Norah News: Picture Updates

Norah is really coming into her own as a 'big kid'. She has started spending time in the preschool room at school and is very proud to tell us all about it when she comes home. She's also becoming more and more verbal, and articulating her thoughts increasingly well. While she's a two year old, she's understanding much more clearly now that we're in charge, not her, and life at home is less chaotic as a result! Here are a few pictures of our big girl from the past week or so.

Norah modeling another one of Donna's beautiful creations... not in the mood for the camera however...
Norah's new big girl hairdo... no more pig tails that sprout from her head, now they sit more maturely :( Mom is sad about this!

This one just cracked me up... this is what I found when I went in to tuck her in before I went to sleep the other night. She's fast asleep, and somehow got herself into this contortion!

This, unfortunately, is a face we had been seeing a little too much of over the past couple of months... this day it was short lived, as she was just sick of me trying to take a picture!

Roddie Report: 7 week update

Roddie continues to do well, and smile at his Mama :) He's north of 10.5 lbs now and some nights I only need to get up once to feed him (and never more than twice) We also started putting him to bed 'sleepy' instead of asleep, and he did really well - took him about 15-20 minutes to settle down to sleep. It's amazing how much more relaxed we are about such things than the first time around. Some of you may recall the first time we got Norah to put herself to sleep... let's just say it involved my Dad, some good friends, some chocolate chip cookies and about an hour! In any case, she's been great about bed ever since, so here's hoping we get lucky again!

Rod is also doing great with holding his head up, and while he hasn't made a move to roll over yet, he is a big fan of the windmill move - he can rotate himself a full 180 in the blink of an eye! His legs are also getting stronger, he likes to stand up on his legs and can pretty much hold his own weight!

Here he is, practicing sleeping in his crib for the day (soon??) that he moves into Norah's room and out of our room!

We've been drinking a lot of tea again at our house... I think Roddie prefers milk, but big sister Norah really wants him to try to some tea!

Here he is, in the jungle Gym, holding his head up high!

... and making a move towards rolling over!

Now this is what they mean when they say sleeping like a baby! ZZZZ!

Introducing... My Niece!

My sister Susan's baby finally arrived around 9 pm last night. She doesn't have a name yet (at least not as far as I know...) but she was 7lb 7oz and 17" long (again, at least as far as I know) We've all been a little anxious for her arrival, as she was expected about a week and a half ago - better late than never! I think you'll agree, she's a beautiful baby girl! I understand Susan is doing well... but I'm sure you'll hear more about that later!

Welcome baby girl! May you be well named soon - Shauna is a nice name, just an idea....

Roddie Report: Smile for your Mama Again!

Obviously, I can't get enough of Roddie smiling at me, and I hope you feel the same way :) Here are a few pics, as well as some video, of some quality time we spent together this afternoon. Enjoy!

I call this his little man picture, despite the frilly pillow in the background... hey, it has a little train bear on it!

Roddie Report: 6!

I am happy (and rested) to report that young Rod slept for a full six hours last night, more than half of it in his pack and play! Hooray!

It may be the little cold Norah brought home to us all, or maybe Matt got him good and sleepy on the sofa before he put him down, but either way, I was pretty pleased with the little guy's performance! All this, and not quite 6 weeks old!

The (Social) Lives of Babes

Who knew that our social calendar would become booked once again after we had kids? After a couple of years of being the only ones in our circle with a kid, our circle has expanded exponentially. It turns out that other people with kids like to get together and commiserate, er, I mean, let the kids play together. Oh, who are we kidding, at 2 and under it's really a parents play date - as evidenced by the fact that some occur on Friday nights and include beer!

My blackberry has been buzzing off the hook this morning (yes, I know there is technically no hook any more, but you techies get what I mean) with details for a daycare playdate, two neighbourhood playdates, a playdate with an old friend who's new again and her kids, a walking date with 2 six weeks olds with the wife of an old acquaintance I ran into at the hospital of all places, a party for this same 6 week old, a lunch date with a neighbourhood mom - and all of this occurs in the next 2 weeks!

I expected this flurry of social activity once the kids started school - you know, bus stop chit chat, PTA, and so on, but I'm pleasantly surprised to have it happening now! With our pre-kid friends no longer a convenient distance away, even though many now have kids, the logistics of working parenthood make it difficult to get together often. We're happy when it happens, of course, but it just doesn't happen often enough!

So it turns out the suburbs are filled with people like us, who moved here so they could afford to buy a house or they work out here. Also turns out that a lot of them are really nice people and fun to hang out with... thank goodness for the kids or we would never have met!

Roddie Report: Smile for your Mama!

Lest you think this blog will continue to be all about Norah, here's the first Roddie Report! Overall, he's doing well, getting big, and is giving us a decent amount of sleep, most of the time! Well, depends on what you think of as a decent amount of sleep I guess, but let's just say, it's enough to get by, and I've managed to shower pretty much every day before breakfast. He's also getting more alert and spending more time awake during the day. Also, as of his 1 month appointment last week, he had gained 2 lbs and 2 inches since he was born and generally got a great report.

The best thing that he's been doing is smiling at me, all the time. At first I thought maybe it was gas, but he does it regularly and in definite response to me, so it can't be! It's hard to really capture it in a picture, but here's an attempt. You probably won't *really* appreciate it anyway, since I think it's special, just for me.
The other thing he does is follow me around the room with his eyes (and ears?) If someone else is holding him, he will often track to me, watching my every move. (He also nurses with his eyes wide open which can be a little disconcerting) Here is a quick video from last night, as I walk back and forth in front of him with the camera.