Reminded

I've been reminded lately that it's been quite a long time since my last post. Here's my chance to try to catch up with all that's been going on in the past couple of weeks.

To be honest, one of the reasons that I haven't written much is that a significant portion of the recent weeks has been spent dealing with repeating bouts of colds, sinus infections, tummy troubles, earaches, cutting teeth, and sore throats. Rob, Clare and I have all been suffering (well, Clare's the one dealing with the new molars, not us) and we seem to be constantly just a few days behind one another. Then, just when we thought we were getting better, we'd get hit with the next thing.

Somehow, in and out of it all we did manage to have a few good times. We celebrated Aunt Lori's birthday and Mackenzie's Sweet 16. We ate cake! And on the same day as St. Patrick's Day, Clare celebrated her 14 month birthday. We ate Irish stew and beer bread! During March break we had lots of visits with Karen and Adam. And I got to continue a 4 (or is it 5 now?) year tradition of attending Trafalgar 24.

Despite all of this stuff, we're mostly all adjusting to our new routines. Clare had some tough days at daycare since the beginning but its seems that she really turned the corner about two weeks ago. There's hardly been any crying when we drop her off and the caregivers tell us that she's happy and been playing with the other kids, sleeping well and eating well. When she gets home, she exhausted from all the activity and has been ready for bed by 6:30 most nights. We've hearing that Clare is a happy, social, independent, strong, and secure little munchkin. We're very proud!

As well as things are going at daycare, it's been a bit hellish around here. Clare's been so tired at the end of the day that getting dinner and a bath before bed can be a challenge without at least one bout of crying. Saturdays seem tough on her too. A lot of weekend time is spent trying to understand why she's crying or throwing some kind of fit. I'm starting to think that we've made some progress though. As much as Rob and I like to ease into the mornings on the weekend our girl prefers her routine not to get messed with. The closer we stick to something similar to what her now normal morning schedule is like, she seems happier. Now that's she accustomed to getting out, that means that she prefers not to sit in the house all day. She had her best day yet on Sunday when she spent some time with Adam and some time visiting Mummy at dance rehearsal. We think her need for social activity is even bigger than we first guessed. What's that about the apple and the tree? Uh huh.

Meanwhile, my car and I are becoming really great friends. My Ipod and I are becoming even better friends. I listen to audiobooks and podcasts and some fun driving music on my daily commute. The trip is pretty consistently 30 - 35 minutes to the new office space and the same coming back. The 6:30am wake-up call is still an adjustment but getting home before 5pm is GREAT! I'm starting to find my groove at work now after what have been some big changes.

We're looking forward to what April and May have in store!

Talk to you soon,

B