ahhh, summer

Ahhh, summer is one of my favourite times of year. We always get to see family and friends we don't see for the other 10/12ths of the year, and that's always lovely. We've also been busy trying to get out lots to enjoy the summer while it's here. Hence the reduced frequency of blog posts! We stopped briefly at Mavillette beach (about 30 minutes from here) on our way to drop off our friends at the ferry yesterday - it was beautiful, warm, sunny, and sandy, if a little overcast. My in-laws and one set of Adam's grandparents are here for a few days (it's really lovely to see them with Phillip) so I just might find some new Frenchy's finds to post about in the next couple of days. Now it's time to get up from your chair and either go outside and enjoy a deep breath of fresh air (depending on where you live, it might not be that fresh, I suppose) or do something unexpectedly nice for someone. Or both!

ellenwood

We had a fabulous outing yesterday to Ellenwood Park, and Phillip was so happy! We ran into a couple and their baby who we attended prenatal class with, so that was nice. Phillip slept for awhile while I read a Martha magazine from last summer - it was perfect.

lashes and laughs and a birthday bash

This little guy is the happiest person on earth after his first feed of the morning. I always get a couple smiles, and yesterday he made the first little laughy sounds to go with the smiles!

We went to a friend's parent's camp to celebrate a birthday for most of the day yesterday, which was absolutely lovely. Phillip had a fussy kind of day, which was too bad, but we still had a good time (I hope everyone else did and didn't mind his crying!) We played games (my favourite thing - even if I'm just watching other people play it relaxes me) and hung out and had a delicious birthday supper. Have you ever played bocce with a baby in a carrier on your front? It's much harder than it looks.

the toes, the toes!

As Phillip's toes get fatter and fatter (and consequently cuter and cuter), they're looking more and more like his dad's. Maybe it's just because he's got them squinched up. Regardless, they're pretty sweet little sausages.

The wee one had a standard night last night - he ate at 11, woke at 2 to eat, and was awake for an hour and 45 minutes, which is what we'd like to get him out of the habit of doing (ideally, he'd go right back to sleep, like he does after his 11 feed). Then he was up at 6, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I was noticing in the middle of the night that his smell is one of the things I enjoy most about being with Phillip - babies just smell delicious! And he's smiling more now, especially after he eats. That makes things a bit more fun - as much as I want him to stay small, I'm excited for when he'll be interacting more with his environment. It's fun, it's fun!

5 1/2 weeks

Phillip is 5 1/2 weeks old, and went almost 5 hours without eating again last night - yay! And since Adam gave him his last feed, I slept for almost 6 uninterrupted hours - double yay! I took these pictures of him this morning; notice the chubby cheeks, double chin, neck rolls and wrist bracelet of fat. He's packing on the pounds, that's for sure. We noticed last night that his knees have disappeared, and his feet now look in proportion with his body. His shoulder fuzz is gone, and I think he might be starting to lose some of his hair. He cried tears for the first time on Monday, and has outgrown some of his clothes - ack! He's down for his afternoon nap, and I think I'm off to dreamland to join him for an hour or so.

nasturtium

5 1/2 hours!

Yay! Phillip went for 5 1/2 hours without eating last night! He woke up in there because he unswaddled himself and his arms were flailing around, so with that and counting feeding time I didn't exactly get to sleep for 5 1/2 uninterrupted hours, but it was a very good night. Hopefully tonight he'll sleep for 5 1/2 hours...

Pictures were taken by mother-in-law when they were here a couple weeks ago - cute, eh?

house mouse notes

I brought in some flowers from the garden last night to liven up the house a bit. Since I've been spending so much time here with Phillip, I thought I would post a few things I've noticed in the house. (And then I'm off for a nap!) I couldn't find a suitable vase for the daisies, so I cut them really short and tucked them in this little jar. Cute!
The peonies have come (and almost gone). The rain beat them up a bit the other day, so the pink outer petals are a bit bruised, but it's still beautiful. Check out Adam's peony pictures on his site.
Remember last summer when I found this magnificent mug at a yard sale? Well, it was being picked up to be washed yesterday, and the handle broke, the mug fell to the floor and here are its remains in the garbage. :(
I was thinking today about how much I enjoy these jars. I often see them at Frenchy's for 10 cents each, which is where I found these ones.

one month

Phillip is one month old today! He had his check-up with the doctor this morning, and he weighs 10 pounds 12 ounces and is 24 inches tall. He's peachy in every way possible and healthy as a horse. Mother-in-law bought this carrier for us awhile ago, and we tried it out for the first time today. I love it, especially how his little legs hang out! We waited to try it because there's no head rest persay, so we wanted his neck muscles to be a little stronger. I've been playing with adjusting it a bit, and it's really comfortable. Phillip likes it, too. MIL also bought an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder for us which we've been using a bit. It's OK, but I don't think it's the right size for me, so it's not terribly comfortable and Phillip seems to squish around a lot. But it does free up one hand. This one is also nicer because I can comfortably have both hands free (because the other one isn't quite the right size I don't like taking my hand away from supporting Phillip in case he decides to heave his head out. He doesn't like having his head way down in, so it's always peeking out.) Another first for the day - we tried the first cloth diapers on Phillip today, since he's a bit bigger! So far, so good, and no leaks! I used the prefolds with Bummis Super Whisper Wraps. They're definitely a lot bulkier than disposables, but Phillip doesn't seem to mind, and I certainly don't!
Mmmmmmm, fatty fatty milk. Adam noticed this morning that Phillip's getting fat bracelets on his little wrists! You know, where there's a big crease between fat rolls. How cute. It's so amazing that I can provide exactly what he needs to eat, without having to do anything to make it except for eating and drinking lots of water, which are things I do anyway. Incredible!
And shoulder fuzz! This was one of the first things that I noticed when I looked Phillip over after he was born. I wanted to take a picture before it falls out. Happy one-month birthday, Phillip!

strawberries, spiders, and lettuce - oh my!

I was admiring how well my strawberry plants are doing this evening, when I noticed something strange on one of the plants...
a lineup of tiny spiders, seemingly crawling willy-nilly over a web, back and forth, back and forth. I took a closer look and found the source -
a ball 'o spiders! A teeny, teeming ball of itsy bitsy spiders. When I took a tissue to brush them off of the strawberry plant, they scattered in all directions.
We had some salad the other night with lettuce from our garden, yay! It's delicious, and no bugs (or squirrels, Josh) seem to be interested in eating it. We have red leaf lettuce (above), green leaf lettuce, (below) and butter lettuce (below below on the far right). Mmmmm!

And the blossoms are starting to appear on the sugar snap peas, yay!

mr. fish lips

Ah, more pictures of the much-adored baby of the house. Newborns need lots of sucking time, and to save our pinkie fingers, we sometimes give Phillip a pacifier - it's not too often that he really wants to suck for a long time; I've read that breastfed babies need less sucking time than bottle-fed ones. After about 3 months, they no longer need so much sucking time, and away disappears the pacifier forever (you will not see Phillip having a pacifier popped into his mouth at the slightest peep when he's two.) I think this pacifier is hilarious because you can see right into his mouth, and his lips are perfectly round. Tee-hee, what a cutie. Even with his baby acne, which is supposed to clear up on its own.

We introduced the bottle to Phillip a few days ago, and he took it no problem from his dad, which made for one happy mum! It's nice to know that if I can't be home for a feeding or whatever, he'll take it. It seems as though it wouldn't matter what source it came from, if it involves milk, Phillip's happy to take it. The breastpump I bought is a Medela mini-electric, and I like it just fine. I've never tried any other ones, so I don't know if I would like them any better or worse, but this one does the job admirably.

Cloth diapers - we haven't been able to use any of our cloth diapers yet, because Phillip is so small! Doctors kept saying that he would be a big baby, so the diapers I bought are mostly 10-22lb size, and we also have a bunch of prefolds, all of which are the 'regular' size, and there's no way I can figure out to get them wrapped around him until he's a bit bigger. (Turns out that he was sitting so high when I was pregnant that it appeared that he was giant, when he was really just really high up.) So we're using disposables for now, which I am more OK with than I would have thought I would be, probably because I don't have much time to think about it. But he's growing like a weed (his cheeks looked positively fat today) so it won't be long before he's in the cloth ones.

I'm feeling fairly well rested after a nice long nap this afternoon, and I had a haircut this morning which always makes me feel more presentable. Phillip's sleeping away (although I'm hearing some squeaks, so he might need to be changed) and I've got a couple more thank-you notes to write before Adam gets home from work. It's a lovely and peaceful day in the neighbourhood!

3 weeks

Phillip turned 3 weeks old yesterday, and here's what he looked like at various points in the day. We all thought his little golf onesie and socks was very cute, but he seemed less enthused.

weigela and other wonders

It's my favourite time of the year in the garden - there are things in bloom, but there are still many more things to come and so much potential. With every plant or flower that passes its peak, though, I'm a little sad that I have to wait all the way until next year to see them again. First, the crocuses, then daffodils, lily of the valley... but that's the nature of the thing. Our little veggie garden is doing very well - the peas are climbing, the green onions are delicious, the lettuce and carrots are looking good. And the roses are here, yay! I've taken Phillip out to smell them several times this week. Mmmmmm.

toes

Remember the sling I made awhile ago? Phillip likes being toted around in it, which is especially handy when I'm here by myself and would like to have my hands free while hanging out with him. I had him in it for a bit yesterday, and he just had to have his toes out.

bug

An oh-so-cute organic cotton kimono from Phillip's aunt and uncle-to-be! And Adam in his oh-so-hip CBC t-shirt. There's a hat to match the kimono, but it won't fit the little man until he's about 12.

drooping star of bethlehem

This flower appeared where I thought I had only planted daffodils. I bought a couple boxes of bulbs last fall, and this must have been mixed in. Adam found out that it's called a 'drooping star of Bethlehem' and it's beautiful!
This baby bird (I'm assuming it's a baby, because of the funny head fuzz and concerned newborn look) was sitting in the snowball tree this afternoon. The lilac tree is right behind; the blooms are just starting to fade.

hanging out

After eating (which is going very well), Phillip has a lovely and pleasant awake and alert time. This morning after his breakfast, he and I were just hanging out in bed, so I took a couple of pictures. I think his eyes are going to be like his dad's! And he had an excellent night last night (Adam and I were each only up for an hour!) so hopefully that will be the way things are from here on out. I love the concerned look he has in the second picture - 'Please, never take this finger away from me!' with hands clasped on either cheek and his wrinkly old man forehead. What a cutie!

bath

It's a bit fuzzy, but here's Phillip post-bath tonight in the cutest little bathrobe I found at Frenchy's awhile ago.

lilacs

Phillip was born at a great gardening time - he didn't miss the cherry tree, the lilacs were in bloom when we arrived home, the lily of the valley are just passing their peak, and everything else is growing wildly!

dunstan baby language

A woman at prenatal class mentioned Dunstan Baby Language, and I thought it sounded interesting and made sense, but I only looked into some more details this morning. A woman in Australia named Priscilla Dunstan has a photographic memory for sound, and when she had her son, learned to interpret his cries. She was featured on Oprah recently, and a brief summary is here. The sounds a newborn makes are based on reflexes, and since crying is the newborn's way of communicating, it only makes sense that their specific cries have specific meanings. This woman was simply able to put words to the cries. For example, the "hungry" cry sounds like "neh" and is based on the sucking reflex, where the baby has his/her tongue at the roof of the mouth, making the "n" sound. The sounds are as follows:
"neh" - hunger
"eh" - needs to burp (air in chest)
"owh" - sleepy
"heh" discomfort
"eair" gas pain, crampy (lower belly)

So far, so good as far as accuracy - you can, of course, buy her DVD which has lots more information from dunstanbaby.com

the hobo king himself

Here's Phillip the One-eyed Hobo King himself. I'm thankful that he seems to really have two beautiful intact eyes, although I guess I would be a good mom to have if he did have a visual impairment!
A bit more what he usually looks like.
And here's his hair - it's a lot thicker in the back than the front. Mmmm, I love it!

baby brain

Adam brought me this tulip from our garden when I was admitted to the hospital. It made everything even better!
The Glowworm.
Baby G's state right now.

Good grief, my brain is functioning at an astonishingly feeble level. I did manage to sleep for a few hours more than usual last night, and realized that in the most recent post I wrote 'heretofore' when I meant 'hereafter', and thought that was so funny that I would leave it there to remind myself of my state of mind. I know things will only get better, as they have been so far.

The birth story in a very small nutshell:
Last Wednesday, Adam and I went to my regularly scheduled prenatal clinic appointment. My blood pressure was still high, and when I showed the doctor the readings I had taken at home, she frowned and said that she wanted the OB to see me that day. So I went in to an assessment room where they monitored Phillip and my blood pressure and other vitals. The OB came to see me and said that since I was 39 weeks and the baby was ready for the world, they wanted to induce me because my blood pressure wasn't good for either me or baby G. We agreed, I was admitted, Adam scurried home to pick up the stuff we would need, we called our families to let them know, and were hoping to have a baby on Thursday. I was given three 'gels' to induce labour. Well, the labour part (contractions) was definitely experienced (wow, it's amazing and intense and I think I would have died without using breathing techniques) but by Saturday morning (phew, I was tired!) nothing had changed as far as things opening up for a baby to get through, and there was no reason to believe that they would. So on Saturday afternoon, I had a c-section (my first ever surgical procedure - pretty big one!) and Phillip arrived, yay! It's kind of funny, because anyone who knows me knows how much I was looking forward to doing things as naturally as possible, avoiding any drugs, etc. And I ended up having the most 'medical' birth ever. The reason we were in hospital for so long was because I lost a lot of blood and am pretty weak (it won't really be back to normal levels for about a month) and my blood pressure is still high (which should settle down soon). My incision is pretty painful and I can't do any lifting, driving, or rolling over and getting out of bed easily (one of the things I was most looking forward to after pregnancy!) But all in all, I'm fine, Phillip's fine, and we're one happy family! Adam has been beyond amazing through the whole thing, and I really could not possibly put into words how thankful I am for him. He's the most amazing dad (and husband) ever.

I wasn't going to post baby G's name, but changed my mind. He's Phillip the One-Eyed Hobo King (when I get the chance, I'll try to capture some of his funny one-eyed glares). OK, his real name is Phillip Benjamin Graham. Otherwise known as 'Glowworm' (what he looks like when swaddled), or 'squawker'. He's amazing!

welcome, baby G!

I'm sure that many of you have probably concluded that the lack of posts in the past week have been because of some major happenings around here, and you're right - baby G (heretofore referred to as P) arrived on Saturday afternoon at 2:50 with quite the hurrah. We just arrived home from the hospital this afternoon with our fabulous son, and we're sure that you'll agree that he's perfect. He's definitely an 'angel baby' so far!