Got a big box of books from amazon.ca this morning - nearly all of them children's board books for Baby T! My brother gave us an amazon e-cert for Christmas with the intention we buy toys for Baby T, but amazon.ca doesn't sell toys for some reason, so I spent it all on books instead. I can't tell you what a relief it is to add to the baby book collection as I'm getting mighty sick of the ones we have!

I spent the rest of the money on two books for me The Catcher in the Rye and Brideshead Revisited and two movies Bridesmaids and Eastern Promises. That haul wasn't ordered until yesterday, so I have another parcel to look forward to in the next couple of weeks.

Baby T is doing great. He broke the 22lb mark at just 7 months and has now started babbling and making speech-like sounds on a regular basis. He's not too keen on solid foods yet though - every time I try to give him something, whether it's baby cereal or a finger food, he looks at me as if he thinks I'm trying to poison him! Tonight I'm going to try him with mashed potato, so we'll see how that goes.

I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to read at least 1 book a month. Doesn't sound like much, but when you have an infant, then trying to find time to read is like trying to find gold dust! I figured that one book a month was a noble goal and would encourage me to read even just a few pages every day.

So far I'm doing well - January saw me devour all three books in The Lord of the Rings, and That Forgetful Shore by Trudy Morgan-Cole. I say devour - to be honest I'm not a huge fan of the fantasy genre, so whilst I raced through The Fellowship of the Ring, I found my interest waning as The Two Towers progressed and by the time I hit The Return of the King I was having a hard time caring whether Frodo and Sam made it or not.

Things picked up as I picked up That Forgetful Shore. Morgan-Cole is a local author and I loved her By The Rivers of Brooklyn about Newfoundlanders (specifically the women-folk) who moved to New York during the heydays of skyscraper building. That Forgetful Shore follows the lives of Triffie and Kit from childhood through to their golden years against the backdrop of the First World War, when Newfoundland was a Dominion of Britain. Morgan-Cole writes strong female characters and has an uncanny ability to bring bygone eras to life in an honest fashion.

Next up was Lament of the Dove by the lovely and talented annathepiper about which I shall say nothing more than it was incredible and if anyone can bring me over to the fantasy side, it will be Anna! I read this work as one of Anna's beta readers - hence the lack of a review - but once it's published and all you lucky folk are able to get your hands on a copy, then I will be hounding you to do so!

Currently I'm reading The White Rabbit by Bruce Marshall about one of the most famous members of the French Resistance during the Second World War. After organising all the separate factions into one army, The White Rabbit (F.F.E. Yeo-Thomas) was captured by the Gestapo and despite all they did to him never revealed any of his intricate knowledge of the Resistance. I'm about a third of the way through, and although the subject matter is interesting, I find Marshall to be a somewhat self-conscious writer. He's a little too aware of the important story he's been tasked to tell and it shows through on occasion.

Thank you so much esprit_de_glace for my holiday card which arrived today :)

In a nice change from all the snowstorms we've had recently, we're currently being battered by rain and gale-force winds. The kitchen window is leaking and water is coming up through the basement floor sigh, but at least we won't have to shovel our way out of the drive. We did need to move the litter tray as apparently Whiskey refuses to swim to answer the call of nature!

Did some shopping for Baby T yesterday - managed to score an umbrella stroller for $10 thanks to the clearance rack and also picked up some booties that actually fit his chubby little feet. We sensibly bought our groceries yesterday as well which means we have no need to leave the house today. Mike suggested a Tim's run, but as we would likely have been drenched just running from the house to the car, I declined. I'm not that desperate for tea and a chocolate chip muffin!

Feeling pretty proud of myself right now - managed to get a file that was attached to an e-mail onto my Kindle with no tears, cursing or hair-pulling :) As I'm not the least bit technologically inclined, this makes me happy.

Had another snowy day today - apparently we've had more than 200cm of snow so far this winter - looking at the pile of stuff in my backyard, this does not surprise me. However, all this snow means that Baby T and I have not left the house since Monday, and unless the city does a better job on the roads tomorrow, Friday isn't looking good. Saturday we're forecast another dumping. Sigh. It could be Sunday before Baby T and I emerge. (I don't have an issue with taking Baby T out in the snow, it's just hard to push a stroller through the stuff)

I have to say, January went by awfully fast. Normally I wouldn't complain, but each month gone, is a month closer to when I have to go back to work and my time with Baby T is severely curtailed. Not looking forward to that.

Wow. It is nasty out there. They forecast 8-10cm of snow. What they didn't forecast was the high winds. School buses have gone off the road, the RNC is recommending people stay off the roads in the Northeast Avalon, regular buses are avoiding hills. Glad I can just stay home. Wish M was home too - I hate the thought that he has to drive back in to town. He's a super-safe driver - it's the other idiots on the road that worry me.

Baby T and I are having a quiet day. In fact Baby T has slept most of it away. I'm guessing it's the weather - he always seems to get a little quieter when the weather changes. Not that I'm complaining - I'd rather that than him get all hyper!

Thank goodness for LJ - just had to go back through my posts (well, only the late December ones, which was easy thanks to the calendar feature) to find out when M and I got engaged! We're still not married, for those of you who are interested, but neither one of us could remember how long we'd been engaged. Since December 2008, again for those of you who are interested.

'Twas another glorious day here, so Baby T and I took a walk to the drug store/post office as we're likely to be housebound tomorrow thanks to the 8-10cm of snow they're forecasting. I don't mind being out in the snow, but snow clearing here sucks and it's difficult to get about with a stroller. We'll definitely leave the house Wednesday (swimming) and Thursday (clinic) so no need to worry about cabin fever.

Yesterday was a snowstorm so Baby T and I stayed inside all day; only poor M had to venture outside to shovel several times as the weather changed from snow to ice pellets to rain and back to snow. It had eased off a little by the evening so M treated us to Mary Brown's for supper.

Had a gorgeous walk through the snow-covered park today. We took Baby T out in his sparkly new sled to get some fresh air and even though most of the city had obviously had the same idea, it was a wonderful walk. It's amazing how light Baby T is when he's being pulled behind you instead of pushed in front or carried!

Tried Baby T on oat cereal today - he's had rice cereal for the past 4 days and shown no signs of reaction, so I figured I'd mix it up for him. He really didn't seem impressed. He didn't spit it out, but he only had a few spoonfuls and then refused any more. I'll try him again tomorrow just in case he wasn't in the mood for cereal today - I don't see the point in trying him on fruit, veggies or meat though until he's figured out the whole swallowing thing.

Sooo tired. M is re-certifying this week, which means he's at work all day and then studying in the evening, so I'm having to be mommy and daddy. I don't know how single parents do it. I really don't. I'm about ready to collapse in a heap and it's only been a few days! Thank goodness normal life will resume tomorrow.

Made meatballs for supper - cooked them in the slow cooker M bought me for Christmas. I think I had too much meat though, because it got a little dried up around the edges, so next time I'll either make fewer meatballs or use more sauce. It tasted good though, and that's the main thing.

Took Baby T to be weighed - he's now 21lbs 1oz - not bad for 6 months old! There's a reason my biceps are more toned than they've ever been before!!!

Was hoping to get out to M's parents this weekend, but now they're forecasting a snowstorm :( A weekend with the in-laws is a great chance for me to relax - all I have to do is feed T - they keep him entertained the rest of the time.

Six months ago today I was in labour. Crazy how time flies. Tried Baby T on cereal for the first time today. I think he liked it - he didn't spit it out, anyway. It took a while for him to realise that he needed to swallow it - he would just hold it in his mouth and let it all dribble out when he opened his mouth for the next spoonful! But eventually he got the hang of it and ate almost the entire bowl. Makes me a little sad in a way though - it's the beginning of the end of him being a baby.

We also went swimming and I dunked T for the first time. I waited until the end of the class, because I figured he'd scream blue murder, but he didn't seem to mind too much. The first time I did it he just blinked a lot, the second time he looked at me as if to say "What the heck did you do that for?", but I'm happy he's becoming comfortable in the water. He was even splashing his hands this week and trying to copy what the bigger kids were doing!