Author Archives: Nicole

MORE SNOW – JANUARY 24TH 2009

Another couple of inches of snow, but thankfully this time it only lasted a few hours before it melted. Now that’s the type of snow I can handle – enough to take some fun photos and not too much that it becomes an enormous pain.

Thomas guided us through the park with the help of his treasure map.

Kei was getting some things done around the house so I carried Samuel in the backpack. Check out those laugh lines. It’s a sign of deep wisdom, not mid thirties.

The backpack freed up my hands to take more photos – including this one of a teeny tiny bit of spring. It gives me hope that warm weather is on the way.

Of course this gets me right back where we started – winter.

And then I played around with reflections in water – something I was inspired to do after my photography class. Did you know that water reflections are two stops darker that the actual light source? No, me either. I have to refer to my notes to remember exactly what that means.

And this one’s my favourite.

RESPONSIBILITY – JANUARY 23RD 2009

We have started implementing the responsibility system with Thomas. At the end of each day we review the chart and Thomas gets a magnet for everything he has managed to do well that day like saying please and thank-you and putting his toys away. As you can see, we added a couple of extras that we deem important enough to track.

It seems to be working, at least for some things, although sadly we’re still working on the potty one. Sigh!

The Red Chair – January 22nd 2009

This funky red chair was once a prop for a big Nike event. I inherited from a friend/vendor who does a lot of work for the company. He had about 20 of these chairs in various colours (red, blue, grey) in his studio and offered me a couple. And who am I to say no to a couple of funky red chairs? They’re very cool and retro and now have a place in our study, although I may move at least one of them to our upstairs landing when we eventually move the paint supplies back to the basement. (Painting, sigh!)

I also though they would make a good photo prop but apparent wriggly 8 month olds aren’t very eager to just sit in a red chair while their photo is taken. Kei questioned my parenting choice when I sat him there and then tried to back up to take a photo. Fair enough too. Our hardwood floors are unforgiving.

Instead Thomas sat with Samuel and tried to hold him in position while I proceeded to take a number of blurry photos. This is the best of the bunch.

NATURAL LIGHT – JANUARY 21ST 2009

One of the things I love most about our new upstairs renovation is the abundance of natural light. The boy’s rooms get full sun in the morning and, on the rare occasion when I open their blinds (seriously – why bother when Samuel naps every couple of hours), I just adore the light that streams in. In fact Samuel’s room is probably my favourite room in the whole house.

I am a little worried about the accompanying heat come summer, but with our double glazed windows and insulation I am hoping that sleeping upstairs will no longer be the equivalent of stepping into a sauna.

THE BOTTLE – JANUARY 18TH 2009

Samuel was born with a very big appetite. From the moment he was born he latched on and nursing him was a breeze – well apart from the initial agonizing pain but I’ve been told is apparently normal and just one of the many things we live through to earn our stripes as a mother.

Thomas was another story. It took three months for him to finally get it but I was able to supplement by pumping. We rarely had to give him formula. In fact I found a full can of expired formula in the cupboard last year that had never been opened.

Now the tables have turned and I feel Samuel’s appetite is more than I can handle. He has at least 2 or 3 bottles of formula each day and doesn’t seem satisfied when I nurse him. The worst part? When he gets frustrated by not getting enough milk, he bites. Right now he only has his bottom teeth but the top ones are on the way and I don’t even want to think about what that means.

So I now need to decide… do I continue trying to nurse when I can and make the effort to pump a measly 4 ounces a day? Or do I come to terms with the fact that I have given him a good 8 months of breast milk and call it a day.

I feel very emotional about this decision. I had a 12 month goal in mind and to not reach that makes me feel like I am failing myself and my baby. Not that I even think Samuel will mind very much. He loves the bottle – it means he can still look around while enjoying his meal. Maybe I just need to let go of the ideal.

And let’s face it, we could do without the added cost of formula.

So I have a big decision to make. Once I stop there’s really no turning back.

Off to pump now while I think about it.

LEARNING – JANUARY 17TH 2009

I attended a two day photography class on the weekend and my head is ready to explode with the information I absorbed in just 16 hours. It felt good to get back to the basics and learn about just what my camera can do (turning down the flash – brilliant).

The downside is that now I am back to square one. I CAN’T use auto mode anymore. I have to move forward. Which means a lot of very bad photos while I learn to take good ones. The photo above was one of my first photos with my new knowledge of the reduced strength flash.

And that thing he’s carrying? That was Kei and Thomas’ project while I was at my course. Kei wanted a helmet and I imagined I would return home to some sort of knight’s helmet or a firefighter’s helmet. Instead I was greeted by Ned – Ned Kelly, that is.

Very impressive work. Kei is now officially in charge of all art projects.