Oral Report

Baby A is currently 8.5 months old. We both have a stuffy/runny nose and we didn't sleep very well last night. But as I write this, he's been asleep for 2.5 hours and hasn't woken up yet which is great even for a non-sick night! It took him a bit longer than usual to fall asleep because nursing isn't as peaceful when baby can't breathe easily through his nose. But A is persistent and we haven't had to try any baby nose-de-clogging instruments yet.

And speaking of breastmilk: A is still not interested in food. I am not exaggerating when I report that his very best meals amount to maybe a teaspoon of ingested food. But yesterday we went out for sushi and when I fed him some mushed-up avocado on my finger a couple times, he actually opened his mouth and let me put it in. It was really quite novel because he usually closes his mouth and turns his head away. When we're sitting at the table together we often let him play with food but he never brings any of it up to his mouth. In fact, he doesn't put anything (toys, etc.) into his mouth at all. I ask you: what baby on earth doesn't put everything and anything into their mouth?! Hilarious, he is. When he first started learning to grab things he did bring them to his mouth but he got over that quite quickly. It's convenient not to have to worry much about him putting gross or dangerous objects into his mouth. But of course we must remain vigilant as his habits will likely change!

In the last couple days, I've noticed that he's been drooling, which he hasn't done for months. Maybe it's just related to his cold - like he can't breathe properly through his nose so he has his mouth open more and therefore drools...? Or maybe he's working on a first tooth?

Green Day

Last Saturday D and I were decked out in green not to celebrate St.Patrick's Day but because we went to see Shrek the Musical!

First, let me provide a bit of historical background on our relationship with Shrek. It all began in an East Coast hotel room, circa Christmas 2010, when we saw a part of the Shrek movie on TV. D was intrigued and asked me to tell her stories about him afterward. Then we borrowed the DVD from a friend and the obsession began. It reached its height mid-2011 when almost all her imaginary play involved Shrek and Fiona. Even now, a year later, she's still really into it. She has collected quite a bit of Shrek paraphernalia (I had no idea that word included the letter r!) and still claims Fiona as her favourite princess.

How could we not take her to see the musical?!

On our way on the bus. (Baby A and LePapa walked around downtown for duration of the show.)

While we waited for the show to start, D said, "Mama, I'm feeling a bit nervous." She explained that it was because she was thinking of parts of the movie and wondering about them. I had told her repeatedly that the show would be different from the movie because I didn't want her to be disappointed - but afterward she insisted that it had been a lot like the movie. It was a great: singing and dancing and smoke and lights and amazing scenery changes. 

"Smile!" I said. "I am smiling," she said.

She says that her favourite part was when Shrek and Fiona were burping and farting. She was also really impressed when we went down to look at the orchestra pit after the show and one of the lingering musicians threw one of Fiona's costumes up onto the stage. I guess it had fallen down into the pit at some point. (My favourite was Lord Farquaad. He was hilarious and looked so much like his cartoon inspiration.)

Only readers who have seen Shrek 4 will understand what she's doing here!

I really enjoyed taking her to see a live show. And beyond the excitement of the show itself, it was lovely to spend time with her one-on-one. Those of you who have more than one child know what I mean, eh?

More Quotes

"You keep company of my necklace while I go in my room to sew a dress for the ball."

"Mama, do you know what 'time-out' means?"

"Mama, do you know what 'gonfler' means?"

"Mama, do you know what 'shoot' means?"

"I was just wondering if we could...?"

"When A gets bigger, that'll be a funny name cuz 'A' is funny for a big person."

(At the park) "This is my husband and he's a stick." 

"Mama, did you know that we always have to say the truest? You know, the really true thing?"

*

And seriously, D actually used the phrase "in fact" this evening. She used it to begin a sentence and it didn't particularly fit but she was trying it out.

Also, A is "talking" too! Over the past two weeks he has discovered a lot of new sounds and his babbling is absolutely adorable. He speaks playfully, with conviction and variations of tone and pitch, often employing "daaaaaa."

Core

D: "Look - it's the skeleton of the apple!"

Catch Up

Oh hello there.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

How about some good ol' bullet-point random update facts to get us back into the swing of things?

• Baby A has been sitting up for a few weeks now and he's really good at it (although we still position precautionary cushioning around him when he's sitting unattended)!  

•  We went to visit my parents (5 hours away) and will soon be visiting my in-laws (2.5 hours away). We go on at least six such road trips a year (sometimes more, and sometimes longer distances) to be with family. We always look forward to going away but the driving part can be painful at times, especially when 1. D insists that she would rather be carsick than take her anti-nausea syrup and 2. baby A looks at me sadly from his carseat, unable to comprehend why I won't just pick him up like I usually do. Damn (lifesaving) carseat.

• A is completely uninterested in starting solids. When we let him play with baby-friendly finger foods it doesn't even occur to him to put it in his mouth. And when he sees a spoonful of puree coming his way, he shuts his mouth and turns his head to the side. We're not worried and we're not gonna push it - but we are curious to see how this will develop in future months.

• I loooove reading to my kids. D's recent favourites from the library are Princesses are Not Perfect, The Sandcastle Contest, Gingerbread Baby, and Shrek 2: The Movie Storybook. This weekend we also read It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at least five times. Baby A is really attentive when we read books that have photos of babies or that have moveable parts. I'm impressed at how many books we can read together without him losing interest. 

• D continues to invite us into her vibrant imaginary world. She says, "Hmm, who should I be today?" and then she decides to be someone from Shrek or herself as a baby or a fairytale princess. She asks us who we want to be or assigns characters to us and she changes her role multiple times a day.

Here are some recent amusing shots of the siblings:

Making it hard to climb in between them. (So precious, eh?)

This is what our living room usually looks like.

Farm visit together.

D is actually watching a movie here and A is kicking Tigresse.