We're home!

Well wifi was a little unreliable while we were in Barbados so I didn't get online as much as I thought I would so I could update...

I said that Kieran wasn't able to roll from his back to his tummy yet but he's done it twice although no one actually saw him do it. There's certainly no leaving him unsupervised on an elevated surface anymore. Yesterday in the airplane lavatory I even caught him rolling off the changing table while I looked away for a split second.

Our time in Barbados was mostly spent preapring meals, getting ready to go to the beach and relaxing on the beach! On Thursday we went into Bridgetown and did a little shopping. We had some showers that evening and Friday was kind of overcast also. We were going to go to Oistins fish market for a fish fry supper but the dark skies made us change our minds. We even lost power for over an hour that evening.

Kieran woke up early to be fed (like 4 or 5 am) while we were in Barbados but last night he slept right through til about 8 o'clock this morning. Either that or we didn't hear him if he did wake up!

The flight back went well even if I had the window seat again. Daddy met us at the airport and we were so happy to see him!

Barbados day 4

Barbados day 2 & 3

Sunday is actually still a day of rest in this country, imagine that!
We went into Bridgetown, the capital and walked around the deserted streets as all the shops and restaurants were closed.
Sometimes they open when cruise ships come into port and there were 2 ships in but everything was closed anyhow.

Kieran had a first yesterday - he rolled over from his tummy to his back. So he has to be watched a little more closely now, depending on where he is lying. He can't roll from his back to his tummy yet, he still gets stuck on his side as he hasn't figured out how to get his arm out of the way yet.

All this fresh air has Kieran napping more during the day and yesterday I managed to go for a walk along the beach by myself and was gone for a good hour. Okay, I admit I was a little concerned he would wake up before I got back, but it turns out I had nothing to worry about, he slept for a whole 10 minutes after my return! He does tend to fuss a lot before settling down to sleep but I thinks that's because he is overtired.

This morning I snuck out for an early morning swim and got back before Kieran woke up.
Later in the morning we all went to the beach and now I'm feeling the sun on my shoulders as I went swimming pretty soon after we got there and did not reapply any sunscreen. I took Kieran into the ocean but he wasn't too thrilled about it, especially when a rather large wave came from behind and took me by surprise!

Our apartment is not directly on the water, it's about a 2 minute walk to the public access to the beach so we don't have any chairs to sit on when we go which is a little inconvenient. I lay Kieran down on the sand on my towel but with all his squirming he ended up with sand pretty much everywhere, his mouth included as his hands pretty much end up directly in his mouth most of the time!

The internet connection here was not working until this morning and I can't believe what a relief it was when I was finally able to connect. Very weird. But then again, it was probably more because I could be in touch with Tim rather than feeling out of touch with the cyber world. I had no such feeling whatsover when we were in Cuba.

So I will try for some daily updates and hopefully will have some more interesting tidbits to share as he week goes on!

Barbados, our arrival.

Well, here we are on day 2 1/2 of our second winter holiday in the sun...Kieran and I decided to come and join Grandmaman and Granddaddy during their 3 week stay here in Barbados. Unfortunately, we had to leave Daddy behind at home. But he's keeping busy painting and organizing our upstairs office. I can't wait to see the finished product when we get back.

So we got up bright and early on Saturday morning (I had woken up at 3:30 and didn't get back to sleep, ugh) and headed out to the airport around 6 o'clock. Kieran was awake but luckily didn't get hungry til later. Tim accompanied us all the way to the security gates. So I'd checked us in online which is supposed to save time as all you have to do when you get to the airport is drop off your baggage. Ha!
I still had to go to the self-check in to get our baggage labels and print our boarding passes with the gate info which was missing from the one I had printed at home. Then we had to wait in line at the baggage drop-off and I had to show the agent our passports and boarding passes. So, time saved? None whatsover. Work saved by agent? Printing and affixing the labels on our bags. What a croc. Air Canada sucks!

We got through security with no trouble and the agents there were actually quite friendly and helpful, folding and reopening the stroller for me and telling me to take my time with Kieran. He was quite good during the whole flight, I nursed him in the waiting area and then in the plane before take-off and then after another feed and some breakfast for me, we both managed a nap. The flight was a little over 5 hours long and went by pretty quickly. I had the window seat which was nice for the view, but a little inconvenient for lavatory visits.

Funny coincidence, we were on the same flight as a family we know from the curling club and they are staying not too far from where we are. I'd never really talked to them before, but funnily enough, I had gone to the club this past Tuesday and did have a conversation (mostly about Kieran) with John. I have their phone number so we can get together at some point this week.

And as a nice surprise, my mom came and met us at the airport. We had a fun bus ride back to the apartment making everyone step over my luggage and contend with me wacking them in the heads with my backpack. Thank goodness I had Kieran in the Maman Kangouroo carrier. But $1.50 instead of $40 for a taxi made it worthwhile! (I guess!)

After devouring a sandwich and feeding Kieran too, we left the men to fend for themselves, and went to the beach for a swim before sunset. The water was heavenly although the area where we swam was a little rocky.

We then had a delicious roast chicken supper followed by a quiet evening and an early bedtime.

And another month has almost come and gone

Well what did March have in store for us?
I finally got my things organized and now most of my clothes are actually in my own bedroom. It seems silly that the dresser and the closet in the guest room are empty but eventually we will need the space and it certainly is more convenient to have my things in my own room. It also gave me the opportunity to get ride of some stuff.

The day after my last post, we went to see France who was performing in a production of Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Gondoliers". Grandma Jo-Anne babysit Kieran and we ended up having to come home at intermission because he would not drink from the bottle. To think that at the beginning I had so much trouble getting him to breast feed and now he won't take a bottle!

Kieran and I have been going to swim class and using Communauto, the care-sharing co-op, and I'm quite enjoying it.

The first weekend in March, Kieran and I joined Robbie, Olaf, Stephanie and Ysabel for some weekend fun in the Laurentians. We went up to Lac Tremblant where Robbie's family have their cottage. The cottage is closed up for the winter as it is not winterized and the only access in the summer is by boat but once or twice a winter they go up to check on things and do some glorified winter camping. Because we took Kieran, we were lucky enough that Robbie's cousin let us use her cottage which has full amenities. Except something went wrong with her pump so we had no water. Which was fine, it did give us a bit of a sense of roughing it! The walk up on the ice was pretty wet and slippery but it was a nice mild day. Sunday was sunnier but pretty windy. Ysabel had brought her kite and she and Olaf had great fun for a good 2 hours flying it.
Tim had stayed home to do some work around the house and he also realized that he was on call that weekend so had to stay near a computer.
We had a good laugh at Robbie's expense when he made a second batch of pancakes and added hot water to the mix. Mmmm, pre-cooked batter! Olaf and I ate them anyways, we'll eat anything!!!

Tim was (ahem) lucky enough to get up early on Sunday morning to drive my parents to the airport as they were leaving for Barbados. (Thanks again Boo, you're the best!)

I have quite a story to tell about this but it will have to wait...some of you Facebook people might know what little critter I'm talking about...