On our way back through Seattle after our trip to Yuma we dropped in on Jane and Rachel since they hadn't met Kale yet... It was great to see them and they supplied us with our Sex in Seattle fix (though we must admit - the DVD isn't as good as the live play).
We spent this Thanksgiving in Yuma, Arizona. Robyn was a great hostess. Thanks Robbs!
Grandparents changing diapers...
Safe from that Yuma sun!
Hanging out at the sand dunes...
Now that it is colder out we are bundling Kale into his stroller. The entirety of the buggy is filled with blankets so there isn't room for him to move or any cold air to get in. I remember when I lived in Berlin thinking women were pushing around buggies full of blankets with no baby in because they would be packed in even tighter than this because it was a lot lot colder.
We went in yesterday for our 6 week visit with the midwives. Both Kale and I recieved a clean bill of health (something we were pretty assured of walking in).
Kale was up another 11 oz weighin in at 14 lbs 3 oz (or 6.4 Kilos). The master weight gainer ranks high on the list of chubbiest babies the midwives have ever seen. =) It is fun to be proud of weight gain and chub since normally we are eager to not gain weight or be viewed as chubby.
Believe it or not, Kale is not always smiling peaches and cream. Lately, we've been having fussy evenings - starting a few hours after Dad gets home until around midnight. We've been employing a few tactics to help make the evenings better for us all:
Quiet nursing time...
...a warm baby bath with Dad...
...and tightly swaddled baby on dad's chest.
Oma Gungi sent us this cute little lion suit for Kale and he has been snuggly warm in it all day today. Thanks so much for the stylish outfit.
Apparently there weren't enough exclamation points about Kale rolling over.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He rolled over...
babies aren't supposed to do that until they are like 2 or 3 months old.
We were doing some tummy time and bare bum time combined so he was laying on a mat in front of the heating vent. I turned away for like 3 seconds and his vocalizations changed so I turned back around. He was off the mat on his back.
I am constantly impressed by the new things he does on a daily basis.
I made my weekly trek to the Community Health Centre to weight Kale this morning (well actually more like lunch time). As I was heading there I vowed that this would be the last week. He will get weighed next week at the Midwives and after 6 weeks he will just end up being weighed at his Well Baby visits to the doctor rather than on such a regular basis.
So today he weight 13 pounds 8 oz (6123 grams). That is up 11 oz (312) from last week. Our chubby baby continues to get chubbier. Hard to believe he is already over a month old. It is funny how some days can go by slowly but the overall sense of time is overwhelming speed.
The past few days have been all about getting out of the house and getting good at changing diapers in washrooms (and the car when needed). We have breastfeed in parking garages, on the nice comfy recliners in a Sears Display area, at moms groups, and baby reunions. We spent most of Sunday out of the house and even ate dinner in a sit down restaurant. It was only Red Robin where we figured if he did start screaming it would blend in to the loud music and other dining famimlies. He slept through the whole meal though (happy on daddy's chest in the Baby Bjorn). Yesterday we left the house many times rather than staying out for an extended period. We drove Daddy to work, then we went to the Moms group, then we went to the library (in the Stroller!) and then we picked Daddy up from work. In and out of the carseat, In and out of the carseat. Luckily he seems to sleep in the carseat pretty well and we only had one screaming drive (a short one thanks goodness).
Our prenatal class had a reunion this weekend. We met some great new parents in our class and this was our chance to meet their babies. Here's the obligatory babies shot (ours is the sleeping big boy in the middle, of course):
We thought Kale might be ready for dancing, but decided to work on standing upright first...
One of the ferrets, Bannister, wanted to help -- but decided he wanted to be the baby, too.
Our friends David, Kim and Alex invited us over for a Cheese Bagel brunch and playdate for the wee ones. They had a good time hanging out together, checking out the mobile in the crib (or were they watching the four parents and a flashing camera that stoood above them). They also had their own brunch a while after ours and a good jiggle in their Mama's arms. Note how the babes are dressed in pink and blue as well as the moms. Don't want anyone mistaking the sex of these little ones (Laugh).
Main Entry: anx·i·ety 
Pronunciation: a[ng]-'zI-&-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -eties
Etymology: Latin anxietas, from anxius
1 a : painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill b : fearful concern or interest c : a cause of anxiety
2 : an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it
synonym see CARE
From http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/anxiety
The first definition and the synonym seem to really be how I am experiencing motherhood. I care so much that I am positively afraid something is wrong. I am constantly worried about something. My milk will be too little because he wasn't suckling enough during his cold. He spit up, is he getting enough nutrients. He screams during feeds, what am I doing wrong, how can I help him, how can I calm him down.
Yesterday all of these worries, concerns, anxieties reached a peak level and I crashed. I called Keva in tears and he surprised me at home a few hours later just for a quick half hour in the middle of his day to hold me or give me a chance to be away from the baby a little and regroup in some Molly only time. I took him up on both we cuddled and then I took a half an hour to eat a big lunch and drink some fluids. Kale and I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed interchangeably sleeping and eating which was restful but didn't relieve all of my fears. Come bedtime I was crashing again and while Kale slept in Keva's arms I cried for what felt like an hour. The night went smooth (we tried sleeping him in his carseat to relieve congestion as well as a steam and it worked well) and I woke up feeling a bit more confident and relaxed. I am not saying I won't worry like crazy for the rest of his life but this little bout of extreme worries is calming down.
Well the past week has been a challenge and a half. Kale has been sick for a week now and while things are definitely getting better I think I am about ready to crash. Babies are supposed to sleep for longer and longer stretches as they get older but with this cold we have regressed to a completely random sleeping schedule. Twenty minutes here and twenty minutes there. It is hard to sleep when you can't breathe. We spend time every night in the shower steaming out the boogers as well as filling his nose with saline to soften boogers so we can suck them out. He gets stuffy sleeping next to us but sleeps better on our chests so the boogers can drain out. But we definitely don't sleep as well with him on our chests. Plus it is hard to feed when you can't breathe so breastfeeding has become a major challenge. 3o seconds on, screaming because he can't breathe 2 minutes on, screaming because he can't breathe. We haven't had many solid feeds this week and I was curious what he weight gain would be. I knew he had gained some and I knew he was getting milk (dribble out at times, and a few throw-ups confirmed that) but I was sure it was less than previously. I went to the Health Clinic this morning and weighed him at 12 pounds 13.8 ounces. That is a 7.3 oz gain. Half a pound compared to a whole pound which I guess isn't bad considering how sick he was. I am glad he is healing now; the nasal passages only get stuffy at night. We keep talking about getting a humidifier or a vapourizer but peoples opinions are so varied on which is superiour that we can't decide which type to get so we end up just steaming him during the night. If anyone has their own definitive answer on humidifiers versus vapourizers let us know.
