Thursday, May 26, 2011

March, April and May





I'm back at last!!! Mwa hahahaha!! Updating my blog is becoming increasingly more difficult now that baby is so mobile. It always seems the one overlooked item that she shouldn't have is the thing that she finds in every room she visits so constant surveillance is absolutely mandatory. Gone are the days of leaving her on the play mat because she cant get into any trouble.



Lots to update in Buggito's world, she now has 8 teeth her top and bottom 4 front teeth are in place, shes cruising like mad, she can stand unassisted for a decent period of time. She walks well while holding your hands and has developed a taste for some foods like tofu, asparagus, cheese, potatoes, noodles, chicken, tuna (still not rice cereal though). She can say "mama", "daddy", "mumu", (mushu the dog), "bup" (up), "baby", "no" and "oh no". Despite the words not being understandable she also has no problem holding her hand out (talk to the hand style) and yelling at you in baby gibberish when the diva mood strikes her. She also scrunches up her face and goes "oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh" if she either really likes or dislikes something.



She went for her first vacation with Mommy this April, we flew from Sydney to Vancouver to go visit Auntie, Grandma & Grandpa for two weeks (she was so good on the plane). On our vacation we went to the Aquarium, the petting farm, shopped around downtown Vancouver, went to the states for some more shopping! We went to Rossland, B.C and the hot springs, we visited friends and family throughout the lower mainland it was a great trip!. Buggitto loved being the center of attention wherever we went.





When we got back home it was time for Mommy to start planning a first Birthday party for her. I spent a big chunk of the month between April and May being nostalgic about the same time last year. Remembering the anticipation for baby to arrive, recalling the little belly boots I would cherish when I was pregnant. As the babies original due date came and went I remembered my frustration about having to wait for her to arrive. I recalled the two times we were sent to the hospital for an induction that never managed to happen. It was only a short year ago that all these things occurred but it may as well have been another lifetime, its so hard to remember life before Buggitto came into the world.



Not that I dont have the memories any longer when I say "life" I guess I'm meaning its so hard to get myself back into the pre-baby head space. What things mattered before baby? It all seems kind of silly in retrospect. How many little things angered me disproportionately, what did I focus my life and time and attention on?, what were my moral values. Its amazing how much having a baby changes you. It may be just having a real purpose, something that matters makes a bigger difference than just being carried down the stream of life.



Having Buggitto has helped me to see what is important more clearly than before, so many negative people and material things I have wasted time and energy on that can be easily snipped away and life is not any worse for their loss. With the limited amount of time in my life now for things outside of motherhood, you really learn how to prioritize what to spend your energy on. I have a great family and great friends and few other things in this world matter than those you love. The rapid pace of baby's growth has also really hit home the importance of cherishing each moment because once those moments are passed they are gone forever never to be repeated again. Live for the moment because this moment is all you have.

I am getting myself mentally prepared to begin properly weaning Buggito now that she has turned one and can go straight to whole milk bypassing formula altogether. So funny how much the thought of breastfeeding disturbed me when I first became pregnant, and now the knowledge that it is coming to an end saddens me more than I thought would be possible. Its just one more cord to cut severing my sweet little one from the world of baby and preparing her for the next stage of life~Toddler. So many things you look forward to doing with your child when they are older you forget all the things that you wont be doing any longer, a bittersweet trade off.



But I digress, THE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!. I had invited friends from work to come to baby's big day we had about 10-12 people here to celebrate with us. As we have no family out here and are a bit isolated we have very few occasions to host a large get together. I enjoy hosting a good party with great food and I went all out. At work I decorated baby's red velvet cake with butter cream icing. Once home I made sub platters of chicken and tuna salad sandwiches, potato salad, pasta salad, cucumber salad, deviled eggs, sushi,we bought a shrimp ring and a fruit and veggie platter, homemade spinach dip and salsa, home made cream tarts, cheesecake tarts, cupcakes, snicker doodles and blueberry crepes. We made a punch bowl of Shirley Temple for guests and served coffee, and tea. Not to toot my own horn but *toot* I got started on this after a nine hour shift at work! Of course Chris helped me with the cleaning and some of the mixing and between that and the decorating we somehow managed to pull it all together in time for babies big day. We ended up with so much food left over that Chris packed up plates of sweets and sandwiches and took them around to the neighbors and he enjoyed doing that!!.




Baby received some books, a dvd, 5 baby dolls, a ride on walker, a xylophone, some sweet little outfits, a hello kitty towel and cutlery. She was more interested in all the people playing with her which was good ,I'm glad she got to have a day with a room full of people there for her making her feel special. We did birthday cake and gave her a cupcake to smash up, as soon as she got a tiny bit of icing on her hands she was disgusted and tried wiping it off in her hair. I tried feeding her a little bit but she made the grossed out face and shuddered she wanted no part of her cupcake! We gave her a stick of raw asparagus and she began to happily chomp it up. Once presents and cake were over everyone began to trickle out, the whole affair lasted for about 2.5 hours a good amount of time for baby who was ready for a nap shortly thereafter.




Now I am waiting to make a mold of her 1 year old hand and foot tonight, I did one of her hand and foot at 6 weeks and she is already about doubled in size. I'm also getting ready to take her in for her 12 month shots next week and once she has healed up from that we begin the weaning process. It wont be much longer before little one makes her first solo steps so I am keeping the video camera close and charged and hoping to catch the magic on film of some sort. Other than that life is going on as usual.

3 comments:

Heather said...

Great update! She sure is growing and changing so quickly. She is such a darling. It is very sad to think these moments are fleeting - I try and cherish every second but time keeps marching on...

"What things mattered before baby? It all seems kind of silly in retrospect. How many little things angered me disproportionately, what did I focus my life and time and attention on?, what were my moral values. Its amazing how much having a baby changes you. It may be just having a real purpose, something that matters makes a bigger difference than just being carried down the stream of life."

Well said! I feel the exact same way. Motherhood is all I could have hoped for - and unexpectedly MUCH MORE! It keeps getting better and better.

My plan (ha ha) is to nurse Julian until 2yrs old. I know some people find it strange but by that age the feedings are so minimal because of all the other foods in their diet. (baby-led weaning is the philosophy) Right now it's a nice way of bonding, it's nutritious, and Julian finds comfort in it. Besides, Julian and I worked VERY HARD to get to this point - I went through absolute breastfeeding HELL: frustration, pain, crying, etc. for MONTHS - I think I deserve a little extra time to enjoy the pay off. ;)

Heather said...

Oh yah, awesome job on decorating the cake BTW - looks umber yummy!! Cute banner too. You make a beautiful family. Happy 1 year Arwen! :D

pixiekissed said...

you breastfeed Julian for as long as you want! the world health organization says up to two years is there recommendation. I may do a bit of feeding here and there and make the weaning slow and gradual, it is sad to think about it being over.

I have to say people start to give you funny looks once your baby gets to be close to a year though when you say your breastfeeding. No one has said anything rude to me yet, but I can see the disgust in their eyes.