Thursday, August 23, 2012

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Go apple, go orange, go banana!

We just saw the pediatrician yesterday and he thinks Carter is doing just fine. He has given us the go ahead to start solids full force. He feels that he will likely decrease the spitting up with solids. We are super happy that he's not worried about him and now we get to use our baby bullet. I think we'll start him on bananas or sweet potatoes in the next few days. We also bought him a Safety 1st Lux Nosh High Chair that we can now use. Yay :) I'll let you know how I like the baby bullet and high chair in a few weeks.

He now weighs 15lb 5oz and is 27 inches. We think he's just going to be tall and skinny.

We bought Carter a muslin blanket yesterday. We don't use blankets for him at bedtime as i'm just far too paranoid that he will pull it up over his face. We use sleep sacks instead, which I highly recommend. With sleep sacks he can't pull them over his face and he stays warm as they won't fall off. I've heard from so many people about how wonderful muslin blankets are. I guess they are supposed to keep baby warm when it's cold out and keep them cool when the weather is warm.

The past week or so little man has been snuggling a little blanket at naptime when I can keep an eye on him. These muslin blankets are supposedly super breathable so I figured it might be safer for him to snuggle with it as opposed to a regular blanket. He seems to really like it so far.

I'm on the hunt for a jogging stroller right now. I'm currently looking at getting a second hand BOB Revolution. I've done a ton of research and it seems this is the stroller to have. I want to be able to jog with it and use it as an everyday stroller. You have the option to lock or swivel the front wheel so it seems perfect for what I want. Brand new the stroller is around $500 and second hand people are selling them for about $300. So there is definitely good resale value in them.

I know it's still quite a bit for a stroller considering we already have one, but I think it's worth the money and we hate our current stroller. We have the Eddie Bauer Pilot travel system and the stroller is just blah. The wheels often don't roll flat on the ground so you're pushing it on 3 wheels sometimes. When you're turning, the wheels don't like to turn with you so you have to pull back then go forward again so the wheels will turn properly. Also, the storage basket is a joke, as you can barely fit anything in it.

Since Ralph and I have started jogging, we would love to take Carter with us, but can't with our current stroller. I've been debating signing up for a fairly expensive bootcamp but I think our money would be better spent on the stroller so both of us can exercise. Also considering how much we use a stroller anyway, we should at least like it.

I'm waiting on an email back from a lady selling one. Fingers crossed that she still has it as these sell fast!

- Amy

Monday, August 13, 2012

Home Sweet Home

We are finally back in British Columbia, and even though there have been a few bumps in the road we are so glad to be back! The weather has been fantastic and we've seen several good friends. I flew back with Carter, he is such a great traveller! We flew with West Jet, I paid for a separate seat for him and it was totally worth it. I had his carseat in his chair which was perfect for nap time. I also gate checked his stroller so I could use it around the airports.

Carter on the plane:


Ralph drove back with a friend, and it took them 4 days to get here. Not bad time for 6,000km! They hauled a 6'x12' trailer, which was the biggest trailer available but unfortunately it didn't fit A LOT of our stuff!! We had to sell so much near the end it was a little upsetting. Especially selling Carter's crib, swing, excersaucer, etc. I know it's just stuff, but we worked hard for it! Oh well, it's far more important to be back with family and friends.

Here's a photo Ralph took early morning in Ontario:

I will be flying to Ireland alone with Carter at the end of August. This time I won't have a separate seat for him as it's just too expensive. I had to pay $200 just for him to sit on my lap! We will be flying with Air Canada, and it will be a total of 5 flights there and back. I will be gate checking his stroller again to use around the airports, but will also be taking the Beco Carrier as I'm hoping he will sleep in it on the plane. By the time we get back from Ireland, Carter will have been on 11 flights before 6 months! We are going to miss Ralph so much, but I am really looking forward to seeing my family!

Carter will be seeing a paediatrician this week regarding his continued feeding issues. Other than that he's doing fantastic! He's just growing up so fast! We put him in a Jolly Jumper for the first time last week and he loved it. I took a video, I'll try to upload it soon.

We use Tommee Tippee bottles for little man, and a few months ago we bought little handles for them so you can use them to transition to a sippy cup. He seems to get the concept of holding the handles and brings the bottle up to his face.... he's just not quite sure how to get it to his mouth without some help. It's so cute to watch him try to figure it out though.



We fed Carter rice cereal for the first time a couple weeks ago and he seemed to enjoy it. We've only given it to him a few times. I was sort of curious to see whether he would keep it down as I know sometimes babies with reflux are given bottles with rice cereal in them. We spoon fed it to him, and he did keep it down which was great.







Ok, I LOVE ebay! I bought Carter some Air Jordan diaper shirts on there before he was born. I also just recently bought him some Boston Celtics diaper shirts as well as an Ohio State one. This one is my favourite:

Oh yes.... he has decided for the past week that he wants to wake up every 30 minutes or less at night!!! Ralph and I are soooo sleep deprived and cannot figure out why he's doing this all of a sudden. I mean he's never been a great sleeper, but this is ridiculous! Any suggestions, tips, etc. are more than welcome. 

I've started the Couch-to-5K program. I've talked about it before... I downloaded the app on my iPhone and had never really looked at it. Anyway, It's a program designed to take someone who never exercises and prepares them to run 5k in 9 weeks. The app is great! You run 3 times a week for approximately 30 minutes. You can listen to your own music and voice cues will come through telling you to when to jog/walk, etc. It tells you what your pace is and how far you've gone using the iPhone's built in GPS. It also shows you a map of the route you ran, and allows you to post your running pace to Facebook. I've only completed 2 days so far, but I feel great! 

On the days I'm not doing the Couch-to-5K program I plan on doing workouts through the Nike Training Club app on my iPhone. This is another excellent app. You can do full body workout or focus on specific areas you would like to work on. There are videos to show you exactly how to do each exercise, which I find super helpful! Again, you can listen to your own music and voice cues prompt you to move onto the next exercise. 

I really hope I stick with these programs! My goal is to lose 33 pounds!! I'm not doing too well in the diet department right now, but I'm hoping I'll get on that soon. 

Aaaand some random photos:










Love this one!! Carter was laying beside daddy when he grabbed his shirt, started sucking his thumb and snuggling the shirt :)




- Amy