Road Trip!!

Jon and I took our little Bubbaloo off to Nova Scotia this past weekend. We left on Saturday afternoon and got to my Aunt Joanne's house on Saturday evening. We hadn't seen her in 6 years so it was wonderful to be reunited. We spent Saturday night and all of Sunday with her and then headed off to our downtown hotel on Sunday evening. Amy slept like a log on Sunday night...8:15 PM until 9:45 AM!!! Isn't that wild?

Jon had already left at 7:30 on Monday morning so it was just Amy and I. She got up and then we went downstairs for breakfast where she had her first taste of pancakes. They weren't as good as her Daddy's pancakes but they were still yummy and she loved them. After breakfast we headed off for some sunshine and fresh air. We made our way down to the Halifax wharf and it was so beautiful! The wind was insane though so we didn't stay out for very long. Amy loves crazy weather but Mommy does not. We did manage to stay out long enough to spend some time admiring the rough waters at the end of a pier. Amy was fascinated and kept shrieking with delight.

We then made our way into the Halifax Maritime Museum. I saw it and thought it might be a good place to get out of the cold wind and it turned out to be a great idea. It's March Break this week in NS so the place was FILLED with kids! The Museum had an entire Pirate exhibit for kids and Amy loved all of the activity around her. Much to my surprise, she even loved all of the "boring" exhibits. She stayed in the stroller for most of it and she seemed to love looking in at all of the items.
Here she is next to a deck chair from the Titanic. Doesn't she look appropriately awed?

Picture taken on Mar.12/07

Eventually she did want out of the stroller so I carried her around for the rest of the time. She loved that because it meant she could see everything AND kiss Mommy. Mommy didn't mind! This is Amy goofing around next to a giant fog bell:

Picture taken on Mar.12/07

After we finished looking at the exhibits we then went downstairs and watched a play being put on by the "Pirates" for all of the children. The kids were all yelling and screaming so Amy thought this was just the most fascinating part of the whole experience! When the play was finished we went to the gift shop and picked out a stuffed NS lobster. He's all fuzzy, his arms and tail are bendable and he's wearing yellow rain gear...a most suitable souvenir!

We then made our way through downtown Halifax to Boston Pizza. We enjoyed a very leisurely lunch together and we had a wonderful time. Amy was as goofy as always!

Picture taken on Mar.12/07

Amy and I have obviously done a lot of activities together but this was the first time that we ever had any kind of a tourist day together and I loved EVERY SECOND of it! The feeling that I get when I think of how bonded we are is indescribable.

Amy and I got back to the hotel at 3:10 and at 3:15 Jon walked in so we decided to head off to Peggy's Cove so Amy could experience the ocean for the first time. I'm someone who has the ocean running in her veins so I was very, very excited for this occasion. Amy slept the whole way there and we arrived with plenty of sunshine left.

Picture taken on Mar.12/07

Amy absolutely loved the ocean. She had the wind blowing in her face, the sun was shining, and the water was crashing and splashing all around us. There were gorgeous swells coming in and then they would swirl into a frothy mess at the base of the rocks and she was utterly fascinated by that. She looked so content that it made me realize perhaps she also has the ocean in her veins.
Here we are enjoying a family moment.

Picture taken on Mar.12/07

Amy is playing on the warm rocks in this next one and she was pleasantly cooperative while Daddy took the photo!

Picture taken on Mar.12/07

So that's an account of our little Maritime baby's first ocean adventure and we can't wait to do it all again! Hugs to everyone!

To Sleep, Perchance To Not Keel Over With Exhaustion...

Amy slept!!! She's still sleeping right now!!! It is 6:30 am and she has been sleeping solid since 8:30 last night!!! !!! !!!

!!!

Ok, I know I've been a little slow on the blog lately (this was hilariously pointed out by fiery k. yesterday!) but there's a good reason. I can't quite remember that reason at the moment but I know it has something to do with the fact that Amy wasn't sleeping a whole lot. This past week was the worst and Jon was away in Halifax for work so I was basically a zombie who went to bed any time that Amy did.

So lots of things have happened over the past two weeks. Where to start? Well, we had another spaghetti incident. This time she basically used the spaghetti as a body wash! It was a lot of fun and we had some good laughs but the best part was realizing that our baby is not a precious little princess - she's a nose picker!!

Picture taken on Feb.18/07

She might not have found any gold up there but I can guarantee she found some noodles! In this next photo she is awash in a sea of sauce and loving every minute of it:

Picture taken on Feb.18/07

Finally, here she is at the end of the meal. In this one she is trying to push her booster seat tray off so she can launch herself into the bath. She's mad at me for taking yet another picture instead of helping her...that's my girl!

Picture taken on Feb.18/07

Something else that has happened in the past two weeks is that I've finally solved the mystery of just what the hell Cheez Whiz is and how it must be made. It's so obvious that they give some chunks of cheese to a baby, said baby then stuffs cheese in mouth like a vulture and proceeds to mash it against the roof of her mouth, baby chokes, baby spits everything out, and voila! Cheez Whiz!

Picture taken on Feb.19/07

Sorry to ruin your favourite breakfast, Grand-papa! Hey, who am I kidding - as if I could ruin a Beaudoin appetite!

Well, it is now 7:10 am and our little Bubbaloo is awake. I'm going to go give her some hugs and kisses because I've missed her. As much as I love her sleeping through the night there are times when I wake up and wish she was awake, too.

"Mommy hearts Amy"

Picture taken on Dec.02/06

On Valentine's day, I wrote "Mommy hearts Amy" on our Magnadoodle for Amy and when I read it to her she squealed with delight. She really understands the word love and all of the actions associated with love and this never ceases to brighten my life.

Paula has often said that Jon was not a cuddly baby and I used to worry that this would be the case with Amy as well...particularly after I gave birth to her and realized that her main purpose for nearly the first year of her life was to scream and cry. I used to have fits of crying when I thought that my baby wasn't going to be sweet and cuddly and it pained me to no end to think I would be missing out on that aspect of being a Mommy.

Boy, I could not have been further from the truth! She has turned into the most loving little cuddle-bug and I look forward to my daily quiet times with her. Tonight is a perfect example. I read her some stories while she drank her bedtime milk and when she was good and ready for bed I brought her into her room. I sat in the rocking chair and gave her the rest of her milk until she tossed the bottle onto the floor. Normally she stays laying sideways in my arms (I feed her the bottle in the same position I used while breastfeeding) and she drifts off to sleep while I quietly rock in the chair.

However, tonight she wanted to go to sleep sitting up in my arms as though I were giving her a big hug. So since she was in the hug position I thought I might try and sneak a few cheek kisses - I mean, her cheek was right there so how was I supposed to resist? I kissed that soft, warm cheek and loved how my lips just squished into her fat little face. I thought she was asleep so I decided to go in for another sneak cheek attack. To my surprise, she wasn't asleep - she turned her face up as I was going in for a kiss and she gave me a big kiss right on the mouth! Oh, Mommy hearts Bubbaloo kisses! So I kissed her little lips and thought that was it for the night but no, she had plans. She continued to kiss me for 4 or 5 minutes longer! I must have been showered with at least 50 kisses and each one swelled my heart more and more. It was easily the biggest display of love that she has shown me thus far and I loved every second of it.

I wish everyone could end their day being bathed in such love!

Picture taken on Dec.02/06

A girl and her kitty...

I like to give Amy a lot of freedom and independence when she's playing. Our place is baby proofed when it comes to dangerous things and it's so tiny that I can hear what she's doing no matter where the two of us are. This is a reason why I love toys that make noise because then I know just what she's up to!

This morning between 11:00 and 12:00 - her Sesame Street hour, I was on the computer in our room and she was playing in her sea of toys on the livingroom rug. I was able to hear everything she was doing and could tell exactly what toy she was playing with. I knew she was perfectly alright. I continued to type my email and she continued to watch Sesame Street and play. Then all of a sudden I couldn't hear a sound coming from her. That's usually a sign of a baby up to no good so I quickly peeked my head around the bedroom door and this is what I saw:

Picture taken on Feb.16/07

She was laying like that on Pichoux and watching Sesame Street. Isn't that just the sweetest thing? My heart melted and I ran back into the room to grab the camera. I just managed to get a good picture when the camera battery died...luck was on my side and I'll cherish this captured moment forever.

New Stuff

Besides the two blog entries since Amy's birthday party, I've also added some lists to the side of the page:
'Body Parts Amy Can Identify' and 'Sentences Amy Understands'

I've also put in a couple of new actions that Amy can do. We're still working on "TaDa!" but she's almost there.

A routine morning

I'm certainly not an expert on raising a child but that doesn't mean I'm without an opinion...I mean, come on - this is me we're talking about. Something I believe in very strongly is the importance of routine in a little babe's life. I think Amy benefits enormously from knowing the general structure of her day and I see signs that she enjoys routine activities.

One thing that I love about having a family is breakfast time. I never used to be disciplined when it came to breakfast. As Rosanne knows, there were times she would pick me up for work in the morning and I might be putting on makeup in her car or still be drying my hair (ahhhh....good times in the BZT!). I almost never ate anything in the morning. Of course, that's not possible when you have a baby.

Now I would say that breakfast is one of my favourite times of the day. Jon and Amy get up - sometimes I sleep a little bit more, depending on the night I've had with Amy - and Jon makes tea, toast, and cream of wheat with cranberries in it. You might not think that would appeal to a baby but Amy gobbles it right up. We mix a little bit of OJ in the cream of wheat and she starts digging in. She uses her hands, of course. Can you guess how messy our mornings get? Sometimes we need to strip her down and one of us just takes her right into the shower...it's the only way to get everything off!

Picture taken on Dec.12/06

Picture taken on Feb.13/07

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I think Amy would agree. Starting your day by squishing your gooey, hot cereal in your hands and into your hair must be so much fun!

Birthday toys...

I never mentioned the wonderful things that Amy received for her birthday. Jon and I bought her a music set - bongos, tambourine, and maracas. She loves them and especially seems to enjoy hitting herself in the head with the maracas. Hey, whatever entertains her is fine by me! We also got her a little baby doll with a stroller that converts into a bassinet. She seems to like the baby and I've seen her hugging and kissing it many times since Sunday. Thanks for the great suggestion, Cara!

The best thing that we got her though is a little baby sled. It's a blue polar bear that is laying on its belly and Amy sits on it's back. There is a strap to secure her and we line it with a nice thick quilt that she got from her Grandma Brown. We weren't too sure how she was going to like the sled but it turns out that our fearless little spitfire LOVES it! She was all smiles when we took her out on it and it was so much fun to be pulling our little girl through the snow. Jon and I couldn't stop smiling to the point that our teeth hurt from the cold!

The battery was dead on the camera when we took her on the sled for the first time but I was able to take a picture yesterday. Amy and I have been saving bread to feed to the birds in the cemetery across the street and we took the bread over yesterday afternoon. She has a good time when we go but she doesn't seem to know what to make of all of the birds. There are a lot of them and they come swooping down in a big, black mass when the bread comes out. It's actually a little scary but I try and keep a happy face for Amy. Here she is sitting in the sled watching the birds:

Picture taken on Feb.12/07

It ended up being damn cold and windy in the cemetery so after we fed the birds and talked to a tiny little old lady who was also feeding birds, we hoofed it over to Nana and Papa's to visit with Reece and Ryen and have some hot tea. Good times!

From Nana and Papa, Amy received a fun little activity chair. It's the same brand as her Baby Grand Piano so it has the same faces and voices and she loves it (she's playing with it right now, actually). I took this photo this morning of her playing on it:

Picture taken on Feb.13/07
The funniest part of her playing with this particular toy is that she doesn't always know how to get herself off of it. Sometimes, especially if she's tired, she gets stuck on the seat and then she gets mad and starts screaming and yelling. I try not to laugh at her but it's so hard! This morning she stood up on the chair and then stepped off sideways. Of course, that ended in disaster because she fell flat on her butt. Some Mommies freak out when their little one so much as bumps their head on a teddy bear, but I'm a firm believer that kids fall down and they survive so I never pay much attention to these piddly little falls. As a result, she almost never reacts to falling unless I react. Well, when she fell this morning I reacted by laughing quite hard so she laid on the floor and laughed and laughed. Crisis averted!

Gotta go...Reid and Christy are here for some cake. Thank goodness someone other than myself will be eating the rest of the cake! I'll try to get more pictures of Amy playing with her birthday toys when I can.

Bye!

Amy's 1st Birthday...Part I

Hi Everyone! Long time no blog. Sorry for the absence but I've been busy working on a photo album project about Amy's first year so it has taken me away from Beaudoin's World.

Well, we've been up to a lot of fun activities in the past 10 days but none as exciting as Amy's first party! I know, I know... some of you are saying that Amy's first birthday isn't until the 23rd. Well, as most of you know, my Dad is leaving on Wednesday for Afghanistan for a long time. We decided last week to have Amy's party today so that he could be here for it. It was only family here today and we had a wonderful time. Enough with all the chatter - let's get to the pictures!

Amy loves Elmo so an Elmo theme seemed appropriate. Here is the table all decorated for her birthday meal - homemade lasagna, garlic bread, and chocolate cake.

This is Amy all dressed up with nowhere to go. Doesn't she look sweet? A big thank-you to Art and Lisa for the dress (it's gorgeous!).

This is Amy's relaxed pose. She's just chillin' in the living room. She's starting to look like a little girl and no longer a little baby. *sigh*

"Amy, how old are you?" "I'm 1"

Reece and Ryen arrived in pretty dresses with perfectly curled hair and they looked so precious. Here they are enjoying some strawberry milk in their Elmo cups.

It's not a birthday bash until some poor kid gets a party hat snapped into their face!

Amy's first cake!! As you can see, she started digging into it as soon as it was in front of her...that's her little handprint.


Mmmmmm...chocolate cake! 'Nuf said.


I believe this picture says "bath time"


That's Amy getting hosed down before her bath. Jon just took the whole chair into the bathroom. You just have to love those messy meals!

Of course we couldn't have her party early without getting a good picture of her cuddling with her dear Papa. She's her Papa's girl and they're going to miss each other very much. We love you, Papa!

Some winding down time with Daddy after everyone left. The three of us played in the living room while we watched her birthday video on the TV.
Yes, we're lame (but we love every minute of it)!

So there is her 1st birthday...Part I. We are still planning on having her regular birthday and that's when she will be partying it up with the Beaudoin clan - maybe not in body but definitely in spirit. She's a lucky little girl to get two parties!

Much love to everyone and big, drooly kisses from Amy.

Day to day Amy

Hi all! Sorry I've been silent but I've been sick and haven't felt like being on the computer much. Amy is still doing great and last night she even slept from 10:30 until 5:00!! Yay! She's still just about the cutest thing in the world and we've been having a lot of fun. She is just getting over a hideous diaper rash so she's been going diaper-less a lot over the past couple of days and she just loves that. It's so funny because I'll say to her "Amy, what happened to your diaper?" and she'll look down at her bare bottom and then she'll bring her hands up with her palms turned up and shrug as if to say "Gee, Mommy, I don't know where it is!" She gets a big kick out of this game. Another of her new favourite games is to balance things on her head. See her in action...

Picture taken on Jan.27/07

She's quite proud of herself when she manages to get it off of her head without it falling first.

We spent yesterday with Reece, Ryen, and Amanda. Those days are always my favourite because I love my nieces, as does Amy. I also love time alone with Amanda because we like to gab and gab and gab and it's easier to do that when it's just the two of us. The girls play so well together and it's always a fun and relaxing day. Mom came by later in the afternoon and she had been shopping for clothes for all 3 kids. Here's Amy in her new little outfit (holding her old clothes):

Picture taken on Jan.31/07

She's one stylin' babe! We went out for a walk today and I went to pick up her birthday gifts. I had ordered them from Sears so they get delivered to a Sears delivery site just down the street...so convenient! We got her some bongos, a tambourine, maracas, a baby doll, and a baby doll stroller that converts into a swing (and a bassinet as well, I think). I think she's going to love them and I'm really hoping she takes to her baby doll. It's so much fun to get toys for her. I know deep down that she's happy playing with a sock and some paper but toys are just so much fun! Well, I'm practically falling asleep on the keyboard so it's bedtime for me. Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

As k. would say...good times...good times

Have you ever had a warm, plump, sweet-smelling baby drift off to sleep in your arms while you're rocking in a chair and listening to soothing music? If you haven't, I would suggest that you put it on your list of things to do in this lifetime.

I'm not ashamed to admit that there are some things about motherhood that I have a hard time dealing with (beware of anyone who tells you that they love everything about having a new baby...they are a lying sack of sh*t). Putting Amy to bed used to be one of the worst parts of the day. Now that she's older and we have a very solid routine in place, she's just a doll to put to bed at night. Add to that the fact that we've put a CD player in her room and we have the soundtrack to Amélie playing and it has become a wonderful experience. She gets all cuddled up in my arms and she is so soft you almost can't feel her cheeks when you kiss them. My favourite thing to do is to wait until she's asleep and then I kiss her lips...she almost always gives a little smile. *sigh* It's during times like that when I feel that babyhood goes by so fast and you really need to grab on to the little things that warm your heart.

Beaudoin's World does not revolve around Amy...

Despite appearances, we do have other things going on in our lives. Something very wonderful and exciting that we are enjoying right now is the upcoming arrival of Jon's new little sister! Élora is due to enter the world in June and we couldn't be happier about her arrival.

Ultrasound at 18 Weeks - Jan.17/07
(Click on the picture to see a bigger version)

Aren't those profile shots on the left just amazing? Jon's step-Mom is about 19 weeks along now and she's having a great pregnancy and she's in wonderful hands in Kingston. Jon's Dad is like a giddy little kid and is just bursting with excitement. There's nothing like knowing that two people are finally getting everything they've wished and hoped for. Congratulations, Dan and Nancy! We all know that you two are going to give Élora a wonderful life and she's already a very lucky little girl.

There is a God, Miracles do happen, etc...

Like I said before, Amy has never been a good napper and I've always DREADED nap time. Now that I've found this new way of putting her to sleep to blaring music, nap time has become a fun activity for the two of us and it involves lots of hugs and cuddles and is easily becoming the best part of the day.

Getting two naps a day out of Amy has always been nearly impossible...until now! She has actually been having two naps and this is just amazing to me. This new development actually makes me believe that all is right with the world. So in the spirit of sharing all the fun things that I get to do with Amy in the run of a day, I have added a list to the side of our blog of the songs that Amy finally passes out to. It's only from yesterday on because I can't remember past yesterday (a side effect of sleep deprivation!) It'll be fun in years to come to see if she actually likes any of these songs. My favourite song when I was a toddler was Funky Town!

Ahhhh...glorious sleep!

I have a bad cold right now and last night Jon gave me the best medicine...Nyquil and uninterrupted sleep. He took care of Amy's night wakings and I slept solid from 9:30 until 5:00 and then from 5:30 until 7:30. Ohhhhh, it feels like a vacation!

Amy has been an angel this morning despite that fact that she also has this cold and is producing mountains of snot. She never ceases to amaze me with the things she can do. Mom was over on Wednesday and asked Amy if she wanted to dance and Amy immediately starts bopping up and down and snapping her fingers. I had no idea she knew what "dance" meant! Then today she surprised me by getting down off of our bed all by herself. We were playing on the bed and she was throwing herself all around and then she started waving, saying "bye", and proceeded to shimmy backwards off the bed on her stomach, grabbing the duvet as she went, until her feet touched the floor! Mom's been teaching her this for a long time now and her hard work has paid off! Amy was so pleased with herself and of course I made a huge deal over this accomplishment.

We danced today for nearly 2 hours and Amy just loves that. We play, we dance, we kiss and she is just the happiest little girl. Here's some proof of her happy morning (Paula, notice she's in pink?):

Picture taken on Jan.26/07

Another thing that we spend a lot of time doing is going around the apartment so that Amy can point to things and say "dat?" and then I tell her what it is. We spend a lot of time doing this and I never get tired of answering her question. Jon's Mom has always been adamant that her patience with Jon's questions as a baby is why he is so smart today and I think that's some pretty sound advice. It's fun knowing you're introducing a little mind to the wonders of everyday life!

Toys in the night

Some of Amy's toys creep me out. She has a little bear that recites a prayer with a little boy's voice and I hate that thing. She also has a couple of Tickle Me Elmo's and they're fun but the newest one is a little scary because it rolls around, sits up, and stands up. I often wonder what would happen if Tickle Me Elmo took over the world. Would he be an evil dictator? Would he rule the world with Star Trek in mind...all happy and peaceful? Of course not, he's a man. His mission would be to screw everything he could find. Like this:

Pictures taken on Jan.26/07
Now just what the hell is Elmo getting up to in the night? I mean, what's going on over there at Sesame Street headquarters? What's next? Oscar the Grouch in S&M gear?

Hi Gramma Brown!

As requested, here is a picture of Amy...clean and not drenched in spaghetti. This was actually taken the day before the attack of spaghetti. She was quietly playing in her room and when I peeked in on her I was struck by how much she no longer looked like a baby. She's my little girl now!

Picture taken on Jan.5/07

Except for the picture of her playing with the kleenex (which you can see in my post about her teething), I don't have anything after the spaghetti because it's all videos. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

Amy went to bed tonight at 6:30! Let's see what happens with this crazy new schedule!