baolin

Moms Say the Darndest Things

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:58:03 GMT

Things I never thought I'd hear myself say, or, heck, would think I'd need to say:

"Stop wiping your feet with your underwear."

::sigh::

Three is an interesting age.

The Cast Is Gone

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:03:04 GMT

Some of you may know that Ros came back from our Sault Ste. Marie holiday with more of a souvenir than we were counting on: a cast on her left leg.

See, we were visiting a cousin of mine who has two little girls, ages 3 and 6. The three kids were running around, having a great time. Then they disappeared into the girls' bedroom. No problem, we thought. It's a kids room. It's kid-proof. What we didn't know is that there were Bunk Beds.

Next thing we know, I hear a thud, Don hears a gasp, and we've got a hysterical little girl who's fallen from halfway up the bunk bed ladder.

We hied ourselves hither to the Sault hospital, where they told us that there was no break visible in the x-ray, but that little kids' bones don't all show up in x-rays. And they recommended a cast, just to make sure. And told us we should see our doctor when we got back to have the cast removed and to do a proper check for a break. Oh, and they wouldn't give us a report.

So when we got back home, and got in to see our doctor, we found out that a) they don't do full casts in Toronto anymore, b) we need a report from the original hospital to get into the Sick Kids ortho clinic and c) it's going to be two weeks till we can get into Sick Kids. Yikes! (My PSA for the evening: If an emergency room ever tells you that you don't need a report, insist on it anyway.)

Anyway, today we had that much longed for appointment, they confirmed there was no break and took the cast off. And it only took the better part of three and a half hours. (Actually, by Sick Kids standards, that's not too bad. I had to get my back checked there every year, and we were usually lucky if we got out in six hours.) Ros was pretty brave, though she freaked out when they cut the cast off. Not, she told us later, because the saw was scary, but because they made me lay her down and hold her so she couldn't see what was happening, and she wanted to watch. (That's my girl. *g*)

She's a bit wobbly on the foot, but that should disappear soon. And judging by how loopy she was (she spent ten minutes before story time doing downward dog and then walking down the hall in that position) she's happy to be able to move again.

So for posterity, here's a few shots of Ros in the cast, and the cast itself:

Ros bouncing on a friend's trampoline, not willing to let a silly cast slow her down.

Over a week later, this is the picture of a little girl who's clearly had enough of the cast. And the Not Walking.

The cast itself, with lots of signatures from friends and family.

The cast from another angle.

And one more. (I love the picture Ros' daycare teacher drew of Ros' stuffie, Jing Jing.

Farewell to the Cast. We shall not miss you.

The Ros and Daddy Weekend

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:15:27 GMT

Whilst I was off skiving in far off Laurel, Maryland with my friends, Ros was having a big weekend with Daddy.

One of the many adventures they had was to take in the Beaches Jazz Festival. Don reckoned he'd take Rosalind for the music (she adores jazz) but it turned out there was a kiddie carnival set up that Ros was far more interested in. She spent all her time in bouncy castles and on various rides.

First, here's Ros climbing up a rope inside the big bouncy castle. It's sort of scary how good she obviously is at climbing this.

Next, Ros in these crazy boats they had in a little mini pool.

And another boat shot:

And finally Ros in the kid/bug version of the merry-go-round.

One more bug ride pic.

I really hope our municipal workers settle their strike soon, because I'd love to take Ros to the amusement park on Centre Island, and it won't open up again until the ferries are running again.

Pic Spam, the Third

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:22:22 GMT

Don't worry, this is my last post for the evening.

These pics are all from a visit to Springridge farm, a berry picking farm that also has a ton of stuff for kids to do. After some initial hesitancy, Ros threw herself into it all.

They had this fake cow that the kids could pretend to milk. All the kids there seemed to love it, and Ros was no exception.

Here's Daddy helping out with the milking

The farm has this giant covered sandbox, complete with real, defunct tractors for the kids to climb on. It was a big hit.

This one was taken from on top of the giant hay bale mountain the farm has constructed.

They'd set up these giant culverts for the kids to run through. Ros thought they were a hoot and I got three fun shots of her in one.

You know those things were you stick your head through them and someone's supposed to take your picture? Yeah, those things.

Ros is currently obsessed with horses, so one of the big attractions of the farm visit was their pony rides. At first, faced with a real live pony, she was having none of it. But after a few minutes to think over the situation, we couldn't keep her away from them. She went on three pony rides on three different ponies.

Pic Spam, the Second

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:59:06 GMT

Here's a few pics from Ros' third birthday party. We had it in our local park for the second year running. A grand time was had by all, though unfortunately due to the municipal workers strike the splash pad wasn't open.

First, a pic of the coolest cake ever. A friend at my company worked her way through uni in a bakery. When I casually mentioned I was off to order Ros' birthday cake, she volunteered to make one. Since Ros loves the Olivia books and cartoons, she made the cake with Olivia on it.

And here's Ros with the cake. Ros is still more excited by the idea of cake than the thing itself, but she had graduated to eating the icing. And she loved that it was Olivia on the cake. (She insisted she had to have the piece with Olivia's ear.)

Here's Ros waiting for the guests to arrive, and noshing on a rice krispie square.

Since she's a bit older now, we went nuts and got helium balloons for the party. (My PSA for the day: Balloons and hot dogs are the leading causes of death for toddlers. They're far too easy for little ones to choke on.) Ros and her buddies had a great time knocking them around.

I've got a bazillion pics of Ros running away from the camera, and every so often I get one I really like. This is one of those times.

Ros has gotten fearful of a few things in the last year (big people in costumes; fireworks) but she's still a little daredevil when it comes to climbing structures in playgrounds. She's recently started hanging off the monkey bar-like things they have these days. With Mommy close by, of course.

Pic Spam, the First

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:31:21 GMT

I've been swamped with various things since we got home from Vancouver, so I've been sadly neglecting this journal, but I'm going to make up for it by spamming you with a few pic posts.

This first batch is two pics from two different friends. The first is from one of the families we travelled to China with, and it's of Ros on the 8th day we had her. It's shocking now to look back and see how tiny she was.

The other pic was taken by a friend of Don's when he was visiting last month. The change between these two pics is astounding. She's definitely not a baby any more, and you can definitely see how she's going to look as she gets older.

Ros in Vancouver

Thu, 07 May 2009 03:07:34 GMT

Ros had a great, if exhausting, time in Vancouver. (She never admits to being tired, but she told us almost every day in Vancouver when she was tired and ready to go to bed. Benefit of lots of fresh air and activities.)

Don's sister lives in Port Moody, mere minutes from an ocean inlet. Our first full day we went for a picnic on one of the local beaches. Ros got to try out her new Crocs for the first time, and had great fun throwing rocks into the water. (Mommy and daddy won't let her throw rocks except at a beach, so she always makes the most of it.) Here, she's accumulating some rocks to throw.

And here she put a good wind up on one and let it fly. (I'm pleased I managed to catch the rock mid-flight.)

One of Ros' other fave beach things is sandcastles. It's awesome to build them...

But it's even more awesome to smoosh them afterwards.

More smooshing.

One reason Ros was very excited about going to Vancouver was because she was going to meet her little cousin Amanda for the first time. She loved spending as much time with Amanda as possible. (As long as Mommy and Daddy weren't spending too much time holding Amanda.)

She wanted to push Amanda on the swings.

She wanted to help put Amanda's socks on.

Socks on!

Another awesome thing we did was go to the Port Moody Fingerling Festival. There's a local fish hatchery, and one day a year they let the public help release the baby salmon (i.e. fingerlings) into a stream. (Along with the baby fish, there were hot dogs, and gummy fish and children's performers. Ros was not enamoured of the dude in the giant seagull costume, however.) Here's Ros with her bucket of fishies.

Releasing the fishies into the stream.

Another first was Ros getting her own ice cream in a cone. (We'd always gotten cups for her before.) But the day before the fingerling festival, Ros had pinched her daddy's Tiger Tail cone and eaten most of it herself, so we figured she was ready. She picked the Cotton Candy flavour, which really does taste like cotton candy.

Eating ice cream is serious business.

We also went to the Vancouver Aquarium, where we let Ros talk us into buying not one, not two, but three stuffies. (She wanted a baby beluga, like she'd seen. So I reckoned we should also let her get a mommy beluga. Then she saw the sea otters...) Here she is with her sea otter and Daddy. (We're calling the sea otter Bodie. She's already got a siamese cat named Doyle. Some of you will know why this amuses us.)

Our last full day, we went to Granville Island Market. We had awesome fish and chips, Ros spent a ton of time at the Kids Market, but the thing she seemed to like most was this old wooden boat they had behind the Kids Market for little ones to play on. (She nicked Daddy's hat because apparently if you're going to drive a boat, you have to have a hat.)

Rozzy Fun and a Few Pics

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:46:46 GMT

Wow, it's been too long since I posted here. To break that, an anecdote and a pic.

Yesterday, we were in the car on a shopping expedition when Ros starts singing a song neither of us can identify.

Daddy: What are you singing?
Ros: Bubblecan!
Daddy: What?
Me: I think she she said "Bubble can"
Daddy: What?
Me: Yeah, I have no idea

Ros continues to sing, and we finally realize what the words are.

Ros: Obama Obama, yes we can!

Which is pretty funny considering she's two. And Canadian. Clearly, one of her preschool teachers is a fan of the President of the United States of America. *g*

On to the pics:

First, just 'cause I love it, Ros with a blue tongue. This is what comes of eating scarily coloured candy.

Here's Ros (in Egyptian costume) and me (not in Egyptian costume) in the dressup area of the Royal Ontario Museum. Clearly, we need to be using our museum membership a lot more.

And here's Ros playing junior paleontologist, although she was having far more fun covering up the dinosaur bones than digging them up.

I love this pic of my two sweeties. I also love that Ros is starting to get the whole reading books thing.

Ros went through a stage a couple of weeks ago of building giant Lego towers. (She'd build 'em as high as she could, than pull over a kitchen chair and build 'em even higher.) Here's one tower, and Ros with her cool shades.

And another tower, complete with the kitchen chair used to help in the building.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:19:07 GMT

A big Happy Chinese New Year to everyone on the flist. With any luck, the Year of the Ox will be a darn sight better than the outgoing Year of the Rat.

To celebrate, here's a few pictures from the Chinese New Year banquet we attended last weekend. First, Ros and Mommy hanging out at the table:

Here's one of the two lion dancers they had. They were a lot of fun, but a bit overwhelming for Rosalind.

Daddy protecting Ros from the Lion Dancer. (She's been talking about the lion dance this week, and has decided that maybe next year she will like it "a little bit.")

Ros at the Chinese bun bakery where we went to get goodies before going to a New Year celebration at a friend's house. (Why yes, she is wearing rather a lot of pink.)

And finally, a token hat and sunglasses picture that Ros insisted I take after dinner tonight.

Hats!

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:04:47 GMT

When she was little, you could barely keep a hat on Rosalind. Lately, she not only wear 'em, she likes putting them on and insisting I take pictures of her.

So here's a collection of some of the results of that fascination, starting with the hat (and scarf) that started it all.

The same hat and scarf ensemble a few days later. I love the slightly impy look Ros has behind the sippy cup.

This pic is a favourite of mine. She just looks so darned pleased with herself.

Here, Ros finally moved on to a new hat. (My current fave; it's got a definite April Dancer/Girl from U.N.C.L.E. feel.)

A goofy shot, here she's absconded with Grandma June's toque while visiting at Christmas.

Cheese! Posing with my big furry Russian-style hat. (And this would be why we now suggest Ros says "pizza" when we take her picture.)

Another pic in the big furry hat.

A 2008 Roundup

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:54:44 GMT

Happy New Year to everyone on the flist.

I've been negligent about posting new pics of Rozzie (it's been a bad year) so to make up for it, I'm going to spam you all with a bunch of pictures from the past year.

Starting with Ros on Christmas day:

She looks so grown up here, it's scary. She's definitely moving out of toddler-hood and into being a little girl. (She moves to the PreSchool room at daycare next week. How did that happen?)

Ros last January in her big red snowsuit.

February, and Ros has absconded with pen and paper at the counter and it busy plotting toddler shenanigans. (All kidding aside, she's been pretending to write lately, and has been producing something that credibly resembles letters.)

Here, she had just pulled all of the books out of her living room shelf so she could crawl into it.

Taking charge of mommy's computer. (I've taken to unplugging my mouse when she's at my machine, because she's managed to do some pretty scary stuff just clicking around the desktop.)

On her tricycle. I have hopes that this coming summer she'll finally be able to reach the pedals.

The whole family. We took this picture to send to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs for their final review. (It's hard to believe Ros will have been part of our family for two years come April.

Ros in her party dress. Taken at a friend's wedding.

Ros as imp. We're seeing rather a lot of this look lately.

On the beach at Pancake Bay, on Lake Superior. Ros and daddy went in swimming. Because she is a wimp and can no longer handle cold water, mommy stayed on shore with the camera. (Superior is freaking cold, man.)

Bears aren't so scary. At the trading post down from Pancake Bay.

Ros enjoying herself thoroughly at the Chinese Lantern Festival this September.

Hallowe'en. Ros went as a cat. Unfortunately, she finally figured out that all those shiny packages people gave her have candy in them. (We're rationing carefully. She still has a ton of it left.)

At the Royal Winter Fair with a friend. Peek!

A Boo!

Ros the daredevil in action at a friend's birthday party in November.

Ros saying "Cheeze!" for the camera. (We now get her to say "pizza." And she no longer scrunches her face up quite so much when we're taking a picture.)

Ros dragging a shopping bag around the living room. Well, the shopping bag and our cat. Who is still remarkably accomodating of the toddler in her life.

Don calls this look Shades McZvejnieks. (Why he gives her my last name when he's giving her a gangster pseudonym I'll never know.)

And back to Christmas day.

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope it's a good year for you all.

Drive By Posting

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:52:23 GMT

For various reasons (a dead computer and general ennui being just two of them) I haven't posted here in ages. But the new computer is up, I'm feeling a bit more energetic, so here are a few pics of Ros, and one with Ros and mommy.

Ros loves saying cheese for the camera. Usually, she looks like she's grimacing when she does it, but this time we got a nice smile from her.

Ros posing in the sweater a friend of mine from work knit for her.

Ros with ponytails, which she was obsessed with for a couple of months and isn't too interested in anymore. And me with the new longer hairstyle, which is even longer now.

The Birthday Post

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:40:53 GMT

Tomorrow, Rosalind turns 2. (Yeah, I can't believe it either.) So today we decided to have a party at a local park for her and a bunch of kids we know near her age. It turned out to be a fabulous day for it, the wading pool was open, and everyone had a grand time.

In celebration, a few pictures.

Eating chips with daddy. (Ros is almost too big for Don to carry her like this anymore, but he's enjoying it while he can.)

Getting a yoghurt tube from mommy. (Yeah, that's me in the orange shorts looking away from the camera.)

The cake. Rosalind is obsessed with choos choos at the moment. (Her room, at the back of our house, overlooks the local commuter line and she loves watching them go past.) She's also quite getting into her Thomas trains, so I when I saw the Thomas cake in the bakery's catalogue, I knew I had to get it. And yes, I know the candle's on backwards. We switched it right after Don took the picture, but forgot to do a retake.

Eating cake, yay!

Ros opening what turned into one of her favorite gifts of the party, a kid's cell phone that can record your voice.

Ros doing the happy dance when she discovers that the friends who gave her the phone have recorded themselves saying "Happy birthday, Rosalind," on the phone. She proceeds to hit the play button over and over again.

The (Belated) Canada Day Post

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:25:05 GMT

This past Tuesday was Rosalind's second Canada Day. She was too young to even consider doing the fireworks last year, but this year we thought we'd give it a shot. She's a daredevil and always interested in new cool stuff, so we thought she might enjoy it.

In the afternoon, we set off for the Beaches, just half an hour straight south of our house. First took Ros to the water playground in Woodbine Park. (Picture of the park by some random internet person I don't know here.) We thought she'd love it, since she has a blast at our local wading pool, however we reckoned without how much she hates getting water in her face, and this park is all about running through sprinklers. Still, there was no total meltdown, just mildly accusatory looks ("you want me to do WHAT?"), and all was forgiven once we got her changed out of the swimsuit and let her loose on the playground equipment.

Supper was Lick's homeburgers, followed by Ed's Big Scoop ice cream, which was enjoyed by all. Then we walked along the boardwalk on the beach and claimed our spot for the fireworks. Ros (increasingly tired, though not willing to admit it) played in the sand with her shovel while we waited for the fireworks to start.

The fireworks were a qualified success.

People started letting off small ones on the beach before the serious ones got started, and Ros loved those ones. Her eyes got big and she clapped her hands. That continued once the big ones started being fired off. But then, about a minute in she lost it and insisted on being held by mommy. She put a death grip on me and buried her head in my shoulder, and started saying "Too loud." We decided to beat a hasty retreat.

But that was not the end of Ros' fireworks adventure. 'Cause as long as I was carrying her away from the fireworks, she was totally watching them over my shoulder and yelling "Fireworks boom, boom!" every time one went off. But if I stopped and turned so she could see it better, she'd go back to burying her head in my shoulder. So fireworks are apparently cool, but they're best viewed when you're getting the heck away from them.

Because we're bad parents, we totally forgot to bring the camera to record the day. So in compensation, here's a few pics of Ros hanging out in her jammies and being her usual impish self.

"Me get into something? Surely you can see I'm completely innocent."

"No, I'm not backing into the cupboard, why do you ask?"

"You wouldn't make me get out of the cupboard, would you mommy?"

"Hah! I rule the cupboard!"

Victoria Day Weekend Pics

Sun, 18 May 2008 17:54:04 GMT

I'm trying (as always) to be better about updating here. So here are some pics from this weekend of Rosalind being her adorable self.

Here's one the definitely says "mommy, do you have to take my picture?"

"Okay, having my picture taken isn't so bad after all." (She actually smiled on request for this one.)

This one's sort of goofy, but I love it. It's so very Rosalind.

Adoption Day Anniversary (Plus a Day)

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:37:24 GMT

It's been far too long since I've posted here, but we've just passed a very important milestone I couldn't let pass uncommemorated. One year ago today, we met our daughter, Rosalind MinLan Zvejnieks Marks.

This is one of the very first pictures we took of her, the very first day we got her. It was a traumatic day for her and it was a few days before she really relaxed around us, but it was still love at first sight for us.

It's been a whirlwind year. It doesn't feel like a year has passed, and yet it also feels like Rosalind has always been part of our family.

We, alas, were all hit by a stomach bug in the last few days so we missed the group celebration of Gotcha Day that our group had planned, and we didn't do much for the day itself except enjoy the fact that we all managed to eat (some) dinner without incident, but I had to put up a few pictures of Rosalind today.

Here's Rosalind today, getting ready to go out for a walk.

Rosalind posing in her new sweater.

And here she is doing one of her favourite things, playing with Mommy's computer keyboard and no doubt planning the baby takeover of the world.

I'm looking forward to celebrating many more Adoption Days to come.

Best Christmas Present Ever

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:09:08 GMT

Just got the best early Christmas present in the mail today.

Rosalind is now a Canadian citizen! How awesome is that?!

Considering we didn't bother writing the "please process this quickly" letter, settling for putting International Adoption on the envelope, it was done in record time, just over two months.

So we'll get to celebrate Christmas with our newest little Canadian citizen. Yay!

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:13:47 GMT

One thing no one tells you when you're about to become a parent is how much babies and kids love shoes. They do! A lot!

At first, Rosalind just liked playing with shoes. Then she started carrying them around everywhere. Now she's putting on Mommy and Daddy's shoes and wandering around the house.

So here's some shoe pics, for your edification and amusement.

Here we go, putting on Mommy's shoes. (Yes, I have huge feet.) Note the Amazon box Rosalind pulled out of the recycling bin on the floor. No paper is safe while she's around. On the positive side, she's also pretty good at putting stuff into the recycling bin. When she feels like it.

"Okay, I've got them on. Now what do I do?" (She can actually walk in 'em. Really!)

"Wonder how these laces work?"

And if you thought my shoes were big, check out Daddy's. Here Rosalind is, with Daddy's boots and a wryly satisfied expression. ("Ha! You thought I couldn't get these things on!")

"Walking in Daddy's shoes is hard!"

Okay, she's not actually in the shoes here, just hanging out with them. And her bottle. And looking oh, so nonchalant about it.

Haircut Day

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:06:28 GMT

I took Rosalind for a haircut today, her fourth! (She has a lot of hair.)

Here's a pic from before the haircut, looking serious and stylish and like she's trying out for either The Beatles or Oasis. Or both.

And here she is today, post haircut. She looks happy here, but she was not a happy camper in the barber's chair. Which is unusual, 'cause the previous three haircuts she was utterly fascinated by the whole process and didn't mind them a bit.

And here's one of her at her nuttiest. She generally goes all serious in public, but at home she often finds everything hi-larious.

Have I mentioned she's sort of starting to talk? And that her first really clear word was "Up!"

Hallowe'en!

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:19:23 GMT

Just put our exhausted little girl to bed. She had a great first Hallowe'en, as we figured she would. One of her favourite things to do is to walk up to the porches of houses in our neighbourhood, so to be able to do that and to have people give her stuff was the coolest thing for her. Plus, then she had all this candy she could play with. (Really, after the first few houses she just wanted to play with the candy. Not eat it. Play with it.)

Because I refused to get a princess costume, we got her a little pirate outfit. Alas, the hat lasted about as long as hats usually last for her, but we did manage to get one picture with it on.

May I present, the Dread Pirate Rosalind...

Here she is inside before venturing out, doing her usual running away from Mommy with the camera thing.

A shot with Mommy where both of us look okay. A real rarity, let me tell you.

A high angle shot taken by Daddy, explaining why Rosalind looks especially wee.

Once she lost the costume, Rosalind got down to the real fun of the evening: sorting candy.

There is a baby there somewhere, honest!

"The candy's all mine! Mine, I tell you!"

"Mommy and Daddy just don't know how to sort candy."

Milestones

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:57:27 GMT

On Sunday, Rosalind turned 15 months. More importantly, on Monday it was six months that we've been her mommy and daddy. In honour of which, I present cute baby pic spam.

This is my current favourite picture of Rosalind. She's wearing the sweater a good friend made (hi Nan!) and she just looks far too happy.

I'll put the rest of the pics underneath cuts.

Here's one in the same sweater, but looking a bit sly and a little bit "what are you up to mommy?"

She's looking more and more like a little girl, not a baby. Especially when she wears these overalls.

Here's Rosalind doing one of her favourite things: ripping apart her toy box.

And here's Rosalind in the living room after she's pretty much emptied the toy box and book shelf. (We clean it up every day, honest.) Don's nickname for her on days like these is the One Baby Wrecking Crew.

I noticed that she was using the bottom step in the living room like a little chair, so I suggested we get her one of these little kid sized foam chairs. She loves it. (They all, alas, come with some sort of marketing thing on them, so we elected to get the Backyardigans over the Disney Princesses. Oy.)

One of her favourite things to do is to carry around a bag and put stuff in it. We reckon she's practicing for when she can go shopping on her own. She especially loves this insulated lunch bag I snagged from my office.

Rosalind loves to run away from whoever might be chasing her. Here's it's Don's mom, Grandma Judy.

One of our current nicknames for her is Bumpy Gums. Because, man, does she have a lot of teeth coming in.

I had to end with this picture of Don and Rosalind. It just makes me smile.

Rough Week

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:55:51 GMT

After a lovely start, it's been a bit of a rough week.

Last weekend, Don was gracious enough to offer to look after Rosalind by himself for a weekend, giving me an opportunity to go to Chicago with some friends and attend the last edition of a convention we've gone to the past six years. He was brilliant to do it, and I had a great time.

Monday was a fabulous day. Rosalind was almost giddy she was such a happy girl, and both ate and drank more than I could hope for. (This is not always the case, so it was nice to see.) After that, however, things got rougher.

Tuesday she woke up at 4 a.m., crying and with a fever. The rest of that day she had two states: crying, or asleep on mommy. And she wouldn't eat or drink anything. It was upsetting, but I came out of the day reasonably well rested. Since she would only sleep if I was holding her I pretty much napped when she did. And she slept a lot. We both figured it was teething and she'd get over it.

Wednesday and Thursday she started getting back to her old self, even if she was quick to cry and a bit clumsier than usual.

Then this Friday I went down with it. Woke up feeling fine. By eleven had a bit of a sore throat. By noon, was starting to ache. By late afternoon had a fever and felt like someone had beaten me all over with a lead pipe. All of a sudden I pretty much knew how Rosalind had felt earlier in the week. Especially since I also totally lost my appetite. At this point I figured it was flu.

Yesterday, woke up feeling much better. Thought groovy, we're both over the worst and just hoped Don wouldn't get it. And then last night my fingers got itchy. Weird, but since I was just about to crash, nothing serious.

Today I woke up with my hands hurting and little red bumps all over them. My feet soon joined in the fun. Hurts to pick up anything, hurts to stand for too long, and the itching is now officially driving me nuts. Oh, and my throat, which has remained sore since Friday and which I finally looked at, looks like my hands. Ick. I stumped the Telehealth nurse when I called, but the walk-in clinic I went to pretty much confirmed it's Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. Which little kids usually get, and Rosalind probably had earlier this week, minus the bumps. And there's not much you can do except take Tylenol and wait it out.

I want to know why I keep getting the childhood ailments worse than Rosalind. I got pink eye in the spring, and she avoided it entirely, and she seems to have gotten a much less severe case of this, thankfully. She must have one tough little immune system, again thankfully. Just wish I had the same.

Parenting: Hazardous to Your Health?

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:25:21 GMT

So, we're visiting my folks this weekend, having a lovely time and just getting the car packed up for the drive back to Toronto. Don was putting the last bags in the car, Rosalind was fussing and blocking the screen door Don was going to have to come in. So I do what any mom would do and pick her up to calm her down.

Next thing I know I'm on my knees, screaming in pain. Why? Because Rosalind has managed to poke me in the eye with her fingernail.

Fortunately I managed to control my fall so that Rosalind landed softly and safely. But it took me a long time to stop with the weeping. When my eye continued to be astoundingly painful, my mom and I trucked off to Parry Sound General's emergency department and found that yeah, Rosalind had scratched my cornea. Apart from the fact that it still hurts and lights are kinda looking a little streaky at night, it's not too big a deal. I've got to put drops in the eye every four hours and it's supposed to clear up in a few days.

But man, these are the kinds of things someone should really warn you about when you become a mom.

p.s. Don gets double brownie points for driving the car all the way back to Toronto himself, the first time he's done that. Not too shabby considering he only got his licence last December and he hates driving.

Hats!

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:17:42 GMT

I know, I know, it's been forever since I posted. So I thought I'd do a fun one: Rosalind in hats. Starting with one in a birthday hat taken at the party with our China group. (All the girls have birthdays within a week of each other so one of the families threw a little party.)

Rosalind's not a big hat fan, so she decided mom should wear hers.

Here's daddy's idea of high baby comedy: shorts on the head. Rosalind thinks it's funny too.

Fresh today, Rosalind with her cap on. (She left this on her head for a whole minute so I could take some pictures. That's a new record.)

Okay, maybe these hat things aren't so bad.

And here's me in a Zorro hat, discovered at a friend's on the weekend. Don insisted on the picture of me in the hat of Zed.

Oh. My.

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:44:57 GMT

Rosalind is walking!

Yesterday after a trip to the grocery store she just let go off my hands, stood on her own for a few seconds and then ran across the living room. After I recovered from my shock I went and grabbed the camcorder and recorded her doing it again. And picking herself up after a fall or two.

She gets us to help her with the walking more often than not, but she walked again at the moms' drop in today, proving yesterday was no fluke.

And yeah, I'm overjoyed and terrified in equal measure. Now we're really, really, really going to have to babyproof the house.