MONTREAL MADNESS

So the challenges are proving to be ... a challenge!

2012-01-10T20:24:00.001-05:00

Good intentions. Bad performance. No other way to describe it. On all fronts. My three new years resolutions are left miserably in the dust for the first part of January. Well, actually, the first one is working out. We did find a nanny and she' been with us five days now on trial. Things are looking good. I don't want to jinx myself, but baby-boy seems to be taking to her and that's one of

New year, new resolutions?

2012-01-02T17:46:00.000-05:00

Busy times, the holiday, especially with a little one. We had fun, so did he. We're all much more relaxed for having had some time off. I even ignored my desire to submit a paper to a big conference (due Jan 10). Not sure if I will make it at this point, if not, oh well, c'est la vie. I'm on mat leave after all, and soon going back to work. So I'm taking advantage of these last 6 weeks! What's

Back from vacay, straight into Xmas

2011-12-22T20:59:00.000-05:00

Back from vacay. Had a fab time, although it was hard to get a real break since we most of our day rotated around the little one. What made it a lot easier is that neither of us was distracted by work or life, so we ended up spending lots of time on the beach, or driving, or cooking, or eating out. Pretty much perfect. Even baby-boy understood the new routine fairly quickly and loved it out there

First night out in ... months?

2011-12-02T22:38:00.001-05:00

I went out tonight. The first time in months. The second time in 9 months, to be more precise. Hubby and I did go out when baby-boy was a little younger, but now that he has got a serious case of separation anxiety, both of us going out in the evening is a major no-no. And since hubby has to travel often for work, I am usually at home. Tonight, I was invited along to dinner being hosted for a

Another move, but this time with a baby

2011-11-20T20:35:00.001-05:00

I'm really not a stranger to moving. I know that I've done it more than 20 times in my life ... that's an average of every 2 years or so. Some have been little, like the university student moving from one hall of residence to another. Some have been massive, like the move from the U.K. to Singapore or from Switzerland to South Korea. In every case, I've always made it a point to get my new

Guilty, as charged

2011-11-11T21:17:00.001-05:00

OK, guilty. I haven't even looked at my blog since the last post. And yes, it's almost 2 months. What happened? Just a baby. And travel. And a house purchase. And another revise-and-resubmit for a journal. That's what. Important stuff first. Baby-boy is doing fantastic. Apart from a nasty cough at the moment. And his persistence in waking up all through the night. But during the day, he's an

Swim class

2011-09-18T20:02:00.000-04:00

I have romantic notions about swimming. I love to swim. Always have. Some have called me half a fish. When my parents took us on holiday somewhere warm, it was difficult to get me out of the pool: my mom had to bribe my brother and I with ice cream. Nothing else would stop us from playing around in the water. As a teen, swimming became half play and half exercise. Out of boredom, I'd swim an

The end of summer = the start of winter

2011-09-10T20:33:00.000-04:00

It's barely September. Well, ok, the 10th. I've been a bit slow to catch up on my blog. But still. Summer will officially last until the 21st. Yet, the mommy facebook group I'm part of (and love being part of), has started a series of conversation threads around booties, snowsuits and other winter items for babies and toddlers. I find this depressing. Of course, I'm grateful for the tips on

A different kind of hungry

2011-08-31T21:38:00.003-04:00

The weaning continues and baby-boy has taken to food with remarkable speed. As are his coordination and sitting skills. The difference in a week or so is remarkable. He still prefers breast milk by a long shot, but as long as he is neither hungry nor tired, he is happy to experiment with food. Since we had an allergic episode with a banana, I have been introducing new foods a bit more slowly,

On the agenda

2011-08-22T13:40:00.002-04:00

The baby-led weaning is a learning experience. Both for baby-boy and myself. A number of days in now, and things are still going well, but baby-boy is showing frustration with some foods. Especially if it's too mushy or slippery, which means he can't get it into his mouth without it falling out of his hands first. He's developed a kind-of strategy for this: shoveling the food directly from his

Baby-led weaning

2011-08-20T07:20:00.001-04:00

The past week or so, my life has been consumed. Mostly with travel - again to Toronto. This time to apply for Dutch passport for baby-boy. I had obediently followed all the online instructions, booked my online appointment, and rocked up at the embassy first thing in the morning with a pile of paperwork. All set. Or so I thought. Stupid of me to assume that the information on the embassy's

August resolution

2011-08-05T09:15:00.001-04:00

So August is here, and with it a new birthday resolution to return to the blog. I miss the writing, in all honesty, and it is something I'd like to prioritize in my life. In what form, I will need to consider. Right now it seems to be mostly academic (apart from the blog). I'd like part of it to be non-academic too, perhaps even fiction. My subconscious keeps reminding me of the 150 or so pages

July

2011-07-26T22:19:00.000-04:00

I've just realized it's been well over 2 weeks since my last post. Sorrys are due. Mostly, I've been busy setting up a new website for baby-boy: ask me about it if you want to have a login and password. The rest of the time has been taken up by a trip to Toronto for passport renewal. The place was worse than a sauna or, more accurately, a Turkish bath since it was humid. Baby-boy was *not*

Sweet Dreams

2011-07-10T10:10:00.000-04:00

A second attempt to get this little video up ... had to cut the length in half and reduce the resolution so that blogger can handle it. But enjoy!

On nursing pads

2011-07-05T17:06:00.001-04:00

After four and a half months of breast feeding, I know all about nursing pads. I don't really know why they're called nursing pads since they aren't for nursing but rather for leaking when you're not nursing, but I guess "nursing pad" sounds better than "breast leakage pad". Nursing pads have given me a headache. I'm all about being sustainable. I went ahead and signed up for a reusable diaper

Moving day

2011-06-26T11:40:00.007-04:00

July 1st is the universal moving day in Montreal. It's also Canada day, of course, so therefore a public holiday. And exactly a week prior, on June 24th, it's what I call Quebec-day (properly St. Jean Baptiste day or Fête Nationale). So the end of June and the beginning of July are generally infused with a holiday atmosphere. The jazz festival has started, and a few other smaller festivals have

New routines

2011-06-24T08:49:00.000-04:00

Baby-boy and I have been falling into some nice routines. Not really on purpose. I'm a firm believer of "on-demand" babying for little ones, since they can't be spoiled, and us adults have trouble interpreting what it is they want. So, on-demand feeding, sleeping and playing has dictated my life these past four months. Eventually, a pattern emerged. (Doesn't it always? This is the beauty of

Night terrors

2011-06-12T09:35:00.001-04:00

Baby-boy has been experiencing night terrors. Not often. About once a month or so, since his birth. They occur in the early part of the night. He wakes up screaming - not just any kind of scream, but the type you might hear when someone is being stabbed. That kind of scream. Utterly terrifying. When it happens, I get the shock of my life. My adrenaline shoots through the roof. While still

Laughing baby-boy

2011-06-10T10:24:00.001-04:00

Some evidence of the things that are curious and those that are funny.

Post from Baby-boy

2011-06-03T09:58:00.001-04:00

Some things are curious. A lot of things are funny. It's curious when mommy disappears behind the shower curtain. Sometimes her head sticks out. It's curious when the cat walks by. And when the dog rolls on the floor. When mommy cuts my nails, I lay very still and ponder. I like the bouncy chair. I get to bounce and smile. And work things out. I don't know what mommy does in the

Publications, milestones and SlutWalks

2011-05-30T10:47:00.001-04:00

It's been a busy month. I've barely had a moment to myself, now that baby-boy is growing up and spring (summer?) finally seems to have arrived in Montreal. That's not to say that our hot days aren't interspersed with the occasional bouts of (days of) rain. In fact, a town not too far from here seems permanently flooded, as we discovered on a recent trip to the U.S. Yes, we have been out and

The difference a few weeks can make

2011-05-27T20:44:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month, I posted a video of baby-boy and his Poo-bear play arch. It's about three and a half weeks on, and just look at the difference. Apologies for all the video postings. I promise to actually write a blog soon. I've just been too busy (believe it or not). Between baby boy's needs, in-laws visiting, and a small detail to take care of at work (MY PAPER FINALLY GOT ACCEPTED FOR

Baby-boy's new trick

2011-05-17T11:45:00.001-04:00

Baby boy is 3 months old tomorrow. In honor of this milestone, he's showing off his new trick : grabbing.

May - so far

2011-05-14T08:15:00.000-04:00

Well, my lack of blog posts can be entirely explained by three things: spring has finally arrived in Montreal, my in-laws are visiting, and I'm sick. The latter could possibly be a result of the first two ... spring is bringing changeable weather including rain and cold as well as sun and heat. As for my in-laws, they arrived from the U.K., and might have brought some new lurgies with them.

Baby boy plays

2011-05-01T18:42:00.001-04:00

Hey ya!

Vaccines and fever

2011-04-30T17:30:00.000-04:00

My back spasm is better. At least I can say that much for this week. The spasms stopped on their own a day or so after the doctor's visit. The rest of the week consisted of recovery, so I skipped my cardio workout and went to a stretchy-therapist in the building opposite us who helped out my back and the rest of my body. Since the lower-middle back is now better, the back problems have

Back again

2011-04-20T22:41:00.001-04:00

As it turned out, I waited 2 hours for the doctor only to be told all muscle relaxants are transmitted to breast milk, so nothing could be done. The doc quizzed me for 15 minutes about postpartum depression. This seemed odd to me, until I realized it was probably because I burst into tears in her office after 2 hours of waiting and a week of pain. She must have thought that having a new baby was

Back update

2011-04-18T12:06:00.000-04:00

So my back got worse over the weekend. A lot worse. In fact, the spasms are comparable to having contractions, about half-way through labor. Needless to say, I'm off to the doctor's this morning. Better hope that I don't get the mean receptionist, because if I do, my patience is running short and she'll get an earful! Will keep you posted on my medical situation.

Extra weight

2011-04-15T22:25:00.001-04:00

For a while now, I've been lugging around some extra weight. And slowly paid the price. During late pregnancy, my pelvis suffered. Two months postpartum, my back is back to its old tricks. It's on the verge of a serious muscle spasm. Actually, it probably is spasming - I'm just in denial. I blame the extra weight. My own, and that of baby-boy. As he packs on the pounds, my back is packing in.

Movie star

2011-04-10T16:49:00.001-04:00

We've been taping bits of our baby-boy during his daily activities. This doesn't exactly make him a movie star, but with some editing, it makes for an entertaining minute of viewing.

Smiler

2011-04-03T12:17:00.001-04:00

Baby-boy is now 6 weeks old. And he's suddenly beginning to change. Yesterday, we were out most of the day, and baby-boy spent most of his time awake. Rather than sleeping his way through the trip to the mall, he spent his time wide-eyed, looking at all that was passing him by. Late afternoon, we made a trip to have dinner with some friends. The presence of five other children made for a chaotic

A week with the little one

2011-03-26T17:12:00.002-04:00

This week, baby-boy and I were on our own. Hubby needed to travel to Paris on business, and so we were left to our own devices from Monday night till Friday afternoon. I had been panicking about this scenario for weeks ... how on earth was I going to manage an entire day, several times in a row, with baby-boy and his needs? It seemed like an insurmountable task and I was therefore none too happy

$20 for a backache

2011-03-22T19:41:00.000-04:00

Hubby has taken off to Paris this week, so I'm on my own with baby-management duties. So far, it's not too bad. The most challenging times are the crying periods in early morning and early evening. Part of the challenge is that I'm trying to get baby-boy to stretch his feeding times somewhat, because he should be able to manage 3-hour stretches by now, with occasional shorter periods (per my book

Maternity leave

2011-03-20T15:23:00.000-04:00

Baby-boy is now a month old already. Time has flown by. He's bigger, yet still tiny in many ways. But he's definitely different. He's starting to look around him, taking in his surroundings. And he's beginning to interact, though it's still early. He has reached out to grasp my hand, but I think it's largely accidental that he connects as his muscle movements seem to be mostly random. He has a

Growth

2011-03-16T14:17:00.000-04:00

A quick update on baby-boy's growth. We had a follow up visit with the doctor yesterday and he now weighs an impressive 4.4 kg (or 9.2lbs). Still growing at a massive rate of 42g per day. Clearly, no issue with breast milk, but the doctor says it's no wonder my nipples have been torn apart. The solution: basically none until he feeds less often per day. We're working on it. The longer feeding

The reggae touch

2011-03-16T08:58:00.000-04:00

We made a discovery: baby-boy loves Bob Marley. We'd read online that babies like the sound of reggae and similar music that has a consistent beat mixed with laid-back vocals. So I wasn't surprised that baby-boy appreciated 50 Cent, played from my laptop's iTunes. This spurred me to dig up my (very old) CD case holder and look for my Bob Marley album. I don't think I've listened to any of the CDs

Snorts, gurgles and cries

2011-03-12T13:09:00.000-05:00

Baby boy is now three weeks old. Time seems to have gone by fast. And yet slow. Days can be long, especially if he's particularly fussy or feed-demanding which can sometimes happen on an hourly basis. Still, we're starting to get used to each other. He seems to be awake a bit longer during the day. Hubby and I have been trying to find good ways to keep him entertained, rather than just lying

Nap disruptions

2011-03-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

So all the guides tell you to nap while the baby sleeps - as if this would make up for all the lost sleep at night time feedings. It's a nice idea, in theory. But in practice, here are things that happen during the daytime, inevitably the moment my head hits the pillow: - the building fire alarm goes off (for the first time ever); after some panic and trying to get the baby dressed for freezing

Bleary-eyed morning

2011-03-05T10:31:00.000-05:00

Probably not the best time or day for me to be updating on week 2, given that last night baby-boy decided to be awake for three hours and demand entertainment. None of which, either from dad or mom, was good enough to keep the boy from practicing his lung power. Not all nights are like these, but I'd say he has a similar episode on a daily basis, usually when I'm at an all-time energy low and

The first week

2011-02-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

Baby-boy is now more than a week old, and already he's changing. The changes are subtle but there nonetheless. His umbilical cord fell off several days ago, so we've moved from disposable diapers to cloth diapers. This was not an easy transition. The cloth diapers are bulky and their external covers even bulkier. We ended up going to a baby store in town to buy different covers that are very thin

The birth

2011-02-27T02:20:00.002-05:00