Sunday, July 26th, day 201

Two teeth!

Fabien, Luca and I arrived in Summerland on Friday the 17th. We have had wonderful weather - for the most part. It's beautiful here and usually over 30 degrees in the day. Fab and I have played golf a few times, tennis, badminton and spent a wonderful day with Luca's cousins Bella and Diego. It's wonderful to have my parents around to look after Luca so Fab and I can spend a little time together. I was really ready for this holiday!

Luca got his second tooth on Monday, another one on the bottom. He also has suddenly started to attempt to crawl. It's more of a belly scooch but he's developing more and more everyday so it could be soon that he gets going full force! With the warm weather, we've been able to put him on a blanket outside so he's getting a lot of the Okanagan's fresh air.

Thursday, July 16th, day 191

This is how I roll!

Luca's first fort.  We were definately more excited about it than he was!

He loves sitting now and only falls when he's really tired.

He loves his potty, and we love it too!

Just a quick post today as we're heading to Summerland tomorrow!  Woohoo!!  We are all so excited to have some family time and vacation.  I know I say this every week but Luca is really developing quickly.  He really wants to be mobile.  Turn up the volume for the beginning of this video!

Thursday, July 9th, day 184

That little shiny bit on the bottom gums is actually a tooth!

On Monday Luca turned 6 months old!!!  On Tuesday his first tooth came through!!!  Bottom right.  It's a lovely little fang.  He was very stoic about dealing with the pain and only had moments here and there of tears.  I really mean moments too.  He was fussier in general but was very tough and easily distracted from the pain. 

I have been teaching a few classes of pilates at the studio as a substitute teacher.  It's not enough to cancel my maternity pay over though.  I have enjoyed thinking about something other than Luca for an hour though!  Fab has been very generous with his time and has watched Luca for the hour while I teach.  It's great that the pilates studio is only a couple blocks from his office.  A lucky coincidence we've enjoyed since I moved here.  

The weather has been predominantly raining for the last couple weeks.  I don't mind too much because colder weather in the summer is easier on a baby than really hot days.  I always feel bad when I pull Luca out of the car seat to find him sweaty.  Poor thing, he can't cool himself down yet.

Next Friday Fab, Luca and I are coming out to BC.  Luca and I are staying 4 weeks while Fab is able to stay for 2 weeks.  I can hardly wait!  We've been busy trying to tie up loose ends before the trip.

I shot all this video on Monday.  I wanted to demonstrate Luca's new developing skills (as a 6 month old) of sitting and standing.  Jolly jumper time is always fun too.  Unless he's tired, Luca is always very bright and interactive.  He loves watching my mouth when I talk, and lately has been big into blowing raspberries and breathing like Darth Vader!  Not sure if there's any of that good stuff on this video though.

Saturday, July 4th, day 179

Muscle man Luca!  Holding the whole pillow with only two fingers!

Luca's showing off his bum!  Our couch and chair are proving to be the perfect to practice standing.  The leather is also easy to clean and a bit sticky under the feet so they don't slip.

Always a wonderful moment (and rare!)

Luca is loving to stand these days.  He's developing upper body strength when he's on his tummy and starting to try to pull his hands and knees underneath himself at the same time.  It'll be a while before he really gets this going though!  He has a couple teeth, on the bottom, that seem really close to the surface, but it's so hard to tell how close they are.  He whimpers when chewing things sometimes so I bet his gums are giving him grief.  Last weekend we bought a new car seat for him which will hopefully see him through to two years.  Most excitingly though, (at least for me!) is that we have purchased a little training potty and Luca has really taken to it!  In the last three days he has pooped on it 5 times!  He seems to really understand what to do while on it and goes right away.  I'm not sure if it'll cut out any future potty training time, but I don't think it hurts to start the awareness - elimination communication (as it's called these days) now.  It also means he spends less time in dirty diapers which must be nicer for him. 

Friday, June 26th, day 171

How to keep your baby cool on really hot summer days!  This was at our friend Vero's place on Wednesday.  It was St Jean the Baptist day which is Quebec's "national" holiday.  It was also extremely hot!  Over 30 degrees.  Luca loved the water (as always!)

Nothing makes a bbq like a baby in a bucket!

This is Luca's fish face.

My whole little family trecked to Toronto for my good friend Angel's wedding.  I was a bridesmaid.  I don't have any pictures of the event yet but I'll post them when I do.  It was a great weekend.  Fab did most of my job but it was a little stressful at times as Luca only likes his milk from me.  It meant Fab had to follow me around a bit which wasn't ideal.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all my old Toronto friends, and getting out of Montreal for a weekend.  Beautiful wedding too!

The bridesmaids.  These shots are from the rehearsal brunch on Saturday.

My last Mom and Baby yoga class was yesterday.  We brought camera's in for the occasion!

Luca's a total chick magnet!

A bunch of the ladies from my Mom and Baby yoga class.

It's taken me a week to get on top of things again after the trip to Toronto last weekend!  Amazing how much extra energy is required with a baby!  Luca has been a total pleasure this past week.  He's taking long daytime naps, going to bed at 8pm and sleeping straight through until 5 or 6am.  He's stretching out and all his muscles are starting to work under all that fat!

In this video is a bit with my cousin Mandy and her apartment in Toronto as well as some jolly jumper time and a bit on the train back from Toronto.

Wednesday, June 17th, day 162

Aren't they beautiful!

Luca and a couple girls enjoying the warmth of the day and a little rest on the lawn.

It was so warm, and he loves to be as naked as possible!  This is just after the first round of swimming . . . I thought he was going to nap but he had a little snack and was ready for round two!

After all that swimming, he crashed big time!  I couldn't have woken him if I tried!  (Which I didn't of course!!!)

Luca had his first swimming lesson today!  It was a huge success!  A friend is house sitting in a house that has a pool and a hot tub so a group of 6 moms and babies (and 2 dads that could get out of work) hired a swimming teacher to coach us through the motions of getting a little ones in the water.  I feel so lucky to be involved in this!  

The pool was very cold.  It was about 70 degrees (olympic pool temperature is 89 degrees and most pools are at around 82 degrees) - which is chilly for adults but even more difficult for babies.  Luca and one other baby toughed it out for about 15 minutes but the other babies would have nothing of it!  Luca was also the only baby wearing just a swimming diaper, everyone was better prepared to block the sun with a full body wetsuit.  I was a little concerned he might get a little burn but we weren't out there too long.  Luca is by far the fattest of the crew and I'm sure all that blubber helped to insulate him a bit!  He also floats really well!

After the outdoor pool, we migrated to the indoor hottub which was a wonderful 100 degrees.  A couple degrees warmer than our body temperature and perfect for babies.  A lot of them fell asleep in the hot tub!  Of course there wasn't as much room to move around but we seemed to manage just fine.

In the video you can see me practicing some of the activities the instructor taught us.  Pulling him forward on his tummy which is a very natural thing to do.  I also held him by his head and back so he could float him on his back.  He loved this (which is unusual for babies apparently!).  We also did some submersions - putting his face underwater!!!  It was kinda scary at first but babies are pretty good at getting water out if they accidentally breath it in.  I did the first one of these outdoors in the pool and Luca took a bit a water.  I was told to blow raspberries at him to help teach him how to expel water when takes it in.  Basically you just blow on his face and dunk him in!  He was really a trooper about it all and never complained for more than a couple minutes if he really didn't like something.  He had the most water time of all the babies (once in the pool and twice in the hot tub).  If it weren't for eating and sleeping, I'm pretty sure he would stay in that hot tub all the time!  Even when he was exhausted, he didn't do his usual sleepy whine, he just kept on trucking!

This video is a little long but I included almost all the footage I have.  Thanks to all the moms and dads that picked up my camera to help capture this for me!

Playing with his dad!

Luca after eating some rice cereal!!!

Catching his feet and sucking on his toes is his favourite came right now!

The rest of the week wasn't nearly as exciting as today!  He's starting to get the hang of the jolly jumper but is in general, pretty conservative when it comes to exercising!   I am always noticing improvements in his co-ordination.  Mostly I am impressed by how much I love him!  We are having such a good time together.

In this video you can see some jolly jumper time and some of the sounds he likes to make.  Also, he loves to play with his dad and laugh hysterically - except when the camera's on!  

Thursday, June 11th, day 156

It's important to exercise, or this could be your butt!!!

Luca turned 5 months old on Saturday!  I am really noticing changes in development.  He is starting to use his jumbo legs to stand more and more.  I invested in a Jolly Jumper a couple days ago to help encourage weight bearing.  You can see his first time in it on the video!  

He rolled over - once!  He's strong enough to roll over from tummy to back but he doesn't seem that interested in it.  He can pull his legs up when he's on his back and likes to grab his ankles.  He can pass a toy from hand to hand pretty easily!  On the down side, he's starting to get crankier when he's tired but resists naps as much as possible!  I have started putting him in his crib where he can cry himself to sleep - which takes about 5 minutes.  It felt weird at first but I don't want him to think that I'll rock him to sleep always.

It's been another busy week and I have found myself out all afternoon, everyday!  I keep trying to do a little less so I'll have more time to focus on Luca but the time just flies by.  He doesn't seem to be suffering!  Also, he's getting near the age of crying when he doesn't get the toy that he wants.  I feel like the challenges of parenting are just beginning . . . !  So far I'm amazed at how rewarding being a parent is.  I am so excited by every little development!