Easter and A Movement.

It's about 8:30 on Sunday morning when I'm writing this. A beautiful sunny day, little bit chilly, but a bright spring day that seems to perk you up after the dark days of winter.  Amelia's first winter seemed particularly long and cold and I look forward to getting her outside in the sun.  Well... in the shade, with lots of sun screen, long sleeved clothing, a hat and some sunglasses.  Hopefully Amelia's first spring comes soon.

With spring comes Easter, which if you haven't thought of it, is Amelia's first Easter. We packed her in the car with travel crib, a suit case of hand me down clothes, diaper bag, another suit case full of clothes for her to wear, our clothes and the dog. For a three day trip to Saint John.

And we forgot dog food.

It's become obvious that when traveling with AMF we need to add at least a half day for loading and unloading the vehicle. 

But logistics aside the trip was great.  We got to see Rochelle's family and had some great meals, and I got to experience a Catholic Easter. My heathen background left me with little exposure to the faith, so I was curious what it meant and we discussed it at length. I was a little surprised when Chelle announced that Good Friday was a day for fasting... as we're driving to Saint John.... on Good Friday.

"So Good Friday is the day that Jesus died, or buried or something right?" I ask in my usual clear and concise fashion.
"Yeah, something like that." Chelle searches her hair, chewing off her dead ends as she goes. 
"And Easter Monday is when he came back to life and out of the cave." I'm straining to remember the comic book version of the bible I read as a child.
"Yup." Satisfied with that strand of hair, Chelle moved on to the next.
"So is there  anything I should know before we get there?" I didn't want to embarrass myself or insult Jesus.
"Um.. We fast on Good Friday, no meat or snacks." another hair cleaned up.
I considered this odd statement. "What do you mean?"
"We fast, refrain from eating meat, snacks... there probably won't be any meat tonight." Chelle dropped her hair and checked on the baby in the back seat.
After I got the car under control, I check the GPS on my phone.
"I think there's a Dairy Queen in Salisbury."

At least the dog got to fast.

Turns out Mary had prepared some Salmon, which was acceptable from a religious stand point and quite tasty to boot! 

The rest of weekend included an Easter egg hunt, my first in recollection (sorry Mom and Dad, if this is untrue), lots of visiting, and some shopping.  AMF and I finally had the chance to meet Uncle David and Aunt Doreen, two very pleasant people from Rochelle's side of the family.  Aunt Doreen said I was good looking and an excellent writer....so we really like them. 

I had a bit of a "Storage Wars" moment in the hospice store.  I found two of the Eddie Bauer "Roadtrip Card Game", still in the original tin packaging, in the original plastic wrap.  They looked very antique. The tag said six dollars. I found Tara and got her to get out her phone and google the value.

"They're rare! Really rare! " she shouted, "they're for sale on ebay for $30 dollars American!".  Here's the ebay ad Tara was talking about.

I had left the display to find Tara, and looked back to see an old lady eyeing the games.  At the time I was wearing AMF on my front, and a plan formed quickly in my head. For some reason old ladies love a man carrying a baby.   I often get mauled in Sobeys, like Beiber or the Beatles, except the girls are 70 plus and more handsy. A man and a baby are like old lady crack, the Turkish Delite of the geriatric world. It was about time AMF started earning her keep.
I began to saunter, moving slowly. Browsing. Swinging AMF's legs around like a peacock might display it's plumage.  The old lady was picking everything up on the shelf and turning it over in her hands, checking for hidden values or perhaps some diminishing flaw to be leveraged into a lower selling price. She worked left to right, moving closer to the tins containing the "rare" game.  It was all I could do to concentrate on looking non- discript, keep myself in check. I could feel the perspiration on my upper lip. I moved closer. With each rejection she uttered a unsatisfied "hmpt".

The old lady examined a tiny ceramic ballerina frozen in mid plie, checked the price and returned it to the shelf.
"Hmpt".
Her hand drifted to the game, it was like slow motion (actually it might have been slow motion, she was really old). My breath caught in my throat.
I could hear Tara in back ground "It's really rare, it's really rare!". 
I was only feet from the old lady, when Amelia, sensing the tension, let out the quietest of coos.
The old lady's hand paused inches from the tins, shaking ever so slightly. She cocked her head, like a cat hearing the rustle of a mouse.  Her back was to me, but I am sure she could smell the combination of old spice and baby powder, enough to drive any lady over the age of 70 mad.  Her hand hovered over the tin and her head turned to follow the scent.  I could feel her watching me. I pretended to examine the ballerina.
"Oh my, What a darling baby!" Her hand dropped slightly from the tin.

I moved in for the kill.  I kissed the top of AMF's head.

From the corner of my eye I could see her drawing her hand back and to her flat to her chest, sharply drawing in her breath.
"And so lucky to have such a handsome man to carry her around!" I turned and smiled down at her.
"No ma'am, I'm the lucky one."
I thought the old lady was going to swoon right then and there.  I slipped the tins from the shelf and held them behind my back, enduring the attention of this very short but kind old lady. 

No bites on ebay yet.

A final note about Amelia.  She has officially become mobile!  Mostly backwards and not very efficiently but definitely mobile.  The first movement took place at the Chisholm's house last weekend.  We were sitting on the couch in the den when Amelia pushed up on her hands and slid backwards. 
I was watching and thinking of how truly amazing it is to see her learning to move.  How crazy development could be, just think in a few short months she will be running around the house....oh shit.

AMF is working hard on the core exercises.  A recent development, the push up, is part of her learning to get to her knees.  It's pretty darn cute  to see her pushing her little diaper bum in the air. She is already better at it either of her parents.