March is coming to an end

March is almost passed us by here in Gurneyland. So many things have happened and I am trying not to miss any of Anomantia's firsts...

Anomantia has now figured out how to put her fists in her mouth and grab on to things. Laurence has taught her to grab onto the neck of shirts when being held upright that way she doesn't fall backwards. This morning, she sat up all by herself for 2 minutes in the living room before she fell over sideways. My camera wasn't close by so I missed it but I know it will happen again.

She grabs onto toys and swats at things she wants to touch. She has a few favorites now, like her butterfly raddle and "Baby Boo" the book Christina, Mounir and Khalil sent her for Christmas.

Mostly she likes to chill out in her bouncy chair and watch everyone around her. Even with a snotty nose and a bit of a head cold, she has been pretty good with all the coming and goings on around our home.

Yesterday, Monday, March 29th, 2010, marked what would have been my mum's 54th birthday. I spent part of the day in the yard with Anomantia staring at our bare garden and the last little bit of snow. Soon it will be time to plant again but the garden will be bare until at least May long weekend, hopefully we won't get snow in June again this year.
So for now, I will keep on telling Anomantia stories about her grandma Jan and hopefully do as good a job of raising her as she did of me. I miss you everyday Mum and I wish you could have met my family. xoxo Carlee

One tough baby...

MINE!

Thursday mornings, Anomantia and I go to our public library for "Babytime" (ages 0-3 years old). This morning like every other morning, she was the youngest by at least 6 months if not more. She seemed okay with the one year old that kept on poking her until a nine and a half month old crawled over and tried to take her butterfly raddle from her. At which point, she pulled back and beaned the other baby in the face with the body of the butterfly (which makes noises- child's laughter being the one that it made at that particular time) causing a chain reaction of crying. I couldn't help but laugh that my three month old baby just beat up a baby three times her age.

Thoughts...

Have you ever been somewhere and instantly thought of something you absolutely had to tell someone?? Today was one of those days for me. I saw my first Canadian geese of the season and all I could think of was telling my mum. March is in full swing and my daily trips to walk around the ponds near our home having me thinking about her more and more. March.... spring starts and this year would mark the 54th year of her life. I miss her more everytime that the trees start to bud and the snow melts and then it snows again. I wonder everyday what kind of grandma she would be to Anomantia... so many things to wonder about and so many answerless questions. I thought that getting older and putting time between her death and the present would make things easier but in all honesty, I feel like I am loosing my mind. I can't remember her voice anymore but I do remember her in her garden wearing a pair of jeans with dirt on the knees and smeared across the thighs, a ratty old shirt and a pair of gumboots. She was always in her element in her garden and loved the spring more than anything because the bulbs would sprout and bloom. I never really understood her love for plants and why they were so important to her. To this day I still can't really grasp why she would plant flowers, I understand why the vegetable garden, now that I have one myself but why flowers?? They really aren't edible, with the exception of her nasturtiums which she planted in her vegetable garden, so they really didn't count. So what good were they, and why flowers??

With the nicer days, Anomantia and I walk (well, I walk and push her in the stroller)around the ponds near our home, and I wonder what things would be like if my mum were here with us or even if she would visit us here in Gurneyland. How would my life be different today if she hadn't left us 7 years and 7 months ago? I remember being told after my dad died that I should "get over it and move on with your life". I just remember being so angry at everyone and then when mum died, I was hurt and not able to grieve because I had to be a rock to keep on living. Now that Anomantia is in my life, I am able to understand some of the sacrifices that my mum made for us girls and appreciate her life in a whole new light. I will forever miss both of my parents but for my own daughter's sake, I must be strong and live for her.

St. Paddy's Day

Today the sun was out for enough time that I thought my clothesline should be used to dry Anomantia's Diapers. My challenge for this summer is to not use the dryer no matter how convienient it may be. Starting on the May long weekend (Victoria Day weekend) and going until Labour Day long weekend, without using my dryer could be a challenge seeing as June tends to be the rainiest month here. I will just have to plan my laundry days on the weather forecast... hoping that they right in their predictions (when does this really happen??).

Today was Anomantia's 3 month check-up with our family doctor. Apparently we are doing something right, she now weighs 15lbs 2oz and is 25.5 inches long. 87th percentile for height and 92nd percentile for weight (I think this is a good thing?!?). Can you tell she's part Irish? Her hair is fairly red and her eyes are still bright blue. We are loving every moment of parenthood even when we are frustrated with the crying and the poopy diapers, at least we can laugh at the situation afterwards and realise that our lives are forever changed for the better because of her (plus it gives us a whole different level of appreciation for our own parents and what they went through with us)!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY TO ALL!

3 months old and counting...

Anomantia is now teething and not overly impressed by it! We have spent several hours in the last week and a bit listening to her screaming about it (and we are not overly impressed by that but that is the life of a parent).

We had a fabulous visit with Megan the second week in March and wished she could have stayed longer. Please come back soon!

Spring has arrived (at least I hope it has) here in Gurneyland... Anomantia loves being outside and going for her daily walks in her stroller. Today it was slightly overcast but a humid 6 degrees Celcius, so we decided to go for our stroll around the ponds. Yesturday it was really warm and we walked all the way to the grocery store (8-ish km round trip) and back.

She is all smiles when we are out and about. Yesturday afternoon, we all hung out in the backyard and I even got my laundry out on the line.

Here we are home from our walk and all smiles ready for a diaper change some lunch and finally some downtime (blogging time for me... Plus laundry time and house cleaning time... Multitasking at its best!). All in all, she is far more alert and eager to play. Thank-you for all those books Christina, Mounir and Khalil, her favorite so far is "Baby Boo". She has been making faces into the mirror on the last page and then laughs at herself, I find it quite entertaining. She changes so much in a week, I can't keep up with the posts. Some of the changes are: Looking around and making noises at things she wants to look at, her hair is lighter and longer and more of it, she is far more vocal and likes to listen to noises and voices, she can hold her toys and bring them up to her mouth then celebrates with waving her arms and kicking her feet, then gets frustrated because the toy is no longer at her mouth. These are just a few of her latest feats and more are happening everyday.

Happy Mornings...

Our morning rituals include lying in bed and making faces at eachother and listening to her trying to get a voice. She has mastered the "ah" sound and "ooh" is also a common sound for her to make. She loves being sung to, and is starting to move to music and trying to sing along too. So far she like "Au Clair de la Lune" and "You are my Sunshine" and "Little Potato" (linked below) is also a new favorite thanks to Suzanne Didier, who sent us the link.
http://www.starbittrune.com/Jack/littlepotato.html
We LOVE our Happy Morning Baby!!!


We are happy that March is here and that spring is on it's way... including a visit from Megan and great-grandma Peggy (hopefully) this month and Aunt Danica in April.... we are so excited to visit with them all!