Long time, no update!

Wow, it’s been a very long time since I last updated. Life has just gotten in the way and once Aurora started walking things got a lot busier for all of us. I will quickly give a run down of what we’ve been up to for the past 6 months and hope to update the blog more frequently (my sister-in-law Amy is putting me to shame by updating her blog while having 2 kids and working full-time).

*Photos to follow as they’re not on this computer*

May 2011 – the big event this month was that Aurora turned one!!! (and I turned 31 but there’s no need to talk about that) We had a Newfoundland themed birthday party since she was born there, and included some Newfie food, Newfoundland-inspired games, loot bags with some Newfoundland-related swag, and an invite with some Newfoundland sayings. It was a family only soiree as our apartment isn’t that big, but the nice thing was that Chris’ parents were able to fly out to be there. After the kids kissed the cod and Aurora chowed down on a birthday cupcake, we unveiled a surprise – Aurora is going to be a big sister!!! Aurora rocked her Big Sister t-shirt and although there was some silence when people first read her shirt trying to figure out what it meant, it was received with applause, cheers, tears, congrats, and hugs. Baby Sherwin 2.0 is expected to join our family on December 7.

The other big event this month was that I started a new job and finished mat leave 3 weeks early. Chris finished the parental leave and took the last week of May off as vacation, so he got to spend a month with Aurora. It was very difficult to leave Aurora after spending nearly a year, 24/7, with her, and I cried my first day. The job was as a Clinical Research Co-Ordinator and I hoped it would be great as it was in the field I wanted to be in and wasn’t too bad a commute from home however things didn’t work out there but more on this later.

June/July 2011 – 7 weeks after being at my new job (so end of June) I was let go (funny how it happened a week after I told them I was pregnant). I sought legal counsel and a settlement was reached. Being pregnant and without a job was incredibly stressful but luckily, through a friend, I got a 4-month contract position at a not-for-profit organization that I started at the beginning of July. The upside to this (besides being able to have an income and enough hours to go on mat leave again) was that it’s downtown just a block north of where Chris works so we travel to and from work together. I drop him off at his office building, park, walk up to my office building, and then at the end of the day I do the reverse. He gets door-to-door service. The downside is that since it is downtown and we live in Brampton, it’s quite the commute both ways (an average of an hour and 15 minutes each way) and so we don’t get to see Aurora a lot during the week. We try to make up for the lack of quantity time with quality time; for example, we sometimes forego her nightly bath just so we can all play together longer.

Aurora started ‘daycare’ in June. She goes to my sister Danna’s house Monday-Friday for about 11 hours a day (sigh, I really wish it didn’t have to be so long). She absolutely adores her Aunt Danna (“Nana”) and her cousin Zachary (“Zachney”). I’m pretty sure Zach is her favourite person. She was off to a bumpy start when it cames to naps but then became a napping champion (and actually seems to nap better there than she does at home). It’s kinda weird to be told “oh she said this today” or “she likes this” or “if she does A that means she wants B” by someone other than a parent; I feel like I should know these things and I should be the one telling others. I understand it’s all part of the daycare experience and not being with her 24/7 anymore, but it’s definitely an adjustment.

In July, Aurora got her first (and second) tooth! It took 13.5 months for those little guys to arrive! She got her 2 bottom front teeth (mandibular central incisors).

August 2011 – after suffering from knee problems and starting to suffer from wrist problems, after going to see a Sports Medicine doctor who told Chris it was a neurological problem, after having a bunch of tests done and seeing a crappy neurologist, Chris was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This news sent us reeling and I felt like it turned our lives upside down. How were we going to care for 2 kids? How was I going to pick up the load of what Chris was no longer able to do while pregnant? What effect will this have on our children? How long will Chris be able to work for, and in what capacity? How will it affect our financially? How bad will it get? It was scary. We’ve had to make a large number of adjustments in our lives and we’re still struggling with coping with this on an emotional, physical, and mental level, but we are doing the best we can in the situation we are in, and are very fortunate to have family and friends that are helping (meals made, donations to the MS society, assistance around the apartment and with running errands, watching Aurora, and offers to drive Chris to appointments if need be).

Correction - Aurora got her 2 top front teeth (maxillary central incisors) in September, not August as I previously posted. Oops!

September 2011 – I surprised Chris with a weekend away, just the 2 of us. Originally I had planned for Aurora to go with us but the week before we left, Danna offered to watch Aurora for the weekend. It was Aurora’s 1st sleepover but I was told she was amazing, didn’t make a peep overnight, and even slept in. She asked for us a few times, usually at times when it’d be something Chris or I would do (like her bath) but she was very comfortable there. That was a relief. Chris and I went to Deerhurst Resort which was about 2.5 hours North-East of us. It was absolutely gorgeous, and very relaxing. We got to nap during the day, go out for a fancy dinner (which was delicious), and saw show. We could wake up whenever we wanted (although we’re both so used to waking early that I think we slept until only 8am or so) and do whatever we wanted. It was a much needed break from the many stresses in our lives.

And that brings us to this month, October 2011 - Again, I don’t think we have anything exciting to report. Although it hasn’t happened yet, I will be finishing work at the end of this month and commencing my maternity leave. It feels weird to be going on mat leave so soon; I’ve only been back to work for 6 months. Since 2.0 isn’t due until the beginning of December I anticipate I will have at least a month to spend with Aurora and give her some one-on-one time before the baby arrives. I also plan on making freezer meals as I remember not eating much, or well, when Aurora was a newborn, and sorting through our gender neutral clothing since we didn’t find out the gender again this time. I’m sure we’ll have to buy some clothes seeing as the seasons the 2 kids are born in are opposites but I’m hoping we have some all-season (or at least late Fall) clothing we can re-use.

Also at the end of this month is Halloween and it will be Aurora’s first time going trick-or-treating. She will be dressed as a duck as that is her favourite animal. She loves to quack like a duck, although it comes out “wha wha”. We’ll be going on a Halloween parade with some of our other mommy/baby friends and I hope to hit up a local mall too. Then that night I plan on taking her out with Danna and Zach around their court to trick-or-treat. I would love to do something with my belly, like paint it like a jack-o-lantern or a ball of some sort but I’m not sure yet. Maybe I should paint it like Earth and all the stretch marks can be ripples in all the bodies of water :) Although if I just leave it bare that may be the scariest of all!

And in all of that we’ve been to parks, Toronto Zoo, MarineLand, Canada’s Wonderland, farms, and apple orchards.

We have a walker!!!!

Aurora took her first step on March 16, 2011. She was 9.5 months old. Then on April 6, 3 weeks later, she took 7 steps. And now she is a walking machine. She prefers to go from a piece of furniture to an arbitrary spot in the middle of the room (or vice versa) and still uses cruising and crawling as her main modes of transportation but she now walking on a daily basis. She always has to have something in her hands (or mouth) when she's walking, I guess for balance like a tight-rope walker holding onto a bar. It's hard to get video of her walking because she gets very excited when she sees the camera and wants it. She has to concentrate very hard to walk and so when she's excited she's more likely to crawl. We are so extremely proud of her and this huge achievement, but it's also a bit sad that she is growing up so fast. I wish I could freeze time. Here is a video of her walking on April 13, 2011 (she is 10.5 months old).

Up, up, and away

Aurora climbed a flight of stairs for the first time on March 24, 2011!!! Since we don't have stairs (I'd rather she didn't climb the dirty ones in our apartment building stairwell), she doesn't really have the opportunity to attempt such a feat. But, Danna's house has stairs and after we had dinner there Thursday night, Aurora followed Zachary over to the stairs and proceeded to climb up after him. She did so fairly quickly and with ease (for her first time). Each subsequent time she's done them alot faster. She'll be scaling mountains in no time! The video Danna took was a fairly large file so we split it into 2 parts and uploaded it to YouTube. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Some videos of Aurora

Crawling on February 27. She doesn't crawl on her hands and knees but rather her hands, 1 knee, and 1 foot. Whatever gets her from point A to point B I guess.

While at an indoor playground this week Aurora was cruising this play house. I love that she closes the door once she's inside.

OALASWI

OALASWI = out as long as she was in and that's what Aurora is today. She is 38 weeks 4 days old, and I was pregnant for 38 weeks and 4 days. I love her just as much today, if not more, as the day she was born. She has brought such joy to our lives that I never thought possible. I never knew I could love someone as much as I love her. Being her mom hasn’t always been easy, there certainly have been a lot of frustrations (like with her sleep and constantly needing to be held or near me) but she is worth it all. She has blossomed into such a beautiful little girl and I love watching her observe and explore. She has the best smile, beautiful big blue eyes, a contagious laugh, and is so loving. She has been very alert and interested in her world since the beginning. She is so proud of herself when she figures something out. Every day I look at her and cannot believe she’s here and she’s mine.

Here's a look at Aurora over the past 38w4d (I'll try not to duplicate any photos that I've already posted):

Shortly after she was born

1 month old

2 months old


3 months old

4 months old


5 months old


6 months old


7 months old


8 months old


Today


Growth comparison

Swimming

Aurora and I have been going to swimming class since the beginning of January and she absolutely loves it. This past Wednesday was Parent Day which happened to coincide with 'snowmaggedon' as the Toronto storm was nicknamed and so Chris was home. Basically at Parent Day you're allowed to take photos and videos whereas you're not allowed to at any other class. So here are some photos and videos of Aurora in the pool:

Getting dunked underwater

Getting water poured on her

Playing with a watering can

Playing in the bubbles with Aunt Danna and cousin Zachary (they have their class at the same time, day, and pool but different instructor)

First time on the floating frog and she loved it!

Milestones

Aurora is able to pull herself to a stand! She's done it in the bath which we're not too thrilled about for safety reasons and now she's done it in a storage bin. No, we don't use a storage bin as a play pen. We had an empty one in her room while I was organizing and Danna put her in it. Well, she pulled herself to a stand in it! I wanted to show Chris so I put her in it last night and she did it again; 3 times actually! I got video of all 3 times but will only post one. They're pretty much all the same. We're so proud of Aurora, she's becoming such a big girl.

As I am typing this blog entry Aurora is using the couch to pull herself to a stand. As soon as Chris sits her down she pops back up. She is very proud of herself and laughs big time when she's standing.

Another milestone she's reached recently is cruising along the couch. She absolutely loves to walk, assisted of course, and now that she's getting better at standing against something (like the tub, a chair, or the couch) we're letting her do that more often. Well put those two together and you get cruising! At first it was just a few steps and then she'd fall but the other night she cruised the whole couch! Of course when I got the camcorder out she didn't do it and was too interested in looking at what I was doing instead. I'm hoping to get it soon which I don't think will be too hard as she's improving her pulling, standing, and cruising on a daily basis.