First hair cut

My husband Peter has been talking about where to take Rory for his first haircut since he was about six months old.  His attachment to his hairdresser and the ritual that goes along with cutting a child's hair, far outweighs my own.  There never really was a debate, more a question of when and proximity did win out in the decision to take Rory to the trendy loft on Queen West that Peter currently gets his hair cut in (by a woman named Susan who offers wine and clever conversation). By appointment only.  Vs. the woman who cut Peter's hair when he was little (in Cobourg).

I’ll be honest. I didn’t really think either of these choices were that well thought through.  I pictured the first hair cut in a place more along the lines of this...

You know... tons of distractions, lots of colours, and staff that are trained to get parents in and out before the tears turn into tantrums.  No small talk... Just cut, smile, a few "ohhhhh, so cute", and done.  Fairly unscathed.


I've been a mom for a year now. I get it. We need to choose our battles. And... Peter's off right now with Rory, so if he was up for taking him to some private studio totally not equipped to deal with a child. Go nuts right?  I was happy to wait for the report when they arrived home.

As it turned out, once we agreed it was time for "the cut", Peter booked the appointment on Rory's actual birthday last Thursday, and at the very end of the day, making it almost impossible for me not to swing by for the cut (given the studio is walking distance from my work). Smart guy.  


So... what I thought was going to be an absolute disaster... actually was awesome.  As it turns out, LESS distractions work in your favour when someone is wielding scissors over your child's head.


So this unruly mass of hair and baby curl....

Turned into this....

Don't worry. I saved the curls. This time.

Party Party

We had the first of two 1st birthday parties for our son Rory this weekend. He's such a lucky kid having family in two different cities... and it also lives true to his pa's preference of celebrating the 'birth month' vs. the 'birth day'.   The rain held off, and we had a great day with friends, family and neighbors in our backyard. It was perfect.

A super special thank you to everyone that made the trip to our home to help us celebrate and also for the very thoughtful presents.

As the Counting Crows so poetically once said. Hold onto these moments as they pass....

 Super awesome Sesame Street cake and cupcakes by Joanna's Cakes

Rory's Guest of Honour

 Birthday Boy prepping for the day

Party Oasis

 Our transformed, albeit tiny backyard.
Oh Toronto... we made the most of the space for the party though!

Cousin love all the way from Almonte

 Grill it Daddy!

 Here we go... cake time!

The be-heading of Elmo... and special guest Hunter from Cobourg

Yum Elmo tastes so good.

 Yummmmm, mommy buys delicious cakes.

Enjoying new little people farm with Jenna and Nate. THANK YOU!

A very happy birthday!

 And finally... a birthday bongo from mom and dad. He has his whole life to get more use beyond the 20 minutes he loved it hard the first day.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy

Today is Rory's 1st birthday! It's so hard to believe that a year has passed already, but yet so difficult to remember what our life was like before our little family was three.  What did we do?  What did we talk about? How late did we sleep? 

This little boy has brought an immense amount of joy to our lives.  And we're very very proud parents.  It has been such a big year for all of us and today getting to look back at how far we have come, how well we have done, how close the three of us have grown, and how amazing life as a parent really is (almost most of the time)... is pretty incredible.

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Boy. You're sleeping soundly now, so mommy will toast to you with my glass of wine alone for now. :)  If only you knew what sorts of celebrations are in store for you this weekend.  We can't wait.

XO

Ok... so here's the montage (as best as I can do). Our big mammoth computer is holding a lot of our pictures hostage. And... I get it. The pictures are totally over kill. That is not lost on me. But one day, Rory is going to read this and appreciate this year in review.  Or his girlfriend will.

This is a happy kid. That's for sure.

Trusting your instincts

You don't immediately have them when you become a new parent. But sometime over the first year of parenting; amidst the diaper changes, sleep scheduling, baths, bottles, solids, crawling, talking and walking... something happens to you. You hit a groove. You get your parenting mojo so to be speak.   You stop questioning every single thing you do. Is this right, is that wrong, am I a bad parent? Should I be doing it like that?  And why does it seem like my kid is the only one not sleeping?

Magically,  one day it's like you wake up one morning with the confidence that the first months of being a new parent is so void of. And best of all, your natural instincts start to kick in.

You know what to do before you even really have to think about it.

I don't really know when it happened to us, but I do remember saying at some point to Peter... "things just seem easier these days. I know our baby. I get it. I feel like a good mom". Powerful words from someone that on many occasions uttered... "I am not sure I can do this".

So here's the thing... Once you're there, you gotta trust it.  Trust your gut, and trust your instincts. These "feelings" are without a doubt the most powerful gift that is bestowed on parents to help raise our children and keep them out of harms way.

So, remember back when we were in decision turmoil of where to send Rory to daycare?  I was torn between a home daycare in my neighborhood where all my friends babies (and Rory's little friends) were going, and the very well run/structured run daycare right in Peter's office building?

Today the home daycare we were so VERY VERY close to sending Rory to, was SHUT DOWN by the ministry. Apparently they were/are in violation of a number of laws in the Nursery Day Care Act.

I won't even get into the ugliness that unfolded today at that daycare. But it's sad. So very sad.  25 children played there today, and tomorrow it will sit empty.  I don't even want to know what happened. The point is, it's done.

From the very beginning I had suspicions this daycare had too many registered kids, and far too little space. I over looked a lot of that detail because I desperately wanted Rory to have his little friends by his side when he made his transition.  And there was also something very comforting about having the moms that I have become so close to over this year, in it together with me. Something happened right around the time we got the call from the other daycare that changed everything for us.   It was big enough of a "thing" we couldn't go back. Once you cross the line of questioning your child's well-being with childcare. Get out. There is no going back over that line.

Anyway, my point is... childcare is so tough. It's hard putting your trust in strangers to care for your child. Your baby. All we have as parents are the instincts that grow over time that tell us in our hearts what is right, and what is wrong.  When your spidy senses go up... it's probably for good reason.   Spend the time checking it out. Sure changing day-cares or nannys is a pain in the ass, but the alternatives are much worse.

Anyway, I feel sad tonight for all the people who are now without a job and even more so for the parents in dire straits where to send their kids tomorrow.  This is when having a back up plan is so good right?  But who is that organized? Or lucky enough to have grandparents close.

On an unrelated note... can you believe last year at this exact time I was in LABOUR?!!!

CRAZY!

 Our little Mozart.  

Oh and he's getting a haircut tomorrow. As our birthday present. Because Hockey season is over.

Celebrating DA-DA

 Rory without a doubt loves his Da-Da.

And if we’re keepin’ score (but we’re not reeeaallllllllyyy), he may even love him just a tiny bit more than his Ma-Ma these days. 

I am tough, I can admit it.  And I also get it.  This Da-Da is indeed the crème de la crème.

This weekend we took a moment to celebrate Peter being the amazing dad that he is.  For a moment anyway.  Because that deck project I talked about... has dragged on a BIT longer than we anticipated.  Like everything does when you start a Reno. Ugh.

But, what else could be more appropriate on Father’s Day than a father-son trip to Home Depot? Nothing.  And Peter got a brand new drill out of it, so he wasn’t complaining. 

We did manage to get our bikes out for the first time for a ride, and Rory loves his new bike seat and even keeps his helmet on. Here's to a long summer of lazy weekends biking around the city together.

There is definitely something about these holidays when you’re a parent, that makes you miss and love your parents even more, isn’t there?

Sending love to all the dads out there. Especially my own.