Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Piper's Baptism

We had a big party planned for Piper when we went on vacation - her baptism! The timing was perfect - Piper was just the right age and size to fit into the baptism gown that my grandmother had first made for Willow nine years earlier.

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(from L-R in back: Willow, Auntie Daryth, Rev. Wearne, Piper, Andrew and L-R front: my nephew Will, my sister Jaime, and me)

We held the service at my Auntie Daryth's church, St. Philip Anglican Church, and the service was officiated by Reverend Michael Wearne. Piper's godparents are my sister Jaime and our friend Peter. The service itself was lots of fun, particularly because Rev. Wearne gave Willow and her cousins jobs to do during the service. Willow poured the water into the font, Will was the candle bearer, and the smaller children all sat around with us in a circle.

The only thing that worried me was the candle. You do see what Piper is doing, don't you? Here's a close up:

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As soon as Andrew and Rev. Wearne were holding the candle, Piper's hand shot up and she decided she wanted in on this action as well. All was well in the end - and apparently she wasn't the only one drawn to the flame. Once the candle was blown out, Piper's 3 year old cousin Hunter audibly complained, "But I wanted to blow the fire off the stick!"

Here is Piper and her godmother, Jaime:

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Piper and me (and the beautiful baptism gown!):

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The Happy Family:

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The Whole Fan Damily:

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(Back L-R: Dad, Mom, and Auntie Daryth. Middle L-R: Andrew, me, Piper, Teri, and Jaime. Front L-R: Willow, Hunter, Dharma, and Will.)

We had a lovely little party afterward with a beautiful cake:

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And then just had fun afterward taking pictures outside:

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It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful service. Auntie Daryth, thank you for helping make this happen!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Radio Silence Explained

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We were on vacation. More to come on baptisms, bears, and beaches. I'll leave you with one interesting little nugget of Canadiana... or make that several nuggets:

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I kid you not. Dill pickle flavoured popcorn.

Monday, August 01, 2011

I'm Six Months Old...

And look what I can do!

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I've decided to bypass crawling altogether. Who needs intermediate steps?

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Just a bit more practice...

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And I'll have that cat exactly where I want him.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

You know, Mama...

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I'm fairly certain that feeding someone spinach and rutabagas for breakfast is considered torture in some countries...

(And Mom - as you can see, her eyes are still blue.)

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Willow!

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Friday marked the 9th anniversary of the most 4-lettered words that have come out of my mouth in any 24 hour period... otherwise known as the day Willow was born. At nine years old, Willow is almost as tall as I am, loves to read, sing, swim, and is so very serious about things that I can't help to smile at when she talks to me. Love you, babe!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Piper Unsure About Watermelon

I don't know, Mama -

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Why do I need to hold this feeder

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When you are so willing to hold it for me?

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Piper vs Sweet Potatoes



How do you really feel about sweet potatoes, Piper?!!? The funny thing is she had eaten them a few times previously with no problems... but apparently she was having a 'I don't want sweet potatoes' night this time. She makes this extreme raspberry face at me to let me know she is displeased with me.

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Pictures on the blog are going to be sporadic for a week or so - our home computer died last weekend, so I am limited to blogging from my netbook. It's a sweet little machine, but is slow to download pics and videos off my computer, then even slower to upload to Flickr. And while I'm on the subject of Flickr, thank they ever-loving goodness for it! We lost *everything* on our computer - but at least all my pictures and videos are uploaded onto Flickr. I have lost a few downloaded patterns I had bought from Ravelry, but I think there is a way for me to recover those from Ravelry. Let this be a lesson - keep your Norton, McAfee, whatever security software you use, up-to-date - because malware and viruses can completely destroy your machine.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Drunken Baby Reel

No, of course she wasn't really drunk - but you would never know it from these pictures!


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"No, {hic} Ossifer - I'm fine.  I haven't had that much to drink.  Just a booby or two."

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"See - I can {hic} crawl in a straight line with one hand touching... touching..." (rolls over)

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"Well, I can touch my toes in any case." {burp!}

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"Oh, who am I kidding?  Pick me up up, Ossifer - I need to sleep this off."

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Friday, July 01, 2011

Piper is Five Months Old -



And doing her damnedest to start crawling!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Piper and Butternut Squash

Going by what is coming out...

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... at least some of this is getting in.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Something New

I held it off as long as I could. As you may remember, last month I blogged about how I was loathe to start Piper on cereal and other foods, that I didn't think she was ready yet. Well, the time has come. It arrived with a combination of Piper being frantic hungry even after she had finished her bottles at daycare and how she became absolutely upset and angry if anyone ate their meal in front of her.

So, today was our first day of cereal.

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To say she liked it is an understatement. There was no hesitation and she knew what she wanted right away. After a few bites she grabbed the spoon and told me she could do this all by herself.

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Willow got in on the action as well. It was more like, "Is it my turn now? Is it my turn now? You promised I could feed her, too!"

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Lucky is just happy there is someone new he can steal food from now.

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Is it my turn now? Is it my turn now?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Next Stop, Swimming Pool!

I love being in the water and swimming - and I can't wait until Piper is 6 months old and we can do the parent and tot swim classes at the Y. There is only one problem - non-toilet trained children must wear swim diapers while in the pool (and I completely understand why) but Piper is a skinny bean and commercial swim diapers start at 16 pounds. At this rate, Piper isn't going to fit those until she is over a year old! She is only about 11.5 pounds now. I started looking into washable swim diapers, and came up with two options from Mom's Milk Boutique.

First - the Applecheeks swim diaper:

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Forgive the blurry pictures - she was windmilling away and it was hard to catch her still enough to do anything.

Second - the ImseVimse swim diaper:

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I can tell you straight away that I like the AppleCheeks diaper better. Not only did it feel nicer, but it was obvious that it would have a snugger fit.

Elastic around the waist and thigh to keep out any errant poop:

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Versus a waistband loose enough that I could get a few fingers in without even touching Piper's skin:

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The obligatory babybum shots:

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She was doing her damnedest to get up and crawling in that picture above. Anytime you put her on her tummy now she is wiggling, getting her head up and legs pulled into position.

The AppleCheeks diapers is more expensive than the ImseVimse ($18 vs. $14, if I remember correctly), but I think you are getting your money's worth. The AppleCheeks is a size 1 and is supposed to cover babies from 7 - 20 pounds, and they have three rows of adjustable snaps in the front so you can make the diaper tighter or looser as need be. The ImseVimse is a size small, and covers babies from 13 - 17 pounds. The reviews I read said the ImseVimse was supposed to feel like swimsuit fabric - but to me it is more like a cross between fabric and a plastic diaper cover. The AppleCheeks is 100% polyester, with a mesh lining on the inside. For the record, swim diapers, be they disposable or washable, are not supposed to hold in pee - only poops. Reading the reviews on Amazon and Diapers.com was very funny - all these indignant people who were outraged when their baby peed on them.

I have one last picture to leave you with. I was trying to catch a close up picture of Piper, so was snapping randomly whenever she looked at the camera. When I downloaded the pictures I came across this one and I laughed out loud.

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Don't I look sinister? I didn't even realize I was in the picture! You can't tell me this kid's eyes aren't going to be light coloured - they may change to be green like my Mom's or aqua like Jaime's, but they sure aren't going to be hazel like mine!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Hey Auntie Teri!

Remember this shirt!?

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Yes, hope sprung eternal - I held onto baby clothes for 8+ years. Here's a picture of baby Willow wearing the same shirt:

Yukon Willow

It was red day at Piper's daycare today, so I went searching in the baby clothes bins in the basement and came up with this Yukon shirt. I also found this hat - I think my Mom made it...?

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In any case, it was a big hit at the daycare!