The Famous Pants Hat

In a pinch.... don't worry an inch... if you forgot your babies hat.... I've got a solution for that!

Jokes aside have you ever felt really accomplished when you have finally arrived at your destination only to realize that you have forgotten something that you deem really important? Well I have done that ALOT even though I try to get everything organized before I head out the door. Today I am featuring the forgotten item 'The Hat'. When I was in Copenhagen I was feeling trapped in our house. It was a beautiful day and Etta was crying from being cooped up. I knew that if I could make it out the door then we could have a pleasant rest of the day. Finally I get outside and set up the blanket for Etta and I to play in the park. With little shade around I went to grab her hat only to find that I forgot her hat. That is when the 'pants hat' came into fruition.

Here is the pants hat. You take a pair of pants and put it around your child's head. Then you take the two feet and can either leave them in the floppy position or tie them up to create a cute bow. You can choose whether or not to cover up the ears if you are worried they will get burned. 

There you have it! The 'pants hat'!!!

The Pants Hat in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is the Bohemian Style.

The Bohemian Pants Hat. Side view. 

The Mr. Snuffleupagus style of the Pants Hat. The style was recently used while blueberry picking.

Hiking with Children Part 1: Quarry Rock Hike

Quarry Rock in Deep Cove Vancouver is the perfect hike for people who do not do much hiking, parents with new babies and for young children to do on their own. We know of a 3 year old who did the hike just last year! Even better is that at the end of your hike you can get homemade delicious doughnuts at Honeys Doughnuts right in Deep Cove.

Since Etta has been born we have done the hike a few times. The first time the 1-2 hour hike turned into a full day affair. As Etta has gotten older hiking has become more efficient and easy going. In fact recently we went with Etta and completed the hike similar to how we would have before she was born. I attribute it to experience and the fact that she does not need to nurse as often and for as long.

Here is a contrast of what hiking was like before we had Etta vs. what hiking for the first time with a 6 weeks old looks like. Read on for a good laugh.

Getting Ready for Hiking
Before Etta:
Getting ready for the hike before Etta took roughly 20 minutes. Wake up, change, brush teeth, put on runners, pack some snacks, pack water and off we went! We left at about 10 am because we of course would sleep in till 940 am.

With Etta as a newborn:
Since sleeping in is no longer an option we had planned to leave shortly after Etta woke up around 7:30 am. Our goal was 8:30 am. At 10 am we finally were out the door after breastfeeding Etta (which when she was first born took a good 30-45 minutes), changing Etta, taking turns eating breakfast, packing food and water, changing Etta, putting on sneakers, breastfeeding Etta again (I was having to breastfeed her every 2-3 hours), keep breastfeeding Etta as it took 30-45 minutes. Finally another needed diaper change and we were off!
.......Then we turn back around because we forgot some much needed diapers and our 8:30 departure turned into a 10:00 am departure. Off we go again!!!

Already beginning to fall asleep to the sounds of nature.

Start the Hike
Deep Cove is a beautiful area. The hike starts between two peoples houses as you ascend stairs into the rain forest. The amazing thing as well about this hike is that if you have forgotten anything you can literally buy it ~200 metres from the trail head.

Before Etta
This would take roughly 5 minutes unless we needed to use the bathroom. We would put on our packs, take a sip of water and off we would go!

With Etta as a newborn
This ended up taking us 1 1/2 hours!!!! We did not start the hike until 1pm!!
Two things delayed us:
1. An explosion
- By the time we got to Deep Cove was 10:30 am.This is what happened: Cam went to go get a snack at a nearby shop. As I pulled Etta out of the car seat my worst fears came to be. Poop everywhere!!! All over the car seat and her clothes. Etta is crying as I am trying to hold her away from me while trying to wipe her down. She at least has a change of clothes and I do not! After a good 30 minutes of damage control and poopy clothes and diapers sprawled on the parking lot pavement. Cam finally returns with snacks with a big smile. Somehow he managed to avoid the whole disaster.
2. Breastfeeding
- Nobody told me that a newborn baby would need to eat so often and that it would take such a long time. Another 45 minutes past as I am sitting in the car breastfeeding Etta passing the time listening to some Van Morrison. I am continuously trying to keep her awake so that it does not turn into a sleep session as well so that we can get on with the hike.

The Hike
Quarry Rock is a really nice hike. The first 10 minutes are  steep and then it levels off going up and down, across bridges until you get to the look out, Quarry Rock. It is an easy short hike.

Before Etta
This took us roughly 11/2 to 2 hours depending on how long you want to hang out on the rock. If you choose to run the trail instead it is even shorter.

One of the few pictures we took when we did the hike before Etta.

With Etta as a newborn
This surprisingly also took us 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When we got to the view point we took a few quick photos and off we headed down. I did not want to stop and breastfeed Etta in the brisk air for 30 to 45 minutes, then have to change her and then head down. Since she was still asleep we decided to book it down back to the car.

Made it to the top! Etta was a champ and I had never been so exhausted.

Post Hike

Before Etta
Normally we would head out for a nice cold brew and nachos after the hike usually with friends who also did the hike with us.

With Etta as a newborn
By the time we finished the hike it was 3 pm. We got lunch at Honey's Doughnuts while I breastfed Etta. I had never been so exhausted after an easy hike. Hiking along with breastfeeding took it out of me more than I could have ever thought. Etta and I both slept during the car ride home.

I will never tire of these views.

Recently we did the hike when Etta was 10 months old. The hike was very similar to when we used to hike before Etta was born!! It does get easier!!!

At the rock. Etta even got to walk around and do a little 'hiking' herself!

A total of 3 generations hiking together!

Etta loving the fresh air! 

Tales of a 1 year old Nomad!!!

Today Etta turns 1 year old. I could not leave out this epic event from the blog and thought I would break down Etta's first year by listing all of her firsts. I am continually in awe that Etta became a part of our lives 20 months ago and took her first breath of fresh air 1 year ago.

Etta was born. Etta was no longer surviving in my belly but made it out into the world.

Etta had her first breath of fresh air, her first taste of breast milk, first poop, etc. 

Etta smiled. Etta laughed. Etta said mama mama and dada dada and goo goo ga ga. 

Etta held her head. Sat assisted. Sat by herself. Rolled. Crawled. walked!

Etta ate breastmilk. Ate Purées. Ate chunks. Now can eat by herself.

Etta has seen the Roughriders win the grey cup! (Hopefully this will just be the first time of many more in her life!)

Etta traveled Canada. She went to 4 different provinces and 8 ish cities/towns. Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Squamish, Whistler, Revelstoke (and all the towns in between) and of course Vancouver.

Etta traveled Europe. She went to a total of 6 countries in Europe. Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, and England.

Etta has traveled in a carrier, a stroller, a car, a train, a plane and a boat. (21 plane rides (!), many train rides and a few boat rides)

Etta has gone cross country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking and running.

Etta went on a total of 4 camping trips. 3 in tents and one in a rustic Swedish cabin.

Unfortunately Etta had her first tick bite and mosquito bite.

She had her first bruise, scrape, cold, fever, runny nose.

Etta has swam in the tub, the pool, the lake, and two oceans (The Pacific and the Atlantic).

Etta has played on the beach and in the snow.

Etta learnt how to be apart of our family. She supported us and our dreams when Cam ran the 60 km Trailstoke and I went snowboarding and surfing!

And finally Etta has eaten birthday cake...... with sugar!

Travelling Mishaps: Swedish Ticks

What I am about to disclose is most definitely not one of my proud parenting moments. In fact, it is one that I wish never happened and that I could forget. Of our whole trip and all the different problems we encountered, this was the one that Cam and I wish we could go back in time and erase. However, as a parent you realize you cannot protect your child from all harm. When we were in Finnhamn, Sweden, the island a 3 hour ferry ride from Stockholm, Etta got a tick!!!

Read on if you have the stomach for it. I do not know much about ticks but have learnt a little bit about Swedish ticks from talking to a nurse in Stockholm

Background:
1. What is a tick? A tick is a gross bug that has pincers and bites into your skin. They feed off of you until you pull them off and they are almost impossible to kill. Click on ticks to see a picture of the Swedish ticks... IF YOU DARE!

2. How do you get a tick? They don't move fast or jump. How do they get on you then? Well they usually slowly crawl up you off of low bushes and long pieces of grass.

Where we stayed when the tick attacked my baby.

3. What is the harm? If having a bug feeding off you is not enough to make you squeamish and want to run the other direction, then you should know about two diseases that you can get from Ticks in Sweden. One is Lyme disease and the other is TBE (Tick Born Encephalitis). TBE is very uncommon in children under the age of 7 but most people over 7 and living in tick-infested areas get a vaccine against TBE. The potential consequences of both of these diseases are a bit scary, and definitely not anything that you would want your 10 month old daughter to experience.


The Incident:
Cam and I knew that there were ticks in the Stockholm area. We made a point of checking ourselves and most importantly Etta every morning and night. We checked all her cute little baby rolls and saw no ticks. On a Wednesday we saw a small black dot. Cam and I both looked at it and said "That's odd... She has a scab on her leg." I pulled at it a bit but then I thought that it was kind of weird to pull off your babies scab so I stopped.  We monitored the scab for 3 days. On the 3rd day it was considerably bigger. I said to Cam "That is weird that her scab is still bleeding." Cam decided to pull the scab off. He looked at Etta and said "Ok hunny, I am going to pull the scab off in 1, 2, 3!!!" That is when Cam yelled as he ran to the bathroom and got rid of the scab. He came back with a look of horror on his face. "That was no scab...it had pincers....it was a tick"

Our worst nightmare in Stockholm came true. Not only did Etta get a tick on her, we let it feed off of her for 3 whole days! The day we discovered the tick also happened to be the day that we had  train booked to continue our journey towards Hamburg, Germany.

Problem Solving:
What do you do when you find a tick on your daughter the same morning that you are supposed to leave at 12:30 pm for another country? Well you take care of your daughter and you don't worry about the future events. In Stockholm the only place Canadian tourists can go for health care easily is the hospital. Off we went to the children's hospital in Stockholm at 8 am.
Surprisingly emergency took us in at 9am and we talked with a nurse that lives in the area where there are ticks. She remembered pulling hundreds of ticks off of her kids growing up after they would play outside in the bush. She told us that right now there was nothing we could do but wait for symptoms. The primary symptoms were a red ring around the bug bite which usually indicates Lyme disease and fever which indicates TBE. After some reassurance from the nurse that things would be okay, we were off back to the hotel we were staying and then on to the 12:30 pm train.

Thankful:
I am thankful that Etta's tick experience had no drastic outcomes and that my baby is still a healthy little girl. However, I am sorry for the number of scabs that I have pulled off Etta since then and the poor zebra spider that Cam discovered in Etta's room and quickly mutilated because he thought it was a tick.

Perhaps the ticks were lurking in this forest. 

Trailstoke: 60 km run vs camping with a baby

Back in February Cam looked at me one day and nonchalantly said, "Hey, there's a 60 km ultra-marathon in Revelstoke in July. Would it be okay if I sign up?" Without paying much attention I nodded my head. It hadn't crossed my mind that this would mean the next 4 months would be filled with hours and hours of Cam out training for the run, all on top of raising our daughter and, not to mention, our travels through Europe for the majority of the training months. A combination of using running as his transportation to and from work in Copenhagen, along with some very early mornings and late evenings, and finally a few big trail runs when we arrived back in Vancouver, and next thing we knew, his training was complete. All that was left was the big event and it all went down this past weekend. So here's what happened!

My first thought about the day of the race was that I was pretty darn happy to be at the camp with Etta instead of being the one out running for 60 km. It had mostly been an okay morning to that point, but a heavy downpour along with a baby that didn't want to nap (all she wants to do these days is practice walking by herself!) caused things to become a bit more trying. It is days like this, when it is just Etta and I, that I get a glimpse into single parenting and my respect grows exponentially for those that have the task of raising a child on their own.

For this blog post, I am going to compare my day at the camp site alone in the rain with an 11-month old  vs. running a 60 km trail race. You may come to realize that these two activities are not so different after all!

Click for more pictures and information : Trailstoke

Waking up 

Cam - He got up at 4:15 am in order to get a good breakfast before the 6:00 am race start. By 5:15 Cam, Ravi and another friend named Eric were off to the start line. The boys were all 'stoked' to get going!

Etta and I - Etta and I got up at 6 am. Etta was still exhausted so we cuddled and slept until 7 am. So far so good!

The start

Cam - The start of any race is exciting. Although I was not there I am sure the boys had a sort of nervous energy pulsing through them as they prepared for the race to begin. Soon after the race started, they needed to summon that energy as they began the initial 15 km/5000 ft climb to the first aid station half way up Mount Mackenzie. I'm sure about 45 minutes in their legs began to burn as they realized they still had another hour or two left to climb before continuing with the rest of the race.

Etta and I- The start of any day camping is exciting. There are ample opportunities to explore nature, play with twigs, eat s'mores and so much more! I immediately got Etta ready for the day as I was anxious to get out for free gondola rides and mountain exploring. 

The second quarter

Cam- Soon after aid station 1, reality began to set in. The climb was not even close to over and due to last minute course changes, there were a lot less flat portions to break up the ascent. Up and up the runners went. Sure enough, the boys were starting to question what they had got themselves into. 

Staying fueled and hydrated was becoming very important. Cam was sure to keep eating his Clif bars and shot blocks and drinking as much water as he could. Thank goodness he packed lots of food. As he approached the summit of the mountain the wind was howling and the fog set in, and he had to put on his jacket. He was traversing over snowbanks and loose rock with limited visibility. Once he reached the top, he decided to reward himself with a chocolate stinger waffle, well-deserved! 

Etta and I- after the initial excitement wore off I realized that it was pouring rain outside. The warm, humid air attacked me with exhaustion as I tried changing Etta in the tent. Then while carrying an umbrella I carted Etta along with all my toiletries, rain jacket, lunch box and good ol' Husk to the washroom where I felt I could organize our day a little better. The worst part was that all I had were my slippers as my shoes were left last night in the car. I then tried going to the washroom, flushing the toilet, changing, washing my face and putting my contacts in all while trying to maneuver my new lil walker away from putting Husk into the toilet. I kept saying "I really do not think you would be that happy after Husk goes for a swim!" 

We then walked back to the tent area and I tried to make us breakfast on our camping stove. I then realized that I could not make my breakfast. It was pouring rain outside and both the wind and the rain were too strong. I was worried about becoming hangry as I bit into a banana that I was sharing with Etta. Thank goodness I brought ample food for Etta in case a situation like this were to arise. 

Following 'breakfast' I decided I needed to do something with Etta so that I would not feel claustrophobic from spending too much time in our 'glamping' tent that was starting to feel cramped. I decided to feed Etta a cereal cookie in the car and head over to ride the gondola for free a few times. 

Heading up the gondola. Etta really just wanted to get moving as I held her close for the picture.

Halfway

Cam - He had reached the summit in one piece, and only a little worse for the wear, but his legs were really feeling it from the 10,000 ft of mountain that he just climbed as fast as he could. You would think going down would be a relief, but the difficult footing and angry weather made it a challenge to stay focused and keep his feet underneath him. His first wipeout came while running through a swamp and trying to open another Stinger waffle treat. Before he even knew it, he was flat on his face in the mud. It would have been easy to pack it in there. I bet he was just thinking how nice it would be to be snuggled up with his little girl in the tent having a morning nap.

Etta and I- Little did Cam know, I was not so fortunate to just be napping with a cuddly, sleepy Etta. In fact, by the end of the halfway point I was ready to give in, pack the tent and head home. I even considered having Cam, Ravi and Eric find another way back to the campsite after the race. This was upon returning to the campsite for Etta to have her nap. Etta decided to refuse her nap!! She has been having two naps but recently is occasionally refusing to nap. This can be very frustrating especially when the rain is pounding and I was exhausted from little sleep. I started to think about the big run. At this point I was imagining gloriously running through the mountains basking in the SILENT fresh air. I had the insane thought that I would love to be running a 60 km run that climbed a 10,000 ft mountain. You never know maybe someday I will!

Home Stretch

Cam- Despite a few more falls, Cam managed to keep picking himself up and barreling down the mountain towards the finish line. As the distance between him and the end of the race shrunk, he found new energy. He was running close by Eric, and a few other runners and was just letting gravity take him. There were a number of out and back portions within the last few miles of the race, and seeing the runners ahead and behind gave him some inspiration to keep pushing. He was also on pace for a much faster race than anticipated, and as he realized he might be able to finish in 6 hours he started to get really amped up. All he could think about was running through that finish line and giving his girls a big hug!

|The fog at the aid station. Can you imagine running on trails through this weather?

Etta and I- I decided to go on an adventure with Etta. We hopped on the shuttle that would take us up to the mountain to arrive slightly before Cam said he would most likely run by the final aid station. This shuttle made it up the steep, bumpy road to the aid station in 30 minutes. It was quite the adventure and Etta enjoyed the attention from the other people taking the shuttle. I enjoyed talking with other adults, specifically those that had completed the race in a relay.  I begun to get excited about the day. As the fog and cool air started coming we waited for Cam to run by until another shuttle came. When the shuttle came and there was no sign of Cam, I decided that it would be best if we headed back down the mountain. Seeing the racers and hearing about their adventures was really inspiring. It was the final boost at the end of the race and I was pumped up! 

The views before the fog came in.

Finish line

Cam - He zoomed through the finish line in 13th place overall and 6 hours and 2 minutes (1 hour faster than he told me he would finish!). Upon crossing the finish line the announcer said, "This runner looks a little pale, somebody make sure he's getting some fluid." It was true, he really pushed it in those last 10 km and made up a lot of time, but made him worse for the wear! He tole me when he came through the finish line it was a mix of happiness and exhaustion, along with a little bit of worry as to where Etta and I were. About 20 minutes later, he spotted me and Etta at the finish line and was thrilled to see us and share the moment. It really was a family achievement

Cam at the finish line!

Ravi ... our good friend coming through the finish line!

Etta and I- When Cam crossed the finished line, Etta and I were actually up at the 4th aid station hoping to see Cam on his way down the mountain. Here is a little background information on Cam. When Cam participates in a run he frequently tells me that he is going to do way worse then he actually does. Etta and I had actually taken a 30 minute shuttle up the mountain to try and see Cam before he headed down to the finish line.

After heading down the mountain via another shuttle we waited and watched the runners coming in through the finish. I started to worry about Cam and whether he had gotten injured somewhere on the mountain. Then all of a sudden, I turn around and see my handsome trail runner. I run up to Cam and give him a huge hug and a big congrats! All my previous worries of the day dissipate as my excitement for Cam finishing this race amidst a modest amount of training amazed me. 

Etta excited to see her dad after the race!

Post race 

Cam- Cam's stomach was in knots after the race due to a combination of working really hard and eating energy candies all day. After about an hour curled up in the fetal position on a couch, he started to feel a bit more like himself and was able to play with his little girl. It was good to be back!

You might notice a couple of black big toe nails on Cam's feet (#55), ouch!

Etta and I- After the race I was still exhausted as I still had not eaten. Hangry tendencies were starting to surface. Thankfully a pulled pork sandwich at the mid mountain lodge and a delicious chai tiramisu popsicle, made by a local, quenched my appetite. After I had to pass Cam slices of banana as he lay passed out on a couch in the mountainside lodge. An hour after, I had my husband back to help out with diapers and dinner. Life, once again, became a little easier!

The couch Cam slept on for about 1 hour after I saw him.

Etta crawling and walking all over her exhausted father.