Potty Learning

We have been putting N on the potty before his bath since around his birthday and he has really started to get the hang of the whole thing. He started to tell us when he was filling his diaper and occasionally he'd pee in the potty before his bath. Then on Friday after I changed his diaper he didn't want a clean one back on, so I told him that was fine as long as he used the potty and he did! It was a good mixture of me asking and him just using it - I kept him naked for quick access. We did the same thing after his tumbling class on Saturday and he did his first poop! We were so excited and did lots of celebrating. He was a little unsure about it, but loves dumping the potty after he is done! It's so cute and we're so proud of him, but we're not pushing it. We decided to just keep doing it while we are at home for now and let him tell us if he needs to go while we are out and about and will sit him on the potty and see what happens.

I am totally amazed by our boy. I felt like he might be getting ready to use the potty, but had no plans to start anytime soon. I have 2 weeks off work in March, so I thought that maybe I would start then, after all winter is not a great time to potty train. All the extra layers he has to wear to keep warm does not make pottying very easy. But as usual our son has his own ideas about it all. It is so cute to see how proud of himself he is!

J bought him his first underwear the other day, but I think they are going to be too big! She got the smallest size, which was a 2 T, but they look pretty big to me. He hasn't worn them yet, just pants or PJ bottoms but I'm planning to see how he does with them when we are home tomorrow.

Last week we went to the mall to get some Xmas shopping done and spent most of our time hanging out around Santa. He was fascinated by all the action around the big red guy and we kept going back to check it out and he waved and called 'HI' to Santa. I asked him if he wanted to sit with Santa and have his pic taken. He started by saying 'NO!', but after the 5th or 6th visit to say hi to him he said yes. So as there was no line I thought we'd give it a shot! Now our son is incredibly shy and it worked out pretty much the way I had expected!!!

Yep! He was not impressed! Luckily it was very quick and as soon as I picked him up he was fine. I couldn't resist getting the pic so that we have it, but it's very different from last years pic here We are headed to a Christmas party on Saturday where Santa is going to make an appearance so it'll be interesting to see how he reacts.

Daddy??!!

N has a new favourite word - it just so happens to be Daddy!!

He used to say 'dadt' when he was pointing at something but that seems to have been replaced by 'daddy'. He will also randomly say it when he's walking around the house. I know that he hears it a lot when we are at work, but I don't think he's made any connection yet. It's just a word that he likes to use.

We went to the MOMS club Halloween party last week and had a good time. N was more comfortable at the church hall this time and was happy to explore a little more by himself. I encouraged my friend to join, so his little friend was there too. They had a little parade with trick or treating. N helped me to give out treats to the other kids, but didn't trick or treat himself. We don't really let him have a lot of sugar and he has not had any candy yet so I didn't really want him collecting lots of candy that I'd only end up eating! Here he is in his costume before we headed to the party.

Farm fun

We had to drop the big boy off at the farm before we could head for home today and as it turned out we got there just in time for the arrival of a new calf. The farm has a very small dairy operation and we often stop by to watch the cows being milked or check out the new calves. But today was the first time we actually saw one being born. The delivery was already under way when we arrived and we could see the front hooves already. N was happy to hang on the fence and watch what was going on, while the other kids ran back and forth between the delivery and the cows being milked. He got a little scared as the cow let us know that having a baby is not an easy process, but he learnt to moo listening to her! She had a little help right at the end - one of the farm guys pulled the calf out and around to her so she could start cleaning it, which was so cool to watch. We headed home before the calf got to it's feet as I was ready to be done for the day. I'm sure we'll go back in the next couple of days and get to pet the calf we watched being born.

Watching the action

So close

Big push

Mom and baby

17 months

How did this happen? In just one month our little man will be one and a half!

This boy definitely thinks that he's 3, probably because he spends so much time with his 3 yr old buddy while we're at work. He loves to hang out with the big kids and checks out little babies, but is not so interested in kids his own size.

He is very active, constantly on the go and testing his physical limits. Running, jumping and climbing as much as he can. He even hangs and swings from the bars at his tumbling class and at the top of the slide at the playground. He has started to figure out how to ride a balance bike, although it's mostly backwards at this point. He also loves the kid's scooters and pushes them around and stands on them to be pushed.

His speech is coming along in leaps and bounds too. He is trying so hard to talk and we can make out some words in all the babble. Among his words are - yes, oh no, dog, cat, bubbles, hi, car, sky. He also knows some animal sounds - the sheep is his favorite and go to animal, but he also barks for a dog and says 'Eee' for donkey and hisses like a snake. He can also point to lots of body parts on himself and us - head, hair, eyes, teeth, tongue, toes, belly, ears and elbow.

The sleep schedule is so good right now - hope I don't jinx it! He goes to bed at around 8.30 and sleeps until 9am. Taking one nap at around 1.30, although naps are more hit and miss when we are at work. They tend to be car seat naps at work as he hates missing out on anything and doesn't settle as easily there. Luckily I don't start work until 11, so we have time to potter around at home before we go pick N's buddy up from school.

I think the thing that surprises me most is how independent N is. He does not like to be helped, if he thinks he can do it himself. Whether it's swinging on the big kids swing or walking down the steep incline at tumbling. He pushes our hands away when we try to help him or shakes his head if we ask if he needs help. If he does need help he'll take your hand and lead you to where he wants you to be - but it has to be on his terms. It can be scary at times, but is so fun to watch.

He gives the best hugs ever. Will squeeze you so tight and snuggle right into you - it's the best feeling in the world. If you ask for a kiss he thinks it's so funny to say no and shake his head, but if he wants to kiss you he'll come at you with his mouth open for a big wet one!

Disappointment

It has been so long since I last blogged, but I've been following all my favorites and the Love Makes a Family Blog Carnival caught my attention, especially the latest topic of disappointment, which may help to explain my lack of blogging....

The process of TTC is and has been so full of disappointment and heartbreak for us that it's almost too hard to write about it, but I'm hoping that it will help me process it. We started TTC at the beginning of 2009 and it took 6 attempts to get our longed for BFP. I think the first BFN was the toughest as we were so filled with hope and excitement. Every month that we tried to get pregnant I bought something for our baby and kept it stashed away hoping that this month would be the one. When we finally got out BFP I think I was in shock and didn't quite believe that it was true. I know that my reaction was a disappointment to J. I wasn't outwardly as excited as she wanted me to be - but I'm still very English in that respect! I feel bad that I ruined such a special day for her.

We had originally decided that we wouldn't find out the sex of our baby, but changed our mind as the months ticked by and we wanted to know what was going on in J's belly. I'm so glad that we did. It gave me time to prepare for the arrival of our son. To aim myself at the boys section of the store, instead of being drawn to the girls stuff. Due to the nature of my relationship with my own Mum I really wanted a 'do-over' with my own daughter. But I couldn't be happier with N and wouldn't want it any other way, in fact I'd love nothing more than for him to have a brother.

Right around the time N was approaching his first birthday we decided we wanted to try for our second baby, so we got in touch with our RE, J had all the tests and we got ready to go again. To our amazement and delight J got pregnant after the first IUI. We were so happy and beyond excited to be adding to our family in March, but sadly it wasn't to be. At the first ultrasound at 5 weeks they couldn't see what they were expecting to see, but told us it was ok and maybe just slow to develop. The following week there was still nothing, by which point there should be a heart beat. Strangely J's numbers were going up, slowly but they were increasing and she was getting bigger and having more pregnancy symptoms. She went for so many blood tests and ultrasounds that I've lost count of how many, but basically it was not good. We were supposed to leave for vacation on July 30th and it was fast approaching. We were scared of J miscarrying while we were away, so scheduled a d&c for the monday before we left. In the end it was good to have vacation straight after the end of the pregnancy. We had a good week away with lots of family beach time in Ptown. It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many families that looked just like ours.

After vacation we met with our RE to talk about our results and options for moving forward. It was pretty depressing, hearing that only 20% of J's eggs were any good and that IVF was really the way forward. Then we met with the finance people who told us that our insurance would probably not cover IVF and if they did we would still have to pay 10k of it ourselves and we'd have to do another IUI first.

Our nurse told us that there was a study going on that we should qualify for that would cover all the costs, did we want her to put our names forward for it? Umm...yep! But when it came down to it we didn't qualify for it - so that plan was out of the window.

During that time we also learnt that our donor has retired. So we are now limited to the vials we have in storage if we want our kids to have the same donor. Which is something that I think is more important to me than J. I am slowly getting used to the idea that it may not work out the way I'd planned and that biology doesn't make a family.

We talked it all through and decided to give IUI one last try. We then found out that friends of ours would be doing a FET at the same time. The cycle went well, although for the first time J had really bad cramps after the 2nd insemination. Then we waited and hoped and prayed that this one would work. On Tuesday I saw my friend and heard that their cycle ended with a BFN, she asked what was happening with us. I told her we wouldn't know until Saturday and came home to tell J the news, and she told me that we were in the same boat. AF had arrived for her that day. It was over, we're emotionally and financially drained and at this point not sure where we are going to go from here.....we want N to have a sibling or 2, but are not sure how or when it will happen.

Read the next post here from Life with Cheeks.

Beach day

We decided to head to the beach today. Despite getting a later start than we had planned for we had a great time. As usual N had his own plan for the day and didn't help us out by napping on the way to the beach, so we arrived right at the time he'd normally be heading to bed. We decided to play it by ear and see how it went.

Before hitting the sand we walked the boardwalk and picked up some lunch. Then collected all the stuff and went to the beach. I still can't believe how much more stuff we have to bring along now we have a kid!

We set up camp - literally with the tent we use on the beach to keep N out of the sun. Of course he spent hardly any time in it as there was so much exploring to do. He was so happy to dig in the sand and potter around. We ventured down to the water and he liked the idea in theory, just not the actual cold water rushing at him. Poor guy!

After a couple of hours he was done. So we packed up, got some ice cream and headed back to the car. Within 2 minutes he was fast asleep and stayed that way for the ride home. I can't wait for our vacation and lots more beach time!

Summer!

J finished up with work for the summer on Friday so N has been staying home with Mommy while I put in my last few days. It's been very strange changing roles and not having him at work with me. Because the kids are out of school for the summer I've been working a lot of overtime.

I feel so lucky that I don't have to work full time and when I am working the baby comes too. I haven't enjoyed leaving the house before N wakes up and some days only seeing him for 10 mins. Not sure how J does it, but it really makes me appreciate all that she does for our family.

We have plenty to keep us busy working on the house and have some fun things planned, including Ptown in August.

Birthday crown

I'm playing catch up with the things that I've been wanting to post. N and I have both been fighting off a bug and he's been trying to drop a nap so time has been short for blogging.

I had seen some birthday crowns online and really wanted to make one for N. It took a little longer than I expected but I was really happy with the end result. Something that he can wear every year and will grow with him for a while.

So big!

I can't believe that in just 3 more days our little man will be 1!

Where has the past year gone? It seems like just yesterday I was holding a tiny baby in the hospital and now we have a toddler.

All the preparations for his party on Saturday and under way. It's turning out to be way bigger than I'd expected with about 50 people coming. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be good as we're hoping to have the party outside. That way the kids can make the most of the swing set that we just got.

So here's the latest with the boy

• walking well all the time, even handling inclines
• climbing like crazy, couches, the stairs, jungle gym, anything in his way
• clapping
• waving bye-bye
• does the actions for 'how big is N' - very cute :-)
• turns the pages of books and loves to read
• posts (mails) stuff through the cat door all the time!
• takes off shoes and socks, especially in the car
• down to 1 bottle a day at bed time
• drinks whole milk in cup during the day
• sleeps 11+ hrs a night (most of the time)
• takes 2 good naps - unless we're at work as he doesn't want to miss anything so doesn't nap as well
• loves dogs and says 'dog' for almost any animal
• babbles non-stop. He totally knows what he's saying, and we can figure it out most of the time
• loves to be outside
• eats everything we do - although we're still working on fruits, he would rather eat veggies, not sure if it's the texture as he ate/eats them pureed so it's not the taste
• loves music and music class
• dances. It's so cute to see him bopping up and down
• just moved up to size 5 diapers, can't wait to see what he weighs next week

We were getting ready for the car seat turning milestone. But are following the new AAP's recommendation and will be keeping him rear facing for the time being. Not sure he'll stay that way until he's 2, but definitely for now. Our Britax car seats let him rear face comfortably so it works and keeps him safe.

Down on the farm with the Easter bunny

We were at work yesterday and it ended up being a full day, with lots of time outside thanks to the great weather. We flew kites, rode cars and went to the playground before heading to the farm for an egg hunt with the Easter bunny.

N had a great time and called all the ponies and the bunny 'dog' - his favorite word right now. (Thanks mommy for working on that one, but we're still NOT getting a dog!)

He had his first horse and carriage ride, out to the water hazard while the big girls rode their ponies and then helped to find eggs with everyone. He ended up with 2 eggs that he thought were like the shakers from music class, so had a fun time shaking them. Luckily he didn't figure out they were filled with candy and horse treats so didn't try to open them. It was pretty windy but the perfect spring day for it. He wasn't fazed by the bunny at all and was happy to talk to the bunny and get his picture taken with him, unlike the big boy who just wanted to check him out from a 'safe' distance.

The pony club

Hunting for eggs

With the bunny and his eggs

Not sure about the headless pony

Shakers or eggs?

N loves the big kids and all the attention that he gets - with hair the color of his it's hard to go unnoticed! We did see another boy at the playground yesterday who had hair the exact same color, although he had more hair and curls! There are a few red heads in the extended family that I work for and when N and I are out with the kids people often ask if he's my boss' sister's baby.

Good Friday today meant that N got to stay home with Mommy while I worked today. The kids missed him, but it was a good day for him not to be here. I've been running around like crazy trying to get things together for their Easter party on Sunday. We baked sugar cookies, made paper mache eggs, ran errands and spent 2 hrs at the farm. No Easter bunny today and it's a lot colder than yesterday but the kids still had a good time. I'll be working tmrw too, it's strange being here without the baby and being the working parent for a change!

Feeling better

It has been a really long week, but N is finally feeling better. He finally started to feel better on Thursday afternoon and we were so relieved to see him starting to act more like himself. The poor guy ate nothing from Sunday when it started until Thursday. Every time it looked like he was doing better and we offered him something it came straight back up. There were times when it was hard to keep him hydrated, at one point I was setting a timer and using a medicine dropper to get some pedialite into him. He is still not that into food, but is taking milk again and hopefully that will pick up as he feels better.

J is on vacation for the next week and I only have to work Tuesday so we are looking forward to spending lots of time together and getting lots done. First up is painting the family room. We also want to take N to the zoo, are getting family pics done and may make a visit to the Easter bunny!

Stomach bug.

Saturday night the wife and I headed out for dinner for a friends birthday. N's grandparents came to watch him and he had a good time with them. He loves his grandparents, and absolutely adores his Pop. They are such great buddies and as soon as he sees his Pop he reaches for him. We had a good night but both admitted on the way home that we missed our baby and are happy that we don't go out that much and spend lots of time as a family of 3.

When we got home N was fast asleep and his Gram told us that he'd refused his milk before bed. Neither of us were that bothered as he has started to take less and less of that bottle and we knew he'd let us know when he was hungry. He slept thru to 7.30 and drank his morning bottle. That morning he was a little cranky and we thought that he's 6th tooth may be bothering him and put him down for his morning nap. He got up and ate lunch and I headed off to work. Then at 5 J called to say that he'd thrown up, which was followed by an explosive diaper.

That was just the start....he threw up multiple times that night and gave us many yucky diapers. Just when I think he's starting to get over it he throws up again. We took him into the Dr's on Monday but were not surprised to hear that it's just a bug that needs to run it's course. Yesterday he was taking milk but not food, but he threw up again at 11.30 last night, so we started again with a small milk feed this morning.

It's sad to see him feeling so bad. He just wants to be held and often falls asleep on one of us. He'll occasionally perk up for a little while and walk around the house a couple of times, before crashing again. He's been sleeping in bed with me, which is a first as he's never been a good co-sleeper and it usually resulted in none of us getting any sleep. I'm hoping that'll he'll transition back to his crib without too many problems once he's feeling better. He went down for a nap in his crib without any problems this morning, leaving me free to tackle some laundry, bake some brownie (for energy :-D) and blog!

Walking

I finally got some decent footage of our little man walking. He is doing so well and has pretty good balance for a little guy :-)

Sleep

After much thought, debate and research we finally sleep trained N.

Now that it's over and he's sleeping 11.5+ hours each night and taking 2 great naps I can say that it was so worth it. But there were times when we were in the middle of it that I thought we were making a huge mistake. I'm not sure how it happened but as N got older his night waking got more frequent, then he started to take longer to settle, sometimes staying up for close to an hr. We were all exhausted and my patience was shot, which left the night time stuff more and more to J....not good when she's working full time!

When we were pregnant I totally thought we'd sleep train our baby, but of course after he arrived I couldn't imagine leaving him to cry for even a minute. There were different times when we thought and talked about it, but never did it. Hoping that this was just a phase that he would grow out of......

He never cried for really long periods - we always had a 15 minute limit and he got it so quickly for going to bed. The night waking lasted longer but I was told that it takes 21 days for a new habit to replace an old one.

The funny thing is that I always said that we couldn't talk about having another baby until the one we had was sleeping through the night....!!

Now that N is getting so close to his big birthday we've started planning his party. The invites just went out. We are planning on doing something here at the house - just a 'small' party with 30+ people!!! I'm planning on making him a smash cake myself, so have been researching ideas and trying to decide how healthy to make it and what I want it to look like. We're not really doing a theme so it doesn't have to fit in with anything.

N is getting so big. Weighs about 22 lbs now and has 5 teeth, 2 on the bottom and 3 on top. He wants to be on the move all the time and won't really sit and play with his toys. He's taking 3 or 4 steps by himself and loves to push his ride on or walking toy around. N loves to play outside and we did see spring for a little while and got to put up his swing and play in the yard. But winter is back and we have had snow 3 days this week. His other favorite thing is pointing! He points at things he wants to see and touch, it's very cute! Check out the pic from this weekend at the playground.

Baby behind bars

It's official - our baby is crawling!

All it took to finally get him moving forwards was the fun and activity at music class. Trying to get the best instrument and wanting to hang with the big kids.

So I started the task of baby proofing. I had originally wanted to just put gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, leaving the whole downstairs for him to roam around. But we can't get a gate to fit at the bottom of the stairs, so have resorted to gating him in the combined kitchen/family room at the back of the house. Mommy wasn't that impressed to get home from work and have to figure out the gates, she was sure we didn't need them quite yet....our son soon proved that they're needed. Now he's moving there is no stopping him!

I'd like to know when they started making gates that close automatically. Even when the baby is in bed we still have to open and close the damn gates to get around the house.

We just have to figure out what to do about the cat...she can't make it over or through the gates so is basically stuck on the opposite side to where we spend most of our time and where her food and water is. Not that the food and water can stay where they are as N has already found the hiding place under the desk.

I stayed home from work today as the weather is not great. It started out with snow early this morning, but it's basically a nasty mix of snow and freezing rain making driving no fun. Sadly it's not supposed to get any better tmrw, maybe J will even get to stay home too. I can't wait for spring when we can get outside without snowsuits, hats and gloves.

Big boy!

We finally moved N out of his infant carrier and into his big boy car seat. That thing was getting way too heavy to lug around, even if it was a convenient way to keep him snug and warm while it's so cold out. Think he likes his new seat!

Quick update

It's been a very crazy couple of weeks. We are finally in our new house and starting to feel more settled. There is still so much to do, but we are mostly unpacked. Baby N's room was the first finished as I really wanted to have that ready for him to make the move easier.

Two days after we moved in my sister arrived from England. It was so good to see her, but I'm sure she didn't plan on spending so much of her holiday helping with house stuff. I dragged her to different stores and had her putting together furniture. She headed to NYC for a few days break with a friend before finishing her time here with us. Think baby N loved the extra attention, not to mention all the gifts she brought for him....and me. I'm really missing her since she went back and can't wait to see her again - maybe for baby N's big birthday bash!

We also had a major snow storm which meant a snow day for Mommy! And gave us chance to get more stuff done around the house. J also got to test out the snow blower. We all enjoyed watching from the warmth of the house, don't think I'll be volunteering for that job next time it snows.

Once the weather had gotten a little better and the sun was out we took baby N out in his sled. He seemed to love the ride, although with all the snow we had it wasn't that easy to pull. The cold didn't seem to bother him too much. It's amazing to think that next year he'll be exploring the snow under his own steam, not ours. Wonder if he'll be a crier about he cold and snow, like my current charge was until this year at 2 and a half or if he'll love it?!

Other baby N news. He's working on his crawling, mostly backwards at this point! It must be pretty frustrating to get further away from the toy you're trying to reach! He's so good at getting up from his belly to a seated position and manages to get around when his playing on the floor. He's started to sleep on his belly, but hasn't figured out the sitting up part as he's in his sleep sack.

Last night was really rough as he has a nasty cold - lots of coughing and snot. The disadvantage of having him at work with me, I guess. He was up every hour and really crying, hard to console. I ended up in the guest bed with him at 1.30 or 2. We don't usually co-sleep as it makes for not a lot of sleep for the mommies. No matter how little the kid they seem to take up lots of room. I also worry about him rolling out of the bed now that he's moving around so much. But last night I figured some sleep was better than none! I so hope that he feels better soon. Have to figure out whether or not I'm going to work tomorrow....