Rantastic - Kids

Oh hey, look! An update!

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:11:00 -0400

Four months since I've talked about the kids... that's too long. Too much to think about and try to write down, but I'm going to try.

James has started crawling (within the past week)... he has a pretty funny gait, two hands, one knee, and one foot. He really gets around though. I have to watch him like a hawk now or he finds every single bit of fluff on the floor and it goes straight into the mouth. He can sit up by himself as well, which is nice as it makes it easier for him to play by himself. He also pulled himself up to standing yesterday... eep!

He has started eating more now; a combination of him figuring out the pincher grip, and us figuring out how to keep him from getting all plugged up. When we started feeding him solid food, he didn't poop for two weeks. Poor kid got pretty much nothing but peaches, pears and prunes for two months.

James is still the happiest baby ever; even when he got his first two teeth last week, we couldn't tell until afterward. He was slightly fussy, and not sleeping well, but that was it. No sustained scream-fest like with Wil. James is so full of smiles and giggles. He is still totally thrilled to be around his big brother, and also loves the fact he can get to the cats now. Hah!

Wil is doing well. He is finally starting to speak more; we get more sentences out of him these days. He's still tough to understand, and I have to translate for him, but I think it's starting to come along. Unfortunately someone's taught him "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" and I'm not such a fan of that.

He is more or less potty trained now; we did the three-day method, and he pretty much had it by the end of day two. It had the unfortunate side effect of nighttime potty training him as well; we weren't going to bother with that, and just put diapers on him for naps and bedtime, but the first night after he "got" it, he was up twice asking us to take him to the potty. Not loving the 3am wake up calls, but at least we'll get him out of diapers sooner. He still has a few accidents now and then, but overall I'm totally happy with the progress.

I'd better get to bed; hopefully I update again sooner than four months from now!

Quiet morning

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:32:00 -0400

Some time to myself - it's a miracle!

Wil has gone to Grandma & Grandpa's for the rest of the weekend, and James is sleeping in with Matt. I woke up a bit after 6 and just could not get back to sleep, so I decided to get up and try to get some things done. Not any useful things, but I did get a little done.

We've been pretty busy lately; since the plague finally left us, and the weather got nicer, we've been out of the house a lot more. We've been to see the koalas at the zoo twice; they're not terribly exciting (but they are pretty cute).

Wil has started just letting himself out of the house at random. It's incredibly nerve-wracking as we still don't have a fence across the back of the yard. The other day he wanted to be out so badly, but James was sleeping (so we couldn't go to the park or anything, and I couldn't go out into the yard with him). I ended up letting him play in the yard while I watched from the back door to make sure he didn't take off into the alley, and then begging him to come in when James started waking up so I could go pick him up without Wil totally disappearing. Then I bribed him with popcorn and Yo Gabba Gabba! so I could go to the bathroom without him leaving.

Cannot. Wait. to get a fence.

James is getting a little more mobile; he spins himself around a bit (on both his back and his front). He is pretty strong; the doctor couldn't do the hip check at his four-month visit because he was kicking his legs so much and she couldn't hold him still enough. He is so cute when he gets so excited and just kicks and kicks and kicks.

They are incredibly cute together; Wil is always hugging and kissing his little brother. We've started doing bedtime routine for both of them at the same time (even though James doesn't usually go to bed when we want him to). Anyways, after Wil's bath, they both get into their jammies and cuddle up in Wil's bed together for stories. I have to get a picture, it is just so sweet. Wil usually puts an arm around his brother and holds him close. It makes me all melty inside. :)

In non-kid related events, Matt and I had a date (of sorts) yesterday... we took a cooking lesson together! A friend's husband has started doing private cooking lessons, so we got him to come and teach us how to do something we've never done before... rack of lamb! It was so delicious. We actually learned quite a bit of handy stuff (how to blanch vegetables and re-heat so there's less to do right before dinner, for one thing... and how to crack eggs faster!). And my knife technique is getting a bit better! Here are some pictures:

It was so awesome. The food was so good and I had a lot of fun. (His website is Your Plates or Mine if anyone is interested... I totally would recommend him!)

James is up so that's it for now...

Craft kit = TOTAL HIT.

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:18:25 -0500

Awhile back, we went to a kids' Hallowe'en party. Our wonderful hostess had crafts prepped for the kids. I thought, Crafts? Seriously? My kid is 2. He won't go for it.

I was so, so wrong.

Not only did he go for it, he was enthralled with it. He kept heading back to the craft table after I'd drag him away for pictures or food.

At playschool, he loves craft time too. If he talked more, he'd probably say, "My own glue stick! Sweet!" (As of right now, he makes the "Ohhhhh!" sound that means he's really excited about whatever is happening.)

So we got him a craft kit of his very own. It had been in hiding so we could bring it out this weekend (and keep him on the lino instead of the carpet for potty training).

Unfortunately my kiddo caught a bug somewhere this week, and is sick today. The kind of sick where you do a lot of laundry and unfortunately, scrubbing the carpets.

He seems to be feeling better, but I didn't want to take a chance, so I decided to break out the craft kit a bit early to keep him on the lino (as I've already scrubbed puke from the carpet once today - at 6 a.m. - and didn't want a repeat).

I brought it down and he saw it, smiled, and said, "Ohhhhh!"

I said we'd take it to the table, and he wouldn't even take the chance of me not following. He held on tight to that box.

He's in heaven - cutting and glueing and colouring - he's been at it for almost an hour so far (which is really good for my kid). We got crayons, scissors, gluesticks, construction paper, a drawing pad, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, and the holy grail of craft kits - GOOGLY EYES!

God, how that kid loves googly eyes.

He's glued about fourteen eyes to a heart I cut out. I'm planning on putting it up at Matt's office on Valentine's Day. How long do you think that will stay up? :D

Life with two...

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:25:40 -0500

Finally recovering from new-baby-hood, Christmas, re-adjusting to home life after Matt's Christmas break, etc. Things are going swimmingly (for the most part, but we have our days). I don't think I would ever recommend to intentionally have a baby that close to Christmas, though. Things were a bit, um... hairy.

James continues to be the world's easiest baby (touch wood). Eats well, sleeps well, goes to sleep by himself (it's a miracle!), and is generally happy and smiley with everyone. He's not a super big fan of the car seat, but as long as he's fed and dry, he tolerates it fairly well.

He had a little chuckle while I was changing his diaper last week; I'd forgotten how sweet that first little laugh is. And he's bringing everything he can get his hands on (which is basically: my hand, and his other hand) to his mouth. This one is definitely a thumb-sucker right now. Wil never was; so I'm trying to figure out how to swaddle him well enough so he sleeps, but leave out his hand so he can self-soothe (and keep sleeping). I'm also trying to figure out how I can sleep when he is making such a noisy, slurpy racket in the middle of the night. I can't believe how loud thumb-sucking can be!

James is also a very farty little boy... which is really good, because it's not hurting him the way it did for Wil. I can't even count the hours I spent sitting on the couch with Wil, pumping his legs and rubbing his belly...

While I'm glad my kid can get rid of the gas on his own, man, is he stinky! Like a tiny little rhino or a hippo or something very, very stinky. I thought babies were supposed to smell nice all the time?!?

Wil is doing really well with the big brother thing. Not much jealousy, and he really loves to hold and hug and kiss his brother. The wanting-to-carry-him is a little worrisome though.

We started going to a parented playschool class... I'm not really doing it so my kid will be the next Einstein or anything (though it would be nice if Wil sort of 'got' the school thing before grade 1 or kindergarten), but it gets us out of the house, and Wil really likes it. He likes the songs, and the gym time, and the crafts. My God, how he loves the crafts. He got his very own glue stick! Wheee! And I now get to display "art" on my fridge - a firetruck with a hose and a ladder glued on, and one red squiggle, because I convinced Wil he needed to use something other than the glue (very, very briefly).

That's all for now... I can't even believe the kids napped this long!

I have James' birth story all written up but it really needs some editing... maybe I'll try to do that tomorrow...

Family of four: Week One(ish)

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:34:00 -0500

James is nine days old now... I can't believe how fast it's gone already. He's already changed... he had the same little ear fold that Wil did (though less pronounced), but he's already grown out of it. He had really hairy ears too, and that's starting to go away. It was funny, when he was born, he had little werewolf ears, and little vampire fingernails (they were so long). He's an Underworld fan, just like daddy!

The dry skin is finally starting to settle down. When he was born, the skin on his hands and feet felt like paper, it was so dry. A day afterwards the skin started to crack and peel (just the top layer, thankfully), and then the skin on his face followed suit a few days later. I've been a bad mom and I've been peeling off all the flaky bits on his face. It should be almost cleared up for the party tomorrow (we're having an open house for people to come and meet the little guy).

Wil is doing well so far, but Matt is off work for a bit and my mom is staying with us this week, so he's getting lots of attention right now. He likes to hold his little brother (occasionally) and gives him lots of little kisses. Unfortunately he also likes to lay his head on James when I've got him on my lap, which is maybe a bit more weight than the wee one can handle.

I'm doing really well... the recovery from the VBAC is a helluva lot easier than the recovery from the c-section. I did have trouble following my midwives' recommendation to stay in bed for three days and let myself go downstairs once a day (packing up all the things I'd need for the day so I didn't have to go up again until bedtime). We've been out a few times (little trips to the grocery store and such) but I haven't gone by myself with the two boys yet.

Still have to write up the birth story... going to try to get the notes from the midwives next week at the appointment as I can't remember times and such. I do know I was stuck at or below 3 cm dilated for-flippin'-ever... I think I had too much fluid and it was letting James float around and so his head wasn't pushing against my cervix to open it when I was having contractions. Anyways, more on that all later. It was a hugely better experience than the c-section and I'm so glad we hired the midwives.

More later...

James Donald Hughes

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:24:48 -0500

James Donald Hughes was born at 3:03 a.m. this morning. 9 lbs. 6 oz., 55.5 cm. Things went really well. We got home about 5:30 or 6 and slept. More later!

Oh dear.

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:49:05 -0400

The boys (yes, including the one still in utero) have figured out how to tag-team me.

Wil wakes up in the middle of the night. He cries for me, tosses and turns and wants me right there until Thumper (the baby's name for now) wakes up, wriggling and kicking for all he's worth, and then Wil falls soundly asleep. Thumper's got good aim too; if he were kicking almost anywhere else, I could probably sleep through it, but the kicks in the cervix? Incredibly uncomfortable. That carries on until about five minutes before Wil wakes up again.

It's looking like it's going to be a long 17 years. They move out at 18, right? Right? At least I'll be down to one then...

The Big Boy Bed: Magical Sleep Aid (maybe)

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:55:15 -0400

Wil decided last week that he did not want the crib anymore, he wanted the single bed that has been in his room since he was tiny (it was mostly in there for rough nights so I could sleep there and not wake Matt so much). Wil had been sleeping on a single bed when he went to my mom's house - she had had some trouble getting him down in the playpen so just tucked him in beside her in a single bed and he slept really well.

Well.

My kiddo, my terrible sleeper, has been up only once a night in the past few nights, and goes back to sleep fairly easily once we tuck him back in and rub his back or tummy (far easier than he used to!). This is down from the three to four times a night he was up before (on average - sometimes even worse).

He's been napping better too - just about three hours today! - and we can hear him start to stir over the monitor, but go back to sleep anyways, which he NEVER did in the crib. We haven't had a thirty to forty-five minute nap from which he wakes screaming and cranky since the last time I tried to put him in his crib to nap. Hooray!

Except now he'll need to prove me wrong tonight and be up all night long. *sigh*

Stuff

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:46:02 -0400

So, yes, I am still alive. Been busy. I started taking care of some of the other kids in our baby group in September or October, and it got tough to blog. Both lack of time, and the fact I didn't want to write about other people's kids here, and so much of our everyday life now involved other kids.

Trying to get back to it though... I've decided to try to write while Wil naps. We'll see how that goes, he is perhaps the world's worst sleeper, worse even than his father. We're really going to have to do something... what though, I don't yet know.

In other related news, I'm not going to get used to too much sleep, as we have another little one on the way! I think most people already figured it out, from this picture on facebook:

I've been asked for details, so here they are. I'm due November 2nd, so I'm predicting a birthday of November 17th for this baby. We still don't know if it's a girl or boy, though I have a feeling it's a girl. We should find out in a month or so when we have our ultrasound. That's all we really know right now.

I am going to try to avoid another c-section unless absolutely necessary, as I have no desire to go through months of nightmares afterwards again (my spinal was too high and I had trouble breathing and it really messed with my head). To this end, we've decided to use a team of midwives instead of going to a maternity group. I believe their philosophies would be much better suited to a hopeful VBAC momma, because I think if a lot of the same stuff happened this time around, I'd be getting sliced open again. Recovering from major surgery with one was tough, it would be even worse with two, I think.

That's all the news for now, and I think Wil is waking... later gators!

The Force is strong with this one

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:24:18 -0500

Matt's playing his new Lego Star Wars game on the Wii. As Wil loves to do, he joined in by grabbing the other Wiimote and waving it around like he sees everyone else doing. Except this game apparently you do actually join in as the other character - Wil is now Obi-Wan Kenobi to Matt's Qui-Gon Jinn. He immediately started chopping Daddy's arms and legs off, bwahahahaha. I think he should probably be Anakin Skywalker instead...

Goodbye, Gummy Smile

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:36:04 -0400

After being up for three hours in the middle of the night last night, Wil finally cut his first tooth, at almost-ten-months. It's still hardly showing... I've only got one peek at it today, I've mostly been able to feel it... but I am really going to miss the toothless grin.

I'm also going to miss the breastfeeding without EXTREME DANGER! that I didn't cherish nearly enough.

Houston, we have communications

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:04:39 -0400

Wil started signing a week ago!

It's not much yet... he very tentatively waved bye-bye to our doctor at the end of his appointment on the 23rd, and the next day he gave the "all done" sign after eating, but it's very exciting! For me anyways!

He's been doing "all done" at nearly every meal now, so I guess it's time for me to seriously start with the rest of the signs... eat, drink, more, diaper, milk, sleep. Oh wait, I'm sure "sleep" will send him into a fit, we won't bother with that one.

In other news, Wil's almost too big for his car seat. He has only four centimeters left to grow, but ten fricking pounds left to gain. I was griping about how our seat, supposedly designed to fit a 97th percentile 1-year-old, was obviously not going to fit our kid in three more months.

Then I looked up the WHO child growth charts. He's, er, 99th percentile height.

No wonder it's not going to fit.

William: Month Nine

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:15:00 -0400

Dear William,

Today you turned nine months old. It has been a crazy month... after doing the army squirm for what seemed like forever, you decided to, in the space of about a week, start doing the following: pulling up to standing, walking along the furniture (and even switching from one to the other), crawling properly, dancing, and climbing the stairs. You're a bit much to keep up to, now... I've needed to start hitting the caffeine again. At first there were a lot of tumbles, but you've really figured out how to keep yourself from bumping your head; that is, just sitting down instead of letting go of the coffee table randomly.

You've also started playing peek a boo with us whenever we hand you a blankie to hide under. You totally surprised us with this as we hadn't really been trying to teach you to do it. I hadn't even really played peek a boo with you for quite awhile. One night you just had something in your hands and I guess it seemed like a good idea. It totally cracks me up and makes me smile, which makes you smile and laugh. Then you get all excited and start whipping the blankie up and down so fast I can't say "Where's William?" or "Peek a boo!".

In the past week, we've been taking you to swimming lessons. I'm not sure how you're enjoying that; you do love to splash around in the water, but man, do they ever dunk you under a lot. I hate seeing you coughing and sputtering and I hope you figure out to close your mouth soon.

We took you on your first camping trip this month, to Highwood group camp with Grandma and Grandpa Gussman. Grandma spoiled you rotten and gave you watermelon and stained your Canada Day shirt before I even had a chance to take a picture of you in it. She also gave you popsicles, despite my objections that you didn't need all that sugar. She just waited until I was having a nap and gave it to you anyways. You know who to blame for your future cavities, right?

Not that you have any teeth yet or anything.

I was right about how much more fun it is now that you're crawling. You're so much more independent, and you seem so much happier now that you can get where you want to be. I love watching your fat little diaper bum wiggle as you crawl away from me to explore your surroundings... and I love the big smile you always give me as you start crawling back to me.

Love, Mom

Looks like someone enjoyed the Stampede

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:06:00 -0400

Um, I'm not sure if I'm talking about me or Wil.

Getting ready for the parade (which he slept through)

Petting the sheep

Petting the llama

Petting the cow

At the children's play area in Buckaroos

On the ferris wheel

Matt took a day off last Friday and we went to the Stampede with Wil. We started off our day going to the parade, which Wil slept through as it was right during naptime (I kinda saw that one coming). After mistakenly taking a 45 minute shuttle bus trip to the grounds instead of a train (because, duh, there was a reason we didn't try to drive to the grounds from inside the parade route - fooled by stupid Calgary Transit!), we had a bite to eat at Weadickville and took Wil to the barns. He looked at all the horses - especially loved one miniature horse that kept nosing his hand - and then we went outside to check out the sheep, goats, ducks, llamas, and cows. It was like going to the zoo except he was allowed to touch everything! Whee!

After that it was about naptime so he crashed in his stroller as we pushed him around the Roundup Centre and Matt bought a new hat. You all should bug him to put all his new hats on his blog, he's gotten two in the past month, the one at Stampede and someone's dead grandpa's hat he bought off of ebay. It's stylin'.

Anyway, after Wil woke up we wandered over to the Big Four building, where there's a kid's area set up. They had some Western-themed soft play structures (I have no idea how to describe these things... they look like fibreglass sculptures from a distance, but they're totally soft for when kids crash on them), and we watched a kid's music show (Splash 'n' Boots) which Wil wiggled and danced around to, it was totally cute. My mom also tried to put him in the Bouncy Castle which made him cry. Whoops?

At that point it had been a pretty long day and Wil was just about ready for another nap but I couldn't leave without taking him on the midway. We went on the ferris wheel, which I guess he's still too young to be a total chicken about like I am (though having the kid to focus on made me way less chicken, hah). He didn't really love it but he didn't hate it either... no crying like the Bouncy Castle!

So that was our Stampede... Yahoo!

Walking before he can crawl?

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:48:00 -0400

Wil has decided that crawling is for suckahs (I guess in part because he still hasn't figured out how to shuffle his knees forward while up on all fours, and instead flops to his belly and squirms along on his stomach). No, the best way to get around now is to pull up on any and all available furniture, and walk along the edge. Even furniture that doesn't look like it should be able to support him (the laundry basket, the rocking chair). Sometimes he even tries to do it when there's no furniture at all! (Hands and knees... one foot up and planted on the floor... then he decides that's maybe not such a hot idea.) Or he'll turn away from whatever he was holding and forget there's nothing there to support him.

I have to say, I think I liked it better when he was learning to sit, then you could surround him with pillows if you needed to go get the phone or have a drink. Now, there's no telling where he's going to be when he topples over. I think I might be developing some weird postural problems from following him around bent over with my arms out.