Vero and I got back from a trip up North over the past week. This year there seemed to be more time to do things whereas other years it feels like we don’t have much time at all. We got to spend some great time at both our families houses as well as visit some people around town. Abigail is two years old now and is quite exiting to be around.
If I had to rate my levels of interactions with children, I would say helping them when they cry is the lowest (of course…who really has that at a high level?), then playing with them is second and just watching them while they play by them self or walk around is my favourite interaction. It’s really a marvel to try and understand what that kid is thinking and see what creativity is inside. Prime example: the night we were leaving the North, Abigail started pouring cups of tea for herself and then decided to start offering it up to her Dad. Mimicry is quite amazing.
John and I got some good jam sessions in during the holidays. It’s a shame we don’t live closer because we gel together well.
On the baby front, I was glad to chat with Dad over the holidays as he eased some fears I had of whether or not we could offer children. I know that we can definitely afford them, but I’m wired in a way that I need to understand the costs of a project. There is little to no information on this subject and I can only assume it is because people just don’t have time to calculate this while taking care of a baby! They just DO it. Dad explained that back in the day (at least in his case), there wasn’t even much thought into whether or not a person could afford a kid…they just went ahead and had one and that was that. After chatting a bit more about this at the dinner table with everyone, I am more at ease with having a kid from the financial side, but there are some unanswered questions out there.
Namely, at what point is it worth it to stay at home vs. put the kid in daycare. That’s the big question right now and I know that we are 1.5 years away from having to do this, but preparation is never a bad thing.
We are very fortunate to have friends and family in our life who helped us out with the baby while we were there. We ended up packing the Mazda CX-5 to the gills with baby stuff…a crib, TWO bassinets (one which was built by Vero’s dad for Vero when she was a baby), a change table, assorted odds and ends and Fredo, the stuffed monkey (thanks Andreane and Guillaume!). It was a little insane bringing that all home and we almost had to leave Vero behind, but we figured out how to pack it. Now my mission is to find a small little part which is missing from the crib. At this point, the only lead I have on it is a used parts store down in the United States which sells it for $20USD but ships it internationally for $50! Plus we need to buy a new mattress at a $100 so we’re debating whether or not to get a different crib. I think I might just opt for shipping the part to Ogdensburg for $8.
Happy New Year’s to all! Vero and I spent New Year’s Eve at home with a fire and watched The Hateful Eight which definitely was not one of Tarentino’s finest films.
Special thanks to Mom, Dad, Danielle and Gaetan for their hospitality and great food. Mom, that roast and porketta stands in the halls of time as the greatest meal I ever had!