Back to Kiwi land

Well, well, well. Here we are back home in New Zealand. What a whirlwind 5 1/2 weeks it was but so amazing to see everyone and to introduce Emily to everybody. It was great also to dress her up in summer clothes and take her swimming in the pool and at the beach. It will be interesting to see how much different she is in the water here, when it gets warm enough. She will be about 4 months older and will be much more wriggly, I bet!

We had a ton of fun and learned alot about how Emily works. There were a few times where I had to cancel plans or pull back on what we were doing because I learned that she would get a bit miserable if we travelled around too much, but in general we took Emily out heaps and she was very tolerant. She even enjoyed it I think. Yesterday, she had a bad day fighting the jet lag, until we went to Bryce's work and she saw other people. She smiled for everyone! So I wonder if she was just understimulated at home for the first time in over a month and wanted to be out doing stuff!

Emily is 5 months old

Quick pics from Canada

Candace and Emily

Poppa Ian teaching Emily the art of lawn mowing (disclaimer - lawnmower not running!)

Emily relaxing with Nana and Poppa


Juls, Sarah and Candace

Amy and Jeff at their wedding

Robyn and Laurence's wedding

Sneaking some "me time"

Emily is just about over her jet lag, but I have had no "me time" in the past few days since she has not been sleeping long at all. Alas, I hope we are in for a longer sleep tonight.

We are in Ontario! That is, Emily and I are in Ontario. Poor Daddy has to go without his ladies for another few weeks until we all reconnect for Robyn's wedding.
Emily and I skyped Bryce the other night and she absolutely recognized him which was very cute. She squealed with delight and gave huge grins to Bryce on the computer screen! She doesn't really do that at all so it was awesome to see that she knows who her Daddy is.
Em slept really well on the flight from Auckland to Vancouver, including sleeping about 10 hours, on a 12 1/2hr flight! Air NZ has bassinets that you can sleep your babies in so that was very helpful. I got a bit ancy and kept checking that she was asleep but need not have worried! There were some nice Grandma's sitting beside me who were very lovely and kind and held Emily very quickly when the offer was given, and when I needed a hand.
It was great to see my Aunt Lynette, Uncle Bob and Grandpa and GrandJoan in BC. We also got to visit with cousin Krista and her daughter Phoebe (3 months old) and cousins Janet, Mike and their kids Zach, Rachel and Nathan, along with Mike and Kate. We had dinner with 13 of us at the table on Thursday night. It was lovely, as Emily, who often plays shy with strangers in NZ, just gave smiles to everyone she was passed around to!
Unfortunately, Emily and I had some sleeping issues our first night in BC. She went to sleep at 9:30 and then woke at 10:15. I tried to feed her and put her back to sleep but she was not interested in sleeping, but only eating. I had no more milk for her and since we had not used formula ever, I had nothing to give her. My aunt and uncle were already fast asleep and when I called out to them to try to wake them, all I heard was snoring. So I pushed on and thought I could fill up her tummy with water. So I boiled some water and as I began to give her some water I remembered reading something about it being unsafe to give babies too much water so as not to give them a water imbalance in their system. I was not sure how much water was too much so I stopped feeding her the water and texted some friends in NZ to try to get some help. I was overtired and frantic from all the crying at this stage, so I called Bryce. He did not know how to help me, except to try to get me to tell him about the flight. I was not in the mood to chat really, just to get Emily to sleep so I got more upset. I received a text that said try some mashed banana. I went to the fruit bowl which was full but had no bananas. As I searched through the bowl, I then found a banana and for the moment, I had this feeling like "yes, we have a BANANA! I can feed her!! She will sleep! I will sleep!" and then.....I realized it was just a piece of wooden fruit! I cried out loud in a childhood whiny voice, "oh no...its just a wood banana!" I was broken! I then proceeded to try to puree some apples, which I cooked in the microwave and then pushed through a sieve. I got about 1/2 tsp of apple and fed it to her. She liked it; the little bit she actually got in her mouth and stopped crying. I put her in her portacot and walked away. 2 minutes later, she started crying again....and so did I.

So I realized I needed help and went in and tried to wake my aunt and uncle, who I couldnt differentiate (as I stood at the foot of their bed) which snoring person was my aunt. I finally picked a side of the bed and went to wake her up. She got up and helped me by taking Emily and then waking up my uncle and telling him he needed to go to the store with me to get some formula. You can imagine he was a bit surprised at the request at 12:30am! Lynette, in her wisdom knew that the formula would help, but it was more important to get EMily and I seperated so that I could calm down and not upset Emily further. By the time Bob and I got back from the store, Emily was asleep! What a mission!
Sidenote: we tried the formula the next day just to be sure EMily would take it if the same thing happened the next night and just as my mom finished pouring it in the bottle, she knocked over the rest of it and the rest of the formula was gone. So, Aunt Lynette looked at Bob and sent him back to the store to get some more....just in case. I think he was okay with that though, as the alternative would be another late night store outing!
So we thanked the BC crew immensely for helping us get through our first nighttime travel disaster and so far we have had no repeats here in Ontario. Mom and I had a great flight with Emily from Vancouver to Toronto. Although Emily was responsible for slowing down the de-planing line as people stopped to look at her and smile and she gave everyone a big grin. What a cutie!
We have really enjoyed being with Poppa and Nana, who are getting lots of cuddles from Emily. Em will ALWAYS give Poppa a big smile, even when she has been upset prior to his attempts to make her smile. My Dad's just got something that all babies just love about him!
Today Emily went in a pool for the first time. She was tentative at first, in action only; she didn't cry at all. Then she just wanted to get back in, so I got in the pool too and she loved being on her tummy and kickin her legs. She has changed from hating her baths in NZ to loving baths and the pool here. Maybe our nights of screaming baths are over.....for now at least!
Amy's wedding is this weekend, so that will be a big test for mother and daughter, as I will be away from her most of the day. Poppa and Nana are babysitting all day and will attempt to bring her over to me amidst the wedding day plans to give Emily some Mommy time (and milk!). So excited for Amy and Jeff's wedding though. It is going to be fantastic!
More stories to come.

4 months old!

Here is Emily's 4 month picture with George the bear. She is definitely outgrown his height now and getting lil chubby legs now that are very cute. Even though she has gotten bigger, she still is a light weight and we are trying to give her a bit more food. A bit hard when all she drinks is milk. We are beginning the whole "when to start solids" debate with her. I am not in any rush to start her eating "real food" as she is messy enough with her milk; I can just imagine how overly excited she will be when she gets her hands all through her food!
We met up with some of the coffee group (antenatal class) on Thursday and took the "baby lineup photo". The babies are getting bigger and we will need to change the way we do the photo soon to fit them all in! It sure is cool to watch the other babies grow and how much they all change between our get togethers. The ladies in the group are wonderful and I find them very supportive and good fun to hang out with. It is great to have other people to confide your worries in and to get tips and tricks to use with the "drama of the week" with your own baby, because someone is the group has usually just gone through the same drama......and survived!

We went to Napier last weekend to visit Carl and Denise and catch up with lil Liam. He is growing so fast and is so intelligent! It is great to hear him say several words and identify things. He's got the greatest little stride when he is on a mission. We have really seen how quick Emily will go from being pretty stationary now to moving fast all over the place. She'll keep us on our toes, that's for sure.
On Saturday, we walked over to the local netball courts to watch Sammy play in her school netball final. Sammy played really well and they won their game, so she was pretty excited! Way to go girl!
On the Sunday we went over to Jess and Marty's place to have coffee and see their little guy Reuben. His eyes are a dreamy bright blue and so beautiful. It was nice to see them again, and we were sure to take the Daddy photo with all the new Dads and their kids. Emily and I will be in Canada for New Zealand Father's Day this year so we are going to celebrate it early with Bryce this weekend. I know Bryce is ecstatic about being a Dad and he is doing such a great job; I wouldn't want him to miss his "special day". Lucky for him, the day we chose to celebrate it on, he is riding in a Cyclocross race in the morning so it bolds well for one of his favourite days already!


This last photo is of Emily with a summer hat on, in honor of our impending trip to the North American summer. It will be fun to see how she likes the sun, and beaches and warmer weather!

I'm 113 days old.

Lots of visitors!

We have been fortunate to be having lots of people, from far and wide coming to see our beautiful daughter and possibly share some "weekend soup" with us, which is quickly becoming a winter tradition for us. Last weekend, Trish, Sinka, Sammy and her friend Bethan came by and had a cuddle with Emily.

Today, Pam, Andrew and Andrew's dad Hugh came for a visit and it was great to see them and eat some yummy soup.

I know it seems weird to mention soup so much, but it is truly good soup. And I know soup. It might be my second favourite meal, next to sushi. We make a trip to the farmer's market every Saturday, and that usually involves a stop at the local butcher as well. He sells bacon hocks and beef bones; the essential parts of a good Saturday veggies soup. The best part of a Saturday soup, however, is eating it on Sunday. "Saturday soup: the sequel" is a highlight of our weekends these days, besides having more laughs from Emily. Amazing how having a child makes you appreciate the little things in life, eh? ........like soup.
Another visitor we had this weekend (who thankfully did not raid our soup when it was put outside to cool) was Potsy the possum. I do believe, however that Potsy had a brother hanging around too, but we only ever saw one at a time. Bryce took our green waste out into our backyard compost heap, which is kind of in a jungle area that has massive trees and big overgrown plants. (here is a pic of myself when we were making the compost bin)
When Bryce came back in the house, his eyes were pretty wide and he said a possum had interrupted his leisurely stroll into the jungle and caught him off guard a wee bit. We don't see them around our house much, although we do hear them occasionally, so to see one was a bit unique. We went out onto the deck to try to see them with Bryce's bike lights (from the safety of our deck) but couldn't see much so the brave guy that he is, Bryce went back into the jungle to try to get a photo. Unfortunately, Potsy was camera shy and we couldn't catch one, but I borrowed this photo from the Queensland government webpage to show you what we saw. (Kirstin: I apologise for using a photo that it probably not the right breed and far off from the kind of possum we have in NZ, but it looked right to me. Too funny that we took it from an OZ webpage, when they are protected in Australia but pests here. Funnily enough, when I told the neighbour about our exciting encounter with Potsy, he asked if we had a .22 to get rid of it with!!)

We decided to get out and enjoy the sunny day today, so we headed to Queen Elizabeth park to show Emily the beach. Well, actually, she mostly saw the roof of her pram/stroller, since she slept the whole time; that is, until we had a photo shoot with her. It was just too nice of a day to show all those folks back in Canada how rough the NZ winter can be. (note the sarcasm please.....) Mind you, I did feel a pang of homesickness in the morning when I got to skype with my whole family back in Toronto for the big summer birthday party with all 8 adults and 7 kids under 6, where it was nice and summer warm...even though it was raining....


But as you can see, we have it pretty good in New Zealand. When your winter walk can still be along the beach.......

Emily is doing well; talking lots. Well, when I say talking, I mean lots of "gaaaaah" and "oooooohhhhhhhh" and other noises that are hard to type. She is grabbing things with her hands now, still not with too much coordination but with real intent now. Our favourite thing to watch is to see her concentrate on trying to grab the stream of water that comes from a small jar we play with in the bath. She is mesmorized everytime she sees the water pour out of the jar and as she clamps her hand down on the water, she doesn't understand why she can't grab it....and of course, then put it in her mouth. This being the thing she does with everything else she grabs, these days. Yay for teething! She is going through at least 3 bibs everyday that attempt to keep the saliva off of her soaking through her layers of shirts, often ineffectively!

Cyclocross weekend

Bryce competed in a Cyclocross event last weekend which involved a 30 min race around a loop track, with some obstacles in one part of the track where you have to dismount your bike and jump over them. Bryce has not been racing or riding too much lately as Daddy-duties seem to be more fun and exciting; although his Wednesday night bike ride is still a part of his week that he looks forward to.

Emily and I went along to cheer Bryce along. Craig (who works with Bryce, and is also an extremely talented photographer - he took our wedding photos) was also at the race. He was taking photos of all the riders but decided to snap a few of the Lorcet clan spectating as well.

During Bryce's race, I was talking with Craig and complaining to him that Bryce was hoping to buy a Cyclocross bike (lighter frame, thinner wheels, etc) and that I was not approving of another bike joining the fleet in our garage. Unfortunately, my complaints fell on deaf ears as Craig immediately jumped on Bryce's team and proceeded to outline all the reasons why Bryce DID need a Cyclocross bike. At this time, Bryce was racing pretty hard out and had been in 2nd place for a few laps. Craig decides, as Bryce comes past us to yell out, "Candace says that if you come first in this race, she will let you buy the Cyclocross bike!" So of course, Bryce gets excited, gives it some more steam and wins the damn race! Bryce, looking very proud of himself, walks over to me at the end of the race and says, "so you think I can get the bike??"
I have never been one to stand in the way of Bryce purchasing what he wants, but now that we are on one salary, we are both trying to cut costs here and there.
Sadly, for him, he won the race for glory alone....and no hope for a new bike.

Emily was a great spectator. She enjoyed all the colours and speed of the riders and bikes flying past her. You can imagine Bryce has already selected her first bike, and is convinced she REALLY liked to watch the bikes because she wants to ride one herself. Bryce was gutted to hear from a fellow bike enthusiast that his son is 7 and no matter how much he has tried, his son is only now just starting to enjoy riding his bike. I think it was the first time that it occurred to B that Emily MAY not be the future female Mountain bike champion that he has expected her to be!






**All photos in this post were taken by Craig Madsen, www.hedgehogphotography.co.nz

3 months!

So we have hit the 3 month mark and are feeling so much better about this parenting thing. I would hesitate to say we are feeling on top of it, and she seems to be changing her routines all the time which is forcing us to stay adaptable; but much more confident than those first 6 weeks!
Here is a picture of her and her Grandma Maureen's teddy bear which we are using to gauge how big she is getting from month to month.

Last weekend we took another road trip to see John and Cushla in Palmerston North for lunch. Emily is a very good baby and is really enjoying watching everything around her now. However, when she gets tired, she can get pretty grumpy (as is expected I guess). I have this sling thing called a Moby which I wear her in and last weekend I noticed her getting tired in the cafe. So, I put her in the Moby and she fell asleep while the rest of us were able to chat in peace.


This is a picture of some of the babies from our coffee group (the group of us who took a parenting class together while we were pregnant). I invited the group around for a Buggy Walk 'N' Talk and we had a gorgeous sunny winter day blessed on us to wake in. Such a nice relief from all the rain!

I love to drool - Part 2.