Happy Hour

The white bear is telling the joke...

Scarlet says 'Hee hee hee HAHAHA!!  That's HILARIOUS!' 

 'wait, I don't get it...'

Definitely her Mother's daughter.

It's all a bunch of lies

Yah that's right Anne Geddes - you're secret is coming out RIGHT NOW!

All those sweet adorable baby pictures that you see all over the internet - I'm calling it...FAKE!  What I've come to understand is that taking a good picture of your child can take literally HOURS of painstaking hard work.  Lighting, outfit, puke, poo, camera charged up, naptime, feeding time all play into getting just one ok shot and those other baby pics make it look so easy, almost as if it 'just happened'.  Nope - long hours, hard work, many tears.

For example,  I was encouraged by my Mom to use the same cute little homemade cardboard circle in all of Scarlet's monthly updates to compare from month to month on how big she was getting.  I thought - fun idea, and have been using the same one up until yesterday.  It went like this:

Oooo!  Pictures?! OF ME?!  OK!!!

Wait what's this?  The number five?  Sweet...

You don't even know Mom, you don't even know.

Getting closer.

Going for it.

And - attack.

GET IT!  chomp chomp chomp.

A little scary how much she liked it.

This is when it started getting disturbing.

I took it away because there was tape on the back of the five and I thought it might become a choking hazard.  Gold medal - responsible mom.

Then this happened.

Not even Sophie (a ACTUAL teething toy) would help.

I WANT THE FIVE!

So I gave her the five for a few more minutes.

Poor thing.

Holiday fun in BC

Breastfeeding pit-stop

Traveling with a baby is intimidating for any new parent.  Luckily, Nate and I had the courage to take Scar up to the cabin a few times this summer so we were feeling confident enough to go a little further and do a few nights away in beautiful British Columbia.  I was super nervous about the 4.5 hour drive but we agreed that we would take as many breaks as we needed to - even if it would take us all day to get there.  The ride up turned out to be relatively easy and the ride home was even better because she slept the whole ride back.  It was wonderful.  This was a really great introduction to travel with a third member of the clan and we're looking forward to doing more this coming November!

A few shots of the view from our room

It got a tad cold out there so I was happy I brought a few warm items for our little lovebug. 

Our drive home - Rundle Mountain 

Of course, sunny Canmore/Calgary.  Even though we were somewhat rained out for most of the trip we still enjoyed it and are looking forward to Hawaii next!

Scarlet's five month update

I'm a little late in posting this latest update because our little clan took some time to travel to BC right after the long weekend.  We thought that since all the little kiddies would be back in school, it would be a fantastic time to hit up some of the busier spots like Windermere and Fairmont.  It was really great getting out of the city and Scarlet held up like a true trooper.  She slept the entire 4 hour ride home!  We were really thankful for that and we're now feeling a bit more confident about traveling to Hawaii for a longer period of time this winter.

So now that Scarlet is five months, I have noticed some major changes.  She is much more alert and aware.  In fact, I have to take her to a quiet dark space to breast feed or she'll pull away constantly and look around/smile/laugh/get totally distracted.  It's just easier on her (and on my nipples) if she has as few distractions as possible.

Really holding her head up on her own and occasionally sitting up by herself for a few seconds.  I'm always right near by.

Still excellent tummy time without as much fussing (15-20 minutes per day)

Jolly Jumping everyday for max 15 minutes at a time.  SHE LOVES THIS!

Still nursing 7-8 times a day although she is much more efficient and can get a lot of milk in a short amount of time.

Unfortunately, her sleeping habits have changed a bit.  She will wake up now two times through the night to feed (which is exhausting).  We took her out of her swaddle which is a big change for her, and we tried (unsuccessfully) for about a week to sleep train.  She just wasn't ready for it and caused a huge fuss.  We are taking a break from the sleep training and we'll try again in a few weeks.  Nobody was getting any sleep.

Still sleeping in our bedroom in the basinet and in her crib during the day for naps.  I'm still not ready for her to be away from me during the night.  

Naps two-three times a day 10:00ish, 2:00ish and 5:30ish usually 45 min, 1.5 hours, 1/2hour in the evening.

Smiling and now laughing all the time!  This is so wonderful and makes the hard nights much easier

Loving her Mommy and Daddy the best

Cooing, babbling, 'talking' and 'singing' everyday

Gets startled at loud noises and gets scared at certain new faces

Best demeanor ever.  She definitely gets this from Nate.  She is so chill and easy going.  It's so nice to be able to take her out and live MY life while still enjoying her sweet company.  LOVE!

I'm taking 5 month pictures today (two days late) so stay tuned for more cuteness!  

Sept 3rd

Work?  HA!!!

Major perk of having a baby... MATERNITY LEAVE!

But there are a few things I'm missing as I look at all the sweet kids going back to school.  I'm missing the students and my amazing colleagues.  I'm NOT missing the late late late nights, the marking, the weekend 6 hour rehearsals, the marking, writing IPPs, the marking and the nasty 35 - 45 minute commute.  May summer continue on as scheduled!!!  Hoping for warm weather this week ;)