Windsurfing in the gorge

We just returned from a week of camping and windsurfing in Hood River, Oregon (aka the gorge). Before setting out we had only been home from our trip to Ontario for less than a week and I had a lot to do in that time. Somehow packing for the trip went on the back burner, even though I would normally start way in advance (I take after my mother in that regard). I started packing for a week-long camping trip 4 hours before departure time. Here's a list of the things we forgot:

• sleeping bag (we bought a blanket at Walmart that will serve as a picnic blanket in future - something we needed anyway)
• novel (not necessary - I have a toddler)
• frying pan (bacon?!)
• wash tub (large pot works well. Randy prefers this anyway as it's more efficient.)
• flashlight (luckily not our only one, but the nice big one that's like a lantern. It's still mia.)
• tablecloth (dirt is good for the immune system)

We had perfect weather - sunshine and wind. There are very active rail lines on either side of the river so Helen learned the baby sign language sign for train.

Randy in action

me

Barge! These scare me so I stop and wait as soon as I spot one coming down the river.

 

Thank you for the camping high chair Kelly! It contains the mess. 

 At a rest stop on the way home Helen was in high gear going to see a dog and she tripped on a curb and face planted on the sidewalk ... first fat lip. She still walks with her hands up in ours so she didn't break the fall. Here's a photo of her purple lip.

 We made the 7-hour drive home in one day. I was thankful for our Nexus cards because they saved us half an hour at the border and for our newly leased garage (former downstairs tenant used to have it) because we could pull the car in and unload this morning.

Five days until we leave for our next trip! We're already 3/4 packed but maybe this will be the year I finally make a master camping list. 

Mom and baby bootcamp

Helen and I have been going to Mom and Baby Bootcamp classes at the local community centre (fit4two.ca). It's not quite zumba (Zumba blog post) but it's still pretty good. The instructor is excellent and it provides us with social time as well as the workout so it's great mentally too. Basically the babies lie on exercise mats while the moms work out. You can stop to feed or change a diaper and if the baby's fussy then you hold her and modify the exercise accordingly. During push-ups we're all hoping that our baby will start crying so we can have a break! At the beginning jumping jacks were a good challenge for my pelvic floor muscles but I can now (usually) get through them without running to the washroom to pee first.

Helen would never be happy lying on the floor at home for that long but there's lots to look at in the class and it keeps her entertained. Her favourite thing to do is to suck on the gym mat. I know that germs are good for the immune system but the fermenting sweat on the mat is a bit much for me and I try to sprint over in time to stop her. I have very limited success. Her second favourite thing is sitting on my stomach while I do abdominal work. She finds this hilarious, especially when her weight makes it harder for me.

Spring's here in Vancouver so hopefully we'll be able to get our exercise outdoors soon! Helen was given a bike seat so we're just waiting for her to be old enough to go for rides ...

Baby carrier cover

I finally finished a cover for my baby carrier ... just in time for spring! It's been finished enough to be useful for a while but I just put the final finishing touches on it last weekend. I had the bright idea to sew myself a cover so I could make it just like I wanted and so I could use some cute fabric that my mom had given me. I think that with my baby brain I forgot the reason I was making a baby carrier cover was because I had a baby and therefore very little free time! It wasn't a big project really but the baby wasn't sleeping well so my sewing time was split into 20-minute chunks, making it very difficult to get anything done! I wished many times that I had just bought one but now that it's finished I'm very happy with it.

It looks a bit like a pillowcase but it's very functional. I made good use of my snap press so there are tabs to keep the hood rolled up and the inner cozy part can be taken out if I just want a light water-repellent cover. It's handy in the stroller too.

Once again I'm telling myself no more projects for a little while ... but I do want to try another bikini for the summer ...

I shaved my legs

I shaved my legs today.

Is this worthy of a blog post, one might wonder? Yes, it is. Because I have a 7-month old baby. And that baby is teething. And shaving has never been high on my priority list. And finally, even if I had accomplished something grand today I wouldn't have had time to write about it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2015

Merry Christmas 

and 

Happy New Year!

I wanted to send Christmas cards this year but ... I had a baby instead. Well, the baby arrived 6 months before Christmas but I think it's still a valid excuse.

In March we moved to a larger apartment. We now have a mountain view, lots of light and no sports gear in the living room or the bedroom! I have a sewing room (that is also a guest room) and Randy has a man-closet. Maybe after our next move he'll have a whole man-cave.

Our highlight of 2014 was the arrival of Helen Emma in June. She is a very happy baby. It's been a fun seven months watching her grow and develop and seeing her personality start to come through.

We've had a lot of visitors: My parents came in June, Randy's parents came in September, and two good friends came in October.

We went windsurfing (and camping) on the August long weekend and on another camping trip in September. Helen and I went to Fernie in October for a wonderful (and long overdue) visit.

We spent Christmas in Ontario this year. Helen and I went ahead to my parents' for a week then met Randy in Carp. Helen enjoyed putting on a show for the grandparents: rolling around, making a mess eating solid food, splashing in the bath, and "talking". The snow didn't cooperate for cross-country skiing but we had a few walks in the bush. We returned to Vancouver on New Year's Eve so we celebrated midnight EST on the plane and midnight PST on the subway in Vancouver! New year's day was a beautiful, sunny day and we had a lovely walk in Lighthouse Park. It was a wonderful start to the new year.

Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver New Year's Day.

My delicate sensibilities

Five months after having a baby things are getting back to normal. Well, the new normal anyway, in our new life with a baby! Emotionally, however, I still have a little ways to go -- not that I was the tin man (tin woman?) before but I'm on a whole different level now. I'm still breastfeeding and still have a whole lotta momma hormones that make me very attached, ready to defend my baby from lions and able to cry at the drop of a hat.

While perusing movies on Netflix one evening I came across The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I don't know why I thought watching a movie set in WWII Germany was a good idea one month postpartum. Either I wasn't thinking (likely sleep-deprived possibility) or I was thinking it might be sad yet heart-warming, like It's a Wonderful Life. Nope. At the end I was crying. Not just teary-eyed, but crying. Lesson learned: no more war movies for now.

Another exhausted evening, another Netflix show (you'll notice a pattern emerging) but this time I looked through the documentaries. Surely a nature documentary would be fine; I am a biologist after all. Nope, not good either. Babies die in nature documentaries!! Not human babies, mind you, but that detail doesn't seem to matter. They showed a polar bear going off with a walrus baby and I felt soooo bad for the walrus momma! If it had been a baby goat that got eaten I don't know what I would have done. OK, nature docs are out.

Next up, a British TV series called Call the Midwife. I was doing okay until they told the story of a teenage mother whose baby was forcefully taken for adoption. The poor (fictional) girl cried and yelled for her baby, I cried, and my milk let down! Some other scenarios were a little too recent but I made it through (yes, the whole series. Randy spent a week working late and I was alone in the evenings with only Halloween candy to keep me company.).

Last Saturday our evening was a blank slate so of course we turned to Netflix (this could be a post in itself). I had heard a lot of talk of 12 Years a Slave but hadn't seen it so we settled in to watch. I know slavery isn't a happy topic but it didn't immediately conjure up images of babies dying so I thought it would be safe. Wrong again. I could see from the opening that the happy father was going to be sold into slavery and wouldn't see his young kids again, presumably for 12 years. So I decided to save myself the heartache and turned it off.

My sense of humour still seems to be intact so we're sticking to comedies for now!

There's something about babies

I had no idea how much attention a baby attracts! When we're out and about all sorts of people try to get a glimpse of the baby in her carrier. People have craned their necks going by on the sidewalk and nearly run into things in the grocery store trying to get a peek at the baby attached to the dangling legs. Many stop to ask about her: boy or girl? (I dress her in blue to cause confusion) how old? what's her name? This often starts a conversation, which is welcome in Vancouver where strangers are not usually friendly in passing. Sometimes these people are not those you would expect to be interested in a baby - reminder never to judge a book by its cover!

There's something about babies. Before I had my own, sure, I thought my friends' babies were cute, but I didn't take much notice of strangers' babies. I wasn't a baby person per se. Now that I have a baby I feel like I've joined a club, the club of parenthood, where baby people are honorary members. We've shared a common experience and when these other parents and grandparents see a baby they remember the babies in their lives, no matter how long ago those babies grew up. I have already caught myself doing this with a friend's newborn! Holding a baby must also make a person more approachable so strangers are more likely to stop and talk once the baby is spotted.

Before Helen was born I was always subconsciously on the lookout, but for dogs, not babies! I notice strangers' dogs, like to guess their breed, and plan my walks so they go by dog parks. I suppose this is how baby people are with babies.

Randy with a 10-day old bundle on Father's Day.

Me with a nearly 3-month old today.