School!

We just received our notice from the school board. Connor will be in the morning classes. We get a PT meeting on Sept 4 and Connor gets orientation on Thursday morning Sept 6, and school starts officially on the 10th. Exciting!

Liam Rollover and Kicks

Liam can roll over already. First he was able to roll from his front onto his back. Then a couple of days later, I had left him on his back in his crib and when I came back he was on his tummy! The first time he did it was around June 3rd. This is on the early side for a baby to be turning over - typically it occurs between 4-6 months. Here's a video of one of his early turnovers from front to back.






These days when we place Liam in his bouncy chair, he really kicks up a storm! Check out this video - it's like he's boxing with his cute little feet!

Connor and Megan

Connor has a girl friend, Megan. She is the lovely child of a friend of Linds'. She is very kind and very friendly. Connor and Megan can play together for HOURS without needing adult intervention; they almost never fight over anything!

A couple of weeks ago Megan's brother Clark was baptised and we were invited. Here are a couple of photos from the church. I asked them to hold hands - Connor usually will not hold hands with any other kids - and they did! They look soooo sweet!

Megan's mom is currently on maternity leave, too, so that's how the two kids got to playing with each other. Most times Connor will visit Megan at her house. They've also been to the Science Center and the Toronto Zoo together. For a couple of months they took the same art class together.

There was only one time that we know of where there was a problem. Megan had come to our house and Connor wanted very much for Megan to play specific toys with him. But Megan was more interested in other toys that Connor had... and Connor wasn't happy with that. It was his way or the highway! Well, he'll soon have to learn that it's in his best interest for the girl to have to her way!

At the Church. Megan's all dressed up for his brother's baptism.

A sweet moment between the two. Sorry I am no great shutterbug and
it's a bit blurry... but still sweet!

In Connor's room, the day he got all upset. That's why he's not looking too happy here.

Happily fingerpainting at Megan's house.

Just a cute video... Liam sleeping, kicking, sucking his fingers

I think these videos are adorable and sure made me smile. But then, I'm his Mom so I'm biased. Hope you enjoy the two videos!

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Post-Partum Discomfort Update

 

I saw a chiropractor last Wednesday and she determined the problem source to be a weak core. She tested this by having me contract my transverse abdominis muscles (the lower abdomen) and then try to move my leg in the manner which I was having problems (ie I have pain when lifting the right knee to swing the leg out of the car). Sure enough, when I did this I was able to move my leg with much less pain.

The weak core led to the problem muscles working much harder than required. Additionally this meant my back was doing more work as well. So the chiropractor did some 'adjustment' to my upper spine. She also adjusted my sacroiliac joint, which she said appeared quite stable already.

This in addition to some simple exercises that strengthen the transverse abdominis appears to be doing the trick. On Thursday we were out walking for several hours and the whole time we walked I kept the transverse abdominis contracted. This made it easier to walk without pain. Today, I am better, I can walk with only slight pain but still getting sharp twisting pain in the thigh when going up and down the stairs. Hopefully this will all be a memory by next week. I have another chiropractic appointment on Wednesday.

Enjoy the pics on this post. They were taken with my iPhone and template photo effects were applied using the free app 'Instagram'. You can view all of my Instagram photos at http://instagrid.me/lulubabyobaby

Liam's 3 Months - Milestones

Liam is now three months young, and weighs 15 lbs. It's been exciting to observe that he's reached a few of the three-month milestones: 

• While on his tummy, he can keep his head off the floor for quite a while. 
• He is now using his hands and his feet to swat at his toys on his bouncy chair. 
• He is now grasping objects.
• He has laughed out loud on occasion. This is such a joy to watch!

The new fascination with his toys means that we can leave him in his bouncy chair and it appears he is very entertained. He kicks at the toys more that uses his hands. Below are two videos, one of Liam's first time swatting at the toys in his chair. The other video shows Liam holding his head up during tummy time - and Connor being a bit naughty and I subsequently had to place him in a time-out!

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Post-Partum Discomforts

Liam is almost 3 months old - no longer a newborn. He is much more aware and he 'talks', 'coos' and smiles a lot more. He has also started to laugh out loud, which is so wonderful when he does it.

My friend Amie visited last week and brought back my baby scale for me from Vancouver. So now I can weigh Liam anytime I want. Liam now weighs 14 lbs. What a heavyweight!  It's great but also adds to my health issues.

My right leg/hip hurts when I walk, especially if I am carrying extra weight or going up or down stairs. My physiotherapist says it is instability at the sacroiliac joint (side effect of pregnancy, the joint relaxes or is sprained during delivery). Because the joint has too much movement, other muscles are trying to take up the slack. I've had this problem since a week after giving birth to Liam. So I cannot run or easily go up or down stairs or do any exercise.

I've also got carpal tunnel in both hands, and also plantar fasciitis in both feet - I had both these conditions with Connor as well. Plantar fasciitis causes pain in both feet when walking, especially upon waking in the morning.  I'm just falling apart!

I need to try harder to do all the prescribed physio exercises to get better. I've been doing them but I also seem to keep aggravating the SI joint every other week.

Connor loves being a big brother!
He loves Liam's soft hair and skin.

With my friend Amie, visiting from Vancouver

 

 

The Textbook Baby

What luck! Liam is so far a textbook baby. Textbook in all the good ways!

He is now 2 months young and his poopys have reduced so that there is none through the night. He also has slept through the night 3 or 4 times - from midnight to 6:30-7:00AM. And after a feeding at that time, he usually sleeps until 9:00AM. When he cries, it is always one of three things: needs food, needs a diaper change, or needs sleep. He can be put down in his bassinet or bouncy chair and he will sleep. He can also self-sooth at times (sucking on his hands/fingers). Basically everything I had read about what babies should do, but Connor never did!

Lucky for Connor because it means we can still focus on this needy boy. :)

Liam is a little bit more interactive now. If you move an object from left to right he will follow it with his eyes. He will "coo" or "agoo" at you - sometimes I feel like we are having a conversation!  I think he's a cool little guy.

Oh, and his hair is growing in now!

Connor's Drawings - Little Picasso?

I am amazed at Connor's drawing and colouring abilities. His control of a pen is much better now, and thus he can draw with a lot more detail. His drawings are very deliberate and structured. His colouring is also much improved - he can colour within the lines very well.

Connor drew this yesterday. He started with the object on the right. He said it was something that needed to go to the hospital. The object on the left is supposed to be a road.

This was last week. See the detail in his drawings!

See how Connor holds the pen?

Connor appears to be ambidextrous, although there is a bit more right-hand use. It's cool when he picks up one pen in each hand and tries to draw or colour at the same time!

Connor's Latest Weigh-in

Just a quick update on Connor. He finally got weighed at the doctor on March 30 and he's now 15.5 kg (34 lbs) and 37 inches (94 cm) tall. Here his is a few weeks ago looking cool and posing for me.

I found an easy play dough recipe too.  Connor loved it and played for 3 hours with the dough! Recipe below, which I found at http://www.craftbits.com/project/baking-angel.

Dough Recipe 

• 3 1/2 cups of flour 
• 1 cup of salt 
• 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of water

 Mix the flour and salt. Slowly add the water to the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula until you get a stickier batter. Once the batter is stickier, use your hands to knead the mixture until it becomes dough.  Recipe makes quite a large lump of dough. The picture of Connor shows half the amount the recipe makes.

You are supposed to use the dough to create things and then bake it. I didn't do this, but the instructions are to place it on a baking tray and into the oven at 200 deg Celsius for around 20 minutes or until firm and hollow sounding.

Liam, Week 6 Pics

Week 6 !!

Here are some pics from last week - Liam's week 6. Liam is plumping up very nicely, I think! He feels heavier, looking chunkier, and is fitting into size 3 month clothes too!

In his first few weeks of life, Liam had baby acne. That has finally pretty much cleared up. For the past couple of weeks he appeared to have cradle cap on his eyebrows only (there is a picture of it below). That is also clearing up this week, yay! I don't know if it is a coincidence but both problems started to go away after I applied some coconut oil to his face and his eyebrows (just a little bit, and left it for a while, then wiped it off so that his face isn't all oily). I recently found out that Coconut oil is supposed to have a lot of benefits, including being anti-bacterial.

Last week my friend Helen also visited us. Connor was spoiled once again with lots of books from Helen, and Liam received a nice outfit. Thanks Helen! There's a photo of them below.

Liam has been sleeping GREAT. The last two nights, he slept for more than 6 hours! From midnight to 6:30AM, and midnight to 7:30AM. I was shocked! And a little worried about my milk supply possibly dwindling, if he's not feeding for so long. I'll try not to worry too much about it for now, since Liam seems to be thriving.  :D

The two brothers side by side. Do they look alike?

Liam with Helen

Cradle cap on the eyebrows.

Our chunky little dragon baby!

Easter 2012

Easter is now FUN since Connor can work on simple craft projects. Connor and I made Easter eggs (the last time I've ever made them, if I ever did, was in elementary school). Connor had fun dipping the eggs into the different colours and then adding the Easter stickers that came with the package. Linds and I were pleasantly surprised at how nicely Connor had nicely spaced the stickers on the eggs! 

On Sunday we had a turkey brunch at Grandpa Brian's house. Grandma Jackie gifted Connor with goodies, including a chocolate Lindt bunny, a stick of Easter candies, and a couple of Easter toy animals. The Easter egg nests there, I put together myself using oatmeal, peanut butter, honey, almonds, and flaked coconut. As you can see by Connor's huge grin, he was very happy with it all!

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend!

 

Visit from Grandma Debbie

We were lucky to have Grandma Debbie visit us last week. She brought Connor new PJs, Spider-man stickers, and a fun CARS toothbrush set. Then they went to the LEGO store to buy a new, huge LEGO set (soooo spoiled that boy is!). Connor picked one that has a two-story building, a police car and more!

Connor and Grandma spent lots of time together in the backyard playing tag, blowing bubbles, having a picnic, and playing with sidewalk chalk. Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy got to leave the house with Liam for a while :D.

First contact...

Sweet hugs

Grandma Debbie made this colourful bib for Liam

Relaxing

Liam's Moon Yuet - One Month Old

March 24th marked Liam's one-month of life!  In Chinese this is "Moon Yuet" which means "Full Month" and traditionally Chinese parents will celebrate this milestone by inviting friends and family for a grand meal.

Here in Toronto we don't have any Chinese relatives, so we just had a quiet celebration at a Chinese restaurant with Grandpa Brian and Grandma Jackie. Well, it wasn't that quiet because there's no such thing as a "quiet" Chinese restaurant! The grandparents did their 'homework' and gifted us a couple of red "licee" lucky money envelopes for Liam.  Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Liam poses for a one-month photo at home to commemorate the occasion. :)

 

Photoshoot at CA Talent

I purchased a photoshoot 'deal'. For $99, we get two photoshoots where we'd receive a disk of all the shots. This sounded like a super deal, considering that most photographers will not give you the digital files at all. The company is CA Talent - a talent agency and not a photo studio, but they do some photography. We went for the photoshoot the previous Monday (about 2 weeks ago).

Overall we were not that happy with the shots. Out of about 250 shots, Linds thinks only one or two of them or good as far as lighting conditions go. Many of the shots are blurry and some shots had questionable backgrounds or composition, for example he had us stand in front of a mirror which you can see the photography lights (you can see in some of the shots here) - why would you do that?  I was also hoping to get good shots of Liam for his 'announcement' card, and we didn't even get that many shots of just Liam.

Below are a few shots which I found to be OK to show you all.  They are definitely better photos than I could take, but I don't think I will take this deal again. We still have one more photoshoot, which Linds says doesn't want to bother with.