Baby Spa Day

Ahhh... so relaxed.

Today, if you're spouse or significant other is so inclined, you may have received some sort of gift certificate to a spa - maybe you need a pedi/mani, maybe a facial, and most decadent, maybe a massage.

But, I'm here to tell you that if you really love your significant other, you should forgo said gift certificate and treat your new baby to the spa day... well, not a spa day... just a massage.

Yes, us modern families have all lost our minds.

Or have we?

You've all read my struggles with trying to get Archer to sleep through the night and so, when I saw some early indications that Isla may be just like her brother in more ways than just her big cheeks and adorable-ness (that's a word), I panicked and took action.

I had read a little about craniosacral therapy for babies who had colic. I'm not sure if Archer had colic, or if Isla has colic. The more I read about colic (and there is a *lot out there), the less I'm even sure what it is. But what I do know is that on many nights so far, Isla is clearly struggling with gas or intestinal discomfort. That struggle leads to crying, the crying leads to no sleep for her and then no sleep for any of us. It's not fun, people.

Today, on Valentine's Day, Isla had a craniosacral massage by the lovely Alison Black at Evolve Chiropractic on Roncesvalles (who also give the *best pregnancy massages btw). It was a relaxing short 15-minute session in which Alison gently massaged Isla's spine, neck and head (I can't emphasize how gentle this was - really more like touching).

Seconds before the snoozing started.

During the session, Alison also gave me some good tips about how to help Isla when her tummy is upset. She bought me how to do an "I Love You" tummy massage (I link to a video on how to do it here). And she also showed me some leg movements that I had read about but until you see it done, you're never quite sure if you're doing it right. Both treatments came with the word of warning that such massages can have immediate and shocking results - I'm not going to go into details - but the words "projectile" and "poop" were used in the same sentence. 'Nuff said.

Thankfully, Isla, in her lovely Valentine's Day outfit, had no such disasters. But results seemed somewhat instantaneous... she fell asleep in the middle of the treatment and stayed asleep for 3 hours.

Will the positive results last? Only time will tell. Alison told me she's had mixed results. But today's treatment lasted long enough for my hubby and I to have as romantic a Valentine's Day lunch at Terroni as one can have with a toddler and a new baby.

And that, in an of itself, made Isla's spa day, well worth it.

Like Daughter, Like Mother..

And so it starts.

The other day I was out with Isla and someone I ran into asked if I purposely coordinated our outfits. Huh? What the heck was she talking about? But then I looked.

D'oh.

Me = my usual uniform: stripy tee, army cargos.
Isla = stripy onesie, army coloured leggings

Right. So while I didn't quite plan this, I suspect that this may be a common theme throughout
her life. I mean, I do it with my own super-styling mom. While I was growing up we shared clothes and from time to time, we have bought the same item of clothing. Case in point, for Christmas I bought her a leopard print cardigan from J. Crew (very French, not cougar-y at all) and I loved it so much that when I saw it on sale one month later, I bought one for myself.

And growing up, you could often see the Litz women wearing varying versions of the same look (with our unique accessories as evidenced by the Garfield stuffy I am sporting and my sister's E.T. - I'm pretty sure this trend could come back at any moment, fyi...).

Why not embrace this way of dressing? Little girl's clothing is so amazingly cute and cool, I can hardly stand it. So no wonder that I'm unconsciously ripping off Isla's great style. And in a way, I like looking to lines made for her for my inspiration rather than the other way around - when you have little girl's clothes inspired by women's fashion you end up with all of that overly glittery baby Baby Phat/Juicy Couture nonsense.

I would totally wear this.

For spring 2012, I'm seeing so much inspiration in Mini Mioche's Spring collection. Great feminine basics, mixing some of the (tolerable) pastel colours with neutrals.

Take the Mini twirly tiered skirt with grey tee. Interpreted for me, might be this floaty skirt and tee (could be stripy or grey like the inspiration pic) from J. Crew.

How about a comfortable yellow dress to take you through those hot summer days? Isla's is the Fresh Dress from Mini Mioche. Mine is from Old Navy.

And for those casual days, you might see Isla in this dandy henley tank (coming in spring) and grey leggings.

While I'm going to do my darndest to try and one day afford a beautiful look like this from Dealuxe.ca (I just missed an amazing WagJag Dealuxe deal that would have made this possible... gah!).

You're It! A Mom's Guide to Playdates

Archer has his own playdate with Isla down at her level. He rocks.

By Downtown Mama Mel


Playdates can be awesome, the perfect time to develop social skills, get support (or just out of the house), rant a bit, and maybe even make a friend or two. But getting one started? Totally intimidating. Here's how to do it.


Get all of DM Mel's super helpful playdate tips at iVillage.ca...

I've Forgotten How to Be a Parent...or I'm Too Tired. You Decide.

He should be in his bed, but we'll take what we can get when it comes to sleep!

This morning, early in the morning, I was watching an old episode of The Mom Show (now cancelled). Most of the show dealt with sleep... how to get your baby to sleep, the dangers of sleep deprivation for new parents, that sort of thing.

And ironically, I should have been sleeping instead of watching a show about sleep.

See, Isla was finally sleeping, which I pretty much thought would never happen last night. After a smiley day, she started sniffling... hey, a little cold, no big deal. But on top of that, she started showing signs of having a sore tummy.

Fast forward to 7pm and the cluster feeding commenced... by 10pm, she was all-out screaming bloody murder. This went on until 4am, with only about an hour and a half break for a nap (I'm totally not calling it sleep... it was a nap - for both of us).

At 4am, although she was a little fussy off and on, for the most part, at that point she slept until about 8am. Which raises the question, why wasn't I sleeping until 8am? Why was I up at 6am watching The Mom Show about sleep, cursing at the mom who apologetically shared that by 4 weeks, her baby was sleeping for 8 hours straight.

Have I shared with you that I never believe parents who claim this? 'Cause I totally don't. Don't refute me on this. It helps me not kill myself. Seriously (no, not seriously...).

But still, Isla was giving me a good stretch and here I was not sleeping along with her. I was not sleeping because I was looking for some nuggets in The Mom Show about how I could start making this sleep thing work because so far, there's no sign of this working -- and with one toddler who *just started sleeping through the night at about 2 1/2, I just can't imagine going this long again without sleep... I mean, really people... no good sleep again until I'm 43?? Really?

She is in her crib...will her eyes close? Only time will tell. Either way, she's super cute, right?

And you'd think I'd know better this being the second time around but these days I feel like I know nothing. Like all my parenting skills have disappeared. So I rely on what? Television. Judge if you will.

So what nuggets did I get from The Mom Show? There were lots, but none that seemingly applied to a family with 2 little ones. Let me demonstrate:

1. Early in the evening start a routine whereby you dim the lights, you give baby a quiet bath, play some lullabies -- well, you can't do that with a 2 1/2 year old unless you completely parent separately and one parent does all of this with the baby alone in a separate part of the house, away from the playing, the Treehouse, the occasional tantrum of the toddler.


2. At around 6 weeks, establish having the baby sleep in the crib in their own room -- well, Isla's room is next to the loud toddler room where he's awake a playing until like 9 and then after he's asleep, you're so darn tired from it all that the thought of walking ALL THE WAY to the other side of the floor is just too much to take.

3. Let baby learn how to settle themselves so don't go into their room at the first peep -- this is the slippery slope to "crying it out" which I could never do with Archer and I can't imagine this changing for Isla - although maybe I'll just be so darned tired from everything that I will.

So tonight as the end of the evening starts again... I'm looking at Isla in front of me in her bouncy chair... and wondering what to do. I *think that although Archer is doing his best Mickey Mouse Hot Dog Dance beside her, completely unaware that babies should be asleep by now, and he should help keep a quiet environment for her, I will *try nursing and *try putting her in her room in her room, in her crib. I will *try for the hour that I have until we have to get Archer to bed.

If it doesn't work, I'm totally giving up on setting a sleep routine for her. Not forever. Just for tonight.

That's all we can do, right?

I Interrupt This Blog To Bring You The Must Have Hat of the Year

All I can say is I wish I could knit.



As you were.

This Week At Dufferin Mall

So you all know my unhealthy obsession with Dufferin Mall.

Even though I don't really live near Dufferin Mall any more, I'm still managing to get there about once/week. Yes, it is possible that I'm weirdly nostalgic about the moderately dumpy mall where I spent my first out-of-the-house days with Archer... but really, when I think about it, it's not that. It's really about the fact that it is the most manageable place for a new mom to go. It hits a bunch of check-marks:

1. Plenty of parking/accessible by transit
2. Not too big and rarely too crowded (unless a weekend or around the holidays)
3. Grocery stores (and bargain ones at that - No Frills, Walmart)
4. A Babies/ToysRUs if you need baby supplies
5. Affordable retail like H&M, Winners and they now have a Gap Outlet

And later, when Isla gets little older, there is an Early Years Centre if we want to join a circle time or need to nurse.

So it's with this in mind, that I introduce my new weekly series to Downtown Mama...drum roll, please... "This Week at Dufferin Mall". As if you don't love it.

Love the stripy sweaters and high-tops

TWADM will feature my favourite little "find" in the mall - it could be the best deal *ever on something at one of the grocery stores, or a cute dress on sale or just some random weirdness - like the time a kiosk was selling baby UFC onesies - because, you need to know that.



My first instalment of TWADM, is an exercise in selflessness... it's for Archer.

Archer probably would have preferred blue

Spring has arrived at H&M and you may have seen their campaign around the 10 Spring Essentials. It's great. Affordable must-have pieces for S/S 2012. And they also have one for kids and it's adorable. The boys line is reminiscent of J. Crew's more pricey kids line and feature skinny jeans and trousers in bright colours like the cobalt blue pair above. They're paired with equally vibrant graphic tees and stripy light sweaters. I also love the little boy high tops. Sooo cute. I bought Archer one of the hot pink boys tees and grey skinny pants.  He will either love me or hate me for the hot pink tee but I will take total advantage while I can.

And nothing is over $12.95. Check it out.

Bootie Call

I'm way over-due for some more postings but it's been busy!

This week marks my first full-week post-birth without help from family. For all of you who complain about your family all "up in your business" and not giving you space, I have no sympathy. Our parents are thousands of miles away (actually, is Winnipeg thousands or hundreds of miles away... why don't I know this - either way, it's far y'all) and it pains me terribly every time they leave us or we leave them. Yes, I'm the only person in the world sad when they leave Winnipeg.

Not sad enough to move back there, but still pretty weepy.

So first things first about this posting, appreciate your family if they're close to you. But most importantly for this post, if you can't have your family close, you may as well have new shoes. That makes sense, right? I thought so.

I've become a big fan of CBC's Steven and Chris during this mat leave. And on a recent show, their uber cool style expert Erica Wark, did a segment on spring looks for under $100. It was great, but in that weird way my brain works, a particular item... these booties from H&M (also featured in the middle picture above), for an alleged $14.95 (!!) stayed with me in the same way that the final scene from Lars Von Triers' Melancholia stayed with me (hey, like I said, my brain works in weird ways). I obsessed and so just as soon as my family left me and Isla alone, off I went on my journey to find the perfect shoe.

And for me, right now, these are kinda the perfect shoe: affordable, practical, versatile, and... hot.

But my journey ended in sadness (sadness being a completely relative concept you understand).

I went to 3... count 'em...3... H&Ms and no dice. 2 said they never got them at all and the big Eaton Centre store said they left as soon as they came in the store. Said the insightful salesperson, "I think they were like cheap or something...". Yeeeahh....

On my way out of the mall, however, I walked by Ardene. You know Ardene, right? No? That's because you pass it all the time. It's not really meant for you - it's sorta meant for like tween girls. It's one of those cheapy accessories stores. But on said segment on Steven and Chris, Erica pointed out a number of great little finds from Ardene, so I thought, what the heck.

What the heck, indeed. Check out not only a good representation of the perfect bootie, but also a super cute pair of spring python flats - both for $20 (like, together). What?! Yeah. Are these the best quality shoes in the whole world? No. Will my feet somewhat smell after wearing them for the day? Probably. But for $20, I'm willing to get over that. So should you!