Baby's Room

Baby #1 plays with future Baby #2

At long last, the Baby Room is complete. Over two years later than intended. Initially, the baby's room was a shared office space. I wasn't too worried as Baby #1 slept in our room for the first 6 months of her life. We then attempted to move her to the shared office/baby room. Against one entire wall was our custom-made office furniture. Against the opposite wall, her crib and our glider resided. Her dresser was around the corner from the entrance, opposite the window. This worked out as she only spent part of the night in this room. During the day, we closed the door, and used the office space only when all three of us were home. Then Baby #1 learnt to open doors, and climbed atop the office furniture. And one day, when she was about 18 months old, we realized that we would have to get rid of the office furniture.

We have been working diligently (yet slowly) on the kids' room since then. The first step was to get rid of the office furniture. The only trace of which is the framed world map that we kept in her room, and a few books and magazines that remain on the top shelf of her shelving unit. The next step was putting her shelving unit together. We bought two units to take full advantage of our high ceilings. We bolted them together, and then to the wall. This unit allowed us to organize her toys, books, and blankets. We then invested in carpet tiles, and put up a few decorative items. Baby # 1 seems to like the end result. She often points to the birds above the crib, and to her baby photos with a big smile on her face.

Where will Baby # 2 sleep? you might have asked yourself. We have a bedside bassinet which we will keep in our room for the first 4-5 months of her life. We then plan on converting Baby #2's toddler bed back to a crib for Baby #1's use. We are not sure what sleeping arrangement Baby #1 will then have. We were thinking of a fold-out kids-sized sleeper, or perhaps a small floor bed. And then when they are a little older, we were thinking along the lines of a trundle bed similar to this one:

Day Bed with trundle that pops up to the same level (Duetto, by Flou)

Without further ado, here is the new kids's room:

Baby # 1 plays with her toys

Two shelving units help with organization

Baby # 1 at 3 weeks above Luca Glider 

Safari animals walk atop the world map

Transferring toys to her toddler bed

Sonos music system next to 1st year photos

All smiles!

Last Week of Work!

Dressing Up; If only it were warm enough!

The countdown begins! As I write these words, I have only two days of work left until my maternity leave officially begins. Last time around, I worked right up until I was full term (37 weeks gestation). This time around, I am stopping a week earlier. Although I had made myself available until 37 weeks, I was only scheduled until 36 weeks and a few days. And I couldn't be happier. Not that I don't enjoy my work. I am simply finding that I am a lot more tired this time around. And I have no doubt that it has everything to do with Baby # 1. There is a reason why we (lovingly) call her Brat.

From early morning until she finally goes to sleep in the evening she has an endless stream of energy. On the rare occasion that we stay in all day, she runs around the kitchen, into the dining room, past the the island stools, into the main hallway, and then loops around again. Over and over again, begging us to chase her. As though she knows that she needs to expend energy. For about a week now, we have actually stopped forcing her to nap during the day. Firstly, it was a chore just to convince her to sleep. It would take so long to convince her to nap, that often she would only fall asleep around 15h. After a two hour nap, she would then be recharged, and refuse to go to bed until around 22h. We had considered waking her up from her nap after only an hour, but on the few occasions where her naps were curtailed, she was in a very cranky mood the rest of the day. So we thought, why not cut out her nap altogether, and see what happens. We certainly didn't prevent her from napping. We followed the usual pre-nap routine, but if we were unable to convince her to nap by 15h, we decided to let her stay up. She now goes to sleep between 20h and 20:30h, and we finally get a few hours to ourselves in the evening. She is rarely cranky in the evening, and she seems to sleep a little better at night, waking up anytime between 7h and 8:30h.

The side effect of cutting out her naps, however, is that I too no longer have the luxury of napping during the day. And as my third trimester progresses, I feel more and more tired. During my first pregnancy, I had the advantage of resting when I pleased. And I can only imagine that things will only get harder once Baby # 2 comes along. Baby # 2 will no doubt keep me up during the night, and Baby # 1 will prevent me from napping during the day!

A Week of Firsts

Hanging out in her new chair

This was a week of firsts. Not monumental firsts. Not even milestones; but firsts nonetheless. The first first is about snowmen. Although she had never before built one, she recently became engrossed with them. She would point them out in books and on posters. We even made a few out of Play-doh. But this Thursday, she built her very first real snow man. Thanks to over 25cm of snow that had descended upon us. Both the Baby's father and I were working, and when we arrived at my mom's house to pick her up, we found the cutest snowman on in the front yard:

Putting finishing touches on her first snowman 

Her second first made us very proud. We were getting very worried about our capillary-challenged daughter. Not only do most people still mistake her for a boy, but her mullet was only getting worse. Remaining short in the front, it was growing longer by the day in the back. We were seriously considering trimming it, but some very adorable pigtails changed our minds. First time with her hair up in pigtails, curtesy of her aunt and grandmother:

Finally looking like a girl

And finally, the last first happened just Saturday. I returned from work a little before 17h to discover my daughter had learned to do walking flips with her papa:

Flipping with Papa

Rest for the Weary

Hanging out with her Cambridge cousins

As has now become an annual tradition, we headed to Cambridge (Ontario) for five days at the end of December. Our extended family, including the Baby's grandfather, aunt, uncle and two cousins live there. I had been looking forward to the trip for a few months. The last time Baby #1 had seen her cousins, she was 10 months old, just learning to walk, and cautious in her interactions with others.

We decided to fly, as we have for the last three years. A six hour drive with the baby in tow did not seem alluring. Especially a baby who still doesn't enjoy car rides, but who will behave for approximately 30 minutes. Had we timed the drive to coincide with her two-hour nap, that would still leave us with three plus hours of whining, and likely tears. So off we went to the airport. Unfortunately we ran into delays both ways. Apparently due to the weather in Toronto. On the way there, take-off was delayed for an hour because Pearson Airport had only one runway open. On the way back, there was a 35 minute delay in takeoff. First the plane was "too cold and needed to be warmed up", and then due to "extreme cold weather" there were delays in loading the luggage. Interestingly enough, the weather conditions on both days were quite mild compared to our Montreal weather.

Other than the minor flight delays, we had a fantastic time. I was sure the Baby would enjoy the company of her two cousins, ages 8 and 11. But I did not anticipate the degree of enjoyment. From the moment she set eyes on her cousins, to the moment she bid them adieu, she simply could not get enough of them. So much so, that I am certain she forgot completely about her parents. They played together, sang together, laughed and ate together; over and over again every day of our five-day visit. And so rested her weary parents!

Here are a few photos from our mini-break:

At an indoor playground with her cousins

Sliding with her cousin (out of focus, taken with i-phone)

At the airport in Toronto

Enjoying a treat at Tim Horton's