Family Weekend

Yesterday was Family Day but Juliet had so many visitors over the weekend that it was more like Family Weekend!  Oma, Chris, and Aunt Laura came to Toronto on Thursday and spent the weekend here.  Chris did so much work on our house - installing vanity lights, hallway lights, vertical blinds, new outlets, and helping Leo put together the BBQ - all in 3 short days.  Oma and Aunt Laura took Juliet on some nice long walks and we even took her swimming. 

The cap was not my choice - the pool makes anyone with long hair wear them when you go to open swim.

Juliet was in great spirits with Oma, Chris, and Aunt Laura and didn't make strange at all.  Generally we go out to dinner while they were here but Juliet's at a weird stage where she demands a lot of attention at feeding times, so you can't really go out and have a leisurely dinner.  So rather than dinner, we had brunch at the local Golden Griddle and Juliet did really well.  She ate an entire jar of creamed corn and wasn't fussy at all.  The waiter gave her a balloon that she was quite fascinated with and we took it home and played with it some more.

Juliet also had visits from Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Shona.  Grandma came and spent time with Juliet and gave me and Leo a much needed night out alone.  And the next night Grandpa and Aunt Shona came over for dinner and Grandpa installed some smoke alarms for us.  Grandpa picked up Leo's guitar and sang Juliet a few tunes and she seemed to like it.  I think Grandpa and Leo should form a band :)



 Today was weird because all the sudden the house was empty and it was just me and Juliet again.  Back to our normal routine, I guess!  Juliet had her swimming class and this time it was more fun because Gabriel was there.  This isn't his regular swimming time, but he had a make up class so they came to our class.  Sylwia took some great shots of our class.  That's Sylwia's husband, Mitch, with us in the pool. 




In the class, we put the babies on this pink mat and got them to crawl to us. 
Juliet didn't really like this part but did well in the rest of the class.

After swimming, Juliet was a bit cranky - maybe she was wondering where everyone went and was bored with just being with me.   She was also tired (as was I) so we spent most of the afternoon napping together in our big kingsize bed.  Once she had that good nap, she seemed much better the rest of the day.

Valentine's Day

Happy belated Valentine's Day, everyone!

Yesterday was Juliet's first Valentine's Day.  Not that it's a big holiday or anything, but it was an excuse to dress her up in something cute and pink (not that I don't do that every other day...).  This sweater was lent to us by Juliet's Oma - it used to belong to Aunt Paula.  Hope I got the hat part right!

Yesterday was Tuesday so that means we had Juliet's swimming class.  Juliet continues to do really well and make progress and the instructor again remarked at how far she's come.  I didn't mention to her that we've been regularly been doing extra practise sessions on the weekends!  Actually, this past weekend we went swimming and this time Leo came for the first time since we started the lessons.  He said he definitely saw improvement (vs. when we used to go swimming at the condo) - she was kicking and splashing and holding her breath and closing her eyes when we dunked her. 

Juliet's also had a few visitors in the past few days.  Well, sort of.  My friend Sylwia and her son Gabriel came over on Friday to visit but Juliet still seems to be on the opposite schedule as Gabriel and she slept the ENTIRE time they were here.  She seriously woke up 30 seconds after they left.  While they were visiting, Gabriel gamely ate an entire jar of peas.  I was so impressed, so the next day I went out and bought the same brand of peas and Juliet would not eat them.  If it isn't sweet potatoes, corn, or some form of chickpeas, she's just not interested.

Gabriel played with Juliet's toys while she napped.

And then Juliet woke up and played with her own toys after they left!

On the weekend, Leo's friend Chris and his wife Ashley came to visit and they met Juliet for the first time.  Juliet didn't make strange. 

Leo dressed her on Saturday and he must think this outfit is cute because whenever he dresses her he ALWAYS picks this one.

Today we went to storytime at the library and Juliet kept crawling away from me and I had to keep chasing after her to make sure she didn't poke any kids in the eye.  The mother of the little girl next to me asked how old she was and when I told her J was 9 months the mother was surprised she was so mobile.  It's certainly a challenging yet fascinating phase as she is able to much better explore the world but also has the potential to get herself into a lot of trouble!

Loose Ends

I just wanted to tie up a couple of loose ends on the blog where I said that I would revisit something and never did.  But before that, I'll tell you about our day. 

Today we went to a playgroup with five other moms & babies that are from one of my mom groups.  Juliet ended up napping in the stroller on the way to the playgroup so she missed the first part (I left her outside on the back deck - all bundled up in  her stroller, of course).  She woke up about 45 minutes in, so she was able to join the group and was in a good mood.  Oh, and we weighed her last night and she was 17.5 pounds.  That's a little lighter than I had thought - I guess at some point there is a natural plateau.

Tonight we tried her on a couple of new foods from a local organic food company.  We tried two flavours - peas and root vegetables - and Juliet didn't really like either.  The food is not cheap, either, so it's a shame to have it go to waste.  After trying various tactics, Leo and I finally found one that worked - we mixed the food with hummus (about 50/50) and fed it to her on a cracker.  Seriously.  I'm getting nervous that Juliet is going to be as picky as me.  The only things she really likes to eat are hummus and sweet potatoes.  Everything else she either just tolerates or completely refuses.

Loose End #1:  I said a while back that I'd post the final picture we chose on our holiday card (rather than just the outtakes which I posted).  Here's the final one plus a few more ones that were contenders to be the final one.

This was the one we ended up choosing.  We liked it because it was as if Juliet was saying, "Happy New Year!"

Leo's and Goobs' eyes really pop in this one.

This was the best of the lie down shots but it was still kinda awkward.

This was our semi-finalist.  I really like this one, too.

Loose End #2: I also said a while back when we got our house that I would share the story of how we got it.  As most of you know, we looked for a house for 2 years and it was quite the process.  But buying our actual house was QUICK! 

It came on the market on a Wednesday and I saw it that day with our agent.  I was informed that they were "holding back offers" until Monday.  This is a common tactic in the current Toronto market that is used to presumably drum up a bidding war.  Anyhow, the day after the house came on the market, Leo, Juliet and I saw it together in the evening.  The owner was present - an elderly lady - and she totally fell in love with Juliet. 

We decided to submit a "bully offer" - rather than wait for offer night on Monday, we would submit a strong (read: over list) offer beforehand.  So on Friday afternoon, our agent submitted our bully offer and we got the house!  There was no back and forth negotiating - it was just like, this is our strongest offer - take it or leave it.  The owner remembered us and mostly remembered Juliet.  Apparently, when our agent was presenting our offer, the owner was preoccupied and was like, "Is the baby nearby?  When are we going to see the baby?" and her agent was like, "Let's just go through the offer first." and was trying to keep her on task.  So basically Juliet got us our house!  What a great feat for a little baby :)

Independence Day

It's funny, it's taken about 9 months but Juliet and I are now pretty settled into a routine at this point.  We have our daily activity on most days which we work around Juliet's 2 daily naps (one in late morning, one in late afternoon).  She goes to bed around 8:30pm and gets up around 7:30am with one feeding in between.  Of course, now that I've written all of that, I'm sure she'll throw me through a loop and change our little schedule :)

Yesterday morning was swimming and Juliet is doing well and making progress.  She continues to close her eyes and hold her breath when we dunk her.  The instructor even remarked on how much she has improved.  She went down the slide for the first time (with someone holding her the whole time) and did well enough that the instructor said we could let her "fall" under the water the next time.  I was nervous, but she did it with no complaints.

After swimming, we quickly came home because my friend Sonal came over for lunch.  I thought Juliet would be napping after her swim, but I guess she wanted to stay awake to visit with Sonal because she refused to go to sleep!

Then today we gave storytime at the local library another shot.  I didn't like it last time because there were WAY too many moms there (over 20).  This time was much better - maybe only 10-12 moms, so there was room for the babies to crawl around and sort of interact.  The babies don't seem to care much for the stories, but they like the parts where we sing songs.  Interestingly, Juliet showed a certain degree of independence while we were there - she would venture out onto the blanket while most of the babies stayed at the sides with their moms.  After a couple minutes, she would crawl back to me but then venture out again.  Good job, Juliet!

"Hey there, Mr. Mom!"

"Hmmm...that story about Goldilocks was very thought provoking.  Today's kids have such a sense of entitlement!"

Super Bowl Baby

Whew!  It's been almost 2 weeks since my last update.  Things have been really busy.  Yesterday we had a small Super Bowl party and it's the first time we've done any real entertaining at our new house.  Everything went well and Juliet hung out with the guys while I went out and got the wings that we pre-ordered.

Can you spot Goobs in the sea of football-lovin' men?

What else have we been up to?  Well, Juliet had her first Dentist visit but unfortunately it wasn't under the most pleasant of circumstances.  You see, she's at the age where she's constantly trying to pull herself up on things.  We were bathing her one night last week and she grabbed for the shampoo bottle and slipped and knocked her front teeth - I think on the side of the tub.  Honestly, it all happened so fast.  It was scary - she was bleeding and crying and Leo and I felt awful.  That night she slept fine but we kept a close watch on her and in the morning we took her to the dentist.  She did really well - the dentist told me to expect some screaming and crying as he checked her out - but she was fine.  The dentist didn't see any movement in her teeth, so that's a good sign.  From here we just need to monitor her for any signs of infection and we're to bring her back to the dentist in 3 months. 

Ok, back to more pleasant things.  I think I mentioned last time that I was going to move Juliet's swimming lessons to an earlier time, and so I did and now it's going much better.  She has even learned how to close her eyes and hold her breath when we're about to dunk her underwater.  Such a smart baby! :)  We're also getting some extra practice as Grandma has come to take her swimming on weekends.

A couple of other highlights from the past couple of weeks include some visits with friends.  We visited Leo's friend Steve, his wife Luda and daughter Isabella.  Isabella loved playing with Juliet.  I haven't met a little girl yet that doesn't love babies.  I wonder whether Juliet also will love babies some day.

Leo and Juliet while visiting Steve and his family in their lovely brand new house.

Last week Juliet and I went on a couple of mini road trips.  Leo was away on business (New York) so we thought it was good timing.  One day we went to Hamilton and went fabric shopping on Hamilton's famed Ottawa Street.  My aunt Cathy (Juliet's great aunt) came to help out.  I had intended to put Juliet in the stroller during our shopping, but she wouldn't go for it (she needs the stroller to constantly be moving in order to be content).  So I carried her around fabric shops for like 3 HOURS.  She is not light - probably 18 or 19 pounds (I should check).  Anyhow, we eventually found some fabric we liked and bought enough for 3 sets of curtains.  Juliet did really well considering fabric shopping isn't exactly a baby-friendly activity.

The following day, Juliet and I went to Waterloo to visit Anjana, Bryce and baby Nayan.  Nayan is so cute - he's so small next to Juliet.  It's already hard to believe that she was ever that small.  We spent the night in Waterloo and I was afraid of how Juliet would as she oftentimes doesn't sleep well when we're not at home.  But she had the best sleep EVER and slept from 8:30pm until 7:15am.  So that's good news that she's able to travel and sleep well away from home - especially since we're going on a sun vacation soon.

Juliet: "Oh, no....what'd I say?" 
Nayan: "Waaaaaaaaaaa Waaaaaaaa"

I know that this blog is about Juliet but it's also about our family so I'll post this pic of me and Leo when we went out for dinner and drinks last week (grandma babysat).  Frankly I'm mainly posting this to remind myself what I look like without a ponytail and wearing something other than pyjamas or nursing wear.

The parents needed a night out.

And finally, my friend Sylwia remarked the last time I saw her that I never put pictures of our cat, Butters, on the blog.  So, just for you, Sylwia:

Butters has taken to lounging on Juliet's change pad.  And he's no longer afraid of her which means that sometimes he gets his fur grabbed.