Look ma -- more teeth!

Little Nateski has two top teeth (after more than three weeks of crappy pain and some blood and lots of discomfort and children's Advil)! He's almost back to normal after his big trip and teething adventure. All he wants to do is stand up these days and is totally offended and pissy if you put him in his exersaucer. He is even resenting his stroller! I have to admit that I'm totally disarmed by his new toothy grin and am amazed at how much he has changed in the past couple of weeks (but then I always say that).

We have a pumpkin that we intended to carve days ago, but as of yet remains in it's natural state. I feel very unprepared for this Halloween and will consider this one a non starter. I promise to do better in the future with the pumpkin and costume and candy apples and house decorations and stuff. Y'all I'm feeling a little overwhelmed since I got back, and time is a flyin' and I'm uneasy at the small amount of stuff I've managed to accomplish since Nate has joined us in the world. I feel like there is so much I want to do with him and for him and I'm just not measuring up somehow. I know this is stupid, but I feel like that anyway and plan on having a nice long talk with myself in the shower today (that's when I listen best).

Today's hopeful list of stuff to do in no particular order:

put away laundry (neverending task)
shower (mama's hair is getting creepy)
go to capers and get food (I'm looking forward to this cause we have a giftcard and I plan to spend it on expensive organic produce)
make Nate's new supply of food (aforementioned organic produce)
clean up the house (ha! but we can try)
make dinner (tonight's menu features dry lamb curry, south asian singapore style, and sauteed okra with spices and rice)
give out candy (if we are lucky we shall have one or two kids)
do more laundry
sleep

Time to get started on the shower part of the day!

Back!

Hey y'all!

A little more than two weeks has passed and everything is the same but different, if ya know what I mean. Same house, same stuff I left piled around, but from the new perspective of being reminded that it's my stuff, in my house, and that I'm an adult and have things (things to do, things to be, you know -- things). When I go back I tend to be in a weirdly liminal place of woman-child-ness. I'm in my folks house and they have their own routine and their own ways of doing stuff, and I'm in some ways thrown back to being the teen and early twentysomething I was before I left home (not that they treat me like this--it's just all those familiar patterns). I'm cared for in that mom does the laundry and the cooking for the most part and buys the groceries and stuff. It's nice for a bit but in the long term would drive us all crazy I think. Even being a mom doesn't change this dynamic all that much. Thus is the way of families I'm guessing. We had a lovely time and were sad to leave. I'm always a little sad/happy/confused after a trip home to the Haffalax. Sad to leave, happy to be home, confused cause our family can't be in two places at the same time.

Iffin you have never seen an autumn on the East Coast, put it on your list of things to do before you die. We had some lovely days of that bright sunshine and cool crispness that characterizes fall-ness (pumpkins, and apples and wood stoves and halloween and unpacking kids' snowsuits for the winter to come). The public gardens had not closed yet, so we took Nate for a walk to see the ducks and a long stroll on the waterfront (he was loving it). I took no pictures during our trip home, or no pictures I want to admit to. I am no photographer y'all, and I had our old camera which takes like a second between pressing the button and taking the picture so the few I did get were blurry. Justin is the photographer in the family, me not so much. So no pictures.

Nate loved being at the house with its roominess and tonnes of floor space to explore. He motors along now and you have to keep all eyes in a room dedicated to him or else he will find trouble trouble trouble. He has a new word that seems to actually mean something to him in a way that other sounds don't. He will look at you and say quite clearly "dat." If you don't do/say/have a reaction he wants, he then says "dat, dat, dat," and smiles, or grins or bangs something. So I say to him "dat" back, and he is usually quite pleased with that. He also wants to grab the spoon and feed himself, which doesn't really work at all. But gaud luv'em he's tryin (my best written Maritimer accent).

My parents were in heaven and my mom showed Nate how to make funny faces, taught him songs, spoiled him rotten, and needled me because I wouldn't let her give him ice cream yet ("just a little taste off the spoon" she said) as I'm doing an allergy introduction thing with him. My Dad played with him, sang his version of 50s and 60s greatest hits to him, and generally doted on him (he even changed a dirty diaper -- that's love!).

It has taken me the better part of the day to get this post together, so I think I'll click the little button.

It's nice to be home.

Going back to Hali

Nate and I are off to Halifax tomorrow for two weeks. We are currently in packing hell and will be all day I expect. Nate's top two teeth are coming in and causing him quite a bit of pain and discomfort (and we are getting on a plane tomorrow -- eeeeek). I'm excited to be going home though, and I expect Nate will be happy when he gets there having grandparents to fulfill his every whim. My mom has furnished a room for him, complete with cartoon stickers on the walls and his own crib. This begs the question:

Are we going to get our baby back?

Ciao!

Thanks

I really don't want to fall into the trap of being trite. But I never could avoid a trap even when it had a sign posted on it and big flashing lights saying "trap here, please don't fall into it." Kind of like how I can't keep myself from getting the last word in, making the obvious joke, or pushing whatever metaphorical big red button presents itself. Anyway, it is Thanksgiving weekend and this morning I've been thinking about giving my thanks to the powers that be, the universe, or whatever turns your particular crank, for the not suckingness of my life. I'm not particular about Thanksgiving as a holiday, because I think it is way messed up in colonial crapiness. Our ancestors got here and promptly screwed the First Nations (oh sure they invited them to dinner first) and haven't done much to thank them for their help since.

Nonetheless, just calling it Thanksgiving makes you think about -- well -- giving thanks. A few things I give thanks for are:

• friends, 'cause life would really suck without them. I have the world's best friends who have stuck with me through tonnes of weird and wonderful stuff.
• breastpumps, cause the last seven months would have been hell, hell, hell without one. You have no idea how awesome and necessary they are until you start breastfeeding. Either you know or you don't so I'll move on.
• my job, cause I really like it.
• chocolate (totally obvious).

I also feel the need to say how much I love and am thankful for my family. I've got the bestest partner in the world (no you don't, I do!), a fantastic kid who I learn something about and from every single day and a kind and gentle dog. I also have the best parents and siblings ever.

See, trite, but I can't help it.

Trite, but also disgustingly sincere.

'nuff said

Out on the town

Last night we went to Habit for dinner with Nate. There were a couple of small snafus that made me pretty cranky. They apparently don't believe in high chairs. When I asked about it they told me they were afraid kids in high chairs might get stuff spilled on them, especially if they were positioned at the end of booths. I have to say that this didn't fly with me as I saw a couple of places where a high chair would have fit perfectly well out of harm's way (and they do have actual tables as well). This was kind of dissapointing y'all as I was told that this place (even though it is kind of a 'beautiful people' hang out for the main street hipster crowd) was pretty kid friendly. It might be kid friendly but not so baby friendly, and I'm starting to be able to make the distinction. So I ended up spilling a glass of water in my lap while holding on to Nate while Justin tied his hair up (cause Nate loves to pull on Justin's hair). Eventually they came up with a little booster contraption that had been squirrelled away and forgotten somewhere in the back of the restaurant that worked pretty well.

Nate played with his spoon, tupperware lid, ziploc bag (yep, we are bad parents and gave him his very own ziploc bag) and I bet was better behaved than most of the patrons on any given night. The dinger, y'all, is that the food was nothing to write home about in the end. We had a crispy tofu dish with mushrooms and spinach that was pretty good, orange pomegranate chicken wings which were okay, and a free range chicken corn tortilla dish that pretty much sucked (corn tortilla was cold and stale in some places and mushy in others, chicken was stringy and dry). All in all it didn't really live up to all the hype, and we've had much better food in other, sometimes cheaper and better places like The Bin 941 and 942, Vij's, Rangoli, and Toshi (some of these places are very baby friendly and some haven't been tested yet by us). Anyhow, Justin and I have always been foodies (any kind of food at any price as long as its good), and we will probably raise Nate as a little foodie. This makes baby/kid friendliness pretty important. Most places open at five and give us plenty of opportunity to get there before Nate turns into a pumpkin. I mean it's great to go out for a nice dinner just the two of us, but dinner with all of us is far easier to arrange.

In the end, the staff at Habit tried to be accomodating and were very cheerful and nice (one server had two kids and was very understanding), but the food just didn't cut it. For desert we split a lemon and cardamom creme brulee which was good (silky and nice), with pistachio cookies (mealy and dry). Are we condemned to eat at "family" restaurtants now for the rest of our days? I think not.

Mostly I'm in a pretty damn fine mood today cause The Battlestar Galactica season Premiere is tonight and we've been waiting for it for sooooooo long! Wahoo!

It's going to be a fracking good time.

Cripes

I got my hair cut yesterday and I'm not feeling the love y'all. It's a bit short and I'm terrified I look like some kind of demented suburban soccer mom. Justin says not so I will believe him (I'd rather believe him cause y'all, denial is more than a river in Egypt).

Blek

We are all down with a cold here, with Justin as the latest patient. The brightest eyes in the whole place belong to Snoopy who really doesn't get what we are bitching about. Despite being sick, Nate persists in a mostly cheerful manner, snot bubbles and all. He occasionally gets cranky-pants-clingy, but can usually be distracted into a decent mood. Being sick and having a kid is a new experience for me. You can't just go and lay down if you feel like it, can't just give up and sit on the couch and quit 'cause you got someone else to worry about who can't take care of himself. Justin and I have been spelling off each other so we can all have naps.

And today, your eye candy is a picture of Nate eating supper on the deck.

He is pretty darn cute in a touque.

Snuffy snuffy Nate and chocolate cake

Nate has his first cold. His little nose is all runny, he has a bit of a temperature, and he's blowing his first little snot bubbles. He's dealing rather well though and is still pretty cheerful considering. Justin and I are a bit under the weather as well. It seems like the end of the summer cold is making its rounds. I'm not doing that badly y'all, cause I have a piece of vegan chocolate cake with candy hearts on top with my name all over it (it's actually not vegan this time 'cause I put butter in the icing). The anticipation of the cake will keep me going for a while. For now, I think I'll have a cup of tea and join Nate in a nap.

My nephew Evan @ 8 weeks

Pictures of cuteness

My baby tasting his fingers and my baby tasting coffee.