Snow Day

Today was a beautiful day and it was finally warm enough to put Brandon in his snowsuit and let him play outisde. Brandon has had a chance to look at a lot of snow in the past two weeks but it's been way to cold to let him enjoy it. Up until today, he's never touched snow or rolled in the white stuff.

With Christmas being right around the corner,we thought we'd put up the Xmas lights and take Brandon for a ride in his little sled. We dressed Brandon in his snowsuit, hat and mits and sent him out the front door. I think it's fair to say he wasn't a big fan of the snow. He seemed surprised to find it so cold and he didn't like wearing his mits. Being a good little helper though, he was determined to help Dad sort out the Christmas lights. Even with his mits on, he did a very good job of emptying the tub and pulling out the strings. He was very patient while we put the lights up but it wasn't long before we were done and took him for a sled ride.

I honestly thought he would enjoy the sled more than he did. Perhaps he was tired or cold but fun in the sled was short-lived so we quickly took him home. Once in the house he enjoyed a snack of cheese and crackers before retiring for his afternoon nap. It was a lot for a little boy to handle in one day so we'll try playing in the snow again soon.

And on a completely different note, Brandon got another tooth on Wednesday! He's up to lucky number 7 now ;)

No One Said it Would Be Easy

I started back to work part-time on Tuesday November 16th. The temperature had plummeted the night before to a chilly -16, thus marking the beginning of winter in Calgary. I bundled up my baby and myself, warmed up the car and drove him over to Linda's house. He waved "bye bye" with a smile and I jumped back in the car and made my way to the train station. I didn't feel sad like I thought I would. In fact I can honestly say that I did really well that first day. I went about my business and started to fit back into my job like I'd never left.

By my third day at work though, I really started missing my little guy. And not only did I miss him but I missed my life of leisure. I suppose leisure isn't the right word. Being a stay-at-home mom is a lot of work but I liked setting my own hours and having my own agenda. This really took me by surprise because I always enjoyed my job and working for living.

I understand now that my return to work is going to be a huge adjustment for me. It's going to take time to accept this new reality and to learn how to strike a balance between being a good mom and being a good employee. Wish me luck . . . I think I'm going to go buy a lotto ticket ;)

Party Time!

We celebrated Brandon's first birthday on Thursday November 11th. The party started at 1PM and our last guest left around 6PM. We were lucky enough to have lots of friends come out to help us celebrate. Brandon was spoiled with some really great gifts like new clothes, books and toys. Overall, I think he had a really good time. He enjoyed playing with his friends and he LOVED his first bite of chocolate cake. He did retire for a 1 hour nap around 4PM but that was good because he was ready to go again as soon as he woke up. I really hope next years party will be a bit smaller but I'm glad we had so many friends join us this year. After all you only get one first birthday so you might as well make it a big one!

12 Months Old Today!

~Started this post yesterday but didn't get a chance to finish it!~

I don't know if there's words to describe how special this day is to me. Ever since Brandon entered the world 1 year ago, my life has never been the same. I didn't know I could love so much, care so much or feel so selfless. I think about him all the time. I dream for his future, I care for his health, I comfort his fears. I miss him when he's gone and I smile when he's near.

So what do you do for the special person in your life when he turns 1 - you take him to Montana's for lunch and to the local play center for an afternoon of fun! Here's some pictures from our celebration. Oh and Happy Birthday Baby!

Music Please

In early September Brandon and I started attending "Baby and Me" music lessons on Monday afternoons. It's a 45 minute class taught by a lady from Hungry with one of the most beautiful singing voices I've ever heard. The lessons were expensive but I think they are well worth the cost. I had read some articles stating that music helps young children develop skills they'll need for language and math. This was enough to sell me but what sold Brandon had to be the egg shakers . . . or maybe it was the xylophone. Either way it doesn't matter because he loves this class!

I have to admit the class is very well done. There's only eight children in the lesson (Brandon is the lone boy) and each class is highly structured. The children start with marching to the drum and then move into story-telling. The story is short and the teacher sings the story as she's reading it. We then play with drums, egg shakers and bells. We sing songs and classic lullabies. The babies always get to play the xylophone and at the end we dance around with scarves and play peek-a-boo - another Brandon favourite.

I have no way of knowing if these classes will actually improve Brandon's language or math skills later on in life but for now it doesn't matter. All that matters is the smile on his face each time we go to music lessons :)