When we were pregnant, Ange and I took yoga together at Queen Street Yoga in downtown Kitchener. It's a spacious studio with terrific instructors and many types of classes - I highly recommend it! They teach a Parent & Peanut class as well so I thought we could get back into yoga together with our little ones. However, it turned out that these classes are on Wednesday mornings and Ange has Leena then (who is 2 1/2) so this didn't work out for her.
But! She found another "Mom + Baby" class at the Svasukha yoga studio (Uptown Waterloo) which is on Tuesday mornings, so we made plans to check it out this morning. Unfortunately Ange & Sam didn't make it until near the end of the class as he had his 2 month checkup beforehand which ran late, but S and I managed to get there on time (impressive for us, as we're still honing our time management skillz when it comes to getting places, especially in the morning!) The class was a nice combination of baby bonding/cuddling and flowing postures designed to help new moms regain strength and restore abdominal muscles and back stability. I alternated between taking part in the poses and feeding, changing and snuggling S who was, for the most part, in good spirits and enjoying the new environment but also had a couple "Whoa - what's going on?" moments!
Of the five other moms who took part in today's class, it turns out I know two of them and Ange knows a third! Shara was there with her little boy Sam who is 4 months old; I've known her for awhile and she's another blogger and cloth diapering mama! It was also good to see Jenn Forristal, who is a naturopath at the Roberts Centre of Integrative Medicine. I saw her a couple years back when Chris and I were starting to think about getting pregnant. She has the funniest little guy who is really vocal and had us thoroughly entertained during the class! Finally, Ange and Naz worked together several years back at Conestoga-Rovers & Associates. S was enraptured with Naz's little girl Taryn - possibly because their names are so similar? :)
All in all, a fun class and a great group of ladies! Ange and I are planning to go back next week and will likely grab the discounted 8-week pass. Many thanks to Kerri, our instructor, for allowing S and I to join despite the fact that we didn't (realize we needed to) pre-register. Oops! We'll definitely drop a note to confirm next week!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Date night & first (planned) bottle!
Chris and I went on a date last night! :) It was a traditional dinner 'n' movie affair - Mediterraneo for Greek cuisine (delicious) followed by "Black Swan" at the Princess Twin (Aronofsky in peak form - thoroughly engrossing!). It was cooooold out so we grabbed Starbucks on the way home - decaf for me, of course! We did miss our little one, especially during dinner as we were reminded of her by a couple with a 6-ish month old baby girl at the table beside us, but it was definitely good to get out for some time together with just the two of us. We decided we'll try to do this at least once a month.
Mom and Norm came over to babysit S while we were out. This was the first time that S was *intentionally* bottle fed; we had no choice when I was in the hospital back in December. I was a bit concerned she wouldn't take a bottle since it had been so long (and since she outrightly rejects pacifiers) so we did a "trial run" on Friday night; she fussed a bit but did take it once she realized hey, this is where my food is coming from right now. :) Apparently she was pretty agreeable when Mom fed her last night, so that was good. It's reassuring to know that she WILL take a bottle now when need be, but that she still prefers da boob when it comes down to it! Plus, all that pumping beforehand and cleaning afterwards reiterated how much extra time, planning and effort is involved in bottle vs. breast feeding, especially when using expressed breast milk. Words can't express how happy and thankful I am that S and I persevered and managed to overcome our early issues with latching & whatnot - sooo worth it!
Mom and Norm came over to babysit S while we were out. This was the first time that S was *intentionally* bottle fed; we had no choice when I was in the hospital back in December. I was a bit concerned she wouldn't take a bottle since it had been so long (and since she outrightly rejects pacifiers) so we did a "trial run" on Friday night; she fussed a bit but did take it once she realized hey, this is where my food is coming from right now. :) Apparently she was pretty agreeable when Mom fed her last night, so that was good. It's reassuring to know that she WILL take a bottle now when need be, but that she still prefers da boob when it comes down to it! Plus, all that pumping beforehand and cleaning afterwards reiterated how much extra time, planning and effort is involved in bottle vs. breast feeding, especially when using expressed breast milk. Words can't express how happy and thankful I am that S and I persevered and managed to overcome our early issues with latching & whatnot - sooo worth it!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sucks to be a baby
Before S arrived, Chris and I agreed that we wouldn't be quick to pop in a pacifier, at least not in the first few weeks as we wanted to avoid nipple confusion and didn't want her to develop an early reliance on it to calm herself. We've also seen what an asspain it can be to constantly contend with lost/misplaced soo-soos, and then there's the whole fun process of weaning a reluctant toddler. That said, we weren't vehemently against the prospect of using them and did register for a couple; we figured it would be wise to have an additional tool in the ol' box in the event we found ourselves with a freaky zeaky infant who couldn't be consoled by (seemingly) any other method.
Fast forward several weeks and what do we learn on a particularly fussy night? Our li'l girl refuses to take a pacifier anyway. Go figure.
But she does suck. Yes, yes she does. She sucks the life out of her li'l fingers and hands! So much so that she has little dry patches on the back of each palm. So much so that we've amended a Hall and Oates song in dedication to her mad suckage: Ohh here she comes. Watch out boy she'll chew you up! Ohh here she comes. She's a hand eater!
She sucks when she's upset; she sucks when she's bored; she sucks when she's amused. For awhile we weren't sure whether to be amused or concerned by this until one day recently her motor skills had advanced to the point where she'd isolated the sucking to her little thumb. Uh oh! A thumb sucker in the making! Should we pull her hand away, we wondered? Try to distract her with toys or games? After all, it's a well known fact that thumb sucking can cause problems with dental development, right?
I did a little research, and it turns out we needn't worry - at least not at this point. According to the majority of sites I checked out, no harm is done to a little one's teeth or jaws until ages 4-6 when permanent teeth begin to come in, and the majority of babies who suck their thumbs or fingers naturally wean themselves off before their first birthdays. So hey - if it brings our girl comfort and feels good to her while she's just a wee thing, then why not? Hey - it's a built in binky; one more thing we don't have to spend any money on! :)
Fast forward several weeks and what do we learn on a particularly fussy night? Our li'l girl refuses to take a pacifier anyway. Go figure.
But she does suck. Yes, yes she does. She sucks the life out of her li'l fingers and hands! So much so that she has little dry patches on the back of each palm. So much so that we've amended a Hall and Oates song in dedication to her mad suckage: Ohh here she comes. Watch out boy she'll chew you up! Ohh here she comes. She's a hand eater!
She sucks when she's upset; she sucks when she's bored; she sucks when she's amused. For awhile we weren't sure whether to be amused or concerned by this until one day recently her motor skills had advanced to the point where she'd isolated the sucking to her little thumb. Uh oh! A thumb sucker in the making! Should we pull her hand away, we wondered? Try to distract her with toys or games? After all, it's a well known fact that thumb sucking can cause problems with dental development, right?
I did a little research, and it turns out we needn't worry - at least not at this point. According to the majority of sites I checked out, no harm is done to a little one's teeth or jaws until ages 4-6 when permanent teeth begin to come in, and the majority of babies who suck their thumbs or fingers naturally wean themselves off before their first birthdays. So hey - if it brings our girl comfort and feels good to her while she's just a wee thing, then why not? Hey - it's a built in binky; one more thing we don't have to spend any money on! :)
Monday, February 7, 2011
The big move...
On Friday night, Chris' mom pointed out that it was high time we moved S from her bassinet to her "big girl" crib. Although I'd hoped to keep her in our bedroom until 3+ months, she outgrew the bassinet sooner than expected so we had to agree that the big move to her nursery was in order!
We tried her out in the crib for the first time that night. Unfortunately, we'd made the mistake (in hindsight) of having jerk chicken for dinner; it appears that in addition to a likely caffeine sensitivity, S's little tummy may also have an aversion to spicy food as she ended up fussing and crying until about 2:30 AM. (Gah - another culinary favourite I'll have to cut out of my diet!) I slept for the last hour or two of this and my vunderful husband performed the required labour of love, soothing and calming her until eventually she conked out. He put her in the crib at that point and she slept until about 7 AM. Saturday night she was in there for another 5ish hour chunk, and then finally last night she slept through the night from 12:30 until 8 AM.
I was pretty sure the transition would go well for S, as she didn't exactly heart the bassinet. She'd sleep there fine once she was sufficiently tired at night, but she pretty much refused to nap in it during the day, preferring any of three chairs (bouncer, swing and extra car seat) we have scattered around the main floor. It appears that once she reaches her "sufficiently tired" point at night, however, she'll sleep anywhere - the challenge is getting her to that point. :) I was less sure how Chris and I would adapt to the move, but as it turned out it wasn't really a big deal. Her nursery's just around the corner and we keep the doors open so we can hear her clearly when she makes significant noise. I did have the urge to check on her frequently the first two nights, but last night I allowed myself to sink deeper into sleep and not worry about her too much. When I finally did get up to check her at about 6 or 6:30 AM, I was surprised to find that she had gone from this:
to this:
Although she has been getting a lot "kickier" over the last few weeks and has gained the ability to roll onto her side, I had no idea she'd become this much of a mover 'n' shaker! Talk about taking advantage of all that new space! :)
She was sleeping peacefully so I decided to leave her be despite the wonky alignment. An hour or two later when I went back in for her morning feed, I found her like this:
At this point, I convinced myself that she was either teaching herself geometry or the four cardinal directions. I was tempted to let her sleep for another hour or two and discover North, but it was time to start the day! ;)
We tried her out in the crib for the first time that night. Unfortunately, we'd made the mistake (in hindsight) of having jerk chicken for dinner; it appears that in addition to a likely caffeine sensitivity, S's little tummy may also have an aversion to spicy food as she ended up fussing and crying until about 2:30 AM. (Gah - another culinary favourite I'll have to cut out of my diet!) I slept for the last hour or two of this and my vunderful husband performed the required labour of love, soothing and calming her until eventually she conked out. He put her in the crib at that point and she slept until about 7 AM. Saturday night she was in there for another 5ish hour chunk, and then finally last night she slept through the night from 12:30 until 8 AM.
I was pretty sure the transition would go well for S, as she didn't exactly heart the bassinet. She'd sleep there fine once she was sufficiently tired at night, but she pretty much refused to nap in it during the day, preferring any of three chairs (bouncer, swing and extra car seat) we have scattered around the main floor. It appears that once she reaches her "sufficiently tired" point at night, however, she'll sleep anywhere - the challenge is getting her to that point. :) I was less sure how Chris and I would adapt to the move, but as it turned out it wasn't really a big deal. Her nursery's just around the corner and we keep the doors open so we can hear her clearly when she makes significant noise. I did have the urge to check on her frequently the first two nights, but last night I allowed myself to sink deeper into sleep and not worry about her too much. When I finally did get up to check her at about 6 or 6:30 AM, I was surprised to find that she had gone from this:
to this:
Although she has been getting a lot "kickier" over the last few weeks and has gained the ability to roll onto her side, I had no idea she'd become this much of a mover 'n' shaker! Talk about taking advantage of all that new space! :)
She was sleeping peacefully so I decided to leave her be despite the wonky alignment. An hour or two later when I went back in for her morning feed, I found her like this:
At this point, I convinced myself that she was either teaching herself geometry or the four cardinal directions. I was tempted to let her sleep for another hour or two and discover North, but it was time to start the day! ;)
Friday, February 4, 2011
"When will we know" questions
As I'm sure many new parents do, Chris and I have been posing a lot of "When will we know?" questions to each other about S, concerning her physical traits in particular. When will we know what her permanent eye colour will be? How about hair colour? When will we know whether she will be left or right handed?
We have our theories/guesses. For example, we think she's going to have blue eyes as they're a really bright, solid blue right now. From what I've heard, a baby's eyes tend to be more gray or mottled if they're going to change colour. I've also noticed that she seems to prefer her left hand at this point when it comes to batting out at objects, grabbing onto my shirt when feeding, etc. Her hair is an interesting one. She still has her dark brown "mullet" at the back that she's had since birth, but the new hair growing in front and her eyebrows are a lot lighter, and sometimes look reddish under certain lighting.
That said, It seems that for most of these, we'll need to wait awhile to find out for sure! Handedness, for example, generally doesn't start to emerge until 6-9 months and shouldn't solidify until after 18 months (according to Babycenter). Hair and eye colour can apparently change multiple times and may not settle until the child is several years old! It'll be interesting to track these and other traits as she grows older, along with all the other fascinating developments still to come!
We have our theories/guesses. For example, we think she's going to have blue eyes as they're a really bright, solid blue right now. From what I've heard, a baby's eyes tend to be more gray or mottled if they're going to change colour. I've also noticed that she seems to prefer her left hand at this point when it comes to batting out at objects, grabbing onto my shirt when feeding, etc. Her hair is an interesting one. She still has her dark brown "mullet" at the back that she's had since birth, but the new hair growing in front and her eyebrows are a lot lighter, and sometimes look reddish under certain lighting.
That said, It seems that for most of these, we'll need to wait awhile to find out for sure! Handedness, for example, generally doesn't start to emerge until 6-9 months and shouldn't solidify until after 18 months (according to Babycenter). Hair and eye colour can apparently change multiple times and may not settle until the child is several years old! It'll be interesting to track these and other traits as she grows older, along with all the other fascinating developments still to come!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
No more Starbucks?
Chris and I have wondered for some time now whether S might have a sensitivity to caffeine. We've noticed that she seems to be fussier, more difficult to put down and more likely to wake through the night when I'd had one or more caffeinated bevvies, especially from the 'bucks. For example, yesterday I had a caramel macchiato and we couldn't get her to sleep until after midnight (when we'd had "success" the previous few nights getting her down by about 11 - more on this in an upcoming post) and then she woke at 3:30 and 7 to fuss 'n' feed (whereas she'd been starting to sleep for much longer chunks for several days). According to Babycenter and other sites, small amounts of caffeine are not harmful per se when breastfeeding, however some babies are particularly sensitive, exhibiting symptoms like we've noticed in S. Luckily it seems these babies usually grow past their sensitivity within 5-6 months. I do love my coffee (latte-based bevvies in particular as of late), however moreso for the taste and the experience than the caffeine, assuming I'm getting a decent amount of sleep. Which is almost exclusively dependent on S's habits on a particular night. Which (to my earlier point) appear to be negatively affected by the caffeine. Soooo, I figure the logical move here is to switch to decaf for awhile and thus eliminate the vicious circle; a much healthier and happier option for both of us! *nods*
Sunday, January 30, 2011
"S" @ 2 months: Punching Puppies
During her 2nd month, S grew like a weed and really began to develop a little personality! At last Monday's pediatrician appointment (on her 2 month "birthday") she weighed 10 lb 5 oz right after a big poop, and a day later clocked in at 10 lb 8 oz right before THREE big poops. So she's somewhere in there, anyway. :) Length-wise, the agreed upon consensus was just over 23 inches. She has almost outgrown her bassinet so will be moving very soon to her big girl bed in her own room! That'll be a bittersweet day!
Here is her "official" two month pic - retiring this romper as well (as much as we love it) as it's now stretching awkwardly over her puffy cloth dipes:
(Compare to her one month pic here.)
S tired of her black & white sailboat at around 6 weeks old so we replaced it (well OK, covered it for awhile since we were lazy) with a colourful stuffed doggy toy. At first she just stared at it, but a week or so later she started swatting at it. By the end of the month she was going postal on the poor thing - check out the backhand in particular at 0:24!
She has started swatting at the toys in her Baby Neptune gym as well - I'll get a video of this soon.
About midway through her 2nd month, she started experimenting with cute li'l sounds. She now coos at us from her bassinet in the morning and gurgles happily at her favourite toys. She is totally in love with her Sassy Flutterby Teether - another toy with bright contrasting colours and a big ol' smile! This video was taken when she was just 6 weeks old:
In terms of neck strength & head control, she's just about there! She still does the head flop every once in awhile, but she can now keep it up long enough for Dad to do fun stuff with her like this!
A few other noteworthy developments:
Finally, we started her on solids this month*. She really likes sushi - the spicy, crispy salmon rolls in particular:
* Yes, I'm kidding. No need to contact CPS.
:D
Here is her "official" two month pic - retiring this romper as well (as much as we love it) as it's now stretching awkwardly over her puffy cloth dipes:
(Compare to her one month pic here.)
S tired of her black & white sailboat at around 6 weeks old so we replaced it (well OK, covered it for awhile since we were lazy) with a colourful stuffed doggy toy. At first she just stared at it, but a week or so later she started swatting at it. By the end of the month she was going postal on the poor thing - check out the backhand in particular at 0:24!
She has started swatting at the toys in her Baby Neptune gym as well - I'll get a video of this soon.
About midway through her 2nd month, she started experimenting with cute li'l sounds. She now coos at us from her bassinet in the morning and gurgles happily at her favourite toys. She is totally in love with her Sassy Flutterby Teether - another toy with bright contrasting colours and a big ol' smile! This video was taken when she was just 6 weeks old:
In terms of neck strength & head control, she's just about there! She still does the head flop every once in awhile, but she can now keep it up long enough for Dad to do fun stuff with her like this!
A few other noteworthy developments:
- She turns in the direction of voices - especially familiar ones!
- Her attention span is longer. She'll focus for a good 5-10+ minutes on a book or a parade of animal "friends".
- Her legs are getting quite strong. She loves that pull in and stretch out move, especially during diaper changes. :) If we hold her upright, she pushes down and is showing early signs of wanting to bounce!
- She can now see people and objects from much farther away. For example, she loves watching hockey, but she's definitely not a Leafs fan:
Finally, we started her on solids this month*. She really likes sushi - the spicy, crispy salmon rolls in particular:
* Yes, I'm kidding. No need to contact CPS.
:D
Small world & sweet covers!
A few days ago during my regular Kijiji cruise for new cloth dipe listings, I saw an ad for 3 super cute covers - medium size, never worn and just $5 each! I emailed the seller for the brand as it wasn't clear from the photo; turned out they were made by a work at home mom (or "WAHM") who sells her stuff on Etsy. Check out her store - she has some great stuff! The Kijiji seller was letting the covers go at less than half the price as she was no longer cloth diapering her son and clearing out her stash. I wrote her back and told her I'd take'm.
So that was awesome - but even cooler was that it turns out the seller and I go way back. She and I were penpals in Grade 8! We both went to Catholic schools in the KW area, and our respective teachers were married to one another and had the idea of matching up their students to write back & forth. I remember having a lot of fun with this as she was really nice and had a sense of humour, and the two of us had a lot in common. We met once or twice as well. Turns out we still share some commonalities nearly 20 years later as we're both new moms, into living green.
Great to reconnect with you, Jaime - small world!!! :)
So that was awesome - but even cooler was that it turns out the seller and I go way back. She and I were penpals in Grade 8! We both went to Catholic schools in the KW area, and our respective teachers were married to one another and had the idea of matching up their students to write back & forth. I remember having a lot of fun with this as she was really nice and had a sense of humour, and the two of us had a lot in common. We met once or twice as well. Turns out we still share some commonalities nearly 20 years later as we're both new moms, into living green.
Great to reconnect with you, Jaime - small world!!! :)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
First vaccinations
Yesterday S got her 2 month Penta (diptheria-tetanus-pertussis, polio and Hep-B) and Prevnar (pneumococcal diseases) shots. She was a trooper - she did cry when the medication went in, but it wasn't the high-pitched "I trusted you both and you have FAILED me!" wailing I dreaded. After a few minutes, she calmed down and had pretty much forgotten the whole ordeal. She was a bit fussier than normal in the evening and it looked like her thighs were a tad swollen, but this morning she appears to be back to her normal, cooing, smiley self!
In terms of the "to vaccinate or not to vaccinate" debate, many of you know I'm not exactly the first person to spring to action when a new vaccine is introduced. I didn't get the H1N1 shot and I've only been inoculated against the annual flu once or twice. All in all, I'm healthy and I feel like my immune system will do its job if I were to come down with an illness like this. Plus, I'm not entirely comfortable with the amount of testing that goes into new vaccines. They need to ship these things quickly at times, so how can they guarantee that they are safe? On the flip side, most of the vaccinations given to infants and children are certainly tried, tested and true. Government authorities CAN state with confidence that the chance of serious side effects is extremely low. That said, one can debate why we're still routinely vaccinating everyone against old school illnesses; for example, Canada was certified polio-free in 1994 however vaccinations continue as part of the global polio eradication initiative. There was also that study conducted in the late 90s claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and the development of autism, however it was recently discovered that medical fraud was at play here. All in all, we did some reading when it came time for S's first shots and there is certainly a lion's share of anti-vaccine literature/propoganda (you choose) out there, but nothing which convinced me that the possible risks of our government-funded, routine vaccinations outweigh the benefits. We're of course going to monitor S closely each time she gets a shot, but otherwise we'll trust the system on this one.
In other health-related news, S had a visit with a pediatrician on Monday - Dr. Abdullah in Stratford. The doctor spent about 45 minutes with us reviewing our concerns and checking S out. It was nice to get this kind of comprehensive attention from a medical professional - unfortunately this strikes me as the exception rather than the rule. :-/ In any case, S is doing well. She does have some cradle cap and the doctor thought she might have a touch of reflux, but otherwise she's healthy and developing well! More on this in an upcoming post on her 2nd month! :)
In terms of the "to vaccinate or not to vaccinate" debate, many of you know I'm not exactly the first person to spring to action when a new vaccine is introduced. I didn't get the H1N1 shot and I've only been inoculated against the annual flu once or twice. All in all, I'm healthy and I feel like my immune system will do its job if I were to come down with an illness like this. Plus, I'm not entirely comfortable with the amount of testing that goes into new vaccines. They need to ship these things quickly at times, so how can they guarantee that they are safe? On the flip side, most of the vaccinations given to infants and children are certainly tried, tested and true. Government authorities CAN state with confidence that the chance of serious side effects is extremely low. That said, one can debate why we're still routinely vaccinating everyone against old school illnesses; for example, Canada was certified polio-free in 1994 however vaccinations continue as part of the global polio eradication initiative. There was also that study conducted in the late 90s claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and the development of autism, however it was recently discovered that medical fraud was at play here. All in all, we did some reading when it came time for S's first shots and there is certainly a lion's share of anti-vaccine literature/propoganda (you choose) out there, but nothing which convinced me that the possible risks of our government-funded, routine vaccinations outweigh the benefits. We're of course going to monitor S closely each time she gets a shot, but otherwise we'll trust the system on this one.
In other health-related news, S had a visit with a pediatrician on Monday - Dr. Abdullah in Stratford. The doctor spent about 45 minutes with us reviewing our concerns and checking S out. It was nice to get this kind of comprehensive attention from a medical professional - unfortunately this strikes me as the exception rather than the rule. :-/ In any case, S is doing well. She does have some cradle cap and the doctor thought she might have a touch of reflux, but otherwise she's healthy and developing well! More on this in an upcoming post on her 2nd month! :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Not really a parent until...
Today I heard two similar, interesting comments from two different mothers - that they didn't really feel like parents until a particular parental milestone was reached. For one, it was her son becoming mobile (and therefore requiring a lot more supervision and interaction), and for the other, it was the birth of her second child. This made me think that perhaps I haven't reached that milestone with S yet. Although Chris and my lives have certainly changed since she came into the world in terms of daily activities, priorities, long term goals, etc., and I spend a lot of time thinking and (obviously) writing about parenthood, I'm not sure it's really, fully kicked in yet. Perhaps this is because we still have a lot of "us time" as she naps a lot and is generally in good spirits when she's awake. Perhaps it's because her needs are relatively simple at this point which affords us a sense of control. Perhaps it's because she's only been with us for two months - a tiny fraction of the time the two of us have been on this earth.
So when will it fully "kick in" for us? As Chris pointed out, it could be anything - a first soccer goal, a first serious illness. Or heck, it could be when the last child has left home for university and our empty nest reminds us of what used to be. Who knows? That said, having spent the lunch hour with a 9 1/2 month old and the evening with two infants and two toddlers, I do feel that the most demanding aspects of parenthood are certainly still to come - but the most rewarding ones as well. :)
So when will it fully "kick in" for us? As Chris pointed out, it could be anything - a first soccer goal, a first serious illness. Or heck, it could be when the last child has left home for university and our empty nest reminds us of what used to be. Who knows? That said, having spent the lunch hour with a 9 1/2 month old and the evening with two infants and two toddlers, I do feel that the most demanding aspects of parenthood are certainly still to come - but the most rewarding ones as well. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)