Saturday, March 26, 2011

100th Blog Post!


Wow! I guess I'm officially a 'mommy blogger' now! Over the past 14 month I've shared 100 stories, struggles, photos, memories, ups and downs while Caleb changed from a hands-clenched, eyes-glazed tiny baby to the walking, talking, laughing, loving little boy he is today. I thought a fun way to celebrate my 100th post would be to write The Top Ten Things I've Learned about Parenting, so here it goes:

1. Call for daycare the day you find out you are pregnant. No joke.

2. Cloth diapers are not nearly as hard to use or as gross as I thought they might be. I'll write a whole post on using cloth diapers at some point. But for now I'll just say that I've been really happy with them.

3. Books are helpful at times, but nothing beats your own intuition. There were times when Caleb wasn't sleeping much that I found comfort in reading anything I could about improving a baby's sleep habits. Even if it didn't work, which it usually didn't, it made me feel like I had a plan and wasn't completely helpless. In the end, I think it worked best to go at my own pace and do what felt right for Alan and I and for Cale. For a long time that meant not letting him cry one little bit and instead bringing him to bed with me when he would wake up. Eventually that changed and I started to feel ok with letting him cry some, but on the nights when it didn't feel right I wouldn't. Alan and I made our own plan that allowed us to be adaptable to different circumstances but still helped us make steady gains each night.

4. I was shocked at how many other parents were going through similar sleep troubles. Babies who wake up frequently at night is very common. Not just for the first 3 months, but for the first year, often longer. I found this both comforting and a bit scary - if the other moms weren't making progress, would there ever be any hope for us??? In the end, each parent finds what works for them and more and more sleep comes. But I'm glad I knew others going through it, so I didn't feel like a complete failure!

5. At times I've felt that nursing is my only tool to solve Caleb's problems - if he is hurt, waking in the night, cranky...I nurse him. I know this isn't a great approach, especially now that he is older, and I'm consciously trying not to depend on it as much (and I actually don't do it nearly as often as I once did), but I think deep down I'm a bit scared that once he's weaned it will be much harder for me to find other ways to comfort him. Especially at night when I really want to be sleeping.

6. Continuing on the nursing theme, I was really surprised at how all consuming it was for the first 6 months when breastmilk was the only source of food for Caleb. It was also tough for Alan because there were times when he wanted to help out so much, and was so willing to be the one getting up at night, but the job fell solely on me. If I did happen to have a few bags frozen, they were so valuable that I only wanted to use them when it was absolutely necessary. White gold, we'd call it! Because we were feeding on demand, those little bags represented a few hours of freedom. I think next time around, I won't put as much pressure on myself and will allow for a bit of formula if I need a break.

7. After 6 months, when a baby can eat solid food, life gets much, much easier. Crying in the car? No need to pull over, just hand them a piece of banana and the smiles return instantly!

8. Baby cloth sizes make no sense at all. At 14 months, Caleb wears size 24 months. I think there is some sort of conspiracy going on around this issue.

9. The most important step we have made in helping Caleb sleep better is putting him in his crib while he is still awake. He now doesn't even let out one peep and just falls asleep on his own. Magic!

10. I feel like I've truly learned a lot about love, for my son, my husband, myself and my entire family.

Can't wait to see what the next 100 posts will bring! Thanks for reading, everyone.

Musical interlude

Friday, March 25, 2011

Grand grandparents

We really don't have a little baby anymore.

It has been an action packed week for Caleb and I. We headed to New Brunswick where was organizing some workshops around the Bay of Fundy. Cale stayed in Fredericton while I was on the road with work. He had a great time visiting with family, singing and dancing for everyone and showing off his many new words and tricks. It was fun to see him play with cousin Monica (11 months) this trip. They shared lots of high fives, laughs, toys and even a good bye kiss. Adorable.

Grampie and Grammie Jeffries then brought Caleb to Halifax yesterday and they'll be staying for the weekend so I can get some work done while Alan is touring the West Coast with David Myles. We are so lucky to have amazing grandparents to help out in times like this. Even though we aren't in the same city, we are able to count on them when we really need the help. And Cale LOVES time with Gr'ga (Grampie and Grammie), LaLa (Linda) and Greg (which he can say surprisingly well), and I have a suspicion the grandparents enjoy spending time with him, too.

Eating Grammie's delicious spaghetti dinner. No shirt required.

Hanging with Greg

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Second Spring


I love that I now have memories of Caleb from a year ago. I often think 'this time last year we were doing this...', but it is also nice that the things he's experienced before are still completely new to him. This spring he'll really notice the birds singing, the leaves on the trees, the flowers blossoming... he'll love being outside without layers of clothing, swimming in lakes and bonfires on our front yard. It is Caleb's second Spring, but it will bring all firsts for him.

Caleb's one year photo just came in from Sears. Such a handsome little guy.

I've got some very happy news to share. Arlo has found a new, wonderful home. A loving family with teenage kids, a huge fenced in yard AND another beagle! He is apparently very happy in his new home and his new owners couldn't love him more. I feel such relief and satisfaction knowing that he is now bonding with a new family in a stress free environment and it makes me really happy to picture him chasing his beagle sister around the yard.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Wee Care

So proud in his new adarondack chair (a gift from Grammie and Grammpie J!)

I'm happy to report that Cale was finally accepted into a daycare! We've been on a waiting list since 4 months before he was born and a spot just opened up fo us now. Crazy. He'll be starting on March 29th at the Wee Care Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This should make work schedules a lot easier for Alan and I. We went in to meet his teachers and it seems like a great place. The teachers told me they are a 'sensory based' daycare, so I'll need to bring lots of extra clothes because he'll be getting dirty. They even let them play in a pool filled with jello from time to time! Sounds like tons of fun to me! I can hardly believe that soon he'll be coming home from daycare with artwork to hang on the fridge!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Speaking and Signing

Carrot juice from a big cup = colorful face art!

At 13 months, Caleb is learning so many new words and tricks that it is getting hard to keep track of all his new skills! He has about 20 words that he can say, if you include animal noises like 'roar' and 'quack' - two very popular sounds in our household right now. He also says apple, cracker, banana, go, up, pretty, hot, hat, mama, dada, ball, uh-oh, hi, bye and a few others. He said 'Greg' very clearly right before my parents left last weekend, which was a nice parting gift for my dad.

We've also been trying some baby sign language with him. This was a completely new concept to me until our friends Shelley and John gave me this book (below) as a shower gift. The idea is that although baby's lack the vocabulary necessary to communicate for a few years, they are able to communicate very effectively much earlier than that in other ways, such as signing. Advocates for baby signing say that this skill can help relieve a lot of the frustration that comes with not being able to speak by giving baby's another way to express their needs. It can also take some of the guess work of of a parents life by knowing exactly what the baby is trying to communicate.


At around 11 months, I decided to try teaching Cale just a few basic signs that I felt would be most helpful - more, diaper and all done. 'More' came really quickly and is one that he uses quite often. I taught him in the bath. He clearly wanted me to run more water to play with, so I would turn the water on for a second then do the 'more' sign while saying the word, and then turning it on again. After about 10 times, he got it and began doing it on his own. We then tried it with a banana, I gave him one small piece and would sign and say 'more' before giving him another piece. By the end of the banana, he was happily giving me the sign and was visibly proud of himself. I couldn't believe how easy it was. We are still working on 'diaper', which he can do but only if I do it first and he also knows 'book'. 'All done' is a new one that I'm sure will be in his repertoire before long.

Asking for 'more' cereal to rub through his hair

'Book' (open and close hands). Notice his first face scratches from a slip on the ice.

Speaking of signs, I saw my two first true signs of Spring this morning. A flock of robins on the lawn and a song sparrow singing in a tree. What a wonderful way to wake up on a sunny, Sunday morning. Winter...your days are numbered!