Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

We celebrated in style (being Liam's first Christmas) and went upisland to Courtenay with the family where we stayed at a golf resort called Crowne Isle in a villa. We arrived a couple of days before absolutely loaded to the hilt with gifts (Ian's biggest packing challenge yet!) plus all of our usual paraphernalia. We have become more refined since our early baby travelling days and have narrowed down our stuff to about 3/4 of a car full now (hey - that's good for us!). After an uneventful drive up - except for one meltdown half way where we had to stop in the biggest mall on the island on the busiest shopping day of the year in the middle of a nasty rain storm with Liam screaming his head off and us dodging cars like mice in a maze while we bolted for indoors - we settled into our cozy digs and unpacked our 10 days worth of stuff for 3 days. Unfortunately Sir Snotsalot had yet another cold with a nasty cough and so did mummy so we decided to stay put and ordered room service before crawling into bed. The resort did not have cribs (??????) but luckily we had a king sized bed so we all squished in just fine - well Liam was comfy in the middle anyway while we dangled over our respective sides (something we've become very accustomed to).

Christmas Eve morning we went out for breakfast followed by a bit of shopping at a baby boutique store where we picked up some silicone feeding spoons. At lunch I discovered that Liam just loved the rubberiness of the spoons and would bite as hard as he could on the spoon without letting go. Rather like a puppy with his chew too. Unfortunately when he did let go the contents of the spoon would catapult and land up everywhere (mostly on me of course). After about 3 catapults I started dodging the flying mashed up peas like a monkey doing the break dance. By afternoon the rest of the family had arrived and we enjoyed a pasta dinner cooked up by Grandpa Derek followed by gift opening. Liam got thoroughly spoiled by his grandparents and Aunty Caylin - amongst other things he got a TMX Ernie - you press his tummy and he bends over and starts talking, then flips on his back, kicking his legs and asking rubber ducky (his friend from Sesame Street) for help, then flips back on his feet and says thanks! At first Ernie scared the crap out of Liam and he started crying, but after a while he warmed up to him and played with his fuzzy black hair. His favourite toy was a little car that you sit on and has a steering wheel with all sorts of lights and buttons. He's too small to push it around yet but loves the steering wheel which we put into his lap so he could entertain himself with all the flashing gadgets. He also got a set of big, bright reading books with animals, words and colours and from us he got a Hokey Pokey Elmo book, Dancing Elmo book with buttons you push throughout the book that make various noises, a polar bear that you put over the bath tub that shoots water through it and also protects his head from accidentally hitting the tap and a gorgeous Paddington Bear like woolly coat with wooden buttons. Ian had also picked up a Canucks hockey tracksuit in Vancouver a few weeks before which he looked too adorable in. All in all he loved all his new toys although I did spend a large amount of time trying to get the wrapping paper out of his mouth! We finished off the night with drinks and a few rounds of mexican train, a dominos type game my parents learned in the Domninican Republic.

Christmas morning dawned cold and windy. Liam woke up at around 5am and after a milk breakfast decided to give me an early Christmas present of barf over my shoulder and down my back (in the bed of course). After a rinse down in the shower he was wide awake so I resorted to having to get up and make myself some strong coffee. About 3 hours the rest of the family surfaced, ate breakfast, opened a few more presents and then got ready to go up the mountain for a half day of skiing. Since Liam and I were still snotty & coughing we decided to stay behind and play with our new toys. An hour after everyone departed Ian called me from the lodge to say that it was an absolute blizzard and you couldn't see in front of your face - it had taken them almost an hour to drive up the hill. So everyone came back around lunch and we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around before dinner at 5pm. Dinner was a lovely buffet put on my the resort and we were joined by Grandma Marg & Uncle Tom. While we enjoyed our food & drinks accompanied by a piano player in the background, Liam sat in his high chair and munched on Mum Mum's (his favourite snack) looking ultra cute in his grey wool pants, shirt, tie & argyle sweater. After stuffing our faces we headed back to the villa for more gift opening and more spoiling for Liam (who got some new t-shirts, pajamas & a set of blocks) and more drinks and games. All in all it was a great day and a wonderful first Christmas for Liam! Christmas is so exciting when you have a child - can't wait till he's older and gets all fired up for Santa coming - better remember to eat the cookies and drink the milk!

Week 35

This week has been so much better than the last two and although my mouth wound is still not healed and won't be for weeks I feel night and day different. God I never want to go through that again - it was complete hell.

Liam is 8 months old today - can you believe it? I know I sound like a stuck record when I say that but WOW, time IS flying. His second tooth has made its appearance and I'm sure the top ones are itching to come out. He is a little eating machine and we are burning through baby food faster than you can say boo. He now has a full bowl of cereal with fruit for breakfast and cereal & veggies followed by a jar of fruit (or a big piece of fresh fruit) for lunch & dinner. We have also tried chicken, turkey & beef and fish will be next. The chicken & beef blends don't taste all that bad but the turkey tastes like dog food. He doesn't seem to care though and woofs (no pun intended) down everything,ocasionally spitting stuff at me or sneezing with his mouth full. He is very quick on the draw and will grab his bowl of food if you're not paying attention - a couple of days ago he got a hold of the corn & oatmeal and dumped half of it on his tray. He stuck both his hands in the mess and started finger painting. I gave up on the situation and let him doodle - he had corn right up to his nose, I was covered in corn, it was a corn fest. His favourite foods are still carrots, bananas & prunes. He is a poo maniac & can produce up to 6 log poos a day. Ian & I have become poo obsessed and compare diapers, especially the big ones - it's like their trophies or something ("hey - come check out the size of this one!"). Once we started the meat it was game over in the stinky department. They just reek. You have to be really careful when changing him at 3am in the dark that one doesn't get away and roll onto the change pad. Done that a few times and got something squishy between my fingers (of course I'm the type of person who instantly sniffs my fingers if I can't see what's between them - stupid me).

As soon as we got into the sleep-through-the night-routine it was all over and we were back to getting up multiple times throughout the night. Combine the teething with my whole tooth issue (his are coming in, mine are coming out) and it equates to weeks of crappy sleep. I'm starting to feel like I am never going to get a good night's sleep ever again. I know I've said it before but I hate not having good sleep - I'm perpetually cranky, edgy and on the verge of a meltdown at least once a week. Lately I also feel angry and am seriously considering blowing up the punching bag we have in our basement so as to relieve some pent up stress. Sometimes you just want to stuff your head in a pillow and scream. Ian's on board with the punching bag - whatever makes me happy. He's a good man. Every morning he takes Liam so I can sleep in and the two of them watch Liam's favourite show: Sesame Street. He loves Elmo and recognises him in stores - it usually turns into a tantrum if we try to take Elmo away. Actually that goes for everything now - he freaks if you try to take something away that he wants. Sigh - I had no idea it started this early. I need more sleep so I can cope.

Today Ian took Liam to a care home to give a senior we'd adopted for Xmas named George some gifts we'd bought. George had a stroke a few years ago and has limited mobility - unfortunately he has no family and never has visitors so it was a treat to get a visit. Apparently the nurse said he doesn't talk or react much to people but as soon as he saw Liam his face lit up and he reached out for him to come and sit closer. While Ian held him and he played with the ribbon on the gifts George rubbed his back. It made his day. One of the old ladies in a wheelchair in the room across the hall spotted Liam and called over all her other friends. Next thing the entire hall was baracaded with old ladies in wheelchairs wanting a glimpse of Liam. I was glad that he had such an impact and made a few old people happy for a day.

Tomorrow we are hosting a dinner for Randy & Lynne who are my parents Caribbean friends that sailed everywhere with them. I'm looking forward to finally meeting them and hearing all their stories. They are currently docked in Puerto Rico and down for Christmas to see their kids.

Sunday we pack up and we're on our way up island to ski for Christmas. We'll be staying at a resort and taking a shuttle up to the ski hill on Christmas day followed by a dinner buffet. Should be fun!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Week 34

The tooth saga continues......

I was still in a lot of pain a week after my extraction so it was back to the good 'ol dentist. Turns out I had dry socket on top of the infection in the bone of my jaw (I didn't realise it but they had to remove some bone with the tooth last week - yes, very ouch). So now I'm going back every few days to have the wound cleaned and packed with material to help the healing. Not to be too graphic but they have to re-bleed the clot each time (without any freezing I might add) as the blood clot just isn't forming properly (thanks diabetes). I was miserable sausage for 10 days straight but started to feel better after the second "bleed" on Friday. Life is coming back. Slowly.

Friday Liam & I were invited to one of the baby's in our mommy group's first Christmas party which was quite cute. We sat around exchanging secret Santa gifts and drinking rum & egg nog while trying to get all our little ones under the tree for a Xmas photo. Of course Liam had to be the uncooperative one and balled his eyes out. Oh well - it gives the photos more character. For his secret Santa gift he got a lovely fuzzy brown jacket - perfect for when we take him up the mountain over Christmas. The babies are all so big now - even the youngest is now almost 6 months old. Crazy. They are almost all sitting up now except for Liam who hates sitting. Everytime you try and make him sit he goes stiff and tries to stand. He can sit if he wants to but leans forward over his little feet and then after a while gets tired and tips sideways. Have to work on the abdominal strength.

Saturday was my company Christmas party - unfortunately Ian couldn't come because my parents had their company Christmas party on the same day at the same time in the same hotel. What are the chances? Anyway - it was mommy's first night out alone in 8 months and I went down with a bang. By the end of the night I had overdosed on wine and was jumping in my way-too-high-but-oh-so-pretty heels again and telling everyone how much I loved them (apparently). After my parents dropped me off and I nearly lost my balance getting out of their minivan, I stumbled through the door at about 12:30am reeking of booze and face planted onto the bed out cold. 4 hours later Liam woke up for a feed and shocked me out of my coma. I remember thinking all that alcohol couldn't be good for him in my milk but promptly fell asleep before I could feel guilty about it. 2 hours later I was up for the day feeling like my head was going to explode. Sure it's fun when you're at the party but the aftermath is so not worth it when you have a baby.

Week 33

This has got to have been one of my worst weeks in a long time. I woke up on Monday at about 3am in the most insane pain and after checking out my face in the bathroom mirror realised that it had swollen a fair bit on one side. So it was back to the dentist where they did an emergency tooth extraction. I'm telling you now I would rather go through childbirth again than have that procedure - it was that bad (oh and I have forgotten what childbirth was like but who cares). My dentist took one look at my swollen face and yanked the sucker out after sticking the freezing right into the absess that had formed. I thought I was going to break the assistant's hand I squeezed it so hard. 20 minutes later and my face had swelled to football size. I looked like a domestic dispute case. Had to walk through the mall with gauze and string hanging out my mouth with people giving me that "what the hell happened to her" look. The next few days were even worse; not only was I not sleeping, but had to take so many drugs my whole body started to shut down. And to top it all off I still wasn't breastfeeding and Liam was fighting the bottle with all his little might. He seemed to be scared by the swelling and couldn't understand why I wasn't able to smile at him. I would literally look at him with glazed eyes and drool coming down the side. Mommy had about as much life in her as a vegetable. Ian ended up taking a few days off work to help out - didn't have much choice after he phoned on the morning of day 2 and I was having a complete meltdown while wandering around in my fleece pajamas & fluffy cloud slipppers looking for my pain pills. After 4 days of screaming everytime he was denied the boob I finally gave up and fed him. That afternoon I saw my doctor who promptly informed me that the dentist was wrong and that the drugs were perfectly safe for breastfeeding. Bloody hell.

Today was my mom's company annual Christmas party for kids at the Butchart Gardens. It was snowing when we arrived and the gardens looked magical with all the decorations and lights. The company had rented out the restaurant complete with entertainment, a kids buffet and Santa. Liam wasn't too sure about the whole big man in red thing and apparently was very serious while receiving his gift - a rattle with lots of hanging legs and arms. Unfortunately Ian & I missed it as we decided to go for a walk around the gardens and arrived back 5 minutes late - dammit. They had also rented out a skating rink which Ian, Caylin and Derek enjoyed while my mom, Lian & I watched from the side. All in all it was a lovely day and Caylin & Liam had a great time.

Week 32

This weekend was our first big party weekend since before Liam was born and the first time we left him for a late night out with his very delighted grandparents. Friday night was Ian's company Christmas party at the Bear Mountain Resort - felt really great to get dressed up and go out somewhere just the two of us - a nice change from the usual barf & drool covered attire I've become accustomed to. The setting at the resort was gorgeous - while Ian had to work organizing speeches and awards etc. I sat around and drank a lot of champagne. By the time dinner came around I was stumbling on my way-too-high-but-oh-so-pretty heels and by the time the dancing started I was jumping in my way-too-high-oh-so-pretty heels. Ian ended up driving us home (hey - I did it for 9 months when I couldn't drink so he owed me) picking Liam up along the way. It felt strange to be the one fetching my child from my parents after a night out and really grown up at the same time (even if I did walk into the Japanese Maple tree while stumbling down the dark path to their front door). Needless to say I felt rather under the weather the next morning - not helped by Mr. "I'm going to wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5am despite my alcohol induced feed at 12am".

Saturday was our friends wedding at the beautiful Empress hotel - we dressed Liam up in a white shirt, plaid tie, wing tip black shoes and plaid hat and took him to the ceremony where he attracted lots of attention (we are used to this since our kid is very cute). The ceremony was lovely and the bride looked absolutely gorgeous in an Audrey Hepburn like dress with white fur shawl. Since there was a few hours in between the ceremony & reception we dropped him off (again) at the grandparents and showed up just in time for cocktails where they served blue champagne (I got through half a glass and had to put it down - too many the night before) before serving dinner in the most beautifully decorated all white Crystal ballroom. At this point my tooth was starting to really hurt me (it had been bugging me for a few days) and I kept reaching in my purse for Liam's orajel which I squirted repeatedly in my mouth. By the end of the night I was in immense pain. Today I crawled into the dentist office and got them to freeze my mouth while sobbing in the chair. They have put me on antibiotics and told me not to breastfeed Liam - he is just pissed and screams blue bloody murder when we try and give him a bottle. Should be a fun week since I have to take these things for 7 more days. Plus I'm on Tylenol 3's for the painand stoned out of my tree. At least it dulls the pain - on Wed they'll pull the stupid tooth out and call it a day. Lovely.