LB is 1 week old!

Well ... so on Tuesday LB turned 1 week! Woohooo ... and he's still alive! Hahaha ... so much has changed since we had Papoosie. I remember with Papoosie it was a constant checking to see if he was breathing, positioned right, covered enough, etc etc ... now I'm comfortable enough to know that if he's wrapped up fine, he will be ok unless he's really screaming. A little moving about doesn't make us jump, and we can tell the difference between the tummy ache cries and notice the signs of his being hungry right away. I'm so much more comfortable with this little one than I was with Papoosie which makes for so much less anxiety and worrying about every little thing. It's made things so much easier and I've been able to have a lot more fun with him as a result.
So far LB is quite a happy and well-behaved baby. He's still in the 'sleep all day' stage so he only has about 1 hour of awake time in the morning, and 1 in the afternoon. He rarely cries (he'll give one or two sharp screams for a tummy ache, but it won't go on for minutes or --God forbid--hours). I'm really hoping he doesn't get cholic and gas pains like Papoosie did. With Papoosie it started around 1 month so I guess we'll just have to see. That was a hard time when Papoosie just WOULDN'T STOP CRYING ... and it lasted till he was like 6 months old so I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that LB will be spared.
I got my stitches taken out yesterday but a TERRIBLE rash has popped up on all the places where I had surgical tape stuck on me ... my back (where they gave me the anesthetic), my wrist (IV drip), and the cut (that strip is the WORST). It's REAL REAL puffy and itchy and ... who heard of an allergy to surgical tape anyway? And why would it come out a WEEK afterwards? Oh well ... hopefully in a couple days it'll go away.
I still spend most of the day lying down (not so much sleeping anymore though) because I still have pain in my right side, and if I'm standing for too long I will start getting dizzy, but I feel real good and very much on the mend.
I'm going to be doing Papoosie's 13 month update after this too ... so I'll finish here with some pics!

In pictures newborn Aiden and newborn Brandon are very much alike! Here's Brandon:

And here's Papoosie:

LB is here!

My Little Brother is here! 

On the night of the 14th Mommy stayed up all night with those 'owie pains' that she called contractions and the next morning she left with Daddy to go to the hospital! Then I didn't see them for the rest of the day and I missed them so much! But the next morning Daddy came and we went to see Mommy at the hospital! And I met HIM for the first time!!! I was so excited to see Mommy and there was another surprise for me too!! 

This is how LB looked when he first came out ... only MORE purple (Mommy said)!

He was bigger than I was when I came out ... he weighed 2.8 kg! But look at those cheeks!

All extra 300 grams must've gone to those cheeks!

He has long fingers just like I did!

Mommy and LB are home now and are resting. Now that they are Home I get to see them whenever I want and I am always so happy to visit. I can't wait for him to grow up so I can play with him!!!

I will post more pictures of him later.

So much love

May 1st Pool day!

On May 1st we took our first trip to the pool! Lots of pools opened today and it was the perfect day to 'test the waters'. Godfather and Godmother joined us and we had ourselves an awesome time!

Interested in the fountain in the middle of the pool.

The water was a little cold ...

Time for a little tanning session (?)

Nothing better than a nice cool beer on a hot sunny day!

Your butt has NUTHIN' on my butt!

Time for another break ... 

TICKLE TORTURE!

We're coming for YOU mama!

Daddy we have FOOD you don't need to eat meeeeeeeee ~

After our break it's back into the water!

Ending the day right ... with ICECREAM!

I got my first sunburn/tan and had a great time!!!

-Aiden

April 29th Botanical Garden

So summer is here!!! It was a nasty 2 weeks with lots and lots of rain (in other words ... being stuck at home!) but it's finally ooooovah!!! And there's lots to do and many new places to go!

Here are pictures  from when we went to the Botanical Garden. I didn't actually walk around cause we picnic'ed in a shady flower garden and didn't move ... so I didn't see any other types of flowers or trees or whatever ... but I enjoyed this small patch of flowers anyway! 

And I had lots of fun with Godfather and Godmother as usual! Enjoy the pictures!

-Aiden

Happy 1st Birthday Aiden

My baby turned 1! OMG!!! This post has already gone unpublished for WAY too long so I will just forget all the sentimental stuff (well ... most of it anyway) and post quick!

First of all, his measurements:
9.5 kg. Despite his refusal to eat, he really picked a good time to have a growth spurt! Doc was so proud of him!
Unfortunately, his other measurements are exactly the same as last month. So apparently he was so busy filling out that the other parts just were neglected. Oh well ... I'm just happy he almost made it to the 10kg mark at 1 year old!

Here are some more statistics:

*1,700 diapers changed.

*123,000 ml of breast milk pumped

*93,500 ml of breast milk drank from a bottle

*Spent 7,800 min on the boobs

*49,000 ml of formula drank

(yes I kept track!)

*started eating fruit puree and yogurt around 4 1/2 months

*started drinking juice around 5 months

*started eating cereal from 6 months

*stopped pumping and giving breastmilk around 6 1/2 months (around 12 weeks pregnant)

*stopped drinking in the middle of the night around 9 months

*stopped drinking formula from the bottle at 10 months (only takes formula and cereal)

I kept a book of the times he would drink/eat and be changed so I could keep an eye on his schedule, feeding quantities, etc. I stopped at 1 year because I don't think it's that important now, but I will probably keep the book again for LB.

Anyway, it's been QUITE a full year ... just looking at those numbers makes me pause a second and go Whew!
I honestly have to say it's been the most wonderful and fulfilling and yet tiring year of my life! I have never had so many moments where I just stop and sigh because I'm so happy! Watching my little Papoosie grow up this past year has just been AMAZING! I was going through pictures of him from this past year to try to make a slideshow or something but I only got up to when he was 6 months! Too much work, getting ready for baby, and taking care of Papoosie to have time to do other stuff! But maybe eventually I will get around to posting those other pictures.

Papoosie is an AMAZING baby! Every parent thinks so, but my baby really is the cutest, sweetest, smartest baby EVER!! A lot of things that I was worried about how to 'teach' him he just gradually started doing by himself!
-Putting himself to sleep. For naps he still likes to be held, but to fall asleep at night he refuses to be in our arms, and wants to roll around on the bed and 'play' until he puts himself to sleep. Of course it leads to him going to bed a little later than I would like, but for now I'm taking this as a win!
-Feeding. Still feeding him purees but he eats pieces of fruit, chicken, cheese, etc etc with his hands extremely well!
He now knows how to say: please, thank you, I'm sorry, bye bye, hajde (come here), kiss kiss, no no, listen to me, and he also points to let us know what it is that he wants.

Gosh there was probably so much more I wanted to write about but with so little time I can't remember it all!
I am just THE happiest mother to have the sweetest cutest baby to call son! It's been an amazing year and I know this year is gonna be even busier, and crazier with LB joining the party ... but I'm looking forward to the challenges (this is my CHARENJI! spirit right now ... I might not be as confident tomorrow!).
Happy Happy 1st Birthday my love and I'm looking forward to many many more with you! Mama loves you sooooooooooooo much!!!!