2008: Year in review

This list is courtesy of Linda @ All & Sundry... great idea, and I can't wait to see my answers a year from now!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Moved across the country (on my own accord) without a job waiting... eek!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Don't think I made any resolutions last year...

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yep - several friends (whose dear babies I can "observe" on Facebook!)

4. Did anyone close to you die? After a brave battle with cancer, Grandma Randell in April.

5. What countries did you visit? Unfortunately, did not leave the country. Hope to get somewhere, even if it's only the U.S. this year!

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A job! (other than raising Ben of course).

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 25 - Trevor proposed (and I accepted, of course); March 25 - diagnosis of PPD; September 2 - move to Calgary; October 21 - Ben's 1st birthday.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Exclusively nursing Ben - went from 8.15 pounds to over 23 in 1 year! Having the balls to move out to Calgary.

9. What was your biggest failure? Inability to lose all the baby weight and not keeping in better touch with friends.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? PPD, which has now resolved :)

11. What was the best thing you bought? Things that delight Ben, Trevor's birthday and Christmas prezzies.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Ben when he finally started sleeping through the night; Barack Obama; the Montreal Canadiens (most games...).

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Most politicians.

14. Where did most of your money go? Things to delight Ben! Oh and the move west ate up our savings big time.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? US Election; Ben walking; new season of Top Chef; receiving a beautiful Tiffany set diamond ring from Trevor :)

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Just one? Paper Planes by M.I.A.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?... much, much happier :)
b) thinner or fatter?... unfortunately about the same (considering I had just given birth this time last year, I should be thinner by now.... I'm gonna start working on that for real...)
c) richer or poorer?... definitely poorer, but money doesn't buy happiness, right?

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Exercise, spending time outside with Ben.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Surfing the internet.

20. How did you spend Christmas? In Calgary with Trevor, Geoff, Brenda & Keith. Plus an early December visit to Comox, and a visit from Booth & Fi!

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? Well I stayed in love with Trevor & Ben, does that count?

22. What was your favorite TV program? Top Chef, hands down.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Ooooh boy... don't think so? Wait, I didn't know who Sarah Palin was this time last year... so yeah...

24. What was the best book you read? The Birth House; 15 Days; 90 Minute Sleep Solution.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? M.I.A. and Kings of Leon

26. What did you want and get? A fiance; Wii Fit; trips to BC

27. What did you want and not get? A smaller waist; a full-time job in October.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Juno (I know it came out before '08, but I only saw it this year); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Dark Knight.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 26. Catherine hosted a small get-together in the middle of a snowstorm. We had Indian food & homemade cupcakes and it was great :)

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? To have spent more "quality" time with Ben and my friends.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Comfort and hiding the muffin top!

32. What kept you sane? Trevor and my new friends from the PPD group :)

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Brangelina and all their kids.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The US election; enviromental issues.

35. Who did you miss? My friends and family I didn't get to see nearly often enough :(

36. Who was the best new person you met? Just one? Ariel!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Being a mother is the toughest yet most amazing job I've ever had to do.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "Cause I am a superwoman, (yes I am), Even when I'm a mess, I still put on a vest, with an S on my chest, Oh yes, I'm a superwoman"

Stampede!

We just got back from a 9 day trip to Calgary for the Stampede - most excellent! We stayed with Trevor's parents and did all sorts of awesome things. We went to a chuckwagon race and a rodeo, ate way too much fattening fair food (corn dogs! deep-fried oreos and cheesecake!), and did some outdoorsy stuff. We went to Kananaskis and hiked around for an afternoon - breathtaking sights and so much fresh air. Ben was an angel, of course, and behaved himself on both flights, even our return, where we sat on the runway sweating to death while they tried to fix the A/C, then hung around for another 1.5 hours in the terminal, before we finally left....

Ben will be (holy shit) 9 months old next week! He is a crawling champ, and crawled up stairs for the first time in the backyard... He still has only the 6 teeth, eats everything we give him, and generally is sleeping through the night... basically, he's a perfect baby :)

We spent today in the backyard, tending to our vegetable garden which exploded with growth while we were gone, and did some sunning next to the pool. Unfortunately, the pool is currently green and algae-riffic, due to some chlorine issues... hopefully it will be back up and running before the weekend. I applied sunscreen, but not too perfectly as I now have a splotchy sunburn on my chest... ugh...

How is it June already?

Seriously. I can't believe it's June, oh wait, I can, because it's starting to get hot and humid, and the mosquitoes are insane!! There are a bazillion mosquitoes around the house, and I literally get eaten alive every time I venture outside.... anyways..

We spent a wonderful weekend in London Ontario for a friend's wedding. Trevor was the MC and did a fabulous job, and everything was just perfect - the weather cooperated, the food was fantastic, and we sat at a table right up next to the bride & groom and had great tablemates! Trevor's parents traveled up with us (in a rented Dodge Caravan, which was amazingly roomy and comfortable), and Ben was on his bestest behaviour for them.

Speaking of Ben, he is on the very verge of crawling- getting up on all fours with regularity, even in the bathtub (which terrifies me!) and we have had to lower his crib, as he can pull himself up now! He has started to feed himself - Cheerios and "baby mum-mum" rice husks, which is amusing and only slightly nerve-wracking....

Super momma

Wow, things have been busy lately, but good busy! I have made some "mommy friends" and have been attending a PPD support group which has done wonders for my mental health. I am typically out and about 4 days a week, which is a huge change from only a month ago when I was out maybe 1 day a week. I'm still going to Curves, and feeling stronger every day. Ben has also been busy - we started sign language class this Monday, so I need to start practicing the 30 or so words we learned!

I'm also proud to say that we've made the switch to cloth diapers (*most* of the time...). I ordered a 4-pack of pocket diapers from an online baby store, and they are pretty amazing! I have to say I was a bit skeptical that they would be absorbent as disposable, but so far, so good! They are super comfortable and pretty cute, and yeah, no leaks! Now I need to decide which of the 4 styles I prefer and buy several more so I don't have to do laundry every single day :)

We've also been expanding our food repertoire - for the most part I am making my own food, which is super easy and so much cheaper. Ben's favourites are sweet potatoes and avocadoes (just like his Mom!). The next frontier is meats and alternatives.... which I'm sure will make his diapers even more.. ahem... fragrant... yippee!

We're heading to a wedding in London this weekend, which will involve a 2-night stay in a hotel, with Grandma & Grandpa Cassidy! It will be nice to have a little getaway and to have the extra help with the boy.

Oh how could I forget, Ben has been "talking"!! He said Mama about 10 days ago (and hasn't done it since, good thing I caught it on video!) and now does Dada (dadadadadada actually). It's the best to hear him chatting away to himself :)

Slacker

After a few gung-ho days when I started this blog, I have really been slacking here. It's not due to a lack of blog ideas, but rather an abundance, and I don't know where to start. I want to properly document this early part of Ben's life, but when I start to think of all I'd like to cover, I get overwhelmed.

Anyways... things have been better on the mood front lately. The improving weather has played a big part, and I have also been active most days of the week: Curves 3 evenings a week, gardening or tossing a softball around with T when the weather's nice, walking into town and downtown on the weekend. Ben has been a treat lately - always in a good mood, sleeping like a champ (generally does 12-13 hours per night, plus 2-3 naps, still!), and happy to be schlepped around to our various activities. He will be 7 months old next week, which blows my mind. He still has just the 3 teeth, and absolutely no sign of the 4th (bottom left) to even things out. But he's a baby and has no problem pulling off the lopsided grin :)

I had a great first mother's day (well, 2nd, if you count being pregnant as being a mother). T cooked me a nice breakfast and presented me with a framed photo of Ben with a nice message and his handprint.. awwhh.. it was very sweet and unexpected. We spent the day preparing the earth in our vegetable garden, and had roast beef dinner with T's Grandma in Aurora. So it was pretty low-key, but we had some quality family time. The next morning I was in pain from shoveling, weeding, etc... my back and shoulders are not used to such manual labour! We will plant the vegetables this week and are very excited to eat the fruits of our labour and to make Ben's food with produce we've grown ourselves - how rewarding is that!

A week of firsts

Ben and I got home from our week-long trip to BC on Wednesday evening. His dad missed us oh so much, and was actually at the airport on time to pick us up (in the past he was always late retrieving me).... Ben experienced many firsts in BC: first time traveling alone with mom, first tastes of oatmeal and sweet potato, first boat ride, first time swimming, and first teeth!
That's right, the teeth we thought would soon be making an appearance did so on Thursday morning - first one on the bottom, then one on the top. There's one more trying to come through on the top. Poor little guy has been in a lot of pain - he's getting baby tylenol every few hours, as well as anbesol and frozen teething gummy things.
Ben also met his auntie Gemma and uncle Scott who were visiting from Washington. They were suitably impressed with Ben, and he thought they were ok :)
My parents were beyond thrilled with Ben - he was on his best behaviour and wowed all my parents' friends he got to visit. It was hard to say goodbye though, but I will see them again in mid-June - when Ben will probably be crawling! Ahh!!
It was so nice having people around all day to help with Ben and entertain him so I could have some "me time". Now it's back to my boring, quiet life.
Oh and as you can see from the picture, my dog looooooved having Ben around...

What a difference 6 months makes

Happy 1/2 year birthday Ben! At his check-up today, he weighed 19lbs & 3/4 of an ounce, and was 72cm long (about 28.5 inches) - so he's still nice and long and lean. He tolerated his vaccinations in both thighs, with barely a cry. He's such a strong little guy. And our doctor says that he's advanced for his age (of course the proud parents already knew this). He can sit up unsupported, roll and babble like it's going out of style, and it seems like he may be close to breaking his 2 front teeth (oh no! he's still nursing!).

It's amazing the changes that occur in 6 months. I knew that this time would pass quickly and the changes are phenomenal, so I'm trying my best to enjoy every moment and document everything!

I always thought newborns were the cutest because they're small and helpless, but now I know that babies get cuter as they get older. I can think of 10 great reasons why they're better...

A 6 month old baby...
10. ... can play and entertain themselves
9. ... produces slightly less spit-up
8. ... is much less fragile, so daddy can play more physical games
7. ...loves bath time, rather than thrashing and screaming throughout the process
6. ... can sit-up, therefore doesn't need to be held/propped up at all times
5. ... actually enjoys "tummy time" rather than screaming through it
4. ... interacts with his environment and people around him - no longer just a (cute) lump!
3. ...knows and prefers his mommy over anyone else
2. ...nurses every 4 hours instead of every 2-3, and only for 10-15 minutes (instead of 15-30)
1. ... produces a lot less poo (Ben used to poop multiple times daily, now it's once every 1-3 days)

Oh, and sleeps through the night (most of the time.. ahem..)