Our bags are packed and we're ready to go...

Tomorrow, at an hour which is really far to early to be up, we will be getting on an airplane and taking The Bean to meet my dad and his wife for the first time.   

Today has been a busy day of packing and re-packing.  Wondering how many clothes we need, and how warm they will need to be since it is considerably cooler at their home on the coast of Newfoundland.  The Bean was subjected to trying on outfits from the springtime to see if they still fit.  Then there was a rush out to Babies'R'Us to buy a bag for his carseat.  Traveling with a baby sure changes things. 

Items on the To Do list are slowly getting checked off.  We're almost ready.  Fingers crossed that we haven't forgotten anything essential and that The Bean is a good little traveler.

See you when we get back.

Iced Tea Lemonade

My favourite drink of this summer is iced tea lemonade.  It combines two of my favourite drinks, so as far as I'm concerned, it couldn't get much better.  Except, maybe, if you wanted to add a shot of tequila and sit outside sipping it on a nice summer evening.  :) 

Easy-peasy directions:
Brew a half cup of your favourite tea.
Sweeten to your liking.
Fill a glass with ice.
Add lemonade.
Add tea.
(Add tequila.)
Enjoy!

Envelope Pillow Cover

The last time I did any sewing was in my eighth grade Home Ec. class.  I remember making a draw-string bag, and a stuffed animal of some sort.  Nothing I really loved or held on to.  Over the past year or so, I've become interested in learning how to sew again. I think it'd be great to be able to whip up a pair of pants for The Bean or make a simple little blanket to have picnics on.  Anyway, I must be talking about it quite a bit, because for my birthday Jen and The Bean surprised me with an introductory sewing lesson. 

The class was this morning.  It was at a cute little shop downtown called The Workroom and I could tell the instructor was very passionate about sewing.  She explained the basics of the machine and how to thread it properly and then had us work on sewing an envelope pillow cover.  I probably could have managed something a little more advanced, but it was a good introductory and I'm already looking at the other classes they offer! 

The pillow is now living on the glider in The Bean's nursery.  I like how cheerful it looks.  Owen (the hippo) does too! 

Six Month Stats

The Bean had his six month well-check yesterday so we got all his newest stats.

He weighs 13 lbs. 8 oz., which means he's still below the 3rd percentile for his age, but his growth rate increased, so the doctor was pleased. 
He is 25.6 inches long, which is around the 16% percentile for his age.
His weight for height is also still below the 3rd percentile.
His head circumference is 16.7 in.  Which is about the 14th percentile for his age.

He is hitting all of his developmental milestones and seemed healthy in all respects so it was a good visit overall.  He didn't even cry when he got his immunizations!

We asked about sleep (because we're not getting a whole lot of it) and the doctor kind of wavered on his recommendations.  On a good night he'll nurse just a little before going down and then wake about every four hours to eat.  On a bad night he can be up every hour and a half.  I think at this age they're supposed to be able to go about 8 hours without eating, but because of his size we're reluctant to not feed him when he gets up and seems hungry.  First the doctor said we could let him cry it out, but then when we said he was actually eating and not just sucking and dozing back to sleep he said maybe he does need the calories.  I think if we could get him to give up one of his nighttime feeds so that we were only doing one middle of the night session and then going through until the morning we'd be okay.  Jen's only been offering one breast overnight and that seems to be going well.  Keeping daytime naps regular seems to help with the overnights too, but sometimes, like if we want to go out and do anything, that can be difficult.  I'm sure it'll all work out but right now we're pretty tired a lot of the time.  Any advice on this front is welcome!  :)


We just got back from an afternoon at the splash pad and The Bean is napping.  I am one tired mama so I think I may take a little snooze on the couch before he decides it's time to get up.

Two Moms to Be Voted One of the Top 25 LGBT Parent Blogs on Circle of Moms

Our blog was recently voted one of the Top 25 LGBT Parent Blogs on Circle of Moms.

We are pretty excited to be included on the list and want to thank everyone for voting for us and encourage you to check out some of the other great blogs that made the list.

In the Backyard

One of the awesome things about Jen's parents' place is their yard. They live on close to an acre of land, which for a city girl like me is nearly unthinkable.

The weather was beautiful while we were away and everyone ended up spending a good deal of time outside in the yard.







Jen's mom has quite the greenthumb, so there are beautiful flowers that the neighbour's bees are happy to come and visit.







Although there were many places to sit and relax or run and play, the favourite spot was definitely the hammock. It seemed anytime anyone was outside, it was where they ended up.







Playing Frisbee, picnicking, catching bugs, camping, smelling the flowers, and just hanging out. What have you been doing outside lately?

Photoshoot

We weren't the only ones visiting the grandparents the last few weeks. Jen's brother and his wife and kids were also visiting from overseas.

The kids, aged 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 really took to The Bean (it may have helped that he brought them StarWars and Hello Kitty t-shirts), and he really took to them. The Bean would watch them run around all over the place and just giggle hysterically at their antics, which they, in turn, got a huge kick out of.

Grandpa wanted to get a photo of the three kids together, so we set up an impromptu photoshoot in the backyard.









Unfortunately my SIL wasn't around for that because she's an amazing amateur photographer who studied photography in school and is just now trying to break into the field professionally.

However, we were fortunate enough to have her snap some shots of The Bean (and us) before she left.

















Now we need to choose which ones to print for various relatives! Any input would be appreciated!

Date Night

Since The Bean was born Jen and I have gone out together and left him with someone twice now. The first time was when we participated in the Ride For Heart early in June and left him with my sister for a morning. While we were visiting the grandparents we left him again so we could go on a date. (A date!) We went to the local fair.







Lemonade, funnel cake, a monster truck tractor pull, carnies and, most importantly, cuddling up beside my favourite person in the world on a huge ferris wheel. What more could you ask for in a date?

Swimming

A week or so before we left to go visit the grandparents, Jen took The Bean for his first swim. There's a great little saltwater pool around the corner from our place, so she and a friend with a baby The Bean's age went to check it out. Both boys LOVED it!

For us it was a good trial run for our trip because Jen's aunt and uncle just installed a saltwater pool in their backyard. We made it over a couple of times while we were there and The Bean really seemed to enjoy himself.

Making his "teething" face, but still enjoying himself in the water.

On our second visit we were carrying him around and he was fussing. As soon as we held him out in front of us he started smiling and froggy-kicking his legs. Everyone was amazed at how happy he seemed to be in the water. We'll have to be sure to take him back to the pool near us often.





Swimming is one of those skills I feel is necessary to have, at least at a basic level. My siblings and I grew up going to lessons and spending weeks during the summers splashing around in lakes and pools. I think it's important that he remains exposed to the water until he's able to start actual lessons.



Sidenote: Being so fair, one of the things we were really concerned about in the backyard pool was The Bean's sun-exposure. We went on the EWG website and researched the best sunscreens for infants and found a zinc-based one we were happy with. We also had him in a rashguard shirt and a bucket hat every time we took him in the water. He didn't seem to burn (or even tan) at all, which was what we were hoping for.

Another note: We had also bought him a PFD designed for infants, but he HATED it so we didn't make him wear it in the pool. It'll still be good to have if we do any boating.

Six Months Old!

Today The Bean is six months old!



-It seems like The Bean has really grown this month. We haven't been in for his six month well-check yet, but I'm very curious to see how much weight he's gained and how long he is.

-He LOVES eating. Feeding our little boy is a highlight of the day. He seems to enjoy it so much. He sometimes makes a funny face after the first bite, but then opens wide until we put another spoonful in. If he's hungry and we don't feed him fast enough he "shouts" at us! He eats a variety of foods including apricot, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, watermelon, green beans, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, beef, chicken, pork, turkey, and brown rice cereal. The only things he hasn't seemed to enjoy are avocado and cantaloupe.

-We think he may be teething. He's always putting things in his mouth to chew on, and has starting doing a weird chompy thing even when he doesn't have anything in his mouth. If he's fussy we can often sooth him by rubbing his gums. We can't feel anything coming through yet, though. While we were away we picked up some Orajel that we sometimes put on before bedtime.

-He continues to make progress with his crawling. He easily rolls over and now seems to enjoy being on his tummy and propping himself up on his arms when looking at toys or just looking around. He'll also get his bum up in the air and try to push himself forward. He does pretty well, especially on a softer surface, and I feel like it won't be too much longer until he figures out real crawling.

-He's also getting close to being able to sit up on his own. He can tripod for about 10 seconds before flopping over.

-Since a few people have remarked on it, I will also include that he is quite good at standing up. There are even times when he makes it obvious that this is what he wants to being doing. He can stand just holding our fingers for quite a while. He also loves to jump both when we're holding him under his arms or in his JollyJumper.

-The Bean's repertoire of sounds is expanding. He coos and shouts and gasps and giggles and even does this funny huffy puffy thing when he is upset. We found it interesting that the ENTIRE time we were away he did not gasp at all, but as soon as we got back home he started to again.

-He has also started making some really silly faces. Our absolute favourite face is still his big toothless grin.

-He did really well with being around all different people on our trip. He didn't seem to mind being held by anyone. We hope that the exposure to different people now will help prevent him from becoming too clingy to us as he gets older.

-We continue to have sleep difficulties. He goes down around 7pm and is usually up about three times a night (around 10:30pm, 1:30am, and 4:30am) before waking up at about 6:30am. We're reading books to help decide what we're going to do to try to get him sleeping through the night. (Any plans are on hold until after our trip to the East Coast to visit my dad later this month.) Naps are still pretty good. Usually if he's been down for a while we go in and he gives us a big smile and we know he's ready to get up. If we go in and he cries, we know he's tired and try to get him to go back down for longer. The nap issue we're facing now is that he WILL NOT nap if we are out. It's like he doesn't want to miss anything that's going on.

-He is now wearing his 3-6 month clothes and even some of his 6mo+ clothes. He has grown SO MUCH this past month.

It is so amazing to be home with The Bean and Jen for the summer. I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it!

These Moments

I tried post a "this moment" photo last night. I got online, then dealt with connectivity issues for about 50 minutes, then just got so annoyed by the whole thing that I gave up and went to bed. The Bean had a horrendous night and was awake at about 3:30am. At 4:00am I got out of bed and stumbled over to the co-sleeper to check on him, but Jen had had the same idea so I got back into bed. At 4:30am or so she raised me from my stupor and asked me to please take him. So I went downstairs and paced, bounced, rocked, shushed... all to no avail. Mo (the cat) wandered by at about 5:30am smelling not so lovely. I took The Bean upstairs where Jen nursed him and he (finally) fell asleep. Then Jen came down and helped me clean cat poop off of the cat and most of the main floor of the house. NOT a lovely start to the day. I did however manage to make it outside about the time the sun was rising. I couldn't get a clear view, but I got this...



I suppose there could be worse ways to start the day.

Famous Last Words (about chairs)

  "We're only going to get The Bean ONE nice chair."