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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Catching up again

I got to go out last Friday night! Tim stayed home with Kieran and I went to see a really good show at the Green Room on St-Laurent. My friend Robbie made me discover this really great trio from Toronto called The Good Lovelies. The best way I can describe them is a folksy version of The Dixie Chicks with lots more harmonies thrown in. The opening act was pretty good too, Peter Katz, just a guy with his guitar and his angst!

Saturday was a complete write-off...Tim spent the day on a conference call for work so Kieran and I just hung out until evening when we took Grandma Jo-Anne out for supper. She just recently got a Wii console so we had fun playing with it back at her house afterwards.

On Sunday we hauled our butts off to Ikea for the final day of their wardrobe sale. We want to re-organize our office with lots more storage (the closets in this house are tiny) so we bought some Pax wardrobes to do the trick. Not everything was in stock so we'll wait for their phone call before we pick everything up.

Our niece Vanessa was admitted to the hospital that same day. And poor thing, she's still there but on the mend from pneumonia and RSV (Human respiratory syncytial virus). It does not look promising that she and her parents will be coming to Cuba with us. That really sucks. But a trip South would certainly be a in order after their ordeal. We will wait and see what happens...

I did some cooking that afternoon, lentil stew and carrot muffins, to bring to Catherine (Vanessa's mom) as she had been at the hospital since Sunday and was coming down with the cold too. She was completely worn out but luckily after a night's sleep in her own bed, she was doing better. Unfortunately with the highly contagious nature of RSV, we were best staying away from all the sickos (!) but lots of phone calls have been exchanged. Hopefully the little support I have been able to give has done some good.

On Tuesday, my Auntie Ann came to get Kieran & I so we could go and visit Uncle Fred. He's my dad's oldest surviving sibling and turned 87 that day. It was the first time he met Kieran in person and I think it made his day. Kieran was awake the whole time we were there so Uncle Fred got lots of smiles and some cooing and curious stares.

A toilet leak was quickly averted that evening when Tim got home and discovered it was only a hose that had come loose in the tank. Phewf! But we did have some minor flooding in the living room through the trap in the ceiling. No biggee, no damage done.

And on Wednesday morning, the fun began! Our house is pretty much in disarray as we are having the livingroom ceiling plastered and painted, same with the upstairs hallway and the bathroom is having some minor work done & painting too. I can't wait til it's all finished! The painters are starting on Monday so I will keep my fingers crossed that the work will be completed before we leave on Thursday. I'll probably run myslef ragged before leaving trying to get everything back in place. Oh well, the vacation will be even more appreciated in that case!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, it's the weekend!

Wednesday was swim day but I figured with his ongoing cold, it was best if Kieran stayed out of the pool this week. I dropped him off at my parents' place (no complaints there!) and then went to the pool by myself.
I got a good workout and discovered how out of shape I am when I tried to swim laps. I also realized how much faster it is to get in & out of there when you don't have a baby in tow! I went back to my parents and had some lunch and then Kieran & I came home. It's nice that our swim classes are in Lachine (at my old high school, but there was no pool when I went there) so we get a weekly visit with Grand-maman and Grand-daddy.

I managed to take a nap before supper that evening. Naps are good. I like naps. I should nap more. Zzzzzzz...!

Tim came home from Toronto late that evening. Even if he was only gone for a couple of nights, it was nice to have him back home.
Just as we were both falling asleep, the little activity gym we leave in the hallway started playing its music and freaked us both out. The next morning, I was trying to figure out if I had dreamed it or not & then recalled Tim saying: "There's a ghost in the machine!" I don't know why the thing went off as you have to touch it for the music to sound. Ghosts indeed!

Thursday was our first visit to the Mother Goose Rhyme Time again at the Atwater Library. They sing songs in French, English and Spanish and they sang quite a few tunes I don't know so it was refreshing.

In the afternoon I took Kieran to my periodontist's appointment and got my stitches taken out. The area is not as tender with the stitches out and by next week I can start brushing and flossing where the surgery was done.
I still have one more area to be worked on but I have not yet booked the appointment. I'm in no rush!

And today was a much needed day of rest. Nap time now I think!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

My ever-changing world

As Kieran becomes more aware of his surroundings and interacts with us more, I don't always accomplish much more in a day other than feeding him, changing his diaper and most importantly, playing, singing and talking to him. Which is absolutely fine. I'd much rather coo and smile at him than clean house or cross things off my to-do list. Bonding with my son and being part of his development take precedence over everything at this point. I'm learning to slow down and not stress out if things don't get done or if we're not out the door by such a time.

I also manage to balance things out with some "me" time or at least some "us" time. On Tuesday morning we went to the Atwater Library (I can't believe after living in this neighbourhood for over 14 years, that was the first time I had set foot there!) for story time and I met a bunch of mothers who belong to Wee Wiggles a mom's group I have joined.

After coming home for lunch, we then went for a little shopping trek and picked up a few things for our trip to Cuba. I'm feeling a little guilty...I went to L'Aubainerie, a discount store in Lasalle and picked up some socks, a tank top, a UVB protection bathing suit for Kieran and a Roots bathing suit for me. As the cashier picked up the bottom part of my bathing suit, she asked me if I had tried it on (as there are no returns or exchanges for swimwear) and then she picked up the top which had the price tag on it and proceeded to put it in the bag without scanning it! I did not say anything. I was sure she would notice. She did not notice. I still did not say anything. I signed the credit card slip. I still made no mention of it. Guilt, guilt, guilt. Okay, it was only $20 (plus tax!). Would you have said anything? Am I completely unscrupulous?! Judge not lest you be judged!!!

No wonder I'm so tired, walking around with all this guilt at the back of my mind!

Weekend fun part 2

So after turning the lights out by 11:30 last night, I managed to sleep until 7 this morning. Kieran made it all the way through to 7:30. No wake ups during the night. I love my son! I guess we're both pretty wiped out from our colds.

So, the rest of the weekend...I did have to get up around 4 on Sunday to nurse Kieran and then went back to bed until 8. Caroline and Tim also got up around that time and Caroline offered to make pancakes for breakfast. They were tasty!

We managed to leave the house around 11 and headed for High Falls, a waterfall on the Salmon River. The trailhead is a few minutes by car from the cottage. We got to blaze our own trail through the fresh snow and took in the scenery and the fresh air. It was much warmer on Sunday, it probably hit 25 degrees F for a high. It was quite a hike, it took us almost 2 hours and we were all quite happy to get back to the car. We should have brought a snack to munch on. Or eaten more protein for breakfast! We gobbled down some leftover pizza when we got back to the house before making oursleves some sandwiches. After all that snowshoeing, we needed to relax a bit so we sat down and watched "The Upside of Anger" then cleaned up, packed up & then headed back to Montreal. We made a pit stop at the Walmart in Malone and got back to the city around 8:30. Home sweet home!
Kieran and Tim had their quality time that evening as it was bath night. (for Kieran!)

And a fine time was had by all!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Weekend fun

So the three of us having colds did not stop us from going away for the weekend. We had planned to go to my parents' cottage in upstate New York with Tim's cousin Caroline so we did! We left Friday night and Kieran got to use his passport for the first time to cross the border.
He slept very well that night and only woke up once around 4 o'clock when I got up to clean his nose with saline spray. We then all slept til about 8 o'clock when it was time for breakfast. Kieran was again running a fever so we gave him some more Tempra which took care of it.
We then headed out to go snow-shoeing at Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center which is about a half hour from the cottage. They were having their Chilly Ski and Snowshoe festival with various activities going on, notably a chili cookoff which provided us with a tasty lunch. We went for a short trek in the morning followed by a longer walk in the afternoon. It was a crisp, beautiful day, perfect weather really, not as cold as you'd expect 0 degrees F to feel!

Upon our return to the house, I took a much needed nap while Tim and Caroline watched a movie and made pizza dough. We love making homemade pizza and as always, it turned out super tasty. We had an evening of movie watching and then hit the hay.

Sunday's activities will have to wait as I should get to bed. Kieran woke up at 3:30 this morning so I'm a little tired despite the nap I had before supper. I've put him to bed but it's a little earlier than usual so I'll have to see what time he wakes up at.
Daddy's away in Toronto on business so it's only my beauty sleep that will be disrupted tonight!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Weekly update

Give the government long enough and I guess they can eventually get efficient at certain things...I went to the passport office on Monday the 5th to apply for Kieran's passport and I received it in the mail on the following Monday. I must say, I was impressed. So now we are all ready for international travel and we have booked an all-inclusive trip to Cuba. We're going to stay at a "family-friendly" resort in Varadero and we'll be travelling with Tim's brother Eric, his wife Catherine and their 22 month-old daughter Vanessa. We all can't wait to go!

Kieran and I had an uneventful visit to the paediatrician on Friday the 9th for a regular check-up. Dr Monotone, as we have taken to calling him (he speaks very calmy and well, in a monotone voice!) says we have a very beautiful baby. Kieran got an oral vaccine against rotavirus which causes a type of gastroenteritis. I'm not sure what to think about the schools of thought that are blaming vaccines for the higher rate of autism in children these days but we've decided the benefits of giving Kieran his shots outweigh the risks.

Last Saturday Tim got up and wasn't feeling too well, but we did some running around town anyhow. We bought Kieran a Pea pod travel tent which we will bring to Cuba as his sleeping quarters.

On Sunday Tim's cold really kicked in with fever, chills and coughing. Kieran was also a bit out of sorts that day, not wanting to be put down.
We started using cloth diapers that evening which I loooooove! They are a far cry from the cotton squares and diaper pins my mom used on me. I bought some cotton diapers from a woman in my swimming class and then bought some more absorbent bamboo ones from Mère Hélène, a baby-boutique in Lasalle. No more accidents if you put the diaper-cover on properly and 2 or 3 extra loads of laundry a week makes no difference to me.

Tim didn't go to work on Monday morning but went to the clinic instead. He only went back to work on Thursday as per the doctor's orders. It was only a virus but he needed his rest.

I spent a few hours at the Children's hospital with Kieran for his follow-up ultra-sound on his kidneys. It seems like the hydronephrosis has not improved and has possibly gotten slightly worse so now we have to have a MAG3 scan done. They will inject him with a radioactive material to get a better view of how the kidneys are functioning. I was only there for a few hours, but most of it was spent waiting in a hot, dry environment surrounded by sick children. Not your most pleasant atmosphere. And that evening I also started coming down with a cold.
As for his kidneys, the doctor doesn't seem overly concerned but I will be relieved once Kieran gets a clean bill of health.

On Tuesday, we rested by going to the movies. We went to the Movies for Mommies showing of Bedtime Stories. Tim & I enjoyed it. You have to like Adam Sandler though. Who I have grown to like over the years. I think he gained my respect after I saw him in Punch-Drunk Love.

Wednesday we braved the cold and my sniffles and went to swim class. We had a good time and Kieran took to the water no worse than last week. I can't really say he "enjoys" the water, as he doesn't really have any reaction to it but he doesn't seem to mind it either.

On Thursday morning Grand-maman came over to watch her favourite grandson while I had some more gum surgery. Not the most pleasant thing to have done and certainly less than enjoyable when you also have a cold to deal with. Anyhow, I got through it with a few codeine pain killers!

Catherine and Vanessa dropped by that afternoon and Kieran and I entertained V for about an hour while Catherine went to run an errand. V was very happy to see Baby K, as she call him.

On Friday, it was Kieran's turn to get sick. He woke up with a fever. The poor boy looked miserable with watery eyes and a runny nose but he wasn't complaining too much. We gave him some Tempra and cleaned his nose with saline spray and even if he didn't like having salt water sprayed up his nose, it certainly helped relieve his congestion. We figured there was no point going to the doctor even if they recommend you do so if a child his age is running a fever. After the Tempra, his temp was back down again and we knew he had caught our cold so there's not much more the doctor could have told us to do...I'll write later about the great weekend we had.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Repas gastronomique chasse et pêche

Here are photos of 5 of the 7 courses we had last Saturday evening.

Missing are the soupe à la courge et aux champignons sauvages garnie d'une valse de six champignons which was served with a choice of South Pirie Pinot Noir Tasmania 2007 or Swan Bay Victoria Chardonnay Scotchmans Hill 2006 and the cheese platter with Bouq'emissaire, girondines, migneron and le secret de Maurice served with a capiteux cassis vinifié fortifié Monna at filles.


Ceviche de doré sur nid de betterave jaune, served with Domaine A et P de Villaine Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise Les Clous 2006






Galettes de brochet aux pistaches rôties, salsa de grenades et dattes, served with Château Bellevue La Forêt 2007




Raviolis de cerf, réduction de porto et ail rôti, served with Château Tayac Côtes de Bourg 2003






Saucisse d'orignal aux petits fruits accompagné de croustilles de panais au bleu, served with Marion Cabernet Sauvignon 2004





Flaming the crème brûlée




Crème brûlée au riz parfumée à l'érable, served with Château de Beaulon Pineau des Charentes

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Highlights from the last month!

Kieran got his vaccinations for diphteria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib. He cried a little with the first shot and then a lot (!) with the second but he was not upset for long. Mommy knows how to calm him down!

He now weighs around 12 lbs and has outgrown most of his 0 to 3 month clothes. He is wearing size 1-2 diapers.

He sleeps for 6 to 7 hours at night now, most of the time.

We took our first trip to the States with him the weekend of Dec 12th. Grandmaman and Granddaddy spent the weekend with us at the cottage and they had a great time bonding with their grandson.

Kieran is much more aware of his surroundings now and babbles a lot and I can get a few giggles out of him too.

Tim and I helped paint my parents livingroom. I finished the trim this Tuesday but there are still the door frames, door and windows to be done so they can finally get things re-organized.

I managed to do a little bit of baking for Christmas - ginger cookies, 2 fruitcakes and mince meat tarts.

Kieran has now been washed away of the Original Sin as we had him baptized on December 27th. Uncle P-J and cousine Caroline are his godparents.
We had quite a lot of family attend the ceremony despite the freezing rain that day and Great-Grandpa John even made it. (He's the one who originally ordered that we have a boy!)

Catherine, Vanessa, Kieran and I took a day trip to Ottawa to go visit Great-Grandpa again. He was staying at Great-Uncle John's for the Holidays.
I get a great kick out of the fact that Kieran has great uncles who are only a few years older than me. (okay, technically they are half-great-uncles but it's still funny!)

We had a quiet New Year's eve at our friends Paul & Murielle's with Catherine, Vanessa and Murielle's sister Danielle. Eric was working security at a party dowtown so he did not take part in our celebrations.

We went snowshoeing for the first time this season up on Mount-Royal with Catherine, Eric & Vanessa. It was a nice outing and convinced C & E to buy snowshoes of their own. (They rented some that day.) So hopefully we will all make it out together a few more times this winter.

Tim has bought a Yamaha keyboard but we haven't gotten it yet. It should be delivered in a week or so. He's always wanted to learn to play the piano and now he will! I don't know if Kieran will have inherited his father's musical talent (I hope so!) but I figure exposing him early on to as much as possible can't hurt.

We had a fabulous gourmet 7 course meal at our friends Gillian & François' last Saturday evening. 6 hours at the dinner table! It was delectable! Everyone was amazed at how quiet a baby Kieran is. He was just sitting there most of the evening, not making a sound. I love my son!

I was to begin a mama-baby dance class this past Tuesday but it was cancelled because not enough people had signed up for it. I did start a swimming class yesterday with Kieran and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a good workout and Kieran took to the water. Well, at least he didn't seem to mind it! I even dunked his head under a few times and he didn't cry. He just came back up with this half-stunned look on his face!

Today I thought I'd move some furniture around upstairs to make room for a wardrobe for our bedroom and get all my clothes out of the guestroom. Unfortunately the dresser I moved into our room near the door is too wide for the door to be able to close. So it's back to the drawing-board but I left it as is for now. Tim is going to get a surprise when he gets home!

That's it for now, pictures to follow later, at some point!