The life and times of Darren, Tisha, Ben and Laurel Witt.

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Sunday, June 24, 2007

Baby Tricks

Laurel is 12 weeks old this weekend, so in celebration, here is a list of what she is currently up to...

(Warning: this post is about babies and their cuteness. In particular, the cuteness of OUR baby. If you are not into babies, you might want to check back in next week, when I'm planning to go on and on about our garden instead. There is a brief bit about Ben at the end of the post, but it's about the cuteness of him.)

So far, Laurel can:
  • Stick out her tongue (she's been doing this for a while now, but it's still cute)
  • Get us to stick out our tongues by sticking out her tongue (she's always quite pleased when this works)
  • Chirp for attention, then awards us with big smiles
  • Blow bubbles
  • Blow raspberries
  • Grab with her hands - toys, fingers, hair
got my hands....
She is currently working on:
  • Smacking her lips
  • Fake coughing
  • Sitting up (she's getting increasingly unimpressed with prone positions)
  • Standing up (again, lying down is for chumps)
  • Thumbsucking (she hasn't poked herself in the eye yet, but has gagged several times when she jammed all of her fingers down her throat)
looking for that thumb
That's about all for now. All in all, she's a smiley, happy baby who loves cuddles, attention, and watching her big brother zoom around.

As for Ben, he's loving his little sister (sometimes a bit too much), he's very into insects and gardening and construction vehicles (often all at once) and last night got up in the middle of the night, used the toilet by himself, and went back to bed in his own bed.

Construction in the garden
Big Brudder and his Litl Sweetie

Thursday, June 07, 2007

We're still alive, and mostly well

Hello to all from the North!

Sorry for the lack of communication with many of you, but we have been a bit busy over the last few months. We are now mostly settled in our new home in Smithers, and are getting used to being a family of four. This post may be a bit detailed for some of you, but all new materials for others (sorry if you were missed on birth announcement emails – we were a bit rushed and tired at the time).

To get everyone up to speed, here is a brief timeline:

FEBRUARY:

Darren was finally offered a job for sure for the provincial government in Smithers (he’s been playing some form of job tag with this office since early October). We had spent 8 months in Smithers in 2005 while he had a co-op job with the same office, and were eager to move back.


Some fun facts about Smithers:

Population: about 5000 people, one of the most educated-per-capita towns in Canada

Housing: we bought a 3 bdrm house for the approximate price of a 1 bdrm apartment in Burnaby

Commute: Darren’s commute to work is about 800 meters.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with BC geography, Smithers is approximately half way between Prince George and Prince Rupert. We have gorgeous mountains that are not covered with large pink houses. There is one sushi place in town, but it is insanely expensive.

We actually don't have a picture of the outside of the house yet, so I'll post one soon. (whoops)

MARCH:

Darren's official start time in Smithers was set for mid-April - a month after baby due date (other options were the month before the due date, or the due date) Darren was working from home in Mission for the government and I was pretty much on bed rest due to extreme pelvic pain – I had to finish work at the beginning of my third trimester, right after Christmas. Laurel Katherine Witt was FINALLY born on March 31 (8lbs, 12oz). And we were packing.

APRIL:

Darren started work in Smithers on the 23rd, so the week before was moving week. Most of you have moved, so enough said. It is not easier if you have a newborn! Poor Ben, who had held up pretty well so far, melted down completely in our now-empty old house, and was miserable until we flew up to Smithers the next week. Darren, his brother Brad, and his father drove our overstuffed van, car and trailer to Smithers (only 13 hours from the coast, folks!)

MAY:

We started garden work in earnest and continued to unpack. Our yard is dead flat, all grass (and dandelions) with 3 unidentified fruit trees – we dug up sod all over the place for gardens – and Ben has a great sod hill to climb on now. Hit a BIG glitch when Darren put out his back at the beginning of the long weekend. He went to bed on the Friday and pretty much didn’t get up until the Monday, when he went into emergency because he couldn't take the pain anymore. He was in such rough shape as he headed to the hospital that I was half expecting to get a phone call from him as he was entering surgery. No surgery, but an x-ray and a ct scan later show 3 herniated discs – he’s back at work after missing a week and on the mend, but still has a way to go.

JUNE:

We still have many boxes to unpack, but our main living space is pretty livable, Ben is much happier, and Laurel has been an incredibly easy baby so far (I had NO IDEA how easy a baby could be – I deal with my resentment of people who had it easy with the first one by thinking that if you only get one easy one, its probably better to have it second. Who knew that with some babies, you can put them in their crib and they really do just go to sleep?) Darren is still limited in what he can do, so I have been very busy unpacking, keeping house, raising the kids, and putting in a garden - we now have strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and are hopefully adding to this this weekend. Also a big veggie garden and the beginnings of a flower garden or two.


So, that's us up to date. Feel free to contact us through comments here or on our personal email. We are also very happy to host visitors to the north. Smithers really is a cute little place to come and visit, and the flood waters will be receding soon. (The main town area is actually high and dry above the river, though the golf course is looking a bit lake-like right now). We have a brand new, queen-sized futon as well as a tent trailer for accommodations. We are kid and dog friendly!

We are gaming geeks!

Also, Darren is a Comic Geek!