was saying "the Giggles" instead of "the Wiggles" and "chest" instead of "Jeff." When D recalled this joke the next day, she remembered me saying "suitcase" instead of "Jeff." She must have had an image of a treasure chest in her head when I said "chest" and that image morphed into a suitcase. (Sidenote: I love the Wiggles cuz they're just so unabashedly lo-fi. They're a barbershop quartet for preschoolers!)

Tonight at supper, D declared that she was done eating. Noting the amount of broccoli and perogies remaining on her plate, I said something like, "It seems like you didn't eat very much." Her reply? "You think I didn't but I really did." Ha!

Warning: This post is about vomit.

When D was quite small she came up with the term "uh-oh mouth" to describe nausea and vomit. It's a versatile phrase that can be a noun or a verb (i.e. "to have uh-oh mouth"). Readers, I invite you all to incorporate this fun new expression into your vocabulary!

This past weekend, uh-oh mouth was in the house bigtime. D had some kind of 24-hour flu bug, or else some flash food poisoning. She threw up 5 or 6 times and spent most of Saturday on the futon. Luckily, she was so articulate about how she was feeling that we were able to provide a garbage can receptacle in time for every incident of uh-oh mouth. In fact, she was quite reflective about the whole experience as it was happening. Case in point: at 4am, she asked, "Why I'm having uh-oh mouth all night long and we're not even in the car and I didn't turn around and around?" (Background info: she gets carsick and once threw up at daycare because she made herself dizzy spinning in circles.) She then talked about how we shouldn't have any visitors because she was sick, and she shouldn't go to daycare because she was sick, and she should watch lots of movies because she was sick.

It made for a very mellow weekend; fortunately, we didn't have much planned anyway. She and I left the house once on Saturday to go for a walk and once on Sunday to go to the pharmacie. It was dark outside when we walked to the drugstore and so D brought along this little light-up keychain thing, pretending it was a flashlight. She pointed it at me, saying, "Let me see if you're really my mom" and pointed it down at the ground as we crossed the park, saying, "Let me see if there are really leaves. Oh - yah."

At the Jean Coutu, she had some money to spend (actually a handful of pennies) and she chose to buy a new kind of toothpaste and some baby forks and spoons. She was disappointed that the cashier didn't actually take her money. I let her buy a trinket from a machine on the way out. She got a mini Snow White and that really made her day. Snow White broke in two shortly after we arrived back home but LePapa fixed her with crazy glue and she's been fine ever since. As has D.

4 Months

My maternal grandfather is 84 years old today, and baby A is 4 months. Hooray for November 7!

Baby A has started to drool quite a bit - so much so that he's often sporting a bib these days. He's also gnawing on his hands a lot. Over the weekend, both LePapa (did you see his guest appearance in the comments of my last post?!) and I remarked that A suddenly seems heavier. I think he may have had a growth spurt last week - which would explain how often he wanted to nurse. He's getting to be quite sturdy. He takes 3 or 4 naps a day and is awake for 2-hour-ish periods between them. He's definitely more emotionally fragile in the evenings and wants to be held, preferrably by his mama.

But he's still as smiley as ever!

Suburban Treats

Let's see...

Halloween 2008: Did we dress her up at 10 months? (Mom?)
Halloween 2009: Was this when she wore that cookie monster costume?
Halloween 2010: D wears a mouse costume to one party and a cat costume to another
Halloween 2011: She is Ariel the Little Mermaid, and goes trick-or-treating for the first time

It was a real TREAT spending Halloween in suburban Toronto. In the afternoon, we took D (and baby A too) to visit her Grammy's kindergarten class while they were having their Halloween party. If we lived in Ontario, she would have started school this year (the rules are different in our province) so it was interesting to see her mingle with the kindergarten crowd. They ate junk food and played freeze dance.

In the evening, the doorbell started to ring and D ran to the door to distribute treats. She took this very seriously. At one point I saw her pick up four treats in one hand and expertly drop one into each bag of the waiting trick-or-treaters.

There were lots of kids out, and lots of houses with fairly extensive Halloween decorations. Elaborate pumpkin-carvings are apparently en vogue. D held my hand as we rang doorbells. She said "Trick or treat" and held out her bag. We had to teach her some Halloween etiquette: to say "Thank you. Happy Halloween!" instead of "But I don't like Smarties!" We also had to teach her the logic of accumulating maximum treats for the future because as soon as she got some chips she was "ready to go home and eat my chips!"


I'm not sure how long we stayed out but we only covered a quarter of my parents' street and she had ample loot. It was the perfect spot for her first trick-or-treat experience. What a delight to watch her discover that yes, these neighbour/ strangers were really handing out free candy! One of the most precious elements of parenting is certainly to witness our children experience such joy and wonder.

Vegetables

We've been visiting my parents since last Wednesday and it's been great fun. We'll be heading home tomorrow. My brother and I were discussing whether he'd drive back with us or not:

"Whatever you decide," I said, "Just let us know."
"Ha! Lettuce?!" said D, "Why are you talking about lettuce?"

***

In other vegetable-related news, D has decided she no longer likes cauliflower or avocado that isn't in sushi. We are leaning heavily on broccoli, brussel sprouts, corn and peas.

Nocturnal Habits

I was chatting with a couple other moms at D's daycare and they asked what baby A's nights are like. My response was vague. I know he wakes up in the night but I'm not exactly sure how often or at what intervals. This imprecision is a good sign: it means that I can nurse and comfort him so easily that I don't wake up enough to check the clock. Hooray for breastfeeding and co-sleeping!

When he was more of a newborn, I did have a more distinct sense of his night-time schedule, partly because I would sit up to nurse him at least once and because we'd often change his diaper when he woke. These days, there are some mornings when I do wake up with the impression that he had more night wakings than usual but overall, nights are okay. I have no expectations about him "STTN" (on-line parenting forum code for Sleeping Through The Night) since our daugther didn't STTN consistently until she started sleeping with us a couple months ago!

And what about the mama's sleep habits? Well, I've gotten myself onto this unconventional but rather enjoyable schedule. I stay up late. That's right, after the kids are both asleep I stay up for hours doing stuff. Then in the morning, I get up with D (which could be as early as 7:00 or as late as 8:30) but - here's the secret ingredient that makes the late nights sustainable - I go back to bed when baby A has his morning nap. Then when we wake up again towards lunchtime, I almost feel like I've slept in.

I must stress that this is our routine for the moment and I know it will evolve. It wasn't the case when he was smaller and I relished turning in early. It likely won't be the case in a few months if his naps consolidate or if we have more active days. But for now, it's working out.

Now I must go to bed because it's really, really late!

Adult Privilege

D: I wish I could be grown up right now.
Me: You do? Why?
D: So that I could reach the toilet paper when I'm sitting on the toilet.

Sam, Kristen, Meagan and Beth

One of D's favourite toys is a collection of four wooden magnetic dolls and their wooden magnetic wardrobe. She's been playing with these for maybe two years already. In her latest scenario, Beth is Sam's mother and sends her to various kinds of lessons (soccer, swimming or "kitchen" lessons). Conflict arises at the lesson when the nasty Kristen torments Sam by stepping on his feet and calling him poopy-pants. The teacher must intervene. Eventually Beth comes to collect Sam and they go home, put on their pajamas and go to sleep.

This evening as we played with these characters Sam asked if he could sleep in Beth's bed. Beth agreed and then they had the following conversation:

Me/Sam: Where's papa?
D/Beth: He lives in another building.
Me/Sam: Why does he live in another building?
D/Beth: Because...umm... he doesn't like my bathrobe.

She's obviously been eavesdropping on a recurring bathrobe-related argument between her father and I. (Kidding.)

When Parents Get Their Hair Cut

The last time I got my hair cut, it was the morning of my PhD graduation ceremony in May. When D saw me at our celebratory supper, she cried.

This past weekend, LePapa got a haircut that was a thousand times more radical (i.e. a bigger change) than mine. We prepped D for days in advance. Her concern was both heart-breaking and comical: "I don't want Papa to cut his hair because then I'll think he's somebody else."

But she has accepted it with grace. In fact, she didn't really comment on it at all until LePapa asked her what she thought of it, at which point she explained, "I know it's you because your voice is the same."

I'm pretty sure I know the inner workings of her mind and that this comment relates to a scene in Shrek 2 when Prince Charming tries to convince Fiona that he is the non-ogre version of Shrek, and Fiona says, "But what happened to your voice?"

(P.S. You can see how the Shrek obsession has made its way into my blog title: if baby A has the "fontanelle" then D is most certainly Princess Fiona!)

Rock Star

We bought tickets for the Iron and Wine show way back when, and thought it might be our first night out sans children since A's birth. October 14 (the night of the show) thus became my deadline for making sure that baby A would take the bottle - except that in reality, I never actually got around to pumping my milk and offering it to him. This happened because 1. I was lazy about it and 2. as the date approached, I realized that neither I nor him were ready to be separated for an entire evening.

And so we had no choice but to scalp our tickets for twice their value! Just kidding. We had no choice but to bundle up that baby and drag him to his first concert! He did great. He was really into the opening act, mesmerized by the elaborate spotlights. We had seats in the balconey although LePapa ended up walking around with him quite a bit. He slept in the baby sling through most of the main act. It was way louder than I expected (there were 10 musicians on stage!) and I was slightly worried that it somehow might not be good for him to be in such a noisy environment. But he only startled a bit when the crowd applauded.

We were clearly pushing it when we attempted to go for a quick beer with some friends post-concert. He woke up almost as soon as we sat down and was awake on the metro all the way home, but he was smiley and content so I'd say the evening was success!

Guess who else was awake when we arrived back at the apartment at 11:45pm?!

Thanksgiving 2011

This year, at nearly 33 years old, I made Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. It was a small crowd - just us and my brother on Thanksgiving Monday - but the feast was large: chicken, potatoes, dressing, gravy, asperagus, squash, corn on the cob, gravy and cranberry sauce. After the meal we did our usual Thanksgiving game in which we go around the table stating what we're thankful for and accompanying each item with a bite of something chocolate. D proclaimed her thankfulness for: her Snow White baby doll, her stuffed Shrek, and her uncle.

We're always at my parents' place for Thanksgiving but this year we stayed home (because we'll be visiting them at the end of October). Instead, my in-laws (hereafter known as Grandmaman and Grandpapa) were at our place from Saturday morning until Sunday evening. The weather was impeccable - sunny, breezy, 23 degrees - so we spent a lot of time outside.

On Saturday we had a special meal. It was D's first time trying meat fondue and she liked it, after she got over her initial fear regarding the fact that fondue necessitates there being a fire in the middle of the table. At first she thought the thinly-sliced beef was smoked salmon. We dipped shrimp too, which she loves. I asked her if she remembered eating chocolate fondue on another occasion but she couldn't recall it. Whenever she doesn't remember something we mention, she always says, "Was it when I was 2?" Two represents the nebulous pre-memory phase for her. Anyhow, I don't think she really understood what I meant by "chocolate fondue" because the next day she asked if we could eat "that meat that is chocolate." Took me a minute to figure out what she meant.

Squint / Glare

D, outside in the sunshine this afternoon: "The sun makes my eyes like they're angry but I don't feel angry."

3 Months

Baby A celebrated his 3 month birthday by performing is very first little baby laugh! With all that smiling, we should've guessed that laughing was just around the corner. He was lying on my lap all fed and refreshed and I was saying, "Baby! Baby!" in a ridiculously exagerrated cooing-mama-gaga voice. The little "heh" noise that often accompanies his smiles suddenly became multi-syllabic and chuckle-y. It was great. I remember that when D was a little baby, she went through a phase during which a drawn-out "b" sound would make her laugh, and now A likes the "bbb" sounds of BaBy. That letter B is such a riot. 

The Evening's Memorabilia

(5-6pm) - Baby A and I go to fetch D at daycare and the 3 of us walk over to the grocery store, with A in the awesome floral baby sling (that LePapa wears inside out so that it's navy and not girly-floral) and D in the stroller, eating rice crackers and hummus. I'm forever grateful that she likes such a healthy and easy snack! 

(6-7pm) - We make it home with $45 worth of random groceries and hang out outside a bit while LePapa prepares food. It's chilly. D wants to wear gloves, but not her scarf. She seems to think that if she answers with a cheerful "no, thank you!" then we will respect her refusals. Supper is brussel sprouts, sausage and Mini-wheats for D, and brussel sprouts, pizza and salad for us, followed by chocolate ice cream for all. Our most frequenly heard phrase whenever we sit down for a meal together is "Tell me a story."

(7-8pm) - Usually D sits on the carpet and plays with her Playmobils after supper. Tonight she insists that one of us come with her right away. She says she's scared to leave the table by herself because I told her a story that had a scary part. The scary part is that one of the characters had a green face. Oops. We play on the carpet for a while. Her little Playmobil girl is called "Meesh" but then it evolves into "Leash." I introduce my guy as "Patrick;" she calls him Hectic and then Panic. LePapa walks around with A in his arms but after a while he wants to nurse and then sleeps in my arms for a bit.

(8-9pm) - We forego the bath to play a family round of Candyland. When LePapa gets to the Candy Castle first, D says, "Let's keep gaming until we all get to the castle with the green guy." Pajamas on, the 4 of us lie in bed and read: Pinkalicious, The Gingerbread Man, Now I Eat My ABCs, and My Pretty Pink Counting Purse. D drinks "hot milk" that LePapa has frothed for her with the espresso machine. Baby A is awake now, and look up at the books like they might be a bit over-stimulating.

(9-11pm) - I lie in the dark, D falling asleep on my left as I nurse A on the right. When D falls asleep, I get up to rock A to sleep, read a bit of my novel (Lionel Shriver's So Much For That), and spend some time on-line, sitting at the desk with incredibly poor posture as baby sleeps on my chest.

Smiler

When D was little, she always had these big, round, curious eyes; it was by far her defining feature. So far Baby A seems to be known for his amazing grin. Seriously, if he's not hungry or tired (or bothered by a bodily function), he is one happy baby. His smile is so enthusiastic, so unabashed and genuine, so enormous that it's like a full-body reaction. It makes people laugh. When he's lying on his change table, or lounging on our laps, or looking up at us from his little seat - if his eyes meet our face, he smiles. It's awesome.

It's interesting to gage his vision this way. That is, we can tell that sometimes we're just slightly beyond his visual range because he seems to be searching with his eyes. And if we move a bit closer, he sees us and breaks into a smile. It's also interesting to think about what this means in terms of his development as an infant. I mean, babies need to be able to cry from birth so that we will tend to them, and A can certainly cry if he needs to. But these little creatures have to learn to smile. At first, smiling is a lot about imitation, I suppose, but there must be so much work going on in his head to connect that imitative muscular response with real feelings of security, recognition and happiness.

Here's how immediate and instinctive his smile is: sometimes at bedtime, after he has fallen asleep in my arms I put him down in his little co-sleeper bed right beside our bed. If he's not quite ready to be put down, he opens his eyes instantly and gives me a big smile. I pick him up again, look down immediately, and his eyes are closed again. He's back to sleep.

:) 

Someone who helps sick animals is...

..according to D: a "doctranarian."

Our Classic Family Outing

D often asks "Is it a special day?" and says "I wanna do something special" by which she means that she wants to eat special food, or have guests coming over, or be given a surprise, or go out to a special destination (the pet store, a friend's house, swimming, a park in another neighbourhood, etc.). Our classic special family outing involves a combination of sushi (D's favourite food) + a park + ice cream.

Since summer is lingering here at the end of September, we decided to go on such an outing this evening. We brought some picnic stuff from home but also picked up some stuff at the market: a yummy cheese (Nuage de Bourgogne), a Pepsi, and sushi for D. Her regular order includes avocado, raw salmon, smoked salmon, rice, nori, and sometimes cream cheese. We took it all over to the park to play and eat, and then passed back through the marché on the way home to get some ice cream - chocolate in a bowl for D.

While we were sitting in the park, LePapa and I were talking about how lovely it is to be able to go on these special impromptu excursions. We have the luxuries of time, money, and clement weather (for now!). We also have fun spots and stores that we can so easily access on foot (with A in the baby sling and D in the stroller - or increasingly, walking beside the stroller) or on public transit. We have two amazing, healthy, portable children.

We are grateful.

Cinema

Yesterday D went to the movies for the first time in her life. Although we were quite strict about not letting her watch DVDs until she was 2, she has since become a big movie fan. On a typical day, she's allowed to watch a "short movie" (like an episode of Cornemuse, or a couple segments of Max & Ruby, for instance) when she gets up in the morning. On some special days (or when we're rather desperate to keep her occupied for some reason) she gets to watch a long movie (like Shrek, or Shrek 2, or Shrek 3, or Shrek 4, or Snow White. She loves Shrek. More on that in an up-coming post).

Anyhow, so yesterday we went to the 11am showing of The Lion King (not the 3D version). Baby A and LePapa came with us so that I could nurse A just before the movie started. D munched on popcorn while I breastfed. "My work is to pick up the popcorn if it falls on the floor and eat it!" she told us. A and his papa went to wander around for a while and D and I went into the theatre. I thought D might be alarmed by the darkness or by the loud sound, but she was unfazed. She was adorable sitting in her big theatre seat, her little body not quite heavy enough to weigh it down properly.

Things that surprised me:

• the amount of popcorn that D ate! I totally should have gotten the medium.
• the number of times that she said, "this movie is too long!"
• how easily I had forgotten that The Lion King actually has a lot of scary scenes and a rather mature plot (i.e. mean uncle guilt trips his nephew into thinking that he's responsible for his father's death). I think a comic princess romance might have been more appropriate

At one point I wasn't sure we were going to make it through to the end of the movie because D was on my lap and quite restless. Normally she has an impeccable attention span for movies but I guess this one didn't grab her as much. Still, it was fun to accompany her on a new experience. Her favourite aspects: the preview for the Puss-in-Boots movie, and playing with the arcade machines outside the theatre.

Our Little Hippo

We took D to the dentist for the first time this week and it was a fabulous experience. The dental hygienist (did I spell that right?) was so gifted. Right from the first contact when she came to find us in the waiting room, she was focused on D and talking to D ("Who did you bring with you today?"). She was super positive and encouraging and kept telling D to open up her mouth big like a hippopotamus (again - too lazy to spellcheck). When it was time to examine her teeth, the dental hygienist and Papa sat facing each other with their knees touching and D was lying on their legs. D seemed a bit shy but she wasn't scared and she was delighted with the big smiley face sticker that she got. For the whole rest of the day, she was eager to tell everyone that she'd been to the dentist.

And we were really pleased too. Mme Dental Hygiene showed us the most effective way to brush D's teeth and even taught us some stuff we didn't know about dental hygiene. For instance: apparently cavities are contagious, like germs. Really! In addition to being informative, she was also so affirming: she congratulated us both on our commitment to breastfeeding, and thanked us for caring about our children's teeth. (Okay, yah, A doesn't have any teeth yet, but still. We care about them already.)

We also found out that this was actually the very first time that our local medical and social services centre offered this dental clinic. In fact, it's a provincial pilot project. I'm thoroughly impressed with this initiative and I hope lots of parents will take advantage of it. Yes, FandtheF endorses the dental clinic! Come one, come all!*

*That is, if you have a preschooler and you live in my neighbourhood.

Gender Matters

We had just gotten settled into our seats on the bus when D turned to me and asked, "Mom, are you a she?" 

Me: "Yes. Are you?"

D: "Yes."

Me: "How about baby brother?"

D: "A he." (addressing her father, sitting on the other side of the bus) "Papa, are you a he?"

Papa: "Quoi?"

(I help to clarify the question. Papa answers in the affirmative.)

D: "Mama, before I came out of your belly, you were just a woman and papa was just a man."

Food for thought, eh?

Au Café

Friends of ours formed a collective and opened an awesome café that's an 8-minute walk from our home. It immediately became our favourite hang-out spot. D quickly learned that if she suggests an outing to this café, we'll likely agree and she'll get to order a hot chocolate and sometimes a croissant too. They serve her hot chocolate in a little espresso cup, which is super cute.

We were there today, actually. They don't have a change table yet, so I was changing A's diaper on their stage when a woman stopped to admire him. She remarked on how cute he is (yup!) and congratulated me. I was mid-diaper-change so A was entirely nude from the waist down. I was therefore quite bemused when the woman asked me if my baby was a boy or a girl. Hmmmm. 

Sexy Mama

We have become hardcore family bed co-sleepers since A's birth. This means that D goes to sleep in "our" bed and sleeps there all night long (as opposed to going to sleep in her own bed and then climbing in with us at some point in the night, which she's been doing for years. Yes, YEARS, I tell ya. She's all of 3.5 years old.). Inevitably, intimate encounters between husband and wife must take place...elsewhere. 

So there we were on the futon, somewhere around midnight, doing some smooching and just beginning to remove some articles of clothing when D gets out of bed and comes to find us. And she asks a very reasonable question: "Why did you and Papa decide to sleep on the futon?" Hmmm. Very-rare-moment-of-intimacy was over. 

Nothing like a sex-related anecdote to start off a mommy blog! That is: welcome!