Christmas Family Photos

Taken back in late November, I've been meaning to post these for weeks. :) Enjoy!

Milk is milk is milk?

We are facing somewhat of a challenge with Sam. He continues to breastfeed at least 5 times a day, and has recently started drinking some liquids (i.e. water, juice) from a cup or sippy cup. In fact he's taken to one particular sippy cup the "Take and Toss Little Learner" sippy cup (5 oz) size. They're great, because they are small enough for Sam to handle and drink from on his own. Interestingly, these are the only disposable sippy cups that are recyclable. I picked them up when we were going away on a trip, and believe me, I looked through all the disposable ones there. And the Take and Toss brand is the only one out there that you can recycle. So kudos to Learning Curve, the makers of Take and Toss. Anyway, I digress.

Very soon I will be returning to work part time, and Sam will be spending three days a week at daycare. Ideally, I'd like to be able to send breastmilk with him every day as an option for him to drink. So on the weekend, while I was away, Tim tried giving Sam some breastmilk in a sippy cup. Back in September Sam started outright refusing to take a bottle, so we were hopeful that the sippy cup would do the trick. Not so. Sam did the same head turning, throwing a fit, throwing the cup on the floor that he did when he stopped taking the bottle. The next day we tried some regular homo milk in a sippy cup to see if maybe it was just the breastmilk. Same reaction. Sigh.

For the next couple days Sam was completely resistant to the sippy cup, even with juice in it. Thankfully this evening he started taking it again. Sort've.

Interestingly, I was feeding him lunch and drinking a glass of milk, and he wanted it. So I let him take a sip of my milk. No resistant reaction, in fact he wanted more. What a goof. Obviously he's trying to manipulate us. Maybe I'll have to start pretending to drink his milk, then give it to him. We'll see. :)

Things I Don't Want to Forget

- From 8 to 10 months of age, every time you sang "Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba Barbara Ann" to Sam (envision from the song Barbara Ann with the same tune and everything) he would say "Ma-ma" when you finished. Every time. Without fail. Now he's moved on and says "ba-ba". :)
-When Sam was really little he would dance his thumb along the top of my breast (in a sort've thumbs down way) while he nursed. Now he still caresses and strokes my chest, that is at least during the sessions that he's half asleep. :P
-Leg lifts -ever since Sam was probably about 3 months old, he's been doing leg lifts. He'll do them for extended periods of time, especially in his crib before naps.
- His sense of wonder about everything. How he'll suddenly get excited and point at something and yell. And you look at it, and it's a light...
- His fascination with ceiling fixtures (especially fans!) and how he can pick them out anywhere.
- His fascination with birds. Sam can literally pick out a bird flying in the sky that you wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't pointed it out.
- The smile that he gives me or Tim when we walk into the room.
- How I can be totally exasperated by him because he's been screaming/throwing a tantrum all morning. And then one sweet smile makes all the exasperation disappear.
- His joy/excitement when he learns something new.

Sam's first Boo-boo

Recently Sam discovered how to open and close drawers. Now it's one of his favorite past times. Any time he is near a drawer, especially one at his level, he wants to play with them. I try to keep him away from drawers if I can because who knows what is in them that he could get into, but I do let him open and close his dresser drawers. I figure if he pulls out the clothes, it's inconvenient, but they aren't going to hurt him. And it teaches him how to be dexterous.

This afternoon after changing Sam's diaper, I put him down on the floor for a minute while I put a few things away in the closet. Sure enough, he scooted himself over to the dresser drawer and proceeded to start opening and closing it with some vigor. I told him to be careful, that he didn't want to pinch his fingers. He pulled open the drawer again, looked up at me, grinned, and pushed it closed. There was this moment where his smile went from sheer delight to a realization that something was wrong, and then he started to wail. Sure enough, he had closed his middle finger in the drawer. I went over, released his finger, gathered him in my arms and cuddled him, kissed his boo-boo, and told him it would be all better. He cried for a couple minutes, pointing his little red finger straight in the air. But then it passed, and he wanted to go play. What a boy. :P And so, with the smooth glide of a dresser drawer, came the first of many boo-boos to kiss.

Back to the Snowy North

Our holiday was wonderful. :) Lots of sun, and salt water. Sitting on the boat, feeling the wind in our faces, the salt spray in our hair (and occasional big splashes all over us!). The food was tasty, the company superb, it really was a great time. I came back feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. One major highlight was scuba diving - earlier this fall Tim and I got our open water scuba diving certification, so we were able to partake in several fantastic dives. We saw shipwrecks, shark, stingrays, spotted rays, turtles, and many, many fishies. I'm hoping to post some pictures from our diving sometime soon.

We learned quite a few new things about traveling with an infant - traveling with a very young infant (>2 months) is one thing, traveling with an infant when they're alert and active is something very different. Here's a few things that we learned:

1. Whenever possible, travel with others. It is a HUGE help to have many hands to help with feeding, changing, soothing, and giving mom and dad a break!

2. Invest in a good travel high chair - Tim's mom found the Chicco 360 Hook On high chair, which came in handy for mealtime, playtime, when going to restaurants, and even as a secure environment to put Sam when the seas were rough. This little chair is extremely versatile and sturdy!

3. Bring whatever baby stuff that you need with you (i.e. baby food, diapers etc) - the way we pulled this off was that Tim and I shared one suitcase and the other was dedicated solely to Sam's stuff. Baby items are available most places you go, but tend to be quite expensive unless you are traveling to continental US or Canada.

4. Handy way to transport your car seat: Bungy cord it to your suitcase while rolling it through the airport, then leave it at the airplane door. This way you know it's going to be handled safer than if it's put with all the luggage.

5. Bring a sturdy umbrella stroller with a basket. We got ours from Walmart, it was Cosco brand. I think we spent about $25 on it, and it had a little sunshade and two reclining positions. It came in handy for travel through the airport, for getting around at various destinations, and in a pinch we could use it as a highchair and/or place for him to snooze when dinner went late. Also, you can leave it at the door of the airplane along with your car seat, you are allowed to bring a stroller AND car seat.

6. We found our moby wrap invaluable last time we traveled with Sam, but this time we hardly used it at all. I think it would still have been useful had we not brought the stroller.

That's all that I can think of for now, more tips may come to mind. We sure had fun! Can't believe the snow that we came back to! :)