Just call me the Elysia bragger...

My daughter is getting so big!  She's now five months old and weighs a little over 12lbs.  How I love my baby!!  I sometimes worry about her size as she is quite small for her age, but she is doing really well. 

Her favourite thing to do right now is to make lots of noise.  But not just any noise.  Nope.  My kiddo likes to make these strange, loud sounds when she is breathing in.  I mean, that's way more fun than making sounds when you breathe out.  Where's the fun in that?  Of course, she just ends up sounding like she is having trouble breathing, but just one look at her grinning and pleased face will tell you otherwise.  Last Sunday she was making these noises while in church.  Disruptive yes, but also absolutely adorable!  :)

But that's not all that is new with my little one.  My Elysia now takes your hands when you reach for her.  I LOVE that.  Her tiny little fingers (which are absolutely gorgeous) wrap around my hand and my heart just melts.  She takes my hands, I say 'ready?' and she smiles while I pick her up.  Could my daughter be any cuter?  She also loves to touch my face when she is drinking her bottle.  She looks at me and her hands just come up and caress my chin.  Of course I have to eat her fingers!! 

She has also finally figured out that her jolly jumper isn't just for standing around in.  She loves it, and it is so much fun to watch her jump, jump, jump!  She's quite the entertainer, really.  She loves an audience!

Yep.  The Elysia bragger.  That's me!  And I wouldn't want it any other way.

The first Halloween

'No' said Steve, when I wanted to dress up Elysia in her costume several days before Halloween.  'We have to wait until the 31st and then show everyone.'  Jeez.  How boring is that?  When you've got an adorable kid with an awesome costume, who wants to wait??

Daddy and Elysia (On Halloween, of course).

So wait we did.  And waited, and waited, and waited....Until a few days ago when I visit my Grandma while Steve was at work, and ummm...well, Grammie saw the little Ladybug first.  Sorry, hunny!

We've started a tradition in our home.  Every Halloween Steve and I pick out a pumpkin and carve it together.  First year it was a pirate ship, then a big pumpkin eating a little pumpkin, and this year it was spooky trees with an Owl on a branch.  It turned out pretty good, I think.

Sigh...Steve was right.  The picture just doesn't do our pumpkin justice.  It was amazing, I tell you!  AMAZING!! 

Getting the pumpkin was tough this year.  Who would have thought that trying to find a pumpkin at 5pm on the 31st would be so difficult?  OK, perhaps we shouldn't have waited until the last minute.  Lucky for us we were able to find one at a store near our home that was throwing them out.  We got it for free!  My hubby liked that.  Unlucky for me...now I'll probably have to wait until 5pm on the 31st next Halloween.

We got about 20 little ghosts and goblins visiting us this Halloween, and we bought 125 chocolates.  Thank you, Costco!  What are we ever going to do with the left-overs?  Hmmmm.....

Our neighbour came for a visit, too.  Baby Leah is 5 weeks younger than Elysia, so I think they will be good friends. 

Now if only she could say, 'Trick or Treat!!'

Daddy said that Ladybugs fly!!

Gotta see the spots!!

The cutest Ladybug ever!

Yep, we had a fun Halloween!

What to Do?

A few days ago my hubby came home from work early because he was sick.  He has some of the symptoms of H1N1, and honestly I'm not sure whether he has that or another strain of the influenza virus.  Thankfully, no matter what type of flu it is, his symptoms have been somewhat mild. 

I've debated getting the H1N1 flu shot for a while now.  It seems to me that it is too new, and I'm not sure I would like to have something put in my body that might not be good for me.  However....I have Elysia to think about.  She isn't even 5 months old, and only a little over eleven pounds.  What if she gets the flu?  So the question is, should I get the shot? 

I'm thinking yes....

Capilano Suspension Bridge

We had a fun day at the Suspension Bridge!

Elysia loves just hanging out with Daddy...

I tried to take a few pictures of the three of us.   As you can see, they turned out quite well.  :-p

OK, maybe not so good...

Thank goodness we had Annemarie to take this picture for us!!

A/M

Steve and I picked up my friend Annemarie today at the airport.  She flew in from China to visit us for ten days, and I am really looking forward to being a tourist in my city with my friend.  Tomorrow we are going to Whistler, and we have plans for most of the days that she is here. 

I lived in China for three years and we became friends during this time.  She and I enjoyed many fun times together; shopping, watching movies, eating out, mani/pedis, and just hanging out.  We also shared our China frustrations; bad driving (yes, it is true.  The driving there is, well...just like driving in Richmond), language barriers, and many other things that would be simple at home but endlessly complicated there (such as banking).  I used to live in a small city (4 million people), so I would get on a two hour bus ride every weekend and stay with A/M.  The city I lived in was so quiet, and I loved the personality of Beijing with all its people and things going on.  I remember walking through the city early one morning and just watching the people quietly doing Tai-Chi, and then going out in the evening and watching couples of all ages dance in the square at Houhai.  The city was such a strange mix of new and old, and you could always find something to do. 

I will always remember my time in China with fondness.  It was there that I overcame my shyness, and it was there that I learned that I really love adventure and seeing new places and meeting new people.  I now know that I can do things on my own, in a place where I don't speak the language or know the culture, and that I will be just fine.  I also met some of my dearest friends there, and one of them is visiting us now.

Some days are better than others

Although my daughter was a very colicky baby, lately we seem to have turned a corner in that regard and she is a far more pleasant and happy baby now.  Her smiles, expressions, and excitement in discovering new things are a gift to see and I love sharing those moments with her.  But even though I love my daughter more than I could ever have imagined, I also enjoy my free time in the evenings when my little one is asleep.  This is my time to get things done, my relaxation time, my re-grouping time, my ME time.  I spend these evenings preparing the baby's bag and making her bottles for the next day, cleaning up my home, and doing laundry.  Once that is all done, I have a chance to do things like have a bath, drink tea, read books, watch television, or write in my blog.  As a result, I stay up quite late and go to bed around midnight.

Lately this routine has worked quite well, as the baby sleeps mostly through the night and the two of us wake up refreshed and ready to start our day the following morning.  Last night, however, was a little different.  Elysia woke up at 4 am and cried (screamed would be more accurate) for hours.  Soother, bottle, diaper change, gripe water...nothing worked.  By 8 am both of us were exhausted, I called my husband in tears, and then I called my mom. 

I ended up spending the day at my parent's house and they helped me with my daughter.  How awesome my family is!  I guess being a parent doesn't end when your baby gets married and has a baby of her own.  Although some days are better than others, the good news is that mornings like this one are few and far between.  Thankfully, with the help of my family, this day ended up being much better than when it started. 

Right now my Elysia sleeps, tucked in bed and looking like a little angel.  Now is my rest time and I am enjoying a cup of tea and relaxing on the sofa.  Tomorrow is a new day...

Ouch!

My baby girl turned four months old a few days ago.  The time has gone by so quickly, but I'll dwell on that another time.  As for turning four months old, well those of you with little ones knows what that means...SHOTS!  Yes, the four month immunization time had arrived.

Now we've been through this before, her and I.  When she turned two months, I dutifully entered my doctor's office with a happy baby and waited for the nurse to produce the dreaded needle.  Of course I had to bring back-up, so thankfully Grandma came with us.  There we were, baby, mama, and grandma, patiently waiting in the little office when the nurse entered with three needles.  THREE.  Being the chicken that I am, Grandma held on to my little Leesee while poke, poke, poke!  Have you ever noticed that kids cry differently than adults?  There is always this shocked little noise at first, which is then followed by a few seconds of silence where they take in an astronomical amount of air, and then SCREEEEEM... I'm sad to say my daughter is no different, and my deafness from that day is a testament to this fact.  The nurse seemed completely unfazed by this outburst, quickly applied three little bandaids to my now completely red little baby, and promptly left the room.  Ahhh, memories.

Now she is four months old and I have her last shots as a reference point, so I wasn't really expecting much to be different this time around.  Steve wasn't working, so this time Grandma was off the hook and he was the lucky one who came with me and Leesee to the appointment.  While sitting in the waiting room, all the other patients commented on how alert, happy and cute my baby was, and being the modest parents that we are, we completely agreed with them.  After a few minutes, we were called in to see the doctor and we carried our little one into the now familiar office.  Weight...11 lbs, 5 oz.;  Length...24 inches;  Happy, Smiley baby...Check.  Then the questions.  She can start eating solid foods now, has she tried any?  Hmmm, does the popsicle I shared with her the other day count?  Apparently not.  How about the tiny bit of mashed potatoes and gravy she loved from the other night?  Not a good idea.  Okay, rice cereal it is.  Yummm.  Perhaps I'll win some in the cereal contest I'm still entering daily.

Exit doctor, enter the same nurse as last time with the same dreaded needle.  Or should I say needles as of course they can't put all the medicine in just one.  There is my baby, sitting on her daddy happily cooing away.  Did I mention that I'm a chicken?  It's true, I can't watch my baby get poked with a needle.  Thank goodness for daddy!  Aside from getting whacked by her one year old cousin a few weeks ago (he doesn't like her very much for some reason), the needle is the worst thing that has ever happened to her and I don't want to be the one holding her when it's done...although I'll happily give the cuddles after.  This time around, while the nurse was preparing the needles we noticed that my baby was hungry.  We quickly popped the bottle in her mouth hoping this would distract her from the needle.  So there she was enjoying her breakfast when, poke, poke...shocked noise...deep breath...and, well, you get the idea.

Needless to say, the other patients in the waiting room didn't give us the same compliments as earlier when we walked through the waiting room with our now red-faced and screeming bundle of joy.

Next shots, six months...Can't wait.