Hit me Baby one more time

So when do you know that you’re ready to have baby number 2?

Or if you want to have baby number 2?

Because it was entirely conceivable that it would be impossible for us to conceive again. We hit the jackpot once; maybe we were meant to be a family of three. Our boy was our wonder; a beautiful, loving little character, who had us enthralled from the moment he was born. Shouldn't we have been so happy to be so blessed?

But still, the desire for another child gnawed. At me.

So when?

Is it when you realize that your biological clock is ticking on over drive?

Is it when you see this ...


And he shares this with you...


And he cracks you up with this...


that you realize that your baby is growing up quickly in front of your very eyes…


so quickly that you want to get that "baby feeling" back?

I took a deep breath and wondered if we could indeed do it again. Only now it was a couple years later, I was a couple years older. And perhaps not so much wiser.

I love rollercoasters, I really do, but this was flippin’ ridiculous.

Oh boy, here we go again ...

Vive la Montreal and St. Laurent Street Fashion

Last weekend we travelled to Montreal by train for our yearly reunion/ pilgrimage up to Mount Royal cemetary. Only this time it was a little more fun because we were joined by my cutie nieces (and their parents and MY parents; but the kids are so much cuter than the adults and will be displayed prominently here:)

My rugrats entertaining cousin J:

Cuddling versus fighting (always a good thing)

So this is my grandparents' gravesite. We've been coming here (almost) every year since I was born. Candles were lit; fresh flowers were planted, and if you look closely at the bottom right of the photo, you can see the lovely spread that was set out for the "meal". Chicken, dim sum yummies, butter rolls that you can only buy in Montreal (at least as far as I know).


Here's a better picture of the feast. Symbolic paper money and pyjamas were burned as an offering to the grandparents (see lower left corner). They have to be dressed in their finest, don't you know. I am sure they're proud of their granddaughter.

You'll notice everything is in "3's" - a good luck number in Chinese. And yes, there is booze there (although I did not imbibe; it's poured into the earth for my grandparents).


We had a lovely dinner with whichever cousins could make it that evening. My cousins in Montreal are a little older than I am (their kids are in university or working; there are at least 10 years between my father and his siblings on either side which makes for interesting generational dynamics).

The next day, we headed out for a walk along St. Laurent and Prince Arthur. It was such a lovely summer day, and while the boy went off with his Dad to check out a video game tent, my sister and I (and her husband) did more walking. Luckily for me, the girlie's uncle kept her entertained with the face-painting and balloons available for the kids...



Because there was shopping to be had. Check what I found in the 3 for $10 bin:


And if I get sick of the belt, I can always use it as a macrame plantholder (according to my brother-in-law).

So that steal left me with change to pick up this...



...and these funky tube tops. (I have nothing to hold them up with, but they're pretty anyway.)

We had a fairly uneventful train ride home that evening (well, except for when the girlie got so busy playing with her cousins that she forgot to tell us that she had to go pee until it was too late. Big brother got a nice shower on his Globo shoes).

And my old ovaries were screaming...

But, no, I'll be leaving the business of babymaking to my siblings from here on in!