Milestones

Many people told me that caring for a baby becomes suddenly and immensely easier when the baby reaches three months. For us, three months coincided with the beginning of McPie's parental leave, so it's hard to say if Timothy's age has had anything to do with the fact that having an infant as become less of a slog. Splitting the work, naturally, makes a colossal difference. However, in the past few weeks, since we passed the three month milestone, Timothy has undergone some changes and realized some growth achievements that make him way more fun and interesting:

He discovered his hands. It is so much fun to watch him try to manipulate anything that he can grab. He loves to work a blanket, but has become particularly interested in beverages that Mama or Dad are holding. (Unfortunately, getting the hands also spelled the end of swaddling, but he's sleeping better so it sort of works out...)

He can sit up with support. This gives us new options for hanging out (it also is an indicator of his newfound sturdiness -- we no longer have to worry so much about constantly supporting his head.) Suppers are easier because he can just sit comfortably on a parent's lap while we eat.

He's sleeping in his crib (in his own bedroom). I still get up to feed him a couple of times a night, but his thrashing and rolling doesn't keep us awake. The transition to crib was pretty seamless. He's also started napping in his crib for an appreciable amount of time (like, at least 1/2 and hour).

(Photo is apropos of nothing other than it is hilarious. Kid's got a sense of humor.)

He laughs like crazy a) when Dad eats him like a cob of corn, b) during the "Boo!" game, c) after a good meal, or d) because he's happy to see us.


In general, the summer so far has been heavenly -- relaxed, fun, with plenty of morning lattés and afternoon Coronas. And frisbee baths. (We are thinking of upgrading to a real kiddie pool soon.)


We are enjoying Tim, Ben and Constance to the max, but have managed to find some space for ourselves as well. We have some fun activities planned for the next few weeks -- a couple of frisbee tournaments, a trip to Winnipeg (for frisbee Nationals, of course!), and lots of afternoons at the local public outdoor pool.

Eggs Kenny

Sweetie McPie made me a special treat for breakfast this morning. He christened it Eggs Kenny:
Sliced tomatoes lightly breaded and fried, topped with sunny-side up eggs, then drowned in last night's soy-lemon chicken gravy. (Without the tomatoes, this dish is known as "cradle-to-grave".)

Lucy Waverman's soy-lemon gravy is To Die For. We've been known to do shots with the leftovers, before we discovered it was great over eggs. (You think I'm kidding?) So simple and quick, but so very incredible you have to try it to believe it. Drippings from roast chicken (we use organic legs from former residents of Saveur des Monts), a cup of chicken broth, a tablespoon (or so) of soy sauce, one or two tablespoon of fresh-squeezed lemon juice... simmered together and thickened with a little cornstarch.

Here I am!

Back at home after an almost-two-week vacay, plus the busy-ness that leads up to and concludes such a trip. So much to say, such a small window of time in which to say it (plus I haven't had breakfast yet and am starving, but Tim sleeps NOW).

I'll work backwards.

Yesterday [Okay, two days ago, because it's taken me multiple days to write this post; now typing one-handed with baby on lap], Tim (at nearly 3.5 months) had his 2 month vaccination shots. (Oops. My bad.) Poor little sucker. Dosed with Tylenol, he slept a lot in the afternoon, and I went happily off to frisbee. And returned to a Dad harried by a baby who'd been SCREAMING for 2.5 hours. (Tim isn't a huge crier, and very rarely SCREAMS.) Next month when he gets his 4 month shots, I will be sure to stay home. He seemed soothed by the boob. (But who wouldn't be?)

Our trip to Nova Scotia was a grand success. We stayed with my sister and helped her prep for her wedding. The wedding was good times -- I narrated the handfasting ceremony and delivered the matron of honour speech (which drew the requisite tears) with next-to-nil prep. Tim wore a tux to match his cousin Lucas and looked tres handsome.


The boys were extremely well-behaved. Here they are with Dad and Grandpa Tim.


My sister had copies of Secrets of the Baby Whisperer and The No-Cry Sleep Solution and I "read" (ie: scanned) both. They say about the same thing, but with a slightly different tone (militant vs. motherly). I learned that we are pretty much on track with baby-sleeping, and picked up a few tips that have been helping. Thus the blogging!

Ben and Constance joined us after the wedding, and we spent the better part of the week at the Farmhouse Inn, enjoying a lobster dinner, a trip to the Zoo, and an amazing day at the Beach with Aunt Julie, Uncle Scott, Grandpa and Linda. I think it's fair to say that the rented minivan with DVD player and TV screens was the highlight of their trip. at various times, each of the kids was heard to say "This was the best day of my life!" That says "success" to me. :-)


On the trip home to Ottawa, we stopped for lunch in Lunenburg on the way to the airport. Tim hadn't had his daily poo and was getting a bit fussy. McPie predicted that Tim would shit himself silly on the plane. Famous last words. Shit he did -- what I call a "shoulder-shit". And we were on a tiny Porter Air turbo-prop with no change area. (We'd been invited to try changing him where ever we like, with the indication that our seat-trays would be ideal.) Ha! McPie scoped the bathroom, and successfully completed a McGyver-like diaper change on the toilet seat. Although both fellas were somewhat traumatized bt the experience, McPie now brags about being able to apply a fresh onesie with one hand.

We arrived home Sunday night after the grocery store closed and we A) hadn't eaten supper and were all starving, and B) had NO food in the house. So we stopped at the Depanneur and did our best -- Special K, milk, cheese curds, and pineapple juice. At home, in front of his 10 pm bowl of cereal, Ben put his head in his hands and exclaimed, "Oh my god. This is the baddest supper we ever had!"

We've been to one grocery store pretty much every day since we got back.