Playschool Villagers

Another school year has begun! Today was the first day of class as a Playschool Villager. This will be my last year before I start kindergarten (scary)!

I was very excited to go back to preschool and see all my friends and teachers again. I have two of the same teachers from last year, plus a new one. It's gonna be a great year!

Visit from the Grandparents

Ma-ma and Yeh-yeh came up for a quick visit last weekend. It was their second time seeing Colin since he was born. He's grown a lot since then!

Five Month Update

Seems like we just did the four month update. This month went by so quickly! I've turned into quite a happy baby and can spend some entire days without crying! Such a change from a few months ago!

Sleep: 
I went through a four-month sleep regression at the beginning of the month, where I was waking up multiple times a night. Thankfully, it only lasted about a week. Now, I still wake up about two times a night, but go down quickly after being fed. Mommy is hoping to eliminate at least one night feeding - it would be nice to have more than three hours of uninterrupted sleep for once.

I take three naps a day, ranging from thirty minutes to three hours. They're somewhat predictable since I get tired after about two hours of wakefulness. I've started to take more naps in my crib with minimal fussing, but still nap best in the car seat while being driven around.

On a side note, guess who's still sleeping in between Mommy and Daddy? I'm not the only one in this family who needs sleep training.

Milestone of the month: 

I can roll over! I no longer complain about tummy time since I can just roll from front to back, and back to front. When I'm on my activity gym I will roll over and over until I get stuck on one of the legs. We had to stop using the swaddle, and naps on the couch are a thing of the past. I frequently roll all around my crib before falling asleep on my tummy, which scares Mommy ("Is he breathing?"). Diaper changes are also a challenge now since I always want to roll over to look around.

Developments: 

I've started to show more interest in toys that are put in front of me. Whereas last month I was just staring at the toys on my Exersaucer, this month I started grabbing at them and trying to put them in my mouth. I do the same with the toys on my jumperoo, bouncer, and activity gym - lots of things to keep me engaged! If I am handed anything I will grip it and put it straight into my mouth. My favorites are the Winkel and Sophie the Giraffe. 

I started noticing Brady last month but this month I really took an interest in him. I smile whenever I see him walk by and with Mommy's help, I can reach my hand out and touch his fur. Brady will usually give me a sniff back and sometimes a lick but other than that, he probably couldn't care less.

Daily activities:

Since Mommy quit her job, she gets to spend all day everyday taking care of me! I like being carried around in the Bjorn so Mommy tries to take me on at least one outing a day. We take trips to the grocery store, Target, or downtown and I enjoy all the fresh air and stimulation. I also like stroller rides - whenever we take Brady for walks around the neighborhood I get so relaxed and have a tendency to fall asleep.

We also go to the gym a couple times a week. They provide two hours of child care and since we usually go during lunchtime when it's empty, I get lots of attention from the caregivers. One time I was really gassy or something because when Mommy picked me up, the main caregiver said that she had never heard a baby scream so loud in all her years of working there! We're definitely getting our money's worth with the membership.

Speaking of child care, a few weeks ago I went to a Bright Horizons back-up care center so Mommy and Daddy could go out to lunch. Unfortunately I still refuse to take the bottle. I got extremely frustrated and hungry, so they had to call Mommy to pick me up early. Hopefully I will start to cooperate so they can take more advantage of this benefit! 

Likes: Bouncing on the jumperoo! Even though my feet can barely touch the floor I love the bouncing and feeling that pressure on my legs. I also love looking at myself in mirrors, chewing on things, being sung to, and flashing a huge smile to anyone who makes eye contact with me.

Dislikes: Being put in the Bumbo seat for too long. I will arch my back to try to get out of it.

Here's a video clip of one of my bouncing sessions in my jumperoo.

Bath time is much more fun now! And I love grabbing my feet.

Those thighs!

Best Friends

Auntie Sammy Visits!

Auntie Sammy and Damon came to SF for a visit and we had fun meeting up with them! Naturally, their visit was centered around food (Damon is a chef in Toronto) and we were more than happy to accompany them to some of SF's best (kid-friendly) places to eat. We met up with them for Sunday brunch at Tartine Bakery, then walked down the street to Bi-Rite Creamery for ice cream. Yep, my Sunday breakfast consisted of a huge pain au chocolat, followed by chocolate ice cream. Way to start the day.

Photos courtesy of Auntie Sammy, since Mommy forgot to take photos.

Later in the week, Mommy sent Colin to backup childcare and she and Daddy enjoyed a nice long kid-free lunch with Auntie Sammy and Damon at Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern. Daddy's company provides 20 days of backup childcare each year, so they might as well take advantage of it!

Finally, we all had a last dinner together at the Chiu's, where I stayed up til 10pm playing with Braden and Kiera. It was a fun night hanging out. We hope Auntie Sammy and Damon come back and visit again soon!

Four Month Update

I'm four months old! Finally, life with me is starting to get easier. I'm a lot less fussy (though I still have my moments every now and then), I have a somewhat predictable routine, and I actually sleep at night. Not bad!

• I weigh 15 lbs 6 oz. and measure 24.5 inches long. 50th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height!
• Developments: I'm much more aware of my surroundings and am always looking around. I notice Brady when he walks by and can track him across the room.  I also found my feet and love grabbing them whenever I'm lying on my back.
• I laugh! In addition to the constant smiles and coos, I will laugh if someone talks to me, especially if they repeat the same sound over and over. 
• I'm finally sleeping in my crib. Shortly after turning three months old, Mommy and Daddy kicked me out of their bedroom and moved me to my crib. But since they didn't want me waking up Kaitlyn, they let her sleep in their bed, thinking it would take about a week for me to be fully sleep trained. Well, it's been over a month and guess who's still sleeping between them? Sleep training has been pretty tough, and I'm still crying it out most nights. However...
• ...I sleep through the night (sometimes)! This is a huge development, although technically, sleeping through the night is defined as sleeping for five hours or more. Since Mommy and Daddy implemented a bedtime routine, I've been going to sleep around 7:30-8pm and am able to stay asleep until at least 4am (on a good night). On a bad night, I may wake up around 1am and then again at 4am. I usually go back down after the 4am feeding until 6 or 7am. Not bad!
• Routine: Eat, play sleep. That is pretty much my routine that repeats itself every four hours, give or take an hour. I'm not tied to any one schedule, so having this routine makes things at least a bit more predictable.
• Feeding: I don't like feeding from the bottle so am pretty much still exclusively breastfeeding. Good for Daddy who doesn't have to wake up at night. Not good for Mommy who has yet to spend more than four hours without me.
• Likes: my Exersaucer! Mommy can put me in there and leave me for up to twenty minutes until she starts to feel guilty for neglecting me. I also like chewing on everything, especially my hands, and am even starting to like baths now.
• Hates: naps in the crib. Although I sleep fine in my crib at night, I still prefer daytime naps in the car seat or on the fuzzy blanket on the couch.

The first thing people usually say when they see me is "look at that hair!" Yup, it's pretty crazy.

I love staring at this lion on my Exersaucer.

Colin's Newborn Photos

Finally, here are the final images from Colin's newborn photo shoot. We took these when he was eleven days old using the same photographer that shot Kaitlyn's newborn photos.

All images by Shirley Henderson Photography.

The photographer brought so many different baskets and props, I wanted to use them all. But Colin wouldn't cooperate. She needed a sleepy, relaxed baby in order to pose him properly, and Colin was awake and alert for a good portion of the shoot. So I didn't get as many basket poses as I would have liked. At least we got a couple of good portraits with his eyes open.

Kaitlyn also joined in for some sibling photos.

We had never seen Kaitlyn so happy to be in front of a camera. She usually hates getting her picture taken and never smiles like this for me. She really did charm the photographer!

Then some family and artistic portraits (he finally went back to sleep).

Finally, some naked sleeping photos.

Once I was put into this pose, the photographer started her "hat parade," which was basically putting on all these different hats and taking photos. 

The entire session took about four hours, with all the poses, outfit and prop changes. The photographer was very patient and brought everything with her. Our house was pretty much turned into a studio. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the session.

It's amazing what the right props, professional camera, and some photo-editing can do!