I can’t believe it’s been six weeks since Sophia was born. In some ways, time seems to move slowly but for the most part, time zooms by. The day is broken up into 3 to 4 hour increments now - this is Sophia’s feeding schedule. I just go from one feeding to another and I don’t think much farther than that. If I can squeeze in a nap in between feeds, I consider that a big win. If I can put the dirty clothes in the washing machine in between feeds, that’s another win. If I can post something to my blog, that is a huge win!
My friend Yvette told me after she had her first baby three years ago that you don’t really know what tired feels like until you have a baby. Yvette was right. I have had days when I feel so tired that I think, “I can’t do this anymore”, and yet I get through the day and night somehow. An hour nap here, a three hour nap there, and somehow the day does go by. And I say a “thank you” to the universe for letting me survive another day.
Sophia is amazing. It’s so interesting to watch her develop. Each day brings a new thing, a new development. She has gained 2 lbs since her birth (current weight is 8.6 lbs). Her eye lashes are thicker and her eyebrows are now thicker. She can hold her head up a bit. She can plant her feet and kick up, especially when she is upset (she’s wiggled up a few inches while on the change table). She can communicate - like sucking on her fist when she’s hungry, grunting in a satisfied way to say she’s had enough milk, and crying to let us know she’s not happy about something. When everything in her world is cool, she likes to hang out and look around. She likes to watch the mobile in her crib and she likes the swing. The thing she really, really likes is to be held by me or Ed. That may sound like such a wonderful thing (and it is) but it makes life challenging when we want to get some stuff done (like shower!) once she has fallen asleep. She senses it when we put her down. She wakes up and cries for us to carry her again. I’ve been told that this will pass or at some point, we will have to let her cry it out. For now, we give in and hold her.
Ed and I are getting better at this with each day that passes. Things are getting easier, that is true. I do try and enjoy each moment because I know that they are precious. Sophia will never be six weeks again so I constantly remind myself to focus not on how tired I feel but on the good stuff. Her cuteness makes it easier to do so.
16 September 2010
20 August 2010
A time of change
On Aug 4, our baby girl Sophia Nelida was born at BC Women’s Hospital. Ed and I are totally thrilled to have her and our lives will never be the same again. We came home on Aug 6 and we’ve been adjusting to life with baby Sophia fairly well. She has inherited Ed’s very heallthy appetite and also his ability to sleep very soundly. Both good traits to have in a baby. Our life revolves around her feeding schedule, which makes doing other stuff (like sleeping, eating, showering, etc) a challenge. But she’s been quite good so far and I won’t complain about anything. She’s a joy to have around and provides us with endless entertainment. I can’t believe it has been two weeks since we came home. The days and nights have gone by very quickly. It’s fun getting to know her better.
Ed has been home with me and has taken the rest of August off from work. Both Sophia and I have kept him quite busy. My job is to feed Sophia and it is Ed’s job to feed me. He’s been my chef at home. And from Aug 9 to 14, my niece Sabrina stayed with us to help out. She was a huge help and we really enjoyed having her with us. And I was so happy that she got to spend time with Sophia, too.
We also have had to buy a bigger, more suitably sized car since my sports coupe just doesn’t work well with a baby. I hung on as long as I could but it’s time to replace it. So this past week, we ordered the 2011 Subaru Outback and it should be here in a couple of months. For now, we use Ed’s car, a 4-door sedan, as our main baby vehicle. The Outback is my first ever brand new car puchase! How exciting.
The next change has to do with my hair. At the end of 2006, I decided to grow my hair long and I’ve enjoyed having long hair. I have been mulling over cutting it since last spring and finally, yesterday, I gave my hair stylist permission to chop it off. I’ve had my hair in a pony tail the last two weeks anyway. I still have the bangs but now have a bob to go with it. It feels so light having it this short!
Lots of exciting changes, for sure. Kids grow very quickly, though, and so I try to savour every moment and every change brought on by our little baby. And as I said earlier, our lives will never be the same again - and that’s a good thing.
Ed has been home with me and has taken the rest of August off from work. Both Sophia and I have kept him quite busy. My job is to feed Sophia and it is Ed’s job to feed me. He’s been my chef at home. And from Aug 9 to 14, my niece Sabrina stayed with us to help out. She was a huge help and we really enjoyed having her with us. And I was so happy that she got to spend time with Sophia, too.
We also have had to buy a bigger, more suitably sized car since my sports coupe just doesn’t work well with a baby. I hung on as long as I could but it’s time to replace it. So this past week, we ordered the 2011 Subaru Outback and it should be here in a couple of months. For now, we use Ed’s car, a 4-door sedan, as our main baby vehicle. The Outback is my first ever brand new car puchase! How exciting.
The next change has to do with my hair. At the end of 2006, I decided to grow my hair long and I’ve enjoyed having long hair. I have been mulling over cutting it since last spring and finally, yesterday, I gave my hair stylist permission to chop it off. I’ve had my hair in a pony tail the last two weeks anyway. I still have the bangs but now have a bob to go with it. It feels so light having it this short!
Lots of exciting changes, for sure. Kids grow very quickly, though, and so I try to savour every moment and every change brought on by our little baby. And as I said earlier, our lives will never be the same again - and that’s a good thing.
20 July 2010
A beautiful, lazy day
Now that the baby’s birth is coming soon, a common advice we get these days are along the lines of “get as much sleep/rest as you can” or “go out and do as much as you can”. Once the baby is born, we know that our lives will not be as carefree anymore.
The one thing I really wanted to do before the baby’s arrival is to go for a paddle around English Bay at least one more time. Ed and our paddling friends were busy training for their races until earlier this month but now that those races are done and the weather in Vancouver has been fantastic, I thought it would be a perfect time to do it. So bright and early last Saturday morning, Ed, Vivian, Eugene, and I took out the 4-man outrigger canoe for a light paddle from Burrard Marina to Jericho and back. We were out there for about an hour. The weather was perfect and I was in heaven. It felt so good to be out on the water again. I’m pretty sure I had a smile on my face the entire time. Afterward, we headed to our regular after-paddling breakfast place, Flying Swan, for some delicious pancakes.
The good thing about paddling first thing in the morning is you have the rest of the day to do other stuff. With the sun shining, a cool breeze going, and no interest in doing any chores or errands, we decided to head to Spanish Banks for some beach time. Good thing we had blankets in the trunk of the car. So, we picked our spot, set down the blankets and lounged for the rest of the day. We watched our friend Bryan play beach volleyball. I drifted in and out of sleep, ate ice cream and cheezies, and watched people come and go. Vivian arrived at some point and joined Bryan in the volleyball area. Later on in the afternoon, Eugene arrived. He and Ed went off to play volleyball, too. I went back to sleep.
To finish off this beautiful, lazy day, we decided to pick up some bbq from Memphis Blues and head over to Eugene’s for dinner.
I’m sure once the baby is born, it will be a while before Ed and I can enjoy a day like this again - where we just laid around, didn’t do much, and didn’t worry about anything. I’m glad we were able to squeeze in a day like that before the big day. Kind of like the calm before the storm.
The one thing I really wanted to do before the baby’s arrival is to go for a paddle around English Bay at least one more time. Ed and our paddling friends were busy training for their races until earlier this month but now that those races are done and the weather in Vancouver has been fantastic, I thought it would be a perfect time to do it. So bright and early last Saturday morning, Ed, Vivian, Eugene, and I took out the 4-man outrigger canoe for a light paddle from Burrard Marina to Jericho and back. We were out there for about an hour. The weather was perfect and I was in heaven. It felt so good to be out on the water again. I’m pretty sure I had a smile on my face the entire time. Afterward, we headed to our regular after-paddling breakfast place, Flying Swan, for some delicious pancakes.
The good thing about paddling first thing in the morning is you have the rest of the day to do other stuff. With the sun shining, a cool breeze going, and no interest in doing any chores or errands, we decided to head to Spanish Banks for some beach time. Good thing we had blankets in the trunk of the car. So, we picked our spot, set down the blankets and lounged for the rest of the day. We watched our friend Bryan play beach volleyball. I drifted in and out of sleep, ate ice cream and cheezies, and watched people come and go. Vivian arrived at some point and joined Bryan in the volleyball area. Later on in the afternoon, Eugene arrived. He and Ed went off to play volleyball, too. I went back to sleep.
To finish off this beautiful, lazy day, we decided to pick up some bbq from Memphis Blues and head over to Eugene’s for dinner.
I’m sure once the baby is born, it will be a while before Ed and I can enjoy a day like this again - where we just laid around, didn’t do much, and didn’t worry about anything. I’m glad we were able to squeeze in a day like that before the big day. Kind of like the calm before the storm.
22 June 2010
Football fever
In April 2008, I was in London for work and I went to a pub for dinner. Manchester United and Roma were on the telly for a Champions League knock-off game. The pub patrons were all very much into the game, except me. I’ve never really watched much football and I was reading a very interesting book at that time. Half time came and it struck me that the atmosphere in the pub was like the pubs in Vancouver when the Canucks play an NHL play-off game. Then I realized I really should put the book down and watch the game, too. This is so British, so London, and I should be present in the moment and take advantage of the opportunity to experience something so local.
So I watched the second half with great interest and I found myself really enjoying it. I didn’t know the rules, although it wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on, and I could not hear the commentators but it didn’t seem to matter. I was engrossed in the game I was watching.
This World Cup finals, I’ve been watching many of the games. Brazil is fun to watch and so is Argentina. Portugal’s goal extravaganza was very entertaining, although at 4-0, I felt really bad for the Koreans. This is like watching hockey during the Olympics when the level of play is so good that you can’t help but enjoy watching, no matter who’s playing. Too bad the World Cup and the Olympics come around only every four years. Would be great to have them every year... but I’ll probably get fired because I’ll never get any work done!
So I watched the second half with great interest and I found myself really enjoying it. I didn’t know the rules, although it wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on, and I could not hear the commentators but it didn’t seem to matter. I was engrossed in the game I was watching.
This World Cup finals, I’ve been watching many of the games. Brazil is fun to watch and so is Argentina. Portugal’s goal extravaganza was very entertaining, although at 4-0, I felt really bad for the Koreans. This is like watching hockey during the Olympics when the level of play is so good that you can’t help but enjoy watching, no matter who’s playing. Too bad the World Cup and the Olympics come around only every four years. Would be great to have them every year... but I’ll probably get fired because I’ll never get any work done!
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