Ashley's First: Swim

Lucky little Ashley had her very first swimming experience in the warm wonderful ocean waters of Turks & Caicos.  She seemed to really enjoy swimming.  Many times she actually fell asleep while we were in the water!

Ashley's First: Hotel Stay

At the Sheraton attached to Toronto's Pearson Airport:

4 Generations

Ashley is the first grandchild for both of our families.  She is also lucky enough to have both a maternal and paternal great-grandfather.  I think it's pretty special to see 4 generations of a family together.

4 Generations of Christopher's Family:

4 Generations of Nancy's Family:

Ashley's First: Flight

It was a 10:55pm flight from Toronto to Calgary.  Since Ashley normally sleeps at this time, she just slept the whole way while mommy watched movies :)

Playdates

At this age playdates often look like this:

and this:

Babies are so much fun!

Ashley's First: Dim Sum Lunch

2 Months Old!

Happy 2-Month Birthday!  I love you twice as much as I did last month.  In actuality, probably way more :)

You certainly have changed alot over the past month:

• mommy & daddy love to see your more frequent smiles and hear your coos.  After we hear you coo we often coo back and say "do it, do it" to try and get you to do more because we love hearing them so much
• diaper changes are actually not that bad anymore and sometimes you'll even smile during them!
• wet/dirty diapers and clothes that go on over your head don't seem to bother you as much these days

Red Egg & Ginger Party

To celebrate Ashley's 1-month birthday my parents hosted a Red Egg & Ginger party at their house.  It turned out great!  It was an open house style event on a Sunday afternoon, which worked well since there were lots of little kids in attendance and it didn't conflict with the popular June wedding season.  Around 100 people showed up! 

Ashley loved meeting everyone.  She was a perfect angel the whole time (no spit up or diaper explosions thank goodness!).  Everyone took turns holding her and she didn't cry at all - even when my mom cut a lock of her hair and rolled the red egg over her face!  I am so proud of my little girl.  I loved showing her off :)

Ashley's First: Passport Photo

In preparation for upcoming travels, we needed to get our little American baby a US passport!

Taking a passport photo of a newborn baby certainly presents some challenges.  Instead of torturing some poor photographer, I thought it would be easier to take them at home.  It certainly was an exercise in patience!

Here are some of our outtakes:

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Girl in Boy Clothing

95% of Ashley's wardrobe is pink and it is definitely very girly.  Lots of dresses with ruffles and frill :)

There are very few gender neutral outfits, plus this outfit which is probably more suitable for a little boy:

What do you think - can you tell that this is a girl baby?

Ashley's First: Bath

Ashley seemed to enjoy her first bathtime - no tears at all!  At the end of the bath Christopher splashed some water onto her face to see what she would do and while it made her flinch and scrunch up her face a bit, even that didn't upset her.  Good job Ashley and you too daddy!

1 Month Old!

Happy 1-month birthday Ashley!  I can't believe you are already one month old.  Stop growing up so fast - mommy wants you to stay little forever!

Things we have learned about you over the past month:

• you don't like having a wet/dirty diaper
• you're not a big fan of diaper changes (bad combination with above)
• there's a good chance you'll turn out to be a "two time sneezer"
• clothes that snap up the front are your favorite (read:  you hate having things pulled over your head)
• your cry sounds like a tortured kitten (or Bango when she goes to the vet - same thing!)
• newborn clothes & diapers no longer fit you - on to Size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothing!

Bringing Out the Best

People often talk about how having kids changes them.  Not just their lives, but everything:  the way they think/act, decisions they make, what they say, etc.  I didn't think I would be immune to that, but I was certainly surprised by how quickly it would happen to me.  I thought it would happen in a few years, starting when Ashley starts to talk and we would have to watch our language around her.  But it started the day we brought her home from the hospital!

During the latter part of my pregnancy there were many days where I just spent the whole day in my PJ pants or Lululemon.  Christopher bought me a pair of designer maternity jeans for Christmas, my friend M loaned me a bunch of her maternity clothes, and I only purchased a handful of maternity-wear, not wanting to waste money on pieces I would only wear for a few months.  Since I work from home, most days it didn't really matter what I wore.  I had a few outfits to wear when I needed to visit customers for work, or an appointment out of the house.  What I'm trying to say is that I was quite the slob for most of my 3rd trimester, and yes - some days I didn't even leave the house and was too lazy to take a shower!

Doctor's orders for my C-section recovery limited my stair climbing for the first week at home.  I was allowed one roundtrip per day.  Because of this I was motivated to shower and get dressed before coming downstairs, since I knew that was my only chance for the day.  This got me into a good routine starting as soon as we came home from the hospital.

I know that alot of new moms say that they don't have enough time to even shower and spend the entire day in their PJs.  I don't want Ashley to be embarrassed to be seen in public with me, so I've been putting in the extra effort getting dressed each day for her (which is fairly challenging since the intersection between clothes that fit and are nursing-friendly is quite sparse)!

Ashley's First: Bottle

Daddy fed you your first bottle this evening and you drank from it without a fuss!  Great work sweetie pie :)

Ashley's First: Playdate

A was born the day after Ashley.  Today we went to visit her and her mommy for a playdate.  Looking forward to more playdates in the future - ones with a little less sleeping and a little more playing  ;)

Ashley's First: Meeting Gong Gong & Po Po

Homemade Egg Noodles

To go along with the Beef Stroganoff we were having for dinner last night I made some homemade egg noodles.  The first time I tried this recipe I rolled out the dough by hand with a rolling pin - so much work!  This time I whipped out out rarely-used pasta maker and it made life way easier.  Yummy :)

Ashley's First: Wedding

Our friends were married this evening outside the State Capitol in Hartford.  It was a small ceremony held outside, so it was perfect for Ashley's first wedding - in case she started fussing we could just walk away quietly without disturbing anyone.  But of course our darling daughter was an absolute angel the entire time and slept peacefully in the bassinet of her stroller :)

Ashley's First: Starbucks

Don't call social services on us, we didn't feed her an espresso shot.  Only Christopher and I had drinks this time.  But I guess since I nurse her, she enjoyed some of my chai latte when we got home :)