a very kid-centric week/post

so last weekend, sitting around the house bored, we started doing craigslist/kijiji searches for some basic baby things we hadn't bought yet. in fact it's amazing how little baby stuff we have bought so far.

the trickle started late august/early september, when i got my friend Melanie's old washing machine off her hands - it was a very complicated operation, involving a U-Haul, ropes, 3 people (except myself, of course, i was just hovering around looking pretty) and a lot of effort and angle approximation.
(my landlord: "i saw you got a washing machine!"
carmen: "I think the entire neighbourhood saw that!")
anyway, now we're doing laundry in the coziness of our home (with a certain amount of noise and shaking, but still) and also drying it on a rack that Melanie dropped off sometime in october. none of this would have happened if i weren't expecting/ bracing up for the eventual cloth diapers challenge.

then i wanted a dresser for the future baby clothes, and we found one in september at Renaissance on st-hubert for 8.50$. small and light, but still the biggest trial was carrying it home (us=poor people with no car, of whom one person is lifting-challenged.) - in the end that was achieved by simply taking the dresser on the bus! thank you STM!

then i found out i'll have a girl, and my friend Amiee, who lives in the neighbourhood and has a 1 y.o. girl herself, blessed me with an amazing windfall of 2nd and 3rd hand clothes, super pretty and very gently used, of all sizes up to around 24 months i think. not even kidding, i got 4 huge bags of clothes all of a sudden, so i was overwhelmed for about 2 weeks. i had to take it very slowly sorting them out and filling the small dresser with only the smallest sizes, to have on hand. i am still very confused about sizing, but confident that it's impossible to not find some stuff that will fit.

and now on to the new buys:

we found this bassinet for 1/3 of the original price, 2 blocks away from us, picking it up took 10 minutes! so lucky! it's actually a "carrycot" (i still have no idea what's what), so it can be carried around and installed on a stroller if necessary. also it goes well with the JollyJumper base/frame which i inherited from Amiee. i hadn't wanted a real crib (kind of hard with our lack of space at the moment - i'm envisioning a crib as something for the baby to grow into), just something that can be used as a designated place for her to sleep. this will fit very well next to our bed for easy reach, so i also like the added height and the rocking feature. (included in picture: the dresser i mentioned earlier.)

...and a babybjorn carrier for which we travelled to verdun to pick up, but again, well worth it for about 1/5 of the price we would've paid for a new one. i know it's not the fanciest of the bunch of offers, but it's a classic and i hope it serves us well. (looking to buy a couple of textile wraps too, i assume they'll come handier in summer/just walking around indoors). also included: i paved the bassinet with all the blankies and sleepsacks that i couldn't fit in the dresser. yes, running out of space already, why do you ask?       

one of the reasons for my running out of space is that my mum can't stop buying baby clothes and sending them over (from romania!), even though i showed her all i've already gotten. i laugh and roll my eyes, cause i like her enthusiasm (and the idea that she will be one of those grandmas who spoil kids). in my attempt at control and maintaining minimalism, i had compiled a list of the minimum amount of clothes needed for newborns (how many pairs of pants, shirts, onesies, blankies, hats, booties etc.) - which by this time is almost covered, and in some cases much surpassed (so many cute hats!). here are some examples of adorable items (mixed stuff from both Amiee and my mum). it doesn't bother me that there's a lot of pink and pastels, though if i do get around to buying any clothes myself, i will definitely do more blue/navy and strong colors if possible.

the biggest item of the collection so far: winter jacket that arrived in my mum's first package. definitely necessary for winter trips outside.

little dresses and hats are the best! in the early days, i went to the dresser from time to time just to look at small hats and laugh.

i spent most of this week absolutely defeated by a cold - just restarting to feel human. luckily i did go out because i had to, so i'm on track with being at least some percentage functional.

for one thing, i started pre-natal classes. so far just a bit traumatised by some videos of natural births. 2 months away still sounds far enough, though nothing guarantees i'll carry to term. (i was born very premature, and at this point i'm already ahead of my mum with the being pregnant...or behind her, depending how you look at it :))

this is the newest, and i hope last, baby package- we got it just this week. obviously it passed the mandatory inspection by tina, also B. took pictures of every item so he could show his mother.

zippered sleep sack. one of the already 3 or 4 i've accumulated.

outfit proudly including a sweater and hat knitted by my mum

hoodied towel plus some toys plus a musical bell (originally full of chocolates, but we took care of that right away)

my favourite right now - tiny vest also knitted by mum, and look at those buttons!

hats! and a shirt that looks too small to be true

bonus: i extended the futon in the kitchen for afternoon naps. for a couple of days tina lived there very comfortably in a tilted box (the box was on the chair, but she somehow maneuvered it half onto the bed and continued to get into it - maybe this way it's easier for a lazy cat to step in.