Recycling restitution

The crazy massive recycling bin arrived yesterday.  Why they felt the need to put it directly in front of my front door when I had eight moms coming over with babies in the next 10 minutes is beyond me.  But it arrived, I am not as life incompetent as I thought.  Apparently I ordered a bigger recycling bin then slacker neighbour did.  Of course I did, I'm a better recycler and therefore better person then him!! :)  Hah!  Or it could be that we're a family of three and he's a bachelor of one.   Are takeout boxes recyclable?

Here's the promised pic of the babe on Ms. Julia's beautiful quilt.  Yesterday it was christened by eight puking babies.  I think that we'll be testing it's laundrability today!

Eye Candy

Too tired to post. Here's some eye candy. Adara has learned how to roll onto her belly consistently now. Too bad that she can't remember how to roll back!

Stupid life stuff

Today the garbage men delivered new garbage bins that we are to use... except to us.

 Apparently we were supposed to order one online before the end of 2007.  Apparently we were supposed to know this and received some kind of notice in the mail.  In my past life I would have said indignantly that "No, I did not receive a notice" and "Yes, I'm sure; I have an excellent memory!  Where's my freakin' bin???"  But, due to my darling babys' arrival, I have no idea if we received this notice or not.  It could have arrived and I could have done what I was supposed to and the city might have screwed up. Or, it could have arrived I might have lost it, or put it in the wash or stuffed it in a drawer, or any of a variety of things, under which case I have no right to be annoyed.  Or, it might never have arrived; dumb metro city, blah, blah, blah.  Strangely, every time that we call the city they hang up on us.  Do they realize how tenuous my grasp on patience is???  Even stranger, our super organized, mega annoying, noisy neighbours didn't get their garbage bin either.  But our 25 year old slacker neighbour whose mother comes to do the gardening and Len does his shoveling: his garbage bin arrived.  I'm tempted to steal his, 'cause there's just no way in my world that Eric did what he was supposed to and I didn't!! :)

Here's a pic of the babe to sweeten the above rant.

Practice makes perfect

Here's a pic of Adara with her baby group that public health put on for six weeks. We finished last week.
The little boy to the left of Adara in the picture is William. Throughout this photo op they were tormenting each other. There are several pics where William is twisting Adara's ear in his hand and she is thwacking him in the belly. Ah,young love!
In our dance class, sometimes we dance in partners with the babies. This means that the babies are quite close together in their packs. Adara faces out in hers while most babies face inwards. She usually takes this pairs dancing as a great chance to kick the other woman's baby in the bum. Very fun, if not very nice!
This week Adara is determined to crawl. Early I know, but clearly it was on her "To Do List" for this week. She lays on her belly, picks up her head and feet and kicks like mad (as if swimming) while making a lot of noise. Then she drops her head onto the ground, sticks her bum in the air, puffs like mad, and pulls her knees under her. If she'd just put her hands under her too, she'd be on all fours. If we try to put her on her back to give her a rest, she flips back over to her belly and starts again.
She practices this move obsessively right now until she completely exhausts herself. It took her two days to teach herself to suck her thumb with this kind of intensive practice. Wonder how long it will take her to get onto all fours? I'll keep you posted.

Argh!

Can't talk... (puff, puff) baby eating every 45 minutes... (puff, puff).  Body sucked dry.... must eat...

Buttons

Why is sewing a button on a winter coat so hard?  I bought a lovely coat in November and two buttons fell off it before I got home.  Because the baby was only three weeks old and I was completely overdone, I begged Jenn to sew them back on so that I could attend a funeral the next day.  She did, 'cause she loves me and can't stand to see me cry over buttons.  Over the next five weeks six buttons fell off and were sewn back on.  I figured out that the problem was steel shank buttons (clearly the devil made these nasty things) and replaced them with plastic buttons.  Another fell off today. If winter doesn't end or my buttons don't stay on I'm going to go and move in with Jenn!  :)   

Here's a fun pic of my baby who learned from another baby today how to blow raspberries. 

Happy Five Months Baby Girl

Dear Adara: Happy five months my sweet baby girl!  Daddy and I are so proud of everything you've learned this month and the sweet little girl that you're becoming. 

 

It's been a challenging month for mommy and you, feet and feet of snow have fallen in Toronto and we've been trapped in the house a lot.  We also both got sick together for the first time, but I'm sure not the last.  But we came through it, and you're good natured smiles and giggles helped mommy and daddy persevere.

Speaking of those giggles; this is a skill that you've mastered now!  You giggle when we make high pitched noises, when we blow kisses on your belly and when we pretend to nibble on your fingers and toes.  

You're also all about chewing and putting things in your mouth this month.  You lay and sit around the house much of the time now with a washcloth hanging out of your mouth like a little puppy with a chew toy.  Adorable!  

You've also developed a real personality this month.  You manage to tell us with your little grunt and squeals, the direction of your eyes and the quirk of your eyebrows, if you want to eat more, play with a certain toy or be picked up.  You've mastered the "flick the eyes to mommy's breast, quirk your eyebrows and smile manouver" that clearly says "I could have a little snack please".  

At night, you hardly ever cry now.  You roll over, grab your soft yellow duck blanket, rub it between your fingers, stick your thumb in your mouth and drift off. On the sleep front, you're a real chameleon.  Sometimes you sleep 12 hours straight through, sometimes you're up three times in the night!  We have no idea what you're up to, but are pretty confident that you'll work it out in your own sweet time. 

You've also developed an odd relationship with the frog mobile in your room this month. You're fascinated by it, love it and are utterly terrified by it all at once.  During the day you love to bat at it, look at it and watch it swing over your change table.  At bedtime you have to be held in front of it for a good minute or so before you can establish that the frogs are not going to attack you and that it's safe to sleep.

You and mommy have mastered the subway this month. It's not always easy, but we're managing to get around using a combination of the stroller, side pack and sling.  People love to coo at you when you're in the packs, and you're quite fascinated by the veggie vendors on the corner.

You're also all about food this month. Mommy and daddy can no longer eat in front of you because you're so truly hurt that we wouldn't offer you any.  You're managing rice cereal every day now, but the sweet potatoes definitely did not agree with you, and you're not even willing to try the oat cereal. 

Baby girl, I can't even explain to you how much we love you.  We are both fascinated by your beautiful face and smile, your happy kicking legs and your efforts at sitting up, rolling over and holding on to toys.  You grow more lovely and intelligent every day and I truly can't remember what life was like before you.  

We love you so much, happy five months Bella, 

love mommy and daddy

OH, the mice!

So, we've taken care of our mouse problem.... kind of.  I am so happy that we got rid of all of the large mice and I no longer have to close up all of Adara's toys in tupperware containers to protect them from pests every night.  However, after we terminated two large mice and three small ones, we've found two small ones in the basement this week.  They were barely crawling around and were, in fact, starving, because we killed their mother.  That's right we killed their source of food.  I am horribly wracked with guilt about it and was almost in tears when I found the first little starving baby mouse.  I managed to put it out of my head,and now, have found another in the same state.  Being a mom makes me far too empathetic towards all moms and babes of all kinds.  

We returned the two broken strollers today and found out from the store that the company has recalled all of these strollers as they all have a bent front fork.  So, now I feel like it's safe to say it DO NOT BUY A GRACO ELFE stroller.  They are broken; the company has admitted it.  Buy a Phil and Ted's they're three times the price but look cool and run sweet!!!!! 

Ms. Julia Hale came to visit this week and brought our baby quilt that she made.  I shall post a pic later in the week.  It was lovely to hang out with her, eat bad food, drink wine and talk about babies and work; my two favourite topics.

The Mommy Series

Thanks for the New Clothes!

Hey check out my new duds!  The hat and jeans are from Auntie Kristen the ebay queen.  The monkey (orange) onesie and little shrug sweater (very stylish) and from my buddy Griffina  and his Mamma.  Thanks guys! love,

Adara