Sunday, June 27, 2010

A visit from Grandma!






Chris's Mom and Sister came down to visit this week and meet the baby. We tried to take them around the island to see a few things like Baddeck, the Fairy hole, Fort Louisbourg and the Cabot trail. On top of that we did some local shop browsing and visiting around home with the baby. They picked a great time to visit, the weather was pretty nice most of the week and more importantly the baby is starting to enjoy interacting with people a bit more. She still sleeps allot but she enjoys listening to people talk and watching faces, were even getting big gummy smiles pretty frequently now.

Chris's parents got the baby a nice high chair and baby activity center, which will be great in a few months when she is able to support her own head fully (Thank~you Grandma and Grandpa). With the way she kicks her legs around shes going to love the activity center. Chris's mom also brought his baby album, Buggito is a carbon copy of her daddy when he was a baby, I will post some comparison pictures sometime this week once I scan them in. We had a great visit with them both and hope they had fun visiting us as well :), fingers crossed we will be seeing them next spring or summer when we go to Saskatoon (if we can afford it) for a friends wedding.



Monday, June 21, 2010

One month today!



Buggito,

You are now an entire month old. Wow time sure is flying, you look almost double the size you were when I first held you in my arms. You have begun to put on a layer of little baby fat giving you sweet chubby little cheeks and little rolls on your arms and legs. You are more alert as of late, you look at your surroundings and really seem to enjoy interacting with Mommy and Daddy. When I wake up in the mornings and look down at you I am greeted with little gummy smiles and you gurgle and coo at me. Your little clothes fit you nicely now and you have officially outgrown a few of your newborn onesies (which used to be the only things that fit you properly). You still love to snuggle all the time and prefer to be in someones arms rather than in your swing or left in your bassinets. You love going for walks in your stroller and especially love being carried about in your snugli under the cover of a receiving blanket or my poncho.

I'm so amazed at how big your getting the only thing I can do is try to capture as many moments on camera to try to save these sweet baby moments forever. I am taking the advice of the elderly people I meet with grown children and grandchildren of their own, I am cuddling you, kissing you and enjoying every single moment I can. You don't sit in a crib "to cry it out" you are held and loved and cherished as often as possible because I know there will be a day in the not so distant future where I miss these moments indescribably. I sniff that sweet baby smell on the top of your little head like a junkie snorting coke because that too will be nothing but a memory in a few short years. I do not want to look back and regret not spending enough time with you and enjoying these years. You will not always get the things you want in life, but you my dear girl will never hurt for love and attention.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy first fathers day Chris!!!



Today is your first Father's day, you will have been a father for a full month tomorrow, you have most likely changed at least 100 diapers, you have fed the baby 1 bottle of expressed milk. You have burped your daughter as many times as you have changed her. You take care of the literal crappy jobs more often than not, but you also took care of some of the most important ones. From the moment our girl entered the world YOU were the one there to hold her, protect her and love her in her first few hours of life when I was in surgery. You are there everyday for her and as a reward for all those crappy jobs you get those sweet moments where you two snuggle up on the couch together. As time goes on the sweet moments will last longer and the crappy jobs will be replaced by new ones :). But one thing will never change, your a dad now! you have a little person who loves and depends on you and you have a little girl I know you love with all your heart. Happy fathers day Baboo! I love you and I know your a great dad and you'll only continue to be the best dad Buggito could ever ask for.











Friday, June 18, 2010

Our first meeting....


Today is June 19th and its my Birthday, but I think I would rather share a quick clip of Buggito's Birthday. This is me two hours after my c-section I am FINALLY able to meet my baby despite being bone tired I forced myself to stay awake and see the little person I had been anxiously awaiting to meet for 9 months. Daddy caught it on camera for me, Thanks Daddy!.



Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Thank Heaven For Little Girls





Great song!

whats new???




Buggito now fits most of her newborn size clothing without needing me to roll up the sleeves or loosing a foot in the leg of a sleeper. She can even start to sport her 0-3 month clothing without drowning in the fabric~score!. I may have mentioned she is developing a bit of a neck rather than just pug folds of skin separating her head from her shoulders. When we burp her she tries to hold her own head up all the time, we have to keep a steady hand on it to avoid her getting away on us. She is finally big enough to fit her cloth diapers so we are looking forward to testing those out this week, especially with how expensive disposables can get. Buying packages of newborn size cost $15.00 for a package of 30 diapers. When you go through 10 or more diapers a day, it adds up!!!!.



I have introduced Buggito to the snugli sling (much less scary than the other ones for watching her neck position for suffocation). We have been using it around the house when I want to tidy and she wants to cuddle, better still we have used it on a few nature hikes already. The baby is starting a bit of cooing now when shes awake. You can tell she thinks shes pretty funny when she fakes me out on latching during feeding time. She gets close like shes going to latch then she swings her head away from me with a big wide mouthed gummy grin and repeats for a few minutes. She is staying awake for longer periods of time.



One of the girls from work gave me another big box of baby clothes which is awesome!! The baby's wardrobe is pretty much complete for the next year of her life, I cant even justify browsing the baby clothes sections anymore. Another nice surprise one of our neighbours (who we have never even spoken to before)saw Chris this morning and gave him a gift for the baby. A pink bunny with a blanket and a card! He brought Buggito over after to introduce her to the baby and say thank-you. I guess this means I have to be a bit more friendly to the neighbours rather than ignore and avoid them. Other than that not much to report, life is pretty good for the moment.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Think Pink!



I always knew I wanted to have a daughter, anyone who doesn't believe me can ask my mother in law about all the little girl things collected over the years I have stored in her basement, some were mailed to me and others still reside there for the time being. There is something magical about little girls ,not to say little boys don't have their own brand of magic. But little girl magic is the kind I have always hoped I would be given the chance to relive through a child of my own.

Unicorns, pretty little dresses, tea parties, glitter, fairies, bow ties and lace. While little boys are off playing war games little girls are imagining falling in love, and being a princess. The best part of having a daughter is that you can have the best of both worlds. She can have fairytale tea parties in the afternoon and still enjoy playing hockey in the driveway with dad before dinner. I can only hope that my sweet Buggito and I will be as close as my Mom and I are when she is an adult. Father/ daughter relationships get allot of buzz and hype and I'm glad for all those girls who do grow up with a great loving father in their life ( my daughter included) but there is also a special bond between mothers and daughters that gets forgotten at times. The bond that comes when your teaching your daughter about life and being a woman and passing on your values and experience.

Being a mom is a pretty good job, I'm just starting to get those smiles of recognition when she wakes up and sees me there and its only a hint of the good times to come. I'm looking forward to reading all the Disney fairies books I have been collecting for her together, and dressing up and having picnics and doing crafts together. I'm hoping to give her the longest, happiest and most enchanted childhood possible. I want her to experience nothing but unconditional love and security from her family, the magic and wonder of fairy tales and make believe, the adventure of discovering everything in the world for the first time. Bittersweet is a word I think only a parent can truly understand, its a strange thing to simultaneously rejoice and mourn a child's growth.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

first round of parent guilt!


In an attempt to quickly release my breast from my shirt to feed my baby I accidental whacked her face, she broke out into tears and full on red angry/upset face. I almost started crying myself, poor baby girl. Shes such a good tempered little bean and what does she get from her mama, a smack in the face. After a good snuggle fest she settled down and the incident was forgotten....at least by her. I felt like a complete douche bag!.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Our two week check-up!




Chris and I took the baby in for her two week check up on the 4th this month. All is going well, she gained weight, she went from 7.5lbs birth weight to 9lbs which I guess is really good weight gain for a breastfed baby. The doctor and everyone else that sees Buggito makes a comment on how nicely shaped her head is. I didn't realise there was such an epidemic of oddly shaped children's craniums, but apparently its a pretty big deal. The babies cord stump fell off a few days prior to our doctors visit, No I did not save it.....bleh! As for baby teeth in the future I may string them through a necklace and add more as I have more children.....just jokes! I'm not a total savage!.



Two weeks into motherhood, how is it all going. Good!! As far as babies go I have very little to complain about, my baby doesn't like to cry, she prefers to give us little grunts, groans and flailing arm gestures when she wants something. She doesn't startle easily, the dogs can bark and yak (which they do constantly) and other than pause for a moment to register the sound she doesn't fuss over the noise. Chris and I talk/ play music/ watch t.v/ make house repairs and she just listens to the noise without a problem. She can sleep anywhere no matter whats going on around her. We have taken her for walks in the stroller and she sleeps through the noise of children and traffic on the street. She has a very Big Lebowski like cool about most things. She doesn't cry or fuss when her diaper is wet or full, she just chills in it. Which means we have to be the ones to constantly check it for her. The only thing she doesn't seem to like is being left for too long out of someones arms, she tolerates her swing and you can sneak her into her crib and her bassinet for awhile but if she wakes up to find you gone she begins her flailing and grunting. Chris and I laugh because as soon as she wakes to find herself alone she starts going "eh, eh" its almost like shes saying "Hey Mom, I think you forgot me over here". No sweetie mommy snuck away to use the bathroom for a minute.



Once her neck is a bit stronger I can start to keep her in her sling while I do my housework, I wanted to start "baby wearing" right away but there were a few infant deaths and a whole news story about a sling recall due to suffocation risks, so I will wait until she is better able to adjust her head. Which shouldn't take too long she is already trying to hold it up, as it is in two weeks she went from having allot of pug like folds under her head to developing a real neck!. Its amazing how many changes take place so quickly, although I'm trying to take pictures everyday and remember every little detail of each day it will never be enough. Her little hands and feet already seem huge compared to when I first met her in the hospital. Its hard to think about without getting teary eyed. A year is going to fly by and I will never get these sweet baby moments back again, yes I know new and exciting moments will come and they will be just as precious to me. But having her has really made me appreciate the limited amount of time we all have on this planet and also the REAL importance of appreciating our loved ones and making the most of the time we have with those people and animals we hold dear to us.



I read a book entitled the Continuum Concept throughout my pregnancy, while some of what was written was a bit too left wing for my tastes the basic message of trusting your babies ques and your own intuition stuck with me. For us its working pretty good, Buggito seems pretty happy and despite the fact I had to wait two hours to meet my baby post delivery I don't feel like I missed out on boding with my baby, by applying the continuum method to my baby I feel we have bonded really well. So thats my two week update!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

My reccomendations...



Palmer's cocoa butter for stretch marks. I used this twice a day on my belly throughout my pregnancy and I only ended up getting a few stretch marks during my last two weeks before the baby came. At the last week I wasn't using it very often, I should have though I may have had even less to report.



Onesies with snaps up the front!!! At least for the newborn size, when your still learning to dress a baby for the first few days pulling things over their head can be frustrating for both parties. Unfortunately all the cutest onesies only snap at the crotch!. Maybe try those for after the first month.

Don't go overboard with the stuffed animals.....now that we are almost done the babies nursery, we are finding out ALL those cute stuffed toys I needed to buy for baby will be homeless for a few months when she starts to sleep in her crib and is still to small to have them with her.



Medela lanolin cream!~If your planning on breast feeding buy this first, apply to your nipples after every feeding, it doesn't even need to be washed off before the next feeding. The first two days I started breast feeding my nipples began to get cracked and bloody, not fun~ ever pick a scab off your nipple tip....yeah~gross. But once I started using this cream they quickly repaired themselves and now stay perfectly comfortable even if your baby has better suction than "Hoover" like mine!.

So here are a few things this rookie mom reccomends!