Left Coast Mama

mo’ babies? Why yes!

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Gwen

As of now I am 6 weeks away from a new baby of my own and I have been remembering all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) aspects of being the parent of a newborn. As part of the virtual shower for Kristen of Motherhood Uncensored and Rebecca of Girl’s Gone Child the hosts are asking for posts of remembrances of the wonderful things about being the parent of a newborn.

When Aidan was born on the Friday of Easter weekend he had disrupted my plans of “one last” quiet weekend with video games and chocolate. He did have exquisite timing for giving his dad a few days off already so he didn’t need to take as many vacation days. Despite a bit of a rocky start on the breast feeding front and a bit of jaundice we happily got home on Easter Sunday and had a few days on our own before my mom flew in from across the country.

: Anthony and 2 Day Old Aidan

My earliest memories of my son are sweet, the skin to skin contact, the small boy cuddling into his father’s chest and the indescribable joy of having our baby boy in our arms. The sweet smell of a newborn baby that no one can recreate, and the look in your baby’s eyes when you cuddle them close are things I can’t wait to experience again.

Congratulations to Kristen and Rebecca and all the other internet ladies expecting in the next few weeks. I wish us all a wonderful experience with as much sleep as possible.

Posted in 2nd Pregnancy, Aidan, baby shower | 2 Comments

Menu Plan Monday

Posted on September 14, 2008 by Gwen

What to do? What to do? I have no idea what on earth to put on this weeks menu. It should be easy enough, pick a meat, a vegetable and a starch, but I am running out of steam. All I want is baked goods that I can’t have at the moment. I am watching the carbs and sugars, and I have planned out how much and what types of food I can have during the day. You would think this would be easier. Damn gestational diabetes.

Does anyone have a recipe for a good low sugar cheese cake? I can have the cheese and the fat but not the sugar.

Ok onto the menu plan:

Monday: Shepherds Pie, sugar free Jello for desert

Tuesday: Chicken fingers, potatoes, salad

Wednesday: Meat Loaf (slow cooker recipe)

Thursday: Baked Tailipia in garlic and spicy butter

Friday: Lasagne

Saturday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Sunday: open

Posted in 2nd Pregnancy, Gwen, Healthy Choices, Healthy Eating, Menu Plan Monday, organization | 3 Comments

Money, Money, Money, Money!

Posted on September 14, 2008 by Gwen

How do you teach kids about such an abstract concept as money? Aidan loves money and realizes that it is used to buy things, but he doesn’t understand that money is something you earn. He still loves finding coins and putting them in his piggy bank, though he still calls everything pennies. Anthony and I have still not decided if an allowance is something we are going to do with Aidan, and what that might entail. Do you tie it to chores, or do you get it no matter what?

As Aidan is only three he is still a little fuzzy on the concepts of delayed gratification and what he can get at the store. He wants all kinds of things when we go to Toys R Us, but I have always tried to do a walk through fairly often without getting anything. He is learning that while he wants he may not necessarily get. I am glad he is this way because when we were back home in May we went shopping with his grandmother for a dump truck. We went through the TRU and looked at all kinds of things and once we picked out his (reasonable priced) Tonka dump truck and grader he didn’t want anything else. As much as his grandmother tried he didn’t want anything else.

I think at this age the main thing I want to teach Aidan about money is that some people don’t have as much and that he can’t get everything he wants. With this in mind I am going to get one of those Spend, Save , Give banks and find a good charity to use the give money for. I am also planning to live by example a little more. We got Aidan a Social Insurance Card and when the new baby is born we will get one as part of all the other paperwork we need to do. This is important because we need this identification to get a RESP started for their education. As much as I want Aidan and little sibling to understand saving for something, if we can possibly get them to university or trade school without a student loan we will. So the save portion will go into their education funds, the give to charity and the spend to something they really want.

Piggy from the Aidan Cam

If you want more tips or questions about how other parents plan to teach or have taught their children about money check out the Parent Bloggers Network blog blast sponsered by Capital One. Write your own post about this topic linking both and you could win an iPhone.

Posted in Aidan | 3 Comments

Preschool and the First Day

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Gwen

So today was the big day. Aidan (and Mommy) went to preschool for the first time. We took some pictures before school some early and some just before. Since I had an appointment with the Diabetic Clinic at BC Women’s Hospital, Anthony stayed home with the boy and took some pictures. I took some after lunch on our way to Douglas park Community Centre where his preschool is located.

Once we were in the classroom (we went to the wrong door) we were asked to sit on the carpet and get a name tag. Aidan preferred to go and explore the classroom. I finally got him to the circle where the teachers were singing a name song and he last a few seconds. After the name song the kids were allowed to roam the classroom and check out the toys.

I had a chance to talk with the head teacher a little but and let her know that I would be happy to help out in the classroom but that it would have to be soon because of their rules. (They don’t want younger siblings even babies in the classroom because they think it is a disturbance. I am not sure if I agree, but I will abide by them.) Though the teachers seem really young, they interact well with the kids and I was able to watch one of them play with a few of the boys. It was nice to see how they dealt with the kids.

I don’t think that Aidan will have any problems adjusting to being in the preschool setting. He may have some troubles sticking with the routine in the beginning, but in a few weeks I expect he will be happy for it. I didn’t see a calendar or weather chart, so that is something I will try to start at home. Aidan is so interested to know what day it is, and especially today he was very excited to know it was the 9th. He told me in the car that tomorrow would be the 10th. I know it is just the teacher in me that is doing an inward squee. It takes a long time for kids to understand dates and how they work.

I know that some people were wondering how I would be about sending Aidan to preschool and if I would be at all upset that my baby is growing up too fast. I will tell you honestly that I am very ok with it. In fact when I have a couple of hours to myself for a few weeks, I am pretty sure I will be getting a good book and a tea and making the most of this time. (I know that this may change Thursday whe I leave him for the first time, but I don’t think so.)

I will leave you with a few pictures. (If you want to see some from this morning check out Left Coast Floyds.)