Aurora Wells

Things look subtly different here on the other side. For instance, those warnings on plastic bags; This Bag is Not a Toy – Keep Out of Reach of Children. This never made sense to me before. Why print a particular warning on plastic bags, when there are any number of things that not children’s toys? Why don’t we print warning labels on all knives, toiletries, glass or ceramic dishes, potted plants, appliances and their plugs, and so on? What I never realized when removing the plastic bag from a new expensive grown-up toy like a cuisinart was that its plastic bag, which is lightweight and most importantly, makes a lovely crinkly sound, is an irresistible toy. It is such a joy to an exploratory infant or toddler to play with that you simply cannot resist giving it to her (with careful supervision, of course)! Who needs another expensive brightly coloured kid-safe toy? Gimmie cheap plastic bags!

I’ve been convinced for months that Aurora is teething, but lately the intensity of her mouthing objects seems to have gone up another notch. It seems like every time I look at her she’s got something else in her mouth. Except food. She can clamp those lips together good and tight when something nutritious is coming her way.

Isn’t there some saying about two birds in the hand?

Although I’m sure Aurora would win the Best Dressed Baby award if there were. Thanks again to all of you who have indulged both Aurora and your penchant for clothes shopping – we love everything you’ve given us.

Now stop, at least for the Summer. Aurora has all the clothing any three babies might need for the next four months. I’d hate to let any outfit go unworn just because there were another 125 in line in front of it. Remember, she’ll still be here in the Fall and Winter. In the meantime, stay posted. As the weather warms up, you’ll be seeing more of the adorable gifts you’ve sent our little fashionista, like the one from Grandma Gail that she’s in, below.

In her book, Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert says that each person, and each city, has a single word that defines their motivations, and she spends a fair chunk of her memoir searching for her own word. I found mine, and that word is SLEEP. Brian half-jokingly complains that on my list of what’s important, he used to be number two, but now the order is: 1) Aurora, 2) Sleep and 3) Brian. At least he’s still on the list.

Aurora’s word, however, is MOVE, as far as I can tell. After reading the first half of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, I think we may be able to tweak things so that all three of us get the rest we need, and Aurora still gets good quality playtime with Mommy and Daddy. The thing that’s going to have to give is the all-afternoon outings. I think I’ve been sacrificing Aurora’s naps for my social life, and putting her to bed a bit too late, too.

The first day of our new regimen went pretty well. She woke up at 6:45 am, had a nap from 8:30 to 10:15 (perfect!), and then we went to Mother Goose and over to Mandy’s house for lunch. I took her home in time to put her to bed for another nap, from 3:00 to 4:45, and then we went for a walk. After dinner and a bath we had a glitch in the plan, though. Aurora and I had to pick up Daddy at the Skytrain station after his bike tire blew, so bedtime was a little late, and the lead up to it was anything but relaxing. Still in all, though, she was asleep by 9:30.

Today, however, was a different story. She woke up at 5:30 am. Is it a night feeding? Is she up for the day? Since she seemed pretty alert and playful after feeding, I didn’t put her back in her crib right away, and our naps have been screwed up ever since. My timing is just totally off today, and there’s been a lot of fussing because of it. But Mommy had to go to North Van to get her iPod fixed (again), so there we are.

I’m hoping someday soon this will all make sense and be second nature to us. I’ve heard that you don’t really find your groove until the second or third kid. Not an option. I’d prefer to be a mom with a groove sooner rather than never. Well, she’s up again. Gotta go!

Grandma Gail wanted to know what we did last weekend, so here’s the skinny. Mommy and Aurora went dress-shopping on Main Street on Friday and at Pacific Centre downtown with Selena and Barrett on Saturday. We decided that the big expensive stores are full of overpriced crap, so I’m going to get the lovely frock I saw at Bodacious on Main. Then we had dinner at the MossLams’ house Saturday night after Brian and Alex got home from work.

This past weekend was Daddy’s penultimate one-day-weekend, so we worked hard to cram a lot of quality time into Sunday. Uncle Jim called us to ask us to lunch Sunday, because he was coming into town for the afternoon with his son Kayden, his fiancée Lori, and Lori’s nephew RJ. They had to run various wedding errands, but wanted to see us, too. We met up at White Spot for a lovely lunch (what a great new menu!).

Aurora checks out her great big Uncle Jim. Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?

Mommy forgot to bring toys to the restaurant, so Aurora chews on a watch while hanging out with Cousin Kayden. They look so much alike!

RJ, Lori and Kayden enjoy a family moment after lunch.

After lunch we walked home. Daddy shows Aurora the bumblebee in the Rhododendron flowers in front of our house. She’s totally fascinated, now that she’s noticing things other than people.

Our tree finally has leaves! Maybe we’re weird, but we love hanging out on the front lawn or the front porch, watching our neighbours going by, rather than hiding in the backyard. Daddy took the opportunity to do some weeding, too, while Aurora and Mommy went inside for a nap. Later that night we had CPK’s BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad, sans jicama (the easy version – I’m not going to roast a chicken and make my own Ranch dressing, thank you). Delicious!

I don’t know… which one is cuter?

Teddy bear keeps Aurora company while we get ready to go to the Granville Island Public Market and Laura’s condo for our Mid-Main Mommies get-together this afternoon. (Thanks to Sabina & Jason for the cute hoodie).

Olin and Aurora are almost the same age, so there may be a little bit of rivalry there. “No, I’m gonna chew on this plastic thingy!”

Oliver eggs on the combatants from the sidelines with mom Amber.

As soon as she wins, Aurora loses interest. Are those tears in Olin’s eyes? (No, he just has a blocked tear duct). Oh, the drama of the under-1 set.