Sleep and other stuff

We've been sleep 'shaping'. I suppose some would call it sleep training but as you know I cannot do the cry-it-out thing. I physically can't do it. Sometime just after Christmas, A went from waking once per night (manageable) to three times (not). If she would co-sleep, it might have worked but I had to get up, go down the hall and often it takes me a very long time to get back to sleep so I wasn't doing very well. Anyway, our new plan was to try to eliminate the 2am feeding by sending in T with water. She wasn't crazy about it but she adapted pretty well. Everyone was worse off for a week or two but things are moving in the right direction. That's the main reason it's been quiet here on the posting front. I really should be sleeping now. That's the daily choice; get to bed right after the kids do or have a bit of adult time. Too often, I let sleep lapse and well.... this blog has its name for a reason.

A is doing well. Lot's to talk about there but that will have to be another post. We had her 2nd physio session (we go every 2 months) on Thursday. We're working on the hands and knees position and teaching her to get from lying down to sitting up. Eating is going very well and she's mastered clapping. There's nothing better than coming into her field of vision and getting a round of applause just for showing up. (I apologize for my annoying voice but she likes it)

Here she is at a party, trying to grab her Dad's wine glass. Are we in for trouble or what?

In little t news, there was a fall down, head bump with stitches adventure. It was a rare sunny day and I struggled to get outside with both kids between naps and feedings. It took about 20 minutes of uphill battle to get them both ready to get out. We walked along together breathing in some fresh air. I was so excited to leave the building. Tor ran ahead a little bit and A was on my back in the ergo. We were heading to a trail but while still on the road, I looked back to ensure an approaching car was not heading our way. I kept walking with my head turned and tripped t who had slowed to wait for me. He fell headfirst to the pavement and it wasn't pretty. Lots of blood and tears. We weren't far from home and we rushed back to clean it up. Luckily T was there and he helped me. Thank God for skype. We skyped my mom, Grandma R, a nurse and she advised us that he needed stitches or at least a steri-tape thingy so we headed to the doctor. He was very brave and it's healing up nicely. We have been very lucky. We hardly go to the doctor at all.

It has been a bleary-eyed month so far but I've had a few moments of clarity. One of them came on a day where I had had a good sleep the night before. Little t and I were playing soccer in the downstairs room while A was napping. Suddenly it hit me. These days I am spending with both kids are so fleeting. In September he'll be going to school everyday possibly for full days. I'll miss him so much. I must do my best to soak it all in even when I'm so tired I could collapse. My official maternity leave is done in March but I will try to take the summer off as well. How could I miss it? Yes, it will be tight but these times are not coming back.

Help for Haiti

If you're considering donating funds to help out the relief effort in Haiti, you might want to send them to Doctors without Borders. They do amazing work and are often in areas where others fear to tread.

Doctors without Borders, Haiti update

(I am not affiliated with them, just an admirer and donor)

Happy New Year!!! (better late than never)

Here are a couple of shots of our New Year's Eve plus a little movie of moments. I'll keep it brief because little A's sleep has been rough on me lately and I'm tiiiiiiiiiiiiired. But I can't let this opportunity pass to say that 2009 was the craziest year of my life. I'm inspired and impressed by the introspection and thoughtfulness of many of the New Year posts I've read. I would like to reach that same level of profundity but it's beyond me. I'll have to settle for knowing that 2009 has changed me irreversibly for the better and we're all entering 2010 with love, hope and more faith.

Our evening was low-key with just the 4 of us. We had a wonderful dinner of bouillabaise (sp?) preceded by a Skype to my brother and family in the middle of the country. After dessert (pie and ice cream) we looked at pictures of 2009 and years past. Then fireworks, sparklers and bedtime. Little A was asleep pretty early but Little T's head was just hitting the pillow at midnight.

King of New Year's Eve

And the Queen

Festive Table

Mmmmm dinner (is this starting to seem like a food blog????)

Some highlights... more experimentation with iMovie

Happy 10 months old

Our lovely A is 10 months old today. Alot has changed in those 10 months. My physical labour morphed into a labour of the heart. We went through a tunnel of fear and grief out to a great view with lots of giggles and love. Happy 10 month day little one. You are some kind of magic.

Love Mom

Christmas Update

I hope all of you had a great Christmas. Thank you to everyone who came by, thank you to everyone who hosted, thank you to well-wishers who drop by this blog and a huge thank you to everyone for the insane amount of presents for the kids. There is enough stuff here for another two Christmas's. We know we are lucky and we are striving to pass that message on to the kids.

On the Monday before Christmas, I took little t out to buy something for someone else, for someone who may not get any presents. Our local Christmas Bureau accepts new gifts for kids. Families who need the service can come and 'shop' for what they need. Little t busted out his piggy bank and put in some of his own money and I made up the rest. He chose a Nerf sword which he wanted to play with. It was interesting. I could see he really wanted it but he understood the whole exercise was to give it away. Thanks to friends N & L for coming too. I'm glad we did it. We need to do alot more of that I think.

Baby A proved herself to be a real party girl. She would not settle down for bed on Christmas night because there were new people around. When I went to pick her up, instead of rooting for milk as she would normally do, she pulled her whole body (and mine) toward the door and toward the party. She can't stand missing anything. I took her to the pediatrician for a check up on the 29th and she thought the waiting room was another party. Why not? There were kids, toys, books and a nice lady greeting everyone. When she's excited she lets out a James Brown yelp and that's what she did all week. Party, party, party.

I'm pretty exhausted so we're keeping things low key for New Year's Eve and Day. There will be a good dinner of course and hopefully a walk or two. We will also look through our pictures of 2009 to reflect on the year and share our hopes for 2010.

Here are some shots of our fun times. Up above, the kids are wearing their nisser hats. Nisser (pronounced something like Nissa) means elf in Danish. Down below we see baby A eating a good book in front of the Christmas carnage. Mmmmm book.

Here's little t on Christmas Eve in front of our tree.

Finally, here is baby A on her first Christmas, playing mostly with wrapping paper. This is my first experiment with iMovie. She normally smiles more than this but I didn't get nearly as much footage as I would have liked. Anyway, despite her serious intent, she's having lot's of fun.

Christmas Parties

December has been a busy month for everyone here. I suppose that applies to everyone who will read this. We're still putting the final touches on Christmas here. FF and FM are in town as well as Auntie A and Uncle V and we will have a wonderful dinner for Christmas Eve with riz a almande for dessert, followed by songs and gift exchange. The adults drew names this year to keep things under control. Christmas morning we'll have breakfast and then open the gifts from my family. Christmas dinner will be pork roast with crackling and red cabbage (very Danish). We've invited a few friends over for that so things should be lively.

We will miss you all greatly.

Here are some festive events we've been to recently.

All four of us at LS & WH annual Christmas fondue. It's rare to get all of us in one shot. Time for a professional I think. Check out baby A's YSL dress. My friend got it at a thrift shop. What a little fashion plate. She loves parties too!

Arrrrrggghhhh, Little t with pirates at the Science Centre's Christmas party.

Little t with Santa at the Science Centre's Christmas party. After hanging with the pirates he couldn't resist having his face painted as a pirate. Hard to believe.

Little t's pre-school Christmas party. He hasn't asked why Santa doesn't always look the same but then again, Santa is not the main event at our place.

Little t 'singing' along at his school party. The kids are all wearing reindeer hats they made.

mmmmmm bread

We've been making bread here a few times a week. There's nothing like the smell of a homemade loaf about to graduate from the oven to your table with some room temperature salted butter and if you're lucky some yummy soup. (It rains alot here and we could eat that meal everyday from October to April). So, those of you who know me know that I'm always in a hurry and always trying to cram too much into not enough time. You must be wondering what I could possibly know about baking bread. This no knead bread concept came out a few years ago and apparently swept the continent. It's really easy and simply requires a bit of a think ahead. You need a hot oven and a really good heavy enameled cast iron pot with a lid. I tried making it in a thinner pot at camp this summer and it was a disaster. Also, white flour or predominantly white with a little bit of whole wheat works best. We tried spelt flour and ended up with a cracker. This method is so popular that there are dozens of people blogging about their experiences and variations they've invented. Here's one example. I like it because I know what's in it and organic flour is cheaper than organic bread. Little A loves chewing on it too as of this week. Try it and let me know how it goes!