Action shot from Jeff's Blackberry

One more photo from yesterday in the Canyon.  Jeff took this shot as I was trucking along with the boy on my back - a boy on the move - so cute!

Silas goes to the woods

The first three photos are camping over Labour Day weekend.  The one where he is all bundled is Sunday night in camp with snow coming over the surrounding mountains.  That's Alberta for you - one day after August and the snow hits!  Admittedly though, Silas was a tad over-dressed.  The camping went well, we drove back roads poking around behind coal mines and forestry tracts, stopped in Fernie for a hike with some friends, and headed north out of town on dirt truck tracks that Jeff had ridden during the Trans-Rockies bike race a few years ago.  It was nice to have a trial run at camping before we set out for Vancouver Island at the end of this month.  We forgot a few key items; spatula for cooking pancakes, no hot chocolate, things like that.  

This past weekend was a used toy/clothing sale at out local community center and I picked up a Kelty Kids baby backpack (pack with a frame for carrying your baby on your back).  So on Sunday the family hit the trails and hiked up Johnson Canyon in Banff National Park, which are the last two photos.  It was sunny at the start of the 12 km out and back trail, but at around 5.5 km from the parking lot (almost to the end) it started to rain/sleet so we turned back.  Overall, the boy is just a little small for the frame carrier and we will stick to the soft Ergo carrier for the outings over the next month or more.  

In a blink!

Wow - the end of August! It's a crazy thought to be staring down the Labour Day long weekend. I remember this time last year picking mum and Claire up from the airport and then having to explain that although I would normally been up for a bottle of red with lunch, I had a little someone inside who wouldn't be so keen on it - Yay! And now he's almost 5 months old.
Silas is doing a lot of 'almost' things these days; he rolls on his side, but not all the way over; he stands by holding on to your fingers; he sits for a few seconds on his own but still sllloooowwly topples over. He loves his baths and often cries when he gets taken out, and has started to test out both shrieking and making raspberries. So far there are no teeth on the horizon, but there sure is a lot of drool!
On the mommy front, I have started to work 4 hrs a day, 2 days a week, mostly from home and it has been pretty fun so far. It's nice to talk with adults about 'real world' things. So far I'm finding half days 2 days a week the perfect amount - I still have lots of Silas time, can still go for a run with the chariot in the mornings and get a load of diapers done in the afternoon. Sadly, it does cut into my blog writing time...
This weekend we are taking Silas for his first camping trip. We are staying rather close to home in case we have to just pack it in, but I'm hoping for success. We are heading to Vancouver Island on a family vacation at the end of September, so this weekend will be our trial run. Hopefully I'll have some cute nature-baby pics to post next week.

Silas goes to the mountains

Hello readers :)

Today I went back and read over some of the first posts of this blog and had a great time reading over what my old mini day-to-day adventures.  It reminds me that things seem much more exciting once they are written down!

Our latest mini adventure was yesterday as we drove into the Ghost recreation area, north of the TransCanada Hwy.  This area consists of a couple 4WD 'roads' crossing and running along the gravel meandering bed of the Ghost Creek and is a popular place to get back into the mountains for ice climbing in the winter.  We crisscrossed the old bed and parked at the bottom of the Black Rock Mountain hiking trail.  With Silas in the carrier we did a quick hour and half hike halfway up the trail.  On our way out we also grabbed rocks to fill two bins in the back of the Cruiser to add to our slowly developing garden and backyard.  

Although we have driven in the mountains with Silas earlier on sightseeing trips with visiting relatives, yesterday was our first attempt at hiking using the carrier.  Jeff was originally wearing a sweater as it was a chilly day, but we quickly learned that with a baby strapped to his front things quickly got waaaayyyy too hot, leading to a pretty uncomfortable boy.  We thought it was his diaper, so we set up the change pad on a flat-ish log, but then realized that he was just happy to have his pants off!  Once Jeff took off his sweater, the way back down was much calmer.  I was on super alert for bears, though I have never heard of one being in that particular area.  Hearing Silas' baby chatting ring through the woods reminded me of National Geographic nature documentaries where the babies get picked off by the predators...  There really are some base-level maternal instincts - the biggest nature moment we had was a bird flying by and I was ready to fight to the death!  It makes me think that I should stick to the popular trails, but then again, that's where the bears go too.  Once we got the temperature regulated, Silas had a good time looking all around.  I'm blessed with a boy who likes to be outside as much as I do.  Speaking of, I think it's time for our walk :)

Running

Today I had a great run - I felt that deep in here somewhere there really is a fit person. She's just being shy. I did 7x 60 sec speed sprints with warm up and cool down and feel great. Obviously one good run doesn't melt away 20 (well, 17) post-baby pounds, but there is hope! My very loose plan is to try to fit into my old clothes sometime around my birthday; today that almost feels possible. It's amazing how much each day varies, eventhough I pretty much do the same things. Some days I feel that all I do is feed and change diapers in a never-ending succession, and then other days that succession seems wonderful - this little man gets all he needs to grow from my boobs... strange and stunning at the same time.

Thursday afternoon Silas had his bladder/kidney check-up related to his infection last month. I took a picture of him in the cute pink and white stripped gown (below). All is good on this front though we will get the official word from the doctor on Tuesday. I am also attaching a photo of Thursday night at the folkfest with the sun setting brightly. Silas loves being out side and so far the noise isn't too much for him. We are sitting with my friend Diana.

Average yet again

Silas had his 3 month check up this week (a bit late, but these things are pretty flexible).  He is perfectly healthy and completely average!  He weighs 6.590 kg and is 61 cm (24.5 inches) long - 60th percentile for both, and 50th percentile for weight/length combo.  He had his predicted 3 month growth spurt earlier this week and he was so hungry and not sleeping, I thought for sure it was that my milk was drying up.  But no, he was just pulling out all he could every chance he could get and now has calmed back down to a regular eating and sleeping schedule.  Below is the pic of the week taken on Thursday.  We kept losing his drool-rag, so we jokingly put it on his head and he loved it!  Cutie-patootie :)

On a different note, I learned this week that our regional manager/office boss gave his notice.  This is huge for me because he has been, hands down, the best boss I have ever had and one of the largest reasons that I felt so satisfied at my job.  It also makes me nervous to have so many large changes happening while I'm not there.  I had a bit of panic feeling when I heard the news that I needed to go back a few hours a week just to keep my finger in the pot, so to speak.  In general, I'm finding it difficult to be out of work and I think about asking for a few small contracts almost every day. But I have held off, realizing that I am simply being bitten by the 'grass is greener' bug.  Taking a year, a measly 12 months, to hang out with Silas is really barely a drop in the grand scheme of things.  It's just so hard to have perspective on something I have never done before (raised a baby).  I guess it is pretty unreasonable to expect everything to stay the same while I'm not there!

Clear Sailing

No news = all's well over here. Last week we had the remaining 7 days of oral antibiotics and Silas got his first round of vaccinations. My vaccination strategy is to simply delay a bit; he got his 8 wk shots at 13 wks, and we'll schedule the remaining appointments with exponential spacing from here on out. I figure that will give his little system a bit more time to develop strength in between. Also, if anyone knows of any chicken pox in thier neighbourhood over the next year, please let me know - word on the block is that 'natural' cases are getting harder and harder to find.

Last week we also found and put a deposit on a spot in a good dayhome for next April. It's all about starting the search early...

Below are some pics of the week. The first is Silas checking out (i.e. eating) a new teddy bear brought over last night by our friend Kevin. The second is of Silas wonder what sort of quack parents he got as we were out for tapas in Canmore after a day of riding (Jeff) and walking (Silas and I) on the local slopes. All is good :)

Hospital Weekend

After 2 projectile vomits Friday night and early Saturday morning, Silas and I headed to the Children's hospital.  Turns out Silas has a urinary tract infection.  He's getting antibiotics by IV - the pic below is him hangin' at the hospital and you can just see the IV poking out from the little towel wrap.  Poor little guy.  I'm quite pleased actually that he didn't get sick a couple weeks ago - at 2 months and under they do a lumbar puncture to test for infections - ick!  Yesterday they simply took a urine sample.  Although the catheter used to get the sample did teach Silas some body awareness - he just figured out that he has hands in the last week or two and now he definitely knows he has a penis too.  He gave some pretty funny expressions when it went in (before crying).  Again, poor little guy!  They are not sure if the infection came from his poo or his kidneys, so next week we're doing follow-up kidney tests once the antibiotics are done.  Apparently a kidney issue could have been the reason for my poly. We'll see! Generally Silas has been happy and smiling through his little fever - he's a pretty cool dude :)

  

Mug Shot

Today we went and got Silas' passport photos taken. There are so many rules about the colour of shirt, the size and placement of the head, etc... but apparently a bit of drool is perfectly ok! Although you can sort of tell that I have my hand up his shirt holing him upright, he looks so accomplished holding himslef up :)
The place we got them done guarantees their photos, so if it get regected by Passports Canada on an obscure anti-drool clause we get free retakes until it's right. Tomorrow I'm going to call ahead to make sure I have all of the documents required and properly filled out; then Friday I'm gearing up for a long time standing in line. I'm pretty excited to have some official photo ID - corney eh? Would you let this boy into your country...?

Gymaniacs

Things are looking up and Silas is sleeping again.  I think it was a growth spurt and thank goodness it didn't last any longer.  He still doesn't sleep any longer than 3 hrs at a time, but 3 hrs is WAY better than 30 minutes!  This single parenting business is much easier with just a bit more sleep.  Jeff is away for one more week - we're halfway done!

Here are some recent photos.  The thumb sucking was taken a couple of nights ago - a classic pose.  The other ones were taken this morning.  He was playing on our floor with Mr. Frog while I ate breakfast and then we went to Gymaniacs (an indoor play area) with Dana, Noel and Molly. That's Dana holding Silas and Molly sticking out her tongue.  It's been a happy smiley day and he's had some good naps to boot!  Sorry that they are so dark, but I try not to use the flash.  Check out that head holding in the last one - he's a champ!

  

sleepless

in posting this i am hoping to gain perspective.  last night silas decided sleeping was for sissies.  he slept 1hr 20 min (11 pm to 12:20); 30 min (1:40 to 2:10); 40 mins (4:15 to 4:55) and then 1 hr 10 min while on my chest (5:50 to 7 am).  and has now had 2x 15 min little 'naps' since 7 am (currently noon).  aaaaaaaahhhhhhrrrrrrrggggggg.  does anybody want a baby?  oh and did i mention he cries if you don't hold him?  i like getting attention as much as the next guy, but i hope whatever has made this little man so uncomfortable passes soon.  i really want a large coffee, but don't want to pass the caffeine on to him perpetuating the cycle.  so, i am toughing it out and typing this instead.  baby raising certainly can be quite the endurance sport...  

Baby got a new pair of shoes

I try to not get sucked in by the mass consumerism that is 'baby' but I just got home from a rather satisfying shopping trip.  I went to my local baby store (you have these when you live in suburban Calgary) and Silas is now the proud new owner of a super cute pair of brown Robeez sandals.  My justification is that they will keep his socks on...  I can't have a boy with cold tootsies!  Well, that and they are super cute and all the other kids in yoga class have them :)  

This week has been interesting...  Monday started with me having a stomach flu.   It lasted a couple of days and I've just started to feel completely back to normal.  Thank goodness it didn't get passed to Silas - he's been healthy and happy all week.  Now I have the challenge of being on our own.  Jeff is up in Chetwynd until the end of next week and so far we've a pretty good time alone together.  Thursday we went to see Sex in the City with the other moms from our birth class, yesterday we had a breast feeding check-up, and then today was shoe shopping and hanging out with my friend Helen.  The only frustrating part is that I wanted to go to a friend's wedding party tonight in Canmore, but it was raining heavily once we got on the road and I'm just too tired to drive that far on my own in bad weather.  I feel a bit defeated, but also recognize that I had set my expectations pretty high.  

Silas is now 2 months old and is happy as can be.  We've started a course of probiotics which has greatly reduced his gas pain and I am slowly reducing my medication with no seeming effect of reducing my milk supply. I think all our feeding issues are well behind us - knock on wood.  Usually I'm basking in the love when he's smiling and laughing, but yesterday I finally remembered to snap a pic.  The second one is him this evening in his going-out duds ready for the wedding party - note the sweet shoes!

 

Getting back into it

Jeff's folks left yesterday and I think it is safe to say that a good time was had by all.  The rain has still not quite let up but I have hope that the rest of the week should be o.k.  I have big plans to go for walks and get some semi-serious, consistent exercise.  We thought that Jeff might have to leave for the field today, but luckily that has been postponed until next week.  Our plan now is to make some good progress on the fence this weekend -  I'm pretty sure that during my upcoming week as a single parent I won't be getting much done on it! I'll post some pics soon.

As for our first day in a while with just the two of us, Silas and I have had a good one so far, and this afternoon we're heading to the chiropractor. He's had a lot of gas issues and crying - not quite colic-y (thank goodness!) but pretty consistently miserable sometimes.  He always is happy as pie after he gets a good poo out (aren't we all!  Ha ha), so hopefully the chiropractor can help work the kinks out, so to speak.  Although most moms would understand, I'll try to limit my poo reports here :)

And to follow the cliche of new moms sitting at home watching soaps and eating bonbons for their mat leave - Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong?!  I'm guiltily looking forward to a summer of entertainment gossip news :)

Completely Average

It's still raining...  Here are some pics from the past week.  The first two are of Jeff's mom and dad (respectively) and the last is of Mr. Silas and his good friend Mr. Octopus who has recently been suplanted by Mr. Frog.   

A second rainy day trip happened on Thursday including visits to Banff and Lake Louise.  To me the main event of the day was of Silas and I graduating from feeding in the back seat of the Landcruiser to feeding under a boob cover in a restaurant.  I still greatly prefer feeding in quiet places where I can hear him swallow and we can have some quiet time together, but I am feeling more and more mobile all the time.   As for the over-night 2 hour issue, although not particularly recommended, I'm trying to feed him every 2 hours from 4 till 10 whether he likes it or not (generally likes it) and that has gotten me a couple 3 hour spaces into the over-night mix.  The breast feeding check up last Friday was great - I went from ~35 mls per feed to ~55 mls and now I'm at ~85 mls!  This last amount is with a medium volume of Motillium to increase my milk supply and is a completely average and baby-satisfying amount.  Yay for achieving average!  

Building fences and rainy days

Silas is 7 weeks and has started smiling and coo-ing; general communication has begun!  

The past week and a half have been busy with Jeff's parents visiting.  For the long weekend we rented a bobcat with a post hole auger and Jeff and his dad went after the backyard digging 23 fence post holes for our new backyard project.  We are building ourselves a fence!  Jeff borrowed a big truck from work to get the lumber we need and also grabbed a theodolite for getting the fence both straight and exactly along our property line.  So far the posts are in and cemented straight, but yesterday it started raining (and is still raining) making our un-grassed clay backyard simply impassable.  It looks like we will have to put the fence boards up on our own later in the month - maybe I can get Silas to use the air-gun nailer on the lower end of the boards - ha ha ha!

On Tuesday we took a day off from the fence production and had a day driving around the mountains.  It was a big day for Silas and I as feeding and changing happened in the truck.  We tried to break up the driving time with walks in the sling every couple of hours.  We visited Bragg Creek, went to Elbow falls, the Elbow river suspension bridge, drove down Powderface trail, stopped at Barrier Lake and had dinner at the Grizzly Pub in Canmore after a walk around downtown.  I think it was a pretty comprehensive mountain tour and the stops pretty much coincided with 2 or 3 hour intervals for feeding and changing and getting out of the baby bucket car seat.  Silas went to two restaurants (lunch and dinner) and was quiet and calm both times - well done Silas :)

My next challenge will be my first stint as a single mom.  Jeff's parents leave on Sunday morning and then he's going into the field on Monday.  I think I'll have a week all on my own.  The freezer is stocked with food and I expect Silas and I will be spending a lot of time lounging in the bedroom.  I'm hoping that we'll be able to handle it well; maybe I'm delusional though.  The last three days have re-introduced lack of sleep as Silas has been waking up every 2 hours to feed.  Seeing as it takes an hour to feed and get him back to sleep, that leaves 45-55 minutes for my own rest.  Last night I had a bit of an issue as he was crying and hungry but my arms were totally asleep!  Jeff grabbed him and worked to calm him down, but if this happens next week it will just be me...  The overnight sleep issue is sort of frustrating because he goes 3 or 4 hours (or more!) between being hungry during the day!  We need to somehow flip his feeding around; 4 hours at night and 2 hours during the day.  We have a breast feeding doctor check up tomorrow and I'm hoping the Dr. can give some insight into how to handle this. Tips and tricks from all you moms out there are more than welcome.  

time flies!

Silas is 5 weeks old!  The last month has been amazing.  We are currently between visits for the rest of this week.  Last month my mom was here for 3 weeks to cook, clean, laundry and generally get shit done for us around the house.  It was great to have help and there was quite a bit of baby cuddling mixed in there.  My sister was here for a long weekend last week, overlapping a bit with my mom. It was really great to have all three of us together for two days and Silas got a dose of a house full of women.  Next Tuesday Jeff's folks come in from Ontario and they'll be here over the long weekend for a total of 12 days.  In general I'm feeling more mobile day by day and we hope to be able to take them around to Lake Louise and such - maybe even to drive to Golden on the Saturday of the long weekend to experience the Golden Triangle road ride from the other side this year.  I find it so hard to believe that we road that just last year; it seems ages ago!

Speaking of riding, I got out for a little pedal around the paths in our neighbourhood last night.  I think it was about 10 kms and took me about 45 mins - none too speedy, but I was just so happy that everything felt fine.  I was pretty nervous heading out from what I've heard about c-section recovery.  However, the only particularly sore spot was in my wrists.  Pregnancy and post-birth hormones lengthen all your tendons, weakening them, and my wrists are getting quite the workout picking up and nursing this big boy - riding was like wrist cross-training.  Tonight is the first ride of the women's mountain bike club and I'm still debating about going.  It would be so nice to get out of the house, but I don't want to push myself too much too soon.  I'll probably leave it until next week.  

Silas is doing well.  On Monday we went to a breastfeeding specialist and the good doctor cut his tongue tie.  Now he's latching well and we're over the latest baby hurdle.  I'm off the pump and it feels great to be less tied to the house.  We haven't really gone out much, but now I know I could!  Speaking of - time for another feed.  I'll try to post more soon.   

strange blogger thing?

Just so you know - that Three Weeks post was just put up today... I don't know why the date says April 11th (?)

Three Weeks!

Over the past couple weeks I've written a few venting posts about breatfeeding but then decided to save posting them until I felt I had a bit of perspective. Some of these unpublished posts included gems such as:

"When I was pregnant I heard that the first few weeks of breastfeeding are difficult. WOAH! I was chatting with a friend who does marathons and ironmans and she described begining breastfeeding as the most 'difficult' thing she's ever done. Ooohhhh - that kind of difficult... " and,

"No one told me about this evil vampire, bloody nipple stage!"

However, our midwives have been very supportive and for the past week we have been on a 3-hr schedule including a mix of breastfeeding, pumping and syringe feeding. The last stage of syringe feeding has been to try to get him to stop biting - thank goodness he doesn't have teeth yet! His weight has been fluctuating as just as he was begining to put some ounces back on he ripped a couple of peices off my nipple and I went to nipple sheilds, which then reduced my milk supply and sent his weight back down. Today we had a check up and he is finally back to his original birth weight. And I swear almost overnight he has out grown our current rotation of onesies and sleepers, and we are starting into our pile of 3-6 month sizes.

He has developed excellent muscle control of his neck, is very alert and observant when awake, and has started pushing quite strongly with his legs, though thankfully has yet to gain any purchase with his feet. Although he is big and strong, we are absolutely not ready to have him scooting around on his own quite yet!

Here he is at 12 days old, and another of him with Jeff just a couple of days ago (Diane, note your housewarming quilt in action!):

Birth story and first pics of Silas

By now you've all figured out that Silas is a big baby.  We had an ultrasound scheduled for April 1st (just before wk 39) and although completely healthy, I was on a trend of ever increasing amniotic fluid and the baby was growing with gusto!  We decided to try an induction (had been brought up before, so it wasn't totally spur of the moment) as it seemed like a decent time to compromise between letting nature take it's course and being intimidated by just how big my belly could stretch before having serious issues.  By Wednesday morning induced conditions were not ideal and we decided to schedule a c-section before things got out of hand; i.e. healthier going in = easier recovery coming out and less stress on the baby we figured.  It was also nice because both the OBs and the midwives totally agreed that it was a good way to go.  

So, we waited all day as emergency sections kept coming up which was stressful, and although my thoughts go out to all the other women in the ward that day, it reinforced how happy we were that I was not an emergency.  The induced contractions were also lessening now that the hormones were wearing off, giving me a bit more time for napping after >24 hrs of chemical stimulation.  We were finally next in line and with no emergencies on the immediate horizon, things got underway.  

Here is the little monkey in the hospital the next morning (Thursday) and a second of him in his current state as I type this (Monday).  

And there you go!  Next pic will have him awake, I promise :)

Silas Chester Sears

This past Wednesday (02/04/08) brought us a beautiful 9 lbs 13 oz baby boy!  (At 10:32 pm in Calgary - just in case anyone wants to check his horoscope)

Blame lack of sleep, but this won't be the most detailed post.  I'll post the whole birth story later; all in all though we are mesmerized by this little man :)