Almost Christmas

Hi Everyone,

This week started out like a lion and out like a lamb. We went to a surprise baby shower for a good friend here last Sunday and then on Monday I took Emmett for his 4 month shots. I had a crappy sleep the night before wide awake in bed fretting over the pain Iwas going to have to put him through again, as you may recall the last time I took him at 2 months was very unpleasant. They did go better than last time though.. thank God! First we had a much nicer nurse and also Tyler came too. Emmett did cry but it wasn't too bad and he settled quickly once I nursed him in the waiting area......that is until later... after dinner he just got more and more irritated and crabby and very clingy so I gave him a small shot of baby Tylenol and that helped a bit. He had a fitful sleep and the whole next day was more of the same. He had sore red lumps where the three needles were given in his thighs and would not let me put him down for more than 5 min...it was a long Tuesday. Finally the next day he was getting back to his smiley self. I didn't get to weigh him this week at my usual place and day but the nurses weighed him at around 16 lbs.

We got an unusual amount of snow this week, in fact more than they've seen in years. It meant being stuck inside for a few days and so boring. I couldn't even go for a walk as they didn't plow our street till last, there was no way to take the stroller out . Last year we had two snows and this week we've had at least 4 with more to come. I guess everyone across the country will be in for a white Christmas ...i just hope our flight to Calgary on Wednesday goes as planned..this should be interesting. We will be there from the 24th to the 30th and Emmett will be meeting his Opa (Frank) , his cousins, his Great Grandma Lee , Great Auntie Joy and quite a few of the Madsen clan in Calgary too for the first time. It's going to be a packed week but I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be so nice to see everyone. To those we won't see, Merry Christmas & have a safe and fun holiday!

Silly Emmett

Almost Christmas...and so excited to come to Calgary!! I'm already thinking about what to pack and no matter how I cut it....there is so much baby stuff to bring! Packing for a baby warrants hiring assistants to carry it all...kid could have his own entourage.

The giggles rolled in this past week big time!! Finally I get to hear them everyday..mostly on the change table and definitely when I tickle his feet. Further evidence that those feet are from me cause Tyler isn't ticklish there at all. I'm pretty sure the teething has begun. The drool is on the rise, we can easily soak 2 to 3 bibs in a day now and the fist chewing can go on and on. Who knows how long until that first tooth pops, 1 month? 2 maybe even 3 or four. Depends on the baby so we will see I guess.

I recently watched a documentary on CBC called The Disappearing Male about the use of petro-chemicals in things like baby teethers, toys also in shampoos and diaper ointments and the terrible effects it's having on male babies, toddlers and adults. (If you are interested, you can watch it for your selves here http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/doczone/2008/disappearingmale/ click on the video box that says View the Entire Film on the right hand side of the page)

Learning about scary stuff like this as well as the seeing on the news the numerous times toys made in China have been pulled from store shelves for lead makes us wary parents. I hope no one can fault us for wanting to keep Emmett as much out of harms way as possible. In light of that, we will be doing our best in the future to buy toys and baby products as natural as possible and definitely not from China. I can tell this is going to cost us. ; p

Emmett has his second round of shots tomorrow... really, really not looking forward to it. Wish me luck.

Two Weeks In One Post

LOL I just can't get enough of his cute little derrière.... his future girlfriends are gonna love these pics!

Week of Nov 20th -26th & Nov 27-Dec 4

Hi Everyone,

Sorry about the tardiness on the posting, the last week just kind of got away on me. Emmett is doing great, he's a happy guy and smiles lots. The only time he's really cranky is when we are trying to get him to sleep in his crib....and so far we are still working on that. He was 14. 10 lbs last week and now this week he is 15.2 . ..which makes him officially to heavy for his playpen bassinet. Oh well, he hated sleeping in there too. On the 9th he will be 4 months old and I say it every month..where did the time go? He has to go for round two of his immunizations on the 15th ..not looking forward to it.

My cousin Tracey Chala came out from Victoria to visit us last weekend, it was nice to see her as I don't get much chances to see that side of the family these days. I also took Emmett to his first Christmas parade last weekend and even though it was so noisy, he slept right through it...must have been tired.

He hasn't got much this week for new stuff, just perfecting what he has already learned, mostly putting his fingers together to grab things and rolling over. Really makes you appreciate how hard those things must be to master for the first time when you watch him do it with all of his concentration.

His neck control is better than I thought for his age though. I got together with a few of the ladies from my Mom's group last week and 3 of them have babies Emmett's age and they couldn't believe when he was on his tummy, how well he held his head up. Their babies are still working on holding up their heads for more than half a min; Emmett can go at least 4 or 5 min. I hadn't realized he was so good at it until then. Ahh, the little things that make his mommy proud..lol. I guess I can't help it : )

A little of this. A little of that

Wow the weeks go by fast and now only 5 more until we go to Calgary for Christmas. I'm really excited for everyone we know who hasn't met Emmett to finally meet him! And this will be his first Christmas. Good timing! Emmett is 3 1/2 months old and as of yesterday weighs 14 lbs 2 oz and is 23 and 1/4 inches long...nearly double his birth weight of 7.12 now.

He is really such a little blessing to us and no matter how sleep deprived it get or how housebound I am most of the time ; his funny little smile always makes it worth it to me! I wish I could catch on video half of the silly things he does. His giggles are slowly getting more frequent too... I think I would look like a total lunatic to anyone who saw what I will do to try and get him to giggle.

He has such a little personality.. for example if he is crying (still tearless) for a few min and then I pick him up, he lets out this indignant little sigh. He's also learned this really high pitched squeal when he's happy and loves to do that. His number 1 favorite activity is still trying to put both fists in his mouth. He sits in his green Bumbo lots now and I have to admit, it's a pretty good invention because it allows him to sit up even though he's not able to on his own yet.

Tyler found what looked like a tooth poking through his gums on the bottom but not in the place where his first teeth come. I was talking to one of my friends about this and she said that her son had hard white bumps on his gums that she was sure were teeth poking through but when she asked her pediatrician about it, he said they are calcium deposits called Bohn's nodules. If that's what it is and chances are it is, then it'll go away in a month or two.

Trip to Vancouver Nov 12-15

Emmett had his first trip off island to Vancouver this week because his Daddy had a work seminar for three days. Travelling with a three month old requires a lot of clothes and even then we almost ran out no thanks to the disposables we used while we were away. I can truly say that I missed the cloth diapers because nearly every "number 2" he did leaked out and on to his clothes...twice we had to bath him in one night! I've never had that problem with the cloth ones I can tell you that.

We stayed in a hotel downtown Vancouver for the first two nights. It was pretty central so I could pack up Emmett in the stroller and go window shopping. I also got to see some old friends and go for coffe with them. On our last night we hung out at Auntie Corey's house who's futon was 1000x more comfortable than the hotel bed and spent some time with her.

We had a pretty good time except for the sad news that Emmett's Great Grandma (my mom's mom) had passed away after some surgery to repair her lungs. She will be missed greatly and I am sad that she didn't have the chance to meet Emmett before she passed; we had been planning a trip out to Saskatchewan to see her in the spring and now that will be for a funeral instead.

It's good to be home now though and in our own home, bed and little town. The city is fun to visit but it always reminds me of why we moved away from one in the first place. I do look forward to when Emmett is a bit older and can have a bit more fun on the ferry though. The ocean is such a fun place.

I have no weight for you this week because we missed Mom's group while we were away and that's where I weigh him so it'll have to wait until this Thursday. His interest in toys is really starting to take off now and he makes an effort to grab them when ever possible. It's really fun to see.

Two Big Milestones this week! Nov 3-9

Well just like that they learn stuff. On Saturday (nov 8th) Emmett finally got the rattle in his hand that he's been batting at for weeks, Tyler put Emmett down on his tummy in the crib to go wash hands after a changing and when he got back, Emmett had rolled onto his back. The next morning he did it twice more! Not bad for a three month old! He's 13.2 oz and his length is around 23 inches and has grown out of most of his pjs so we went and got more. I've discovered that the fuzzy ones are too hot for him at night so we've been sticking with cotton instead.

Halloween

Hi Everyone,

This week we had a Halloween party at moms group and Emmett went as a giraffe (thanks Auntie Corey for sending it in the mail) He was a bit small in it but cute none the less. Emmett is 3 months old on the 9th! I can't believe it's gone so fast. He's 12 lbs 12 oz as of Friday and that makes him a full 5 lbs heavier than he was when he was born! Yesterday, Tyler was holding him and I was talking to him and he let out his first little giggle , it was great to hear but he hasn't done it again since..I'm sure it won't be long.

11 weeks and Counting

I can't believe he's almost 3 months old! Where did the time go? He's 12 lb 4 oz this week and boy my wrists sure know it....seems i have a case of the "mommy-tendinitis". My wrists are so sore in the mornings that I have a hard time picking him up. I'm going to have to stop carrying him around in his car seat and start using the sling or the stroller more when we go into stores.

Not much very new this week other than we went to Nanaimo last Tuesday. Tyler had a consultation with a specialist dentist and it was really nice to get out of Courtenay for the day. We bought him a soft toy that sort of looks like a dashboard and steering wheel that flashes colorful lights and plays music and sits on his lap...the best thing is that it has a remote that I can press in the front seat to turn it on. Emmett hates the car seat and usually is screaming at the top of his lungs in the car until he tires out (which could be a while) or I sit in the back in an effort to calm him... so we are hoping that the singing flashing toy would distract him a bit and it does...some of the time. I would love to find a mobile that is meant to hang over his change table. Now that he's getting so squirmy, it would be nice to have something for him to just look at while I change him.... let me know if anyone finds something like this.

Next week is Halloween and there will be a little Halloween party at the Moms group i go to so there will be lots of pics of Emmett dressed up in the super cute Halloween costume his Auntie Corey sent from Vancouver.

Would love to hear back from you.

Just a quick note to you that you can leave me a comment after each post. I'd love to hear from all of you to whom I've sent this blog. Just click on the word "comment" at the bottom of each post and you're there.

Doing what needs to be done is no fun!

Hi Everyone,

Emmett is doing great. He's cooing a lot more now and can be content to just sit and hang out with Dad (finally!) for more than 5 min. The smiling is great, even if it is at 3 am when I'm trying to convince him to go back to sleep. He figured out how to get his fists in his mouth and now that's his favorite thing to do if he's not eating. He weighs 12 lbs now, is 23 inches long (19 at birth) and is 2 1/2 months old now....time is flying.

This past week was not my favorite in the parenting department because I had to take Emmett in for his first round of immunizations last Tuesday. They gave him two shots in each leg and all the while i had to hold his legs still while he looked up at me in total betrayal. It was awful to hear that kind scream come out of your baby and by the end of it we were both crying. He has to go back for a second round in 2 months and I'm not looking forward to it at all but I know he needs them and it's for the best.

Here are some fresh pictures for you, enjoy : )

Emmett Videos

More pics from this past week.

Here is a few more photos , thanks to Corey for the great shots of Emmett and his Grandpa and the other pics in this post : )

What a busy but great week and a half! Friday the 26th was our second wedding anniversary. On the same night, my friend Karen flew in from Calgary for a few days which was so fun and much needed and then this past weekend, Tyler's Dad Gert and sister Corey came out for two days. The weather wasn't great but we all managed to find stuff to do anyway. Gert also brought us his old sectional couch which we were anxiously awaiting as we'd only had a love seat up until then.

Emmett is 8 weeks old now and as of last Thursday weighed 10 lbs 11 oz. so he is gaining well. It also helps that he and I are a lot better at this breast feeding thing too. I will have to measure his length on my own now but just haven't gotten to that yet. His smiles are more and more each day as are his hours of wakefulness. He especially loves to get cute and start smiling at 3am after he change when i want him to go to sleep!

A couple of things are new now, he has started to coo, mostly while having his diaper changed. I am planning to get this on video and then post it here sometime this week so you can all hear it too. I love it , it's just the best little noise ever! He has discovered that those hands are attached to him and just started trying to put his fingers or thumb in his mouth. This should be interesting because he absolutely hates his soother. He started looking at the mirror on his bouncer chair and even enjoying it a little. His awake time is increasing daily and now he is content to sit in my lap or in his chair and just quietly look around.

I finally gave up on the G Diapers for now after several failed attempts and might try them again when Emmett starts eating solids, they just don't absorb fast enough for breast feeding. So instead we are now using Bummis prefold cotton diapers and so far they're pretty good. As I have also started using wet baby face clothes as wipes, this now saves us about 145.00 a month. It also will save some 3800 disposables from sitting in our land fills for the next 400 to 500 years which makes me feel better too. I know a lot of moms here successfully using cloth diapers so I'm optimistic that we can make that work too.

The 10 lb dictator

Hi Everyone,

This week went by so fast....I'd tell you what we did if I could remember. Emmett's doing great, we were at the Midwives clinic this morning for the final 6 week post partum check up. Emmett now weighs 10lb 3 oz , is 6 weeks old and has grown 6cm longer from his birth length. I am already putting away clothes that don't fit him anymore and it's kinda sad in a way. She says though that his neck is remarkably strong and that he has near perfect skin.

We started a bed time routine of bath (with or without soap), massage, sleepers, a feeding and then bed (ours of course ha ha)) once he falls asleep even if it's only for 3 hours. Newborns take some time to distinguish day from night so keeping the room quiet and dim at night and light with normal noise during the day has really helped him figure it out. Hoping this will set the tone for calm bed times in the future too.

We've been trying and trying to get Emmett into the G-diapers (look here if you've never heard of them before http://www.gdiapers.com/gdiapers101) we got at the baby shower in Calgary. As some of you may know it has always been my goal to cloth diaper this baby for the benefit of our environment but these particular diapers are really testing my patience! I know people who love them and they work great for them but for us there is leaking every time. I'm hoping Emmett's little behind gets a bit chunkier thereby creating a better seal but if not then we'll be looking at buying some different cloth diapers.

Karen (a friend from Calgary) is coming to visit for a few days tomorrow so I've been trying to clean up..that is if the dictator will allow it lol. Getting housework of any kind done now is near impossible and forget eating anything that doesn't come out of the can/box/drive thru. I know it'll get easier and that'll be nice. That's all for now.

From the photo studio

These two shots were taken by the same lady who did our maternity pics when Emmett was just a week and a bit old in Tylers arms. She had some fairly good shots of Emmett but my fav pics of him are still the ones Susan (Tylers Mom) took of him while she was here. More to come as soon as I can get them.

A visit from the Greats

Hi everyone.

This week was lots of the usual and a bit of the blowouts too. I got a few more smiles out of him this week but try as I might to capture them on camera again, it didn't work out that way. Tyler is still trying to get him to smile but I'm sure it won't be long.
My Auntie Katrin and Uncle Phil were here from Sparwood BC on the 15th for a visit which was fun. We all went out to this nice restaurant here for dinner where Emmett had a huge blow out... out of the diapers, up the back and everywhere while I was holding him and we were all eating dinner. The restaurant had no change table (something I'm learning isn't uncommon) so one of the waitresses was nice enough to let me use the staff table to change him. I think he found it pretty funny because one of those smiles was while I was trying to clean him up. We had a pretty good visit though despite it being a short one.
I weighed him today, he now weighs 9 lbs 11 oz... that's 12 oz up from last Wednesday! He's definitely starting to fill out that's for sure. Night times are still broken up into two or three feeds and yes he's still sleeping with us in our bedroom. We are trying to get him to sleep in the playpen bassinet but he doesn't like it much so it can be a real struggle at 3 am. He's a pretty easy going cuddly baby though..only really cries for specific things rather than for no reason at all (knock on wood) Other than that he's getting bigger, not much else is new...but I will keep you updated.