new friends

I really enjoy that Kiernan now hangs on to toys... and tries to eat them. It's so incredible to watch the new things he's learned to do! So far he has two favourite stuff animals (and by favourite I think maybe they're his parents' favourites and so they keep giving them to him ;)
Eric has named them both... the fish is named Sushi (since Kiernan likes to try to eat him and he isn't even cooked!) and the rat is named wilkinson (for some long comic book reason :)
Here's a photo:



Ok, and this photo just cracks me up. What a face!

bigger and bigger steps

Yesterday, while Kiernan and I were out for the afternoon, Eric took the bassinette off the side of our bed and put my bedside table back into place. Kiernan definitely won't be sleeping there any more :) Not that he was anymore because the last time I put him in there he was moving around so much his feet were coming through the opening at the side and were practically in bed with me - squirmy Kiernan! So I wasn't putting him in it anyways, but it seems significant that its now gone :)

This morning Kiernan wouldn't sleep in the swing as he usually does, so actually went and tried to re-create bedtime and got him down in the crib. He went down! I asked Eric how long he would stay down (previous record of going down during the day, in the last month anyways, was 4 minutes) and he said 9 minutes. At exactly 9 minutes Kiernan woke up and I couldn't get him back down again . He's now back in the swing, happy as a clam. Maybe he just doesn't need to sleep - although I sincerely doubt that, since he's always a way bigger handful the evenings he doesn't nap a lot.

big boy

I know I do this a lot, but I just can't get over how much bigger Kiernan is than when we brought him home.
We took a photo of him today in the same outfit (it was way too big then) and in approximately the same position with daddy as we did in the first week we brought him home. What a difference!

Mr sleeps through the night!

Kiernan went to sleep last night around 9:45 and didn't get up again until 5:15!!! Oh my god!!

He was obviously REALLY tired though because he wouldn't sleep yesterday afternoon - after he woke up from a nap at 11am he didn't sleep for more than 15 minutes until bed time, and that was only 3-4 times. SO he was obviously extremely tired. But still! Wow. I, of course, woke up every hour after 3... to make sure he was still alive of course ;)

The photography saga continues

So last night Vicky and I went to Walmart with the boys to have some portraits done. I have to admit, before I go into my rant, that I had been warned... I had heard about most of the things that I'm about to complain about. That being said, it is still REALLY irritating so I must vent and thereby try to warn you all about this ridiculous policies.

So we just wanted some portraits done and we were going to get the $14.95 package. To get this package you only get one pose - that's fine. The ridiculous part is that you have to decide if you're going to take a picture as soon as it'd been taken. So, the photographer takes a photo, it's ok, but you're pretty sure you can get better. So you have to say "delete that one and we'll try again". If it turns out that the photo you had her delete was in fact the best one, too bad, it's gone. And that's pretty much what happened... Kiernan had some ok photos but I was pretty sure we could do better. I say "delete" and he starts to cry. We only have so long to get a good photo and in the end we got an ok photo but the corner of the toy I was trying to use to get him smiling and looking in the right direction got into the shot. By then he was starting to really lose it and we were running out of time so I just took it. If you get a copy, please ignore the tiny orange thing in the bottom left corner ;)

Then I had this coupon that I had found online that gave us a free 8x10... well for that one photo we were allowed to take 6 different poses and I could choose from those! This was after the point where Kiernan was starting to lose it so it was really hard to get a bunch of options... had I fully understood I guess I would have started with those.

So, I just don't get Walmart's policy on this! Wouldn't it be better business sense to let you get a choice of photos for this package? I can see that by letting you have a choice in the more expensive package section that they would make more money, BUT, based on their policies I will never go back to Walmart to have portraits of my children done. Had she taken a bunch of photos and I'd really liked more than one, I might have upgraded and gotten a second package or just bought singles of those photos and they would have made their extra money. Instead they just irritated me by making me delete photos I might possibly want.

THEN (if only it ended there eh?) I find out the photos won't be ready until December 13 (what's that, 2.5 weeks?) and the printout she gave me that showed the photos I chosen (which I wanted to show Eric) was horrible. The printer was obviously out of toner and instead of replacing it, she was giving out printouts that were useless. And I'm not even going to get into the fact that the photographer didn't really have the skills needed to get a fabulous photo out of a baby (because I know this is walmart and not a professional place)

Anyhow, don't go to walmart for photos, it was ridiculous. I would much prefer to spend the $30 that Loblaws charges to have the options I'm told they let you have. We have an appointment there on December 15 so I'll be able to report back properly then. Maybe I should go to Sears and have portraits done there too to be able to give a better comparison of all these places. hehe

grabbing fun

We bought Kiernan some toys at IKEA yesterday and spent some time playing with them with him today. Although he's definitely found his hands (he sucks on them with all his might quite regularly) he still hasn't been using them or purposefully grabbing anything. So today we were putting some of these new ikea toys in his hands and not only did he hold on for long periods of time, he enjoyed sucking on the fish's tail and the rat's foot :) So cute. Here are pictures of his new little friends:

When you're happy and you know it....

... stick out your tongue!

What a rollercoaster

I know a baby is unpredictable... I know this. I know that you have to expect constant change and that things won't always stay the same. That being said it is really frustrating sometimes.

You think you're getting the knack of something... you think "I've got it! I figured out how to make this part work" and then it all falls apart. Bedtime was really working for awhile - and it's not that it isn't working now, it's just not working the same way. He isn't nursing to sleep as often, and we're having to use the hairdryer more and more. I worry I'm setting that up as part of the routine and he'll always want it and that'll get annoying for sure! I wonder if it's partially my fault because I'm not being strict with the routine - I change it if it suits my needs (ie going out on a saturday night to visit with friends). Not that I want him to have to nurse to sleep forever either, it was just nice and predictable. Sometimes it took longer than others, sometimes he freaked out first and we had to take him for a car ride, but in the end I nursed, he fell asleep, we're done. Tonight he just wouldn't calm down while eating (which hurts by the way) and then we eventually got him to keep a seuss in his mouth and he fell asleep being rocked.

That being said, in other ways the changes can be good. Tonight Eric and I went out for dinner with Kiernan. We made it through dinner with Kiernan being pretty calm... we just needed to rattle some toys at him and he was good. That's a huge change - I never could have imagined that before.

So ya, nothing unusual here - but it still gets frustrating and I need to vent. Make it easier!! :)

Oh, and I forgot to mention last week with the immunization drama that Sir Kiernan weighed in at 11lbs 6 oz at his appointment (50th percentile), is now 24.25 inches long - almost 4 inches longer than at birth (95th percentile) and has a 90th percentile sized head (to fit his massive amount of genius).

Oprah talk and other stuff

I'm getting way behind with all my blog topics so this is a big catch all post :)

Hairdryer: So I'd heard the hairdryer could be magic - and it is. When Kiernan is wailing we can turn on the hairdryer and he immediately quiets down. So now I'm getting used to sitting in the nursery with the lights out, nursing Kiernan with the hair dryer going full blast on the change table. Who'd have thought that would be less annoying sound. haha. Only trouble is, if I want Eric's help he can't hear me so I need to pitch things into the hallways so he can come and help me move Kiernan without waking him up :)

Oprah talk: Oprah had this show on this week with this woman who has "unlocked the secret baby language". She has a photographic memory for sound and when she had a baby she quickly figured out what his sounds meant but figured she'd just figured out HER baby. THen she realized it worked for ALL babies - of every nationality. Essentially, she says, there are 5 basic sounds that are reflexes for babies. They make them until they are about 3 months old (it'll stop after that if it hasn't been responded to, but can continue if you do respond). The five sounds are "neh" (I'm hungry) "eh" (I need to burp) "heh" (I'm uncomfortable) "ouahhh" (I'm tired) and some kind of grunting noise (I have gas). I've been trying to follow it and they all seem to be working. It's very cool. My only concern is that he's been "nehing" an awful lot and I think it's not just I'm hungry but I need comfort (which he's needed more of since the shots). Anyhow, I recommend it to new moms - it really seems to be working.

Crib: we're getting better! Kiernan slept in the crib until 4 am this morning. I would have put him back in instead of bringing him back into our room this morning (that had been my plan) but he ate too much (my breasts were engorged to hurting which is rare for me) and then threw up when he burped (more than just a big spit up) so I felt bad and didn't want to leave him. I hope I make my deadline of having him in the crib full time by the end of November. hehe

Soother: he's started taking it more often. Still not all the time, but he took it from us twice this week, once when he wasn't even upset!

Sleep: ever since his shots Kiernan has been sleeping an enormous amount. I don't know what to do with myself half the time. He is currently asleep (and has been for almost 2.5 hours) and he slept 2.5 hours yesterday morning and 3.5 hours yesterday afternoon (and 3.5 hours the afternoon before that too). I wonder how long it'll last. I'm sure it'll do him good to get some sleep... my poor tired boy.

Smiles : Kiernan is getting SO interactive. It's so fabulous. We have all these really lovely moments with him where he smiles when he sees you and you can play with him and he really seems to be talking back. It's so nice!! He also loves to smile at the tom thompson photo and smiles when he sees it more than when he first sees us, but I'm not going to take it personally I don't think :) Here are some photos: Kiernan smiling at daddy and happy Kiernan.

2 months old

We've been taking weekly photos of Kiernan since he was born and plan to continue to do so until he is 12 weeks old. We thought we'd better start taking monthly ones too and try to do that for the full year...
Since we didn't officially take one at one month we decide to take one with Kiernan's big teddy bear monthly from now on. He had one taken at 2 weeks and one at 5 weeks so it's close enough. Here's our progression so far:

The horror!

Today Kiernan has his first immunizations. It was awful.
I cannot describe how horrible it is to hold your child while something painful it being done to them and they scream in agony and not only try to comfort them, but not do a damn thing to try to stop it from happening. It's horrible. He had three shots and by the third I was crying too. Since then I'm at his beck and call... whatever he wants I'm trying to accomodate him the best I can because I feel so bad.
He's been different since the appointment (as to be expected). He is whimpering a lot, calm and glazed over a bunch (I'm imagining from the tylenol and advil we keep pumping into him :) and sometimes he is hysterical. We were going to give him a bath tonight because he usually really enjoys that (and its due) but he screamed like we'd laid a hot poker to him when his toes hit the water... and the water was cooler than usual. He just lost his mind for no apparent reason. So we aborted!! No bath tonight.
He's asleep now but I expect to be up a lot tonight. I told Eric he was going to have to bring Kiernan for his next round of shots in two months but I don't think I could stand not being there, as horrible as it was, to give him what comfort I can.
There sure are some tough parts to this mommy stuff.

Date night!

Eric and I went on a date tonight!!! :)

We went to little Italy and had dinner at Il Primo while my parents watched Kiernan. I was nervous throughout the meal because Kiernan has been particularly horrible the past few evenings and I felt guilty leaving this screaming child with my parents who don't even have a milk filled boob to shove at him if it got that bad ;) But I lasted the hour and a half we had agreed to and as we're almost about to turn onto my parent's street Eric's cellphone rings and guess what - Kiernan had just woken up (from having fallen asleep when we drove him over!) and so if we wanted to stay out another half hour and give my parents some time to spend with him awake and try to give him a bottle (which I was really wanting) then we could go ahead. Wow - what do you mean he slept for 1.5 hours?? Just sitting in his car seat?? There was a small feeling of "no fair" but mostly that's great because it means Kiernan's wailing fits did not scare my parents from ever babysitting again :) So Eric and I can go on more date nights! And, he took the bottle from them and Eric seems to be giving Kiernan another bottle right now. I'm really really hoping Kiernan will start accepting a bottle so I don't have to feel guilt ridden if I want to go out and do something for more than an hour. He's still not loving it or anything, but it seems a bit better.
So yay!

Chatty cathy

Is there a boy name for chatty cathy? :)
Kiernan has been chatting up a storm lately. Last night, he suddenly and inexplicable came out of his land of evening screaming to sit on my lap and "chat" with Eric and I for about half an hour. It was fabulous - so fun! Our favourite "word" sounds just like hi, which is very cute. And he did it for about 15 minutes again this morning in bed with us. It's so much fun having him be more interactive lately - makes up for a lot of the screaming fits.

Quick update on the move to the nursery. We had him in the nursery last night for about 2.5 hours but the difference this time was that we went to sleep. I woke up around 11:30 though after having startled awake 4-5 times already and couldn't take it anymore... I wasn't going to get a good night's sleep with him over there and I thought to myself I'd done well having him there that long while I was asleep (again, I need to do this slowly ;) So I went and got him and put him back in the bassinet. He slept until 3:30! A total of almost 6 and a half hours. HOLY COW! Then he was up again at 6:30 this morning. Really, it doesn't make much of a difference for me since it's still the same amount of waking up - once a night and then he doesn't want to go back down when he gets up at 6 or 7. But at least we're back to it being 6 or 7 and not 5 am, so that's good.

Canadian Baby Photographers

This week Kiernan had his photo taken by Canadian Baby Photographers (CBP) since they offer to come to your house and you automatically get a free 8x10. So they came and some were a bit to cheeseball for my liking and some looked like they would be really cute. But CBP has a reputation for being really expensive so I was wary and didn't really know if we would be able to swing getting anything.
So the guy came yesterday with the proofs to show us and they printed the worst one as an 8x10 and claimed it was chosen because it has the most personality. Eric has suggested they must think Kiernan has the personality of a drunk sailor because you can tell he's about to fall over, he has a weird face going, and it sort of looks like he's giving us the finger. Right off the bat I was put off that they picked the worst picture to give me as an 8x10. I know it's a gimmick to try to get me to buy more photos when they come, but don't piss me off right before you make your pitch!
Then he tells us the prices and it's really expensive. We knew we weren't going to get a package so I wanted to know how much it would cost to get the proofs (which were actually 5x7s). These were also really expensive but I have to admit, there were a few cute ones. Did I want to spend $99 on 3 cute 5x7s? I'm not sure but I was tempted. I asked if we could think about it and was told no - you have to make the decision immediately otherwise the photos will be shredded on Monday. This is because of privacy laws I'm told. Right - privacy laws say that you have to destroy photos that parents allowed you to take within a week? That would probably cause a lot of problems for photographers who aren't trying to pressure you into sales by shredding cute photos of your kids.
Anyhow, all that to say - I'm not impressed. I thought the photographer was pretty good and so were some of the shots, but not only did they not get my business, I don't recommend even letting them come to your house to take the photos in the first place, even if just for the free 8x10 since they'll give you the crappy one. And really, they want you to let them come to your house to take the photos so you get tempted by all the cute photos so pissing people off by giving them the ass photo and then having them tell everyone they know it's not worthwhile doesn't sound very smart.

Rough couple of days

In the last couple of weeks I thought Kiernan was getting a bit better - not crying quite as much during the day, and just seeming to be a much happier baby. I was thrilled - he was coming into himself and not feeling quite so distressed all the time. The last couple of days make me realize that's not the case quite yet. He's been inconsolable at times the last couple of days... none of the usual suspects are working. I bounce on the ball and he keeps crying, I try to nurse him which he wants, but he keeps crying while he does that. It starts to push me to my limits and I think "wow, how do people do this?"
How do people who don't have partners deal? What about teenage mothers? How can they possibly deal with this. I thought I was strong and some days I end up in tears right along with him. Is my baby that much fussier than most babies?
I'm just feeling a bit woe is me, and I know it will pass and get easier, and I certainly know its all worthwhile. I know having a baby can be really hard in the beginning... I have a husband who supports me and Kiernan's grandparents are also a godsend. I get out a lot with him when I can, and thankfully getting out and movement seem to calm him so that helps. The other thing that helps is for me to take naps with him, but honestly, I don't need to sleep quite as much as a baby and would kind of like a bit of time to do the things you can't do while sleeping or holding a crying baby.
I just keep reminding myself they say the colic-like behaviours tend to peak around 2 months, which is where we're at, and surely it will ease up soon. right? :) Thank god we have good nights with him for now *knock on wood*

Step in the right direction

Last night, after Kiernan had fallen asleep, we put him down in his crib instead of the bassinet to see if he would stay asleep there. He did! Woohoo!
Only problem was that I got all nervous ;) He seemed so far away!!
I had never intended to leave him there all night anyways since the baby monitor isn't set up in there yet so I don't feel too badly. He slept there for a couple of hours and hopefully we can move the glider and the monitor over some time this week and transition him over there. I have a feeling that if there is going to be someone having a hard time with this change it's going to be me and not him ;)

Busy Monday

This morning the photographer from Canadian Baby Photographers came by to take some photos of Kiernan. They automatically call when you have a baby and offer to come to your house and you get a free 8x10. Their plan is to then come to you with all these fabulous photos and upsell you for hundreds of dollars.
I thought "I'm strong, I have a zillion photos of my baby, you will not be able to tempt me!" but now I'm wondering. Kiernan was all smiles today and I have a feeling there are going to be some very very cute shots. Good thing Eric will be here when they come back to try to keep me strong so I don't end up spending a fortune. Or at least if we do spend a fortune I won't have been the only sucker. haha
This afternoon Kiernan and I went to the wellbaby clinic again and he now weighs 11 lbs 3 oz!

Cheese, no thank you

So this weekend I had a piece of Eric's Italian grandmother's homemade lasagna - yum. I decided it was time to check the whole dairy thing and make sure I was cutting it all out of my diet for a good reason. So I had a tiny piece (YUM), it was maybe 2.5 inches square and although delicious I have to admit that there was anxiety and guilt that came with eating this deliciousness. So the results, a farty, gassy, cranky baby for the next 36 hours or so. SIGH. So there you have it... no more cheese for the mama for awhile longer.

That being said, look at this cute baby - he's so worth it :)

Too good to be true?

I don't want to jinx myself but I've been having a lot more nice/non-crying time with my little guy lately. I'm hoping it means he's starting to come out of his "4th trimester" and feel more comfortable with the world. A couple of days ago we successfully went to the movies with no issues, yesterday he was fairly pleasant for over an hour of picture taking by a friend of mine, and he is currently sitting in his chair in the computer room with me, awake, and not crying! I feel like I have all this extra time I don't know what to do with!! hehehe

A movie buff in the making

Kiernan and I went to the movies today which was super fun. We went to the mommy and me movies at Silver City and it was really neat. There were SO many mothers and babies there - I would bet at least a hundred. And they had a change table set up outside with all the necessary stuff (free diapers, wipes, bum cream, etc) and they even had a microwave and bottle warmers for those who needed it.
Lots of babies made lots of noise, but at least then you don't feel bad when your baby makes noise - and Kiernan was far from the noisiest baby in the bunch. In fact - he was an angel - I was so impressed and pleased and hope that means we can do this regularly. I think the darkness and the sound (and probably the fact that I sat still in one place for 2 hours) helped create a great nap on mommy feeling :)
Spoiler warning:
Now to the thumbs down part - we saw Marie Antoinette. (insert sound you make when you stick your tongue out and sputter because something sucks) It was very.... bubblegum. It was just whatshername, who I don't even really like, prancing around Versaille in a million different outfits. There is barely any dialogue and there is barely any story. Woe is you - oh spoiled queen of France with all your parties and extravagances. It doesn't even end the story - if you know what I mean. Plus, they used that shaky camera cinamatography thing that seems to be so popular lately but just makes me feel like throwing up. So ya - blech. Oh, and not remotely scary. But I'm definitely going to be going to more mommy and me movies :)

Kiernan's first time at the movies was of course documented with some of our fellow mommy and me movie attendees :)