Cold Snap

Making a snow man of sorts before the cold snap

Riding her sister's Scramble Bug

-7C: The forecast for next Monday in Montreal.

I never thought I would look forward to -7C, but after five straight days of frigid weather in the -20's, I find myself doing just that.  Here are a few things that we did since the cold snap started:

-stayed indoors
-did not use the stroller all week
-left only to drop my toddler off at pre-school, and pick her up
-considered not taking her to preschool this week
-played with the same toys, over and over again
-sang songs
-did arts and crafts
-cooked
-considered ordering groceries by home delivery
-took naps
-dreamed of living in California

Sick week!

Eating raspberries the fun way, prior to getting sick

Actually, that should read two sick weeks. Over the course of the last 12 or so days, we all got sick.
Here is the timeline:

-First our toddler came down with her first cold in November. Nothing out of the ordinary.
-Next our baby caught our toddler's cold.
-Then I came down with the same virus.
-Nothing worrisome until mid week last week, our toddler developed a 48 hour fever. 2 visits to the pediatrician confirmed the diagnosis of a virus.
- I was thinking how lucky we had been that our baby, at 9 1/2 months, still had not developed a fever or a serious illness...and then last Sunday morning, she started vomiting. By Tuesday she had improved, but still slept a lot, and her appetite has just now returned to pre-sickness levels.
-Next, my husband developed a cold. Both he and I felt nauseous, but thankfully produced no vomitus.
-And just when I thought we were on our way to normal health, our toddler started vomiting Thursday morning of this week. Starting at 3AM, and for every hour for a total of 6 episodes. And as quickly as she got sick, she improved...

Were these all pre-school bugs? Perhaps the cold virus... but what would explain our baby developing a gastrointestinal virus before her big sister? Had I unwittingly brought it home from the hospital, and simply didn't get sick myself?... In all probability, we will never know... but one thing is for certain, there is nothing like appreciating the mundane after 2 weeks of sickness!

Magical Moment: cold

Sharing a laugh

Since starting preschool in early September, our toddler has had three colds. Certainly not as many as I had expected. She recently had back-to-back colds, something that had occasionally occurred prior to starting school.

This week, she had developed a slight cough from the post-nasal drip. I reminded her how to cover her mouth with her arm when she coughed.

Her little sister has also had a few colds recently. In fact, for the last 8 months, she has had as many colds as our toddler. She too developed a slight cough this week. Just the other day, as I was cleaning up after lunch, our baby coughed while sitting in her high chair. My toddler ran up to her little sister, proffered an arm, and said "cough in my hand".

It is certainly reassuring to know that our toddler listens and learns!

Who would have thought...

Baby #1 checking out the pumpkins at a local market

With the outdoor temperatures quickly dropping, I find myself looking for new indoor activities for our active baby. She attends a gymnastics class twice a week, but I haven't found any other regular activities in our neighborhood. We do have a heated pool in our building to which we try to take her weekly, and there is a local library with story time that she seems to thoroughly enjoy.

I have been searching for nearby indoor playgrounds, but have come to the conclusion that Montreal is simply bereft of them. Growing up, I remember playing in malls with designated children's play areas, but after an exhaustive internet search, I have concluded that there aren't any nearby. Finding child-friendly, non-fast-food eateries has also been a challenge.

Then just last evening, we found the perfect kid-oriented restaurant with a play area to boot. It was very unexpected. I had mentioned to my husband that I wanted to pick up a few wall shelves for our bedroom, and suggested that we stop by our local Ikea. It was around dinner time, and I had heard the Ikea had a very affordable restaurant. Within 15 minutes, we had arrived at our destination, and made our way to the cafeteria-style restaurant. The baby's meal came to a mere 1.99$ and included milk. There were plenty of high-chairs, and even a separate eating area for kids with kid-sized furniture. After she had finished her meal of fish and veggies, we headed out to the children's section of Ikea, which was adjacent to the restaurant. There were a number of kid's showrooms, and our active baby spent a good hour trying the swivel chairs, climbing through tunnels and playing with the large variety of toys. After about an hour, we were able to pry her away so that I could show my husband the wall shelves that I had been considering for our bedroom.

On our way out, baby #1 noticed the drop-off play area at the entrance, and seemed intrigued by the plethora of colourful balls. She was approximately 10cm shy of meeting the height requirement though, not that she would have gone in without insisting that one of us accompany her.

Who would have thought that Ikea would be the perfect place to spend an evening with an active toddler? And a 1.99$ meal was our only expenditure!

Heat Wave

CC cools down in the sink

I read an article this morning warning Montrealers about a heatwave (article). Health officials from the city were asking residents to exercise caution in the sun. With temperatures nearing 30C all week, this is apparently one of the hottest Montreal has seen this summer.

Last week we had similar weather. It has actually been a few weeks that the baby and I have been venturing outdoors only early in the morning or after dinner. It seems like only yesterday I was blogging about our lousy winters, and the need to find indoor playgrounds. Same predicament, opposite weather!

The nice weather up until a few weeks ago was much appreciated by both of us. We headed outdoors after breakfast, before lunch, after lunch, and after dinner. It is no coincidence that my daughter was cold-free for more than 2 months. Unfortunately cold #8 has reared its ugly head; and the three of us have had little sleep for two nights and counting.

Perhaps once the cold subsides, the weather will be more moderate, and we will once again go a few months without any viruses, and plenty of outdoor play. And then winter will be waiting just around the corner...

Blanche Neige

Our baby lounging in her stroller

Two weeks ago, we had warmer than average weather in Montreal.  I believe we actually reached a high of 10C!  I dusted off our daughter's stroller, and we had our first outing with the carriage since early December.  You might ask yourself why I had stopped using the stroller.  Don't most babies love the gentle vibration proffered by a carriage in motion?  Yes, but not our adorable Brat.  In September 2010, I had registered for a mother-baby exercise class involving strollers.  We would meet the instructor just a few minutes from my house along the Lachine Canal, and with a group of about ten other mothers and their babies, jog, stretch and chat as we navigated the bicycle path.  Within a few minutes, all of the other babies were sound asleep.  The Brat was calm, but not asleep for approximately the first 15 minutes...then she would start whining.  The whining then gave way to tears.  Each class ended with some 15 minutes of isometric exercises and stretching.  At this point, if I did not remove my baby from the carriage, everyone would stare.  They were doubtless wondering what method of torture I was inflicting on the baby, because she was no longer simply crying, she was now wailing.  So out of the carriage came the baby; and the tears would instantly cease.  She did not mind being held, or placed in a forward facing baby carrier, but she was happiest on my exercise mat, where she would crawl around.  I assumed that my baby was particularly active, and did not want to sit still for any length of time.  Suffice it to say, we did not really enjoy the course as much as I had anticipated.  The last class took place in early December; the path along the canal was now snow covered, and not easy to navigate, even with our heavy duty stroller.  I decided to store the stroller in our garage as I had simply had enough of the baby's whining.  In hindsight, I am surprised that I stuck it out for the duration of the course!

The 10C weather of two weeks ago prompted me to give the stroller another go.  I wasn't holding out much hope, but much to my delight my daughter seemed to thoroughly enjoy our outing.  So much so that since then, she attempts to climb into her stroller multiple times a day; she then grabs the straps, and indicates that we should buckle her in and take her out.  At your service Brat!  So we enjoyed a few lovely days outdoors, and then mother nature decided that it was time for some more snow.  We actually got stuck in a snow storm just last week.  The weather, until a few days ago, has been below 0C, and once again we find ourselves indoors.  Environment Canada actually issued a snowfall warning in the Montreal region on the first full day of Spring!

Our cold winter prompted a lengthy discussion about moving to a location with a warmer climate.  Until this last winter, I had not really felt restricted by the cold weather.  With the exception of snow storms, I would jog outdoors five days a week.  However with the baby in tow, it was a different story.  She disliked her stroller, and I found it difficult to keep her warm without the protective environment of the carriage.  Here is a list of alternative warmer-weather locations that I proposed:

-Vancouver.  Main advantage we would still be in Canada.  But what about all the rain?, my husband asked.
-Dubai.  Living income tax-free has it's definite advantages,  but would we both be able to secure work, and what about the scorching hot days of the desert summers?
-Melbourne, Australia.  My husband's company has an office there, but would I find a job as easily?
-Denver, Colorado.  My husband's company also has an office there, and their winters are much warmer than ours, but is living in the USA really that simple?

We are open to suggestions.  Do you live in a child-friendly, warm climate location that you would recommend?

My guess is that we will remain in Montreal for the time being, and that as the Brat grows up, the winters will become more tolerable.