"Classic" Episodes

Do you ever notice on TV that sometimes instead of repeats, the TV station will advertise "classic" episodes?  Like, as if you were tricked into not realizing that you were watching a repeat.  Anyhow, I don't have any new pictures for today - we just went shopping at Dixie Outlet Mall and I bought some nursing tops - so I decided to post a "classic" picture of Juliet.  This was taken at my friend Miwa's house last weekend.

Juliet asleep on mom's shoulder. 

TMZ

Yesterday was the 4th hottest day on record in Toronto (37.5 degrees without the humidex, 49 with the humidex).  I had planned to keep Juliet indoors and out of the heat, but then we decided to see a movie and had to run an errand, so we ended up going out after all.   Man, was it hot!

We went to the mommy and baby showing of the movie Horrible Bosses and Juliet was relatively good throughout the movie.  I say relatively because she fussed a few times and I had to get up and walk around with her in the theatre to soothe her.  It was OK, though - everyone at the movie had a baby with them, so people understand that they will hear fussy babies from time to time.  The movie itself was good, not great.

After the movie, we went to Juliet's doctor so that she could get the vaccine against rotavirus.  This vaccine was taken orally, so it wasn't anything like the shots she got a couple of weeks ago.  She cried a little, but was easily soothed by nursing.

Juliet kicks up a storm on the exam table at the doctor's office.

Then today, Leo had the day off from work so we had some family time.  We ran a whole bunch of errands (including purchasing a Jolly Jumper for Juliet, which should be fun) and had a picnic lunch at the park.

We can't use sunscreen on Juliet yet, so she has to be pretty covered up when we're outdoors.  All you can see here are her little feet!

Saving the best until last - I think the best picture of the day was when we got home and gave her a bath. After the bath, we were drying her off in her chicken towel and got this:


"Oh, no!  The paparazzi caught me again!"



A Great Introduction

Juliet met her great nana for the first time today and it was so nice to see them interact together.  So few of us get to meet our great grandparents - some of us don't even get the privilege of meeting our "regular" grandparents - so it was really special for Juliet to meet Leo's mom's mom.  I had a really close relationship with my maternal grandmother, so I have a soft spot for grandparents in general - which made this introduction extra meaningful.

Great nana holds Juliet for the first time.



Juliet is a squirmer and a stretcher sometimes.

While we were at great nana's, she taught me how to make a couple of her baking specialties - her famous date squares and her delicious apple pie.  Truthfully, I don't eat either of these things (I'm sure everyone reading this knows I don't like fruit) but Leo loves both of these desserts so I thought I'd learn how to make them.

It was quite amusing as great nana doesn't follow specific recipes for either dessert - she just goes by sight - so it was difficult to try to write down instructions (a "couple of sprinkles" of nutmeg???).  Once I get home I will try to replicate what we made and Leo will have to be my taste tester to see how I do.

Oma and great nana at the beginning of my baking lesson.



The finished products - an apple pie, date squares, and my instructions - complete with diagrams.



Road Trip

Juliet went on a little road trip today as we took the 3-hour drive to Oma's.  After about 2.5 hours, we made a quick pit stop for a feeding and diaper change, and we were on our way again.  I wasn't sure what it would be like to travel with a baby, but Juliet made it seem pretty easy today.  Maybe we'll even try air travel with Juliet in the next few months.

Once we got to Oma's, we spent the afternoon chatting with Oma, Chris, and Juliet's aunt Laura.  Chris made an awesome dinner of BBQed smoked pork chops - it was so tasty and smokey. 

Juliet hangs out in the bassinet lent to Oma - she takes up the entire bassinet (it's hard to tell in the picture because of the pattern).  Hopefully she won't get much longer in the next couple of weeks as we want to use this bassinet again when we come back in August.

 

Juliet with Oma and Aunt Laura. 



Juliet fell asleep in Oma's arms.



Six Hours Straight

Yesterday, Juliet and I once again went to Bayview and walked around and visited our favourite shops.  We stalked the neighbourhood for houses for sale but there were only a scant few.  Leo came and met us for dinner at the local pub, McSorley's, and then we went and got some gelato.  Juliet was a little bit cranky while we are at dinner (the waitresses still managed to coo over her), but fell asleep in Leo's arms while we were walking along Bayview afterwards.

Daddy holds his sleepy girl.

Today, Juliet and I went over to my friend Miwa's to hang out with her and her daughter, Emiko.  Emiko is 22 months old so she seems so big compared to Juliet!  Generously, Miwa has lent us a lot of baby clothes and gear, including the carrier featured in an earlier blog post.

Miwa holds Juliet.  I love this picture - Juliet looks so thoughtful!  Incidentally, when Miwa was holding Juliet, Emiko had a tough time and cried when she saw her mommy holding another baby.  Awwwww....

We had lunch at Miwa's and then went for a walk in her neighbourhood and went to the local splash pad where Emiko played in the water.  Juliet's much to small to participate so we just hung out on the grass and enjoyed the weather. 

On a side note, Juliet slept 6 hours straight last night, was up for half an hour and then slept another 5 hours or so.  Not sure if this pattern will last, but if it does, I will be very happy! :) 

Playdate

Juliet and I had a playdate today with my friend Sylwia and her son Gabriel.  Gabriel is 3 weeks older than Juliet, so it's interesting to learn about what changes we can expect in the next few weeks with Juliet.  One of the things that Gabriel has just started doing is giggling and it was extremely cute to see him giggle.  Juliet smiles but has not started giggling, so I'm looking forward to that.

When we were taking pictures of the babies, they were much more interested in us - the moms - but paid virtually no attention to each other.

Take Your Baby to Work Day

Today I took Juliet to my work to meet some of my colleagues and she even attended her first meeting.  I work with 3 different departments, so Juliet had a lot of people to meet and of course she charmed everyone.  She was really good for the whole visit - a lot of people commented on how good and cute she was.  At one point in the visit she started to fuss in the stroller so I took her out and held her, and she promptly fell asleep in my arms.  Here is a picture from my tour through the Programming Department.

She was so well behaved at the office but when I got home she was cranky.  I tried the usual tactics to soothe her, but they weren't working very well.  When Leo got home, he tried his tactics and they weren't working either.  So we tried the technique from one of our books called "Happiest Baby on the Block". 

The book describes the 5 S's: Swaddling, Shushing, Side-lying, Swinging, and Sucking.  We didn't do all 5, but we did 3 of them - Swaddling, Shushing, and Swinging - and they totally worked.  It was like we turned on a switch and Juliet went right to sleep.  Not sure how it worked (it was kind of eerie how well it worked), but it did!