Perpetual Calendar
Archives
The Baby Page
About Me
Home

I think I can safely say that, as years go, 2003 was a biggie.

In January I was already five months pregnant. I aced the Royal Conservatory singing exam, and we spent a whole lot of time thinking about renovating the kitchen. (We still haven't saved enough money to renovate the damn kitchen.)

By March I was interviewing candidates to take over my position at work, and we rearranged furniture and bought baby things.

April stretched on for at least two years as we completed preparation for Delphine's arrival by the middle of the month, and then waited. And waited.

And waited until May was a third over for her to actually arrive, with much medical assistance, on May 10. Blake took the month off and we stayed home, learning about this teeny tiny person.

The other big event in May was that my brother moved from Waterloo, which is near here, to Vancouver, which isn't. He stayed with us for a weekend when Delphine was a week old, and then he was gone. I'm sorry he's so far away; I would have liked him to be closer to us and to Del as she grows up.

This summer the living was easy. My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law weren't working, so they visited almost every day, and a couple of times I went down to my mother-in-law's condo to sit by the pool and read for the afternoon. Most days I took Delphine out to sit in the park, or we'd walk up to Eglinton to run errands.

Life got a little harder in fall; both my sister- and mother-in-law got full-time work, so I have been alone most days. It's too cold to visit the park, so I go up to Eglinton almost every day to get groceries, or pick up photos, or just for the walk.

In October we visited my parents in Saskatchewan. They were pleased with Delphine but not effusive. It was a pretty boring visit, although I did get to see my friend Debbie from high school, and her little boy Matthew.

Much more interesting was November's trip to New York. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, visited the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and walked a whole lot. We saw Columbine, Joy, Guppy, Maya, Jason and Lindsey, Sascha and Leontine, Dee, Douglas and Tanya and Ursa. Apparently everyone we know is in New York.

Finally December came, with snow (which has since melted) and Christmas. Christmas was great, with just the right amount of fuss and bother, lots of toys, music, food and family. Now it's all over, but the anticlimax is tempered by the anticipation of the year ahead, and all the changes we have in store.

Delphine will grow, she will learn to walk and talk. We will visit her grandparents in Florida in February. We will finally renovate the kitchen. We'll teach Delphine to sleep in her own bed, and finally in her own room. In a not-entirely-unrelated note, we'll (hopefully) concieve another child. 2003 was big, but 2004 will be even bigger.