Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Sleepless..... days?

So our nights are still fairly good. Holden goes down around 9 (we're working on getting it earlier!) and usually only wakes up to eat twice, occasionally we're really lucky and he'll only wake up once to eat! Then we're up at 7:30.

But our days have gone in the crapper!! My little buddy refuses to nap properly, and it turns him into a cranky pants by the end of the day. He'll sleep great as long as he's in our arms, but it's time to break that. I can't have him sleeping in my arms for two or three 2 hour naps a day, he's getting heavy! So now he's having about six 20 minute naps a day (it's horrible!!) instead of 3 nice 2 hour naps. I feel like I'm spending my entire day trying to get him to sleep!!

My objective is for him to have at least two naps a day that last 1.5 hours or more, and for him to fall asleep on his own and not in my arms.

We've got a new book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" which I'll be putting to the test. I still have to finish it, and it'll be a couple of weeks of lots of repeat repeat repeat, but hopefully some of the tricks will work.

If any of you moms have any tricks out there, write them in the comments!!!!!

On a different note, we went for a nice winter hike on the weekend and brought Holden along in his sleigh. He's still a little small to put him in it directly, so we rigged up his carseat to fit in it. Here are some pics!


Sunday, January 27, 2008

Motor Mouth!

Holden had great visits with Grand Daddy and then Nanny and Pappa yesterday.

First up was Grand Daddy where Holden introduced Grand Daddy to his newfound talent for high volume drooling and willingness to share. Grand Daddy was unfazed, in a good way, by Holden's generosity. Barry's dog Ralph broke the cold war and was the first to ackowledge Holden. He gave him a few curious sniffs and when Holden remained indifferent, swatted him with his tail. Holden probably deserved it for being such a snob.

We then visited Nanny and Pappa. Holden was a little fussy for the first little while, but once he took a relaxing snooze and settled down, he had loads of fun. It seems he had a lot to share with Nanny because he was talking to her non-stop. We weren't smart enough to understand what he was saying, but he remained patient and continued talking with us all the same. He was so talkative that Mommy got a little teary eyed at that special moment!

We've been taking Holden for daily walks, often more than once a day and he LOVES the outdoors. This afternoon we plan to take him hiking in the woods where we will use our wooden sleigh for the first time. The sleigh was a gift from Grand Maman's friends Pierrette and Claude. Its exactly like a sleigh I had when I was a kid and I'm really looking forward to using it today!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Best wishes Bo!

Holden wanted us to wish his buddy Bo all the best. Bo came down with Croup and was admitted to CHEO on Wednesday. He may be there until sometime on the weekend. Holden wants everyone to send Bo positive energy - Holden's all newage like that.

Holden really admires how strong Bo is. He's been through a lot and always fights through it. Once Bo's all better, Holden is going to drool all over him. He's been practicing tons and is really good at it.

We love you Bo!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Everybody misses John!!

But we still had a great brunch without him. John's parents came over as well as his sister Paula and her main squeeze Jeff. What a feast!! We had my mom's famous tortière (meat pie, for you anglos), homemade baked beans *drool*, baked veggies, Montreal bagels, fresh fruit salad, butter tarts, carrot cake, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee... it was a true feast!!

And everyone wanted to say hi to John:

Friday, January 18, 2008

Friday update

Since John has been out of town from Tuesday until this Sunday, family has been kind enough to come by and lend a helping hand everyday. Tuesday night was my brother-in-law Gerry. He took Holden for an hour and a half walk!!! What a great break. I got to relax in a bath and get some chores done, and Holden had a nice nap in his stroller.

Wednesday my mother- and father-in-law dropped by and also took Holden for a walk. They also brought me dinner!

And finally my mom came Thursday and will be here until Sunday. Today was a nice day, Grandmaman held Holden for a super long nap and I got a bunch of stuff done. Holden even went 4.5 hours without eating today, a new record for daytime!! But he woke up so hungry he had a major fit *ha*.

Here's a video from today of Holden chewing on his hand. A new pastime of his, even when he's not hungry!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

We miss you!!!

John is in Toronto to promote Wall Juice at the Metro Home Show, and we miss him terribly!!!!!! Pookie, here are a couple of videos of Holden so you can see what he looks like today. He wasn't in the mood to smile *sigh* but he's super cute anyway!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

More photos!

As well as visiting my dad last weekend, we also visited Nanny and Papa. Danielle was nice enough to make us a fabulous breakfast including her fabulous quiche! Here are some pics from that visit:



Sunday, January 13, 2008

Fun with the macro lense!

We went to my dad's house for a little visit over the weekend, and he has a new macro lense for his camera. I couldn't help but to try it out. It's tricky! And the baby kept moving so all his pictures were blurry, but here are a few:


John:

Ralph the dog:

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

New title graphic!

So I had a few moments to spare and designed a new title graphic. So cute! The animals are on his bedroom wall.

And finally, a word from Stephanie

So this is my first REAL post since Holden was born, other than to post photos.

Motherhood is really agreeing with me. We couldn't have asked for a better baby (Murphy's Law, he just started crying *ha* feeding time!).

Alright I'm back. He's sleeping!

As I was saying, what a great baby!!!!! And I don't think I've ever seen a cuter baby! I can't stop staring at him. It's true love.

Yesterday we had our last midwife appointment. Holden got weighed and he now weighs 12 lbs 3 oz. Porker!

I'm adjusting well, and most things have come very naturally in taking care of him. Most things that I was really anxious about before he came are second nature now (changing diapers, breast feeding, even just holding such a tiny baby).

The days just fly by, he keeps me very busy, but it's an odd, quiet kind of busy. If he's awake, we're sitting on the couch cooing at each other or he's eating, and if he's asleep, I'm trying to get stuff done before he wakes up (laundry! oh my god, soooooooo much laundry, ALL the time!), or he's sleeping on my chest and I don't want to move so he'll get a good nap (the better he sleeps during the day, the better he sleeps at night).

And I've already lost a ton of weight, without even trying. It's so amazing. I've never heard of this happening to anybody. I'm literally 20 lbs lighter than BEFORE I got pregnant. C.R.A.Z.Y. I'm even 7 lbs lighter than at our wedding!! Honestly though, I was getting pretty chubby before I got pregnant and eating alot. Now, I have less time to eat AND breast feeding burns about 500 calories per day. So that must be it. I'm not really exercising yet (too cold out! and damp! and just... yuck!), so imagine how thin I'll be this summer when I can get out for walks! Booya! Can't wait. Who woulda thunk it that having a baby is the best diet EVER??

I also want to add that John is the best father and husband ever. He's great with Holden, and great at taking over and giving me a break. He's very supportive and patient with both Holden and myself, and loves us both very much, and we love him lottsa lottsa too! He's the best at walking Holden when he's fussy (it's practically the only thing that will calm him in the evenings) and does it without complaining, since I'll rarely do it. I hate doing it, Holden is such a porker that it hurts my back to walk him up and down the hall. He's also taken over the majority of cooking, which is FANTASTIC.

Every now and then Holden and I have a photo shoot. He loves the camera! Here are some from today. Today's theme was WHITE.