Discovering Thierry

I got on to Foursquare early in 2011 because L'Atelier offered a big discount to new clients for checking in on it. I don't remember to check in most times, unless I'm with my friend Sonia who's crazy over it.

However, for some reason, I've been remembering to check into places I go in the past week. And once I saw myself ranked against my Foursquare friends (you get points for checking into places, and ranked among your friends based on number of points you gather within a 7 day period), my competitive nature kicked in. All of a sudden, I am out-ranking Sonia! Woot woot!

Anyways, I've brought up Foursquare because that's how I discovered Thierry Patisserie.

I've been cooped up indoors for most of the day; so when I discovered Thierry, I sent out a spontaneous invitation to a couple of girlfriends to go check it out with me. And naturally, Sonia was one of them. In the end, she was the only one who can make it.

Tonight, I got to take a walk and check out this fabulous tea and treats place. They do have really good macarons! Also quite good coffee! And this came as a surprise to me, but they serve wine and liquor! Not that I'm a big drinker; quite the opposite, but I just thought that was a clever twist for a tea and treats place.

All in all, a wonderful night of play and simple pleasures, with a great girlfriend to share it with.

I do feel quite lucky to have girlfriends that can come hang out with me in a moment's notice. You know who you are, you are all awesome!

Gangsta

Other than an appointment with Dr. Sukhi, today was a fairly uneventful day.

Sean had today off from work; he had football on the tele of course, so Maddi and I just hung out at home with him.

In this photo, Sean just got home from placing his sports bets at the 7-11 across the street. Since it was getting close to the end of the day and I still don't have a photo for the day, I thought this would make a good one.

Maddi Got Her Library Card!

A few weeks ago, when we went to the parent/baby drop in at the Roundhouse, they had invited a librarian to run that session for a storytelling time. It was then that I first found out babies can get library cards! And the best part is, until they are 14 years old... they don't pay late fees!

So today, we met with Crystal & Baby Natascha and walked up to the library to get library cards for the babes. We didn't take any books out; but it was good to get out of the house even though we just ended up sitting in a corner in the children's section of the library breastfeeding the babes.

It actually was a pretty busy day for Maddi and I. After parting ways with Crystal and Baby Natascha, Maddi and I stopped to have lunch, then checked with Blacks if they do infant passport photos, stopped in Rogers to speak with Iwa and get our account fixed, went into Sears to check out their studio since Blacks doesn't have the set up to do infant passport photos... then finally home!

I must say, Vancouver is a pretty good city for moms. At the restaurant where I had lunch, and at Sears, I had to nurse Maddi. The restaurant was accommodating when I asked if I can go in a booth in the back for more privacy; and at Sears, there was a seating area that offered enough space for me to change Maddi's diaper and comfy couches for me to nurse Maddi in.

Sophie Kisses

Today, we went to see Dr. Sukhi. And boy, was I happy to see him... my body was happy to see him!

We met Cathy for lunch at Park Royal village. She had missed Maddi and was happy to hold her while I ate my lunch. After lunch, we made a quick dash into Old Navy to return some items from my holiday shopping.

We came home for Maddi's nap time... and this is Maddi giving Sophie kisses while getting changed before going for a nap.

Since Maddi's started to "regard her hands" (the term used in baby development) recently, I decided to introduce Sophie to her. She can't quite keep a hold on Sophie yet, but I think she does likes her.

Connected

Since I only have one baby, I don't know if all babies do this... but Maddi locks eyes with me a lot of the times when I nurse her. It is definitely a great reminder for me to be present in the moment. She has definitely been a great teacher for me, I am learning just as much from her as she is from me. These nursing times are also such bonding opportunities that only her and I share - so special.

The breast is definitely one of Maddi's top happy places, being there calms her so well. It is where she is most content. And frankly, having her on my breast is also one of my top happy places.

Today was the first week for parent/baby drop-in at Commercial & Broadway since the holiday break. We didn't see Bryn & Baby Jonah or Elina & Baby Jacob today; they're still on their respective holiday trips. It was great to see I-Wen and Baby Isaac though, as well as the other moms and babes that we've seen from last year.

Update on Maddi's sleep schedule - the other night might have been just an off night for her, because last night she slept seven hours straight!

Getting Back To Normal Schedule

After the busy-ness of the holidays, being over-stimulated and not being able to properly nap for a couple of days, it finally caught up to Maddi. Last night, she slept for 3 hours, fed, slept for another hour, fed, slept another 3 hours, fed, slept another hour and a half - I'm exhausted! I know, other new moms out there are thinking, "try that for a few weeks!" However, since I've been getting sleep... this was exhausting. I really hope this is simply an off night, and not the start of something!

Today, we are spending a quiet day at home... trying to get back to our normal schedule. In this photo, Maddi is napping in her favourite napping spot - the Moby. She's napping for over an hour, which is the amount of time babies need in order to complete a sleep cycle and feel rested when they wake up. According to the nurse at the drop in we go to, babies need to nap well during the day in order to sleep well at night. If they don't nap well during the day, they get over-tired and can find it hard to settle at night.

Hello, 2012!

Happy New Year!

Maddi was such a superstar! She stayed up to ring in the new year with us, then slept through the partying downstairs.

Normally, whenever Maddi sleeps on the bed with us, she sleeps in the middle, between Sean and I. It must've been mother's instinct, because somehow I just thought that tonight, this wouldn't be a good idea. So I moved Maddi to go between the wall and me, then Sean can just come into bed beside me.

Once Maddi fell asleep, I set up the video monitor and went downstairs to join the party for a while. When I got down there, I was greeted with a sexy-dancin' Ryan with the Nacho Libre mask on, a loaded Sean sexy-dancin' with him and a happy Jason cheering them on! I took the opportunity to snap a few pics.

 What greeted me as I rejoined everyone after putting Maddi to bed

 Maddi sleeping through all the ruckus

After some girls vs. boys Pictionary, it was 2am and was time for me to go to bed since Maddi could be up in 6 hours. I must've been a little over-stimulated since I couldn't seem to fall asleep immediately.

In another hour, just as I was starting to drift off to sleep, Sean stumbles into the room. Turns out, my instinct to move Maddi to the other side of me was a brilliant idea since Sean was quite out of it, he had trouble with the door knob coming into the room.

We spent all of New Year's Day at Nat and J's as well - pretty much same as last year. I think it's becoming a tradition! Damon, Jen, Baby Everett & Hank also dropped by for a visit; baby Everett is getting so big!

Thanks Nat & Amy for being great aunties and helping with Maddi. Thanks Nat & J for being such great hosts and being so great when Maddi's been fussier than normal.