Theatre Calgary

I'm a Thespian, or I was at one point.  I went through a stage in university that lasted around five years and from that, I ended up with two degrees ;)  Then I taught theatre in two different high schools, and now, I really like to sit back and just enjoy it without having to 'grade' it or 'judge' it.  My thespian days are over but truly enjoying professional theatre has just begun.  So I guess that makes me a Dilettante.

One of my Christmas presents this year from Nate were seasons tickets to Theatre Calgary.  Our first performance was The Great Gatsby which even without a Leo look-alike was a total success.  The costumes alone made me want to be catapulted back into 1920 just so I could shake my flapper, do my hair in a wavy chignon and wear decadent red lipstick.  Halloween ideas?  Possibly. 

Walking into the theatre

This past weekend we went to the second performance of Theatre Calgary's season.  It was called Major Barbara.  Wow.  I won't get into a play review or anything here, but again, I was transported back into another world with this one.  It was stunning and meaningful.  A very tangible world created by the actors and actresses.  I can't believe how captivating the three hour play was - I'm embarrassed to say that I really only thought of my precious baby girl during intermission.  So unlike me.  

Looking forward to the next two shows: The Mountaintop and the musical Mary Poppins!

Check out the link below if you're interested in the upcoming season.  The deal on five shows is worthwhile as they give you a reduced price if you go with all five and you are given preferred seating.  This is the route that we went and we ended up in the fifth row.  Beautiful theatre, worthy selections, talented performers - what else could you ask for in a night out at the theatre?  Oh - and they LET YOU TAKE YOUR WINE INTO THE THEATRE WITH YOU!  Dare I say anymore?

2014/2015 Theatre Calgary Season

One last point that I'll mention is that my husband also really enjoys Theatre Calgary.  It isn't too fancy (when I drag him to the Ballet) and it is much easier to follow (than say the Opera).  Both of which I would go to in a heartbeat but when you're in a partnership you want to make sure that your companion is getting the most out of his or her date night too.  Hockey games and the movie theatre are on his list so of course we'll also be attending those events as well.  But seriously, Theatre Calgary is fabulous.

#TheatreCalgary 

Heritage Park

Field Trip!

Over the weekend, Nate, Scar and I went to Heritage Park!  It was so beautiful and sunny outside but it was still really windy - so windy in fact that we needed to take a little breather and head indoors for a break.  Inside, we went to Gasoline Alley and enjoyed sitting in and standing by some of the old beautiful cars.  I'm not a huge fan of cars but it was still fun to see all the neat shapes and colours that used to exist back in the day. 

Scarlet's 11 month update

This just feels weird writing this post.  11 months old?!  So totally wild and crazy

I'M THIS OLD!

Probably the biggest and most notable difference this month has been a clear and blatant display of Scarlet's adorable personality.  I say adorable because I have always seen a little 'sweet', 'intriguing', 'curious', 'smart' and 'beautiful' girl in her.  However, this month both Nate and I have seen huge leaps in the character zone.  We now need to add 'inquisitive' 'considerate' 'hilarious' 'clever' 'unstoppable' and 'determined'.  

Our daughter has a full on personality and she ain't afraid to show it.  I LOVE IT!  We kill ourselves laughing some nights just the three of us (and Milo).  I was told that it would get better and better as she gets older, but I had no idea.  She is my favourite little person on this planet!

Scarlet is still nursing three times a day.  We're working on weaning her off of the mid-day drink but it's been difficult.  What can I say?  The child loves her milk.  I myself am ready to stop nursing.  I'm over it.  Not that there haven't been many loving moments and times of serious bonding that I don't believe we would have been able to have from anything else, but after 11 months of being the 'go-to' for nourishment, it's time to get back to some normalcy.  I have enjoyed it, but I'm ready to wean and to stop.   

Speaking of milk - she will not drink anything other than MY milk.  I've tried everything.  Formula, Soy, Whole, Skim, 1%, Lactaid.  I've tried different bottles, sippy cups, straws.  I've tried adding blended strawberries (worked for about a day), I've tried warming it up, I've tried serving it to her cold, lukewarm, everything.  I feel like I've tried it all, but the girl will not budge.  Don't know what is going to happen when I have her completely off nursing because plain water will not cut it - I'm going to have to do some homework and research.  If anyone has any other suggestions, I would STRONGLY appreciate them and will try anything at this point.

Thankfully, she's still a fabulous eater even though she's only in the 15% for weight right now.  I'm not too concerned because she eats A LOT, but when we have little playdates I notice she is quite petit compared to her other girlfriends.  It makes me a little nervous but not too much since Nate and I are both fairly...long...and I don't know...sinewy?  Haha - it's a good thing.

Scar is still displaying a need for two naps during the day.  I really want to get her down to one big long one now because two 'crappy' short ones just sort of take up a lot of time and energy on my part.  It's exhausting bouncing her on the ball for 20 minutes only to have her actually go down for 30 and then repeat it two and a half hours later.  I find I can get more accomplished in the day when she takes one long two hour nap mid-morning.  It's much better this way.

We're officially cruising!  Scar is into absolutely everything and it keeps me so busy.  I have given up a few of my workout days because I feel like I've squatted more than 100 times and it isn't even 9:00 am yet!  It's definitely equivalent to a mild hour or two at the gym so I don't feel too guilty about letting a few days go by without a sweat in my sneakers.

  I think we can officially say she has said her first word. It was CAT!   Ironic since he bit her about three weeks ago (that's a whole different story).  She is so in love with Milo and still freaks out with glee whenever she sees him.  Nate and I have both been working on it with her and finally she has responded back by saying it!!!  We were both so shocked and surprised.  We looked at one another and started laughing and immediately went straight back to her to try it again.  Very exciting.  Scar also says the words 'Mama', 'Dada', and 'Way', but I'm not really counting those as firsts. 

She now has four teeth total!  Two top and two bottom.  

The cutest thing she has learned lately is how to give a high five.  Nate and I both constantly do it to her and then cheer afterwards.  So adorable.

Still working on the party planning!

Nespresso goodies

Yes - I now see by these photos that I may have gone a little crazy with the latest order, but in my house we call coffee 'Life Juice'.  Moms know what I'm talking about, unless you're Mormon, in which case I give it up to you, seriously I do.  #IloveMormons  

I watched three dudes on youtube explain the 'simple' art of latte foam art and honestly, it looked easy.  Then I tried it.  Fail.  I don't know why I can't get it but it actually makes me laugh out loud when Scarlet's upstairs napping and I'm all by myself in my kitchen trying to do it.  I need to give those baristas a bit more credit when they do it for me.

Wow.  That's a lot.

New leggings and pants...

Not totally sure about the leggings on the right or how to wear them, but I love the ones on the left.  Yes - they're pleather but I'm digging the knee detail and skinny ankle look.  For a outfit that I am sure about check out W Style.  Any suggestions on outfits for these two pieces are very welcome.

NEED THESE!

Love these.

Seriously have to get these. 

Instagram

Whoa!  So exciting!  One of my shots was featured on the Instagram account mom_hub!!! There was a challenge called 'Remembering Summer' so I submitted a shot that I took of Nate and Scarlet while we were driving up to the cabin and it was featured along with five other beautiful shots in this final grid!  Too cool!

My shot is Top Center.  I LOVE them all but the little red-head on the right is totally stealing my heart here.  If you're interested in following my pics my username on Instagram is kweilz.  

#mom_hub #instagram #exciting

Master Photo Bomber

Yes - he's adorable, but this furry monster can push my buttons.

I love him, I really do.  I love how Milo follows me around the house every waking moment of the day.  How he rushes in front of me while I'm walking down the stairs with a baby in my arms.  How he silently sits behind me while I'm changing Scarlet's diaper.  How he scratches at my door at 6:00 in the morning.  How he jumps into my lap when I'm eating.  How he rubs his hairy butt in my face when I'm watching a movie with Nate.  How he masterfully photo bombs my pictures on a regular basis.  All I can say is, it's a damn good thing he's cute or we'd be putting up an add on Kijiji.

For my full outfit details check out the W Style.

#photobomb

Feb 17th

We're not messing around here 

When my fabulous sister-in-law Kelsey and her husband Rod decided to move to back to his homeland of Australia, we were all extremely sad and depressed very supportive.  Perhaps the only positive thing that has come out of those two amazing people leaving is that we have adopted some of their best houseware items.  Cue gently used Nespresso machine.  Not only does it do a quick grande vanilla skinny latte (one of a million pods that you can purchase online) but it has froth options and very little mess.  Be still my heart.

Enjoying a second one this chilly morning.

   

Feb 14th 2014

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

We celebrated by going to Mercato for dinner last night - couldn't get in for tonight it's just that popular.  We shared a plate of grilled squid, a plate of gnocchi and the Lamb entree with mushrooms.  We enjoyed some red wine and came home for dessert.  Nate's parents came over to sit Scarlet.  It was all really fantastic.

Tiffany & Co inspired birthday cupcakes

For my Mom's 60th this year, we decided to all go in on a gift from Tiffany's for her.  She has always been a huge fan of the beautiful jewelry and lately, I've noticed her wearing some larger pieces, so the charm bracelet seemed like a great idea.  We can add to it as the years go by with various additions and it looks incredible on my Mom's wrist.

I made a few cupcake treats to go along with the gift and this is how they turned out.

The recipe said that it made 24 cakes but I wanted extra large ones so I just filled each cup about 3/4 full instead of the suggested 2/3 and added about three minutes to the bake time.  I was thrilled with the gigantic 12 cupcakes that I ended up with.  I took one of my old Tiffany boxes and kept it near while I carefully dropped a few drops of blue and green food colouring in the vanilla icing until the desired colour appeared.  It was really fun and boy were they delicious.   

#Tiffany #Cupcakes #60thbirthday #60yearsold 

Feb 9th 2014

How is this woman 60 years old? #Wow 

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Mom.  May the next 60 years of your life be as beautiful as you are both inside and out.  You are a huge inspiration to me on a daily basis.  The way you pay attention to your lifestyle by staying fit, healthy and mindful of your eating habits, as well as the way you treat others and stay devoted to your faith are such solid examples of what a true woman is.  

I LOVE YOU! XO
#Happybirthday

Scarlet's 10 Month update

Scar is crawling everywhere!  I can't believe how much more mobile she has become over this past month.  She is also starting to pull herself up and stand which totally freaks me out - partly due to the fact that I occasionally still see her as a newborn baby and also because I'm scared that she'll fall over and slam her head on the floor.  Her balance is wobbly when she 'stands' so I stay very close.

She is officially a beach addict!  When we were in Kauai, I was worried that she might be afraid of both the sand and the water because every time we put her near either one she would hesitate and get really clingy.  It took a few days for her to touch the sand and feel it in between her fingers.  One day on the beach we met another little baby named Lou from Sweden.  Lou is one month older than Scar and was totally in the sand crawling around, eating eat, rubbing it in her eyes and loving it.  Scarlet saw this and completely changed her tune.  She got right in there and started to play with Lou too.  So adorable.  They spoke 'baby' to one another for a good part of the afternoon.

 

She is feeding herself with both hands.  Sometimes her right and sometimes her left.  She likes bread and puffs because they're light and small enough that she can easily stuff them in her mouth.  We do lot's of fruit and veggies everyday and her only sweet 'bad' thing that she has ever had was a lick of my Mom's pineapple popsicle.  My Mom was so happy to give it to her, I was happy that she was happy.

I'm still nursing four times a day.  Unfortunately, around month nine I lost my milk.  I dropped a lot of weight and my body just didn't have anything else to work with so I knew that Scarlet wasn't getting much.  I worked on putting on few healthy pounds which helped, but even so, I could literally feel her sucking right to the back of my boob and then getting frustrated because nothing was coming out.  She would then bite me trying to stimulate the milk and I just ended up in pain with a fussy hungry baby.  So, I tried Mother's Milk tea first for about two weeks.  It helped a little.  The downside is, I really hate tea, to me it just tastes like dirty water and the other downside was that you had to have two or three big mugs of it daily.  Scarlet started getting a little bit more but it wasn't enough for her.  So, I went on medication called Motillium.  Worked like  a charm!  It really has been a lifesaver for me.  I'm thrilled with the results.  No side effects for me or Scarly and we have gotten back to comfortable nursing with no biting, pain or frustration.  I hope to nurse her till she turns one (and can drink cows milk without issue).  Until then, I plan on staying with the Motillium.

Sleeping is a dream!  She is still out for the entire night with the door shut and monitor on.  It is such a blessing have a few hours to ourselves before we hit the hay.  Nate and I give each other back rubs and talk or watch movies.  On the weekends we sip wine too!!!  It's soooo nice!Scar goes down somewhere between 7:30 - 8:30 depending on the day and will sleep until 8:00 the following day.  It's just so nice to have a baby that does this because over the holiday we ran into a couple who STILL have issues with their baby doing regular night wakes ups. UGH! I myself turn into a cranky zombie if I don't get at least 7 hours so Scarlet's sleep habits have been a gift from heaven.  We are still working on weaning her from the bouncy ball and I anticipate that it will take some time just because she has had it since she was born, but I feel that this one 'vice' is small in comparison.  

I'm looking forward to planning and hosting her first birthday party!  The theme is going to be the Beach.  Haha!

Plane tips for Moms with infants

What could possibly be more terrifying than childbirth?  I'll tell you.  Bringing that same child onto a plane for the first time.  Here are a few tips to help you on that dreaded flight.

I feel that since Scarlet has now been on six plane rides I can speak about some of the challenges that parents face on a plane.

The first is: other passengers.  You are now known as 'That-Person-that-brings-a-baby-on-an-airplane'.  Yes, the woman may smile at you while you walk down that skinny ass aisle but inside they're saying "Really? I can't have just one flight without an infant screaming?  This is supposed to be my vacation!"  And the men - they don't even smile because they're too busy chanting "Not beside me, please God not beside me, not beside me, not beside me. Go to the back, go to the back, go to the back".  But irritable people is something that you have to just accept and let go of.  If you think about it, we were all babies once, and we all screamed our heads off either on or off of an airplane, so those people can just deal with it.  If they have had kids, they know and they can shrug it off.

Challenge two: babies, like adults, get bored on airplanes really quickly.  Think about it - you're staring at the back of a chair for five hours and unless you have a movie playing in front of you, a magazine, a book, a sudoku, you're going to get antsy fast.  So is a baby.  Bring toys.  Lot's and lot's of new shiny toys.  Not in the budget?  Hide certain toys four weeks prior to going on your trip and bring them out on the plane.  

Challenge number three: ear canals.  The first flight Scarlet was on was slightly mysterious in a good way.  She didn't cry at any point.  Not during take off, not during flight time and not during the landing.  I was actually slightly concerned that she may have an issue with her hearing because I was told so often that the pressure hurts the baby's ears so I just prepared for tears during all of these times.  What I realized was in her fourth or fifth flight (where I was told that I had to hold her in a burping position) was that she wasn't nursing and hence more suseptable to popping ears.  I guess WestJet is more laid back concerning whether baby is held or not during these times which I absolutely did until I was told NOT to by Air Canada.  Providing your baby with something that she can suck on or drink is crucial.  Holding her in your arms in the burping position without anything in her mouth is bad news bears.

Challenge four: sleeping.  If you have a red eye, your baby will hopefully sleep, that is if other passengers and/or the airline are willing to shift, move, provide you with an extra seat.  As some of you know, babies under one are free, but they don't get a seat of their own.  You are left holding her, which isn't so bad if you have your partner/husband with you.  I did two flights just holding Scarlet on my own without an extra seat.  Hard.  Very hard.  She didn't sleep in my arms after around six months unless she was uber tired so forget any sleep on that plane.  If you have a red-eye flight, and an extra seat it can be wonderful.  Our last flight from Kauai worked well because she drifted off in my arms and then I was able to put her down.  We were forced to hold her during turbulence which woke her up, but eventually we were able to get her back down when the seat-belt sign went off.




Challenge five: eating and drinking.  Those little squeeze packets and small puff bites are allowed.  So is 100 ml of water is allowed.  Everything else is not.  Found this out the hard way.




I found that I got excited when I saw other parents with children.  I was on a flight where we were literally the only family with a child, so I knew I couldn't hope to blame anyone else when Scarlet let out her wails - and listen up - at some point your child will wail.  Get ready for the glares.  But honestly, it isn't that bad.  The positives are that the noise of the plane can put them right out, or the stewardess may have a new treat or game for your little one.  The first flight might be your most intimidating, but after that it will feel like a breeze.  Hope this helps some of the new mommies out there.

#Planetipsformoms

2014 RESOLUTIONS

Resolutions are fun to make up even though I usually only do them till March or April at best.  I have fond memories of my Mom asking all of us kids what we plan on accomplishing during the year.  So here are my goals for 2014.

1. Take Ballroom classes with Nate

After becoming obsessed with DWTS this season (my faves are Val for guys and Pita for girls) I swore that I needed to learn this dance discipline.  Teaching solo styles like Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop has been my life long passion but it will be so neat to TAKE a dance class that I know nothing about - even if my husband is kicking and screaming.  He'll like it in the end.

2. Take Spanish classes

This is a repeat resolution.  When we were sailing on the boat a few years ago, this was my one and only resolution for the year.  I had the tapes and books and work-packs that I did everyday until about the end of March, and then I just quit, and/or gave up.  It was hard and I wasn't able to have anyone to practice with or tell me yes I was doing it right or no try it this way.  Well, now that we're a few years ahead I regret quitting and said to myself 'I could have been so much further along in my Spanish if only I had kept going with it!' So, I'm signing up for night classes asap.  I really really want to be able to speak another language.

3. Practice Piano five times a week

Piano and I have had a love hate relationship with one another for my entire life.  My poor mother had to deal with me as a teenager cursing the half and hour a day practice time that she used to make me do, until one afternoon, we had a screaming match about it and I 'quit' on the spot.  Now 10-15 years later I can see my Mom was right.  I SHOULD have kept going with it because I do love it, but thankfully, I was far enough along that I can read music well and I'm able to practice on my own.  

So there it is - in writing.  Exciting?  YES!  Doable?  YES!  Are we going until next December with these three very fun and manageable SMART resolutions?!  YES!!!

Scarlet's 9 Month Update

Oops didn't do an 8 monther because of the Mexican holiday.  My bad...

A few major milestones have happened this month for Scar.  Here they are:

• First plane ride and first big trip outside of Canada 
• First Christmas
• First teeth (Her two bottom teeth have erupted out of her gums)
• First success with crawling but she 'skoots' and rolls around to get where she wants to be much faster.
• First Unknown illness (about ten angry red face spots) thought they were zits (wrong) then Chicken pox (wrong) then contact dermatitis (still don't know if that's right or wrong)
• First rash (all over her torso and back)
• First fever (highest it got to was 38.5)
• First kiss from a boy!  Jaeger is her fave
• First reaction to something 'hurting' her.  She was holding a book upside down and dropped it on her face and really started to cry and reach for me.  So cute but so sad.
• ANNNND, always waving.  At everyone and everything.  The christmas tree, the cat, the t.v, strangers, herself in the mirror and the best part about it is that it's usually with her left hand.  

I only get extra excited about the last one because I am left handed and have always been put on the corner of the end of the dining room table at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Sunday night dinners.  I figure if Scarlet is left-handed too we can sit beside eat other at every meal.  I'm really rooting for that left hand.  

Whirlwind

It happened like this.

9:00 am Mom and Dad book a trip to Mexico the morning before they leave.

11:00 am They come over to our house to say goodbye and give Scarlet a squeeze.  They joke that Scarlet and I should join them - but we have no passport for Scarlet.

12:30 pm We all eat lunch and they leave.

3:30 pm Knock on the door.  Dude with a thick mustache hands me a mysterious package.

We have a passport.

4:00 pm I call my parents to tell them.

5:00 pm Nate gets home and starts making calls.

7:00 pm Scarlet and I are booked.

7:01 pm We pack

9:00 pm We sleep

7:30 am We're on a plane to Cabo.

Before - Calgary Morning 

First flight!  She was amazing.  NO TEARS!

4 hour flight.  No problem.

After - Mexico!

Antipasto

Kate, Scarlet, Auntie Kelsey, Gigi and Chris making the goods

Today we spent the better part of the morning making some delicious Antipasto to give as hostess gifts this holiday season.  There is a ton of chopping so the four of us thought we would tag team it and work together.  I ended up just doing the pickles and the green beans - two of over fifteen different ingredients - so I got off pretty easy.  I can imagine how hard it would be to make this on your own.  Nate and I now have ten small mason jars full of the delicious treat since we split the end result four ways.  Looking forward to giving them out!  Next up - Pfeffernusse (Peppernuts) the German treat that Mom and I do every year.

Chillin' in the fridge.

If you love shopping like I do, read on.

Forewarning.  This is a rant.  Don't continue to read if you don't want to be affected by how you spend your money when you shop.

I know... you're thinking about stopping.

But if you're at this paragraph by now, you might be curious.  So I'll get on with it.  Nate and I stumbled upon the documentary 'Death by China' on Netflix.  It was shocking.  I'm about to get preachy about it, but you HAVE to see it.  Seriously.

Basically it documents the communist Chinese government (NOT it's citizens) and the immoral economic manufacturing practices.  For starters, it's disturbing to see how children and the environment are most negatively affected by the government and how North America's relationship with them is spiraling out of control.  But, it made me sick after seeing it and I can't get it off my mind.  There are NO current laws on Chinese imports meaning every dollar that you spend on stuff MADE IN CHINA is going to their corrupt and ruthless government who use it to do too many scary things to talk about in one blog post.  But one of which is worth mentioning.  They pour OUR CASH into building their military in pursuit of domination.  Yah - GLOBAL domination.  I'm not over exaggerating.

What's worse is, after seeing it, Nate and I went shopping the next day partly because the poor boy needs some new duds, but also just to test this movie.  How hard would it be to purchase something without seeing the words Made in China on it?  Like really...  I had my doubts.  Turns out, it was near impossible.  Almost every single solitary item had these words marked somewhere.  I'M NOT KIDDING!  In fact, I can almost guarantee you that at least one of the items of clothing you are currently wearing was made in China by someone under the age of 10 and that worked a 12 hour day in a disgustingly dirty and unkept warehouse and then went home to a shack that locals nicknamed 'another cancer village' because of the horrible pollution.  This is unacceptable.

We even went to some well know 'Canadian' companies and the majority of the pieces were from China!!!  It was honestly scary.  I could barely find even one item that wasn't made there in some of the stores that I thought were tried and true.  How could a 'Canadian' company (that I will not name in this post) call themselves Canadian when the majority of the work and labour and composition is done in China?  It's like saying: "I want to bake my Grandma's bread.  But wait, I could actually get HER to do it and not thank her or pay her any money for it and then I could resell it for a big profit at my kid's school bake sale and claim that I did it all by myself!  100% family recipe made by me.  Oh, Grandma has been placed in a horribly unsafe environment for the majority of the day and night and is being threatened with various punishments if she doesn't keep making the bread for free?  No, those are just rumours.  I refuse to believe it.  I'm still good.  It's all still good.  There is a profit and everything is fine.  Grandma is fine.

Evil.

But it isn't just clothes!  It's EVERYTHING!  Like I mean everything.  Your microwave, your phone, your t.v, ALL of the electronic stuff in your car, your baby toys, your underwear, your bra, your shoes!  YOUR BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL SHOES!!!  I know.  My heart is breaking too.

Now, this doesn't mean I'm going to run out and find every item in my house that is Made in China and burn it.  I would literally have very little left.  But I AM going to support and invest more of my money into Canadian companies and even American such as:   Mac, Marks Work Warehouse, LaCanadienne (look at their shoes, you will DIE), just to name a few pure bred Canadian shops that actually manufacture their stuff.  Yes, sometimes it can be more expensive and now I know why, but I now know it's worth it.  I'm also going to check labels.  I do it when I eat food and I'm going to do it when I shop.  I'm going to look and see what are countries and governments that are fair in their practices and purchase from those that I know are safe.

Prior to seeing this movie, I really didn't get it.  I also admittedly chose to look the other way and/or ignore when I heard anything about overseas manufacturing or the dangers of China.  I simply called ignorance.  Honestly, I thought it was because those people and the media were being racist.  I wanted to SUPPORT those countries by buying their products, but I was so so sooooo wrong.  With the Christmas season right around the corner I will try my hardest to purchase from the small businesses and local groceries, online websites such as Etsy where you can find adorable and beautiful handmade items.  I'll do this to support proper treatment of others, the environment and encourage our county's economy to grow - not the dictators of another.

Watch the movie, do some research and buy local.  You will have an impact.

There, that's the rant.

Also, if I go missing you'll know to find me in a prison somewhere in the far east.

7 month update

Lentils

Scarlet's 'sitting' is getting better and better.  Occasionally, I worry that she will fall back too hard on her head but thankfully we have carpet in the upstairs media room where she plays. It helps to soften the fall.  I like to practice with her sitting between my lower legs so I can grab her if she decides to do a 'backdrop', but she still isn't able to sit for longer than five minutes on her own.

Naps have changed.  We're now down to two naps a day and they are very hit or miss ranging anywhere from 30minutes to and hour and a half.  I hear that it's because she is just more aware of her surroundings so she wakes easier and suffers a touch of anxiety if we're not there.  We've been 'training' her to fall asleep on her own, meaning we will put her down when she's still awake rather than bounce her on the bouncy ball till she's out.  She has a pacifier (which we're both not wild about) but we were really REALLY encouraged by both my Mom and my Mother-in-law to try to get her on one.  I guess it's much more difficult weaning kids from sucking their fingers than it is getting them to give up the soother - but every baby is different.  My Mom put tabasco sauce on my fingers to get me to stop and now I can't even smell the stuff without cringing.  Now that Scalret uses a soother she likes to sleep with one but will wake up to play with it too.  We prefer having it out and keep it for emergencies when we're out or just not able to get her down.  On the plus side of sleeping she is still out for the entire night.  She goes down at around 8:00ish and wakes at 7:00. So happy about this.

Scarlet eats solids three times a day and breast feeds four times a day.  We've dropped the night feed completely (THANK YOU GOD).  I feed her breast milk before offering the solids.  She started off with Rice Cereal and was less than impressed so we gave her sweet potatoes and yams and she went gaga over food.

Scarlet is a very good eater. She loves Avocado and Banana the best.  Here is a list of all the foods that we've done so far.  The blender and ice cube tray have been my B.F.F's lately.

Meats:  Chicken, Lamb and Salmon

Veggies:  Peas, Yams, Sweet Potato, Turnip, Parsnip, Carrot, Spinach

Fruit:  Banana, Apple, Avocado

Other:  Egg yolk, Lentils 

I usually give her two veggies in the morn, egg yolk or avocado in the afternoon and rice Cereal mixed with prune juice (cause it clogs them up) and a fruit for dessert.  She eats it ALL and I couldn't be happier.

Scarlet has had her third immunization shot and didn't even flinch - I'm not making this up.  We were prepped for massive crocodile tears like the last two times.  I even made Nate meet me for moral support, but Scarlet looked at the nurse while the needle was going in and was like; 'HEY!  What the heck?' and then moved on.  Best reaction ever.  She is currently in the 45% for weight and 50% for height.  

Still no hair, still no teeth, still the sweetest in my eyes.

I call it Daddy n Dots bonding time - it's actually Mommy time.

Momma spying on Daddy n Dots time.

All mommas need a break and whether it's a weekend away with the girls (I wish), a day off to go for lunch and a movie with your Mom or just an hour to get to the gym, I totally believe that I'm a healthier person and mom to Scarlet if I have a bit of time away from her.  Every night, I try to get out.  I usually end up blowing off some steam at the gym, but I've also found myself at Shoppers browsing mags or Chapters drinking a coffee by myself and it is so flipping nice.  It's also a treat to come home afterwards cause I just feel more energized and excited to see my babes.  It is a great thing this time away.