Happy Halloween!!

Tonight was Marley's first official Halloween. At daycare I picked her up to find her face covered in make up for some photos that they had taken. I don't know about you, but I found that a bit presumptuous that they could just paint her face. They even put paint on her eyelids and it was a major pain to remove (there's still some left there after the bath!). Anyway, after daycare, we got suited up (after borrowing a costume from my friend Janet who sews,) and headed out for candy! I think everyone knew that we were taking advantage of our child to get free candy but they thought she was so cute, we often got handfuls at a time. Woo hoo! You can see by the pic of daddy and Marley with all the loot, who is happier to have all that candy...

Happy 70th Birthday Mom!

Saturday we celebrated my mom's 70th birthday with a surprise party at my brother's house. My mom was definitely surprised and still couldn't resist the urge to cook at her own party even though we had it completely catered. The food was aplenty and I arranged for John, a second cousin to attend and take some 'official' family photos of us while everyone was together. Marley also enjoyed spending time with her family, she was all smiles for everyone and even showed off her new trick which she officially learned yesterday. Her first steps! Lots of 'ooohs' and 'ahhhs' while she walked to various people. Even giving my scary uncles hugs! Everyone (including mom) had a great time. Can't believe she's 70 especially when she's still balancing all of her grandkids on her knees!

Hilarious Hallowe'en

My friend Sally has time on her hands. In order to help me decide on a costume for Marley, she put together this little collage so we could see Miss M "trying on" various ensembles. It cracks me up every time I see it. Maybe its the facial expression, or the fact that she looks like Bobby Lee, its just darn hilarious.

One sick baby

Last week was awful! I mean terrible, awful. Marley contracted some kind of virus on Monday and by 11pm was on fire with fever. She moaned in pain and was just miserable. She moaned all night and no one got any sleep. After two days of staying indoors with her and using all of my conniving skills to trick her into taking some medicine, we finally got the fever manageable but then she stopped eating. She actually stopped while in the fever stage but for the rest of the week, she continued to refuse any and all food. I managed to get her to breastfeed once in awhile but for the most part, she just survived on what little fat her tiny underweight body had. She continued to moan at night and refused to go to bed altogether, crying and crying for hours at a time. I'm thinking she either has a major stomach ache or major teething. She does grab her mouth and keep biting her hands. Whatever it is, today, finally, was the first day I saw my old Miss M back. She smiled, she ATE (woo hoo!) and even played with her food, putting it in her mouth before throwing it half way across the room.

Here's hoping the worst part is over and my baby will start eating again...

Happy Birthday Sullivan!

Today we went to Susie's house to celebrate Sully turning 1! It was a gorgeous day and they took full advantage of the great weather with a backyard party. They converted their garage into a play room with a ton of toys and jolly jumpers and the kids had a great time crawling, playing and eating. Marley even managed to take her very first steps! Maybe it was Sully's influence but on two occasions at the party, she decided to take a few tentative steps to get to where she wanted to go. Too bad Daddy missed it but I'm sure it will happen again very soon. Happy 1st Birthday Sully!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we spent Thanksgiving at my uncle's house in Brampton. My sister bought an Organic Turkey from Rowe Farms and woke up at the crack of dawn to cook it so we could cart it up to my uncle's house for lunch. It took every ounce of willpower for us not to rip a piece off while in the car. We were all starving and the smell of freshly cooked turkey permeated the car air.

Once we arrived, the food was plentiful! I actually ate so much that I am still suffering from heartburn today. Its just so difficult to not go up for two servings of everything. Carol made 3 deeleecious desserts this year, Caramel Apple Bourbon Crisp, Pumpkin bars and Vanilla Bundt cake. By the time dessert hit, I was at capacity.

It was a great opportunity for Miss M to play with all of her cousins. As both she and Talia get bigger, they can now interact and enjoyed crawling after each other all over the place. It was also great to visit with my grams who made it out of the nursing home to join us. Everyone was thankful to have so much food and family all together in one room. Family get togethers are the best!

On-yong!

Here is a photo of Marley in her Korean dress at her party taken by Sally. In case you didn't know "on-yong" means "hello!"

Daycare

This has been a saga. People say that looking for a job is a job in itself. They must not have had to look for daycare in the city. After putting my name on every waiting list within a 25 km radius to us (and I did this while pregnant mind you,) not one spot became available. So I had to widen my search. I decided to look more towards an area where I could be working and lo and behold, a spot was available. It was called Kids and Company and they specialize in childcare for people who work in the downtown core. And they charge rates that equal the GDP of small African countries. (And they still make you bring your own diapers and wipes!) I decided to give it a try for two months and see how Miss M would do. Last week was our first week and I'm still recovering. After spending an entire year of being her decision maker and watching her every move, it was quite a shock to realize that she is now being moulded by strangers. And other kids. Other sick kids I might add. Runny noses all over the place, it took everything in me not to wipe all of their noses (since the daycare workers didn't seem to...)

Every morning there is crying while I peel her off of me and crying again when I return to pick her up but the ladies at the daycare say she's actually pretty good. She eats more, sleeps for 2 hours (who knew?) and likes to play with the other kids. So I guess there are positives to daycare but when I spend what little awake time together rushing to get her to daycare in the morning and then rushing to get her to bed at night while barely having any time to see any of her actual development, I'm starting to wonder if this is really worth it. I miss my baby.

Goldilocks and the 2 bears

I recently saw these little stuffed animals at the CNE and just had to get some for Miss M and her bffs.

Saadia's Surprise Baby Shower

Saturday I hosted a surprise shower for one of my bff's Saadia. Throwing a surprise is so much more fun than just a regular party. We managed to keep the entire fete a secret and it was priceless to see the look on her face when I opened the door and everyone yelled "surprise!". Luckily, the baby didn't get too shocked and stayed in mommy's tummy. Only 6 more weeks until we get to meet the little mini Saadia and I can't wait!