Ben's feeling better again.

He developed a bit of a rash on his cheeks on Tuesday though and so I thought it might have been fifth disease he'd had; I informed his school just in case. We've since seen the doctor, and he doesn't think it's fifths since the rash didn't spread, but rather some run-of-the-mill virus on top of the cold virus. He didn't bother sending him for bloodwork to confirm, which is fine by me. I'll update the school on Monday morning when I bring Ben in.

My smiley girl :)

Caitlin's been smiling for at least a couple of weeks now, but it's so hard to capture with the camera. I never seem to have it handy when I need it. So here are a couple of Caitlin smiling in her chair this morning. She's such a happy, easy-going baby that I imagine we'll have many, many photos of her beautiful smile.

And here's one I took to show off her outfit. The cute top and pants are from Andi and Vinny, and the pretty sweater was knit by Granny Bloomfield.

Product rave: Spectro Kids Eczema Care lotion

Wow, this stuff is incredible!

I had Caitlin at the doctor's office on Friday. She had two red and aggrevated-looking rashy spots on either side of her face in front of her ears. Ben also had this as an infant. And her torso and arms have been very dry since birth. Admitedly I hadn't been very diligent with lotion, so it got worse over time and she started getting flaky and red. Our doctor thinks it's mostly related to the dry weather (we really need to optimize our humidifier) and possibly detergents, so I've had the pleasure of washing all our laundry this weekend. But so worth it if it fixes the problem.

I really wish I'd taken before and after pics. After only two applications there was a very noticable difference in Caitlin's skin, and now after a second day of application her skin looks perfect!

Poor Ben's been sick

And fortunately he seems to be over it. Fingers crossed. I worried he'd come down with the flu, but it appears to be some other milder virus. Ben's only ever run a notable fever once before, when he was about 16 or 17 months, and it was just a 24 hour thing.

It started on Friday morning. He wasn't interested in breakfast, a bit out of sorts (crying, upset), and cold (the kid who hates pants and socks actually requested them), so I figured something was up. He went to lay down on the couch to watch Thomas instead. I checked his temp and it was high normal. I went to shower, came back, checked again and it was almost 103F. Ibuprofen took it down, but of course it spiked back up when the meds wore off.

We dosed him again before bed, and I dosed him again through the night.

He continued running a fever on Saturday, but it seems to have broken through the night. He's back to a high normal temperature (99.somethingF). So hopefully that's the last of it.

Caitlin's fashion show

Yesterday we received a suprise parcel in the mail: a beautiful dress from our good friend Melissa, so I figured it was time for a little fashion show.

Modeling her new dress from Melissa.

In a dress I picked up on sale at Mexx (which I think is actually a dress-style top, but will do as a dress for now).

In a dress I bought for her at Old Navy when I was still pregnant.


It's so funny how different Ben and Caitlin are in this respect. Ben wouldn't have stood for a fashion show of any sort - he would have had a meltdown after the first outfit change. We girls must be genetically hardwired to love clothing.

Family Day

This past Monday was Family Day in Ontario, so Nic was off work. We decided to go to the ROM. Ben really enjoyed himself, especially the bat cave (though he was a little scared at first, he got over it quickly) and looking at the gems in the Natural History galleries.

Here's Caitlin and I (near a dinosaur exhibit).

Nic and Ben checking out bird tracks.

Nic, Ben, and Caitlin in a tepee.

Future paleontologist?

Caitlin and I.

Ben and Nic looking down over the main foyer.

Ben and I checking out some amethyst.

Ben and Caitlin in her seat.

Snoozy Caitlin.

Balloon dino in the main foyer.

The sweetest thing at bedtime tonight

I was feeding Caitlin in the rocking chair in her dimly lit room when Ben came in and said 'When I go to sleep I miss Caitlin.'

My heart is just so full right now. Two beautiful children. I'm so lucky.

Caitlin's two month check-up

Caitlin had her two month check-up today. Unfortunately the doctor ran short of time and so he was unable to get to everything so we'll be back again in a couple of weeks. He was, however, able to get her weighed, length and head circumference measured measured, and give her shots.

She's now 75th percentile for weight, which is where she started at birth, despite being a rather light-ish eater so I was surprised. She'd dropped and was hovering around 50th for a while after her birth. She's also 75th percentile for height. I didn't find out what percentile she was for head circumference, but I do know she's following her curve, so that's good news.

Caitlin hardly made a peep after her first shot. A brief and tiny whimper and that was it. The second shot caused her to cry, but she was easily soothed, and then quickly fell asleep once she was back in her car seat.

Winterfest

Yesterday we went to our local Winterfest activities. It included childrens' activities at the community centre and some rides at a nearby park.

It was a day of good fortune. First, I recovered a snowman plate I painted about four years ago at a local ceramics shop. The owner was hosting a children's ceramics workshop and I spotted my plate (which I'd never picked up and had long forgotten about) on a table. I guess she always brought it along and used it at the winter activities she hosted. Nic looked at me like I had two heads when I said 'Hey, I think I painted that plate. I think it's mine!' And sure enough it was. Four years later I was reunited with my snowman plate.


Then, after spending some time at the community centre we went to the park. We didn't realise there were rides, we just figured it'd be more children's activities. We hadn't hit a bank machine and didn't have any cash! As we stood by the ticket booth debating what we should do (there was no bank machine in walking distance) a woman overheard and gave us a ticket so Ben could ride the train. So thoughtful! Must've been the good karma we wracked up by donating to the local homeless shelter with the cash we had on us while we were at the community centre moments earlier. Then we ran into friends who kindly spotted us $10.

Ben meets a therapy dog. He promptly sneezed four times, so we'll be keeping an eye on that! Caitlin found Winterfest a little dull.
Ben going down the bouncy slide.
Ben rides the train all by himself, with the ticket given to us by the kind stranger. He later rode it a couple more times with our friend's son, Maxim.
Then later gets on the 'Berry-Go-Round' (hey, I didn't name it) with Daddy. They're on the left.

Happy two months, Caitlin!

Caitlin is two months today. And these two months have flown by. The first five weeks or so were a bit of a blur, but now we're both getting a bit more sleep.

Caitlin is now smiling in response and spontaneously. So, so cute. I must try to get a pic soon. Her face is filling in too, so she's looking less newborn-ish. Her hair is also starting to grow in. She's such an adorable little baby.

She's usually in bed at 8pm and wakes once around 5am to feed, then goes back down until about 7/7.30am. Though, I think she's going through a growth spurt as she's increased the amount she takes in a feeding and woke twice last night to eat.

She doesn't mind tummy time too much. She doesn't get *lots* of it, but some. I have to be close by to prevent her from being run over by Ben! Not intentionally, of course, he just likes to run.

Here are a few recent pics:

'Baby games'

Ben loves playing with Caitlin, even though she's only just two months - today! - and not able to engage him much (though she is smiling in response now and it's SO cute). Ben refers to games with Caitlin as 'baby games'. And the game basically consists of Ben putting his face near Caitlin's feet, yelling 'C'mon, Caitlin!' to prompt her to kick, and when she does he goes flying backwards as if she's kicked him clear across the room. It's so funny. It's amazing what they come up with some times.

Caitlin's birth announcement photo

I *finally* got around to getting Caitlin's birth announcement photo taken. At almost two months! Sorry Caitlin.

But, it's oh so cute! And it looks really great on the printed cards.

Here's a sneak preview.

The photographer was so pleased with it that she asked me to sign a release allowing her to print and display the photo in the studio. Caitlin's getting her 15 minutes a bit early in life!