Ten Months

Amazing as it seems, in less than two months our daily routine will be very different. You will be going to day care & I will be returning to work. Although I am sure it will be very sad for both of us, I am confident that it will also be a very good change for both of us. However, the recent changes that we have seen in you make me realize that I will miss out on many 'first moments' of your developing ways.

One of the biggest changes I can think of in the last month is your smile. When we are out, people often comment about what a smiley baby you are & it is quite often true. However, you still choose when you are smiley. If someone comes up to you & starts talking to you- you still give them your sober look & will sometimes smile. When we are out now, you are typically looking around, babbling & trying to get people to pay attention to you. So when you are the seeker of attention, you are all smiles. When someone pays attention to you without an invitation, you really think about whether or not they are worthy of receiving your smile.

The second biggest changes is eating. You are finally eating table food with some regularity. Those yucky baby meals are no longer finding their way into the grocery cart. The variety of things that you will eat & the finesse with which you do so had developed so dramatically in the last two weeks it is amazing. I literally was dreading meal times with you, because you just never knew how it was going to go- but all that is different now.

Sydney keeps saying that you are a big baby now & is she ever right. At your nine month check-up you weighed in at 20 lbs 4 oz., but I have a feeling you are much more than that now. When your sister was your weight, she was walking so I was not carrying her that much. It seems that lifting & carrying you is becoming my strength training. You show no signs of being close to walking, buy you have found your own mode of transportation. You are a bum scooter- you dig your heels in & pull your self along. You are a big fan of rolling from your back onto your stomach (especially during diaper changes!), but you seem to have forgotten how to get back over to your back. In the last few days you have started to get up onto your knees, but you don't like to be in this position & start to cry. So, I am not sure if all of a sudden you are going to have a breakthrough & start crawling or not.

You have also started to pull yourself up, but have only managed to get to your knees. I keep wondering if I should be worried about some of the gross motor skills that you have not accomplished, but everyone keeps telling me not to worry. Hopefully soon you will figure out to complete your roll, get into a sitting position & crawl. Once you are doing that I will likely wonder why I was in such a rush, because I am pretty sure you will be into even more things than you are now. Recently you have taken a liking to playing with the shoes in the closet, sliding & lifting the stool (which makes a heck of a racket), opening the fridge, playing in Logan's water dish, & pulling stuff out of any drawer you can open.

You & your sister are more & more becoming playmates. The good thing about this is that you can occupy each other & give Mommy & Daddy more time, but the bad thing is that you cry if she takes something away from you & she will often get upset if you are after something of hers. This is only the beginning of those battles.

You have perfected your wave in the last month & you are so proud of it. As soon as anyone says goodbye you will often start to smile & wave. You will also give kisses upon request. Your sister calls them 'drooley kisses' because they are open mouthed & very wet.

Sleeping...a very important element in my life. You have gotten much better. We only had one rough week this month when you were waking up at 5am & would not go back to sleep. You are napping twice a day now & will usually nap for an hour or more at each one. The past couple of days however have been a bit trickier. You have really started to babble a lot. You are constantly saying, "da da da, da da da" & this is often all we hear when we first put you in your crib. You will play around & after about 20 minutes decide that you want out. No deal on this one from Mommy- you still need that nap. Even though you would rather play right now, a well-rested baby is a much happier baby.

The legs went on the table to encourage you to try getting up.
The Leap table is one of your favourite toys.

Playing with your sister.
Problem is, you can't figure out how to get back out without bumping your head.

You are on your tummy, which you keep doing- but get mad that you can't get back. I can't figure out if you prefer sleeping on your tummy or not. I guess once you figure out the rolling over thing, this will become clearer.

Maybe I should have made more effort...

When I was home with Sydney on mat leave every Wednesday we went to Parent Link. Attending this gathering of parents was great for a few reasons:

1. met other parents (there were a couple of dads who came) with similar aged babies
2. Sydney got to interact with other babies
3. learned some valuable information from the presentations

Parent Link was from 1:30 to 3pm, with the first half hour being a social time. Getting there by 2pm at least was never a challenge with Sydney since she was never a napper & was usually awake by 1:30pm. When she got older & was getting closer to napping at the same time as Parent Link we would walk there & since it takes 45 minutes to get there she would sleep on the way & be raring to go when we arrived. I am so thankful for this group because I made some very amazing friends through this venue & a lot of us now have our second child.

With Jason, I have only been a couple of times. The main reasons I have not gone with him are:

1. he actually will nap at this time
2. the topics are the same as with Sydney
3. do not have the same motive to meet new moms

This week I got an idea of the disservice to Jason by not attending this group. On Monday, a friend of mine came over with her little guy who is 3 weeks younger than Jason. It was not a successful 'play' date. Both Graham & Jason are bum scooters, but Graham is more adept at getting around & was often taking toys out of Jason's hands, swatting at him, or just generally being in his space. Jason did not respond well to any of this & eventually he turned around to find me & scooted over crying. Graham wasn't doing anything that isn't "baby-like", but Jason just couldn't cope. I realized that he has always been around older babies & toddlers who to a certain degree give him space.

So now I sit here knowing it is Wednesday & realize that he is again going to miss the opportunity to be around some babies. When he wants to sleep, you want him to sleep because otherwise he can be a bear. Also when he wants to sleep, he wants his bed. He's not really a stroller or car sleeper. So, unless I can get him to maybe nap later in the morning that I could stretch him over this window for Parent Link- I don't think we will make it.

Thankfully Kelly & Graham have agreed to get together again next week. Hopefully if they spend more time together, Jason can toughen up & can co-exist with Graham. He better learn how because Graham will be at daycare with Jason a couple days a week.

Graham just took one of Jason's favourite toys. The little green spatula. He has started to use this as more than a chew toy too. He will whack balls with it & chase then around the floor. Maybe 'hockey mom' is in my future- but not at my encouragement!

See the tears???

New format for playdates

It seems our play dates are starting to take on a whole new approach. This morning my friend Kate was the host & although she has a 6 week old in addition to her 3-year-old, she had bought some things for the kids to have lunch together- pizza, quiche, & salad. None of this is done with ease & of course Matthew wanted to feed right when she put everything in the oven. Thankfully all of us are Moms of two children & used to things never running as smoothly as you want them to & having one child choosing an inopportune moment to 'demand' something of you.

Kate's thinking behind this approach was that the kids could go home with nice full bellies & have great naps for their mommies. Kate however, learned the drawback to this approach. When I have hosted play dates for a lot of kids & they stay later than usual or through lunch, Sydney typically does not nap because it takes her too long to wind down. When I called Kate in the afternoon, she too was suffering trying to get both kids settled into a nap. So, thank you Kate for your consideration & kindness towards our children...but were you successful with yours?

I also have to say a very big thank you to my friend Wendy. She was kind enough to watch Sydney for me in the afternoon so that I could go to a visitation for a friend's mother. Upon leaving Kate's I dropped Sydney off with Wendy & Sydney immediately went down for her nap (which I am positive would not have happened had I brought her home). Sydney got to play more with Ellie & Katie after naps & thankfully did not give Wendy any difficulties.

All I have to say is that it is great to have friends who are also moms & know what little things can help you out a lot.

Scooter

Well, Jason is officially on the move now. He is no longer just inching along, but moving at the speed of a turtle. I realize that a turtle is not very fast, but at turtle his size does move more than an inch at a time. In the past couple days he has also shown signs that he may crawl, but there is still that primary requirement of having your belly parallel to the floor & I believe he still has a certain aversion to that position.

Since he can hardly lift his bum off the floor, he also prefers travelling on the ceramic tile or the hardwood. Has to work harder on carpet & outside...well he hardly moves at all.

Go, Diego, Go!!!

Today, Brad's brother & I ventured to Toronto with Sydney & Max to see Go, Diego, Go. Rather than deal with the drive & cost of parking, we thought we would give the kids an extra treat by taking them on the train. Apparently this did turn out to be a special treat for Sydney as she says it was her favourite part of the day.

The kids were good, the show was good, so all in all it was a pretty good day. Both Sydney & Max were bouncing off one another when we first got of the train, but the novelty wore off much quicker for Max than it did Sydney & I think her excitement started to get on his nerves. We took an 8:45 train so there were not too many commuters, which was probably a good thing since there was a lot of 2 to 4 year olds on the train. Obviously we were not the only ones thinking it was a good idea to take advantage of transit.

I am one of those people that will be easily suckered by my kids when they want to buy overpriced souvenirs at shows, because I was one of those kids that wanted that stuff. We even went to look at it afterwards, but Sydney really wasn't interested. So, I figured it was best to walk away without anything rather than set an expectation for her that she doesn't initiate.

Of course, cameras were not allowed during the performance- so there are no shots of it. Here are a few of Sydney & Max.

Nothing like sugar smothered on a bagel to get ready for her big day.

Sydney & Max raring to go

Why do they put pockets on kids pants?

Yeah, free Baby Jaguar masks. This was all they needed to be happy.

What a bloody mess

This morning Sydney came out of her room with yet another bloody nose. This does not happen often, but does happen on occasion. However, nothing in the past has compared to this morning. From her nose to her mouth was completely blood stained. There was also blood from her nose back to her ear from lying on her side. Her pillow had two large blood stains, one the size of a large mango. Her comforter had four blood stains, two comparable to her pillow & two small. Her blankie was stained & her other pillow was stained.

It took five minutes of pressure on her nose to get it to stop & when she sneezed I saw that her mouth was also filled with blood. Thankfully, none of this seems to concern her. However, the cause of the nose bleeds is starting to concern me. She is picking her nose & causing it to bleed. A few weeks ago I spoke to the doctor about it & she told me not to be concerned about how much it bleeds as the nose is very sensitive & will bleed quite easily if irritated. I tried to talk to Sydney this morning about not picking because look at how much it bled & all she could say was "my nose was crusty Mommy". I think I am going to have to start lubing her nose with Vaseline.

If I had to find a good thing about this morning, I learned that shampoo is very effective at getting rid of blood stains on cotton. Thank you Google.

Mother of Two

Mother's Day did not get off to a very great start, but it ended very nicely. On Saturday night Max stayed over & it took a while for him to settle to sleep because he missed his mom. Sydney too took a long time to get to sleep & probably finally went to sleep an hour & half later than she usually does. Does not bode well for a "happy" day the next day.

During the night Max was up multiple times & at 2am I was getting close to calling his Mom & Dad to come get him. But thankfully that was the last we heard from Max until around 6am, but unfortunately Jason woke up at 5am. I started the day by saying "Happy freaking Mother's Day" to Brad. We were both rather tired & not exactly up to snuff to participating in a very busy day.

My Mom came down to see us & we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens for brunch. It was OK, but Brad thought that the Junior Farmer's brunch that we usually go to in Atwood is much better considering the bill for 3 of us there is less than $20 compared to the $100 bill from the RBG brunch. Although the food was good, I must say that I agree with him. Thankfully Sydney was free, but she ate very well. Jason didn't nap well in the morning, so he was a little testy during our meal & Sydney was also tired so with the two kids it was a bit like walking on eggshells to be sure you didn't set one of them off. Although there moods were a little volatile, we did get some nice pictures before we left.
Brad's family came over in the afternoon & we ordered take-out Chinese. Thankfully the weather was very nice so we could sit outside & enjoy the sunshine. We tried to get a picture of Dale with the grand kids, but the one shown here is the best we could get. Trying to coordinate a 2 year old, 3 year old & 9 month old is not an easy task.

Our neighbours were having their family over so they had opened their pool this week so that the backyard looked presentable. Although the water was only 67 degrees, the kids were in swimming. Oh, to be young again.

Pillow Fight

He may not be one yet, but Sydney & Jason have had their first pillow fight. Saturday morning they were pushing the cushion back & forth at each other and having a riot. It was so funny to watch & we finally heard a good hearty laugh from Jason.

Lovable, not always likeable

Cheerios & puff cereal cause no problems.
A runny nose will even help you save some for later.

Jason is always lovable, but at mealtimes he is not always likable. This morning was the first meal that did not involve a screaming fit since lunchtime on Wednesday. They say that at this point in the baby's life you should be introducing them to many different tastes & textures because it will not be as easy to get them to try new things as they get older.

Well, if this is the case- Jason's eating repertoire will be even smaller than mine was as a kid. I realize that since I was such a picky eater as a kid I should not be so surprised that I have been cursed with one myself & should have more patience with him. However, I do not think that I screamed bloody murder as soon as something I didn't want entered my mouth. I don't think that we will ever have to worry about wondering about how Jason feels about something, because he does appear quite willing to let you know...loudly. Our neighbours could hear him on Wednesday night & she just laughed when I told her that he was screaming because I put some rice & chicken in his mouth. She laughs because she is not sitting at our dinner table.

I borrowed a cookbook from a friend yesterday that has some baby-friendly recipes in it- hopefully this will bring Jason closer to eating more "table" food so that we can get away from the jarred food. I really don't get why he would rather eat that revolting looking stuff than fresh food prepared lovingly by his Mommy, but we are more successful with it than we are with our attempts.

A morning in the woods

On Monday I took Sydney & Jason for their first official "hike". I did not venture this alone, but went with a friend & her two kids. Sydney & Rain had fun climbing on tree stumps, logs & rocks. Moxie & Jason did very well & seemed to enjoy it too. It was my first outing with Jason in the back carrier & the ache between my shoulder blades Monday night taught me that I will need to pay more attention to my posture the next time.

This is a trail that Logan got to run on a lot before the kiddies came along, so she was thrilled to be back. However, in paying attention to what Sydney was doing I did not pay as much attention to Logan. So, as my punishment for that I had to bathe a poopy dog when we got home. I do not know why she needs to roll in crap, but it is a thing that she will do when we are out & she finds a stinky (& often slimey) mess to roll in.

Jason & Moxie patiently waiting to go.

Sydney & Rain

If you look to the right of the picture you will see Logan on her search for a good roll.

Nature's balancing apparatus. Tree stumps & moss covered rocks.

Not yet, but he's trying

He's working on pulling himself up, but not there yet.

He has however reached his goal of getting the cupboard door open & pulling all the bowls out.

Nine Months

Thankfully this past month has been much more restful than the week prior to you turning 8 months old. Right after your 8 month birthday you slept through the night 3 nights in a row. Then Easter weekend hit & that was the end of that stretch. So, I decided to dilute your bottle to be mostly water hoping that you would not be interested in waking up for a watered down bottle. But for 3 nights you did. On the third night you started to play with my face rather than drinking, so that was the end of our mid-night feeding. The next night you slept until 5am & fussed for about half an hour before returning to sleep. There was probably 3 nights of that & since then you have been doing great. I was expecting that you would scream loud enough to wake everyone on our street when I did not come to you, but that never happened. I was very pleased that this whole "learning experience" involved very little crying.

Some other things that you have started to do are:

• randomly wave bye-bye
• drink your bottle all by yourself
• eat some finger foods- mainly Cheerios, bananas & anything in a bread format
• you love to shake your head "no" at anyone who will play your game
  

A few days ago you finally started to show signs of getting ready to crawl. You slowly scoot around on your bum & you have finally started to use your arms when leaning forward. One of your favourite goals is to reach the cupboard with the plastic containers to try & get the door open. You are definitely a boy that loves to open drawers & doors.

You like to 'play' more now too & you love to be outside. You love to play with any toy that plays music & you bounce up and down to the songs. You are a sorter- stacking cups & puzzle pieces will draw your attention every time. You had your first introduction to grass, sand, & stones & you were mildly interested in them. It took a bit, but you now are putting them in your mouth which is not what we want. You also had your first swing ride at the park & you really enjoyed it- but thought it was best when your sister was on the swings too.

You are becoming a much smilier guy, but you still don't hand them out freely. You tend to save your smiles for those who you know best & not perfect strangers. You also got 2 more teeth, so you now have six (4 on top, 2 on bottom).

All in all it has been a very fun month with you & makes me dread going back to work.

His scooting may now be purposeful,
but he doesn't always get where he was aiming to go.

Loves to ride in the little car.

Like your sister when she was a baby, you have no hair.
Therefore, you need to keep your hat on when outside & thankfully it is going well.

Not sure how long this sandbox will hold the 2 of them.

Test Run

Yesterday I met with my boss to discuss things at work. She will be gone on mat leave when I get back to work (in less than 3 months, sniff sniff).

If yesterday was to be considered a test run of what things will like when I return, it was not fun. Although I did not have to have the kids to Grandma & Papa's until 11am, getting out the door seemed to be more difficult than it should. Then my meeting ran much later than I planned & to top it off it was raining. Trying to get home from Scarborough in rush hour traffic on a rainy day resulted in a 2 hour drive.

We do not have a car seat for Jason in Brad's car, so he could not go pick them up. Therefore, I arrived at 6:40pm to pick them up. Sydney of course didn't want to leave & was not impressed to be rushed by me. Jason essentially came home, into his pj's, drank his bottle & straight to bed. No real Mommy-time for him.

I know that this is not a typical day at work for me, but there will be some days that I will not get home until this time if I am coming from Scarborough. Thankfully at that point Jason can face forward & we will have 2 car seats in each car so that Brad can do pick-up too. But that means that I will only see the kids for 30 minutes to an hour before they go to bed. Sniff sniff.

Kinda brown

Here is a picture that shows that Jason is close to being a brown-eyed baby. Although I was hoping to have a brown-eyed child, I actually hope that Jason's eyes stay the way they are now. They are brown right around the pupil and the outside of his iris is blue. Typically a very dark blue, but his eyes will change depending on what he is wearing. Sometimes they are more brown & sometimes more blue.

I am not sure, but I think this classifies his eye colour as hazel doesn't it?

We are still waiting for the hair to come in, but I am continuing to hope that it is darker rather than lighter. He is such a mini-me of his father, that I would like one distinguishing feature to match mine.

(Yes, he has a cold again!!!)

Glimmers of Movement

It looks like Jason will be choosing bum-scooting as his form of movement. He has been moving around for a few days, but there was no sign that the movement was purposeful. This morning when we were playing, he was actually trying to move to get to the toy. He does not move very far or very fast, but it looks like a start. If in two attempts he is not getting any closer, he gives up. Not really what you want to see, but at least he wasn't crying because he couldn't reach it.

Right now it appears that balls are a toy of choice & worthy of his effort to move. He also impressed me this morning with his ability to take a ball & place it in the hole where it is supposed to go. He has a few different toys that require this skill & understanding, but so far the knowledge seems to be tied to the elephant ring stacking toy.

It is amazing how many more things you notice when his big sister is not around to distract you or take over in his play.

Note: you need to look at the lines in the carpet to see that he actually moved an inch or two to get what he wanted.

Barefoot experiences

Now that the weather is finally producing days that are warm enough to bare some skin, Jason is experiencing some of the neatest "firsts" of spring/summer.

Barefoot in the grass. See how he has his one foot curled up?
Wasn't too sure at first.

Barefoot in the sand.
Not too much of a response & remarkably he didn't put any in his mouth.

Playing on the swings.
Even more fun with your sister.