Can a baby be bulimic?

Staying warm while mom gets his bath ready.

We tried butternut squash last night! He winced at first, but then dove right in - another big hit! I had actually given him a taste as I was making it a few days ago, and he hated it. He kind of convulsed at first, and refused a second taste. But when I ate some in front of him, he wanted more. I'll have to remember that for unpopular foods down the road. He was on a completely full stomach, but ate an entire ice cube tray cube's worth of squash, and was clamouring for more. How much am I supposed to feed him? He went crazy with the banana too. One day, I decided to rely on his cues, to see just how much he would eat if given the chance. He ate an entire banana on a full stomache, then nursed some more, then threw up. Then nursed some more. It's like he's bulimic. Then he went to bed, with this huge, swollen belly. I think it gave him nightmares or something, because he woke up screaming a few minutes later, like shrill, freaked-out kind of screams. I've never run up stairs so fast! When I picked him up, he was shaking, and his heart was beating a mile a minute. I definitely didn't want a repeat, or to have to clean up bright orange puke, so we just stopped at one cube. Besides, Doc West said this is supposed to be practice food - all of his calories should still be from milk. I have to go in next week for John's six-month check-up and shots, so hopefully he'll give me some idea of what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm totally lost when it comes to food.

He went after my taco salad the other night. It was the farthest we've seen him fling his body. He was like a little stunt guy, flying through the air. We were eating on the bed, and Mike was done, so he was trying to hold John, who was propelling off Mike's lap, to fly to within grabbing range of my plate. He got pretty close a few times. I wonder what part he was after, or maybe he just thought it looked like fun to eat without a spoon. He isn't allowed a single thing in it yet. Under the current guidelines, he's only supposed to be eating rice and oats, if anything at all, right now. Though, maybe we should start beef sooner rather than later - it has iron, and tastes a lot better than baby cereal.

I actually found some non-fortified cereal. It's not babyfood - there's apparently no such thing as non-fortified babyfood. It's like oatmeal, only rice. It has nothing but rice in it. We tried a spoonfull, but it made him gag so badly, we stopped right there. He kind of shuddered and convulsed for a bit afterwards, and then wanted to nurse - probably to wash the taste out of his mouth. I tried eating some myself, to help things along, but it made me gag too. That trick only works for things you'd be willing to eat yourself. Either we'll mix it with fruit next time, or we'll just skip right to oatmeal. It was pretty gross.

P.S. - Mike just got his new schedule - he's scheduled for full-time until March, which is when hiring for the summer rush starts. So, I guess the slow-down is just a myth, or something they tell the new guys to thin the herd for winter. So, our plans to bring John to Dryden look a little shakey at this point. However, there's always the strike. There's a strike vote at the end of January - not a vote to accept a contract, an actual strike vote. Mike, the good Conservative he is, will be voting No of couse. He's even planning to write an anti-union speech, which I'm sure will go over very well - but he's heard through the grapevine that it will probably be a Yes vote. If so, we'll probably be on our way home at the start of February. If he says what he wants to say to the union, he'll want to skip town for a while.

He can sit!

Hmmm..does that belong to me?

Look ma - no hands!

He can sit all by himself now! Well, for a minute at a time, tops. Then he topples over. I feel the need to wrap his head in bubblewrap.

Mike got a day off yesterday. His manager forgot to mark him down on the calenday or something, because his automated system said he wasn't scheduled. He called in just to make sure it was right, which it was. Normally, he'd fight it, and get a shift given to him anyway, but he needed a day off, so he just let it go.

It was perfect timing - I needed to get groceries yesterday, and with him home, I'd have help freeing the car from its chunk of ice. He just did it for me, which was really nice.

On our to-do list were groceries and choosing a new crib for John (courtesy of Gran and Gramps P). Mike has been eager to set up John's nursery. He's become such a light sleeper, that Mike always wakes him up when he comes to bed. Of course, he's not exactly careful when he comes. He often hits John's cradle with the door, and even if he doesn't, he turns on all the lights, crashes around, throws his clothes about, and starts talking to my sleeping body in his full-volume voice. Like John, I can't sleep through that much commotion either, so everyone's awake. To make matters worse, Mike thinks John is awake because he's hungry, so he picks up this poor, groggy baby, brings him to bed, and starts playing with him, which is totaly NOT what he wants. Guess who's job it is to soothe the tantrum which invariably follows?

So, anyway, John will be getting his own room. It's going to take a month for the crib to come in though, which is fine by me. I like having John so close, Dad induced tantrums aside. I mourned the end of co-sleeping, even though it was hard to get a good night's sleep with him there. My comfort was that at least he was in the same room. Once we move him to another room, I won't even have that. I'll have to listen to his little baby snores and moans through a moniter.

Speaking of baby moans, John is starting to wake up! He finally slept through the night again last night, and he's suddenly too big and long for some of his clothes. He might just be chunking up on banana, but I wonder if all this crankiness and sleeplessness and constant round-the-clock eating has just been a really big growth spurt? He is very noticibly bigger all of a sudden. He hasn't had one of those in a long time. Though, it really does seem like teething. Maybe it's both at the same time. Who knows. I just hope he goes back to normal, and soon!

Hope you're feeling better soon, mom and dad!

John's first Christmas Part Two - the pre-Christmas gifts

This is a gift from Great Grandma Phillips, Great Auntie Karyl and Great Uncle Allan, for John's nursery. Auntie Karyle embroidered it herself - it has all of John's birth info.

Checking out a new toy from Great Grandma Walchuk, while modeling a new outfit from surrogate family, "Grandma and Grandpa" Jim and Joan, and "Auntie" Laura. 

John, looking very distinguished in his new jammies, also from Jim, Joan and Laura. They also got him a great chew-toy, which is temporarily frozen in the car.

These are some of John's gifts which came early - we'll be opening the rest on the Orthodox Christmas. I think I mentioned it earlier, but even though it's Christmas, it's just a regular day for us because Mike is working all day. We always make dinner together, and sit around talking all day, so it's just not Christmas without him here. We're celebrating Ukrainian Christmas this year instead. If he's working that day? Well, I guess we'll just pick a random day.

I have a feeling a lot of kids got those walkie talkie radios for Christmas. I've been hearing voices on John's baby moniter all morning.

We did squeeze in one tradition for regular Christmas - we watched It's a Wonderful Life with John last night. He liked the credits at the start the best. I was trying to nurse him, but he wanted to watch the letters instead. Unfortunately, it ended past his bedtime, so he doesn't know how it ends - he melted down just after Clarence arrived. Maybe next year - we watch it every year.

I still don't believe Mike's working. Thankfully, there's nothing trivial on his board - every single one is out of service. Even still, he plans to make them all feel horribly guilty. Though, in their defense, they probably aren't expecting anyone to be working today. When our water heater exploded on Labour Day, I never thought they'd send a couple of guys out that day to replace it. I didn't even think anyone would be there to pick up the phone on a holiday. I was just going to leave a message. I felt pretty bad - I could hear them in the basement griping that anyone would call in on Labour Day. Now I know better - I'll just suck it up next time a utility blows up or conks out, because I don't want some poor guy to have to give up his holiday for me.

John's doing great! Still loving the banana! He's not gassy, but he's still really grumpy now and then - I think he's teething again. You can see the drool rash on his cheek and chin in the photos, and he's been biting like crazy. I guess I need to put cream on all of his cheeks now - he sleeps with his face in a puddle of drool, so it's having a hard time healing up.

I made him some baby food yesterday - apples and pears. Though, I'm still going to try to find that iron free cereal. He's started waking up hungry throughout the night, even though he's been sleeping through the night for nearly three months. I don't mind getting up and feeding him - we've started co-sleeping for part of the night again to make it easier on everybody - but I'm worried it means he's not getting enough to eat in the day, and it's just going to keep getting worse until he can get something to fill him up. He always falls asleep right after his banana, but it isn't really a stick-to-the-ribs kind of food. I was talking to a mom online who's son is the same way. She said she just made him regular adult oatmeal out of the little quick oats. She said it solved his digestive issues, he loved it and it kept him filled better than baby cereal. That sounds like a good idea, but Mike thinks we should still find the baby version to start off with, because it might be easier to digest. However, it will have to wait until it warms up a bit - our car is encased in ice right now from a big ice pellet storm that blew through. The ice scraper is frozen inside. I'm such a pansy - if I were working, I would be out there chipping away with a credit card or something, but there's no rush now. I have the luxury of waiting out the cold snap. At least until the food runs out - then things could get ugly.

It's actually really beautiful here right now. It rained, then froze solid, covering everything in ice; now if you look up into the trees, all the branches twinkle in the sunlight. It's really pretty. Treacherous for anyone trying to walk, but pretty. I tried taking a picture, but the camera can't pick it up.

Sorry if this is all really boring to anyone. I'm still writing to keep family posted on us and John, but I have no idea who's reading anymore. Regardless, whether you're directly related to John, or are a friend of the family, or a friend of a friend or relative, I hope all of you are having a great Christmas!

So long Project Rice, hello Mission: Banana

No more paste for me!

I hate to have to say it, but even organic rice isn't good enough for my guy. It seemed alright at first. No rash, no obvious reaction. He had a little gas that night, but I thought nothing of it. But the next day, my sweet, mild-mannered little guy had mutated into a screaming, foul-tempered ogre. He fussed. He wouldn't settle to sleep. Well, it wasn't THAT bad, but it's all relative. He was in a bad mood for John, who's usually all smiles. I thought he might be getting Mike's cold, or maybe it was teething. Never occurred to me it could be the rice - after all, it's organic. Nothing in there but rice and iron, right? Nothing to bother him, right? So I gave him more. He gobbled it up, and seemed to be fine. That night, man did he scream! He had such terrible gas he couldn't sleep. He screamed with each toot, obviously in a lot of pain.

As an experiment, we skipped the rice the next night. Miraculously, by the next morning, my sweet little smiley guy was back. It was like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

Now what? He's obviously ready for solids. He's got a good appetite and he eats with gusto, but this just wasn't working out. Perhaps it's normal, I thought; but if it is, he's never getting weaned. So, poor Doc West got yet another call from crazy-mom-who-doesn't-know-anything (that would be me.) I sure hope he can bill for calls from frantic new moms.

So, his phone diagnosis was "a very sensitive little gut." There are babies who can't handle the iron that's been added to baby cereal, he says, and it seems mine is one of them. The treatment is non-fortified cereal. They don't sell it in normal stores - I'll have to go to a healthfood store to get it, he says. He told me not to worry about his iron supply yet, just keep breastfeeding lots to prevent constipation, stick to plain, non-fortified cereal, and try the regular cereal in another month.

So, it seems every other baby John's age is gobbling down cereal laced with palm kernel oil, food addititves and artificial iron, and loving every bite, but my big, strapping, healthy baby needs special health food store food? Sheesh!

I hung up feeling a little weary. I'm growing quite a collection of little boxes filled with things John can't eat. The thought of hunting down yet another little box likely destined for the collection was frustrating. It took me a long time just to find the organic brand. Hunting down health-food store baby food could prove a challenge, especially in a city where healthy eating is considered choosing a Tim Horton's donut over a Krispy Kreme. To make things worse, we had a snowstorm brewing - we got eight inches of thick, wet, icy snow last night, but it had already started in the afternoon. People were sliding all over the place, and sirens were going almost non-stop, with police heading to accidents. Not a place I want to be, especially not with John.

So, I said to heck with the rice. The only thing he needed from it was the iron anyway, and he can't handle that. All that's left is paper mache paste, and there's nothing magic about starting with that. I know La Leche League says to start with meat, so I'm sure you can start with nearly anything.

As a result, John has skipped past rice and oats entirely, and has started with banana instead. It's sweet and mild, hypo-allergenic and easily prepared, and I happened to have a bunch of ripe brown spotty ones, perfect for mashing.

Wow. I thought he liked the rice! Banana's a hit! He didn't grimace at the taste once. In fact, after a few little bites, be kept pushing forward in his seat, and grabbed my hand with both of his to get the spoon in faster. I guess I still wasn't going fast enough, because at one point, he grabbed the whole bowl, and tried to stick his face into it. I had to mash a second helping, because he was lunging for more, eyes and mouth wide open. He ate a third of a banana, threw up, and still wanted more. At that point, I stopped - I think he was actually full, and just going after the taste.

So far, so good. After one very large serving, he has no rash, no fussies and only a couple of little, painless farts, which is pretty typical for him anyway. This morning he was all smiles, just like normal, and went down for his nap without a hitch. It looks promising so far. I have a few days worth of spotty bananas, so we'll press on, and hope it's a keeper. Just think, I'll finally be able to add something to the John Tested, John Approved list in the sidebar.

I'm so glad I don't have to bottle-feed him. Can you imagine? If he turns into a miserable, gassy grump with just one teensy teaspoon of fortified cereal, can you imagine what he'd be like on formula, which is all iron fortified as well? I'd probably be one of those deranged, sleep-deprived parents, with a miserable, colicky baby on my hands.

Anyway, wish the bananas luck. Any suggestions for what we should try next?

Out of the mouthes of babes

John and Mary, enjoying some quality time

John has become quite the chatterbox with all these new sounds he can make. I thought I'd share a few of the things he's been saying lately, whether he realizes it or not:

"I wanna dig."
"En guard."
"Daddy." (Daddy has yet to hear it.)
"Wait!" (Well, minus the "T." Coincidentally, said just as Mike was about to leave for work. John got a big hug from Dad for saying it.)
"I love you." (Said three times now. Once in the middle of the night, once to a chew-toy, and once, coincidentally, during the hug mentioned above. One of the few times in my life I've seen Mike melt.)
"Ralph Nader." (This one made Mike cringe, to put it mildly. And all this time, I thought John was a Kerry supporter.)

A solid start

Now THERE'S a guy who's enjoying his food!

After a couple of pretty rough dress rehearsals, solids enjoyed a great opening night last night! John was definitely ready this time. (I love it when my Mommy instincts are right. Well, actually I read it in a book, but my Mommy instincts told me to trust the book, so I think it still counts.) He opened wide for every bite, and although he still thinks it's pretty vile, judging from the look on his face, he swallowed everything, opened his mouth for more, and reached for Dad's hand to keep it coming. We just mixed a couple of tablespoons, and he ate everything with relish, but it was probably the just right amount, because he did spit the last bite out.

We actually started with the organic rice after all - oats do technically have gluten. So we talked it over, and decided to play it extra-safe, and go with the organic rice, which has nothing but rice and iron. No gluten, no chemicals. Not much in there to disagree with him. So far, so good. No throwing up, no dark circles, and most importantly, no nasty, weepy, raw, red rash, which had already appeared by this time the last time we tried solids. Keep your fingers crossed. So, we'll press on, every night for a week, then switch to the oats if all is still well, then we'll debate how to go from there. There's two schools of thought - one school says to start with orange veggies first, then yellow, then green, then fruit, so they don't develop a sweet tooth. The other school says to start with fruit for breastfed babies, because breastmilk is super sweet, so fruit's a more familiar flavour. They recommend banana first, because it tastes the closest. Though, we've just fed him basicly paste and he gobbled it up no problem, so I don't think it makes much difference what kind of flavour we start with.

While we were waiting for Mike, I gave John the spoon with cereal on it! It was pretty funny! He got it into his mouth just fine. (Well, after smearing the cereal across his face, that is.) But he wasn't sure what to do with it after that point. He kind of played with it with his tounge, so he got some of the rice off, but he kept pushing it too far back, making himself gag. Then, he didn't seem to know how to get it back out. He sat there looking at me, mouth gaping open, with this spoon shoved in his mouth, like "what am I supposed to do now?" But he got it in by himself - that's half the battle!

More pictures below!!!

It tastes so bad, but keep it coming! 

Mmmmm...yummmm 

Open wide! 

She's not allergic to babies after all!

Look Grandma and Grandpa W - there's hope for more grandkids yet!

We finally got to meet Vicki's mystery man! This is John, with Auntie Vicki and "Uncle" Billy, who's visiting from Texas. (Those are the overalls you sent, Mom and Dad - so cute!) John approves of Vicki's pick - he had lots of fun looking at Billy's goofy faces; he giggled himself to sleep after they left!

Mike and I like him too - he seems to be a really nice guy. He has lots of funny stories about fishing with dynamite and fun with shotguns, which made us both nostaligic for home.

Mike, true to form, was sick just in time for the meeting. He told me the night before he thought he was coming down with something. By the next morning, his voice was hoarse. He stopped by between jobs to code off, and he looked like death warmed over. However, he stopped by a pharmacy in the afternoon, so he appeared normal by the time he got home, and left for work fully drugged, so he'd have a life-like appearance for his customers.

John's first Christmas, Part One - The Tree

Here's us, with a very under-dressed John at the tree farm, just after we picked out our tree.

Yesterday was Mike's first day off in two weeks, so we headed out to get a Christmas tree. We hadn't bothered last year - the worst of my pregnancy was hitting, so I felt way too exhausted and yicky to bother with any of it. But the year before, we had gone to a tree farm, and were really impressed. The tree was not only the most beautiful ever, but it lasted forever. How do we know this? Well, in typical fashion for us, we missed the tree pick-up in January, but it was still so lush, we didn't care. After a month or so, we kind of got used to it being around, so we left it up. February came and went, and it was still so green and fresh-looking, we decided to see just how long it would stay green for. It was sometime in mid-March when our riding president phoned to say he'd be over with some forms we needed to sign. We hadn't known him long at that point, and he certainly hadn't been to our house yet, so we were horrified. It was spring, and we still had this fully decorated tree up in our living room.

So, it was all hands on deck for the next 20 minutes. We whipped off the decorations in record speed, and chucked them all down the basement stairs. Mike knocked the tree over, and started to drag it out the back door. However, it wouldn't fit throught he kitchen, so he had to take it all the way back through the house, out the front door, across the lawn and down the ally, where he hoofed it over the fence into our backyard.

Of course, it chose that moment to let go of every single needle. By the time it got to the back yard, it was completely bare. Nearly every single needle now formed a prefectly green path of needles, running from our living room, to our kitchen, then back to the front door. And of course, it had been sitting in month-old water all this time, which was now smeared all across the hardwood floor, making a wet, sticky, needly mess.

I got to work with the broom and towels. Amazingly, by the time Jim arrived at the door, the mess was gone, with nothing left but a fresh pine scent.

I'm sure he wondered about the streak of needles cutting across the snow on our lawn, but he said nothing. He didn't even say anything about the dozens of needles wedged in the door jam as he came in. We don't know if he noticed. To this day, we've never told him that story.

We just recently threw that tree out. We were going to take it out for last year's tree pick-up, but were so embarrassed to put this wizened, brown, bare-branched shadow of a tree, out next to everyone else's green ones. We finally put it in a dumpster we had rented to clean out some renovation rubble, two years after the fact.

So, anyway, back to this year. We know they last, we don't need to do that again. But we wanted another tree-farm tree, so we packed up John and all of John's gear, and headed out to the country for a very poorly planned event, typical of us.

The idea was, we were going to take John in the stroller. (I know, I know. The funny thing is, I used to work for a rural paper, and should have known better. Who takes a stroller on a farm?) But, his car seat snaps onto a stroller base, we were going to do it that way, for simplicity. It's a good off-road stroller with a suspension system and big tires. We thought, "this will work." So, I dressed John accordingly. He HAS snowsuits to suit a variety of conditions, but we left every one of them at home. Instead, we dressed him in a jacket, thinking we would just pile lots of blankets on top to keep him warm. Layers, right? Layers are good. The logic was, by using the small seat, it would eliminate the need for bringing every piece of baby equipment he owns. We have a larger car seat, but it doesn't snap into the base, so we'd need to bring his stroller seat, which also snaps into the stroller base, but is much larger and more comfortable for him than the small seat. However, we were also planning to get groceries which requires the small car seat, which snaps right onto the grocery cart, because he can't sit up in the basket yet, and the large car sat doesn't come out of the car. So, we're thinking, we're going to have to install the large seat for driving around, and also pack the small car seat for groceries, and the carraige seat for the stroller. To heck with that - the small car seat can do it all, so that's all we took. Follow me? HOWEVER, he can't fit into it when he's wearing anything heavier than a jacket, which is where the layers come in.

Anyway, we get to the place - a different farm than last time - and I stayed with John in the car, while Mike headed into the store to see just how the place works. He returned with a saw, shaking his head, and told me to come, and bring nothing but John. I asked him what was going on, and he just muttered over and over "this has bad idea written all over it."

John, of course, was not dressed to be carried. It was cold, and windy and he had nothing on but a light jacket. We grabbed a fleece blanket, but it still wasn't going to be enough. Mike led us on foot down this old farm road. Apparently, the guy told him to leave our car where it was, and walk to the trees. He's telling me this as other cars are driving past us, and as we pass signs pointing to additional parking ahead - parking right beside the trees.

Redardless, we trudge on, me trying to keep John warm, Mike shaking his head, saw in hand, muttering the whole way. We finally get to the trees, but they're up a steep slope of thick, wet, slippery mud. It was two steps forard, one step back all the way, but we finally got up to survey the wide selection of dwarfen trees. Not a single one was taller than me. We saw one in the distance that looked to be a normal size, so we made our way across the field, feet sticking in mud every step of the way, but it was a mirage. It was just growing on a hill and still wasn't much taller than me.

After about three minutes of this, Mike muttered something about pre-cut trees stacked up near the barn. So, we headed back, cold, muddy and defeated, to pick out a pre-cut tree. John was frozen, so we put him inside Mike's coat to stay warm. His feet were sticking out the bottom, and his head out the top, but, other than a bright red runny nose, he looked really happy and warm for the walk back.

All in all, it was actually a lot of fun. The farm is owned by a really nice Dutch family. You could tell they were laughing at us city folks, with all our plans to harvest our own tree, only to give up minutes later as our Norman Rockwell fantasy gave way to cold, muddy reality. We could see them laughing at us again when Mike was trying to strap the tree to the roof. They all stood around on the porch watching, now and then offering us a better rope. But they were really nice. They LOVED John. He giggled at all of them. They took our picture to mark the occasion, and they gave us their very last "baby's first Christmas" ornament for him.

We're definitely going back next year. We just have to remember to wear boots, not shoes, and dress John appropriately.

The rest of the day was spent decorating. Mike worked on the lights outside, while I worked on the tree. John cooed and giggled beside me in the jumper while I untangled lights. (Yes, the outdoor lights were still up from last year, but Mike still had to start over again. Did you know that squirrels eat through wires?) Mike came in to warm up when he was done for the day - it was freezing rain by then, but he just had to put the ladder away for the night. A few minutes later, we heard a crash from outside - the ladder had fallen down, taking about 75 per cent of his lights with it. So, he has to start over again. Um, again. He planned to do it today, but one of his co-workers went AWOL, so his manager asked him to cover today and tomorrow. That means yesterday was his only day off between November 29, and the end of the year. Thankfully, extended shifts are over for the winter, so he won't be working non-stop 12-hour shifts anymore.

We finished the tree together, and it started to snow! John wanted to nap before the lights and decoratons went up on the tree. The fresh air did him some good - he slept for six solid hours. He slept so deeply, we took turns checking to make sure he was still alive. He woke up at midnight, and we fed him in the living room, so he could see the tree, with all the other house lights turned off. He loved it!!! His little jaw dropped when he saw all those lights! He was completely spellbound. Once the initial awe wore off, he kept looking back and forth from me to Mike, to the tree and back again, with a huge grin on his face. It was so cute!

We took some pictures, which follow. Sorry for the blur on some of them. We were experimenting with the night scene setting.

Dad strapping the tree to the roof. John and I, along with the whole farm staff, were watching him. 

John and Dad taking a break,once the tree was in place. 

John's "baby's first Christmas" decoration - it just needs a picture, but we can't bring ourselves to cut one up to put it in. 

Just minutes after we finished decorating the tree, we looked out the window and saw this! 

John checking out the tree - sorry for the blur. The shutter speed had to be really slow. 

Our favourite present 

Peek-a-boo...

I see you!

Kinda late on this one - it's been busy here just getting organized. Trying to do all the things I wanted to do while John was off, but never had the time. Now, his routine is more predictable, so it's easier to do things.

Mike's been swamped too. He has the next few days off, thankfully, to get caught up on stuff - he has a lot of stuff to do for me, and a lot for the Conservative association as well, but I think he'll just get to the party stuff before he has to get back to work. Apparently, guys in this company take their holidays at Christmas. He's now working every day from December 20 to 31, including Christmas Day. That means no Christmas for us, but it's OK. We'll just follow the Orthodox calendar this year - John will never know the difference. Besides, the money is way too good to pass up, and Christmas is the "pity shift." Apparently, you get fed all the cookies and sweets you can imagine as a normal person - he plans to tell every customer that he was called away from his first son's first Christmas to fix their line, to milk it for all it's worth. He's pure evil.

John discovered "D," today. He actually said "Daddy" clear as a bell, but Daddy wasn't there to hear it. It was just a random fluke, so I don't imagine it will happen again for a while. If you make enough random sounds, eventually something english will come out of it.

Retro photo of the day

John and his friends

Must remember to download camera...

John and I went to our local Early Years Centre yesterday. WOW!!! Is it ever cool! They took us on a tour, and showed us all the places he'll be able to play once he's up and running - he's gong t have a blast! They have this HUGE gym filled with things like tunnels, that he can crawl through and climb on. They have a pool with a slide that's completely free until he turns seven. They have a science station, and an outdoor playground. All pretty cool stuff. I signed us up for the Baby Mother Goose program. SO not my thing, but everyone says to do it, so we're doing it, starting in the new year. The ladies there said he's "unusually attentive" so I guess it's unfair to keep him with just me to entertain him - he needs a little more excitement in his life to keep those neurons firing.

John has figured out how to make an "L" sound with his tounge, and has been practicing. He's also very good at "G" - he's known that one for a while, as well as "B." He goesn't to the whole "gaga" type thing yet, but the extra sounds definitely keep the conversation more fun. He's also getting really good at pulling himself up by holding my thumbs, over and over and over and over. Who says babies have a short attention span? I sure couldn't do the same thing that many times in a row and still be excited about it. Also - he grabbed a toy while sitting up for the first time!!!

A crappy story

An old favourite - John at two weeks old

I could sit and watch him sleep all day - he's so perfect.

Until he poops, that is.

Mike has been really wiped from work lately, so he went to bed early last night to recharge for another long week of overtime. John wasn't tired yet, so we played a little and watched a little TV until he wound down. When it was time for John to go to bed, Mike was already fast asleep, so I got him changed in the dark, so I wouldn't disturb Mike. I settled John into bed, tucked him in, and he started to drift off.

Just as he was on the cusp of sleep, from his bottom came a dreaded noise ...pfffffffft..... pffft...pfft...pft... Dang. Maybe it was just a wet fart, I thought. A really wet fart. The sound of fart passing through copious globs of cream, perhaps? Could I really take that chance with such newly healed skin? Unfortunately, I couldn't, so out he came, this time to the dim glow of streetlight at the end of the bed, so I could see a bit of what I was doing.

Of course, he was jolted awake in the process, but it wasn't in vain. There it was, a week's worth of poop. Yes, he's a weekly pooper. How lucky, you may think. But you wouldn't say that if you've seen a week's worth of baby poop, threatening to break through the banks of a diaper.

Pfffffft...he wasn't done yet.....pffffft...

When he seemed finished, I got started with a cloth - NOT a squirt bottle ** see Note below** - and mopped him up. With the mess contained, I moved the old diaper to the side and started to dry off his bottom.

That was when Mike rolled over, and splatted his foot smack dab in the dirty diaper. And splat is really the only word to describe it.

Luckily, he had taken a sleeping pill, and was too far gone to wake up, even though he was wriggling his toes in baby poop. He snored through both the initial splat and the frantic mopping I did in the pitch blackness, praying he wouldn't roll over and smear it through the sheets before I was done. I hope I got it all, but there was definitely no footsies going on in our bed this morning, just in case. I haven't told him what happened. I don't think I'm going to.

Ah, the joys of motherhood. At least I'm safe for another week.
Better go - I have some sheets to wash.

**Note** Yes, I learned the hard way that poop and squirt bottles don't mix, with last week's poop. I was holding John football style over the sink, with his bare bum in the air. I was squirting, but it wasn't working. The poop was too sticky, so I squeezed the bottle harder, to make a more concentrated spray. The important word here is "spray." It got the poop off alright, but sprayed it all over the sink, the wall, the mirror, my face, my clothes. Delightful. I switched to the "swish in warm bath" technique, but I just got a big smear of sticky poop on the bottom of the tub, and his bottom was no cleaner. I tried holding his bum under the tub faucet instead, but he started screaming and the poop clung on anyway. That's when I said to heck with that and switched to a cloth, rash be damned.

More sitting

Our little frog

Sorry for the repeat - can't get enough of this pose. He held it for several minutes this time! He kept straining his back, I think trying to sit up straight, but he's not there yet.

It snowed again yesterday, so I took John out for a walk while it fell! It was pretty fun. He peered at it suspiciously from under his sun visor at first, but after a while he relaxed and seemed to enjoy watching it fall. There was only one other stroller out other than me, and the poor baby's view was covered by blankets and sheets of plastic. What good is going for a walk, especially in something new, if all they have to look at is a blanket!? I got a lot of "what are you thinking" glares from passers-by, but it wasn't really cold, just snowing, and he was bundled so cozily he fell asleep half-way through, so I don't see the problem.

I think John was playing hide-and-go-seek with me yesterday. I had him lying on the bed, and I was sitting at his feet. He had the blanket in his hand, and slooooowly pulled it over his face, watching me intently the whole time. When I peered around the edge and "found" him, he burst into a fit of giggles, pulled the blanket away and the whole game started again. He did it several times. It was the funniest thing. I don't know if he was playing a game, or just playing with the blanket, but it was pretty funny all the same.

Ah, I hear him waking up! This is usually his morning nap time, but he slept in today so he's just getting up now.

Best buds

John and Mary, basking in the warmth of the radiator and each other.

You know when Mike calls for you to bring the camera, something strange is happening. Don't worry - the rad was just warm and John's looking straight at Mike in this shot, so you can see, he was right there in case John started to slip. They were actually both enjoying themselves up there, so it wasn't a problem.

We do have all the full-size originals, Bruce! It might be better at this point to burn them onto a CD and send them that way - we have LOTS. I don't mind it going into your newsletter - just let me know when it goes out, so I can try to get lots of good photos up.

We reached another milestone!!! He pulled himself up this morning! He was sitting on my lap, holding my thumbs, and he started to strain. Usually, we pull him up so he can stand up. This time I kept my thumbs where they were, to see how far he could get on his own strength, and he pulled himself right up to standing! He looked so proud of himself - so he sat himself down and did it again, and again, and again. He did it about six times before he got too tired. He's getting so strong!

And he's so cute now - his hair us coming in thicker, so you can see the colour better. It's not really red, or orange - it's more coppery, like the colour of a new penny. I think it's fitting, because Mike's has darkened to the colour of a really old penny. He doesn't like that analogy, but it fits so perfectly.

Mike has been working crazy hours lately. He's worked overtime every day for two weeks straight, and counting. Pretty good for December. We had a huge wind storm recently - always good for business in the utility repair industry.

He's he subject of an investigation at work. He had gone to a job, and the client came out to greet him, accidentally locking herself out. It was late at night, freezing cold and she was all alone and without a coat. He tried to help her get in, but couldn't find a way, so she asked him to break one of her windows so she could get inside. Not wanting to leave her alone in the cold, he obliged her. She was very thankful.

Well, her landlord wasn't so thrilled. Yup, it was a rented house. Why she didn't think to call her landord for the spare key, I don't know, but he lodged a complaint with the company. Mike offered to pay the damage, of course. His manager told him not to be so nice next time. The investigation isn't complete yet, so we don't know what the company will decide. He won't get fired, but the cost could deducted from his pay, which we think is fair. It was cold and late, he was tired and she was panicked - it was a breeding ground for bad decisions, but that's not the company's fault.

Ding dong, the rash is dead - almost

The naked nap's days are numbered
It's too bad, though - he actually seems to like them. He's probably going to be a nudist when he grows up. I thought babies hated being naked - John has loved it from day one.

John and I headed to Sears yesterday to preview the cribs. He sprung a leak while we were there, so I ducked into the nursing room to change him. The nurse remembered him from last time, and was making faces at him while I changed his diaper. (I had to use a wipe - no squirt bottles there.) Well, she noticed the remains of his rash, when I pulled the rash cream out of my bag - it's ust a bit of pinkness now.

She said it's definitely what a food reaction looks like. (I didn't actually go IN to the doc - he hasn't physically seen it, so he hasn't told me what it could be from.) She said it doesn't generally happen with rice. She said it's either a reaction to an ingredirent, or to food period - his gut may not have been mature enough to handle it yet. She suggested that when we're ready to start again, (she suggested waiting the full six months, just to be sure he's ready) just skip the rice and start with oats. If the same thing happens, it could indicate that he's just not ready for food at all. If it causes no reaction, but going back to rice does, then we'll know it was something about the rice. Makes sense to me.

Unfortunately, I had just bought a new box of rice (I found the organic brand - just organic rice and iron in the ingredients.) They didn't have the organic oats in, so I found a different brand of oats. Luckily, most had fewer ingredients than the rice anyway - proably because oats taste better by themselves. I skipped the brand who's second ingredient was palm kernel oil (yikes!) and went for one that was basicly oats and vitamins, and not much else. It's Heinz, I think. We'll give that a try, and hope he can handle it better.

She said he looks fantastic and very healthy! He's 18 pounds, 4 ounces, which is right on track from the growth chart she had there.