If you need me...

...I'll be out to pasture.

Well, my milk is officially gone. Little c tried like crazy to nurse this morning but came up short. I felt so guilty that there was nothing there. (and now I'm crying as I type this because I feel so bad). It's such a sad thing for me because I really did want to make it to a year of nursing him, but I guess 9.5 months isn't so bad, especially considering the challenges we encountered along the way. Sometimes I can't even believe we made it past 3 months!

I really didn't think I'd ever enjoy nursing, but man I sure did. Just the 2 of us snuggled up together in the peaceful stillness of the early morning. Not thinking of anything except enjoying the moment. Not worrying about my to-do list. Just gazing down at the sleepy baby while he lightly stroked my chest or grabbed hold of my necklace and held on for dear life.

It's so funny that there were days early on when I couldn't wait to be done nursing (and I'm talking early on, like the first month of little c's life) and now that the day is here, I miss it so much, and it's only been 24 hours since I last nursed. I held it together when I gave him a bottle this morning but as soon as I walked out to the car after dropping him off at "school", the dam broke and the tears flooded my sight as I stumbled to the car and had a good old fashioned cry on my way home. 

I think I was also weepy because I've been with little c for 4 days straight (as we kept him home from "school" due to his croup/cold/ear infection) and he's been such a GREAT kiddo the last couple of days and I really wanted to spend another day with him. He was grouchy on Sunday but such a fun little character on Monday and yesterday and even this morning. I really do attribute his delightful disposition as of late to me getting off domperidone.

Lately I've really been wishing I could be a stay-at-home mom because I feel like I'm missing out on so many fun times with him and teaching him things he'll need to know to survive in life, like how to clap and wave, and the hand motions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Oh well, I need to make the most of my time with him every day and savour it and store it up in my memory, and on this blog. And I need to make sure he knows every minute we're together that he is adored and loved SO much.

And now some photos of the little man who has turned me into a blubbering mess.

 
 
 

The scale must be lying

How many times have you stepped on the scale and thought it was broken because there's absolutely no way you gained 3 lbs in 1 day! I'm not speaking from experience at all...ha!

But this time the difference in weight was a good thing. Little c weighed 19 lbs 2 oz at his 9 month appointment 2 weeks ago. Today he weighed 20 lbs 5 oz. 1 lb 3 oz increase in 2 weeks. Not bad. I attribute it to all the cheese he's been eating. That kid sure does love his dairy. And it looks like dairy loves him too.

 
9.5 months and 12.5 lbs ago.

Croup: The Sequel

Little c was replaced with a barking seal this morning at 6:00. Off to the walk-in clinic to get checked out.

As this is the second time in a couple of months, I wonder if he's prone to it now. Will be on my question list for the doctor we see.

Ah, you've got to love daycare!

Dear Cohen

My son, you are growing too fast. Please stop before Daddy and I are forced to move you back into the bassinet to prevent you from growing anymore.

9 months old. Can you believe it? Do you like how I always tell you stories about when you were a little baby?  Like when you were 3 months old and you pulled out your abacus to try to figure out our taxes for us. Or when you were 6 months old and drove me home from the eye doctors because they dilated my eyes? Or how about when you were 7 months old and decided to learn Latin because you wanted to impress Campell in your "class?" Ah, the memories.

Mama Phyllis says you eat the most out of anyone in the class. So why are you the smallest? Must be your high metabolism. You're still a great eater and are very adventurous when it comes to trying new things. Hummus still rates up at the top as far as likes. I bet you didn't notice that I've been sneaking peas into your hummus and you gobble them up like a fat kid on a Smartie. You love bananas, especially roasted ones, and all kinds of fruit, including little bits of cut up peaches. And you're a huge fan of cheese in all of it's forms, including cottage cheese. And yogurt! Oh my, you go crazy for yogurt. Keep up the strong eating, my love.

You've been showing a few more signs that you might actually crawl, although Daddy still thinks you'll go straight from rolling to walking with no crawling in between. We'll see. You've been doing a wee bit of rocking the last couple of days. Time will tell. You really love to pull yourself up on things like the coffee table, your crib, the bookshelf, and Mommy & Daddy. Good thing you've got those monstrous thighs to support the weight of your cheeks!

Your favourite toy is the piano we borrowed from your girlfriend, Charlotte. Every morning you insist on playing us a little ditty to start the morning off on the right foot. Then you pull yourself up and play with the worm-a-nome and the froggy/duck slider on the back of the piano to really get the party started. You love watching the Baby Einstein dvds Mommy's friends L&C gave you. You go berserk when you see the duck puppet with the red scarf tied around it's neck.

While you're still not clapping (clapping is so 2009), you do love a good high five. And you've recently started dancing when we say the word "dance" over and over again. You've got quite the moves. Hopefully you did not inherit my moves (why do I always insist on doing the sprinkler move every time I hit the dance floor?) and you will be a great dancer like your Dad.

You are such a vocal little fella. You're constantly making strange noises and love to say "Dada" and "Mama" over and over again.

Oh, and reading. You love to read. We read the same 3 books every day but you don't seem to be bored with them yet. You love to turn the page when we ask you to and you know all of the places to touch in your "That's not my monkey" book. Your favourite page is the one with the gorilla and his hairy eyebrows. You love to touch them and make a funny face.

Well my love. We think you're pretty great and we can't see what this month has in store for you as you explore the world around you.

Love,

Your biggest fan, Mommy xoxo

 
Who needs a stroller when you have a sturdy plastic bag to tote your baby around in?

 
Playing Billy Joel's "Piano Man" for Mommy.

 
The house could have been burning down around you and you would not have left that piano!

But he can give high five!

There were a lot of no's at little c's 9 month check-up yesterday. For example:

1. Can he pull himself up all by himself? No.

2. Can he crawl? No.

3. Can he wave? No.

4. Can he clap? No.

Picture yourself in this position. What do you do? What's your next move when you've been asked a series of questions to which all of your responses are no's? Beads of sweat are starting to collect on your forehead. Your mouth starts to sweat like it does when you're about to throw-up. Fingers start scratching up and down on your legs and your left eye starts to twitch. You do what any self-respecting and protective mother would do (and yes I did consider lying). You blurt out the only thing you can think of that he actually can do, which is give you a high five.

Doctor Rachel was very impressed.

And then I had to gush about his vocal abilities, and how great of a roller he is, and how he loves hummus. Oh, and how good he looks in hats. And how crazy he goes when he sees his puppy toy.

It actually was a good visit. I learned that little c can now have cheese (which he partook of for dinner tonight) and that he can probably stand to have a snack with his mid-morning and mid-afternoon bottles. And the fact that he can't crawl is a-okay (and it really is...I just can't seem to not talk about it for some unknown reason). And she said he's not showing any signs of anything serious, like autism or douche baggery. Okay, just a little bit of douche baggery. Just a smidge.

And then he got his flu shot, which he handled like a true champ.

Does he do okay with getting shots? YES!! Why couldn't that have been one of Dr. Rachel's questions...

Weight - 19 lbs 2 oz. Smaller than I thought. Actually only in the 28 percentile.

Length - 28.25". 53rd percentile.

Head - 18.1". 72nd percentile. That would explain why 6-12 month sized hats are a little snug.

His next check-up won't be until we get back from celebrating his first birthday in Oh Canada in January. We're already reading up on the milestones for 1 year and you better believe that all of the answers to Dr. Rachel's questions are going to be yes's, even if we have to cram the night before!

 

 

Off to the doctors

We're just getting ready to head to see Dr. Rachel for little c's 9 month check-up. I'm predicting the following:

Weight-19lbs 10 oz

Height-28"

Head Circumference-ummmm, I can't remember what's normal so I'll just guess 67 percentile

I'll write later and let you know how close I am to my guesses.

For now, a photo of little c to get you through your day.

 

Oh Canada, my home and native land

As I reported earlier, we had a great time with all of little c's Canuck relatives during our visit last month. He went on his first train ride, hung out with his 101 year old Great Grandma, had his first photo shoot with his cousins which was worse than herding cats, and slept in until almost 8:00 a couple of mornings (maybe that was a bigger deal to Mommy than little c). Those were definitely the highlights. All in all a great trip. He's a good little airplane traveler as Daddy will find out at Christmas time.

Enjoy the photos, all 250 of them! 
Sitting on his big cousin Isaac's lap over at Auntie Cuz's. Isaac is a wonderful and attentive big cousin. 
Getting some love from Aunt DeeDee. 
Mommy didn't dress little c correctly for the cold front that blew in so we had to pull together this styling outfit with his pjs and leg warmers. Makes for an interesting outfit. 
Petting Nana & Papa's dog, Sandy, who is so good with babies.  
Waiting patiently with big cousin Ben for all of the other cousins to settle down and join the photo shoot.
First photo shoot ever. The anti-crawling thing really worked in our favour. 
Kissing cousins. Little c loves the open-mouth kiss.
Half sumo wrestler outfit/half medievil torture device=a 40 year old Jolly Jumper that Auntie Lou used to use! Little c loved it.
 
The Aunties and the cousins.
 
Out of the 25+ shots I got of Nana & Papa with their grandsons, this is the best one. I love how Nana has Sam in a head-lock!
 
Ben's gotten good at deflecting baby hands away from his photo album.
 
Showing off his roll for Uncle Peter & Isaac.
Playing cars with GG.
I just think the expression on little c's face is hilarious as he has a chat with Papa.
Waiting to board so he can go home to see Daddy!