Astrid: Little Cupcake

Astrid and I survived 3 days without mommy. When Emily asked if she could go on a work retreat, I knew we could handle it but I was still a bit nervous about looking after Astrid on my own, keeping her amused all day on Sunday, and handling bedtime without boobs. Luckily Astrid was in a great mood and we had no problem substituting Daddy’s Milk (recipe below) for breast milk for a few days. I also got some much appreciated help from the Grandmas who made dinner and helped look after Astrid on Monday night, and Emily left us with a fridge full of leftovers so I didn’t have to cook anything from scratch.

A few weeks ago we had a great visit with Uncle Sean, Auntie Brittany, and Grandma Bev. Astrid enjoyed showing them her wildling side.

For Halloween, Astrid dressed up like a cupcake (Emily was a baker and I had diarrhea – scary stuff). She went trick-or-treating for the first time, visiting some of the apartments in our building. She enjoyed getting treats to put in her bag. Although, we’re mean parents and ate all of her chocolates.

Astrid is more interested in advanced toys now. She likes playing with her building blocks, especially the little Lego parcel that she places in a mailbox. She also loves her train set and zooms them around the house yelling “Weeeee”.

Astrid has completed her second swim class (Duck) and starts Sea Turtle next weekend. She’s not the biggest fan of the water, but she’s getting more comfortable in it. Even at home, she’s enjoying bathtime more than she used to.

Astrid continues to delight me with her new skills. When she wants something she says “More please” and does the baby sign language to go along with it.

The other day, after we got home and locked up my bike, she insisted on taking my keys. She enjoys playing with them. As we were walking towards the door to the elevator, she stopped in the middle of the parking garage, sat down and played with the keys until she had selected the key we needed to open the next door. Then when we were walking down the hallway to our apartment, she again stopped, sat down, and picked out the key for our door. There are 7 different keys on my keychain, so I don’t think it was a random coincidence (2% chance of that). But we’ve never taught her to use the keys or which one works for each door. I was super impressed, until I tried getting her to repeat it the next day and she couldn’t be bothered.

Recipe for Daddy’s Milk (a homemade vegan baby formula):