Monday, May 23, 2011

And he's off!

Well, my 12 pound, 15 ounce miracle one year old is on the move! He started tummy crawling on May 9th and has been getting better at it every day! He can really travel! When he sees something he wants, he definitely goes and gets it! (or tries to since some things he just can't have!) Sooo time to put up the baby gates! We just haven't had a chance to yet so we have to have the "eagle eye!" He really likes the heat/ac vents. Oh yay!


He also got his first tooth just after his birthday! His bottom middle right one. And just this past week he got his second tooth(May 13th)....and third tooth - (May22) Both of his eye teeth. Poor thing has been teething hard. It's like all of his teeth have decided to come in at the same time. As a result, he had a fever the past few days and also was quite fussy to put to bed over the past week. Poor lil monkey!

His new favourite thing to do now is clapping! He started that on May 9th. And sometimes when I change his diaper in the morning, he will clap after I'm done! It's hilarious!


He's learning to wave and is even starting to try to pull himself up! He can get to his knees and if I support him, he'll stand up! Oh oh!!! Just kidding! It's amazing!

It's really been a busy couple of weeks! One milestone after the other! He can now sit up on his own too! He did that I believe just this past Friday. (May 20th) He'll be on his tummy pull his leg up under him and them scootches himself up! He's quite good at it now! Atta boy!




This past weekend (the long weekend here in Canada) we went camping with my parents. My sister and her husband and my nephews were there too. But we were sooooo far from their campsite! I swear I probably lost about 10 pounds just from walking back and forth to the playground and beach and their campsite! I took the wagon and I think it has to be the loudest wagon in the world! Good thing it was after 10am when we went for our first jaunt! Otherwise I think there would have been a lot of angry campers!!! I also took the Baby Bjorn. Good thing because Lochlan wasn't a fan this time of the wagon. I think he found it too loud this time too and probably a bit too bumpy! But I definitely felt all of his almost 13 pounds!!! I didn't take the stroller and that was a bad move on my part! Next time for sure!


We had a great time. We went up Friday afternoon and came back Sunday. Apart from the difficulty in getting him to sleep at bedtime, he was amazing! Abby had a blast too!! It's not that hard to camp when you're sleeping/eating in a motorhome! The first night, I put Abby down in mom and dad's bed and after I sang a few songs, I ended up falling asleep! Whoops! It was I think 8:30!!! Sorry mom and dad! (I was going to transfer Abby to the pullout couch and share that bed for the night) Mom and Dad were understanding and thoughtful and let us sleep. It actually ended up working out because we slept their on Saturday night too. Lochlan slept in the playpen in between the bathroom area (not the toilet) and the other two rooms. It was perfect because we could shut the doors and it was quiet for them.

Saturday night mom stayed back with the kids and dad and I went over the Chrissy's campsite and had a campfire. I laughed so hard at one point that no sound came out! Their friends Craig and Sheila and Dude (Paul) were camping too and they are hilarious! Good times! Abby ended up with a mysterious fever too Sunday night and now has a cough. Yay. Praying it doesn't get passed on to Lochlan. (or me either!!!) That's the tough part - keeping a sister away from her brother when all she wants to do is love him and play with him.

The weekend couldn't have been better. We can't wait to go camping again with Nana and Poppa! And the weather was gorgeous! It wasn't even that hot but it felt very humid. We were wearing shorts and t-shirts and broke out the sunscreen and hats. It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Abby got her first bike a week ago! From our neighbours actually. So kind, our neighbours! I love our cul-de-sac. Their daughter is turning 6 so they bought her a new bike (without the training wheels) and she wanted to give her old one to Abby! So nice!
Abby is doing soooo well with it! So much better than her little rinky dink tricycle that we had for her. It did well for when she was younger and learning but she's outgrown it and it now sits and waits for Lochlan to get big enough to ride it!

Both kids have been sleeping better these days. Loch manages to have about 2x one hour and a half naps during the day. And last night he went to bed and didn't wake up until 6:30 this morning! He slept all night!!! Woo-hoo! Hoping that is a trend that is going to continue. (he has been getting up at least once in the night) I think a lot of it, especially these past few weeks had to do with his teeth.

Anyway, it had been a while since I blogged so I had a chance and took it!!!
So much good news to share!!!! Oh and one more thing...this afternoon he just started to scoot around on his bum!! ha ha...I guess the hardwood floors aren't feeling so good on his knees! Smart boy!

Until next time,
Jenn

p.s. One more pic. This one makes me laugh!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Happy birthday baby!



I have a one year old.

A 13 pound one year old. I think he's around 13 pounds anyway. I can't be sure until next week when he goes to get his shots and get weighed and have his general checkup. I definitely feel that he's been having a big growth spurt. He keeps eating and eating. I often have to heat up more food for him after he cleans up one bowl! I will do that as long as he continues to eat!!! He's eating about 8 or 9 tablespoons now. And he's getting too big for some of his jammies and clothes too!!! He just got some 6 months jammies and he fits in them!!! Woo-hoo!!! Finally some new clothes to wear!!!! And today I had him in a 12 month t-shirt!!! Mind it's a small 12 month shirt. In honour of the Thor movie, I put on his custom made Thor t-shirt that our friend, Carol got him for his bday. Rob is a huge fan and went to see the movie tonight. (He said it was awesome!!!)



So let me back up and update on the happenings in the past few weeks.

Lochlan is now sitting up on his own. (not getting to that position himself but he'll sit there if I sit him up) He also can go from sitting to lying down to his tummy. He has had a few spills and bonked his head but they are few and far between. He turns himself around when he's sitting up so it's hard to keep a pillow behind him just in case he does happen to fall.

He had his first wagon ride too! I pulled him very slowly around the first time. But today, Abby, Lochlan and I went for a walk around the neighbourhood with the wagon. It felt soooo good! I had a big grin on my face as I pulled my two awesome kids in that wagon. What a feeling!


Easter weekend was great! We hosted both sides of our family on two separate days. Abby was adorable Easter morning.



What fun! And Lochlan just took it all in. It was so nice to spend time with our families to celebrate the holiday. (although we missed you Nana & Poppa! And can't wait to see you in 2 sleeps!)





It was back to back celebration weekends. We had Lochlan's birthday party this past Sunday. May 3rd.

I had decided to make Lochlan's cake myself. I really wanted him to have a superman cake but I tell ya, decorations are hard to find!!! I finally chose to do the logo and Fiona (Rob's sister) had a star cake pan so I baked the cake in that and then added the logo to that. First time I ever used the tips and I think I had stood in the aisle for like 20 minutes when deciding on the type of icing colouring dye to get. I was very nervous as it was my first big cake and I really wanted to do a "super" job!!!
Once I finally got started after the kidlets were in bed, (with a glass of wine!!) I felt like I was on fire!!! ha ha...I really enjoyed it! I think I used a whole can of icing to get the yellow just right. I kept adding the colouring paste until I realized, I had added too much and had to start again! I got the logo off of the internet and drew it out on bristol board, cut it out and then outlined the shape right on the cake with the icing gel. Then I used the gel to freehand draw the rest of the logo.

I was very happy with my creation. And I think I'll attempt a cake for Abby when her birthday arrives!!!!


So thankful to have great friends and family gathered to cheer for our amazing lil boy! It was a beautiful day weather wise too! I think it rained pretty much every day but Sunday!! And I must admit I got tears in my eyes and a little choked up when we sang "Happy birthday." What a culmination of memories over the past year all wrapped up in one song. So much to rejoice in.


The cake eating or smearing was a little uneventful for Lochlan. He took more interest in the plate it was on than the cake itself! And I'm glad he didn't get too adventuresome and put any in his mouth. I'm sure he would have gagged and perhaps choked. Still not doing so well with textured foods. (I tried a nutri-o yesterday and you should have seen his face. It was like I'd given him brussel sprouts or something!)
He did like smushing the cake though and playing with it.














LOCHLAN'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

Lochlan gave us a birthday gift!! And I so thank him! He slept all night! I had gone out to see our niece, Caelyn's play, The Wizard of Oz that she was in Wednesday night and so Rob put him to bed and gave him a bottle of formula. He didn't drink much. I don't even think a full ounce. But even still, he didn't wake up until 6:40am!!! I wish I'd gone to bed earlier to enjoy it but I still loved him for it!

Crossing my fingers it wasn't a one shot deal! Although he did sleep all night again last night. He didn't get to bed officially until much later as we were at my sisters but he still slept until 6:50! Woo-hoo!

So birthday morning, we hung around home and played and then while Lochlan had his nap, Abby and I made cupcakes to take to the NICU later in the day. After he woke up, we went to Danielle's (my best friend's) for a playdate with her son Michael. Thank you bestie for hanging out with Abby while I took Lochlan swimming for the very first time. I really wanted to do something special for his birthday just him and I. I was a little later leaving Danielle's since I needed to give him his lunch and all that jazz. So we only ended up having about 15 minutes to be in the pool. Well, that was plenty!!! He was petrified!! He was cling master 7!! I couldn't figure out if he was cold or terrified or what. But he wouldn't let go of my neck for too long! I don't even think I got a smile out of him! Hoping he liked it or at least will grow to like it! I'm just very glad we were able to get out together. Love that boy!

Afterwards, we came back home for naptimes. Then headed to the NICU. We brought our cupcakes and Abby was an amazing listener and I had no problems getting to and from the car and the hospital. It was nice to see some of the nurses who had a hand in keeping Lochlan alive. I sort of wish, no not sort of, I do wish we'd been able to see some of our favourites but that just means we'll have to go back for another visit. I'll have to call ahead first I think just to be sure! We didn't say too long just enough to oogle and ogle. Or however you say that. And to give them our cupcakes!!! I think they were very happy and surprised to have a treat!!!

Rob coaches the junior boys soccer team and they had a game so the kids and I headed to my sister, Christina's for a visit and supper. I made a special trip to the Starbucks drive-thru just for me. Okay, and an overpriced apple juice for Abby too! I tried to new Mocha Coconut Frappacino!! YUM-O!!!!

We had a nice visit with my sis and Brad (her hubby) and my nephews, Blake and Owen. And then we came back home for stories and bed which even though I was surprised that the kids didn't fall asleep on the way home, I was glad that they didn't so Daddy could spend some time with them before going to sleep.

It was a great day! So thankful and blessed. I felt a little on edge to be honest though for parts of the day. Obviously it was a day that held some super emotional memories for me. I allowed myself to think back a few times, wallow in it, and then to let it go. So much to celebrate and be thankful for so I wanted to focus on that as much as possible.

Thank you again for all your support this past year. I will continue to keep you posted on Lochlan's progress. One day, he'll be able to look back and see how far he's come. And hopefully know too, how very much he's been loved.