And just like that...

He went from this:

 To this:

(Much better without the forcept marks, no?)

Be back soon with a few birthday photos,
G.

Last week.

This is my last week on Maternity Leave. A whole year has gone by, and although I'm not going back to a 'job' officially (though I will be working), it still feels like things are going to change.  We're dealing with some new realities around here, both financial and in terms of our future, but we're dealing as best we can, and in the meantime, I'm going to take advantage of any snuggles this little bébé will give me before he turns into a toddler and sees snuggling as too much of a distraction from his world of playing and exploring.  Soon his mama will be off to work, he'll be off to Sara's house for daycare, and our first year together will be just a fond memory.  I need to cherish this week.

Sorry it's been a bit quiet around here, the energy levels are low, but I have a few ideas for posts that I'd like to post soon, and I'll have pictures from Victor's birthday party this weekend, so I'll be be soon(ish), as always.

Happy Monday,
G.  

Currents

(Photo taken with my phone last week while on a walk in the woods with my mom...there is soooo much snow on the ground, at least 3 feet...)

listening: To something at least! I realized that I hardly ever listen to music, and I don't want Victor to grow up in a house without music, so I made a playlist with random stuff on the computer (currently, Elliot Smith...)

eating: Craisins. I need to eat healthier, so I figure they're better than chips, right?

drinking: Nothing, craving water

wearing: Light green/pastel green mint coloured jeans/pants, black short sleeved knit shirt, pink chunky necklace my mom got for me in Arizona, with matching earrings.

feeling: Quite down in the dumps lately (and sick), but trying to get over it.

weather: UGH. Don't even get me started! This has been a looong and hard winter already, and it's only half over!  Currently flurries and gray skies.

wanting: To know what the hell is going to happen this year.

needing: A haircut (I said that last time I did a post like this, but it's still true!)

thinking: I should be doing dishes instead of blogging.

enjoying: Planning Victor's first birthday party.

wondering: If Dan will take me out for ice cream tonight.  We need to go on a date.

Random Tuesday thoughts for you.  Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day!
G.

Well, this is it, the last monthly update before the big one year celebration. I can’t say I’m quite ready for my little bébé to turn one, but it’s going to happen whether I’m ready or not, so I guess I better enjoy this last month of Victor’s baby life, before he turns into a…toddler (I’ll have a toddler, that’s so strange, soon I’ll be saying I have a kid in school!)

Anyway, we had a decent month, not great and not terrible, with some great moments and not so great ones. That about sums up life though, doesn’t it?

(Sorry this update is especially rambling, I guess I know that these monthly updates are going to end soon so I want to get in as much information and detail as possible, I’ll appreciate it later in life I’m sure!)

*Stats: Weight: about 20lbs, though he feels much bulkier and heavier than before.  I told Dan that he’s kind of chubby in the face now, lol.  Height: unsure, probably nearing 30 inches at least (he’s not that much shorter than his pal Eli who is 2 months older, I think he’s going to be tall like his father).  Wearing 6-12 months pants, 6-12 and 12 months PJs (he still has some 6 month PJs that he wears, but they are getting too small, I’ll be putting them away really soon), and a variety of shirts, mostly 6-12 months, but I pulled out several 12-18 months onesies and shirts today which fit him fine.  Incredibly he still fits into his small diapers, even though they’re getting a bit tighter every month.  I still have a few snaps I could loosen them to though so he’ll be wearing them into his 1^st birthday for sure.  He has a very small waist and bum, what can I say!

*Sleep this month has been a bit scattered, and we’ve (well, I’ve) gotten into a bad habit of bringing Victor into bed with us for up to half the night, which isn’t good for any of us because the bed is way too small and Victor is way too wiggly for a decent night’s sleep.  He’s been waking up about once a night, and he has also gotten into a bad habit of falling asleep in our arms and then waking as soon as you try to put him down (both at night and at nap times).  So that has made for some frustrating nights, and for the first time, some ‘crying it out’ sessions.  I’ve never done it before, but I figure at this age he really doesn’t need anything from us at night-he doesn’t eat, he doesn’t need to be changed, if he wakes up I hold him until he falls back asleep, but then if he wakes back up because I put him down, well…he’s going to have to get over it.  And he has, each crying ‘session’ has been shorter and shorter (the longest was only 15 mins, but it was a rough 15 mins!), to the point now where if I put him down and he wakes up, he knows that I’m not coming back and gets himself to sleep just fine.  I do feel bad when I have to do it but at the same time if I hear that he’s crying more than usual I will go in and comfort him, but in most cases he’s just trying to get back in my arms and once he realizes that’s not going happen, he goes down by himself.  He’s been going to bed earlier this past month, around 7:30pm, and has been waking at around 8:00am.  He still has his morning nap about 90% of the time, and a late afternoon nap around 60% of the time.

*We stopped breastfeeding around New Year’s Eve (even though we had been down to maybe one feeding a day the month before, so we were pretty much done before Christmas).  The reason we ended up stopping though was because I lost my nipple shield…I’m pretty sure it got thrown out by accident one day.  Anyway, once we no longer had the means to do it, we just stopped and it was easy as can be.  He really wasn’t that interested near the end, he was drinking water all day and formula at night, so ‘working’ for the little bit of breastmilk he could get out of me hardly seemed worth it to him anymore.  Oddly, I think it was a bit harder on me than it was on him…I know I said I hated it for the most part and would be happy when it was over, but once it actually happened, I kind of missed having the option.  To use it as comfort, a distraction, and yes, a way to cuddle and bond a bit…I also didn’t reach my original goal of breastfeeding for a year (although I did reach my later goal of making it to the end of the year-just barely!)  I plan on writing a separate post on my thoughts of breastfeeding, so I’ll get into more of it then. Point is, Victor is now surviving on 100% food (plus a bit of formula).  PS-I actually tried to feed him a few weeks ago just to see what would happen (I had found another nipple shield lying around), and he totally bit me!  So yeah, we’re done.  

*Speaking of food, this is another area where things have been a bit scattered.  After going through that growth spurt in December, he once again became somewhat picky and has hardly been eating anything.  He’ll eat a few bites of something and then quickly tire it of and will refuse to eat more.  It’s been pretty frustrating, and even moreso because I know that I’ve been contributing to the problem in some way by giving him too many ‘treats’, like corn puffs (made for babies, not Cheetos or anything!), graham crackers, and other non-healthy foods.  He does love yogurt though, so that’s an exception, and still eats jarred fruit and baby cereal without much complaint.  It’s the veggies and meats (that he used to love) that have become the problem.  I offer them to him everyday though, so hopefully he’ll eventually eat more.  I’ve also really been trying to get him to eat what we’re eating, and he has found some new foods that way.  As far as drinks, he has become a total milk junkie and occasionally drinks a bit of apple juice. Still loves water as well.  He’s been drinking 6-8oz of formula before bed, but usually has a hard time finishing it (and in the past week or so has only taken a few sips, refusing the rest…I think we’re going to be done with formula this month, yay!)

*STILL NO NEW TEETH! Every day I check, and everyday I only see drool. Crazy.

   

*Still not walking, or standing without support, but like I said before, I really don’t see him walking for another few months at least. He crawls really fast and can climb up without problem, but he doesn’t seem interested in going beyond that. He’s getting much better with his hands (for turning book pages, pressing buttons, picking up small objects), loves to crawl up and over things (especially our bodies while sitting or lying on the couch) and seems more confident in his movements.

*As far as favourites this month, I’m happy to say that it has been books all the way. All of a sudden Victor has been loving books. He got some new ones for Christmas and they quickly became his new favourites (one about colours and another about a dog named Spot). He loves books that have flaps that he can lift up or board books with pages that he can easily turn. We keep his books near his toys and he always goes for them first, which is great. I try to read to him whenever he seems interested, but a lot of times he’s more interested in looking at the pictures and turning the pages, rather than listening to the words, which is ok, I know the interest will come soon. Other favourite toys include anything that makes noise (his Buzz Lightyear ride-on and little ‘singing’ ball in particular), his ring game and his pop-up toy. His favourite non-toy? Light switches.

*This month I’ve also noticed that Victor is becoming interested in not only taking things apart, but putting them back together.  Putting blocks in the basket after taking them out, pulling his rings off and then putting them back on, putting lids on jars, he likes doing these things more and more. It’s really amazing to see his mind work with these ‘games’.  He has also learned some new ‘tricks’, including putting his hand up to his eyes to play ‘peek a boo’ (he also puts his hand over our eyes to indicate he wants to play), hiding behind the sofa ledge and popping back up (another version of peek a boo), playing hide and seek type games (I’ll run into another room and hide behind the wall and he’ll come after me until he finds me and I say ‘boo!’), and playing telephone (he knows to put the telephone up to his ear and puts it to ours as well).  He also squeezes his hand together (I think it’s the baby sign language sign for milk), but we haven’t quite found a pattern as to when or why he does it (we think it might be when he likes something).  He hasn’t learned to clap yet but we’re trying, he knows how to grab our hands to make us clap but hasn’t figured out how to do it himself.  Regardless, he’s learning new things everyday and it’s been really fun to experience.

 

*As far as personality goes, he’s still clingy, though a bit better than he once was (a small improvement, not nearly to where I’d like it to be though, haha), and he runs hot and cold a lot (happy one second and crying the next).  He’s also experiencing frustration more and more, which is hard to watch but it’s something he needs to go through, I know.  When he is happy (which is most of the time), he smiles and plays and is as active as can be.  He loves it when you play with him and also loves it when you praise him for doing something right (mouth wipe open, big smile, bright eyes).  His response to any sort of discipline is crying, which he gets from me 100% (and also from his dad I’ve heard), so I can’t really get mad at him for it (although I do sometimes). He’s full of amazement, loves to explore and loves to be with us.  As much as I complain about him sometimes he’s really such a good boy and I couldn’t be happier having him in our lives.

His birthday is in less than 3 weeks, and I think that we’re going to go to the Aquatic Centre again since he enjoyed it so much last time. I think that my sister in law and her kids may come, and my family and a few friends, so it should be a nice time.  I’ll be sure to take pictures of the birthday boy, so hard to believe!

Nearly a whole year with us, Victor; I can’t wait for the next one (and the next, and the next….)

Love,

Mama

Yes, I joined the 21st century...

[Instagram lovin']

Last weekend Dan and I went on a date (aka shopping and dinner), and we got new phones.  Dan's (a really simple flip phone) had died that day and had been screen-less for about a month, so we knew we needed new ones, and we both decided this time to get Smartphones...well, whether this was a good decision or not remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, we're both quite addicted already!

I got an iPhone (the 3, not the 4, I didn't want to pay for it, haha), and Dan got an Android.  I would have been perfectly happy with a Droid too, but I knew that the iPhone allowed for some cool photo Apps so that's the main reason I got it (plus I use my phone mainly for surfing the web and apparently the iPhone is the best for that).  Dan really likes his Droid too so I'm happy.  I haven't really gotten into all the features I could be using I'm sure, but I hooked up my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and emails, plus a few other handy free apps, so I think I'm basically set (I still need to put some music on there though).

Now, I always used to make fun of people who were addicted to their phones(especially iPhones), so I'm trying really hard not to be completely and utterly addicted to it, and I think that once the initial new-ness wears off I'll be ok, but at the moment it's definitely in my hand more than I'd probably like to admit (Dan too, maybe worse than me because he plays games on his!)  Anyway, in order to try and keep myself in check I've come up with a few 'phone rules' for myself, including:

-No phones at the dinner table (when Dan is eating with us that is, when it's just me and Victor I allow myself the distraction from the mess, haha)
-No phones in bed (I know a lot of people bring them to bed with them!)
-No phone in hand when talking to the cashier at the grocery store, bank, whatever (I find that kind of rude)

Anyway, another good/bad thing about having this phone is the camera on it.  I find myself taking more 'daily' photos of Victor, but at the same time, I'm ignoring my real camera because of it, so I haven't decided if this is good or bad (I'm leaning towards bad, hopefully I'll become less lazy soon!)

Are you an iPhone/Droid user?  Any cool Apps I should know about?  Are you totally addicted to your phone? 

Happy Saturday, be back soon (for real!) with Victor's 11-month update (his birthday is in 3 weeks from today, I better hurry!)

Until then,
G.