What a Week!

Saturday 9:24am...I may have just stumbled across 5 seconds of Me Time! (UPDATE: clearly I didn't find that much Me Time because it's now Monday 12:54am and I'm just getting back to this)

I won't get too excited though otherwise I'll just end up jinxing the whole thing and kicking myself over it for the rest of the day. (UPDATE: You did jinx yourself idiot. Never do that again!)

So lets pretend the baby's going to be awake in a few minutes and I have about half that time to write a blog post. The other half of that time....well, I have to pee but that's probably too much information. But this week has been a week involving semi-scheduled pee breaks. No joke. It's been kind of a rough week.

Last Sunday night the inevitable happened....Eleni got her first cold.

Eleni's reaction: still her usual smiley self (most of the time)

Mommy's reaction: total devastation and a complete lack of trust in others ability to do even the simplest of tasks

It was just a little snuffly nose, nothing to get up-tight about. But I of course was a nervous wreck and am still talking about the moments of sheer terror when a little bit of the sticky, snotty goop would drain into her throat and make her cough. "She's not coughing, she's choking!! Quick, pick her up and hit her back!! PICK HER UP DAMMIT  WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU???!!!! Oh my god, WHY CAN'T ANYONE EVER DO ANYTHING RIGHT??!!! I'm the only one who can look after her, all the rest of you are useless and can't be trusted!! I'm so tired! I hate everyone!! AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGG! (just so you know I didn't actually make that 'arg' sound. Why do we write 'arg' to signal frustration anyway? No one ever makes that sound!)

So I might have over reacted at times.

I do that once in a while.

Not often though.

....you can all stop laughing now thanks.

Anyway, so Eleni's first cold happened and she's still a snuffly from it. I have this great little contraption though that gently sucks that goopy stuff out of her nose. She's a bit iffy about it. Sometimes she smiles and gets excited about it but most of the time she turns her head, pushes my hand away, makes her angry face and gives me the silent treatment for a while. I'm already catching a glimpse of what her teenage attitude will be like. 

Monday we went to the doctor to make sure it was just a little cold, which it was so that was a relief. She smiled and put on her cutesy show for the doctor which of course made Mommy and Baba very proud. She's perfect! And we have witnesses!

Tuesday I woke up feeling like someone had shoved a rake up my nose. So that was great. Taking care of a sick baby is hard work but taking care of a sick baby when you're sick too really sucks. The living room was officially declared a bio-hazard that day but we survived and the next day we were both feeling a little bit better. Pretty tired though. Just when I'd started to get used to the 4 hours of sleep a night, we went down to 2 hours a night. Brutal!

Thursday we had Eleni's 2 month check up at the doctor. We would have just done it on Monday since we were already there but she was scheduled to get her first vaccines and apparently you can't do that while the baby is sick so we decided to keep our Thursday appointment and hope she was feeling well enough by then...actually I wasn't hoping that because I really don't want her to have to get any needles. Not because I'm against them, but because I'm against anything that makes her cry. She makes such a sad little face when she cries and it just breaks my heart. And I guess I got my wish because she was still a little too sick to get her shots so now we have to go back in 2 weeks. But the good news is that she is now 5.3 kg and 58 cm! So that just over 11 lbs and nearly 23 inches. She's growing so fast!

The worst part of the week though was getting a call from my Dad on Monday morning telling me that Brasco had passed away. It was just so unexpected that I didn't even know how to deal with it at first. I cried but then I instantly put it out of my head for about 3 days and refused to talk about it. I didn't want it to be true so I just pretended it wasn't. I'm doing better now and have slowly started talking about him again but it's still so hard. I'd had him since he was 8 weeks old and he's been such a big part of my life for the last 7 years. Unfortunately my landlords here in Greece decided they didn't want him living here anymore and we weren't able to find a new place to live so in January 2011 I brought him back to Canada with me and he moved in with Mom and Dad...or Grandma and Grandpa as Brasco called them. Leaving him to come back to Greece was heartbreaking enough. They weren't sure exactly what it was, either a heart attack or a stroke. The comfort in all this is that he wasn't alone when he died, both Mom and Dad were with him the whole time and he passed peacefully. I don't think I would be able to deal with it at all if he'd been alone. I would have felt like I'd totally abandoned him. I already felt like that, which is stupid because he had a great life with my Mom and Dad. Much better than he had over here. He had a big yard to run around in, way more doggy treats than I ever allowed him to have, a much more comfortable climate that included snow (one of his favourite snacks). And of course he always loved Grandma and Grandpa. Those damn cats were kind of a pain in the ass but he was a good sport, even when they stole his bed and made him sleep on the floor. Anyway, I loved him to pieces and I miss him very much.

So that was my week. It was kind of rough so lets hope this week goes a little better. Lets hope it goes a lot better actually, I'm heartbroken, exhausted and I look like a zombie. Greece doesn't celebrate Halloween which is unfortunate because I wouldn't have had to even make a costume this year. Anyway, here's a few pictures for you....

Eleni having a snooze at the restaurant  

  I just found this picture of Eleni, it's from 2 weeks ago and can't believe how much she's changed in just 2 weeks...I promise to take some pics of her tomorrow so you can see the difference. She's chubbier. I think she has more hair too

 Brasco bear chilling out on the deck in Molyvos

 Brasco bear chilling out on the deck in Cumberland

 Playing in snow

 Rolling in the snow

 Eating the snow

Getting ready for a nap in the snow

I'll try to write again soon but if I don't get a chance before Wednesday I wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween!!! Don't forget to floss!!

Life's a Beach

I've been avoiding using that title all summer because it just seems too obvious, not to mention completely unoriginal. But now that it's 7am and I've been up since 5am, obvious and and unoriginal will do just fine thanks!

Wednesday was the big day....

ELENI'S FIRST TRIP TO THE BEACH!!! 

We're having amazing weather right now and even though it's the middle of October, I hear the sea is lovely. We didn't go swimming on Wednesday unfortunately because we didn't get there until 5pm. It would have been a perfectly fine temperature for Antonis and I to go in but the air's a little cooler in the evening's now so I didn't think Eleni would appreciate it very much. So we just lounged on the beach in our bikini's and had a look around. We did get our little feet in the water though which was very exciting, so she had a tiny preview of what to expect next summer.

Baby Bikini Time! (it's a little big for her so it's more of a tankini really)

Rolling around

She loved the feeling the sand underneath her...she told me that

Telling Dad he needs to put his bikini on to (hmmm, there's no pictures of me in my bikini...that's weird...oh well, maybe next year)

Me Tired...Blogging Hard...

Hey!

I've missed you!

Did you miss me???

It's been a while since my last post and as much as I've wanted to write and show you some new pictures and such, blogging has had to fall to the bottom of my list of things to accomplish in a day. 

The good thing is we've started to develop a schedule lately. Well, WE haven't....Eleni has. I haven't tried to force or even encourage any kind of schedule on her, I've just been letting her decide when she wants to sleep, wake up and eat. She'll be 7 weeks on Monday so she's still pretty little to be getting strict about schedules. Plus, schedules give me a teeny bit of anxiety...some may call it anger actually but I prefer to label it as anxiety so I don't seem like a spazz....

The bad thing is I'm only getting 4 hours of sleep a day at the moment so that's why I've been neglecting you. 

Sorry!

Forgive me? 

Can I bribe you with another video of Eleni? Actually, I WILL be bribing you with another video of Eleni so, no need to answer that.

Surviving on 4 hours of sleep a day isn’t really that bad actually. It’s not that easy but it’s not that bad either.

I still manage to keep my house from looking like a garbage dump (most days)

We go for a walk everyday (sometimes it’s only 10 minutes but hey, we’re still doing it)

I have time to eat AND shower daily which is pretty remarkable (they both have to happen at lightning speed but they happen…just so you know, I could destroy that skinny Asian guy that always wins those hot dog eating contests. And I could look like I stepped out of a Pantene commercial while doing it….if I wanted too…)

Sometimes I even get some time for myself (to drink wine, learn the latest dance moves and write my blog, so as you know that’s not really happening often but what can ya do?)

Anyway things are going really well over here, even if I haven’t managed to keep you updated as much as I would like.

So what else is happening? I don’t know actually. I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary happening so things have probably been pretty routine around here. Eleni and I have been getting out for walks a lot more lately which has been great. She likes hanging out at the restaurant so we visit Daddy and Uncle Lefteris there every day. She’s LOVING bath time so that’s super cute. She's growing so fast and we just moved up a size in diapers. She’s smiling a lot more and almost giggling. I can’t wait to hear her giggle! Overall, she gets even cuter and more amazing everyday.

We’re still waiting for the change table/dresser to be built unfortunately. I think Antonis talked to the carpenter 2 weeks before Eleni was born, and I was getting upset about that because it “might not be ready before she gets here!”…might not? Well you live and you learn, so now we know that you have to put the order in BEFORE you get pregnant. Silly us. This is Greece! Siga siga, have another ouzo and a cigarette and don’t stress about it….Anyway for those of you who have been wondering about the baby’s room and if I've forgotten to show you the finished product, I haven’t forgotten. It’s just not a finished product yet.

I guess I should update you on the mother in law stuff too. I don’t really even know what to say about that now other than the boundary issues we were having before are nothing compared to what’s happening now. I won’t get into specifics because I don’t think I’d be helping the situation very much and I really REALLY would like to resolve this so the last thing I want to do is make it worse. Anyway it’s an incredibly stressful situation and after trying a few different approaches, nothing’s worked yet. Lets hope something does soon though, before I lose my mind!

That’s about it really!

So here’s that video I told you I’d bribe you with so you’d forgive me for not uploading more up to date pictures. This is Antonis and I having a little chat with Eleni when she woke up in the morning the other day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd_aq2ydNbA&feature=youtu.be

Bye!

A Traditional Korean Dance

As per request by my fabulous friends on facebook.....this is me...GANGNAM STYLE!

(sorry for the terrible camera positioning. My dance floor and recording space are a little too close together...but we're in the market for a bigger studio so any future videos of me making a fool of myself will be available in FULL FRONTAL....wait...no...that's not...ummm s*hit..well anyway......)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyRANyQb82g&feature=youtu.be

Happy 1 Month Birthday Eleni!

1 month!! I can't believe it!!

I'm going to try again tomorrow to take some new pictures of her. Today we had a doctor's appointment so I had her all dressed up in the cutest outfit and ready to take some pictures when....my camera died AGAIN!!! The battery in this thing is garbage, but anyway I'll charge it again and get some new pictures of her because today I was made suddenly aware of how much she's grown.

So, today's agenda was to go to the Mytilini hospital for Eleni's 1 month appointment and while we were there we'd visit our good friends Tzaki and Kasia who just had a baby girl yesterday. YAY! CONGRATULATIONS! We've been waiting for our baby girls to meet for 10 months now and today we finally got to introduce them...yet another reason for the super cute outfit of course.

When we got to the hospital we were told that everyone was on strike so we wouldn't be having our appointment today....lovely! But the one thing about Greece that sets it apart from any other country in the world, is that even if you're told something is absolutely, unquestionably impossible....you can always find a way around that impossibility.

We went upstairs. We found the pediatrician. We told her about our appointment, the strike, we live 1 hour away, yada yada yada.....she said no problem and did Eleni's exam. It actually couldn't have worked out better because when you make an appointment, you're not given a time for that appointment. Just a date. So everyone who has an appointment on that particular day shows up and it's roughly a 'first-come-first-serve' basis (unless you want to be a jerk and budge in front of people which happens all the time here). Sometimes you can be waiting for hours for your turn which I'm sure I don't have to tell you....it sucks! But today was great, we didn't have to wait and there was no arguing with people who were trying to budge in front of us. 

So Eleni is still doing great, the doctor was really impressed with her muscle development. She also broke into one of her smiling and cooing episodes (which often happens when I'm changing her and she's naked and feeling 'free' I guess) so that got some bonus points. I forgot to ask about the hiccuping which happens about 3 or 4 times a day...I'm thinking that's a lot and I don't know if it's an indication of something else or not, but anyway, I forgot to ask. Our next appointment will be next month so I'll make sure I make a note of all my questions next time so I don't forget anything.

And our next plan for the day....meeting Eleni's new friend!

We found Tzaki and Kasia in their room upstairs, looking very relaxed, happy and in love with baby Thenai (I need to check the spelling on this but it's pronounced the-NYE). This is when it really hit me how much Eleni's grown in the last month. Thenai is only 1.5cm shorter and 500grams less than Eleni was when she was born but my god....she seems so itty bitty tiny!! How could Eleni have been that small? And how could I not realize she was growing so much? This just amazes me. I will definitely take some pictures tomorrow and we'll compare what's happened to her over the last month.

Anyway, Eleni and Thenai didn't really care that the other was in the room so they were a bit rude to each other at their first play date, but I'm sure they'll realize soon that they have a lot in common and they'll become best friends. 

After this we'd planned to...I don't even know what to call it because we don't do this in Canada...get a paper with Eleni's name on it? It's like a birth certificate I guess but we already have her birth certificate, it just doesn't have a name on it because they generally don't give the baby a name here until about a year after she/he is born and she/he's been baptized. I think I've told you about this before haven't I? I can't remember, anyway we have a nameless paper that says she's been born but I want a paper that says 'Eleni Sofia Malli' so I can start her Canadian registration and paperwork, and eventually get her passport. So we can eventually come visit all of you!! But as I mentioned....there was a strike today. So the office was closed and we'll have to try again next time we're in the city. Instead we went to a taverna on the water and had lunch. It was lovely! I even ordered a beer which was very exciting for me since I haven't ordered anything alcoholic since December. I even drank half of it! During lunch Eleni woke up from her nap and was hungry. I'd been carrying her around in a sling and it seemed like she was just at the right height for breast feeding, and I was wearing a shirt that was designed for nursing so I just put a light blanket over top of us and decided to try to feed her at the table. It worked out great! I don't think anyone even knew I was breastfeeding her. I just kept right on eating and chatting with Antonis, Eleni was totally comfortable and happy and no one could see anything...it was great! I was really proud of myself after that. My first public breastfeed as well as our first family lunch at a restaurant (that isn't our own) and their was no stress, crying or screaming involved! I this must be a major milestone in parenthood because Antonis and I both wanted to give each other high fives after that...we didn't though...because high fives aren't cool anymore....

So that was our day. Eleni's just woken up so I'm going to just hit publish and hope for the best....I'll probably read this tomorrow and lose my mind over the spelling and grammar but I don't have time for editing these days.

Bye!!

Say Cheese!

Hi everyone!

We've had a very exciting development in the last 2 days: we can now make Eleni smile :)

She was smiling before but it would happen randomly without any encouragement...she was just testing out the smile muscles I guess. But now we've been able to figure out a few tricks that get a smile just about every time. And let me tell you, nothing has ever felt so rewarding!

The only problem: smiles happen so quickly that we haven't managed to get a picture of it yet...*frown*...but we're working on it. I think it'll be a 2 person job: one of us holds the camera and snaps away frantically while the other one of us tickles her. That'll be tomorrow's project! I guess I managed to get one smile in the video I posted the other day, so I haven't completely failed in keeping you visually up-to-date (does that even make sense? 3 hours of sleep a night = me not making sense most of the time and not really noticing when that happens...please let me know when it happens)

Speaking of smiles, here's something that makes me smile:

Daddy Daughter Nap Time

Something else that makes me smile: they both snore. It was like a tank was driving through the living room. If I'd been trying to sleep (which I SHOULD have been, but I wasn't), I wouldn't have been smiling. I'm sure at some point things like this will become less cute. I wonder when that happens?.... Right now even her poopy diapers are cute....am I ok? Should I talk to someone about this? 

Anyway Eleni's sleeping, the house is totally clean and I'm pretty well rested so I think I'll go grab a glass of wine and start looking up post-pregnancy work out tips. I'm finally feeling like I'm ready to start working out again...nothing too crazy yet, but something to start shrinking this belly would be nice. I've started walking again which has been good. We don't have a stroller yet but I do have a sling, so I've had 2 long-ish walks with her strapped to my chest. It's so cozy that she falls asleep instantly. The only problem with this is that my back muscles are weaker than they've ever been, and my stomach muscles are non-existent. I'm not even exaggerating, they're completely torn apart. For the first time in my life I can officially say that I have ripped abs...unfortunately it's just not in the good, "I have a 6-pack" way. I don't mean to scare anyone...it doesn't hurt, I just don't have any strength or stability in my core right now because my massive pregnant belly stretched everything so far that down the middle of your stomach where your stomach muscles attach to one another...mine aren't. So while carrying her in the sling burns a ton of calories...my back is killing me after just 30 minutes. Yesterday we did an hour, and that was definitely too much. I've been paying for it today and not in the "wooo hoo, I really kicked my own ass with that work-out" kinda way, but in the "hmmmm, should I call the doctor?" way. So now I need to do my homework and find out how to work my core without damaging anything further. If anyone has any tips, please let me know...Eleni will be 1 month old next week and I really don't want to look pregnant anymore! 

Before I go, here's one more thing that makes me smile: the way Eleni sleeps....

This one is from about 2 weeks ago and I'm amazed at how different she looks already, but anyway this makes me smile because she sleeps like me...hands behind the head like she's lounging on a sunbed on the beach loving life! Of course she doesn't totally sleep like me....she snores like Antonis remember?....I don't snore...nope, not me....never...that's all her Dad's genes....no really, I don't snore, I SAID DON'T SNORE! I don't care what Antonis says, he's probably just hearing himself snore and he thinks it's me.

Good night guys, sleep well!

Mirror Mirror On the Wall

Hello!

The cutest thing just happened...ok, ok, pretty much everything she does is the cutest thing but this is the latest cutest thing....

I attached a little mirror to her relax chair just above her head to see what would happen. I didn't know if she'd notice it or not but I've read that babies really like faces so I thought, 'I wonder what happens if she can see her own face.' Well, she saw herself in it immediately and started smiling and cooing and kicking her feet. It was so adorable! I should have whipped my camera out right away but I just couldn't tear myself away from watching her smile. Finally I did grab the camera and I took this little video, but unfortunately I'd already missed all the really big excitement (I'll be quicker on the draw next time)...but here it is anyway because she's still unbelievably cute even if she cries at the end....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7MAV_uWRlA&feature=context-gau