Adventures in Calgary

Last night Molly slept 12 hours! I didn't sleep a wink because I was constantly waiting for her to wake up to eat but that's okay because now I know she can do it. She woke up happy as a clam this morning and has been in great spirits all day. I'm hoping for a repeat performance tonight so that I can actually get some sleep too...we will see!

Yesterday Molly turned 5 months old. To celebrate, I got her a babysitter (Johanna from bookclub) and then I went golfing in the Ad Rodeo Golf Tournament. I felt pretty good about leaving Molly with Johanna. It helped that Molly cuddled right into J. when she arrived. Yesterday was the longest I've been away from Molly since she was born (9 hours). The Elks Golf Club was great. They let me use the ladies changeroom (member's only) to pump so everything worked out quite well. It was great seeing everyone from work and the industry again. I had a great team of Tammy (from Toronto) and Jordan (new suit in the office) and we had lots of laughs. Sadly I didn't win anything this year. Mark's team won ipod nanos! It was great getting out on the golf course again. I had some great drives and one amazing putt - not bad for my first time out this year at all!

Right now Molly is busy figuring out the intricacies of finger and hand movement. She's getting more vocal every day. She's an old pro at rolling and is getting better at finding ways to get at things that are out of her reach. Viv will be happy to know that she's LOVING Jeero these days and has to touch him and play with him whenever she's eating upstairs. I have been lax at filing her nails of late and I have a terribly sore scratch under my eye to prove it. Yesterday she realized that blowing bubbles when she's got carrot in her mouth is totally fun. Today she gets to try apples.

Yesterday was the anniversary of our very first ultrasound - the one where the technician said "yep...definitely baby in there". It's incredible that a tiny little kidney bean shaped thing could turn into such a dynamic and beautiful little girl.

These days Molly is pulling my hair, eating pears and cereal (carrots to come tomorrow), and enjoying her baths A LOT more (thankfully).

Molly had her first taste of real food today...organic rice cereal mixed with lots of breast milk. She seems okay with the spoon and she didn't spit everything out so I guess that's all we can hope for right now. I still don't completely understand how we're supposed to know when to thicken the food, or increase the amount but I guess we'll figure it out as we go along.

I took Molly to Stampede yesterday with Cori and Cami. It was AWESOME! The main reason we went was to see SPLASH'N BOOTS - a kids show put on by some people I know from Ontario. I've been playing Molly their first CD since she was born (her favourite song is H-E-LL-O, Hello) but I had no idea how much she was going to enjoy seeing them live. I've never seen her so happy or animated. She was trying to sing along the whole time. At first I was afraid she was crying but I kept checking and she was just yelling with excitement. After the show we got to have a quick visit with Nick and Taes and then it was Cami's turn in the rodeo ring. She got to compete in the barrel races - so fun. It was great seeing the kids having so much fun. And no visit to Stampede would be complete without a quick ride and some mini donuts. So I went on the giant slide with Cami (much more fun than I ever imagined it would be) and then I ate 17 mini donuts (it would've been 18 but I gave one to Cami). What a great day!

This weekend we were supposed to go to Stampede to see Splash'n Boots play but we were hailed out. I've never seen so much hail or hail so large. It hailed and then it rained and then it hailed some more. It was insane! So instead of going to Stampede, Rapper came over here for a belated B-day dinner. I made my mom's rib recipe, Michele's cornbread and Stacey's bean salad...perhaps I should get some of my own recipes but whatever! It was a great night. I'm so glad to have Rapper in town - she's my own little piece of home right here in Calgary.

I'm going to start working on a scrapbook for Molly's first year. I got the idea from a neighbour...basically I'll do a page or two for each month of Molly's first year. It'll just be the best of the best pictures. And it'll be a good way to see her progress quickly. Tonight I started going through our pictures to find the ones for her birth...it's hard to believe she was ever that small. It is so incredible how quickly babies change and develop.

Molly has been showing signs of teething for a long time now (is there such a thing as a long time when you've only been alive for 4 months???) but this week takes the cake. She is chomping down on her soother and teething toys and straining so hard that she's actually pooing! I feel horrible for her but it's hard not to laugh when her little face turns purple as she rams the teething toys into her mouth. I've been told by a couple different people that I should get some homeopathic teething tablets but I haven't made it to the natural food store yet - maybe this weekend.

We started Gymboree yesterday and Molly loved it. It's nice that it's not too far from here and it's air conditioned - usually that wouldn't be a big deal but it's actually been hot here for the last couple of weeks!

No concerts. No big trip. Just a nice relaxing time at home getting caught up on odd jobs and enjoying our time together.