Perfect timing - popsicles!

I have been all in a mood to make popsicles lately, and the timing is good, since this past weekend has been so freakishly hot.

I heard there are popsicle molds at IKEA for just $1, and I definitely have to pick one of those up next time I'm out in the neighbourhood. But, that's a big trip for a $1 item (although I "need" some fabric while I'm there... oh and a few of this and that... meatballs for lunch... $100 later...). Being impatient as I am, Cole and I wandered over to Cookworks downtown last week to search out a quick fix.

We found some fun rocket ship popsicle molds from Cuisipro. They have other awesome designs too - sailboats and stars and the old-fashioned dual-stick kind, like the ones you'd buy at the corner store and whack on the side of the counter to break in half.

So far we've tried them with Abundant-C juice smoothies (ok), white lemonade (awesome!) and I have a few more ideas up my sleeve for various kinds of juice and crushed berries etc. I'm sure I can find enough flavours to keep us cool all summer! I suppose we'll just have to try them all... The molds themselves were really easy to use and they came out nicely.

Tons of great popsicle recipes online - like these margarita ones for grown-ups or of course brilliant ideas from Ms. Martha.

Strawberry season is here!

Cole and I took a lovely drive out to Aldergrove to Krause Brothers Farms on Friday to pick up some delicious strawberries. The fields were busy with pickers, but I wasn't up to bending over all morning in the hot sun (especially since Cole was in the Baby Bjorn!) so I bought some in their shop. This is the best berry place - but you do have to go way out to no-man's land!

Cole enjoyed his ride in the car (well, he likes to sleep!) and was so patient in the long line to get berries. It was super busy since the chillens had just gotten out of school. He really enjoyed his visit with Grandma & Grandpa & Auntie Jas. He just loves to laugh!

Yesterday we put all those berries to good use. Ate lots (and continue to), froze a few and made a batch of strawberry jam and a crisp.


The jam is the Certo lower sugar variety, and for some reason it hasn't set as firmly as I'd like... This happened last time I made the low-sugar type of strawberry, but the regular always turns out fine... Lesson learned - more sugar is better! ;-) Even if it doesn't firm up any more, it will still be great as we use it, in plain yogurt. Or maybe on some ice cream?

The rhubarb crisp turned out perfectly - so good! I'm glad - I just found the super-easy recipe online.

Weighing in...

Back from the doctor's office today, and I'm so proud to report Cole's measurements. He's now a whopping 6.1 kilos (13.44 lbs) and 61.5 cm (24.25 inches)!

He's had lots of busy days lately, out and about with his Mommy & Daddy. Cole and I go for a good, long walk nearly every day (sometimes ending in shopping, sometimes not!), and on the weekend we keep that up too. The routines are comforting, I find - despite not being a real "schedule" person myself normally!

He certainly enjoyed his walk on Saturday with baby Aiden, our friends Mike & Mi ae's 6 week old baby boy. Here are the chick magnets themselves (all four of them!) on our stroll along the seawall...

We've gotten comfortable going to all sorts of restaurants. We have even managed to pull off a couple dual breastfeeding sessions with other Mamas - at Milestones in Yaletown (at the table, no less - told you I'd put this on the Internet Mi ae!) and another in the food court at Metrotown. I'm still not up for just whipping it out, but my Hooter Hider sure comes in handy. Jamie calls it my superhero cape - worn backwards... :-)

I finally got the yummy Subeez breakfast I'd been craving all throughout my pregnancy. A real Americano (theirs are the best in town) and a mushroom and goat cheese benedict. So good - all those soft eggs and hollandaise and things that were off-limits as a pregnant lady!

Cole likes to be a part of the conversation at the brunch table...

Cole had his first taste of Daddy's work last week - we visited his office and Cole even had a little computer session at home on the weekend. I think he liked the bright, shiny screen in the same way he likes windows and lamps!

Of course, Cole also really enjoys snoozing... He generally takes a nice nap after his morning feed in his Oeuf lounger, which he's really starting to like. Especially when ensconced in soft, soft blankies! He settles in at first to watch Daddy making breakfast and, since that is as interesting as it sounds, he usually drifts off. :-)

Baby clothes on sale!

Anyone needing new baby clothes? There are a ton of good sales on right now at all the stores...

I just got a few cute things for Cole at Baby Gap, including some more of the best socks around. I don't know what it is, but the Gap's baby socks - particularly the ones that are supposed to be worn cuffed - are great. We just pull them up practically to his knees, so they look like part of a rugby uniform, and they don't fall off at all. Which is more than I can say for most other socks!

There were great sales at Baby Mexx (50% off everything), Baby Gap and Zara Baby and Old Navy had a few things on sale too. For some reason, there seems to be a plethora (of pinatas?) of cute girl baby clothes out and on sale. I've been able to find a lot of great stuff for Cole in general, but man alive, the stuff for girls seems to outnumber the boys stuff like 5 to 1!

New toy for Cole

Yesterday we got Cole a new little toy while we were out and about - not that he needs more toys... I have had my eye on this before, but now that Cole is able to grasp an object placed in his little hand, I couldn't resist the Ringli-Ring.

It's a classic wooden developmental toy, made by Swiss design company Naef Spiele. It's butter-soft wood, lightweight, makes a really calming clickity sound and the paints are non-toxic. Meant to be gnawed at, then... Cole played with it this morning and he seemed to really like it. At least as much as he liked staring at the curtains anyway!

I love the baby toys from this company. We found ours at Inhabit in Yaletown.

A new baby at the Aquarium

Happy first day of summer! I was looking for something fun to do today with Cole, and we settled on going to the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. We got an annual membership so that we can go back often, particularly when it's not so busy as the summer months.

If you're in the area and don't mind crushing throngs of excited children, check out the Aquarium - there is a brand-new baby beluga! She's just 10 days old today, and they are letting small groups at a time down to the underwater viewing area to watch Mom and baby together... Check out the live webcam and you might catch a glimpse.

It was really interesting to hear how hard nursing is for whales - can you imagine trying to do it underwater, while baby is holding her breath and trying not to drink saltwater, while Mama is swimming? We even were lucky enough to see them doing it!

Here's a happy Mama...

Fun!

I was reading some articles from Today's Parent magazine - since there is very little in the way of baby information in GOOD, Wired or InStyle - the other new magazines I have at home waiting to be read... They have some great pieces, including an article on baby development from birth - 3 months (and onward too).

Check out the baby horoscopes for fun - very cute... I'm having a hard time confirming whether Cole is officially an Aries or Taurus baby - different sites and publications list Aries as being until April 19 or 20 or sometimes 21. Does anyone know the "official" dates?

They also have a fun little application that lets you play at having your baby on the cover of the magazine... Check out our results!

Now, if I had my way, I'd be able to do much more with the headlines (I left most off since they covered my cutie's face!). But seriously - that is a magazine that would fly off the shelves! Proud mama speaking - I would probably buy most of the copies! ;-)

Cole's first road trip!

We had a great first road trip with Cole this past weekend, heading up to the Okanogan to celebrate Ryan's graduation. We packed fairly light, all things considered, but the trunk was still full. Travel crib, soothers, toys, blankets, hats, an extra sack of diapers and many changes of clothes (his size 2 Seventh Generation diapers have been leaking lately and I think he needs the next size up when we run out this week!).

We stopped at Manning Park on the way up there, and it's certainly changed a lot since the Pine Beetles have done their work. I didn't even see any marmots! But we did enjoy introducing Cole to the giant bear statue and wandering around for a few minutes before we got too cold and dashed back to the car.

Cole slept ok on the drive up - I think it was weird for him to drive around at night. But he did great once we got to our hotel finally at midnight.! Not so much can be said for his exhausted parents, who were pretty well zombified by the next morning!

In Kelowna we had a great time at the BBQ for Ryan. Yum - great burgers Al! It was lots of fun watching Ryan open his box of gag gifts celebrating the fact that he is an evil genius at Monopoly and stuff to help him continue his plot for phony real-estate domination... Mainly lots of junk from Daiso, the Japanese dollar store (everything is only 100 Y - otherwise known as $2). Here we see Ryan in the monocle & creepy mustache transparent face mask - a must for today's tycoon.

And Gramma Bonnie and Great Aunt Patti taking good care of little Cole.

On Father's Day we took Cole to the beach in Penticton to dip his toes in Skaha Lake. The water was chilly and, although I only put the smallest little tip of his toes in, he really didn't like it. After all, he's used to warm, bubbly bath water! But he was all smiles again a minute later, so no harm done.

Then Cole and I took Jamie for ice cream at Tickleberries (the BEST ice cream place ever!). I'm a black cherry kind of girl and Jamie likes mint chocolate chip. Cole was ok with his own special snack in the privacy of the car, although I did give him the tiniest tip of a finger dipped in Jamie's ice cream... :-)

Cole slept well for the trip home - he didn't wake up to eat until Abbotsford. All in all, a great day!

Cole's little man shirt

Cole went for his six-weeks appointment on Monday at the Doctor's office, and I'm happy to report that he's growing really well! He now tips the scales at 5.2 kilos / 11.4 pounds, and has grown to 58.5 cm / just over 23 inches.

Dressing Cole is just so much fun. We bought a lot of little clothes when we went shopping around 6 months pregnant, and we didn't have any clue what to buy I realize! We bought him this cute little collared polo onesie from the Baby Gap and I was wondering how practical it would be, but it actually turned out to be surprisingly easy to get on him and monstrously cute to boot!

Cole is now able to clutch onto some of the little toys from his play gym if we place the object in his open palm. He eventually lets go and I'm not sure if he knows that he's holding things, but he does seem to enjoy all the interactive play!

Cole continues to love his play gym - more each day, I think! I usually place it on the bed or on the couch so that it's not such a back-breaker for me to play with him on it. It's an awesome toy that helps me, because he likes to lie on it while I take a few minutes to get dressed to go out for our walks or make lunch (actually had one today - I usually eat crackers!).

Mainly though, he really enjoys being played with while on it. He seems interested enough on his own and he stares at and studies the toys and colours and shapes, but when we play with him on it he just lights up and has a ball. One of the good things about this activity gym (and maybe all of them - I don't know!) is that the toys are all detachable and you could add your own toys if you wanted to.

Out and about with our contraptions

Yesterday we took a sunny walk to Granville Island and we were so happy to have the new sunshade for our stroller. Thank you so much to Aunt Barb & Uncle Barry - we love it! It kept Cole so nice and shaded and also served well to make us look like visitors from the not-too-distant future (the fabric is a a cool looking mesh in metallic silver)!

Today we walked along the seawall to Yaletown to get some groceries, and Jamie used the Baby Bjorn. Cole really loves being carried in it.

It was pretty chilly and cloudy out, so we used the babylegs again and Cole wore a cute little knit hoodie. I thought that he and Jamie looked adorable, so at a stop light across from our place, I got out the camera. When I downloaded the photos from our walk, I pointed out to Jamie that he looked slightly annoyed in the photo - probably at me taking too many? Apparently, not so. Actually he was in the process of watching a hobo taking a wee on an electrical box across the intersection, hence the look of befuddlement. Good to know! Cole looks cute anyway, I think. ;-)

On the subject of movies again...

So to join in on the innumerable people discussing the Sex and the City movie (when there are much more important things to talk about in an election year on a warming planet), I just thought I'd share a couple of really funny articles on the subject, courtesy of New York Magazine.

First, we have the Fug Girls (of the fantastic blog Go Fug Yourself) discussing the various fashion-related aspects of the movie. Although that might be saying they review nearly the whole movie - it's mostly fashion montages, from the sounds of it.

And secondly there's the hilarious piece called "Would Men Really Rather Be Shot Than Watch ‘Sex and the City’?". Complete with an escalating series of traumas men would trade for a free pass to do something else... Sounds as though, while not willing to subject themselves to live fire, several men would rather do many other painful things rather than go see it. Which is just fine - it's really more something you go see with the girls anyway.

I'm sure it's at least as shallow and silly as the series. I'm going to try and sneak out during the day this week to see it with Cole for something to do - hopefully he'll sleep through it anyway! I think Jamie passed his loyalty test when he came to see Becoming Jane with me last summer in a theatre full of sighing ladies.