Merry Christmas... Happy Holidays or whatever!

 This year we found out that Anomantia does NOT like Santa Claus.  She was so mad at me for not rescuing her right away.

She would far rather hang out with her dad.

So here is hoping that everyone has a happy holiday season.  And a healthier than us Christmas too. 

Remembrance Day 2010

This morning, I woke up after only 3 hours of sleep to go to the local Remembrance Day ceremony at the arena. Anomantia and I watched from the stands while Laurence participated in the ceremony.  We were seated next to some very nice people.  Anomantia was all over the place and was squealing with joy throughout the ceremony.  She however did stay quiet for the moment of silence.  After the ceremony was over, I had a few veterans approach me and tell me that Anomantia was very well behaved throughout and that it was nice to see the younger generation starting to take an interest in the events.  Just before the ceremony started, in the stands next to where I was sitting, an elderly woman went into cardiac arrest.  Paramedics and the ambulance were called and it looked like she was going to be alright.  The highlight of the whole morning for me was after the ceremony had concluded, the veterans take a lap of the arena while the pipe band plays.  One veteran, threw his cane off to the side and was waving and saluting with an ear to ear grin.  This totally made my day.  So far it has been a really nice day aside from it being freezing cold out, but at least the sun is shining. 

Busy Life

 My little girl is getting so big.  This photo was taken this morning before nap and after she decided that she needed to be holding my cell phone.  She has started trying to walk but is more or less just wandering between pieces of furniture.  She is also the master of funny faces and big smiles, the second a camera is out, out come the devil horns.

 If Anomantia had her way, every meal would consist of crackers.  She has 4 teeth that are in and 2 more on the way.  She bites everything including the glass top on the coffee tables and scrapes the varnish off her crib railing.  It has gotten to the point where we have a surveillance camera in her bedroom that way we can get to her before she starts to chew on the top railing again. 

 October- was a month of adjustment.  Anomantia got a SAHD and a working mum.  I went from day shift to a permanent afternoon shift which allows me to be at home with her during the mornings and working until middle of the night.  I think the hardest part of working an afternoon shift is that I am not getting enough sleep which in the long run is going to affect my performance at work.  We had an awesome Halloween again this year.  We had our neighbours over for a Halloween party on the Saturday and then Sunday evening, I took her out Trick-or-Treating with some of the neighbours' kids.  She was dressed as a frog and was really cute.  When we got to peoples' houses, she would start to babble.  She ate a box of smarties (box and all) before we even got to the fourth house.  She lasted about an hour and a half outside before it was time to return home to see her dad.  We really lucked out this year with the weather, it was really mild in comparison to last years sleet. 

Bouncy, Bouncy Baby!  Anomantia has finally figured out how to jump.  She loves her jolly jumper and music combined.

All in all life has become more and more busy with being back at work and juggling being a wife and mother.   I am hoping that I will eventually find the balance of energies and it will all work out in the end.  I am still hoping that in the new year, I will be able to return to the college for a few courses to expand my knowledge and to see where that will take me.  A Blue Seal perhaps and maybe even to more education in the long run.  I know that welding isn't my end all be all career, just a mere stepping stone towards my future.  It allows me to provide a comfortable life for my daughter and husband, but I still dream of something more.  Who knows what that might be but for now, I must be content with what I am.  And with that I am hoping the balance as to who I am might return.   Being a working mum changes everything for me.  Everyone asked me IF I was going to return to work, but for me the question has never been IF but WHEN.  I dreaded going back to work after Anomantia was born, and even when I did return, I found the adjustment mentally, physically and emotionally challenging.  Over the past month, I have found myself sinking again.  There is no other way to put it.  I feel like the worst person in the world having to go back to work and leaving my daughter for 12 hours at a time.  My only peace of mind comes with my loving husband and that I know he is a capable father to our little monster.  With the breastfeeding, I try to express as much as I can, but my milk supply has dwindled down to next to nothing.  Anomantia will be soon out of the frozen stocks as I can't keep up with the rate she is consuming.  She is starting to drop her morning naps and is much fussier in the afternoons, I know this makes life for Laurence a little harder.  I feel like a funk has fallen over Gurneyland and that it will take all I've got to chase it away.  I guess that only time will tell... and for now I have laundry to wash, dry and put away, a kitchen full of dirty dishes to be cleaned and some endless renovations that require my attention, hence the lack of posts over the last little while.  On a brighter note, I have decided that it is time to get a new tattoo.  I have yet to find the right artist but I know what I want, I just need to find the right person to draw it up for me.  Winter is approaching fast and in ten days time my little adventurist will be 11 months old... Crap, a year has almost passed me by!  She is climbing everything in sight including the stairs.  I was worried that she would fall down the stairs to the basement but instead, she ignores them.  She loves the stairs up to her room.  She will be in the kitchen one minute and the next at the top of the stairs playing with the air intake to the furnace.  Or screaming for someone to come and get her down.  She will only go up the stairs and not down.  So I guess that we will have to baby gate the bottom of the stairs instead of the the top.  I gotta run the chores are a callin', but for now life in Gurneyland will still remain in a constant state of adventure to keep us all busy and on the go. 
Take Care,
C.

Bacon

Last weekend, Anomantia and her dad were downstairs making breakfast while I was getting dressed.  Laurence called up to me to hurry up because Anomantia was hungry and wanted food NOW!  While I was putting on my socks, Laurence was feeding Anomantia some bacon.  After breakfast, she decided that it was time to nurse some more.  While nursing, she unlatched looked at her dad (now sitting at the table next to us) and said "BACON".  It was very clear and that was followed by "dad dad dad".   She really loves bacon and her beef jerky.  I am still waiting for her to say mum, or mama or any variation of that, instead I get Bacon.  I think it is a great "first-ish" word.

I'm not old YET...

About a month or so ago, Laurence and I were in bed discussing aging and what is classified as old. He made some quirky remark and quickly reminded him that he is a dinosaur compared to me (even though he is only 3 years, 4 months and 17 days older than I am). He promptly turned to me and said "I'm not a dinosaur, I'm a carbon dated pineapple" with a straight face. I couldn't help but laugh.  Since then whenever he brings up the subject of age, the carbon dated pineapple is always quoted.  Saturday, I will be 29.  The last of my twenties has arrived.  This year seems to make me more uneasy than any other before.  I think that it has to do with my maternity leave coming to an end and the fact that I am feeling older.  I met several other mums at the local baby time at the library and I really felt old.  The fact is that in my area people seem to procreate a lot younger that I realised.  I spoke with a couple of other mums and they had 2-3 kids and we still not as old as I am (more in the 22-25 age group).  I have also observed that these mums tend to be quite clique-y like they are still in high school.  I found that quite disturbing.  One woman made some random comments about diapering and how cloth diapering would be a waste of time because it would cost so much more when you factor in water and energy costs to clean them.  In the long run, I believe that the narrow-mindedness of these other people just drives me crazy.  Yet again I am finding myself isolated as a parent.  I have tried local play groups and the other community organised activities to find other parents who have children around the same age as Anomantia but finally after 9 months of trying to fit in, I have given up! I am destined to be a social outcast as I was through the years of my education and in 9 days time, I will be back where I fit in... at work, in the dirt and metal shavings with Elise and the rest of the guys.  I am not willing to sacrifice who I am and what I stand for in order to fit in with a few superficial mums at some group.  So for the time being, I am going to age gracefully and live my life with my amazing husband, as the carbon dated pineapples that we are, and raising our beautiful daughter to be a strong independent individual.  

Biting

This picture was taken September 8th, she has one tooth in and 2 days later #2 surfaced... finally! She figured out how to tear her food apart using what few teeth she does have as well as biting while nursing. I had to laugh this afternoon as she bit her own tongue for the first time. I thought it was funny seeing as she has left holes in my nipples from biting. It hurts lots and it obviously startled her when she bit her tongue as she cried and didn't want anymore to eat afterwards. I think she figured it out pretty quick though. Today she turned 9 months old and is as stubborn as a mule. I love every minute of everything that I have left with her.

The end is nigh

This month marks the end of several things for me. First, the end of my maternity leave, going back to work was a distant thought until the beginning of this month when I realised that it is a not so distant thought anymore. Second, the end of my twenties. In a little over two weeks I will turn 29 years old. Ack I'm aging... I realised this morning that I have a lot of obligations in life: I am some one's wife and some one's mother. My life has taken a few turns in directions of which I may not entirely be proud and has thrown me many a curve ball, but being a wife and mother are a couple of the best things going for me now. My home is in a state of constant renovation with a semi-mobile soon-to-be 9 month old around, Life is oh-so-interesting and busy. With the commute to work looming in the near future, I am busy trying to find a daycare/day home for Anomantia while I am at work. This is proving to be a difficult task as I will be going back to shift work and how do you find someone willing to take a baby at 5 in the morning or someone willing to work overnight. So much to sort out and so little time. On a lighter note, I ordered my work boots last week and hopefully they will arrive before I start work. My old ones were in such a state, I don't think that they are even legal anymore because they are so worn out. I can't believe that they still carry the same brand of boot that I have been wearing for the past 3 years. I love them!!! They have to order my size because I haven't bought a pair in a little over 2 years and why would anyone carry an 8 inch welder boot in a size 4D?

My birthday wish this year is to have a happy and healthy family with a smooth transition to my new work schedule. Next month, we are looking forward to introducing our Halloween traditions to Anomantia. Halloween has always been our favourite holiday and for the last 3 years, we have had the spooky house on the block. Every year is different and the crowd of kids and parents gets bigger. We have become somewhat of an attraction in our area.

Anomantia Update:

Anomantia has mastered saying "dad" now and is much more aware of people and things. She babbles tons and has discovered being shy and not smiling for everyone anymore, she saves the smiles for us. She likes to dance to music (looks like she is humping the air) and sometimes if we are lucky "ahhh" along with the songs. Her hair is getting longer and has finally grown over her bald spot in the back. She loves her monkey from Wendy, it sleeps with her almost every night and during the day she packs her mooses from Roger and Claire around by the antlers occasionally stopping to kiss them. It is adorable and she stops to see if anyone is watching then smiles and goes back to kissing her stuffed animals. Her favourite snack right now is papaya spears from the health food store and anything covered in BBQ sauce. I am going to have her weighed and measured again at the end of the month so no new updates for that right now.

Teeth and words

For the last few weeks we have been living in teething hell. There is no other way to put it other than that because my life consists of drool, crying and biting. Anomantia has discovered how to bite down with the one razor sharp tooth that she does have and has managed to tear my nipples up. Needless to say, she is still trying to breastfeed more because of her constantly sore mouth. As of this afternoon, she has one tooth surfaced, one breaking through and two more just below the surface. I just hope they all surface and SOON! (not likely going to happen)

Anomantia is starting to babble more and more but the words she is starting to form are fairly strange. She says "Hi-yah" (like in a cheesy kung-fu movie) "ahh ahh ahh" (at maximum volume) and is starting to say "ad ad ad" (as in dad). I am still home for another 28 days before I have to return to work, but already Anomantia has switched over and become a "daddy's girl". First thing in the morning, she is looking for her dad and as soon as he gets home from work, she is all grins. Today she was in my arms when her dad came in the door and she nearly leaped out of my arms to him, so excited that he was home.

This month is yet again another busy one, I hope to be able to post more pictures and comments soon.

Happy Anniversary

01 September 2007
Tomorrow will be our third wedding anniversary. I can't believe how fast that time has passed.
And to my in-laws, Tom and Joan Happy 37th Anniversary tomorrow too!
We love you tons and thank you for sharing your anniversary date with us.
Here is to many more happy years of marriage.

I HATE TELUS!

I can't believe that today I have spent over 3 hours on hold with various service providers... 2 of those hours was just trying to talk to a customer service agent with TELUS! So in all my frustration, I have cancelled my home phone as I am not willing to even try to deal with their lack of tact when it comes to customer service. They told me it was my fault that I didn't push the right choices and that my call was not a priority. So Laurence and I are without a home phone and are only reachable via our mobile phones or email for the time being. I don't think that we will be getting a home phone anytime soon either.

bathtime

Anomantia in the bath chewing on "Bill le Crocodile" her favourite teething toy at the moment.

She is so full of spunk and enjoys just about everything. She has started showing signs of being a little shy around people and things that she doesn't know very well but all in all, she is easy going and has decided that at 8 months old she will nap twice a day and sleep through the night (usually 9pm-7am). Yahoo, I feel like I have won the lottery with this baby and hopefully my transition back to work will go smoothly too. But in the meantime, I am going to make the most of my last month off with my wonderful daughter and enjoy the last days of summer at home. Next week, my husband and I will be celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary (already!?!). I am in awe that we have had 6 wonderful years full of ups and downs together but I wouldn't change a thing even if I could turn back time.

Random Pics from August

Sleeping with socks on her hands because she wouldn't stop scratching and tearing at herself.
Sleeping on a camp chair when we went to visit some friends who were camping west of the city.

Looking more like a little girl than a baby... with a cheerio stuck to her chin.

Making funny cheerio faces.

Paper hats with dad while I was making dinner one evening.

Spaghetti Part II

On the second round of trying spaghetti, there was less noodle tossing and more noodle slurping. For some reason, she will only feed herself with her left hand and the right is simply for holding her fork or spoon.
YUM!

She is officially wearing more spaghetti that she had eaten at this point.

Time to eat the fork handle!

All done and so proud of herself.

I can't believe how fast she has changed from a baby into a toddler.

Spaghetti Part I

At first Anomantia wasn't so sure about eating spaghetti but then she realised that I didn't care if it got everywhere. She proceeded to get it everywhere... I am still finding pieces of spaghetti stuck to the walls near her seat.

Finally getting it in her, as soon as I put the camera down, the noodles went a flyin'.

The Post-Spaghetti bath in the sink. As our bathroom with the tub is still undergoing renovation, Anomantia has no problem using the kitchen sink as her bath.

Chub and all she really enjoys most of it other than getting her face and hair washed, she loves playing with all of her bath toys and plastic containers in the water.

August...sigh...

Our month of August has passed by so fast with so many adventures and activities to keep us all going and going some more. Anomantia has cut her first tooth with a couple more coming in any day now. Anomantia has a developed a liking for the telephone, so while she is awake I can't really have a conversation because she squeals until I give her the phone which she proceeds to put in her mouth or in the case of my mother-in-law, she just hangs up on her. She is still growing but has started to level out on the percentile chart. She just hit 30" tall and 22lbs at 8 months 1 week old. I am cherishing every moment I have left on my maternity leave because I just confirmed my return to work date as the 4th of October. Then I will be placing my precious baby girl into the care of a yet to be determined care giver. Our original plan was that Anomantia was going to have a SAHD but that fell through when this summer he went through a change in employment and that will no longer be possible with the new work hours. So in mid-September, we will be interviewing like crazy to the day homes that will have openings and in the meantime, we are still on wait lists for all the day cares in our area. Anomantia is also somewhat mobile. She crawls backwards and rolls all over with ease but is still working on figuring out the whole going forward thing.

Getting hosed off after a messy blueberry peach smoothie

Enjoying her Blueberry Peach smoothie

Having fun and terrorizing her dad after an afternoon nap.

Bucket Head...

She dumped her bucket of golf balls on the floor so I made her wear the bucket like a hat because I am the one who has to pick them all up again.
It was so funny to watch her try to take the bucket off, she was smiling the whole time.

August so far...

Well this summer has been a busy one for us here in Gurneyland. We did our trip to the island and back and are finally settled back in at home. Our garden is in full swing with peas, pickling cukes, carrots, tomatoes and berries ready for harvest, the rest will be a little while before it will be ready. Anomantia is growing so fast that she isn't as chubby as she was before. Every day I am in awe at how she is becoming a little individual and how she interacts and communicates (or at least tries to) with others. She is more comfortable with our friends and family now that I think we are relaxing as parents and letting her grow as a person. I love how she stares at things and people before she will say (or babble) anything. She loves to laugh and play with people and the best way to know that she is happy, she will flap her arms up and down, like a bird trying to take off. This is her way of clapping her hands. She is now able to clasp her hands in front of herself but still can't clap them yet. Tonight she discovered Asparagus (also known as Asparagustus in our house)... she loved it, more than her chicken. All in all, our summer seems to be pretty rainy but with an overabundance of mosquitoes, they are 100 times worse than any other year we have been here. We are making the most of the time we have together as a family by going camping, packing up and day tripping here, there and everywhere, gardening, swimming and doing whatever else we can think of. I only have 55 days left at home before I am planning to return back to work, so I will have to make the most of it. I love being at home with my husband and daughter but work is calling my name. Back to grinding away (literally) and hopefully I will get the shifts that I want to start at. This fall brings lots of fun activities for Anomantia and it also brings my birthday (again... sigh...). The last of my twenties, I feel like a chapter in my life has come to an end and a new one beginning soon. I am excited to see what it brings. Until then, I am just enjoying life one moment at a time.

July in Photos Part Deux

Anomantia's great-Grandma Peggy at the lake with us on her 97th Birthday (July 24th).

Anomantia after her first time swimming in a lake. She loves the water and hanging out as naked as possible.

Anomantia and Callie playing at the dinner table. (July 25th)

Anomantia sitting all by herself and playing with her keyboard and cheerios at home (July 28th)

This is one of my favourite pictures of Anomantia and Grandma Peggy together. (July 25th)

July in Photos

Anomantia's first time putting her feet in the ocean.

Anomantia's first time seeing her Grandma Jan's memorial Bench at Croteau Beach.

Anomantia and her dad at Toby and Meghann's wedding.

Anomantia's first ferry ride and playing on her personal jungle gym.

At one of our campsites with her swim diaper on her head.

July and Camping

Well July is coming to a close and I realised that I hadn't posted anything all month. I guess I have been enjoying my time at home with Anomantia. This past week it hit me that I will be going back to work full time in the fall which is approaching way too fast for my liking. We have really enjoyed this month of being a family and being away on holidays. For now we are home to enjoy the remainder of our summer and early fall.

Our month started off with Anomantia becoming a little more mobile, (she crawled backwards) and more vocal. July 10th we packed our vehicle and headed out for a road/camping trip. On our way out, we saw a schwack of fogies (20-30 60+ year old) on road bikes on the highway. Such a strange sight. We travelled through the Crow's Nest Pass stopping to camp in Manning Park and a couple of other spots, heading for Victoria for Toby and Meghann's Wedding on the 17th of July. We had a great time and decided to head north on Vancouver Island to camp some more. We stayed at the Kin Beach Provincial Park Campground in Comox for four nights which were some of the best camping we've had in a long time as the weather was on our side and there were very few mosquitoes. Finally we left the Comox Valley and headed for Kelowna with a brief stop over in Vancouver to see Danica and Joey for the night. We had a wonderful stay in Kelowna with Anomantia's great-grandma Peggy and helped her celebrate her 97th birthday. I loved watching grandma Peggy play with Anomantia, I feel like there is something to learn from the way they enjoyed each other's company. It reminds me of the day I told grandma Peggy we were going to have a baby and she said "the only thing better than grandchildren... is great-grandchildren." Then we finally made our way home to Gurneyland after dealing with construction and delays on the highway, Anomantia was amazing with all the travelling. She thought that the car seat was her bed and refused to sleep anywhere else the day after we got home.

Anomantia had several firsts on our trip: first time in the Pacific Ocean, first time in a lake, first time eating ketchup chips (courtesy of her dad), first time sitting unassisted, first time reaching for someone and many others. Yesterday, we found an old keyboard from a computer for her to play with. She loves pushing buttons and I figured that she could learn a thing or two from it as she gets older.

Happy Canada Day!

Seeing as it is Canada Day tomorrow and it was fairly hot out today, I figured that it was a great opportunity to use my temporary tattoos that someone gave us during the olympics. Anomantia was more impressed with the fact that I let her be naked for more than 30 minutes at the time. Tomorrow we are not planning on attending the festivities due to Laurence's inability to walk long distances and the parking at the site is awful when a city with over 90 000 residents decide to partake in the activities. I think we might just go and check out the outdoor pool and waterpark that just opened yesterday. I know that Laurence has been dying to go back to the recreation centre to use their steam room. Tomorrow, is an entirely new adventure in itself and until then, we hope y'all have a great Canada Day!

Pronounciation

I don't know how many ways people think her name is pronounced... for the record it is:

ANOMANTIA

Ah-no-man-Tee-yah.

June Photos Part II

On Father's day weekend, Anomantia humoured us by making this new face.

And again... she loves pickles and I give her Cheerios to throw around. She doesn't eat them yet, but they make a great toy at the moment.

Hanging out in her Bumbo in the kitchen while we made dinner the other night. She likes it best when I let her eat a rice cake naked in the bumbo. It makes a mess of mushy rice cake when I give them to her.

Cookie faced playing with Sophie the Giraffe yesterday. I got home from my Muay Thai class to find her hanging outside in her exersaucer / jumperoo, while Laurence painted the fence. She had found a cookie that she had ditched in the tray a couple of days earlier and decided to eat it (or try at least).

Cookie faced close-up.

June Photos Part I

I can hardly believe that June is coming to an end and that the summer is already here. Only 3 more months before I have to return to work and leave my baby blue for the day. I am a little nervous about that, but I am sure things will go fine once we adjust to the new routine.

The bright Blue eyes are here to stay. This photo is kinda creepy with the overexposure but her eyes are really really blue now.
Anomantia eats sweet potato with her ear. She still thinks the "Little Potato" song is funny.

Beef Jerky... Need I say more?

yum!

Anomantia has learned how to kiss properly, now she does the little "ooh" mouth to most people with the exception being me. She still has this idea that it is okay to eat her mama's face.