Dang, Real Life is BUSY!

Not to belabour a point or anything, but it's crazy how the addition of one very small person into the household makes life so much...busier. And more full of love and joy, blah, blah, but it's rough on the ol' schedule.

Or what I used to THINK was a schedule. Isn't funny that once you become a parent, you wonder what the heck you did all day before you had a kid?

We still do cool stuff like go to the market and sample delicious snacks:

These cupcakes look deceivingly tasty don't they? OK so they're far from Shawna-style, but not bad, right? Oh no. Yuk. Or, as we say here in Québec, OUASH. Not so good. (And Shawna, if you're done making new friends by bashing into cars in the Timmy's parking lot, would you PLEASE consider flying to Montréal to supply Liliane's 1st birthday party with your delectable treats? You must have some Airmiles, right? Just consider it. Merci beaucoup.)

I discovered this little snack cup a few months ago and finally bought it now that my child is a CHEERIO-EATING-MACHINE.

See? That plastic is soft enough so that her pudgy little fingers can grab a handful without losing them all at once.

The champion in action. I love that thing.

While we were at the market we happened on a new installation of BIXI bikes. BIXI (bicycle+taxi) is a new program starting in the spring whereby you pay a membership fee to have access to these bikes all over the city that you can pick up and drop off when needed. It's modeled on similar programs that already exist in Europe.

Stéphane already signed us up for the $75 year membership then you pay a certain amount per hour after that. Although I think the first half hour is free. Why don't we just buy bikes? NO ROOM. Seriously. It's going to be a problem if our child keeps growing. Oops.

I also still take photos of Montréal foliage. Here are some shots of our 'hood:

Just for fun, this is what was happening this time last year:


I see this photo and I can almost FEEL the heartburn. It was really nasty in those last few weeks. Plus, man, am I ever glad I cut my hair off. I like the outside-my-tummy version of Liliane much better, no?

We had a great anniversary celebration last week. Liliane stayed over at her grandparents' and she was a star. I was a little worried because I forgot her bottle, but apparently she didn't mind. We went to see Vicky Christina Barcelona which we both thoroughly enjoyed, flaws and all. With those actors, there isn't much to complain about. Yum. We went for a late dinner AND stopped off for brunch before picking Liliane up the next morning. Total decadence!

I'm working 4-day weeks for the next month or two which is working out well. So far I always seem to have lots to do on those "days off" or I can't stand the idea of Liliane being at daycare while I'm at home so I chuck my plans (who needs a clean toilet anyway?) and hang out with her instead. This weekend we're shooting a short film (very simple, but still) so I'll be cooking on Friday so we can at least feed our hard-working-yet-unpaid crew well. That's the film business people, non-stop glamour.

I have some video clips that I will post as soon as my husband the technical wizard has time to fix them up for me so they don't take 6 days to load. Also one of them is sideways which makes me completely nauseous so I won't inflict that upon you.

Once this film shoot is over, we're on to Liliane's First Birthday! Yikes! We've invited the people, booked the location, we even bought a couple of gifts, but I can't decide exactly what to serve. Cake, coffee and wine. That's it. Easy, right? My problem is that I am physically incapable of limiting the menu to just that. How about a quick little fruit plate? Or some homemade bruscetta? Stop! Help! Somebody knock some sense into my over-achieving brain with a witty yet insightful comment!

25-Hour Day Please

So our new life has begun (the one where we have to GO places and be ON TIME and stuff) and it's been... an adjustment. We have a routine in the morning that seems to work and so far I've had a shower AND worn clean clothes to work every single day!

Liliane is doing great (I would say thriving but that sounds a little too plant-like) at daycare despite the runny nose she's had for the last 5 weeks. Her mouth is a frenzy of new teeth coming in (6 now with at least one on the way in the back) and she will be walking any second now.




Note the adorable Nova Scotia slipper. Not sure what happened to the other one.





She can use the sippy cup all by herself now!

Here are a few pictures I am posting just because they're cute of my baby and me:



Aww. I have to think really hard sometimes about why working is good and staying home would not be. I know it's the right thing for me but it's such a primal pull, that need to always be with your child. She is so much more fun than I ever imagined!

We went to the park last weekend and it was warm and sunny enough to warrant a hat. We got this little number at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago. Loud and tacky or cute and girlie? You decide.

First stop: the swings!

Why is something so much more fun when DADDY is around? I don't know how many times I've tried to get her to sit on one of these things...

I have so many ideas of things I want to write about and photos I want to take and moments I've wanted to share with you my loyal reader(s?) but somehow time has sped up and I can't get it all done.

As you can see, I have priorities.

There are things around here that require my attention.

So pbthhh to feeling bad about not blogging/cleaning/shaving/phoning/cooking/doing laundry/cleaning up the too-small baby clothes. Zerberting is where it's at :)

New Noise

I took this last night of Liliane demonstrating her latest sound effect. Kinda reminds me of the F-1... As a bonus, you also get to see her pull herself up to stand in front of her toybox!

11 Months, etc.

Right about now 11 months ago Liliane was about to make her big, messy entrance into the world and that girl hasn't looked back since! I tried to take her 11-month portrait earlier tonight but I just wasn't having good photo karma. I know from experience that there's no point in pushing it, when your karma sucks, it sucks. I'll try again tomorow.

I took these on the weekend when we finally tried out our new MEC baby carrier. Stéphane was good for about half an hour, after that our baby's 20 pound frame started to weigh on him. Literally. It'll be great for the walk to daycare in the morning.

Remember back in March when we had our pal the squirrel scampering around between the roof and our ceiling? Our landlord put a trap up there (a live trap, chill out PETA) and we caught one!

That's our landlord Paola standing in our shower with her catch. We have a skylight in the bathroom which is the only access to that fantastical vermin playground.

Hey Maw, we kin have critter fricassee fer dinner!

Sadly, we are not allowed to kill the pesky little rascals so Paola took it far away to Parc Lafontaine where it can try to gnaw a hole in the roof of one of the high end apartments down there.

This is my last official week of maternity leave. Although I've been going into work most days for the past month almost, it was all kind of relaxed because I was only going because I wanted to. Now the end is looming and I'm feeling sad today. Sigh. Some days hanging out and watching my daughter try to eat lint from the carpet is the only thing I want to do.

Our Best Friend's Wedding (Warning: No Baby Pictures)

Montréal is battening down the hatches for the incoming Hurricane Ike leftovers (why do all the big, scary storms come when it's dark?) so if you don't hear from me over the next few days, please send cupcakes. And cute rubber rain boots.

Our friend Pierre married his sweetheart Ariel two weeks ago in an apple orchard outside of Montréal. Stéphane and I have been friends with Pierre since our first year in film school when we all wound up in the same film production class. I actually met Pierre first, then introduced him to Stéphane once I realized that they shared a deep and abiding affection for obscure Italian horror films (among many other less dorky interests).

We three have been friends for 12 years! Pierre and Ariel have been together for about 6 of those and we have had lots of good times with them as a couple. They recently moved not too far from our neighbourhood so now hanging out with them is not only fun, it's also super convenient :)

Stéphane was the Best Man so we had a few responsibilities that day. Our #1 priority was to get Pierre to the wedding on time and I am happy to say that we succeeded. Stéphane and I took Liliane to her grandparents' earlier that day so we were footloose and fancy free, if a little schvitzy - man it was hot.

The ceremony took place outdoors with the happy couple tucked into a japanese-lantern bedecked gazebo. The bride came down the rose petal-strewn aisle to the theme song from the French film Amélie Poulin and accompanied by her two parents. The weather was beautiful (although did I mention it was hot?) and aside from one or two issues (it wouldn't be a wedding without a couple of last minute problems!) things went pretty much according to Ariel's detailed, very organized plan. Stéphane stood by Pierre and handed over the rings when he was supposed to, I did a reading and took lots of pictures from my front row seat.

Ariel's stepfather performed the ceremony which was in turns touching and warm, romantic and funny.

Pierre got to break the glass at the end and he succeeded on his first try.

They went back up the aisle, officially hitched, to Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Cute.

The reception was in a tent at the same location so we guests got to hang out, drink champagne and nibble snacks as the sun started to go down.

Once the ceremony was over, Stéphane could relax until it was time for his speech. We took a bunch more pictures of the newlyweds with other friends and family and doused ourselves with bug repellant as the mosquitos came out to feast.

Pierre and Ariel came into the reception to the Rocky Theme (Ariel said that she felt compelled to compromise on a couple of things, it was Pierre's wedding too after all...) and to get them to kiss? Each table had a set of movie trivia questions that had to be answered correctly. Turns out we were a little more movie savvy than they thought so they spent a lot of their time doing this:

That cool floating candle thingy is now on our living room end table!

Don't we clean up good?

I made the decision to PUT THE CAMERA DOWN for the reception so that I would actually enjoy things as they happen in real life, not just through my lens. Stéphane made an excellent speech, dinner was great, we laughed, we danced, we had a great time.

We wish them lots of joy, happiness and a baby. Anytime now. Go for it. If we can do it, anyone can!

That's about it for the catching up. The whole work and daycare routine is still new so I'm scrambling a little during the week but if I can think of anything interesting to write about, I'll do my best to post. Looking forward to figuring out our new rhythm around here!

In the meantime, if anyone has any tips to share on how to make things run smoothly, please feel free to share! Comments make me so happy!