Snowed in...

Contents: One bored WAHM, one dog desperately wanting to play outside, one little girl with a snotty nose and drooly mouth.



Contents: Peppermint tea and Baileys*

*credit goes to Nunuboo for the introduction of tea and Baileys at this year's cookie swap

Month Seven - Funky Butt

I knew it was only a matter of time... we've been playing with solids for a little while now and Carmen is finally getting the hang of it! Of course, now that her tastebuds have developed, the rest of her body needs to catch up - in this case, it's her digestive tract that has recently proven that it's ready to handle the grown-up stuff!

PEEEEEEEEEEEEE YEEEEEEEEW!

I went into the nursery yesterday morning and noticed a tang in the air quite unlike anything I'd smelled before in Carmen's vicinity. I immediately opened the diaper pail, expecting to find a mountain of unwashed diapers. Nope, nearly empty. Maybe something rotting underneath the change table? Nada. The stench drew me towards the crib, towards my daughter, happily playing with her Linkadoos. Bingo.

As I uncovered her funky butt, I recoiled in shock and horror - gross doesn't begin to describe it. You see, not only do I have to change it, but then I have to go and rinse it out as well since I wash my own cloth diapers. I've picked up a fair amount of dog pooh in my day, but this just seemed infinately more disgusting.

So I decided that this was not the life for me! Now, for Carmen's morning constitutional, we both get naked from the waist down and I sit her on top of my lap on the toilet. And whaddya know - she actually poops in the toilet!!!!

Yep, my daughter's a genius.

There is a girl named Carmen She is a poop machine She poops into the toilet And keeps her diapers clean OOOOOH, she keeps her diapers clean She keeps her diapers clean Carmen Jade sits on the can and keeps her diapers clean!

In other news, Carmen is sitting up pretty much on her own - a skill she picked up from all the older kids in her sign language class. She is eating apples, bananas, pears, avocados, yams, rice cereal and even butternut squash! She still hasn't cut any teeth, though. She's bald n' toothless just like an old man.



Cousin Ashley also visited with Auntie Karen for a week a while ago. Carmen and Ashley were the best of friends, sharing some tub time together, spending a lot of quality time with Grandma Wolff, and holding hands in the back seat of Grandma's pickup while sitting beside each other in their carseats. It's really cool to see them with each other - makes me remember how much fun I had running around in my Grandma Wolff's house with my cousins!



Everyday there are new sounds coming from Carmen's mouth, she also seems to understand more of what we are saying. New toys to play with, new corners of the floor to explore - she is always on the move. Things change so fast.

Halloween FUN!

Carmen is the CUTE LOOT PATOOT for Jason and I, the bank robbers!





Not bad for a 1/2hr costume, eh?

Month Six - Bye Bye Bouncy Chair

Well, we finally had to say good-bye to putting Carmen into the bouncy chair during dinner... I turned my back for a second and caught her trying to launch herself out of it by pulling on the poor unsuspecting musical caterpillar!



Enter the highchair - da da da daaaaaaaah! We loooove the highchair, a very thoughtful gift from my former coworkers! Since I've started Carmen on solids (mmmm, pablum!), the highchair has come in very handy keeping her locked in, her bib on, and her little hands busy. She's gotten really quick with her hands now, blocking the spoon like a little Karate Kid - Heeeeeyah! If I do manage to get some of the dreaded pablum into her mouth, she uses her prowess at making raspberries to spit it back out in my face and all over my glasses! What a comedianne!

The highchair is also great for keeping her in one place while I turn my back - she is quite mobile now, rolling over and over to get places and grab toys. I'm not exactly sure how she's moving forward but she is, inch by inch. Smart cookie, that one!

She is so mobile now that I don't know how much longer I will be able to take her to class. Too bad, since she smiles and giggles for the most part and loves all the exercises we do together and the songs I teach the other moms in class. BUT she's also rolling into the little teeny 6-week old babes and trying to poke their eyes, which is not so good! So I've been looking into getting a bit of help here and there.

Nobody ever told me how hard this was going to be. Some days, usually those that I have a few classes to teach, I find myself just trying to get through the day, watching the clock and listening for the telltale scooter revs and Bella's yips and wags of delight signalling Jason's return home from school. I know that I want to stay home with Carmen and not return to my engineering job, but some days I think "OH MY GOD, this is MY LIFE".

I know why many women are eager to return to the workforce since staying at home is such a drastic change from life before baby. I hope that getting help with Carmen during my daytime classes will be a step in a good direction. Even though my "break" during the day will be to spend time with other moms and their babies, I know it will still feel like a break. A chance to take off my "mom" hat for a few hours a day would be welcome!



As Carmen has gotten older, she's developed a bit of a foot fetish... she sticks them in her mouth whenever she can. If there are socks in the way, she quickly pulls them off to reveal her tasty tootsies. Here she is, caught in the act!

And since she is so on-board with the stroller now, when she gets tired, she has taken to turning her head this way and that until her touque comes down over her face. If I try to move it out of the way (lest she suffocate!), she wakes up and gets angry. Sigh.



BTW, I knitted that sweater while I was pregnant and it FINALLY fits her! Our little tiny girl still only weighs just over 14lbs. Sounds like she will be taking after me in that respect!

At the Trade Show...

So while exhibiting at the Vancouver Baby Fair this weekend, I've gotten many many free samples... but the most interesting so far has definitely been the O'My Cappuccino Flavoured Personal Lubricant! Guess it'll help all us new moms get pregnant again!

Month Five - Month of Cute

People aren't kidding when they say that months 4-5 are the cutest months going! Carmen is the Cute-inator, cute cute and more cute, all cute all the time!

I can't get over the amazing belly laughs that come out of her mouth now when I pretend to eat her neck, or zerbert her belly! When I get Bella to bark while we're having our playtime on a blanket, she is in a fit of giggles! Even Bella grins from ear to ear as Carmen busts a gut, so cute!



And her fascination with sounds is hilarious. I love the way that she sets out to master a certain sound by repeating it for days on end... then she tires of it and moves on to something else. So far we've gone through the razzing and a funny fast sniffing in and out of her nose! For nearly a week it was constantly


Sniff-hee-hee-hee!
Sniff-hee-hee-hee!
Sniff-hee-hee-hee!

from the carseat, from the crib and now, most recently, from underneath receiving blankets that she "hides" under to play Peek-A-Boo! I crack up everytime, she will sit there for ages with the blanket pulled over her eyes as I ask "Wheeeeeeeeeere's Carrrrrrrrrmen?" and then rip it back quickly... she squeals in delight that she has tricked me!

Now from the floor, I hear Pbthpt! Pbthpt! Pbthpt! as she spits all over everything around her (including my glasses if I'm too close). Crazy girl!


Carmen has also decided that the stroller is the only thing going... maybe that is because Mommy finally wised up and pimped up her ride? I stole the sheepskin from one of our chairs to give her Highness a nice plushy throne, propped the back up so she can sit up higher and faced her out so she can see Bella strolling along jauntily ahead of us! Now we get out on a daily basis and Stroller Fitness is so much easier!

In the last week or so, Carmen has taken to rolling over onto her front - even with the giant cloth Mother-ease diapers that used to keep her high-centered on the floor! So we have to be much more careful now with her laying on the dinner table when we eat (!) and leaving her on the diaper change table. I actually spent over 20 mins trying to get her to roll over on video and finally succeeded! The only problem is that once she's on her front, she can't roll back over. Instead she either poops, pees or spits up in frustration until we roll her back over!


The biggest gift Carmen has given us is a reliable bedtime and morning wakeup. For a while she was waking up quite early, chit chatting happily from the crib until Daddy went in to diaper change and bring her to me. One morning Jason and I just decided to leave her and see what would happen... she went back to sleep!!!! So now it's bathtime at 8:00pm, boob at 8:30pm and sleep shortly after - wake-up at 6:30am and everyone is happy!

Jason had 5 minutes to make a little book for school, enjoy!

First Year

Well, we did it! Jason and I celebrated our first year of marriage on Aug 20th, 2006!

And what a year it's been... we've weathered a few storms, had some sad times, a lot of laughter and love - we even survived the (still ongoing) renovations in the downstairs!

How did we celebrate? Yet another sojourn to the Island to visit my parents for a restful extended weekend at Macktush, their campsite. Between the built-in babysitting of Carmen's keen grandparents, and the endless squirrels for Bella to chase, Jason and I were able to take some time to relax together, go kayaking, drink wine and chat. He made me a rack of lamb with fresh rosemary, with some nice French wine that we had given to us at our wedding. All of this followed by the top of our wedding cake that we had kept in the freezer all year!



I think we looked prettier cutting this cake a year ago, but oh well!

A Penchant for Non-Relaxing Hobbies

Hobbies are supposed to be relaxing - mine usually start out that way but eventually result in copious amounts of four-letter words streaming from my mouth! Knitting, quilting, triathlon training... all send me into fits of swearing!

But. They all start out soooo good.

For instance, check out the beeeeyouuuutiful fabric I just bought for my brother and new sis-in-law's wedding present! I'm making them a lap quilt and wanted it to be funky!

Step 1. Pick out a pattern.

Step 2. Visit quilting store and salivate over numerous fabrics.

Step 3. Repick your pattern when you can't make your fabric "work" with the first!


Lap Quilt Pattern 

Step 4. Rack up credit card bill - sigh heavily.


Nice Japanese-Inspired Prints 

Step 5. Get home, wash/dry/iron fabrics and put on bias.

Step 6. CUT CUT CUT!


Cut Up n' Ready to Go! 

Step 7. Get swearing... I mean SEWING!

Blissful, no?

Month Four - Drooooooooooooool

Take One! 

A year ago this past Sunday, Jason and I got married. A year and a week ago, we found out we were pregnant! Not bad after only a month and a half of trying!

Now it's been four whole months since this little girl came out into the world - I can't believe how much has happened since then. She's charmed us in ways I never imagined.


Take Two! 

On Friday, our little family packed up our Matrix and headed for the Island to spend the weekend with my family at Macktush - a campground that my parents run out on the Port Alberni inlet. Grandma had the stroller and playpen waiting at the campsite, armed with mosquito netting and sunshades! She was pretty excited to get some Grandma-time... we were pretty excited too, to get a little time alone!


Take Three! 

Normally we are avid cloth-diaperers, but weekends away mean no access to diaper pails and such so we had to go the Pampers route. I hate disposable diapers with a passion - and now more so. I was wearing Carmen in the carrier and my red Holey Soles while waiting in the diaper changeroom lineup on the ferry. I started feeling a warm oozing sensation between my toes. Sure enough, Carmen had blasted through yet another Pamper, this time all down her legs and into my shoes. There was mustard-poo everywhere. A few young teens looked at me in horror as I laughed and laughed, while the other moms chortled to themselves, glad it wasn't them! Yep, that's my daughter!


Kisses! 

Carmen has had a few tastes of the banana from my morning oatmeal now - she watches everything that goes in my mouth and smacks her lips! It's crazy to think that soon she will be eating real food. She has also started to play with the crazy red Lamaze elephant given to us by a friend - she used to just be terrified of it! Her little hands grab for the rattle parts while she tries to jam the crunchy sounding ears in her mouth.

She has also become quite the drool-asaurus... everything she wears gets soaked so now I make sure she's always got a bib on. I was given a huge stack of these teeny bibs by my grandma and I couldn't figure out what we were going to do with them all. Now I know.


Daddy's Reverse Football - THE BEST 

Month Three and a Bit - Daddy's Girl

Well I know she's my daughter... but she sure doesn't look anything like me! I think it's fair to say that Carmen takes after her Daddy!


Daddy's Girl 

Carmen is almost 4 months now - it's hard to believe that so much time has passed already!

Now when we go on walks together, she loves to face outwards and take in as much as she can. As we walk, her eyes dart from Bella chasing around, to the birds pecking at the grass, to the flowers and the trees that I point out to her. We carry on a steady stream of conversation, the two of us, on these walks. Everyday these conversations are punctuated by more and more giggles and sputters and sounds that I realize how quickly she is growing up, and by how much she desperately wants to communicate!

Each morning we wake up to her giggles and "BLARL"s coming from the crib. She waits patiently while Daddy changes her, positively beaming at him with and ear-to-ear smile every time! He brings her in to me for a visit to the milk bar, then goes downstairs to work on homework before school. Carmen and I snuggle up in bed together for a few precious hours of sleep. She is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I remember when I used to nurse her while we were lying down and I would struggle to nuzzle the top of her little head - now it reaches much closer to my chin and her reddish-blonde fuzz tickles my lips!

Time is passing so quickly.

Each morning I put her on the floor for some tummy time (which she still hates) and some time with the "Kick n' Play" gym... man, can she ever kick the crap outta that thing! Jason and I joke that she's going to grow up a slot-machine junkie, just by the way she reacts when the lights and music go off on this toy! She splashes around in the tub now too, infatuated with the spray of the water and the sound it makes. She even loves the sound of the water draining from the tub.

I see little bits of brown in her eyes now and wonder if she will get my eyes or her Daddy's everchanging green-blue-grey eyes. Everything else is pure Camp, from the prehensile toes that she will eventually pick up hammers with, right down to the divot in the centre of her chest. My only hope is that she stays away from rugby - I don't think I could stomach seeing her get bruised, battered or concussed in the name of fun! Maybe I am already too overprotective? I think she will grow up enjoying the element of adventure - I already know she loves the feeling of the wind in her face and what she sees in the world out in front of her.

Jason & Kristi's Wedding - August 5th, 2006

Just got back from my little brother's wedding - how amazing! Here are some of the nicer shots from our wee little camera! I'm no Nunuboo, but these will do until we see the photographer's shots!


Carmen - almost 4 months! 


Cousins! 


Carmen's Pre-Wedding Advice for Uncle Jason 


Auntie Karen & Ashley 


Grandma Wolff! 


Louise meets Carmen 


Daddy & Carmen enjoying a beer 


Great Grandma Wolff hits Carmen's Snooze Button 


Smooch! 


Kristi & Jason Wolff 


Men in Black 


Fun with the Photographer 


Wolff Women!