Fall is nearing

Fiona has her new snuggly bunting bag installed in her stroller and not a surprise that Naya is taking advantage of this added warmth.

Off to her fist gig

She wore her kilt to the city last Friday night to see a Celtic band...and yes she was a major hit !!! They changed the words of "Donald where's your trousers" to "Fiona where's your trousers" and she even got her own personal mention in the bands' review of the evening . There were pipers and dancers and great traditional music and plenty of beer, caesars and milk were enjoyed at our table.

Look at how intently she is watching the band...cute !

More on sleep...for the last time ! ! ! !

I know that I talk about sleep a lot (or our lack of sleep) but I am finished. I have been sounding a little bit whiney like we are not enjoying parenthood because we have been so tired. This is not the case at all, we have been enjoying this little one immensely, despite our lack of sleep. I can say that with a very upbeat tone in my voice because we have had 4 nights of great sleep and things just look a little bit rosier this week. I know that being tired comes with the job of being new parents, but after a couple of months, the adrenaline starts to wear off and we have been looking and feeling totally haggard so it is perfect timing for baby Fiona to start to enjoy her sleep rather than fighting it.

These photos were taken last Wednesday when my mom was here for the day. Leslie has claimed Wednesdays as her day with Fiona. She has been coming in, doing some cleaning and tidying and looking after the little Fiona during the day. Then, in the evening when Ross gets home from work we can go out for a few hours to dinner or a movie or whatever. Yes, we are very lucky ! We get a date night, free babysitting and the house gets tidy. Thanks Mom, we all love you and appreciate you very much.

Oops, I was excited and posted to soon ....

...turns out that 7 hours of sleep was just a one off. She is back to her old tricks again, just 3 or 4 hours per night. As I have previously mentioned her motto is still "sleep is for the weak" I am getting a sign made for our front door.

The midwife, Linda, suggested that when she wakes up after her 3 hours' sleep, which is usually 12am-3am, we should feed her then put her to sleep in her own room. That way when she wakes up again, she can do 'what she does best' in the privacy of her own room and we can sleep right through until she is hungry. (What she does best is poopin' and she spends a long time building up to the big crescendo. ) And so we will try it and see how things go .

Anyways, she is 9 pounds and 15 OZ as of Thursday's appointment . Gaining a half an oz per day which is average. So that means sometime this weekend she should hit the 10 pound mark. We finally had to pack away her preemie clothes that she has been wearing since Day 1. She is now onto the Newborn size outfits ( 0-3 months are mostly too large still) The photo above is taken at the midwife's office.

Thats the face of a happy girl !!!

And Mommy and Daddy are just as happy as we all had 7 hours sleep last night. That doubles the amount that we have been having for the last couple of weeks. Just when I was beginning to think that I couldn't survive one more day with just 3 hours sleep, she pulls a 7 hour-er for us. I am kind of scared to brag about her sleeping skills just in case that was a one time happening, but hopefully we will have a repeat again tonight. Fingers crossed !

Ross has just returned home from work. After changing into his play clothes and cracking a beer, he is now on baby duty for the next while, at least until her next feed in about an hour or so. Our plan is for me to start pumping some bottles so that he can take some of the evening feedings. It would give me a little break and give Ross a chance to bond with Fiona. I purchased a pump for this purpose and have been using it frequently , but honestly, out of all of the degrading things in this world, this has got to be one of the worst. To add insult to injury, when the pump is 'plugged on' , it actually sounds like a cow merrily mooing a merry milking tune. Muu Muu Muu Muu . It is awful !

Gardens and things

After her 3rd breakfast this morning, Fiona and I climbed back into bed for a half hour and watched my old boyfriend Jamie Oliver (pre-ross) prepare a meal for his family with ingredients that he picked straight from his garden.

Jamie made a simple, rustic pasta sauce from his home grown tomatoes which he had canned last summer. He simmered them with basil, oregano and garlic which were all fresh from his garden Once he had combined the sauce with the linguini noodles, he topped it with his fresh home grown peas and baby basil leaves. It looked so tasty, fresh and healthy and it put me into a daydream about one day turning the yard on Kelly Street into a fully stocked organic produce store...with a little chicken coop and everything. It is a common daydream of mine and one which I hope to bring to fruition in the distant future.

~ ~ ~ Now visualize those dreamy swirls that take you from reality into dreamland on television and fast forward 5 years~ ~ ~ ~

Come supper time, I would ask Fiona to please go and gather the veggies and salad for the evening meal. She would be dressed in a white eyelet dress (that I sewed for her of course) and oversized gumboots and she would skip merrily out into the garden and after carefully selecting some of our finest fare, she would return to the kitchen with a melange of fresh, sun-ripened ingredients for our dinner.

Now come back to reality for some actual update on tonights dinner plans. Fiona is having her usual delicacy, Ross has gone downtown for a liquid dinner with Fred. I have cooked myself a fresh sockeye salmon which was caught just yesterday in the Fraser River,now thats a salmon thats worthy of a daydream.

Linda the midwife was here today. Fiona weights 9.8 and is gaining about an ounce per day which is excellent. Linda is still coming as she is trying to help us get Fiona to sleep more at night time. She thinks Fiona should be sleeping 5 hours and then another 4 after a midnight feeding...right now she sleeps about 4 or 5 in total and then she is up again and ready to party, so I will try anything Linda has to suggest ! ! ! She suggests going back to the system that we were feeding her on when she was born. Spend an hour feeding her every 3 hours and then as the evening comes I should spend an hour feeding her every 2 hours. This is a grueling schedule and it means that it makes it difficult to go out for daytime adventures, but it should only be for about a week and then we should see an improvement in her night time habits. Right now I survive on about 5 hours sleep in a 24 hour period and I think thats just about enough of that !

First day back to school for students today and I too have the feeling of 'new beginnings'. Our lives are beginning to settle down after the initial excitement of baby Fi and I can visualize a routine beginning as we get to know her likes and dislikes.

Likes - being out and about having mini adventures
Dislikes - sleeping at night

So if I follow her schedule, we will be on-the-go 24/7.

The photo in pink was taken last night right before our company arrived. She was in a great mood as she was getting ready to meet her first friend. There is a couple in our bulding with a week old baby girl named Zoe and they came down for a visit. It went very well, they are super nice. We fed Fiona up very well right before they arrived and so she was sitting on my knee in just her diaper smiling and laughing with her buddha belly hangin' out for much of their visit. SUPER CUTE

The other photo was taken last week at Cristy's cabin on the island. Mom and I took Fiona for her first journey to one of my favourite places. Fiona and I sat alone together on the dock of the lake, on a chair facing the water and the mountains. The morning sun was shining, though the temperture was more autumnal. We were wrapped up cozily in lots of fleecy blankets and after her morning 'snack' we made a nice little nest on the dock and had a nap together. It was amazing to be out in nature ; she is a BC girl already !