Thursday, Feb 26, day 51

My hair before . . . 

And after!
I love it!

Today, Luca and I went to the Osteopath where we were both fixed up!  Luca had nothing wrong with him and I am getting used to my new slightly different body!  In the evening I had my hair cut . . . what a relief.  It was time!  I feel like I'm part of the 21st century now!  I have had long hair since I was in the single digits! Here's a little video, still getting used to the camera and haven't attempted any editing . . . yet!  Have patience!

  

Wednesday, Feb 25, day 50

Today, we unbelievably recieved a video camera in the mail as a gift from Fab's father and step mom!  

Merci beaucoup pour ce beau cadeau.  Nous allons enregistrer des heures de Luca grace a vous.  (Fabien m'aide avec cette phrase mais je promise continuer pratiquer mon francais!!!) Cette premier video vous est dediee.

I will have to learn how to edit video's properly . . . this is the first video we took with the new camera . . . not oscar worthy but we'll get there!  I haven't had much time to figure this new toy so it'll take a couple days to really get the swing of it.

It's taking me a bit of time to figure out how to upload videos from our new video camera to the blog but I think I've figured it out now.  Hopefully will be able to catch up on posting soon!

Tuesday, Feb 24, day 49

Luca and I catching a bit of sleep this morning (well, Luca catches a lot more sleep than me!)
Today Luca is 7 weeks old!  He so close to smiling on purpose!  When he does smile (which is usually because he has gas) it is the cutest thing I've ever seen.  It's these moments that make motherhood so rewarding.  

I took Luca in to see the dancers at Les Grands Ballet Canadiens du Montreal.  I watched a bit of rehearsal which was so wonderful.  I miss dancing more than I can say.  

In the evening, Fab took Luca over to a friends to watch the Habs and I went to a fundraiser for Les Ballet Jazz du Montreal (my dream company).  I saw a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while.  

Jesse was asking why the Montreal Canadiens are referred to as the Hab's.  Fab tells me it's short Les Habitants which I think is a Quebecer way of say The Locals.  I always wondered that myself!

Monday, Feb 23, day 48

Luca LOVES this position!  We might have to buy one of the Arc Barrels to put in his crib!

(Not sure why my typing is underlined right now - sometimes this blog seems to act a bit weird!)  We tried to put Luca to bed earlier than usual last night - he usually goes to bed around 11 or 12pm, but we put him to bed at 9pm . . . which worked in the sense that he didn't get up for 3 hours, but then he got up every two hours after that!  During the day, I went to the studio to work out a bit while Fab watched Luca on his lunch break.  It was great!  Felt good to exercise!  I was pretty tired after though, I'm pretty out of shape!

Sunday, Feb 22, day 47

Fab and Luca at the little chalet on top of Mont Royal.

Luca seems to like our bed!

Luca had his first tear today - or at least the first I've seen.  The last two nights he has been feeding 4 or 5 times in the evening between 6 and midnight but has also had a sleep for 4 hours straight instead of 3.  Hopefully he's on the road to long sleeps.  He's been drooling a lot and making bubbles.  He'll bite my finger if I put it in his mouth so I think he's starting to think about teeth.  Hopefully he'll continue to just think about them for another couple months!

Fab and I took a walk around the top of the mountain.  There was quite a bit of snow and I really noticed how out of shape I am!

Saturday, Feb 21, day 46

Papa's making breakfast, Ma's reading the paper and Luca's just hanging out!

Marc just couldn't get enough of Luca!
Tarik's teaching Luca Arabic.  What a beautiful language.

Today, Fabien remembered my birthday!!!  There was a birthday candle stuck in my breakfast ham!  Luca also got me a card.  It was very sweet!  

We all went down to the mall to pick up a few things which was fun.  The mall was pretty packed and not looking like there's an economic crisis going on (except there are a lot of sales).  The woman in the Bay said they've cut a lot of staff hours which is a drag because there wasn't enough staff in the Bay to start with.  

In the evening Marc, Vero and Tarik - co-workers of Fabs and friends of both of us - came over for dinner.  (Vero brought the food so it was super easy for me!)  Luca never touched the floor and I was so impressed by how much the men know about babies!  Times have changed - in a great way!!!

Friday, Feb 20, day 45

Luca in the snuggly after a trip to the grocery store.  It was was snowing, about 10 below with a nasty wind chill so it was a short trip!

Today's my birthday! Big thanks to Ma and Gran, Mandy for the Unilever swag, and Marg and Henry for the beautiful bouquet!  I feel pretty lucky.

Luca was great all day - very mellow.  He's becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and will turn his head to watch me if I walk back and forth in front of him!  He's feeding frequently throughout the day and hopefully is prepping to cut back his night-time feeds but I'm not holding my breath.  I don't mind feeding him in the night anyway because if I go too long without feeding him I end up with almost painfully full breasts and I have to pump anyway!

In the evening I had a great visit from my friend Brigitte whom I teach pilates with.  It was wonderful to speak with someone who can talk back!

Thursday, Feb 19, day 44

This beautiful sweater and hat were given to Luca by his great grandmother, Gran Gran.  They're both still a bit big which is great as he's growing out of everything else so fast!

This is Gramma's favourite little outfit.  I just wanted to show how much bigger he is, he used to swim in it!

I bought a little scale that can be used to weigh luggage to make sure you don't have to pay overweight fees at the airport.  I've hooked it up to the car seat and after subtracting the weight of the car seat (10 pounds, they're not light!) I've found that Luca is weighing in at 12.1 pounds!  I'm not sure if it's the most accurate scale but it's kinda interesting.  He feels like he's gaining weight everyday!

In the evening, Fab and Luca went to see Nic and Nancy and Max for dinner and I went to see the Eiffman Ballet of St. Petersberg.  It was a wonderful show and I had a great time out of the house having civilized conversation!  It was the longest I've been away from Luca - about 5 hours.  I was very happy to see him again after!

Wednesday, Feb 18, day 43

Look at that belly!

I added this picture so that you could see the roll of fat forming on his ankle!!!
We had undone one side of his diaper to make it easier for him to pass gas . . . which he did a lot of!
Today, Luca ate a lot and had a lot of gas!  He didn't seem to sleep much but maybe he was being bothered by his gas?  Everytime I figure things out something changes with this little boy and I have to start over!

Tuesday, Feb 17, day 42

His face seems to change a bit everyday!

This is a pretty bad little video I took myself!

Luca is 6 weeks old today!  I've started feeding him more often and he seems more content . . . I feel a bit bad that I was making him go hungry.  Now he's eating roughly every hour and a half during the day!  My supply seems to be fine with this new development so I'm ok with it.  Luca is definately more aware of his surroundings.  He watches me a lot and follows me with his eyes if I walk away from him.  I can sense he'll be co-ordinating his eyes with his hands soon and properly reaching for things.  

Monday, Feb 16, day 41

We managed to catch one of Luca's little sleep giggles!  He only does this when he's sleeping, but we're looking forward to see it awake!  Same with the smiles.

Today, I had a wicked headache so not much really happened.  Luca and I went out for groceries, that was about it!

Sunday, Feb 15, day 40

This is Luca with his girlfriend Francesca!  Francesca is 9 weeks old, Luca is 5 weeks old . . . but they both weigh 11 pounds!  Francesca's very healthy and happy, Luca's just fat!  (He slept through most of their time together too)  I'm impressed by how much more Francesca is able to focus her eyes and respond to her name than Luca.  It's interesting to see other babies develop.  

It was another very nice day in Montreal, we put Luca in his snowsuit again and took him out for a walk.  Fresh air is supposed to help babies sleep at night.  If not, it just feels great to get out a bit.

We think this is a pretty cute outfit!  It was given to Luca by his Ton Ton Cyril et Ta Ta Melanie!

Saturday, Feb 14, day 39

Here's a little video of Fab taking care of Luca!  

Happy Valentine's Day!  Fab and I had sushi to celebrate!  It was a beautiful day in Montreal.  10 below and super sunny.  Fab and I had some organic bacon for breakfast, took turns holding the boy while we cleaned the apartment, and then went for a walk in the afternoon.  Here's a little video of Luca's cute little outfit!  It's a mad dash to get him in some of his littler clothes as he's growing so fast!

Friday the 13th, day 38

Today I figured out how to iChat and a pretty awesome video conversation with my brothers Jesse and Paul!  I was so happy to see them.  Luca slept through most of it but was a bit of a crier in the evening.  Thankfully I had Fab to help and between the two of us, we never get overwhelmed.  We love our little Luca too much!

Thursday, Feb 12, day 37

Overnight, Luca wiggled a quarter turn in his crib!  He's on the move!  I can no longer leave him near the edge of the bed while I go to the bathroom or anything like that.  I think he's a bit colicy as he wails with gas at night, and sometimes throughout the afternoon as well.  It's a relief when Fab gets home from work!  Today I took him out in the stroller (first time without Ma helping me with the doors and all) in the morning.  He overheated a bit - it'll be better when it's a bit warmer and the difference in temperatures between the outside and stores isn't so drastic.  In the afternoon there was a fire alarm in our building (probably just humidity) so I put him in the snuggly and went for an awesome little walk.  He was pretty happy in the snuggly in my jacket.  It was warm as well - 3 degrees above or so.  

Here's a video of Fab and Luca.  Luca was doing his aggitated thing and Fab was trying to calm him down.

Wednesday, Feb 11, day 36

Look at those cheeks!  (Fab's a lot happier than he looks too!)

This is a video of Luca trying to wake up . . . lots of funny faces!

Today, Luca was great!  He slept most of the day and I was able to get tons of things done around the house.  Sadly, I finished the last Christmas pudding today!!!  I think I'll have to wait until next Christmas before I can justify another batch!  I'll miss it - it's one of my best energy sources!  This video is of Fab perfecting the art of holding Luca and sleeping at the same time!

Tuesday, Feb 10, day 35

These first two videos show some good co-ordination developing.

Today, Luca was pretty unhappy a lot of the time.  By the time Fab came home and I was able to go to the grocery store, the sidewalks were solid ice as the snow had melted and frozen during the day.  I'm really looking forward to spring!

Monday, Feb 9, day 34

Today's the second day I'm blogging from my new Macbook computer!  Still learning my around it but I'm sure it's going to be way more efficient than my old computer.  Fab was home from work sick today as his cold is really bad.  I am finally feeling almost 100%.  Luca snuffles a bit and seems to want to eat a bit more which is way of comforting himself.  It was above zero today and beautifully sunny.  I went out for a few minutes but didn't have a chance to get out for too long.

Sunday, Feb 8, day 33

Luca and I enjoying the wonderful blanket Dana, Paul and Piper sent!  Thanks (I'm gonna call soon if I can)!

He's almost smiling!

Luca was great today.  Really mellow.  He spent most of the day chilling in his dad's arms!  We watched a couple movies and stayed in except for a family grocery trip!

This video is just Luca after a feed!

Saturday, Feb 7, day 32

Yes, that's milk on his forehead!

He has some pretty intense boughts of cross-eyedom!

Chair time!

Well, we are all sick now. I'm starting to get over this cold but Fab's just coming down with it. We're not sure how much it's effecting Luca, he seems pretty par for the course these days. Lately he's been jumping awake quite a bit. I guess he scares himself because he'll cry when it happens. I've also noticed he seems to be losing hair on his forehead. I think it's because he rubs his face into the blanket when he wakes up. He only sleeps on his stomach - it goes against everything they tell us - he should always sleep in his back to help prevent SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). When he's on his back he tends to spit up a bit and has a tough time not choking on it. Also he really wakes up when he's on his back. He's just a tummy sleeper!

I forgot to add this video for yesterday's post.

Friday, Feb 6, day 31

Luca can put a chipmunk to shame with his cheek size!

Thunder thighs!
The best sneeze video yet!

Today we went to the doctor again for a check up. Luca weighed in at 10 pounds 5 ounces (4.5 kilos)!!!! No wonder he feels so heavy! The doctor said they are looking for a weight gain of about 25-35 grams per day and Luca's doing around 65!!! I feel that I'm eating twice as much as I did before I became pregnant . . . guess I have a reason!

Thursday, Feb 5, day 30

Chubby cheeks!

Afternoon nap

Today's my first day without the help of my Ma. Luca and I slept in until quite late . . . which makes up for the late start to the night. Luca has been fussy with going to bed initially and often has to fall asleep on either Fab or I before he'll take to his crib. It's usually around midnight before we all calm down. When we got up, I put Luca in his bouncy chair so I could take a shower and make breakfast. He was quite happy and did a lot of conducting of an imaginary orchestra! I spent a lot of the day puttering around and tidying. I think I did a bit too much because with my cold, I didn't have enough milk for Luca again in the evening. It's amazing how much I need to eat to keep ahead of my boy! I think Luca is emotionally ready to start crawling even if his little arms and legs aren't ready yet. I don't think it'll be long - he wants to get around! All in all, it was a pretty successful day - but I sure miss Ma!

Wednesday, Feb 4th, day 29

This little outfit was given to us by our good friend Bea who hand painted it. It's getting small on him already!

I rarely worry about his neck these days as he's holding it up on his own like a champ!

Some good movements and awake time!

I just like how his diaper sticks out of his outfit in this video!

This is a video of Luca trying to wake up . . . without much luck! Lots of good faces and noises!

Today is Ma's last day with us. She leaves early tomorrow morning. I'm sure I'll survive without her but I will miss her a lot. Luca also. It's amazing how a little baby requires 4 hands a lot of the time! I have been fighting a cold, which I think Luca has a well judging by his slightly snuffly nose. On a possitive note, Luca seems to be sneezing a little more often which is always entertaining! With the cold, my milk production seems to be down a bit while Luca's appetite is a little higher than usual. We had to use some frozen milk I had pumped earlier (thank God!). He didn't seem to mind that the milk had been frozen - I think most of his brain is in his stomach these days . . . and by the size of his stomach he's going to be a smart boy!!! New fat rolls are starting to appear on his thighs and upper arms. I will try to get pictures of these soon!

Tuesday, Feb 3, day 28

Cutest bum ever!

Big belly after a feed!

Let go!

Today Luca is already 4 weeks old! He's getting stronger by the minute as you can tell by this video. I went to put him on his tummy on his blanket on the floor and he grabbed hold of my pony tail and pinned me down with him! Guess his hand strength is nothing to worry about!

I went to the Osteopath today to try to align my pelvis again (it's been a little off since the beginning of my pregnancy). I feel much better. I was told that my work in pilates was a huge help in my relatively easy delivery. I say relatively because it's not something I want to relive but it could have gone a lot worse.

Monday, Feb 2nd, day 27

Today we took Luca into Studio Praxis, where I teach pilates. He tried out the Reformer but obviously needs smaller equipment. I don't think he's at all interested in exercising . . . unless it helps him pass gas! I am seeing Luca get bigger and bigger everyday now. His little thighs are getting chubbier after each feed! Pretty soon he'll have rolls of fat on his arms and legs . . . and a triple chin!

Sunday, Feb 1, day 26

Post feeding coma pose

Luca loving his bath time...

Today, Luca had his first bottle of pumped milk after Fabien had negotiated and insisted that it was for Bonnie's good. She finally listened and enjoyed her first outing for more than 1 hour without Luca. And of course, Fabien enjoyed the role of surrogate mother. Luca looked a bit surprised at first but did not complain and drank the whole bottle in no time.

Written by Fab as Bonnie was called to a feed.

Puisque j'ai le privilege d'ecrire cette page (Bonnie a ete appelee en renfort a la cantine), je vais traduire ces quelques lignes pour ma famille:

Aujourd'hui, Luca a eu droit a son premier biberon (de lait maternel) apres que Fabien ait longuement negotie et tenu a ce que Bonnie prenne un peu d'air pour son plus grand bien. Elle a fini par entendre raison et apprecier sa premiere sortie de plus d'une heure sans Luca. Bien entendu, Fabien a beaucoup aime jouer son role de mere par interim. Luca a eu l'air un peu surpris au debut mais ne s'est nullement plaint et a bu le contenu de la bouteille en un temps record.

Bonnie dit qu'elle aimerait pouvoir ecrire elle meme ses lignes en francais (sans mon aide) chaque jour. C'est pourquoi elle va se remettre a pratiquer son francais.

Saturday, Jan 31, day 25

Today's the first day we didn't get a photo of Luca! He was a bit agitated all day anyway . . . not the best photo time. Fab was out most of the day as well (Fab's the best at getting photo's). Here's an extra video from yesterday!