Top row: 1-7 months. Bottom row: 8-12 months, 18 months, 2 years.
My son is 2 years old today.
Happy 2nd Birthday Jakob!!!!!
Category Archives: Uncategorized
whoops
I’d typed a quickie post yesterday wishing every mom, caregiver, teacher (etc) a Happy Mother’s Day, and must have forgotten to hit “publish”.
Well, it’s belated, but the sentiment is still there.
Happy Mother’s Day!
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i was mistaken
Make that 2. 2 teeth. My 3-month-old has 2 teeth.
I really hope he sleeps better now that they’re out! I NEED more than 3 hours of straight sleep.
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coming up for air
Forget coherence. I’m getting all this down on paper (?) because otherwise I’ll never get around to it and I’ll only end up posting “finished object” posts which are cool but not as fulfilling (to me) as the play-by-play stuff. So here’s what’s on my plate these days:
I’m using this recycled sari silk yarn to knit Unbiased (Knitty link, Ravelry link). A friend of the family is getting married in India and I thought this would make a nice gift for his wife-to-be. Yannick had told me the wedding was in June…only it turns out it is in May. Clearly I didn’t have the gift ready for him to bring TO India for his wife…so she’ll get it once they come back to Montreal. I went to Fabricville with Maaike last week and picked up some nice blue satiny stuff to use as a lining. I’ve almost completed the first triangle/side, and have 3 more to go. Then the strap, then the lining.
As a bris gift, Henri received this beautiful blanket from Restoration Hardware. His name was spelled correctly on the gift card and packing slip…but they made a little boo-boo on the gift, as you can see. They took care of it for us by sending us a new, properly-spelled blanket, and told us not to bother sending the bad one back since they would have no use for it. I thought it would be great to see what I could do, so this past weekend I sat down with my trusty stitch ripper and…
Ta da! Not bad, eh? Except for 2 spots where I accidentally cut through the blanket, you can barely tell there was stitching there. I’m going to try to find a place to do matching lettering on it, only put Jakob’s name instead. Now the boys will have matching blankets, 2-for-the-price-of-1! Anyone know of any Montreal sources for professional embroidered lettering?
My cousin is getting married this summer, and her bridal shower is this coming weekend. Amy, Robyn and I have been knitting squares to put together for a blanket for her, and I finished mine over the weekend.
Do you believe this? I ran out of yarn 6 stitches away from binding off my last square! Luckily I was able to salvage a few inches from a tail end from one of the other squares, joined invisibly and bound off. Talk about using every last inch!
Both girls have also finished their squares and dropped them off here today so I could finish the blanket. I’ve woven in all the ends as invisibly as I could, since we decided against lining the blanket as it would counter the cool stretch inherent in garter stitch. Now I’ve got to mattress-stitch the blocks together and then use up our leftover yarn to work a border around the edges. I’d love to work a garter border but I really don’t think I’ll have time before Saturday’s shower, so I think I’m going to do a few rounds of crochet. I’ll try out double crochet since it will give me more height faster, but if it looks too loose and sloppy then I’ll go back and just do single crochet around.
Mommy with Henri at 15 weeks old.
I have to say, Yannick is much better at taking photos of me than I am of myself! Now you can see the blonde-er version of my hair, plus the blue streak. There is only one section of blue, kinda behind and below my right ear. I’m getting used to it and think I might even keep it around for a while!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go wrap up a kangaroo and joey, as my other cousin had her baby and the bris is tomorrow morning.
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13 and 14 weeks
Mommy with Henri at 13 weeks old.
Don’t ask me to remember what I did in weeks 13 or 14. I keep meaning to sit down at the computer, and I do get time to read emails, etc, but either I go to post but haven’t synced my camera yet, or I have the photos but no time to do the post. Sigh. Soon, I’ll get things back on track.
I know it’s getting easier to get photos of the boys together, because all Jakob wants to do is play with his brother. And kiss him. And read him stories. And kiss him. Did I mention he wants to kiss him? Thankfully I’m breastfeeding, or Henri would have had almost a cold a day from all the germs Jakob brings home and slobbers into his mouth.
Mommy with Henri at 14 weeks old.
Not the most flattering photo of either of us, eh? For Henri- excuse the triple chins- it’s the angle of his head. And the horizontal stripes. Ugh, NOT a good look for him! As for me, well that was the day I first came home with the bangs and the blue hair. Unfortunately I left the salon with my hair still damp and didn’t realize until it had dried that instead of having blonde hair with high- and low-lights, my hair was pretty much brown. I went back the next day and had it fixed, so you’ll see that look in next week’s photo. MUCH better, if I do say so myself. As for the bangs, loyal readers will remember them since I tend to grow them out then cut them again, over and over. Most people think I look more like “me” with the bangs, I’m likely to agree although I’m not sure if I look too young with them. I had my hair in a ponytail the other day when I went out with Henri, and between the jeans, bangs and blue streak I’m sure the people I saw wondered what kind of sitter this poor kid’s mom left him with!
This might not be chronologically accurate, but sometime in the last few weeks I finished the first Toasted Almond Toe-Up sock (TATU sock). These are my “keep in my purse for found knitting time” socks, the ones I was complaining about not finding the repeat on. I finally found it! Do you see it?
If you look near the toe of the sock you can see two blue stripes with cream and brown in between. You can see that same pattern at the heel, and then again for the cuff. That means everything from end of the toe increases to the beginning of the heel is ONE REPEAT of the colorway. Can you believe it? I’ve never seen a repeat this long before!
I tried to find the matching repeat for the other ball for the other sock, but I have a feeling the sock might have been wound inside out, as I found a similar blue-cream-blue section, but the following colors didn’t quite match up. I did the best I could to mark a starting point that was similar, and now I’m just going to let the yarn do its thing. I haven’t cast on yet but it still lives in my purse waiting for the next long wait at the doctor or somewhere.
I’ll leave you with this last photo of Jakob because I couldn’t resist posting it. I love this kid! I can’t believe he will be 2 next month!! He’s accomplished so much in the last few weeks- no more bottles (although he still gets 2 fingers of milk in a sippy cup before bed), he can officially jump, and he’s developped a HUGE appetite for books. I have to put him down for a nap with a book so he can wake up and start “reading” it. I’ve even caught him “reading” to Henri! Oh, and today (not part of weeks 13 or 14, but whatever…) he rode a real tricycle for the first time and pedalled forwards by himself! Yay Jakob!
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oh no she di’nt
three months
By three months, your baby
…should be able to:
-on stomach, lift head up 45 degrees – CHECK
…will probably be able to:
– laugh out loud – CHECK
– on stomach, lift head up 90 degrees – ALMOST
– squeal in delight – CHECK (all the time- he’s such a happy kid!)
– bring both hands together – CHECK
– smile spontaneously – CHECK (apparently even the empty ceiling is funny)
– follow an object held about 6 inches above baby’s face and moved 180 degrees – from one side to the other, with baby watching all the way – HAVEN’T TRIED
…may possibly be able to:
– hold head steady when upright – CHECK (he can hold it steady but will occassionally throw himself backwards)
– on stomach, raise chst, supported by arms – NOPE
– grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers – CHECK
– pay attention to an object as small as a raisin – NOT SURE
…may even be able to:
– bear some weight on legs when held upright – CHECK – he loves it. I’d almost swear he’s ready to walk
– reach for an object – NOT SURE (I think I saw him reach for a toy but then it swung towards him so he got it without any futher effort)
– keep head level with body when pulled to sitting – NOT QUITE
– turn in the direction of a voice, particularily Mommy’s – ONCE
– say “ah-goo” or similar vowel-consonant combination – ONCE OR TWICE
– razz (make a wet razzing sound) – NOPE
Three months. The magical three months when everything is supposed to get better. And yet…
I suppose it depends on the day or time when you ask me. For the most part, everything is wonderful. I’d prefer a child who slept more than 3-4 hours at night, and maybe would stretch a little past feeding every 2 hours during the day, but if that is the worst of it then I really have nothing to complain about, huh? Little (ha!) Henri is a delight to his family, and a fast best friend to his brother. He smiles constantly, laughs easily and is also happy to play by himself on a mat or in a bouncer if I have to attend to his brother. He really only cries when he’s hungry or overtired. It’s becoming a challenge to get him into outfits before he’s outgrown them, as he’s already wearing 6 months loosely, and outfits that Jakob wore at 4-6 months old are too small.
Mommy is tired, but happy, and head-over-heels in love.
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week 12, easter eggs and sugaring off
Where does the time go? It’s strange to say this, being on maternity leave and all, but I swear I got more accomplished when I was working full time. I actually look forwards to days when I have no plans and can just lounge around the house with Henri, and those days are surprisingly few and far between. Mondays we have playgroup, Wednesdays we either go to the movies or to Ariadne, and the other says just seem to fill up with doctors appointments, other appointments (I got a pedicure done this past Thursday, woo hoo!), grocery shopping or who knows what.
Mommy with Henri at 12 weeks old.
(thanks for taking this photo, Maaike!)
Here’s a typical day in my life: Last week I swear that there was a day that at 9:00am I sat down on the couch to nurse Henri, and put my knitting bag beside me. I told myself “today I’m going to take time for me, and when Henri’s sleeping I will knit, and drink tea, and watch my shows, and relax”. And Henri drank. And when he was done I put him on his play mat, and went to make my tea. Then he started to fuss to indicate that he was tired. So I put him in bed. Then my water was ready, but Yannick had left his breakfast dishes on the counter instead of putting them in the dishwasher because it was still full. I have this thing about a messy kitchen- I hate it. I always have the kitchen cleaned up before dinner is on the table so there is nothing hanging over my head. So I emptied the dishwasher. Then I made my tea. Then I realized that if I didn’t eat breakfast it would be too late and too close to lunch, so I made breakfast. Then Henri fussed, so I went up and rocked him. Then I came down and ate my breakfast. Then I remembered that we were going out that night and probably would come home somewhere after 8pm, so I would be smart to set the DVR now since I’d miss the beginning of my shows otherwise. Then Henri woke up. Then I played with him for a bit, then fed him again. This time he nursed himself to sleep. I put him in bed and knew that I’d have to shower to be presentable to go out, so I grabbed the monitor and phone and went to take a quick shower. Then it was lunch time, so I made a lunch for myself. I remembered I had 2 places to call that would probably put me on hold but I didn’t want to have to call during my shows so I figured I’d call them, get them out of the way, then I could have my lunch, then veg and knit. Of course, by the time I finished on the calls, ran down to check my email, had my lunch and sat down on the couch Henri fussed. I rocked him back to sleep again (he takes a longer afternoon nap) then realized I should get dressed while he slept because I’d have to pick up Jakob early and if Henri slept a little late then I fed him before leaving, I would be cutting it close later. So I got dressed. Then I was smart and packed our diaper bag and a bag for Jakob for the evening (sippy cup, fork, bib, etc) so I wouldn’t have to do it later when we were running around last minute. I got everything together and then Henri woke up. I had just enough time to feed him before I had to leave to go pick up Jakob…and so on. By the time both kids were in bed I saw my knitting bag still sitting on the couch and finally got a few rows in.
And yet Yannick gets home and sees that there was no laundry done, no vacuuming done, no sheets were changed but my knitting is longer than the previous day- so clearly I must have it easy, doing nothing all day but taking care of the baby and knitting. Yeah right!
Here’s a photo of Henri at 3 months.
For fun, here’s a photo of Jakob in the same outfit, at 4.5 months old.
Last week Jakob’s school asked us to send in 2 hard boiled eggs and an egg carton so the kids could do Easter projects. That gave me the idea to do one of our own. I had a bunch of eggs that had no dates on them and I couldn’t remember when we’d bought them, so instead of eating them I commandeered them for a little painting project. I used a sewing needle to punch holes at either end of the egg and tested my lung strength blowing each one out. I repeated the blowing process with some water to clean them out fully, then let them dry for 2 days.
Once they were ready I let Jakob go to town on them. He had never used his kiddy paints before, and he had a great time doing is “art” on one then handing it to me and asking for a new one.
I didn’t help him at all other than to pass him blank eggs. He did all the color choosing and paint applying himself. It was adorable to watch him be so full of concentration as he worked!
When he was done I stood each egg up on tooth picks stuck into the side of an empty milk carton, and let them dry for 24 hours. I “varnished” them with clear nail polish (all I had on hand) then signed each with “Jakob ’09”, waited an hour, then varnished over the signature. Had I thought of it earlier I would have signed them BEFORE the initial varnish.
I had bought little baskets and Easter “fluff” at the dollar store, and once the varnish was good and dry I packaged up his eggs to give as gifts to his great-aunts and grandparents and great-grandmother. I think you can click on the photo to see it larger- the eggs came out really nice! They almost look like Chinese characters.
Here’s a random photo of Jakob and Henri together. Every now and then Jakob wants to hold Henri, and they were both in good, calm moods so I let him have Henri in his lap. He leaned down to kiss him so often that I was unable to get a photo of both of their faces!
On Tuesday the older classes from Jakob’s daycare went to the Cabane a Sucre (sugaring off). The little kids (Jakob’s age) were allowed to go only if a parent went with. I brought Henri to my mom, and spent the day with Jakob at the Sugar Shack.
He was quite excited to see the horses, but they were nothing compared to the thrill of jumping in the many, many puddles. They kept us waiting outside in the FREEZING weather for over 30 minutes until they realized that the horses weren’t shoed properly to pull us with the buggy to the main building, so at that point we all walked the 20 feet to warmth.
Not bad for a self-portrait in the bathroom, huh?
Jakob had a great time listening to the music, dancing and running around with the older kids. He was perfectly behaved and I was so glad to have had the chance to spend so much one-on-one time with him, since in the evenings he usually plays with Yannick while I take care of Henri.
I think his favorite part was “la tire”! (When they pour the hot syrup on fresh snow and you wind it around a popsicle stick as it hardens).
I’ll leave you with this photo from later that night. Jakob was playing with Henri on his playmat, and, being the good brother that he is, let Henri suck on his thumb. It was quite funny!
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an honour just to be nominated
I was going through some old post drafts and found this from last week. I’d been working on it and had it saved to finish later but we lost power for a while, and then I forgot about it.
—–
March 26th-
I was nominated for a blog award! Thanks Tara!
“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”
My 8 nominees (and it’s unfortunate I can’t nominate the person who nominated me, and I will try not to nominate people I know have already been nominated) are:
and Jo- who is temporarily blogless but I wanted to nominate her anyways. 😦
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still january
If I don’t hurry through this, I’m going to be catching up Henri’s first few weeks while planning his Bar Mitzvah!
We’ve covered week 1, right? Week 2 was more of the same- well, no throwing up, THAT was a relief! But we still had latch issues and breastfeeding was non-existant. I was pumping 8 times/day and supplementing with formula. We saw a doctor who is also a lactation consultant (the same woman I’d seen towards the end of my nursing Jakob, when I’d had mastitis) and finally we had answers- she diagnosed Henri with a level 4 posterior tongue tie. Unlike the usual tongue tie that can be clipped in a pediatrician’s office, the level 4 posterior is a deep, almost embedded frenulum that is so tight the tongue appears heart-shaped, and severely restricts movement. It also requires a specialist to clip, of which there are only 4 in Montreal. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for an appointment, but we were extremely lucky and got in about 4 days later.
Henri had his frenulum clipped on Wed, Jan 21st, just before the end of his 2nd week.
Mommy with Henri at 2 weeks old.
Two days later (we gave him some time to heal) we met with a lactation consultant. Our stubborn little guy still wouldn’t latch, so as a final measure we had to resort to using a nipple shield. (Have fun, internet search pervs!) I HATED using it. He would get so frantic trying to feed that his own arms would knock it off, and it requires 2 hands to flip it and put it back on, and balancing him on my lap, and not easy to do in public, and…it sucked. Royally. But once it was on, and he was on, it worked. He fed. If I recall correctly, we had a number of nights where he wanted to feed all the time and I needed Yannick to give him a bottle or two to give me a little break, but by the end of the third week we were primarily bfeeding, albeit with the stupid shield.
Mommy with Henri at 3 weeks old.
p.s. I was just flipping channels and see that Much Music is airing Paris Hilton’s NEW search- this time for a British best friend. I’m SO not getting sucked in again!!!
jeloca.com 