Busy Summer

There's a lot going on here these days. It's hard to find time to update, and when I do, it's hard to decide which of the many topics and events I should write about.

Thus, a rather fractured post follows.

First of all, I satisfied my recent stroller lust not by blowing $400 on a Bob, but by purchasing a second-hand, no-name brand jogging stroller from craigslist for $55. Here it is:

It needs a snappy name, though, so if you think of one please let me know.

With that addition, as well as the upcoming purchase of one of these, I'm

all set to start my half-marathon training tomorrow. I am both excited and nervous.

Gwen has been developing some amazing skills lately. She can now hold onto some of her toys, though she cannot pick them up on her own: I hold the rattle near the back of her hand and place it inside her fingers when she opens them. She sometimes hangs on to it, sometimes drops it. She can also roll quite handily from her back to her side. I read that babies around this age start rolling front-to-back first, and that back-to-front doesn't happen for a few more months - it's likely that she's not developing the front-to-back rolling because we don't do enough tummy time. Please note my total lack of guilt or panic about that.

Speaking of tummy time, though, we have been doing a bit more of it lately. Gwen tolerates it a bit better if we do it in the morning as she and I lie in bed together, because I am right on her level. I also finally tried the trick of propping her up with a folded receiving blanket under her chest and put a toy in her line of vision. That worked quite well and she didn't fuss for nearly an entire minute.

Also? Last week I gave her a bath in the morning instead of in the evening, and she didn't scream at all until I washed her hair. There's hope. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier - she is almost always in a good mood in the mornings, and almost always in a rougher mood in the evenings, so why did I think she would learn to like bathtime when she's already in a difficult mood?

We visited some friends in Victoria over the weekend, and Gwen got to spend some real time with a child for the first time - her honourary cousin, Zoe, who is ten years old. Zoe was captivated with Gwen and was actually quite a big help to me - she is going to be a terrific babysitter in a couple of years. I was quite intrigued to notice how Zoe played with Gwen in different ways from those I would think of to use, which then engaged Gwen in different ways. Gwen also really responded to Zoe every time she was near - she can obviously sense, as Zoe's dad Mike pointed out, that Zoe is more like her than the adults she is usually surrounded with.

There was also this really hilarious moment where Zoe was watching me feed Gwen, and Gwen pulled off the breast but was still leaning into it with her hand, and milk shot all over the three of us. It was pretty awesome!

Another awesome bit of news is that I am now finally ready to proclaim that the THRUSH IS GONE. Repeat, the THRUSH IS GONE! With that, we are back to cloth diapers (though I did cheat and use disposable while travelling this past weekend), and they are fitting a fair bit better than they did 6 weeks ago. Oh, and just as important as the reappearance of cloth diapers on Gwen's bottom, is the reappearance of sugar in my diet. Ahhh, now things are back to normal.