Back in Germany, and Béla sitting unassisted

The first week back in Germany was a bit strange, as Jeremi was home sick (his second week off sick, after a nasty lung infection), so we were all at home, and Béla had terrible jetlag. He slept in the first full day back (Monday) until 2:00 pm. Needless to say, it took a while to get back into our rhythm, he and I. There was also no point in me trying too hard to get over my jetlag, when I knew that I'd be up super late with him anyhow, and Jer was so sick that I didn't want to make him stay up late. It was a strange, and not altogether pleasant, start to our year.

One thing I did during this time was to go through his clothes, sorting out the 3-month outfits that didn't fit him anymore, and rediscovering all the cute 6-month outfits that he hadn't had a chance to wear yet. Like this adorable orange fleece pumpkin suit. Yup, if you buy a baby born at the end of April a 6-month size pumpkin suit, your grandson will be dressed like a Jack-O-Lantern in January, in a country that doesn't really do Halloween. Whatever, he's still cute.

Another cute 6-month outfit is these Osh Kosh train conductor overalls. I'm glad we tried them on him when he was 4.5 months, because they're rather slim, and while they still fit, they really fit. And while it's not obvious, he's wearing the super cute bum-flap long underwear from Melanie and Ruthanne underneath. (If you can't tell, he's asleep on a pillow on the couch in this picture, after passing out while nursing.)
We wanted a picture of him in this outfit while awake as well, but I don't think Jer waited until he was really awake, as this is totally his dopey just-woke-up-from-a-nap face.Also, about a week after we arrived back in Germany, Béla totally figured out the whole sitting up unassisted thing. He'd been on the verge for weeks, but it suddenly clicked, and he was suddenly totally happy to sit and play with things, without periodically falling over, bonking his head, and starting to cry. (There's still a pillow behind him in this picture for safety, because he still tipped over if he got distracted at this point, about a week shy of five months.)
Look at him, playing like a pro! Of course this happy time of unassisted play didn't last long - within a week or so he developed the pathological need to chuck himself forward onto his hands and knees whenever he was in a sitting position for more than 10 seconds, despite the fact that he couldn't crawl, and barely had the strength to cushion his landing. And so began another period of bonking his head and wailing, while waiting for the next milestone (which he has completely reached in the meantime, but I'm getting ahead of myself in my boasting now).

Bonus week, and some bonus pictures

Because I'm on mat leave and didn't need to count holidays, I decided to stay an extra week in Canada, in Ontario, after Jeremi flew back. It gave me a bit more time to visit with friends and family, just me and Béla. Jer, Béla and I flew back to Toronto together, and he went straight to Frankfurt from there, while I was met by my dad and uncle Jon. In fact the whole Bazar crew visited that weekend, including Jon and Joan, Jenn and Tim, and Josh and Milaine. It was a great chance for Baba to get to spend time with both of her kids, all four of her grandchildren and all three great-grandchildren at the same time, which was pretty magical. I didn't manage to take any pictures, but my mom emailed me a few (thus the mention of bonus pictures in the title).

Unfortunately, Béla didn't take well to Jeremi's departure, and decided that he couldn't be more than a meter away from me, and preferred to be touching me at all times. Flattering, yes, but it grew tiresome after a few short minutes. All of these people were there to visit with us (and him, of course), and I'd hand off my normally very friendly son, only to have him start screaming. I'd take him back, calm him down, and then repeat. It got better after a couple of days, but that first couple days was exhausting!!!

One of the reasons I wanted to spend more time in Ontario was to visit friends in Belleville, so my parents and I drove there for a night, from Tuesday to Wednesday. I was able to go to my friend Jen's birthday party, where I saw some friends, and then stayed at the house where my friend Pam was housesitting. The next morning I went to see our old neighbours, the Gariepys, where my parents were staying, and we had a nice brunch and a visit before heading back to Newmarket. Of course, I neglected to take any pictures of that as well.

One of the reasons I wanted to stay longer in Ontario was to get a chance to visit with Chris and Karen and Owen and Gavin. Karen was on mat leave, and Chris was still on holidays of some description while I was there, so we were able to go out to a local park one day for some tobogganing. The idea was that Owen would be excited about it - he'd done it for the first time recently, and loved it, but on this particular day he only wanted to go on the swings and playground equipment. This didn't stop Karen and me from going down the hill mind you. (Chris wasn't able to, as he had Gavin in a carrier.) Here I am...

And here's Béla, enjoying (?) his first trip in a stroller, in Chris and Karen's new SUV double stroller. By the end of our trip to the park, Béla was more than ready to get out of there, but it went okay. (Yes, he's more than six months old, and he's now been in a stroller twice. I guess on that front we're pretty crunchy. And god knows it's not because he's always in our non-existent car. To each his own!)

Here's Owen, surveying the scene, deciding what to play with next.

My brother and I also managed to sneak out Friday afternoon for a 3D showing of Avatar (in English!!!), while my parents looked after Béla and Karen looked after the boys. It was pretty fun, and the first time I'd left Béla with anyone besides Jeremi for long enough to need a bottle. (We did leave him with Paul and Betty Ann while we went to the liquor store in NB, but it was only about half an hour or so.)

Later in the week, here are my parents sitting on the couch together, with their two newest grandsons. I think this was on the night when Casey and Joanna, and Melanie, Ruthanne and Ezra came over to visit. I really wanted to get to visit with them, as well as with Dave and Joe and Selom, all of whom are in the Toronto area, but I hadn't gotten my act together with planning things, and I was so worn out from Béla's clinginess that I didn't want to run all over to meet up with people. And so everyone was invited up to see us!

My mom was great, and managed to cook up two massive feasts on the Thursday and Friday nights that I was there, so there was plenty of food for all, and the guys came up on the Thursday (pictured after), and Casey & Joanna and Melanie, Ruthanne & Ezra on the Friday night.

Here's a scene of the madhouse on the Friday night, as Chris and Karen were over with the boys as well.

And then, at the end of the evening, Béla fell asleep in my dad's arms, and the two sat on the couch for a quiet time for Béla's last night in Canada. My dad was pretty lucky, I'd say.

The next morning my parents drove up to Casinorama for a curling event they had tickets for, while I packed up my things, getting ready to go to the airport in the afternoon with my brother. Of course Béla didn't make it easy to pack up, so Baba entertained him while I worked.

For a 90 year-old, she's doing pretty well, I'd say!

Jenn and Tim came over too, and we had a nice lunch together, drinking a couple of the beers for Jeremi that I wasn't able to fit into my luggage, before my brother and Owen came to take me to the airport. The flight back was miraculously good - it was half-empty, so I had 3 bulkhead seats to myself, with a bassinet I didn't even use, because Béla slept well in my arms. He also nursed incredibly well on the plane, in contrast to the trip there, and the crew was incredibly friendly and helpful. One flight attendant had a pregnant wife, and kept borrowing Béla to walk around and play with the flight attendants in the galley to give me a break. How's that for a positive story about Air Canada for a change?

Finally, because I was missing pictures of so many things from the holidays, my mom emailed me a few. She sent them with these frames on them, so that's how I'm posting them. Here are a few from Christmas day - the two babies in their two cocoons:



A sad-looking Owen with Jeremi and Béla...
Owen helping my mom cook breakfast Christmas morning in his pyjamas.
Yet another picture of the four generations.
Some pictures from when the Kitchener-Waterloo Marshalls were visiting, and my dad and Uncle Bernie happened to wear the same outfit without planning it.

At supper that night, at the kids' table, which had a median age of about 30, including the babies.And the adult table, which included Owen, as he decided he'd rather sit there.

Me, still wearing my crown from supper, with baby Gavin.

And here Aunt Joan and Gloria get to meet Béla for the first time. He charmed them, of course.
I'm not sure when this one is from, but it's a cute picture of me and Béla all the same.
And one of Béla making his little turle-beak-face, which he doesn't really do anymore - maybe his new teeth make it impossible? Here he's sitting next to my Uncle Jon, when they were visiting.
Another picture from when the Bazars were visiting, where he's hanging out with Josh and Milaine. It was the first time I got to meet Milaine, and she's lovely! (Béla was also quite taken with her, despite his general clinginess at this point in the visit.) Béla looks like such a little baby in this picture...
I'm thinking my mom included this picture because she looked nice maybe? Béla looks cute of course, but I look like I'm hammered, and I'm holding a pint of beer. I hope the Jugendamt (German equivalent of Childrens' Aid) isn't reading this blog.
And then, one final pic from Thursday night, when it was like a McGill reunion, with Dave and Joe (who I hadn't seen forever) and Selom (who I actually was better friends with at Dal, but we met while at McGill). It was great to see these guys while I was in town.
And finally, one last picture of Béla being incredibly cute, and flaunting his ET fingers (as they're called by a friend of mine here in Jena).

Before leaving

During our last week in New Brunswick is was also my aunt Trish's Birthday so my uncle Gene called us to see if we wanted to come have lunch with them in Richibucto. We gladly joined them and stuffed our faces full of deepfried seefood. Here is Trish with Bela.

Our vast amounts of fried deliciousness including clams, scalops, fish and fries.

Mom holding Béla back from the fried goods.

Gene with the Béla. 

The food was good and Béla got lots of smiles from the surrounding table and the waitresses.

On the way back to St-Ignace we caught my uncle Jean-Yves in between school bus runs and he got to meet Béla too and show us his new pad.

Later that night (or possibly the next day) my good parents stopped by too. Here is Gilles...

And Laurida playing with Béla.

The night before we left we went to Marlene's in Moncton for the night. And there we had more visitors. We got to see the Kellies again before we left. 

And my good friend Laffy stopped on his way back to Halifax from Trois-Rivière with his 3 year old daughter Alisha (not seen here). Marlène made us all some very good Lasagna that we ate before the Kellies got there (hahaha). 

The next day, we left for the airport in the afternoon and met up with my parents who had come to say good bye and get back the car they had lent us (thanks). 

The flight back to Toronto was much better than Béla's two other flights. He was relatively happy until the descent. Once in Toronto it was my turn to say good bye to Béla and Julia since they were staying in Canada for another week and I was on my way back home to Jena to go back to work or as it turned out be sick at home most of the week (and the week after).

Visit with the Kelly's

After having fun being snowed in with the Halifax gang we briefly went back to St-Ignace to recuperate and then we were off again to Fredricton to see my cousin Crystal and the family; Joey, Taryn and Olivia. They recently moved there and are liking it very much. They were all very happy to meet Béla who was very happy to play with the girls. Here are Taryn and Béla sitting with me on the couch.

We read some books and played hide and seek and the sleeping game where Taryn puts me to bed and tells me to sleep. Here I am reading 'Dr Seuss's ABC' which Joey noticed was the abridged version. 

And Crystal was very happy to hold Béla and play with him for the first time.

And here is Taryn and me making faces at the Camera. Béla was being to cool to participate. 

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The next day we drove back to St-Ignace . 

New Year's Eve in Halifax

After a couple of days in New Brunswick, we were headed to Halifax, for a New Year's Eve party at the apartment of Marie and Lynn. The party was fabulous, including a trivia contest which we won, earning us the fabulous top prize of a ShamWow (they're made in Germany, you know). We got to see lots of friends from Halifax too, and Béla seemed to have a good time too. Alas, we neglected to take a single picture at the party itself.

The next day Jer's dad called, to ask if we were planning on driving back early (we'd hoped to spend a couple of days), as a giant winter storm was en route to New Brunswick. Jer's sister Marlène had come with us, and had to be back at work in Moncton on Monday, so she got a ride back with Marie's cousin Veronica, while we opted to wait it out, and hope the storm wasn't too bad.

On the 1st we headed with Marie and Lynn down the road to Rishad and Anjulee's new place, where we had a look around, and hung out for a little while.

At this point we were all pretty hungry, in a slightly hung-over sleep deprived way (despite the excellent brunch they put out for us that morning), so we went out for fantastic Chinese food on Quinpool. In this picture it looks like I'm the only one eating, but it's just because everyone else had finished that course and left me some while I was feeding Béla (who's sleeping under that receiving blanket in front of me).

We decided to rent some movies and have a quiet night in at Rishad's place, so while some people went to get some videos, Jer and I headed back, to minimize the time that Béla was out in the blizzard. Yup, Paul was right, it was a pretty good storm, and I'm glad we weren't driving that day.

Upon getting back to Rishad's, I found that Béla was rather enjoying my new sweater (a Christmas gift from Jeremi), as the front pocket made for convenient handles for him while in the carrier. It was pretty cute.

We all stayed over at Rishad's to avoid walking home in all the snow, and headed out the next morning (Saturday) to the weekly market. We were a bit late getting there, and some of the vendors were still on Christmas break (alas, no sweet sushi rolls), but it was still good to go down there. We picked up some nice root vegetables for a big winter stew for that evening, and then headed to the Henry House, a nearby pub, for the afternoon. This was a bar where we'd ended up the first Saturday after the giant blizzard when we lived in Halifax (aka White Juan), as it was one of the only things open after we'd hiked across town in the mistaken hope that the market might be open, and we'd had great fun drinking away the afternoon while playing cards. This afternoon was a much tamer version of that, with somewhat less drinking and considerably more eating, and definitely more baby.

Not to worry, he napped fine on the pub bench while I played cards.

The next day was Sunday, and we'd considered driving back that day, but the storm was pretty much just rotating over New Brunswick still, so we ended up staying until Monday morning, when we finally headed back. It was great to see everyone, and we much appreciated the hospitality during our extended visit! Here's Béla, all packed up for the trip home, in one of his two Team Canada Olympic outfits. (He got one in red from my parents, and one in black from Aunt Connie and Uncle Ray out in Vancouver. He's so well kitted out now for cheering on our athletes from afar!)