Soulreaper

Mika had a grand time doing the site survey yesterday. She digs downtown. I wonder if this means at 13, she'll shave off most of her hair, colour the remaining fire engine red, and hang out in the pedways trying to pan some coin, even though I will have given her $20 that same morning?

She didn't scream when she saw Anton this time. In fact...(and I quote) "she stared through my head and into my dark soul".

Mika is currently in her high chair trying to bite the head off of a stuffed kitten.

126 days and beyond

OK..I'm done with naming every post based on the days being written about.
Lesse..
Last Sunday, Nana came over for dinner (Yes, Mom, you're next!! Toni asked before you did!). Daddy grilled up almost everything except the frozen yogurt. We had beer can chicken, grilled asparagus, grilled fresh corn with daddy's homemade spicy butter, and grilled bananas with frozen yogurt for dessert. The bananas were SO good..done with a honey rum glaze.
Monday we hung out at home and then went to visit G. Yesterday we went out to the Devonian with Nana. She's doing a piece on Elizabeth's garden out there, so she interviewed Elizabeth and took a bunch of photos. Well...it's technically Bill and Bonnie's garden. Elizabeth is Bonnie's Mom and she comes out to stay with them for the summer and helps out around the place. Though cloudy, it was still gorgeous out.
Mika will only hold her own bottle when Daddy feeds her. I wonder if its a survival instinct...

So...I think we have to head downtown today to meet with Anton and do a site survey. We're setting up a totally new network for a company. Mika's first business trip. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, working is usually far too much fun. It just feels like its been so long since I have had to log into a router and fight with it. Or assemble a new server from its gajillion boxes of parts. Or deal with Windoze period. Ugh. Windoze. Freak out man...licenses, service packs, wonkiness, oh my!

Mika - Dirty Deeds

Mika - Dirty Deeds
Originally uploaded by Lucas Thompson.

Photo by Uncle Lucas.

She'll take the whole bottle, thanks...

Ack! I just trundled downstairs after feeling a disturbance in the force. There was Mika sitting with her Daddy drinking a bottle by herself. What goes on while I sleep? The baby can hold her own bottle now, the highchair is broken, and Daddy's making roasted red bell pepper butter.

Congrats Catch-Ups

Congrats to Carmen and Aaron on the birth of Elijah Stanley Davis on May 29, 2005. Can't wait to see you guys and meet Eli when you come home for Xmas!

Congrats to Josh and Kiera (sp?) on the birth of their son. Heard it through the grapevine and am trying to get a hold of 'Grandma' Arnold to get details, such as name, birthdate, etc.

Congrats to Colette (sp?) and her hubby on the birth of Kye! Danny tells me Kye weighed in at 9lbs, 15 oz. and was born naturally WITHOUT DRUGS!!!

Happy 18 Week Birthday, Mika!

Woohoo! 18 Weeks! She's getting up there now! Mika can roll from front to back and back to front, but rarely does she choose to do so. Only when it is inconvenient, such as when I put her on a towel on the floor in the bathroom while I shower. Once she is sure I have shampoo dripping down into my eyes and stuff, then she will roll and scootch under the vanity so that I have to rescue her.
Mika picks up toys and passes them from hand to hand and ,of course, shoves them into her mouth.
She talks up a storm.
I think her happiest times are when she gets rescued from her crib after waking. You've never seen a baby so delighted to see someone.
Mika gets upset when she is not the centre of attention.
She's eating at least 4oz. per feeding lately. Hopefully, she'll start gaining weight more rapidly.
While she finally grew out of Size 1 Disposables, she can still wear most of her 0-3 Month pants..though they are now shorts or capris.

Today will be a usual day. Mika will have a nap, then a bath. We'll head to the mall to pick up the list of supplies that we need. We'll come home and meet up with Daddy and then head over to visit G for awhile. Tomorrow we may or may not go for a visit to the Shermans. Haven't heard back from them yet...

Days 124 and 125

On Wednesday morning, Auntie Laura came and picked us up to head over to St. Joes. G was scheduled to receive a medallion and certificate from the Province for being a centagenarian. G is actually a few years older than the province. Mika had fun..she slept, she screamed, she stared. When G went for a nap, Auntie Laura, Mika, and myself headed back to Auntie Kim's place for a garden picnic of sorts. We sat out back in Auntie Kim's screened in gazebo all afternoon. Mika got to meet a dog! Cousin Brutus..cutest little beagle cross ever! He is such a nice mellow dog. He looks like a Holstein sausage.
Yesterday was not so fun. The weather kept us in and Mika and I slept a lot. After Daddy got home and we all had dinner, it was off to the local health clinic for Mika's 4-Month shots. Last time, she was mid-freakout when the needles struck, so it wasn't so bad. This time, Mika watched as the needles penetrated her soft wee leg. And did she scream! She is a tough little thing so the screaming only lasted a minute. No bad reactions again this time. Yay!
Mika weighs in at 13lbs, 6oz. A cause for concern at the clinic because she has dropped to just under the 50th percentile for weight. Despite that, she is a seemingly healthy, happy baby. She's just long and thin like her Daddy. If I may, I must say that I prefer her to be that way then short and squat like her Momma. :-) Mika is 24.25 inches long...now in he 75th percentile for height. She is growing..just slowly. Mika fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep until around midnight. She had a power feed and went back to sleep until 6 this morning. Not too shabby!

Days 122 and 123

A usual day yesterday. Hung out, ate solids, went to the mall, came home, went to visit G, went for an evening walk. Much like today might be..its so nice out!
Mika has this new thing. She wakes in the night and won't go back to sleep for an hour or so. Doesn't matter if she wakes at 1AM, 2AM, 4AM, whatever. It now involves uptime for too long than either of her parents really want to deal with.
My left side is killing me today because I spent the night on Mika's floor. She would fall back to sleep, then wake crying 10 mins later. This went on for (I think) about an hour...maybe longer. Long enough that it was easier for me to snooze on her floor and wake to comfort her from there than wander between our rooms. I hope this stops soon. Please let it stop soon. My shoulders and back can't take another night sleeping on her floor.
Mika is being somewhat of a terror today so far. She refused her cereal, is whining in her gymini, screaming now and again. I wonder if she is cranky from her wakeful period in the night? I know I am, so it wouldn't be surprising if she is too.

Hmm..

I hate intel. I dont care if a couple of my systems already use intel processors. I still hate them. I hate their flaky mobile network cards too. I also hate the Blue Man Group.

I miss Woodwards...I was thinking that the other day, then noticed a note in one of jenandtonic's photos showing a Woodwards-purchased tambourine. Freaky. The Woodwards meme or something. Hmm..tambourine. Mika has a mini accordian, marching drum, and drum kit..she needs a tambourine too!

I enjoyed the movie Team America, World Police. I am going to watch Meet the Fockers soon...cuz I am a chick and can do things like that.

I hate mosquito bites.

I love crazy Butterflys that fly into my face on their path to wherever.

Days 117-121

OK..due to sleep deprivation and general brain dustiness, I cannot recall with any great detail what we did late last week. I think it rained for a couple of the days and that Mika and I went to the mall shopping for supplies as always on Friday.
Mika didn't do anything special for her 17 week Birthday, except decide that she hated slow flow bottle nipples. She digs the fast flow and eats without much gassiness or spitup. Think I can find the fast flow nipples in the style that we need for the majority of her bottles? Nope. Went to various Safeways, London Drugs, Zellers, etc. and no go on fast flow. Ah well..I'll find them eventually...like by the time she is using the spillproof cups. Mika also had a visit with G on Friday, but no pics this time. Mika also didn't sleep in our bed at all that night either. The first time she slept all by herself in her room in her crib. 17 weeks and gaining independence rapidly.
For Mika's 4 Month Birthday, she and her parents hunted all over the westend for fast flow nipples. We also went and dropped off a floor lamp and vacuum cleaner to Goodwill. Once I took apart and cleaned out the old canister vac, it worked OK again. May as well give it to someone. I was even so nice as to include a fresh new vacuum bag in it. I am so bloody generous, eh? Mika went to bed well that night. She ended up in our bed though later. One night alone was enough for her apparently.
And then Father's Day! We were up fairly early as usual. Daddy opened his present..a tshirt that reads "I'm like a Superhero with no powers or motivation", a new yo-yo trick book, kiss my face patchouli shave cream, and some body shop after shave balm. He always get spoiled. We got Mika in her highchair, tied on a bib, and started feeding her solid food. Good old Pablum rice cereal. Mika loved it. I was so surprised that she was able to eat so well having never done so before. She finished her bowl and topped it up with 4oz of formula. Her lunchtime feed was a bust though. No go. At supper, she wolfed down the cereal and a bottle or two.
After brunch, showers, and a bath, we headed over to Nana's for afternoon coffee and ice cream cake. Uncle Steve and Auntie Darlene and the cousins came too. Baby Lucas seemed so taken with Mika and she just ignored him and screamed for more adult attention. It seems that Mika gets out of sorts when she is around the boys. I don't know if it is just too much commotion or if she gets upset when she is not the centre of attention. Jackson tends to steal the show...he's the only one of the kids who is actually mobile, so he needs a lot of attention. Lucas is somewhat mobile too now though. He rolls and rolls and makes his way across the floor or lawn or wherever you put him. He's such a chubby round baby...I think rolling is quite natural for him. Lucas seemed to be trying so hard to engage Mika in at least a staring contest. Again, she had none of it. Nana's garden is so nice and friendly. There's even a secret garden at the very back. Its difficult for adults to access, but kids can get in there and hide no problem. We had a grand old time...well, except Mika who was upset that al the attention was not on her. Time for her to spend more time with other babies, methinks.

Happy Belated 17 Week/4 Month Birthday, Mika!

Er, internet connection has been flaky and that's my excuse.

Much to update...eating solids, father's day, visiting Nana's place, visits from Jenn and Lucas, etc.

I'm tired, though, so I'll go through pictures instead because it's easier.

Days 113-116

Lesse...
Saturday we visited G..and my mind is wiped blank about the rest. Uh...got up late, visited G, visited Oma, came home, ate chicken nuggets. It was wild, let me tell you. Hence my temporary loss of the memory..:P
Sunday was another late start day...they kind of rock sometimes. Well...*I* think so anyway because it usually means I am sleeping peacefully as Daddy tends to Mika. Sleep good. We went over to Derry, Not Londonderry mall to browse through the A&N. It's amazing how much you can score for $50 at the good old A&N. From there it was off to Grandma's for a visit and dinner. Because I am rude and invite myself for dinner to my Mom's...the food is really good there. They made a prime rib..it rocked. Strawberry cheesecake for dessert. I need to walk 50 more million miles now to work off that dinner. Mika had fun. We brought some toys to occupy her, plus Grandma gave her a new soft froggie rattle that ribbits when you squeeze it's belly. That frog is now up there with the nipple ball in Mika's world. She gums it up to the point that its disgusting and soggy. Mika got to nap on a bed filled with cabbage patch dolls. They kinda look alike.
Monday we hung out at home and played, had stories, the usual..it was raining and gross out. After Mika's morning nap and brunch today, we went out for a stroll to Meadowlark Mall to run some chores. It was really nice out. Mika glared at the other babies and children that we encountered today. She's charming that way. We visited G after supper. Mika couldn't seem to figure out why she could fit her entire fist in her mouth, but not G's fist. She's also charming that way.
5 days until Mika eats her first cereal. She's still too small for the highchair. we'll have to rig it up...

Day 112

Mika rolled from back to front today. Daddy and I were in the shower at the time and missed it. We just heard an odd thud, peeked around the curtain and saw that Mika had rolled off of her towel and was on her tummy looking out from under the sink, innocent as can be. Congrats Mika! Next thing I know she'll be crawling.
We made it to the late matinee. The movie was OK. Glad I had the background of the book. Mika behaved, as always, at Nana's. The garden is looking spectacular over there. Mika and I still have yet to construct a little red door to mount at the base of one of the trees for the faeries. Nor have we baked any faerie cakes yet. So much to do!
Daddy's bday dinner was good..I am overstuffed with ribs and potatoes and veggies. I made him an angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Nana made him an angel food cake with strawberries and cream cheese icing, so she wins. Tomorrow we go to deliver the mini cakes that Nana made for Oma and G.
ugh. Tired and overfull..must go beach myself.

Happy 16 Week Birthday, Mika! ..and Happy 35 Years, Daddy!

Not much to post about. I was up and going by 9. Daddy and Mika are still in bed and its crawling up to 10AM. Daddy turns 35 today! Yikes! I guess I can let them sleep in. Mika's schedule will be pooched anyway for today. Once they're up, she's off to Nana's. Mika really likes visiting the garden at Nana's. I bet that's why she is sleeping so late...so she has energy to take in the garden with Nana later...

Hopefully one of the theatres is still showing Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

Days 110 and 111

Mika and I had lunch with Auntie Amber yesterday. She was teaching the kids at the WEM salon, so Mika and I strolled over to see her again before Auntie Amber has to go back to Calgary. After lunch, Mika and I shopped around to find something for Daddy's birthday on Friday. I'd tell ya what we picked up, but Daddy might read the blog. I think we're going to head back to the mall today again as we forgot a card and Mika needs some fast flow nipples.
Mika got some new toys again yesterday. One is called a Teether Ball, but we call it the nipple ball. It looks kind of like a dog toy. Its a small yellow ball with these nipple looking things sticking out all over it. Mika loves it. It's vanilla scented! She also got a crib mirror. I'd been wanting to get her one since I saw a photo somewhere. You can tie it to the crib or use the built-in velcro stand on the floor. Mika also loves her new mirror. She had extended tummytime in the crib today due to it. Usually Mika gets bored and/or frustrated with tummytime pretty quickly, but not today. She takes after her father..they can both gaze at themselves in a mirror for ages.
Daddy has the day off tomorrow for his birthday. Mika is going to spend the afternoon at Nana's while Daddy and I take in a movie. The four of us are going out for dinner after the show. Its always an adventure taking Mika to restaurants. I wish she could hold her head up better so we could use her 6-in-1 baby carrier thing that turns any regular chair into a baby seat. You basically strap the carrier to a chair instead of you. Maybe the restaurant will have the funky wooden high chairs that you can flip upside down to hold a car seat.
Not sure what we're doing Saturday, aside from visiting G. Sunday we're going over to Grandma's.

Days 108 and 109

Gah! Auntie Amber came to visit. She zerberted Mika and scared the wits out of her...then we went shopping. Auntie Amber spoils Mika beyond anything. I think Mika is getting fancy-ass clothes when we go to The Children's Place...but Auntie Amber took her to Zara. Zara!! Being that I have so much weight to lose yet, I hadn't bothered to venture into the Zara store to even know that there was a kids section. Mika has some mighty fine t-shirts now as well as a fancy new summer outfit with an asian style top and matching capris. She's 3.5 months old for crying out loud and sporting capris!!! Auntie Amber also gave Mika a taste of chocolate ice cream. Not too much..just a finger dip worth. Oh, Mika. Spoiled, spoiled you are. I wanted to get Daddy a tshirt that read "My Mom Thinks I'm Cool", but figured he wouldn't actually wear it. I was right.
Mika woke before 2AM and would not go back to sleep for me today. It was after 4AM when her Daddy got up. She had two swallows of food and fell asleep instantly in his arms. Nice. Over 2 hours of cuddling, consoling, swinging, feeding, changing, talking, reading, pleading and nothing. 2 minutes with Daddy and she's happy.
I took Mika to the clinic today suspecting an ear infection. She was tugging at her right ear and both ears seemed pretty waxy. The doc said she just has a lot of buildup preparing to release. (Uh, gross.) No infection though. Still no explanation for why she gets so warm so easily and is seemingly rather sensitive to her positioning. Or the mad reckless shrieking. I guess she's just a baby and that's that! 7:30PM - Time for Mika's bath and sleep ritual to begin.

Days 107 and 108

Yay Sundays! I slept til 10! Daddy got me up and going with some pancakes and off we went. Hit a few garage sales on the way to G's. No good finds though. G is doing well and was happy to have a visit from Mika, as always.
Today we're getting a visit from Auntie Amber who is up in Edmonton from Calgary for work. Monday is always her day off though, so she is on her way here..the coffee is brewing.
oh...she's here!

R2D2 Cake

R2D2 Cake
Originally uploaded by MamaT.

My G used to make the best cakes. Whatever Lucas and I could dream up, she could make. Throughout the years, we had Darth Vader, R2D2, A Wizard of Oz scene, Castles, Sesame Street theme, various dolls, and many many others. For the older 'kids', she made golf courses, backgammon tables, horse racing scenes, a flower box with Hyacinths, and (again) many, many others. G could make a wedding cake that could compete with any professional.
G's peanut men ruled. She'd glue little shells or something similar on top for hats, push pipe cleaners through for arms and legs, and draw a little face with a black felt marker. G's creativity with decorating cakes and cookies knew no bounds!

Day 106

Mika finally rolled over! From her tummy to her back. The result of the experiment was easily recreated, thus we now consider Mika able to roll from tummy to back. She also held her head up high and steady while on her stomach. I was a little surprised.

..and she's up from her nap now.

Happy 15 Week Birthday, Mika!

Bleh. We had another long night. Up early this morning though. We were showered and ready to go to the work lunchtime poker tournament, but just didn't make it. Mika ended up napping hard after her bath this morning and I couldn't bear to wake her. We'll have to drop in on the office next week. Mika went to sleep fairly well tonight, but had an odd spurt of wakeups. After feeding, she only seemed comfortable when arching her back and craning her neck back. She spazzed into this position and fell instantly asleep only to wake 10-15 mins later. I went up three times in less than an hour to cuddle her back to sleep, administer Ovol drops, and/or feed her again. She's been sleeping soundly for over half an hour now, so maybe she's feeling better. Daddy went out to rent Shaun of the Dead. Mika is sleeping. I am updating the blog. I should go run some laundry and look in on Mika.

Buckie is Famous!

Buckshot Murphy
Originally uploaded by MamaT.

An email I received from Tam today:

Hey everyone,

Click on the attached file to see Buckie's
billboard.

The darling creature was scouted by one of Calgary's
biggest commercial photographers while sunning on the
balcony one afternoon, and was invited over to Mr.
Stang's loft studio for fee negotiations.
After hours, he agreed that tuna and milk would
suffice, and proceeded to pose for 50 photos, whilst
snacking on his buffet, of course.

He then collapsed on the floor, exhausted and over
worked, refusing any form of bribery to stir, and that
- was a wrap!

His photo can bee seen on the highway strip from
Canmore to Calgary-left hand side of the road, as well
as all of the city's top entertainment and social
publications.

Eat your heart out Morris!

Cheers Tamara

Mam in Mika

I am often reminded of my friend Tamara (A.K.A. - Mammy, Mam) as Mika does a fine, fine impression.
Mika, like her Auntie Tamara, can fit her entire fist in her mouth..and does so often. It's really quite charming. :)

Days 103 and 104

We stayed in yesterday fearing a huge thunderstorm that didn't happen. Today we brave it.
It was ok to stay in though yesterday, I did manage to get a bit done around the house, not that you could tell by looking.
made tandoori chicken with basmati rice. Yum! Was lazy for veggies...just dished up raw cukes and carrots. Gotta get the orange and dark green veggies in. Not much new on the Mika front. I think the heat is making her cranky in the evenings. she woke last night at midnight instead of her usual 3AM-ish time. Ugh. Just as I was tired enough to fall asleep through Daddy's snoring, she woke. Daddy went and made a bottle for Mika at around 5:50AM as she had drained everything from me and was still hungry.
I'm an idiot and left my cell in the stroller's cell pocket for the past few days. maybe week. We didn't miss many calls. One of the missed calls was Auntie Amber. She'll be up for a few days soon and wanted to know what Mika and I were doing Monday. yay! Time to go play with Auntie Amber. She said we didn't have to go shopping, but we just may anyway. Daddy's birthday and fathers day are coming up.

The new iPhoto seems really kewl. (Thanks Lucas!) I haven't tested whether my flickr export tool still works though...

Time to get on with the day. Mika needs a bath. We have some supplies to pick up and phone calls to make/return.

CARMEN!! Did you have that baby yet or what???

Work

I have to go back to work in December. It seems both a long and short time away. While I miss my co-workers and server room, I am not looking forward to leaving Mika during the day.
I've been keeping up on what's going on at work and have put in a few hours from home. I also apparently have an install to do at another company that my company has shares in. Anthony organized the whole thing, I am just gonna be a mere worker. My total input to the quotes that we received for this job was "Don't buy the AOpen component server, get a brand name so they have someone other than us to call when something breaks". Anthony has been doing an awesome job covering my leave. I still get emails asking for advice or help, but they are getting fewer and farther between. And they can almost always be answered easily with just a few sentences.
I wish I could just bring Mika to work with me. Work should open a daycare in some of the unoccupied space in our building. There were 5 of us pregnant at the same time at work and 2 of the guys' wives were expecting as well. All of the babies were born between October 2004 and March 2005. One of my friends has already gone back to work. She's lucky...her Mom and Dad live close by and are providing "day care". More so than leavng Mika during the day, I am really not looking forward to finding and organizing care for her. I guess I should start now. A good daycare is hard to find and even harder to get space in. Nana might be able to take Mika a couple of days a week. Not sure yet. Ugh. I think I'll put off looking for care for another month....not smart, but so much easier on my brain. I need to read up on dayhomes too. Charlotte from work has her kids in a dayhome nearby, but the lady isn't taking on anymore kids after Char's. Ack!

Day 102

Another beautiful day out there. Mika and I went trolling through the second hand stores on Stony Plain Road. She likes to stay awake for bus rides now. I position her stroller so that the sun is behind her and she is facing a window. In addition to the visual stim that she loves, Mika also enjoys being adored by strangers. We found some shorts for Daddy, a skirt for Mommy, and sleepers, a dress, and new onesie for Mika. I seem to have a knack for finding brand name label whore stuff.
I fed Mika in a changeroom at Goodwill. I felt strange about it...more strange than one should while breastfeeding in a change room at Goodwill. I think it was because I felt as though the staff probably thought I was stealing. Ah well..we've nursed in worse places..
Mika had trouble falling asleep last night. We even took her out for another walk in the evening. She was asleep by 9PM and up at 1:40AM. Then the fun started. Mika drained both boobs and refused to go back to sleep. This hasn't happened since she was still a newborn! Sometime just before 4AM (I think), Daddy woke up to help. After cuddling, rocking, swinging, a bottle, and everything else we could think of, Mika finally fell asleep. I think it was around 5-ish. I felt so bad for Daddy. I thought for sure he would call in sick, but no. He went in to work. The other person on the desk is on a road trip, so I guess he felt he had to be there. Barbara is gone for the rest of the week, so Daddy is fielding all the calls himself. The Mikanator is enjoying her day today so far. The thundershowers are on their way, so we're staying in. Gonna try and make tandoori chicken and chocolate chip brownies for Daddy to ease the pain of his wakeful night...