Interview with (8-Month-Old) Emily

Nathalieland: Emily! You're 8 months old today. How do you feel?
Emily: I feel great, thanks, especially now that my teeth are done piercing through my gums...

N: Good! [Although sorry to say there will be plenty more where that came from]. Did you have a nice month despite the teething?
E: It was ok, but it wasn't a super exciting month. I had "fun" going to the park, visiting the doctor, and having my mom make fun of my hair.

N: Oh well, I'm sure your 9th month will be more exciting. How big are you now?
E: I weigh 16 lbs, am 27 inches long, and wear 6-12M clothing. Also I think I'm going to grow out of my size 2 diapers very soon.

N: What are some of your favourite things to do?
E: I absolutely love to stand (especially while looking out the window at people and cars going by). Just a couple of days ago I stood for 3 seconds all on my own!!

N: That's amazing! Maybe you'll just skip crawling and go straight to walking. What else do you like to do?
E: I love smiling, playing peekaboo, walking while Daddy holds my hands, and most of all sharing!

N: Are you liking solids now?
E: Oh yes. I'll eat almost anything, except meat. Strangely, sometimes my delicious cereal starts gradually tasting like meat... and it's not so bad.

N: Now we always talk about how good you are. Are you also a bad girl sometimes?
E: Haha of course! When Mommy and Daddy put me down for a nap I love rolling onto my tummy instead, then getting stuck and fussing. They'll flip me back over but I'll pretty much just keep doing it until I get tired and fall asleep (or not!).   

N: Emily, you know we all need sleep!
E: Maybe, but I'm getting much better at keeping my cool even when I've skipped a nap!

N: And how's the stranger anxiety going?
E: Not too bad actually.  I find people interesting to look at and sometimes I don't mind at all if they hold me! I have to admit, my favourite of them all is my Auntie Kurtie! ;)

N: I hear you're leaving for your big trip tomorrow! What do you think about that?
E: I'll let you know when we get back.

N: Anything else you'd like to add?
E: Tell Mommy to GET BACK TO PACKING!

I Love Nutrios

Mmm... I love Nutrios!

Wait, where did it go?

Memory Lane: High School Years

I can describe my first three years of high school using three words: awkward, boring, and lonely. I was very insecure, dressed like a boy, and didn't have a close set of friends. Every day I would come home from school and do my math homework while watching Days of Our Lives. I would then spend the rest of the evening watching TV. Not joking... I watched a lot of TV.

My favourite classes were math (obviously!) and photography. It was in high school that I developed a passion for math because I loved how "black and white" it was. If you did your homework and understood, high marks were achievable. My least favourite classes were science and history. But really, I wasn't a fan of anything that involved reading and writing.

Fortunately, I grew out of my ugly-duckling phase in the summer before grade 12. My last two years of high school were awesome, of course, because that's when Steve and I started dating!! You know the rest of the story... :).

I had one job while in high school: cashier at a grocery store. Steve and I actually applied at the same store and both got jobs there! Those were some fun times.

Now I'm sure you're dying to see the pictures...

First day of high school

Yes, I thought I looked good in my large sweater, blue tear-away pants, and converse sneakers...

15th Birthday

I wasn't joking when I said I dressed like a boy. This is my dad's shirt.

First day of work at Loeb

 Man we look so young and geeky

Now on to the yearly school pictures. Surprisingly, with the exception of grade 11, they aren't that bad!

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

13th Grade (OAC)

Next up on Memory Lane: Childhood Years

Our Upcoming Trip

A while ago I briefly mentioned that we are taking a trip to Europe at the end of this month. Assuming the volcano doesn't impede our flight plans, we leave on April 29th and will be gone for two weeks! We have relatives in Switzerland, Germany, and England, and we'll be visiting all of them (in that order). Luckily my parents have planned and organized the entire trip; Steve, Emily and I are just tagging along.

The main reason for the trip is to celebrate my grandmother's 75th birthday. My mom is originally from Germany and her entire family still lives there. I'm so excited to meet her brothers and sisters and see where she grew up! Also my dad has some nephews in Switzerland and Steve's grandfather lives in England. Of course everyone's super excited to meet Emily! What I'm really looking forward to is getting a four-generations picture with me, my mom, my grandmother, and Emily.

I assume I won't blog much (if at all) while we're gone since we probably won't have much access to the internet. If I get the chance though I'll try to post some pictures :).

Now I better start packing... Europe, here we come!

Family picture we took to give as a gift to our relatives

Future Badminton Pro

Steve let Emily hold his badminton racket the other day... and she loved it! Needless to say Steve loved it too, because he thinks he's got a future badminton pro on his hands. He can't wait to take her out to play!

So excited!

Practicing her grip

Proud Papa

Let's play!

Master of...

My blog friend Carrie has (unofficially) tagged me for this award. I thought it would be fun to do as my first survey-type blog post.

Here are the rules for the award:
1. List 6 things you are a master of.
2. Pass it on to 6 bloggers you think are masters of friendship and make blogging awesome.

So here it goes! I'm a master of...
 
1) Mathematics. Literally. I have a master's degree in mathematics! That being said, I'm not actually a walking calculator... There's a lot more to math than just crunching numbers. My research was in a specific field of mathematics called Graph Theory, so I would consider myself to be a master of that topic.

2) Hosting Dinners. I love hosting dinners for our family and friends. I think I'm pretty good at planning a menu, shopping for and prepping ingredients, tidying the house and setting the table, and watching everyone devour the final product. We've been told numerous times that our dinners are great successes!

3) Not Sleeping Well. I've never been a good sleeper. It takes me forever to fall asleep, often because I have things running through my head (like a song) or I can't get comfortable. Once I'm asleep I move a lot and wake up very easily. I'm a mess! My "good night's sleeps" are few and far between (especially over the last year).

4) Singing to my Baby. I sing all day long. Whether it's singing about waking up, washing your hair, playing with or tidying toys, wiping your hands, taking a bath, etc... I have a song for it! I also love singing kids' songs throughout the day and a nice lullaby at night. Note: Emphasis should be placed on being a master of singing to my baby, not singing -- ha!

5) Worrying About my Baby. Is she eating enough? Is she eating too much? Does she get enough sleep? Too much? Is that an ear infection? What's that noise? Should she be talking now? Why is she crying? Is she sick? In pain?... You get the idea. If it's not one thing, it's another.

6) Not Keeping up With the News and Politics. I never watch the news or read the paper, so I really don't know much about what's going on in the world, especially when it comes to politics. Like Simon and Garfunkel once said, "I get the news I need on the weather report". And if it's really important I'm sure I'll hear about it from family and friends.

That's it! I'm only tagging two people (because the other blogs I read are Carrie's friends and have already been tagged), but these two definitely deserve the award for being masters of friendship and making blogging awesome! I'm tagging:

Amy
Yetta

Have fun! (Well if you feel like it, of course!)

What Emily Thinks of the Park

This was the expression on Emily's face the entire time we were at the park... I don't think she was impressed!

I don't know about you but these pictures make me laugh. Such a serious face for such a fun place! I'm sure you'll learn to love it, Emily.

One Year Ago Today

One Year Ago Today

Today

While the Mommy's Away...

Hairy Issue

You may have notice that Emily has been sporting a "toupee-combover" look lately...

Baby hair vs. Toupee look

She has the habit of rubbing the sides of her head while in her sleeper, and the friction of the fabric against her head has rubbed off her hair! Now the top hair is still long and growing, so it ends up looking like a toupee/combover -- ha! Here is a before and after shot for better comparison:

3 months old vs. 7 months old

Any advice for working with this 'do? Is it already time for a haircut?? Or perhaps just a new hairstyle...

The Classic Emily

Bangs

Grease Lightnin'

The Clip

Forward Combover

Dwight Schrute

The Side Clip

p.s. In case you were wondering, in every shot she's looking at this:

Memory Lane: University Days

I did a bachelor's degree in math at the University of Waterloo. It was a wonderful, challenging, and interesting program. I learned so much about math, hard work, and where my interests lie (I originally started in a math/business program but soon realized that the business stuff wasn't for me).

I was a pretty hard-core student. My days consisted of waking up at 8:00am (or earlier), working, eating, working, going to class, working, eating (etc...), then going to sleep around 11:00pm or midnight, only to wake up and do it all over again. There was no such thing as a weekend in my books! This probably seems crazy to most people but it's just who I was. I loved the feeling of "doing the best that I can" (and yes, my marks did reflect my hard work!). Any spare time I had I would spend it with Steve, watching TV with friends, or exercising. I probably had the complete opposite of a stereotypical-college-party lifestyle!

Waterloo had a great co-op program which I took part in. Every 4 months I worked full time and made enough money to pay for my next semester's tuition. What's funny is that working full time was like a break to me! I worked as a research assistant, a customer service rep for the student card office, and a computer science tutor for the university. Again, all great opportunities for me to learn about work, myself, and my interests.

I graduated in 2007 with a major in Combinatorics & Optimization and a minor in Pure Mathematics. I also did a master's degree in math in Kingston, but that's a whole other post.

Picture time!

 First year residence room

Steve and I both went to Waterloo -- yay!

Co-op Job: Watcard Office

Co-op Job: Computer Science Tutor

(Can you spot the tutor? Hint: Think pink)

Meghan -- One of my closest university friends

Great friends/roommates
 

Hard at work

Crash

Graduation Day: Waterloo Math Building in the background

Next up on Memory Lane: High School Years