list-blog

So, it's about time I wrote something on here, no? Photo updates have been ruling the blog-roost, but with my husband around, warm weather and a pair of babysitters ready and willing... I haven't been online all that much. This long overdue update calls for a list...

1. Anniversary Getaway! Our trip to Toronto was great. Did I mention that we stayed on the Gold Floor of the Fairmont Royal York? I LOVE the gold floor! There's a lounge with complimentary drinks all day plus a full hot continental breakfast buffet (one of my favourite things ever, the breakfast buffet), plus appetizers between 5 and 7 plus desserts at night, all in the comfort of an exclusive, make-you-feel-special lounge. Wait, I should backtrack a bit here - before we made it inside the hotel to check into our gold floor room - we got pulled OVER, by the police. Pulled over right in the valet parking area of the hotel... for real! We'd been driving around for a good 15 minutes, trying to navigate the one-ways plus constructions closures, when a cop started beeping his signal at us and honking and Steve and I were both wondering if we were running a red light (no) or a pedestrian intersection (no) beep beep beep so we turned right and pulled into the hotel and pulled over. Longer story short, we were about to make an illegal right turn (temporarily illegal due to construction) but because we were from out of town and blah blah blah, we were given an $18 ticket instead of a $110 ticket. Why does this really matter? The fruit basket and macaroon platter (accompanied by a hand written note from the parking valet manager) that was delivered to our room an hour or so later would have cost much more than eighteen bucks. I love the Fairmont! And then, there was another platter - chocolate-covered strawberries (plus handwritten note) - when we got back from dinner, wishing us a happy third anniversary. Love it! This is my new favourite way to spend Aeroplan miles, booking Fairmont Gold. Anyways... onwards. Our 24-hour getaway also included dinner with Dan and Milka, a late breakfast, a movie (Jiro Dreams of Sushi), and minimal separation anxiety. It was so so nice to step out of the mom/parenting role for a day, and feel (sort of) free from all baby thoughts and feelings. I say sort of because of the baby bump I'm sporting; she's getting heavy and I'm getting bigger and she's moving around a lot and sleeping isn't as comfy as it once was... and so on. We also did a bit of shopping and walking around in the hot hot heat and hmmm, that's about it! It was great to get home to our little guy, who was, for once, way more into daddy than mommy (he wouldn't give me a hug) and who didn't seem to miss us at all (no mention of either one of us - at all). I hope we can make this an annual occasion - a night or two away, just the two of us.

2. Hendrik update-snapshot:

19 months

Favourite foods: He consistently likes raspberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, "daddy" yogurt (yogurt with maple syrup) and anything sweet (strawberry shortcake, cookies, cake, cupcakes). He also likes salmon, peas, beans and grilled cheese.
Favourite books: Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site is hands down his number one favourite.  Tiddler and Baby Sister are also regular picks, while The Tiger Who Came to Tea is off the shelf (so to speak - he won't let us read it to him anymore).
Favourite things to say: Before bed, he has a few regular phrases: "Mommy go bed too" and then, once in bed, he'll say, "Mommy put blanky on" and then after I've done so, he'll stand up and repeat, and we'll do the dance until I'm ready to just leave the room. He likes "What Hek (Hendrik) doing?" and "Where Gramma go?" "Where daddy go?" when Gramma or daddy leave the room. It's cuh-ute!
Favourite things to do: He loves swimming and being in the water, and knocking things down may follow as favourite activity #2. He loves helping out around the house - swiffering, laundry ("folding", putting things in the dryer), setting the table, wiping his tray after dinner, and wiping his face. He's also become quite the copy-cat, in speech and in action; grandpa blows his nose and puts it in the garbage? So does Hendrik. Mommy feeds herself mashed potato? Hendrik feeds mommy mashed potato. Reading is still one of his favourite things to do and apparently, just now, when Steve was reading him his bedtime stories, he decided he'd read Polar Bear Polar Bear What do You Hear by himself, and did. I have got to get that on film.


3. Preggers Update:
I am feeling more and more pregnant - which makes sense... I am more and more pregnant. We're into single-digit weeks remaining (8), and we are definitely not prepared. I mean, we are and we aren't; we have most of the stuff we need (bassinet, clothes, bathtub, rocker) but some of it is chez nous, and some of it is chez someone else. We need diapers and we need to look at one of those what-do-you-need lists, because we kind of forget. Is there more? I'm not sleeping as well and my belly is starting to feel a bit cumbersome but! we're getting more and more excited to meet our girl. Our girl!

Olympians!

4. We went into Toronto this afternoon to catch the Olympic Beach Trials and it was hot. And exciting. We watched Annie Martin and Marie-Andre Lessard win a ticket to the Olympics and then on the men's side, witnessed Binstock and Reader do the same thing. It's exciting that there will be a few Canadian teams chasing their Olympic dreams... if only it were Steve and Gavin and Duff and Freddy and the rest of them. Oh well! Anyways, after a few hours in the sun, I was ready to head home but first, we took advantage of our babysitters and had dinner in B-ville (Mexican) before Steve took me on a trip down memory lane. And then I made him stop at Loblaw's where I purchased Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream (President's Choice - so good!) and popsicle molds and then we came home.

That is all for now!