Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!

How to carve a pumpkin in 30 min or less:
Wash pumpkin (donated by grandparents, so the last-minuteness begins). Pick best side. Sketch out face. Realize don't have cool saws etc for modern-day pumpkin carving.
Say "Whatever!" and carve traditional triangle features.

Add two teeth so smile resembles someone else that we all know and love.

Nod with pleasure and note that old school pumpkin design is maybe a little creepier than the designer stuff with saws anyway.

Today's plan is to dress Katie up in her costume for Strollercize (and hope we're not the only ones!) and then great big kid trick or treaters this evening.

Yesterday we had a lovely lunch with Great Grandma Mary. And forgot to take any photos.

We also have two new foods for Katie's list...Broccoli and Prunes (as prescribed by the Dr...we're having mild poop issues lately but I think we're getting better!).

Have a great Halloween!

PS...Katie's been enjoying her exersaucer a lot lately...but she may grow out of it sooner than we'd like. She's been doing this (see video) which I don't believe is the intended use:

Monday, October 29, 2007

Peas Please!

This weekend was weird...it raced by but I didn't feel like we did much of anything. Except Katie, I mean, she's so busy growing all the time. I feel lazy in comparison!

Here's a picture of the snow we had on Friday (yes...looks like we still have to rip out the rest of the garden...there's still time.)I had finished a sweater for Katie around the end of summer time and being wool, it was too warm to wear it (and too big). Nothing like a bit of snow to scare a mom into digging out wool and fleece! The proportions are a little weird...3/4 length sleevs while the body is too wide. I may add some length to the sleeves, we'll see! Oh, and it still needs buttons. (It's the Baby Surprise Jacket by knitting legend Elizabeth Zimmermann. I think Katie likes it...!

We also added two new foods to Katie's list...Peas on Friday...which went very very well (mom likes them too...very sweet!).Katie ate the whole bowl...it was the best she's ever done so far with a brand new food.

We also tried carrots yesterday...Hmm...surprisingly, we're not too sure about those. Personally I find there's a bit of a weird texture to them. And although I would eat carrots anytime (yum!) I found even I enjoyed the peas more than carrots. Peas Please!

We were at Grandpa Dan and Grandma Mary's for dinner last night, and besides providing the usual entertainment, Katie did a first and rolled over from front to back. I'm not sure she realized what happened and I don't think it's something she's going to be doing frequently yet. Here's the after shot(after-shock?)..."what just happened here?".

Ben and I finished up watching Heroes on DVD...only after Katie is in bed...not as good as LOST, but still intriguing.

We also were lucky that Grandma Cheryl was able to babysit on yesterday so that we were able to join some friends for a baby-less brunch. Happy Birthday Shelley!

Katie says "I like spoons!"

Have a super Monday everyone!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Six Months!

Katie is 6 months old today!
She is a beautiful, amazing, curious, fun, happy, strong, smart, lovely little girl. The last 6 months (and the 9 before) that you have been in our lives has been incredibly special my daughter. Your dad and I are loving every minute of it.

Yesterday, while bowling, we had the conversation that everyone has and that we've had before...and realized that we now have a perfectly different answer to the question: What would you do if you won the Lotto 649 (22 million this Saturday!)?

(honestly, we never really play, we just talk about winning)

The answer used to be something about maybe keep working a bit, take time finding the dream job, go back to school (Culinary? Art? Triathlon?), tear down and build a house in the best neighbourhood in the city, travel etcetcetc.

Now we've realized the answer is none of those...all we would do is be stay at home parents. We'd love nothing more than to spend our days hanging out with our Katie.

Wednesday, Katie had a bit of a runny nose (from teething perhaps?) and I was thinking of skipping Strollercize in case she was getting sick. Then I got a call from Auntie Andrea inviting us out to lunch and that was that...God was telling us to play hooky and have a day off.

We went to Vi's for Pies and had some soup and sandwiches. Grandma Mary was there too, but offered to take the picture.

Yesterday Katie and I spent some quality time sitting on the floor in PJ's. Too bad it's not fashionable for adults to wear PJ's like this as clothes...they'd eb so comfy! As stylish as Katie proves.
Once we got the PJ's off we headed out for lunch with a good old friend of mom's...Roy...he's some kind of genius working on his PhD at U of A. We've been friends since high school...that's a good 13 years...almost half of our lives now! Crazy! Roy was great and said all the right things about Katie being adorable (told you he was smart) and played Peek A Boo to distract her while we were packing up (Katie had had enough of the High Level Diner).
Dad also surprised us and was home earlier than expected from work...Katie had some great fun playing on the couch. (She was "climbing" down the pillow mountain at lightning speed!)

Katie is also very into all forms of Peek A Boo...Here's a video of dad playing with her while jumping...he's popping up from behind the chair and she's scared and loving it at the same time.


(sorry for the video quality...not sure why that's to blurry and pixely)
My trick of mixing lentils with squash has worked VERY WELL. See photos below.
Yesterday was also bowling night, so Grandma Cheryl came over to babysit. Katie enjoyed the time together and Cheryl is helping me with my plan to raise a reader.
In other news...Well, it's cooling off dramatically. After a 20C day when we were lunching at Vi's on Wednesday, we actually woke up to a smattering of snow on the ground this morning. By the time Katie wakes up from her morning nap and it's light enough to see it, the snow will likely be gone. But it was there...Katie's first snow!

Hope you're all having a wonderful Friday and that I haven't rambled on too much today!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Like Ghosts...

I finished knitting a hat for Katie...from the book "Itty Bitty Hats"(yay library!). I tend to agree with the author who says something about kids being able to pull off the whimsical hat look. I think Katie does especially well.

After the modeling session and a nap we headed off to visit a friend from Strollercize.

[Scene: In the beautifully styled living room of a friend, Katie and J build a friendship]

Katie: I'm chewing letters because I'm definitely teething.
J: Who are you and why are you taking my picture?

J: Your letters look good..Gimme!
Katie: How about we share the letters...2 each?
J: You can come over anytime baby.

[End Scene]

Notice how well Katie is sitting up unassisted? J is apparently a good role model. She was so good that while I was talking to J's mom, I forgot that Katie is new to sitting up and forgot to watch as she toppled over and smacked her head on the hardwood. She survived and J's mom reminded me how useful a breastfeeding pillow can be.

Later that afternoon we went to visit financial guru Uncle Leo. Katie looks good in a business environment doesn't she? She listened very well and may now know more about RESP's than her mom.
And of course, I've been trying SO HARD to get a picture of her tiny teeth...when you feel them they feel HUGE but they are actually very tiny and hard to see and harder to photograph. Like ghosts probably (I mean hard to photograph...are ghosts tiny? I'm not sure). Here's the best I could do. (I don't know why I'm trying so hard...in a week or less they'll be front and center (literally) of every smile.)
And in other news...we started eating lentils yesterday (grains count as vegetables and full of iron lentils are!)...or rather, we let them sit on our tongue and spit them out. Can a baby get iron through tongue osmosis? We'll try again today, perhaps mixed (hidden?) with some squash. Truthfully, I enjoy lentils myself, normally spiced etc...but plain lentils? Pureed? Why do they look/smell/taste so gross? Shouldn't food look like that only after we're done with it? (if you catch my drift...)

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Party Time!

This weekend was wonderful and busy!

Starting on Thursday (traditional early start of the weekend?) we went for lunch at the U of A. Specifically to visit with Stephanie, but Katie would never forgive me if we didn't see Grandma Cheryl while we we in the very building she works in!

When Stephanie did arrive we chatted and then ate and ran...Katie was tired of the hustle and bustle that is SUB...and it was actually a pretty nice day, so us Ladies Who Lunch went for a nice fall walk around campus. Katie was thrilled.
Thursday night was bowling, so Andrea came over for dinner and babysitting (she's like the Baby Whisperer she's so good. There's a room in the basement you know Andrea, if you get bored at your house!). She even helped Katie eat dinner. And Surprise for Katie...flowers for her upcoming 6 month "birthday"! How sweet!
We practiced sitting up (K's getting so good at this, even without the chair...!) and giving everyone Laser Eyes. (seriously...what causes red eye again? I forget...of the dozen pictures I took while she was sitting here she had red eye in every single one!)
And the event of the weekend...Birthday Party for Those ____ Girls. Katie's first party. Because it's so close to Halloween, Joanne decided to encourage kids to wear their costumes (may as well get one more wear out of them!). I know it's not Halloween yet, but you NEED to see our cute Katie Kat:
And you NEED more than one picture:
It's amazing how adorable babies dressed up as animals can be. The twins had matching ladybug costumes...I think from Old Navy...SO Cute...the wings are part of a jacket.
There were at least 10 other kids and costumes there, but for privacy it's probably better not to post them all. Zebra, bear, butterfly, lion, dragon, poodle...and Nemo, G can't believe we found you!:Joanne hosted a lovely party...yummy treats including some kid friendly:
There were adorable ladybug cupcakes served first to the Birthday Girls...

Katie did not partake in the cupcakes, as (thankfully) they are not made of squash. But dad will tell you they were excellent. This weekend also brought us week two of swimming lessons. After the incident last week in which Katie was the only naked (diaper only) baby, we decided to wear a bathing suit this time. Luckily we didn't have to buy one as we had one stashed away purchased second hand. I'm sure it's meant for something like an 18 month old, but Katie wears it well.

It's neat to watch Katie swim, but also entertaining to watch other parents and kids...one poor girl was in the pool with her mom and kept wanting her dad (who was on the sidelines)...lots of tears!

No tears here though...only tickles and giggles.

And...I believe this weekend Katie had her first tooth poke through...bottom right center! (We're So Excited!!) It's not really visible much, but I can feel it...rough on her gums. I wonder if she realizes? Or knows what this tooth thing is? How long will it take before she chomps on me while we're nursing? Only time will tell...and then I will certainly tell you. =)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Squashed!

Yesterday we had Katie's 6 month doctors appointment. (She's got 9 more days until 6 mo is official!) As we suspected, she's healthy, a good size and perfect in every way. =) Although the doctor didn't mention that she was the most amazing baby he's ever seen...Am I the only one that thinks that?

Katie officially weighs 19.5 pounds now. We got the ok to start feeding her vegetables so I started right away with Acorn Squash for lunch. We will now be eating 3 meals a day...cereal, veg, veg each followed by breast milk. And in between she can nurse as a snack and/or have cereal for her evening snack. I've been really looking forward to making real food for K and introducing her to healthy yummy food. Squash seems as good a place to start as any. I cubed it and boiled it while she was sleeping and than blitzed it in the mini food processor (next time I'll use the big one).
The result was tasty (I thought)...Katie...well, she definitely knew it was different. She made a good effort but did spit out quite a bit. I'm impressed for her first time though...doesn't she look excited?

I froze whatever we had left in ice cube trays and later threw it in a ziploc in the freezer...doing the prep made me realize I'm not cutting and boiling squash twice a day...better to do it in a big batch and have it last at least a few days. We had the same for dinner and Ben said she did quite well. We'll be adding new veg every few days, after we make sure there's no allergy to any given food.

The doc has a specific order that he'd like us to follow for feeding, which I hear is slightly different than the current recommendations from Health Canada (can't find on their website). Doc says veg (includes grains eg lentils) and cereal until 8 mo, add fruit until 10 mo, then introduce meat. Canada food guide apparently says eat whatever whenever after 6 mo...especially to get meat for iron. I'll have to do some research and perhaps call the doc back to inquire about the diff between the two methods.

It's hard when you're trying to do the right thing but have different experts tell you different things. I'm thinking of listing the foods Katie eats on the sidebar, so that grandparents etc will know what you may feed her when they're babysitting.

Yesterday we also went for a walk with J and Those ___ Girls. I had the Chariot in the car so I suggested that J give it a try with the twins. Just to see how they like it. (Here they are with A., their neighbour who dropped by).
The verdict? Joanne says - Not bad...handles well, but will the girls stop stealing the other's soother?!

No big plans today except strollercize. Whether looks a bit iffy...I think only a high of 14C or so.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Monday, October 15, 2007

Bonus Post

A swimming video from...I think...last week. Trying out new video posting since YouTube doesn't seem to like any of my swimming video's. Katie DOES like swimming, really.

Who loves Swimming? from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

She perked up soon after and had a blast!

She's a Lush-kow

Well, another weekend goes by and today's the Municipal election...make sure you vote!

Katie had a wonderful weekend. We tried on her purple fleece jacket (and wore it as it was a bit chilly in the mornings) (which also has matching pants). It fits well and we think purple is a very good colour for her. Her dad especially loves the sporty look. Her mom thinks it's funny how some things make her look older and other things make her look like a tiny baby.

We went to G and G's church this weekend instead of our own. Just for a change. This is the same church where mom and dad got married...funny to come back with our daughter just four and a half years later!
We also had Katie's VERY FIRST swimming lesson on Sunday. At Confederation pool which is actually a saltwater pool. Here's mom and Katie (next week is dad's turn) in the pool practicing floating on her back . (photos taken discretely by dad, after lifeguard said not too...Katie do as we say, not as we do!)
Here we see the little boy, ahem, I mean swim teacher, telling Katie how's she's the best swimmer in the class despite being (we suspect) the youngest. Well, not really, but I'm sure that's what he wanted to say. Really, Katie just might be a fish...she kicks a lot and seems to enjoy the water. Especially loves seeing all the other kids.

Sunday night we had the luxury of being invited to G Ken and G Cheryl's for dinner (phew, no cooking!) with the other G and G as well. Turned into a bit of a wine tasting with our little Lush-kow here: (SO SORRY about the red eye, it's terrible...like Laser Katie out to zap the wine or something!)

Sommelier Katie approves of the wine selection for the evening.

And there should be more pictures of K and C, but I was having too much fun at dinner. And they were at swimming too (just to remain balanced for the photo record...I know no one cares but me!).

Otherwise in the weekend...we hit another "outgrown it" sale in Sherwood Park and found the perfect snowsuit for TEN DOLLARS. (Funny...I actually just typo'd "swimsuit"...Katie was the only "naked" baby at swimming...do they really suits? They're babies!) I love these sales. We did not buy anything else because we are practicing restraint and realizing she will be with us for upwards of 20 years and that's lots of time to buy her more things.

Enjoy your Monday!