Santa's coming!

Well, Christmas is finally around the corner and I think we are as ready as we are going to be. This being the first Christmas for Kian we will be spending it at Oma and Opa's house. Unfortunately Oma had a fall and broke her ankle so she won't be as mobile, but it leaves her to play with Kian while mom and dad make dinner with Opa. We are getting excited to see everyone in Niagara as well as Auntie Renee who is coming to visit from Victoria. Kian and I are taking to train down to Oma and Opa's place due to the experience last time we tried the long car trip....






The past couple weeks have been pretty busy around here. Kian has been going swimming with mom and dad on Friday nights. He loves it so much! Now he figures that bath time is like the pool and he splashes around like crazy. He cries when he has to get out of the tub. He absolutely LOVES his jolly jumper and spends upwards of two hours in there a day. You can tell that he's tired by the cry but he just can't stop jumping. He is usually laughing and babbling to himself when he is in it. It will have to come to Oma's place at Christmas or he is going to be very disappointed.




The neighbourhood Christmas party was held at our house this year. There were nearly more babies than adults as Landry, Chloe, Rowan and Calum were all able to visit Kian (and the adults). I now realize why I go to bed at 10 o'clock because when you go to bed at midnight (as we did after the party) and the baby gets up every hour, and then is really awake at 6 in the morning it makes for a very difficult day the next day. That next day though was Kian's first breakfast with Santa and we couldn't miss that (although we did have a tough time hearing the alarm). He was very excited to see Santa for the first time and gave him a really long list for Christmas.

Also Grandma visited us last weekend and had lots of fun laughing with Kian. We look forward to seeing her, and all our family and friends over Christmas!

Party Animal

Last week officially started winter in the capital for us. The first snow storm of the season was on Thursday with 20 cm of snow that we actually had to shovel! Kian and I felt a little cooped up that day and decided that we absolutely needed to go outside to experience why all parents hate winter! Snowsuits and car seats, need I say more? It's a good thing he is still in diapers and I didn't have to ask if he had to pee first! We did manage to get out and go the 5 minutes down the road to meet Cheryl and Ysabella for a very nice lunch, but I can say that the scraping the ice of the windshield stuff really sucks with or without a crying baby to boot!

Friday night Kian went to the public pool for the first time. He loved the water and spent an hour kicking around and getting dunked with mom and dad and Jarrett, Noreen, Landry (age 2) and Chloe (5 months). He had a great time and boy did he sleep well that night! Landry had a good time going down the water slide and splashing around in the kiddy pool. I think we might try to make swimming Friday nights our regular thing in the new year.

Saturday night we attended a good-bye party at Christina's place for Natalie, who is off to Cuba. Lucky her! Kian started his "party animal" stage early in life stripping down to his diaper and dancing on the tables! He was a menace in the car on the way to the party and left Mark and I thinking that we might not make it. Unfortunately the train does not go to Christina's place! He did manage to wear himself out sufficiently and actually SLEPT in the car on the way home!






















Sunday morning we had a wonderful brunch at Uncle Mike and Ania's new home. We also got to see Grandpa and Babshu (sp?) who were visiting for the weekend. Breakfast was great and Kian even had a small nap so mom could eat and socialize for a few minutes.

Monday morning dad was late for work. He played soccer Sunday night at 11 pm and then was wired once he got home. Kian unfortunately wasn't having a very good night and mom and dad didn't get much sleep. Mom met Jane and Sylvia for breakfast in the Glebe. That was really nice since we haven't seen each other for a year due to no sailing last year. Kian got to meet the Makai chicks. We were all originally hoping that Kian would be able to expand the Makai ladies crew but now I think he is the token male on board!

This week I'm hoping will not be as busy. I do know that Friday morning we are having a new patio door installed. I'm not sure why we decided to do it in the snow, but I guess for the same reason we decided to do our roof in December a couple years ago. It will be a cold morning in the house!

We are starting to look forward to the holidays now that the snow is on the ground. Auntie Renee has changed her plans for the holidays and Kian will finally get to meet her. Too bad she lives so far away. Unfortunately Uncle Darcy won't be joining her so we will have to meet him later.

The Stories of i-Poo-h

The weather is starting to get a little colder now and we are beginning to wonder how to dress our little "furnace". We made a shopping trip to MEC to get a snow suit for Kian. We also made the mistake of walking into Gap Kids and seeing all the incredibly cute things in there. I think they prey on people like us!

Kian seems to be growing like a weed lately. He had his three month growth spurt this past week which meant very little sleep for mom for the past five days. Last night was the first night he slept better and we all appear to be better rested. He is getting to be much more animated and talkative now. He is able to pull himself up to standing from lying down (with som assistance) already and laughing up a storm when you bounce him on the bed. We also figured out that the only song that will almost instantly calm him down is 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'. I will not be singing that for 9 hours back down to Toronto! I still prefer the train. Kian was in the tub with me this week and he really enjoyed swimming around. I think we will try to get to the community pool and try out his skills there next. Maybe we have the next Thorpe in the making!

Mark and I had a nice treat this morning. Kian wet his first bed (ours)! He usually wears cloth diapers during the day and Pampers at night. Well, last night we decided to be adventurous and try cloth overnight. It worked for the 2 am and 4:30 changes but 6am was just a little to lazy and tired and we found out why Pampers might be a better idea! That diaper change included changing our bed. With a new diaper on Kian decided that he needed to poop, changing that diaper led to Kian pooping again. The third diaper barely got on before he peed in it, and the fourth also received some pee. That means 5 diapers and three outfits were used in the span of 15 minutes. Miraculously we survived without getting peed on ourselves!

We have to say a big thank you to Ali Jean-Guy and Chantal for their hospitality and especially to Ali Jean-Guy for his toys and Jolly Jumper! They are very much appreciated.

Halloween

Well, I'll admit we didn't go out trick or treating this year. Mark and I decided that neither one of us needed to eat anymore chocolate than we already have. Instead we raided Noreen and Jarrett's place and handed out candy to the kids who came to their door while they were out with their kids. It was a very nice evening that was considerable warmer than what we usually experience on Halloween. Kian did get dressed up for the occation for all of you who were awaiting his costume!

This week didn't amount to very much. We did manage to get to the gym twice this week! Kian had a wonderful time in playcare talking to all the other children. I was unaware that was making the rounds but all the kids there wait for him to come in. He is now very happy to be able to communicate with you with his cooing. Laughing when you get it right. He is almost able to turn onto his side by himself and today he fell asleep by himself in his crib. Unfortunately, someone else has decided that is also a good place to sleep....

Hope everyone else had a good Halloween now we are on the road to Christmas!

Adventures with Mom

Well, Mark has been in England for the past ten days. Kian and I have been having our own adventures while daddy has been out of town. I can't say that they have been very exciting or that Kian was too happy about some of them!

Kian had his first set of shots while dad was gone. I was hoping that Mark would be around for those because I thought I might be crying more than Kian was! As it turned out mom was very brave and Kian did very well considering he exam took twice as long as usual due to the fact that there was a resident learning that day and the exam was conducted twice, once by the resident and once by the doctor himself. Kian continued to have nightmares about the needle experience for the rest of the day and would wake up with this very confused look on his face when he realised that he wasn't in fact, still in the doctor's office. It turns out that he also had thrush and I have had to give him some horrible tasting medication that numbs your tongue and stains your clothes, four times a day. Dad's going to look like an angel when he gets back!

Kian has now doubled his birth weight at 12 lbs. 14 ons. and is in the 65th percentile for height at his age at 63 cm. I guess that means that he is going to be tall. He is now starting to like his swing and little vibrating chairs and I am able to get breakfast made and take a shower with out listening to crying for the most part. He is also developing a better sleeping pattern so I am able to get a little more sleep myself. He is able to hold his rattle already, althought I don't think he realises that he is doing it yet. The cats are starting to feel rather neglected as Sozi has found some new sleeping spots that I'm sure to notice!


The weather has been, for the most part, wonderful while Mark was gone. About 15 degrees Celcius. Kian and I enjoyed some walks in the park and gardening outside. The leaves are still on our trees so dad gets to help rake once he is back! I guess Mark will be in for a nice surprise tonight upon his return as the temperature will drop to -8!





Thank you to all those who thought that I might be bored by myself and need adult conversation every once in a while! Thanks for all the dinners.



Guess I better get the house cleaned up before dad gets back!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone rather quickly. It was unusually warm in Niagara this year. We ate turkey outside on the deck after a day of 30 degrees! Even Niagara isn't that warm at this time of the year. It was fantastic to see as many people as we did and introduce Kian to everyone. I think he was a little overwhelmed at times, not usually seeing anyone but mom everyday!

The drive to Niagara was a bit stressful. It turns out the Kian is rather unhappy in the car, or his car seat. The usuallly 4 1/2 hour drive to Toronto took 9 hours and the usually 2 hour drive to Niagara from Toronto the next day took 6 hours. Mark and I were very happy to finally reach our destination and not have to get back in the car for a few days. Since the weather was so beautiful we were able to go for many walks and enjoy the last days of summer. Mark drove home and I took the train the following day. Kian loves the train and slept the entire time (althought we didn't get much sleep that night because he had slept too much during the day!). I got lots of commits from people who told me how good he was and that they didn't even know there was a baby in the compartment. They were fortunate enough not to have been in the car with him a few days before!
Kian loved staying at Oma and Opa's place where he got to have his first bath in the sink as well as his first shower with his dad. He really likes his bath time now. He has started to smile real smiles now and enjoys being tickled. Next week is where the adventure begins. Mark heads off to England for 10 days and Kian and I are home to fend for ourselves. I don't think any of us will get a lot of sleep, but I may be pleasantly surprised....

Here are some photos of the weekend for you to enjoy!

Kian's first post

Hi Everybody,

Another weekend has come and gone and I can't believe that Kian is already 5 weeks old. We thought that we'd create a common place for friends and relatives to check in and see what we've been up to. Mark's started to clean up the yard, getting ready for (dare I say it) winter, and Kian and I have accomplished not much more than eat and poop.

We're growing like a weed, and last week while visiting the doctor we found out that Kian was just under 10 pounds (or 4.54 kilos). I've learned how to stick out my tongue and took my schnully (pacifier) for the first time...and I liked it! Just getting used to this, so I'll try to write more later.