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it's been so long...

What have we been doing lately?
Not knitting, no... Summer's just barreling through and it seems like I have no time to do anything. So instead of knitting the Noro socks I had my eyes on, I've been spending time with Renovatin' Nico and trying to accomplish things that don't seem to be getting anywhere. Sounds vague enough? That's my story and, er, well, you get the idea....

We had this great day planned for the family yesterday that had been in the works for some time. We had gotten our Granby zoo tickets (thanks airmiles!), had packed healthy snacks and lunches, had everything ready to go... Then the rain forecast happened. So instead of wasting our precious tickets on a maybe-rainy day, we went to the Biodome instead. Hey, isn't that the purpose of our yearly pass anyways? So while Liam ran through the place, Romi refused to take interest in anything. She ignored the fishes and birds and just had fun walking through the place (against traffic of course)... It was fun anyways.
Here's Liam asking for a "little snack" for the french speakers!

End of an era?

Makes me sad to think about it... But I've started to sell off my beloved diaper stash.
I said goodbye to Goodmama's a few months back.
Now it's goodbye Firefly's, Clover's, Mutt's, BabyBeehinds... Sigh.
No good keeping all these diapers when I just use them on weekends, right? Since CPE's (daycare) are cloth-haters, I must make do.

I've been using g-diapers for nights (since they're flushable) but they are expensive, & buying 7th Generation from the US for daycare, but will be switching to Nature Baby Care as soon as I've used up the 7th Generation.

Why? Because 1.they're selling here in Canada 2.they are plastic free 3. compostable 4. no dioxins.
So the switch to disposables is being made in the most ecological way I could find.



We also visited friends over the weekend. The kids were all well behaved around the table, and boy was there food!!! Liam ate and ate and ate. And we met the new addition, an almost 4 weeks old Kelsey.

renovatin'

We had a great week!! Started last week or so. Nico painted the nasty mustard yellow decrepit brick black. We had too, the addition we built looked like it had been stuck on the duplex with crazy glue. So Nico redid the grout and shocked the heck out of our upstairs tenants (added bonus). Notice our newly planted Ginkgo Biloba in the forefront- the oldest tree on earth!

Next time, pictures of our newly finished deck!!


Kisses from our girl, just cause.



And Liam's crowning achievement: he finally gave up his night binkies!!! Yes, we are horrid parents that let our 3.5 yr old sleep with a binky. But how could I say no when he slept so well with them? And he was terrified of losing his binky... But fearing that the separation angst would grow as he aged, we took out the big guns. An exchange. A firetruck. A trip to the firestation.
The fireman was very accommodating and took Liam's ziplocked treasure with the promise that a truck would be forthcoming (I was waiting outside with it, it was donated to us by a kind coworker seeing how hard I had been searching for a solid truck that could take a beating). He sleeps with it every night and hasn't asked for his binky since (ok, he asked Nico but I wasn't there, so it doesn't really count).






We had fun eating ice-cream, miss coconut was laying musical chairs tasting everyone's cone!! Zélia's biscotti ice cream was the clear winner. And this was way past her bed time. And she still fell right asleep. So there.



Look at those 2 teeth!! So cute. Even if she's crying :)

...

Spring is here. For real!!!
We planted 3 trees and transplanted our lilac in the front of the house, I planted sugar peas and radishes (my first attempt at gardening, other than herbs) and we cleaned the BBQ.

And since I called in sick from work today, I finally have time to post while drinking my ginger ale to ease my woozy tummy.

Romi is doing amazingly well at daycare, she's a doll! All the staff seem to just love her. I'm still pumping at work so it's like I'm with her during that time... Somehow.

Bonne Fête Romi!!!!!

One year old today. I'm not as sad as I thought I would be, maybe the daycare integration took care of the separation angst. I'm still super sad though, just not *as sad* as I thought I'd be. But I'll miss her like crazy. And now that I'm writing this out, I'm feeling soooo nostalgic and broken. Cause no one will ever love her as much as I do.

On with the show.

Here's a retrospective look at what we went through one year ago today. It started off rough with a fractured femur 2 weeks before I gave birth to Miss coconut... And Liam came home with a spica cast 3 days after I gave birth.

Our stay in the hospital:

And even though I was saddened due to my induction (pre-eclampsia), and I was stuck in the nastiest of all hospitals (Royal-Victoria), and that we had an injured boy at home, it was still the best day of my life. I can speak for Nico as well as myself when I say that our 2 kids are the best thing that ever happened to us. I won't go into the cheesiness, but it is what it is. And we are, finally, a family.

Spring time

Can you hear the birds chirping? The sound of water dripping from meting snow? Yes, spring is here!!! It came so suddenly that I never saw it coming. And now it's here. And I'm happy.

See the crocuses?? Proof!! Proof of spring!!! And my tulips were growing beneath the snow. I'm always amazed that plants know when spring has arrived and grow under snow. 

Miss coconut started daycare last week, and along with my broken heart, this has resulted in a cold and a stomach virus. I've never seen so much vomit. Ever. Out her nose, everywhere. 4 hours straight, non stop. It was an experience.  She's adapted fairly well to daycare but is nursing like crazy at home, so I suspect she's dealing with attachment issues. As I am. I feel terrible every time I leave her there. And I hate putting her in paper diapers instead of cloth. But the daycare doesn't do cloth diapers. 

But here she is, on a glorious spring day, getting the hang of walking outside (weird how she walks better inside than outside). 

And for some spring inspired knitting: market shawl. I like the easy pattern and love the Noro Cashmere Island yarn. Shades of fuschia, teal, black and navy. Yum. This was my "before knitting a Clapotis" project. 

Mittens galore!!

Could this be an obsession in the making?
I'm on my 3rd pair of Noro mittens. Scary, no? It seems that I'm the type of knitter that wants to do something over and over before moving on. It's kind of pathetic. I need to get hooked on socks quickly, at least before summer comes, to obsess over something a tad more useful.




And Liam's obsession du jour (he loves cow udders - nursing nostalgia perhaps?):


Easter was a blast even if I didn't knit the little bunnies I had planned to... Busy doing mittens will do that to a gal.




We did not give miss Coconut any chocolate (yeah, I know, I'm an evil mother) yet I found remnants of green foil in her diapers the next day. Go figure.

Here she is with her new accomplishment - sticking out her tongue. All.day.long. If she wasn't so darn cute, it might be weird, but she's so yummy that we're enamored with this new "milestone"!!

March is cruel

I wish I had something witty and fun to say, but I have to admit that the snow is really getting to me. I feel like winter is dragging on and on and on. And now the latest 35cm of snow actually covered a third of my living room window. Cruel.
Liam and Nico came back from playing in the snow last night with a new friend. He had been abandoned and nearly destroyed, so the two of them decided to take him home and put him back together. Doesn't he look happy?





So today I decided to bow down to the gods of winter. I accept that there will be snow till June. I will not think about flip flops and tank tops for another 6 months, and in so doing, decided to make Nico a pair of his very own Noro mittens. Woo-hoo him. I am amazed that I remembered how to c/o 2 mittens on one magic loop. Kate must be a much better teacher than she gives herself credit for. Cause I have a serious case of the mama-boob-brain, meaning my smarts are on hiatus while miss Coconut is draining me of all my liquids and, well, sleep.

Felicity

I admit it. I used to watch the show. And when I'd visit NYC, I'd go to Dean & DeLuca just, well, cause. I bought a few souvenirs for Zelia as well. Cause she was even more hardcore Felicity than I was.
So here's my Felicity. I'm going to make an amended version for Nico... It's such a fun, fast knit. Doncha love hats?



Here's Nico's finished version. Notice how there's hardly any slouch, well Nico vetoed the slouch on his hat. Big baby.
I really like the Berroco Ultra Alpaca, it drapes really nicely and makes a warm (but not too thick) hat.

Ok, fine, she looks like him...

I have to face the facts. Miss Coconut is Nico's spitting image. I've got proof. No matter how many people that tell me she looks "just like you!" I can no longer deny the resemblance.





And I just finished a Noro hat for Liam. As a bonus, here he is actually *gasp* smiling!!

sourire!

As soon as the camera turns on and we tell him to smile, this is the face he makes!!
He looks so serious, doesn't he? And don't you just love his choice of footwear? We should move to the suburbs, the shame.
Yes, Nico is checking the floorboards in this picture. The man is obsessed with his handywork.

J'adore Liam le soir à l'heure du dodo. Dès que c'est le temps de partir, il exige une calin, un bec et un bisou. Par la suite il met ses petit bras à l'entour de mon cou et me dit : c'est une clôture! T'es pris. Tu peux pas sortir.
Pis ça veut dire que je peux vraiment pas partir. Pas le droit de briser sa clôture, oh non. Ça serait le drame assuré!
Il est le petit garçon le plus affectueux du monde entier!!

the pool...

Went to the pool this week with miss Coconut with a dear friend and her lovely daughter Sofia.

She seemed to like the water well enough but was on me like velcro! She loved the shallow area and was crawling around in it, she was such a doll! I think the chlorine water is not the best for her eczema though, so I think I'll have to limit the pool with her :(
We have another pooldate this weekend with Liam (aka dafeist) and Sofia's older sister. I think I'll keep miss coconut home.

10 months old today!

Noooooooooooo!!!
Stay small!! Don't grow. I'm just.so.depressed. She is my last and she won't stop growing. I never thought having children was such a bittersweet experience. That every milestone brings some joy and some sadness. That seeing them grow makes me want to hang on for a little bit longer than I should. I wish I could stop time. I wish I could go back and re-experience liam as a baby. To give him what I didn't know he needed at the time. Why am I so darn nostalgic?

This is miss coconut 1 year ago (I blatantly copied Kris's idea, hope she doesn't mind!) :

varia

Merci matante. Pour le méga beau chapeau.
Looking dazed and confused like a Britney Spears wannabe, here's miss Coconut sporting her wonderful faux-fur-white-trash hat. She's such a star!



French toast for supper? Sure hon. Am I not the most glorious mom that ever lived!?!



Can you feel the love? This is the extent of sibling interaction we get at this house. I am soooo envious of people posting pictures of their kids sleeping together or playing together, or just plain not hurting one another. Not me. My son pinches, scratches, pushes miss coconut every chance he gets. All under the veil of over excitement and not from outright aggression, but it still breaks my heart.

In her new car seat...

I jumped through hoops to get a silly print for her new carseat!! We realllly wanted the cowmooflage but it wasn't available in Canada for the Britax Roundabout. So I ordered it from the states. After going through hell to get the seat from UPS without having to pay their brokerage fee, we have our seat!!! So soft and lovely and comfy. We love it!!

Here she is babbling in her car seat. Sorry, the camera motion might make you nauseous!





2 mittens on magic loop. Didn't think I'd get through, but I'm nearing the end!! I love knitting with Noro, the colors are just so much fun! Not the softest yarn, but for mittens I don't care. I just like the bright, non-matchy effect it has. Hopefully they won't be weirdly mismatched. Considering on side has 4 more stitches than the other. Don't ask.

My first pair of (successful) mittens!!

This is Kate Gilbert's Gifted pattern, super duper easy and QUICK!! Love it. And best of all, Nico loves them too! I used chunky alpaca and some black Galway to get gauge. Mitts are a tad big, but warm and fuzzy. I think I'll make myself a pair next. Yum.

Here are a few more pictures of miss coconut:

Standing 

Falling

And for fun...