Cold Turkey

Well, we've done it. After advice from family and friends, books and the Internet, we were convinced that Gabrielle should be able to sleep through the night by now without waking for a feed from mama. Following my sister's advice, when Gabrielle woke in the night, I went to her and gave her back her soother or offered her a bottle of water. For two nights she refused both, so I left the room with her crying - which lasted less than 5 minutes both times! She slept from then (1am) to 6:30am both nights. For the last two nights, she didn't wake once. She's in bed between 6:30 and 7, and wakes 12 hours later. Pardon? Is it really that easy? I know that things will change in a few days again...but for now, I'll take the uninterrupted nights! Mama is overjoyed, and starting to catch up on her sleep deprivation. I think I actually had some normal conversations today!

With less than 2 weeks before our departure, I'll take all the sleep I can get. I hope that when we arrive down-under she'll fall back into this sleep pattern.
Gabrielle is growing in leaps and bounds these days. She is crawling all over the place and we have to be constantly looking underfoot to make sure we're not going to step on her. She is pulling herself up on to everything, and gets so frustrated when she gets "stuck". She is developing such a personality, laughing and talking, and comes to Mama with such gusto. It is so amazing to watch this little person become her own self. I'm so lucky to be able to witness her daily actions.
On a side note - I've finally been in contact with the photographer from our wedding, over 3 years ago, and our wedding album is almost ready! The delay is totally my fault, and I'm so anxious to see the results! All we've had so far has been the proofs! Soon, we'll have wedding pictures to go along with the ones of the wee one!

Peace & Blessings All 'Round

Today, we celebrated Gabrielle's baptism with family and friends from Kamloops and Kelowna and it was such a wonderful day. Gabrielle's god-parents, the Nickels, came in last night from K-town with their two amazing kids, Danielle (aka the baby-whisperer) and Jarrid who I feel love Gabrielle almost as much as we do! My parents were there, along with Twyla, Gil, Shannon & the kids from K-town as well. Our wonderful neighbours joined us too, and a great family friend, Danielle, came to the church to watch our little angel make this right-of-passage.

I am continually amazed at her adaptiveness to change. Daryl and I had to be at the church at 9am for a rehearsal, and we left Gabrielle at home, napping, with the hopes that we wouldn't have a crazy baby on our hands for the 10 o'clock service. The Nickels arrived with babe in hand, along with everyone else, and informed us that Gabrielle did not nap, but sang for the entire hour in her crib. Oh well. Here we go, I thought!

She wore the Christening gown that I wore 32 years ago, and looks like a little angel. She acted like one too. She was so peaceful and quiet through the service, and when we went up for her actually Baptism and the Minister took her - I thought again - her we go. I, along with everyone there, was amazed, as she glanced up at him, pensively, and just looked at him as he proceeded to Baptise her. During his presentation to the community (walking around the church) she just smiled and glanced at everyone - we could not have asked for a more suiting baby. She really was an angel.

Afterwards, we came back home and had a delicious lunch and cake. My mom baked a ham, and I made salads and plates of yummies. It was all so good, we are now paying for it with the ache in the belly that comes from eating too much!

It was such a wonderful day, which ended so perfectly with a rainbow over the hills to the north. The higher power that watches over us all was certainly with us throughout this day. We are so blessed for our families and wonderful friends. I don't know where we would be without them. We send warm wishes to the members of our families that couldn't be with us, and our friends who sent us blessings. Thank you all.

I'm off to bed.

Oh, just some quick shots of Gabrielle playing with her new dolly from Tante-Nadia. We still have to come up with a name for her, so suggestions are welcome. I thought it was so cute how they were dressed the same. Mama didn't plan that at all...such a good baby...

Pre-Christmas Shots

Prior to the holiday season, we wanted to take some family photos with Gabrielle in some of the beautiful outfits that she has received over the last several months. Many are still too large for her, as she is such a petite-bebe, but thankfully we are headed to warmer weather in a few weeks and will certainly have the opportunity for her to be a girly-girl!

Photos...Phinally

Here are some photos from Nadia's visit. I'm not a photoshop whiz, so some of the colour is a bit off...but you get the idea!

We Are Family

Over the last several months, people have asked Daryl and I when (and if) we are going to have another baby, and my response has always been the following...somedays I know Gabrielle will have a sibling, and other days she will be an only child. It all depends on the day I'm having. I am very thankful to report that as far back as I can remember, we've had very good days, and I am leaning more towards the option of someday providing our wee one with a little playmate.

The past few days have confirmed that more than anything ever could. My sister, Nadia, has been visiting from Toronto and just left today, and I never realized how much I've missed her over the last year since we last were together. Actually, the last time she was here was when we announced that we were going to have a baby, and now, here we are, 7 months into the parenthood thing! Wow, time flies!

But seriously, there is something that really hit me this past weekend, and perhaps it is remanence of my postpartum emotions which are running wild, but I've been crying alot too. I wish that somehow we could be closer. There is so much that I wish we could share on a more regular basis. She has raised to amazing boys, which I hardly know. We use to be close, when I lived in Montreal and would go to Toronto about once a month to visit and spend time with them. But now, lives get busy and time seems to be so sparse. I can hardly recognize them in photos. I don't want that to be the same with Gabrielle and her Tante. She gave me such amazing advice, little things that only come from being there...and the kind of stuff that you don't find in books. I wish we lived closer. I wish there was a way.

Intervention

Today, Daryl and I have decided that an intervention is required with Gabrielle. We're going to sit down as a family and discuss the latest trend in sleep habits that have caused great anxiety and stress to the mama.
First, the background. Gabrielle has slept very well at night since she was a newborn. With stretches running anywhere from 3 to 6 hours in between feedings. When she hit 6 weeks, on the dot, she decided that 6 hours was the minimum that she would sleep at any one time, with the usual night time overall length being about 13 hours. At 2 months, she was subject to a strict bedtime routine whereby she was bathed, fed and put to bed by 6pm. That has held true to this day...just shy of her 7 month birthday. The nights since 2 months of age have been great. She would sleep at times from 6pm to 3 or 4 am, wake for a quick feed, then go right back to sleep for another 3 or 4 hours, sometimes more. Mornings start around 7am, which was just fine by my standards.
However, recently, something has changed. For the last month or so, synchronized approximately with the introduction of solid foods, Gabrielle has decided that she would like to wake more frequently at night for feedings - to which, up to this point, mama has obliged her indulgences, convinced that it was just a growth spurt and she would stop the behavior soon enough. It hasn't stopped.
Today, we've decided that enough is enough. Last night, waking at 9, 11, 12, 2, 3:30, 5 and 6:30 have caused undue craziness on my part. Be advised, that I only went and fed her at 12 and 3:30 and Daryl got up with her at 6:30. We were told at her 6 month doctors appointment - much to our relief - that with the introduction of solid foods she would start sleeping more at night, and possibly start sleeping through. YAY! I was ecstatic. However, it seems the opposite has happened.
Tonight, we will continue with our regular, tried, tested and true routine at bedtime, but at night I will go to her only if she wakes at 2am (about 8 hours since the last feeding) and then we will leave her until morning - about 7am. There is no reason why, at nearly 7 months old, she should not be able to go 5 hours without a feeding. She does it throughout the day now - with feedings at breakfast, lunch and dinner times.
Don't get me wrong, I do understand that my place in the world for the last 7 months has been to provide nourishment to our wee one on an "on-demand" basis, however, my nerves are starting to go as I haven't had a good nights sleep in over 1/2 a year. My plan is to continue to breastfeed until Gabrielle is at least one year old, and possibly longer. All to be determined in time. However, a tired, cranky mama can't be good for anyone in our household. Even Fletcher agrees!

Thoughts and Prayers

Just a quick post to anyone who happens to read this today, or any day...I'm making a special request for healing prayers, for prayers of strength and for courage for two very special families.

A friend of mine - also a new mom to a beautiful baby girl - has been going through what I can only imagine to be a roller coaster ride through hell, as her little 5 month old angel fought for her life over meningitis. Thankfully, they are now back at home, and the wee one seems to be making a great recovery. There will be countless future assessments to ensure that there are no permanent repercussions from this terrible illness - but so far, everything seems to be back on the upswing.

A friend has been sitting by his daughter's bedside for 3 weeks while she too fights for her life after falling from the 3 meter diving board during a practice. The external injuries were slight, but internally, her little body is mangled. Fed and cleansed by a tube, pancreas and spleen compromised, loss of a kidney and no real medical understanding of what to expect next or when things will get better.

For both of these families, my heart goes out to them and every time I see my little one, who is happy and healthy and doing all the crazy things that a baby should be, I think about how quickly and easily things can be different.

Please think of these two families in your prayers. Even if you don't pray, please just think of them. Thank you.

Lobster With That?

Halloween is Daryl's favorite time of the year - but between him being sick, and us being away all last week, and having a wee one, we decided that this year was not the year to go all out and decorate the entire front yard and house. We are also not hosting a Spook Supper - much to the dismay of the neighbours. Maybe next year. Anyhow, we did decide to dress up the wee one, and when I found out I was pregnant, I immediately knew what she was going to be at 6 months old. A lobster in a pot. I spent about 2 months looking for a costume and all the accessories to make the outfit complete, and here we have it. Gabrielle as a lobster, sitting in a pot, being held by her papa, the chef.

On our way home from Vancouver, we stopped and had a much too short visit with Great-Auntie Doodie, and Karlene. It was so nice to see them, and I know that they loved to see the wee one. I didn't think that they would stop laughing at Gabrielle, as we went into the store with her in full Halloween gear. She was such a happy girl, and played along with her insane parents so well!

I know that we are going to pay for lots of therapy - but for now, it is just so much fun!

First Flight

It was a last minute decision, but Gabrielle and I decided to hop on a plane and fly to Colorado. OK, so it wasn't so spur-of-the-moment as it sounds, with Daryl down there for a conference and her passport all ready to go...but it sounds COOL! She was an AMAZING first-timer, all the flight-attendants said so, and even our fellow passengers. One lady said that she never saw a baby travel so well, and she is a very frequent flier!
Our way there starter off so well. We left the loops on Sunday night, as our flight to Denver was leaving at 7:30am from Vancouver. We spent the night near the airport and were up and ready to go at 5:30 (yikes!) to go through security. No problems so far, and we had a very happy baby! Once on board, and after being awake for 3 hours, things started to go south. Unfortunately, not literally. With Gabrielle getting fussy and squirmy and not wanting to be pinned down anymore, and our plane not moving back from the gate yet, I decided to feed her and hope she would nurse again at take-off. I was told this is what I had to do to prevent a melt-down as the cabin repressurized. Anyhow, she ate and ate and ate, and passed out. OK, so now I had a sleeping baby in my arms, and we weren't moving. But at least she was sleeping and quiet. Then the announcement from the captain. The fire-suppression system in the cargo area was faulty. We would have to deplane. The flight was cancelled and we would all be rerouted to our destinations. Crap. So we waited for everyone to deplane and let her sleep a bit more and then had to move. She woke up, but was such a little trooper! At least she wasn't at the age where I would have to explain that we didn't actually go anywhere and we were in the same city and airport were we were an hour ago. As Daryl was in line trying to get us to Denver, we played and made smiley faces at everyone. She was so happy - it was NUTS! I was one happy mama too!
Finally, we were rerouted through Seattle (a 30 minutes puddle hopper) and then on to Denver. That combo would get us there by 4pm. Not so bad - we would still have time to play before bath-time and bed. Our next worry was for our baggage. But there was nothing we could do about that but hope and pray it would all arrive. Amazingly, we arrived with no further problems and with all our baggage! A $80 cab ride to the hotel and we were settled.
Gabrielle and I did lots of walks, went for swims in the pool and entertained everyone in the HUGE lobby while Daryl was in his conference. It was a great trip, and I'm so glad we went! We went to a butterfly pavilion, and I didn't realize that when you dress your baby in flowery pants and pink tops, butterflies think that they are food and might swarm. At one point, she had 4 giant blue butterflies on her pants. She didn't quite know what was going on, but was aware enough that these flying things were on her. She would just look up at me from her stroller and back at the bugs. I wish I had a camera!
Thursday was our travel day home and with Daryl's free time we took a road-trip to Boulder where I got to visit with Monica, an old friend from Montreal who now lives there with her husband and kids. They have been living in Europe for 6 years and in Boulder for 1 now - and they just love it. I can see why. I told Daryl that if Ledcor ever transferred him to Colorado, we would certainly go so long as it was to Boulder (or to Telluride).

Off To A Winter Wonderland

Two weeks ago we went on a road-trip with Daryl when he had meetings and site visits in Golden, BC. With all of our upcoming vacations rapidly approaching, we are trying to get Gabrielle use to travelling and sleeping in hotels and different beds. She is already a great traveller, but I use this as an excuse to see wonderful parts of our beautiful province. I've never been to Golden, and this time of the year was amazing to see.
We were lent a cute little one-piece winter bunting bag which was SO CUTE! After trying it on at home and packing all our winter clothes, expecting cold, winter weather, I was shocked to find out that it was actually 18C in Golden!
We took a day trip to Banff (1.5 hours away, through Lake Louise) and I was once again reminded how much like Whistler Banff is. The mountains were beautiful, and it's too bad Daryl wasn't feeling better. More on that later. We did lots of walking in the village and up to the hot springs, and drove around looking for some Elk that we saw 5 years ago - the last time we were in Banff. We didn't see any, and I was most disappointed! How dare they not stay in the same place and wait for me! It was a lovely trip, and I can't wait to go back again.

Gabrielle is now eating solids. We've started with cereal and single veggies like squash, peas and carrots. Some days she loves them, others she practices her zerberts when I manage to put the food in her mouth. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but she doesn't seem to be getting alot out of eating. She is so excited to see us eating, and wants what we have on our plates, but when I try to feed her the mush, she gives me the strangest faces and spits back at me. I've talked to other moms who say their little once gobble down a whole jar in a meal - we are lucky to get 5 spoons in - with most ending up on our face, bib or floor!

The Things We Have To Be Thankful For

Where to begin. First off, we know how fortunate we are to have a healthy baby girl. In a world where so many things are out of our control, to have a happy, smiling and growing baby, who has no health complications or ailments, I couldn't ask for anything more. The health of my family, friends and loved ones is also way up there on the list. I am so thankful to have my mom and dad close by, to be able to see them everyday (when we're home) and to have them as a daily part of Gabrielle's life is so wonderful. They get to experience every milestone, every new happening, the smiles, giggles and laughs...the rolls, first sips of water from a cup, first meal all with us. It is such a blessing and I know how lucky we are.

This year, my mom went nuts, again (is anyone surprised?) by ordering a 28 1/2lb turkey. For those keeping score, that is twice the size of Gabrielle. I was wondering who my mom had invited to share our feast with...alas, it was to be just the 5 of us, and one of us doesn't eat food yet! We cooked the bird for 7 hours (I think...I lost count) and had all sorts of vegetables and accompaniments for our elaborate but intimate meal. We had dinner at our place, as we knew that the timing would put bath-time right in the middle of things. It was wonderful to have a little addition at the table, although she spent more time in her excersaucer. A good friend and new mom who also has the same saucer for her daughter said to me, there is so much going on per square inch of that thing! It certainly keeps her entertained.

We had lots of leftovers which we promptly made into organic turkey-pot-pies and I blended some of the breast meat into baby-food for the wee one when she is on to solids. YUM! Lucky baby!

Grand-papa taking a break outside in the beautiful late afternoon sun. The weather was glorious on Sunday...up to 22C!

On The Move

It's official - Gabrielle is on the move. Her current mode of transportation cant exactly be called crawling, but a skootch/slide/push sort of action allows her to inch her way across the floor. She has been practicing her push-ups for almost a month now, and along with the occasional face-plant, she is moving. We've had to protect her head from the brick fire-place, but other than that, she's got free range of the house. It's pretty amazing to watch her go...or at least try. She gets so frustrated when her arms and legs don't move in a coordinated fashion. Poor little one!

Fletcher watches her with keen interest, and sometimes we find them almost snuggling. We have to watch him too, because when a 80lb dog rolls over and there is a baby underneath, the results could be disastrous!