Spring has sprung

New favourite activity for both little and big brother! 

Spring is in the air. The sun is shining, the snow has melted, the trees are beginning to bud and Caleb's face has healed. All is well in our world. Odie has somehow turned 8 months old and is learning all the new tricks that come with this exciting stage. He is now semi-mobile. He 'belly shuffles' along the floor, not quite able to crawl yet. He loves attention and definitely moves quicker and further if a crowd is watching and cheering him on. He is making a range of sounds 'dada, baba, mama', and Caleb's personal favourite 'oooga', which has earned him the new nickname of 'Ooga Booga Monster'. He looooves to eat and is thriving with whole foods. I'd have to say his favourite food experience to date was very likely chicken wings - I ate most of the meat and then passed him the bone which he proceeded to gnaw on until he polished it clean. It was like watching a baby caveman in action! 

We are also making progress on the sleep front with Odin. I haven't written anything about this to date, partly because I'm just not as concerned about his sleep patterns as I was with Caleb and partly because I think I was a bit hesitant to admit that we've been co-sleeping with Odin since the day he was born. For some reason, it feels like this practice is highly frowned upon in Western society and I rarely have talked about it with anyone other than close friends and family. We weren't planning on co-sleeping with Odin, in fact I was really hoping we would have him sleeping on his own from the very beginning, but he really seemed to need to be by my side even more than Caleb did from literally his first night in the hospital. Since then he has slept in my arm every single night of his life. In many ways it has been a beautiful thing. He is warm and cute and cuddly and I rarely wake up even while feeding him during the night. I have been feeling rested and bonded and happy with this arrangement for the most part. However, after 8 months of this arrangement, I am starting to feel trapped. Particularly in the early evenings. I used to be able to lay with him until he fell asleep and then sneak away for an hour or two until I was ready for bed. This no longer works with a mobile baby when the high risk of him falling out of bed is just too high. He is also no longer an infant, when research shows that co-sleeping has the greatest benefits for the child and mother. The time has come to make a change. Thankfully, Alan has taken the lead in the transition of getting Odie to sleep in his own bed and his magical combination of rocking/singing/bouncing has been working really well. We are getting our cherished kid-free evenings back as both boys sleep safely in their own rooms....for a few hours anyway, but that is another post for another day!

Discovering grass!

Caleb with a genuine smile!