Shame on me... a month of silence

Turns out this last month has been rather... intense. Once we recovered from our trip to California, we ended up dealing with a few huge projects - car shopping, fixing the electrical in the house (which lead to getting the tree cut), financials for the next 6 months...

And a growing baby. Man, she is growing FAST. At her 4 month check up (age closer to 4.5 months), she weighed 16 pounds!!!! It's not that she's fat - all her measurements are in the 90th+ percentile - she's just a big girl. So big that I think I need to exchange some of the clothes I bought her for fall because I don't think they will fit her long enough to be useful.

But my baby... don't get me wrong, it's amazing to watch her grow and develop. She now has a high chair and has started taking breast milk from a spoon. (Rice cereal will start after Labor Day.) She can roll over and scoot herself in a circle on her tummy. She laughs and almost babbles and is just the darlingest lil charmer there ever was.

Part of me already misses my quieter baby, the one was didn't need anything more than food, sleep, a clean diaper, and mommy or papa. Now we have entertainment and frustration and curiosity and all sorts of needs and emotions. It feels like it's happening so far sometimes. There are days when I would give anything for her to just want to nap in my arms. Of course, I'm also proud that my "big girl" prefers to sleep in her crib and wants to see everything.

Babble babble babble... I guess this is part of being a mom.

Language Wars Again? Sheesh....

Because a cash settlement was paid to a man who could not get service in French and it made the news, the airwaves are swamped with people crying "foul" over language. Check out this link for the story:

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110714/OTT_Air_Canada_French_110714/20110714/?hub=OttawaHome

In a nutshell, the guy was not able to get service in French from Air Canada. He sued and he won. Is he a language vigilante, out to protect French? Is he a whiner who has nothing better to do? Is he simply a man who was tired of not having his rights met? I don't know and personally, I don't really care. What matters here is that in this case, he was in the right.

Canada has two official languages, French and English. As such, Canadians have the right to receive services from the federal government in either language. (As a side note, there is no official language in the United States. Yes, that's right, there is no law saying I have a right to get government services in English.)

In Canada, this right extends to "crown corporations," which as I understand it are organizations that were created by and partly (or moreso) funded by the Canadian government. They aren't departments of the government, but they are bound by the same rules and regulations.

Air Canada is a crown corporation. As such, it has to adhere to the Official Languages Act which governs the whole "French / English" thing. Does this mean that every employee of Air Canada has to be bilingual? No. It just means that the services need to be available. And is this really so hard? It doesn't have to be. So much on an airplane is either prerecorded or scripted. And as for the rest, it doesn't take any real proficiency in French to understand "Une Spirt, si vous plait."

Plenty of comments are there make it sound like this ruling is shoving French down people's throats. Honestly, how so? It doesn't say that every shop/restaurant/business has to provide bilingual service. It doesn't affect private organizations at all; it simply enforces the law that already exists. And the guy in question asked for a much larger settlement than he was awarded, so it's not like he's being treated with kid gloves. It protects BOTH official languages: if I fly Air Canada in Quebec or the Maritimes or wherever and I don't get service in English, I have the same right to sue.

So really, why all that hate?

Catching My Breath

July 2011 seems to be the vacation that wasn't. For the first time, a trip back to California was not restful. We knew it would be DD's "Coming Out Tour," but even with setting limits and making sure not to overschedule ourselves, we came back tired and feeling like we didn't get to do much that we wanted to do. I wanted Cold Stone ice cream and a chance to do some fun, relaxed shopping and time just shooting the breeze with my brother. Instead it was picnic after picnic after meal date, all the time having all sorts of family and friends (wonderful and well-meaning) swoop down on my daughter.

Okay, gotta get some cheese to go with that whine. Where were we?

DD's cold is well on its way to being history. Good thing too; it's been horribly hot and humid. Me no like. Everyone assumes that being from California that I suffer through the ice and snow and subzero-ness of winters in Ottawa. Nope, I can manage all that; this oppressive humidity is another thing altogether. And as hard as it is on us adults, poor baby has it worse cuz she has no idea what's going on. We've been sleeping in the basement, but the price for a cool room is that poor DD is back to sleeping in a pack-n-play. The weather eased up a bit and we managed to cool down the house enough for her to sleep in her crib tonight. Not that it's "cool" up there, but it's a manageable temperature.

Speaking of manageable, I had better go pump or I'll wake up with sore melons attached to my chest.

Baby's First Cold

Oh yeah, baby is sick. No fever - just coughing, runny / congested nose, sneezing, and generally unhappiness. It's probably harder on us parents since it's our first time going through this and no one likes seeing their child with red, runny eyes or having to hold her head still to put saline drops in her nose. I keep telling her that they'll help her sneeze out all that junk, but she doesn't seem to buy it.

At least I'm feeling a bit better.

Forget Tired... I'm Sick

Okay, this officially sucks. I was up half the night with a runny nose and sore throat which, as I knew it would, has turned into a full on miserable head cold. What's worse is that I can't snuggle or kiss my baby... assuming she hasn't already gotten it from me from yesterday. :(

So, things I learned from this trip about travelling with a baby:

If the flight is more than 2 hours or so long, invest in a seat for the baby. Since we didn't know what we were getting into, we bought her a seat for the entire trip. I nursed her during takeoff and landing (except the two landings she slept through) and we ended up holding her a chunk of the time on the long leg... but I tell ya, being able to not only have the entire row but to also have the option of putting her in her seat was priceless.

Treat the airport like a military operation. It sounds like overkill, but we had a very smooth time going through security each way because we knew who had which bags and who was responsible for what.

If you're going somewhere for more than a few days, find out ahead of time if there's a children's consignment store nearby and get some of your bulkier needs there. For example: I didn't pack a nursing pillow because it was just too bulky, but I was missing it after the first day. Trip to consignment store and $10 later - pillow is ours! (We also got a play gym for $13.)

More to come, but Papa just told me he thinks baby is coming down with a cold. uh-oh....

Mission Accomplished - Travelling with Baby Has Occurred

I'm too tired tonight, but I really should share about our trip out to California. I learned a lot about travelling with a baby and if anyone can find my experiences useful, I'd be glad to share them.

But not tonight. It was a great trip, but this is the first time that me going out to visit family and friends in California has left me more exhausted than when I started. This really was a "coming out" party for the baby - Papa and I were just accessories. That's okay though - we have some great pictures and memories of her meeting her American half of the family. Heck, they even learned a little French in the process!

Planning the "Big Trip"

It's really amazing how much and yet how little information is out there regarding air travel with an infant. Surprisingly, TSA's website had some of the best information: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/index.shtm

It looks like the biggest asset here will be patience. EVERYTHING has to go through the scanners at security, so some extra special packing logistics will probably help. I'll try to share what I found helpful and, after the trip, what obstacles we encountered.

Given that we are a bi-national family, I prefer travelling with more paperwork than usual just to prevent any unpleasant surprises. This includes a certified copy of our marriage certificate, DD's official record of live birth (long form birth certificate in Ontario), and probably a signed note from us both outlining our travel plans. Sadly, international parent abductions could put us under greater scrutiny than if we were all born in the same country. Then there's DD's dual citizenship status... but that's a topic for another post.