Adventures of a New Mom

He walked today and fun with Lucy.

2012-02-21T17:34:00.000-08:00

Ryan walked today. We were on the floor and he stood up (using me to get up) and I pushed myself back and let him stand on his own. He then took three steps to me and fell toward me. I caught him and I was so proud I started clapping and tell him how great that was and how hard it must have been but I was super proud. He sat there smiling clapping with me.
I love this kid so much... during the day.

Last night was super nasty again. I looked at his teeth this morning and the one little on on the top right is super red and looks inflamed. Poor kid. Poor Neil. He was up with Ryan a lot last night. We are still weaning him and its going pretty good. He wanted to feed last night because its a comfort thing for him but we stuck to it till, I think, 6am.

We had Lucy this weekend. Good lord we are not ready for a dog, she is a pretty well behaved dog. Well minus the jumping on our futon and humping Ryan's head.
Yes you read that correctly.

Look mom, a puppy and dad!

Watching The Incredibles Sunday night while I cooked cookies for Neil.

He woke up and we figured 'eh let him have some fun with us.'

NOMNOMNOM Peanut Butter

Best friends forever enjoying the window

Ryan was very happy to see her and she was super excited too. After Robin and Christina left she calmed down a bit. After Ryan's nap we let them play together. She is so good with him but when she would get excited and hit Ry with her tail he would get so annoyed it was hilarious.
They play pretty good together. She was letting him 'pet' her aka pulling in her hair around her mouth. She was just letting him do it. Such a good girl. Don't worry we stopped him and try to get him to pet her belly/sides.
The first day we had her (Sunday) we went for a walk around our neighbourhood with her and Ryan. They enjoyed it and both were worn out afterwards. Monday we went to a park near us and had a nice walk. Lucy is so amazing in the car! She just plopped down in the back seat with Ryan. Didn't try to lick him or anything. Such a good girl.
She got into everything she could though. It was sort of having a 4 year old kid that shed a lot and sleeps great. Now I SORT OF know how it is to have two kids, its hard! Neil and I both were saying NO a lot Sunday and Monday.

I am happy we don't have a dog right now. Ryan puts everything in his mouth, including hair balls and we have enough of those with the one kitty.
Speaking of which. After Robin and Christina picked Lucy up Neil and I vacuumed and cleaned. I was in the bedroom putting Ryan to bed and I hear Neil laughing like crazy. Roag (our kitty boy) found a ball of Lucy hair I missed... well he ate it. He sat down, took a smell and then ate it.

Weird cat.

Remember

2012-02-19T05:52:00.001-08:00

I found this and I want to make sure I do this with Ryan.
love it.

http://creativewithkids.com/100-ways-to-be-kind-to-your-child/

Always carry love in your heart when you have children.

10 Months old

2012-02-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

Ryan is 10 months old today. I have two more months of fun before work. Boooooooo

Things he can do:
Stand on his own, he did this today for 6 seconds while clapping his hands! He started clapping his hands Tuesday. I have been trying to teach him this for a few weeks now. He is starting to wave and I am trying to teach him to say 'hi' while he does this. He can feed himself but still misses his mouth sometimes. He hides stuff from me! He is very adventurous and loves to get into stuff he shouldn't.
He knows what No is and will stop and look at me to see if I am serious. I am still waiting for him to sign back to me 'drink' or 'food'. I have been trying to teach him this for four months now. He talks a lot but not really words we can understand or if they are I think it's just how they are formed. Not that he understands what the mean yet. He sings and dances also. He loves when I use the vacuum or blender. Today he was chasing the vacuum and I had to put him in his playard while I finished up. He just stood there dancing and talking.

Things he eats / drinks:
He eats about anything he can get. I have not really noticed if he has favorites or not. He pretty much loves it all. I have noticed he doesn't like warm food. He makes a face and then rubs his face with his hands like its super hot. I think I caused this because I never heat up his food. I wanted him to get accustomed to room temp or cool food to make it easier when we go out. I got him a fork and spoon so tonight we can start letting him feed himself.
He drinks from a no spill cup or bottle. I am trying to get him to have a cup during the day and a bottle of water or weak tea at night (chamomile or fenil, black no sugar or milk). It helps him sleep and pass gas (my mother in law taught me this and I swear by it now!)
I am also trying to get him into more texture food and have been experimenting this past month. He likes it. (big shocker!)
I can not eat anything without letting him have some. He has climbed over stuff to get to me and will try to climb me to get it! He LOVES hummus and pita. I have hunted down whole wheat pita with no salt in the ingredients which are perfect.
We are still super strict about him having salt or sugar (refined or added) I know he gets enough sugar from the fruit he eats. That is when Neil is not eating his strawberries and pears with cinnamon. heh

Sleeping last night:
Last night was pretty great. He slept from 8pm-3am no waking. When he woke I gave him breast because I was swollen and lumpy. (ouch!) I followed it up with the tea so no milk would sit in his mouth. He cuddled in my arms for a bit while I hummed. I had my eyes closed and when I looked down at him he has his eyes closed with a big smile on his face. Happy baby was happy. I put him in his crib and sat on the floor. I put my arm through the crib and rested it on his belly while I hummed Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Did this for about 20 min. By 4am he was sleeping in his bed and was there till 6am. Then he came into our bed till 7 cause no way in hell I was waking up at 6am. Neil did pretty much the same thing the night before (no breast obviously) and got him to sleep in his crib till 6:30am.
I dont know if it was a fluke but I was so happy he slept till 3am. Hopefully we are nipping that 11:30pm wake up. Next up is the 3am wake up. (sometimes 4am).

He has two more teeth on the top coming in (next to the big ones on either side) they are starting to cut through. He has four on the bottom all cut out and still pushing. The one on the left top is out and the right top is pushing out. He will have eight teeth soon, crazy.

He loves to chase his ball. We have three one them. A easy to grab one we got from Jenn and Craig at his shower, a plush soccer ball Sherry got us and last night we picked up a bouncy textured one from BRU. Tara and Chris has the same one and Ryan loved it so much we had to get it. Not a bad investment for $3. He was playing with it forever last night with Neil. I think that helped wear him out.

It's so cool to see how much he has changed. I love to go back and watch old videos of him when he was a month old and how excited we were about him lifting his head up on tummy time. Now he is almost walking! Well he walks if we hold a hand. We have been practising holding only one hand and he is getting better. He can crawl like a champ and stands up super fast.

At the hospital about to go home. He was so small! 8lb 9oz

Playing with Dad this weekend.

Today looking out the window. 10 months old! 25.6lbs!!! and 30" tall

Video of him at 1 month and 2 days during tummy time.

Ryan playing with Roag, using my pajama string.

Ryan chasing after Roag. I was petting Roag and Ryan tried to make his move.

Still trying to teach Ryan how to be gentle when petting Roag.

This weekend is a three day one so we get Neil for three days! Ryan loves playing with dad. And we get Lucy Sunday morning till Monday late afternoon. We are doing a play day with Tumbler (Joe and Angelas dog). The weather is supposed to be nice so we are planning on some walks with Lucy and Ryan. Ryan loves Lucy so much it should be fun. And its a good test to see how crazy it would be with a dog in our life (in a few years).

New stuff Ryan is doing

2012-02-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

I made the huge mistake of teaching Ryan how to tickle our feet. Opps.
He is obsessed with it. He will chase me down to tickle feet. I was playing on the floor and I laid down and put my feet in the air. He tried to climb my legs to get to them.

Also yesterday for the first time he was clapping his hands together! I was so proud of him. I have been trying to teach him that and waving. He sort of waves (open and close hand). He is also getting better at walking while only holding one grown up hand and standing without any help (nothing to lean on or hold) he can do it for a few seconds now before falling. I think he will be walking on his own by 11 months old. He is almost 10 months now.
Video of him clapping while I feed him.

He kept rubbing his face because his teeth are bugging him big time still.

He is pretty good about leaving stuff alone. I tell him no, leave it and then explain why. AKA "NO leave the iphone alone, that is mom's toy and you have all your toys you can play with. Thank you."

Sleep is still a huge issue right now. Though the teeth on the bottom are almost out. The one on the right is out all the way and almost done, the one on the left has cut through the gums but still coming out. The left big top one is cut out and almost done and the right big top one is just cutting out now. There is also a small one on the left top coming out. (this is on top of the two on the bottom he already has) Hopefully he will have the seven by April.
I guess its good they are all coming out now so fingers crossed in April when I go back to work we can have a few months break of teething so he sleeps.
Last night I was so worn out I just didn't even care to fight with him on sleeping. I fought at 12:30 and gave him bottle only (weak chamomile tea) and at 1:45 I put him in bed with us and got him to sleep with no drink or boob. At 3am I just didn't give a shit anymore I was so tired and I wanted Neil to have a good night of sleep I gave him boob. He was also up at 4:30 and 5:30 and then up for the day at 6:30. Tired of people telling me to 'stick it out' easy for you to say when you are not the one up all night for a week straight.
I was supposed to take the car and go grocery shopping but I am so tired that was the last thing I felt like doing today. So it is laundry and clean the house a bit day and sleep cause I have Zumba tonight.

Here is a video of Ryan dancing while I blend up some cantaloupe for him. He is now dancing when I use the blender or vacuum. Its pretty darn cute...
Dancey dance dance.

Ya know what, if all we get is a kid that has sleep issues I will take it. He is healthy and a pretty happy kid over all. It could always be much worse as we know first hand. Now to remember this at 3am when I am so tired I have a hard time walking.

Also Neil was super sweet last night and got me chocolates (the expensive kind!) and my favorite cinnamon hearts YUM! We had a great dinner out Monday (the 13th) with no kid. Went to Milestones. Sooooo yum.

Sleep issues and evil child

2012-02-11T06:10:00.000-08:00

Our doctor at our last check up asked if Ryan was sleeping through the night, I laughed and told him no. Ry goes down about 7-8pm wakes up around 11:30, wakes around 4am and then wakes up at 7am for the day. Lately it's worse, a lot of crying and shifting in his sleep. It's those god damn teeth.
I guess if I had five coming in I would also sleep poorly but really I just want him to sleep. Almost 10 months old (next friday) and STILL not sleeping all night.
I digress, doc said no more nighttime breast feeds. Water only. It can hurt his teeth. I checked with our dentist as well because I read some stuff online that said this is not the case for breast feed babies, only bottle kids. Our dentist said its a crab shoot. It might hurt his teeth it might not, but why risk it.
I have horrid teeth genetics. I just do. I brush and floss like crazy (even used to do it at work after lunch) but I still get cavities and I am 34. Neil has amazing teeth, almost never flosses and he has no cavities. Hope Ryan gets his teeth.

Thursday night was a living nightmare. He was up at 12am. Now normally I can rock him and hum for about 10 min and he is back out. Well not that night. Oh no. He wanted none of that shit. I had him till about 12:45am. We rocked, hummed, singed, changed diaper, tried the water, put him in his crib, left him for a few minutes at a time, put him in bed... everything. HE would just scream. Not cry, if he was crying I would have stuck with the crib and just checking on him every 3 min to let him know I was there and he was okay (read online to do this) but he SCREAMS.

Neil told me to put him in bed. Neil put his arm over Ry and was trying to sooth him. This works... as long as I am not in the room. So Neil picked up Ryan and took him in the living room to walk around. Then once he was calm put him back in bed. Screaming starts as he is looking at me. This went on till 2:30 when I caved and gave him breast.

Last night we did not cave. Tried all the crap above but instead of taking him out of the room I cuddled him in my arms rocking back and forth. He took the bottle (weak black chamomile tea) and drank almost the whole thing. Which for him is a miracle. I can get him to almost drink a bottle through the WHOLE DAY, not in one sitting. I rocked him for an hour and when my back felt like it was going to spasm I put him in our bed. Fuck the crib, lets break one bad habit at a time. Neil had to cuddle him to sleep. I think it was 3 something when he passed out. He woke at 5:30. I tried the bottle first and he started to ramp up. I just gave him the breast. I was so tired I didnt even care to fight anymore. I figure we can kill that midnight (2am) feeding and we can work on the second one next week. I think its important we stick to our guns though. Don't cave in. Neils co-worker Liz (has 3 kids) gave him some good advice. She said Ryan doesn't remember being up for 2 1/2 hours Thursday night all he remembers is he got the breast in the end.

We have to be mean, well not too mean I dont want him to scream so hard he gets sick (he did that when he was an infant). We have to stick with it and just try to nap as much as we can during the day.
Books say the kid should sleep solid at night 10-12 hours and be taking 2 naps a day at 1 hours each. yeah right. In my fantasies. We were talking about having a second. I told Neil I don't think I want one and no way in hell we are having the talk for real until Ryan sleeps through the night. OR at least only wakes up once.

In happier news I made Butternut Squash Ravioli the other day for Ryan.

I can feed myself?

Hey this is pretty good!

I used Wontons and it was so easy! Ryan loved it but he doesn't have enough teeth I had to cut it up. It took a while for him to eat. I ate half of his food. I just saute it in a little sun flower oil, no sauce. I also made meatballs but they are a bit dry. Gabi gave me a great recipe for home made sauce. SUPER easy to do and very plain so I am going to give him that for lunch today

Ryan loves to tickle us now. He was doing it to Neils feet the other night and Neil kept giggling. Now when Ryan touches my feet I giggle and bounce them around. Holy crap this kid loves it. He laughs like crazy! He will crawl across the house to get to my feet to tickle me. I guess that is what we get for tickling him so much.
Ryan also loves walking and pulling himself up. He does it on everything and the past few days he will pull himself up and then stand on his own. When we 'walk' him around the house and we will only give him one hand to hold. Before he would stop and look for the second hand and then either grab your clothing or stop let go and crawl. Now he is walking with just the one hand but he is a little shy about it. Every time he stands on his own I clap and tell him how great he doing. He loves it.

Bushy eyebrows and looooong lashes.

OH Gabi came over yesterday. Ryan hadn't seen her in a week. Soon as he heard her voice he lit up. HUGE smile and he did this flapping arms thing he does when excited. It was so cute. He really missed her, now to take him to visit Sandor (grandpa) as well. I know they miss each other.

I was playing with Ryans hair, I did the "Squiggy" if you dont know who this is I feel bad for you.

Mom... for real, stop it.

hehehehe

Its snowing outside, so pretty. I want to take Ryan out in it but its -12 feels like -21. Maybe not the day for snow play even with the snow suit.

Side note, I know the kid the tired because its 9:30am and he is napping already. Normally he naps between 10:30-11:30am for 1/2 hour. Lets see how long this nap is. Poor Neil is still in bed. I think this is taking a beating on him. He is so used to me taking the night shift cause he has to work so I think the sleeping in today and Monday (he has off) will do him some good. Silly man needs to go to bed earlier, silly mom should too!!!
I think we just get so excited about having the house to ourselves we stay up too late. There is a lot of things I can do only when Ryan is sleeping. I want to make my wall-dwellers again and no way I can play with Sculpty clay with Ryan awake!

Random update

2012-02-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Five teeth coming in SUCKS.
Two at the bottom and three on the top. I feel bad for the kid, I feel bad for Neil and I feel bad for me.

As most things this too shall pass.

Today we signed up for PeekABoo Day care Center on Traders Blvd. Made me sad. I hate that we have two months and a week tillI have to work and I cant spend all day with my little dude. I think it will be good for him though. He loves other kids so much and it will be good for him to play with some kids.

This morning/afternoon Ryan enjoyed some pita and hummus with me. Kid was in love. He really likes hummus.

He is also obsessed with his ball. Neil was kicking it to the wall while holding Ryan and he was laughing like crazy. I got a video, I will have to upload it later.
Its starting to get a little harder to care for him cause he is crawling like crazy, trying to walk and gets into everything. Its awesome. I am so happy he is doing so great. Not to mention still amazingly cute.

I sure do love my little man, even when he bites me heard enough to bruise.

DAMN teeth!

Skiing Adventure with Neil

2012-02-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

Yes a few weeks late but this is all about our skiing adventure.

Neil and I went Saturday the 21st to Blue Mountain. Neil found a deal for $99 each that included lessons, lift tickets and equipment for skiing and snow boarding. Neil has ski before but never snow boarded so it was perfect!

We dropped off Ryan very early (with grandma/grandpa) and were on our way. We made it to Collingwood. As we were trying to figure out where to go to get the classes and equipment we got pulled over by a cop. Our license plate was still on Oct 2011 plate. Opps. So we got a ticket. Not a great way to start our day but we were NOT going to let it poop on our parade!
We made our way over to the correct place and got dressed in the car. Once we checked in and got our ski/snow board boots. Holy cats it is a weird feeling. I was walking like I stepped out of a western movie, a cheesy one. I had this swagger and couldn't walk very fast in the boots. Neil had no issues cause snow board boots are just like normal boots. I found the ski boots were very stiff and could not bend my ankle which I assume is a good thing. heh

We got our skis, board, and helmets and we were on our way. Neil went into his class area and I went into mine. I put on both skis and started my class. I learned how to do ski postion. Sort of like a squat in Zumba or any other work out class. You stick your butt out and make sure your knees do not go over your toes when you squat. You slide out your heels to the side and then slide then back in with equal weight distribution so it doesn't cut into the snow. I found this to be pretty easy to do. I really think Zumba classes helped with this!

Once I got that down we took the left ski off and lined up to go in a circle with the one ski on and our poles. I would say it was more like a round edged square. This was KILLING my shins but I didn't want to give up. I did pretty good. We switched to the left ski only. This was a little harder for me but still was okay. Then BOTH skis on. That was super hard. I had no idea how to get going. We were not on a hill. Just going around in this little round square.

Once you were good enough you got sent to the test hill. It was about 20 feet maybe.
You learned how to walk up the hill sideways on your skis. Then you go down the hill with your skis together and stop. I got it on my second try. I felt good because there was only adults in the classes and there were a lot! Some of the people were really bad. Just had bad balance. One lady ran right into me. I felt so bad for her cause she took her skis off and looked defeated. The instructor told me I was good to go on the small real hill. ACK!
This is the smallest hill there so you dont get on a lift you get on this sort of escalator, like they have at the airport. You ski onto it though. I fell over the first time I went on. heh
Once at the top of the hill I found the instrutor and he taught me how to stop. I went down the hill stopping every few feet. It was just to practice. I did this a few times (and fell a few times). Then they taught me how to turn. I got this pretty good with only a few fall downs. Neil got a pretty good video of it.

Neil was getting pretty frustrated at Snow Boarding. He was falling A LOT and it looked super hard to do. Didn't look like much fun. We took a lunch break which was a great idea. My ski boots were on wrong and it was cutting into my shins which is why I had the bad pain when I first started. DOH!
After lunch it was fixed thanks to Neils help and I felt so much better! We did the small hill a few more times and I told Neil I was ready for the big hill.

Lets do it!

Neil confessed he was not, he was not comfortable on the snow board yet. He went to switch out for skis which I was very happy about! I wanted him to go with me because I was a little scared.

We found an instructor and told her I was ready for the big hill... EKKKK

The three of us got on the lift together. She taught me about lift safety and how to land. Well that went out the window when we got off the lift. I was supposed to go right, I went left into her and she stopped me from going down a VERY steep hill.

On the top of the real hill it was much larger up there. I was freaking out and trying my best NOT to show it. The instructor and Neil were great. We would go down the hill a little and stop. We stopped a lot. However there was one part I freaked out and feel down. I feel pretty good. I ripped up my leg pretty bad. I was shaking I was so scared to get back on the skis. I don't think it helped that the snow was starting to get icy.
We made it down the hill and the instructor was on her way to help another person. She was kind enough to tell me she was proud. She said about 6 new people out of the whole day go on the big hill. :D
Neil all day kept telling me he was proud of me. So when he asked if we could do the hill one more time I said okay (after sort of crying saying I didn't want to). He said "please?" and I thought to myself. "fuck it Mary, man up. You have given birth, twice... this, this is nothing."
I tell myself that a lot when I am doing something I don't want to do or something hard. Also I didn't want to end the awesome day with my husband on a sour note. Though at this point I was feeling pretty beaten up and my leg was on fire.

So we go back up, just him and me. I am so happy we did. Neil taught me a lot. I pretty much went parallel down the mountain the whole way. I did wipe out but only once in a bad icy patch. I felt a little bad Neil babysat me but he said he had a great time. He said he was shocked how fast I learned how to do a "c turn". What he calls a type of turn when skiing.
It was also nice to see all the little kids doing it, I can't wait to take Ryan. He can go as early as three but I think I will wait till he is almost 4 before we go. The kids were just so darn cute.

We ended the day with dinner out with Joe and Angela and then picking up the kid.

It was an awesome day. I love skiing and I can't wait to try cross country if we get any darn snow this winter. I am so happy I tried it and I didn't let fear stop me.
I think since going on rollar coasters with Neil I have made up my mind to try more things. It really started when we went to Budapest. I told myself I would try anything and eat anything there. I want to be more adventurous. I want to be a person my son can look up too instead of a fuddy-duddy mom I was becoming.
yeah sometimes it's scary, sometimes you get hurt (see below) but most of the time you just have fun and feel sort of like a bad ass.
:)

You can't tell in the picture but it was a HUGE bruise. I thought it was very pretty (and lumpy).

Ahhhhh much better

2012-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Sun is out and we are a happy family again.

(sold this from Neil's website)

I wonder where Ryan gets his bipolar-ness from... heh.

Yesterday we had a fun night with the Doiron clan (Chris, Tara & Sloane) and the Wilsons (Dan and Vee). Neil got some photos so hopefully he will share those soon. I think Ryan scared Sloane a little. Her mom and dad are pretty chill & quiet people so she is pretty quiet. Now Ryan... well his parents are very loud excited people (most of this is my fault) so he is a pretty loud kid. He likes to do this excited scream thing. Well Sloane sort of had this 'WTF is wrong with this kid, I am just going to go over here." look on her face that made me laugh. I hope Neil captured it on his camera.
Oh man, I also think Ry has a slight crush on Tara. He was just so happy in her arms.

Here is a video of Ryan this morning while I was at Zumba.
NOMNOMNOM

We got home a little late last night but Ryan was still up (well he passed out in the car for about 10 min) he was sleeping by 9:30pm. Woke up at 11:30 crying and passed back out about 15 min later. He slept from then till 5:30am. We got almost 6 hours of solid sleep. I got him back into his crib at 6am. He woke up again at 6:30 this time screaming. Neil went and got him and tried his best till about 7 to get him to sleep.
I told Neil to put him in bed with me because when Ryan wakes up screaming he will have a BAD day. I got him back to sleep and he woke up again at 8am in a GREAT mood. Neil took him out of the room and I got up 30 min later to get ready for Zumba.
(This has lead me to the idea of making his bedtime a little later. I am going to try this theory tonight to see how it goes.)

We had some eggs and Ryan played with Neil while he got photos (and video) of Ry.

I come home to a husband on the computer fixing up photos and a baby sleeping in his crib. I WAS going to get McD's for Neil but I made him a nice healthy sandwich instead as a thank you for being awesome.

And after dealing with my bitch-ness yesterday he is awesome.

Worn out already, forgot how this feels.

2012-01-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Ryan took it easy on me Thursday night. Was pretty good. Friday he was in such an awesome mood. Didn't fight me on eating or anything. Just a great kid like normal.
Well last night he made up for it. He woke up at 3:30 or so. He would pass out for about a minute. Enough for me to go "thank god." and relax. Then he would wake up crying and we would start all over again.
About 5am I had enough. I put him in his crib and went to pee. Neil was sleeping on the futon. Ryan was chatting it up in his crib till about 5:40 or so and he started to cry. I woke Neil up and told him it was his turn. I was just burnt out by now. He slept till about 6:40. Neil got up to get him and I said 'F that put him in bed with us, I am not getting up yet.'
Ryan slept in our bed till 8:30am. I am so beat right now, and in a nasty mood.

Back is killing me, along with my neck and shoulders. I am mad at Neil cause he got to get sleep till 5am while I was up with the baby, like always. Then since its his day to sleep in he slept till 11am while I did dishes, cleaned up his clothing he left everywhere, feed Ryan, started laundry, vacuumed, cleaned the table in the living room for Ryan to walk around, played with Ryan, put clothing alway... and then put Ryan down for a nap.
I dont think it helps its been gray and shitty for 4 days now either.

Needless to say I am really looking forward to Zumba Sunday morning and some mommy downtime. Its really the only thing helping me keep sane right now. (in my currant state of mind.)
I need to just suck it up, be the mom and re-center myself.

Its NOT Neils fault Ryan has these HUGE ass teeth coming in, I am tired & sore and the house always needs to be cleaned. He is amazing father and is allowed to get tired and sleep too. He does work all week and can't nap. Its also not his fault I was a dumb ass and didn't nap the past few days and have been staying up late watching Mad Men.

Speaking of which Ryan is napping now I am going to lay down even if its just laying down in bed for 10 min.

BAH!

Skiing and Doctor Update

2012-01-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Neil and I went Skiing last Saturday for the first time. Ill update more on it later. Pressed for time right now.
Ryan saw the doctor today for a check up.
He is 25.6lbs and 76cm (29.9in). Big baby is HUGE. Doctor also told me to stop breastfeeding him at night. To transition to water at night.
Plan is starting tonight no more big bed for Ryan. We put him in bed with us around 4am. So this week we break that habit. Next week start on the no more breastfeeding in the middle of the night. Doc said Ryan should be sleeping through the night now and its not good for him to have breast milk in the middle of the night because of his teeth.
BAH!
I knew this time would come but its gonna suck so hard. Thankfully he breastfeeds now and then I hum or sing him to sleep so I just have to leave out the breastfeeding in the middle of the night. 21 days to form a habit.
I know in the long run this is a good thing since I am going back to work in April but still. I hate not sleeping. I shot myself in the foot putting him in bed with us and bfing to sleep. Stupid Mary! Oh well.

Bed/play time in the morning

2012-01-14T07:58:00.000-08:00

Ryan came into our bed at 630 this morning. I wanted to sleep some more and that is the fastest way for me to get some more sleep. A bad habit I know but eh. I like to sleep darn it.

Neil fell asleep on the futon last night so Ryan and I had a king size bed to ourselves this morning!

Here are some photos from the fun we had.

Close Up (this is what I see a lot of the time)

This is his "ohhhhh iPhone" face before he lunges for it.

Hi mom Im gonna rest my big head for a minute

This is him blowing raspberries on my arm!

It tickles but I guess its fair since Neil and I do this to Ryan A LOT.

Snow walk

2012-01-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I enjoyed our first snow walk today. I waited till the snow stopped and the side walk plow came out but holy cats it was cold! He loved it.

Walk was about 15 min. We didn't go any farther cause the side walk snow plow was stuck so...

We turned around and Ryan watched while I shovelled the drive way.

I am shocked my little dude is almost 9 months old. He has had a rough night last night poor kid. Farting ever few minutes. He is just eating SO MUCH.

More food please.

Non-stop eating and he wants to eat everything we are eating which is cute. I hope he stays this way but I love that he eats anything. Though those kiwi I had were a little too sour for him. haha

This is more for me for in the future and I am re-reading these posts:

He eats about four ice cubes of homemade food (chicken soup or broccoli chicken mix) and then will have two ice cubes of fruit mixed with yogurt. And then some bread or cheese for him to feed himself. Then he will try to eat mine or Neils dinner! Little bottomless pit.
Breakfast is four/five scoops of oat cereal, five scoops of prunes and two big spoons of plain yogurt. I have also been giving him tea. Chamomile or Fennel. The fennel tea is awesome for helping with the gas pains. Thank you Gabi for that tip!

Anyway on to cute stuff. He is chewing the crap out of everything right now. And if nothing is around for him to chew he will chew his own hand!

NOM!

Ryan also has a fun time shopping with Neil and I.

Neil kept putting his hat on Ryan, it was super cute.

He also is talking a lot right now. Started a few days ago. More then just babbles. Neil was sort of shocked by it. He has been working late the past few nights and not really had much time around Ryan. Well with the exception of last night since he was the one that was trying to get him to sleep. With the inflections of his voice is really sounds like he is trying to talk. He also likes to sing along with you when you sing or hum songs. Today we were all in our bed and I was rubbing Neil leg and he was going "mmmm" and Ryan would go "mmmm" right back at him. They kept going back and forth. He loves to mimic. LOVES IT. He will also dance to music.

Oh poor kid fell down so bad this morning right on a toy. He screamed so loud even after I picked him up. I walked him around and hugged him and told him it sucks when we fall but its important to always get back up. He took that to heart and started to walk around again (holding on to stuff).
Made me sad though tonight changing his diaper I saw the bruise from the fall this morning. Poor kid.
This afternoon he fell and hit his head on the wood floor. Sucks but I am happy it wasn't on the tile. The small 4" of tile we don't have covered in foam flooring. I am fixing that Saturday. More foam flooring because all Ryan does besides play (and eat everything) is try to walk. He will use anything he can to get up and then forgets he has to hold on still and falls. Something tells me we have many falls and bruises ahead in our future.

He has places to be people.

Places to BE.

Apples Apples we all fall down

2012-01-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

I was a little pressed for time today since I spent it making a sudo soup for Ryan and not lunch for me... so I had an apple for lunch today.
And wouldn't you know it, Ryan wanted some of my apple.

I made him such a nice 'soup' with carrots, sweet potato, green peppers, green beans, celery, onion, little olive oil and chicken (cut up). Oh and some pasta. Its super easy. You throw in all in a pot and make the baby pasta on its own. Once the pot mix is cooked enough (chicken is cooked) you blend it up and then mix in the pasta. He loves it and it gets all his veggies in him.

Once again I am forgetting the point I am trying to make.
Ryan is teething, he is getting a top tooth. Big news in the Bank house. So I thought he might like to chew on a nice cold apple slice. They are a little sour but I was right, he loved it!

So happy. He even got to hold it on his own like a big boy.
*side note* It was a thick cut slice so he would not chew through it, and I never took my eye off him while he had it. Yes I took the CPR class but I don't want to ever have to use that information!

Look Ma! I'm a big boy!

I was bored and feeling a little mean so I took the apple away from him. Holy crap. It was WW3 in our house and Ryan screaming was the Biological Weapon. He went full blown postal on me. It was hilarious.
I gave it back to him for a while. I flipped it around and let him chew on it for about 20 min. I figure he had enough and was time to brush his teeth and get ready for Grandma to come over.

I was wrong. He cried big ol tears. It was really cute. I am such a mean mom.

Once I took him out of the chair he forgot why he was so upset.

I think we shall have an apple again for lunch tomorrow.

Also last night he woke up around 10pm. Neil got him and brought him to the living room (futon) with us. We were watching Top Gear until Ryan noticed I was eat a yogurt and then he kamanzaked me to get it. Neil and I also enjoyed some cheese and crackers so Ryan got to eat some cheese too. Lucky kid had an awesome night. I think this kid will eat us out of house and home when he is older. Maybe we should start a savings account for that.

One more... around 6am Roag came into the bed looking for some love. I gave him some and then pushed him away trying to get more sleep. I watched Roag go over to Neil for love and Neil rolled away from him. Ryan was in bed with us (I dont even remember how he got in there) and I watched Roag go over to Ryan... he was rubbing and licking Ryan's head. Ryan pushed him away.

Poor Roag. No one wanted to give him love. I curled up with him for a bit, poor kitty.

Enigma my little kitty girl...

2012-01-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

We lost you today. I knew it was a matter of time and I didn't want to face it.

Enigma I love you.
She fell into my life after we lost Andrew and I didn't even really want her. I just took her as a favor to Jenn. She were such a brat. She bite and screamed and hated Neil, Ogar and me. Then she started to like my petting, my love and my cuddles. She would fight Ogar for my time and warmth.

Enigma and Ogar curled up in bed.

After we lost Ogar her and I became even closer. She got depressed so we got her a new brother. But still Enigma stuck by my side. Even if Roag made it hard on her sometimes.

Enigma loved to curl up with me and we kept each other warm.

Roag wanted to see what it was about so he sat on us both.

Little lap girl.

When we were going through everything (testing) with Abbey Enigma would spend all her time with me. Curl up on the futon, floor, bed... anywhere. She just wouldn't let me be alone and it was what I needed. Something I could pet, hold and cuddle. After we lost Abbey I really got attached to Engima and I would hold her even more. She let me. It was like she knew I needed something to give my love to and she was there for me.

Mmmmmm sun

She has been a little sick for a while. But she was still eating like crazy, drinking water, playing, complaining, going potty and just being herself. She would just get sick sometimes. The past few months its been more and more.

Kitty girl sleeps on dad too!

Last night Enigma got so sick (so much vomit). We found it about 430am. We found her and she was very still. I put her on the futon and we cleaned up the mess. Around 630 we tried to get her to eat a cookie (treat) and some water. She wanted nothing. She started to digress. We got to the vet today at 1 and found out she had a blockage (he thinks it was poo but couldn't be sure without some tests.) She also had a fever and a heart murmur. After weighing out options and talking with the vet about tests, treatments and her age and history we made the call.

We said good bye to our little pointed butt, lemon face, pain in the butt kitty girl around 2pm. She looked at me as she slipped into her final sleep. I take comfort in knowing she heard Neil and I telling her we loved her and saw my face knowing she would be okay. No pain.

Playing with ropes is fun!

I miss her already. I will miss her eating flour and getting into everything. I will miss her crying at me first thing in the morning until I give her food. I will miss her almost dancing with excitement when I get wet food ready for her. I will miss her biting my feet at night when I move in the bed or her bitchy 'meow' when I dare to move at all while she is sleeping on/near me.

She was a brat and a princess and I loved her a hell of a lot.

My video game companion.

Breastfeeding (revisited) and a new tooth

2012-01-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

I just got Ryan down for a nap by humming to him and holding him. This is a huge deal for me. I always get him to nap by breastfeeding him. I did start that way then I put the boob away while he was awake and just hummed. He fussed a little, tried to get at the boob and tried to sit up but I stuck with it.

I think it helps that this is how Neil and Gabi (grandma) get him to sleep (humming) so it was not new to him. I also will do this at night sometimes. Trying to break him wanting to feed himself to sleep at night as well. That was more for when I go back to work in April then about the tooth though.

I digress. Before I had Ryan I wanted to BF (breastfeed) him for about 3-6 months. I said when the first tooth came out I was done. Then it was no more then 6 months cause he is getting too big to hold. Then I said I would never feed him past a year cause that was pointless.
Now that I have had him for a while I enjoy feeding him and I will really miss that bond when its gone. I know we will have other things to bond us as he gets older but I love our time together. I am his mother and I love feeding my baby. Even more now that its not every hour of him wanting to eat. Man that wore me out and make me scared to go out in public. It is nice we can go out for a few hours with him as long as I bring a yogurt or fruit for him to snack on.

I do think bfing a 2 year old is a little odd but thats my choice to make. And who am I to judge? I don't want people to judge me. I use my boob to get the kid to sleep at night when I am tired and I know it will shut him up. I might do that past him being a year old. I don't know what the future holds. I know right now I feed him about 3x during the day and at night a few times whenever he wakes depending on how awake he is.

Also I just want to put it out there that its a myth formula feed kids sleep longer. They dont. Some babies sleep more then others. Sucky thing for me is our son takes after Neil not me. He doesn't want to sleep. He wants to play, he doesn't want to miss anything. He will be past the point of tired and into purple bags under the eyes and still want to play. I was really hoping he would take after me and want to sleep when tired. Though he is getting better at nap times. Also I am proud we didn't have to give him formula for long. That we tossed two containers of it. I am proud I stuck with something that was very hard and I feel better that I did. It was really hard to do it and I have a history of when something is hard I give in. I also have a history of when something is hard I want to do it even more, depending on what mood you catch me. I am not writing this to insult anyone but its my blog and sometimes it is just about me. (Please dont feel bad if you were not able to breastfeed, there are a lot of reasons. Maybe you had a biter or flat nipples or not enough milk. Providing is providing no matter now or what!)

I used to tease friends about the kids schedule. 'Ohhhh I cant go out it will mess up our kids schedule.'
I used to say what bullshit. Now I understand. Oh yes. Christmas week was a huge eye opener for me. Yeah we can go out now and then with the kid no problem. However messing it up day after day after night really took its toll. And when he was getting sick and cutting a tooth. That was just stupid. Some nights/days he was fine and others it got downright ugly. Kids do work better with a schedule!

So Ryan is cutting an upper tooth on the left side. I can't get a picture of it cause he doesn't like me looking at it. I will try to get one after it pops out. He is handling it MUCH better then the first round of teeth. Man that was a nightmare.

EDIT Feb 10, 2012.
No its a nightmare now. Such a silly woman. Cutting teeth sucks balls. It will always suck balls. Just deal with it, understand the next month or two after you first notice that tooth will suck and move on with your life.
Teething hurts, teeth punching out of the gums hurt more and at night when there is nothing to play with or distract the baby it really sucks.

So tired...

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzz

New Year and resolutions

2012-01-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

I hope 2012 is as amazing as 2011 was. I hope Ryan continues to grow and thrive and be a smarty pants. I hope my family stays/gets healthy.

Last night was a blast. Fondue with Neil, Joe, Angela and Ted. Was pretty wicked and funny. Played a new game too which was a blast. Loaded Questions was the name of the game. We had A LOT of laughs. I highly recommend it.
Thank you to Christina for convincing us to have oil fondue. I think it was the most popular and these cheese things she told us about are TO DIE FOR. I think Ang and I alone ate half the box.
Zucchini was pretty good too.

So on to my new years resolutions...
This new year I will
1. Stop Cussing
I am doing this with Neil. We have jars set up already and everything.(Neil already put 50 cents in)

2. Loose 3-4 lbs a month
I will do this by eating healthy again (almost no breads and no more glass of wine at night) and working out 3x a week (right now its 2x, I am starting this in Feb)
3. Focus on being a great/creative mom and wife.
# 1 & 2 play into that as well, getting healthy so I can keep up with Ryan

Speaking of which I need to eat my breakfast, dry my hair and go pick up the kid. Gabi said her and Sandor had a great night with Ryan (and day) which I am very happy to hear. They are awesome grandparents. So happy they are so close to us (a block away).

I am a tiny bit sad I didn't have Ryan to hold for new year but happy we all had a much needed break to. Its nice to have a quiet morning (haven't had one of these since September) but I miss my little man and I cant wait to see his big smile.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Christmas, thoughts and sickness... again.

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

It was amazing. Neil posted some photos here.
Pre-Holiday
and here
Christmas fun!

This photo pretty much sums up the day (this was him at night when he just didn't want to sleep)
Click to enlarge.

We skyped with my folks for a little bit so they could see Ryan open a few gifts. That is why in some of the pictures I am on my laptop.

Ryan loved it.

It was just an amazing weekend. Friday we had a great time with friends at Chris & Tara's house. Dan, Vanessa, Anand and Ryan M came over. Unfortunately Janet, Mike and the girls were very sick and not able to make it. AND we couldn't stay too long cause Ryan just didn't want to sleep. He went down for a hour and was up at 10 and refused to go back down. Didn't want to miss the party, so we had to go home. However for some odd reason he sleeps GREAT at Robin and Christina's place. Hmmmm maybe cause playing with Lucy (the dog) wears him out.
Love that dog. She is amazing with kids. I think Ryan loves her too.

Real reason I wanted to post was my brother in law Robin sent this to me...
http://daringfireball.net/2011/12/merry

I thought it was so sweet and so true I started to send this email back to him and figure 'fuck it' I will post this on my blog... being that its about having kids and being a parent. Ya know... what my blog should be about.

I love it and really I feel that way now. When I am having a hard time with Ryan I stop, look at him and realize to myself I have to enjoy it... All of it, because it goes way to fast. I find myself looking at little baby pictures of him feeling a little sad because it's going so fast.
Everyone always tells you to enjoy the kid while you can because time flies and it's so very true.
I have never been more happy in my life then I have this past year.

I love my little family intensely.

It's also funny cause parents tried to explain this type of love to me before but you can't explain it. Its like NOTHING you have ever felt before until you have your kid in your arms. It's amazing and scary and exciting all at once.

Also side note. Ryan is getting sick.(good news is that fucking booger thats been in his nose for over a week came out) Started with a cough and now has runny nose. We are going to see the doctor today at 1:45. If it was just the runny nose again I wouldn't go but the cough sounds pretty bad. Thankfully he is not coughing too much but when it does you can really hear it. Gross thing is he coughs up stuff, chews it and then back down it goes. Ew buddy... spit it up!
trying my very best not to get it. My hands are dry and doing my best NOT to touch my face. Much harder then you would think. Try to not touch your face at all for the next hour. Let me know how you do.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

We celebrate on the 24th up here with Neils family.

Not sure why... maybe I should look into that so when Ryan asks me why we celebrate on the 24th I can tell him.

Had a nice x-mas morning with the family. I love my small family. I love waking up with my husband (who slept on the couch, was snoring from wine) and my little man (who slept in our bed). I love feeding Ryan breakfast while Neil gets pictures.

This is Ryans first Christmas. I wish I could get him to understand why he should be excited and why mom and dad are excited. We went a little over board on the gifts. We were supposed to get him one each and then Neil went to Toys R Us on his own and got him two more gifts. He got him "little people". When I asked Neil how much they were he said it was on sale and was just a few dollars. The big liar. Then he followed that up with "This is the same one I had as a kid, I can't wait to play with Ryan." How can I fault that!

Ry is down for a nap right now, fingers crossed its a long one. He needs it. He didn't want to sleep last night at Chris & Taras place. Too much going on. Man oh man Tara was cracking the kid up last night. If she wasn't outside our price range I would hire her as a nanny in April.

First picture of I am sure many to come of Ryan on Christmas. Neil rented 4 lens for this weekend... expect some good shots later.

May you and yours have a wonderful Holiday and may it be filled with pure joy.

Sure wish it would snow though. :P

Snow and 8 months old today.

2011-12-17T05:34:00.000-08:00

Its Saturday morning (my morning to get up with the kid).
I am sitting here enjoying my cup of coffee and eggs while I watch soft fluffy snow blow round outside. The kid is squeeling in the background happy as can be. Oh, not because of the snow but because there is a kitty near him. I don't think he will enjoy snow until next year.

Now trying to convince Neil to go to Port Credit with me for Christmas Family fun will be hard with snow out. Then again maybe it will make it easier.
One thing Neil and I agree on, doesnt feel like Christmas without snow. Even more so this year because we can not have a tree in our tiny place with the baby. Once again, next year will be more fun because we will have our own place. Either Condo or the townhouse we really want. By god I will have a tree next year.
A real one.

Also check out this picture of Ryan with Santa. It was great cause there was no line and Ryan was amazing. He was smiling and looking at the camera. Our little Ham. Neil got Video of it.

Click to enlarge

Off to do a Skype test run with the folks. We are going to video skype next Saturday for Christmas so they can watch Ryan open gifts.

EDIT:
I forgot Ryan turned 8 months old. Changes in him.
He is full on crawling. He can pull himself up to standing super fast and does it a lot. He loves to mimic and will do it endlessly. Small things like if you smack the table once he will do it once, you do it twice he will do it twice. Other day Neil was going "roar!" like a lion and Ryan did it back to him. And he does it with a huge smile. He wants to eat everything. I mean everything you eat. I can not eat around him without him booting it over to me and trying to get into my food.
Neil gave him a taste of coffee and he loved it. (yikes). He still flirts with all the ladies and some guys. Anyone can hold him. He doesn't care who you are. Even strangers are okay but he does prefer people he knows.
He will put his forehead on yours as a sort of hug/kiss. He does try to kiss but does it open mouth on your face (he did it Rita the other day). He loves when I kiss the palm of his hands. He also loves to have his hands washed after eating.(which I am trying to do after every meal)
If I am tickling him and try to pull his arm up to get to his arm pit he will giggle and try to hold it down so you can't. He is obsessed with teeth and touching peoples teeth right now, it's so weird. When I smell his feet and go "ohhhh smelly feet!" he giggles like crazy.
I think right now is my favorite time for him. He is such a little sponge and he is just getting to be more and more fun to be around. He is super stubborn though. If I try to put him to sleep he HAS to have the boobs. The other day I tried not giving it to him and he screamed for 45 minutes. Then I let him play a little and just gave him the boob and he passed right now. I am thinking about trying to introduce pacifier again so he can get that sucking calming effect without needing me. Self sooth and all that crap. He still wakes a lot at night. Sometimes I can get him to sleep without the breast. Sometimes Neil has to do it and sometimes I just nurse him back to sleep if its really late (like 2am and I am tired). Trying to break that habit this week, it's gonna SUCK.

Such a big boy, changes and Christmas.

2011-12-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

I know I write this a lot but Ryan is changing so fast and growing up too quick!

He can sort of walk if you hold his hands. He needs the help balancing but he takes the steps himself and holds his own weight (about 90% of it).
See the video below.
Neil found this out Sunday morning when I was at Zumba Tone. I am a little sad I missed the first time but Neil was so happy to be here for this milestone. And I was very happy he was the one that discovered it.

Tonight Ryan feed himself some pasta I made. He got it in his mouth not just smooshed it around like he did with the bananas in Florida.

smoosh

When I hide a toy behind me or something I don't want him to get he knows it's there. Little monkey. I put him on the floor while I cook or do dishes and he always comes into the kitchen to get me or one of the cats. He also likes to go toward the edges of walls and our new shoe stand that has pointy ends, perfect for a seven month old eye ball.

I pick him up, move him to the safe zone (aka away from bad things on his foam mat) hand him a toy and go back to what I was doing. Then he tosses the toy and comes after me again.

I can not eat anywhere near him unless he is eating as well or he just sits there with his mouth open. Most of the time if I am on the floor with him trying to eat a snack or lunch he will attack me trying to get my food. I'll give him a little of what I am eating if I can.

He loves big people food. Gabi says Neil did this when he was little too.

Today I made Banana Bread muffins and was trying to enjoy one. Well Ryan wanted to enjoy as well. I tried what Neil does which is letting him taste with his tongue but not letting him eat it. I put the muffin in Ryans mouth on his tongue and then took it out. Well on the second time of doing this the little monkey tried to bite down and turn his head so he could eat some! I stopped him though.

It has sugar and chocolate in it and I want to avoid him having that till his first birthday.

After lunch the other day... I call this look "sleeping with his eyes open."

DAMN HAT!

Its pretty cold out and we need hats in Canada in December!

Saturday afternoon Cookie Decorating (Christina holding both kids!).

Ary was tickling him and he was trying to pull her hair.

Saturday early evening we went over to the Parks house and it was funny as hell watching Chloe and Ryan play. He hasn't really played with any kids close to his age since he has become so aware. He had a great time! They were sitting there yelling at each other and both talking. She would grab his hand and he would touch her face or hair. I saw him rub her back. He would try to crawl on her as well. It was super cute. I wish I got a video of it. We will have to go over there again soon for a play date.

We also dumped him on Joe which was funny.

YAY JOE!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Enjoy some of the many faces Ryan makes now. You can really see his personalty coming out.

Concentration, he will stick his tongue out like Neil does, its pretty cute.

Determination

Expressive

This kid is super stubborn. I wonder where he gets it... NEIL.

Yah that's right it's all Neils fault. :)

Neil and I got some awesome stuff for Ryan for Christmas tonight at Toys R Us. It was so much fun to look around at all the cool stuff. It was hard to pick but Neil picked something and I picked something. I hope Ryan likes them. Neil was getting all excited about the "little people" world toys and how he had it as a kid and wanted to get it for Ryan (1+) so its too early for Ryan. And I am excited about Lincoln Logs for Ry.

Neil and I went to the bigger kids toys, 3+ and were getting super jazzed about how much fun it will be when he is bigger and can really play. I told Neil to not get ahead of himself and to enjoy Ryan now while he little.

Before we know it he will be off to collage and married and having kids of his own. Neil and I will look at each other and wonder where did all the time go and who replaced our baby with a man.

Now I made myself sad.

I'm gonna go hug my sleeping baby now.

night night.

Slacker mom is a slacker

2011-12-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

I have really slacked off on this blog since being home. Been pretty busy with lots of running around. (and Harry Potter Lego 5-7).
I do however plan to make my next blog about all the food I ate in Florida and will include pictures. (and I lost 7lbs while there WTF?)

I just wanted to write really quick that yesterday at Neil's work Ryan was crawling. Full on crawling. I think it was the help of the fleece pants on carpet but it was very impressive.

He is getting so big and it's happening so fast it makes me a little sad and a little proud. I know I should not get too excited but he is a fast developer. I hope its because he is a smarty pants. He has always reached milestones before the typical age.

This mom is a proud mom, a slacker, but still a proud mom.

Crap he is up. Gotta jet!

Seven Months

2011-11-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Seven months Ryan.

He can sit up alone, still trying to crawl and does that army shuffle along the ground. He lifts himself up on knees and arms and will rock back and forth. He is faster, so any week now.
He does this open and close wave thing with his hand. I am hoping he is learning the sign language I have been trying to teach him. Food and Drink are the only ones now but soon I want to teach Mommy, Daddy and tired. (neil thinks he is)

He is turning into a bit of a brat. He whines a lot at nap time and bedtime. He is starting to whine when playing too. I ignore him until he stops then I will pick him up or cuddle him. Got to break that habit soon. Still not sleeping through the night. Last friday he slept 5 hours and then 4 hours. Which was GREAT but the past few nights have been bad and back to the 1-2 waking.

His hair is getting long! He has curls now but only on top which is super cute.

He still liked strangers, mostly women, but now he is starting to duck his head into my shoulder to hide. I hope he doesn't go through the stranger fear stuff. I love having a happy friendly baby.

Oh also he is awesome at going out for lunch as long as I have some food for him to eat so he doesn't feel left out. The past two days I went to lunch with Emily and he was awesome both days (he hit his head on the table one day and cried a little). He just likes to be out looking at stuff. I worry he will be bored when we go back home. We have been going out so much since I have been in Florida. I guess we will have to have play time and meet up with Janet and the girls while she is on Mat leave since Tara is back working now. :(

I just wanted to do a quick update on Ryan on his seventh month birthday so in the future I can remember all these fun and crazy times.

Neil gone back home.

2011-11-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Neil flew home this morning. He said it was awesome he had a row to himself, I hope we are that lucky when Ry and I fly home.

I went out to eat without him for the first time, it was hard. My mom took Ry and I to Olive Garden.
He was pretty good until the end and was crying a lot. I took him outside and he was fine. I am so used to Neil being there and we have a good routine. I take him so Neil can eat about half his meal and then he will take him so I can eat half my meal and we switch back and forth. Pretty much hold him and play with him till your arms get tired (he is 23lbs!) and hand him off.
It sucked not having Neil to hand him off too!

I don't get Olive Garden.The past few times I have been there I didn't really like the food and its not that cheep either. Breadsticks are good but I don't get the love people have for it. Mom got soup and salad for $6 which is a great deal so maybe I would feel different. I got seafood pasta. It was okay but heavy. Much heavier then I thought it would be.

Maybe I am just a HUGE food snob now. Gee thanks Neil for turning me into a food snob!
:)

EDIT
Ryan ate bananas sliced up tonight on his tray. He tried to get it to his mouth and didnt do that good a job but understood when I gave it to him. He got super sticky but had a great time. Gonna introduce chicken to him soon. Exciting stuff.

BANANAS!

Florida trip thus far

2011-11-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

The flight was great. Ryan was amazing. He was so good in all the line ups (ticket, customs, security) and when we were at a pub grabbing food he was super good too. When we got on the plane the guy next to Neil made a face when he saw Ryan. A "oh great a fucking baby" face. Normally I wouldn't give a shit but Ryan had yet to even make a peep. The stewardess saw this and offered the guy a new seat once we were in the air and the seat belt light was off. Funny enough the new seat was behind a baby that WAS crying. As we were taking off I put Ryan on the boob and he was fine. No crying or fussing at all. HE even passed out after eating and slept the whole way. I woke him a little while landing and put him on the boob again. He was great in the line up waiting for the car (about midnight now).
Once we got to my folks house all hell broke loose. He had a rough night and around 4am we got him back to sleep and put him in bed with us. The next night was a nightmare as well.
Halloween was very disappointing. Dressed him up in his batman oneise and the awesome cape Christina made and went outside to hand out candy. Before the first kid came a mosquito landed on Ryan's head and after that he started to cry. We had to go inside and I didn't even get to show off Ryan or look at the other kids outfits (all three batches that came).

Neil was sleeping by 630 on the couch and was out there all night till 5am. Ryan and I had the bed in my moms room. Dad was sleeping by 7 and mom went to bed at 830 after helping me give Ryan a bath in his super cute duck bathtub.
I was in bed around 930.

Next night we were out shopping a lot and in the evening after dinner with my folks we went out to visit Delaney and her family. Ryan lost his shit. I mean really lost it. Was screaming and crying for about 35 min straight. Neil got some burps out of him and he was okay. On edge but okay.

Last night and the night before he slept great though. He slept in his bed all night and in 3 hours stretches which was nice for Neil and I. He even slept in, 10am the other day and 915 today. Normally he is up at 7-730. I wonder if going out so much is making him tired or just being someplace new.
I made him some food and he is doing a bit better. He had a fever last night which worried me and his pee was a little smelly but he is better now. Just keeping an eye on him.

I was super freaked about Neil leaving Saturday and me being here with Ryan for over 2 weeks without him. This week really hit me how much I really rely on Neil to help me when it gets tiring or hard or Ryan is in a mood. I worry about stressing my folks out. I hope they will help me if it gets bad. I have an all new respect for single moms. I couldn't imagine it. My mom is out of shape with a bad back so its limited what she can do and dad has a bum heart and really shouldn't hold Ryan too much cause he is heavy.

Back to taking nighttime showers when Ryan is sleeping. :P

Weather is HOT here. Well compared to Canada. We turned on the air today it was pretty warm with the humidity. Enjoying it while we have it. Though it looks like they are having a nice weather back home.

Funny how Canada is my home now. I miss it. I dont really miss Florida anymore. Doesn't feel like home. I like being here. I love seeing my family and friends but I miss my home.

I think we are adapting well here though. Poor Neil is crippled though. His back is fucked up, along with neck, arms and sides. Soft bed with a kid that likes to bounce and doesn't have a bouncer... he is not used to it.

Tonight was fun visiting with some of our friends. Ryan was pretty good. Got grumpy tired toward the end and just wanted to feed on me non-stop. (it knocks him out). I hope to see them again before I leave.
Next weekend is Jenn and the weekend after that is my sister visiting. Please let Ryan be in a good mood both weekends... please.

Issues on Sleep and Florida!

2011-10-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

I was so excited because I thought Ryan slept from 1:30am - 6:30am and he hasn't done that in a month.
No really. It has been a month of him sleeping 1-2 hours and then waking up screaming or crying. If he just woke up we would leave him be to go back to sleep but he will start to scream.
I told Neil this morning I was so excited maybe he is going to go back to sleeping 3-5 hours and I can't wait and Neil confessed Ryan woke up at 2:30am and Neil just held him for a minute till he went back to sleep.

Still 4 hours is pretty good so I am still pretty happy about that. AND he slept in till 8:10 which was nice. AND he slept the whole night in his crib. We have a busy day ahead of brunch with Robin and Christina (we get to meet her parents!!!) and then we have to finish up packing and get any running around done before going to Florida.

Also I am going to brag... its -1 here right now. Minus fucking 1. (29f) In Florida it is 15c (60f). And the high today in Florida is going to be 21c (70f). PERFECT!!! Friday is going to be 25c feels like 31c (76f feels like 86f).
Bring it.

I am looking forward to putting sunscreen on Ryan because we are sitting outside in the grass with grandpa playing. Its gonna kick so much ass.

Of course I am happy to see my mom and I know she will be so shocked how much Ryan has changed but she has come up twice now to see Ryan. My dad hasn't even meet him yet. My dad wanted boys really bad and he got two girls so this is sort of his little boy
Oh and don't get me wrong. I had a blast with my dad. I loved that he rough housed with us, went camping and pretty much raised me as a tomboy. I love it. But boys are pretty awesome. So far I really enjoy having a little boy.

You get less pink stuff which is nice.

Last night we went to Screamers which was a lot of fun. They had this really awesome black light 3D house that was amazing-balls (as Ang would say). We went with Joe, Angela and Ted and really... it's the group you go with and those three are pretty kick-ass. :D

Okay enough blogging and more packing Mary!

BYE!!!!

Shots round 3, test results and the home state

2011-10-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Ry got his third round of shots today. He has been pretty good which is shocking. Playful, took a long nap, super playful and was good for Neil and Gabi tonight while I was a Zumba. He was a little moody when he woke up at 1030 but after 45 min got him back to sleep.
We shall see how tonight goes. (edit, just woke up three times screaming in the past 30 min. awesome just awesome.)

say what!?

I really hope he startes to sleep again soon. Almost a month of him waking every 1-2 hours. I celebrate the rare times he has slept 3 hours. So nice. I miss the 3-5 hour stretches so much.
Not only does he wakes up but he will wake up SCREAMING. So its hard to ignore him and let him go back to sleep on his own. He is in our room and Neil has to work and really how can you ignore a screaming baby (one bedroom house we live in)

We got the results that the ultrasound was okay. No scaring on the kidneys which is great! Still waiting for the VCGU results. Hopefully will have them soon.
But the doctor gave us good news today, he gave us the okay to go to Florida!

I am from Florida and my family lives there. My mom, dad, sister and brother in law.
My dad has yet to meet Ryan and so does my sister Laura. My sis and I are sort of estranged but we are starting to talk again. She is not what I would call a kid person but hopefuly Ryan doesn't freak her out too much with the drool. (I tease he doesn't drool that much, he doesn't even need a bib).

We are going down Sunday the 30th and will get in around midnight. Neil will be there till Saturday the 5th of November and I will be there with Ryan till the 23rd. We leave early in the morning.
Neils dad got us one of the tickets on his air miles which was really awesome of him!

nomnom feet

I called my folks to tell them the good news. Now they were expecting me and Ryan at the END of November not the end of October so they were a little surprised. I could tell my mom was a little flustered. She has been working at getting all the crap we will need for Ryan. Highchair, car seat, play-yard, crib, foam mats for crawling, a walker, diapers, food, change mat... like I said, all the crap. And a place for me to sleep. She got a futon that will come in Tuesday. YAY I dont have to be on an air mattress for 3 1/2 weeks. :P

I know its short notice but I hope there are a few people I can see when we come down.

I always miss my old house when I go to Florida. I want to go across the street from my folks and sit on my porch in the quiet and have a smoke. I don't but I want to. (I used to live in the house across the street that was my grandmothers).

Two teeth, sick parents and Happy Birthday Neil!

2011-10-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Ryan has two teeth now.

Click pictures below to enlarge.

Sharky!

I have been slacking on the blog front.

My brother in law got engaged which is pretty awesome news! Why is it awesome you ask?
Well for the simple fact everyone in our family adores Christina (chris). She is pretty kick ass. She loved Robin a lot (which anyone can see) she is smart, funny as hell, loves Ryan and talks back to Neil. Ya gotta love her. Right now they are looking at a April/May 2012 wedding.
Fingers crossed they both maintain sanity during the wedding planning. Any married couple can tell you it can get crazy sometimes.

The family gets to meet each other next weekend. I am looking forward to meeting her folks (already met her brother and sis in law). Her parents sound pretty awesome too. I even have a cute outfit for Ryan picked out.

I need to get out more.

So Neil and I are sick. Its not too bad. I have been fighting it with gargles, tea, zinc, trying to nap, hot showers, vitamin C and anything else I can think of. Right now I am super congested. Neil is still in the sore throat phase. I warned him stuffy nose should hit just in time for his 30th birthday (which is tomorrow!) Gonna get him daytime cold meds as his gift.

We are celebrating his 30th at a friends wedding. Should be a good time. At least I hope the bride, groom and Neil have a good time. I'll just pack some tissues and halls in my dressy purse.

This past Monday Ryan turned 6 months old. I celebrated by spending the day out with Tara shopping while Ry had some time with grandma and grandpa B.
Ryan has two teeth now, LOVES to eat food (tries to eat my food all the time) drinks out of his cup and is starting to crawl. He even had Yogurt today for the first time (plain).

Big Boy cup!

He is also reaching for our iPhones now which is a BIG no no. And our laptops.
The other day he was on the floor crawling and wiggling his but around and I was on the floor with him on my laptop looking at the beautiful venues Robin and Chris have been checking out. And the little monkey starts to chew on my computer.
I guess it doesn't help that it has a green sticker on it. Neils has an orange one. And when the lap top is open the apple logo glows. Pretty enticing for a 6 month old.

Everyone knows frogs are yummy.

Also we went for a walk today since there was no rain for a bit. Holy hell it was cold and windy. I had to improvise because it was way too windy for little Ryan. I only had a fleece hoodie over his long sleeve shirt. I put the rain cover over him to try to block the wind.

Let me out! I can't see!!!

We really need to cave in and get him a winter coat and real hats soon. Maybe some mittens as well.
Bah. He is gonna HATE mittens.

Okay I should really get some sleep. Saturday is going to be a long day. However at least we will be Ryan free and able to get more then 1-2 hours sleep at a time. SCORE! I dont care if my boobs explode while I sleep. I am going to sleep at least 6 hours straight damn it. Hear that boobs? You better be nice and let me sleep!

Ryan update on UTI and a new tooth!

2011-10-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

Ryan is doing much better. More wet diapers and not smelly. Also no fever for almost a week and we have just a few more days of medication left. YAY!

He is one happy baby. He is still waking a lot at night but its because that second tooth is popping out.

We still have yet to hear from his doctors office for the appointment at sick kids but because we went late Thursday and everything was closed for the long Thanksgiving weekend. Also the office is closed on Tuesdays I figure if I don't hear from them by Thursday I will call them Friday.

I am just happy my little monkey is pretty much back to his normal super happy self.

(Click to enlarge)

Happy Baby

Useing the new travel highchair at Dan and Vanessa's (Vanessa took this photo)

Sleeping just like daddy!

And here is a link of Ryan saying MOM. (he says it all the time)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtaL6P-G9t4

Neil said I only hear what I want to hear because he is too young to understand what he is saying. I think he does know cause he looks right at me and says MOM and he also says 'nomnomnom' which is what I say to him as I feed him food. Sorry the video is facing the wrong way but you get the jist of it. He says it more but I trimmed the clip to get it on youtube faster.

Also our son is a genius. (and sorry for breathing into the mic at the end. Opps)

Diets? (little TMI about breast milk as well)

2011-10-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

Thinking about doing a modified south beach diet. I hate the word diet but was inspired but a friend doing that and lost almost 3lbs in 4 days. I figure if I eat less BAD carbs and move hopefully it will work. She pretty much doesn't eat bread all day and will have a little carbs with dinner. I am still breast feeding so I have to be a bit more careful but figure it couldn't hurt.

It worked GREAT for me before... until I went on a cruse and ate like a huge pig.

I just feel like I am stuck. I know I need to work out more and with winter coming its super important to get a jump on it. However I figure it couldnt hurt to go phase two of south beach with a little phase one thrown in.

TMI ABOUT BREAST MILK

(I do have to be careful because I don't want my milk to get thin but I am sort of hoping I will produce a little less. Ryan isn't eating as much as he used to and my body is being pretty stubborn and not getting the hint to make less milk. I hate pumping but I have to do it almost every day or I swell up at night.)

I wanted to be 30lbs lighter by the time I go back to work in April. I have 7 months to get my shit together. Now I am aiming for 25lbs.

Time to wake up the baby from his morning nap and walk to the store. Holiday weekend up here and I have to get some stuff for the weekend.

I will be good this weekend but Monday starts my diet. And don't get me wrong I am not going to be strict like I was before the cruise and Rita's wedding so the weight loss wont be as dramatic. It's more a long term health thing then a fat thing. The CPR class went over heart health and she scared Neil and I a little. With the history of heart disease in my family and my mom has type 2 diabetes (which means if I don't get my weight under control I am more at risk) I want to be healthy for life. Not just for me and Neil but for my kid.

Bread is my weakness. I could live off bread, cheese and milk and be happy. Never poop again but still be happy. So time to cut out the bread. And just to give you and idea of how MUCH bread I eat.

1 slice with an egg for breakfast

2 slices sandwhich for lunch

2 slices toast for snack before dinner (after nap)

sometimes 1 slice at night for a snack before bed.

That is 6 fucking slices a DAY. Of white bread by the way... not good.

No wonder my butt is huge.

Update on Ryan and his UTI

2011-10-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Ry is doing much better today. Other then the medication still upsetting his tummy he is good.The Doctor said to keep giving it to him. Its better then an IV and I agree. Plus he is just pooping and farting from it, not vomiting.

We have an ultrasound Oct 19th to check his kidneys. I tried a few places and that was the soonest we could get in, one hospital told me JAN was when they were booking! Trillium did tell me November but when I told her again it was for my BABY and his kidneys she bumped us up to Oct. I think she heard the slight panic in my voice.

He will also have a second procedure done. The doctors office will book that one and let us know when it is. It will be at Sick Kids hospital (bad memories there). Its called VCUG and they are testing for urinary reflux. Pretty much they put a catheter in him again and put dye in his bladder. They then check to the dye to see if it is going back UP into the kidneys. Neil and I will be able to be in the room with him the whole time.

I know it will be scary for him seeing us in big lead aprons and in a medical room with bright lights and doctors. So I will have to make sure to choke back the urge to cry and be a super strong mama bear for my little dude with big smiles and a soft voice.

If he does have it they prescribe long-term, low-dose antibiotics to prevent recurring UTIs. Until it stops (which the doc said most of the time happens on its own but if not he might have to have surgery depending on how bad it is). The doctor said its pretty rare but with babies they over test to just be safe with all the testing.

He didn't come off as too worried which was good. Doc Simone has been around a while and I felt much more at ease after seeing him today.

Ryan does look much better. Last night he slept in his own bed with no problems (past two nights he slept with us) and today he was laughing/screaming/talking in his jumper like he always does.

Also he was good for Neil and Gabi last night. I went to Zumba and they had a good night. He ate some sweet potatoes and even took a bath with Neil. He was whiny but didn't scream like the last two Wednesday nights. It was really nice to come home to a sleeping happy baby, a relaxed looking dad and a happy grandma.

Its still a CHORE to get him to take medication. He CLAMPS his mouth shut so its a struggle to get the applicator in his mouth and then he pushes the medication out with his tongue. Heh, smart little stubborn monkey.

UTI in Ryan.

2011-10-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yup. Ryan got a Urinary tract infection. He has been off since Sunday morning. He was crying and screaming all day Sunday which is NOT like him.

Even when his tooth was coming through he didn't cry all day. He would have crying fits and then be okay for a while.

I took his temp at noon Monday (today) and he was 38c. I dosed him (Tylenol) and he was okay. I took his temp again at 6 and it was 39c. Not good (102.2f)

After Neil got home I told him and we ate a quick dinner and took him to the Kid Clinic at the hospital. We didn't have to wait long. No fever when the nurse took his temp but we were still going to see the doctor because he hasn't been himself and his pee was smelly.

Doc did an exam and said he thought it might be a UTI but to be sure we needed some pee. Well that was going to be unpleasant.

Poor little peanut got a catheter in his penis. Oh he screamed. (which is understandable).

The nurse took the pee to have a quick look and she said it did look like a UTI.

I gave Ryan a little breast to calm him down and the doc gave us the information on the medication we needed to give him. Also told us we will have an ultrasound to make sure there is nothing else wrong. Ryan cant say to us "daddy my belly hurts." so we have to be proactive.

They will call me soon with the appointment time. Also need to have a check up with his normal doctor in two days.

I am very happy I went with my mom instinct and we took him in. I was thinking of waiting to see if he was better Tuesday but something told me he wasn't okay.

We have to keep an eye on him tonight with the fever and medication so he will sleep with us tonight. Right now he is sleeping on Neil which is nice. Keeps him happy and gives me a bit of a break because he has been very clinging today. All day he was on me, which ya can't blame him. When I was sick as a kid I wanted to be held. (hence the sleeping in our bed tonight) Comfort couldn't hurt him.

I'll update in a few days to how he is doing.

bath time peanut.

I see lots of sleeping on mom or dad and A LOT of cuddles.Which is just fine by me!

Chewy Chewy CHOMP CHOMP!

2011-09-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan is getting his first tooth! About time with all the drooling, night waking and grumpy periods.

Very exciting stuff.

Poor little guy, its all red and ouchy looking.

(click to enlarge)

Neil was reading some interesting stuff about baby teeth. Like did you know a baby tooth can come out and then reseed back in? That's pretty cool and a little gross.

Anywho. I tried to upload a video to youtube of Ry being super chatty but its not working for me right now. Ill try again. I also want to write a blog about memories, strangers touching my baby, and the fact that RY is 5 months old this past Saturday.

Good lord the time is flying.

Soon he will be crawling, walking, hurting himself and eating cat hair balls that always pop up RIGHT after I vacuum.

EDIT. Got the video uploaded. YAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xbFmeiqK2Y

Grandma from Florida visits.

2011-09-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

My mom come up to visit us and to enjoy some nice fall weather (Florida is flippn hot).

This is a recount for me to look back and remember. Bit boring so feel free to skip down to Ryan eating beans.

Mom got in Thursday afternoon/early night. Neil picked her up from the airport and we all went out to Jack Astors for dinner. We sat on the patio which was nice and a little dangerous. In Ontario people can smoke on the patio so we had to sit far from everyone else. We had Ryan with us. It was a lot of fun, a little loud but mom enjoyed her dinner.

Friday I took Neil into work and had the car for the day. I had a doctor appointment at noon and after a quick nap with Ryan we hit up Costco. Mom loaded us up with diapers, paper towels, some out fits and meat which was pretty awesome. We had a nice cook out with Rita and Tim that night and just hung outside for a while. Gabi joined us for dinner (Sandor was off to Thailand). Gabi and my mom went to the South Side Shuffle for a show and one of Gabi's favorite singers, Cheryl Lescom.

Saturday we took her to the South Side Shuffle (Jazz fest) in the afternoon. That night we had some grilled steaks and just spent the night outside chilling drinking wine and beer. Ryan had a great time too and ended up falling asleep on Neil, was pretty sweet.

Sunday we went to the farmers market and had family dinner with everyone at night.

Monday we took it easy and just chilled during the day ( mom, me and Ry). When Neil got home we took mom to Spoon and Fork (Thai). She ever had Thai food before which is a big shame, it is one of my favorite foods (along with french).

Oh who are we kidding, all food are my favorite.

She got the mango chicken and sticky coconut rice and loved it! Neil and I got red curry, its pretty spicy there so we didn't offer any to mom. She can not handle heat in food!

Today (Tuesday) Mom, Ryan and I went for a walk. I was happy mom joined in on our morning walk. We cut it a little short but she had a good time. We chilled around the house and I made Chow Mien for dinner. Robin came over for a visit.

Wend we are planning on going to Cora's for breakfast nice and early so Neil can come and then I take mom to the airport around 2 to catch her flight home. I wish we would have done more but the point of this trip was for my mom to see and visit with Ryan and she did. I think she had a great time. Man she can make this kid giggle!!! (video below)

_______________________________________

Today Ryan had green beans for the first time.

I was pretty happy he ate them with ease and didn't spit it out or even make a face. So far he likes and eats apples (home made) sweet potato (premade) and green beans (home made). I have the home made peaches in the freezer still and will add those into his diet next week. I am still really scared to give him carrots since his reaction to them last time was SO BAD. I am keeping his foods really simple till he is about seven-eight months and then I will start putting chicken with broccoli in his diet and mixing foods up. Right now I am keeping it apples and cereal for breakfast and sweet potato (or beans) and cereal for dinner. Sometimes I skip the cereal depending on how many servings of food he gets. NO SALT, NO SUGAR. Everything I have read says no seasoning in his food for a while yet. His little body can not handle salt or peppers.

He is still mostly breast milk and he is slowly going more between feedings which is neat. Sort of hurts me on certain days so I have to pump enough to relieve. Which works out because I use that milk to mix the cereal.

Wow this post is pretty boring. Sorry guys.

Ill make up for it with cute videos & photos

Mom getting Ryan to Laugh and being silly while doing so.

Ryan getting almost his whole foot in his mouth.

(As always click photos to enlarge.)

Sitting in the cart at Costco and happy about it

This kid loves to be outside! (south side shuffle in the jogging stroller)

Neil feeding him... yummy food!

Watching Roag is so much fun!

Today's walk with Grandma L! YAY!

ALSO a BIG shout out to my sister on her birthday. Happy Birthday Laura!!!

O.Noir a review of sorts (pretty long and detailed)

2011-09-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started off with Burlington Rib Fest with Joe and Angela.

The night before we lost a backup hard drive on our Drobo.

All our videos are on there not to mention the only back up we have of our thousands of photos of Ryan. Keeping that in mind we meet up at the Tiger Direct with Joe and Angela in Burlington and figure we can car pool from there.

We all pile into our car (with Ryan in the car seat in the back). Good thing Ang and Joe are so thin and we were off.

Yesterday was not the nicest day but the cloud cover and slight mist did help to keep the heat at bay which is important to a certain 4 1/2 month old.

We walked around a bit, got some BBQ and enjoyed ourselves. After we had our fill and the sky got a little darker we were on our way.

Neil and I got some 'bad' ice cream. We got soft serve with pineapple but the pineapple had turned so we had to toss it which made us a little sad. However better to be safe then sick when we had such awesome plans for the evening time.

Side note, it always pleases Neil and I how GOOD Ryan is when we take him out. He was just looking around at everything at the rib fest. Only ate once in four hours (didn't want to eat just wanted to look around) and took a little nap in the jogging stroller. He is SUCH an amazing kid when he is outside and there are new things for him to look at.

Got home, showered, washed down Ryan, got dolled up and off to drop the kid at the grand folks place.

Now those of you whom are not lucky enough to live a block from your parents, I feel sad for you. IT IS AWESOME. Gabi and Sandor are SO amazing with Ryan it really is a blessing to have them so close and SO WILLING to take him! I always tell Neil I feel bad dropping Ryan there because he can be a hand full and he always reassures me his folks love having him. They also reassure me by THANKING us every time we drop him off!

Like I said... awesome.

Neil and I were baby free for the night and feeling good. Made our way downtown to pick up Robin (Neils Bro) and Christina (Robins girlfriend & all and all a pretty kick ass chick).

We make it to O.Noir a few minutes early, its amazing how on time we are without the kid! After getting an email from Gabi that Ryan was taking the bottle and being a great kid I was able to stop being a worry wart mom and enjoy our night.

You go down some steps and into the restaurant. The lighting is very dim. You are greeted and asked if you have a reservation. The lady points you to the left, there are a bunch of closed doors as you make you way down to the end of the hall. At the end there is a large room with a few tables in the center and a few places to sit, also a big bar. You are given menus and asked to select what you want.

We chatted for a bit and decided what we were all having.

Christina & I had

Starter : Grilled Calamari on a mixed Green Salad (I had no starter)

Main : Marinated Shrimp with Herbs, served with dried Tomato Risotto

Dessert : SURPRISE

Robin & Neil had

Starter : SURPRISE

Main : Five Spice Filet mignon served with Potatoes and Vegetables

Dessert : SURPRISE

And we got a bottle of wine to share, wondering how they were going to refill our glasses. A bottle of wine pours perfect between four people so the server brought the already filled glasses to our table.

At O.Noir they hire blind servers. Our server was great, her name was Chris.

After placing our order we were taken to one of the doors in the hallway and introduced to our server, Chris. She explained to us that we were going to enter the doors behind her and once those were closed go into another room. We got into a line and put our hands on the left shoulder of the person in front of us. Off we went.

We were seated right next to the door. Neil and I were next to each other. Robin was across from me and Christina was across from Neil. Robin and I had a wall next to us. There was a placemat with texture in front of you with a small plate in the center. The fork was to the left and the butter knife to the right. Chris explained all this to us. On our small plate was a little thing of butter for our bread (which Chris put right on your plate). She put the wine glass to the right of me and put my hand on it. (same with our water). This room was BLACK. No light whatsoever so your eyes never adjust. Its pretty cool, you sort of have static in your vision and Christina even was a little dizzy at first. She said she felt like she was on the boat (movement).

Chris explained everything as she did it and was wonderful!

After chatting and light laughter everyone got starters. Since I didn't get one it was very enjoyable to pay attention as everyone tried to eat. Robin and Neil were trying to figure out what they got and Christina was talking about her salad (not to big a fan of it). The guys liked what they had though.

On to the main course. Neil and I were worried. Almost all the reviews said the food was bad. Some said like bad wedding food and others said cafeteria quality. I am a bit of a food snob as is Neil.

The guys got the steak first. It smelled amazing. It comes out cut up already. I asked Neil for a peice. After reaching for his arm and slowly making my way to his hand and fork I had a peice. It was pretty damn good. Really nicely seasoned and I could tell it was more on the rare side like Neil asked for.

Christina and I got our food. It smelled awesome as well. I felt it lightly with my fingers on my left hand while I held the fork in my right.

I was able to get some risotto (which was sort of dry like a rice not the normal wet risotto I was used to). It was GOOD. The shrimp was nice and big, not over cooked and had a great flavor. It was funny as Christina tried to give a fork full of risotto to Robin and it ended up on him.

I think we all enjoyed our dinners and cleaned our plates pretty good.

The dessert was a sort of moose like chocolate cake with a thin layer of real cake on top. I got a HUGE fork full and got it all over my face. Christina confessed to us later she ate the cake with just her hands. :D

Neil also confessed he had a huge piece of butter on his nose for almost 10 min before realizing it.

We had some coffe and ordered a little extra sweets and chatted for a while in the dark. (Neil and I shared the Fruit Sorbet and Christina got some vanilla ice cream).

It was nice to just sit in the dark enjoying a coffee. I think I agree with Neil that the best moments where sipping the wine and coffee. However the dinner part was fun and really enjoyable.

After we were done you come out of the room (hands on shoulders again) and go into the hall way. The dim light is very bright and it's hard on you at first. You sort of just stand there blinking for a while.

I would go agian and there are a few people I would love to take there. Sunday is a great day to go. If Liz and Chris (our friends from Virgina) ever visit us again we are going to take them there!

I hoped you enjoyed my long review!

Now to some from breakfast, dry my hair, go get our son and hang out with Robin and Christina again.

Have a great labor day!

Food round 2 and bottle issues.

2011-09-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Thursday Neil took me to Le Castile. It was so friggn' yummy. It sort of felt like Hogwarts meets Haunted Castle at Disney.

Photos are on facebook of food and such.

Our server over shared a little though. We learned that his ex wife was a boozer and he got custody of his son and step daughter but his step daughter came home at 18 preggers and he was married twice. He likes having a son more then a daughter but I think thats just cause of the ex wife...

Yeah sort of made our romantic meal a little more side show/drama theater.

heh

I made apples for Ryan yesterday and gave him a small taste. He really liked it! So at 10am today I gave him 5 bites of cereal and 3 bites of apple mush. We shall see how he does. I am trying to breast feed him less. He ate last at 9am and then napped a little. I gave him the apple and cereal and now he is in his exerciser thingy bouncing around.

Poor peanut is teething like CRAZY. We have a few teethers and I tried a wet wash cloth of his. I put filtered cold water on it and gave it to him. He looked really confused. I hate to medicate him. I read about putting a little children Tylenol on the gums so I might try that before we go to Mike and Janet's today.

Yesterday I took him to Gabi and Sandor's to try to get him to take a bottle. Gabi told us Thursday after we dropped him off he was okay for a bit and then once he realized we were gone he screamed to the point of getting hives again. I figure if I bring him there at least once during the week he will be happy there again. Its funny how just not taking him there for two weeks he forgets and gets in the habit of being around Neil and I.

Sunday we are going to leave him with Gabi and Sandor again while we go diner at O.Noir with Robin and Christina. I was going to have him stay overnight but now I am not so sure.

Anyways I digress. I had some boobie milk in the bottle for Gabi to try to give him in a bottle. I hide from him and Gabi went at it. After trying for an hour (I came and tried as well) he passed out for a bit. Neil came over and we all tried with formula. He only wanted to chew. By this point he had not eaten in over 3 hours. Which is HUGE for him during the day. I refused to breast feed while we are at Gabi's I wanted him to associate bottles with Grandma. If I caved in now he would learn boobies if he has enough of a hissy fit.

It was a battle of the wills and we tied. I refused to feed and he refused to eat.

We went home around 7:30pm and I feed him at home.

Neil thinks it was his teeth bugging him not the bottle. All he did was chew. Neil got him to eat a little formula but he was more interested in chewing. The bottle didn't make him mad after the nap. In fact he was laughing and smiling so that is good.

Okay I need to go clean while we have the time. This weekend is gonna be a little busy and my mom comes into town this coming up Thursday. I want her to relax and not worry about cleaning my house! I am a firm believer in a clean house for company (that stays with you).
And by clean house I mean really clean. (ceiling fans, vacuum up spider webs in the corners, bleach out the fridge...)

So time to get to work because I haven't clean like that since she came to visit when I was 41 weeks preggers. NO it wasn't nesting darn it...

okay maybe it was.

Four Years...

2011-09-01T05:18:00.000-07:00

Four years ago today I married my best friend.

Yup people, its gonna be one of those posts. Gay, full of romance and ridiculously drawn out.

I suggest skipping unless you feel like being sick.

Neil, my husband, the father to my son and my best friend. I think about you at least 20 times a day. When I see something funny you are the first person I want to share it with. Even if sometimes you don't want me too (Ryan pooping).

I try to make sure to say good bye to you every morning with a kiss and hello to you every night with a hug.

I know a new baby can be a romance killer but with every touch or butt smack you let me know you still care. I hope I convey the same.

You make me happy with every silly joke, long drawn out story or when you make our son giggle and smile like an idiot.

Sometimes I want to kill you or smack the crap out of you but at least you keep it interesting.

The past 10 years we have had amazing ups and crushing lows but through everything you are there for me always. You have shown me so much and in a lot of ways shaped and changed me into the person I am today. When I am scared to do or try something new you push me. Even though I fight you don't let me back down and always support me through it. If its roller coasters or ATVing in Aruba I always have a fun time.

You remind me to not be a old fuddy duddy and to live life. You push me even when sometimes I want to be left alone, but you always have my best interest in mind.

Thank you for giving me two of the best things one human can give another... your time and sharing a new life (our awesome son).

If you really think about it we have made it through so much good and bad. Long distance relationship, you moving back and forth from Canada to Florida, me moving up and struggling with that, getting married, traveling (though that is always a blast!), the loss of our daughter and the birth of our son.

I am excited to see what the next few years have in hold for us. I know it will be at times fun and other times stressful but I know one thing I can count on is you by my side and always ready to put a smile on my face.

I'm sorry I didn't get you a donut yesterday, it was selfish of me. I owe you one Krispie Kream Donut.

Now feel free to call me gay and make fun of me... though I know really this touched you. But you will never admit to it. heh.

(this is the face you will make at me after reading this)

See, I know you way too well.

Bad days and good

2011-08-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday was so bad. It started off great but after Ryan had lunch (some cereal and carrots) it got so so bad.

He loves to sleep on his side

He went down for a nap so I used this time to shower. I turn off the shower to hear Ryan screaming his head off and Neil trying his very best to calm him down. Neil told me he has been screaming for about 10 min. I ask what happened. Nothing, he just woke up and started to cry.

So we try everything to calm him, try breast feeding, bouncing, walking, I held him, tried a shower, held him under the fan, tv, music... nothing helped. Rita came downstairs because she was worried and it distracted him a little bit.

Got him calm enough to feed him and get him back to sleep for about an hour.

We think it was gas. He farted a little and felt better after his nap.

I think I gave him too much food too fast. We are going to try again but this time just one or two baby spoons, not as much as we gave before. I gave him too much because he was so happy to eat it. He didnt turn away and once he did I would stop. I have to control it and make sure to start off slow.

Sometimes we forgot how little and how young he is because he acts like a big boy. He can sit up, he is so aware of everything. But he is still a baby. Only 4 1/2 months old. You can really tell he is a baby when he cries.

Poor guy got hives he cried so hard.

I was happy he was happy at Sloane's party though. Didn't cry or fuss at all. Which I was really worried about but the kid LOVES going out and being around people. AND he slept great that night. Almost 7 hours after his night feeding. My boobs hurt so bad when I got up because I am used to him eating every 2-4 hours at night. I woke him up to eat after 2 hours of sleeping in the morning. I hate pumping.

Sunday was a chill day and we went out for a bit and had a nice dinner with Rita and Tim. We put Ryan in his feeding chair so he could sit with us. But his arm kept getting stuck in his side so he kept getting fustrated.

Neil is showing him pictures from Sloanes party and Ryan is very interested.

Gotta love $2 hats from Joe Fresh (on sale)

Nomming on his fish teether on our walk today (fish heads fish heads rolly polly fish heads...)

Saturday we are supposed to go on Robins boat to see the fire works but the life vest Christina let us borrow is a little tight on Ryan. I think the plan is to boat out to center island and hang out there. So far the weather looks shitty. 37c and thunderstorms. We shall wait and see how it turns out. Mike invited us to his house for a party so if the weather is shit we might hit that up.

I would like to go on the boat at least once this year and I would love to see how Ryan handles it. I have read that babies love boats (its a sale boat not a speed boat!)

Also we are going to a new place with Rob and Chris on Sunday... O.Noir

You dine in complete darkness. It sounds pretty fun.

WTF Mom! (Ryan eats carrots)

2011-08-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

Ryan had carrots last night.

His first real food.

When I put the spoon in, I think he was expecting cereal and did this sort of BLECH face when the carrots went in instead. However he warmed up to it pretty fast and did a good job eating. I tasted it, they were so sweet I double checked the ingredients that there was no sugar added.

As always click to enlarge photos

(wide angle)

He blew a few raspberry's which figures. He had never done that before when I was feeding him cereal so it figures he would do it with orange food. heh

Good thing is I wear shitty clothing around the house. (as seen above)

We also got some pretty awesome photos last night. Neil rented a few lens for this weekend (Sloane's 1 year party).

He got a wide angle and a telephoto lens.

Sadly enough one of the very few photos of the three of us together.

Wide angles are FUN

Neil and I new favorite picture of Ryan

We also met up with Joe, Ang and her brother for dinner at the Spoon and Fork thai place in Clarkston. It was pretty good and not expensive, even though it was a nice place. I should take mom there for lunch when she visits.

Also the past two nights Ryan had a rough time. So I did not get much sleep last night. I see a nice long nap in my future today darn it. :D

Shot reactions, walks and making baby food

2011-08-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Ryan did really good yesterday with his reaction to the shots. However around 830-9pm he started to get pretty fussy. And we gave him that oral stuff the doctor gave us, Rotarix. He did NOT like that.

I figure it was the straw that broke the camels back.

He had all the stuff he was shot with in the morning, Advil, cereal, breast milk and this Rotarix in his body last night. Normally he just has breast milk & cereal. Just a lot of stuff for his poor little body to deal with.

Neil was worried about him and getting a fever in the night so Ryan slept in bed with us last night. I have to say it was nice to not have to get up to feed him. Just sit up and pop him on the boob. However it is NOT something we are going to keep doing. I think Neil didn't sleep so great last night.

Normally we go for a nice long walk in the morning however I forgot the stroller in the car, which Neil has AND my keys. DOH! So we used the Bjorn. Neil made fun of me for using an umbrella but the UV is high today darn it and Ryan doesn't like the sun in his eyes. heh

Also today I made peach baby food. Its super easy to do.

Get a few peaches.

You cut them in quarters and remove the pit.

Put them face down (meat down) in a pot of water. You dont need much water.

Cook on Medium / Low for about 15 min.

Once cooled down pull the skin off the peaches and put in a container to blend along with the water from the pot (you can add more water or BM if you need). If its not thick enough add a little rice cereal.

Once the fruit is nice and smooth put in a BPA free ice cube tray. We have an awesome hand blender. I find it's easy to use and to clean.

(you can see our mixer here)

Cover the tray with clear wrap and freeze. Once frozen pop out, put in a freezer bag and label. Its good for 8 weeks. Just take out and thaw as you need. One Cube is a serving when they are 4-6 months.

Easy! (he has not eaten any yet, I am waiting till he eats cereal a little better)

I am going to make Apple and Pears next. I have jarred sweet potatoes, carrots and peas. I want to make all his food from scratch but I was a little scared and they had a great deal on organic baby food so I got 10 jars I figure the fruit is super easy to make.

*EDIT*
My brother in law Robin text me saying he heard if you introduce fruit you might have issues getting the baby to eat veggies. Good to know! So carrots, peas and sweet potato it is!
Peaches, pears and apples will have to wait till next month (Oct)

*SECOND EDIT*
Neil found this neat article about breast feeding babies eating. Its okay to give them fruit or veggie first, doesn't matter what. Breast milk is really sweet as it is. Sugar is not a new thing to a BF baby. Now that Ryan got gas to the point of breaking out in hives due the carrots (we think) we are holding off on food and giving him Banana's when we start again. Nice and easy on the tummy.

Poor peanut.

Shots round two and 1 year ago yesterday...

2011-08-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ryan did very good on his second round of shots today.

He was very brave. Didn't even cry until the second needle went in. He did jump a little at the first one and he gave me this sort of WTF(whatthefuck)look.

However after the second one was done and band aids were on I picked him up and he stopped crying and a minute or two later smiled at me.

Poor legs.

He is having a second nap now.

No fever yet.

37.6 c which is good.

Something that shocked me is my doctor told me to not make the cereal runny and its okay to give him real food (mashed veggys and fruit for now). I was shocked. He said make sure to give Ryan one thing at a time and wait a few days before introducing another food to double check he doesn't have allergies.

I am a tiny bit sad we can give him food. I love the easy to clean poops and how easy it is to breast feed. Nothing to clean up after unless Ry spits up a little. Its nice. Now with real food I will have to clean up bowl and spoons (easy enough) the high chair, the floor, him, me, the cats... heh anything and everything the food gets on. We will have to start with a schedule as well. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I will have to keep track of what I feed him (encase he gets sick) at first. Also remember what he likes and doesn't like so I can try to get him to like stuff later on (it can take up to 14 times on a new food before a kid will eat it). I also want to make my own food so I need to start batch cooking that and freezing it.

It's exciting because its something new for us both but I am just a little sad.

I need to get Neil to feed him at night. Which means I will have to start making dinner for us as well to free up the early evening for Neil to feed Ryan. Right now Neil makes most of the dinners. But he cant feed Ry and cook dinner.

On to sad things.

Yesterday was the one year mark of Abigale's due date. One year ago she was due. April was harder because that was the one year of her loss. It still make me think about her. I think about her a lot but every month less and less. When we first had Ryan he brought back a lot of memories and feelings about her.

Sometimes I even dream about her. This time was made a little easier by the celebration of Sloane. Watching her grow and get stronger makes it a happy month for me. Not one of sadness. I am hoping Ryan's birthday being in April, so close to the date of our loss, will do the same.

Still everything we went through with her makes me love and appreciate Ryan even more. I really think unless you have lost a child or came close to losing one you can not understand this. No offence to anyone but its a unwanted club no one talks about or wants to join.

Happy 1 Year Sloane and reflections.

2011-08-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Today Sloane is 1 year old. WOW.

Our good friends had a daughter 1 year ago today. It's amazing how much she has changed.

Taken Aug 22, 2010

How much she has grown and how much she has experienced already in this world.

Sloane also has so many more new things to look forward too. The life for a baby is insane so many things going on. No wonder sometimes they get cranky.

(Sloane is the one on the left)

Taken Aug 11th 2011, also why is my four month old almost as big as Sloane?

Now she is walking, full on walking! And as I have she seen getting into everything she can. Can you blame her? All this new stuff she can see now that she is standing and shiny new things to get into. Poor Tara must be getting tired of chasing her! I think its Tara's new work out routine, chase the baby.

Now Sloane can look forward to bike rides, running in a park, swimming in the ocean, chasing butterfly's and falling leafs, apple picking, trick or treating, opening her own Christmas gifts this year, snow ball fights, eating real food and so many more things.

I find having a kid now I am experiencing new things and not just poopy diapers. When you do stuff with a kid its all new to you as well. Seeing the wonder and excitement though them.

Watching Ryan at the EX he was all wide eyed and he didn't even know what was going on. It was just from the lights from the games all around us. And the new smells though he doesn't know what they mean yet. Mmmmm the smell of popcorn or cotton candy. I get so excited when I think of all the things he gets to explore.

Even putting him in his highchair was exciting because it was new.

Kids are a lot of work and sometimes its really hard but seeing Sloane now 1 year old and knowing what is in store for her it's so worth it.

I never fully understood a lot of things about kids and how parents dealt with it until we had Ryan. Drooling was so gross to me before as were poopy diapers. I remember almost screaming when I changed my friend Jenn's daughters diaper. Now Rayna is going to be 9 in December, friggn' 9 years old. Where did the time go?! Now if Ryan is drooling and I don't have anything to wipe it away I use my hand and wipe that on my pants or shirt. Its better then him staying wet and getting a rash.

How I have changed as well. Neil told me the other day if I saw myself 10 years ago now I would have laughed. To be fair I was wearing a tank top, little black shorts and a white hair band doing the dishes while Ryan was playing in his bouncer. I think Neil is right. I didn't want kids 10 years ago. Things have changed.

I like it.

The Ex and Brillant Dad

2011-08-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Friday Ryan had a really bad day.

He spent a good amount of the day screaming, not crying but screaming. Or sleeping. One point he screamed like he was in pain from 1:30 to 2:15 when he finaly ate and passed out. I felt so bad there was nothing I could do to get him to calm down.

Poor little guy.

So it was understandable I was a little worried when Neil suggested we go to The EX that night.

However Neil made a good point that it might be good for him to get out of the house since he loved being out doing stuff with us. Might distract him.

(for teeth pain)

We were able to meet up with Robin and Christina at the marina, Ontario Place. Which is right across from where The Ex is held. We got to park for free. YAY. After a quick trip to Robins boat we were on our way.

We walked around and we started on the junk food.

I got poutine for dinner. Neil got a peameal bacon sandwhich. While I was feeding Ryan outside Neil went in for Deep Fried Twix bar. SO GOOD.

Robin and Christina came outside with a Burrito, deep fried mac and cheese, perogies and went back in for poutine.

After everyone ate (the food court closed at 10) we walked around for a while.

Christina was determined to win a prize. She just kept getting ripped off, but the games were fun at least.

We spoted a Tiny Tom Donuts and they had a wheel you could sping and win either a free bag, buy 1 get 1, buy 2 get 1 or buy 3 get 1. I spinned it and got a free bag YAY! And Christina for got a buy 2 get 1 (well Robin got it but passed it on to her) Which she was sweet enough to give us a bag. So Neil and I got two bags (12 mini donuts per bag) for free.

Nice!

It was a really fun night and I am really happy we went out. Ryan had a great time and other then him getting a little upset outside the food court for like a minute he was great. He also was fussy in the car on the way home but that was him being tired and lasted two minutes before passing out.

Neil noticed something cool. We were worried about the loudness for Ryan so Neil kept the 'hood' part of the car seat up around Ryans head. When I went to move it back so he could see more Neil told me to stick my head in there to see what I could hear. You hear less then 1/2 of what we could hear which was GOOD because it got really loud there.

It was great we went opening night because it was 1/2 price to get in and it was much cooler at night. Also it wasn't very crowded which was good. I think over all it was very successful and a lot of fun.

Side note, we didn't go last year because of my 'morning' sickness. The smells would have had me barfing in all the trash bins.

So onto why Neil is a friggn' brillant dad.

We live in a one bedroom right now. Ryan is four months old and we wanted to not be sharing a room with him for much longer. We were planning on moving our bed into the livingroom and giving Ryan the bedroom (and making it his play area and computer room) However Neil had a good idea to make a sort of wall between our bed and Ryans crib. We would put the dresser and these four drawer things we have up. it dampens the sounds as well.

Taken from the door way.

There is a little space for us to get to the crib. Last night was our first night and it worked out really great. Neil also put the air flitter on Ryan's side so it makes some nice white noise and keeps the air clean. I think it works great since we had to fit a king size bed, crib and dressers in the room!

We bought a new place, two bedroom two bathroom but our rent will more then double so we are trying to wait as long as we can before we move in there. Great thing is his folks live where we will be moving so there is no real hurry to move in. (we bought their old place)

Neil got great photos of the ex, I will ask him to share on his journal so everyone can see them. Right now they are on facebook only. Should be able to see them on that link even if you dont have a facebook.

A few teaser photos.

Oh all the lights! (notice the 'hood' on the stroller?)

Ryan and Neil on the dock at Robins boat

Me and Ryan on the dock. Ryan makes some goofy faces!

Well he is our kid.

Rice Cereal Mush

2011-08-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

Last night we gave Ryan his first Rice Cereal mush.

We don't have a high chair yet so we put him in the Bumbo chair with tray. (thank you again Wendy!!) Which, by the way, is getting to small for his fat legs!

I mixed one spoon of rice cereal with 6 spoons of breast milk. Nice and runny. I had a little blue cup and a soft spoon and we were ready to go.

As always click on the picture to enlarge.

Hmmm what is this?

Interesting

DURRRRRP

We were both getting the hang of it... I think.

Some video.

Its hard to record with my phone while feeding with one hand he was distracted by his dad.

However by the end I think we are getting the hang of it.

In this video you can see he is interested in it but not sure how to eat it. I think it just takes some time.

However we really need to get the high chair. I am keeping my eye on Kijiji because why pay full price if I can get a used one?

4 months today

2011-08-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

Wow four months have already passed. It's insane how fast it has gone. And it's insane how much Ryan changes every day.
He smiles when I smile, he gets a little upset when I leave the room, he LOVES to smile at Neil, he gives all the family huge smiles too, is enraptured when I read to him, he loves to hear his own voice, he laughs when you get his belly and he enjoys being outside. He also grabs his feet and lifts his butt when you put him on the change table. So helpful till he pees on you and laughs about it. heh

A few days old, so little.

Four months old, so big!

This past weekend was nice. We were supposed to meet up with some of the family on Toronto Island but I was worried it would be too hot for Ryan. The heat alone is not too bad, it's bad trying to feed him in public. I get hot and he is hot and then he is drinking hot breast milk and I have to use a feeding cover...

However Saturday was way too nice to stay inside so Neil, Ryan and I headed to Bronte Harbour to enjoy 'harbour days'. Well it was a lot smaller of a festival then we thought it would be so we were there less then an hour. Just walked around the water front.

After that we headed home for a quick lunch and then headed to Hugh and Lily's pool. They were out with Rita and Tim so we had the pool all to ourselves. The three of us swam around for a bit and when Ryan had enough we went to T&T to get sushi for dinner and dumpling wrappers to make Sundays appetizers.

We ended Saturday night with home made chow mien, red wine and Wipeout.
It was a very relaxed and awesome day.

I was chatting with my mom the other night and I convinced her to come visit us before Ryan's first birthday. I worry her and my dad are missing out on so much. I doubt I will get my dad to visit which is a shame but mom is coming up September 8th - 14th. I am so excited. This visit will be a lot more fun then the last visit. (she came up for the birth of Ryan) I was over due and after Ryan was born I had a hard time for the first few weeks adjusting to the lack of sleep, lack of alone time and he had a tongue tie so it was really hard for him to eat.

However things are SO amazing and awesome now I am thrilled for her to come up and experience it. I just hope the heavy little bugger doesn't throw out her back!

I posted a video for my dad to see just how LOUD Ryan can get.

Figure I should share it with you guys and hopefully cause a good laugh.

Enjoy

Also last week was nice chilling outside with Tara, Sloane, Janet and Chloe. The weather was perfect and I can not wait for more cool sunny days. The hot ones are getting tiresome. Just a nice 25c and FEELS like 25 would be great. (about 76f)
Here is a video of Ryan and Chloe going after each others hands. Sorry it is laying the wrong way. Not sure how to fix that.
YUMMY!

Here is a bonus video of Ryan in his exerciser thing. I told my dad I would put a video up for him so here it is.
BOUNCE!

Also my dad inspired me to get out and go for a long walk every morning with Ryan. However because I have so much weight to lose I am also walking at night with Neil and Ryan. Shorter walks at night though.
Tonight we are picking up a jogging stroller (used) for 65 bucks which is a great deal because those things go for $200. And really why get it new? It's not a car seat or mattress.
Its good because I can roller blade with it or Neil can jog while I bike and we can have Ryan with us. He loves being outside so much there is no point to leave him at home!

Videos of Ryan and Worried Mom

2011-08-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ryan has been spitting up a lot as of Sunday. Monday was the worst. He didn't want to eat that often and was spitting up A LOT after every eating (sometimes as much as 1/2 a cup)

I tried laying him down right after a meal, burping him, having him sit up, having him sort of slouch, taking off his pants, making the diaper loose... everything. However he just kept tossing his cookies. He was in a great mood though and still peeing. The poops were not as much as normal but I don't think anything to be worried about and he had no fever.

Neil thinks he just had a slight tummy bug. He is a little better today. He only spit up once.

Sometimes it would be just breast milk, or clear liquid and milk (spit) and sometimes the milk would be a little digested so it would be a little cottage cheesy. It didn't bother him so I think he is okay.

We gave him Gripe water last night because he was SUPER fussy and I think his tummy/teeth were bugging him really bad at night.

Ill make sure to make notes and mention it to the doc on the 24th. (second round of shots).

Also I dont want to jinx it but the past two night he has been sleeping great.

5 1/2 hours the first stretch, 2 hours and then 2 hours. Yesterday we woke up at 10am. Today I was up at 8am and he woke up a little after 9. He is sleeping now.

I love these 40 min naps. It helps that today is very rainy and dark. I am sure he will nap more today. I think his late afternoon nap I will join in. :D

I love maternity leave. So far today we had breakfast (both of us) he had a big poop, we did tummy time when he rolled over, I read him two books and he had a mid morning snack (breast) and now is resting.

Mean time, enjoy some videos of Ryan.

Ryan being chatty.

Ryan rolling over

Ryan enjoying music at tummy time

Ryan with daddy

Ryan and Grandma Bank having a fun time

A new first!

2011-08-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

Ryan flipped over last night! His first full flip over.

I was upstairs showing Rita and Tim how Ryan pushes himself up on tummy time on the carpet and he just pushed himself over.

All three of us yelled YAY and started to clap. Then Ryan started to cry. I think we scared him and he scared himself. It was awesome.

The flipping over not crying...

He is almost 4 months old. (15 weeks)

And we weighed him on Tim's scale. He is almost 19lbs. Holy hell. No wonder my back is messed up and size 2 diapers don't fit him anymore AND he is in size 6-9 month clothing. Which makes me sad, we didn't get to use the 3-6 that much. This kid is gonna be huge. (tall)

Also here are some pictures to enjoy of last nights bath.

Both hands in mouth! He was teething pretty bad last night.

And random july photos

What colour are those eyes?

Enjoy!

Brave mom is brave

2011-07-31T10:15:00.000-07:00

Thursday Neil heard of this place call Cedar Point in Ohio and how we should go next year with Joe & Angela and how it would be this awesome cheep get away. Well I looked it up and its a roller coaster park.

Well crap. I hate roller coasters.

Last year when we went to Canada's Wonderland for Joe's birthday I had the wonderful excuse of being preggo with Ryan so I couldn't go on any of the rides. Well I have no excuse anymore. Shit.

I wrote Neil back and told him no way I would go to Cedar Point. I shut that idea down. He wrote back saying he was sad, he didn't want to go without me to Amusement parks. He wants to go with me! That was when I decided I was being an OLD fuddy duddy and when the hell did that happen? And I would go to Wonderland with him and try going on a roller coaster. Who knows maybe I liked them again.

That was when he told me we are going Friday, he had the day off. Double Shit. I tried the excuse it was hot and going on rides makes me feel sick and with the heat, surely he wouldn't want me to get sick. He laughed and said I was being silly. Then I saw the weather said Thunder Storms all day Friday. YAY I had a good excuse. When we woke up Friday morning just rain in the morning and the rest of the day was going to be nice. Triple Shit!

I tried telling Neil his mom was busy with work and couldn't watch Ryan all day, he said he already talked to her and she was happy to have Ryan.

So around 11:30 we were on our way. That was when I decided I would have a great day with my husband. It's pretty rare we do stuff just the two of us now. We either have Ryan or invite friends with us.

We hit a good amount of rain on the way there which was nice, it cooled it down.

After we got there we started on the Spinovator. Its like tea cups you have no control over. Neil got it on video till the lady over the speaker told him to put away his iPhone.

The lines were nothing, no wait times due to the rain. We think it scared people into not going to the park which is what we were hoping for. So we made our way to Behemoth. I waited in line with Neil (about 15 min at the most) and he went on it without me. No way that was going to be my first roller coaster.

Afterward we went and got food, we had a all you can eat for $8 which was a good deal. After eating we needed to digest a little before a ride so we went out to the car so I could pump my boobs.

Once that was all done we headed back to the park and hit up The Vortex. It's a suspended coaster and you are in a bucket with good straps so I felt pretty safe. I was doing good but I had a breaking point when I let out a HUGE scream. Felt much better. The ride messed up my bum hip though which sucked.

After that we took a break and hit up Sponge Bob 3D and its sweet sweet air conditioning.

We made our way over to the kid area to check out rides for Ryan when he is older. I saw Silver Streak and there was no wait so we went on it. It is a suspended leg dangler. We went on it twice. I loved it. Yeah its a Jr roller coaster but whatever I still loved it.

Had to head to the car for pumping again. On the way to the car Neil wanted to hit up SkyRider. Its a STAND UP roller coaster. I almost went on it but it had a loop and standing up during a loop I think would be a little much just yet. Neil went on it twice.

Brave dad is brave! Brave mom not so much...

After pumping we checked out the water park and the rides for Ryan. We figure it would be a lot of fun next year. Its no Typhoon Lagoon but its still pretty wicked.

I told Neil I really wanted to go on Wind Seeker, 30-story tall swing ride.This ride I was not scared about at all. I love swings and I love heights!

Poor Neil was mortified.

As we were waiting in line Neil said he was trying to decide to go on the inside of the swing and fall to his death or the outside of the swing and be flung to his death. He chose the inside. It was my turn to be brave for him. As we started going up I was telling him the view was amazing. I look over at him and his eyes are sort of open and he is just staring ahead. He mumbled something about looking at the horizon. I was looking all over and going WEEEEEEEE! I even put my arms out in front of me like I was flying. It was AWESOME. I could go on that ride all day.

Poor Neil looked like he was going to vomit. I just don't understand how he can go on the Behemoth but not handle a big swing. He thought I was insane trusting this small piece of 'string' to not break off and kill me. He compared it to the strength of a paper clip. Yeah we can both be a little dramatic.

Time to celebrate with fries!

Off to the car for pumping again. Stupid boobies. The AC was nice in the car though and gave us a chance to put on more sunscreen.

We made our way over to Back Lot Stunt Coaster after that. Thinking it would be a fun small ride. Neil had never been on it before. Holy shit it went fast! It was a lot of fun but I screamed like crazy. (and cussed until Neil pointed out the kid in front of us so I started yelling bugger)

We also hit up Thunder Run. It goes through the mountain. Its like Thunder Mountain in Disney. It was fun and not scary.

We figured for both of us being so brave we could get ice cream cookie! We didn't get one last time because soft serve ice cream is a no no when preggo.

It was so good.

YUMMY!

We ended our night with another go on the Vortex. This time I kept my eyes open. We wanted to go on The Fly but it was closed. And I asked if Neil wanted to hit up Behemoth again but he was good.

When we go in September I am going to try a loop ride. EEEEK!

We called Gabi and she was good with Ryan so we took a shower and met up with Joe and Ang for dinner.

It was a great day.

And here is a picture of Ryan watching Tv. Just because its cute.

Durrrrrrrrrrrrp

Cha-cha-cha-changes...

2011-07-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

Ryan has changed so much in the past few weeks. You can really see his little personalty coming out.

A few days ago he was in my arms just looking around happy as could be. Just ate, just had a clean diaper and just gave a nice big burp.

I went to put him in his green chair and I didn't even have him all the way in it yet and he started to cry. I picked him up right away, he stopped crying and smiled at me.

I promptly put him back in the chair. I explained mommy needs to pee, eat and feed the cats and he can just wait for 10 minutes. Soon as I was out of his line of sight he was fine.

Now like most moms (and dads) I like a good cuddle but I have stuff I have to do too.

I am pretty sure he learned when he cries he gets picked up. I have been trying to only pick him up when he is really upset. If he is just whining I let him be or I will move him to the bouncer or sit down and chat with him. I won't pick him up till he stops or if he gets really upset.

Also I think he has realized his hands are his and what he does with them. He loves to grab my face or grab my fingers and look at them. His favorite though he grabbing his feet. HE LOVES IT.

YAY Feet!

Also I noticed his eyes are changing. They are not all blue anymore. There is green/yellow in the center like mine. Neil still thinks they will change to brown. I am not too sure.

(Click on the photo to enlarge and see for yourself)

I had my first nightmare the other night about Ryan. We were in a mall and I turned around for a second because Neil called me and when I turned back Ryan was gone. I woke up in a sweat and in my nightmare haze was so thrilled to see Ryan. (we have a one bedroom so his crib is in our room right now) He was in bed with us because he was crying a lot in the morning and I wanted more sleep. The trick is to side feed him and once he is done and sleeping I cuddle him a little. So it was nice to cuddle him and rub his back.

Neil is really stepping up the dad game. I think because I am the food source and I am home all day Ryan has become a little dependent on me at home. That makes things a little harder for Neil. Also because I got a little work thrown my way I had to have Neil help out at night so I could get it done by the due date. Which he was awesome at! He has mastered the art of distraction!

Check out my office (and the sleeping baby under the bright light... opps)

Also Ryan is starting to look more and more like Neil... in the morning. They both have that "I need coffee and an hour to wake up" look

Really need my coffee mom.

Whats really nice is Ryan is starting to be in a better mood at night. It just sucked before because I get him in the day when he is in a good mood and soon as Neil gets home in the evening he is fussy and unhappy and not too much fun to be around.

A few nights ago we were all on the futon and I was feeding Ryan and he detached to look at Neil. And he busted out in that HUGE gummy grin he does. So Neil starts to chat with him and smile back. Ryan smiles even bigger. I told Neil to cut it out and tried to feed him again. Ryan starts to eat and he detached again to smile at daddy. We all start to laugh. Neil picks up a pillow off the futon and blocks Ryan from being able to see him. Which made me laugh even harder.

Its so cool that Ryan is starting to be a person. No longer this feeding, sleeping, cuddling, crying, pooping, machine. He wants to play and talk and laugh. I love it so much. Sometimes when he is in bed with me I will just lay there and stare at him and watch him sleep. Then I poke him so he make that frowny face I love so much.
Never said I was nice 100% of the time.

Ryan's LOL

2011-07-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

I was changing Ryan on the change table this morning and like always once done we play a little. He was grabbing his feet happy, as could be and I was telling him over and over I love him while touching his head and face with both hands.

(starting on the top of his head and cupping my hands around while touching to his chin)

I think he was trying to copy the sounds I was making like he normally does and I laughed and then he laughed! It was his first real honest to god laugh out loud and it was awesome.

I hope I can get him to do it again soon for Neil to hear.

Really wish I would have gotten it on tape!

Sleeping at night

2011-07-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty lucky that Ryan DOES sleep at night. We got that awake at night sleeping during the day crap out of him pretty fast.

I think in part we were lucky, and in part my tricks worked. At night we would be in the bedroom... keep it dark, quiet and cool. During the day I would take him out of the bedroom and put him the living room. I would open all the blinds and let the sun shine in. Even if he was napping during the day it was in the bright light.

That being said he is 13 weeks and still waking a lot at night to feed. I think I need to play my part in stopping this. Some tricks we cant use because we live in a one bedroom right now. So Ryan is in his crib in our room.

I found this info and I am hoping to try it out starting this Thursday evening. I am waiting till Thursday because Neil has off Friday and it will give us three nights to try it till Neil has to get sleep to go back to work. And if I really want to stick with it or see some small change and need to 'stick it out' I will just have Neil sleep in the living room for a few days.

I think I will try when he wakes after sleeping just an hour to not feed him. If he has been sleeping three hours obviously I will feed him.

Ill update with any progress.

Wish this sleepy mom (and dad) luck!

Also a side note. I don't expect Ryan to sleep through the night just yet but I go expect to get more then 2 hours of sleep at a time.

Grumpy mom is grumpy

2011-07-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week Ryan spoiled me by sleeping five whole hours for the first stretch at night two nights in a row. Since then, at night, he has been waking every 1-2 hours really fussy and cranky. The normal feed and cuddle just isn't cutting it.

I feed, walk around with him, cuddle him, hunch over the crib rubbing his belly and holding his hand, pick him up, walk around a little more, bounce him, cuddle, try to feed again, hunch over the crib rubbing his belly and if I am very lucky he will sleep. But even while sleeping he fusses which wakes me up because I am tuned into his sounds. I try to wait till right before crying to get him. But I cant wait too long because Ry is in our room and I try to let Neil get sleep since he has to work.

Because of this I am dealing with fussy baby all night and all day.

Its starting to take it toll.

What's frustrating is I am even doing this on the weekend when Neil is home. Neil will take him for maybe 15 min before giving up and handing him off to me to see if its because Ryan is hungry. (Ryan wont take a bottle if he knows I am around)

I love Ryan with all my being but the past few days have been a strain. I don't even want to take him out anywhere because he has been crying so much. He cried so hard yesterday at Tara and Chris's he popped a blood vessel in his eye. All the normal tricks were not calming him down. We were invited to Lilly & Hugh's pool again, which Ryan likes, but I am too scared to take him. I just don't want to have him scream in my face again.

Normally in the morning/afternoon he is a really happy guy but the past few days he has been even grumpy in the morning. I don't know if maybe he is going to cut a tooth soon or its a growth spurt but he really spoiled me by being a pretty good kid for as long as he has.

I wish like hell he would take a bottle from Neil. At least then I could have one day a week (Saturday or Sunday) when I can get a few extra hours of sleep, or go out on my own for a few hours to get away.

About 99% of the time I love that I have Ryan and I can spend so much time with him. But that 1% really misses alone time. I don't even have time alone in the shower anymore. Either Ryan is in there while I shower in his bouncing chair or he starts to cry and Neil brings him in so he can see me and hopefully calm down. (or to distract him)

Maybe I am just at the three month strain and I need to vent. But venting makes me feel like a bad mom, bad wife or that I am being ungrateful. I am very happy Ryan is healthy and I am blessed enough to get the first year of his life with him without working. But I am also tired and my back/shoulders hurt and being a mom is really hard sometimes.

I am trying my best to not be grumpy or not be so sensitive or stupid but the past few days its been really hard. Stuff that used to not effect me or I wouldn't pay attention to are really getting to me. Things I would normaly take as a joke I am taking to heart.

I don't like this side of me and I don't know what to do to change it.

Three months old today

2011-07-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

WOW.

Ryan is three months old. Pretty soon he will be eating, telling us he hates us and working in the acid mines.

He is getting so big that Neil had to take all the 'new born' padding out of the car seat and move the straps to the highest level. I love looking at pictures of Ry in his newborn outfits when we brought him home.

He used to be so small!

Tara and Chris got us this super cute froggy outfit. The Newborn size was a little big on him when he was first born. We loved it so much we picked up the same outfit at 3 month size. Now it doesn't even fit.

Gabi got him a super cute yellow duck robe that is 9 month size he wore today.

Speaking of today it was very busy day indeed. He went swimming for the first time today!

SPF 50 shade blocker is a good thing!

Neil and I were shocked he didn't scream soon as we put him in. Cold water is a new thing to him. He had on his swim suit that is SPF 50 and we put him in this floater (You can find it at Canadian Tire for $20) Said on the box its good from 6 - 18 months. So hopefully we can use it next year and it has a sun blocker of SPF 50 on it.

We were very lucky to get to use a private pool. Rita and Tim invited us over and we had a great time. Ended up getting in the water at 6pm so the sun was pretty low and there was a lot of clouds. Because Ryan is under 6 months of age we can not use sun block and we can not get his head under water so we have to be extra safe. Which is why the floater was such a good investment.

Sunburn + Baby + Water in Ear = BAD

After that Ryan slept on Tim for a bit while Neil and I splashed around.

(pictures will hopefully be on facebook soonish) I'll share a few on here in a update later.

Here is a teaser photo

Another first for him was he took a shower with me tonight. We wanted to get the pool water off him but felt a bath was a bit much after being in the pool for almost 30 min today. So as I was almost done with the shower Neil brought Ryan in for me to hold in the water. He liked it which was a bit of a shock to us as well. He did get super pissed when he got out because out house was cold.

Fun thing was we have a glass door in the shower so I held Ryan's butt on the glass so he could MOON Neil. (Neil got a great photo but you can sort of see nude me in it and Ryan's little balls so we will not be sharing that with you kind people unless we doctor it with A LOT of blur.)

We had a good weekend and an awesome first three months. Lets see what the next month has in store for us!

Abbey

2011-07-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

I found myself thinking about Abbey for no particular reason and started to cry yesterday. Thankfully it was when Ry was sleeping. I don't talk about her anymore. I think it makes a lot of people uneasy which is understandable. If you have never lost a child it would be something you are unsure of how to comfort someone on. Hell even if you had lost a child how people handle it is very different. Neil VS me was very different.

Every now and then I think about her and how old she would be now. But on the same side of the coin if she was healthy and we had her we would not have Ryan.

My due date was Aug 23rd 2010 and I found out I was pregnant before that. (in July)

I love Ryan with all my heart but I find myself sometimes wondering about the daughter we lost. What she would have been like if she was healthy. Who she would look like now. Does Ryan look like her? She would be almost a year old.

Then I step back, acknowledge that she is gone and we are lucky in having a healthy baby to hold now. Everyday I am thankful for Ryan and that he is healthy and growing.

He is not a replacement for our lost daughter but a happy bonus of a squirmy smiling son.

And that is what I should think of when I find myself sad over the loss of her.

First night apart and wedding fun.

2011-07-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ryan has been refusing the bottle from me for the past week. (like talked about in the previous post) So understandably I was nervous about his first night apart from me and the boobs.

Our good friends Dan and Vanessa (who have been mentioned on this blog before) were getting married Saturday. We didn't want to bring our 10 week old son because we thought he might be disruptive and because Neil was in the wedding party he needed to focus on the groom and making sure all his needs were met (and the bride!)

At 11am Chris picked up Neil. I was busy getting Ryan ready for his over night stay with grandma and grandpa Bank. About noon Rita and I head over to the condo. After dropping all his stuff off, laying down a few rules (nothing in his sleeping area and back sleeping ONLY) and a few tips (prep the bottles for nighttime feeds before bed - you can do this with breast milk NOT FORMULA. Formula has to be mixed right before use.) I was on my way.

EDIT : My friend Wendy said her formula (Simulac) says you can mix formula and leave in the fridge up to 24 hours. I use Good Start and it says to mix right before use and toss any uneaten right away. So double check with you doctor on this.

Finished getting ready and picked up Tara. Once we got there we picked out a seat and enjoyed the wedding ceremony. It went smoothly and we were amazing by how stunning Vanessa looked in her dress. After the wedding you could see how much more relaxed and at ease the bride and groom were. Its stressful when you are getting married up there with everyone looking at you and you are trying not to cry or mess up your lines or drop the wedding ring... but they made it!

After that we were in the reception at our table. Our table was the fun table.

Myself, Tara, Mark and Lynds, Sherry, Roland, Janet and Mike Park. It was a blast!

By now it had been five hours since Ryan ate... Gabi was sweet and emailed me to let me know Ryan just finished a bottle.(and did this though out the night every time he ate) I was so happy I went and got a beer. Now that I knew Gabi had worked her grandma magic and got him to eat I could relax and have a good time. I wouldn't need to run home and feed him. YAY!

We had an AMAZING time. The food was yummy, the people were fun, the booze flowed and the music was rocking. Danced so much I am sore today. Neil even grabbed me and took me for a slow dance. He never does that, it made my night.

I was able to pump in the bridal room. (the first pumping was in the bathroom) Janet kept me company one of the times until Neil came in to sit and chat with me.

Really I should have pumped more because my breast would get so sore and hard. I just didn't want to miss anything.

Neil and I got to sleep around 3am. I woke up at 7am to pump and we started our day around 11am.

We had some running around to do so I gave Gabi a quick call to see how they were doing and if they could keep Ryan for a few more hours.

That was when I heard the POOP story. This morning Gabi was holding Ryan when he pooped so much it came out the back and front of his outfit, went all over Gabi to the point of going between her legs and getting on the chair. She said she had to sit there for about five minutes trying to figure out how to get out of the chair without getting poop everywhere. Gabi was able to grab a quick shower while Sandor cleaned up Ryan.

I should have warned her about Ryan's morning poops. He will not poop all night and the morning poop can be pretty big but he is always in a good mood afterward.

So all in all a very successful night for us all and now I can be more relaxed about over night stays with the grand folks. Which I think we should make a once a month thing. Let Neil and I have a night to be alone and Ryan a night to have fun and be spoiled with Grandma and Grandpa.

Frustration is the name of the game.

2011-06-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Ryan is being a jerk. There I said it. My son the jerk.

He refuses bottles now with formula in it. Before he would eat anything and everything didn't care who was giving it to him or what it was.

Now he is a boob snob.

The reason we are trying to get him to take a bottle is I will not always breast feed. (or have enough pumped for whoever is watching him) I know some women do it for years. That's not for me. Soon as that top tooth comes in I will stop and pump as much as I can but even that will stop at some point.

A few weeks ago I noticed Ryan was sleeping longer without the before bedtime formula bottle so I stopped giving it to him. I was very pleased with myself that the breast kept him full for almost 3 hours at night before waking up to feed again. However by doing this I shot myself in the foot. Hell both feet.

Now when either Neil or I try to give him formula he freaks out. (He will take bottle of boob milk though.) He cries until he passes out. Lately nighttime has been fussy time and after the joy of screaming at me for an hour last night while trying to give him formula, we decided to try to reintroduce formula during the day when he is happy.

Well my first try did not go over at all. He cried and is now sleeping. I know he is hungry because he hasn't eaten in over 2 1/2 hours and during the day he eats about every hour.

When he wakes up I will give him boob and in 1/2 hour try to give him a small amount of formula when he is not starving and in a good mood. Maybe it didn't go so well because he was so hungry?

I know boob milk is sweet and this formula we use is metallic and tastes horrid but isn't 10 weeks old a little early to be a picky eater?

We have to get him to take formula because I can not always leave enough milk for grandma when he watches him. Saturday we have a wedding to go to and Ryan is having his first overnight with the grandparents (Neils folks). I will make sure to tell Gabi to save the breast milk for nighttime and when he wakes up to eat in the middle of the night and use the formula for afternoon and morning. Maybe alternate between breast and formula during the day.

I know the canned stuff is sweeter but its also very expensive. Then again for how much we give him it might be worth the try. I will ask Tara for a can to try it out on him before we buy any. (It worked for Sloane when Tara was no longer able to pump/feed)

I really think breast milk has some sort of addictive chemical in it for babies cause they go crazy for it.

Also Ryan eats so often I thought it got better when they got older. He still eats about every hour during the day and every 2 1/2 hours at night. A book I read said he should be sleeping 6 hours at night... I wonder if my breast milk is not fat enough. Then again we gave him formula the other night and he slept 3 hours and last night he got breast milk and slept almost 4.

Well he is gaining weight and peeing/pooping a lot so I am doing something right. Trying not to get the first time mom worries. (and failing)

I really love my son with all my heart but a part of me is really looking forward to Saturday and having an over night break.

Ryans Shower and his first round of shots.

2011-06-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ryan's shower was this past sat (the 18th) and it went great.

Friday we headed over to Sherry and Roland's who were sweet enough to host the shower in the back yard (with help from Rita, Tim and Gabi) We set up the huge tent (thanks again to Chris and Anand for helping!) and hung out a little.

Saturday the weather was perfect. Warm and sunny all day. Bad news was because our Ryan is so little he gets over heated fast so we had to work some magic and put a fan on him and take some clothing off of him. However he still had a bad event.

Because there were so many people and Neil and I were distracted we didn't pick up on the cues that Ryan was close to a melt down till it was too late. Neil pointed out to me he hadn't eaten in a while (over an hour) and was showing signs of hunger. I took him downstairs to feed him and that is when the melt down happened. We think because I was hot and he was hot when I put him to my breast it was just too much heat. He freaked and nothing I could do would calm him down. Time to get help from Neil! Neil came downstairs and held him and got him calm enough to take some cold breast milk. We took his clothing off and put a cool wet cloth on his belly to cool him down a little. I think that mixed with the cold breast milk calmed him down.

Side note... you can feed a baby cold breast milk, its perfectly safe. Some babies might spit up a little more from it but its great if you are not able to breast feed (like in a car driving) and need to get food in the little one before they freak out.

After eating and cooling down he was fine. We put him in the pool for a minutes to cool him down more but the water was too cold and didn't care for it.

Too COLD, do not want.

However he took to the breast after that so I was happy. We had a good time, a great night and it was a blast to spend time with so many friends. I think we dropped the ball on introductions though since Tara thought Christina was a co-worker! (she is Robins girlfriend and all and all an awesome lady)

Neil posted photos on Facebook.

He has so many friends!

And so many gifts!

Neil hanging with Big and Little Ryan

There were even some pretty ladies there for Ryan!

Today was Ryan's first round of shots. He did great. He was a happy camper till the needles when in his legs. (one in each leg) I feel bad because Neil said Ryan was looking at him and gave him this "why would you do this to me I trust you" look. So in two months when we go for the next round I will be the one he looks at. Its only fair.

Before the shots...

After the shots

Neil did say something that made me smile. As we were putting him in the car Neil said something about taking him to McDonald's when he is big enough.

Back story to his is as a kid Neils mom took him to McDonald's when he was good at the dentist or doctors. So that way he would not DREAD the doctors offices. He knew at the end of the pain and discomfort he would get yummy bad food he never got to have other wise. I think its an awesome tradition we will do with Ryan. I remember my mom doing something like that, we would get milkshakes at McD's and having a burping contest.

Daddy Time

2011-06-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

Neil has off since last Friday. It has been pretty damn nice to have him around. Friday we started off the 'staycation' with a trip to the Toronto Zoo. Those of you that are not living in Toronto or the GTA and read this its a pretty nice Zoo. Not sad. Well the Tiger was sad cause he was looking for food to eat but it was still pretty cool.

We had a pretty damn good day and we were there from 11:30-4:30. Just in time to hit rush hour traffic. Thank goodness I had the pump on me and I was able to pump, put it in the bottle and feed him in the car cause WOW the traffic was bad and took a little longer then an hour to get home.

Pictures are here.

http://www.neilbank.com/gallery/zoo-2011/

He posted more on his facebook with funny captions.

Neil rented a 70-200 lens from vistek which is what makes the pictures sharp on the focus of the subject and all blurry background. So nice... we both want it but the lens is $2,200.

We went to the Royal Botanical Gardens Sunday which was a let down. We were too late for spring flowers and to early for roses. Neil and Ryan were in 'eh' moods so we didn't stay too long. We also had a family dinner to celebrate Robins 34th Birthday.

YAY ROBIN!

Tuesday we visited Tara and Sloane and hung outside in Port Credit at this awesome spot Tara found that is under a huge tree, not a lot of people go there and its right next to the water. No I will not tell you were it is. :P

Sloane is crawling now like crazy. I don't think it will be too long before she is running. Poor Tara!

Wednesday I lucked out and found a dress for both weddings this year that I can pump in, found it a Winners which is awesome. (its like a Ross) Name brand clothing on sale.

Yesterday Kimberly came to visit. It was so nice to sit and chat with her. Ryan really liked her and kept giving her smiles. Though it figures after we tell her how lucky we are cause he is such a good kid he starts to cry and gets in a bad mood the whole time she is here.

Today we are going to set up the tent for the shower. Pretty excited about the baby shower tomorrow. I hope it goes well and Ryan is in a good mood. We have noticed he is getting bored now. I really hope we get some toys for him. He does well when we take him outside. He also likes going to stores because its new stuff to look at. I find he sleeps much better at night when we do take him out someplace. Either to a friends house or even just a long walk.

And for your enjoyment Sink Bath Baby. (Rita took this picture and I posted it on here because it makes me laugh)

He likes tub baths a lot more.

I am looking forward to the bath tonight with him (he sleeps GREAT after a bath). He likes being in the water without the baby chair Chris and Tara let us borrow. He likes to kick under the water. Which means one of us has to be in the tub with him.

I am sad he is growing up so fast (almost 9 weeks old!) but I am also looking forward to all the cool stuff he gets to experience soon (and has been so far).

OH and another milestone for him is he has been mimicking us. And loves it when you mimic him. Yesterday Neil and him were going back and forth. It was pretty cute. Still waiting for that creepy baby laugh though. I don't care what you say the sound of baby's laughing is fracking creepy.

Tips and Tricks for New Moms and Wedding Outfits with BF

2011-06-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Tips (items to get) The Schick Intuition Razer was made for preggos and women that just has a kid and want to shave while in the shower but don't have the time. I fell in love with it when I was pregnant and bending over to shave was a work out all on its own. Using this I didn't have to put shave cream on as well. One less step. Which is what makes it so great when you are pressed for time.

Application must have.
If you have a iPhone or iPad download this application (its free)
What to Expect Tracker.
Because those first few weeks are HARD. There were times when Ryan would wake up in the middle of the night to feed and I would swear he just ate and one quick look at my phone told me he had been sleeping for 2 hours and I had to get my butt out of bed and feed him!

Tricks Pumping on the go. I was out and away from Ryan from 9am till Midnight Saturday so I learned all about pumping on the go. We went to Niagara Falls and after that hung out at a friends house for a BBQ.

Items to have

Pump, bag for pump, Ziploc bag for dirty pump parts if you can not clean right away, bottle of water to do a quick clean while out (if you are pumping on a road trip this is handy), breast milk bags, a marker to write on the bags, a clean cloth to wipe down the pump or any spilled milk, boobie cover so you can pump in the car or anywhere, cooler, ice packs (a lot of them) and a few paper towels cause you never know.

I knew I would have to plan ahead. I would be out with a group of girls for most of the day. And I knew I might not have access to a bathroom to clean the pump (bottle of water really comes in handy).

I pumped as much as I could. I can not go more then four hours without pumping. Four hours is really pushing it. Its better to do it every two. I pumped in the car between activities. I would pump into the bottle. Then pour it into the breast milk bag. Label it and put in the cooler under the ice packs. Then I would put away my boobie cover, rinse out the pump parts and the bottle, clean it with my cloth and put it away to use again. If we were driving I would put the dirty pump in the Ziploc bag.

Good thing was I was able to pump A LOT and have it frozen for the wedding we are going to July 2nd. Ryan might be staying over with grandma so she will be needing all that milk! The wedding is at 3pm so I can feed him for most of the day at least.

I am trying to find an outfit for the wedding that I can pump in. I am fine going to a corner (or my car) with my cover or a pashmina and pumping. I don't want to have to go into the bathroom to take off my whole outfit every time I have to pump. Like I said about every two - three hours. And if I pump both its about 30 min.

Maybe this one will work? also check it out, I have hips again!

I have a nice skirt and I have a nice pair of tan pants. Now just have to find a top that will go with either of them. Something tells me finding a dress I can pump in will be hard.

EDIT
Also I lost more weight, I am 4lbs away from my pre-baby weight. Though I don't feel it because I have that belly pooch still. All you moms out there know what I am talking about. So I am going to keep on walking/jogging to burn it off. I hope to lose another 15lbs by Fall. I think it will not be that hard because I am pretty heavy. I could really stand to lose about 30-35 lbs. So to lose 15 should be easy. I was talking to Neil about how losing the last 10lbs will be hard as long as I am BF because your body stores on to that little bit of fat for the baby. After I stop BFing though there are no more excuses.