Finlay and Lyndze at Home

January 24, 2010

So this new role is pretty hard work.  There isn't too much training; it's a lot of learning on the job!  But everyday is rewarding.  We don't quite have a routine yet but there is a loose set of daily expectations.  Lots of diapers, of course, and lots of feeding AND TONS OF CUDDLES.  I try to add some yoga and a walk into each day for my health and sanity but I'm not always successful.  We bath every other day but sometimes it is necessary before that (lots of spit-up and other accidents).  I'm singing and talking with Fin all of the time and we play and let him stretch his legs and look around at stuff.  Naps are pretty consistent - I can usually count on him to sleep for 3 or 3 and a half hours in the afternoon.  Morning naps are a little spotty; he mostly cat-naps after eating in the morning which means that I usually can't brush my teeth or clean up until I have some help or only in 5-10 minute bursts.

So it's busy.  I try to have him in the cuddly-wrap while I tidy and clean but he, more often than not, disagrees with this and struggles and cries and I let him win.  I'm going to have to stop letting him win if I want to get anything done around here!

But I love it even when I hate it.  And I'm surprised with how I'm changing.  I'm more relaxed and can let things go and laugh at myself more easily.  I must have had a big glob of spit-up on my chest for a couple of hours the other night but didn't notice!  I laughed when I finally figured out where the strong and bothersome smell was coming from.  Ha!

So fun!

 Fin and I try to get out of the house every day.  It's pretty warm around here (compared to the rest of Canada) so he usually wears a sweater and a hat and some booties.  Here he is in his kitten toque.  Cute!

 He cries every time we start putting the sweater or any hat on him.  I don't think he like leaving the apartment but he certainly wouldn't like mummy if we stayed in all of the time.  He usually cries for the first bit and then falls asleep in the stroller or cuddly-wrap.

 Here is Finlay in his new bouncer.  He smiled the first time I put him in it!  I wish i had the video camera when  I first turned the vibration on - he let out a giddy squeal!  

 A little smile in the bouncer!

 He makes it bounce when his moves.  At first he is confused by the movement, and then just excited!

We are trying to be more consistent with Tummy Time.  He hates it.  Mostly he screams and does his sheep crying (purple-face crying).  I've tried toys, mirrors, and laying on the floor with him - nothing has worked so far.  So I have him on his tummy a few times a day for short stints.  He'll learn to love it?

But the bouncer is a success - it means that I can make meals without him in the cuddly-wrap (which I feel better about because of the hot things in the kitchen).  Below is a link to the video I took of him while making soup the other night.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVYXwL1F5lU

lyndze

A Note from Dad

January 23, 2011

It has been a few weeks since I have written on the blog so I thought I should drop a line and say hello.  My time has been pretty busy between work and hanging out with Fin and Lyndze.

Everyday I am shocked to see the changes that Finlay is going through.  This past week has been incredible.  As you saw in the last video, Finlay has started to smile and he is doing it more and more.  It is the cutest thing in the world to us.  Everyday Finlay is starting to make fun new noises and his eye contact both with us and with things around the room (he loves to stare at the lamp) is getting more regular.

When I look at him I see all sorts of things that remind me of Lyndze and then he will do something that will remind me of members of my family.  Each day is something new and each day is still exciting.

The sleep schedule has its highs and lows but most nights we are pretty lucky to have a baby that enjoys sleeping at night.

We have put up another new video of Fin and I dancing to a "Said the Whale."  Dancing has become one of our favorite pastimes as a way to calm Fin down.  We run through our favorite indie bands from CBC Radio Three and Fin has certainly picked his favorites.   The band "The Burning Hell" is a safe bet to get Finlay to calm down and start to smile.  He also appears to be a fan of David Newberry and The Gruff..  It has become one of my favorite activities with Fin.  But I look like quite the big dork dancing around my living room so you may not get to see video of that!

We hope this note finds everyone well!  We hit the 40 day mark yesterday.  It is unbelievable how time flies.

Here are a few more pics and the link to the latest video...It is sideways.  We are not sure how to fix that at this point. But enjoy it non-the-less.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIXmXmIngys

Love you all

 Finlay has started to make all sorts of fun new faces and noises.  Every day is something new.

 Fin starting to fall asleep... Too cute!

Our Friends Hilary and Calvin came by for tea the other morning.  Above is Calvin and Fin and below is the three of them.

Asha (our cat) does not want too much to do with Fin but every once in a while she gets a little inquisitive.  On this night she kept creeping up and peering into the bassinet.  Too cute.

We had our old friend Mike Reid over for diner the other night.  And by "WE HAD" I mean Mike made Chili and brought it over to our house.   He brought over two very cute shirts.  We will take a couple pictures and post them in the coming days.

Mike was a natural with Fin and Finlay seemed to really like him.  But that is no surprise... Who doesn't like to hang out with Mike?

One Month Old and Smiling

January 14, 2011

Finlay is no longer a new-born baby; he is one month old today!  And I caught him on camera smiling about it.  Check out the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxc4hhKqb-k

He is gaining weight (9lbs 10oz and counting), making more cooing noises, smiling and getting more engaged every day.  At our last appointment, on Thursday, Uta said that Fin has already surpassed his 6-week developmental growth spurt.  Hopefully the focus over the next couple weeks will be physical growth and putting on the pounds.

Tyler and I are doing well, by the way, and falling in love with Finlay more and more all of the time.

Now that I've figured out video I will put up some of the other ones I've taken soon!

lyndze

Day by Day

Everyday we encounter new challenges and new joys.  All three of us are constantly learning and getting to know each other more and more.  The house is finally clean, laundry seems endless, we have cooked a few meals at this point but still rely heavily on easy options with minimal clean-up.  I don't think losing the baby-weight will be a problem as I rarely have time to eat a full meal let alone snacking throughout the day!  I am anxious to get out and walk and start my post-natal yoga class but Fin isn't quite ready to go for long walks and, I guess, neither am I.  Maybe because I have never asked other women about their birth stories, and I really never questioned the recovery post-natal, I am only beginning to understand that my labour and delivery were hard.  Uta has slowly revealed more at each follow-up appointment and it seems that Finlay's journey into the world took a little longer and was pretty intense.  As I mentioned before, I don't have a lot of memory of the event.  I remember being really tired but also thinking "this isn't painful."  But after all those spectacular hormones wore off, man, has it ever been a long and uncomfortable road back!  And I'm still a long way off!

Another major challenge has been breastfeeding.  I'm not one to give up but there are some moments where I want to just call it a day!  Thankfully, there is a lot of support out there and although it isn't easy I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it.  I am sharing these two more personal challenges only because I wish I had been aware of them before they arose so that I would have been more prepared for them.  In our polite world, we often don't talk about it!  So there you go!

I think Tyler's main challenge has been the sleepless nights.  I seem to have nature on my side and I feel as though the rib pain during the latter weeks of the pregnancy prepared me more (I'm actually getting more sleep than I did in November and early December).  The poor guy works 50 to 60 hours a week, and some early and late hours, so he is quite tired when after a night two 3 hour naps and maybe an hour tacked onto the beginning or end of the night he is facing another busy day.  Also, I can have a nap during the day if I need too (although I'm not really into napping lately).

Finlay's challenge, aside from latching, seems to be gaining weight.  He takes after his dad in this respect: a high metabolism seems to be thwarting the efforts of his cluster-feeding.  But he is gaining.  A couple exciting new developments with our little boy is alertness.  He is more and more engaged in the world around him.  He started interacting with a toy the Tyler was dangling in front of him.  Tyler would make the toy make a noise and Fin would turn his head to look.  Also, he is showing more facial expressions and making more eye contact.  He has been smiling more and more and with more excitement.  He has also be making more cooing noises.  He just gets cuter and cuter every day.

Here are some updated pictures.

Santa comes to good little boys - this year he brought an adorable monkey sock puppet!

Here is Fin snuggled with his Nans on Christmas Day. 

I received some really nice Tea from Megan and Kori -calming herbs for a new mama.

Grand-Mooma sent a beautiful pull toy for when Fin gets a little older.

Aunt Kalandra sent a couple cute outfits.

Very cute!

Finlay was pretty fussy at the end of the day on Christmas.  Nans worked hard to get him to stop fussing.  This position seemed to work.  We still use it!

Cute even when fussy!

Mummy and Fin on Christmas Day.

We had some visitors - Hilary and Rory swung by and Fin had lots of cuddles.

We took Fin to his first concert.  We saw Joel Plaskett and Fin made it through about 70% of the show - pretty impressive for a two week old!

Fin loves the hair dryer and so does his diaper rash.  Gotta love that face!

The neighbours brought by some granola and a cute outfit.  We tried to get a picture of him wearing the outfit that says "Mommy's Little Monster" but, true to form, Fin did not cooperate.

Almost!

"Forget it!"

We also took Finlay to see the "Paradise" exhibit at the Art Gallery.  It was a show of Chinese Communist Propaganda Art.  They were playing some creepy music and Fin didn't seem to like it or Mao.  Aaron came with us!

A little bit of red wine for me, a little bit of red wine for Fin.  They say you should expose them to all kinds of flavors!

Tyler wearing Fin in the Cuddly Wrap while we cook dinner.