Just Out and About

I had to post this picture of our beautiful son. I can see the wonder in his eyes. The Bath streets were cramped with rude tourists this morning. Perhaps I was a little sensitive because they kept bumping in to me and I was worried they would hurt him while he was strapped to my back? He didn't seem to mind and took the chaos in like the true little world traveler he is.

And yes, that is yet *another* hat. This time, it's one of my very own designs.

Guess What We Are Doing! GUESS!!

No, we aren't teaching Rowan how to fly. That's right! Shopping for Riding Boots...And this is how you do it with a baby on your back. Ain't I a talented gal? Too bad the boots were too wide. I am cursed with narrow feet. It saved us 100 quid though. Maybe we'll use that money to ship some art home?

Still Waiting

I have the art of tooth spying down pat now...we're still waiting for #2's arrival but it shouldn't be long now.

Why Not In Canada?

We are back in Bath, England. We arrived early Monday morning and have been struggling to adapt to the time change. It was so easy the last time and I knew it wouldn't be that way this time because Rowan is older and not sleeping nearly as much as he was in November, but this is silly. Even I can't seem to adjust. I bet we will finally be on UK time the day we leave which just so happens to be Rowan's 6 month birthday! Half a year old. I'll come back to that in another blog. For now, I wanted to make a list of some of my favourite things that they have here in England and that we are missing in Canada, things that I will sorrily miss when we return home.

1. Baguette sandwiches. Okay, you can find these in Canada, but you can't find them everywhere like you do here. In fact, everyone eats them on the go including me because guess what, they are MILK and SOY FREE!
   
2. Proper nutrition labels complete with allergy information making it so much easier for people like me who are on a strict diet. Yes, even the fresh baked goods have their ingredients posted and if they don't, you can ask the friendly bakers behind the counter who are more than happy to whip out their trusty binder full of information on every kind of bread and goodie they have available.
3. Ginger beer in cans and DIET Ginger Beer for again, people like me who are on a diet and trying to limit their sugar consumption.
4. Stone buildings. Tell me, why do Canadians insist on building everything half-assed? Canadian climates are far from ideal and I am pretty sure that our current construction methods are not necessarily going to stand the test of time like the buildings have here.
   
5. Lichens that grow on the beautiful buildings and stone walls. Yes, I know. They do grow in Canada (my parents' roof is a good example). But it is pretty darn hard for them to grow on the stinking vinyl siding that seems to pollute the residential areas in our country.
   
6. Organic baby food that doesn't have a single additive and comes in handy packaging that can be used on the go and won't get contaminated with baby bacteria like our jars full of baby goop do. See my attached picture. They come in a variety of flavours and the package even made me want to try them!
7. Proper singers in the Catholic churches. We went to mass on Ash Wednesday and the choir consisted of only 5 people but I could have sworn it was entire balcony full of professional singers.
   
8. Prepared fresh veggies so that I don't have to do any chopping!
   
9. Pre-packaged delicious Indian food that doesn't have a ton of fat, additives etc.
   
10. Awesome boutique shopping and not a single big box store!
11. Tiny refrigerators and a washer/dryer combo that fits under the sink in the kitchen. How handy can you get? (Note: I have yet to figure out how to use the washer/dryer despite their handiness)
    
12. Tiny bottles of milk, juice, cartons of eggs and everything else. Why do we have to have monster sized everything in Canada?
    
13. Crumpets and marmalade. No, they are not the same at home.
14. Nothing but free range meat.
    
15. Eggs that don't need to be refrigerated.
16. Cute little cars and wicked motorcycles.
17. What I think are wonderful cheeses (I can't eat them of course ). For the number of cows that our country rears in a non-free-range-way, you'd think we could come up with some really good cheese. Oh wait, that's right--we're talking about Canada here. The land of mediocrity and AAA-Alberta-Beef-Eating- Second-to-the-US sized-carnivores. Don't get me wrong, I get immense pleasure eating a rare 12oz steak but I would trade it all in for red wine, real cheese and baguettes.

Now, having said all of the above there a lot of things that this place is missing. Here is a list just to keep things balanced:

1. "Good" television. They have 15 channels that have nothing but football, cricket, reruns of outdated american favourites (i.e. Gilmour Gilrs and Friends) old movies (like 1980/90's old) and real-estate programs (which by the way, I LOVE).
   
2. Decent sized roads and proper road signs.
3. Bulk produce. Honestly, for a country that prides itself on free-range-this-and-that and free-trade-everythings they sure do know how to waste energy on packaging absolutely everything up in plastic.
4. Loud talkers. Seriously, why can't these people speak up?
5. Good looking people (they are a rare breed here).
6. Most importantly-- Our family and friends and poochies. Ahhhhh!

Happy Birthday Little Friend

We are going to miss Carys' first birthday party which is happening this weekend. She actually turns 1 today and so in her honour, and because we are thinking of her, I thought I would post this picture taken when she was visiting us in January. She is wearing her birthday hat that I made her for the special occasion. A baby only turns 1 once, and well, it makes me very sad to miss the festivities. All the pink poodly stuff and furry fun...I hope her mommy thinks to take a lot of pictures so that we can see the cake and cookies she is making for the event.

Bonne Fete Carys!

Two Front Teeth

We won't be signing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" around our house this year if Rowan's tooth popping continues. Imagine, 5.5 months old and he has his bottom left front tooth already and I can see the right one is following closely behind it. Gramma and Grampa brought Ilby to celebrate the Lebanese way. My parents were there to participate which was really nice. Once the tooth is a little bigger I will take a picture. For now, you'll just have to believe it is there.

Chomp, chomp, chomp...

Bumbo Blues

Until now, the Bumbo had been my best friend. It helped me shower and it was a big part of play time and baking around the house. But, sadly, today Rowan figured out how to wiggle out of it and he landed on the bed. Good thing Daddy was smart and had put the Bumbo in the middle of the mattress instead of close to the edge like I have a tendency to do.

So long hands-free fun. Good thing he is so freakin' cute and special!

Here He Is

Just in...

Hats, Hats and More Hats

I don't think I have mentioned that I have been obsessed with knitting hats for the past few months. I am not sure what has taken over me, I do go through knitting spurts like this on occasion, but this is unusual. Maybe it's those chubby cheeks that pop out at me under the new creation that have me addicted to making more and more and more? I have started making hats for other babies now because I can't justify making anymore for Rowan. At least I can't justify making any more until I cover all the other little ones first. Once that is accomplished I can go back to making things for our little guy who just so happens to be the best model out there. I think he could make a career out of smiling. What do you think?

Just Because

This is my new favourite picture of the little guy. Did I mention I am getting better at using John's camera? Might just be luck though.

A New Newphew

Landon Alexander Blayney arrived in a hurry today at 5:08am. He was 4 days late but when he decided to make his move, there was no stopping him. Poor Margo didn't even get the chance to have the epidural she was begging for and like a trooper, she pushed him out in record time (and with a LOT of screaming. The kind you see on TV apparently). We haven't seen him yet and we haven't received a proper photo but when we do, I will post it here for all to see.

Rowan Rhymes With Growin'

I had John step on the scale tonight with our little man to see how much he weighs. Honestly, yesterday I thought he was lighter than he had been and then something happened over night because this morning he felt like a lead weight in my arms. Much to my surprise, Rowan weighs roughly 19 pounds already. That's 1 pound more than Carys weighed when she was here and she was 11 months old! How the heck did that happen? Oh wait, that's right. He eats like a little piggy... Here is a typical Rowan diet at 5 months of age:

3am: A lot of Milk
6am: Another good helping of Milk
9am: Yep, more milk
11am: At least 2 tablespoons of rice cereal, 2 tablespoons of veggies and 1 tablespoon of fruit. Maybe some milk if it is nap time again.
12pm: More milk (unless he had milk at 11am)
2pm: More milk
4pm: Milk
5pm: 2 tablespoons of cereal, 2-3 tablespoons of fruit and/or vegetables.
6pm: Yes, you got it--MILK.

I thought he was eating a lot less than he was a month ago, but I don't think he is now that I see his diet down "on paper" so to speak. We are able to push the feeding to every 3 hours if we are out and about running around but he will still eat from me at least 6 times per day and get solids twice daily. He seems to enjoy the solids more and more each day now. We've introduced sweet potato, butternut squash, parsnips, banana, apple, pear, mango, avocado and broccoli (which as you know, he hates). He wasn't fussy about pear although he seemed to like it yesterday when we tried it again after a little break. Banana makes him gag if we mash it up and so we give it to him in the mesh feeder thing which is very very messy but fun to watch. I also find it to be a serious pain to clean and I worry that the rotten fruit bits that I can't get out will make him sick. I am being paranoid I know, but seriously-- the mesh thing needs to be redesigned to be more practical for the parents. Or, maybe they should just make the mesh part disposable so that it is only used once and then is thrown out.

I don't know what is up next on the menu. Maybe turnip or carrots. I am reluctant to make more food because the freezer is already full of baby sized cubes of goodness that we need to eat up before being away for 4 weeks. I have to say that I really love making stuff for him though and I have a hard time holding back. I love the little food processor that my Aunt Judy bought us, I love the little ice cube tray portions and I love looking at all of the colours in the ziplock bags once I have mixed all the cubes together. It's like a rainbow! OH! I can't wait until he can eat mixed stuff and we can introduce BERRIES. The combinations will be endless and with the wonderful baby food book that Ana bought us we are all set to make all kinds of concoctions. How fun is that?!

My Friend Liam (and a Few Others Too)

Here are a few more shots taken by Ashley over the course of our weekend together...

Empty House Syndrome

The house is quiet now. Super quiet in fact. We had a house full with Dawn, Rob, Ashley, Trevour and Liam visiting all at once. It was a tight squeeze and the house was upside down and filthy thanks to the dog hair and paw prints but, it was a blast. I am now suffering from "Empty House Syndrome" and slowly adapting to my old lonely stay-at-home-mom lifestyle. I wonder if Rowan notices the difference now that we are down to 3 again? He hasn't put his hands over his ears since everyone left which I think is quite funny. I can't believe he is sensitive to noise given the fact that he is constantly surrounded by loud, energetic people (like his dad and aunts), but he is. He was especially sensitive to Ashley's singing and Dawn's booming enthusiasm this weekend. But, despite his sore ears, he seemed to truly love the guests and they of course, enjoyed him too. Rowan made us very proud by being his usual calm and content self amidst the chaos that we 3 women have a tendency to create when we are together. I have to say that this weekend was definitely a lot more civil than what it use to be like though-- I guess age and kids have tired us out because Dawn and Rob were snoring on the couch by 8:30 every night and the rest of us weren't far behind them. Long gone are the moshpit, drinking game, waking-to-Ani-morning and naked men-running-down-the-street days...

Here we are all enjoying Winterlude and our first together-visit in over 10 years (minus poor Trev who got stuck taking the picture).

Wall of Pictures

This is one of my favourites and will be making an appearance on the Wall-of-Pictures where it will stay.

Jenn Time

Rowan absolutely loved Auntie Jenn. I am not surprised because I love her too. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends and although I was really sad to see her get on the bus to go back to Toronto (and then Halifax), I know that we will see her again soon. We are praying that she finds a job in Ontario (maybe even Ottawa) so that we can spend a lot more time together in the years to come.

Here they are together. Two of my most favourite people in the world:

Rowan Learns Vowels

The little one has had a bit of "sleep regression" these past couple of weeks which I think we have under control now (how you ask? It's called not running to his every call and call he did 3 or 4 times per night). I read recently that babies will often have difficulties sleeping because of developmental and physical changes. Apparently, there is a big change around week 19 which just so happens to coincide with Rowan's return to newborn sleeping habits. I think it is absolutely fascinating that they practice their new skills at night while they are supposed to be sleeping even if getting up several more times per night was slightly inconvenient. I would find Rowan sleeping with his head where I am sure his feet were when he went to bed. He now also gets his feet out between the rungs of the crib. I am sure this is where he learned to roll so well. I am also certain that it is in his crib that the connections between his neurons were made to allow him to start spitting vowels today. His little voice is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. Listen...