What a first summer!!!

My first summer as a Daddy was awesome!! I wouldn't trade it for anything, yeah it had it's ups and downs, but the ups way surpassed the downs. One thing I know for sure is that no matter how much you tell yourself that things don't change much, they do. The one thing that has changed the most is our relationship, it seems like we never get much time for each other and the ability to effectively communicate takes a big wrong turn at the end of the day when you're both tired. The one thing I constantly catch myself doing, and feeling very guilty about, is thinking that while I am at work things at home are all fun and play. I definitely take for granted how tiring it gets to be caring for and tending to a human being who can't tell you exactly what you need. It's not just naps and bottles, there is all the household things thrown in amongst it all, and once teething starts...I am very appreciative and grateful for everything mommies at home do, and I think that maternity pay should be the equal to what their working wage was prior to their leave. (Editor's note: NO I am not in the doghouse, nor was that a feeble attempt by me to get out of said doghouse, that is my heartfelt, rambling way of trying to say I love and appreciate my partner.)



Now onto the summer fun stuff; we kicked our summer off with a trip to Plato Island Resort at Quesnel Lake to show Vanessa and Ava where I spent my childhood summers fishing and camping with my Gramma and Grampa B. We had a great time, and it definitely brings back great memories of a great childhood. Upon returning from there we went on an excursion with Ava's Grandma and Grandpa Thompson to Nat Bailey stadium where we took in a nooner at the Nat for my birthday and then to Montana's for my favorite meal...RIBS. These excursions are definitely way more do-able with a happy baby such like Ava. Later on in July my cousin Jason and his family visited from Ottawa and my family and I went to have dinner with him at MY gramma and grampa Thompson's, was really good to see them. On July 24 Vanessa, Ava, and I treated my dad to an evening game at the Nat followed by a fireworks display, it was stupendous and Ava was so cute as she covered her ears during the fireworks. We were even treated to a great game of baseball.

August brought us more nice weather, and we spent the first 2 weeks housesitting for my mom and dad while they tootled around in their truck and trailer. It was in this 2 weeks where Ava really started to show her personality, cooing a lot more and she rolled over for the first time on August 4th and she is now spinning around on her belly and squirming to try and get things within her grasp. I predict she'll be crawling by 6months...now if I could just get her potty trained. On August 21 I thought it would be a good idea to take Ava and Vanessa to their first ever PNE experience, I learned a lot that day:

1) Don't undertake such a big adventure without any breakfast...or lunch for that matter before leaving into the city.

2) Parking costs $20 if you want to be within 20 minute hike to fairgrounds. There is a reason the kind residents let you park in their alley for $10 (see below).

3) Just because someone is one block from the fairgrounds offering you $10 parking doesn't mean it's close as they ask you to follow them, then they walk 15 blocks to their alley.

4) Don't believe everything you see on the news DEEP FRIED JELLY BELLIES ARE DISGUSTING. So far the only obscure things that are good deep fried are turkey and ice cream.

5) After seeing my uncle "Buffalo Bill" Beaulieu run his new pig/duck racing venture, I am very confident in my decision to have him co-MC our wedding.

6) Above mentioned lack of protein causes usually overprotective mothers to seriously lapse in judgment and allow complete strangers hold our baby...thankfully she replied with a terse "NO" when asked if it was alright to "...just go over there..." with said offspring.

This summer also saw me "teach" Vanessa how to golf, and then have her show me up in a tournament. There was a trip to White Rock followed by a nasty tissue infection requiring IV therapy for me, visits to my friend Bob who is bravely battling Oesophageal Cancer he's looking a lot better and he brought me back Mickey Mouse ears after taking his family to Disneyland. There was a trip to our wedding venue to view it in bloom, followed by a jaunt over the new Golden Ears bridge.

Well that's all for now, I am rambling and have probably lost a reader or two by now, there are some new pictures of Ava up on my facebook, for my FB friends. I'm not going to make any promises as to the next blog, but thank you to my reader(s) for your patience, and I'll try harder.

Doug

The things we take for granted...

Last night Vanessa and I took Ava over to my Grandma and Grandpa Thompson's house for dinner and a visit with my cousin Jason, who was here visiting from Ottawa with his beautiful family. As I sat and watched as Ava was being passed about and Grandma was holding and talking to her, I was thinking how lucky she was to have not only 2 sets of AWESOME grandparents, but she also has 4 great grandmothers and 2 great grandfathers. It didn't dawn on me until a little while later how I was equally lucky growing up. I had 2 of the best sets of grandparents anyone could ask for. I now know why summer vacation always went by so fast, because between Grandma and Grandpa Beaulieu and Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, my summers were packed with so many adventures be it camping at Quesnel Lake, Jackson's Hole, or going to a wedding in Terrace; from having a season's pass to Expo 86, going to Lion's Games, and chasing trains from Milner to Whistler to roadside bathroom breaks on Dewdney Trunk. Grandma and Grandpa (B&T) gave me a childhood to remember. Of course this is not to take anything away from all the rest of the time that my parent's always made sure I had everything I needed to fully enjoy childhood. I think about all this, and combine it with the ongoing battle of my Aunties to be my "favorite" Aunt and now Ava's "favorite" Great Aunt, and I feel blessed and excited for my little girl's childhood. I might not be able to always afford to give her everything she wants, but I'll never hold her back from all her ambitions, and besides isn't that what "Favorite" Great Aunts and Grandparents are for, buying her things.

I'll be back soon, I swear!! I want to try and post more often, as often as I am inspired.

Dougie

Holy Sheep Dip...time flies.

Well, I'd like to start off by apologizing to my legions of followers out there who I know probably check in multiple times per day to see what I've written lately, and I can just imagine the dismay on their faces when they load the page to see nothing new.

Baby Ava is going to be 11 weeks old this coming Friday, and she is growing like a weed. Her feedings have increased throughout the day, but the beautiful thing is that she is generally asleep by 11:00pm and then is out until 6:00-7:00am. There is the occasional night when she wakes up for a 2:30 feed, but life is good again as far as sleep goes. It's also amazing how my perception of sleeping in has changed too. A year ago I could have easily slept the morning away until noon on a Saturday or Sunday, now the Sunday morning when Vanessa let's me sleep in until 8:00 is something to get excited about.

Some things that have happened in the last 6 weeks of my blogging absence:

• Ava has developed quite the personality, she smiles big smiles for anyone who comes to talk to her
• I made her giggle, and thus far am the only one who can do it on a regular basis
• Mommy had a little bout with Post Partum Mood Disorder, but I think the worst of it is behind us now and there is a huge light at the end of the tunnel.

I love my girls so much, and am so thankful for both of them....time to end this, because Princess Ava is just waking up from her little nappy poo, and wants a bah-bah.

Until next time,

Dougie "Big Poppa" Thompson

Outsmarted by a 5 week old...

Here we are now past the one month old date, and already my little girl has her parents well trained...I had delusions of grandeur that it would be the other way around!! This past Saturday night she decided she'd get up at 3:00am for a feeding. Being a Saturday night, and she is on formula, I let Vanessa sleep and I got up to feed her. By 4:00 she was fed, and clean diapered...yet nothing could get her to sleep. Unfortunately for me the only thing on TV was Miss. Congeniality, or the infomercial for Magic Bullet. Having seen that infomercial for 32 total hours on my weekend baby patrols, thank heavens for a near maxed Visa card or I'd have 8 of them, I had no other option but the corny beauty pageant schlock starring Sandra Bullock. As we neared closer to 5:00am, and no sign of sleepiness from sweetpea, I tried to play the guilt trip card on her, to which she responded with an ear to ear gummy grin that just melted my heart. It was at that exact moment in time that I realized I didn't care if she kept me up non-stop for the next 1000 hours, I would treasure every second of it. No matter how exhausted I get, I would never trade it for anything else in this world than to see my little baby look at me with that smile.

I promise the posts will be more current, I am done coaching rugby this week, so I will have that extra time to catch up my rest, and have enough mental stamina to post, time to get back to the gym hard again too, because before I know it, (and I'm not rushing it), I'm going to be chasing this little munchking all over the place.

What a week!

What a roller-coaster week it has been!! Last Saturday Vanessa's mom watched 'lil Ava for us so we could go to Costco and Wal-Mart to pick up some necessities. While we were at Wal-Mart we grabbed some new formula (old one was making her constipated), and new "Playtex Drop-ins" bottles, based on positive feedback from friends and other parents. When we got home I went upstairs to sterilize all the new bottles and parts, while Mommy went downstairs to try and do some breast feeding and pumping. Saturday night was a sleepless night with a lot of projectile vomiting, and some very concerned/tired/borderline frustrated parents (Vanessa and I). We woke up Easter Sunday, and packed everything up for the trip out to Grandma & Grandpa Thompson's house in Harrison Hot Springs. Grandma was delighted to watch baby for a couple hours while Mommy and Daddy found a spare room and had a nice nap. We then gathered for a nice Easter dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandma Beaulieu. Baby slept very good once we got home and settled in for the night, 6.5hrs!!! Monday, Vanessa noticed Ava was getting what looked like bad baby acne, or maybe heat rash, and that it was worse around feeding time. We figured it was the new formula and decided to try a different one. Tuesday we were using the new stuff and still the bumps would come on really bad, but the projectile vomiting had stopped. Vanessa had been doing some researching and came across some signs and symptoms of latex allergy...it all made sense because the old bottles had silicone nipples, and the new ones latex. Vanessa made an urgent doctor's appointment (they're all urgent for the first child aren't they?) and our doctor assured us that everything was ok, and that little Ava just has sensitive skin. He put us back on silicone nipples, and said to stick with our formula. Ava is healthy and strong as can be, she was 9lbs 7oz as of Tuesday, and she has been strong since day #1. Her favorite thing to do, besides sleep on Mommy and Daddy, is to sit and watch hockey with Dad.

One last item for all the doubters out there, I have been able to handle the poopy diapers...for the most part...2 have made me gag and relinquish duties.

3 Weeks in...

Hi there, how's it going. Well, I'm a dad for the first time at the tender young age of 30.5 years old. I have wanted to be a father since I was about 23, but luckily for my child, I had some growing up to do so the love of my life never presented herself.

My beautiful baby girl came in the wee hours of the morning on March 20, 2009. I was in love from the moment I saw her sweet little face squeeze through the birth canal. I will be the first to admit I thought I had all the answers based on everything I had read...and I had read a lot. Every situation that has come up in the first 3 weeks of parenthood, seemed to only have been covered in general in all the literature. From my fiance's hormone waves, to every little cough from little Ava, I feel helpless at times. I know I need to roll with everything, and use the wonderful support network we have at our disposal. Luckily we have been blessed with a healthy little girl, and other than our paranoias, and fears, everything has gone well.

So stay tuned as I will post regularly with the ups and downs and many laughs along the way. I will also be using this blog as a means to touch base with other parents and hopefully get some help as well as provide some insight for other new dads, so they know they aren't alone.


Doug