Single Parent

So this is what Ed decides to do 5 weeks before my due date... rappelling down a 22 story building - for charity. Luckily all went well.

I LOVE my birthday

I know I'm getting old an should stop enjoying bdays, but Ed rocks! Every year for the last few years we've done something really fun, and now of course, I expect it :-)

This year we went to St.Andrew's by the Sea and stayed at the Algonquin.
www.fairmont.com/algonquin

It is stunning! Kim & Dean joined since Kim and I have bdays only a few days apart. Also Mom, Don and Heather and Jamie came along for fun. Boys (and Kim) golfed. Heather and I spa-ed. We definitely got the better deal since it poured rain all weekend. They only did 9 holes and then quit. We had the most fantastic dinner and brunch the next day. Only thing missing was the booze... and Ed drank my share for me.

So that's it, my last bday on my own. Next one will have a baby and lots more to worry about. Oh well. Maybe my bday present next year can be baby sitting from Nany and I can still spend the day at the spa.

Baby Sitting

Perhaps not the best idea I've ever had but let me say that in the end it worked out fine. No one was hurt and I think I fared pretty well. However, looking back, had it not gone well, this could have been a disaster for my confidence. Ed of course was at a dinner meeting all night, so it was just me, my 31/2 year old niece Amelia and 14 month old nephew Tommy.

I managed to change 1 diaper of a VERY squirmy little guy so I figure on a brand new baby that can't move I've got it made! Got him fed and asleep and managed to get his sister asleep in bed only 1 hour after of her actual bed time (although she insisted her bed time was 10:30.... I wasn't falling for it!)

The good part about being the 'fun aunt' is that if they eat too much crap or don't go to bed on time its not that big a deal. Mom can deal with it tomorrow! :-)

This experience also helped fortify my 'perhaps we should only have one' theory. Two kids is HARD! At one point in the evening I had Tom in one arm going down stairs and Amelia wiped out while 'racing' down the stairs. (I TOLD her it was a bad idea...) Dropped her apple, which the dog quickly scooped up, and started to cry that she scraped her elbow.

What to do first?
Put down baby? - no can't do that on stairs... bad idea
Chase dog to get apple? - why bother, can't eat it now
I figured the safest bet was to get everyone off the stairs and THEN try and make Amelia feel better.

No harm done. Teeny bit of carpet burn on the elbow. Nothing a bit of cartoon watching and a kiss on the elbow couldn't fix.

They are actually both really good kids, but that was TIRING!!!

More good advice

Don't put too much pressure on yourself or your child. You'll spend the first few years of her life teaching her how to walk and talk and the rest of her life teaching her to sit down and shut up! :-)