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2006-03-07 - 11:58 a.m.

While I�m at home almost all the time these days, I have surprisingly little time to write. I knew in my head that that would be the case with a young baby, but I don�t know if I really truly believed it. Well, I believe it now.

The time I�ve had to spend on the computer this past week, I�ve been taking care of things like taxes. I freelanced a couple of writing/editing jobs last year and for the small amount of money I earned I have to file several new (to me) tax forms and have probably doubled the amount of time I spend on my taxes by having to calculate such things as home office expenses.

Last week I was on my own with the babe for three days and spent my free time putting together a photography project as a surprise for J to take to his office. You see, my mother had given me this complicated picture-displayer-type thing which had a bunch of overlapping mini-frames of different sizes, all contained within one big frame. It wasn't easy selecting pictures that all had to cropped and sized and printed, and then cut out with scissors to fit the ridiculous number of small squares and rectangles, but it was worth it for the look on J's face when I gave it to him when he got home. The pictures I selected included a wedding shot, a pic from Hawaii, a pregnancy belly pic, and, of course, multiple Grommet shots.

Yesterday Grommet and I had our first outing together, just the two of us. Unfortunately it was because I�d twice noticed a smear of blood in her poop so we had to go to the doctor to get her checked out. The good news is it was a small fissure visible from the outside (so no invasive tests were required) and the even better news is that it�s not a big deal and is expected to heal on its own.

It was a nice day � good thing since the doctor�s office is a half-hour walk (20 mins sans stroller) � so we continued to amble around after the appointment and I even grabbed lunch at Wendy�s. While we�ve actually gone out to eat a few times since Grommet was born, again, this was the first time I�ve done it without another adult. This meant that even more so than usual, I selected one-hand, quick-to-eat foods (fries instead of my usual baked potato) in case I had to placate a fussy baby mid-meal. It was a success though as she was just starting to stir when I finished and I even made it all the way home before she really woke up and wanted her own lunch. I LOVE that it�s finally getting close to getting above the freezing mark (by the weekend we�ll be over it!). Tomorrow we just may head over to the Parent Resource Centre Drop-in to meet other new parents. Go us.

Grommet continues to grow and develop before my very eyes. (This is probably a �duh� statement if you�ve been around babies, but I didn�t know how fast they change!) She�s losing her seal-sleek cap of brown hair she was born with and since J and I both had fine, white-blond hair when we were little we expect she�ll be the same. This means that we�ll probably have to resign ourselves to a bald baby for a good long while and a bald-looking baby even when her hair starts to grow in.

Tuesdays seem to be big days for the Grom � she was born on one, lost her umbilical cord on another two weeks later, and today, at six weeks, I�d say I was the recipient of her first real, extended smile! She�s done some fleeting ones before but we suspected they were more accidental and linked to gas pains. I swear I teared up, it was that beautiful.

Before - After


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