Merry Christmas!

I'm 38 weeks pregnant today, and ready for baby boy to come!! Neriah had a great Christmas. She loved opening presents. I can't believe that next year we'll have an almost one year old, and a two and a half year old! Craziness!!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for...

- Neriah [basically] sleeping through the night, even if it is in our bed

- Feeling an insane amount of movement from my little man

- The privilage of being a stay-at-home mom

- An amazing husband who works hard to provide for his family

- James coming home and taking Neriah out for a walk so I can get some alone time

- 'Real' kisses form Neriah whenever I ask

I love my little family and am so excited that it will be growing soon!!

Wordless Wednesday - 32 Weeks

It's Been a Long Time!

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. I just really suck at blogging!

We just finished our fifth move in three years, and we're loving it! We're slowly settling in, and Neriah seems to be adjusting fine! She has her own room now, and has spent the past two nights in her room, in her crib. She has been in our room and in bed with us since she was born, so it's quite a change for her! She's doing great! She's waking up a little bit more than usual, but doesn't seem to be stressed or scared. I'm so proud of her!

She goes down around 8pm, and gets up at 9:30pm, 12:30am, 3:30am, 4:00am (this is usually when I give in and nurse her), 5:30am, 6:30am (this is when I usually give in and bring her to bed with me and nurse in bed) and then she's up for the day at 7:45am. We're really hoping her sleep gets better before the new baby comes!

Speaking of the new baby, I'll be 22 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and we found out at our 19 week ultrasound that we're expecting a BOY! James is so excited to have a son!

Neriah is almost 14 months now, walking every where (she took her first steps at 9.5 months), but isn't talking yet. She is signing though, and understands almost everything we say. I'm sure language will be soon to follow!

I'm going to attempt to update more often. We'll see how that goes!

Wordless Wednesday - Coming in Early January

Car Seat Safety

It's truly surprising to me how little parents know about car seat safety. Why would you not do a little research into your child's safety in the car?? It makes no sense to me. It very rare that I see a picture of a child in their car seat correctly. Though I'm no expert, here are some safety tips for you!

-When rear facing (which should be done as long as possible), the straps should be AT or BELOW the shoulders.

- Only when forward facing should the straps be at or above the shoulders.

- The chest clip should be at the height of the armpit, NOT near the belly or neck.

- Rear facing should be done until AT LEAST one year AND 20lbs, NOT whichever comes first.

- New recommendations are that a child be rear facing until 2-4 or until the child reaches the height or weight limits on his/her convertible car seat.

- It is 500% safer for a child to be rear facing. See this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&feature=player_embedded.

- Convertible car seats with a five point harness are safest for children under 40 lbs as long as they're not too tall for their seat.

- There is no such thing as a 'safer' car seat. All seats go through the same tests. The safest car seat is one that fits your car and child, is installed properly, and one in which your child is buckled in properly. After installing your car seat, you should get it checked by a technician.

- If your car seat is in an accident, it will need to be replaced.

- Products like the 'Bundle Me' that go between the baby and the straps should never be used. In an accident, the material can compress and cause the straps to not be tight enough. This is also true of big coats/snowsuits on baby. It's must safer to put a blanket over them, or use a 'shower cap' type cover.

- Check out more tips at http://www.car-safety.org/.

Good luck and keep your child safe!

Another Great Quote!

“Children do not need us to shape them; they need us to respond to who they are.” ~ Dr. Naomi Aldort

Awesome quote

"Crying is a signal provided by nature meant to disturb parents so that the child's needs will be met. Ignoring a child's cry is like ignoring the warning signal of a smoke detector because we find it disturbing. Crying, like the loud detector sound, is meant to capture our attention so that we can attend to the important needs of the child." ~ Jan Hunt, Author

9 Month Appointment and Chiropractor

Today was Neriah's 9 month doctors appointment. Her stats are:

Weight: 16lbs 12 oz - 25%
Length: 73cm - 75%
Head Circumference: 45cm - just above 75%

I guess she got her Daddy's big head! We have no idea why she's so tall and skinny though. I don't think either is in our genes much!

We also went to the chiropractor again. We saw Dr. Bonn for the first time, and she was awesome. We were almost an hour late, because James got the appointment time wrong, and they still fit both Neriah and me in. Dr Bonn said Neriah is super healthy and strong and has great muscle tone. She just had a couple tight spots that needed an adjustment, and apparently Dr Bonn could tell Neriah was teething cause she 'felt' it, so did an adjustment to help with that too. Awesome! I hope it helps Neriah sleep better! We shall see!

9 Months!

Man, what a week it's been. James is preaching tomorrow, so he had to prepare for that, he taught a 'training day' on Spiritual gifts on Tues., plus he had a conference all week. He got up between 5-7am and didn't get home until after 10pm. He didn't even get a day off! We really only saw him on Monday night and for a couple of hours on Wed. Of course that means I was all alone all week with Neriah. I am exhausted!

Our routine is:

Get up between 8 and 9am and Neriah 'plays' on the bed while I doze until she gets bored. Then we come out to the living room and she plays with all her toys while I check my email and facebook. We play until her nap, between 11 and 12 (around 3 hours after she wakes up). I shower during her nap and she usually only sleep for 20min to an hour (if I'm super lucky). I make her something for lunch and we watch our soap opera (what?) and just hang out, clean, and play. Sometimes we'll go down to the park or just to get a coffee and check the mail.

She naps again about 3 hours after she wakes up from her first nap. Sometimes she goes down earlier if her nap was really short. I use this time to relax, nap, read, watch TV, whatever. I can't really clean while she naps because our apartment is super small and I'm always afraid I'm going to wake her up. This nap is usually around an hour, sometimes less. Often she wakes up after a short time and I have to go re-rock her to sleep. She eats supper around 5pm and usually needs a bath after. Bedtime is 8pm.

So all week I've done all of the above all by myself. When James is home, he puts her down at night, which is always the hardest. Last night it took me AN HOUR to get her down. I was almost crying. Putting her down for naps and for bedtime consists of nursing and LOTS of swaying. I wish she would let us rock her to sleep while sitting in the glider, but we have to stand and sway her until she falls asleep, and then continue to sway for at least 5 min before we can put her down in her bed. Now that she's getting older, she's so much heavier and it sucks! My back and arms get so sore. We're praying that she'll learn to put herself to sleep soon. She's getting better at doing it during the night, which I'm hoping is a good sign, though she still wakes every two hours or so to nurse. I haven't had a full night's sleep in over a year! It's crazy what your body can get used to. A lot of times I don't even feel tired.

Doing it all myself though, on top of waking so much at night? Ya. I'm tired. I'm so glad James is home now, and I can't imagine being a single parent. I could never do it.

Though her sleep sucks, the joy she brings makes up for it. She turned nine months today, and I can't believe she's been out of me for as long as she was in me! I cried about it, because with every new month, that one year mark looms closer.

She learned a lot this past month. She's 'real' crawling (though not all the time since her army crawl is still way faster), she started pulling up on everything, and she started cruising along furniture! Talk about time to baby proof! She cut the other two top teeth and has started teething again. I think I can see her second bottom right one coming in, but she won't let me get a good look, so who knows.

Her favourite toys are still all her wooden blocks and puzzle pieces, as well as books. She loves to pull down every book and DVD from our entertainment center, and has almost pulled the DVR on herself a couple times. I'm now teaching her to not pull up on it... haha.

I know these monthly updates are boring, but I really want to be able to look back at this blog and remember all her milestones. I like using it as a baby book. I totally wouldn't be offended if no one read these. It's really more for me, and Neriah when she's older.

New Milestones Make Me Tired

I guess I should have known last night would be rough with Neriah attempting to master so many new skills. I put her down at 7:45ish and she was still sleeping when James and I went to bed at 9:30 (which is pretty much a miracle). I knew she would be up soon to nurse, and a couple min. later, I saw her head pop up. She didn't just come over to me to nurse though, and I knew we were in for it.

She woke up hyper and wide awake. We took shifts attempting to rock her back to sleep, but every time one of us got her to sleep, she woke up as soon as, or a couple min. after she was put down. I finally told James to just bring her out to the living room and let her play until she was tired. When we have to do this every once and a while, we leave her in her sleep sac, don't turn on any lights, and don't engage her at all so she's aware it's still nighttime.

Around midnight, James brought her back to the bedroom and was rocking her, but she was crying, which is usually my cue. So I got out of bed and started rocking her and James left the room. I was getting frustrated, so I put her down and went to find James and take a little Neriah break. He was sitting on the floor of the bathroom and said he felt sick and was going to puke.

At this point Neriah started crying from the bedroom, so I went in and laid down with her, hoping she would just fall asleep (and knowing she wouldn't). That's when James started puking, and holy crap does he ever puke loudly. Neriah got scared and started wailing. I brought her out and got James a glass of water (she wouldn't let me put her down).

I finally got Neriah back to sleep at 12:30 and set James up a bed in the hallway in case he had to throw up again. Neriah was pretty restless all night and we didn't sleep well. She's really grumpy today... sigh. James feels better though thank goodness.

Stupid milestones!! I hate that they affect sleep so much!

New Milestones Make Me Sad

Is that bad? Don't get me wrong, I get so proud of Neriah when she learns to do something new. I cheer and clap and squeal and give kisses so she knows how happy she makes us. But I can't help but be sad too. Every milestone is a bit of her babyness vanishing. I want her to stay my baby forever--in this time when mistakes are so easily forgiven and time with Mommy is not just wanted, but essential for survival. I'm not ready for her to run away from me and hold little grudges and not want to be worn and not want to nurse. Just thinking that a time like that is coming makes me cry. :(

Neriah pulled up to standing yesterday. She hadn't even pulled herself to a sitting position yet, and there she was, standing and looking up at me like she knew what she had just done was something big. She was so proud of herself. And I was a little sad. Then she crawled a step. A real crawl. I don't think it will be long before she's no longer army crawling like a baby, but real crawling.

Today she got herself to a sitting position. Why do these milestones come back to back? Slow down little monster!

I'm scared and excited to see what comes next!

Babywearing Series - What NOT To Buy

So now that we know the benefits of babywearing, let's narrow down our choices by identifying what not to buy and why.

The first carrier you should never buy, is any type of bag sling.
These slings are dangerous and have caused infant deaths even when used properly. A bag sling is impossible to use safely as the baby will either be chin to chest, or covered by material, all which can lead to suffocation. For more info, check here.

Though the next carriers I'm going to mention are highly superior to a dangerous bag sling (also known as 'the sling of death'), they still suck for their own reasons. Carriers like the Baby Bjorn, Snugli, and Infantino soft structured carrier are really bad for a couple reasons.

First, the carriers are very uncomfortable for the wearer, especially as baby gets older. Even ones that claim to have lumbar support are really bad for people with bad backs (or even with good backs!).

Second, the carriers dangle the poor baby from their crotch bone! Who would want to be carried around with all their weight resting on their crotch, as if sitting on a bicycle seat? No one!! Not only is this uncomfortable for the poor baby, it can also lead to poor spine development. Not only that, but can lead to hip dysplasia! Why take that risk just because these carriers are readily available?

So if you have one of these carriers (especially a bag sling), throw it out (or return it if you can)! Don't even give it to a second hand store, as someone else who doesn't know better will waste their money. Until we stand up against these poorly designed carriers that can cause damage or even death, the companies will continue to make them.

Family Day!

We try to make Saturday's 'family day' since James gets the whole day off. James usually takes Neriah when she first wakes up so I can sleep for a couple more hours. When I get up, we usually have a pancake breakfast and watch a sermon together. Last week we gave Neriah her first pancake on Pancake Saturday.

Today we had a really packed day. Neriah woke up at 7:30, so James took her and I slept until 8:30ish. While I was sleeping, James had cleaned the whole apartment! Then it was time for Neriah's first nap. When she woke up, we got dinner together (a roast) and threw it in the crock pot, showered, and got ready for our day. By then it was already 1:30, and Neriah naps again around 2pm, so we put her down and spent some time just the two of us, reading and online window shopping.

Neriah woke up around 3:30, and we packed up and headed to the park near our apartment for the first time. It was such a beautiful day today, and we got to use our new ring sling for the first time!

We both loved it! Though I love our Ergo for long walks, for quick trips, the ring sling was so easy and Neriah loves to look out at everyone. We bought it at sleepingbaby.net. I highly recommend Jan's slings! And Jan is so helpful and her prices are great!

Anyway, Neriah loved the park. She was 'talking' and growling at the kids as they ran by and loved watching them. I can tell she's going to be one of the rough kids that some others are afraid of. I hope she doesn't get into too much trouble!

We also put her in a swing, which she was pretty indifferent too. She's actually a pretty serious baby and it's hard to get a smile out of her, especially when she's out.

But we eventually got a smirk out of her.

When Neriah had enough of the swing,

we sat on a bench and watched the kids playing on the equipment. She really liked that. Afterwards, we made a trip to Chapters and browsed the kids section. I found "The Paper Bag Princess" for toddlers as a cardboard book, and had to have it. Is it just me, or is it really weird that James has never heard of Robert Munsch?

The car ride home wasn't too bad this time. Neriah hates car rides and usually screams the whole time, but I read her new book to her a couple times, and held of most of the tears.

Now Neriah's in bed (and James put her down! Hallelujah!) and we have a little time to ourselves before we head off too. It was a great day! I just love Family Day!

8 Months Old

Neriah turned eight months on Wednesday. I can't believe how quickly baby-hood goes! In four months she'll be into toddlerhood! Though it's sad, it is also so fun to watch this little person grow up. These are some things Neriah likes to do now that she's a month older:

- Lay on her back and clap her feet together

- Lay on her back and play with her sippy cups

- Throw small tantrums when I take something away she shouldn't be playing with

- Throw small tantrums when I say, "No"

- Play with wooden blocks and puzzle pieces (which includes eating them, banging them on things, banging them on each other, and crawling around with one in each hand, or one in her mouth)

- Look out the window

- Lick/kiss/bang on her reflection in the mirror

- Lick/eat shoes

She has also started to attempt pulling up. She's not even close to having success just yet, but I can tell it won't be too long!

At eight months she also has four teeth: both middle bottom ones, and her left top front as well as the one beside it. That's right, she has no teeth on the right up top yet! It's just like her to do things so out of order. ;) Can't wait to see what this new month will bring!

Wordless Wednesday - Mobile Baby

Babywearing Series - Benefits

I love babywearing. In fact, I think Neriah has been in a stroller a total of five times since she's been born, and every time except once, I have taken her out of the stroller and strapped her on or carried her before our outing was over.

There are so many carriers out there, which can be a good and a bad thing. Shopping for the perfect carrier can be overwhelming, especially if your area doesn't have a store that has a variety of carriers you can try on. This also means you probably have to order online. In these series of posts, I'll attempt to make it a little easier for you. :) You're welcome. ;)

First, let's highlight the benefits of babywearing, shall we?

Babies who are worn cry less. I'm sure that sounds good to any mom, especially of a fussy baby! Anthropologists have observed that crying is not 'normal' for a baby. In other cultures, babies cry for mere min. a day, while in western cultures, babies sometimes cry for hours every day. In the other cultures, babies are normally carried/worn, and are only put down to sleep (which happens next to the mom). When the parent cannot wear/carry the baby, the baby is held/worn by someone else.

Babies who are worn learn more. Because these babies are crying less, they have more time to take in the world around them. They are more often in a state of 'quiet alertness', which is said to be the most optimal state for learning. These babies are also in a better position to explore the world visually and can interact better with others.

Babies who are worn are smarter. Babies can better experience their environment while being worn, which stimulates nerves to connect, and helps the brain grow.

Babywearing is convenient. No more lugging around a heavy baby in a heavy car seat! No more trying to maneuver a stroller while shopping or walking down a busy street. No more hauling a stroller in and out of your trunk with a crying baby waiting in the car.

Babywearing promotes attachment. Let's face it. Babies like to be held. Actually, they need to be held, especially right after birth. Wearing your baby creates an environment much like the one they just left: warm, cozy, snug, and close to mommy's beating heart.

Babywearing counts as tummy time. That's right! Babywearing is as good for developing neck development as tummy time is! Good news for mamas of babies who hate being on their bellies!

Babywearing aids in breastfeeding. Newborns will nurse more frequently when they are worn (especially if you wear them skin to skin) which will help greatly with mama's milk supply.

And my absolute favourite: Gross strangers are much less likely to touch your baby when s/he is being worn!

These are just some benefits. Check out more at askdrsears.com or even google 'benefits of babywearing.'

And here's a picture of my usually fussy baby, totally calm and content while shopping:

Appointment with a New Doctor

Well we finally found a family doctor, which is almost impossible in this city. Neriah had her first appointment today and it went really well. She now weighs 15lbs 13oz. at 7 1/2 months, which is in the 25th percentile. She has been in that percentile consistently since 9 weeks, so I guess everything worked out and is totally normal now.

The doctor said to keep doing what we're doing because everything is looking great. What a relief to finally have a doctor tell us everything is good! Haha. As we left, Neriah waved 'bye' and the Dr. said Neriah is really smart for her age! But we already knew that. :)

Neriah's new favourite things to do are:

- army crawl every where, especially where she knows she's not supposed to be (like in the laundry closet)

- play with the books in the book shelf, where she always ends up hitting her head/face and crying

- push onto all fours as well as onto her hands and feet

- scrunch her face up while breathing quickly through her nose

- chew on anything and everything

- try to pick up fuzz, coins, pieces of paper, etc., and put them in her mouth

- jump like crazy in her jumperoo

- scream, shriek, growl, and generally be very monster like

She's also officially hit the separation anxiety phase, and usually cries if she can't see me, or if she can see me and someone else is holding her (even when it's Daddy!). Though I kind of like it, it sucks that I'm the only one who can comfort her.

Neriah still wakes up every two hours at night to eat, but is starting to sometimes do some three hour stretches.

All in all, life with my little wild thing is exhausting, but amazing! She's so smart and is learning something new every day. Being a mommy is the best!

Wordless Wednesday - Bathtime with Daddy