Vitals

I took Helena to the pediatrician for her regular check-up on Friday. For those of you keeping track: 13 kg, 85 cm, makes Helena a big little girl. She's healthy, but drinks too much milk.

A little girl in the waiting room took a toy out of Helena's hands and walked away. The girl's mother was around the corner. I didn't do a thing, and I feel awful about it. I'd hate for my daughter to grow up to be a pushover.

The pediatrician's office is on a stretch of St Laurent that for some reason was closed to traffic. Restaurants and bars spilled out into the street. Our walk home was a real zigzag. Some idiot was walking his young cat on a leash down St Denis. A major part of Mont Royal was also closed to traffic. The mood in the streets is very festive, seemingly for no other reason than that summer is here. God I love this neighbourhood.

Our playground is a friendly place, where lots of toddlers experiment with other toddlers' toys. The other day, a little girl asked to use Helena's pail and shovel, which were sitting unused. I said no, as we were planning on leaving in a minute, and instead pointed out the ownerless pile of communal equipment. The little girl picked up Helena's stuff anyway. This pissed me off no end. The girl's mother intervened, but I was galled that my "no" should be ignored.

I guess I have a lot of awkward social negotiations ahead of me yet.

I spent Saturday in bed, thanks to the better (worse, really) part of a bottle of a wine I drank the night before. For one brief moment, I wished we had a house in the suburbs, with a yard we could let Helena loose in where we could watch her from the door. Thankfully, the moment passed.

Election placards around here are being literally defaced — heads removed in triangle cutouts. We live in Gilles Duceppe's riding, one of those seats so strongly held as to make you feel for a moment that your vote won't make a difference.

Helena continues to make a difference, everywhere she goes. New words this last week, lifting our hearts: "tink you," belly-button (which comes out garbled in various configurations but has an undisputed reference point), and "home."