Our 8 Month Apple

Do you know the saying: "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?" Well, in our household, the apple didn't even fall. My family keeps on saying "Adrianna is so much like you". Not only in her appearance, in her personality as well. It was pretty early on that we noticed her looking just like me when we looked back at the few baby pictures I have. But now, with her personality emerging more day by day, we can definitely see how her ways are not too different than my own. It's really kind of funny. For one thing, she has a "personal bubble"(with a pretty big diameter...). She's very particular in who she lets in, and is not one for cuddling, much to Harvie's dismay. The times she will spend on our laps are few and far in between, so we treasure and soak in every moment. She also needs her "alone time"....she usually prefers being on her own than being held. She is happiest on the floor, in the jolly jumper, in the exersaucer. She hasn't learned to crawl and is yet to get her 1st tooth. I NEVER learned to crawl and got my first tooth after eight months. As for sleeping, she loves to be on her own in her crib with her blankies, one on each side of her face. She needs a dark room, very much like me...I can't even handle the small green LED light on the light dimmer switch! She's a picky eater, just like me. However, she LOVES her rice cookies, I must have cookies EVERYDAY. And every time I get frustrated with her strong-will and stubborness I am reminded by those close to me that she is indeed my daughther in every sense of the word. It's really kind of funny to think that we can look and be so much alike. All I can think is that I hope the next child will have a little more of Harvie's relaxed and easy going personality and enjoy some good cuddles. For now, we are just so in love with our daughter and enjoy discovering more about who she is with each passing day. Here are a few pictures of what the last month brought in the Buitelaar household.


Harvie ran in the Annual Vancouver Sun Run. I "strolled" the 10 km with my friend Tracy and her Adrianna's friend Abigail. Adrianna slept for the first two kilometers and enjoyed people watching for the remainder 8 km. This has become a tradition for us in the last years. It is Harvie's sixth Sunrun, my third, and Adri's very first!


Adrianna has three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. She nurses five times a day, and maybe once during the night. The two food combinations I can count on her eating are papayas with cereal and avocado with plain yougurt. The worst reaction this far has been asparagus...she kept on spitting it out! She'll have to learn to like it as Harvie and I both enjoy it quite a bit!

Her favourite activities are jumping in the jolly jumper and taking baths. She loves her bath toys and this past month she finally got a grip on them. She also loves to kick and tear her play gym apart. One of her enjoyments lately comes from taking her socks off every chance she has.

It's taken a while, but she can now sit on her own with confidence.

She is quite a chatter box these days. We have tried to capture it many times, but our little girl is still a little camera shy. This is the so far the best video.

She continues to love both opas and omas, but when it comes to Uncle Jeff...it's one look and she cries. Harvie's family came over on one Saturday to celebrate Harvie's birthday. We spent the following Sunday with my family celebrating Harvie's birthday and Mother's Day.

Harvie made my first Mother's Day special with my favorite dinner, a funny card and some chocolates. And, to mark the special occasion we tried out a photo session of our own.

Adrianna enjoys the outdoors. Harvie is certainly glad about that. He is already dreaming of all the things he will do with Adrianna in our backyard.



She likes TV...just like me! She MUST have the control of the remotes.

And finally, after months of dreaming about this, I can finally read to her at bedtime. We had tried this time and time again, but she would cry and scream. We learned that reading to her is best when she first wakes up from her naps. Lately though, she has liked one short book just before bed.

I started my masters. I had two classes already and many reading and writing assignments. It will be a busy year, but hopefully I can count of some good naps from Adrianna so I can get the work done. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to stay home another year, be able to take this masters, and still have a job that I love for the following year. I will need to go into a classroom to get my field work completed, but thankfully I have good friends that are more than willing to open the doors of their classrooms and let me in.

Harvie is very busy with work. Fortunately there is less travel involved...for now; and he still manages to get the early train home most days, walking in the door around 6:13pm, just enough time to bond with his girl before she sleeps. He's starting to get involved with planning work for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which should be an exciting once in a lifetime opportunity.

That's all for now. We are looking forward to the warmer weather and spending more time outdoors.