The first thing was that I was nursing Evie in the morning and Dan came to say goodbye before going to school. In his “singing voice” he addressed Evelyn and said goodbye and without missing a beat she looked over at him for 30 seconds while she was still eating and then back at me when he stopped talking. The second exciting thing was that she made it the whole way through a bath without crying or screaming. We did two things differently this time and I don’t know which did the trick: first I played her the JC Bach CD during the bath, which she should know by heart now as I played it for her in utero and during the delivery and I was also topless. Maybe she was just mesmerized by boobs, but it worked. Speaking of boobs, I am constantly surprised when I see my reflection in a window or mirror. Like when I was pregnant, but different. Better. The good thing is that the general growth in that area kind of masks the “post-pregnancy tummy” a bit – everything is larger in proportion. I also made an appointment for a haircut next week and there was a fire down the street this morning. Evelyn also got out of her diaper when I was out making the appointment. Who said maternity leave would be boring??

The cosleeping is really turning out great. I get so much rest now I feel guilty. She eats a lot less during the night and then has a big breakfast around 5-6 AM. We almost have the opposite problem of last week – instead of not having enough milk I actually woke her up to eat last night since things were getting a bit too uncomfortable. Go figure.

A few nights ago Gwen was changing Evelyn after a big poo and once the diaper was off, according to the eyewitnesses at the scene, there was some “projectile pooing” which shot out and all over Gwen! It somehow managed to miss most everything else, including the couch (thank goodness) but Gwen definitely had to wash her clothing. Which leads me to an important piece of advice: the best way we have found to get baby poo stains out is to spray with a wonderful product called Oxyclean (the liquid, not the powder), let sit 5 minutes and wash in cold water, spray again and wash in warm or hot water. If it isn’t possible to wash right away, then it’s best to soak the article in question in cold water with some detergent.

I have also learned another wonderful thing this week – the best way to clean the windows is … to hire someone else to clean them. If you live in Montreal you have probably seen the ads posted on lightposts for window cleaning (with a happy sun shining on The Mountain). I knew it wouldn’t be possible for us to get them clean ourselves and they were filthy from the pollution on Sherbrooke street. I expected that it would be really expensive but it turns out it’s ridiculously cheap – he came to our place, brought tarps to cover our stuff, cloths and non-toxic cleaning supplies, and cleaned the inner & outer, upper & lower windows and the screen (which constitutes one “set”) for $8 a set. Seriously. They are so clean now you almost can’t see them. The only question that comes to my mind is “why ever bother trying to clean them yourself again?”. I would recommend this service to everyone. If you want his phone number just email me and I will send it to you.

Evie had her first doctor’s appointment yesterday and I am happy to say she has regained her birth weight and a bit more. I am really pleased about this since we had another bad week last week – it seemed like she wasn’t getting enough food again and was very upset. I had to supplement with some formula a few nights. Out of desperation I called a lactation consultant (from the West Island Breastfeeding Clinic) on Monday and she came over for 2 hours. She had some very good advice. I knew most of it already “in theory” but it really helped having someone there to put it in practice. She strongly advocated co-sleeping to make the nighttime feedings easier so I have been trying it since Monday night. I had thought about it before but was too afraid to try it.

Oh. My. What a difference! I think part of the problem was that Evie seems able to sense when she is alone and when she is near someone. If she is left alone she usually wakes up very soon after being put down (which is why I would end up nursing for over an hour since I would try to put her to sleep 2-3 times), but if she is near someone she can sleep for hours. Since we have been co-sleeping she has woken up to eat 2-3 times between midnight and 6 and doesn’t eat for nearly as long as when I was feeding her on the couch. I think she gets a lot of comfort from being right near us and doesn’t cry at all unless I take her out to change her. The only drawbacks are 1) that I am super-paranoid that she will get too close to me and 2) that when she poos I have to get her changed right away. Her cloth diapers are a bit large around her legs still and depending on the volume and force of the poo, it sometimes comes out the sides. Fortunately it’s hard to miss since it is a very “explosive” event and even if I am asleep I wake up to hear it.

Another amazing thing happened when the lactation consultant was here – she encouraged us to let Evie sleep on her side a bit and after she had fallen asleep we put her on her side and she rolled over on her tummy by herself. The really crazy thing was that she was already making some pushing movements with her legs which is at least foreshadowing of crawling. We sat with her on her side again today and she rolled over and was able to wiggle around quite a bit in her sleep but wasn’t awake enough to try and lift up her head. I really need to try this with her when she is awake and see what happens.

Then we looked through some other albums and I found a book my mother put together with information about her various family members that had passed away. I found out more about my uncle Alan, who died of leukemia when he was only 10. She had photocopied some of the letters he wrote from the hospital and also a letter from the school where they had sent my grandparents some money to help with the cost of his hospital stay (in the days before public health care). It was really sad to read about. After that the family decided they couldn’t keep the farm (my grandfather was also frequently ill) so they moved to Medicine Hat and my grandmother worked in the hopsital there; my grandfather was too ill to work. He died not too long after that. What makes it particularly sad was that there was so little in the way of medical intervention back then – my grandfather had pneumonia 5 times during his life and still worked hard on the farm despite how sick it made him.

I also have my mother’s baby book and it was really interesting to see how different her childhood was from mine and from that of kids today. There was no doctor present when she was born (at home) and I doubt my grandmother even saw a doctor when she was pregnant with any of the children. My mom’s birthday presents were usually “The Royal Bumps” (i.e. birthday bumps). How different things are now! Parents can’t get away with giving simple presents anymore (“but mooom, Angie got a new ipod!”). I have personally had so many doctor’s appointments I feel like I’ve seen someone every 2 weeks. Since September I have seen my obstetrician 5 times, the dentist once, the optometriest once, my family doctor twice, had two blood tests and 4 ultrasounds! I used to grumble when I had to take off an hour early to keep a doctor’s appointment and now I’m used to taking a half day off and waiting 1-3 hours for each of these appointments.

Yesterday we had a little picnic in the park and the weather was very mild. It snowed today but we will see if it lasts – I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it is already gone. Tomorrow we’re planning to go out in the (late) morning and then eat out for dinner. We still have to make the anise cookies sometime this week, not sure when that will be yet.

Speaking of sweet I had to take a glucose test today and drank a nasty orange flavoured thing with 50g of glucose in it. Yuck!

When I was in Alberta my cousin asked if I had seen the new Canadian TV show called ReGenesis. Since we only watch Lost and an occasional Dr. Who episode on TV, I hadn’t heard of it but decided to look into it. When I came back my co-worker asked me the same thing and lent me the first season. It’s incredibly good. We just watched the first two episodes so far, but we’re hooked. It is well produced and looks high quality. The science is actually believeable, and while fictionalized and accelerated to make the plot more intense, is based on real techniques. Unlike other “investigation” shows on TV, I actually care about the characters. And it’s Canadian, which means you see people wearing scarves and parkas, not bikinis and short shorts. There are flattering shots of the Toronto (as opposed to Miami) skyline and product placment shots for Ontario wine. Go molecular biology!!

I just got my first real spam in about three years. Spam sure has (d)evolved since I last received one. I enjoyed reading it so much, I have posted it below for your enjoyment. My comments in italics.

My Dear, Ok, first of all, the only people who get to call me ‘dear’ are Dan and my family – you, however, I have never met and suspect are a bot, so back off!

Compliments. For what? I’ll make something up … hmm … how about ‘Compliments on our astounding genuis?’ Gee, thanks!

I am Mr. Hans Verkoren, Member of the Executive Committee (ING) (FSI) Post Bank N.V. The Netherlands. Congratulations, sounds like a cushy job. But why are you emailing me from an address in Italy?

I was a former Representive/ C.E.O of an Oil Company in Russia. Whoa, I don’t even want to go there!

I seek your partnership in using your name and informations to Re-Profile Ten Million Euros(10,000,000.00), of a diseased kept in with our bank located in Europe. I don’t want a diseased anything, expecially 10 million of them!

You will be offered 20% as management fee for investment in your country or outside your country in which you will advice me because my status does not permit me to own such large amount. I’m not so sure my government allows me to own such a large amount of foreign stocks & bonds either.

Please this transaction requires strict confidenciality because the fund is not for us, it is only a fortunate discovery. Hmm, not so sure on what you mean there. If it’s not for us, who am I managing it for? But heck, with a fortunate discovery like this, who cares?

also i don’t want any black mail when fund have been claimed. Nor do i. I’ll take this email as a binding contract, ok?

If you are interested, write back WITH YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION LIKE PHONE AND FAX NUMBER,YOUR FULL NAMES AND ADDRESS.by Email Or Fax [&tc.] Wow, I’m sold! Count me in!!! I sincerely hope we can help those poor diseased out. And when do I get my cheque…?

Friday was a very tiring day for a number of reasons. One of the people I’ve worked with for 2 years had her last day on Friday so we had our big goodbye. We also had a scare with one of the pieces of equipment in the lab, but everything was fine in the end. I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning and stayed late to make up some of the time as well. So when I got home, I was quite surprised when Dan said “So … instead of going shopping tomorrow morning, do you want to go tonight?”

We were planning to go air conditioner shopping today and were going to go to the big Reno-Depot in NDG. There were a few other things we wanted to do as well and it turned out that we could go them all if we went to Marché Centrale. We wanted to get an LCD monitor with our tax refund (something we’ve been planning to do for years but have been waiting for the prices to drop). Dan had a particular monitor picked out had was looking for the cheapest deal. He phoned a certain computer/electronics store in Marché Centrale and not only did they have that model, but as the box had been opened, it was discounted. This isn’t the first time we’ve bought electronics at a discount because they were either returned or the box had been opened. Dan seems to have a knack for finding these kinds of deals.

When I was in Toronto I had bought some very nice clothing at the H&M store there and I knew that one had opened in Pointe Claire (which would mean taking a bus to the West Island … not likely) and another one was opening in Rockland mall just near Marché Centrale. Dan hasn’t had much luck finding clothes he likes here (at least ones we can afford) and I told him he should try H&M when it opened. I didn’t think the one in Rockland was open yet, but when we phoned, it was! So we printed out the addresses, hopped on the next bus, and made our way to Boul. Acadie.

Dan has been to Marché Centrale a few times but I have never visited. We ended up walking from the Metro (a good 20 minutes) before we reached Rockland mall. The street is really busy with traffic and the sun was setting right in our eyes, so we were quite happy to reach the mall. The Rockland mall is pretty ugly from the outside, but actually quite nice inside. Dan said it had been renovated and looked better now. By this time it was already 7PM and everything would close at 9. I looked at the women’s clothing but wasn’t too impressed. The H&M in TO was three floors large and had some very nice semi-formal clothes, but unfortunately all the clothes in this store were summer-casual and not what I was looking for at the time. Dan, on the other hand, did some power shopping and within 20 minutes had picked out three pairs of pants and several shirts. It was the fastest I have ever seen him shop!

We hadn’t had anything to eat, so we stopped in the food court and Dan suggested we could go to A&W for old time’s sake, but it turned out they didn’t sell any beef products including bugers! Really, what’s the point of having an A&W if you don’t sell Teen Burgers? So, Dan had a sub and Quizno’s and finally succeeded to get some of those pickled peppers they used to give in Edmonton and I tried that Thai Express place, which wan’t bad for fast food.

Stage two involved going over the new Acadie Circle (which actually looked quite nice for a highway overpass) to the electronics store and Dan and the sales guy had a long talk about the monitor. They opened the box, plugged it in, discussed the warranty and specs, etc.. I wandered around and found the cheap DVDs and bought A Fish Called Wanda for $12. Dan was worried about taking the monitor home on public transit and suggested we could take a taxi. The only problem was that we couldn’t find a payphone and there was no taxi stand nearby. The backup plan was to cover it with a large bag or carry it in a box, but they didn’t have any in the store. There was a Canadian Tire across the street and we still had 10 minutes before closing, so we ran over and found some plastic garbage bags, covered the box, and caught the bus. When we got home we watched the new movie with our big fancy new LCD screen. I think we’ve had our quota of mall/outlet store shopping for the year.

And as for the air conditioner? Well we never made it to the Reno Depot in time, and still haven’t decided if we should get one…