Where is it going?

I didn't want to be one of those moms who says it all the time, but...where is the freakin' time going?!

Also, I think he's getting cuter with age, non?

Back later with some Christmas decor pics!
G.

Quick November update

*I suck at blogging. Period.

*It snowed here for the first time on Saturday and it was really wonderful. Huge, fluffy flakes fell and I couldn't stop looking out the window. Everything went from gray and brown to crisp clean white in an instant, and the nostalgia swept over me. The first snowfall is always a magical thing, I look forward to it around this time every single year (and then of course curse it 5 months later, but that's another story.)

*Things are going well around here. Dan is still working some long hours, but it should calm down soon so we're looking forward to that. I've been keeping busy with Victor and his ever growing abilities. The photoshoots have slowed down significantly, but I've been busy working on other photography related things and am really looking forward to next year and what it will bring for me and my camera.  Hopefully the countless hours of work will be worth it!

*I FINALLY finished knitting Victor's blanket this week. Now we just need to add the silk binding around the edges and call it done. It's definitely not PERFECT (in fact I'm a bit disappointed with the final product), but for my first attempt at knitting I shouldn't be too harsh. And Victor won't notice any flaws when he crawls all over it and eventually carries it around with him.

*Next up is getting my scrap desk cleared off so that I can pull out the sewing machine and really get started on Victor's patchwork blanket.  My mom and I have started cutting the fabrics, but if I'm going to get in done before Christmas (super wishful thinking!), then I need to start working on it way more.

*Yes, I've listened to a bit of Christmas/holiday music, but I'm trying to hold off one more week.  Same with decorating, I have my little trees out but not much else.  I think I'll pull everything out in a couple of weeks.  *EDIT: It's snowing again now, so I'm totally listening to my entire Christmas playlist, ha!

 

*I'm going to look at another house this week and I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it just might be perfect for us :)  I've been ridiculously inspired by SouleMama and her Maine farmhouse makeover, it's totally something I could see myself wanting to do with our home.

 

*I bought my first Christmas present over the weekend, but there's still so much to do, I'm kind of panicking that there are only 30-something days until Christmas, at the rate I do things these days I'll be lucky to get it all done in time!

*We're bringing the car in tomorrow, it needs some major TLC before trekking it to Montreal, which means some major money no doubt.  Perfect timing of course (I also happen to be out of contact lenses...when it rains it pours!)

*I've been tasked with designing my friend Heather's wedding album and it's been fun so far!  I'm using MyPublisher, the same company that I used to make my Italy book back in the day, so it's been easy and quick, but I think that I am going to use Shutterfly or Snapfish to do the parents' albums, which will be fun since I can compare printing quality.

*I've been meaning to take some Christmas photos forever to send out with our Christmas cards, but of course I've been procrastinating.  I really need to get a remote for my camera, it would make things so much easier!  Do you hear me, Santa?

Ok that's all for now, Victor's grabbing at my knees.  November, you're going a bit faster than I had wanted, but I have a feeling it's not your fault, it's mine.

Be back later this week with Victor's 9-month update.

Until next time,

G.

We're going!!

I've mentioned recently how Dan and I have been watching a lot of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) together and how it's a fun thing for us to have in common...well, we're taking it to the next level, because on December 11th, we're both going to see UFC 124 in Montreal!

Dan has been talking about going to see a fight for a long time, and so when we saw that they were coming to Montreal (and that it was going to be GSP fighting in his hometown), he started looking into getting tickets.  We decided that this trip would replace our Christmas presents (plus a few other things!), so we tried to get tickets when they came out...but they sold out almost immediately.  Dan was super bummed, but luckily a few weeks later some tickets came up for sale online (at a higher price-damn scalpers), so we bought a couple of those and got our tickets on Thursday. 

We booked a hotel downtown near the Bell Centre, and we're both really excited!  We haven't had a trip together since we went to California in August 2008.  We're going to be driving there, which is about 10 hours, so it's going to be a long trip (especially in winter), but it will give us a chance to have lots of alone time together. We're leaving on Friday and coming back on Sunday.  My parents/sister are going to watch the baby, which is nice, and so we're going to have a chance to explore Montreal together without having to worry about kid-friendly restaurants and middle-of-the-museum freak outs.  It's going to be sooo nice :)

Anyway, it's only 4 weeks away, time is speeding by as usual!  Then once we get home it'll be full on Christmas mode, how did that happen!?

This week we're going swimming at the Aquatic Centre, Victor's first real pool experience, I hope he enjoys it!  It's supposed to be gorgeous out all week too so I'm hoping to get out to take some family Christmas photos (good luck!), and spend some more time outside after a terrible week of pouring rain.

Happy Sunday to you, be back soon I hope.
G.

November.

[post inspired by Holly Sarah]

November is for: slowing down after a crazy October, going to bed earlier, becoming more patient, swimming at the Aquatic Centre, taking out the winter and christmas decorations, getting ahead of christmas shopping/crafting, making lots of stews and casseroles, attending Tupperware parties, knitting a few rows every night, working on a 'secret' project, tackling an enormous to-do list, getting the car fixed, blogging, taking more pictures at home, buying a vacuum cleaner, getting out for walks despite the cold, keeping expectations realistic, cutting and organizing fabric, putting away scrap stuff, giving, wearing big sweaters, drinking hot cholcolate, listening to a bit of holiday music, and getting out of the daily grind from time to time.

Here's hoping I'm in this space more; I miss it.

Well, here we are again, another monthly update on the little bébé...who's now not so little anymore I suppose, but I have a feeling I will keep calling him little until he turns one at least (and probably even longer, same with the "bébé" moniker, he may very well end up being called that at 4 or 5 years old, poor child).  Anyway, he's now 8 months, and I will say that this has been without a doubt the most CHALLENGING month to date. I have probably shed more frustrated tears this month than any so far, and there have been times where I just wasn't sure I could handle it anymore (and probably lost my patience a bit too much because of it).  But along with the frustrations have been some really good things, so I will try not to make this update all about the 'bads', because Victor's 8th month of life has been far from bad.

So, a few basics first:

-Weight at 8 months: 18lbs (approx) and about the same height.  

-Wearing mostly 6 months PJs, 6-12 onesies, and a variety of pant and shirt sizes.  He's still wearing all his size small cloth diapers and wraps, which makes me happy since that means he probably won't outgrow his mediums and larges before potty training!

                         

-Sleeping has regressed somewhat, he's waking every 3 hours for the most part, which has become quite tiring on mama.  He naps in the morning still, and about 50% of the time he'll nap in the afternoon, otherwise it's just a short snooze in the car seat or stroller, but that's about it.  Every once in awhile I'll get a longer stretch, usually when he doesn't sleep in the afternoon he'll go down for longer in the evening, but not always.

Playing outside in McAdam.

-Same goes for breastfeeding, he's still eating about every 3 hours, even though he could probably go longer if he had to (and he has).  He has one bottle of formula (between 6-10oz) before bed and a bottle when I'm away from him but other than that he's mostly breastfed/solid food fed. I'm anxious to see what the nurses say when he gets weighed in December, if they'll recommend upping his formula/food intake to get back on the charts or not.
 

-He's eating more and more solids and we're developing an eating schedule, which is good. We are usually getting breakfast and supper in, with an occasional lunch (he is usually sleeping around lunch time).  I've been introducing new things but he hasn't responded well to many of them.  Some things that he doesn''t care for include egg yolks, brown rice, cooked pasta, and cheese (I know!) Some things he did enjoy though include pork and bread...he's Dan's son alright!  I'm still working on getting at least one or two new things in a week, and slowly he'll start to eat whatever we're eating, but for the most part we're still sticking to homemade, mashed baby food.

He definitely loves Cheerios the most!

-He has gotten way better at crawling, and is now starting to pull himself up on things (including his crib rails!)  He gets up on his knees as if to crawl, but he hasn't figured out how to do it yet.  His pincher grasp has gotten really good (working with those Cheerios!), and I've noticed some smaller milestones, like looking for something when he has dropped it, peeking around corners, that kind of thing...his mind is definitely developing at crazy rates.  He still kind of enjoys the Jolly Jumper, but not much...in fact, his favourite thing to do (when not in our arms) is to just crawl around and explore (and get into things he's not supposed to!)

Oops, made a mess!

-He loves to talk and makes all kind of sounds, he's learned 'babababa' and we're now trying to get him to say 'mamamama' or something similar.  We attempt some repeating games but I think he's still too young.  He loves to listen to us talk though, and really enjoys watching/listening to Dan play music as well.

-He has warmed up to his baths a bit more.  We tried out the 'sink' bath and he had a great time splashing around.  We also put him in the big bath with me and he really enjoys that too, I think that his fear/dislike of water is definitely over, I'm now looking forward to going to the pool this month!

-He hasn't gotten any new teeth and is still drooling like a wild man (we're going through 3 or 4 bibs a day and a couple of outfits, the amount of drool is insane!)

-He has had a cough this month that he can't seem to shake, poor guy.  Cold and sniffles and runny noses are part of Fall and Winter I suppose.

Playing with Aunt Sarah.

-Now for the not to great stuff: This month Victor has gotten incredibly clingy and, well, WHINY.  If he is put in any sort of situation that he even mildly doesn't like, he whines and cries and pitches a fit.  He would like it if everyone just held him all day long and did nothing but entertain him by walking around and showing him things, but that's just not practical or realistic, and so he freaks out.  You put him down, he cries.  You take something away he's not supposed to touch, he cries.  You leave the room, he cries.  Sometimes even when he sees you, he cries!  It has been very hard on me, I won't lie.  I'm not the kind of person that can handle too much cling/'affection', so this whole baby on my hip 24/7 is just not for me.  I can handle it for a little while, but like I said, even when he's in your arms he's difficult at times, so it's tiring, plain and simple.  The fits are what drive me the most crazy though, especially at night.  There have been several nights where he has woken up over and over again and would only sleep if in my arms, which meant me sitting on the couch, half asleep/half crying, waiting for him to let me go back to bed.  I know it's all normal and this attachment is a good thing, but man oh man it's challenging. (Side note: Before having Victor I always told Dan that I  predicted being really challenged during the toddler years, this whole clingy-ness thing did not even enter my mind, but I now think that this may end up being more challenging than dealing with him when he's 2/3!)

This is the face I think of when I think of this past month...sad, but true!

-I started babysitting my friend Sara's kids once a week on Thursday afternoons for a few hours, which is nice since it gets us out of the house (something I need to do more of, he's always much happier on days we have activities planned), and we still go to the Family Resource Centre once a week, so we try, I'd like to find some other sort of group to go to over the winter, since I have a feeling we'll both be catching cabin fever during the long cold days if we don't get out from time to time!

-Although he has made me cry this month, he has also made me laugh more this month than any other.  You can really see his personality starting to come through, he looks at you with his huge dark eyes and smiles so bright and shakes all over, when you make him happy it's the best feeling in the world.  He's really sweet and we both love him to death.

I'm sure there are things that I'm forgetting, as always, but it's probably only because the main thing about this past month that stands out in my mind has been the terrible cling, ha!  

To all the blog moms out there, how did you deal with your clingy kids?  From what I've heard it's just a phase (a loooong phase), but it goes away and you just have to suffer through it, there's not much you can do. (And please don't say that I'll be wishing for this when he's older, because trust me, that's the last thing I want to hear, and I seriously doubt I'll ever want him to be like this again!)

Now let's see if I can post his 9 month update near his actual 9 month birthday...

Peace,

G.

(PS-Sorry for the lack of variety in his photos this month, I only took out my camera to take photos of his 3 or 4 times, it's terrible! Too busy taking photos of other people...will try to do better this month though!)