Well, I’ve caught the cold. Didn’t let it stop me from doing stuff, getting out and shopping. The main floor is vacuumed now – it was really dusty in that carpet. We tidied up the living room too, though the coffee table is still swamped in crap. There were lots of idiots out today – and lots of tourists “up for the New Years weekend” but I went out anyways. Groceries – check. Target – check. Target, I’ve found, has a fantastic baby/infant section. We bought the Little Man another floor play area thingy. It’s from Tiny Love and again he loves it. It’s got a really large mirror, textural things on the mat to grab hold of, it plays music or lullabies when he hits a certain area (by the flowers) and the flowers light up as the music plays. It came with four animals on the links – one of which is a buzzy-pull toy, two of which are rattly, and a hard plastic links thing. I really like this company. I also picked up an end table to match our coffee table, some spare bottles with storage caps and the best socks we’ve found that actually fit him well and stay on his feet (thanks T!!!).

I took a shower before heading out and closed the door to the bathroom as I did so. The steam collected and it felt positively *wonderful* to breath in. When I got home my whole body just ached. I hate being sick. Hopefully Ethan won’t catch it, though we know what to do if he should and what to look for.

We discussed his development today. We figure he’s advanced socially and average physically – which correspondently drives him nuts. He *so* wants to do things and gets so frustrated when he can’t. I’m sure all babies do as well though. In the past week he’s already seeing further. We’ve gone from a few feet to a few meters lately. He’s also turning towards us/sound – which is a big step. He’s purposefully batting at dangly toys too – which I’m really excited about. His legs are getting stronger and he’s standing for longer periods of time on his own weight. We just have to continue working on balance/control. We need to practice rolling over – he gets frustrated *really easily* with that, so it’s hard. He’s awake a lot during the day – most of the day, really. He hates napping and fights it the whole way. I tend to force him to nap once or twice a day since I know he’ll get over-tired and cranky. Nights are getting a bit better, though. He’s sleeping for 2-4 hrs 2-3 times a night. We’re getting there!

We’re thinking of making a book of “Da Rules”. Inspiration from it comes from The Fairly Odd Parents cartoon (we’re big fans) where the Fairies have a rule book called “Da Rules”. Ours will be guidelines that we want to use to raise our kids with. Everything from specific ages for specific foods (milk, refined sugar, eggs, cereal, etc), words we’re trying to not say around them, general rules of living, family traditions we want to establish, behaviour we’re going to encourage. The number one rule that we’ve always had between us and that will continue with our family is: Rule #1 – Don’t hurt yourself!! We’ll also have “Worry about the things you can change, not the things you can’t.” (Dad’s creed) We’ll likely also have something along the lines of altruism, such as “An it harm none, do what thou wilt.” It’ll be a work in progress…

Mostly to do with Ken, actually. Jim, co-worker/kinda manager dude told him to take Friday off because he’s been so brilliant that they’re starting to get headaches. (not really, but it’s amusing to think so – it’s mostly because he’s been so productive and deserves it.) He’s been feeling a bit down – like something was coming – and sure enough last night it hit. He’s taken today off to try and rest up and kick this. I made a trip to the pharmacy to get some drugs for me and some stuff for him. $200 later and we’ve finally gotten a vapourizer along with some cold/cough stuff, some baby stuff (we’ve moved up to 3month nipples for Ethan), and my drugs. We’re likely going to start stocking up on my insulin from now on. It takes me over a month to go through each kind, but the refills say “10 day supply” and “15 day supply” on them, so if they wanna give me extra, who’m I to complain?

We’re slowly getting things tidied. Clothes Ethan doesn’t fit into anymore are downstairs in a dresser waiting to be boxed. Clothes he does are overflowing the change table shelves. We weighed him last night – at 9.5wks (CA) he weighs 10.4lbs (10#6oz). Chunky Monkey is continuing his slow climb towards the 25% percentile.

We *finally* received the stuff I ordered from a website 3 wks ago. A personalized photo frame for Ken (was supposed to be for Christmas but because it didn’t arrive I got a replacement – so now he has two) and a personalized Christmas ornament kit for Ethan. The kit is a plaster mold (with plaster) that has an impression of a snowman on one side and we put his hand impression in the other side. It comes with a ribbon they customized to say ‘Ethan’s First Christmas 2004′ that we hang the ornament with. I’ll take pics when it’s all made.

We desperately need to grocery shop. We should have last weekend, but were too tired after Christmas and figured we could make it through the week with a quick trip to the store for the essentials (milk, bread, etc). The trip didn’t happen because after the past few weeks of Ken working so late I’d rather spend time with him than have milk. I’ll go tomorrow, if Ken still stays home. I’m also going to make it to Target because they have the mixer I want and am going to buy with an AE gift card that cousin Michael gave me for Christmas. I could use it online but Target’s price is the same and I wouldn’t have to pay shipping. I also need to pick up a few things from there anyways.

I actually bruised myself yesterday. My knee decided to lay an unsuccessful smack-down on the coffee table corner. When I did it I’m proud to say I did not drop Ethan, but calmly placed him on the couch, bent over and bit my lip to keep from screaming (that woulda scart him). I’m surprised about the bruise, since it takes a lot for me to bruise. I’m wearing it like a painful badge of honour of The Battle of Corner Coffee Table.

This Christmas we got a fantastic present from Sharon that I want to share with everyone. It’s the Tiny Love Mobile. We’ve got it over the change-table, but it’s meant for crib-side useage, obviously. It.is.fantastic! Ethan absolutely loves it! The instant we turn it on (when he’s changed during the day) he’s transfixed with the shapes and colours and movement. The sound is not tinny, the way music boxes/toys can be and it’s not the typical baby classical music either, it’s nice stuff. The movement is 3d (it moves both around/side-to-side as well as up and down since the rotation is slanted) and that’s good for him to flex his focal muscles in his eyes. The geographic shapes are easy for him to see, as are the primary colours and high-contrast patterns. I can lay him there and he’s happy and excited and active for as long as he’s there. The little bits on the “arms” slide as they point up or down, which catches his attention because they click together. The sound is adjustable too (louder and softer) which is nice since right now it’s right beside his head. Here’s our little man (7.4mb vid file) enjoying the heck out of it the other day. I highly highly suggest it for any new parent. Also, the mobile part comes off for when he’s ready to start playing with the buttons on his own in the crib (once we move him to that).

Some other photos from the past week:

One side of the family. (L to R is Sharon/Grandma, Ken/Daddy, Ethan, Gram/Great Gram and Grampa/Great Grampa)
T’other side. (Wayne/Gramps, Sylvia/Great Grandma, Ethan, Ken/Daddy)
With Janis/Nana.
With Auntie Karlie.
Making Gramps and Auntie Karlie *very* happy.
Special picture for a special friend.
Notice the size of these puppies.
Silly face!
See how big we are today?!!

Enjoy!

I was going to make this about our Christmas joy, but someone decided being in his bouncy seat was no longer joy and is currently mad at me. I’ll write more later, but we got more than we ought, we stressed more than was healthy, we got a full night’s sleep in before leaving (bless Sharon), and we’re back home with tons of boxes to unpack and clothes to wash and things to play with. I’ll sum up later. Ethan’s fan club has gained several very staunch supporters, too. Oh, and I buggered my back a bit, though hopefully it’ll be better tomorrow.

Sum up:
Ethan got:
tons of clothes, a new play yard (the Jeep one we wanted), a mobile that’s hanging over his change table (he aDORES it!), some toys, some ornaments, a beautiful painting by Karlie (we all got one), and some other smaller things.

Ken got:
a toaster, some tobasco stuff, a t-shirt, some clothes, a saw, and some other stuff I’m forgetting.

I got:
some media (dvd’s and cd’s), some clothes (very needed and liked), a juicer, we both share an electric skillet, a dyson (tried it out last night – amazing!) and some other stuff that I’m forgetting.

The jeep was more filled by 3x’s on the way home as on the way up. We barely fit. It was fantastic spending time with everyone though. Things were stressful for Ethan because of all the noise and commotion that he’s VERY not used to, but most everyone understood when he needed to stay away from the more noisy activities. He charmed everyone with his abundant smiles and giggles. Karlie was fantastic with him (natural mother) and I already trust her completely with caring for Ethan (of which only one other person I trust).

Everyone’s doing pretty well, otherwise. We didn’t get to meet Austin, Kate’s man, but should sometime in the next month.

Uh… gotta go… Ethan. (big surprise)

As the Presidential press conference overtakes my lousy day-time tv I’ve been sitting here thinking. Sometimes fuming, sometimes frustrated, but thinking. And realizing. As a younger generation, of course I’m going to have different views and be frustrated with the generation of people currently ruling this country. They grew up in times of war, whereas I grew up in a time of peace. I’m naturally going to be more trusting and more geared towards diplomacy rather than force. Knowing this, and knowing that my generation currently does not and cannot be the ones who make the decisions yet, I realize that I need to have patience. I need to not fall into the rut of apathy. That was another realization I had. Being new to this country and it’s ideals and ways of doing things means that I have more gusto for my frustration than the average American might. I think about Canada and instantly slip into the typical, societal apathies. Canadians tend to be fairly apathetic about being able to actually retire on the CPP. We accept the rampant problems with health care but somewhere we’ve been taught that any other system is much much worse. We accept it all as the norm.

Perhaps one of the greatest things about this country is the constant influx of new people. People who don’t fall into the apathetic masses. People who’ll introduce a new viewpoint. A new idea of how things can be or should be done. A view of the country from outside the biased media. A view given from other countries biased media.

The problem is that so many people here don’t want to hear it. They’re afraid. Things that people fear, they tend to hate. That scares me.

Well, we got the garage cleaned out – it hardly snowed and it’s not going to be white here on Christmas (yay rain). We got the pink room cleaned out, though, and set up as an actual bedroom! It looks great, and that means there’s just the one, big, family room to go through. It’s kinda exciting that we have two actual bedrooms set up downstairs. We’ve also realized that having the hutch in the dining room, and looking so nice, is really nice. We’re both itching to set up the dining room as such and get Ethan moved downstairs. That’ll take another few months though when he’s sleeping through the night.

I didn’t get any baking done. Made muffins for breakfast yesterday (which, since it’s been so long since I’ve baked muffins, disappeared by mid afternoon), but no cookies or bread. The bread I’m hoping to pop out tomorrow. I’ll also be pouring and cutting the jello and likely making the layers for the tree – hopefully. I’ll be making sure Ethan’s wrapped up snug so that he sleeps lots so that I can get stuff done. Thank goodness I can still encourage that somewhat, though he still wakes every hour to eat.

*le sigh*
Speaking of which….

I’d go a little crazy setting up my perfect kitchen, if I had the cash lying around to do so. Course, who ever has cash lying around? Overstock.com has the cookware set I want for $200 (the lowest I can find it elsewhere is $350). They have some bakeware I wouldn’t mind either. I’ve recently been turned onto silicone bakeware (anybody have any experience with this stuff – is it as good as it seems?) and I’d love to pick up a few choice items (even just to try out and see if I like it – items that I’d use on a regular basis). I’d likely pick up a few specialty appliances too – things I suppose aren’t necessary (like a tortilla press) but nice to have (think waffle iron – we use that almost weekly).

All that being said, I’ve decided I need to redesign the house I’ve designed because the kitchen isn’t right. Seeing as how Ken and I are both cooks and the kitchen is (especially for us) the heart of the home, it has to be *just* right. Back to the drawing board – though this time I’ve made a list of things I need and things I want so that everything is covered. Hopefully I can do it perfectly this time.

Yesterday was a total drag. I had to go out in to the world to grocery shop (yay for the tourists/non-locals who’re “back for the holidays” – idiots!), had to go to the mall for something at Sears (don’t get me started on the mall scene), and had to go to *shudder* Walmart to do some photos and buy formula ($2 cheaper than at the local pharmacy). I came home, walked through the door, and announced that I hate people and I hate Christmas and I wish both those statements weren’t true. At the time they were, and still are to a point. En masse, I do kinda hate people. They’re rude, they’re dumb, and they just don’t care about anyone but themselves. Where’s the Christmas spirit, people?!? Christmas, this year at least, just plain sucks. Everyone says that seeing as this is our first Christmas with Ethan it’ll be *so* special and wonderful. Everyone makes some pretty broad assumptions. Even Ken thinks so. This year I just don’t want to have to face Christmas. I feel empty inside. And lonely in that nobody really understands.

Anyways, on to happier topics. Today’s projects are to clear out the garage of furniture/stuff so that we can use it – it’s due to snow today/tomorrow. I also need to bake cookies for me and likely some bread to take up to VT (Ken’s Gram *loves* Anadama bread). Tomorrow (Monday) I’ll be doing one “tree” (more details after Christmas – it’s a surprise – I’ll take pics though). and Tuesday will be the other tree. Hopefully they’ll both come out since this is the first time I’ve tried it. Anyone ever tried to colour marshmallow fluff?

I’ll go with that. Makes me sound awefully sweet though… :/

*le sigh*
Well, after 4 hrs of screaming (while I tried to sleep HA!) and then eating a quick bite, the little man is a stirring. When I lay him down in the bassinette, it looked suspiciously smaller. I think it shrunk in the wash. I had to remove the blanket/toy that was in the bottom (so he wouldn’t slide down into the “corner”) because there’s increasingly less and less room. I didn’t figure he’d outgrow it so quickly! By the time we move (hopefully around late March/April) he’ll be somewhere between 13 and 15lbs and 24-25″ tall. I hope he still fits in the bassinette. We’d not wanted to use the crib until after the move. He’s 8wks old as of tomorrow. Wow, the time has flown!! I can’t wait to see what the next month brings us (hopefully easier digestion – but I don’t want to get ahead of myself).

Hmm, maybe he’s not going to get up and I can catch a quick nap on the couch. *knock on wood*

Tomorrow, along with naps for each of us and a shower for me, I’m hoping to get some cooking/baking done, house tidied more, more presents wrapped, and my Swedish ornaments more done. I’m sure Ken wants to get the pink room more emptied (so’s it looks more like a guest room) and arranged, and the garage more emptied (so’s we can use it as a garage when the snows comes). One of us should also grocery shop sometime in the next few days (likely me since I enjoy the “out of the house time”). We need to bathe Ethan and weigh him for his 8wk number…. maybe measure his length too, on some wrapping paper.

Ken gets thursday off, of next week, so we’re likely going to drive up to NY on wednesday night. It should work out well since Ethan gets his synergist shot wednesday, and it’ll knock him out for at least a few hours, if not make him sleepy all day (here’s hoping). Sometime in the next week I need to get a few remaining Christmas cards sent off, a few presents sent up North (yeah, they’re SO not gonna be on time, sorry Lea/Brian and Jess! I suck.) and get some photos developed. I also need to get some stuff baked for next weekend, if I have time… I’m starting to think I don’t though. Yeesh!

When we were in the hospital and starting to teach Ethan to nipple (bottle feed), the nurses continually told us that it would “turn on like a light switch” that he’d suddenly “get it” and start feeding like a champ. We never found that switch, so we had to take the long road in learning to eat. It would seem, though, that smiling has a light switch. Yeah, he smiled a few times for me one morning a few weeks ago, and again the other day, but today…. he’s all smiles! Heck, a while ago he smiled at me BEFORE I smiled at him. He’s doing it, I hesitate to say, independant of me. Sometimes he doesn’t, and I’m able to acknowledge that this may be a one-day thing, but still. How can I get anything done when he’s flashing that beautiful grin at me?

Ethan’s at 9lbs 3oz now. *does the happy, chunkymonkey baby dance*

Here’s a picture from this morning, btw…

Hehehe…

An Edit of this morning’s Moment of Ethan. This is a first on camera appearance of our little man’s beautiful smile.

We were up at 4 to drive the distance for Ethan’s appointments. Developmental Pediatrician said he doesn’t see any delays and that Ethan is doing everything he should be for a 1-2 month baby. Cool! He wants to see us again in 4 months. Done. EEG was a pain, mostly in getting all the electrodes hooked up. Ethan screamed through that and promptly slept through the actual test. Cool. We won’t know “how he did” until January. Mrr.

Karlie is doing ok. She’s still much out of it though. We may be calling her tonight, though, to talk with her. We aren’t sure, yet, whether we’ll be going up. “Glad” doesn’t suffice to how I feel about her being alright. So many times, it seems, when we visit Janis and Wayne, Karlie’s working or going out. We don’t get to spend much time with her, which I wish we did. Karlie is a wonderful girl. So creative and sweet. I see a lot of who I used to be in her and I think she has a lot of potential for the future. I hope we can help her understand that she’s very loved and very important to us.

Today we have an appointment in Danville (up near Scranton) at the Geisinger facility with a Developmental Pediatrician (8am) and an MRI (12:30pm) so we’ll be gone most of the day. Hopefully Ethan sleeps through the MRI, which’ll speed it up. We’re going on very little sleep today (3 hrs each). Lets hope we have enough caffeine to stay on the road.

Ken’s little sister, Karlie, is in the hospital. We found out tonight from Kate, his older little sister. She was at either Rutland or Springfield and then medvac’d to Burlington (from what we understand). This is serious. We’re likely going to be going up to VT Thursday. Ken’ll need to go into work Wednesday to tie up things and let them know about the family emergency. I’m hoping they’ll be as understanding about this as they have about our other family emergencies the past 4 months.

So he hadn’t pooped yesterday or yet today, and as I held him while eating my apple (slicing it with a knife) he was smacking his lips and staring at it. Apple juice is one of the “get things a’mooovin’” remedies, so I figured it couldn’t hurt. I cut off a piece and held it out for him to lick. Loved.it. Granted, he licks backwards – instead of sticking out, making contact, and dragging his tongue across whatever he’s licking, he makes contact while sticking out and pushes his tongue across whatever he’s licking. Kinda awkward but it works. He really enjoyed the apple and kept looking for it after I’d finished it. He pooped a few hours later, though that might have been from the slightly diluted formula he got this afternoon instead of the apple.

He’s also entering the “taste the world” stage. Mostly in that when I’m holding him he licks my chest. Kinda odd, but eh… if it makes him happy. At least I know he’s getting his sodium.

I got a bunch of presents wrapped today, between feedings, so that feels good. Got bread baked this weekend (yum!). We got the china cabinet moved upstairs into the dining room, cleaned and filled with the glassware Dad gave us as a wedding present. It looks super nice.

Ethan and I also had a great playtime this morning. Lots of face time and him immitating me smiling for quite some time. He hasn’t been doing that much since I last mentioned it a few weeks ago, so it’s nice that he’s smiling more.

He reminds me of my father. Their smiles are so alike. Ethan also makes the clicky sound (when he’s hungry) that I can remember Dad used to *always* make whenever holding babies – trying to get them to click back to him. Dad loved babies. Loved children. Those two things are seemingly constant reminders of Dad not being here. It’s very bittersweet right now.

A BIG Moment of Ethan for you today. Yoiks he’s grown!

I think we’ve hit another growth spurt. Wk 6 came rolling in last night and he’s eating like a champ. He’s also adjusted to his all-formula-all-the-time schedule and is again pooping daily. We’re sending out Christmas cards Saturday, finally!

We also have another Moment of Ethan times two.