Christmas shopping

Today was our big day to get out there and shop for Christmas presents... if this seems last minute to you, let it be known that for our family, it's actually quite a bit ahead of time (last year we finished shopping on the 23rd).

Normally, we would put the girls into umbrella strollers and set off. They're surprisingly hardy on snowy and icy sidewalks. But it was unthinkable to take any kind of stroller out today on our sidewalks.



Luckily, we have two child carriers (read: backpacks). One heavy-duty one from MEC and another that Derek actually used to ride around in! So Maïa climbed into the big one (much to her delight - you have no idea how many times she has asked to ride in it!), and Solanne got strapped into the vintage model... and off we went.



And what shopping trip would be complete without a break for lunch at the restaurant? Maïa loves going to the restaurant; in fact, she plays "restaurant" in our bedroom. She brings all her food toys and dishes in there and has a little party. Sometimes she even invites her sister. So today it was a special treat for the kids not only to visit a culinary establishment but also to sit next to one another. I am happy to report that they were incredibly well behaved. They made us proud (as always, of course!).

Clean up

Once the snow had slowed (though not stopped completely), Derek and Maïa went out to shovel and clean off the car. You might be able to make out Maïa cleaning off the car with her mitt... it would take a long time to do it that way!! Derek gave her a hand spade (you know, the little ones you use to garden) so she could help him dig out. Mostly, she just played and ate snow.

Welcome to Montreal

It has been snowing all night, and as I write this, it's still going. School buses aren't running, daycares are closed, our street is almost impassable. It is winter! For those of you not in this part of the world, here are some images...

This is our car... somewhere under there...


This is our street, with buried cars


This is our livingroom window


Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Tufty

When she was born, Solanne had a fine dusting of blond hair on her head, just as her sister had. But there was one difference: Solanne had this little bit of dark, thick hair on the side of her head, just above her left ear. And when her newborn down fell out, the tuft of hair stayed, stubbornly. And it often stuck out, defying us to tame it (which has always been impossible).

So when Solanne's hair began to grow back, the tuft remained, longer than the rest and defiant as ever. Nowadays, it's generally only noticeable to us, sticking out ever so slightly (though still untameable). But yesterday, it came back in full force, so I had to capture it for you.

And this is how Solanne got the nickname "Tufty."

Milestone: A visit to the ER

It has been a hectic week here. Last Thursday, Maïa got sick and then got a runny nose. She's recovering alright. Then Solanne got it, and it was a whole other ball of wax.

On Tuesday, Sol developed a fever, but it was low-grade and she was pretty much herself, only she slept a little more than usual. That night, she slept poorly (and a so did Mum!). Then yesterday, she was limp and listless. She slept in my arms most of the day. By the evening, she had a 40.1C fever (about 104F). I brought her to the emergency at the Children's Hospital.

We got through triage quickly and saw a doctor right away. Because Solanne was so weak and hadn't eaten or drank anything all day, they decided that they had to put her on an IV. To me, this was good news because I knew it would make her better. What I didn't bank on was the horror she would feel at being poked and prodded the way she was. I am not complaining, because I know it was all necessary, but it was hard to watch them insert a catheter to get a urine sample, and even more heart-wrenching to watch helplessly as the nurse tried three times to get a vein, only to have two of them collapse. The third stayed. In went the IV, and Sol's little arm was taped to a board to keep her from bending it.

I felt terrible for her. I couldn't believe that my little girl had to go through this. Once they had a good drip going, we were sent to Observation, where we spent the night. Solanne had to stay on the IV until she was willing to drink. Well, there's one thing I have to say for my girl: she has her opinions. She did not want to drink. So we stayed until 5 am, until I convinced her to take a few sips of pedialyte. And we went home, groggy, but happy to get back.

Through it all, though, I am immensely thankful. One: that the only thing wrong with her was an ear infection and dehydration. Two: that we have a medical system that works, most of the time. Three: that I didn't have to pay a cent to have access to quality care. Four: that we live in 2005, and not 1905, when a high fever and an ear infection might have killed my baby.

And as I type this, Solanne is in bed, fever-free. By early this evening, she was walking around again, talking, signing. She even learned two new (verbal) words this evening: "suce" (pacifier) and "dada." All in a day's work for her, I guess.

Christmas decorating

Tonight, we got our home ready for Christmas. There's nothing like a deadline to get us moving, so we planned a Christmas party for Saturday (for colleagues of Derek's). Last night, Derek set out the Christmas knick-knacks and put up the tree. Tonight, when Maïa got home from daycare, I put the lights and garland in, and Maïa helped put the decorations on the tree. Of course, if it were up to Maïa, all the ornaments would be on one branch. So we've taught her that they have to go on different branches. Then the decorations were on the lower third of the tree. Don't tell Maïa, but I had to move a bunch of them.

So for your viewing enjoyment, here are shots of our tree: pre-decorations, and post-Mom-intervention decorations.

The magic of disappearing

There is something magical about babies. Beyond the diapers and the vomit, the sleepless nights and the lack of a social life, the crying and the whining, the mess and the mayhem... beyond all these, there is the magic of wonder. Wonder in the sense of awe, but wonder also in the sense of "I wonder what in the world she is thinking?"

Being home with Solanne every day, all day, I know her better than anyone. This was not true with Maïa, with whom I was home for about 7 months, and then I set off to work while Dad stayed home. So this is all new to me. A few months ago, pre-signs, pre-words, Solanne would look at me in a certain way, and I would know that she needed a drink, or to be picked up, or to go to sleep. It's always been obvious to me but a great mystery to those observing us (especially those who do not have children of their own). It was like we had this cosmic connection, or at least a cosmic joke, just between the two of us. But it was more than that.

Our communication was subtle. Without a word, Solanne could convey a need, a feeling, a mood, and a wish, all at once. And, if I wasn't immediately busy with her sister or some other task, I would happily grant her wish. Her looks were infinitely more complex than a word might ever have conveyed. And because of it, she seemed, even as an older baby, to have a deep wisdom, one which people often associate with newborns.

Formal communication has begun to remove this mysetery, this connection, between the two of us. Now, when she wants to drink, anyone who knows that an index finger to the mouth means "I'm thirsty" can fulfill her wish. Of course, it's less stress on me, and I'm thrilled by the fact that she's started to "verbalise." But it's like she's slowly being taken from me and given to the world.

This, of course, is the plight of parenthood. I love these two children more than anyone in the whole world. I would do anything for them. And for now, they love me more fiercely than anyone else (I share that honour with their Dad). But one day, and I know it will feel like seconds from now, they will grow to love others more. And that's normal. And that's devastating. So I hold onto them a few seconds longer than they would like when they come over for a hug, peek in on them when they sleep, soak up their laughter with every fibre of my soul because I want to keep them mine just a little longer.

@ Nana and Grampa's

Every year, around this time, the descendants of Nana Sandie and Grampa Ken come back home to prepare the family homestead for Christmas. So Mum and Dad packed up the girls and headed out to eastern Ontario (there's no town: it's in the middle of nowhere, which is great!). It was also uncle Pat's birthday, so we celebrated that, too.

Now preparing for Christmas at Nana and Grampa's involves the usual: you know, decorating, listening to Christmas music, eating lots of food... In the decorating realm, there are a few things that one must know to fully understand what it means to decorate Nana's house: there are a lot of decorations. They date back to before Nana and Grampa even met. Every year, there's one monologue that goes like this:

Grampa: See those decorations? I brought those from Toronto, from the place I shared with Marilyn (his sister). Those date back to... geez... 1972, 1973!

And there's also the decorations that Derek and his brothers made when they were little - paper snowmen, construction paper trees, a graham cracker house that we have to warn the kids not to eat... And they all have a special meaning. Last year, our little family added to the home-made decorations. Maïa made a paper ornament that has her little handprint on it. So there are many things that need to find a spot in the house, and we all help out (luckily, along with the accrued number of decorations over time, the family has also grown, so there's more help... I think it all evens out in the end).

There is one more part of the decorating that is a mainstay in the house: the Village. I imagine that at one point in time it was called the "Christmas village," but the name has had to change over the years. Now it's more of a snowy scene of bloody violence. I guess that comes naturally in a house of boys (ah, the special grace of God to have sent us two girls...). Since I have been around to help decorate, Derek's younger brothers have always set up the Village, so I just thought the violent tendencies were theirs alone. Turns out I was wrong. This year, Pat and Derek worked together on the Village, and it's just as gory as ever. In this incarnation, there's a three-way battle going on, the details of which I'm sure Derek could explain far more intricately than I could ever try to do (or really want to).

I must admit, though, that setting up dioramas is lots of fun. And I must also admit that the guys are really good at doing it, and I laughed more than once as I took a look at their work (and then again much more, as the two photographed their work with great care). So I've put some of the pics up here so that the faithful readers of this blog could get a little insight into Derek and his brothers... and to chuckle along with all of us who witnessed the Village first-hand.

I think that we will add in a Christmas village into our own tradition. I look forward to seeing how it evolves over the years as the girls add in their own touches.

P.S. Happy Advent