Wrennie stands up in her crib

When I blog, it sort of acts as a diary/record of our lives that we will be able to look back on...so long as blogger doesn't crash and dump all my stuff. I also love keeping my family (especially the ones who don't live in the city) and friends in touch. And when it comes to Wrennie milestones, it's even more fun to share!

I caught Wrennie trying to stand up in her crib on camera. I love when that happens!

Her little knuckles turn white as she grips the crib.

A little bit of grunting happens with a look of sheer determination.

And then...

...up she comes!

Look at that proud face. She was sooo pleased with herself, until she forgot to hold on and did that whole "whoa whoa!" fell backwards thing and laid there in shock for a few seconds wondering what just happened but didn't really mind because she knew she did something great.

Funny Moments with Wren

Below is not necessarily a funny moment, but it's always cute how the helmet sort of pushes her one eye down a bit to create an interesting look for her. 

I did make that sweater, probably my favourite one too. It's such a sweet pattern and really soft.

I know you can't see it that well, but that is our new area rug that finally came!

So this made me laugh yesterday- Wrennie fell asleep in the Jolly Jumper.

See the eyes closing...closing...

Pretty much out. Poor thing. No, I did not let her sleep in there! She went to the crib instead.

Sometimes I prop her head on a pillow and let her feed herself a bottle. She usually drinks it to some extent, but then she gets playing with it and squeezes the nipple and shoots milk all over her face. This morning was no exception.

Some new things she is doing: 2 days ago Kenton called me while I was out and told me that she was sitting in her crib and grabbed the railing and pulled herself into a standing position. We were so proud! And then went.."oh crap" and had to lower the mattress in her crib. 

It's sort of like her trying to crawl...we are excited for the day she finally gets it because she has been working so hard on it, but then it will never stop...and up go the baby gates. I kind of just like plunking her down anywhere and she mostly stays. 

We also took her swimming for the first time a few days ago too. She loved it. We put her in a floater thing where she sits inside of a ring thing and floats around and pushes herself with her feet. Before we got into the pool I was feeding her some of her bottle on my lap (she was already in her swim diaper and bathing suit. Note: swim diapers aren't really diapers, they just catch poop really and don't absorb anything.) So the obvious happened and she had a good pee all over my lap. One of the many reasons people should shower before they go for a swim.

Her second top tooth is breaking through. It looks sore. She has been a bit grumpy lately because of it.

So since we have come back from our trip, that is what is new with Wrennie!

Whirl-wind trip to B.C.

Wrennie and I joined my parents on a 6 day trip to the Island to Campbell River, B.C. to visit my mom's dad, my Grandpa Farmer.

He had not met Wrennie yet, and with his health failing, I wanted to get out there to see him and introduce him to his great granddaughter.

We knew this trip would not be easy, since my parents had originally decided to drive...and we had a 7 month old in tow. Sleep deprivation was ahead.

The first day took us 12 hours, and we didn't even get to Chilliwack to stay the night like we had hoped. We ran into obstacle after obstacle whether it was construction or an accident the whole time. It was so frustrating! We stopped at our first hotel and had our first nights stay...Wrennie did so well. 

Here she is in the morning all happy and cozy!

We were up early and driving to the ferry. I had never been on a ferry this size before...I was excited.  

We didn't make it to Campbell River until the evening the next day. We were exhausted to say the least, but so happy to have arrived.

After spending so much time in the car, Wrennie did about 5 rolls in a row on the bed and buried her face into the blankets, squealing with delight! I wasn't sure if we would ever get her back in that car seat again.

That night we had dinner at a local seafood restaurant...you can't come the coast and not have seafood!

It definitely didn't disappoint, especially on one jambalaya dish of salmon, shrimp, scallops and mussels that my dad and I nearly licked out of the dish.

The harbour was beautiful and the weather was amazing and hot, in true B.C. style. I unfortunately spent the evenings in the hotel room putting Wrennie to bed and watching tv, but the watching tv part wasn't so bad...it's almost like a treat when you don't have one at home!

Did I mention Wrennie started teething her 3rd tooth? It's so cute...but poor thing was so sore.

The third day, we went to visit Grandpa Farmer. Wrennie being Wrennie was a little apprehensive of this new person...

...and she had a couple of tears.

But she quickly got over it and warmed up to everyone. 

My Grandpa is has another family of his own in B.C. with his second wife, Ophelia. 

This is his daughter Stephanie and his son Stanley. Wrennie loved them instantly!

Funny sidenote: My mom's hand is in the picture because she was trying to catch Wrennie's spit up. Nice mom.

This is one of my favourite pictures from the trip. Grandpa liked to watch Wrennie as she tried to crawl, and talk and sing to everyone.

Here is my dad and Wrennie by the enormous tree in my grandpa's backyard!

My mom and grandpa visit.

We had a couple of picnics outside in the backyard. Ophelia made us such great meals where we ate, and talked, and ate, and watched Wrennie do cute things, and ate some more.

We also begged Stanley to play his violin for us.

Wrennie watched him play- she listened so intently. 

Here we are, 4 generations!

This is their home, beautiful!

And this is the view from the beach just a few steps away from their place on the main stretch of road. 

Now we are on our way back home on the ferry. It was plus 30 that day outside...but it was perfect on the deck of the ship. 

A ferry ride is interesting with a baby, mostly because you have to arrive early to get on at the time you want to, and then the ride itself is 1 hr 40 min long. Sooo...at some point your baby will probably need a nap during that time. My dad got the job of having her fall asleep in his arms on the ship and hoping she caught some zzzz's amidst the noisy bustle around us.

Wrennie loved it all. She did so well in the car with only one meltdown the entire trip. She napped as we drove, and I would take her out to play while we were moving, and stopping only for the occasional fuel up and bathroom break. I even changed her poo diapers on my lap as we drove! We were on a mission to get there and get back home. 

While her and I were gone, Kenton spent time with friends, and doing projects around the house. 

I am so glad we went, and also so glad to be home. 

This was a really special trip all in all. It meant a lot to all of us, especially my grandpa and his family I think, that we came out. There were tears, mostly from my mom, but a lot of joy to have this chance to get together. 

Happy Canada Day

This has not been the day I expected! But Happy Canada Day to you :)
Kenton and I started it off by helping our friends paint their house. Before we even left the house, I was feeling a bit dizzy and queasy but I thought I was just tired. Two hours later I ended up laying on their bed with my eyes shut, and told Kenton we should probably get going because I kept feeling worse and worse. So we came home and I napped and Kenton took Wrennie to the barbecue at Nana & Papa's that we were all supposed to go to.
Since we don't own a tv, we have been watching tv shows on a website that has basically every show and movie under the sun. We would often wonder how it was possible to have a website running like this...but didn't think much of it. Thinking staying at home wouldn't be too bad considering I could watch a bunch of episodes of 30 Rock, I clicked on the site. I didn't expect what I saw- A United States federal announcement that the page had been shut down because copying and replicating this material was illegal.

I knew it was too good to be true.

So I sorted through our movies to see what I would feel like watching for the 100th time. We have a terrible collection. Seeing nothing I could even succumb to watch despite my lack of entertainment, I saw the new Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law that we borrowed from my dad...who borrowed it from my brother in law, Cam. Anyway, I stared at it...and put it down and watched some Saturday Night Live clips on the Global TV website, which finished quickly, and I was bored again. I can barely sit up at this point and figure I am not going to read a book either, I am nauseous. Getting over the fact that the movie looked ridiculous and full of special effects and fighting...I just put it in. And watched it. And sort of got into it, except for the end which got even more stupid with bigger fights and special effects. I was wishing so bad to have a girly movie to watch instead.

Now I am feeling up to sitting up at the computer and blogging my boredom away.

I am looking at what new pictures I have to post for you to all see...and missing my Wren-Wren. What did we do without her?? We tend to do that on dates too, or even just when we give her to our parents to be babysat for an afternoon to get things done. We sit there talking about everything we forget to talk about during the day, and then start talking about Wrennie. And then we start talking about how cute she is, and how we want to squeeze her chubbies, and how much we love her, and then we start to really miss her...and kind of can't wait to go pick her up. We. Are. Saps.

As you can see, we brought out the high chair. When researching how long a baby can use a Bumbo Chair, we found that they go to 22 lbs. Wrennie is 21 lbs 3 oz. That explains why we have to wrench her butt out of it every time.

She thought it was super cool.

Speaking of missing Wrennie though, on Sunday, her and I leave for Victoria to visit my grandpa (my mom's dad) who has not yet met her. He is ill, and has been struggling with heart problems. I know it will mean a lot for him to meet her. We are going with my parents who previously planned a trip out there for 6 days. We are all driving down, which is probably better. And thankfully, Wrennie likes car rides. Her longest trip was to visit family friends of the Jeske's in Red Deer a few months back. She slept the whole way. I know she won't sleep the entire 10-12 hour trip, but hopefully she will do well. Kenton is already dreading us leaving, he is sweet like that. We are going to miss him too!

I think I am going to paint her toes a sweet lilac before we go :)

I might have had Ichiban noodle soup for lunch...and a piece of dry toast...with ginger ale to top it all off. I know, I feel sick, look sick, and eat sick food.

I hate being sick.

P.S. On the very bright side, we no longer live in the apartment just off of Sask drive...and today that means that we won't hear every Canada Day celebration including fireworks and party animals. So, despite being sick, I'd rather be sick and here than sick and there. Get it?

Helmet Appointments

Helmet appointments are always an adventure in themselves. The most uninteresting part is the actual meeting with the therapist- it's everything before and after that is so strange sometimes.

(I know she looks like another baby beat her up, but I swear it's just the lighting in the photo on her face. When it's hot out, she likes to lounge.)

If you have never parked in the U of A East Parkade, you are lucky. Apparently Kenton and his co-worker did all the signs in it when he worked for Cygnus. He said they tried to make it run more smoothly in there. In my opinion, the whole parkade sucks, especially when people in their big dumb trucks try to drive through. The last appointment we were at, the ticket dispenser to get inside ran out of tickets and a huge line formed behind me as we waited for the parking lady to fill it. An old man came up and asked what the hold up was. I was already 15 minutes late for my appointment, but hey.

Sometimes I give Wrennie a snack in the cafeteria if we arrive a bit early, or after the appointment. I have a problem eating around sick people...and shockingly, there is a lot of sick people in a hospital cafeteria.

Finding my way through the hospital can also be a challenge. When they decided to renovate one corridor, it really threw me for a loop. That was the same day the parkade ran out of tickets in the dispenser. I have been to the hospital about 6 times or more in the past few months...you think I would know where I was going by now!

I have to fight parkade traffic, pay to park, get lost, eat in gross cafeterias and deal with the occasional cranky therapist. I am there once every 2 weeks, unless something is wrong like my child develops a nasty rash after I asked for moleskin to be put in her helmet to protect her reddening skin and they say "oh poo poo to you" and send me off making me need to re-book an appointment for the following Monday because oh weird, the mother of the child was right after all. Sigh. If it weren't for the fact that we have seen some small improvements this past month, we would have thrown the helmet over a bridge.

You guessed it, we were at an appointment today :)

But this was a good appointment. And our friend Rachel was working and stopped by to pay us a visit and hold the "Wrenster". That made our day!

I should be making supper while she is napping. But I rather blog. I just don't feel like touching ground chicken and forming the mess into delicious meatballs and spaghetti at the moment. I just realized I have been spelling "spaghetti" wrong my whole life until now...spagetti...spaghetti.

I am also not hungry. I might have stopped at the delicious Duchess on my way home and grabbed a few different kinds of desserts because I was curious to know what they were like. And I ate most of them. Except the two chocolate croissants for Kenton and I to have as a treat tonight...but I feel like barfing now...I really screwed that one up.

Don't look now, a booger. There is also something on  her nose.