On my way to a meeting the other day, I figured I should walk across the bridge instead of taking a taxi. I also decided to try out the BierMarkt as I had not been there yet. Lo and behold, there was a lot of foot traffic on Sparks Street and I found out why…yoga was happening over three blocks on Sparks Street! Yoga Wednesdays generally happens on Parliament Hill from what I know of but maybe they were doing something else up there.
By the way, the Bier Markt was quite fantastic and they had a sausage platter I give two thumbs up to. I also enjoyed their beer bible as it explained the origins of different types of beer. This prompted me to buy some Radler beers from Rickards’ the next time I was in a beer store.
Anne-Marie very nicely offered up to look after Sierra for a few hours in between feedings so that Vero and I could escape the house and go for a quick date. We thanked her profusely and ran out of the house towards Embrun where we went to the newly opened Etienne Brulé brewpub where I had already fallen in love with their beer. Would the food be another winner?
It’s a nice place and you can’t go wrong with a smoked meat panini and side salad for around $10. Plus the Citrale might be my new favourite beer but anything with a hint of citrus hops always wins my heart.
Date night with new parents is hilarious and we deservedly laughed at ourselves when we realized that the majority of our conversation revolved around the baby’s poop patterns!
Thanks for letting us out of the house Anne-Marie!
Man alive, it’s hot around Ottawa these days. It’s a good thing that a few years back my body finally acclimatized to living here and I don’t mind the heat one bit (except for sleeping in the heat…not a fan!)
When I arrived home from the wedding in Perth, we decided to hit the road to the nearest mini-putt course! Mini-putt is the cat’s meow and we had a great time playing. Anne-Marie, Evan and I actually ended up in a three way tie by the time we hit the 18th hole so it was down to the wire….and of course I managed to squeak by and win the game.
Vero had an interesting time trying to putt with Sierra strapped to her. Strapping a baby is quite useful for the most part, unless you have to bend over and pick up a golf ball.
Getting some Dad time with Sierra before leaving for the day.
The day after Canada Day is usually one reserved for nursing a hangover but this year it was a time for celebration…my cousin Shawn was celebrating his marriage to Erin up in Perth, ON.
After hanging out with Anne-Marie, Evan, Vero and Sierra for the morning, I packed up my gear and hit the road. I wasn’t sure what the dress code was for this particular event as it was a celebration after the wedding in Saskatchewan. I figured I would play it safe with shirt, no tie. That looks relaxed enough. Turns out it was full blown casual and I could have shown up in my bathing suit and people would have accepted me!
With my Pearl Jam Live at the Gorge box set in the car, I hit the road. It was a great afternoon for a drive to Perth and I have to say that the 2005/6 tour of Pearl Jam is one of my faves to listen to…probably because I really like their Avocado album.
The Perth Plaza was a great motel to stay at. A good indication of a great wedding is when the entire motel is booked by wedding guests! I met up with Uncle Johnny and Aunt Aggie, had a non-Keith’s beer (I still can’t believe my eyes when I see that Uncle Johnny has moved away from Keith’s!) hung around a bit more and then got a ride over to the curling club from Stephanie the Uber driver.
The curling club was a great spot for a celebration. They had the bar and music upstairs and they had an area downstairs for a photo booth and just a general area to escape the masses upstairs. I had a good chuckle when Shawn mentioned how hard it was to chat with everyone as Audrey was running around the place. It was a glimpse into my own future, no doubt!
I met a lot of Gaspesians that night, most of which I would need a family tree to figure out how they all fit into the picture…but one thing was for sure, we were there to celebrate the union of Shawn and Erin as well as a surprise 39th wedding celebration of Lynn and Sue. I would like to say that the Gaspe crowd cleared the bar out of all alcohol but someone must have tipped them off that there was going to be a big crowd coming so they had a well stocked fridge. However near the end of the night my common request was just ‘a cold beer’ because they couldn’t keep up with the demand of Keiths!
I was digging this little thing happening with Uncle Johnny’s hair. Reminded me of my own cowlick.
I met Jack and Nancy who were providing the musical entertainment for the night. Jack had a really interesting set up that I was chatting to him about later on in the night. He had the mic/PA/acoustic guitar, but he also had a backing track to play along to! This really intrigued me and I definitely could see the benefit of having something like this for a dance. Everyone likes a good rhythm section (drum and bass) for dancing, whereas the acoustic guitar really has to get going for people to get up and dance to. So he found karaoke tracks for tunes from the Beatles, CCR, The Stones, etc. and plays that while sings and strums over top of them. I also took a look at my own OnSong app (best app ever) on my iPad and sure enough, I can add a musical track to any song in my music library. I also found some websites that offer up backing tracks where people have recreated a Beatles tune using their own instruments. Perhaps this is a way around the musical copyright issues that would come if you actually used a karaoke version in a professional sense. Anyhow, I’m going to play around with this and maybe I will try it out at the next Ajax party. I’m not sure if backing tracks would be a hit or a miss. There’s something lovely about just three acoustics going at it, but when it’s just me playing, it would definitely be a bonus if there could be some lead guitar playing.
Winners of the good looking duo award at the wedding.
Definitely an end of the night picture!
I did manage to meet Erin who is a lovely person to chat with. I also witnessed a very smart girl named Audrey. She wanted to sit on a stool near the photo booth area so I followed her into another room and she must have seen a stool in there before so she dragged it out into the photo booth area. Amazing! I wouldn’t have even known there was a stool stored in this other room! It’s really interesting to see how smart kids can be.
Considering the party had started around 3PM, it wasn’t a surprise that the party started winding down around 10pm. Stephanie the Uber driver graciously drove us back to the Plaza where we immediately bee-lined it across the street to get some McDonald’s food in us and then we all hung out in the parking lot for a few hours. I took full advantage of having a hotel room to myself and slept in quite well the next morning!
As always, it’s great to get together with the family and it was a great celebration put together at the Perth Curling club. Special thanks to all who were involved in the logistics of putting it together!
We had a great time on Canada Day. We started off the day by heading over to the Vars Canada Day celebration where we stumbled into pretty well everyone we know in the community! It helps that Vero is on the community association.
There were a bunch of bouncy castles set up and a fire truck where Vero insisted that she get a picture. I convinced her that she should bring her daughter into the photo as well!
Future firewoman!
I also had my first ever Pogo. Yes, yes, I know…how could I not have a pogo until I was 37 years old? Hey, I’m in no rush to try out everything on this planet. I have to say it was pretty darn tasty.
Later in the afternoon, Mike, Melanie and Max showed up with Melanie’s parents and we walked around the park for a bit. The kids were gracious enough to allow Mike and I to have a beer as well! Although I have to say that Budweiser was an interesting choice of beer on Canada Day!
Best buds or mortal enemies? Only time will tell.
Anne-Marie and Evan showed up just in time for it to pour rain for pretty well the rest of the afternoon. At least they postponed the fireworks until the next day! That’s a smart move. We hung around inside for the evening and played some tunes. Vero and I also introduced Sierra to the neighbours which was a great opportunity to meet them all.
Only apple juice was drank for this photo.
Sierra belting out some CCR tunes.
With the fireworks cancelled for the night, we decided to put on the film Labyrinth as it one of Vero and her sister’s favourites. We did have a scare with Sierra that evening though when Vero spotted her flailing her arms and legs around. She went to check her out and her lips were blue and her face beet red! Vero went into instant first aid training mode, trying to figure out what was wrong. Luckily we figured out that she was severely blocked up with mucus and we got that out of her right quick and she was back to normal. Whew. Quite the scary experience when you notice your kid not breathing! We’re not sure why there was a massive amount of mucus built up like that…it could be something that built up over the weeks, or perhaps it was being outside for the most she has ever been in a day. I guess we’ll never know.
<reminder to insert the photo that I took of Sierra wishing a happy birthday to Mike, but then promptly left on my phone which doesn’t have a data package so I can’t really upload it right now>
For now, I will just insert a photo of Max and Sierra, approximately 10 hours before Sierra was born.
I read a lot about how the Tragically Hip’s final concerts are happening this summer.
Let’s get some facts straight. They are going on tour to promote their latest album. Sure, it might be their final tour because Gord Downie has terminal brain cancer, but it might not be their final tour.
Four Saturdays ago, we were rushing to the hospital to be greeted by Sierra. It’s been an interesting ride so far and here is what is on our mind lately in regards to the baby.
Fussiness: Sierra definitely has her ups and downs. It seems that after a feeding in the morning, she is great to be around. She will stare at you, interact with you, play at her play structure…all while being calm and being all baby-like. But when the afternoon/evening hits, it gets a little less fun as she grunts and cries all the time in between feedings. Some night we are lucky and she goes down in between feedings in the middle of the night, but a few nights have resulted in constant grunting and choking sounds which keeps Vero up all night long. The internet is a friend and an enemy in times like these. Everything from reflux to colic have been mentioned. Vero found out about lactose overload which actually seems to line up with pretty well every symptom we are experiencing. She will ask the doctor about it this Wednesday.
Weight gain: One of the symptoms of lactose overload is abnormally large weight gain. Considering the doctor said a baby puts on an average of 20-25 grams a day and Sierra is now clocking in at 42 grams a day…I would say that’s better than average! This resulted in chubby cheeks which are adorable though and we’re not worried about weight gain. Why should we?
Attention span: While it’s not an alarming difference, we can definitely see her attention span changing over the weeks. She will focus on our faces for a bit, or focus on the tv in the room. They say babies are attracted to contrasting colours so we introduce those once in awhile.
General interaction: I would say that the first three weeks didn’t have much interactions from her part. She was just laying there looking around like all babies do. But in the last week I see her grasping and holding onto my finger, and being amused by when I put her hands to her toes to introduce her to the fact that she can touch her toes. I’m really interested in child development so I keep reading whatever I can to see what we can do to promote good development. Are we the best at it? Nah, we’re just trying to survive at this point considering the lack of sleep! But we do what we can when she is not crying.
How’s the sleep?: A constant question at work and something I was worried about leading up to this moment. I have to say that I am definitely faring better than Vero which is understandable as she is there feeding the baby all the time which can be a drain on energy. At four weeks old, I would say her general sleep schedule is as follows: Feed in the early morning (6-7am), stays awake for a few hours until the next feeding. After the next feeding, sometimes she drifts off, sometimes she stays awake again until the next feeding. The afternoon seems to be a time where she will crash into a deep slumber, ESPECIALLY if we take her out on the road. It just knocks her out for four hours. Then the evening (the witching hour!) is upon us and generally she will feed, cry, feed, cry, and if we are lucky, she will just be fussy and not cry but squirm and grunt for those times. Of course, as any parent would do, we wonder how we can fix this and we wonder things like “So if we had her sleep for four hours in the afternoon, is she just really hungry?” or “Is it a lot of gas all of sudden? Let’s get rid of this!”. If we are lucky, she feeds a few more times until around 9-10pm and then sleeps for a good four stretch, wakes up around 1-2am, and then after feeding, wakes up again around 6-7am for the cycle to repeat. So I have to say that if all days were like this, it wouldn’t be too bad to just wake up around 1-2am for one feeding. Some days are like that, some are not. I suppose I’m writing this down for historical reference as to how Sierra was when she was a baby. With my memory, I will forget how it is in about 24 hours time!
How the parents are doing: I would say we are doing pretty good overall. It’s a tough job for Vero to be here with the baby all day when I go to work. She rarely has the energy to do anything until around noon but that is totally understandable. As we have realized…as long as the baby is fed and the mom gets sleep, that’s all that needs to be done in the day.
How the parents are really doing: Hey, we have a healthy baby who seems to be interested in what her Dad shows her on TV, so I think we’re going to be good! We also have a lot of family coming to visit in the month of July which will be great for Sierra and great for us.
It’s interesting how everyone says “They grow up so fast.” I have realized that this line of thinking is because time is something we can’t go back to. Sure, we can go out for a beer with a friend whenever we want, or go hiking, or go fishing. We know that time is well spent with a friend, and we can do it again and have a similar experience. With friends, we don’t think of “Our time together is passing fast.”
But the past month with Sierra is something we will never get back and the only way to have a similar experience is to have another baby. We won’t ever see her try and roll over again. We won’t get to see her dopey smile after she feeds again. We won’t get to be surprised every time she passes gas which is loud enough to wake the neighbours! Even diaper changes will eventually fade away as a thing of the past. We are enjoying all the moments, the good and the bad, that comes along with this adventure.
I get the day off as I work over on the Quebec side which I have no complaints about. Two Fridays off in a row due to John the Baptist and Canada forming? Sign me up!
I started off the morning with my brand new blu-ray set of Star Trek The Next Generation! Exciting times are ahead as I have not watched this series in years. Sure, the first season is a dud, but it’s just the appetizer before the main course.
Sierra seems to be enjoying Star Trek as much as I do.
After another feeding from Mom, we let her go back to bed and went for a walk. I was excited to report in that I managed to snap a photo of her up and awake for the first time! Usually she is sleeping.
Vero also managed to create the ultimate concoction for lunch…Kraft Dinner and pulled pork from the Silver Bullet BBQ stand! I had gone to the Ottawa Chicken and Ribfest on Sparks Street and brought some home with me the day before. I have to say that the ‘Pulled Pork Sundae’ was a great treat from Silver Bullet. A layer of beans, a layer of pulled pork and a layer of coleslaw, all in one! Yummers!
While I was downstairs watching some Star Trek, Vero answered the door and lo and behold, a giant parcel arrived! She had no idea what it was and neither did the delivery guy. He was having a good chuckle wondering what her husband had ordered. It turns out that it the father’s day gift that Maureen, John, Vero and I had purchased…a new fishing rod for Dad!
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Unfortunately, I failed to read the details of the item and the rod is a one piece rod! I never even knew those existed! I will have to chat with Cabela’s on how to return this item.Before any of you mention it, Cousin Troy already beat you to the punch…yes I’m wearing socks with my shorts! It’s freezing downstairs in the basement!
