The Good Stuff: Baby's First Year

Before Indio was born, I scoured bookstores and online stores to find the *perfect* baby book. You know, the one where I would record every milestone of his first year of life, glue in photos for each month, and write funny anecdotes of our little guy growing and changing.

I knew I didn't want anything with a *character* like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit, Sesame Street, etc. I also didn't want a book with tons of writing space because everyone was telling me I'd have little time to brush my teeth during that first year, leave aside writing my child's biography! I also had planned to put together a photo book of his first year, so I didn't need a record book with space for tons of photos.

I can't remember where I came across the one I finally chose; I think it was Barnes & Noble. [But of course I ordered from Amazon because it was cheaper!] It was Anabel Karmel's Baby's First Year: a keepsake journal of milestone moments.

I loved the colours and the layout. It wasn't too *babyish*, if that's even possible for a baby book. And the front cover title square was an easy-to-remove sticker, which I promptly got rid of once I had the book in my hands.

I diligently filled in the family tree info and pages about mom and dad so that I would be ahead of the game once Indio arrived. I was even on top of things during Indio's first month, but that was probably because babies don't do much during that time other than eat and sleep!
And then it all fell to the wayside! I took photos to be pasted into the book, only to never print them. I recorded mini-milestones on scraps of paper, which were put in a pile whoknowswhere.

Once we moved to Toronto and I wasn't working or packing anymore, I tried to fill in all the months I'd neglected, but honestly, it's still a work in progress. Indy is now 14 months old and his book sits half-empty. Hopefully, I'll get it filled before he turns 2!

But, for anyone looking for a nice baby book, I'd definitely still recommend this one for those on a budget. I still love the one I wrote about here, but it's a bit more expensive.

I'd love to hear how others keep/kept track of their baby's milestones. Maybe there's a system out there for me yet!

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Foto Friday: week 8

[day 50: Date night with E at my favourite Toronto sushi spot. We ended the evening with Shutter Island.]

[day 51: Testing out his new boots in the park and holding on to papa for moral support.]

[day 52: I heart potatoes!]

[day 53: E treated me to a delicious home-cooked meal of pepper pork and mushrooms over udon.]

[day 54: One last Buffalo-sauce-covered-fingers hurrah for N, who is due to deliver her baby boy any moment now. If the way they dote on Indio is any indication, N & H are going to be fantastic parents. I can't wait to meet Baby D!]

[day 55]

[day 56: Faiza and I enjoyed an amazing concert at Roy Thompson Hall. I never thought I'd find myself rocking out to a cello and an accordian, especially not at the symphony!]

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A decent egg

Now that the Valentine's candy has been cleared from store shelves, the Easter chocolate is a-plenty. My favourite Easter treats are Cadbury Mini Eggs, and though they are now available all year round, there's something special about eating them with the onset of spring. My former co-teacher and I would gobble them by the bagfuls, chasing them with Starbuck's lattes, his a double, mine a decaf. We even tried the dark chocolate ones, but preferred the originals.

While browsing the aisles of Shoppers my eyes fell on that famous purple bag and my mouth started salivating...except it wasn't that famous bag, it was a bag of Life Brand Mini Eggs!
Of course I had to buy them and see if they matched up. After one egg, I didn't have that feeling that I always get eating real Mini Eggs. You know, the one where my tongue starts itching and I start drooling incessantly until I get another egg in my mouth. The Life Brand egg was more candy-ish and less chocolatey. The chocolate wasn't as smooth as Cadbury's either.

For me they didn't cut it. As spring quickly approaches [thank goodness!], I'll stick to my regular (over)indulgence.

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Perpetual Bounce turns 1!

Can you believe it's been a year since I started this blog? I can't. When I started I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go; did I want a *mommy blog* or a *photo blog*? Maybe a *food blog*? [restaurants, not cooking!] By the looks of it, I think it's a bit of everything; more a chronicle of the world around me.

^via rob j brooks

For the past 365 days I've struggled with writing all the blog posts I come up with in my head. I have countless photos stored in iPhoto that were taken with the intention of blogging about them, but they just sit there. Once the moment has passed, it seems funny to go back and write about something that was so *in the moment*. I have a bunch of drafts in Blogger that have yet to be finished and published. I fret when writing each entry because I want it to be *perfect*, which often leads to it not being published at all.

For the next year, I am going to make a concerted effort to blog more consistently and to finish what I start, and to be more free and less self-conscious. Oh, and I might actually start telling people I know that this blog actually exists.

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Oops, day 15 was MIA!

[day 15: Cooper sulking on the couch while my book group girls and I ate Marta's delicious chocolate and cheese fondue 15 ft away.]

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