Here are a couple of pictures of Kira (most recent at the top)

Not too much going on

Nothing has really happened in the last week (no floods or fires), but Kira has had a couple of little milestones.
She is now able to sit up on her own. She will lean forwards to grab toys and still topples sometimes, but she is getting stronger and steadier.
She is also saying "mom" all the time, don't worry, I know that she doesn't know what she's saying yet! But it's pretty cute. I'm trying to teach her to say "dada" so that she will cry for him in the middle of the night instead of me. Hahaha
She will be turning 6 months old on Sunday. Man how time flies. We have started her on solids now, including finger foods. She eats cookies and yesterday tried eating banana pieces - those are a work in progress.
It's exciting to see how she changes every day. Yesterday she sat up in the tub for the first time. She's been trying to sit up for a while, but she kept leaning sideways with her feet out the side of the tub. We'll see what happens tonight!
She has also become a tummy sleeper. I put her in her crib on her back and she rolls over on her stomach and then falls asleep. I took a picture of her yesterday, she was having a little temper tantrum because she didn't want to nap, and then just fell asleep like this, too funny.

Good times continue!

We started sleep training Kira last Thursday night, and so far it really seems to be working. She goes to bed now between 7 and 8, and will usually stay asleep until 6:30 or 7 the next morning. As a result of her sleeping and napping better, her appetite has returned and she is eating properly again during the day. She put on a whole pound in the last week alone! Plus she is very smiley when she wakes up, and will usually play around in her crib for about 10 minutes or more until you come get her.

The flooring situation is still uncertain. The drying machines were removed on Wednesday, and the washing machine is being repaired right now. It appears to have been a faulty drain combo'd with a faulty drain hose. To be safe, the plumber is changing the hose, making a new drain, and replacing the water hoses as they are over 10 years old. The insurance adjuster was here on Tuesday and said that we will likely have to get all of the flooring replaced because it is unlikely the flooring company will be able to match the existing flooring. Having the floor replaced is both good and bad. Good, because it's brand new flooring that we don't have to pay for, but bad, because we have to leave the house for a couple of weeks while it is being installed.

This weekend is our 10 year grad reunion. It will be interesting to see everyone again and find out what they are doing with their lives. Kira will be going for her first sleepover at Grandma Tracy's and Grandpa Charlies. This will be the first night that she hasn't been with us, but I'm not too concerned about separation anxiety, and I'm pretty sure that Jon is looking forward to sleeping all day Sunday after I leave for soccer.

I'm going to try to upload a video of Kira in her high chair. We just got it yesterday and she loves it, especially because she can be wheeled around the house to see what I am doing. It was nice because I was able to cook dinner last night with her sitting in her chair watching me.

Hope that everyone is doing well and enjoy your last weekend of the summer '08!!

True Fold Show

On Friday night I had a night out with friends. We went out to a concert for a band fronted by an old friend from elementary school, Jessica Vaira. Her band name is True Fold and they had their CD release party in Vancouver. Turns out that one of her bandmates works with Jon at Radical so there were a lot of mutual friends. Small world.
The night began with sushi, yum. My friend Brian goes to this sushi restaurant all the time and orders a "sushi pizza". It's not on the menu, but they will make it if you order it. Check it out




After dinner we headed off to the Anza Club for the show. Jessica was at the front door when we walked in and she didn't even recognize me! It's been about 12 years since we have seen each other and she hasn't seen me without my huge glasses. It was good to catch up with her. Her brother, Mario, and her mom were at the show as well and surprisngly they still remembered me. We chatted briefly as they were quite busy prepping for the show. It turns out that Mario is dating another Lantzville girl, Robyn Hardy. Robyn was friends with my sister growing up and now is a successful childrens entertainer (www.bobsandlolo.com if you're interested). It was a fun night. the music was very good and it was great seeing old friends again. I hope to catch up properly with Jessica and Mario in the very near future. And of course they want to meet Kira. I couldn't resist showing off pictures of her at the show, I'm such a dork :)

Today's Lesson

The lesson of the day is to never turn on your washing machine before you go to bed or leave the house. If you do, this could happen:

Note the darkened areas at the edge of each piece of hardwood...yeah, those aren't supposed to look like that

The result is this lovely (and noisy) equipment invading your entry way to dry out your floor:

At least we have insurance to cover the costs, which are over $10,000 (thanks Mom!) and there should be no serious or permanent damage, just a few days of disruptive noise.

The week (so far) in review...

The week started out rough with Kira waking up at 5am most every morning, not fun at all. But it's hard to be upset when she has a giant grin on her face when she sees you and giggles constantly. That said, we are going to give sleep training a shot beginning this weekend. We had started it but kinda abandoned it after a night or two. I have ordered a book that my Mom friends have raved about, we'll start again following the recommendations from the book.

Tuesday, we went to go visit my friend Wendy and her daughter Eliana. Kira and Eliana get along quite well considering they are so young. They always smile when they see each other and seem to talk to each other. One will grunt and squeal, then the other will grunt and squeal in response. It's pretty funny. Eliana is almost 10 months old, she was born on one of the best dates of the whole year, Nov 17.

This is Kira and Eliana exchanging pleasantries...

Kira is trying to pull and eat Eli's hair and Eli is try to play with Kira's pigtails.

Wendy gave Kira her first "cookie" and she loved it! It's cereal in a cookie form and it dissolves quickly in her mouth...and all over her hands, face, clothing etc.

Wendy was kind enough to let Kira borrow Eli's walker. Kira had a blast! She kept moving backwards and trying to jump up and down.

Wednesday, we went back to the mommy group. The group was on hiatus during the summer and started back last week, but we were not able to make it due to Kira's eye appointment.  It was very interesting to see the kids and how much they have changed over the last few months and it was nice to catch up with the moms again. There were a few newbies in the group too with kids that were a few weeks old, it seems like so long ago that Kira was that little.

Friday I will be taking Kira out to our monthly luncheon with my old work crew. I was on a project team at Vancouver Coastal before my mat leave. The project has since been canceled and we were all laid off; most people were able to find other jobs within VCH so we try to get together every month to keep in touch with each other, but secretly, I think that everyone just wants to see Kira :).

That's about it for us. We are in the midst of trying to sell our place (again), so we have been keeping busy trying to keep our place clean, and trying to find a house to move to should we be so lucky as to sell our place. I have started back playing soccer and ultimate, so Jon and Kira have a lot of time together on the weekends. Jon really loves it, and Kira is always smiling and giggling for Jon. Daddy's little girl.

Hope you are all well and enjoying the updates!!

Labour Day Weekend

On the labour day weekend we took Kira on her first camping trip. We went camping with about 20 of Jon's co-workers and their girlfriends/wives/friends etc.
Despite my fears and worries of being away from home and staying at a place with no electricity or heaters, Kira did really well. Her sleeping the first night was not so great and we felt bad for the people sharing the cabin with us, fortunately, they didn't wake up when she was crying. Sunday we hiked to the beach, played some bocce ball, and just walked up and down the shoreline. Kira loved it because she was in her carrier the whole time and the wind was blowing - she loves having wind in her face. That night she fell asleep in her carrier while we were hanging out by the fire, I think all the fresh air got to her because she slept so well the second night!
We headed home on Monday afternoon, walking on the boat because Jon was stuck with the car until the 9pm boat (sorry husband!). Kira was so exhausted she slept the entire 2 hour bus ride home.
It was a lot of fun and I look forward to going again next year. We will have a whole new set of challenges because she will likely be running around all over the place, should be fun.


This is Kira on her first hike.


Hanging out at the beach


The camping crew