Week 12

We have survived our first road trip and I must say it was a successful one which is a big relief as you never know how your wee one is going to react to the change in routine, not to mention change of environment. After a couple of days at Grandma Marg's we took the ferry over to Vancouver - Liam slept most of the way in his car seat which we put on the vibrating floor - no bouncy chair required. After a super quick stop to Ikea to pick up a couple of things (I was reluctant to leave without sampling the usual Swedish meatballs) we went over to our friends Kerry & Gary for a bbq dinner. I convinced Kerry that Liam hated his Flutterby swing - no sooner had I said that she promptly placed him in her little girl Taya's swing and he went to sleep instantly. Go figure that the one swing I have for him he hates and everyone elses swings he loves. I still think it's because the Flutterby swing goes from zero to "hold onto your diaper tabs" in 10 seconds flat. For those babies that love to be violently rocked it's perfect, for my gentle man it's way too much although he does like to look at the flashing lights.

Taya is just the cutest little thing - at 11 months old she is very active (she discovered Liam's pack of diapers and slid around the kitchen floor on her belly on it), loves to smile and can do baby sign language. We just got the Baby Einstein sign language DVD as a gift so we are keen to teach Liam as soon as he's old enough. Of course Taya was just fascinated with Liam and started prodding him in the mouth with her finger. When he didn't react she slapped him hard on the hand (showing her female dominant side already) which promptly made him cry. He better not grow up to be a woosey with women or mommy will have to do some toughening up.

We arrived later that night at the Metropolitan to a room set up with a little crib complete with quilt, bumper pads and a baby gift basket (nice touch!). We discovered after 2 nights of Liam sleeping 6 hours straight that air conditioning conks him out. He's like bacteria, you get him nice & cold and he becomes dormant. I addition to the wonderful night streches, he basically slept all day both days we were there which was so nice and relaxing. In between naps we went shopping, met Daddy for lunch at a nearby park and went for walks along the Marina. I could definitely use a break like that every once in a while.

Our last day Ian finished early so we headed back to catch the 6pm ferry. About three quarters of the way to the terminal we realised there was a chance we could catch the 5pm ferry and made it to the cashier with about 30 seconds to spare before ticket sales cut off. We could see the already loaded boat in the distance and Ian put on his Nascar helmet - we were speeding down the empty lane so fast we were just about getting air over the bumps. I can just imagine what we must have looked like to the control tower - a speeding Mazda with bright elephant screens on the back, jammed to the hilt with baby crap and me screaming Goooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in the front. We made it on the boat with 2 cars behind us. There is nothing more satisfying than making the ferry by 2 cars. We decided to enjoy the buffet and as we sat down Mr. Poopy did a big one which sent me scurrying out while Ian sat down to eat. We now have a super stinky poos, not exactly appetizing for those around you. After cleaning up Mr. Poopy, Mr. Fussy emerged and we "enjoyed" the rest of our meal while alternating back and forth between the buffet and rocking our angel. It was a relief to finally get home after that lot.

Progress is in leaps and bounds now - every week something new happens. Friday night was Liam's longest sleep ever - 7 hours followed by a feed/change and then 3 hours. I woke up a whole new woman. At the hotel Liam started to roll onto his side - he propels his right leg to move from his back onto his side, but hasn't quite figured out how to get his left arm over so he gets stuck in that position which royally upsets him. Now that he has discovered his hands and is sucking his thumbs he can usually soothe himself and we are using the pacifiers a little less (just in time for me to now have a collection of nine of them). Unfortunately he sometimes sticks his thumb way to far down his throat which makes him gag and sends me running to the crib. Our latest gadgets include a spinning lady bug that he can lie on and move around an activity mat (we are working on that one, the lady bug scares him and makes him scream) and a sling called a Peanut Shell which has various positions you can put your baby in so you can walk around hands free. Once again I am working on getting Liam in the sling - as soon as I get him near it he freaks out and goes stiff as a board. Trying to put plank baby into a sling is impossible and I don't think they would approve of a 3 month old standing in a sling. I'm telling you all you need is saran wrap and duct tape - you could tape your plank baby straight onto yourself and get your hubby to cut him off once you're done. I really have to write a book on the whole saran wrap duct tape concept - good for any stage of your baby's development.