First Birthday!

Clare had a fantastic birthday!

There were party hats and birthday shirts...

birthday cake..

Lots of birthday cake..

and lots of presents to open and read and play with

And of course (though I didn't get a picture to show it) about 16 relatives all standing by with cameras and applause! What more could a girl ask for?

(if you want them, there are more pictures.. here)

Talk to you soon,

B.

It's Been a Magical Year

Today is Clare's BIG DAY! Rob and I would like to wish her a very very happy birthday.

I've been spending most of the last few days reminiscing and thinking over the past year. All the sayings and cliche's feel so true. It's been so fast and yet so much has happened. It feels like Clare has been part of my life forever. I already can't remember what she looked like when she was born. I forget how small her feet were or what she sounded like when she cried. It's been one of the best years of my life.

I've read some other blogs where mom's write messages or letters to their kids. I've thought it was really sweet and I'm going to give it a shot today.

Dear Clare,

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! As I try to say to you every day, thanks so much for being born and thanks for choosing Daddy and me to be your parents. We are so extremely grateful.

You are already such a big girl now, it takes me by surprise. Full of laughter and play and at the same time serious and just so smart. Daddy and I are very proud of everything you've accomplished this year. We can already see that you're getting ready to take on all of the adventures you have before you with the same enthusiasm and determination you've taken on the challenges of walking and climbing stairs.

We hope that you've enjoyed this past year and that your next one will continue to be full of cuddles and laughs and good stories. You make our home warm and our hearts happy.

Be well little girl!

Love,

Mum

Huckla Holiday Party

One of our first big holiday parties, we celebrated with the Huckla family:

Clare and Mumma reading together

"The Ryan Show"; starring Marissa, Ryan, Jenna, and Justin

Great Aunt Lori and Clare

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone! We had a great day and hope that you all are having a great time as well. (Clare got a kitchen for Christmas)

Talk to you soon,

B.

Happy Halloween

We had a very fun Halloween around here. I thoroughly enjoy Halloween. I like carving pumpkins. I like trick-or-treating. I like that our neighbourhood puts on a play ever year and hundreds of people are all hanging out with each other on the streets. I love costumes. Good time, good times. Clare had a blast too. I think her favourite things were staying up late, walking around outside kicking leaves, visiting the doggie from across the street. Incidentally, this doggie's family is about to have a baby any day now. We're hoping that Clare's going to get a playmate.

Here's Clare in her ballerina costume. In the end, we couldn't decide what she should be for the holiday, so she got to wear two costumes. This was her 'evening' outfit.

This is Clare in her 'day outfit'. Little Miss Frog.

Pumpkin 1.

Pumpkin 2

We were more low key on the decorating this year. We think that's why we weren't able to lure as many kids this year as last year. Next year we've decided to go much, much bigger.

Hope everyone else had a very Happy Halloween.

Starting at a young age

Clare and a whisk.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Cherries

Apparently, Nana made the cherries a little sour -



She has a similar reaction to peas, yams, rice, and rice noodles.

Talk to you soon,

B.

The Influence of Upbringing

Everyone says that you never know how much you're like your parents until you become one yourself. I like to call it 'the influence of upbringing'. Culture plays a part certainly but how you were parented is huge. I've thought about this a lot before: when I was younger and shared stories with friends of traditions in our house that were different from theirs, when I got 'new parents' and in particular when I think of how seamlessly my step-dad integrated into our daily lives and how much he must have sacrificed of his own lifestyle so that ours didn't have to change, when I got roommates, then again when I got married and Rob and I started learning how to be 'a husband' or 'a wife' and how our natural instincts and expectations were drawn from our families. And of course, I'm thinking of this even more now that I am a parent. It's natural, I guess.

As a parent, I notice the influence of upbringing most often when Rob and I are contrary. If Rob and I are totally on the same page about something, my brain just assumes that it's a universal fact. When we're not on the same page I automatically start thinking about where our ideas of parenting come from. Neither Rob nor I are parenting particularly 'by the book' - we aren't learning about parenting from books (yes, this is surprising to me given our normal tendencies). I think we try to learn about parenting by trial and error and by example. Obviously, our own parents are our biggest examples. It's interesting for me to see how this manifests itself in me and in Rob.

And while it is interesting for me to see this manifestation of our parents in ourselves -- I learned today that it is hurtful and insensitive to point it out to Rob while laughing and calling him by his mother's name. Sorry babe.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Still more growing

I think Clare has changed a lot since she was three months old but you can't really see as much change through the pictures as I think happened in real life. This is her most recent 'Growing' picture, taken on her 4 month birthday. I've updated the Picasa Album with a few other pictures too. Oh - for those who don't know, I've been taking a picture of Clare every month on her birthday in this same outfit and same location. Once I have 12 months of pictures, I'm going to print them and get them framed as a set, as a way of documenting some of the first year of Clare's life.

Talk to you soon,
B

What a Lovely Weekend

I had a long and late rehearsal last night so I didn't get a chance to post about the weekend.

It started on Friday just before Rob got home from work. Clare came outside with me and she sat in her Bumbo while I did some gardening and we chatted a while. Rob was kind of late coming home from work even though I knew he left early (I was pretty sure he was 'up to something'). When he did get home we packed up Clare and strolled down to Queen Street for dinner. We had a great dinner and the girl managed to stay mostly entertained in her stroller so that Rob and I could eat comfortably. We had a leisurely walk back home with a brief stop to pick up some "Baby cakes". At home, Clare went to bed without hardly a peep and then Rob and I caught up on the Thursday night tv we'd missed the night before.

Saturday, I totally skipped out on my chores. I had a tonne of stuff that I was supposed to do but I was so happy to have Rob home that I just wanted to hang out with him all day. I was practically desperate for his company. We had a slow morning with naps and some good food. We went out for a walk again in the afternoon for a walk around the Danforth. There was a fun fair going on that we visited that included cotton candy, popcorn, and home baked cookies. We picked up some groceries and found a better source of diapers for Clare. We got back home in time for me to cook dinner: buttered peas, ravioli in an olive oil and lemon sauce, and artichokes. Then, Clare and I got ourselves ready to meet up with Kevin and Su for the Alexander Singers show, Guys and Dolls. Clare slept through almost all of it but I thought it was fantastic!

Sunday was the big day of course. Rob made pancakes for breakfast and Clare and I slept in a bit. We had a relaxing enjoyable breakfast during which I received the best Mother's Day card EVER and the word that my gift was on the way but hadn't made it through the mail quite yet. After breakfast we were joined by my Mum and Ron. We just chilled out all day. Clare was suffering from a cold pretty badly on Sunday, actually. It started around Thursday night and got progressively worse over the weekend. She was coughing a lot on Saturday night and was pretty miserable looking by Sunday. Despite all that, she was in pretty good spirits but did need a bit more attention than usual. Actually, she needed A LOT of attention and was having trouble eating with her stuffy nose. I had to pump and feed her from a bottle 'cause it was easier for her. I was glad my Mum was around to help out. After I went to rehearsal Rob said that she cried most of the evening.

We decided to skip yoga this morning because of Clare's cold. It was a smart decision. Though she was much less stuffy and wasn't coughing as bad, she was still having a tough day. She needed a lot of holding today which meant that I got some good use out of my sling. Clare did get a lot of sleep today, though. She took a couple of longer naps and it seemed that by early afternoon she was turning a corner. However, this afternoon was her 4 month check-up at the doctors. She's doing great but had to get the second of the MMR shots. This time she cried pretty hard when the needles went in. And she's been whiny and tearful ever since. It was nearly impossible to get her to sleep tonight. I'm glad that we had such a relaxing weekend. I really needed all the energy I could get for today! Rob tried explaining to Clare that he also has this bad cold that she had AND had to get a shot today, but HE didn't cry so perhaps she could stop crying. His reasoning with her didn't work.

Clare's check-up stats: Weight = 13 lbs 8.5 oz. Height = 24 inches

Talk to you soon,
B.

Head Holding

Here is some video evidence of Clare's ability to hold her head high! ... The video was taken when Clare was a bit sleepy and apparently more interested in eating the couch than looking at the world - but nonetheless. The encouraging voice in the video is Cynthia (Goo Ma).

These pics are better examples of head holding. Here she is looking at Mum and Goo Ma.

And here she is trying to get at her toys.

Talk to you soon,

B.