New Photographer

G has discovered how to use our camera. Out of the hundreds of ones like this:

and this:

There are also some interesting ones from a tiny person's perspective.

And, of course, plenty of her sister:

Her Mommy:

 And herself:

A Year on The Rock

So, as of a month ago, we have lived in this wacky island province for a full year. It's hard to believe, but, looking at how much my kids have changed (namely that there are kids instead of kid), it kinda makes sense.

What I have learned this year in Newfoundland:

-it's not a hair barrette, it's a buckle
-the snaps on your shirt are called hapses
-the porch on your house may or may not be called a bridge
-You don't Honk or Beep your horn, you Barmp.
-Pepsi, not Coke
-As someone who doesn't come from Newfoundland, I am a CFA (Come From Away)
-As someone who lives in St. John's, I'm a townie. Everywhere else in Newfoundland is "Around the Bay", and the people from there are called Baymen, regardless of gender.
-I cannot get away with adding b'y to the end of my sentences yet (and I probably never will, since I'm a CFA)
-Jiggs Dinner is delicious, but unhealthy, because of the insane amount of salt
-Quidi Vidi Beer (pronounced Kitty Vitty) is the best beer I've ever had and has turned me into a beer drinker
-Everyone calls you "my love" "my darling" and "my son"(if you're male), even if they've just met you
-The appropriate thing to say about a cute child is "God love 'em." and "She's some sweet"
-Speaking of which, "some" means "very" (eg. It's some windy! It's some hot!")
-What you eat on your fries is dressing (like what you'd stuff a turkey with) and gravy. And it is delicious.


Things I've done in the past year include:
-Whale sightings (both from a boat and from shore)
-Puffin sightings
-Scooping up caplin from the beach - an amazing experience
-Driving up Signal Hill approximately 6,000 times (and never getting sick of it)
-Spending at least 20 afternoons lounging on the rocky Middle Cove beach (and really never getting sick of it)
-One great trip off the Avalon to see the beauty of Terra Nova National Park
-Eating lots of fish and seafood, including several lobsters


In the future, I hope to do more of the same, and see an iceberg and a moose.

It has been an interesting year.

Wordless Wednesday

How to Hack your Ergo Carrier into an Impromptu High Chair

I don't usually post stuff like this, but I love sites like parenthacks and getting tips from parenting magazines, so I thought I'd post this hack I came up with when G was small.

I love my Ergo Carrier so very very much. We used it for G for over 2 years, and we use it for M now. We have quite a few carriers (slings, wraps, a mei tai), but Ergo is the one I'd recommend if you were only getting one.
I've had a few times when I've been out with it to eat at a place that didn't have a high chair (or all of them were taken) like, for example, the Costco food court I went to today.
So I figured out a way to strap a sitting-baby to a regular chair just using my ergo.

Step one:

Turn the ergo upside-down, so the waist strap is at the top and the arm straps are at the bottom.

Step Two:

Buckle the waistband at chest height around the baby, then around the back of the chair (obviously, this only works on chairs that have backs). Pull it quite tight, so they are secure. They need to have head control, so this works best for babies from about 6-12mo. 

Step Three:

Put the baby's legs through the sides of the ergo, bringing the shoulder straps back around the chair. Secure them together using the chest clip.

And there you go. Baby is secured to a chair, and you are able to eat your meal without a baby strapped to your chest, grabbing your food. 

Special thanks to my very adorable model. 

So...this happened

I wish I could blame this on the kids, but, sadly, it was I who stepped on Paul's laptop in the middle of the night and caused this tear in the space-time continuum. 

The Life of M

 First off: apologies for the lull. When life gets busy, it gets too busy to post! We've officially been living in NL for a full year. I'm sure I'll post a rundown of all the stuff we've learned soon.

Many of my friends and some of my family haven't met our fabulous little 9 month old, so I thought I'd tell a bit about her.

M is seriously mellow. We thought that G was an easy-going kid, but M is even more so. I don't know if I want to have any more kids, since these two have been so great (especially in the sleeping department). The first 9 months of her life have flown by.

M loves her sister. For bathtime, they start off together, then G gets time on her own to splash and play, and often M will come and watch her, pulling herself up on the side of the tub, a new skill she's been perfecting lately. G looks at her and she looks at G and has this ridiculously cute belly laugh. 

She even puts up with being dressed up. 

M loves food. She eats with gusto and has gone from purees to chunks of food in less then a month. She has loved everything we've given her so far. 

Even a bit of corn on the cob.

She is way more "mouthy" then G ever was. I have to be so careful about what's on my floor, since she eats everything she can get her little hands on! 

M is super-smiley. Anytime I have her out and about in the carrier, she always smiles for strangers. She happily goes from person to person in a group, with a grin for each of them. While G was already a talker by this age, M is a bit more quiet, but always observing with wide eyes.