Birthday Blahs

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 29. I have decided that it will be the last birthday I celebrate. I mean it. No 30 for me!

Ok seriously, birthdays are not that bad. At least, the getting older part isn't that bad. I still dislike my birthday because it comes with so many expectations. I always want to have a great day that's different from every other day, but it never really is. I am pretty lucky, I have awesome friends who celebrate with me every year (this year new friends too!) and a husband who goes out of his way to make me feel special. Yet, I am always just a little disappointed, even though I really shouldn't be. I would rather plan other people's birthday, and believe me I am super excited about Sofia's birthday. I've already started thinking about it (Smash Cake anyone?! So much fun!!)

I'm not really sure what it is I want. I usually get what I ask for, if I ask for anything, and I've always gotten to do something special. Last year Michael took me to a Jann Arden concert in the city, this year my friends threw me a great party, complete with helium balloons and a Blizzard cake from Dairy Queen. And the cutest thing ever, Michael got Sofia to "write" her name on my birthday card.

Maybe I am greedy or selfish, but maybe it's ok, at least for one day, to want everything to be perfect. Even if I am disappointed for whatever reason, when I look back a few days, months or years later, I don't remember that. I always just remember being surrounded by people who love me. And that I got like 100 messages on my Facebook wall. Now THAT'S being loved ;)

Holiday Hoo-Haw

One of the joys of parenthood is re-visiting and therefore re-enjoying holidays again. Of course the major holiday of the year is (duh-duh-duh!) "BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS!" and all the insane preparation that goes along with it, including photographing your own Christmas cards (yes I will be taking on that challenge this year. Hey, I wanna be a photographer, I'll have to do it sometime), going overboard with the decorations and shopping for the most awesomest presents possible. All for a child who, at 8 months of age, will probably be perfectly content playing with the wrapping paper (or in Sofia's case, the tags on all the stuffed animals).

But before all that mayhem, we got to do Halloween, which was one of my favourite days of the year as a kid. I loved the spookiness of it all, dressing up and of course getting lots and lots of candy. But, alas, once again Sofia is much too young to enjoy all that. This tiny detail didn't stop us from making her suffer through wearing a poofy strawberry costume which made her sweat after like 10 minutes. But it was so darn cute.

 

During the first year of your child's life, everything you do is for you, plain and simple. She will not remember what she was forced to dress up as for Halloween and in fact, she will probably hate you for taking umpteen photos of her dressed like a strawberry because later, when she is a teenager and those photos surface again they will serve only as a means of embarrassment, not the fond memories you want to reflect on fondly. 

But even though I know all that is true, I will NOT stop taking photos of my baby, no matter how embarrassed she will be later. If I had to suffer through it, so does she ;)

Sofia was in bed by 7 last night, and we only got 15 trick-or-treaters. That didn't stop us from decorating our yard with a howling ghost and pumpkins and lights, playing "Monster Mash" out the living room window and watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (ok, that had nothing to do with it being Halloween, we just like that movie). It's fun to get into the holidays, and having a baby - no matter what age - is just an excuse for us to enjoy it more. So there.

Introducing ... real food!

This week has been exciting for our little family, even aside from having nana and poppy here. Sofia got her first taste of real food!

There was much anticipation leading up to the moment when we finally decided she was ready to eat solids. I may have mentioned previously that we attempted to give her rice cereal when she was 4 and a half months old, but she kind of just screwed up her face and stuck out her tongue and didn't know what to do with it. But she will be 6 months old tomorrow, so we figured that even if she wasn't completely ready, she was going to learn how to eat. So we got out the cereal box again and this time, after a few misfires she started figuring out how to swallow it. Success!!

So we've now moved from bland rice cereal (which she loved even through the blandness) to bananas (that I mushed up myself mmm) and just yesterday, sweet potatoes. So far, so good!

I have no idea if we are doing this right, or if there even is a "right" way to do it for that matter. I mean, we are giving the suggested beginner foods and waiting four days between trying new ones, so we've got that part down. But I am not sure about the frequency of feeding, how much to be giving her at a time and if certain foods are better fed at certain times of the day. I'm kind of just going with the flow and hoping it's right.

And once again, I'm trying not to read too much information, particularly from the Internet cause that just makes the whole process even more confusing.

I WOULD have talked to the public health nurse at Sofia's 6 month appointment about starting her on solids, had we actually shown up for it! I honestly thought it was next Thursday, but nope, it was last Thursday and I completely forgot. I really kicked myself for that because 1) I never forget stuff, let alone important stuff, and 2) this was a super important appointment, where she was getting her vaccines, probably the flu shot and I had lots of questions to ask.

I learned my lesson after that; always write appointments on the calendar! And stop forgetting anything. Now, there was something I was supposed to be doing right now ........

Lucky-in-law

My life has been busy lately. That's my excuse for not blogging more. This past week, we were lucky enough to welcome Sofia's grandparents, Michael's parents, to our little town on the prairies. Several months ago they decided to uproot the lives they had made in Newfoundland and come live closer to us (meaning of course, they wanted to be closer to their granddaughter lol). So the last week they have been staying with us as they wait for their moving truck to arrive so they can settle into their new home.

I'm super happy about this. I know a lot of mothers probably wish their in-laws were nowhere near them. I have heard horror stories about the mother-in-law from hell, overstepping boundaries and pushing their parenting style on their daughter-in-law. I feel like I kind of lucked out in the in-laws situation. Mine are fabulous. They don't overstep, they respect our parenting style and they treat Sofia like gold. They are helpful but not in the way, and well, who would complain about having a built in babysitter?

I'm just happy that when I go back to work after my mat leave is up that I won't have to send Sofia to a daycare or to be babysat by a stranger. I will know that she is in capable hands and I can actually focus on starting a new job without the stress of worrying about whether she will be ok.

It will be different with my in-laws so close by, but thankfully I don't have a Monster-in law. Phew.

Sofia's Travels

I haven't blogged in over a week because my little family took a little autumn vacation. We drove a total of about 10 hours to visit relatives. I was super nervous about how Sofia would handle the long drive, but we broke it up, stopping overnight about halfway, and I sat in the backseat with her so she wouldn't get lonely, and she did awesome!

Even with the long drive, two little cousins ages 4 and 6, and being constantly on the go, our little pumpkin stayed relatively close to her schedule, got lots of sleep and had a ton of fun! She also go lots of toys, both new and hand-me-downs, so our collection is quickly expanding.

I'm so happy that she is a good traveler! I love visiting places, new and old, so I'm glad that we don't have to change that now that we have a baby. And other family and friends get to see her too.

Hmm, where can we go next?

Bad tummy and boogers

I'm sad today. After the laughter and happiness that came from my daughter yesterday, last night felt like a bad dream. Something was bothering her, either gas or the beginnings of a cold, and poor Sofia was the opposite of her usual sunny self.

She'd begin to drift off to sleep and then whatever was hurting her would kick in and she'd arch her back and just start to cry. And it wasn't the "not really a cry" cry. It was a full out, real tears, red face cry. I hate that cry. It makes my heart hurt.

So Michael and I lay down with her on our bed and cuddled, telling her everything would be ok and mommy and daddy were there, until she finally relaxed and we knew she was in a deep sleep.

She slept fine and woke up for her usual 1 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. feedings and this morning she was smiling up at me when I got up. Lucky she's a happy kid cause she also woke up with a nose full of boogers and every time she sneezed (which, of course, was more than normal) she blew them right out. So now I'm making sure there is a box of kleenex somewhere nearby at all times.

I hope this cold of hers doesn't get any worse because tomorrow we are taking to the highway for our last little vacation of the year to visit family. We have to drive five hours tomorrow and five hours on Monday to reach our final destination, and we've never driven that far with the baby before. So. While she naps I'm going to pack a bag of cold remedies for baby so maybe we'll have a chance of making it in one piece. It should be quite the adventure.

I gotta say, there is nothing worse than seeing your baby in pain or discomfort, knowing there's very little you can do other than give her all the love you can. And wipe her nose when the boogers fly.

Best. Sound. Ever.

I did it! I finally got Sofia to laugh! This time it wasn't an inanimate object she thought was amusing for no apparent reason. This time, I made her laugh all by myself.

For a while now she has visibly enjoyed the tried and true game of "Peek-a-Boo". I hide behind a blanket and pop out and she squeals and grins, so happy that mommy is back safe and sound. Well, when I was taking to my mom the other day she told me that when I was a baby she got me to laugh by jumping out at me and saying "boo!" So I thought, heck, why couldn't that work for my baby too?

Well it worked like a charm! As soon as I said "boo!" she broke into full out giggles. And this time daddy was lucky enough to be home for lunch and we were able to catch the whole thing on video.

I am really going to miss when all these little things are such a big deal. I love love love seeing what new and exciting thing Sofia will do each day. I never thought something so simple could make me so happy.