Vancouver a balmy 24 degrees celcius at 0800

Shelley Fralic has it right. Vancouver becomes a city of whiners in this heat. We also turn into sloths, shirk our "to-do" lists and go to the mall.

Or at least try to go to the mall.

The family hit Brentwood last night in an attempt to cool down, and I think these temperatures taxed that old mall just a little to hard. It was cooler than outside, but not "Ahhhhhhhhh, cold" cold.

Hopefully today won't be so hot. We managed to smash records yesterday, and recorded the hottest. day. ever. Driving Big-A to daycare this morning, I marvelled at the fact 24 degrees Celcius now feels cool, and I welcomed the cooler breeze flowing in my car window, rather than the hot rush of air from yesterday.

I think I will go sit in the ocean this weekend.

Melting into a puddle

Vancouver is hotter than Mexico City & Panama and is the same temperature as Beirut. Beirut! Can you imagine? The weather network is operating under the illusion that we are only technically at 33 degrees, but that it "feels like" 39.

I am almost too hot to type.

The family has moved down to the basement, in hopes of catching a whisper of a breeze.

The 'net is slow today, and email is even slower. Can you imagine trying to be productive in this weather?

I just got out of the bath with the kids. A cold bath. I highly recommend it. Little-A is too small yet for the chlorine of a public pool, so we are opting for our own tub and a trip to the mall shortly for dinner and a run-around. Did I mention breastfeeding in the heat? Far too many warm and sticky fluids for my liking.

I wonder if an egg will cook on the pavement?

The Wedding Plot thickens

So it turns out that the Bride did have a legitimate concern over her missing gifts - it turns out some low-life at the wedding went up to their gift table and took some of the envelopes that inevitably contained cash. Talk about invoking the great Karmic wheel to come crashing down on your head!!!

However, it does put the Bride in an ever-increasingly-sticky social situation. How do you contact your guests to make sure that they have sent a gift and that it definitely has been received? Do you blanket email them the situation? Do you send very nice cards to those whose gifts are missing?

What would you do?

Wedding Gift Protocol

I recently attended a beautiful wedding, which was right on the beach, and very well-attended.(think 250+) It was the kind of wedding that drew out the sort of social circle that you only see at family weddings/christenings/deaths, and so it was great catching up with a lot of faces I hadn't otherwise seen as of late.

The question came with the gift. I understand that a gift should be an approximate value of the cost of your attendance at the wedding. I also understand that you have up to one year to give the happy couple their well-deserved, thoughtful, on-or-off-the-registry treasure.

So with this wedding, it was requested that we give cash.

No problem.

However, it was boldly hinted not two weeks after the wedding, that our darling wedding card and/or present and/or cash was missing from the gift opening, and the bride and groom were concerned that it had gone missing, or worse yet, had been stolen. (We, in fact, had not yet given the gift, choosing not to bring it to the event so it wouldn't get lost or stolen)

I replied that we had not yet exercised our "One Year Rule" on the gift, and to expect it...well, basically, to expect it when I gave it to them.

My question is: am I out of line suggesting to the Bride that we have a year to give a gift?

I look forward to your thoughts.
Oh, and I fixed my "Comments" so any and all can now contribute!

He's jaundiced, but just a little bit.

The pediatrician said Little-A is definitely jaundiced, but not enough to treat with phototherapy. So we have now been cleared by a GP, two public health nurses and a pediatrician. (It's amazing what one little seed of doubt can do to a worrying mom)

Interestingly, jaundice clears from the toes up - so his legs are great, and tummy a little jaundiced, but that explains his slightly yellow eyes and yellow face.

I also asked about the spitting up, and it turns out he is just really spitty, but doesn't have acid reflux, so no Zantac for us! Yay!

Jaundice....or is it?

I knew that Little-A had high bilirubin coming out of the hospital, and that he was slightly jaundiced, but seeing as though he has been examined by two public health nurses and a GP in the last six weeks, I assumed that the yellowish tinge to his face was a skin tone issue, and that the jaundice was taking care of itself.

According to some well-meaning family members, he still looks jaundiced, and I am now losing sleep over it. Apparently, the old trick of "letting them catch a sunbeam" to work it out is ineffective, as sunbeams carry full-spectrum UV rays, and in order to dispel the jaundice, blue and green spectrum rays are required in concentration.

He is also spitting up large amounts after most meals, (and I mean coating-his-face, running-down-my-chest-amounts) and apparently, there is a form of jaundice that's intensified in normally healthy babies, called breastmilk jaundice. So between my well-meaning family, and Little-A spitting up most of his breakfast, I am now officially worried.

Luckily, we have an amazing clinic just up the street that has a daily Pediatrician clinic for children, so I am going to take myself up to the Kensington Clinic this morning and get him checked out.

I guess I assumed that with the right amount of wet diapers, and steady weight gain, he would be fine.

Stay tuned...............

Infant Passports

Little-A and I took ourselves to London drugs this morning, after dropping Big-A off at daycare for my precious, once-a-week-with-only-one-kid day. We had to get passport photos done, as mine was up for renewal, and Little-A needed one for my Sister-in-law's Vegas wedding in September. (That's right, two kids under three to Vegas for the long weekend in the Fall. Can't you just imagine!)

Picture it: a six-week old baby, with head held upright and centred, eyes open and mouth closed, being held by Mom in such a way so as to hide Mom's shoulders or hands.

Do this while kneeling on the ground, twisted sideways, in between naps, feedings and during business hours.

This is the result.



He's definitely wearing his Old Man Face.

I hope it passes with Passport Canada.

Forgiveness and Resolution - a postscript

We have found peace in the house.

I have moved heaven and earth (with two kids in tow) to get Aaron's documents replaced, all the while tidying up all the clutter in the house, and we are moving on. (See this post.)

I realized this last two weeks, that it is virtually impossible to have a major fight with your spouse and have it prolong with kids around. These little babies of mine are emotional barometers, and to be fair to them, it is best to at least find a kind of peace with each other while working through it.

I know since having the kids, I have become a lot less wound up, and a lot more forgiving of the little things. Big-A's birth scare and the sheer support required to get through the day with two children has taught me to focus on what is truly important. My family.