ten minutes to myself

seven minutes

Seven minutes. That's how long Madeline will sit contentedly on a lap on an airplane. Last week Madeline and I flew home from Edmonton. The flight is only about 30 minutes long, so Chris and I thought that keeping her on my lap was work trying. It wasn't so bad, but I am happy that Westjet assigned me a window seat as Madeline was unable to wrestle out of my arms and take off down the aisle. Aside from her insatiable urge to explore, Madeline is still a good little flyer. She liked looking through the safety information card tucked into the seat pocket and turning the latch locking the refreshment tray was amusing for awhile :)

I was really happy with the care Westjet and the baggage handlers at the Edmonton International Airport took with Madeline's carseat. It was the last item loaded onto the plane (I was watching from my seat onboard), and it was carried from the baggage trolley by hand and placed into the cargo hold. Next time we fly, I think it makes sense to buy Madeline her own seat and use her carseat on board. It's saferfor her anyway, and I can't think of any other way to keep her from running amok on the plane without struggling with my active toddler. I was really happy to find this thread on the Baby Bargains board with pics and illustrations on how to best install a Marathon onboard an airplane last night - I've bookmarked it for the future!

lessons

Sigh. Madeline's been fighting her afternoon nap a bit these past couple of days, and I can't help but wonder if it's a just a phase or a message that she's ready to transistion to one nap a day. She's nearly fifteen months, so I guess it could go either way. Wish I remembered who I lent her instruction manual to - I could use it back :)

Madeline has a few new tricks! She has a small plastic red chair that I keep in the kitchen, and on Sunday she pulled it over in front of the dishwasher and climbed up on it to reach the countertop! And yesterday, she scaled one of the kitchen chairs and was trying to clamber onto the table! I guess there's no better time than the present for the lesson "chairs are for SITTING" ...

I've got the diaper bag blues ...

I'm tired.

Tired of carrying a diaper bag (albeit small) instead of a cute handbag. Tired of wearing nursing bras that are now too large to offer any sort of support. Tired of wearing jeans and a long-sleeved Old Navy tee everyday. Tired of my long-enough-for-a-pony-tail yet short-enough-to-dry-quickly hairstyle. I think I have the Momhood Blahs :) 

She's Just Right!

I did manage to conduct my night-time temperature experiment the other night. I wasn't too hot or too cold (though not as warm as I normally am) dressed and covered similarly to Madeline, although I think my feet are naturally colder than hers :) Our thermostat lets the indoor temperature go down to 19 degrees Celcius (about 66 degrees F) at night, and Madeline doesn't seem to complain.  So I guess that maybe it's Chris and I who I should be worrying about at night - not for the risk of freezing, but for overheating!

Anyway, maybe I'll pick up a couple pairs of fleece sleepers for Madeline, but that's about it ...

Snug as a bug or cool as a cucumber?

Unless I am too sleepy to remember, I'm going to conduct an experiment tonight. You see, I've been wondering if Madeline is too cold at night, wearing her long-sleeves knit pyjamas and a fleece sleepsack. Chris and I sleep underneath a cotton sheet, blanket, and coverlet, and sometimes even a comforter now that it's getting cold at night. It just seems wrong that we use all of that to keep warm when Madeline only gets a sleepsack.  So, for my experiment, I'm wearing knit pyjamas to bed tonight and curling up underneath a fleece blanket only. I can't think of any better way to figure out how comfortable Madeline is.

If I end up thinking that she's pretty chilly, I'm not sure what to do? Dress her in a fleece sleeper too, maybe? Invest in a Grobag? I don't know if they're actually warmer than her fleece sleepsack. Maybe I should just buy warmer fleece and sew another sleepsack ...

Discount Baby

Madeline is the lucky recipient of two recent Costco purchases. First, a lovely package of Spinach Nuggets.  I am hopeful that they might persuade her to eat a green veggie as her two fave green foods, peas and edamame, aren't really considered vegetables in the Canada Food Guide. The second purchase was a case of the Kirkland disposable diapers. She doesn't go through paper diapers very quickly as she only wears then overnight and for long errands, but I've been curious about them. One of my girlfriends gave them a thumbs-up, so we're giving them a whirl. My first impression is that they're like Huggies, except they have the "gigglastic" waistband and really good gusset, whereas Huggies removed one of their leak guard barriers in the gusset when they upgraded the waistband.  I have 158 left in the case to use, so time will tell if we buy them again. The little zebra on them is cute, though :)

Artist at Work

Well, Madeline seems to like felt markers ...

But I think that she's found a better medium now :)

Open Wide

Madeline has another molar that I didn't know about! That brings the molar total to 2.5 (the second lower one isn't all the way through yet), and nearly eleven teeth. Goodness. This morning Madeline was kind enough (read: tolerant and immobile) to let me scrub her teeth and gums with the finger toothbrush - both upper and lower jaw - and I was amazed to make contact with something hard and sharp while I massaged her top set of gums.   But now that I think of it, she was indeed in a two-molar-teething-worthy mood for part of this weekend!

I've been trying to prepare her for her  first trip to the dentist (ahem, pediodentist). When I say "open wide", I'm rewarded with an excited "aaaahhh!", big open mouth, and smiling eyes! It's so cute!

Speaking of the fancy finger toothbrush for babies that I bought (which I could only find with a tube of non-fluoride toothpaste, which I don't really use), when I was describing the little rubber nubbin to my parents, they asked if it was like what a person uses to brush their cat's teeth. Guess I could have saved a few dollars if I'd shopped for Madeline's finger toothbrush at the pet store instead of at the drug store :)