you spin me right round!

ah, despite the multiple wakings during the night, my little man makes me laugh :-) he's been having a rough week...i'm convinced it's early teething - his cheeks are a little pinker than normal, he's drooling more often, he enjoys sticking my finger in his mouth and moving it along his gums, he curls his lips under his gums so he looks like a little old man, and he's even demanded food in the middle of the night.

why am i still laughing? because gabe's started to spin around in his crib. at night i put him to sleep one way, and naps he sleeps the other way. when i go back into the room, he's facing the opposite direction than where he started :-) and all he can do when he sees me, is crack a gigantic smile as if to say "what'd i do?!"

emotions

sad because we've lost my grandma, the matriarch of our family (she had 8 kids (4 boys, 4 girls), 17 grandchildren (12 girls, 5 boys), and 17 great-grandchildren (5 girls, 12 boys).

honoured that my grandma got to meet gabriel, her last great-grandchild.

happy because gabe laughed out loud for the first time this week.

tired because gabe's had a rough few nights this week...his leg is still sore from his 4 month shots.

mmm, mmm, good!

i subscribe to real simple magazine for one reason...the recipes :-) the february issue had some great recipes and i made the macaroni & cheese with cauliflower. chris and i switched to whole-wheat pasta last year, and since i`ve been on maternity leave, i`ve been eating breakfast DAILY and eating whole-wheat mulitgrain bread. and since i got a food processor as a bday gift 2 years ago, this mac & cheese recipe was made for me! the cauliflower is a great twist to a classic meal, and we both thoroughly enjoyed dinner last night.

the next recipe i want to try out is the pulled pork tacos! it`s about time i used the slow cooker that`s been packed away in the closet for the past year. plus i don`t have to worry about searching the meat section for the right cut of pork ;-) it`s ironic that the only type of meat i can pick out is ground beef...all the other cuts of meat just confuse me and i have to call chris to explain them :P

another great thing i discovered is the panini press. we got one as a wedding gift and have only just started using it in the past 2 weeks. a deli by my office makes the best brie panini`s so i made it my mission to re-create it at home. while it`s not quite identical, i`ve had great success and have added prosciutto as well. yum!

3 great gadgets in my own kitchen! and once again i`ve gotten excited about cooking!

another vacation!

wow, we've booked 2 vacations in one week :-) we're off on a family cruise to alaska at the end of august! and by family, we mean everyone...my parents (and maybe my bro), sandra, mike and aly, sandra's parents, mike's mom, mike's sister and her family. i'm looking forward to that vacation and i've already started looking at the port excursions...i can't wait!

meanwhile, back on the homefront, it's been a rough day. it all started yesterday afternoon when gabe just didn't want to be alone...cuddles from mom was all i could do to keep him quiet. then today he woke up at 4:30 a.m. and wasn't a happy camper. after running through a diaper change, cuddles and a short feed, he was back in bed at 5:45. but that wasn't the end of it...he was fussing and fussing but i tried to ignore it hoping he'd go back to sleep. finally at 7 a.m.i gave in and rescued him for another feed. it felt like i'd gone back in time to when he was a newborn. if this is the sign of early teething, i'm in trouble!

but i think i know what started this nightmare yesterday...i've been taking an antibiotic to prevent infection in a wound that opened up near my c-section scar. the obgyn said taking the medication wouldn't affect my milk, but that's the only change that can explain gabe's mood. so i'm not taking the medication anymore, and gabe's been a bit friendlier this afternoon...and has taken his mandatory 2 naps :-) phew!

i'm also very excited about my recent purchases from organically hatched! gabe's hooked up with his cool shades for our trip to vegas, and i've bought some essentials for when gabe starts eating solids. exciting times ahead!

an unexpected vacation

holy crap, i'm so excited :-) we've booked our first trip as a family! chris made the silly mistake of telling me about a free 3-night stay at the mgm grand in las vegas. then i made the mistake of looking up flights to las vegas...westjet has a seat sale! so we're going to vegas in march, and i can't wait!

4 months old!

(so far 5 pee's and 1 poop in the potty!)

gabe is 4 months old today, and a whopping 14.11 pounds (fully dressed). we continue to have rough nights this week, mostly due to the lingering congestion...hopefully with the help of the humidifier he'll get over it soon. on this "bday" of gabe's, we learned about infant nutrition at the drop-in. i cannot wait to feed gabe real food...i've already bought spoons and bowls. i'm so excited...only 2 more months! i also got gabe's passport picture taken at sears...whoo-hoo, family vacations here we come! these are a few of my favourite things:

gabe continues to suck on his thumb to self soothe
he holds his rattles and bats at his carseat toy
in bed, he grabs his soother and waves it around in the air
when he holds my fingers, he'll stick them in his mouth
when chris comes home from work, gabe tells chris about his day
gabe tracks his bath toys, grabs them, then licks them :-)



as gabe is turning 4 months, his little friend aly, is turning 1! this past weekend sandra & mike hosted aly's bday party. i thought gabe was growing up fast, aly's a little roadrunner...walking (practically running!) all over their house. sadly, chris was sick that day, but gabe and i had a great time with all the other families!
















lastly, this has been an expensive week for me...i hit the kg kids liquidation sale at maynards TWICE! i'm a total impulse shopper, so i ended up buying a lot: cuddly wrap, glamour mom nursing tops, nursing bra, baby legs, sun hat, stonz boots, robeez shoes, jack & lily shoes, cloth wipes, sleep sack. when you see 30-50% off, it's hard not to buy lots!

roll over, roll over!

well, he did it...gabe has finally rolled over! i know he rolled over twice before, but they were kind of flukey...sort of on a downhill slant. but today he was having tummytime on his playmat and before i realized what happened, he was on his back! so i grabbed the videocamera, flipped him back onto his tummy, and WHA-BAM...he rolled over again :-)

here are the before, during, and after pictures...

got milk?

man alive! who knew moms could produce so much milk?! i'm very fortunate to have a big milk supply for gabe. and since he sleeps 9-11 hours a night, i have to pump a lot :P my freezer is chock-full of milk and i've had to send some to my parents house for longer-term storage!

i'm also fortunate that my milk doesn't go "off"...so i can refrigerate it for up to a week and it still tastes sweet, and the frozen stuff is good for up to 3 months. now gabe will be able to enjoy my milk even after i stop breastfeeding and have returned to work (which is WAY down the road!).

when i first discussed my milk supply with the midwives, they suggested i donate to the "milk bank". i did look into it, but there was blood tests involved and i got scared. it's hard to believe that after iv's, having the mother-of-all needles injected into my back, and daily blood tests at the hospital, you'd think i'd get over my fear...nope...still scared sh*tless of needles. so for now, i'm being selfish and not sharing my liquid gold.

the view from up here

after spending the morning in front of the tv watching the inauguration of barack obama, gabe and i went to my parents and saw the world from above the fog :-)

lots going on...will post later...

100 days old!

my mom's not sure why, but in japanese culture, turning 100 days old is a reason to celebrate. it was celebrated when my aunt turned 100 days old, sadly because of the war my mom's 100 day wasn't celebrated (they were too busy being sent away from the west coast), and then my brother and i both had parties for our 100 days. "the cold" has spread through our family like wildfire with my dad and bro down for the count on gabe's actual "birthday", so we'll have a belated party this coming weekend.

we've had an exciting few days: we went to storytime at mcgill library and gabe was smiling away during the sing-songs. i was so pleased...sometimes it's hard to know if he'll even stay awake for stuff :-) i find singing to gabe lots of fun, but having to pick up a book and read to him is more difficult.


and we started our music classes this weekend at staccato studios. it's more expensive than the community centre class i wanted, but it's a longer class and you get a dvd, cd, and songbook to keep. thank goodness...i wasn't sure how i'd remember all the words! gabe really enjoys the music...and he's got good hand coordination so he was able to hold the rattle and i would help him shake it. so fun :-) for the past few weeks twinkle twinkle has been gabe's all-time favourite song...98% of the time he cries, i can soothe him with that song. ironically enough, both storytime and music class both end with that song. it's fantastic!


here's a pic from pauline's birthday celebration yesterday...babies are definitely taking over our lives! plus there were 3 pregnant mamas-to-be :-)

from oldest to youngest!