Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Violet has discovered she has hands!
I am excited to announce Violet has found her hands and is starting to understand that she gets to control them! On January 16th we were at Carey and Chris's house for an evening visit of Ben Than and games. Violet was in their bouncy chair and pulled down on the toy for the first time to create a cause-effect response. I am sure she had NO IDEA that it was her hand as she was very startled that the animal made noise. Through that evening she started to pull and push on things. Since then, she has been studying her hands. I mean it, studying. It is so cute. She holds them in front of her and just looks at them, moves them a little and them stares at them some more. She is holding items and bringing them to her mouth too. I know this is a milestone for all kiddies but no one told me it would be so darn cute to watch.
She also rolled from front to back on January 27th...first roll and I missed it! I set her down on her tummy to play with a few objects and walked over to the computer to check my email...looked back at her and she was on her back staring at me with a huge grin. She has not reproduced the movement since then. She has almost rolled from back to front a few times and can do it with a little bit of help from mom. So exciting!
Here are a few recent pics.
Cute little smiles for mom, just discovered the purple elephant underneath her!
These smiles are all for Daddy. It was so cute, Vi would look at Andrew and have a huge grin, then look away. It lasted for about 10 minutes and had us in stitches.
Sometimes hand-me-downs don't quite fit at the right time, but it keeps her warm!
Chillin' in the bumboo with mom.
Hand in the cookie jar! Totally fell asleep in this position.
Sadie loves to cuddle with Vi.
Sadie also loves to hold the baby every time she is around her.
Snuggle time for mom.
First visit to the market with mom and dad. In love with the hat!
Out for dinner with Auntie Candace!
Cruisin' in my car seat!
This is my serious face.
Out for tea with mom at Chapters (I think Judi and Sophie are on the other side of the camera)
Sylvia home for her wedding tea, first time meeting Vi. January 3, 2009.
Meeting Jude for the first time, in December 2008.
She also rolled from front to back on January 27th...first roll and I missed it! I set her down on her tummy to play with a few objects and walked over to the computer to check my email...looked back at her and she was on her back staring at me with a huge grin. She has not reproduced the movement since then. She has almost rolled from back to front a few times and can do it with a little bit of help from mom. So exciting!
Here are a few recent pics.
Cute little smiles for mom, just discovered the purple elephant underneath her!
These smiles are all for Daddy. It was so cute, Vi would look at Andrew and have a huge grin, then look away. It lasted for about 10 minutes and had us in stitches.
Sometimes hand-me-downs don't quite fit at the right time, but it keeps her warm!
Chillin' in the bumboo with mom.
Hand in the cookie jar! Totally fell asleep in this position.
Sadie loves to cuddle with Vi.
Sadie also loves to hold the baby every time she is around her.
Snuggle time for mom.
First visit to the market with mom and dad. In love with the hat!
Out for dinner with Auntie Candace!
Cruisin' in my car seat!
This is my serious face.
Out for tea with mom at Chapters (I think Judi and Sophie are on the other side of the camera)
Sylvia home for her wedding tea, first time meeting Vi. January 3, 2009.
Meeting Jude for the first time, in December 2008.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Nikon
Nikon, well actually, Henry's called the other day to let us know that Nikon will not be repairing the lens under warranty (totally expected). We are to call Nikon to tell them what to do with the lens, which we haven't done yet. This sucks.
For fun, I emailed Henry's on the weekend to ask about how much our camera would be worth for an upgrade - they have an upgrade program that gives you credit to upgrade to a different (better) camera. And guess how much that 1.5 year old $700 camera (body only) is worth according to Henry's now? $160. Yep, that's IT! I laughed out loud when I read that reply. I will NOT being "giving away" my camera to them for that price. What a complete joke...
Anyway, since we don't feel like shelling out $500+ more dollars for a newer camera (assuming that we can sell this one for $300-400), I think we'll be looking at the used market for lenses and keeping our D40x. I found a few on kijiji last night and received one reply so far - for a 18-70mm lens. Ours was an 18-55mm, so that would be a nice little upgrade for some added zoomage while maintaining the same closeness. Yes these are technical terms. :P
So anyway, the guy in the reply said to search for the same lens used online and he'd beat the price by $10-20. It retails for ~$399. I found it last night for under $200. So we might go that route.... not sure yet, but under $200 for that lens seems alright. Especially if the Nikon offer to repair our lens turns out to be $200 or more, as the Henry's rep thought (it's only worth $150 new, if that).
So, what's the lesson here? Don't break your SLR Lens!!
For fun, I emailed Henry's on the weekend to ask about how much our camera would be worth for an upgrade - they have an upgrade program that gives you credit to upgrade to a different (better) camera. And guess how much that 1.5 year old $700 camera (body only) is worth according to Henry's now? $160. Yep, that's IT! I laughed out loud when I read that reply. I will NOT being "giving away" my camera to them for that price. What a complete joke...
Anyway, since we don't feel like shelling out $500+ more dollars for a newer camera (assuming that we can sell this one for $300-400), I think we'll be looking at the used market for lenses and keeping our D40x. I found a few on kijiji last night and received one reply so far - for a 18-70mm lens. Ours was an 18-55mm, so that would be a nice little upgrade for some added zoomage while maintaining the same closeness. Yes these are technical terms. :P
So anyway, the guy in the reply said to search for the same lens used online and he'd beat the price by $10-20. It retails for ~$399. I found it last night for under $200. So we might go that route.... not sure yet, but under $200 for that lens seems alright. Especially if the Nikon offer to repair our lens turns out to be $200 or more, as the Henry's rep thought (it's only worth $150 new, if that).
So, what's the lesson here? Don't break your SLR Lens!!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Ice Fog Rainbow
I meant to post this earlier this week, but forgot.
Last Friday morning I was driving to work in the bitter cold and came across this cool ice fog rainbow on the way out of Baden. This was when the temps were into the minus 20's plus wind-chill. brrr!!
Taken from my Blackberry while driving so the pic isn't as cool as it could have been, but still kind of cool.
Last Friday morning I was driving to work in the bitter cold and came across this cool ice fog rainbow on the way out of Baden. This was when the temps were into the minus 20's plus wind-chill. brrr!!
Taken from my Blackberry while driving so the pic isn't as cool as it could have been, but still kind of cool.
Making Strange
Violet is officially making strange with people she hasn't met, or seen in a while. We hate it, but know it's a phase and it happens with every baby.
It started a few weeks ago with Marn's friend, but we weren't sure if that was just a fluke. Then again to Tony at Mackenzie's birthday. Twice.
This past weekend we went to Dad's house for a quick visit and she cried at him, Barb and Jordan for at least 15 minutes. It's worse when she's tired or hungry which she was then, but even after feeding she cried at them on and off - even just looking at them in our arms!
Mom came over this past Tuesday to watch Violet for a bit in the afternoon before I got home from work and while Marn went to physio for her knee. She absolutely bawled at her apparently. Mom said she didn't cry that long, but we all know that Mom's perception of time when baby's are screaming in her ear are off. She could have screamed for 45 minutes straight and Mom would say it was only 5 or 10 minutes. (see Madison at Violet's age! lol)
When I got home, Vi was sleeping. When she woke up, I gave her to Mom and Vi smiled at her, no tears or fear at all, so that was nice.
So, a little warning for family and friends who might not have seen the little pumpkin in a while -- She WILL scream at you and not want to be with you. Get over it, or come for visits more often! ;-)
She's also fighting bed time a lot right now. Marn wants us to try and put her down a little earlier than we have been, but she's not having any of it. Last night she fought it for at least an hour and a half between the both of us giving it a shot. Marn finally gave in and fed her a little bit, then put her down without issue... But that was 2 hours after we originally tried! She actually fell asleep twice for me when I tried, but woke back up with an arm jerk, or startle reaction when she realized that she fell asleep. Annoying. We're still wrapping her up tightly in a swaddle because of that. When she breaks free, she usually wakes herself up.
It started a few weeks ago with Marn's friend, but we weren't sure if that was just a fluke. Then again to Tony at Mackenzie's birthday. Twice.
This past weekend we went to Dad's house for a quick visit and she cried at him, Barb and Jordan for at least 15 minutes. It's worse when she's tired or hungry which she was then, but even after feeding she cried at them on and off - even just looking at them in our arms!
Mom came over this past Tuesday to watch Violet for a bit in the afternoon before I got home from work and while Marn went to physio for her knee. She absolutely bawled at her apparently. Mom said she didn't cry that long, but we all know that Mom's perception of time when baby's are screaming in her ear are off. She could have screamed for 45 minutes straight and Mom would say it was only 5 or 10 minutes. (see Madison at Violet's age! lol)
When I got home, Vi was sleeping. When she woke up, I gave her to Mom and Vi smiled at her, no tears or fear at all, so that was nice.
So, a little warning for family and friends who might not have seen the little pumpkin in a while -- She WILL scream at you and not want to be with you. Get over it, or come for visits more often! ;-)
She's also fighting bed time a lot right now. Marn wants us to try and put her down a little earlier than we have been, but she's not having any of it. Last night she fought it for at least an hour and a half between the both of us giving it a shot. Marn finally gave in and fed her a little bit, then put her down without issue... But that was 2 hours after we originally tried! She actually fell asleep twice for me when I tried, but woke back up with an arm jerk, or startle reaction when she realized that she fell asleep. Annoying. We're still wrapping her up tightly in a swaddle because of that. When she breaks free, she usually wakes herself up.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
SLR update
Well, I didn't see the comment from my friend Sarah before right now, otherwise, I would have taken the lens to her sister to have a look...
So, because I didn't see that, Marn took it back today to the Henry's in Waterloo where we bought it, and the first thing the girl asked Marn was, "did you drop this?". Great...
She didn't think Nikon would repair it under warranty as she thought they'd rule it "abuse" or whatever and not a "manufacturer defect". We'll be playing the waiting game now; 2-3 weeks before they get to it, then 4-6 weeks to repair it, if they choose to repair under warranty. If not, they'll call back with an estimate to repair, to which the Henry's employee guestimated would be about $200. Considering that the lens is not nearly worth that, we won't be having them repair it if it comes down to that -- a newer (Vibration Reduction) version of that lens can be purchased new for less than that!
So, know anyone looking for a nearly new D40x Body? You can buy the whole kit these days for around $500.... new!
and to think we paid over $1000 for it. ughh! SLR's have come down SO MUCH in the last 2 years it's sickening, especially when we're thinking of hawking it off for something else - not an expense we want to deal with right now!
So, because I didn't see that, Marn took it back today to the Henry's in Waterloo where we bought it, and the first thing the girl asked Marn was, "did you drop this?". Great...
She didn't think Nikon would repair it under warranty as she thought they'd rule it "abuse" or whatever and not a "manufacturer defect". We'll be playing the waiting game now; 2-3 weeks before they get to it, then 4-6 weeks to repair it, if they choose to repair under warranty. If not, they'll call back with an estimate to repair, to which the Henry's employee guestimated would be about $200. Considering that the lens is not nearly worth that, we won't be having them repair it if it comes down to that -- a newer (Vibration Reduction) version of that lens can be purchased new for less than that!
So, know anyone looking for a nearly new D40x Body? You can buy the whole kit these days for around $500.... new!
and to think we paid over $1000 for it. ughh! SLR's have come down SO MUCH in the last 2 years it's sickening, especially when we're thinking of hawking it off for something else - not an expense we want to deal with right now!
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