what a difference a year makes

This afternoon we're busy packing up our little fam to ring in 2008 at our friends' house. I'm awestruck at the many blessings 2007 brought to us and how much things have changed, and while I'm a bit sad that it has gone so fast, I'm excited for all that lies ahead in 2008. It's incredible to think that this time last year Sara was tiny and curled up inside my belly as we had a quiet new year's eve at home eating and watching movies while other friends went out to a bar in Toronto (not the most pregnancy-friendly plans!) Quite honestly I'm really not a new year's person so that was perfect for me, but this year it will be special to celebrate with Sara. I'll probably head up to bed shortly after midnight though, because she'll be awake and chattering away by 7:30am!

Instead of resolutions, I'm working on a short list of things I want to accomplish in the remaining few months of my maternity leave - but it's not done yet. Sara, however, organized just like mom, has her first resolutions on the chalkboard in our kitchen:

1. Learn how to crawl (forwards - backwards is almost down)
2. Give lots of hugs
3. Say "Da-da"

Happy New Year!

merry

This Christmas was quite possibly my favourite holiday so far. We spent two days filled with family, love, laughter, food, a special present and many happy memories. After weeks of stocking practice (learning to pull things out of containers), Sara had lots of fun opening her stocking with Daddy after breakfast, wearing her Christmas jammies from Grandma and Grandpa. This little pink fish bath toy is one of her new favourite things.
... and then more fun ripping wrapping paper!
She loves her new car from Santa.
And Christmas dinner for 10 was a great success (phew!), with many thanks to everyone pitching in and helping. Honestly, I don't know how our mothers did it mostly alone! Sara was in great spirits all day and sat happily in her highchair at the head of the table. She even had her own bowl of turkey and mashed potatoes for dinner. She even popped a Christmas tooth!

What it's all about...
I'm now ready for a long winter's nap until the new year.... so until then, I hope that your holiday has been as merry as ours!

Sara's first boyfriend

Just a short photo post as I'm knee deep in cleaning, organizing, wrapping etc... oh yes, and eating. This is Sara's first boyfriend, an early Christmas gift from baby K. She's pretty enamoured with Ernie. Sara has started copying my actions sometimes, and when I showed her how to hug him and give him a kiss, she eagerly did her version!

She also learned how to wave this weekend, it's very cute! She's very close to crawling, and saying ma-ma all the time.... so sweet.

stepping out

I took Sara to a 'holiday snugglebugs' program run by the town, and enjoyed some holiday baby crafts and chatting with other moms. It turns out that two of them went to my high school. I was afraid the program would be a little too hearts and flowers crafty for my taste, but it was fun - and next week there will be food!!

We made this clay footprint for her daddy, and a photo tree ornament/card. We took turns making the ornaments, a few at a time while the rest of us socialized and kept an eye on the little ones. When my turn came, I was nervous to leave Sara with everyone and go across the room, but one of the other mommies was also in a program we did during the fall so I felt more comfortable with her nearby. So I left Sara with the other babies and moms and started my project... looking up every few seconds, half expecting her to burst into tears wanting me to come back. But.... nope, not my baby. She was fine. She played happily with the others and chattered louder than any of them. She even grinned at a little boy who got upset over a wet diaper and cried right in her face. Every once and a while she turned and looked at me, and a mom commented "it's like she's checking on YOU!" I laughed wistfully, and had to agree. My baby was doing just fine on her own, and while I was so proud of how much she enjoyed our afternoon, it was yet another sign that she is growing up... just a little too fast!

o christmas tree

We got our Christmas tree this past Saturday, Sara's 8 month birthday, and she's quite fascinated by this new green addition to the house with all its shiny lights and ornaments. I like the effect of turning off the flash on my camera...
It took her a while to actually reach out and touch anything, but today she did. She zoned in on one of the fabric ornaments that I sewed and hung at the bottom. She plucked it off and popped it into her mouth in one fell swoop, and gave it her sign of approval.

This week Sara has figured out how to push her bum right up in the air and rock back and forth (picture downward dog yoga pose, looking much easier than it actually is), so I think crawling is on the horizon! She is also babbling 'ma ma ma maa' constantly over the past few days. I'm not sure if she realizes what she's saying.... but it makes me almost burst with smiles. Does it count as "mama" yet?

We've been listening to a 'Sara's 1st Christmas' mix that I made, and she likes dancing to it with me. A true family CD, it has everything from U2 to the Muppets to Josh Groban (whose version of Silent Night, by the way, can bring on tears if you're at all sappy like me.) Have I mentioned how excited I am for Christmas this year...

P is for Poo

Ok, so it finally happened... our first exploding diaper. We got through 8 lovely months of contained poop, which I was very proud of, until tonight. Here's how it went down...

I gave Sara a lentil and veggie blend for dinner, followed by her bottle. I stood her up on my lap afterwards and she let out the longest fart ever... she laughed afterwards, and so did I. Then we sat together and read some books like we do every night before her bath.

I thought I could smell something "off", but chalked it up to some earlier spit up that I may have missed on her sweater (it was the first spit up in a couple of days!) We read for a while until Sara got squirmy, when I picked her up and carried her upstairs to get ready for the bath. I stopped to talk to Ian while holding her, and when my hand grazed the back of her pants it felt wet... uh oh. I made a face, and when Ian looked closer at my hand, he said the words I didn't want to hear: "Umm... it's dirty..."

OH GOD.

Never having dealt with this before, I wasn't sure what to do. Ian got a towel to lay on her change pad, and when I started taking clothes off, we saw the damage. There was poo everywhere. On her pants, her shirt, most of the way up her back. At a loss for what to do first, I just stripped her down while Ian poured the bath. I had heard that lentils can be a bit hard to digest at first, but come on!! I used about a million wipes and handed her over to daddy to get cleaned up. She happily splashed about in the tub while I dealt with the laundry.

Then I realized I had to inspect the couch for poo. Holding my breath, I found there was only a small spot to clean... phew.

Only a mom could turn poop into a life lesson, but I've been spending time lately reflecting on this past year and just watching Sara... thinking about how she has changed me already. I used to get wound up and fixated on things big and small, and wanted to maintain control over things. While we still try to have a big picture life plan, I've learned that the day to day just happens. The ordinary, unplanned moments are often the happiest. Yesterday Sara was happy to just sit and play with an empty laundry basket for a while. And I was happy to just sit and watch her. It really struck me. And exploding poop? Not exactly planned, but we dealt with it and even had a good laugh.

This time last year I wasn't dealing with exploding diapers, but it's kind of a metaphor for how much our lives have changed. My heart is bigger, my home warmer, and marriage more meaningful. Our family is closer, which I'm happy about, and some friendships have changed. Some have become stronger, while others have diminished - I've struggled to accept that, but I guess it's to be expected. My art has become more important, and while I don't have nearly as much down time, my free moments are more precious and I don't waste them. There are still times when I freak out over, you know, silly things... or wish someone else would magically clean/sort/put away/throw out/buy all the 'stuff'... but I have too many blessings to count, not the least of which is our beautiful baby and her clean bum.

Oh, and for the benefit of those who come over, the couch cushions have been washed. And we're now calling it the poo couch.

H is for Hibernation

There is a ridiculous amount of snow in our neighbourhood... here's a photo of the snow pile beside our tree. It's hard to tell how high it is, but my sore back from shovelling snow to the top of it is further proof!
H is also for Heat, and, the blower on our furnace.... well, it blew. Completely. We had to spend a gut-wrenching amount of money that we don't have to get it fixed today, which is all the more sweet just before Christmas. And to celebrate our newly warm house, I decided that we needed to go... outside.

I hadn't been out for a walk with Sara in days because we've either had howling winds, blowing snow, icy and snow encrusted sidewalks, freezing rain, or all of the above. Today it was cold but sunny and the winds were calm after an overnight snow dump, so I seized the opportunity. And well, let's just say that when people told me how much harder it would be to go out during the winter, they weren't kidding! I used to leave the stroller on our walkway, ready to go at a moment's notice, and I could just walk out the door with Sara, my shoes and keys. Here's how it goes these days...

First: Boots. She tried to eat one while I put on the other, and cried when I took it away. Then, mittens. Sara doesn't like losing control of her fingers, and started to shriek while I shimmied the first one on, so next came the soother. Then, the snowsuit. This is surprisingly the easiest part. Next, I had to figure out where to put her while I got my gear on, including my boots which were wet from shovelling the driveway. I wheeled her playpen over to the front door and put her in it. Sitting in her snowsuit is tough, even though it's designed to be thin, and she soon tipped backwards in a pink pouf with arms and legs sticking out. Not impressed and unable to get back up, she started to cry again while I got my boots on. Once we were ready, I scooped her up and finished with her hat and hood. Finally we were out the door, only to discover that the sun we'd had streaming through the windows all day was totally gone.

Next: Opened the garage, pulled out the stroller, and strapped her in. Easy. Then came the plastic wind shield with velcro tabs. Who designed this thing?? It doesn't go over the stroller easily, and I spent more time trying to keep the hard plastic from hitting Sara in the face while I wrestled it on. Finally we were ready to go, and I pushed the stroller onto the sidewalk. Things were going well, snow was falling softly, and Sara was content. Then, we hit the end of the street... and a wall of snow. Yes, the considerate snow and sidewalk plow drivers had built snow walls at every corner, so unless our stroller has hydraulic features I'm not aware of, we were trapped. I had to find fully shovelled driveways on each side of the streets, and cross where we could. But I must say, our Graco stroller handles the winter terrain very well!

It was great to get outside, but our walks won't be as frequent over the next few months.... although she does look so cute in her winter gear!
Every winter I wish I could just hibernate and go out on my own terms, and this year is going to be the closest we get. So we will decorate for the holidays, find some new indoor games, and I'll enjoy every moment at home with my favourite girl!

hung by the chimney with care

I finished making Sara's Christmas stocking last week and I'm quite proud of it! It will be so much fun to fill it up with little goodies for Sara to reach in and pull out on her first Christmas morning. We went shopping and picked up a bath toy, some blocks, a new finger puppet, some socks (woo hoo!) and her very first little doll! Her main gift from us will be this Fisher Price learning walker/ride-on car. The big day will be at our house for the first time this year, which is yet another indication that we really are parents now... I'm really looking forward to it, and just keeping my fingers crossed that the turkey doesn't come out Griswold style.

I dragged out the box of decorations last night, started some cards, and I'm using leftover stocking fabric to make some tree ornaments. Here's what our dining / crafting table looked like last week with everything in progress, with some hot tea and a peppermint chocolate brownie for energy!
When I was born my grandmother sewed some fabric ornaments that would be safe for my curious little hands, and we now have them in our collection. They've been on our tree every year since I was born, and even though the 70s floral fabric isn't exactly something you'd see in a holiday decor magazine spread, it's a tradition that I'm not parting with anytime soon. Now I'm adding ornaments made for my own little girl. This has me thinking about holiday traditions that I want Sara to grow up with, like her daddy's famous pancake/french toast breakfasts, family get togethers and games, baking with mommy when she's older.... and of course, I hope she'll appreciate all of the things I make for her. One existing tradition we'll introduce her to this year is for Boxing Day. We don't go shopping and come home exhausted and in debt... we stay in our pajamas, watch movies, and eat leftovers!