Little Pickle

Baby Henry is Finally Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:10:00 +0000

It's hard to believe that he's finally here, but on December 5, 2008 we welcomed our son, Henry Patrick Spratt into the world. I wanted to say "we welcomed our little boy" but to call him little would be quite a misstatement. Hank weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs 6 oz or for the metrically-minded, 4275 g. His massive girth came as quite a surprise and unfortunately gave rise to some delivery-related complications. But after a long stretch of labour followed by a quicky quick surgery baby Henry emerged happy as a clam and has been that way ever since.

Charlie LOVES being a big sister. She has been as helpful as a two year old can and smothers the little bugger with hugs and kisses at ever possible opportunity. We figure it's good for his immune system (?)...

Christmas came and went in a haze of diaper changes, late nights and, for me (Emilie) the slow and gradual recovery from the C-section. Things are slowly getting back to normal and we're all having fun adjusting to our new life together. Sorry for the delay in posting but I'll try to get more out soon. Happy New Year everyone - we look forward to seeing you and introducing you to baby H in the coming months.

Where Did the Lazy Days of Summer Go?

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:13:00 +0000

It is the middle of August. Summer is almost over. I know this because the Blue Jays' hopes of a playoff spot are growing ever dimmer. As the summer draws to a close Emilie and I cannot help but dread the craziness that will engulf us in the very near future.

We are in the process of doing renovations to accommodate baby number 2 (unlike Charlie who had a cute in utero nickname, our second child is known simply by the number two). There is much work to be done to prepare for #2's arrival. We are turning the office into Charlie's room so #2 can move into the baby's room. This sounds easier on paper than it is in reality. This simple change required new master bedroom furniture so the office could be moved into our room. And why do one reno when you can do two - I also thought it a good time to paint all the molding in the kitchen. Currently the kitchen molding is half sanded, Ikea only delivered half of our new furniture, and the office is a disaster.

I wonder if we will be ready for #2's arrival. Emilie and I both have large trials over the next two months. Charlie is not much help with sand paper or that little Ikea wrench. I expect that #2 will end up sleeping in an unfinished room. I guess this is typical for a second child - my younger brother always complained that he suffered from the 'hand me down' plight of being second born.

We did find time to take a trip to B.C. to visit Em's brother. It was a fantastic. I would write about the great weather, the beautiful scenery, spending time with Pat.... but I have to go sand molding.... and the pictures tell it all.

Stanley Park

Pat and Charlie on one of our many hikes

Almost at our destination - A private beach

Pat singing Charlie to sleep

Charlie at the Goat Zoo in Victoria

Charlie loved the fish at the Vancouver Aquarium (so did Bear)

Charlie's Sand Castle

Charlie's Engineering Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:36:00 +0000

Charlie learned that a tower built on a shaky foundation - when intentionally pushed - will fall. She was not too impressed.

Look Who's Walking and Talking

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:57:00 +0000

It seems like only yesterday when I resolved to post more. Since then, in typical resolution fashion, I have not posted at all. I take this to be not a measure of laziness, but of how busy we all have been. Work was (and is) very busy, the winter was long, and as usual time is short.

Charlie has also kept us busy. She has finally learned how to walk. According to the doctor 99% of kids learned to walk before she did. This means that Charlie beat only legless babies to bipedal locomotion. She has come to love the freedom and terror that walking brings and so have we. Charlie seems like more of a little kid.

Charlie has also had a vocabulary explosion. She know too many words to count. She even learned an x-rated word from her mom (for once I am not the irresponsible parent, woohoo)

Instead of posting a ten page update I resolve to start fresh and post more often. Here is the pictorial version of the last few months:

Charlie and I play in the park a lot. I wish she weighed more.

Charlie was the impromptu flower girl at Julie's Wedding.

We hung out as a family at the Tulip festival.

Charlie took us to the zoo. She loved it. It was after the zoo trip that she started to walk. I think the monkeys made her a bit jealous.

Charlie has maintained her relationships with her close friends.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmma??

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:53:00 +0000

Charlie and Emma had their first joint professional photoshoot this week. In view of the INSANE weather (see below) we have been forced to resort to less conventional activities - such as junior modelling! Actually, we have been meaning to take the girls in to further document their friendship, so we took advantage of an Easter special and carted them off to the Superstore for a photo session. Wow. It's hard to get two one year-olds to sit quietly for a portrait. Especially when one of them (Emma) is primarily interested in eating chocolate and not at all interested in sitting still. It was quite the little adventure. To our great surprise though, we ended up with a very cute shot of the two together and one of Charlie with the Easter bunny. Efforts at getting Emma on her own had to be scrapped after she threatened to trash the whole studio if the endeavour was further pursued.

Charlie and Emma have spent the majority of their short lives together. As you know, they were born six hours apart and have been inseparable ever since. When Chrissy and I were on maternity leave we spent most days together. And when we went back to work, the girls went off to daycare together. That is, until this past week, when Charlie started in a new daycare. Don't get me wrong, we are THRILLED with our new childcare situation, but Charlie misses her Emma. According to Lisa, Charlie's new caregiver, from time to time, and without notice, Charlie poses the question: "MMMMMMMMMMMMMa?" Lisa initially thought she was asking for me, but I explained the nuanced distinction between "Ma-Ma" and "Mmmma". So, with their time together less consistent, we have to make an extra effort to get the girls together for playdates. Luckily for me, Chrissy and Henrik have taken pity on me these past few weeks and have fed me and Charlie several times during the week while Mike toils away at his office, plugging his way through a murder trial. Of course we miss him, but with friends like Chrissy, Henrik and Emma we know we'll be okay.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:43:00 +0000

We know we are not alone, but here in Ottawa we have been bombarded with a RIDICULOUS amount of snow over the past three days or so. About 64 cms to be precise. Kudos to Mike and his dad, Noel, for spending most of the weekend shovelling snow. And thanks to both of them for not having heart attacks while doing so. It's tough going out there.... I might have to stay indoors until spring.

We Are Oh So Pretty

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 03:21:00 +0000

It was a late night. We partied, hit the clubs, danced, and after a couple last bottles of milk it was time to crash.

Boxy McGee

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:32:00 +0000

Charlie likes to climb into things: boxes, baskets, containers, sacks, she really doesn't discriminate. There is a good chance she will grow out of this quirk; she get larger everyday but the boxes stay the same size.

Merry Late Christmas/New Years

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:59:00 +0000

Happy New Year, Merry Santa Day, its been a long lazy time between posts. We have finally recovered from the holidays. We had a great time, put thousands of miles on our car, Charlie had the stomach flu (we did learn that she needs to learn to chew her food), and only 346 days until we will do it all again.

Charlie had a great Christmas even though she had no idea what was going on. In fact the unwrapping of presents freaked her out a bit. Emilie and I have been so diligent in teaching her not to rip books that the concept of ripping off wrapping paper was a bit scary for her. Ultimately Charlie conquered this fear and a good thing she did; she got thousands of gifts.

Of course the best part of the holiday was getting to hang out as a family. It is crazy how many tricks Charlie has learned (see Dec 12, 2006 for a comparison). Charlie can identify most of her body parts, use sign language so say 6-8 words (she learned this at day care), she can identify people in pictures, make a ton of animal noises on command, dance on command, etc... There are too many new skills to list. Most importantly these tricks can be done on command for her parents' amusement.

Over the holidays Charlie really got into music. Incidentally I should thank my parents for giving Charlie a 5 piece must set that includes symbols - very stimulating and loud. Her love of music has also encouraged the development of problem solving skills. Check out the video below - Charlie wants to shake her rattle, but she also wants to use both hands to play the music table.... she comes up with a unique solution.

P.S. New Years resolution - more frequent posts - lets see how that works out

The Old Lady's Party

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:18:00 +0000

Charlie turned 1 on November 4th. Weird. Who would of thought we could have kept a baby alive for a whole year. To be fair, Chrissy and Henrik have kept Emma alive for the same length of time, so I guess we are not that special.

In celebration of their longevity Emma and Charlie had a joint 'first birthday' party. This means they each got twice as many presents. Charlie and Emma invited 12 kids (all under 3) to their party. Each of the 12 kids brought along at least one adult. It was a pretty rocking party for our pretty small house.

Emma and Charlie played very well together; not surprising given that they are old school chums. Charlie also got to play with her next door neighbours Ellie and Gillian. As you can see Charlie loves Ellie.

Charlie received more gifts than we know what to do with. All the presents were very thoughtful. Special thanks to Maggie and Bruno for buying the toy with the most small parts that are scattered all over the house and inevitably end up under foot; a sweet revenge for the similar toy we got their daughter Sydney.

Charlie's birthday will always be crazy as it is directly preceded by Halloween and followed by Christmas. Charlie's first Halloween was fantastic as well. Our neighbourhood is infested with children; it would be no exaggeration to say we had 150 kids come to our door. As usual Emilie and I put off preparing for Halloween until the last minute. Charlie was a make-shift bunny (we used a recycled infant bunny hat and a taped on pom pom). I carved the pumpkin at 6:45 on Halloween night. The pumpkin was a sad sight, it looked like something a blind, left handed child, who was having a seizure would carve. Charlie had a great time answering the door and staying up past her bed time. Emilie and I had a great time eating the bags of candy charlie collected.

Only 1106 hours until Christmas....

Blue Steel

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:44:00 +0000

Charlie has discovered a new love, hamming it up for the camera. In the past Charlie would become mesmerized and expressionless in the face of a camera. Now she strikes a pose. As you can see her signature pose is quite funny.... she has named it blue steel.

How Do You Like Them Apples

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:38:00 +0000

Charlie seems to be developing a bit of a stubborn streak. A few days ago we were in the grocery store when Charlie spotted a bin of shiny red apples. She pointed at them, laughed and gave us the hugest, cutest grin. As we moved away from the apples the grin turned into a frown and then Charlie started with her fake baby cry. We gave in a bought two apples for the princess to hold. She held on to them the whole way home, and then for TWO more hours. Charlie loved those apples. Eventually her bed time rolled around and we had to take the apples away. As you can see, in this video expose, Charlie was not amused.

P.S.: Charlie forgot about the apples when she woke up the next morning - in fact she now feels completely indifferent about apples.

Fall Fall Fall Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 02:18:00 +0000

September is over! It has been a crazy busy month. I started and finished my first jury trial, Emilie went back to work (for real), and Charlie started school (aka: daycare).

I think our lives may be more manageable now that Charlie is in structured care. The daycare seems like a great place. The food is prepared by Steven Bekta (the owner and chef at one of the best Ottawa restaurants). It turns out that his son is in the same grade as Charlie. No more wienies and beans for the kids - curried chicken and butternut squash pure is way more classy. The daycare also has a web cam so I can watch Charlie from work. Presumably this will prevent Charlie from being abused on camera. It also is a great time killer - I could watch Charlie play for hours. Yes, a classy, high-tech daycare.... almost work every penny (150,000 of them every month).

We finally made it up to the Cottage this month. It was very entertaining to let Charlie truly experience fall. She loves leaves - she likes to point at them, grab them, give them as gifts, eat them, lick them, crinkle them, and throw them; she has even vomitted a leaf. I can only imagine how much she is going to love the snow.

Charlie has also taken to feeding herself with a spoon. It is amazing how much pride she takes in this simple act. It is her favorite and, coincidentally, messiest part of the day. She is growing up fast. Only one month until her birthday......

Seven Weddings and Almost My Funeral

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:28:00 +0000

It is hard to believe that I have been back to work for a month. The transition has been quite painless, but perhaps a bit sudden. One day I am changing a diaper and the next I am back in court defending the mostly innocent. A large reason for easy transition was our grand-parental support. With both me and Emilie at work and no day care the grandparents came to the rescue. Louise took the first shift and looked after Charlie for a week. Noel and Linda took the second shift and kept the baby alive for a second week. With live in grandparents, Emilie and I got used to having our cooking, cleaning, laundry and house repairs done for us. After the Grandparents left we entered the final sprint of summer wedding madness.

Emilie and I have been to seven weddings this year. This means we have had to buy 7 different presents (we are actually 3 behind) and travel to 5 different cities (Montreal, Ohio, Toronto, and Halifax - twice)...... with a baby. Charlie has attended each wedding with us; Emilie and I are trying to teach her to never pass up a free meal. We end the season of weddings with a blitz of three weddings in three weekends in three cities.

While in Toronto for the first of the three weddings, we were invited to Emilie's goddaughter Sydney's second birthday party. It was great to see Maggie and Bruno again and even better to meet their fresh baby Tucker.

The wedding was fantastic, especially since my parents and brother where invited as well. Charlie loved to crawl around the floor with Uncle Jon (or did Jon like to crawl around the floor with Charlie?).

Last weekend was perhaps our most stressful wedding adventure. We all flew to Nova Scotia for Danielle's wedding. Charlie was well behaved on the plane, but our weekend began with a two hour rental car seat installation odyssey. That painful memory (it was literally painful because I almost broke my hand) was soon forgotten. We drove to Devon and Andrew's and had a great time hanging out in Halifax before heading down the coast

Danielle got married in Peggy's cove (to a Peggy's Cove-ian). We stayed at a beautiful B&B and, as usual, the owners of the B&B were certifiably crazy (and a little racist). The scenery and weather were fantastic. Charlie had a great time, but as you can see stayed out a bit past her bed time.

Our last wedding is in Ottawa. Thank god! We are looking forward to some lazy fall weekends.

On the developmental front Charlie grew (or is it sprung) a new tooth. She can crawl like a real baby. She can also pull herself up to standing and especially likes to stand up in her crib in the morning - very cute. She makes a ton of new noises, has developed a love for broccoli and will copy you if you pat your head (but don't do it because Charlie tends to hit her head too hard). She is growing up fast; only 3 more years until she if off to blessedly free public school.

P.S. Thanks have to go out ot Devon and Andrew who again let us crash in their living room while in Halifax. Charlie always gets her teeth at their place (5 out of 6 I think), which can lead to crankey nights.

Cleaning up and shipping out

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:43:00 +0000

It is a sad day. Today marks my last weekday away from work. On Monday I return to the widget factory to defend the mostly innocent. Truth be told I am looking forward to the return to work; I love my job. At the same time I know I am going to miss staying at home with Charlie. The years of expensive daycare are about to begin.

I have learned a lot on my time off. Most importantly I learned
that a 14 year old member of the Taliban can grow a better beard then me. It made me sad to bathe and shave, but it made the world of personal hygiene and style that much better.

Back to Work Rant
STEPHEN HARPER IS A FOOL: We received our $100 a month child care check a few weeks ago. The accompanying letter said that the money will give us a CHOICE about child care (unlike the Liberal's universal daycare plan). What *&$!*@# planet is Harper on. $100 lets us chose nothing. It does not let me quit my job and stay at home and it does not even cover %10 of monthly daycare fees. What a disingenuous fool. It upsets me that I can look across the river into Quebec and see the $7 a day daycare spots.

We need an election - and a viable option to the Steven Harper Conservatives - maybe a career change is in order.

Jolly Spinner

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:35:00 +0000

We have always said that we would like Charlie to be able to think outside of the box. Charlie seems to do this every day (exemplified by acts such as eating shoes rather than wearing them). Today she thought of a new way to use the Jolly Jumper. You may also note that in the video she is holding a pillow, don't ask me why, but she loves it.

A Lake of Tears

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:08:00 +0000

It is hard to tell what will freak out a baby. We spent the weekend at the cottage where it was sunny for a change. Emilie and I took Charlie down to the dock to introduce her to the water. Emilie sat with Charlie to watch me dive into the lake (a very rare event). As I entered the water Charlie convulsed and began to scream. She did not stop crying for 30 minutes. I am not sure why she was so upset. I can only guess that my half naked, ghostly white body caught her off guard.

There and Back Again

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:15:00 +0000

Summary

3,500 km
4 Provinces
3 States
2 New Teeth
1 Wedding

Day 1 or 200 km Down 3,300 To Go

We are the type to ease into things; Saturday mornings start with pyjamas, coffee and 2 newspapers. We applied the same philosophy to our road trip. It started with a 2 hours drive and a weekend at the cottage. It rained all weekend. Contrary to what you might expect, this was perfect for us. No pressure to go outside, no guilt about being lazy. We did manage to make it down to the dock and Charlie got to explore the forest. I have a feeling she will be a 'woodsy' girl.

Most importantly we did 5 loads of laundry. In typical Spratt/Taman style we had packed all dirty clothes. As you can see, Charlie even helped with the folding. After a great weekend we packed the car and headed to Quebec City. This was the second time I packed and unpacked the car, I would do this 10 more times.... Never Again.

Day 3 or the Vicarious Tooth Ache

In Q.C. we stayed with Fannie, Nat and their 2 year old daughter, Marina. Charlie enjoyed a chance to escape the car seat that would soon become her prison and we had a chance to eat well and relax. Life was good, then Charlie woke up at 2am screaming. It was not until the next morning that we realized she had acquired 2 new front teeth. When kids lose teeth they get money from the tooth fairy - there should be some sort of parental compensation when babies get their teeth. After a sleepless night we left for somewhere in New Brunswick.

Days 4 and 5 or Not Just For Driving Through

New Brunswick is sometimes referred to as 'the drive through Province'. We were guilty of driving though it many times on the way from Ontario to Dalhousie. This trip gave us the chance to see the sights as Charlie would only stand confinement in her rear facing car seat for a few hours at a time. We spend the first night in Fredericton where Charlie and I enjoyed a 3 am teething walk across the longest pedestrian bridge (in New Brunswick) - 581 meters. Thankfully this would be the last we would hear from those teeth; Charlie ended up quickly adapting to her new mouth.

The next day, after a drive through Fundy Park we stayed in a great bed and breakfast. The best thing about B&Bs is not the food or the room but the eccentric owners who invariably collect angels, glass figurines, ceramic frogs, dolls or other chachkis. Our hosts collected all of the above and had a hobby farm which included llamas and alpaca. Charlie loved the goats.

We also stopped at the Bay of Fundy itself. I for one am glad that the Rhinoceros Party did not win the 1988 or 1980 election where one of their campaign promises was to pave over the Bay of Fundy to create more maritime parking. Charlie loves the bay at low tide and was very cute sitting on the ocean floor at the Hopewell Rocks although she was not so keen during high tide and refused to put her feet in the water.

Day 6 and 7 or How Charlie Mastered Catan

On day 6 we arrived in Halifax. Emilie and I were looking forward to spending time in our old haunting grounds. It was our first time back to the city where we first met. We spend two nights with Devon and Andrew where we all celebrated my birthday and more importantly our 5 year "Catan-iversery" (it was July 20th 2001 that I received Klaus Teuber's masterpiece The Settlers of Catan for my birthday). Devon won both games, with a little help from Charlie.

Day 8 and 9 or A Wonderful Rainy Wedding

On day 8 we finally arrived at White Point, a beautiful resort on Nova Scotia's south shore. They say rain on your wedding day is good luck. By 'they' I mean brides who have had weddings on rainy days. In this case I think the saying is definitely true. Meg and Jon's wedding was as fantastic as they are. Charlie was well behaved and while rocking her to sleep outside I heard a group of older guest say 'I think this will be one of the ones that stick' - of course they are right. We spent most of the time trying to convince Meg and Jon to move to Ottawa. It was such a pleasure to see them I can only hope they will take our advice.

Day 10, 11 and 12 or Are We There Yet?

We drove home through the States, spending a wonderful night at a cabin in Maine. A perfect way to end our longest road trip to date. The last day of driving was a bit of a chore; Charlie, finally fed up with her confinement, developed a high pitched scream of boredom. With the finish line in sight we tuned her out and 3,500 km after we began we arrived back in Ottawa.... where for the last time I unpacked the car.

The journey was truly the best part of the trip.

It Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:21:00 +0000

In the beginning there was a car, neatly and efficiently packed. There had been no tears shed. The tank was full (well 3/4 full) of gas. The sun was shining. The question is: can it last?

Today we are embarking on our longest road trip with Squishy. We are driving to Meg and Jon's wedding in Nova Scotia (where we were promised there would be a baby sitter). The plan is to segment the trip by spending a night at the cottage, a night in Quebec City and a night in New Brunswick and ultimately to arrive in Nova Scotia sometime next week.

Traveling with a small child is a bitch. They need so much stuff. I had always wondered how my father learned to expertly pack the car before long trips. Packing a vehicle seems to be a man's job. This is sexist, but true. I now know my father was not born with the ability to efficiently and economically pack a car. It is a super power that develops over time. I think I have now acquired the skill.

And so we set off feeling confident that we will survive and reminding ourselves that the trip is half the fun.

Splish Splash

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:15:00 +0000

On Friday we offered to babysit Emma while her parents went to a FIFA soccer game. Emilie and I always welcome a chance to hang out with Emma. It is amazing that babies that were born on the same day can be so different. Emma possesses some sort of super strength. She can move into a sitting position from her back, she can almost stand on her own and she can crawl - a real baby crawl that is very unlike Charlie's worm-like wriggle. While Charlie may not be as active, she excels in other areas; she is very verbal. She also has a refined sense of humor, when ever Emma cried Charlie laughed.

The above was exemplified during bath time. Charlie needs a bath every night due to her smelly helmet head. Emma appeared clean to us but we could not resist a chance to see the babies play in the bath together. I bathed Charlie and Emilie looked after Emma. We documented this adventure and it is safe to say Emilie had the wetter experience.

Comic Charlie

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:57:00 +0000

It was late afternoon and Charlie was napping. She had been asleep for about an hour and I was dozing on the couch watching tennis. This is the part of Charlie's nap I hate the most, the last 1/3. Its not the worst part because Charlie will soon be awake, but because of the uncertainly of when she will wake. She could begin to stir at any minute or she could sleep for another hour. Its entirely random. It is hard to plan my nap when I can't anticipate hers.

On this day I was woken not by Charlie, but by my neighbour's children yelling into a loud speaker - 'COMICS FOR SALE, GET YOUR COMICS, ONLY 25 CENTS'. I was slightly annoyed at this interruption, but mostly I was intrigued. 25 cents for a comic is quite a deal. What if these comics were valuable first editions? Maybe they were selling their dad's old X-Men comics. Maybe I could make some money from the children's ignorance. Torn between supervising a sleeping baby and the seductive allure of cheap comics I ran outside.

The neighbour's kids (Liam - 7, Nicky - 4, and their friend Max) were not selling old comics, but were offering to draw comics. I had never seen their work before. I thought that the kids might be some sort of artistic prodigies; maybe one day their drawings would be priceless (like the old Bob Ross I have in the cellar). Without hesitation I dug a Loonie from my pocket (25 cents per page, plus a 25 cent tip) and commissioned a three page comic. I suggested that maybe Charlie's helmet could be worked into the story. That maybe her helmet was the source of her supper powers. Not wanting to interrupt the artistic process too much I left the kids to their work and returned home to make sure Charlie was still alive (she was).

An hour later the comic was delivered to my mail box. It may not be a Stan Lee original, but it is fantastic. I am thinking of sending it to a Hollywood movie studio; I hear movies based on comic books are big money these days.

Ohio Road Trip or How Charlie Spent 7 Hours in a Car Seat

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:31:00 +0000

I owe Charlie an apology. I may have recently accused her of playing sick. As it turns out she was sick; Charlie had a massive ear infection. After a trip to the doctor and 10 days of medication (oral injection 3 times a day) Charlie was as right as rain. This was a good thing as we were about to embark on road trip to Ohio to attend Katie and Jack's wedding.

Statistics

Provinces: 1
States: 3
MacDonald's Meals: 4
Hours in Car: 24
Antibiotics: Priceless (actual price $14)

We have discovered that a road trip with a small baby is less like an epic voyage and more like multiple short sprints. Pit stops are needed every 2-3 hours to feed the child and more importantly to deal with explosive car seat shits (please note that we hate baby talk - no sane adult calls feces CaCa, boo-boo, doo-doo, poo-poo, or shoo-shoo). We also stopped for the night in Hamilton on the way to Ohio and Toronto on the way back. It felt like we were driving for ever, although it was great to spend time in Hamilton with the family.

We finally rolled into Ohio on Friday and headed straight to the rehearsal dinner. This was a special wedding for Emilie as she went to camp with Katie and Jack. She has known Katie since they were 10 years old and Jack since around 17. Camp weddings are always fun and prove to be a convenient mini reunion (aka a giant bender).

On Saturday Charlie was herself reunited with her baby friend Kate (see Febuary 20th post). Kate is now 14 months old and is just learning to walk. Emilie and I love the preview of tricks that Charlie will someday learn.

The wedding itself was fantastic. I say this not because the setting was idyllic, the bride was beautiful, or because the food was dreamy, but because Katie arranged a baby sitter for the babies. This meant that mommy and daddy could drink and stay out late. By late I mean 11 pm and we only drank enough to get tipsy, not wanting to be hung over for the 6am wake up. We had a great time.

On the way home we stayed with Aunt Catherine in Toronto and paid a visit to a very pregnant Maggie, Bruno, and 2 year old Sidney.

Charlie did very well on her first road trip and now I feel slightly less intimidated by the thought of the drive to Nova Scotia in 2 weeks. On second thought the thought of driving across 4 provinces make me shoo-shoo my pants.

DaDa Day

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:21:00 +0000

I thought it may be appropriate to write a post to document my first Father's Day. To start with the important information, I got lots of presents and got to sleep in! I also came to the realization that I have had it easy the past month. It has been a tough week with Charlie; the perfect storm hit. Charlie is teething (her two bottom teeth have cut through), she has a cold, and it has been very hot (only made worse by the helmet and the furnace of a room she sleeps in). Charlie has woken up in the middle of the night a few times and has cried more than normal. She is still very cute, but now very loud.

I think the worst is over, but it is hard to tell as Charlie has also learned a new skill; the 'Bob Barker' fake-out (very appropriate timing as Bob just finished his 35 year run on the Price is Right). For those that don't know, the Bob Barker Fake-Out is when one feigns sickness in order to stay at home from school (and watch the Price is Right from 11am-12pm), but then miraculously recovers at about 4pm.

The very hilarious videos are documentation of Charlies new skill. She cried uncontrollable before and after, but when she wanted to play she showed no signs of ill health.

P.S: The author of this post does not admit to anytime of fakery at any time and certainly never pretended to be sick in order to miss school and hang out in his Grandmothers basement, drink tea, and watch the Price is Right (A Mark Goodson Television Production)

The End of an Era

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:44:00 +0000

Charlie can crawl. It may be more accurate to say that Charlie can crawl backward. Even when she wants to move forward she moves back; I would find this a tad frustrating. Charlie however is not fazed by her unidirectional mobility.

For Emilie and me this new mobility is a big adjustment. Gone are the days of sitting baby on the floor and running to get the phone. No longer can we take our eyes off our bundle of joy to read the news paper. When left unsupervised Charlie seems to always end up stuck under a table (mostly due to her helmet enhanced large head) or perilously close to putting her fingers in an electrical socket (why are baby so fascinated with deadly household objects). Constant vigilance is my new motto, but I will still let Charlie get stuck under the table; it is too funny.

Emma and Charlie's Play Date

noreply@blogger.com (Emilie and Michael) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:57:00 +0000

Charlie and Emma had a fantastic play date today. This was one of the first times that they seemed to respond to each other in a gentle manner that did not involve grabbing, poking, and drawing blood and a flood of tears. Much.

As you can tell they are both musical prodigies.

P.S. As you can see I figured out how to upload video's. I feel as smart as the average 12 year old.