Fiona’s Latest Tricks

We went to an evening birthday party last night and learned that Fiona likes olives! Yay! Another fatty food we can give her! A dog barked in her face and scared her, but later, she was petting same dog, so hopefully she was not too traumatized.

Today, we planned to attend a food and wine festival. It has become an annual tradition for us since the year we married. However, this year our plans were thwarted by a lady who informed us that children were not permitted, even though ours is in a stroller and was obviously not going to be drinking. Luckily, she agreed to refund us the cost of the tickets, which is a lot more than pocket change. She also told us of a lovely park not far away from where the festival was held. We took Fiona to this park (the playground was completely empty) and let her climb some stairs, swing on a swing (you can sort of see her swinging with her body like a big girl), and slide down the slide. Several young girls saw her and came to say hello. They followed her around and I think she liked it. She touched one of them and waved and smiled at them!

Later, she demonstrated her latest tricks...putting the balls into the green container and clapping. She has been doing this for over a week now, but I finally got it on camera.

Oh! And she took a few steps with her walker, remained standing without support many times, and “walked” using another walker that is larger and more stable than the one she has.

This is an old post that I didn’t publish

I wrote it last week:

Fiona has slept through the night the last few nights. Since we’ve been back, she also figured out how to carefully place items (and food) in our hands, how to place items in boxes and pails, and how to put the balls into the green “beaker” toy that Cathy sent her for her birthday. Every day she enjoys putting the balls into the top and getting them from the bottom. At first, she kept missing the top, and so put the balls in the bottom, but now she just goes for the top. She even tried to put some of her wooden shapes into the beaker. And, she has tried to put some shapes into the truck with the shape pieces that my mom gave her. One time she even had the correct shape near its proper hole. She placed wooden blocks in a pail, then put one on the matching shovel and held it up to show me. She stood up on the push cart/walker thing, and even took a step or two, but she sort of avoids it now that she knows we want her to use it to walk.

Today, she clapped for the first time. Then, realizing she did something new, clapped her hand against John’s hand for good measure. It seems like every week there is something new she learns. She starts off very tentatively, doing something only once or twice, then she goes all out and will do it over and over again. I think she is very close to pointing. She also discovered pinching certain parts of my body that I wish she didn’t like to pinch. She thinks it’s funny and laughs. She likes dropping her food on the floor now too. And I learned this week that whatever I use as a distraction while changing her diaper only works once or twice. After a couple of times, she realizes whatever it is I am giving her is being used a distraction and goes right back to doing what I don’t want her to – turning over and sitting up on the changing table, pulling on her dirty diaper, pulling on her clean diaper.

She is still not a very social baby. We went to a birthday party and it took a long time for her to feel comfortable enough to be set down with the other babies without me holding her. Eventually she was fine, but like I’ve said, it takes her a looooong time.

Here are some photos from the last few days, and couple from my mom’s camera from a month ago when she swam in the little pool. Doesn’t she look like she is walking in these photos?

   

She is not walking though. She stood up all by herself a couple of times in the last few days, but nothing consistent. I think we will have a crawler for a while yet.

She knows how to crawl in and out of the pool by herself.

PS Since I wrote this post, we tried taking Fiona off Prevacid and had a very fussy baby all week, who did not sleep well and did not nap. Now we are giving it to her every other day. I hate acid reflux. I was really hoping it was gone. At least she is not spitting up anymore, but the pain and discomfort are still there.

Sigh

Canada Part 3: The Voyage Home

Getting to the airport and checking in was no problem and our plane was on time! We stopped for gas on the way and there was a guy with really big hair talking to the attendant. He was standing outside the locked up convenience mart while she was inside, talking through the window. I wondered that he had nothing better to do (such as sleep) at four in the morning.

Fiona playing in the airport:

Sunrise at the airport. It rained three out of the four days we were there. Of course on the day we leave, the sky is clear.

We arrived in San Francisco with lots of time to get to our gate. The monitors said the plane was on time and we were excited that we might make it home at a decent time. Our flight was supposed to be at 10:45am. At 10:20am they announced that the plane had arrived and would have a fast turn around.

So far, so good.

Then they announced that it was going to Eureka. Huh? Our plane was delayed AGAIN! By an hour and a half. Back to the kids’ zone it was. 

Eating lunch at 10am.

That giant Lufthansa plane in the background is none other than one of the new double-decker Airbuses. It can hold over 500 people on it. I was telling John that I didn’t see any of those flying around the airport and I didn’t think SFO could support such a plane, and then less than ten minutes later, there it was. It has a two hour turn around time (the time it takes from when the passengers disembark until it can leave again). Yowsa!

 

We did eventually make it home, landing at about 2pm, two hours later than our original time. Everything seemed fine until we noticed that the only piece of our luggage that made it off the plane was the travel crib. In fact, many of our fellow travelers did not receive their bags either, even though the gate agent insisted that our bags were here. A little searching proved her wrong and it turns out that none of our bags left San Francisco. Now, be aware that we had to pay to check our luggage in the first place. I guess that does not guarantee it will reach its destination on time. Luckily, there was nothing we really needed in the bags. It’s one of the reasons I never pack anything really important in my checked luggage.

We filled out the form and went home. At their credit, the airline delivered the bags to us later that night, after 9pm, waking Fiona and generally annoying us, except that we were happy to see our suitcases in one piece.

And that ends our whirlwind but happy little sojourn to Victoria. Fiona was a fantastic little traveler, taking any little hiccups and wrinkles in stride, and allowing us to drag her around. I am already nostalgic for this trip and I can’t wait to do it again, and to travel with her again.

Here she is on my lap on the plane ride home. I think she is looking at Sky Mall:

Canada Part 2

Saturday we awoke in our very luxurious room, in our giant king size bed, with Fiona in her little travel crib. We tried to stick to our usual morning routine. John got up and dressed her and played with her for a while and then I nursed her.

Then all three of us headed downstairs to the dining room for a delicious breakfast. At this point, I do not remember what we ate but I know it was heavenly. The chef at Prior House is amazing. We took turns feeding Fiona parts of our breakfasts and walking around the lush gardens with her. Then it was a little more play time and we discovered that she knows how to climb stairs. We live in a one story house, so I am not sure how she learned it. I am guessing it is instinctual.

And might I add, she is really fast!

After stair climbing Fiona tired out and took at two hour nap. We brought the monitor with us so we could leave the room during her naps, but as it happened, we fell asleep as well. It was refreshing. Added bonus, we got to watch her sleep a little bit.

Upon waking from our naps, we joined the family (Cathy, Ron, Grandpa Don, Bruce, Craig, Emily, and Heather) at Swiss Chalet for lunch. Fiona ate chicken tenders and steamed veggies, and even got a little toy. I love that she loves to eat vegetables right now. After lunch, everyone returned to Prior House for a little visit. Thank you Cathy and Ron for taking photos.

  

 

Fiona is not the most social of babies and she takes a long time to warm up to people, so she mostly stayed on my lap or on the floor.

Eventually Fiona tired from all the stimulation of new places and new people and needed another nap. Everyone said goodbye and we took her upstairs, where she refused to fall sleep in her crib. I carried her in the Ergo downstairs, where a concert was happening. A woman with a very lovely voice sang Edith Piaf and Cole Porter songs.

We put Fiona in the car and went for a drive. She immediately fell asleep and slept for about two hours. We tried to find a dinner place and found ourselves at Passero’s, a Greek and Italian restaurant that welcomed us with open arms. It was a nice relief after we attempted to eat at Ross Bay Pub. The waitress immediately told us we had to leave because Fiona was not 19 years old. In the U.S. the word pub doesn’t really mean a lot. Mostly, it signifies the type of food served and that there will be beer on tap. Apparently in Canada, it means no one under the legal drinking age is allowed.

Unfortunately, even though she had a long nap, Fiona was not up to sitting in a restaurant again, so we got our food in take out boxes and returned to the inn. I forgot my camera in the restaurant, so John went back to retrieve it and stopped by his friend Iain’s house on the way back.

Sunday morning began much as Saturday had, but after breakfast we had a visit from Ruth. She gave Fiona a beautiful quilt she made. Ruth is also the person that made the pink and purple blanket that you sometimes see Fiona sitting on, and the bear that hangs above Fiona’s dresser. Ruth chatted with us for a while and showed us Craig, Emily, and Heather’s baby photos. It was a pleasant visit. Fiona got tired and we parted ways so she could nap.

Later, we went for a nice drive out near where John grew up. I took a photo of his house, which I think looks like a chalet. He said he never thought of it that way growing up.

We then attended the birthday party of Doug, the son of Mike and Jennifer. Mike and Jennifer loaned their stroller to us so that we did not have to bring ours. Fiona ate water melon and grapes and Mike’s homemade smoked salmon. I ate a most delicious chocolate cupcake (or two).

Still later, we picked up Don and headed to Miriam and Reg’s beautiful and comfortable house for a very yummy dinner. Miriam procured a high chair for Fiona and I was very grateful because Fiona has been in my lap for most meals. There were other family members as well, Christine and Ross and Ian and Judy. There was a lot of good food and Fiona ate avocado. I used tortilla chips as a spoon for her. For dinner she enjoyed a plum, tomatoes, and potatoes. Sadly, this is the only photo of the night.

We were having so much fun that time got away from us and we had to leave just as dessert was being served. As it was, Fiona made it to bed about two hours later than usual. It’s really hard on her, but I think it was worth it. We did bring two slices home with us though. Miriam is joining the rest of Victoria in conspiring to make sure I do not fit into my work clothes. She made THE BEST flourless chocolate cake EVER! Oh my! I ate some when we returned to the inn, and then again before breakfast. Yes, before breakfast I ate chocolate cake. It made me happy. :)

Monday saw us enjoying more breakfast at Prior House and after we went for a walk around Rockland. I love the Rockland area of Victoria. There are so many interesting old houses and yards to look at. There are many, many heritage houses and little hidden parks and streets everywhere. As we passed a driveway of a newer development, a man approached us and invited us in. He told us the history of the property (it used to be an estate with an old manor house. The manor house is now split into two homes and there are matching townhomes built in a similar style all around). The man’s name is Scotty Gardiner and he used to work for the RCMP as an investigator. He wrote a book that we want to read. He retired and now repairs antique furniture. His real passion is restoring clocks. He let us into his home and showed us the many clocks he repaired, told us their histories, and showed us their special stylistic features. It was really interesting and neat. I took a picture of one clock in particular:

This clock is very rare. It doesn’t give any indication of who made it or when, and the only information Scotty found was a picture of a clock with the exact same shape and ornaments but that is painted in a Japanese style. The book he has doesn’t mention the other clock’s origin, just makes fun of some of the decorations. It’s a mystery!

The little round plate says “Tempus Fugit” – Time Flies!

After our walk around and clock side trip, we headed over to Don’s and picked him up for a ride. We drove around toward Ross Bay and Beacon Hill park, then headed downtown and then back to the park. Fiona was asleep the whole time and we did not want to wake her. I must say she slept well in the car.

We went to Moxie’s for dinner. They have really cool high chairs that have trays attached to them, like at home. Fiona didn’t make a mess at all. She ate bread, tomatoes, pasta, chicken, bell pepper, and beets. I think she likes the red fruits and vegetables. We spent the evening packing and dreading our ridiculously early wake up time for the 6:15am flight the next day.

Canada Part 1

Fiona has the first stamp in her passport:

She is officially an international traveler!

The day began in a most horrible way. On Thursday night, Fiona woke up at midnight or 1 am (I can’t remember anymore, I had a really hard time falling sleep so she didn’t really wake me up, but I was already realllly tired) and wouldn’t go back to sleep. I nursed her, I cuddled her, I rocked her, John cuddled and rocked her, we tried putting her in bed with us, we tried putting her in her crib. NOTHING worked. She just cried and cried, and occasionally sucked on her fingers or tugged and batted at her ears. Finally we decided that she must be in some sort of pain so we gave her a small dose of baby ibuprofen (yup, we are those parents again) because we know that she is teething in earnest per her pediatrician. Eventually it kicked in and she fell fast asleep...at four in the morning, a mere 45 minutes before we planned to wake up to leave the house. She fell asleep on me in the big chair in the living room. After John went back to bed, I moved to the couch, and then to our bed, all with Fiona lying on me, sound asleep. At 4:15 I set her down in bed and commenced last minute packing and dressing. She didn’t even peep even though we were moving around her and going in and out of the room. At 5:30 John picked her up and put her in her car seat and we were off to Santa Barbara airport for our 8:15 flight. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time and had no problems checking in. Our flight to San Francisco was delayed by half an hour but we were assured that we would have time to catch our connection to Victoria.

Here we are in Santa Barbara airport:

Yes, I am actually smiling.

John and Fiona playing in the airport and in the courtyard outside (until the gardeners asked to leave so they could mow the lawn).

Fiona’s first airplane ride:

I’m smiling again, and so is Fiona. She was having a good time playing with her toys, reading her books, eating the magazines, and generally having the undivided attention of both of her parents in a small space. I was smiling because I was not only excited to travel with Fiona for the first time, but I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours and was just beginning to feel the effects.

We landed in San Francisco at 10, supposedly with 38 minutes to walk to our next gate which was not far away. Oh, how naive we were. You see, our plane was supposed to leave at 10:38am, landing us in Victoria shortly after noon, with half a day left to do things like buy diapers and cheese, pick up a stroller, and visit family. But no, our plane did not actually leave San Francisco until 5:09pm. That is the time on my watch as we pulled away from the gate. We were stuck in the airport for seven hours. We didn’t know the plane was going to be there until about 20 minutes before it arrived. I am going to dedicate an entire post to this ordeal and what I think of the airline because of the way everything was handled. Suffice it to say I started turning into a crazy lady at one point, what with the bad customer service and the lack of sleep.

We landed in Victoria around 7pm. Luggage pick up and customs was smooth and did not take long, and the rental car was quickly secured, as was a car seat. It was so nice to be able to rent one and not have to bring Fiona’s car seat with us. We brought the little strap pads from home though, and the hood, so she would feel safer with something familiar. Turns out, it didn’t matter. She is very adaptable.

A weird side note: As we approached the booth at passport control in the Victoria airport, there was a little black spider that the officer flicked away with his pen. We are not sure where it came from, but he said something to the effect that is came from the people in line in front of us and it wasn’t a good thing to bring in to the country. I made a joke referring to some horror movies I’ve seen, particularly the one that ends in a battle in the basement with a humungous and screeching mother spider who eventually is shot and killed with a flaming arrow, but he didn’t laugh.

Our next stop was to find diapers because we used almost all of the diapers in the diaper bag during our seven hour airport adventure. Pharmasave was closed at 8:30pm on Friday, so we went to London Drug, where I bought diapers and wipes, as well as some other things, and Goldfish Crackers. We headed off to Prior House, our Bed and Breakfast and home for the next four nights. We stayed in the Linden Lea Heritage room and I did not take any pictures. It was 9:00pm, so far past Fiona’s bed time that we did not give her bath. We changed her diaper, put her in her pjs and she fell asleep very quickly. She slept in her bassinet, which is really a travel crib. We collapsed as well.

Fiona in San Francisco International Airport, making the best of the time. Luckily, they have a kids’ play area.

Eating lunch:

 

Checking out the tornado:

 

Playing peek-a-boo in the tubes (I think this was her favorite):

Sitting on top of the sand dunes simulator:

The balls and the lightening:

The red tube:

She fell asleep soon after:

 

Waiting in line at customer service:

She’s thinking, “How can I still be here? I ate, I played, I took a nap. It’s hours later, shouldn’t we be somewhere else already?”

Yes Fiona, we really should be somewhere else. But that is another story for another day.

One thing I learned about Fiona on Friday is that she is a great traveler. She did great on both plane rides and did not seem bothered at all by our airport fiasco. She took everything in stride and handled it much better than either John or I did. She’s my little trooper.