Owner: Little Pickle URL:http://little-pickle.blogspot.com Join Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:34:27 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: First timeparents and full time lawyers blog about the highs and lows of raising thier little pickle Site statistics:Click here
A Lake of Tears 2007-07-30 09:08:00 It is hard to tell what will freak out a baby. We spent the weekend at the cottage where it was sunny for a change. Emilie and I took Charlie down to the dock to introduce her to the water. Emilie sat with Charlie to watch me dive into the lake (a very rare event). As I entered the water Charlie convulsed and began to scream. She did not stop crying for 30 minutes. I am not sure why she was so upset. I can only guess that my half naked, ghostly white body caught her off guard. Read more:Tears
There and Back Again 2007-07-26 12:15:00 Summary3,500 km4 Provinces3 States2 New Teeth1 WeddingDay 1 or 200 km Down 3,300 To GoWe are the type to ease into things; Saturday mornings start with pyjamas, coffee and 2 newspapers. We applied the same philosophy to our road trip. It started with a 2 hours drive and a weekend at the cottage. It rained all weekend. Contrary to what you might expect, this was perfect for us. No pressure to go outside, no guilt about being lazy. We did manage to make it down to the dock and Charlie got to explore the forest. I have a feeling she will be a 'woodsy' girl.Most importantly we did 5 loads of laundry. In typical Spratt/Taman style we had packed all dirty clothes. As you can see, Charlie even helped with the folding. After a great weekend we packed the car and headed to Quebec City. This was the second time I packed and unpacked the car, I would do this 10 more times.... Never Again
.Day 3 or the Vicarious Tooth AcheIn Q.C. we stayed with Fannie, Nat and their 2 year old daughter, Marina. C
It Begins 2007-07-12 17:21:00 In the beginning there was a car, neatly and efficiently packed. There had been no tears shed. The tank was full (well 3/4 full) of gas. The sun was shining. The question is: can it last?Today we are embarking on our longest road trip with Squishy. We are driving to Meg and Jon's wedding in Nova Scotia (where we were promised there would be a baby sitter). The plan is to segment the trip by spending a night at the cottage, a night in Quebec City and a night in New Brunswick and ultimately to arrive in Nova Scotia sometime next week.Traveling with a small child is a bitch. They need so much stuff. I had always wondered how my father learned to expertly pack the car before long trips. Packing a vehicle seems to be a man's job. This is sexist, but true. I now know my father was not born with the ability to efficiently and economically pack a car. It is a super power that develops over time. I think I have now acquired the skill.And so we set off feeling confident that we w
Splish Splash 2007-07-08 12:15:00 On Friday we offered to babysit Emma while her parents went to a FIFA soccer game. Emilie and I always welcome a chance to hang out with Emma. It is amazing that babies that were born on the same day can be so different. Emma possesses some sort of super strength. She can move into a sitting position from her back, she can almost stand on her own and she can crawl - a real baby crawl that is very unlike Charlie's worm-like wriggle. While Charlie may not be as active, she excels in other areas; she is very verbal. She also has a refined sense of humor, when ever Emma cried Charlie laughed.The above was exemplified during bath time. Charlie needs a bath every night due to her smelly helmet head. Emma appeared clean to us but we could not resist a chance to see the babies play in the bath together. I bathed Charlie and Emilie looked after Emma. We documented this adventure and it is safe to say Emilie had the wetter experience. Read more:Splash
Comic Charlie 2007-07-06 08:57:00 It was late afternoon and Charlie
was napping. She had been asleep for about an hour and I was dozing on the couch watching tennis. This is the part of Charlie's nap I hate the most, the last 1/3. Its not the worst part because Charlie will soon be awake, but because of the uncertainly of when she will wake. She could begin to stir at any minute or she could sleep for another hour. Its entirely random. It is hard to plan my nap when I can't anticipate hers.On this day I was woken not by Charlie, but by my neighbour's children yelling into a loud speaker - 'COMICS FOR SALE, GET YOUR COMICS, ONLY 25 CENTS'. I was slightly annoyed at this interruption, but mostly I was intrigued. 25 cents for a comic is quite a deal. What if these comics were valuable first editions? Maybe they were selling their dad's old X-Men comics. Maybe I could make some money from the children's ignorance. Torn between supervising a sleeping baby and the seductive allure of cheap comics I ran outside.The nei Read more:Comic
Ohio Road Trip or How Charlie Spent 7 Hours in a Car Seat 2007-07-05 09:31:00 I owe Charlie
an apology. I may have recently accused her of playing sick. As it turns out she was sick; Charlie had a massive ear infection. After a trip to the doctor and 10 days of medication (oral injection 3 times a day) Charlie was as right as rain. This was a good thing as we were about to embark on road trip to Ohio
to attend Katie and Jack's wedding.StatisticsProvinces: 1States: 3MacDonald's Meals: 4Hours
in Car: 24Antibiotics: Priceless (actual price $14)We have discovered that a road trip with a small baby is less like an epic voyage and more like multiple short sprints. Pit stops are needed every 2-3 hours to feed the child and more importantly to deal with explosive car seat shits (please note that we hate baby talk - no sane adult calls feces CaCa, boo-boo, doo-doo, poo-poo, or shoo-shoo). We also stopped for the night in Hamilton on the way to Ohio and Toronto on the way back. It felt like we were driving for ever, although it was great to spend time in Hamilton with
DaDa Day 2007-06-17 10:21:00 I thought it may be appropriate to write a post to document my first Father's Day. To start with the important information, I got lots of presents and got to sleep in! I also came to the realization that I have had it easy the past month. It has been a tough week with Charlie; the perfect storm hit. Charlie is teething (her two bottom teeth have cut through), she has a cold, and it has been very hot (only made worse by the helmet and the furnace of a room she sleeps in). Charlie has woken up in the middle of the night a few times and has cried more than normal. She is still very cute, but now very loud. I think the worst is over, but it is hard to tell as Charlie has also learned a new skill; the 'Bob Barker' fake-out (very appropriate timing as Bob just finished his 35 year run on the Price is Right). For those that don't know, the Bob Barker Fake-Out is when one feigns sickness in order to stay at home from school (and watch the Price is Right from 11am-12pm), b
The End of an Era 2007-06-12 12:44:00 Charlie can crawl. It may be more accurate to say that Charlie can crawl backward. Even when she wants to move forward she moves back; I would find this a tad frustrating. Charlie however is not fazed by her unidirectional mobility.For Emilie and me this new mobility is a big adjustment. Gone are the days of sitting baby on the floor and running to get the phone. No longer can we take our eyes off our bundle of joy to read the news paper. When left unsupervised Charlie seems to always end up stuck under a table (mostly due to her helmet enhanced large head) or perilously close to putting her fingers in an electrical socket (why are baby so fascinated with deadly household objects). Constant vigilance is my new motto, but I will still let Charlie get stuck under the table; it is too funny.
Emma and Charlie's Play Date 2007-06-03 16:57:00 Charlie and Emma had a fantastic play date today. This was one of the first times that they seemed to respond to each other in a gentle manner that did not involve grabbing, poking, and drawing blood and a flood of tears. Much.As you can tell they are both musical prodigies.P.S. As you can see I figured out how to upload video's. I feel as smart as the average 12 year old. Read more:Charlie
First Word 2007-05-28 11:23:00 Charlie is very smart; this is to be expected. It is for this reason I feel confident in announcing that Charlie has said her first word.Charlie seems to be discrimanently saying the word 'DaDa' when I am in view. More often than not she pronounces it 'DaDaDaDa DaDaDaDa'. Yes, she sometimes says DaDa to Emilie, a stranger, or a house plant, but on balance she says it mostly around me.One word down, 29,999 to go (the average vocabulary for a very smart human is about 30,000 words). Read more:First
Mr. Mom 2007-05-16 09:52:00 This marks my second week as a stay at home Dad. I transitioned quite easily into this role, although it has been a bit of an adjustment; I do miss work and my colleagues. The relative ease of the transition came as no real surprise. I love to clean, cook, and most importantly I love spending time with Charlie. This is not to suggest that staying at home has been easy. It is by far the most exhausting thing I have done in a while.To start, my first day at home fell on the day Charlie was to receive her second set of 'shots'. This seems all too convenient and I tip my hat to Emilie for planning things this way. Charlie handled her needles in her usual stoic manner.Charlie has been very well behaved. She is always at her best in the morning when she sits on the couch and reads 'The Squishy Turtle' while I read the paper. After an hour of play she takes the most wonderful nap from 10am - 12pm. In the afternoon we stop by the office, go for a walk, attend baby time at the li
Road Trip (...well plane trip to Florida)!! 2007-05-02 19:25:00 Two weeks ago Chrissy and I (Emilie) packed up the babies (and all their clothes, their strollers, their car seats and a further 24 kg of luggage) and went to Florida
. A last minute deal to Orlando was more than we could resist, so with Mickey calling our names we headed South.Chrissy and Emma have been our most frequent playmates these past few months. What better way to mark the end of my maternity leave then by spending a week in the sun with our best pals. Chrissy's sister, Carolyn, and her friend Michelle, joined us with their two babies as well. It was a baby bonanza! We spent our days either shopping, or lazing by the pool and one day we even drove to Tampa to check out the zoo. A fantastic time was had by all. Read more:Road Trip
Charlie's first experience with grass... 2007-05-02 19:18:00 Today Charlie
had her first experience
with grass
. And by grass, I mean grass. No euphamism, no lingo, just lush green garden grass (seriously, she's only six months old...). She loved it - it made her giddy and giggly and after all that fresh air, a little peckish.After a long, cold winter, Charlie is really enjoying every minute she spends outside. From the park to the backyard, it's as if with every layer of clothing she sheds, she acquires a new perspective on the world. Or maybe that was just the grass too...Did we mention that Charlie can sit? Check her out! It's getting hard to keep track of all her new skills. Clearly she's very advanced. Objectively. Well, gifted really.With her mom getting ready to head back to work, Charlie has some serious baby-Daddy time in her immediate future. Bring on the park, bring on the sun, bring on the grass, bring on summer!
First Solid Food 2007-03-27 18:38:00 Charlie had her first solid food today. I should start by saying that I use the term solid very loosely. By solid I mean thick liquid. Never the less, Charlie enjoyed her first non-milk food.I am not sure what she liked most, the taste (I thought it was pretty bland) or the texture (there was not any). I can only assume that she enjoyed the experience as she made sure to lick every finger clean! Read more:Solid
, First
Vertical Integration 2007-03-27 18:12:00 Charlie has discovered the joy of being vertical. Charlie inherited a 'exersaucer' from her friend Harry. This is great for baby as the exersaucer encourages development of muscles and hand-eye coordination. It was even better for parental units, who can enjoy being horizontal while baby is playing.Keeping with the non-lying down theme, Charlie has also discovered the bumbo chair. The chair lets Charlie sit on her own. Her favorite sitting place is the kitchen counter and her new favorite toy is a wooden spoon. It is only a matter of time before we train her to make us dinner. Read more:Vertical
A View of the Room 2007-03-25 16:34:00 At Charlie's baby shower we asked for donations for the new baby's room. We promised that we would post pictures of the new room. With typical Taman/Spratt efficiency it has only taken 4 months to follow through on our promise.Charlie's room is by far the nicest in the house. Charlie better like it because given our penchants for lazyness she will be in this exact room until her teens.Seriously, we love the room and appreciate the help we had in obtaining it.
America's Next Top Model 2007-03-12 19:03:00 Given my background in biology I often wonder where Charlie got her genes. For example, Charlie is in the 98th percentile for length; Emilie and I are not very tall. She is very cute, where as I am certainly no Adonis (for my sake I won't speak for Emilie). It seems, however, that her parents genes are finally shinning through. Charlie took her first bad picture yesterday. Although it may not be easy on they eyes it certainly confirms that she is our child. Read more:America
, Next Top Model
New Skills 2007-03-06 18:48:00 Charlie is now 1/3 of a year old and with this maturity she has discovered a few new tricks. Charlie can now roll over by herself. This brings to the end the glorious practice of leaving Charlie on her change table while we run to retrieve a diaper, the phone, a glass of wine, etc.Charlie has also discovered that she has feet. Prior to last week she believed her body ended at her waist. Now she knows that her feet are hers. More importantly she has learned that her feet taste good and should be put in her mouth whenever possible. Charlie can now do one thing her parents can't.... put her feet in her own mouth. Our girl has skills!Charlie has also begun to giggle. It is still a rare, but magical occurrence. I am thinking of doing a blog makeover; please let me know any additions you would like to see. On a related note I am thinking about finishing painting our house, finishing unpacking the basement, and finishing the novel I have been writing. Read more:Skills
It seems to be harder and harde... 2007-02-20 17:44:00 It seems to be harder and harder to find time to 'blog'. I guess that it is not so strange that the more happens in the real world the less time we have to write about it. The major even of the past few weeks has been the introduction of Charlie to her Grandpa Larry. Charlie got along quite well with her Grandpa and after see the pair it is obvious where Charlie gets her good looks from.Charlie also made two new friends. Maggie and Sydney came for a long visit. Sydney is now 18 months old and running around like a baby with her head cut off. It was great to see what we could expect in a few months. It was like a baby freedom 55 commercial. Charlie also met Kate, Carley and Bob's daughter (pictured below). The three girls will be seeing a lot more of each other over the coming years as they will be forced to attend Northway Camp together. Attending Northway is a mandatory tradition in all three households.We also have found a pediatrician, which is no easy task. Charlie went for her
A Weekend in 'The Moose' 2007-01-24 17:23:00 Every year Justice Binnie's former law clerks gather in L'Oringal for a reunion. The highlight of the day is a massive hockey game on the Ottawa River. Dan, Justice Binnie's court attendant and our good friend, is not only kind enough to host a crowd of 40 people at his house, but is physically fit enough to shovel a large potion of the river for the game.The hockey game is always competitive, which can lead to some strange moment. For example, when you are cross checked by a Supreme Court of Canada Judge, are you permitted to drop your gloves?Charlie has not yet mastered the art of holding her head up, so she did not lace up for the game. She did make a new friend, Dan and Lilly's daughter Rosalie. The two of them were very cute together.Dave and his partner Emily made the trip from California to attend the festivities and after a great day we crossed the boarder and headed to Louise's cottage (AKA our cottage). We were met there by Naomi and Jannette, who also clerked at the Read more:Weekend
A Very Merry Late XMas 2006-12-31 18:09:00 In a baby’s life a few weeks is an eternity. It has been an eternity since the last post. The intervening time between posts represents 1/3 of Charlie’s life. Suffice it to say that a lot has happened.Charlie has practically doubled in size. This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but Charlie has put on a few pounds, mostly in the cheek area. Beside enlarging cheeks Charlie has matured in other ways. Perhaps the best part of Charlie’s maturation is her smile. It is a full face, lip quivering, gaping smile that is pure beauty (for a pictorial example of this please see the newly added pictures). Charlie has also started sleeping through the night (we define night as 12am-5am). Charlie has become much more interactive and we can see her turning into a real person. I suppose the only real down side of this maturation is that Charlie not only has needs, but also has WANTS. It seems that when Charlie wants something she needs to use her cry hole.We also finally moved into our new house. Read more:Merry
Two Stresses for the Price of One 2006-12-12 19:47:00 We are in the process of moving into our new house. I have been told that two of the most stressful things in life are a new baby and moving. Why not get them over with at the same time. Our apartment is in boxes and our house is covered in dust and draped with exposed wires, so there is not time for a lengthy post (there is much to say and many to thank, a long post will follow). However, with Charlie firmly into her second month I thought it was time to detail a list of her current tricks:1. Smiling (this is relatively new and still developing and unpredictable);2. The ability to scream for up to 2 straight hours;3. Lifting her head for a few seconds;4. Making eye contact; and5. Juggling 3 small balls.Just kidding, Charlie is to lazy to lift her head.
Screaming Baby = More Productivity 2006-12-04 22:04:00 Another long week has come to a close. Time seems to be flying by, although when the baby screams time seems to inch forward. Right now time is moving VERY slow, but at least staying up with a screaming baby means I can find time to add a post to the blog.This week Emilie and I took possession of one of our largest impulse buys, our new house. We saw the house a few months ago and like the candy at the supermarket check out, we could not resist buying it. We are not actually moving in for another week as all the wiring needs to be re-done (this means we can put off packing up our apartment for another week). Charlie had her first out-of-the-womb view of the house on Wednesday, and it seemed to meet with her approval.Charlie also continued her pattern of being on her best behaviour in the company of non-parental units. On Friday Emilie and I took Charlie to my firms Holiday dinner party at Bekta. We were a little worried that Charlie may have one of her freak outs in the restaurant, but Read more:Productivity
Road Trip 2006-11-26 21:30:00 The last week has been somewhat of a blur. Emilie has settled into a groove with Charlie at home and it was my first full week back at work. I have discovered that I can still run a trial on 2 hours of sleep. Despite our ability to function on little to no sleep, the weekend was much anticipated.On Friday Ceilidh, who was in town from Toronto, paid us a quick visit and then Charlie, Emilie and I then embarked on our first road trip. We loaded ourselves in the new car (sadly 'Carlos' the VW had to be put to pasture and was replaced by 'Carla', our new Subaru) and headed to the cottage. Charlie enjoyed her first trip to the country. More importantly we enjoyed the fact that Charlie slept most of the way there. As always the cottage was a dream. We took a long walk and made the most of the change of scenery (a one bedroom apartment can become a little claustrophobic). On Saturday afternoon Sylvie and Robert paid us a surprise visit, I can only assume to meet Charlie. On Sunday, after Read more:Road Trip
Candy Dinner 2006-11-19 21:20:00 I have managed to update the blog so that you can view a slid show of all of our pictures of Charlie. I was told that a small child could accomplish this feat in a few key strokes. I feel proud that it only took me an afternoon of work. To view the Flickr slide slide show scroll to the bottom of the page. You can also go to our Flickr page to view the photos.Charlie had a busy weekend. Cristina and Michelle came to spend some quality time with our little squishy. This quality including being delegated the role of diaper changers. We also took Charlie to visit her soon to be new house and took a walk in nearby Brewer Park.Charlie was also introduced to the time honoured tradition of the 'candy dinner'. The concept of the candy dinner is relatively self explanatory, dinner is comprised entirely of candy. We always try to represent all food groups in the candy dinner. These groups include: the gummy group, the sour group, the chocolate covered pretzel group, the smart food group, and th Read more:Dinner
, Candy
Cleaning up and shipping out 2007-08-03 08:43:00 It is a sad day. Today marks my last weekday away from work. On Monday I return to the widget factory to defend the mostly innocent. Truth be told I am looking forward to the return to work; I love my job. At the same time I know I am going to miss staying at home with Charlie. The years of expensive daycare are about to begin.I have learned a lot on my time off. Most importantly I learnedthat a 14 year old member of the Taliban can grow a better beard then me. It made me sad to bathe and shave, but it made the world of personal hygiene and style that much better.Back to Work RantSTEVEN HARPER IS A FOOL: We received our $100 a month child care check a few weeks ago. The accompanying letter said that the money will give us a CHOICE about child care (unlike the Liberal's universal daycare plan). What *&$!*@# planet is Harper on. $100 lets us chose nothing. It does not let me quit my job and stay at home and it does not even cover %10 of monthly daycare fees. What a disingenuous fool. It Read more:Cleaning
Jolly Spinner 2007-08-02 19:35:00 We have always said that we would like Charlie to be able to think outside of the box. Charlie seems to do this every day (exemplified by acts such as eating shoes rather than wearing them). Today she thought of a new way to use the Jolly
Jumper. You may also note that in the video she is holding a pillow, don't ask me why, but she loves it. Read more:Spinner
Seven Weddings and Almost My Funeral 2007-09-06 20:28:00 It is hard to believe that I have been back to work for a month. The transition has been quite painless, but perhaps a bit sudden. One day I am changing a diaper and the next I am back in court defending the mostly innocent. A large reason for easy transition was our grand-parental support. With both me and Emilie at work and no day care the grandparents came to the rescue. Louise took the first shift and looked after Charlie for a week. Noel and Linda took the second shift and kept the baby alive for a second week. With live in grandparents, Emilie and I got used to having our cooking, cleaning, laundry and house repairs done for us. After the Grandparents left we entered the final sprint of summer wedding madness.Emilie and I have been to seven weddings this year. This means we have had to buy 7 different presents (we are actually 3 behind) and travel to 5 different cities (Montreal, Ohio, Toronto, and Halifax - twice)...... with a baby. Charlie has attended each wedding Read more:Seven
, Weddings
, Almost
, Funeral
Fall Fall Fall Fall 2007-10-01 21:18:00 September is over! It has been a crazy busy month. I started and finished my first jury trial, Emilie went back to work (for real), and Charlie started school (aka: daycare).I think our lives may be more manageable now that Charlie is in structured care. The daycare seems like a great place. The food is prepared by Steven Bekta (the owner and chef at one of the best Ottawa restaurants). It turns out that his son is in the same grade as Charlie. No more wienies and beans for the kids - curried chicken and butternut squash pure is way more classy. The daycare also has a web cam so I can watch Charlie from work. Presumably this will prevent Charlie from being abused on camera. It also is a great time killer - I could watch Charlie play for hours. Yes, a classy, high-tech daycare.... almost work every penny (150,000 of them every month).We finally made it up to the Cottage this month. It was very entertaining to let Charlie truly experience fall. She loves leaves - she likes to point at th
Blue Steel 2007-10-13 09:44:00 Charlie has discovered a new love, hamming it up for the camera. In the past Charlie would become mesmerized and expressionless in the face of a camera. Now she strikes a pose. As you can see her signature pose is quite funny.... she has named it blue steel.
Read more:Steel
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