"It was a bash... it was a MONSTER BASH!"

We got back from a family trip to Mexico very late on Friday (after flight delays and 12 hours of travel) and hosted Easton's first birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Needless to say, we didnt think that one through very well and were pretty much zombies all day! It turned out perfectly though, and everyone had a great time!

Our families and a few friends and their kids came to our house for a “Monster Bash”, complete with monster cake (which an amazingly talented friend of mine made!), monster balloons, lots of food, and a slideshow I put together with our favorite photos from his first year. We also decorated with streamers, a colourful Happy Birthday banner made by me, and a couple of monsters I made out of bristol board and construction paper on the walls. The favours were homemade oatmeal cookies (with baby oat cereal in them) shaped as “1‘s” and they were actually quite tasty considering I made them! He got lots of cute outfits, some books and puzzles, and a play circus tent from his Oma and Opa (Dan's parents)! He also got his first RESP contribution from my parents, which is such a great idea and something I’m so happy to be starting for him so early. From Dan and I he got a mini stick hockey net, a Thomas the Tank mini suitcase, and a car track carpet and cars. I also made him a Growth Chart so we can track his height every birthday.

I'm going to end it here with some photos from his party!

Have a great day :)

Happy First Birthday!

Happy 2014 everyone! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Christmas and New Years, and that you’re enjoying the fresh start that a new year brings.

I know I remark every month about how fast Easton is growing up, but I really cannot believe he turned ONE today! The baby days are gone... Hello toddler-hood! A whole new ball-game. I was a little teary eyed last night as I put him to bed, my little squishy newborn is now a 25lb toddler (still a baby to me!) and although I love seeing him grow and learn, I just wish the first year didn’t go by so quickly.

Since the last time I blogged (his ten month update), quite a bit has changed… Easton is full out walking now. He took his first independent steps before he was 10 months, and by 10.5/11-ish months he was toddlin’ like a pro! It’s so cute when he walks because he uses his arms as much as his legs, as a way to balance I suppose, so he’s always got his hands up near his shoulders. He also doesn’t bend his knees very much so he kind of thuds along, swaying side to side a little bit. It’s pretty adorable, if I do say so myself.

He’s also learned to go DOWN the stairs, which is a great skill to have but scares the bejeezus out of me because he’s not 100% proficient at it yet, and tends to get distracted by things and slip. We have to follow behind him in case he takes a tumble, which he’s almost done on numerous occasions! Boys!

Easton also says a few words which is just CRAZY to hear. He says mama, dada, uh oh, and I think I’ve heard him say ‘da’ (dog) and “baow” (ball) a couple of times. He also points at things he wants or where he wants to go, and makes a cute “oh” sound as he does it.

His sense of humour is developing nicely and whenever someone he knows makes a silly face or does a crazy gesture, he laughs hysterically! He’s got an amazing belly laugh that is so hard to describe, but it just warms my heart.

On the flip side, I have noticed he’s starting to throw mini tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. He pulls the huge pouty face and whines and squeals so loudly, it’s such a cringe-worthy sound! I usually distract him by pointing at something and saying “Ooohh look Easton” after which he does the aforementioned “point and OHHH”, but sometimes I just ignore him and he stops right away once he realizes I’m not down with that!

He still loves to eat, and his repertoire of foods is expanding. We recently got back from a week in Mexico where he tried lots of new things! I’m also still breastfeeding him 3 times a day - when he wakes (6:30-7:00 ish), around noon, and at bedtime (7:30-8:00). I have plans to wean him down to just the morning and bedtime feeds in the next couple of weeks as I hope to pick up more supply teaching during the day. We’ll see how that goes! Ultimately, I’m ok with nursing twice a day until 18 months or so but I don’t think I’ll go beyond that, although the World Health Organization is now recommending 2 years. He gets a bit of cows milk from a straw bottle here and there, so hopefully the transition goes smoothly.

Sleep is going great! He still takes two naps a day (albeit short ones) and finally sleeps through the night for 11 hours! Hallelujah!

Easton had an awesome birthday party this past weekend which you can read about here:

Monster Bash!

To our little man on his very first birthday,

Easton, you bring a smile to our faces every single day. You are such a happy, smart, handsome, silly, determined little boy and we're so proud to be your parents. Getting to know you this past year has been the best time of our lives and we can't wait to watch you grow in the coming year.

We love you more than anything!

Happy Birthday E!

Love you always,

Mama & Dada

I think that’s it! Sorry for such a long post but I didn’t want to miss anything.

I'll leave you with some adorable Cake Smash photos that I took yesterday!


Have a great day :)

** Banner made by Chantal at UrbanFIZZ Home Decor! **

10 months old

 My Sweet Baby Boy,

I love you more and more each day. Your smile makes my heart warm, your dancing and your laugh make me giggle, the way you become more mobile, talkative and clever every day amazes me.  You’ve grown so much in the past ten months, both physically and developmentally. You’re very bright and curious, you always have been, but it’s really starting to show these past few months how much you’ve learned in your ten short months! 

You took your first steps this week, and you are SO proud of yourself when you walk all alone. Although you’re only taking a few steps before you start to wobble and we have to catch you, I’m still so proud of you! You’ll be running in no time!

You’ve got 4 teeth now, although the top two are just poking though. I can’t wait to see how your face will change when we can see that adorable little gap-toothed grin! 

You do so many cute and funny things. When you’re playing with your wooden animals, you like to growl like your making animal sounds. When daddy puts on country music you get so happy and start dancing (flapping your arms!). Your favorite song right now is Gord Bamford's “When Your Lips Are So Close”.  You like to put whatever you’re holding near my mouth and if I pretend to chew it, you laugh hysterically! You can wave, give kisses and high-fives. You love pointing the remote control at the TV and pressing the buttons… such a boy!  You love to play tug-o-war with Lucy and the blue bear, and you also throw her the tennis ball to fetch! Your favorite toy (this makes your daddy SO proud) is your mini hockey stick.

You now nurse 4 times during the day (when you wake up, after both naps, and before bedtime) and sometimes once during the night. It took some effort to get you to sleep without breastfeeding, but now you go down really well with just a minute of rocking and a quick song. You also sleep much better at night now that your can put yourself back to sleep consistently!

You eat 3 meals a day and 1-2 small snacks, and you LOVE healthy food. Fruits, veggies and yogurt are your favorite. When mommy is at work, you drink whole milk and water out of a straw cup no problem too! I was so stressed that you wouldn’t drink anything when I went back to teaching part-time, but my first day back, you drank milk from a straw bottle like it was something you had always done!

You’re ten months old, but I still can’t believe I haven’t known you for years. You’re my main man, my sweetness, my monkey, my Easty Beast, my Boo-ka-boo. I love being your mommy. I wake up so happy (even before 6:00 am!) because I get to spend my day with you.  Although you’re almost a toddler, you’ll always be my baby.

Love you to the moon and back.

- Mama

8 months!

Easton is 8 months old! (closer to 8.5 now, but whose counting!?)

He's crawling like a machine, but is getting bored with it and wants to be standing as often as possible, and 'walking' with a chair/activity table/walker, whatever else he can find! He's a SUPER curious and high-energy baby, and I must say I'm a bit nervous for when he starts walking independently... because I'm pretty sure running will quickly become his favourite method of transportation! 

He's also babbling a lot, with 'ah' and 'eh', clearly winning for favourite words! He laughs hysterically when we rough house with him, and gets very excited when he gets to play on our bed! It's hilarious actually, he can't contain himself and turns into a little panting puppy, crawling all over the covers and burying his face into the pillows and giggling! It's so cute. 

 

He's mastered the 'pincer grasp' so meal time is one of his favourite times! He'd much prefer to be feeding himself little pieces of whatever we're having than being spoon fed puree. Some of his fave finger foods are: apple (baked so its good and soft), pear, peach, tomato, cheese, potato & sweet potato, cheerios, egg, chicken, and those little puff things (which don't really have any nutritional value but do contain 40% of his iron needs, so I give him a handful each day just so we're covered). The only thing he'll tolerate being spoon-fed is yogurt. He's also tried lasagna, butter chicken with rice, various stir fries, grilled cheese and tomato, and many more 'grown up' dishes! As much as he loves food, he's still very much enjoying his milk, nursing about 6 times a day. 

Here is what Easton's routine looks like these days (with lots of activity time and outings with mom and dad in between!):

7:00 - Wake up and Breastfeed

8:00 - Breakfast (usually a handful of Cheerios, 1/2 pc of fruit, and some yogurt)

9:30 - Breastfeed and Nap (45 mins)

12:00 - Lunch  (usually something like; cheese/egg/meat, a veggie and a fruit. 

1:30 - Breastfeed and Nap (1.5 hours)

4:00 - Breastfeed and Snack

6:00 - Dinner (whatever we're having!)

6:45 - Bath

7:00/7:30 - Breastfeed and Bed

(He still has 1 middle-of-the-night waking which could occur anywhere between 11 pm and 5 am! I nurse him and he goes back down easily). 

It took us ages to transition from 3 naps to 2, but now that we're there, we find it much easier because it means we can go out and get things done without rushing back so nap time doesn't occur in the car! (He always wakes up when we stop). He pretty much nurses to sleep, but I always sing to him before I put him in the crib (You are my Sunshine), and I know he's partially awake because he opens his mouth for his pacifier every time! ha ha! Nursing him before nap time has been the only way I've been able to get him to take a good feed since he started noticing everything going on around him and is super distractible!  

What else is new? OH, he's got 2 little teeth on the bottom and they kind of surprised us because he really didn't show any major signs of teething. Maybe a bit more drool that usual and a few more night wakings for a couple of days, but that's about it. I hope thats a trend that continues for all his teeth! When they first came in, he bit me a couple times while nursing, but nothing lately, so fingers crossed on that too! 

In terms of size, I'm not sure what he weighs right now but if I were to guess, I'd say about 21-22 lbs (just based on the fact he was 18 lb 10 oz at his 6 month appt). He's wearing 12 month clothes for the most part, and has size 3 feet. He's about 29 or 30" tall. Percentile-wise, he's always been in the 75th for weight and 95th for height (surprise surprise!)

All in all, he's a very good baby! He's active and energetic, always happy and smiling :) We have our share of meltdowns, refusals and sleeping issues, but we can't imagine life without our monkey! He's completes our little family (for now!) and we're having a blast!

On Breastfeeding...

Alright so I wanted to do this post during World Breastfeeding Week, but looks like I'm a month late. It's been a busy summer! Anyways, here we go...

Breastfeeding is hard. A lot harder than I expected. Before Easton was born, I figured it would be convenient, cheap and of course, the healthiest food for him. I was right about those things, but what I didn't realize was how exhausting, painful, INconvenient, and frustrating it could be.

For the first 8 weeks of his life, I cried a lot when I fed him.  No one told me how painful it would be, how my nipples would be tender, raw, cracked and bleeding. How I'd have to sit with him attached to my boobs for 45-60 minutes every 2-3 hours, 24 hours a day, for weeks. How I'd have to fight him to take a bottle of expressed milk so I could go out for more than 3 hours, a fight I would lose, time and time again (and still do, to this day!). I researched breastfeeding before he was born, but I guess because I had already decided I wanted to do it, I didn't really think much of the downsides of nursing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm COMPLETELY pro-breastfeeding. It's the way God (or 'nature' if you'd prefer) intended for babies to be fed. There are so many wonderful benefits to breastfeeding, and I plan on nursing Easton beyond his first year of life, as long as he's interested in doing so (within reason!). (Don't worry... you wont find me whippin' out a boob at the mall for my 4 year old... not that there's anything wrong with it if that's what you choose, it's just not for me!).

I guess you could say I have a love-hate relationship with breastfeeding. Mostly love, but there's some hate in there too, I'm not gonna lie! I've been nursing Easton for 8 months now and there have been several instances where I've wanted to quit, but I've persevered because I know its the healthiest choice for him, and I want him to have what's best.

Speaking of what's best... I recently stumbled upon an amazing article over at "Alpha Parent"  which chronicles the timeline of a breastfed baby, outlining the benefits for each month of continued breastfeeding. I've done somewhat of a summary here...

IF YOU BREASTFED YOUR BABY FOR...

1 week: You’ve provided your newborn with Colostrum, the most valuable food he will ever ingest in his lifetime and skin-to-skin contact which helps regulate the baby's temperature, breathing, heart rate and sugar levels.

1 month: You’ve provided your baby protection against food allergies up to 3 years old and respiratory allergies up to 17 years old

6 weeks: You’ve lowered the risk of chest infections up to 7 years old

3 months: You’ve provided your baby a 27-40% reduction in the risk of asthma, enhanced development in the key parts of the brain, a 19-27% reduction in the incidence of Type 1 diabetes and lower incidence of ADHD

4 months: You’ve provided your baby with protection against ear infections and respiratory tract diseases for 1 year, and a reduced risk of SIDS.

6 months: You’ve provided your baby with protection again eczema during the first 3 years, and a 19% reduction in the risk of childhood leukemia

7 months: A breastfed baby is more likely to score higher on intelligence tests, and be generally more active and alert than babies who did not have the benefit for their mother’s milk.

8 months: Your child will be less likely to need orthodontic work or speech therapy.

1 year: Your child is more likely to display better social adjustment when they begin school, have a lower risk of heart disease, a lower mean blood pressure and total cholesterol, a lower prevalence of obesity and type-2 diabetes as an adult. You’ve saved more than $1200.

2 years and beyond: A child breastfed for more than 2 years will have fewer types and shorter duration of illness, less medical care than their non-breastfeeding peers and a higher IQ.

Benefits for mom:

•   Reduces the risk of breast cancer

•   Reduces the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer

•   Lessens osteoporosis

•   Promotes emotional health by reducing the likelyhood of postpartum anxiety and depression

•   Promotes postpartum weight loss

As you can see, breast milk is truly AMAZE-BALLS! I'm proud to be a breastfeeding mom, and I'm proud of the women I know who breastfed their babies for ANY length of time. It's one of the greatest gifts you can give your child. With that said though, I certainly don't believe myself to be better than mom's who feed their children formula. I gave Easton one bottle of formula every night for a couple of months until he flat out refused to take it around 4 months old. How you choose to feed your baby is a very personal choice and is dependent on your own personal situation. There are also so many reasons why the breastfeeding relationship comes to an early end (or can never begin in the first place), but as moms, we all want to do what's best for our babies and that's what matters most.  As long as we're nurturing, loving, responsive and supporting mothers, our children will thrive :)

1 week old

8 months old

Sleep Math...

Baby sleep - Something I've found to be one of the biggest mommy mysteries! As babies grow, their ability to stay awake for longer periods of time between naps and nighttime gradually extends. The hard part is knowing WHEN and by HOW MUCH to extend their awake times to achieve the optimal results. Extend awake time too long and you've got an overtired baby on your hands, high cortisol levels, and disastrous sleep. Put baby down before they've been awake long enough, or for too many naps, and you risk really messing up their night time sleep!

Since he was born, Easton has gone through many sleep changes and struggles. Most recently, about a month ago, he started fighting bedtime and night sleep in general. He went from sleeping from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am with only 1 feed (10:00 pm... without even waking), to waking every 3 hours and the only way to get him back to sleep was nursing (he was never hungry, just wanting comfort). We tried the "Sleep Easy Solution" like we did at 4 months, but it just wasn't working this time around! I really wasn't sure if it was teething or a growth spurt or the due to the many developmental changes he's growing through right now, but nothing that worked before seemed to be working this time around!

Anyways, last week, we were out of town and got home about an hour after his normal bedtime so he didn't end up going down until after 9:00 pm. Well, he ended up sleeping through until 7:00 am without a single wake-up! I was tempted to put him down at his normal 7:00 pm bedtime the next night, but I wanted to see if putting him down a bit later would result in another amazing night, so I put him to sleep at 8:00. Sure enough, another full night's sleep! We were on to something! For the past week, he's been going down at 8:00 pm and waking at 7:00 am beautifully. Looks like 11 hours of night sleep is our magic number!

In terms of naps, he's currently transitioning from 3 naps to 2 naps, but we've yet to find the perfect timing for those naps. If his 2 naps are too early in the day, we've got a 5 hour stretch before bedtime and he just can't handle that! But if we takes a cat nap around suppertime, he'll end up staying up way too late!  If we stretch his awake time too much, he's a grump and ends up taking short naps. We still have to find that 'sweet spot' like we did with night time sleep. Hopefully we'll figure that out soon and have a perfect all-around sleeper! Here's hoping.

Anyways, just wanted to do this quick sleep update so I can refer back with baby #2 someday! I'll leave you with some 7 month shots of E which I forgot to post last time! I'll be posting again in 2 weeks when he turns 8 months :)

A quick 7 month update

Mr. Easton will be 7 months tomorrow and since last week, he's started crawling! …Oh.... and he’s pulling himself up to standing too! What the heck!? My little baby went from laying on his back to play and falling over repeatedly while trying to sit, to full-on mobile, exploring, independent little man in just a month! I’m so proud of his accomplishments this month and while it’s a whole new ball game now (can you say constant vacuuming!?), I couldn’t be more excited that he’s able to get where and what he wants on his own! He’s discovered that the dog food is off-limits, the door stoppers make a loud vibrating noise when you try to pull them off the wall, the high-chair looks like a fun thing to climb, and you can’t crawl through the sliding glass door, no matter how hard you try! 

       

That's it for now :)