Botanical Beach 2009

My Dad is visiting us from Ontario and on Sunday we took him out to Botanical Beach as a "Thank You" for babysitting Sofia on Friday & Saturday. The drive was shorter than I remember it which was a pleasant surprise. The beach was more spectacular that I remember it which was an even better surprise! Last year when we were there it was misty and cool which is typical. Sunday we were greeted with blue skies and sunshine!

The big attraction at Botanical is the tidal pools. We had fun exploring them and seeing all sorts of marine life.

My daughter is so beautiful! I am continually amazed by her. She did a great job walking and ended up walking almost all of the 2.5 km to and from the beach. I can't believe how lucky I am and every day I am thankful that I get to be Sofias Mumma.

7 months

How did that happen?? Today I am 7 months pregnant and only have 12 weeks to go! Even if this baby decides that it's super cozy and staying put we'll be holding it in 14 weeks max.

I keep being told that my belly is little and I guess it is. I'm happy to be little though, it'll be less to "come back" from. I'm sure the next 3 months will be an experience. So far I'm not very uncomfortable but I am finding that I'm more winded than usual and tasks like Sofias hair are becoming harder. Mostly it's my back that gets tired a lot faster. Work is getting hard and I'm cursing all my coworkers who have made it look so easy in the past. I'm glad that I'm going off work in 7 weeks, I think it's going to be tricky getting that far. I only have 4 more evening shifts to work, those are the worst because I work alone and most shifts are very tiring due to all the heavy lifting. And only 4 more on-call shifts as well, I LOVE sleeping too much to care about the extra pay I make getting called in!

I've got my 7 month check up with my midwife on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it. I love listening to the babies heart beat on the monitor. Last time she was saying the my belly is smaller than she was expecting it to be and wants to keep an eye on it. I'm hoping that nothing comes of it. I've tried to eat more calories and drink more water so I'm hoping that makes a difference.

I should be cleaning...

... but my stomach is so entertaining! I'm not sure what Baby is doing right now but it feels like somersaults. I was standing folding laundry for an hour and just sat down to take a short break before starting dinner. Now I'm stuck here enjoying the wondering and amazement and wishing someone were around to witness the alien movement. It is the weirdest thing watching your stomach move in two different directions. I think the Baby must be trying to make more room because it's pushing out the left & right side simultaneously. I have also experienced a body part bulging out but it went back in when I poked it.

We had a great weekend. We think Sofia is having another growth spurt because she's sleeping more than 10 hours a night now. Friday night she blessed us with a 12 hour sleeping marathon! On Saturday afternoon we picked my Dad up at the airport. He's come out to visit us for a couple of weeks. Actually we enticed him out here because we need a babysitter for this upcoming weekend and were having trouble finding one. Grant & I are best man and matron of honor in our friends wedding and so we are going to be pretty busy and keeping the two year old flower girl on her schedule would have been impossible! Everything is going to be so much easier with Dad here, Grant and I can go about our duties and Dad can keep Sofia company. Sofia usually deals well with changes to her routine but we figured with her being in the wedding as well the closer to normal we could keep things for her the better. I'm looking forward to the wedding and seeing all three of us all fancied up! I'll make sure my camera batteries are fully charged, hopefully I can get lots of pictures.

On other baby news, today marks the start of my third trimester! Baby #2 is due in 90 days. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and the changes my body has gone through. For the most part I feel amazing, I've had very little discomfort and only a few muscle pulls here and there. My belly is still pretty small though and I know the next 3 months are going to be much different! It is getting harder to do my job and there are certain activities with Sofia that are becoming more difficult. Bath time last night left me winded!

Well the belly dancing has slowed down but now I can hear/feel my stomach rumbling, best be off to make some lunch.

Who could resist?

a + g

When the question arose of finding out the gender of Junior, Grant didn't want to know but I did. His solution was for me to find out but not tell him ... IMPOSSIBLE! So we didn't find out. At first I was really frustrated because I wanted time to prepare. We had 5 months after Sofias referral to prepare for a girl, and after the 18 week ultrasound we would have had 5 months to prepare for this baby too. I'm not a very good secret keeper so it's much easier for me not to know.

However because I do not know if it's a Junior or a Juniorette I haven't been doing any shopping. Very hard for an expectant mother to do! I have bought 2 sleepers that are fairly neutral at a consignment store so Baby won't be completely naked. And at 11 weeks after the first ultrasound that Grant and Sofia came to we went shopping and bought a 'coming home outfit' in brown and orange. But basically I've told Grant that his job while I'm recovering is to get everything the Babe needs in the right colour palette. Actually it's more of coordinating where the handme downs are coming from. My lack of being able to shop is going to get harder as the need for nesting takes over. Since we aren't doing a nursery I need somewhere to focus my attention. Lucky for Grant baking seems to be my thing and groceries are gender neutral so no trouble shopping there.

But how could any Mother resist blankets with her and Baby Daddys initials on them???

"I watch Daddy drum"

Recently Grants band played at the 24 hour relay at 6pm so Sofia and I were able to go. In between songs she would cheer "YEAH Daddy!" and she danced up a storm. Sofia is a big lover of music but I think having her Dad up on stage made the night even more special for her. Some friends and family also came to join us, Thanks we had fun! Sofia even picked up some new dance moves from some guys that were dancing beside us.

I married McGuyver and other randomness

Yesterday Grant locked his keys in his car while grocery shopping with Sofia. My handyman removed the antenna and used it reach through an open window to unlock the door! I never would have thought of this.

Grant scored 90% on his certification exam!!! He is now certified to work in any province. (No, we are not planning on moving!) Now he just a few hours left to work towards his apprenticeship and then he'll be a journeyman electrician. Years ago I was very frustrated by Grants lack of ambition towards schooling. I am very happy that he waited and wisely chose a career that he enjoys. His 90% on his final as well as his 90% average over his 4 years of school speak for themselves!

Sofia split her lip wide open yesterday. She is doing fine although her mother is still recovering. Seems my 10+ years of working in a hospital and dealing with trauma didn't prepare me for seeing blood pour from my daughters mouth. I am completely unfazed by xraying amputated body parts but blood + my child = SpazzMumma! While Mumma screamed for Daddy to come running and flew around in panic clutching bleeding child to her chest, Daddy calmly got Sofia to rinse her mouth with water. The sweet little girl even giggled because she got to spit into the sink. I like to think that if Daddy weren't home I would have been calmer. I've always prided myself for my ability to stay calm in high pressure situations at work not I just need to figure out how to apply that at home. I have learned my lesson though and next time I will examine the wound before I start looking for the phone to call an ambulance!

I love my neighbours! Yesterday after a fun filled day of the 'street kids' playing together, someone pulled their BBQ around into their driveway and we had an impromptu street party! Everyone pulled burgers out of their freezers, someone brought hot dogs for the kids, someone brought a spinach salad, someone else through some veggies on the BBQ to steam, someone brought a spinach dip. There was even fried mushrooms and bacon for the burgers! This seems to happen every few weeks and I LOVE it! It reminds me of the book "Stone Soup". If everyone brings what they have to share the outcome is wonderful!

101

When I was a little girl 101 Dalmations was my favourite movie. Today there is a 101 Days until I get to meet this amazing little person in my belly, assuming it decides it's due date is a suitable birth day. In about 100 days I get to hold the newest newborn I'll ever meet. There is going to be one more Dybdal in the world.

How to lift a bad mood...

Sofia woke up at 530 this morning, it seems to be becoming a pattern.  Grants alarm goes off at 545 and mine goes off at 6 (when I work) so it's not that much of a stretch I suppose.  Still this morning, a day off for me, it annoyed me.  It's not so much the time she gets up it's how happy and chipper she is.  I am NOT a morning person, Sofia is.  Actually there isn't really a time of day that Sofia isn't good at.  In the morning she likes to chat.  She tells stories about things that have happened, she asks questions about things that are still to come.  Lately she's cuddly and kissy which does make it slightly easier.  Grant let me sleep until 615 when he had to leave and I headed downstairs to get my cuppa and listen to my chatterbox chatter.

Sofia was good this morning, she asked nicely for the things that she wanted and she waited patiently for them.  She asked to sit on the potty and was successful!  She played with her dolls and left her 'dark rain cloud' of a mother to sulk.  I decided I needed a change of scenery so at 830 I proposed we take Qimik to the beach.  Boy did it work!

Qimik goes one way and Sofia another... I'm about to add a 3rd?  How will I ever chose who to follow?

Qimik chasing a heron, this one actually took flight and ended up chasing him!

Sofias big into jumping off of things lately, anything will do.  There were about 8 smallish rocks that she jumped off from today.  Yesterday it was the scale at the clinic while the Dr. tried to weigh her.  (the rocks were a much preferred choice!) 

"Hold hands Mumma"  that doesn't get old.  I know that one day my little girl will be too big to hold my hand.  Today I treasured the fact that she wanted me. (and yes, I'm crying now just thinking about it)

Jumping off things is second to throwing rocks in the water.  I think that Sofia would throw rocks into water all day everyday if you let her.  Lucky for her Daddy likes to do it too!

Although Sofia loves the beach, sand, rocks, seaweed etc.  she likes her hands being clean.  I thought that she was washing her hands off because they had some wet sand on them until...

I saw her slurp water from her cupped hands!  It didn't seem to matter that it was salt water, she did this about 4 times.  

She was pretty proud of herself too!

She'll hate me for this one day but here goes anyway!  On the way back to the car from the beach Sofia noted that Qimik just lifted his leg and peed on the grass.  She took off her shorts and asked me to remove her diaper.  Since we were out in a field and there wasn't really anyone else around I decided to indulge her and see where this went.  I believe her exact words were "I potty like Qimik"  I showed her once how to squat down to pee and let her try it out a couple of times with my help.  Then we continued to walk.  It wasn't too far until she was trying to squat to pee herself.  She doesn't have the technique down yet, but I know for sure now that I have an outdoor adventurer on my hands!!!  she peed 3 times between the beach and the car.

When we got back into the car there were promises of snacks and playing in the sprinkler when we got home.  My little outdoor enthusiast didn't make it though, in the 10 minute car ride home she feel asleep and has been asleep for 2 hours now.  I'm nervous about what this means for our afternoon and evening since she fell asleep at 1020 and her nap is usually at 1pm.  A walk on the beach with my dog and my daughter was just what I needed today!

go piss

The other night Sofia couldn't decide what she wanted.  She asked for juice, crackers, and the potty all within seconds of each other.  We gave her some crackers which she proceed to spill on the bathroom floor while trying to climb onto the toilet.  I threw them out, reiterated our "no food in the bathroom" policy, and told her "First potty, then crackers".  Grant and I took a parenting course and they taught us the 'first ... then ...' and it works well with Sofia.  She sat on the potty and started chatting away to me.  Sofia is in a parroting stage, everything we say gets repeats 5 or 6 times.  So I heard "potty then cracker.  potty then crackers.  first potty then cracker."  I changed the topic and we were trying to discuss the days events when out of no where Sofia hits me with a "go piss".  My mouth dropped to the floor and I say "Do you want to go pee?  Your on the potty, it's ok"  "No Mumma go piss, go piss, go piss!"  I was speechless, who taught my precious little baby girl such foul language?!?!?  Then Grant starts laughing and says "Mumma goldfish.  Yes Sofia first potty then goldfish crackers" 

24 weeks, 6 months

Excuse the 6am picture taken of me this morning.  

I LOVE being pregnant.  It's so neat to be growing a little person.  I am still totally amazed everyday.  I still forget that I am pregnant and then the baby will move and it shocks me.  I feel pretty good and have no major complaints so far.  I can feel myself moving back towards the hungry tiredness of my the first trimester.  It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that in 16 weeks (give or take a couple) I'll no longer be feeling this Jitter Bug dancing in my belly but I'll be able to cuddle and kiss it.  I can already tell that I am going to miss the onboard company.  
Proof that a baby is coming to live here.  My friend Shannon dropped of a vibrating chair, an exasaucer, and a newborn car seat.  Sofia has been having fun checking out all the babies new stuff.  In the last week she has been warming up to the baby.  Today she even sang a song to the baby while giving my big belly cuddle.