Where Have I Been?

When Isa was around 3 months old, we attended the Husband's company children's party and she received a Fisher Prize sorting toy (see picture). Needless to say she did not get to enjoy it right away and so I put it away until she was the right age to play with it. The toy says that it is good for children 6 months+ and so I waited to introduce it to her.

Well, I did just that, and what happened you wonder? As expected she had no idea what to do with it. I then tried to show her how you play with the thing but she still had no idea. Furthermore, she would get really frustrated with trying to fit the pieces in the holes and ended up banging on the toy and getting really upset. In the end I would take the lid away and use the toy to teach her the shapes and colours in Spanish. We or I, would build towers out of the circles, squares and triangles, I would also sort them into categories and by colours. Isa on the other hand could care less, she enjoyed destroying my towers and disorganizing my neatly ordered shapes.

After some time, I decided to just put the toy away and to bring it out later. Well, that time came a week or so ago and this morning while I was playing with Isa in her room, she takes the sorting game, takes the lid off and dumps all the shapes. She then takes a moment to sort the squares, triangles, circles, and stars into little piles. Then she lines up each little pile in a straight line. Once she is happy with how they are arranged, she places the lid back on the thing and turns it so that the right hole is in front of her in order to make it easier for her to put the piece in. My mouth dropped to the floor. I wanted to grab her, squeeze her, kiss her and laugh all at the same time. I could not believe that she had done it.

What a wake up call this was for me. I cannot believe that I missed her attempts at mastering this very important toy. I have to be honest and say that I wanted to cry with happiness at her accomplishment. I have no doubt that she has been able to do this for some time and I have not had any idea. It has made me ponder all the other things I don't really know she can do.

This is just another indication that my baby is not a baby anymore. But I am so not ready to see her grow-up. One thing is for certain though...she is lots of fun to play with.

You're Not the Boss of Me!

Mama...come with me.

I feel like lately I should be telling Isa this, the last few weeks she has been bossing me around and for some reason I have been doing what she says.

Frankly I feel like she has always bossed me around, when she was younger it had to do with feeding. I would quickly feed her at the first sounds of a whimper. I was always uncomfortable letting her cry for too long if she was hungry. As she got older it had to do with carrying her too much. Well now in her old age she is still at it and the Husband has told me that I have to take control of the situation.

I should say that it is not like she gets away with things that she should not, that is one thing that I have been able to remain firm on. It is more like she likes me to be in the place of her choosing. For instance, she tells me where to sit down on the couch, when to read her a story and what story. She does not let me lie down anywhere except my bed and if she does not want me to lie down at that particular moment she asks me to 'sit up mama' and takes hold of my hand.

She still does not like it when I am at the computer, she gets really upset and starts crying and pleading for me to stand up. I am not really sure how to handle this, lately I have been getting her to calm down and ask me in a calm voice to please stand up. I don't want her to think that I will stand up when she cries and whines. But I am not sure if I should let her think that she can always get me to stand up? I also don't know if this is something that at this age is fine and when she is older I will be able to provide some sort of distraction or explanation as to why I am at the computer. I have no idea.

The important thing is to be more assertive myself now and not let her push me around too much. I so believe that I have to set some limits, she does need to know that I may not want to sit in a particular place all the time or that I would like to lie down and that she is welcome to lie down with me or go and play with her father.

Okay, wish me luck.

For the Love of Reading

Today is the kind of day that if I did not have a billion and one things to get done, I would spend the entire day in my bed reading a good book. I honestly can't remember when my love for reading started. When I was young living in Nicaragua the only books I had were my school books and to be honest I can't say that I remember reading at all. I would rather spend my time playing in my room or outside with my friends. I also think that what did not help was that we were in a state of civil war and books were a luxury item in a sense.

My love of reading really began when I was around 11 years and I was introduced to the Toronto Public Library. I could not believe that I had the ability to take out any book I wished for free. In the summer time I would ride my bike to the library and spend hours going through all the stacks and looking at what books there were. I loved to read and read anything and everything. My favourites were the mystery/detective books, I loved to read Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I also liked to read the scary stuff such as Christopher Pike and R.L. Stein. As well as the 'dramatic' stories if you will of Judy Bloom and the Baby-Sitters Club.

Reading has always been a way for me to escape to a different world, imagine myself a different person and to put aside any worries or concerns that I may be experiencing for a short time. If I am feeling sad, worried or stressed I like to escape to my room and take out one my favourite books and read, such as any of my Agatha Christie books or Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. These are my sure bet books, I know that I can read them over and over again and still enjoy them.

I still love to go to the Library and browse the stacks to see what new author would interest me. I always tend to gravitate towards the Mystery section as I love a good mystery and enjoy spending a quite Sunday morning during Isa's nap in my bed with a good detective book.

Recently I have noticed how much Isa loves it when I read to her. I was struggling with reading to her because before she would grab the book from my hand and flip the pages herself not really letting me read. But now things have changed, she likes to sit on my lap holding the book open while I read to her. She no longer rushes or tries to take the book. In fact she likes to have it read to her over and over again. I have also noticed that she can handle books that have a longer story or require her to act out things.

This new interest and maturity that she has shown in reading has made be realize that we need to spend more time in the Library together. I want her to become acquainted with it and to learn the etiquette of being in a Library so that we can spend quality time there among the books. I am really enjoying this as I hope dearly that Isa will have the same love for books that I have.

Back From the Dead

I guess that the title post is a little melodramatic but it sure has been some time since I last posted. I can honestly say that I have no idea where the previous week went. I was so busy with work that by the time I had a free moment to blog the last thing I wanted to do was write some more.

Well, today will be a short and sweet post. I am spending the day trying to get a hold of my toy suppliers and make all my purchase orders for the rest of the year. My brain right now is busy with BabyThoughts stuff that I have nothing interesting to blog about.

I am going to leave you with a few pictures of our trip to Ottawa for Thanksgiving. We were trying out our new fancy camera and so I will like to show them off. Just be aware that just because it is a fancy camera the photographers themselves may not be doing it justice.

We had an amazing time at my MIL's place but had an absolutely awful ride back home that just remembering makes me want to hurl.

I am sure that I have mentioned how much I loath long weekend traffic and now more so with a two year old who spends the entire time begging to get down. And how can you blame her when you too are wishing to get down as well. Not fun at all.

So, like I was saying, we had a blast. All the goals that I set out for myself to accomplish I did. Eat...check. Drink...check. Relax...check.

The view from my MIL's balcony

Isa, doing quality assurance on the pumpkins


The Wakefield Train...this was Isa's highlight of the trip as she is in LOVE with trains right now.

F.Y.I. Friday

I would like to share with you the one store that completely changed my life. This store not only made me look damn good, but it gave me self-confidence, improved my posture and helped my back.


Secrets From Your Sister

If you have not heard of them, I would highly recommend that you stop by and check them out. Secrets From Your Sister is a lingerie store, but more importantly they will measure you and give you your correct bra size. Believe when I say that if you have not gotten measured by a professional you are wearing the wrong size. Even if your breasts are not large, you can still be wearing the wrong size.

I was introduced to them five years ago when I received a gift certificate for my bridal shower. I went to get myself something pretty and I came out crying with excitement because I had found a place where I could get a bra that made me look AMAZING. I do have to warn you that it does not come cheap but having clothes fit well, having your breasts look amazing and feeling so sexy in whatever size you are is priceless. Absolutely priceless.

There have been times when I wished that I could carry a stack of their business cards because I have walked by many women who are wearing the wrong bra. I just want to educate...I want them to feel as great as I felt. The thing to know is that it's not just women of a certain age and size that are wearing the wrong size, it is women off all ages and sizes from young little tiny women to more curvaceous ladies.

I invite you all to stop by their place and get fitted, you can then take that number and shop for your bras at whatever store you like or give your self a treat and get yourself something pretty and sexy from them. More importantly you should get measured every once in awhile and certainly after any big change in your body (pregnancy, after-pregnancy) because your breast size will change.

Happy Shopping!

Here Is To Baby's BFF

I am a little slow on finding out things...only recently did I come across the League of Maternal Justice and their message and mission. In the spirit of motherhood I have decided to step down memory lane to my early days in Breastfeeding Land and drag you all with me. I promise it will be a sweet and short trip.

I have to say that I was unbelievably-freaking-lucky to have had my wonderful doula at Isa's birth to teach me the ins and outs of breastfeeding. She was there to take Isa's little head in one hand, my boob in the other and put the two together correctly. Because of her hands-on approach I was one of the fortunate few who did not have cracked nipples or bleeding (please don't hate me. please).

Breastfeeding was the one thing that I was absolutely terrified about before Isa was born. I was not worried about the labour (boy was I wrong), not the recovery, the complete lack of sleep (I was in denial on this) or the taking care of a new human-being. No. I was was worried about breastfeeding and whether I could do it, whether Isa could do it, whether it would be the most painful thing on earth and whether I would be able to stick it out. Though I knew, read, heard or guessed that it would be work, one thing I had no idea about was how lonely I would feel.

At the beginning when I was trying to get comfortable managing a small baby, undoing my maternity bra and correctly placing the baby to obtain a good latch, I would feed in private. If I was out, I would excuse myself and find a private place, this was so lonely because I would spend the next 15-30 minutes (I really can't remember how long it took) with just Isa. Amazing as she was she was not such good company at the beginning.

But just like everything, things got so much better, by the end I was feeding anywhere and everywhere. I did not care and I got so good at whipping out the boob that I did not feel self-conscious or awkward or embarrassed. I did what I had to do, I was always discrete and the efficient Isa was always quick. If there is a lesson to be learned, it is that you must persevere because the reward is too good to pass up.

Now it is a distant happy memory and hopefully just like riding a bike, it will be like I never stopped so when baby #2 comes along I will be able to get back on it with ease. Not that this is happening any time soon.

We are back now, that was not too long and too mushy I hope. It was nice remembering the good-old days, if there is one thing I miss about breastfeeding is not having to worry about what to feed Isa. Maybe more importantly is that I was always sure that she would love it. This is not the case anymore.

The Dark Clouds are Dissipating oh so Slowly

For the last couple of days I have felt very down and unsure and stressed and worried and ...

I have been struggling with some work related things that I have been finding quite challenging. I have always felt overwhelmed when first confronted with an unfamiliar task and once I have taken some time to evaluate what is needed and tackle it in small pieces I get over my worries and fears and get it done. True to form the same thing has happened with my newest work project, it certainly helped that the Husband was able to talk me away from the ledge and get me to break things down into manageable pieces. He also offered his help which I am so grateful for.

And so today I was able to get a small but very important part done and sent off. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and I can move forward onto the next step. Positive thinking. Positive thinking. Must have positive thoughts.

Alright, enough of this whining I am going to go and get my lunch ready...I am re-heating left-overs from last night and later on I will make a banana bread to use the very very ripe bananas that we have.

If you want a fast and finger-licking good recipe for Pork here is what I mad last night. It is courtesy of Chatelaine magazine:

Rosemary Pork with Pears

1 pork tenderloin
1 tbsp each of Dijon and chopped fresh rosemary
2 firm ripe pears
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Preheat oven to 450F. Place pork in the center of an oven safe dish and coat all sides of it with both the Dijon and rosemary. Slice pears in half, lenghtwise and remove core. Drizzle pears with either maple syrup or honey and place around pork with cut side up. Roast until pork is well cooked about 20 to 25 minutes, serve and enjoy.

Yum Yum Yum!

A Little Bit of Walking, A Little Bit of Partying and a Whole lot of Fun

This was a very busy weekend for me, we had two parties to go to, lots of work to be done on the site and had to head downtown to walk the 5K for a great cause.

It was a wonderful weekend full of family and friends, Saturday we went over to my in-laws to celebrate my father-in-laws' birthday. Isa was in her usual spirits and the grandparents were eating her up. I have been teaching her the words to Feliz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday) for over a week now in order for her to sing it at her grandfather's birthday. But she got stage fright and was not able to perform. All in all it was a great Saturday, the food was finger-licking good, the conversation was easy-going and we ended the night watching my new favourite show, Entourage. Love it.

I had to turn in early on Saturday as I was going to pick up Her Bad Mother at the indecent hour of 7am, 'cause we had to be downtown to meet up with the others for 7:30. And because I always panic that I will miss the alarm and wake up really late, I kept waking up every hour before I really had to get up. So I was up at 4 am, 5 am, 6 am... you get the picture. Needless to say we got downtown fine and after a great deal of cell phone tag we were able to meet up with the other walking comrades.

For those who may not know, we were taking part in in The Scotiabank Toronto Marathon in support of Her Bad Mother's nephew Tanner who has Muscular Dystrophy. It was such an eye opening experience for me because I had never taken part in any of the walks and had noooo idea how big of a production it would be. I wish that I had brought my camera but like my cell phone I left the house without it.

It was an amazing experience for me and one that I hope to make a tradition off. I found those that were doing the half and full marathon awe-inspiring. It was also so much fun meeting the other fabulous blogger ladies and put a face to the blog. If you stop by let me say that it was very nice to meet everyone, hopefully we can get together again...but maybe not so early.

...On to the second part of Sunday.

I got home and was 'invited' by Isa to play with her, she likes to boss me around and tells me to sit down on the floor and play. She also tells me when she likes to nap and when she likes me to watch Dora with her. I was finally able to convince her to sleep and headed to bed myself. But my sleep never came, I lay in bed in the darkness for two hours willing sleep to come...it did not.

And so, I got up and got things ready for the Big Birthday Bash. Just like the Summer Birthday Bash, we were all getting together to celebrate the birthday of all the fall babies. It was a huge success with everyone coming and having a fun time. The kids played, ate, danced, ran around, fought and made up. We adults ate and drank and got caught up on our lives. By the end I was ready to pass out from exhaustion but was still able to watch the end of the Season Two of Entourage.