It's over already?

This weekend went flying by. There was a Hallowe'en "party" with slides, bouncy rooms and lots and lots of kids. Carson of course was just crawling around and looking at all the kids, mesmerized. Then Carson went to stay with Grandma and Nono so Jeff and I could go to the annual "Feast from the East". After talking with the people at our table, I realized Carson is a really really good baby (when are they no longer a baby and a "kid"?). He goes for days without crying and I thought that was normal, but apparently not? When everyone heard that he sleeps 12 hours a night plus 2 2hr naps, their jaws dropped. I guess that's not normal either? I love talking to other parents about dealing with kids in certain situations. I love hearing what the kids did and how the parents dealt with it. There was quite a bit of talk last night about kids sleeping with their parents, and how to ease them out of it. So if that ever happened (which Jeff and I swore we would never allow, but one of the things i've learnt since becoming a parent is some things you swear you would never do... you end up doing) it's nice to know how to deal with it. I love first hand experiences as opposed to books. All my friends are awesome for that.

I sat beside Shelley, who's husband (a good friend of Jeff's) passed away this June, and she has 3 kids: Declan (3), Makayla (2) and Finlay (7 mos). She has got to be the strongest, toughest, absolutely amazing woman I've ever met. I don't know how I would be surviving if I was in her position. I know you would have to, for the kids.... but really. She talks about how she juggles life, work, with her kids and it's amazing. Whenever I feel stressed, overworked, overtired, exhuasted, I am going to picture her and know that my life is easy.

Today we took a drive out to Kanata to look at houses and visit with Dwight and Lyne. Carson just sat with Dwight for a good 20 minutes (right in front of Jeff and I and didn't even make a move towards either of us) then he played with Mocha (their dog) and explored their house and loved Sienna's room the most. He didn't nap this afternoon because of the visit, but you wouldn't have even known it, he was as happy go lucky as he normally is. This week is super busy, filled with lots of trips to stores to return things, having Carrie, Rob and the kids over for dinner on Hallowe'en, a playdate, a swimming date, and a shopping date. It's 5 weeks until I go back to work and so many things to do!

Oh, and it's Carson's 1st birthday coming up. We were going to have a joint birthday with Ethan and Isabelle (their's is the day before) but apparently he needs his own birthday. Now the planning begins. It's not going to be a huge deal, probably do an "open house" type of invite because lots of people are anxious to see the little guy on his big day. I may even try to make a cake (I have never made a cake from scratch before! Anyonw has a really good simple cake recipe (with icing), send it my way!) The party will be on his actual birthday and I start work 2 days later...