The Bean is Three Years Old!

For the past several months I've been thinking about the fact that we were soon going to have a three year old, but even with the reminders, it's a little unbelievable that today we actually have a three year old.

The Bean is an opinionated, energetic, sweet, silly kid.  In many ways he's the same person he's always been, in other ways he has changed so much in the past year.  

-I'm not going to lie:  2.5 to 3 has been difficult.  Meltdowns, temper tantrums, you name it, we've been there.  He's not happy when he doesn't get his way.  At the same time he can be so incredibly thoughtful and loving.  

-We try to talk to him when he's upset and to get him to explain what he perceives the problem to be so that we can try to find a solution.  Sometimes though, when we ask him what's wrong, he just cries, "I don't know!"  

-He is such a good big brother.  I think he's enjoying that Sprout can interact with him more now.  They're favourite thing to do together is chase each other through and around the tunnel.  The Bean loves giving Sprout big hugs and just the other morning asked me where she was when I went in to get him out of bed, telling me, "I want to hug her.  I just love her so much!"  

-Though he doesn't articulate it, we also know he gets pretty jealous of her at times.  One of his alter-egos is "Baby Blah", who, as I'm sure you've already figured out, needs to be treated just like the other baby in the house (carried, spoon fed, cooed at, etc.).   

-Aside from "Baby Blah", there is "Caramel" (who is five), and "Anthony" (who has a scooter).  The Bean also sometimes pretends to be some of the older boys from daycare.  He loves dressing up in costumes (Spiderman, kitty cat, princess, witches' hat) and pretending too.  Most of his costumes are getting a bit small, we're going to have to seek out some bigger ones for him.

-We have a pretty familiar routine, even if The Bean doesn't always want to adhere to it.  He has a little pictograph of his morning routine posted in his bedroom.  These days a lot of disagreements come because he wants to play rather than do the things we need him do.  On weekdays, he has been saying that he wants to stay home a lot too and he's usually quite happy when it's a Saturday or Sunday and he can "stay home and play".  We know he loves his daycare provider, but we think he misses the older kids who are now all in school during the days and only come for an hour or two at the end of the day and on holidays.  (There are two younger girls there with him during the days, but he really did like interacting with the older kids more than he seems to like the little girls.)  

-These days The Bean loves wearing his PJs and sometimes his robe (which he calls his skirt), but usually needs convincing to wear actual clothes.  He's usually in 24m/2T tops.  Pants are tricky 18-24m pants are STILL big in the waist, but he needs 24m/2T for the length.  We cinch the waist on everything.  Shoes are somewhere around size 6.5.  (He also loves being naked.  What kid doesn't?)

-The little dude weighed in at 29lbs and just over 3 feet tall at his doctor's appointment on Thursday.  I was surprised!  

-He has a clean bill of health.  We're still monitoring the pelviectasis, but it's not a concern at all at this point.  We are pretty sure he has a dairy allergy/sensitivity.  We plan on taking him to an allergist soon to double check and also to make sure that that's the only food allergy/sensitivity we're dealing with.  

-He has become quite a picky eater.  He eats bread, crackers, pasta, etc.  Salami, hot dogs and chicken fingers are about the only meats he'll touch, but he loves hummus and until earlier this week also ate eggs, so he gets protein.  As far as fruits go, he'll eat apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, and watermelon.  I can't think of any vegetables he will eat in a non-pureed form.  We still give him "pouches" everyday since it really is one of the few ways we can get veggies into him.  His beverage of choice is (almond) chocolate milk.  He'll sometimes get water or tea, but we rarely have juice around and I think he's only ever tried a few sips of pop (which we also rarely have around).

-He is daytime potty trained, and has been for quite a few months now (since about the end of the summer).  He still wears a diaper at night, but often wakes up dry.  We sometimes put him in a diaper at nap time.  I think he's only wet his bed once when we haven't, but he seems to sleep better with it on.

-He typically wakes up around 7am, naps from about 2:00-4:30pm when we have to wake him up (less at daycare, as per their schedule) or does not nap at all, and goes to bed around 7:30pm.   

-His language skills are pretty amazing.  He picks up new words so quickly and loves playing with new expressions and phrases.  Just the other day he told me something I had done was "magnificent", a word he learned from the book The Paperbag Princess.  He's also able to rephrase things if someone doesn't understand him.  (His daycare provider is from Uruguay, and he says some words with a bit of a Spanish accent, for example "lamb" in "lum".) Often when he's going to bed at night I can hear him chattering away to himself, singing, rehearsing conversations from shows he's watched or his day's interactions, or just making up stories. 

-He still loves books.  We (especially Jen) still read to him often and he will also flip through the pages of books from his bookshelf.  His favourite stories these days are Pinkalicious and Munschworks (a Robert Munsch treasury).

-He knows how to spell his name and Mama.  :)  He recognizes most of the uppercase letters and seems to understand that letters strung together make words.

-He mostly scribbles, but can draw both vertical and horizontal lines as well as circles.  He has difficulty using scissors.  He likes painting, but doesn't seem to like drawing so much.

-He can count to twenty more-or-less accurately, and seems to understand quantities to five.  If you ask him how much of something he wants (grapes, pretzels, etc.) he always says five.  He also always tries to negotiate for "five more minutes" when we're doing something he doesn't want to stop.

-Aside from dress up and pretend play, he likes to play with balls... everything is a sport to this kid.  He also likes to play with his diggers and have them scoop up blocks.  Cars and trucks in general are big, though he likes it when they "talk" and play out little stories.  Instruments are also HUGE.   He likes water play and being outside.  Actually, I think he would live outside if given the choice.  This (freezing cold and icy) winter has been pretty brutal.

-He seems to enjoy going to the Science Centre and to the Zoo, where we have memberships.  We're not currently enrolled in any classes with him (he did a city run gymnastics earlier this year as well as the swimming program he has been in since he was a baby), but may sign him up for a more structured gymnastics program this spring.  

-His friends are his sister, the other children at daycare, Teagan and Quinn from 2moms2dogs2babies, and his buddy from prenatal class.  He also sometimes plays with my sister's son, who is 15 months younger, but that is more parallel play than interactive.

-He loves to talk, sing and joke.  He's very social, especially around people he knows.  He often asks if he can speak on the phone to whoever happens to call us, and if we can Skype Grandma and Grandpa.

We love him with all our hearts and look forward to all the wonderful things the coming year has in store for him.  

Sprout is Nine Months Old!

 Today Sprout is nine months old!

This is coming in a few days late.  Our little girl has been sick (fever, upset stomach) and not sleeping well the past few days.  We're all tired and hoping Sprout is back to her usual sunshine self soon.

This has been a big month for Sprout!  Lots of new things to report on, so I'll get right to it...

-At her 9 month well baby appointment yesterday she weighed in at a whopping 21.9 lbs and 28.9 in.  The pediatrician said that's about the 90th percentile on both counts.  Big girl!  (But nicely balanced in terms of length and weight.)

-No big change in clothing sizes.  Mostly 12m stuff, depending on the brand.  I recently pulled out some fall clothes and even crocheted her a cute new toque.  Yay for woolly baby goodness!

-Barring the past few days while she's been sick, we're into a pretty routine routine.  Up between 6 and 7am, napping from about 8 or 9am until about 10 or 11am, awake for another three hours, and then another shorter nap, and awake until bedtime around 7 or 8pm.  Still awake to nurse frequently overnight, though we have had a few longer stretches earlier in the night, which is wonderful when I actually make it to be early.

-She is consistently eating solids (pureed) every day at dinner.  Meats seem to be her favourite, followed by vegetables and then fruits.  Rice cereal is a no-go, which I'm fine with.  I am trying to add lunch in there as a second meal, but it's been hit or miss so far.

-It seems she's decided that crawling is no longer good enough for her and that she must be standing all.the.time.  She figured out how to pull herself up and within a matter of days started (unsteadily) cruising around.  She also figured out how to crawl "properly," but still does the army crawl about 50% of the time.

-Jen thought I was crazy, but a few weeks ago I swear she said her first word: "Up."  I will usually say "up" before picking her up, and she started repeating it back to me.  I got her to do it for Jen, who at first thought it was a coincidence, but now agrees that she's repeating it back to us.  I think she is also trying to say Mama (for real this time) and it's quite clear that she understand the sign for "milk" as when I'm getting her ready for a nap or bed and she's fussing, when I say and sign "milk" (as in, you'll be getting milk soon") she stops fussing and it often appears she tries to sign it back.  She has also started waving hi and bye and will air kiss, if you air kiss her.  (So cute!)

-She mimics a lot of behaviour --head shaking (especially when we say "no" or "silly", clapping (she waves her arms), bouncing (she will emphatically bounce in her Jolly Jumper if we jump up and down), smiling, etc.

-I've gotten a lot better about reading to her before naps and bedtime, and these days touch-and-feel books are her favourite.  We have one called Farm and she really likes the faux-fur sheepdog page and when we "woof" at her.

-She doesn't seem to have a preference for any given toy right now, aside from things she can pull up on and things she can chew on.

-She loves music and dancing in Mama or Mommy's arms.  Family dance parties have become a fairly regular occurrence.

-Ever the second child, she is usually content to be in the same room as the action, but lets her big brother demand most of the attention.  And goodness does she love that boy.  As he does her. (Though she also gets startled by him quite easily.)

-Still no teeth, though her hand is in her mouth all the time, as evidenced by her monthly photo.

So, a lot of changes this month, and surely a lot to come in the months ahead.  Our love for her grows more quickly than she does.

Clothing Shopping with Kids

I have never been much of a shopper.  I like having clothes to wear that are comfortable and look good, but I'm not up on the latest fashions nor do I have a closet overflowing with skirts and slacks and shoes.  In fact, I consider it a huge win if I'm able to find something I like and buy it in multiple colours.  So, as you may imagine, I don't tend to spend hours browsing the racks.

Anyway, something came up that I needed to buy a new outfit for.  I didn't want to have to ask anyone to watch Sprout, so I brought her with me.  I thought I was quick on shopping trips before, I am now Usain Bolt.

After the two minute drive to the nearby mall, Sprout got tossed into the umbrella stroller, we walked into one store, I tried on six items, and we walked out with my new outfit.  DONE.  Seriously, that's unheard of even for someone who is a quick shopper, right?

I'll get Jen's opinion tonight, but barring any negative comments from her, I think today's trip might qualify for a Guinness Book of World Records submission.

It reminded me of what it's like getting a shower (...or eating ...or going pee) after you've had a kid: You never knew you could do it so quickly.  Remarkable really.

Sprout is Five Months Old!

Today Sprout is five months old!

-I know I'm likely jinxing us, but she is one of the most easy going babies I have ever met.  She is usually all smiles when she wakes up and just continues on like that throughout the day.  She gladly tags along on all the running around we do --grocery shopping, daycare pick up and drop offs, swimming lessons, visits with friends.  Whatever.  As I know I've mentioned before, really only fusses when she's tired, hungry or gassy.

-She has started combining naps here and there, but generally still naps three times a day.  I've determined that most nights she is still basically cluster feeding through the evenings and wakes about three times overnight to eat.  I'm tired, but it doesn't really warrant complaining about.

-She is getting increasingly distracted nursing in public, or even at home when The Bean is running around.  Her best nursing is side-lying in Mama and Mommy's bed when she gets up from her naps.  I'd say her typical nursing session is about 10-15 minutes long.  She's started playing with my shirt/bra/hair/hands or just patting my chest when she nurses now.  It's pretty sweet.  I love her dimpled little knuckles.

-She's been chomping on everything --toys, teething rings, blankets, her hands, our hands.  About a gazillion people have asked if she's teething, but I really don't think she is.  The Bean chomped on everything at this age too but was eight or nine months old before he popped his first tooth.  (For the record, I really hope she is not teething.)

-As you may be able to tell from her photo, Sprout has discovered her feet.  It happened just this past week, but she's already a pro and getting them into her mouth.  (See above re. other items she puts into her mouth.)  

-She has the back to tummy roll down-pat and seems to be enjoying looking around with her head lifted high.  She cannot roll back over though, which sometimes seems to be a source of frustration.  I feel like she's trying to crawl.  She'll straighten her legs out, lifting her bum into the air or she'll wiggle her legs furiously like she's trying to get forward.  She hasn't figured out the hands part of it yet though.  I don't mind her still being limited in her mobility.

-She loves people and is all smiles when she gets attention.  She seems to enjoy being sung to and read stories.  She'll now grab at books when we're reading to her.

-She's had a few tastes of real food now.  Avocado seems to be the favourite out of avocado  banana and mango.  I picked up a butternut squash the other week so we'll probably try her on that next.  We're in no rush to have her be eating solids, but she was showing some interest, so why not?

-This month Jen gave me an early birthday present of a woven wrap.  I am loving it.  I think Sprout is loving it too.

-Her clothes and disposable diaper sizes have stayed pretty consistent over the past month.  3-6 in tops, 6-12 in most pants, and size 3 in 'sposies.  I feel like she's stretching out a little.  I'm happy she seems to be thriving, but I don't want her to get big too fast!  (My last baby!!)

Sprout is Four Months Old!

Today Sprout is four months old!

Look at this sunshine baby!

-Sprout continues to be an overall happy and easy going baby.  I think we're getting pretty good at reading her tired cues, and we try to be respectful of them, putting her down when she asks.  Really, we're all happier this way.

-She will still fall asleep in the Ergo when we're out and about if the hood is up, but she is getting to the point where she doesn't want to miss anything.  This is also starting to cause some difficulty nursing when we're out.  She gets very distracted wanting to look around rather than eat until her tummy is nice and full.

-Her schedule hasn't changed much over the past month.  She usually wakes up around 6:30/7:00am and naps for about 45 minutes every 1.5-2 hours.  We put her to be around 7:30/8:00pm, but she wakes up every 2 or 3 hours overnight and nurses.  It's tiring and I totally get jealous when people talk about their similarly-aged-children sleeping 4 or 5 hours or even through the night (inconceivable!) but at least I know what to expect.

-We've tried to give her a pacifier (two different kinds) to see if that would help her cycle for longer sleep times, but she won't take them.  She ends up chewing on them or just pushing them out of her mouth with her tongue.


-She also won't take a bottle, but we're trying to give one to her more often (well, Jen is) in the hopes that she'll get the hang of it.  I've started pumping some evenings to build up a stored milk supply.

-She is very obviously thriving.  She weighed in at 16.3lbs and is 25.4in.  Top percentiles again.

-She is now in 3-6m tops and 6m pants (cloth diaper bum!).  There are some exceptions since baby clothing sizing is terribly inconsistent  but overall these sizes seem to be working.  Disposable diapers are size 3.

-Her looks haven't changed much.  Her hair is growing in more, so the hawk is not always as noticeable.  Her hair colour is a dark auburny-brown.  Her eyes are still light and look bluish but may go green.  It's hard to tell.  Her skin is pale, but she has nice rosy cheeks.

-And oh those cheeks!  They are so lovely and round.  Especially when she smiles.  And she is full of smiles for people talking to her and being silly with her.  She loves it when we "run" her legs, give her kisses on her neck, sing to her (The Grand Old Duke of York is a new favourite), or hold her up and shake her.

-Her dislikes are pretty limited, but loud noises and her brother falling on top of her seem to top the list.

-We've been going to a city run music class on Monday afternoons which she seems to be enjoying.  I think she likes the songs and she seems pretty intrigued by the other babies.  There's no class in May though, so we're going to start a different program and see how it goes.

-Most days that the weather has been nice I've been taking her for a walk in the morning.  I usually strap her into the Ergo and off we go for a half hour or an hour.  Sometimes we see if my sister and her son want to come along.  Sometimes we pop by my aunt's and visit with her and my Nana.  But a most of the time the two of us just walk around the neighbourhood chatting about the things we see.

-I try to get us out at least one other day a week.  Often we just run errands, but it's nice when we see friends.  I know it's really more for me that Sprout at this point, but that's okay.  I need some stimulation too.

-She likes to look at herself in the mirror on her playmat and grabs for the toys that hang from it.  She also holds the O-ball and tries to get it into her mouth.  She's not terribly interested in many toys.

- She still can't quite roll over, but gets onto her side pretty consistently.  She is increasingly tolerant of tummy time, perhaps even enjoying it on occasion.  Her head control is getting better and better.

-We're okay to start trying her on food at any point now, but are holding off because she doesn't seem to have the tongue control down yet.

In other words she's doing all the usual four month old stuff.  Even though we've been through it before, it is still such a joy and a wonder to see her grow, interact, and learn new things everyday!

*Navalgazing* Reflections at 30 Weeks Pregnant

Monday was my midwife appointment.  Everything continues to be fine.  I got back the results from my glucose screening.  They were well below the level where there would be any concern, which I was releived to find out.  Though I've limited myself, I have definitely craved sweets throughout a good bit of this pregnancy and even though I've been told my weight gain is fine, I have found it somewhat concerning to gain so much.  The past two weeks I only went up 1/2 a pound, so maybe it'll slow down for a little while now.  My blood pressure was still nice a low.  The baby's heartrate was about 150bpm and she was lying with her back curved to my left side. 

Monday afternoon I went down to one of the local universities that trains midwives, to volunteer.  They were looking for pregnant women for their second year midwifery students to practice palpations on.  I didn't have other plans for the day and I think it's really important for people to get hands on experience in their field.  When I was doing my teacher training, actually being in the classroom was what I found most valuable, and so I sort of thought of this as a way of giving back.  The students were super excited as this was their first experience working with actual pregnant women (there were four of us).  They took turns feeling for the baby's position, measuring fundal height, and looking for the heartbeat.  I was there for three hours and had about 30-someodd ladies poking at my belly.  It was fine, but by the end of it I was DONE.  I think Sprout was too.  She got pretty fiesty towards the end and kept kicking me on the way home. 

On Tuesday I kept the car so that I could go pick up some used baby clothes.  Back in the summer a lady had listed a bag of her daughter's old clothes for a very reasonable price.  We purchased them and were really happy after bringing them home and taking a closer look through them, so I told her if she wanted to contact us directly in the future, we would buy from her again.  So, I guess they were done with most of their summer stuff and she emailed to let me know she had another bag ready.  It was as great as the first one she gave us.  I'm really, really happy to have her as a contact.  Hopefully she'll continue to stay in touch.  Another friend came by to visit, and even though her daughter is seven, she dug up some little sleepers and outfits she had found from her baby days.  I'd say we're doing quite well! 

My sister and an old friend have also decided they are going to host a welcome baby celebration for us at the beginning of November.  Both Jen and I were reluctant as didn't want a shower, but they were fairly insistant and it will be nice to get together with some family and friends to celebrate this little one's upcoming arrival. 

And now for the belly shot, taken today: 

Notice how my lower back is all archy?  I have to work on that. 

*Navalgazing* Reflections at 20 (+2) Weeks Pregnant

Halfway there!
...assuming this baby comes when she is due, which I'm not really counting on.  I think a 12.12.12 birthday would be super cool (especially as it would be a nice complement to The Bean's 1.11.11 birthday), but I tend to think that this little one is more likely to be a Christmas baby. 

It's been a pretty good week.  I'm still up and down tummy-wise, but made a huge effort to get more water this week, which I feel helped a bit.  I was also able to get a few naps in, which was wonderful since nighttime sleep hasn't been the best.  It seems I have at least one hour every night where I'm tossing and turning.  A lot of times I end up on the couch, which seems a lot more comfortable than bed for some reason.  My sister loaned me a wedge, which has helped a lot more than I expected it to, but it's still not a fix-all. 

The midwives confirmed (via the radiologists report) that we are expecting a girl.  I've joked with Jen that I hope she's a tomboy since she'll have to wear all her big brother's hand-me-downs, but I'm thinking she'll probably do okay clothing-wise.  I picked up a few little things at Goodwill this week.  For $1 a piece I figure you can't go wrong.  (The Bean even got a new shirt and a few potty books.)  A friend who's given us a ton of boy's clothes for The Bean told me we could have anything she's still got from her daughter, so I'm sure there will be a few cute things coming our way from her.  Ashleigh from 2moms2dogs2babies also offered to loan us some of her girls' stuff and I'm hoping my highschool friend who had (boy/girl) twins back in February will do the same.  Between all that, any gifts we may receive, and the gender-neutral clothes we already have we should be set for a while. 

Now that we know the sex we've started talking about names a little more seriously.  We had two girls names we really liked with The Bean, but one is completely out since it's the feminine version of his name.  The other we still like, but aren't as sure about as it's quite common and I've since had a student with that name and it's hard to break the association.  Jen isn't crazy about most of the names I've suggested, stating that they're "too girly", she tends to go for names that can be shortened into more boy-ish nicknames, but I don't really like many of those.  I guess we have a while to come to an agreement. 

And, we did manage to get a belly shot yesterday, so here I am in all my 20 week glory:

Happy Monday everyone!

Marketing to Babies and Toddlers

We were, once again, very kindly gifted a number of hand-me-down clothes for The Bean.  I love this because not only is the life of these (perfectly fine) clothes extended, but it also saves us some money.  Kids' clothes aren't cheap!  Especially if you consider most of them only get a season or two of wear. 

I'm certainly not going to turn down generous pass-alongs like the ones we just received, but something I've noticed before struck me again with this batch, which was the number of "characters" depicted on them. 

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, The Bean watches next to no television.  I know he sees an occassional video on rainy days at daycare, sat on Grandpa's lap watching golf while we were in PA, and will stare intentely at the Julia Child DVDs when we're double checking how to prepare artichokes, but screen time is something we conscientiously try to avoid with him.  While at times it would be lovely to have a 20 minute break while the TV babysat for us, we know it's of no benefit to him, and worse, has shown to be detrimental. 

That said, of his 50 or so words, one of them is "Thomas".  Like many toddlers, The Bean loves vehicles, and I'm sure the word Thomas is something he picked up while playing with friends at daycare or at the drop-in centre rather than from a TV show, but still, it made me cringe a little when he was able to identify what we normally refer to as "the blue train" by name. 

It doesn't bother me when he calls his baby doll Jean Luc because I know he is never going to see a Jean Luc t-shirt in the store and beg me for it, or a Jean Luc book, or fruit snacks with Jean Luc on them.  With the beloved blue train, I cannot be so sure. 

So, when folding and putting away this newest batch of hand-me-downs I thought about whether we should keep the Thomas, Cars, Elmo or Spiderman ones.  Will having these characters' images plastered across his torso make him favour other items brandishing their faces?  Is this even something we can avoid, or will he end up favouring these items marketed to the youngest subset of society anyway?  How young is too young to start thinking about media awareness? 

I know that these characters are not something we can avoid, but we have to decide to what extent we will allow their presence in our lives. I do think that with many of them the programming around them holds lessons that can be of value. 

To be honest, it's not just the characters that get to me.  I'm not thrilled with the idea of my child being a walking advertisment for Gap while wearing their logoed hoodie either.  But he has a Gap hoodie and I still put him in it.  It's warm and cozy and it looks cute on him.   

It's hard to know where to draw the line. 

I want to be able to read him a Curious George book without him wanting us to buy him the Curious George doll.  Or Harry Potter without needing a wand, or iPad app, or all the DVDs (although, admittedly, I would like those for myself).   

I want him to be able to take a toy, character or not, and use his imagination to make up his own voice and story for it, rather than feeling like he needs to rehearse a prescribed script based on a show he's seen.  My heartfelt belief is that the best toys for children are the ones that lie there until the child makes something out of them.  Blocks.  Playsilks.  Sand.  While we have many toys that encourge imaginative and creative play, truly open-ended toys only make up a small fraction of The Bean's collection. 

I'm compelled to start looking at organizations like Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood to gain furthur insight on this issue.   What about you guys, do any of you think about this when buying your kids stuff, and if so, what are your thoughts?

Thirteen Months Old!

The Bean is thirteen months old!

-He is starting to walk.  It started off as I imagine it usually does, just a step here and a step there, but has now turned into five or more steps in a row with a clear intent of getting somewhere.  When he falls he usually gives up and crawls, but not always.

-He continues to be a good eater.  Crackers and hummus are a big hit.  As are mini-bagels.  To be honest, he seems to enjoy most things that are starchy or sweet, but he also eats good dose of veggies and yogurts and other things too.  He seems to be over his aversion to meat and usually gets it about two times a week now. 

-His bottom teeth beside his incisors did come in (first the left one, then the right) but he is still working on the eye teeth.  Really his gums are just a lumpy bumpy mess right now.  I'm doubtful that teething will ever end.  He hasn't been nearly as fussy as he was when the first few were coming through though, so that's a bonus. 

-The babbling is incessant.  Well, not really incessant, but there's definitely a lot of it.  It's super-cute when he chatters away on our drive home from his daycare.  Jen and I also swear that he's said a few words clear as day, but only once.  For example, "treat" when I was holding up a treat trying to get him to walk over to me and "mommy" when we were out and he saw Jen.  It's freaky.

-He loves, loves, LOVES his RadioFlyer tricycle.  We push him around the apartment in it and have taken it outside once.  I have a feeling it'll get a lot of mileage this spring and summer.

-He's become quite the little fishy.  It seems he's becoming increasingly comfortable in swim class.  It's true that he's always loved the water, but he'll now "float" on his back and "swim" underwater for increasing amounts of time, coming up with a big smile.

-He loves people, but is also happy to play on his own.  He's been keeping himself very busy cooking up a storm with his pots and pans and working on putting things in and out of various boxes and baskets. 

-He is still very happy at daycare.  Everyone there seems to love him.  The provider tells us almost daily that he is such a good baby.   We're so happy we found this place.  He is all smiles when we pick him up at the end of the day and and reaches for his provider when we are leaving. 

-He's mostly in his 12 month clothes now.  Pants are 6-12 months still, but tops are mostly 12.  I don't think I'll ever fully understand baby sizing as there are still the odd 3 month (!) tops in the mix.  Bizarre.

It feels less and less like we have a baby and more and more like we have a toddler these days.  It's wonderful to witness his emerging personality.  We really couldn't love this little guy any more than we do!

Ten Months Old!

Today The Bean is ten months old! 

-He's always been an active baby, but The Bean has been REALLY active this past month.  He crawls all over the place, he cruises from one piece of furniture to another (or one mother to another, as the case may be), and he's all about pushing his "lawnmower" around.  Even though we're in an apartment he has figured out how to climb stairs, although we need to stay close by.  And recently he has taken his hands off whatever he's holding onto and stayed upright for a couple of seconds, making us think that first steps will be coming in the next month or so.

-He's eating pretty much everything now.  His first breakfast is a piece of toast.  If he's up around the same time as me he'll also pretend to share my tea.  It's pretty cute.  His second breakfast before he has his morning nap is usually has yogurt and a fruit.  Veggies and a grain later.  And usually a meat and another veggie for dinner.  Sometimes he manages to squeeze in an extra meal.  And there are lots of snacks.  Organic corn puffs, dried cranberries, etc.  He's really taken to feeding himself finger foods.  His pincer grip is improving. 


-He's started taking a bottle!  He really started chomping on Jen when nursing, which lead us to making more of an effort with the bottle.  He usually has some breast milk after waking up from naps and water to sip on throughout the day.  Some days he drinks more than others.  Jen still nurses once overnight when he's usually too tired to bite. 

-He's getting very interactive.  Now he babbles away quite a bit of the time.  He especially likes to talk to the baby in the mirror (who we think he recognizes).  He says "Mum" and "Mama" and we think he knows that's us.  He sometimes copies sounds we make.  When we say "Yay!" he'll throw his hands up in the air.  Or sometimes, he'll throw his hands up and wait for us to say "Yay!" LOL.  We've been working on waving hello and goodbye and he seems to be sort of catching on.  I'm trying to teach him to clap, but that's still a work in progress. 

-He's gotten a lot clingier.  Sometimes we'll put him down and it's quite obvious he wants to be held.  He'll come over and tug on our pants and whine until we pick him up again.  Sometimes he cries.  Other times he's still content to be down and playing more independently, but there's definitely been a change.  He'll still go to other adults pretty willingly which makes us happy since we're starting to think about what we'll be doing for childcare come January. 

-He loves to be around other kids and babies.  Sometimes it's a bit hard though because he doesn't really get being gentle and will go over and grab or pull up on whoever is around.  Most kids and babies don't seem to thrilled with this.  Neither does the cat. 


-He loves the outdoors.  Jen's been taking him out for lots of walks and over to the park to go in the swings.  He loves crawling around on the grass and picking up all kinds of twigs and leaves.  He also still enjoys swimming and bath time.

We've been thinking a lot about how soon our baby will be one year old.  It's been so great that Jen has is able to spend this first year with him and we're sad that it will be coming to an end soon.  We're hoping that we'll be able to find somewhere that he will be well cared for.  He grows and changes so quickly and it will be hard not being around to see it all.

Nine Months Old!

Today The Bean is nine months old!

-I feel like The Bean's growth has slowed down a little bit, but just the other week Jen noticed that he's taller than his best friend who's always been bigger than him, so who knows!  We'll be taking him in for his nine month well-check soon, so I'll post updated weight and length and whatnot then.

-As predicted, his second tooth popped up shortly after his first one.  We now believe that he'll soon be getting a third tooth on the bottom right.  His teeth are a little crooked and mighty sharp!  He's broken the skin on my finger and Jen's boob.  The words, "No biting!" are often heard when Jen is nursing and Sophie the giraffe is kept nearby for him to chop on between suckling. (Note from Jen: Any advice for preventing the biting is encouraged!)

-Starting two days ago The Bean began drinking both water and formula from a bottle.  This is a serious breakthrough and does a lot to ease my stress about sending him to daycare in a few months.  I hope he continues to take bottles.

-He continues to be an excellent eater.  He has preferences, but we can usually blend things together and get him to eat stuff he may not eat if it weren't mixed.  New foods include kamut, banana, cheeses, olives, pumpkin, yogurt, oats, raisins, cranberries and probably others that I'm forgetting.  He's eating more finger foods and uses his little teeth to bite into things, chewing them up with his gums.

-He's exclusively in 6-12 month clothes now.  Some things are still huge on him, but we've come to discover that such is baby sizing.  (Not unlike women's sizing.)

-We were having some difficulty with night-waking for a while.  Many nights The Bean was getting up and nursing about three times.  It was getting pretty rough on Jen especially, but then, just this past week he slept 11+ hours two nights in a row.  We're hoping this trend continues.  Most nights he goes down around 6pm and stays in bed until about 7am. 

-Crawling is still The Bean's main mode of transportation, but he is also getting really good at pulling himself up on things and has started taking just a few steps along an object or from one object to another.

-His favourite toys these days are ones that light up and/or make noise.  He has a hand-me-down tractor with animals that he loves (especially the horse) and his v-tech car toy from his cousins is another favourite.

-He loves the sheepskin rug in his nursery.  After bath time in the evening we let him crawl around in his room and if it's not out already, he'll pull it out from under his crib and roll around on it.  He'll actually throw himself forward onto it, lie there for a second, and then roll back and forth.  He LOVES it when we wrap it all the way around him and will giggle.  It is adorable.  

-Jen and The Bean continue to go to swim class once a week.  He loves the water and has been praised by the swim teacher for his ability to "swim" underwater.

-He continues to do really well around people.  I was surprised this past weekend when we went to my brother's place for Thanksgiving. There were a ton of new people around and he smiled and was quite happy to let them hold him. 

-He is getting more and more expressive and interactive.  He gives the biggest smile when we go to get him up from his naps.  He crawls over to me as quick as he can and throws himself at us when he wants a cuddle or when we're "wrestling."  He is also quite vocal when he wants to be and is making a variety of sounds. 


We are so lucky that The Bean has such a happy baby.  He brings joy to our days! 

Cloth Diaper Week -Dressing Cloth Diapered Bums

One issue with cloth diapering is finding pants that fit over the diapers.

The easiest solution is to put your baby in pants that are a size up from what s/he would typically wear.  The drawback to going up a size is that the length can be too long.  Usually nothing a cuff can't fix though.

Another solution, one that I'm itching to try, is making your own pants.  Here are a couple of patterns I have found in my internet searches.

 Made by Rae's Basic Newborn Pant

Made by Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants 

These pants feature a rear panel that adds plenty of room for cloth diapered babies.

Anna Maria Horner's Quick Change Trousers

They're reversible!  Genius!

(photo courtesy of Sew With Sass) 

 

 Now I just need to get the sewing thing down!

Some work-around solutions for non-sewers like me are putting your baby in a skirt or leggings  (better options if you have a girl), purchasing some baby legwarmers like babylegs, or forgoing pants altogether and showing off their cute cloth diapered bum!

Seven Months Old!

Today The Bean is seven months old!

-The Bean continues to grow and grow and grow!  We won't have any official stats on him until his 9 month well-check but his feet are almost touching the ground in his Jumperoo and it seems we have to put more of his clothes into storage for Baby #2 everyday.  He now fits comfortably into his 6mo clothes.

-We've introduced a few more new foods including apple, mango, green beans, egg yolk, lamb, oatmeal, and rice puffs.  He continues to be an enthusiastic eater!  We're often left wondering where he puts it all.

-He is definitely teething, although there are no signs of a tooth yet.  He chews on everything and rubs his gums together even when there's nothing to chew on.  Orajel has become a part of our bedtime routine.

-Speaking of bedtime, we have started doing a slightly modified version of Cry It Out.  We do our usual bedtime routine, then rock him for a few minutes and put him down.  If he's crying we go in and check on him after 5, then 10, then 15 minutes.  So far he has always fallen asleep by the end of the 15  minute mark, if not sooner.  It's definitely hard to listen to him cry, but he seems to be getting better at putting himself down and I think it's preserving some of our sanity.  The next step is try to eliminate one of his nighttime wakings.  I expect that listening to him cry at 4am is going to be a lot harder than listening to him cry at 6:30pm.

-At the beginning of August we transitioned The Bean from the co-sleeper in our bedroom to his crib in the nursery.  We did it cold turkey and he made the switch wonderfully.  We were all ready for the move.

-He continues to work on his gross motor skills of sitting and crawling.  The issue with sitting seems to be that he much rather stand!  He is going to be unstoppable once he figures out how to pull himself up.  Crawling is also still a work-in-progress.  He's getting closer, but usually ends up just rolling where he wants to go. 

-He rolls towards and picks up the toy he wants to play with, with obvious intent.  He will look at it closely, turning it in his hands.  He will also pass a toy from one had to the other. Then he usually throws it across the room.  *Sigh*

-He's still Mr. Social.  He likes getting people's attention by giving them big smiles.  He happily goes to pretty much anyone although he doesn't seem to be thrilled when there are tons of new faces all at once.  

-It is the best thing in the world to listen to him giggle.  Silly faces and noises are almost guaranteed to get a big belly laugh out of him.

-Now that we're making an effort to call The Bean by his given name rather than by nicknames like "Buddy" or "Baby," he's starting to respond by turning to look at us. 

The Bean is now closer to being a year old than he is to being a newborn.  As I know I've said before, the time is passing so quickly and we are trying to enjoy every minute of it!

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!

Five Months Old!

Today The Bean is five months old!


-The Bean has found his feet! and I tell you, they must be delicious... those piggies are in his mouth at almost every opportunity he gets. He seems to favour his left foot. Maybe he's more flexible on his left side?

-He is now a mobile little guy. He's been able to roll from his tummy to back and back to tummy for a while, but now seems to do so intentionally. We have an adorable video of him showing off this skill, but he's buck naked in it, so it's not going up on the net. He seems to get bored of sitting sometimes and once we put him on the ground he'll roll and roll and roll. He also seems to be in the beginning stages of figuring out how to crawl. He'll get on his tummy with his arms under his chest and push his bum way up into the air. Sometimes he manages to scooch forward a bit.

-He recently started playing in his Jumperoo. He seems to enjoy the spinny toy on it and the lights and sounds. I call it his over-stimulation centre. He seems to be into toys that squeak or make other sounds these days. I think he'll really like the Jumperoo when he can bounce on his own.

-He now enjoys facing forward in the Baby Bjorn when out and about. I still prefer the Ergo for my own comfort. Over the summer I think we'll end up switching back and forth depending on how long we're going out for.

-He is babbling all.of.the.time. He also makes really sweet soft noises when he's falling asleep or waking up.

-Pretty much since we decided we'd try to put him on a schedule he stopped sleeping through the night. We're thinking that he's going through both physical and mental growth, and that has something to do with it. But boy, do I miss sleeping more than two hours at a time.

-He's still doing good naps in the morning. He'll wake up (early) and play for about an hour or so, then go down for about an hour then repeat the same thing. Afternoon naps go well if he's at home, but are less consistent when he's out and about.

-He's also figured out how to roll when swaddled. This freaks Mommy out. We've tried unswaddling him for sleeping, but he just doesn't sleep then.

-He has become much fussier and more demanding. He's still a very well-behaved baby, but we sure know when he's not happy about something. Like being in the car. The next road trip (at the end of the month) may be interesting.

-He's also started "fake" crying when he's not happy about something. It's kinda' funny, but if we don't listen he really starts wailing.

-Finally, in the past few days we've started him on solids. The main reason is that his blood test results showed that he has low iron and we want to try a two-pronged approach to treating that --food in combination with a supplement. We're also hoping that it helps with his sleep overnight.

-His weighed in at 11 lbs. 9 oz. at his doctor's appointment earlier this week.

-He is now out of almost all of his 0-3 month clothing and into his 3-6 month stuff.

It continues to amaze me how much he's changing. A co-worker brought in her one month old to work earlier this week and she seemed so tiny and new. Who would've thought five month olds wouldn't seem tiny or new?

Four Months Old!

Today The Bean is four months old!



Where did this past month go?!

The Bean seems to have had a growth spurt this month. I'm curious to get all his "stats" after his four month check-up on Friday.

-The Bean continues to be a social little guy. He still happily goes to anyone, but he is starting to show signs that he favours us. He adores his mommy and will smile at her and watch her walk around the apartment. He likes me too, but mommy is #1.

-He has become a real chatter box! It's hilarious when he gets going. He'll even have a "conversation" with pauses to let the other person talk.

-He loves lying on his playmat and batting at his toys, or sitting in his bouncy chair and playing with his toys. He'll reach out and grab for things, and often pull them into his mouth.

-We can now carry him facing forward in the Bjorn. He seems to enjoy looking around.

-He's really started moving this month. He can now turn from belly to back AND from back to belly! I don't think that it's intentional, but it is fairly consistent.

-As a result of all his movement, The Bean now has a ring around his head where his hair has been rubbed off. I've seen other babies with a little patch right in the back, but his goes from ear to ear. It'll grow back in eventually. I hope.

-The Bean got his SECOND haircut this past Sunday. It gets really long and wispy around his ears, so I trimmed that up as well as taking a little off in the back.

-He is now wearing all of his 0-3 month clothes and has even outgrown a few things. We have his 3-6 month stuff ready to go.

-Breastfeeding hurdles seem to be in the past and The Bean latches himself now. He still goes for around ten minutes at a time and not for those 30 or 45 minute marathon sessions that we've heard about. Maybe those are still to come?

-He got off of the overnight schedule he was on last month. We've had a couple of rough nights over the past few weeks and decided to start trying to put him on a wake-up/bedtime schedule. We're only a couple of days in so I can't really predict how it will go, but hopefully it helps.

We're enjoying watching this little baby grow. It happens so quickly, so it's nice to take this time to reflect on it.

Three Months Old!

Today The Bean is three months old!



It's hard to believe that our little baby is already three months old. In other people's eyes he may still a newborn, but to me he seems so grown up already. There have been so many changes since we brought him home. It feels like he's especially changed a lot this past month.

-He still loves to be held, but is often content when in one of his chairs or on his play mat.

-He now smiles and "talks". He also pouts. It is pathetic.

-He is still not very fussy. He really only fusses when he's hungry or wants his soother, when he's pooing or passing gas, and when he's tired. He cries are getting louder though.

-He has figured out he has hands and, boy, are they awesome! He seems to particularly enjoy the flavour of the right one.

-He is starting to interact more with his toys. He can grasp a few of his toys and likes to hold them and try to put them in his mouth. He also likes batting at things. His favourite "activity" seems to be looking at himself in the mirror. He'll smile and babble away at that adorable little baby he sees.

-He is getting stronger, and will lie on his tummy for much longer periods of time looking back and forth, and sometimes just flopping his head down when get gets too tired... or SOMETIMES rolling over. It's quite the trick.

-Another very recently new trick is that when lying down he will tilt his head back and arch his back, and use his legs to launch himself backwards. I do not like this trick. It especially freaks me out when he is on the change table. Or when he launches himself towards hard objects, like our ottoman. He gets mad when I put pillows around his head.

-The pacifier is still a hit, but he will purposely spit it out now when he wants to eat his hand and sometimes also when he is on the verge of falling asleep.

-He has developed a more set schedule. Most nights he will go down between 6 and 8pm, and sleep through until 3 or 4am. He starts to fuss, so I get up and change him while Jen gets settled in to nurse. I go back to bed, she stays up and nurses him, then brings him back to bed when they're done. He'll usually sleep until about 7am after that and, if Jen is lucky, go back down for a little morning nap if she nurses him then.

-He is starting to wear most of his 0-3 month clothing now and we have had to put away all of the preemie and newborn stuff. I get a little bit sad every time I put one of his outfits into storage. He's not such a little baby anymore.

-I *think* he is about 10lbs now. We measured this the highly scientific way of me standing on the bathroom scale, noting my weight, then Jen handing me the baby and subtracting to find the difference.

So many changes in such a short period of time. I can't really imagine what things will be like in another three months, but I look forward to experiencing it!

Baby Shower, Take Two

We had our second (local) baby shower last weekend. My sister and a friend from high school co-hosted. We included guys this time because my cousins really wanted to be there, one of my oldest friends is transgendered and we wanted him there, and a lot of our other friends are in couples so we thought it would be nice to be inclusive. The guys were totally into it! A lot of them had never been to a baby shower before so I think they had a a lot of fun.

Again, we got so spoiled. We are well on our way to being prepared for our little guy's arrival. I think the only two things we really NEED still are a crib matress and a glider for the nursery. Not too bad with two months to go!

Here are pictures of the cake my aunt made and the cupcakes my sister made:





Talented ladies that they are, both also gave handmade gifts for our little boy. The green hat and mitts are from my sister and the white hat and mitts and bunting bag with star hat and booties are from my aunt.







We're so lucky to be able to wrap our baby up in items made with love just for him.

Baby Showers and Laundry Mishaps

Last weekend we drove to the States because Jen's mom was throwing us a baby shower. It was a quick trip there and back (we arrived at 1am on Saturday morning, and left at about 2pm on Sunday afternoon) but we had a really nice time. A lot of Jen's family was there, as well as some friends of the family and friends of ours, including my best friend who flew in from Boston for the event. I felt a little bit overwhelmed, but also very lucky that we have so many loving and supportive people in our lives.



We came home with a trunk FULL of baby gear. The two big items that we really wanted and received as gifts were a co-sleeper (from Jen's parents) and a Medela Breast Pump (group gift from Jen's other relatives). We also received receiving blankets, onesies, sleepers, outfits, toys, bottles, a few baby carriers, a nursing pillow, and a gorgeous handmade blanket among other things.

Yesterday I was trying to be productive and get all of the clothes and blankets and whatnot washed and put away, so I threw some of the stuff into the laundry with a blanket. Even though I put it through on a cold cycle, and even though I was careful to separate anything I thought might bleed, something bled all over the new baby stuff. I was so mad at myself. I was up until 1am soaking things in Oxiclean and rinsing them trying to get things back to their correct colour. I was able to get some of the stains out, but most of stuff that was white is now a more "organic cotton" colour. I'm about to go downstairs again now to try to give things one last rinse in the machine. I'm not as upset as I was yesterday, but I'm still upset. Jen reminded me that the baby's going to spit up all over most of it anyway, but I'll be able to forgive him for that a lot more easily than I can forgive myself.

Anyway, off to do laundry... Again.

Etsy Finds

I woke up early this morning. I really didn't want to get up, but I was tossing and turning for a couple of hours and was starting to worry that I'd wake up Jen if I didn't just get out of bed. So, I've been up since about 5:30am. I crocheted the bean a little red and white striped hat while the cat kept me company. Then I did some ironing. Then some online banking. Jen got up while I was poking around online and we made some breakfast. She's working on a course she's taking now, so I thought I'd take the chance to update the blog with some of those Etsy finds I was talking about the other day.

CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES


birdyboots


bostonbeanies


CritterJitters


thesittingtree


threekittensknitting


woolybaby

TOYS


robinandmould


mikebtoys


isabellsumbrella


littlesaplingstoys


birdandlittlebird


luvlugurumi

ART


joojoo


sloeginfizz


junecraft


sarahjanestudio


naokosstoop


kikiandpolly