10 months old...

Micaela is now 10 months old (actually 10 months and a week old already).  She is officially crawling, trying to pull herself up to standing, getting into things she shouldn't be (i.e. eating rocks out of the planters - maybe she saw Connor eating rocks one too many times!), and eating more and more real food.  She does still enjoy her pureed goodness though. She has her two front bottom teeth, and I think one of the top front ones is on the way.

Mikes seems to be starting to say some words...we could have sworn she has said "Avery" in one form or another a few times, as well as Dada, Mama, and maybe dog.

She is a pretty happy kid, though it seems that teething takes a lot out of her. She is a good napper, and a good night sleeper until about 1am when she wakes up pretty determined not to sleep in her crib. This habit is not helped by mommy and daddy's lack of will to make her sleep in her crib, so she sleeps the rest of the night with us...But I have a plan! The first two weeks in January are going to be "cut the cord" time - when we will work on a little sleep-training with her. She doesn't really know this yet, so I figure we'll let her have a nice Christmas before breaking it to her on Jan 3rd-ish.  Which will coincide quite conveniently with her more-or-less full-time start at daycare.  Should be fun times! :)

One thing that occurred to me the other day...this was basically the age at which I went back to work after being on maternity leave with Avery. This time around I can't imagine not having this last 1.5 months.  And boy do I plan on enjoying it! With the kids, of course... :)

They are too smart for us...

So Avery was her usual sucky self this morning as I got her out of bed, dressed and fed.  On the way out the door, Greg had a lot to carry and asked her to pick up her snowpants and hand them to him.  She thought he was asking her to carry them and she said (insert whiny, two-year old voice here), "No, too heavy."  He said, "No, no, I just need you to pick them up and hand them to me." She said again, "too heavy" and I inserted "help Daddy, help Daddy, help Daddy" as Greg pretended to be stretching down to the ground and straining to get there. So instead of picking up the pants, Avery pulled Greg's hand down until he could reach the snowpants on the floor.  What can you do but giggle - she was helping! :)

Banana bran chocolate chip muffins

Even though I am not normally a fan of baking mixes, I am making an exception for this weight watchers friendly recipe.  Here is the basic idea:

3 cups of Quaker low fat muffin mix (I used the honey bran type)
3 cups of all-bran or bran flakes (the PC blue menu bran flakes worked nicely)
2.5 cups of warm water
1.5 cups of fruit, e.g. mashed ripe bananas, pumpkin puree, applesauce, rhubarb
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup of raisins OR chocolate chips OR cranberries, etc (optional)

1. Mix bran and water, let stand for 5 mins.
2. Add muffin mix, fruit, baking powder and raisins/chocolate chips/cranberries, and combine well.
3. Spray mini-muffin tins with cooking spray or oil.
4. Fill mini-muffin cups fairly heaping.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 mins.

Notes: The original recipe said this amount made 32 mini-muffins for a point each, though I made 48 heaping mini-muffins with this amount. I guess my mini-muffin trays are on the small side, but this way I can add the raisins or chocolate chips and still keep the points to one per muffin.

Last night I made banana muffins with chocolate chips and added some nutmeg.  Delicious, though adding about 1/2 teaspoon of salt would have helped a bit. I needed about 4 mashed bananas (previously frozen) to make 1.5 cups.  I have also made pumpkin raisin muffins, using cinnamon, all-spice, nutmeg and ginger to make them more interesting - and you don't need to be shy with the spices.  1.5 cups of pumpkin puree is about 1/2 one of the big cans (28 oz I think).

Of course adding butter makes them infinitely more delicious, but apparently weight watchers poo-poos on butter. Sigh...anyway, enjoy!

9 months old - time for a profile!

Since I shamelessly ripped off Julie's post for the #1 daughter back in 2008, figured I should do the same for the #2 daughter.  Micaela is 9 months old today, and I cannot believe how fast time is going by.  Sigh...but I will lament about that another time.

Funny, Micaela hasn't had the chance to play with a Starbucks coffee cup the way Avery liked to at this age (with no coffee in it of course!).  I guess that is because I have cut down my patronage big-time. When a grande non-fat latte is 3 points, you tend to prioritze!

Weight: I am guessing around 18 lbs, but will update officially once she goes to the doc next week. Update: she was 18 lbs, 2 oz.  Avery was 18 lbs 14 oz.

Height: I am guessing around 27.5 inches, to be updated (both are smaller than Avery at 9 months).  Update: she was 28 inches, as was Avery at this age.

Eye Colour: Brown, with greeny-hazel shifts every once in a while.

Hair Status: Quite a good bit of medium brown hair, all over her head, with enough for barrettes and tiny little ponytails.

Teeth Status: First tooth cut exactly yesterday (9 months minus a day)! It is the bottom front left tooth.  Likely to be joined by its partner soon I think.

Nicknames: Mikes, Mikey, Miker-doodles, Miker-moos (all from Mom); Nugget, Miker-doos (Dad); Caela (Avery); Michalie (or something like that from Grossmueti and the Swiss faction)

Prized Collection: In a repeat of Avery's babyhood, Micaela's shoe collection is enormous.  Most are inherited, though Mom has purchased a couple here and there... :)  Shoes are followed closely by clothes!

Biggest accomplishments: clapping, waving off food she doesn't want, pulling herself up to standing with help from Mom or Dad, saying "da da da da da da da da" repeatedly (for just about anything), some serious gurgling, and incredible flexibility. Check this out (which is actually from a few weeks ago):

Ways to describe her physique: healthy baby girl, beautiful big eyes, great chubba cheeks.

Favorites: Trus and the cats, the "exerpooper", anything she can bang on the floor, the TV remote, watching TV, being a little daredevil, bathtime, and pretty much anything she can put in her mouth.

Most likely career: Therapist (because of the way she likes to stare at others and decipher their innermost thoughts, but prefers not to be analyzed herself - i.e. don't stare directly at the baby!), or Olympic breaststroker (due to her frog-kick proficiency)

Who sleeps most? Avery, who seems to be able to sleep through anything.  Micaela is actually a way better sleeper than Avery was at this age, and if we could get ourselves into bed at a decent time, we would sleep pretty well too.  We also have to stop bringing Mikes into our bed in the middle of the night when we don't have the resolve to let her cry it out!

Most endearing qualities: Great (devilish) smile, desire to explore, contentedness while snuggling on the couch (until she needs to get down to explore, that is).

Favourite food: Pears, broccoli, sweet corn casserole (!), avocado, yogurt

Marital status: Single and choosy

What’s next? Hopefully a little more mobility ( I know I will rue those words) in learning how to roll from stomach to back and decrease her frustration, crawl, stand, walk, run...but all in good time! :)

Micaela's room

So this is a little late...but since I posted a pic of Avery's room when it was ready before she was born, I thought I should do the same for Micaela.  We actually had her room painted before she was born (mostly thanks to Sandy), but since it was still a guest room for a few months after she was born and she bunked in our room, it was never totally decorated.  Now it is - and is even clean most of the time!  There are still a few things I want to put up, like the lovely glass butterfly decorations from Arlene and the hand-painted letters to spell out Micaela's name, courtesy of Sandy again.  I still haven't figured out how to hang the butterflies though.  Any ideas?

 

   

5, 6 and 7 months old...and 2.5 years!

Wow - I am getting really bad at this.  I've already missed posts for Micaela's 5, 6 and 7th month "birthdays" so this will have to be a super one.  Oh, the pressure...

5 months

6 months

7 months

So where is she at?  At just over 7 months she is sitting up well, with the occasional accidental tip to one side and on-purpose fall backwards because she likes it. She is rolling easily to her stomach and once in a while rolls back to her back.  She sleeps on her side sometimes now, mostly for naps, and can move around her crib a fair bit by kicking and pushing with her feet.  The weaning has begun, and day 1 is going fairly well - I don't anticipate problems since she has gotten over her hatred of the bottle (I think, I hope). She is eating solids, loves the multigrain baby cereal and is coming around on fruit, but has started to nix veggies.  We'll see how she does with this week's new addition: salmon.  Thank goodness she doesn't know that poached, pureed salmon with no seasoning is not the way most people like it! :)

Micaela is a pretty easy-going kid now, though I think the teeth are interfering with her sunny disposition because they have yet to appear.  Avery's number 1 and 2 teeth came in around 7.5 months, so Micaela's might be any day now. She is pretty willing to hang out in the stroller/exersaucer/jolly jumper while her crazy sister runs all around her.  But I know she is dying to get out there and run too. No rushing that on my part!

In a dress bought for next year

Pensive at the park

Avery is doing very well at 2.5 years.  She is a super-happy kid when we are out or when she is at daycare.  At home it can be a little more variable.  She LOVES TV, and isn't always very happy when we say no - so that makes for a lot of tantrums as we try to limit her watching to specific, limited times.  The other main time for grumpiness is first thing in the morning - apparently asking her to say good morning to us before she says "I watch TV" is enough to set her off.  Sigh...I assume this too shall pass. :) But on the upside, she is talking more and more and is coming up with the cutest expressions.  It is amazing how they become so much more fun and adorable at the same time as they become so much more trying.  It's like it was designed that way.  I am definitely looking forward to the fall as Avery starts a dance class and sportball.  She is such a little person now!

Dozy ladies

We have had a pretty great summer - but that will have to be another post...hopefully soon. :)

Finally, I read a whole book!

I just finished reading Andre Agassi's autobiography, Open. It was the first library book I was actually able to complete since Micaela was born - and some of them I even renewed several times before just giving up altogether.  I found the book really interesting - not because I was ever a huge Agassi fan, or at all really, but more because I love getting an insider's perspective on any exclusive world, and because I love tennis. It was very cool to read about some of his matches that I remember watching on TV, including the semis of the 2001 Australian Open when he beat Patrick Rafter in a match I tried to get tickets to because I was in Melbourne at the time.  It turns out that Agassi is a pretty interesting guy, and isn't exactly who the media told us he was.  And though I wasn't ever a huge Steffi Graf fan, I love that they are together and I really hope their marriage is as good for them as the book made it sound. Especially since Brooke Shields and that marriage didn't get the most favourable coverage.

Would I recommend it?  Not sure...the writing is decent and the story is definitely gripping enough (especially for the tennis nerds).  Might not be worth your while if tennis isn't your thing.  But thought I would share nonetheless.

Super Mom!

Ok, not really. But I do have moments when I am super-proud of my mom skills (but never my photography skills :).  Like today when I made playdough for Avery (with Micaela screaming the whole time).  Most people would not be as impressed with themselves as I am, but then, I don't have the Martha Stewart gene, nor am I a crafty person. So when I found this recipe and it actually worked out well, impressed I was. The Wilton food colouring gels work really well to get cool colours and you don't need to use a lot for each batch.  This pic is actually from the first time I made the playdough - today's colours were orange and yellow.

A fun summer dessert

These have been a hit lately: Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches.  This was another recipe courtesy of the Food Network page on facebook.  My modifications were to buy the strawberry ice cream instead of making it from scratch, and to roll the sandwiches in mini chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips or peanuts.  The peanut butter cookie recipe is a keeper all on its own. 

Cauliflower Tabouli

I am a big fan of tabouli (tabouleh?) of all sorts, so when I saw this recipe I thought it had potential.  Greg, not normally a fan of cauliflower cooked or raw, grudgingly indicated he would give it a try.  I have to admit that, as I was preparing it, I had my doubts it would turn out to be Greg-edible, let alone delicious. But delicious it was! You would be hard-pressed to know that it was cauliflower instead of a grain and the taste was fantastic. Even better, it is really healthy. Thanks to the food network site on facebook for suggesting it. Enjoy!

Fish Tacos

I am always looking for new, easy and quick fish recipes.  I would really like our family to eat more fish, but I basically hate cooking it and usually don't really enjoy the fish after I have cooked it myself.  So I went looking for a fish taco recipe - I had heard that fish tacos are supposed to be great, but I haven't ever tried them in a restaurant.  This is the one I found and we loved it!  I think I have made these tacos about once a week for the last month.  My notes are:
- I don't use taco seasoning. Instead I use some ground cumin, ground coriander, salt and pepper to taste. I used to add cayenne as well, but no matter how little I used it always seemed too spicy for Avery so I just stopped. I find that I don't even measure the cumin and coriander, I just guess and keep tasting.  I think it would be hard to go overboard on either of those, especially the coriander.
- I've been using Basa (Vietnamese catfish) fillets lately and have really liked the taste and texture.
- For the cabbage, I usually just buy a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix. It works pretty well.
- The sour cream mix is also excellent as a dip with tortilla chips.  I add a little lime to the dip to give it more zing.

If anyone has any great fish recipes to recommend, please send them my way!

Growing up...

Some days, I can't quite believe how fast Avery is growing up.  It's the little things, such as recently she has started calling me "Mommy" instead of Mama.  I find it really odd when she says it, because it almost seems like she thinks it is a more grown-up thing to say, rather than something she really wants to say.  But on the other hand, I almost always refer to myself as Mommy, so it makes sense that she would catch on sooner or later.  The other grown-up thing she did this week was help me bake a cake - Julie's rhubarb cake to be precise.  The experience was great (and very messy), and kind of went like this: "Ok Avery, put the flour in the bowl. NO, DON'T TOUCH THAT! Alright sweetheart, next is the sugar. AVERY, DON'T SPILL IT! Very good job sweetie, keep mixing. BE CAREFUL - DON'T FALL OFF THE STOOL!..." and you get the gist of it.  It was really cool the way she remembered that I told her the topping would go on after we put the cake in the pan, and then she used a small measuring cup to start putting the topping on before I asked her too.  Then she dumped a cupful on the floor and Trus enjoyed a sugary treat.  And so it went... :)

The picture is of how she was dressed one day when she went to daycare.  She really wanted to wear the fancy dress Dana gave her, hence the pink skirt (and the dress was apparently only $3 on the clearance rack - best $3 Dana ever spent!), it was a cold day so we made her wear pants under the dress, the sweater was the first one I could put my hands on, and the hat just pulled the whole outfit together!  

Catching up again...

Funny how I can't even blog regularly while on mat leave...what am I going to do when I go back to work?  Oh well, I'll deal with that when I have to.

In Herage news, Micaela is now 4.5 months old and Avery is a solid 2 years - with all that entails.  Mikes is growing up quickly, smiling and laughing mostly at her big sister, on the verge of rolling over for about 3 weeks now, and is still a mama's girl.  She is getting better though - she is much more willing to go to other people, at least for a few minutes before she starts crying. :)  Her sleeping at night isn't improving much, but as I said to Bonnie, this time around I am not going to worry about it.  I will work on all of that as it gets closer to me going back to work, and when she starts daycare, Linda (our daycare provider) will fix her, just like she did with Avery!

Avery is a very active little kid, with all the bumps and bruises to show for it. She is doing great, enjoying being a big "sistha" and is talking more and more every day.  We've even managed to kick her soother habit, as all of the soothers somehow were lost in Toronto.  I just keep reminding her that it wasn't Grossmueti who lost them.

We did a big trip to Toronto in May - the girls and I drove there with my dad to start.  Due to a car fire on the 401, the trip took about 6.5 hours.  It was probably the longest drive to TO ever for me, made even more painful by Micaela screaming for the last 2 hours or so. We hung out at my mom's house for a week, visiting as many people as possible, and Greg joined us for the long weekend.  It was a pretty tiring week, but overall went very well. 

Since then we've made a few day trips to the cottage and we're planning to have people over for as many pool parties as possible - as long as the weather cooperates.  We are going to a cottage with Ted and Jamie in July, and I am hoping to go to Calgary with the girls in August to see Dan and Andrea...it will all depend on the price of flights whether it is Micaela and I, or both girls and I.  I wish there was a kid price, but no such luck. With all of that activity, summer is probably going to fly by!

Super-yum!

Here is another recipe - I can't take any credit for this one, because it comes coutesy of Bonnie Lawson, but I have to say I have now "tested" it many times and can vouch for its deliciousness and easiness.  These are called Chip Crumble squares, but they might as well as be called heaven in a bite (or 10). Here is the original recipe:

1 cup of butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of walnut pieces


1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix butter, brown sugar, flour and vanilla together.
3. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
4. Press into ungreased baking dish - a 9x13inch pan works well.
5. Bake for approximately 25 mins, until squares are slightly browned. Let cool and cut into squares.

And here is how I have modified it:

I have started adding oats (not instant) in place of some of the flour.  For example, 1/2 cup of oats and 1.5 cups of flour worked well, but the oats weren't that noticeable.  Last time I used 1 cup of oats and 1 cup of flour and I had to bake it about 5 mins longer because the oats didn't absorb the butter the way the flour does.  A better ratio would probably be 1.5 cups of oats and 1 cup of flour.  At any rate, all of these combinations still tasted great and that is the most important thing!  I also add about 1 teaspoon of salt, as most recipes with chocolate taste better with a little salt to balance the sweetness.

Please use this recipe and enjoy - and feel free to make it for me any time! :)

A catch-all...

This is meant to be a big catch-up post - I haven't really written anything but recipes in a while.  Overall, we are doing well.  On a day-to-day basis, we are more-or-less exhausted!  Micaela is growing well, starting to get much more alert and interested in her surroundings.  She is now over 12 pounds, at the age of 12 weeks.  She is definitely growing out of the 0-3 month clothes but I haven't quite gotten around to taking out the bigger sizes yet.  Something else for the to-do list...sigh.  She still has her fusiness in the evenings, pretty bad actually the last couple of nights.  I am still holding out hope that a magic switch will be flipped when she turns 3 months, and this will all be behind us. Probably living in a dreamworld, right?  To date I have cut out caffeine, chickpeas (and other legume type thingies), flax seed (which we usually have in our morning smoothies), and dairy in the afternoon and evening.  Harder than it sounds, but it could be worse I suppose. However, on the whole Micaela is pretty sweet and is smiling more and more.  She also seems to recognize the sound of Avery's voice. Particularly when Avery is "communicating" loudly right next to her! :)

Avery is doing very well too.  I have started to have her home from daycare one day a week.  Last week went really well - we did a group outing to the Agriculture Museum with Chelsea, Aidan and Connor.  It was a gorgeous day and Avery and Aidan had a ball.  They weren't super-interested in the animals, but the playground was a big hit, snacks went over well, and running around in the grass while picking dandelions was surprisingly entertaining.  I did everything I could to keep Avery awake on the ride home because I knew that if she napped in the car she wouldn't nap again at home.  She did fall asleep just as we arrived home, and as expected, wasn't really interested in sleeping in her bed after that.  However, I did get her to stay in her room for around 2 hours "resting" (with one poo break) - there was lots of reading, playing, singing and general hanging out but no sleeping.  After a fairly low-key afternoon, Greg took her to the grocery store just before dinner.  She fell asleep in the car on the way back (and it's only a 10 minute drive at most), and didn't wake up until 6:30 Thursday morning.  Thank goodness she had had some snacks with her on the outing!  Micaela also slept well that afternoon and night.  I guess fresh air will do that to you! Not sure what is on the agenda for this week - I will have to come up with something fun.

Over Easter weekend we made our first trip to Toronto with both of the girls.  Despite being very nervous about the drives, they turned out to be the easiest parts of our trip.  Avery was preoccupied with DVDs, managed to use the potty on the side of the road when it was necessary, and Micaela slept 90% of the time.  Hopefully that will continue for the next trip there in May.  There were other times when both girls were complete disasters - e.g. Easter Sunday dinner at my mom's house.  Greg and I did not get to eat much at that meal, sigh.  But again, I suppose it shall all pass and change, and become better and worse!  Anyway, check out the video of Avery's first Easter Egg hunt (Micaela didn't seem to be enjoying it as much).

Anything else going on?  Not too much.  Greg and I managed to get out on Sunday and see the movie "Kick Ass" or Kick Butt as we starting saying at home.  Greg loved it; me - meh, not as much.  The superheroes stuff really isn't my thing, but I did appreciate the humour and quirky little details.  However, the amount of violence was shocking, especially when it was an 11-year old girl doing the killing.  I am now starting to better understand how seeing that kind of violence in movies or video games can make people immune to the horror of it all, and think that it is normal.  Yet another thing to worry about on the kid list. Anyway, it was definitely very nice to get out for a couple of hours and thankfully both girls were good (i.e. slept most of the time).  Thanks again to Auntie Jamie and Uncle Ted for babysitting!

Help!

I am looking for a good sweet potato fries/wedges recipe that doesn't require deep frying.  Every time I make them in the oven they turn out mushy.  Tonight we did some wedges on the BBQ and they were definitely less mushy, but still far from crispy.  Anyone have any brilliant suggestions?

North African meatballs

These North African meatballs are a must-try.  It is a recipe from the Food Network's show, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian.  I used ground lamb instead of beef, but ground beef, chicken or turkey would all probably work just fine because there is enough flavour in both the meatballs and sauce.  The recipe takes a while to prepare, but it is worth it.  Next time I will probably make a double batch of meatballs and freeze the extra for another meal.  I didn't use the noted recipe for couscous; instead I "winged it" on making my own israeli couscous with orange zest and cranberries.  It wasn't a total success because I used too much liquid, but I know better for next time, and I won't be too lazy to look up some directions on the internet.  Enjoy!

She's 2 years old!

Last week we hit quite a milestone with Avery turning 2.  To celebrate her birthday, we went to the Works for dinner on Thursday, with Gramma and Grampa Herage.  Avery was really well behaved, but I think that had a lot to do with Gramma keeping her entertained for the whole meal.  Then on Saturday we had her birthday party, with most of the family.  Unfortunately there weren't any other kids there (besides Micaela), because the Fergusons were down and out with colds, etc, and because we didn't really think we could handle a party with the whole gang of kid friends.  That will be next year's challenge!

Avery really enjoyed her party and got through it with no major melt-downs.  She liked her cake - mostly the candy decorations on top - and enjoyed the presents.  She seemed a little confused as to why I wouldn't let her play with anything after she opened it, but then it would have taken hours to get everything open.  Thanks again to everyone who came, thanks for all of the help you gave us and thank you very much for Avery's presents!

So the story of the cake...Most of you probably know that I am no baker.  I can cook pretty well, but I find that a lot easier because you don't need to be so precise.  Of course, baking is a different story - following the recipe actually matters a lot more!  Anyway, I decided to make Avery a butterfly cake.  With some very helpful suggestions from Amy and Dana (including the advice to use a box cake instead of making one from scratch), it turned out pretty well.  But thank goodness I did use a box cake because making the icing alone took me forever.  Decorating it was also a big challenge, due to my shaky hands and the very tiny candies, and I swore up and down that I would never do this again.  Of course, next year when it is Micaela's turn for a party, I will probably feel guilty if I don't make her one too.  So I will just have to plan a little better! :)

And how is Micaela doing?

She is pretty good - as of 6 weeks she is now at 10 lbs 7 oz and has grown to 23 inches.  That means she's grown 3 inches since birth, or the birth measurement was a little off.  I am going with the latter theory. :)

Right now she is going through a phase of pretty bad gassiness (I refuse to call it colic). She hits her peak discomfort between 6 and 8pm, making it really challenging to cook dinner, play with Avery after dinner and put Avery to bed, but we are muddling through.  I did all of that on my own last night while Greg was curling, and I was the only one who didn't cry at some point or another. :)  Actually, Avery was pretty good with the whole thing, despite not being able to hear her stories sometimes because of Micaela's crying, and there were only 2 time-outs through the whole process.  It can only get better, right?

Ditali in Tomato Chickpea Sauce

This was the cover recipe from the March 2010 issue of Canadian Living.  It was ok, vegetarian, easy to make and my mom and I liked it well enough - but it isn't going to win any awards for tastiness.  Avery wasn't a big fan, but did eat the chickpeas (which she surprisingly loves). Greg didn't go anywhere near it, and I didn't even think to offer him any.  I might make it again, but only if someone else is coming for dinner.  Otherwise there would be too much leftovers!

From the mouths of babes

In the spirit of recording the funny things kids say, here's one from Avery.  We were at a sugar shack on Sunday for breakfast (Sucrerie du Terroir in Val-des-Monts, the same place we went last year), and then went for a quick walk to see the sap running into the buckets.  When we lifted Avery up to see what was going on, she quickly annouced, "pee!"  So there you have it, sap = tree pee. :)

As for the sugar shack, I thought the breakfast was better last year.  Since it is quite a drive, and is fairly expensive, I don't think we will be heading back there again.  Anyone have suggestions for a favourite place to go?  Preferably more towards the east end?

One month old and keeping trucking along...

Micaela is already one month old.  Hard to believe it has gone by so fast and yet harder to believe she hasn't been around longer.  She is doing very well - yesterday she was up to 9lbs 11.5 oz, which could be because she is feeding all the time!  She is still eating every 3 hours at night, sigh, which doesn't help much in the sleep department. She is getting way more alert, and has maybe even smiled intentionally a couple of times in my direction.  She isn't a big fan of the car seat, but is usually fine when we get moving in the car.  Maybe she has a need for speed like her mother! :)

Avery is still enjoying being a big sister, though maybe not enjoying the 2-year old growing pains as much.  Bedtime continues to be totally inconsistent - some nights she is so tired she doesn't even want all her stories, other nights it takes us multiple attempts to get her to calm down.  Everytime we have another bedtime disaster I feel like I am failing at this mother gig, and it makes me even more worried to be alone with both of them for any extended period of time.  It doesn't help that Micaela is most fussy between 6 and 9, and needs a bunch of attention and many feedings.  So I guess we'll find out whether I can handle it tomorrow night when Greg goes curling.  I have approximately one plan of attack and if it all goes south (as it did tonight), the TV may be what I resort to.  Sigh again.  Also a little curious when Greg is going to attempt to be alone with them.  Maybe when I play frisbee in May - we shall see.

We've had a ton of visitors over the last few weeks - my mom was here when Micaela was born and then again a couple of weeks later.  My dad and Cassandra came a few weeks ago, and then Dan and Andrea came from Calgary.  We really appreciate all of the help everyone has given us, as well as all of the food and presents from our friends and family!

We took a quick trip over to the Haggerty's for Micaela's first photo shoot with Amy.  She took some awesome shots, which will be made into a birth annoucement shortly.  Otherwise, the only excitement we have on the horizon is Avery's 2nd birthday.  I can't believe it is here already.  We are going with a family party this year, but plan to put the emphasis on her kid friends next year.  I am going to attempt another cake - I am sure that will be worthy of a post, as this will be going way out of my comfort zone!  Stay tuned...

Micaela's progress so far...and ours too

So how are we doing?  Pretty well, for the most part.  I hate to say it, but John Kean and Kevin may be on to something when they say "babies are easy".  Really, it is toddlers that are "challenging". :)

Avery is reacting very well to being a big sister.  She loves to say hi to the baby (Hi Baby), and often wants to
hold her.  She is also very interested in diaper changes and breastfeeding.  I have seen her nurse her baby doll a few times now.  She is doing very well in potty training (all thanks to Linda, much less thanks to us), but she is already using it as a tool to get out of bed, get out of her booster seat, etc.  She is also giving us such a hard time at bedtime - there is almost no point in trying to get her to stay in her bed until she has decided she is ready to sleep.  Sigh...these things pass, right?

Micaela is doing very well.  Breastfeeding has worked out pretty well this time - almost 2 weeks in and we're getting close to pain-free nursings.  It seems to me she has become a bit of a snacker during the day, but I guess I don't really have much else better to do than feed her whenever she wants.  She is a little more focused at night, thank goodness.  She's gaining weight and her little chicken legs are slowly starting to fill out.  Nights aren't too bad - she usually sleeps for stretches of 2.5-3 hours, nurses for 20-30 mins, and more or less goes right back to sleep.  Next step is to get her out of our bed and into her crib.  I suspect her difficulty in achieving that step is her mother's failure to try.  Maybe next week... :)  One interesting development is that so far she does not like the Miracle Blanket.  She likes to sleep with her hands above her head, which of course is not possible when the Miracle Blanket is used properly, so we have been putting her in a sleep sack instead.  I'm not too worried about not using the Miracle Blanket - maybe we won't have that same awful backsliding in sleeping duration once we stopped using it with Avery - but it just seems strange to me that we might not use it.  It worked so well for Avery (and us), up to a point.

A few wrinkles have occurred over the past week.  1) Avery tripped and fell into the wall last week, resulting in a scary goose-egg on her forehead, to the point that Greg took her into a walk-in clinic.  The doctor was pretty sure she didn't have a concussion, but told us to keep her home from daycare the next day, to limit her activity and no TV.  That was a challenge - but Sandy helped us out as usual, and we managed to get through the day.  A week later, her bruise is finally starting to go away.

2) The other morning, Avery accidentally head-butted Greg in the nose, to the point that he thought his nose was broken, and that he was imminently going to throw up.  He was fine in the end, but he is a lot more careful now when he is getting her dressed!

3) A little more serious - we had a call from the Genetics Dept at CHEO today.  Turns out that Micaela screened postive for the same class of disorders that Avery did on the Newborn Screening tests.  As with Avery, Micaela was only marginally above the cut-off, so we went to CHEO and gave them a urine sample and blood.  We should get the results next week, but we aren't too worried this time around.  CHEO's new theory is that rather than this being a genetic disorder in either of them, that I actually develop higher levels of the chemical they are testing for in the later stages of my pregnancies, and then pass the elevated chemical on to the babies.  I had a urine test and blood test as well today, so they might know more about me next week as well.

Overall, life with 2 kids brings new and interesting challenges.  Mostly the things that are stressing me out have to do with Avery, and I am constantly feeling like I am not spending enough time with her or giving her enough attention.  Hopefully that will pass, and I will get to have some one-on-one time with her soon.  Greg is spending a lot more time with her, and she seems quite happy with that.  She is still going to daycare full-time, and will until the winter is over.  She continues to love it there, and we couldn't be happier about that.  Thank goodness for Linda!

Micaela's birth story

In the name of making sure I have all of these memories written down somewhere (as if I would be keeping baby books!), here is the story of Micaela's birth and relevant details.  Hopefully this will be a help to Auntie Jamie when she makes Micaela a really nice keepsake book for her first birthday, the way she did for Avery... :)
And onto labour - I think my first contractions started at about 10:30 on Sunday morning, Jan 24th, but didn't really get "regular" until about 2 or 3 pm.  Over the course of the day, Greg, Avery and I went to buy Avery a helmet, went grocery shopping, and I did a few loads of laundry.  Thankfully Sandy showed up at about 3pm to look after Avery because I wasn't coping super-well anymore.  I did manage to throw some dinner on the table, but then I basically did my own thing for the next few hours.  At about 10pm, with my contractions still everywhere between 5 and 10 mins apart, I decided to lie down for a while.  This slowed everything down to about 15-20 mins apart and I actually managed to fall asleep a couple of times.  However, I got up to go to the bathroom at about 11 and all of a sudden, the contractions were about 4 mins apart, and seriously painful.  Time to call the midwife!

We headed into the Monfort Hospital and got there at about midnight.  Despite the freezing rain storm, driving wasn't too bad.  We made a little pitstop on the side of Montreal Road approximately 500 feet away from the turn into the hopital, because I thought I was going to throw up.  I gagged on the side of the road for a minute, didn't throw up, which was good because the sidewalk was sheer ice and I don't think it would have ended well.

Once at the hospital, our midwives Joanne and Claudia assessed me, decided I was about 9cm dilated, and told me it wouldn't be too long before the baby was born.  A little sidenote - as part of my "birth plan", I had decided I didn't want an epidural if I could manage not to have one.  Clearly at that point, it was getting to be too late.  I was open to possibly having laughing gas, but the contractions were so close together and strong that I didn't even feel capable of asking for it, and, as I learned, the midwives are very non-interventionist.  They weren't going to offer anything, but would have provided it if I had asked.  Unfortunately, I wasn't really capable of asking at that point.

Anyway, we were put in a birthing room, which was fantastic by the way.  The Monfort birthing centre is quite impressive.  I was told to "listen to my body" and if I felt the need to start pushing I could go ahead. Huh?  They weren't going to tell me when to start pushing?  This is when I realized I was in for a very different experience than with Avery, when the nurses and OBs at the General told me exactly what to do and when.  This time, the midwives offered that I could push standing up or lying in the bed - another huh?  Greg told me that I had to lie down, because if he saw anything bloody he was going to end up passed out on the floor and that the midwives had enough to deal with.  I ended up choosing the bed and started pushing.  I felt like I had no idea what I was doing, but they kept telling me that it was going well and that I should keep it up.  Eventually Micaela's head made an appearance, I gave one last big push and she popped out.  Really quickly.  And she apparently pooped everywhere while doing so! :)  It was 1:27am, she weighed 7lbs and half an ounce, and was 20 inches long.  The midwives put her on my chest for a little bit and then took her to have some mucous suctioned out because she was a little "grunty" as they said.  Turns out being born that quickly can have some drawbacks...she was fine after a little while, we bonded for a bit, did some preliminary nursing, and then took a little nap.  The hospital actually wanted us to go home at 4:30am - they send you home really quick when you have midwives, because they will visit at home within 24 hours - but given that it was pouring rain and was the middle of the night, we managed to stay until about 7:45am.  We were home by 8am.  Isn't that insane?

Anyway, this is the really condensed version - I think I was pushing on the bed for about 10-15 mins and I thought I was going to die it hurt so much.  I was also really scared, but that is where the midwives came in handy because they seemed to sense it and reassured me enough.  I also tore like crazy, again, and later an OB had to come stitch me up because the midwives weren't sure they could do it in the way that was necessary.  All that to say, I am glad I didn't have any drugs, but I am honestly not sure what I would do if I had to do it again.  Thankfully, we don't plan to have any more kids so I probably won't have to make that decision. :)

Overall the midwife experience was a really positive one.  I was followed very closely, had ample time at each appointment to discuss issues and ask questions.  When we had the Down's Syndrome scare with Micaela back in Sept/Oct, Denise (who was actually my primary midwife but wasn't on-call when I went into labour) was a great help and very proactive about making sure we had all the information we needed to manage the situation and any decision-making.  I appreciate that things more or less went according to my birth plan, but I do wish I had been more aware that the midwives were going to be that hands-off during the process.  If I had known, I would have made it clear that I was going to need more direction and guidance.  By the time I figured out what was going on, I wasn't really capable of asking for more help.  Of course it all worked out, but that is the one thing that I would have changed.  The post-partum care has also been great - 3 visits at home, some very specific help with breastfeeding, and follow-up calls in between have been very useful. I would highly recommend using a midwife to anyone, but would just suggest that first-time moms at least discuss the birthing process in great detail beforehand, and be prepared to go home from the hospital very quickly.  It wasn't so bad for us, being that it was our second child, but it would have completely freaked me out the first time around.

Anyway, that is the story of Micaela's birth - next post will be an update on how we are all doing...

As if! And 40 weeks and counting...

So today (Jan 19th, in case I don't finish this post very quickly) was my due date and still nothing much is going on.  To be expected I guess, since I was 5 days late with Avery, and I have definitely had enough things on the to do list to stay busy.  I do hope to have the baby before the weekend, because I expect there will be serious grumpiness if it goes any longer than that...oh well, that will be Greg's problem! :)

Anyway, the "as if" from the title is actually a little adventure that occurred today.  I have a Nissan Rogue - generally speaking a car that I have enjoyed driving and it has treated me well.  However, for the last 6 months I have had issues with my tires.  In the summer, all of a sudden one of the tires seemed to leaking - as evidenced by the fancy dashboard signal that came on to indicate a loss of tire pressure (ain't technology grand!).  First problem was that the caps to the air valves were fancy metal (instead of cheap plastic) and had rusted onto the valve stems.  When Greg was trying to get them off to put air in the tires, a couple of the caps and tops of the valve stems snapped off.  Luckily Nissan replaced all of the valve stems under warranty, because they were not cheap, what with the sensor being in the valve stems and all.  Like the $100 each kind of not cheap.

So with that done, I hoped the problem was over.  However, a couple of weeks later the air pressure signal came on again, and then again and again despite always adding air.  When the pressure was checked, it was always the same tire with what seemed like a slow leak. I took the car to my trusty mechanic, and he sealed up the tires, because apparently the seals on aluminum rims are awful for leaking.  This whole business went on until mid-December, when Frank the Mechanic finally seemed to fix the problem.  Greg even asked me a couple of days ago if I had had anymore problems with the tire, and I said no - because everything seemed to be fine.

So you can imagine where I am going with this story.  This morning I was driving Avery to daycare and first thing, the tire pressure signal went on.  Then I started to hear a funny noise, like the tire was being rubbed by ice in the wheel well.  Anyway, got to daycare and checked the tire, and of course it was completely flat - out of nowhere!  Drove the car home (slowly, and the daycare is really close), and then Greg drove me to my midwife appointment, which I was now late for. Came home, called CAA, they put the spare on for me, we saw that there was a really large construction-type staple in the tire, and I drove off to see Frank.  Long story short (too late!), the tire couldn't be saved. 

My choices ended up being getting one new tire, which is not really recommended due to the AWD, and it wouldn't be available for a week, OR, getting 4 new tires, even though 3 of the 4 I had were perfectly fine with about 60% of the treads left, and getting them today.  And of course, at 4 times the price of the single tire.  Sigh...giving that I hope to be having a baby imminently and that I can't drive Greg's car because it is a standard, we chose to just get the 4 new tires.  Sigh again.  Wasn't really expecting to drop a ton of bucks today.  On something as little fun as tires.  But I was warned, by Frank ironically, that tires for the Rogue would prove to be stupid-expensive.  And he was right!  He was also really glad that I didn't go into labour in his waiting room.

Anyway, that was the drama for today.  Now that it is all over with, I can go back to focusing on the new kid.  Crosss your fingers that she makes an appearance before the weekend!

On breastfeeding...

I just finished reading an interesting book:  Unbuttoned: Women Open Up About the Pleasures, Pains and Politics of Breastfeeding edited by Maureen Connolly and Dana Sullivan.  Well, I suppose "interesting" is all a matter of perspective, but given that with any luck this is about to become my world all over again, I am definitely interested.  The stories in the book were entertaining and heartbreaking, and most of them resonated with me in some way.  One of the reviews in the link mentions that the women all come from very similar backgrounds, therefore making many of the stories and perspectives very similar.  It would have been nice to see a broader cross-section of society, but I suppose being a good/successful writer was one of the criteria for picking the contributors.  Anyhoo...it got me thinking again about my own feelings about breastfeeding.

Even after nursing Avery for about 8 months, and having it all go fairly successfully (except for the first two weeks when I didn't think I could do it one more time, every time), I am still pretty ambivalent about the whole scenario.  I fully understand all of the positive reasons for doing it, and agree with them, and that is why I definitely plan to breastfeed #2 as well.  But I never got to a point where I "enjoyed" it, the way some mothers seem to.  I definitely appreciated the convenience at times, but I also really resented being on the hook all the time, especially in the beginning.  Of course knowing what to expect should help me manage the frustrations (and discomfort) this time around, and hopefully it will be a more enjoyable experience. But I have to say, I get why some families just choose to bottle-feed, even in the absense of any nursing difficulties.  And my honest opinion is that all other things being equal, i.e. the baby has access to loving parent(s), good parenting, decent healthcare, etc., that there won't be much of a difference between a breastfed or formula-fed baby growing up.  Science may not completely agree with me, but that is my instinct.  I also hate that women feel guilty, or are made to feel guilty, about formula-feeding their children.  I think a happier, less-stressed, more relaxed mom/parent goes a long way towards the well-being of a baby than almost anything else.

I have also noticed that Avery has only recently started to turn to Greg for comforting (probably when she got to be about 18-20 months), and I believe that is because she was always just more used to me comforting her one way or another when she was younger, and in large part through nursing.  They just didn't develop the same kind of bond in the early days, because he wasn't a big part of her feeding and I simply spent more time with her, nursing her, holding her, rocking her, etc.  I am glad that she and I have that bond of course, but I wish it hadn't taken her so long to bond with Greg as well; at least things are better now.

The concept of nursing in public is still one that I personally have trouble with.  I really didn't do it very much last time around - with the exception of when I was in Switzerland with Avery and my mom last fall (Avery was 6 months).  There I nursed all around the country! (It is pretty small, but still...)  I'm not sure if it was the anonymity, or the fact that I had to do it if I wanted us to be able to get out and do stuff, but I don't think it was because their society is way more tolerant of public nursing, being European and all.  I still felt as though I was getting a lot of stares at times. I hope to be less self-conscious about the whole thing this time, and again, that probably comes with knowing what to expect and being more relaxed about it in general.  But even today, I saw a woman nursing her maybe 8-month old baby at Starbucks, and I did a mental double-take.  I was wondering if I will be nursing a baby at Starbucks one of these days...given how much time I spend there, I am pretty sure I never did last time around!

Anyway, for anyone who is aghast at me saying all of these heretical things, I absolutely will make every effort to nurse kid #2 as well. But I bet I will always feel a little conflicted about the whole thing...

Yet another shameless rip-off of a great idea...

Once again, I am stealing one of Julie Mason's great ideas - this time it is the recipe blogging.  I also enjoy cooking and when I come across a recipe that works, I do like to pass it along.  This time it is a Thai green mango salad.  This is one of my favourite Thai dishes, and I don't often find salads I like as much as the one I had at my very first and still favourite Thai restaurant: the Thai Shan Inn in Toronto.  This restaurant really is a dive to look at, but the food is amazing.  Supposedly they are moving to new digs soon, but we have been hearing that for years.  At any rate, I did find a great recipe from Canadian Living back in December and I have already made the salad 3 times since then. 

In other good meals, tonight I made a really simple lamb dish that tastes great.  Lately we have been buying boneless leg of lamb from Costco, then chopping it into stew meat size pieces at home.  So the leg I just bought was just under $27 (can't remember the weight unfortunately), but when I cut it up I got 4 portions of meat that will each feed 3 adults generously.  So 12 portions for $27 - about $2.25/portion.  That isn't that expensive, John Kean! :)

The dish I made is this (adapted slightly from my Low Carb Gourmet cookbook by Karen Barnaby):

Approx 2 lbs of lamb (I don't think I had this much), cut into bite-size pieces
~1 tbsp of chopped garlic
~2-3 tbsp of ground coriander seed
~2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
(measurements are approximate because I don't really measure much - but you can't really go wrong with these ingredients.)

Throw it all in a bowl, mix it up, let it marinate for 2 hours to overnight.
Throw it all in a dry frying pan on medium-high heat, with one medium-sized onion cut in wedges, fry for appoximately 5-10 mins, depending on how rare or not you like your meat, stirring every few mins.

We usually eat it with rice, sliced cucumbers, pita and tzatziki of some sort - tonight it was actually a PC tzatziki dressing.

If you give either of these recipes a try, enjoy!

2009 in a nutshell

Broke the last record - close to 4.5 months this time with no post. But that is all about to change, since I am now on maternity leave. No baby yet, which means time to spare right? There definitely will be extra time for posting, if I can get through my to-do list first. Hang on, kid - just need about a week for the list! :) But I digress...this post will also get photos added as they become available, i.e. just as soon as I get off my lazy butt and upload them!

So 2009 - an interesting year, in the way they are all interesting. Some of the more memorable moments from the first part of the year were blogged about earlier - my return to work after mat leave with Avery, her start at daycare #1 and subsequent move to daycare #2, our trip to Mexico in March (pre-H1N1 outbreak)...since then, what has happened?

Uncle Dan and Auntie A came to visit in May - not sure if I mentioned that before.  It was very nice for Avery to be able to visit with them because she really doesn't get to see them very often.  Despite an impromptu and for no apparent reason fever that happened while they were visiting, Avery managed to take them on a trip to the Market for lunch, along with Grossmueti.  We are all looking forward to Feb, whenthey will be visiting again!

As will likely be a recurring feature of my government career, I went on a French training stint in July and August.  My levels expired while I was on mat leave the last time, so when I went back to work I knew training was on the horizon.  I have to say, overall it was a fairly pleasant experience.  Work was pretty slow over the summer, so it was good timing in that sense. And I was in a group of 4 people, all of whom were very nice and agreeable.  Not that the gang I was with the first time around weren't all great people, it is just that it was such a big group and we were together for a year.  That was never going to go smoothly everyday!  Anyway, I was pretty successful - received an exemption in the reading comprehension test, and a C on my oral exam. So I never have to do either of the written tests again, but will have to do the oral exam again in about 5 years.  Plenty of time to speak French, right?  HA!

In other exciting news, we attended the wedding of our good friends Natalie and Ryan in late September.  It was a lovely ceremony and reception, certainly worth the drive especially because it was kid-free.  Many thanks to Sandy and Tim for babysitting that weekend, and congratulations again to Nat & Ry! I have to admit I was beyond jealous when Nat was telling me all about their Italian honeymoon.  Sigh...the picture attached isn't the best, but I didn't really any good ones unfortunately.  Certainly doesn't do justice to how amazing Natty looked!


Undoubtedly our biggest news for 2009 was that we were pregnant again and will be having another baby girl imminently - due on January 19th.  The pregnancy has gone fairly well, I felt a lot more icky during the first trimester than I did with Avery, but still no actually throwing up or anything like that.  We did run into some concerns at around 20 weeks though - I had the normal 20 week ultrasound and it showed a choroid plexus (brain) cyst and intracardiac echogenic foci, basically bright spots in the heart.  Both of these are "soft markers" for Down's Syndrome, and a couple of other chromosomal disorders.  If the baby had only had one or the other, there wouldn't have been much concern.  However, with two of them, and due to the fact that I was already at about 22 weeks by the time this was all discussed, we were booked for a level 2 ultrasound and genetic counselling at CHEO.  Needless to say, our concerns were alleviated through the next ultrasound and through talking with the counsellors at CHEO - the brain cyst had disappeared, and the statistics were quite indicative of no expected issues (I had also had the integrated prenatal screening procedures and that put the odds of the baby having Down's at about 1 in 6000).  No further testing was recommended, and we had already decided we weren't going to get an aminocentesis done anyway, regardless of what the ultrasound showed (unless something far more serious than Down's was indicated).  All that to say, we essentially stopped worrying at that point. Of course, there is still a chance that the baby could have some issues, but really no more than for anyone.  So we wait and see, and hope for the best.  Shouldn't be too long now... :)

And that about wraps up 2009 - especially since we are already 1.5 weeks into 2010.  This is going to be an interesting year - new baby, being the parents of 2 kids (eek!), the Olympics, the G8/G20, another (and final) maternity leave, and who knows what else might happen.  Happy New Year to everyone out there, and best wishes for 2010!