Babe's Trip To The Aquarium.

Last week J and I took Babe to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was really fun to take her somewhere that I used to take the kids I nannied. She's still too young to understand the animals but she really liked the lights, the reflection of the water and the moving fish.

Anyway here's some pics:

I think she actually liked this creature-less bubble window the best of all.

My favorite. The frogs.

Baby in a bubble.

J and Babe watching the sharks and the sea turtle.

Wormy guys.

In the underwater viewing area.

The Almost Bomb Scare.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

A couple of weeks ago I had taken Babe out for the afternoon so that J could have a quiet house in which to write a story for the local paper. On my way home I called him to see how much progress he had made and like usual with J the answer was not much. So I decided to stop by Richmond's brand new IKEA to check it out and give J a little more time without the baby around.

I was already pushing my luck with Babe as she had been out all morning visiting my grandmother but I was hoping she could make it one more hour without a complete meltdown.

I drove into the new IKEA parking lot - the kind that looks like an underground but is actually above ground, and started looking for a space. Surprisingly finding a spot was easier than usual - see this post re: the difficulties of parking at IKEA.

I was talking to Babe as I looked for a spot and didn't think much of the object that was sitting in an empty spot until after I had parked and was getting Babe out of the car. As I was grabbing my things to head inside it occurred to me that the mundane object I had hardly raised an eyebrow at was indeed odd and deserved a second look. So still happily chatting with my baby I pushed her through the lot back to the empty spot I had passed.

Yup. There it was. A big black suitcase calmly sitting in the shadows at the edge of a parking stall. I looked around to see if someone was nearby, maybe taking back a cart or loading their trunk with unassembled goods but no one seemed to belong to the bag.

At first I thought that someone had forgotten it but I'm embarrassed to admit that my second thought was more morbid. What if it's a bomb?

As a mommy maybe I shouldn't have stood there thinking over my options, maybe I should have ran. But since I'm new to motherhood I haven't yet fully abandoned rationality for my fight or flight instinct so I was compelled to stand there and decide if I was indeed worried about the bag.

Was it really creepy or was I just paranoid? Would I have thought twice about it in my carefree single days? Yes. It would have occurred to me a year ago that maybe there could, possibly, be a bomb in there but I wouldn't have worried about my own safety enough to do anything about it.

I hated to admit to myself that maybe all the terrorist hype had made its way into my psyche. That maybe I was buying into the fear. That I could actually be afraid of a suitcase in a parking lot on a Canadian Monday afternoon bugged me. It bugged me almost enough to ignore it all together and get on with my shopping. Almost enough.

Now I have a baby. It's not just me. My go-to method of dealing with fear is to pretend I'm not afraid and force myself to do what scares me. Claustrophobic? Take scuba diving lessons. Afraid of heights? Get your ass on the chairlift. Don't much care for big sharks? Strap on a snorkel and dive into the cage. But with Babe to protect it's different. I have to assess danger differently. I can't play the, "how likely is it really?" game anymore. I have to take any threat seriously.

I figured it's not out of the realm of possibility. It wouldn't be my choice target but a large commercial shopping centre, brand new and full of people could be on some sicko's list. I decided that now that I had seen the damn thing I couldn't as a responsible mommy just ignore it.

So I walked back to the entrance where I found a sullen employee begrudgingly stacking shopping carts. I told him that there was a suitcase left by itself at the back of the parkade.

I suppose I thought that he would react to this news in the same fashion that security at the airport would upon hearing this. Clear the area, halt all traffic in a three block radius, call in a bomb squad and detonate the thing.

But he really didn't seem to care. He mumbled something about "dealing with it later" and went back to his carts. Clearly he's not a mother.

Again I just stood there. What if there is no later? I looked around at the unsuspecting shoppers and down at my precious baby and felt...icky. I thought, "If I really think there might be a bomb why am I just standing here like a dumb ass?"

Just then a man came up to the cart guy and told him about the abandoned bag. And again the guy brushed it off. So I got mad and said, "You don't just ignore this. That bag needs to be dealt with now!" In all fairness I don't think the B-word even occurred to the poor guy. I think he just thought what most people would think - someone forgot their suitcase. But when the other customer said he thought it was scary too I felt a little validated and less paranoid.

However with that validation came the realization that I did believe it was dangerous and therefore I had to go. Now I felt too nervous to walk back through the parkade for the car...so I left it. Which was possibly stupid because once outside I realized I had a baby and nowhere to go. And if you've ever been to the IKEA in Richmond you know there's jack around it.

So I walked over to the old, now abandoned IKEA about half a block away (I felt this was a safe distance). Outside the building was a security guard who was keeping an eye on a man who was salvaging metal from the old store.

Considering the bad attitude of the cart guy I was concerned that he would forget about the bag, which meant I couldn't return to get my car. So I wanted to make sure it was being dealt with. I asked the security guard if he worked for IKEA and he said yes. I told him about the scary black suitcase. He looked bemused and said he didn't work for IKEA. "What the?" I told him he should report it. He told me he had no radio and to go screw myself. OK, he didn't tell me to go screw myself with his words...but he did say it with his eyes!

Dammit people!!! I'm trying to save IKEA and all it's ply board furniture wonderfulness!

It wasn't lost on me that just the mention of the word bomb can send Americans into a frenzy but here in Canada I couldn't get anyone to give it a second thought. I guess that's a good thing really.

It occurred to me that I could phone the store and report it but I quickly ruled that out. I once made the very stupid mistake of saying the B-word (in conversation, not as a joke or as a threat) in an American airport and was almost cavity searched by the feds (seriously - they really do freak out about that word). So I wasn't about to be the person who phoned in a bomb threat to the new IKEA. I think a small part of me still believes my name is flagged on a list somewhere. I decided I had done my part and screw them all if they ignored the suitcase.

But now my paranoia...or vigilant guardianship, whichever you prefer, had gotten me into an inconvenient predicament. I couldn't in good conscience go back for the car with Babe and we were too hot, tired and weighed down with stuff to find our way home. And I have no friends in Richmond that I can call on for a perceived bomb threat emergency.

So as ridiculous as this is I felt I really had no other option. I called my mom and asked her to drive into Richmond (about a 45 minute drive in traffic) to hold the baby while I went back into the parkade and retrieved the car. Hey. It was either that or hide Babe behind a dumpster while I went back. I certainly wasn't going to leave her with the useless security guard - he hadn't even been trusted with a walkie-talkie.

She agreed to the madness partly because she's my mom and partly because she's more paranoid than I am. Fifty bucks says she had a burn kit in the car with her just in case we were struck by shrapnel before she arrived.

Now came the shitty part. The nearby Starbucks had nowhere left to sit so I had to sit in the parking lot on a hot day with a cranky baby for 45 minutes while I waited for my mom to arrive. It really did suck and for that I fully believe in my heart that IKEA owes me a sofa.

When my mom arrived we argued over who was going to risk life and limb and go back for the car. I won. When I went back to get the car I saw that the scary suitcase wasn't there anymore. Someone had taken care of it. Guess it was just a forgotten bag after all.

So I went back for my mom and since we were already there and had wasted so much time already...we went shopping in the new IKEA.

I'm still embarrassed that I went through all of that over a suitcase, J certainly thought I was an idiot and you probably do too. But whatever, that's just motherhood.

Happy Half Birthday.

No more pictures Mommy!

The other day was Babe's six month birthday! I know every mother around the world has said the same thing but, "My little baby is growing up so fast!"

I know she is only six months old but she already feels so big.

Six months ago I was asking, "Who would ever have more than one child? You'd be crazy to intentionally go through all that pain again."

But now I'm already saying, "Who would stop at just one?"

As happy as I am that Babe is getting bigger, more fun, more personable and able to go out and enjoy more adventures, I sometimes miss my wrinkly little newborn with the baby lamb cries.

She is changing every day. Just this week she has started saying "da da da da" and "ba ba ba ba". And she is shaking her head no, although I don't think she knows what it means she just does it to make it more difficult to get the food in her mouth.

Even though some hours or days are really frustrating I try to remind myself to enjoy every minute. Recently some job positions have come available that I would have loved to apply for. But that would mean going back to work now and giving up on my next six months of maternity. Even though I  worry about forgetting what I've learned and getting behind my peers in experience I simply can't justify giving up on all that time with Babe. I worked so hard after graduation to earn enough hours to qualify for mat leave. Although a couple of these jobs would have been perfect for me, seeing the change in Babe from week to week just proves to me that I'll never have this time again and there will always be another job waiting. How lucky am I that I get paid anything at all to stay home with my precious baby?

But back to the half birthday. We didn't celebrate the six month mark. I just took some pics of Babe with her birthday balloon (which she thought was pretty cool) and I bought her a gift from the local baby boutique.

I got Babe this great bear! Isn't he cute? We named him Scribbles. I had my eye on him for awhile and finally decided to purchase him with Babe's half birthday as the excuse.

These dolls really are great. They are called Aminal dolls. They are 100 per cent organic with organic dyes, fabrics and cotton stuffing. They are also fair trade. They are certified by the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) which regulates the working conditions of employees. Aminals say they are "produced using the fairest, safest, most humane labour standards available".  And they are even compostable! So if you decide your kid has too many stuffys you can apparently just chuck your Aminal in the garden. I guessing he's take a pretty long time to break down into soil though.

I thought they were so great that I also bought a couple as gifts for some upcoming kid's parties.

Just Sharing: Take a Sip.

Just sharing the great Take a Sip scene from the Sex And The City 2 movie. Sorry the quality isn't great and there's subtitles but it's the only full version I could find on YouTube. I think most of us new mommies can relate a little.

The Ranch.

Black Mountain Ranch

To those of you who have been waiting for a post (and I know you number in the thousands) - I'm sorry. I literally have just been too tired. The days are full and Babe still refuses to sleep much longer than twenty minutes at a time, so when she hits the hay I'm not far behind. We have been doing a lot during the days but I just haven't had a chance to get it out here.

Once again Babe is asleep and I'm going to try desperately to squeeze in a blog post about our recent overnight trip before she wakes up and needs the boob again. And yes, I do realize that my child needs to sleep longer, for both of our sakes. And yes, we are planning on sleep training her. We were going to start last week but then she got her shots so I put it off for a couple nights. Then she started teething! So now it just seems unnecessarily cruel to leave her to cry it out. So again, sleep training is on hold.

Recently my friend R invited Babe and I to come down to her getaway at Black Mountain Ranch for a quick overnight trip. R has a place at the private campground near Mount Baker. It's a great set-up, everyone has their own campsite equipped with their own trailer, motor home, park model etc. and there is a variety of amenities and activities to enjoy such as horseback riding, pools, golf and outdoor concerts. It reminds me a little of the summer place that Baby and her family stayed at in Dirty Dancing. But with trailers instead of cabins and without all the dancing - although they may have that too, I don't know. Also the name Black Mountain sounds like the setting of a scary movie not a romantic comedy. Anyway...

Since Babe has her papers in order (a passport) it was super easy just to pack an overnight bag (OK, two bags) and jump in the car and go. Thankfully the drive wasn't too long because Babe still loses her shit in the car. 

R did get us lost which added some time to the trip and extended the misery a little but all in all Babe did pretty good on the drive.

The really exciting news is that I finally took Babe for her first swim! I knew she would love it because she is such a fan of the bath. The pool was a little cool compared to her warm bathtub but she loved it all the same. She squealed and kicked until she was getting blue around the lips. We must have stayed in for 40 minutes or so and she literally kicked the whole time. Then after her warm shower she passed out on the walk back to the trailer.

Of course I have a ton of pics and of course I'm gonna share a couple here. I have video too but stupid Blogger won't let me post it.

R is a gymnastics coach and she was really great at helping Babe practice her physical skills - something that J in particular doesn't do, he always holds her. By that evening Babe was actually standing for brief periods while holding onto the furniture. I know she is supposed to crawl before she walks and I'm working on it, but she really just wants to stand.

R and Babe also worked on her sitting skills. Babe is still a little weak in her upper body and so when she sits she just slowly folds over (forward) until she looks like a human taco. So R and I spent a little while holding toys up above eye level to encourage her to sit up straight. See...she's getting a little better.

I didn't bring her little support stand for the tub because I wasn't intending on bathing her, but with the chlorine from the pool I figured I better. So instead of struggling with the big tub, I just bathed her in the sink after dinner. Cute?

The next day we strapped Babe into the Ergo and went for a walk around the park and down to the ol' rock quarry (another scary movie setting). I'll admit this was the first time I've been a little nervous of cougars or bears. I'm a nature girl and I love the forest and I've never worried too much about creatures in the past but now that I have my own little cub to protect I was on high(er) alert. Doesn't she already looks so big in this picture?

And just for fun here's a pic of Babe's crazy hair. It's all falling out on the sides but the top just keeps getting longer and longer!

The next day Babe went to her first birthday party for my friend's little girl. It was a pool party so Babe got to go swimming again and she impressed everyone with her amazing kicking skills. She's gonna be an Olympic swimmer, just you wait and see.

And that evening we brought one of the kitties back from my parent's house. You may remember from a previous post that I brought her home a couple months back. However it didn't work out and she had to go back. Now she is home again and things are going better. Babe is old enough to notice the cat and she is quite thrilled by the curious thing that meows and rubs against her tiny toes. I love this photo of Babe happily reaching for the cat and the cat turning for the door. The blur shows you the speed at which the kid can lurch for the cat and the cat can say, "Ah! I'm outta here."