Happy birthday to you...

So we made it! One year down. More importantly one birthday party done! He made it through without any major problems! He even stayed up till 8:30! A real party animal. He was fascinated with all the toys. But to my surprise he wasn't that interested in ripping off the wrapping. We will have to practice between now and Christmas.


He enjoyed his cake (his Abuela made it), especially licking the whipped cream off the Sesame Street characters. He managed to get a lot of it up his nose. But it didn't seem to deter him too much. He was also in love with the balloons we got him.


I think he is going to be pretty disappointed when he wakes up from his nap to discover only Cris and I here. He really liked playing with his new cousin, Julia and he always loves seeing his grandmother (both of them!). I think he will spend a bit of time crawling around looking for everyone.


But now the important part. Here are some shots from last night!

The lows of parenthood

Cris has sunk to the depth of parenthood with me. Nothing is sacred any more.

Cris and I were too tired the other night to go home and cook dinner. Poor Cris had offered to come get me at work, but he ended up stuck in traffic and what should have been a 15 minute drive, took 45 minutes. With Owen screaming in the back seat, Cris plugged on and picked me up. I couldn't make Cris go home and wait for a meal. So we went for Chinese food.

Owen eats almost exclusively regular food so he had no problem chowing down on chicken and pork. And he seemed to adore chicken fried rice. he was literally double fisting it. As soon as one fist was out another was in full of food. Owen's accuracy isn't very good still. So while trying to open his fist in his mouth, several hundreds of pieces of rice fall on his clothes. They all collected very nicely on his sweater. Some of them were "used" some of them never made it any where other then squished in a mucky hand. So of course as all good parents know, Cris reached over, scooped up the rice from Owen's sweater...and ate it. Yum.

What were you doing last year?

I can not believe it has been a year. In one hour from now, 364 days ago, I was tucking away a Christmas present for my mother in law (that took five years to make) in a drawer, when my water broke. I remember shivering so much and Cris was worried something was wrong. I was just so freaking scared. There was no going back. And now here we are, three of us.

I couldn't help but feel nostalgic the other day, walking through a mall near my work. There was a woman, hair tied in a messy ponytail, wearing sweats and a hooded cardigan. She had a baby tucked on her hip, pushing a stroller with one hand, nursing bra hanging out over the top of her tank top, the baby clutching the top of the bra. That was me just months ago. Wondering what the hell I was doing. How I was going to manage all the breastfeeding and diapers and laundry...And what if at any moment Owen became a screaming banshee and never returned to the angelic smiling goon? What if he decides to be awake all night? What if he decides he hates me for being at work?

So far we seem to be managing.

I know our lives have changed for sure. We were watching family man with Nicholas Cage. Cris noted the poor accuracy of the movie when Nick puts a bottle in the microwave with the nipple on the bottle. "You can't do that. Never put the nipple on the bottle in the microwave." Yes things are different now.

She will be sadly missed

Mary de BelleFeuille-Percy

Our thoughts are with the whole de BelleFeuille-Percy and Sheehan family in this difficult time.

The Lion, The Lip and The Show Down

So you know how they say only a mother can tell between the different cries her baby makes? Well I think all of Loblaws knew what Owen wanted.

So we go today to get baby wipes, yogurt, applesauce...all the fun baby things. And of course they have lots of stuffed animals on display for Christmas. Cause what good grocery story doesn't sell a chair in the shape of a lion. Owen has recently taken an interest in the MANY stuffed animals we have accumulated over the last year. He has even slept the last two nights with a cute bear (I have no idea where it came from) tucked in his arms. I think that's a parenting no-no but we have that special baby alarm that we know works so I am not concerned. So in Loblaws, Cris is showing a few of the cute, ginormous animals littered amongst the fruit and vegetables. A bear here, a dog there. Owen grabs onto to each of them and refuses to let go. Very cute. And then when he realises there are no more coming and we aren't keeping any of them well he pulls out all the stops. Out goes the bottom lip. And it starts to quiver. Then a little wail. When that doesn't work, the lip and wail together and in increasing volume. It was quite the show. And I do mean show. You really can tell the difference between "I am hurt" and "Give me the freaking stuffed mammal".

He has never demanded something like that before. Cris and I stayed strong and walked away. A few tears rolled but Owen got over it. Till of course the softy of the bunch gave in and got him a teddy bear that was bigger then Owen. Of course, we still had a few stops to make before we went home and every time I tried to take Owen out of his car seat he clenched on to that humongous bear. Well the three of us did not fit through the car door. I had to pry that furry bear out of Owen's little clutches. That stupid bear was almost bald on his legs by time we got home, his fur stuck under Owen's finger nails. So word of advice to other soppy dads out there, wait till the last stop before you give in.

I'm a clown to you?? Do I make you laugh?

NOTE: Way too much information in the following post. Lots of bodily fluids and none of them are the fun ones.

So Cris and I recently (Tuesday) suffered from a nasty bout of the stomach flu. I had it worse and first (nice, huh?). It was by far the worst night ever of my life. Aside from giving birth, I have not vomited since I was 19 and that involved tequila and was a lot more fun. Giving birth was a 2 on the awful scale compared to Tuesday night. Have I made it clear that it was awful?

But the one shinning bizarre light was Owen. Owen occasionally has nights where he just refuses to sleep at his regular bed time, for whatever reason. So he was up at 10:00 p.m. when I first started to the enjoy the the delights of stomach bile. As I am vomiting into the toilet, Cris comes to comfort me but has to bring Owen, cause what else can you do with him?? Well doesn't he just think this is the funniest thing he has seen in a while. With every wretch, he explodes into giggles. And then of course Cris and I are laughing and I'm barfing and then laughing. It was painful, awful and hilarious all at once. Next time you're bored, try barfing, preventing it from going out your nose and bum, and laughing too hard.

You know how they say kids find something new in all the mundane we do, that we are blessed to see everything through their eyes. Well apparently barfing is fun! I was wrong. So it was a blessing to have him up cause otherwise it would have just been miserable.

I will have to remind him of this when he is clinging to the white bowl after a night of body shots.

PS Pretty much immediately after I was sick, Cris put Owen down in his crib and he fell fast asleep. He'd had enough of the show I guess.

PPS My sister in law got sick too the exact same time and night. We actually think Owen gave it to us. Owen had a little poopy bug on Sunday but was totally fine on Monday. And other than that he has been totally fine- thank god!

PPPS Because we didn't know what was wrong with us, I didn't breast feed Owen for 3 days. So I have given it up even though now I am fine. It was premature for me, but Owen doesn't seem to have noticed. So I guess it was a good time. But the next baby is going to be nursed until they are 3 years old to make up for the guilt from Owen.