Amelia also enjoyed watching me play, and would wave when I was on the field. She got to see Ian play a game and by all accounts was very excited to cheer on her Dada. And like every kid I’ve ever seen at an ultimate tournament, she had a blast playing with the cones on the field.

Clara was also an excellent little ultimate fan. Plus she decided to start sleeping through the night on Friday so I wasn’t too exhausted to play. Nonetheless, I felt pretty out of shape and “foggy” on the field. For me, ultimate requires a clear head so I can play intuitively. So even though Ian was there to take care of the girls, with two kids on the sidelines my focus was definitely not on the field. It was fun, but I’m not sure how it would work in a more competitive setting.

Regardless, I’m enjoying getting to sleep more than three hours in a row. Clara has slept between eight and ten hours a night for the past four nights. I realise it might not last. But at least we know she is capable of making it through the night now. So we’ve started the same bath, boobies and bedtime routine that we used with Amelia.

While it was heart-wrenching to listen to her friends and colleagues speak about her life, it was also inspiring to hear how she brought joy and laughter to so many people. As one speaker said, she had “a young girl’s heart.” One can only wish to love and be loved as much as she was.

We will miss you, Mila.

If you live in Ottawa, please consider attending Hope for Kate. If you can’t afford the tickets but want to attend, please let me know. I will be buying two tickets and would be happy to share them as I don’t believe we’ll be able to be there. Leave a message in the comments if you are interested.

The second time around is definitely different. There is none of the anxiety of becoming a new parent and being responsible for such a tiny creature. It helps that Ian is taking paternity leave, too, so I’m not home alone with a baby 12 hours a day. And of course Amelia is a fantastic big sister. She’s doing really well adjusting to having Clara Jane around. I also think she’s happy that Dada is home to take her to the park or play with her when Mama can’t. The past couple of mornings when Amelia wakes up she asks to go see baby Clara right away. It’s adorable.

(Taken by gran-gran)

Early-morning snoozing with Dada.

Clara Jane arrived on April 30, 2010 at 4:20 pm, five days past her due date. I was scheduled for induction on May 3 but since there was a slight deceleration in Clara’s heart rate during my non-stress test on Friday morning, the doctors decided it would be better to induce me then rather than let me go home.

So, I was induced to get things rolling and within four hours Clara was born. Luckily, Ian decided not to eat his lunch in the cafeteria or he might have missed the whole thing! My obgyn wasn’t the doctor working the floor that day but she happened to come down to see how I was doing right at the time when Clara was ready to come out, so she was there for the delivery. It only took about three pushes and then Clara was born.

I spent 24 hours in the hospital, which felt like an eternity since I wasn’t in pain and I wasn’t tired and I just wanted to get home with Clara and see Amelia.

*Congrats to my teammate Julie who correctly guessed April 30!

Meanwhile, Amelia had a rough week last week (for her) –by far her toughest as a toddler and probably my toughest as a mom. Although I wasn’t feeling sick, I still had sinus pain from the cold I had a few weeks back. And Amelia was getting teeth. Several of them. For some reason this time around the teething seemed worse. She was clingy and very sensitive to the slightest thing all week long. She had a fever and just wanted her Mama all the time. Luckily she slept through the night just fine on all but one occasion.

Amelia also threw a couple of tantrums. They were hard to manage only because it was tough to get her to calm down. She wasn’t violent or lashing out, she was just screaming and crying. Both occurred at breakfast time where something set her off. I’m going to wager that it was the pain from her teeth, since usually food is the solution to any crankiness with this kid.

I just kept reminding myself that we are so lucky Amelia is happy and healthy. Some people (including an old friend from Ultimate) have it much, much worse and are able to have an amazing outlook and attitude in much more challenging circumstances.

Some cute videos to come, if I can find the time (and if the baby doesn’t decide she wants out today).

Today I think both Amelia and Ian felt like Alexander. Ian started feeling sick in the middle of the night and it continued throughout today. Amelia seemed to have a fitful sleep, woke up by 6 am and then threw up her breakfast. Admittedly she has a sensitive gag reflex and it seems that when she is teething she has more difficulty keeping food or water down first thing in the morning. But she seemed to be feeling out of sorts most of the day and needed a nap by 10:30 am.

Of course, naptime this afternoon was a no-show even though I pushed it until about 2:30-3 pm. I very rarely go into her room after I put her down even if she’s fussing a little bit as she is very good at settling herself. But today she managed to work herself up into a huge crying fit within minutes of putting her down. I went back in and sat with her in the rocking chair and it took her a good 10 minutes to be able to stop sobbing. It was heartwrenching.

We then tried going for a drive, to no avail. Having a day like today makes me appreciate how amazing and good and happy Amelia is 98 percent of the time. And how lucky we are for that.

It was a terrible, horrible, No good, Very bad day. There were lima beans for dinner, and I HATE limas. There was kissing on TV, and I HATE kissing. My bath was too hot, I got soap in my eyes, my marble went down the drain, and I had to wear my railroad-train pajamas. I hate my railroad-train pajamas. When I went to bed Nick took back the pillow he said I could keep and the Mickey Mouse night-light burned out and I bit my tongue. The cat wants to sleep with Anthony, not with me.

My mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia.

I think this poem from Meredith Gray is my favourite:

I’d rather be a mother
Than anyone on earth –
Bringing up a child or two
Of unpretentious birth.

I’d rather tuck a little child
All safe and sound in bed –
Than twine a chain of diamonds
About my foolish head.

I’d rather wash a smudgy face
With round, bright baby eyes –
Than paint the pageantry of fame,
Or walk among the wise.

.

Amelia did great on the afternoon flight there. Although we weren’t allowed to bring any carry-on bags they did let us bring a diaper bag so I stuffed it as full as possible with toys and books. We also brought the stroller as “gate check” baggage although we probably could have managed the airports just fine without it. We were worried about the supposed delays because of heightened security but it was quite quick in the end.

Captiva is beautiful. The resort/hotel was great because it was somewhat secluded. We had a two-bedroom “beach-side” villa, which essentially meant a condo with a cleaning service. Each section of the resort had its own pool, so there was a small one about 25 metres from our deck. The ocean was another 25 or so metres down the boardwalk. It was perfect because both the beach and the pool were empty the whole week. And we had great weather (for Florida in January).

On the one rainy morning, we drove into Naples and went to the Naples Zoo/Botanical Gardens. It was the ideal zoo for Amelia. She walked around the whole thing by herself. They had bears and lions and tigers and zebras and monkeys and a couple of other more exotic fare. Because the zoo is situated in a botanical garden, it seemed slightly less off-putting than a zoo would normally be (to me, at least). They also had a couple of playgrounds situated at intervals on the main path and Amelia took full advantage of them.

The resort had a trolley system set up so you could get from one section to the other without having to drive your car. We visited the more “touristy” section a couple of times where they had the golf course and several bigger swimming pools, a harbour, a nature center and other family/kid-friendly activities. But, we mostly spent time on the beach, digging sand castles, watching the birds, collecting shells and playing in the waves.

I’m going to post the photos to Picasa since we have so many of them. Link to follow.

Curious about what cousin Tommy is doing.

Reading Where’s Spot? with Babu.

Off for a ski with Mama and Babu in the sled.

Making pizza dough with Gram.