Jesse Bear at 9 months of life

AH. It's a great day. It started by getting to sleep in until 8:00 this morning. Jesse and I babysat the kids I used to nanny for yesterday, and we had a very busy day. He doesn't sleep very well outside of his crib, and wouldn't take his afternoon nap, so he lost that extra hour of sleep he usually gets. We met up with a friend, earlier this week, at a little coffee/kid play place, and I was amazed at what her little 10 month old cutie could sleep through. He was asleep in his car seat when we arrived, and he slept through her picking him up and moving him into a stroller, through the bright sunlight, into the shop, through ordering coffees, and then he slept while Jesse squealed and babbled very loudly right beside him. Amazing. I can't even open the door to Jesse's room silently without him stirring.

Since the time change, Jesse's sleep schedule has switched to one I favour much more. He does 7pm to 7am with a 15 minute feed around 4 am. I like him going to bed at 7, as opposed to his former 6:00 hour, because things don't feel as rushed in the evening. When Dave gets home, it used to be like... get everyone fed, and the boy washed up and into Jams and in bed in an hour... and I much prefer having a more relaxed time getting that done. It's nice for all of us to be able to have a bit of evening play time, or go for a walk together, too. When I go back to work in the fall, I'll really probably savour those few hours together. Also, Jesse's afternoon nap has also moved until much later in the day, allowing us to get out after lunch for a few hours. I like being home anyways, for 3 or so, to get supper on the go, and get some down time while the boy naps before Daver gets home.

So, this is Jesse at 9 months old now, and I feel like he has picked up and mastered so much new stuff this week. Here are a few highlights:

-Jesse is now putting things BACK into the box once in a while
-He hands people toys or food. Half the time when you reach out to take it, he pulls it back to eat or play with it, but the other half of the time, he actually shares.
-He has a really eczema ridden finger that he chews on all the time, so we try and keep it covered during the day with a bandaid. He has mastered taking the bandaid off. I think he likes the challenge, and I'm tempted to bandaid them ALL up one of these days, and see how long he'd work away at undoing them.
-He reaches both of his arms up when he wants out of his swing, high chair, or car seat.
-He gives me kisses if I ask for them. They are a little scary these days. He grabs the sides of my face and sometimes chomps a bit during the kiss.
- He VOLUNTARILY is going from sitting onto his stomach without flipping out. And while his legs have grasped the concept of crawling, his arms haven't yet. So, he's moving around quite a bit on the floor by sliding on his stomach and doing some pivoting.
-If he is on his back and you ask him to roll onto his stomach, he will.
-If you say "buckeroo," he will throw himself backwards... a little scary, indeed.
- He cries when I leave the room
-He gets the idea of playing catch with Cooper, and throws the ball for him.
-He likes to swat at Coopers face, and put his hands in Coopers mouth. This gets Cooper all riled up, and playful, and when he barks in Jesse's face, Jesse cracks up laughing.
-He knows when it's nap time, and cries when we walk down the hall and into his room, then throws a MAJOR 5 minute tantrum everytime I put him in his crib for a nap. I like when Dave is home and does this, so I don't ALWAYS feel like the meanie.
-He sways forward and back in his swing if it's not swinging to get it moving. And thinks it's hilarious for some reason.
-He pulls himself into a stand up position when he is sitting on my lap using my shoulders, then tries to climb up my body and over my shoulder. He does this on the armrests of the couch too.
-He does NOT sit still unless he has some little gadget to try and figure out.
-His mouth never stops moving
-He is VERY cute.

Well, it's Friday, and I need to get some laundry done before work tonight, and the house tidied up a bit. Dave has a group of guys over, quite often, on Friday nights, and they usually end up cleaning the messy kitchen and doing dishes. Which is nice, but I think I'll try and be on top of it this week. Happy Weekend! Thanks for reading. I'm off.

March Break Bliss and the misadventures of David

It's a dreary Sunday afternoon in Ottawa, and the boys are chillin' on the couch playing some Mario. Cooper is curled up on his pillow on the floor, sleeping the day away. I just downed one enormous mug of coffee, and am enjoying this lazy feeling day.

The past week has been absolutely wonderful, with Dave being on March Break. He had to spend about 3 full days doing school prep and marking- but otherwise spent the remainder with Jesse and I. We've been going to the park, taking lots of walks, watching a ton of LOST episodes, and eating WAY too much Brie cheese. I feel like we really needed some time as a couple and family to regroup and connect, and it's been a great week for that. We were also lucky to have a week full of sunny days in 15 degree range, and that added to the March Break Bliss.

Jesse is such a little boy these days, and has decided his favourite activity this week is throwing things. We fill up this basket full of all his little toys- blocks, rattles, balls, teething rings, etc- and sit him on the floor with it. He pulls one thing out at a time and shakes it to death, then whips it across the room. Now... I'm wondering if I should be discouraging this sort of behavior? Thoughts, anyone? But, he has so much fun with it, and it entertains him by himself for a while, so I've just been letting him go at it. He also initiates peek-a-boo, which is the cutest thing ever. No progress on crawling...still. But, I'm ok with that. I know that he will be into EVERYTHING when he gets moving, so am enjoying not having to chase him, yet.

Dave has been a super wonderful help all week, and I just love him. Yesterday, while I was at work, Dave decided to take Jesse on an adventure. He's been wanting a more manly baby carrier that he could tote Jesse around on his back. Apparently, he doesn't feel very manly using my slings?? :) Anyways, he decided he would take Jesse on the half hour bus trip to babiesRus to pick one out. I told him he was very brave, and should take the stroller... so he didn't have to carry Jesse the whole time. He didn't want to take the stroller, and said he'd be fine just carrying him. I guess the bus ride on the way there was great... Jesse was smiling at everyone, and as happy as good be. But when Dave got to the store, there were a TON of couples looking at carriers in the exact same section, and trying them all on. He sort of just watched everyone, and picked one out that most people ended up going with.

Now, when Dave gets a new Toy or a new anything, he has to use it RIGHT AWAY. A few days ago at the mall, he bought new socks at Sears, and put them on right after he bought them before continuing to any other stores at the mall. I thought that was so funny. So, as with the socks, he decided he needed to try out the carrier right away. Outside of the store, he proceeded to TRY and open the box, figure out all the straps, get Jesse into the carrier, and onto his back. All of this with Jesse in his arms, as there was nowhere to put him. Not even a bench anywhere! He couldn't figure things out, and upon reading the instructions discovered you need 2 people to get the baby onto your back in a safe manner. Now, if that was me.. I would have just been on my merry way with my purchase in hand to try at a later date. But, not Dave. He found some sort of box to sit Jesse on, and try and get him into the carrier, and onto his back... I guess Jesse started crying and fussing, and all these other couples with their babies were looking at him strangely. Dave said he felt awful. Like... everyone was thinking he was this horrible father. Anyhoo... I guess some guy passed by and said one of Jesse's feet was stuck, and helped him out. Dave proceeded to catch the bus back home. However, in all his dismay went the wrong direction on a crowded bus, and couldn't get OFF for 15 minutes. Finally, he got off and turned around, and Jesse started fussing again the whole ride home. When he arrived at the bus stop near our place, Jesse was miserable in the carrier, and Dave went to try and take it off, but the clips were jammed and he couldn't get the thing off his back. He ended up lifting it over his head with Jesse in it, and asked some girl looking at him with concern to make sure Jesse didn't fall out while doing all of this. Anyways, I guess it was a bit of a nightmare. We returned the complicated carrier, and got a much better one today. Oh Dave. Tsk. Tsk. Should have listened to mama. The stress he would have saved himself if he would have just taken the stupid stroller. I must say, though, life is never dull with Daver.

THE MANLY and BETTER CARRIER!

Well, it's my turn to watch Baby Boo, so Dave can have some down time. THanks for reading. I'm out.

A fantastic week gone by...

Well, it's been over a week since I've posted anything, cause my mom in law, Sharon, was visiting for the week from Fredericton. Dave's parents, moved to Fredericton from PEI on March 1st after Rob was offered a position with an engineering company in New Brunswick. I'm sure it would have been nice to get settled before flying over to Ontario to visit, but Sharon had booked the flight before they knew they were moving, and so stuck with the plan.

I've just gotten back from dropping her off at the airport, and the apartment certainly feels kinda sad and quiet without her. We had a great week, and it was just really nice to have her around to chat with, and enjoy Jesse with. I also took advantage of several free babysitting offers, and got out by myself for a few afternoons. It felt very freeing to be able to get out by myself without a baby attached, and no plans or errands to get done. I actually spent one of the afternoons at a few different malls spending some gift cards I'd received for Christmas, but hadn't the chance to spend yet. It was JUST what I needed. A little retail therapy sans bebe. Dave and I also got out for a date night, and that was really good for us. Last night, Sharon and I got out to see the movie Valentine's Day. I loved it! It had such a long list of my favorite actor/tresses, and was just a feel good movie, ya know?? Dave and I feel so very lucky to get along fabulously with each others family, and we're already counting the days until our Summer vacation in Fredericton...where they both now currently reside.

Jesse was a VERY happy and good baby all week, aside from Sunday where he was MISERABLE from teething. He's just so full of life and smiles, and is getting so much more fun to play with. He likes to wiggle his whole upper body like a fish out of water, and when I smile and say "Wiggle," He breaks into the biggest grin, and goes nuts whipping himself around. He's also getting better at pulling himself back to a sitting position when he wobbles or topples, and I'm sure in a few weeks, he'll be a pro. Still NO progress on anything that resembles crawling, as he despises his stomach and rolls onto his back as soon as you put him on it... But I'm not too worried about it. He'll get there eventually.

I have about 6 loads of laundry I've let build up now... and think I should likely go tackle that while the babe naps. Jesse and I are going to go to the park after he wakes up. The weather has been so nice all week...... sunny and breezy... 8 degreesish.....and there isn't much snow left. So, I'm very excited about that. Spring is on it's way. Yay! Thanks for reading. I'm off :)

Back to it

So Tuesday has arrived, and things are back to normal here at the palace. Praise The Lord. The past few days have been less than ideal with trying to recuperate from the stomach flu, and dealing with a teething ANGRY baby and a sick husband who picked up whatever I had. Dave is back to work today after taking a sick day on Monday, and despite puking last night around 3:30am, headed off to work around 6 this morning to try and get himself back on top of things. The evidence on the counter indicates he skipped breakfast and downed 2 cans of gingerale instead. Poor guy.

I must say, being stuck at home for 4 days with a sick little family, was NOT fun, and I was going a little crazy by the end of it. Facebook kept me in the loop about the outside world, and for that I'm thankful for. I find that facebook is a super helpful for a stay at home mom. Having a very demanding and busy little boy, I don't have much solid uninterrupted time during the day. Naps are about it, and this is the time when I do things that I can't when Jesse is up...like shower, haul laundry down to the basement, update my blog, or make necessary phone calls. When Jesse is up, I only have a few minutes here and there when he is content doing his own thing. Jesse wants to move and be be EVERYWHERE all the time, and since he can't walk or crawl yet, he is in this perma-frustrated state lately.

I find that taking a few minutes a few times a day to check Facebook helps me feel connected, especially with other moms who do the same thing during the day. I never thought I would be one to be interested in things like teething and napping, but it's life now..and knowing that other people are dealing with the same things helps me get through some of the rougher days. It's also nice to be able to see pictures and get status updates from our family and friends back in the Maratimes. It's no substitute for calling them, or seeing them, but when you only have a few minutes, it's the next best thing. Facebook also keeps me in the loop about things.... like the gold medal game....which we weren't able to watch, unfortunately. On the same note, it lets me know what I'm apparently out of touch with. This morning, everyone was chatting about the Bachelor? Even my brother was irate about his choice. Too funny. As much as I appreciate FB now, I'm glad it wasn't around when I was in High School. I see the potential for how it could suck all your time away, and perpetuate the drama and jealousy issues that are bad enough in the day to day lives of teenies without the computer as an extra contribution. At A Gym Tale, I hear hear 7 year olds complaining about how they aren't allowed a Facebook account. Dave says our kids won't be having it until they're married :)


Well...those are my few thoughts for the day. Baby is napping away, and I need to cut Coopers hair, get some laundry in, and have a shower. I'm never fully with it until I have my shower in the morning. I hope everyone is enjoying the week so far, and for those of you who aren't. Just imagine your current week, then add on a 2 ended stomach flu, a screaming crying baby with a groaning emotional hubby in the background, and maybe you'll feel better :) Or...just remember that there is a season for everything and "this too shall pass" That got me through a lot of rough times. Thanks for reading. I'm out.