Find Frankie

Just like where's waldo but no stripes

Happy Three Month Birthday Frances Moon

Happy one-quarter-year itty bitty rock star!

These last few months have passed by so fast and yet we can barely remember life without you.

You are so curious about the world around you. In fact, it is this insatiable wonder that likely keeps you from sleeping all that often. There is so much to explore and you aren't going to miss any of it. You love to watch us and have started to notice the comings and goings of your fur brothers. You are reaching out and exploring your home with your hands and just last night figured out how to suck your thumb. Already you enjoy standing up and testing out your strong baby legs and you are beginning to share your very own little laugh with us.

For me it is still the mornings - when you wake up full of smiles and squeals - that are my favourite part of the day. I could sit and drink in those big beaming eyes for hours. I think this - your moments of post-sleep happiness - should be a passable excuse for lateness and absences ... oh hi dentist I know that I am late but that little baby was so smiley I couldn't very well just walk out the door.

So much love,

Your Mom

Driving Miss Frankie

Frances has decided that she hates the car. With every fiber of her baby being. She loved it when she was first born but not anymore. I've given up hoping that her disdain is a result of being alone in the backseat since it can strike at anytime.

I know we can't stop traveling in cars but this is exactly what I want to propose when we're staring down a twenty minute trip home and she's inconsolable. She seems to get so sad and no amount of talking or singing or hand holding seems to help. Poor little bug.

Quite possibly our new means of travel

Black and White Afternoons

One Armed Bandit

Things I can now do with one hand:

1. Blog

2. Put dishes away

3. Make and eat oatmeal

4. Put on mascara

5. Pee

My Little Monk Fish

I'm not very good at inventing nick names. This why everyone is affectionately called dude or ... wait for it ... duder. But there's something about this little peach that inspires some undeniably silly ones. Duck. Birdie. Bug. Bubba. Monkey Pants. Monk Fish (a cookbook revelation). And this week - Bud Bud. Oh my.

The Princess and The Pee

There were three in the bed and the little one said "roll over." They all rolled over and one fell out ...

Today we bought our first piece of new furniture since moving into our home a year and a half ago. This means two things: we know a lot of very generous people who have gifted/handed down much of what fills our rooms and we love used/antique furniture.

We spent the afternoon shopping around and managed to piece together quite a good deal. We'll pick up our new queen mattress/box spring on Saturday and our bed arrives on Monday afternoon. We're pretty excited about it since we've both made do with various mattress-futon combos since leaving our childhood homes many moons ago. Car and house and baby and its this - a real bed - that makes us feel like we've finally crossed the adulthood threshold.

Frank helping us test mattress firmness

We'll probably move our current double bed into Frankie's room. With a little creative rearranging this should still leave lots of room for her and her accoutrements.

This looming rearranging did get us thinking about something we had read about before the wee one was here: the Montessori bed. According to the Montessori philosophy, infants and toddlers should be put to bed on a crib mattress on the floor - not in a crib. This encourages them to be more curious about their surroundings (which they have a better view of) and to get up and explore (their very baby proofed) room once they are crawling and walking. They don't have to cry for Mom or Dad when they're ready to get up and so it helps to instill an early sense of independence.

The more I think about this the more it makes sense in other regards as well - we wouldn't have to worry about crib accidents which seem to be an all too common occurrence today and which already make me really nervous (she's not in her crib yet). And although we've already bought one, the crib is probably the most expensive baby purchase most people will make. For those soon-to-be Mums and Dads struggling to pull together the resources to prepare for baby this could be a very viable and cost effective alternative.

The Littlest Birds

This is Frank this afternoon watching her mobile. Watching her mobile! She really likes it despite the fact that a few of the birdies dip well below their branches. She's been eyeing it from her change table for the last few days and so we've started to lay her in her crib to let her get a better look at it.

I don't know that it will ever lull this little night owl to sleep but she sure is entertained by it.

Hats Off (Or On)

Its been so lovely here these last few nights - you can feel the onset of a crispness in the air. I used to covet the hot hot heat but not this summer. Toting around an extra nine pounds can sure make one sweaty, especially when the nine pounds likes a good steady bounce.

Our walk this evening was cool enough to warrant a toque ... and what a sweet one to warrant! Frankie's Grama knit this as a "going home from the hospital" hat but it was too big at the time. It fits just perfect now, keeping ears and head toasty, and will get lots of use well into the fall.

Also, see the finger in the mouth? She's been working on that since day one and its finally coming around. It takes a lot of baby concentration to get one or two fingers away from that tiny fist. She still gets a little confused if she tries to soothe herself with it when she stirs in the night. It generally results in a half open hand being mashed all over her face sleepily looking for a mouth. Poor little bug.

Inbox (1)

Frankie has never really been a fan of tummy time: we place her on her tummy and before we're finished telling her how much fun tummy time she's telling us otherwise (loudly). Some baby books suggested having tummy time on mum's or dad's tummy so that the babe is almost face to face with you. That was also an unequivocal no. But this boppy tummy time seems to work fairly well. Maybe because its easier for her to check her e-mail like this.

Paper or Plastic?

I think I could probably start a separate section on here for baby flea market finds. Frankie and I headed down today at noon and found this sweet little suit. We also found some cute pants, a Christmas outfit and a perfect pair of tiny brown shoes. She's a very thoughtful and measured shopper.

Catbo

We've decided to keep this chair for him after Frankie grows out of it. He loves it so much. As soon as we brought it downstairs he wiggled his big kitty bum into it. We put the tray on and that only increased his affection for the bumbo.

Daydream Believer

Things have been pretty busy this week at FMC headquarters. Until they settle just a little here are a few snaps from last Sunday's journey out of doors. We have the perfect patch of evening shade in the backyard for keeping delicate baby skin away from the sunlight.

Hi Ho Timber

Couch Surfer

A Mumma's Lament

Dear Frankie,

See those cute polka-dot pajamas you have on? Your da put them on you for the first time last night. While I was overwhelmed by just how adorable you can be, it was with the slightest twinge of sadness that I smothered you in kisses. Until now those pajamas have been in the “when you grow a bit” section of your dresser where we put everything that we once couldn’t imagine you fitting into.

I know we were just at the doctor and there was official confirmation of the effect of your voracious appetite, but these pajamas still took me by surprise. It’s like this year of your life is divided into a series of stages and we’ve just closed the door on the first one. Or maybe, given how your toes are now poking at the very end of your infant pajamas, this door closed a little while ago and I’ve just had my foot stuck in it. Either way I’m not sure I’m ready.

I constantly find myself anticipating the new experiences that lie ahead of the three of us – feeding you tastes of strawberry ice cream in the summer and teaching you how to make sloppy backyard mud pies in the spring – but I think this is the first time I’ve grasped how quickly time passes by when you’re a parent. If there is any possible way you could continue to grow up and stay exactly the same we would be much obliged.

So much love,

Your Mom

Fancy Footwork

Aren't these lovely? After heading for a run on Wednesday and finding that my knees wanted to go home half way in I got to thinking about my runners. I've had them for almost eight years. They have served me well. So well in fact that I never thought of replacing them before now. This is probably taboo for someone who uses them as much as I do, but seriously, they seemed to be working fine.

So on Thursday Frankie and I headed to the mall in search of a new pair and found these. As soon as I tried them on I knew they were the ones. They fit perfect, are really comfortable and have great structural integrity (which the poor old pair lacked completely). I tried them out this evening and their awesomeness prevails. I think they (and not going for long walks in five dollar flip flops) are definitely going to undo the wrong doing that's been done to my knees.

Up In Smoke

Last Friday Frances had her two month check-up. She weighted in at 10 pounds even and measured 23 inches in length. Although she's not exactly tipping the growth charts she is getting up there.

The two month check up also meant the first of her immunizations and she took them like a real champ. There were the cries of surprise and the cries of "how could you" but both were soothed pretty quickly with a little cuddling.

At home after something to eat she settled into a nap to sleep off all the excitement. Half an hour later she woke up screaming. Screaming. The doctor said the shots may give her a fever and make her a little irritable for the next two days. A little? The poor thing was out of her mind.

We gave her the recommended dose of Infants Motrin and within twenty minutes she went from baby Gordon Ramsay to baby Cheech Marin. She slept for the better part of the following forty-eight hours and was unbelievably mesmerized by things like parkas when she was awake. I suspect if she could have she would have swiped the cheesies and orange-pineapple ice cream when we weren't looking.

This one of my favourites of Frankie's dresses. It was mine when I was little but that's not why. Its my favourite because someone kept this dress tucked away for thirty years - it went along on every move, survived every spring cleaning, and was returned each time it was borrowed. I think that's quite a feat. Especially today given the pace at which new replaces old.

We don't hold onto things for too long around here or hold onto too many things but as Frankie grows I'm going to make sure that I set aside her special and favourite outfits. Starting with this dress. So that in thirty years she can marvel at how tiny she was and share them with the tiny people in her life.

Tuesdays with Frankie

Black Gold

With the exception of the first few months (when even the smell of anything caffeinated was off the menu) I drank coffee while I was pregnant. One cup of home steeped goodness a day (well within the recommended daily values since this feels like Confessions of a Bad Vessel).

But I stopped drinking coffee when Frankie was born. Knowing that sleep would become a valued commodity I didn't want to eat or drink anything that would turn her into a first year university student the night before exams. I figured that within a week or two I'd be over the withdrawal and over coffee altogether. Not so. Ten weeks in I was still a brown-throated three-toed sloth. All. Day. Long.

And so on Sunday I drank my first half coffee-half decaf from Tim Horton's. That s**t is magic. It wasn't just that I was more awake. I was more awake and more giddy and had the patience of Job.

I'm officially back on the brew and it is infinitely better than I remembered.

Shhh ... Baby is Sleeping

If Mums designed the world there would be no potholes big enough to wake a sleeping baby and all motorcycles would have silencers.

Bless The Beasts and Children

Beasts and boys considered each other. They smelled each other. And suddenly boys of fifteen, fourteen and twelve were children once more. An emotion filled them, a tenderness that none of them had ever known. Peace descended on them and they were not afraid. For a moment, or moments, it was as it had been in the beginning, before fear, before evil, before death, when the earth was new and living things flourished therein, when the earth was fair and all living things dwelt together as kindred. For a moment, or moments, beasts and children were friends, there in the sweetness and silence of the night, there in the calm and the lovely fields.

Glendon Swarthout

Bless the Beasts and Children

Say Cheese

Today Frankie and I popped into the print shop to pick up some pictures. While we were there we met a sweet older couple waiting for passport photos. They told us that they had two of their own children and then six foster children five of whom they were able to adopt. Love seeped from these two and no doubt. Six foster children! The size of their hearts! I was in awe.

Frankie Finds Her Voice

In the last week our quiet little baby has become a noisy little baby. A couple times a day a mood strikes and she spends the next twenty minutes squealing and singing to anyone who will listen. It cracks me up. Tonight after her bath she was belting out the tunes. Ten minutes in we decided to grab the video camera from the car and ... silence. Eventually, one of her favourite tunes got her going again.

(If you're short on time she quiets again at about a minute and a half)

Atta Girl

Bumbo Try ...

Bumbo Win!

Run Lola Run

One of the biggest differences between new born Frances and now Frances is her predictability. When she was wee wee anything was possible especially when it came to her appetite. On any given day she would eat for forty-five minutes and be famished again ten minutes later. This made it kind of difficult for me to get out of the house alone at all ever.

As she's grown she's settled into some pretty steady eating patterns. Now she'll last anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours between feedings. And so tonight for the first time in almost a year I laced up my runners and hit the pavement. It was wonderful beyond words. The batteries on my Ipod died before I hit the end of the first block and I was way underdressed for the misty nighttime weather but it was perfect. I might not be ready for a marathon just yet but I am looking forward many more of these late summer and early fall evening excursions.

Frankie's First Hike

We set out for a hike on Isle Madame today but made a last minute decision to explore the Coxheath Hills instead. This saved us nearly four hours of driving and we were excited to find a serious network of trails practically in our backyard. The downside? This trail wasn't in our trail book so we didn't exactly know where we were going or what to expect.

Turns out "hills" was a bit of an understatement as we struggled straight up for an hour. At the pinnacle (with a beautiful view) we were faced with a choice - follow one of the new trails that now lay ahead of us or go back the way we came. The last time we chose one of the new paths on a previous hike we spent two hours wading through swamps and thistle brush. So what did we do this time? Chose a new path of course. An hour later we found ourselves back at the top of our original path and starting our decent with just a little less breath and few more bug bites.

Frankie aced her first hike and first extended period of time in her snugli though. She slept through just about all of the lost segment of the afternoon.

Strawberry Suit Saturday