Snow Day

When the subject of Montreal parks comes up, iconic Parc Mont-Royal (a.k.a. the Mountain - ha) is always at the top of the list. Then probably fancy Parc Lafontaine deep in the Plateau. But our neighbourhood happens to have one of the greatest parks in the city and it's only about a 15 minute walk from our house.

Parc Jarry is the original home of the Expos, it's where the Rogers Tennis Tournament happens, it's where I do my Cardio-Poussette workouts and it's where they have recently constructed a perfect-for-big-and-little-kids toboggan slope.  It was perfect outdoor winter weather yesterday, so we bundled up the kiddos, loaded up the stroller, grabbed the sled and strolled on over to my favourite place to sweat.  

The intrepid mountaineers

OK it's hard to see but the hill was really slippery.  Liliane's enthusiasm was not dampened. 

Surprise surprise.

I jumped out of the way of the speeding sled after snapping this. 

Not pictured: Gales and gales of laughter immediately followed by "AGAIN!"

It looks like it's crazy cold outside but it was maybe minus 3 or so. Stunning winter day. 

The tandem slide. Husband later admitted to me that he had his hands on the brakes the whole time.  I'm telling you, it was icy man. 

The future's so bright, etc, etc.

After the sliding was done we wandered over to the frozen pond where Alice and I watched the skaters while Stéphane and Liliane hiked the peaks of piled up snow.  It was pretty much a perfect outing. We all got fresh air and exercise, cabin fever was banished and I got a blog post out of it.

Awesome.

I do have one more thing on my mind that I will share. Due to my newfound addiction to Oprah's Behind the Scenes show (and subsequent addition of the Oprah Network to our cable lineup) I am paying more attention to The Mighty Opes (as Lainey would say). Hello, welcome to the party 25 years later! 

I watched her interview with Whitney Houston and I have to say they both inspired me. Not with their success or ambition or lovely outfits, but with their spirituality. Yep, Whitney and Oprah talking about prayer really made an impression. Mainly it made me think, why am I not spending more time in prayer? I haven't found the answer yet but I'm working on it. 

In the meantime, I will take a page from Oprah's book (or magazine or whatever other empire she currently runs) and tell the people I love that I appreciate them now and not save it for their eulogy.  Example: if I had actually met Whitney Houston, I would have thanked her for being the soundtrack of the year I got a bra. For articulating so perfectly that adolescent longing to be With Somebody Who Loves Me. For being a part of that time in my life.  Voilà.

Now I have to go do something nice for my husband because he's next on my list.

Funny Valentines

Cute baby outfit: check 

Sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles: check.

Preschoolers hopped up on sugar: check.

Goofy decorations: check.

Check.

Aaaand check.

Fancy colour-changing candle: check.
(We seriously stared at this thing changing colours for like 20 minutes en famille. Excellent entertainment, and only $10!)

Homemade cards from daycare (awwwww): check.

Poopy diapers: check (what!?)

I made this for dinner but threw in some pancetta, used bowtie pasta and swapped out the chives for cilantro and it was delish. With salad of course. 

In other news, I took the ladies to see the ophthalmologist and their peepers are all good.  TRIVIA: 

I was actually born with a cataract in my right eye and had to have surgery on it in 2006 so EXCUUUUSE ME if I'm a little paranoid about my kids.  (Because can I tell you something? Having surgery on your EYE pretty much blows. Like, I would happily give birth without drugs ten times over than do that again. Three words: STITCHES IN PUPIL. Amirite?

Anyway,  I didn't pass it on so we're in the clear. (ha ha, get it? CLEAR? Like, my vision is CLEAR? I can see CLEARLY now? Forget it.)

It took about 3 days for Liliane's pupils to go back to normal. Not sure why she looks so traumatized. Probably because her parents kept asking her to "look at me, look at me, hey, what's wrong with her eyes?" 

Oh, how is the sleep going?  Notice how I didn't lead with that? 

We've had a few, um, setbacks. Alice likes to wake up at 2:30 or so for a little snack and while I've let her protest for about 45 minutes or so, Liliane tends to wake up then we have TWO whiny babies to put back to sleep. Sigh. I've pretty much given in and just fed her already at that point (usually around 3:30) and she goes right back to sleep until about 7:30. Whatever.  The other night she didn't wake up at all so I'm taking that as a good sign for things to come. 

What  IS working is having both kids in their beds asleep and us actually having time in the evening to HAVE A LIFE. Which right now means watching Walking Dead and/or Downton Abbey before falling asleep but still. It's heavenly.

Did you all get spoiled and/or spoil yourselves on Valentine's Day? I hope so! 

Speaking of chocolate: I signed up for the spring session of cardio-poussette. Get ready for embarrassing fitness related anecdotes!

Pillow Talk

Hi Maman!

Alice, we need to talk.  This waking up all night thing has got to GO. 

*blank stare*

Oh phewf! For a minute there I thought you were serious! Good one, milk lady.

Wait, why aren't you laughing?

Sweetheart, it's time for you to go back to sleeping through the night. In your own bed.

Let me reflect on how I feel about that idea...  

I think my opinion of your plan is best expressed like THIS!

--- 4 nights later ---

Well kiddo, you're doing 12 hours a night (with a quick 7AM feed), sharing a room with your big sister, sleeping in your cozy crib. How do you feel now?

Yeah, I thought so.  Me too.

THE END.*

*Until more teeth start in or who knows whatever other baby-foolery comes along. But you get the idea.

Since My Last Post...

Number of:

Crappy sleeps: 158493
Espressos consumed thanks to Alejandro: 158493

Parental discussions regarding sleep: NOT ENOUGH (update: we are now formulating a plan)

Dinner parties: 4

Recipes made for guests:
Chicken Spaghetti
Perfect Pot Roast
Grapefruit Yogurt Cake  
Roasted Mushrooms 
Almond Biscotti 
Pavlova with Lemon Curd


New wines tasted: 1 (delish BTW)
Bottles consumed: 2

:

Visits to Ikea: 1
Disagreements at Ikea: 1
Cranky wives: 1
Furniture assembled: 1



















Visits to Home Depot: 1
New chandeliers installed:1
Incredibly happy wives: 1

Times we thought we might have to call the fire dept: 1 (don't ask)

Dollars spent: STOPPED COUNTING

Inches of snow: 12+
Inches of ice rain: TOO MANY

Dance classes: 3
Playdates: 3
Sickness after playdates: 1
First attempts at ice-skating: 1 (yay Liliane!)

Babies that turned 6 months old: 1

Days at home with both kids because it's crappy outside: 3 

Days I thought I might just have to throw in the towel: 3 (SAHMoms, HOW DO YOU DO IT?)

Times I desperately wanted to blog but was too tizzzrrrrffffarg: STOPPED COUNTING

Also - fridge is now repaired (nothing $139 couldn't fix!) and we have now watched ALL the episodes of The Walking Dead that are available and are dying for the rest of the season to start later this month. Ha ha, get it? DYING. Like ZOMBIES.  Never mind. 

Trying to keep my head above water these days (translation: trying not to go crazy and take the rest of the family with me) so sadly I don't get to blog the 3 days/week I badly wanted to. 

But check back for more news about how the whole sleep thing is going! In short, Alice has discovered the joy of waking up at night and Hey! Look! Boobs! I'll just get me a quick milky snack before going back to sleep. Rinse, repeat EVERY TWO OR SO HOURS. HELP.

In the last 4.5 years we have discovered that so much of parenting is about what you are willing to put up with. What your own personal limits are and which hills you are willing to die on.  So while I admire those hippies Moms who can tough out this not-sleeping phase, it turns out I'm not so good at it.  Aside from the sleep deprivation, there is the whole specter of PPD hanging over my head, (for the record: I AM OK - no need to worry) so sleep training begins this weekend. I think we'll set up Liliane in the sofa bed (Look! Just like a sleepover! Only with more crying babies!) and just go for it. 

Thanks to Facebook friends,  we have lots of suggestions and encouragement. And yes, I will make sure she has been well fed (3 meals a day now thank you very much plus an extra cereal before bed if Maman is organized) and dosed with Tylenol if I think her teeth are acting up. 

More suggestions are welcome!

Back (and hopefully rested) soon.