Addison Beverly Cawdell

Ask, and you shall receive.

After my last post, I didn't have to wait very long for as Addison Beverly Cawdell came into this world. That evening, October 6, 2011 -- we headed to the hospital after the Hockey game and Addison Beverly Cawdell was born about an hour later @ 11:03pm. Delivered by Irene Callander (the most amazing midwife) at Lions Gate Hospital, Addison weighed in at 7lbs 8oz, 51cms long after another very short labor. However, this time we were able to get to the hospital a little bit earlier.

Maybe it was the fact that I knew what to expect, or that we had Irene at the birth, or that we felt somewhat more in control because I wasn't about to give birth en route to the hospital, but this birth was COMPLETELY different than my first. The word I use to describe Audrey's birth is "Intense." For Addison's, it was more like "Pleasant." I know, labor is never "pleasant" but that was the first word that came to mind after she was born. No drugs, no drama and no crazy moaning like a cow (well, two moos). When things started to get crazy I remember Irene telling me that this was my job and I needed to focus my energy on getting this job done. That centred me, silenced me and got me through the next few minutes.

So now, we are a family of four. Here is the newest addition to our family:

Just perfect. We fell in love all over again...

This time we remembered to pack some clothes for the kid

Proud Papa and his newest daughter

My two beautiful girls!

It has taken two weeks to be able to sit down and write this -- Going from one to two has been very...busy! What have we gotten ourselves into...LOL.

Confession #3: I HATE WAITING

I hate waiting. Unlike my husband, I thoroughly dislike rushing just to wait. Maybe that is why I am chronically late or just "on time" for everything.

I am now at 39 weeks and 2 days -- 5 days before my due date, but 9 days "over due" by Audrey standards. Mentally, I'd fully expected to have a baby by now so this wait has been agonizing. Especially b/c all signs have pointed to GO since 37 weeks. The only thing holding this little (getting bigger by the day) one back was her position, slightly off center; face not entirely pointed posterior (according to my midwife). However, today seems like things have shifted so *hopefully* this could be the day.

I am at 5 cms right now, and not in labor. A friend asked me if this was normal and I have no idea. At this rate, the baby is just going to fall out. Sigh. I hate waiting.

In an attempt to stir things up, Audrey and I had a dance party yesterday to a little "Dance Mix 95" (Best CD EVER). The neighbors got a good show! LOL. I've been as active as possible, but all that really succeeds in doing is putting me to sleep at 1pm. However, I did manage to get a mani-pedi on Tuesday and that was lovely :)

Fingers crossed -- TBC

What is time?

One of the things have learned as a parent is that children like routine & predictability. I honestly think that part of the success we've had with Audrey lies partly in the fact that we have always tried very hard to maintain a predicable daytime routine with her. She feels in control, safe, and we don't have many struggles because we can always fall back on the argument that "we do this everyday."

However, on a weekly basis Audrey does not have a consistent routine. My husband works shift work and we have been fortunate to find a daycare provider that will work around our schedule. This saves us in childcare expenses and allows Audrey to spend quality time with her dad sans momma. Audrey loves playing with her daddy. I love their relationship and admittedly get jealous over the amount of time that they can spend together. The downside is that daycare days are always different days of the week and I am learning that this causes Audrey some anxiety. She has made it no secret that she would much rather stay at home with momma or dadda than go to daycare. A year and a half later I still have difficulty dropping her off in the AM and hate fielding "Do I have to go to XX's house tomorrow?"

Audrey understands that Momma doesn't work on Saturdays or Sundays so she gets to stay home. She knows some of the days of the week, and knows the words "tomorrow, yesterday, next week" but I'm not sure she knows the concepts. Which got me to thinking, how to you explain time to a child? Why do we bother giving a "5 minute warning" when a child has no concept of what "5 minutes" is? When she asked when the baby was coming I didn't really have an answer b/c to tell her in 6 months didn't mean anything to her.

At preschool, the teacher has this brilliant timer (like an analogue clock) that marks the chunk of time in red -- the red disappears as the time counts down and so "5 more minutes" also means "when the red is gone." This is a concept that I can understand. It gave me an idea. In an effort to help Audrey understand time and curb her anxiety, I made a calendar that we follow along with together each night. I color coded the calendar with days for daycare, days for preschool and days at home. We put stickers on important days, such as birthdays. I explain to her how the days of the week work and what months are, but the purpose of the calendar is that at the end of each day Audrey helps me put a line through the current day and is able to see what color the next day is so she can mentally prepare herself.

It is an experiment that we've just started the month of October, but it seems to have really helped. Children are such amazing beings and understanding how they learn has been fascinating to me. And if I can get a happier little girl out of it -- that is the icing.