August 2015 Update

This month…

Thea’s Gramma (my Mum) came to visit. She drove 10 hours each way and was only able to stay two days. Hazard of owning your own business, but she always says it’s worth the drive, even for a short trip.

We went shopping, and I thought Thea was napping underneath the blanket in the stroller, until I caught sight of this in a mirror.
We went shopping, and I thought Thea was napping underneath the blanket in the stroller, until I caught sight of this in a mirror.

There was another hailstorm this month (see featured image at the top of this post). Of course, our garage has been full of stuff since the basement flooded, so my car was parked in the driveway. It got several shallow dents on the roof and hood. Still waiting for an appraisal on that one. The roof was also damaged, but we already had an approved claim from the July storm, so no extra paperwork was needed for that. A few days later, we realized there was also about a dozen holes in the siding on the north side of the house. We’ve just been approved for that replacement too, so that work will start soon enough. That makes four separate insurance claims in the past two months. Yikes…

Speaking of the roof, it was fully replaced this month and looks fantastic!

I sliced 10 inches off my hair to donate to Angel Hair for Kids. I wanted a change and a cut that would be easier to dry and style when I head back to work.

I feel so light!
I feel so light!

Thea started transitioning into day care. She and I went for two half-days together, and then she went for two more full days all on her own. She did amazing. She gives everyone a big smile when I drop her off, and I’m told she naps, eats, and plays well the whole day. When I’m back at work, she will be attending Tuesday through Thursday. I will drop her off in the morning, and Luke will pick her up in the afternoon.

Downside of day care – Thea came down with sniffles two days after our first half-day, and that led to the croup described in this post.

I’ve had my own health “challenges”, including two blocked milk ducts, one of which led to signs of mastitis (an infection in my breastmilk). Just after putting Thea to bed one evening, I found myself in a robe under two blankets and a cat, with two heat packs and I was still shivering. Despite the chills, I actually had a fever that topped out at 39.4C/103F. Luke was pretty worried, so my Big Brother and Sis-in-Law came over for the night in case we needed to go to urgent care and didn’t want to bring Thea. With a lot of help from Luke, heat packs, cold packs, a breast pump, and waking Thea for an extra feed, I managed to work out the blockage, and my fever was going down by 11 PM. I woke up and checked it again at 3 AM and it was completely gone. Having had mastitis once before (when Thea was 1 week old, I woke up on my birthday with it), I was glad I didn’t end up having to go into a doctor’s office for another antibiotics prescription. It’s just a pain because you have to be super-rigorous about taking them every 6 hours.

Thea’s favourite foods this month included cheese cubes, coconut Greek yogurt, peas, roast beef, and spaghetti. She’s been going through a lot of ups and downs in her appetite and pickiness. We’ve hit the, “I want what you’re having!” age. She’s far more likely to eat if we are eating the same thing next to her, or if I give her something from my plate. No more feeding the baby peas and carrots while we chow down on Kraft Dinner, I guess.

Yay, spaghetti night!
Yay, spaghetti night!

Luke’s sister is getting married in September, so he went paintballing for the groom’s stag and I went to a “Paint Night” for the bride’s stagette. Essentially, you are served drinks while you follow along with an artist to paint a canvas. I was thinking about it afterwards, and this was likely the first time in nearly 10 years that I picked up a paintbrush. I loved it!

My final product that I brought home. :-)
My final product that I brought home.

We had many visitors and playdates this month, it was especially great seeing a few of my cousins and getting together with some mommies from our prenatal class for what will likely be the last time before we are all back to work. We are setting up a monthly Ladies Night so that we stay in touch. I’m so looking forward to it!

Thea learned to “real” crawl, meaning up on her hands instead of on her elbows, army-style. She can also pull herself up to her knees now. She started doing both those things when she got home from her first solo day care day – I think seeing other babies motoring around had a positive influence on her.

Getting braver and stronger every day.
Getting stronger and braver every day.

I took advantage of one of Thea’s full days in day care to go back-to-work shopping, which inspired this post.

Thea’s favourite thing to do right now is hold onto our fingers and walk around. She will grab our hands and then try to tug herself up to her feet so that she can start walking. Not too close to taking steps on her own just yet, but it’s fun to see how proud she is when she’s marching around with us.

That’s it for this month, now back to my extensive to-do list. …Oh, wait, it’s 11:30 PM – Now to bed!

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