cousins playing at the park

cute miles


teeter


totter

diedre's first swim

ladies are getting ready to go in for diedre's first swim


getting deeper


chillin' with daddio


really kicking up a storm


swimming is tiring. here she is conked out.

diedre did really well. she smiled lots, splashed, kicked and seemed to really enjoy swimming. she got a little fussy b/c she was hungry, so i fed her and back in we went. we're looking forward to swimming at aunt susan's again soon :)

my curly mohawk

diedre's hair is curly when wet, but usually flattens right down. lately, this curly mohawk has remained right on top of her noggin. its so cute

MILESTONE:
she rolled over onto her belly this morning. she lies on her side alot and just kinda flipped her legs over and then rested her chest on top of her left arm. no picture. it was not as eventful as i thought it would be.

i can jump!

diedre tried the jolly jumper for the first time on monday. after a week of lessons, she still wasnt quite there, but goodness, did she try!


really, i can, just watch!

cute cheeks 

cute girl 

hiii! i'm 3 months old today!

time flies. everyone told us it would and they were all right. wow. 3 months old today. she is such a great baby. its been really hot lately so that explains why she is in her skivvies in the photo. what a doll! what a little lady! my baby d

being shy

me & baby d at our prenatal reunion class. more pictures to come soon :)

best babies

cute profile

diedre and i went to another mom's group yesterday called best babies. it was great. we began with a nice lunch then had a group session. diedre was very playful and they had the same mat she has at home. here she is smiling. i think she liked having that big flower against her forehead.

cloverdale rodeo & fair

we had fun walking around the fairgrounds looking at the animals.


d bunny


moo miles

poor miles had a big freak-out when a large sheep "baa"d really loud. miles let out an explosively loud "BAAA" too as he started to cry. it was really funny, although, we're not sure he will ever like sheep after that experience.

bouny chair is still a hit

everyone likes the bouncy chair! even fraser

baby swings 12 weeks old

the cousins enjoying the swings


diedre looks like she is in a big bucket. she's a little young and small for these, but i was right there with her and she looked so cute!


funny smile. i can't believe 12 weeks have gone by. she has such a cute personality, so smiley and chatty these days.

lil' blue eyes

a nice close up of miles

daddy gets the biggest smiles 

story time

i've been wondering lately when i'll ever have time to read to diedre. she either wants to be kicking or held, but if i try to hold her and read, she fusses. i know its good to read to babies, but i figured if i'm talking to her that would do the same thing at this point, since she wouldn't usually look at the pictures either.

today, she wanted to be held and was not fussy so i thought i'd give reading another try. i read her three books. she looked at the pictures this time. she grabbed onto the last book and started to chew on it--which is ok, this book is soft and crinkly sounding with teething triangles on it. yum, her love of reading has begun.

Wisdom from a young boy

my friend rob directed me to the following post:
Wittingshire: On Boys and Bikinis

On Boys and Bikinis
A few days ago my eight-year-old son noticed a catalog--Lands End or LL Bean, or something along those lines. It was lying open on the counter, beside the rest of the mail. I saw him notice it, and I saw his face darken with irritation. Then he slapped it closed and shoved it beneath a Highlights magazine.

"Why do girls go around in bikinis?" he groused. "Of all the dumb things to wear."

This struck me as funny, which provoked him still further.

"It's just like underwear," he said. "They wouldn't go walking down the street in their underthings, would they? So why go around in bikinis?"

"Girls wear bikinis because boys like them," I said.

He stopped short and stared at me, incredulous.

"Not boys your age," I went on. "Teenagers, and grown up men. They think women look pretty in bikinis--but that doesn't mean they think women should wear them in public."

He was still staring at me, utterly flabbergasted. Finally he found his tongue: "It disturbs me," he said formally, "that you are telling me that one day I will think girls look pretty in bikinis. That disturbs me. I know what I think, and I don't think that."

By this point I was laughing out loud. He was so serious, and so affronted.

"It isn't funny," he said. "Why on earth would I suddenly think girls in bikinis look pretty? They look cold. They look naked. Skin is just skin, and tummy skin isn't any prettier than arm skin. That's what I think. Why would I ever think different?"

His little brother chimed in: "Yeah, why do they do that? We won't ever like that. Why would we ever like that? We won't."

And then their ten-year-old sister, from her vantage point of greater age and wisdom, enlightened them: "It has to do with hormones. You know, the hormones that are going to make your armpits get hairy."

My middle child stared at her blankly for a moment, groping for a withering riposte--but his face fell with defeat. He has great respect for science.

I spent the next several minutes assuring him that hormones wouldn't vaporize his brain, that he would still be able to use good judgment, and--at this he began to perk up again--that not all girls wear bikinis.

"I'd rather like a girl who doesn't," he said. "It just doesn't seem very smart, to like a girl who does silly things just to try to get boys to think she looks pretty."

Hold that thought, I said silently to him. Hold that thought.

now that i have a post partum body, i have been sadly anticipating my first summer in 8 years where i will not be wearing a bikini. i always liked wearing them. mostly b/c they are draftier (as in cooler) than a one piece and i would get more of tan. now, i'm sporting long shirts and higher pants to prevent any accidental displays of my midriff. my midriff was never especially impressive, but the skin was smooth and did not have tons of stretch marks. sigh, it definitely makes me feel old.

i grew up in northern ontario, a pretty conservative person, where summer camps did not allow two-piece suits anyway. it wasn't until i moved to bc in 97 that i started wearing bikinis. anyway, now i get to go shopping for a one-piece, i guess that's an upside.

well, the real upside is diedre. since its partly because of her that i have stretch marks (the other parts being: gaining more weight than i needed too, and genetic skin type which allowed stretch marks--cuz not everyone gets them!). now i get to enjoy how cute she'll look in her little swimsuit this summer, no one will notice me anyway! ha ha

its all about her now :) and gladly so, she's our little princess.

hooray! not a complete waste of money!!!

back in septemeber when i was newly pregnant and my nephew was just born, derek and i excitedly purchased the above item (bouncy chair) for miles. we were excited. this chair had all these super cool features, vibrate, bounce, mother's heart beat, birds chirping, music and fun toys too. it was used and the lady assured us, it was a steal of a deal at $40.

as it happens, miles received a similar bouncing/rocking chair a day or so before i was going to give the above chair. the one he got was brand new and would later convert into a rocking chair for a toddler (up to age 2). it cost $40 as well. i was pretty burned thinking i had wasted $40 on something used when i couldve gotten something comparable new for the same. well, regardless of that, we decided to keep it for our child.

once born, diedre hated the chair. until yesterday. when she kicked and made it bounce and played with the toys...so it all worked out in the end!!!

lesson learned: 1. always check out prices in the stores before buying something used to make sure you wont regret it later. 2. things always seem to work out, so don't waste your energy being annoyed or feeling "burned".

fun full day

me & baby d.
my friend stacy and i had a mary kay consultation today. i really like what she recommended for my eyes. diedre is wearing an outfit from grandma jen with ruffles on the bum, but i'm not sure you can see it here.

today, we went to a mom & me group and saw tara and rachel who had their babies on feb 25. (they were from our prenatal class). tara told me that i must have good strong genes because she could see the resemblance. i really loved the mom & me group. it was really cool to sit with a room full of new moms and hear about all the different experiences.

apparently their is a tuesday group too that meets later and includes lunch, we'll probably check that out next week. and the moms from the wednesday group also go on walks every thursday. i don't know if i'll go for that at this point, but we'll see.

i saw a 5 day old yesterday when i went to vote and she was so little. i miss little tiny diedre. but the 11 week old diedre is so fun. (she just yelled out b/c her music stopped)
she's so smiley and responsive to us.
she is very close to rolling over.
and from just 4 days of tummy time (laying totally on her tummy, not with a towel rolled up) she can lift her head pretty high. the first day she was just licking the blanket, now she can turn her head side to side and even grab at toys in front of her.
she is becoming so much more expressive verbally. its very cute to watch her figure out her mouth and her vocals.

she needs help getting to sleep almost every time (naps & night time). we swaddle her and bounce, rock, walk and shush her. lately its taken close to 1 hour for bed time, but sometimes only 10 minutes for a nap to work. she is still sleeping about 5 hours straight at night, then feeds, then sleeps for 2-3 more hours.

we're figuring things out and she is just about better from her cold. so that will make a difference too. she's nearly 3 months old and is definitely having a growth spurt (eating every hour for several hours each day!!!)

ciao

Grandma Jen, are you watching? I'm wearing the outfit you got me. Its sooo cool. i love it! 

close birth buddies

diedre and i went and hung out with stacy and aiden today. aiden was born on diedre's due date (feb 24) even though he was due exactly one week after baby d. stacy had my "dream labor" experience. fast, no tearing, quick recovery, no drugs :( boo hoo for me...very good for stacy.


why are you crying aiden?


aiden has a fun exersaucer, the seat tastes really good...too bad i'm too little for it


look mom, i can hold my head up!


i'm really enjoying my tummy time

my super cute family

"now you know where i get my good looks from."

"bouncing on the ball with daddy is always so fun"

11 weeks old

its absolutely amazing how fast 11 weeks goes. diedre got to chat with her grandparents in ontario today via webcam and fit into a pair of 3-6 month overalls from The Gap. she is such a darling girl. we are enjoying her, even when she's sick :D

pony?

nah, its sparky our horse dog. he is a good size for diedre.

chillin' with daddy

derek likes to put off getting up for work as long as possible. now he has two excuses to stay in bed to cuddle...although all week diedre's been waking up at 5am for good. and i try to keep her occupied and relatively quiet until 6am when i wake up derek to talk to her for a bit. they look so cute together!

poor sick baby d

diedre has a head cold. we brought her into emergency at 1am because she would sound like she was choking a bit, then breath in really mucousy. she also threw up two consecutive feedings so for a newborn, that's not good (fear of dehydration). she checked out fine. its not in her lungs or chest. i was able to feed her there and she kept it down. she hasn't thrown up since. we have a doctor's appointment for her on friday so hopefully she's much better then.

its so scary to have a sick baby. i kept her close by all night so that i could pat her on the back if she needed it. she slept well and ate well all night. she wes even smiley and wanting to play in the morning so that's comforting.

the do-able bath solution

diedre has not been enjoying baths much since she was born so i have been experimenting. i took her in the shower with me one day and that worked pretty well. i did get a little scare from the slippery fish and learned to only soap a little bit of her at a time so i could keep a good hold on her.

then she was not feeling well and i thought a warm bath might help so i quickly got the sink ready for her. i put a hot water bottle in the bottom of the sink to work as a non-slip surface and i used my bath pillow to rest her back against. she slumped down a little and rested her head on it (well out of the water) so i adjusted my setup and voila, a do-able bath solution.

diedre is 10 weeks

we went rockclimbing today with rick & danielle. they absolutely LOVE diedre. they are so good with her. here is rick taking care of baby d while mom & dad do a climb.

derek and i way up high on a climb in cheakamus.

a little bit jealous maybe?

i went to visit my friends and their daughter kristin was being extra funny apparently. i think she might have been a little jealous of the attention diedre was getting from her parents.

here is the little princess in a basket.

she will have to get used to having a baby around as her mom is expecting their second child in the next few months.

the day that i was over kristin learned to throw garbage into the garbage can for the first time. then she tried to throw out some plastic toys. then her sippy cup. then her mom's tea towel. it was pretty funny.

do not fear the little baby

stef said she never holds babies...but here she is getting a hug from diedre

copycat monkey

monkey see


monkey contemplate


monkey do

watch out daddy, she is copying your every move!

Growing Girl

diedre wearing her sunday best. a beautiful dress given to her from Grammy Salmon and the sweater from Aunt Debbie.


here she is wearing the same dress on march 5 05. my, how she has grown!!!