A lovely image to start your day

I am the mother of an 11 month old today. TODAY! I cannot believe he'll be 1 year old in 30 days. And I still don't have a birthday party theme picked out yet. Worlds. Worst. Mother.

The 11 month "Dear Cohen" is coming. I hate to admit this but The Biggest Loser trumped the blog tonight. Hurtful, I know. But it's coming soon. As is little c's "school" photo and some other fun things.

In the meantime, here's a little something to imagine which will more than likely ruin your day, as opposed to being something lovely to start your day as I suggest in today's title.

Now that little c likes to cruise around the entire house walking from one piece of furniture to another and using big c and me in the gaps, he's pretty unstoppable. It's great. If I could freeze this moment and live in it for a long time, I absolutely would. Anyway, being used by little c as a means to an end usually works out okay, except in the mornings when I'm making his breakfast for him and wearing my pajama bottoms that are a little bit too big. Little c will grab hold of my pants while I'm scrambling him an egg, or cutting his waffle, or stirring his oatmeal, and he will pull my pants down so they're almost around my ankles. I usually can't stop what I'm doing, and so there I stand for the entire neighbourhood on Bryan Avenue to see, mooning anyone who might walk by while I flip an egg. Fortunately he's oblivious, or he might just lose his appetite.

Did you just throw up in your mouth a little?

Happy Wednesday!

The big one of 2010

You know how your parents and grandparents love to talk about the weather, all the time? And you know how they're always talking about the big storm of '68, '77, and '89? Well, we're bracing ourselves and battening down the hatches for the big one of '10. Metereologists are saying that it's officially categorized as a blizzard, first one in decades I think. Schools and businesses closed down today at 2:00 (my office and little c's "school" joined the ranks) and are predicting that they'll be closed tomorrow too. We just cancelled a 325 person event scheduled for tomorrow morning too.

I love a good storm. Must be the Canuck in me. I wonder if little c will inherit that trait? Will it run thick through his veins as it does through mine? Time will tell I suppose. We'll see if he crawls himself over to the window tonight to watch the flakes fall. I will tell him that it's an option and see if he takes me up on it. Then we'll know.

Hancock Manor is preparing for the storm by charging cell phones and laptop, locating flashlights, candles and matches, making sure there's enough hot chocolate mix and Baileys, and pulling all the blankets out of storage "just in case." And of course, I have all of little c's hats ready to go.

Is it weird that I hope the storm lives up to all the hype that's going on today all across the valley? I guess I just want an excuse to stay indoors and play with little c all night and all day tomorrow.

Wherever you may be right now (geographically and/or emotionally), I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and you know that you are loved indeed.

A lunchbag stuffed to the brim

Do you remember me telling you about sending little c to "school" with almost a complete Thanksgiving meal back in October, and how his "teacher" said that was the first time she'd seen one of the babies show up with pie for dessert? Well, a couple of weekends ago I made pancakes for all of us on Saturday morning and had some left over, so I sent little c to "school" with one on Monday morning. Again, Phyllis said that that was a first.

I started to think, "Am I feeding little c the wrong things? Should he not be eating a lot of what I'm giving him? What are the things he should be eating that I'm not feeding him?" So I turned to one of the resources I have, apart from my friends and family, "Super Baby Food," by Ruth Yaron.

So here's what the book recommends on a daily basis:

1. 4-5 servings of vegetables and fruit (each serving is 3-4 tbsps). Ummmm, little c definitely has 4-5 servings of v & f and has WAY more than 3-4 tbsps at a time.

2. 4 servings of super porridge cereals (each serving is 1/4 - 1/2 cup cooked). Well, he has cereal every morning for breakfast, except when I feed him waffles or pancakes, he has cereal added into his vegetables or fruit, and he has at least 1 slice of bread per day. Add in the puffs and he's at 4 servings easily.

3. 2-3 servings of legumes, nuts or seeds (serving size varies). Okay, I fail here. I don't give him any, except when I give him lentils. Ummm, doesn't this author know about nut allergies and we aren't supposed to give babies nuts until they're like 1 or 2?

4. 1 serving of dairy per day. Little c eats yogurt every day now that he won't eat cheese or cottage cheese anymore so I think we're good.

5. One egg yolk every other day, 3-4 egg yolks per week. Little c eats about 4 per week and eats the whole egg. I didn't realize that egg whites were a major allergan. Oops! I I guess he's not allergic to them.

6. Nutritional enhancers (1/2 - 1 tsp of brewer's yeast and a pinch of kelp and 1/2 - 1 tsp of desicated liver). I'm not a hippie living on a commune in Montana. I will not add this to little c's food, even if you pay me. It's too far outside my comfort zone. Desicated liver? What in the world?

Also included in the book is a summary schedule for introduction of foods during baby's first year. Nowhere is hummus, pancakes, or pumpkin pie, but tahini, an ingredient in hummus, was listed for 8 month olds, as are garbanzo beans in month 9, so I'm thinking hummus is good. And you know what? I see no reason why pumpkin pie and pancakes are so strange.

All in all I think little c is getting his nutritional needs met. He eats until he shakes his head no or til he starts pulling it out of his mouth or letting it fall out onto his placemat. He eats a lot more than his nemesis, N, who weighs a couple pounds more than little c. I really do think he's got a high metabolism because he should weigh about 25 lbs based on how much he eats.

So, the long and drawn out point is this: I think little c is doing fine and I think I'm doing a fine job of giving him what he needs. I'm not going to worry about his teacher's comments anymore and will continue sending him to "school" with whatever I fancy. Maybe I'll send him with sushi tomorrow just to see what she says!

Regardless of what he eats, the kid is so freaking cute, as evidenced below. Enjoy and bon appetit!

Weekend update

As I'm writing this, gigantic snowflakes are slowly falling from the heavens and I'm enjoying a steaming mug of hot chocolate. All is peaceful and bright. The babe is snoring softly in his footie pajamas and the husband is doing dishes. It's a good night.

Busy-ness at work coupled with a little nerd baby that likes to wake up between 4:00 and 5:00 every day has caused for some tired evenings. So tired that the last thing I want to do is blog because I can't keep my eyes open past 8:00 p.m. I've been falling into bed at 9:00 most nights. It makes trying to finish reading my book impossible as I can usually only keep my eyes open long enough to read 2 pages each night. At this rate, I should be finished it by 2012. I'm currently reading "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. "Funny, irreverent, scandalous" says the Daily News. You'd think a book fitting that description could keep someone awake long enough to maybe read 3 pages. But no. Wow, I remember 1 year ago when I could read a book in a couple of days. One day that will happen again Kristyn, one day.

So little c has been saying a few words lately. Well, you probably wouldn't understand them but we sure do. He repeats "bread", "cheese", "bear", "blah blah" (the name of one of his best friends) and now "douche". No joke on the last one. I came home from a 50th birthday party today and big c was beaming. Sorry Mom. I know you're probably shaking your head in disappointment right now. But it was bound to happen that one of little c's first words would be douche.

Crawling, clapping and saying the word "douche" all in a little over a week. This kid is brilliant!

Big news around Hancock Manor this weekend is the planned installation of baby gates tomorrow. Big day! We also need to pick up some plug covers as little c is oh so curious about electrical sockets now. And while we're at it, we might as well get one of those thing-a-ma-jiggers that you put on cupboards to keep children and small animals from opening the doors and drinking bottles of bleach that are dangerously within reach under the sink. We're in full on Cohen-proofing mode around here and I couldn't be happier. I've been waiting for this moment for so long and I'm honestly enjoying it.

Next up on my to-do list is to figure out 2 different first birthday party themes for little c's cross-border birthday fling that's only 5 weeks away. Any fun ideas out there? While you ponder that, here are some photos of the little monkey from a couple of weekends ago when I went nutso and shot over 500 photos of him and haven't picked up the camera since.

    
 
 

 

 

Rip VanWinkle, where are you?

Ugh. I'm so tired. Little C insists on waking up sometime between 4:00 and 5:00 now and crying. A lot. I've been trying to go to bed earlier to account for the early wake-up call but I

Another first

Well, it's official. As of yesterday, the boy can now clap! We were sitting at dinner and he decided to bang his hands together with food in them as he likes to kill it before he eats it. He then must have put two and two together because he shoved the food in his mouth and started clapping. It was met with shouts of joy and much clapping by Mommy and Daddy. He was overjoyed, as were we, and decided to clap all night. He even clapped when I put him to bed.

I wasn't sure if he'd remember but sure enough, he clapped for me when I went in to say hi this morning. And he clapped at breakfast. And as Daddy carried him out to the car for "school."

At the rate he's going now, he'll be waving by next Monday and solving Pythagorean theorem on Thanksgiving Day.

 
"Don't turn around Cohen!!" 

 

Introducing

Little C's (current) best friends:
From left to right: Blah Blah, Toni, and Hank.

Little C is oh so fond of these three characters. He lights up when we mention Blah Blah's name and then when he sees her, he goes nuts and buries his face anywhere in her body. Toni and Hank aren't as close to Little C yet but they do have some very suckable legs and ears, according to Little C. And Hank has that pocket on his tummy that we like to put things in for Little C to find.

The three of them would like to wish you a very happy Sunday.

Dear Cohen

Well my love, you are now 10 months and change. Hard to believe that you'll be 1 year old next month. I'm sad and happy all at the same time and of course, I'm crying as I type this. I'm sad because the time is flying by so quickly and before I know it you'll be off to one of the two universities I'll allow you to attend. But then I'm so happy because every single day you make me laugh even more than the day before.

What a great month we've had my boy. Me getting off domperidone really made a big difference in your disposition.

You're still the man when it comes to eating. You'll eat anything, except those peas. I've tried sneaking them into your carrot/hummus concoction but you know they're in there and will have absolutely nothing to do with them, thank you very much. This morning for breakfast you ate a flax waffle, a whole scrambled egg, and applesauce. That was shortly after you downed 6 oz. of formula in less than 5 minutes. Good thing you have that high metabolism of yours. You really do prefer to feed yourself these days, although you let us spoon in the runny stuff. Your little pincers are doing a great job of getting pancakes, toast, avocado, cheese, edamame, lint balls, and a whole host of other food and non-food stuff in your mouth. And you open your mouth so big and wide as you wait for food to arrive. It's very entertaining to watch.

You're still a pretty good sleeper, although this time change has really messed you up. You now like to wake up at 5:00 a.m. and start your day with a little cruise around your crib, followed by some sit-ups and push-ups (you really do want to impress those ladies in your class), and then a full on conversation with yourself before you turn on your music thing attached to the side of your crib and play with its buttons. I'm not sure what I need to do to get you to wake up later. Maybe just ride this wave. Or maybe take you in to get your flu booster shot. That usually wipes you out for 12 hours. Most school days you only nap once for Phyllis, but on the weekends, you easily sleep for about 4 hours total during the day. I can't wait until you're a little older and we can cuddle up in bed together and you won't try and get away from me like you do now.

 You love giving high fives. And you still refuse to humour me and clap. I've even bribed you with hummus and you still won't do it. Oh well, it will come in time. It's not like clapping is a survival skill. Or is it?

If I'd written this post yesterday, I would have reminded you that you still weren't crawling. But today is a big day in your life as you crawled for the very first time. And I was there to witness it. And of course I cried. And of course I took a video of you crawling tonight. And of course I can't figure out how to upload the video from the flip. But you crawled and it was so exciting for both of us. Here's how it went down: I was putting your food in the fridge at "school" and Phyllis put you down on the floor by the exersaucer. You immediately spotted a slice of a peach lying under the highchair where Lucy was enjoying her peaches. You got up on all fours, rocked for a little while, and then sort of dragged yourself over to the peach, grunting with each move. It wasn't an army crawl, nor was it a proper crawl, but something in between. Sort of reminded me of a dog scooting. Phyllis tried to get the peach out of your hand so you wouldn't eat it, but she was too late. Oh well, we'll consider it your reward for a job well done. And tonight you crawled around, getting better and better each time. Daddy and I think you'll be really good by the end of the weekend. Guess we'd better get those baby gates now, right? I thought that since you were so brilliant, I'd like to see what you'd do with stairs. You walked from one side of the stair to the other side for a few minutes and was just so very pleased with yourself. You did try to get your leg up on the step but your big thigh got in the way. Hey, I know how it feels.

In addition to Barbara, Mama, and Dada, you now say nana for banana. And you sure do get excited when you see one on the counter. You scream "nana nana nana" in this squeaky voice. I need to get it on video so I never forget it. My heart melts every single time. Maybe we should dress Nana Sydorko up in a banana costume at Christmas. Then she'd feel good that you called her Nana and you'd feel good because it would be a giant banana, and who doesn't love a giant banana? Daddy's afraid that you might try to eat Nana so maybe we should rethink that plan.

Your current best friends are Teddy and Blah Blah. You get so excited when they peek around the corner at you. But I think you get more excited when I chase you around the house while Daddy carries you close to his chest. You cling so tight and scream with delight the entire time.

Well my love, you are the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't wait to see what month 11 has in store for us. Hopefully no trips to the ER. And hopefully a lot more mobility and independence.

Yay for Cohey Bear!

Love,

Your biggest fan, Mommy xoxo
"I said no more photos!"
Discovering your shadow for the first time.
How you love to swing.
 
I asked you to make a funny face and this is what you delivered. Classic!
 
Don't tell Daddy that I let you play with a stick.
Hanging with Charley Bean, your next door neighbour/girlfriend/big sister/cousin/future best buddy/partner in crime.
Hey Cohen, how many mpgs does your ride get?

 

Sick again

I think this is the sickest I've ever been. Went to bed with the flu on Sunday and still have it today. Will spend all day in bed again with hopes that I'll wake up feeling well enough to blog tomorrow. Until then, a cute photo of the Bear from this past weekend. (1 of over 500 photos I took of him)

When in doubt, check the diaper

Last week little c came home with some new soother bling, as evidenced below.
The very next day he came home and the letters were gone. Just the ribbon remained. Which lead me to check his diaper immediately to see if any of the letters had shown up in there.

Fortunately for all of us, it turns out they fell off the ribbon at "school" and none of the kids ate them. But I did have a small chuckle thinking about a parent changing their baby's diaper the next day and finding the name "Cohen" in there. What the?!? Before you get upset with me for thinking that way, you should know it was a small chuckle as I considered the choking hazard that the beads present.

I think they might want to reconsider attaching small beads to a baby's soother next time.

Back to the petri dish

We decided to keep little c home from "school" yesterday in order to make a full recovery. Big c took the a.m. shift so I could go to work and I took the afternoon shift. Little c was a lot of fun yesterday and enjoyed a walk to the Red Moose with Daddy and a trip to Costco with Mommy.

But back he went to daycare, a.k.a. the petri dish, this morning and had a wonderful day. He even had a girl slip him her phone number when I was picking him up. True story! I should probably tell you that it's one of the daycare workers who, and I quote "has a special place in her heart for Cohen" and would love to babysit him anytime we need someone.

Tonight he wolfed down a baked yam, half a can of mandarin oranges and half a piece of buttered bread. I think the boy's appetite has returned! Fingers crossed that he didn't bring home a different strain of the stomach bug that seems to be floating around the petri dish and that all that food stays down tonight.