Adventures in Calgary

So I started mountain biking with the Spin Sisters a few weeks ago and I've been having a bit of a hard time getting used to the trail/fitness requirements out here. Today Zoe and I went for a pre-ride of Sibbald Flats (where our group ride is going this Wednesday night). I had so much FUN!!! There were a lot of trees down on the trail that we decided to saw apart and clear so that took up a lot of our time but man was it fun. We ran into a group of cub scouts that were in a field setting off rockets and they let me fire one off (SO FUN!!!). I rode in snow. I rode through a stream thingy. I did some climbs and some descents. I even stayed clipped in most of the morning. It was awesome! I didn't fall once. I took lots of photos with Zoe's camera so I'll post some when I get them from her.

This afternoon Molly and I played outside with Grace and Sherri for hours. The weather was finally summer-like. I even put Molly in a skirt mom sent for her so she'd be cool. Sherri and Stephen had a guy over with his backhoe digging out fence posts for their new garage and Molly was loving watching all the machinery. I thought she'd be scared but no way. She was fascinated.

I am absolutely pooped now. I think today was the first Saturday that I didn't have a nap since going back to work.

We woke up this morning (May 24th) to find a winter wonderland. Another example of the beauty of living in Calgary...every month is a month for snow!

In other news...Noel taught Molly to moo like a cow today. She can now bark, meow, moo and sometimes cluck like a chicken. Exciting times!

I can't believe that it's been a year since I took Mom and Molly to walmart for our Mother's Day photo shoot! I look at that photo now and Molly looks like a wee tub of goo. She couldn't even really hold her own head up at that point and now she's running around the house yelling NO when I ask her to do anything.

This year I got to have a lay in (which is always a treat!) and then Molly (with Dad's help) gave me a new cycling jersey and fancy-dancy new sunglasses. It was a cold rainy day but we still managed to get outside for some walks up and down the sidewalk. Sherri and I went down to the Last Straw for a drink. And then Nancy, Andrew and Adam came over for dinner. Noel went all out for his mom. He did corn chowder to start, then we had prime rib, roasted potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner. And it was berries, cake and ice cream for dessert. All in all a great day.

Molly even got to eat corn on the cob all by herself!

Today Gracie turned 1 and we celebrated by eating some fabulous cake that her gram made. It was Molly's first taste of cake. I finally relented because it was homemade angel food cake with real whipping cream icing and strawberries. It was DELICIOUS!

This week went so much better than we anticipated. Day one was horrible. Day two a little less so but after work was still punctuated by Molly screaming, crying and laying on the floor upset for about 30 minutes. Wednesday night she came to me and tried to get into my top but I told her "no - drink juice" and she walked away - no screaming! Last night, she didn't even try to get at the boobs. 2 days was really all it took. She's still breastfeeding in the mornings but she's doing that for less time each day. I think this weaning thing is going to work out!

Tonight was our first step towards weaning Molly. Originally, I thought I would breastfeed Molly as long as she showed interest. Lately though she has been getting very demanding and tantrum-ish if I didn't have both boobs out at all times for her to snack on...which just didn't seem right. So like everything else I've encountered with breastfeeding I had to change my expectations and make a new plan. So tonight, no boob. We're going to eliminate the evening feeding first and then after a few weeks of her getting used to that, we'll tackle the morning feed. I was really freaked out last night about weaning her but I do realize it's probably for the best. I'm not really going to miss the after work feed but the morning feed is such a wonderful way to start the day...maybe we'll just keep that one for a little while longer?!?!

This evening went like this...
Noel picked up Molly as usual and played with her until I got home. My original plan was to stick Molly in the chariot and go for a run in order to avoid the feeding associations of me getting home from work but then I thought that it would be faster if we stuck to the routine as it was and just refused to give her the boob. We will see. Anyhoo...she started to absolutely freak out when I wasn't giving in. She was laying on the floor screaming and kicking and crying from about 5 - 6 pm. She would stop every once in a while to cram a piece of watermelon in her mouth and then she'd be back at it. She wouldn't sit in her highchair, she wouldn't eat. It was horrible. But then she calmed down. And it was good. She ate a lot for dinner. She drank some juice. She even went to bed well (I let her take her sippy cup to bed which isn't the best thing but oh well). Hopefully she'll cry a little less tomorrow.

We had a great weekend. The weather was finally nice so we spent lots of time outside. We even got to break in Uncle Dave and Aunt Heather's deck! Molly had a bit of a rough night Saturday - cried for over an hour for no apparent reason - but other than that she was awesome. Unfortunately, the freak out happened on what was supposed to be a night out dancing for Noel and I but I'm sure we'll have another chance at that. There was no way we could leave her with Brent after such a crying/screaming fit.

Last night was my first MTB ride with the Spin Sisters (a local women's only bike club). I signed up for the Intro Clinic and there were 26 other women in it! The instructors were great. The information was useful. The pace was good. The weather was beautiful. It was really, really fun. I borrowed some jerseys and a jacket from Sherri. I wore a pair of Noel's overshorts. I looked the part - even if I am just a beginner. I was quite worried before going because I'd had a bad experience with a different women's only clinic I took in Ontario that was run by IDIOTS! but this was nothing like that one. I didn't fall down. I rode a bit of single track. And I even spent some time clipped into my pedals! A great night for sure. I'm really looking forward to more rides with these ladies. Although the idea of hills scares me!