2009 in pictures

January - Our family of 2

February - King Fergus enjoying the last few days of his reign

March - Ready and waiting

April - Welcome Baby Simon

May - a blur of sleep and cuddles

June - Welcome Baby Elizabeth

July - a screamin' good time on Canada Day

August - surgery and lack of sleep

September - cast free

October - "I do it my way!

November - days of Rider pride (before the fall)

December - my sweet sweater baby

It's crazy to think that last year, at this time, there was no Simon in our life - just an adorable bump that woke me up at night with his thumping. 2009 has been a year of incredible blessings, lessons, joy and tears. Parenthood has had the sharpest learning curve I've ever encountered but, my little guy is worth it all.
Thanks to my great husband for another fabulous year.
Here's to 2010 and all that it will bring!

iRobot

I gave into my housewife fantasies and bought a Roomba. No more vacuuming for me. It entertains my Schmoo and sends my cat into conniptions (unlike the above acrobat, Fergus is honing his chase, hunt, hiss and hit moves). I named him Shy Ronnie after a bizarre SNL sketch that reminded me of a few students I've taught.
Sometimes, as Shy Ronnie zooms around my living room, I wonder, "has it come to this? Am I at the age where a vacuum makes me smile?" Then I remember... Shy Ronnie is a ROBOT! How cool is that?

So this is Christmas...

Merry Christmas!

Enjoy the snow.
Eat lots.
Give with abundance.
Receive with grace.
Smile for the cameras.
Dance with the children.
Celebrate Christ.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!

No more Baby Goo

I started feeding Simon baby cereal in the beginning of October. It started okay but then, it led to a battle. He hated his cereal. He hated his purees. I thought I'd never get him to eat.
This past month, I gave up Baby Goo. I bought a food mill and a baby feed bag (a mesh sack that you can insert all sorts of yummy things into that babies can chew and not choke). Simon eats what we eat... modified. He's happier, I'm happier and we're not fighting. Currently, Simon LOVES banana, whole wheat bread, stew, rice and Grandma Tilly's lentil soup. I'm trying to be discerning with what I give his little tummy. I think he appreciates the variety.
Hmmm.... just another way that Simon operates that's just not "by the book". He's definitely an opinionated little fellow for someone who can't talk.

Yum - part 2

Just in case you weren't jealous of the cookies I made with my in-laws,
here's some snaps of the cookies I made with my
mom and my sister-in-law.
Yes, I went a little overboard this year.
My husband's thrilled.
Feel free to stop by for a cookie... our freezer's full!

Footloose

Praise God!
Simon had another maintenance check on his feet today.
Dr. F. declared his feet "perfect".
We don't have to see him until the summer.
Simon will be able to walk into the casting clinic by then.

I sat in the waiting room with a mom who's baby is in the middle of
the casting process. My heart
went out to her.
It's such a sucky process but, the
results are priceless.
I love my boy's little tootsies.
I love playing piggies with them,
kissing them and
tickling them until he squeals.
I'm so thankful we live in this time and place.
I'm so thankful for such a good health care system.
Simon and I are happy dancing today.

YUM

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is baking with my in-laws. This year, we were super-organized and, even with Simon, were done in record time. Now, my freezer is filled with yummy treats to last until the New Year.

New friends

My friend, Nancy, and I are both on mat. leave. Our babies are 6 weeks apart. While still pregnant, we'd talked about wanting use our time to do something we couldn't normally do while working. We came up with the idea of starting a Mom's group for immigrant women. With the help of the Open Door Society, we have finally met our ladies.
They are a group who are Nepalese living in Bhutan. About 20 years ago, the Bhutanese government did an "ethnic cleanse" of all people of Nepalese origin and sent these people back to Nepal. The Nepalese government did not want them. Therefore, all of these refugees have been placed in camps along the Nepal/Bhutan border (the above picture is of a Bhutanese refugee camp). Finally, after living close to 20 years in these refugee camps, our new friends were able to immigrate to Canada. Now, they are here and trying to make sense of our Canadian culture.
Nancy and I want to meet with these ladies (and their very curious and enthusiastic husbands) once a week to talk about shopping in Canada, cooking, women's health issues, child-rearing customs, etc. More then that, we are looking to make new friends and help these very brave ladies feel at home in their new country.
Today, was our first meeting. They LOVED Simon and Nancy's girls. Our host made us fabulous (real) chai tea. They politely ate our brownies. We were told stories about being forced to leave home late at night with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
I know that we are going to be their "teachers" but, I have so much to learn.
Needless to say, I'm VERY excited about my new friends! :)

45 minutes

45 minutes is a typical baby's sleep cycle. Thanks to general anesthetic, Simon once again is struggling to beat his sleep cycle. That means he cries and cries and cries about every 45 minutes at night. He doesn't just go back to sleep either. We tried letting him "cry it out" and that only led to an hysterical little man. The dressing on his hand is probably bothering him and he's probably experiencing some pain. He also has a stuffy nose (cold? teething? who knows?). Needless to say, this household is lacking sleep.
We've been here before. We know it gets better. It's just frustrating to be in the middle of it. We're hoping it won't take Simon's body as long to get back into routine.

Resilient

We got back from the hospital around 1 pm. Simon had his surgery at 8 am. Dr. C. was able to reshape his index finger and smooth out his other fingers as well as increase the web spaces between his digits. We'll get to see what his hand looks like when the bandages come off on Dec. 16. He's doing remarkably well. He's playing with Trevor right now and has lots of smiles. The freezing in his hand should last another hour or two and then, we may notice some extra fussiness. He's slept really well for his naps today. We're hoping for a good night tonight. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers!

End of the Yo-Yo

Simon's scheduled for surgery tomorrow. It's not just stand-by either. We'll go to the hospital and Simon's little left hand will be operated on.
Today, he was holding his little Rice Rusk with his left hand and chowing down. He played with my necklace by holding it with his left hand. He had his 6 month shots (I know we're a little late) and pacified himself with his left hand. After tomorrow, there'll be a big bandage over his left hand. I'm sure it'll be "free" before Christmas but still... we're going to miss it.

Twilight

I'm not usually a trend follower but, as
a teacher, I always like to read what
my kids read.
This has led to a lot of interesting discoveries.
I've discovered Jodi Piccoult, graphic novels,
the Ender's Game series, Nicholas Sparks, etc.
My newest "find" was the Twilight series.
I loved it!
I'm not really into vampires and werewolves. I
gagged over Edward's schmaltzy lines and the
love triangle between a klutzy girl, a werewolf and
a vampire.
However, the plot was fast and the action was good.
There were quite a few non-predictable twists.
I think it ended really well.
Maybe, I'll watch the movies... maybe.