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weaning the DF

we've been weaning the dreamfeed since last week & its going really well. last night he ate at 10pm & then slept straight through until 7am - it was amazing!! i am loving the nights he STTN & its happening more & more frequently now (unless he's teething...) so the goal of weaning the DF is to get to the point where he is feeding before bed, then not again until the morning. to achieve this we're working in 3 day increments of 1/2 hour changes... so for the next 2 days it will be 10, then 9:30, then 9, then 8:30, etc. until we reach 7:30, which is an hour off of our 6:30 bedtime feed. once we hit 7:30, we'll do that for 3 days, then stop altogether. cross your fingers for us!

7 months birthday!!

i can balance ...


in the sitting position...


and wave my arms around...


but when i do...


i fall over!

happy 7 months birthday little man! i can't believe how big you are getting. mommy is astonished that you are 7 months old today. this has got to be my favorite age so far.. he's doing so many new things every day; its just a joy to be around him. i love being a mom to my special little guy!

kim

here's a link explaining what i was talking about re: pumping & BF'ing :)

oversupply, block feeding & foremilk/hindmilk imbalance

look what i can do!

i'm sitting!!



i'm toppling over...

front upper toofer & SA

finally came through last night after dinner - which involved LOTS of screaming, wailing & frustrating cries (on liam's part); poor little muffin. thank god its finally through b/c he STTN last night - one of the first times he's slept all night since we got back from the hospital. Yay Liam!! GO Liam GO! we'll get a pic of the tooth when more is showing through, right now its just a little white slit.

i can't believe my (almost) 7 month old has 3 teeth. its astonishing how fast he's growing...

in other news, we've started experiencing the dreaded "Separation Anxiety" which comes on around 7 months. its a very healthy thing to happen; means that he's developed "good attachment" to both of us... but... it is sooo hard to get anything done b/c he wants to be right beside me or even right on top of me pretty much ALL the time. where he used to play independently (by himself) for up to an hour (i know, we were so blessed!) now its about 15 mins max before he starts making the "oooo" and "bababa" and "i know you're there why the heck aren't you hanging out with me?!!" noises... which quickly escalate into full on "WAAA WAA WAAA" if we don't respond right away. the up-side is that he's come to fully appreciate peekaboo & thinks is hilarous when we play it. peekaboo is a great game to play at this age b/c it teaches babies that just b/c they can't see something, it doesn't mean it has gone away... aww... how cute is that? i love it

he's almost sitting up by himself now & he got into the crawl position on tuesday but he hasn't done it again. he's still eating around 2 jars of food at every meal & come to appreciate not only peas but green beans which he LOVES. we eat 1/4 cup cheerios with breakfast fruit every morning, i make them mushy with water (tried formula & he wasn't having it, i think he doesn't like the taste) so meal-times are taking a lot longer. last night he spazzed out crying b/c he wanted my pizza crust! he's eating small chunks of sweet potato, pear, peach, he's really enjoying baby mum mum's - basically anything he can gum down he wants. all he wants to do is chew.

he's also started shrieking & laughing whenever he sees diesel.

milestone

on sunday i'll have been breastfeeding liam for 7 months. this is HUGE, since i promised myself i'd give it a shot for at least a month or two "to see how it goes". at first, BF'ing seemed gross to me. i really struggled with the whole nature vs sexuality thing. my minor in women' s studies prepared me for the transition from sex pot to mom .. but i was not prepared for BF'ing to feel so right for us. granted the first 6 weeks were horribly painful. then with liam's problems pooping i almost gave up. then who can forget the vomit-fest that was "soya formula experiment 1"? every time i think about it i shudder (who knew he could get so sick from the wrong formula?)

maybe its b/c liam had a great latch from the beginning, or the fact that i made so much milk my dr joked that i should be feeding twins. it doesn't matter, all i can say is: i am so glad i never gave up, b/c after the first 2 months, BF'ing got so easy!!

i laughing joke that i can't wait to get him off the boob so that i can have some freedom, but the truth is, i'm in no rush. however, it has to be soon b/c meg (my bff) is having her bachelorette in MTL & i'll be gone for a weekend without liam ... oh the conflicted feelings. its time to wean him but is he ready? am i? i know he'll be fine... but will i?

to celebrate 7 months of BF'ing, i've posted a permanent gold bow on my blog



this ribbon signifies a woman's right to choose to breastfeed her baby & her right to do it in a support environment (& not a washroom stall thank you very much!). if you'd like a gold bow of your own, right click over the ribbon, save to your computer & then upload wherever you want. enjoy!

more easter pics

cars

shaun got into a car accident today in the Tim's parking lot. he got hit on the passenger side, completely messing up the door & the alignment. we're getting our rental in a couple of hours. its too depressing. there goes my bonus!

a recap

Happy Easter

LOL you can see my Spanx! (the bulge near the middle of my back) Yep i don't care who knows it, pregnancy wrecks your middle & spanx gives me the confidence i need to wear real ppl clothes not just sweats all the time

how fast are you??

not bad! i'll have to retake it sometime when i'm not holding liam on my lap

66 words

coincidence?

i am so watching this!

details of the new 90210 spinoff revealed

front uppers

are coming in & we are in the midst of teething hell. even with motrin & numbing gel he is still cranky, fussy, crying, hardly eating solids & not wanting to nurse. he is super clingy, always wanting to be on or beside me. poor little muffin. we just can't wait for that new toofer to pop through! common toofer! pop already!

i can't make this stuff up

Ian Ziering from 90210 talks about the spin off & his ideas on where the cast would be "if it was now"....

http://perezhilton.com/2008-03-17-ziering-vs-spelling#more-16104

when did Steve Sanders get so hot? there's just something sexy about those crinkly eye smilies that do it for me. seriously why is it that some guys get rediculously hot as they age??

i love

my SIL carey, i really do. i love her so much. whenever i'm feeling like i can't do this mommy thing, just talking to her makes it so much better. when she goes back to work next week i'm going to miss her terribly. i hope her work knows how lucky they are to have her around.

last night

my parents have been in town, so babysat for liam while we went to mishky's birthday party. it was at a bar. it felt really really strange to be hearing DnB again in a bar - but really good too. i'm more motivated than ever to get liam to take a bottle b/c of last night. here goes:

we have a nice dinner at Milestones. then over to the bar/pub/whatever... its 9:00 & suddenly, mid-sentance my milk lets down. shaun & i laugh b/c its embarassing & i'm holding my boobs, which looks so strange & i say "i bet he woke up" & shaun's like "no he didn't, he's fine". then i say "give me the phone i want to call home" and shaun says "no don't call home, he's fine, stop worrying". so i keep harassing him & finally call home at 9:15. my dad answers & right away i can tell somethings up. i ask how liam is doing & dad says "he woke up around 9 & we're just working to get him back to sleep" - how wierd is that? that my milk let down across the CITY at the same time that he woke up???

feeling validated, i hung up. completely unworried b/c i trust my parents, like i trust my MIL, like i trust my Meg. at 10:30 we get a call. its my dad, "can you come home? he's just working himself up & won't settle down". this means he's been awake for an hour & a half. bah!

we have to leave. but i didn't want to b/c i was talking to Natalia, my miss rollergirl, old Modern Drunk Magazine best buddy who we hadn't seen in over 2 years (which is shameful). we're laughing & catching up & Mishky is there b/c, of course, its her birthday so it feels like old times, a reunion. i am so happy to be with these 2 ladies! ... Fiver is on the decks, Plush is running around b/c its her birthday too, Laura had just gotten there - there are balloon's everywhere. it looks great & the mood is very festive. lots of laughing, comparing shoes, hair lengths, talking about roomies, shaking a little booty on the spot; you know - important girlie stuff. i felt like i was back living my pre-baby life. it felt really really good b/c i miss the old me.

anyway we had to leave... but it was just as good to get home b/c he stopped crying as soon as he heard my voice. it was adorable & made me feel so special & when i was back home there was no where else i wanted to be. just holding my baby, calming him down, smelling his baby smell... ahhh

so, right, its time to get him on a bottle b/c
1. i need to be able to get out and
2. someone else needs to be able to feed him b/c i am trapped by my own boobs

omg omg omg

i can't breathe!! this is too exciting. more 90210?? yippie!! its as good as if someone told me that LOST is going to be filming in my house.

Rich kids are back: CW plots '90210' spinoff

"This would be the second spinoff from "90210," which aired on Fox from 1990-2000. The Star-created "Melrose Place" had a successful seven-year run on Fox. It didn't feature any major characters from "90210."

so tired today

liam has not been sleeping well for the past 2 nights - we've had lots of 3am & 5am wakeups

*big yawn*

oh well, at least during the day he's fairly happy

something random: my favorite celebrity Tori Spelling has "written" a book called "Story Telling by Tori Spelling" which i am excitedly waiting to read. for some reason i feel like if i were to meet Tori on the street we would end up being good friends which makes me sound like a creepy stalker - but so what? i'm only a bit creepy.. not full-on freaky; i like her because she just seems so nice & normal compared to other celebrities these days. plus i love her as Donna Martin & since i wasn't allowed (thanks mom *insert eye roll*) to watch 90210 when it first aired, i am loving that they're playing all the seasons on TVTropolis. Donna Martin Graduates! also Meg & i are completely addicted to her reality show "Inn Love". anyway i know she talks about 90210 in her book so i can't wait to read the dirt.




wearing the Benevolent Dictator shirt Aunt Kim & Uncle Brad gave him



getting ready for breakfast - sometimes its easier to feed him in the Bebe Pod than the highchair



his new favorite toy is a "JellyCat" Medium Bashful Monkey



the company that makes them is based out of England & i finally found them in Chapters after looking online for close to a month to find the toys i wanted to buy. i also picked up a little something for both Kim & Andrea's babies. the toys i got them are on the page i linked to, but i won't say which ones since they're a suprise!

Nanners & Pop Pop

are coming! they'll be staying from thursday night to sunday morning. v exciting!

while mom is still sick the dr (hers) said it should be fine that she'll be passed the contagious part & as long as she wears a face mask (thanks to the hospital for insisting we bring a stack home) & washes her hands before handling liam he should be okay. that was a massive run on sentance :/

while they're here, my parents are going to babysit for us saturday night. its Mishky's 'Turnin 30' birthday bash. she's a good friend & we are so excited to able to go. its been a very, very long time since we've gone out with friends or to a club (um.. january 2007 for me!) i literally cannot believe that i finally - finally - get to go out & do something i used to do before liam came along - dance!

dr's today

18.5 pounds
74 inches long
C-Diff negative
drinking: about 30oz milk/day
eating: about 15oz solids/day

:)

ordered:
-urine culture for when he's done round 2 of the meds
-possible ultrasound tbd after april appointment

diagnosis positive. our lovely dr says he's looking really good. yay!

Ahhhh

so this weekend was a bust. we were supposed to go for dinner with Meg & Astar on friday night (for her birthday) but because of the snow storm we had to cancel. MIL was already over here to babysit so hubby & i went to the Mandarin place down the street (we walked, er... trudged through the snow) & had a quiet dinner just the two of us. we played tic-tac-toe & SOS on the paper placemats, had a couple of drinks & some laughs; it was nice getting out just the two of us - it'd been a long time; since before the hospital.

liam is feeling much better. the new meds seem to agree with him more than the Ammox meds did. he's stopping pooping a million times a day & is back down to 1 or 2 - which is so much nicer for him. the new meds are only given once per day after a feeding, which are much better than three times a day (the old stuff) & easier to give as that last dose of Ammox was after the "dreamfeed" around 11:30 at night (which was really hard to do half asleep).

so far he's had no new "reactions" to this new med so thats great!

he's back to eating 3 jars of food a day ('jars' is a loose term since most of you know i make most of his baby food & freeze it in cubes since its healthier & cuts down on environmental waste).

in happy news my parents might be coming for a visit this weekend - which is really exciting b/c we haven't seen them since the holidays (& shaun hasn't seen them since liam was born!). but my mom woke up this weekend feeling sick so she was going to the dr today to see if she's allowed to come (until liam is off the meds we're under strict instructions not to let him be around anyone that is sick for fear he'll catch something - hospitals orders, not mine! trust me, i feel like such a shut in not being able to bring him to malls or grocery stores, or anywhere really).

i am crossing my fingers they can come b/c i really need some mommy-time of my own!

laughing video

liam laughing at 6 months; he had us in stitches

liam & his cute'ness

camera cord

is malfunctioning. sorry no new pictures till we can get it fixed

there's something

very lovely about a snow day when your husband is home from work b/c the car is snowed in & the sick baby is going on a 2 hour nap sleeping upstairs. when everything is toasty in the house & you have lots of food & snacks & warm chocolate with marshmallows. its fun to lay around all day in pajamas & watch downloaded movies on the computer to tv hook up.

lets all take today to rejeuvenate, to slow down, to relax. lets spend today cuddling & playing with our toes. lets curl up on the floor on a soft blankie & play with tinkling bell toys. lets hug up on the couch under an old duvet & eat veggie soup from an oversized mug. lets spend today just enjoying today. together.

he passed

the urine relux test! he passed, so he doesn't have it - we are pretty sure but will find out positive next week

this means that either they read the ultrasound last week wrong or the meds he's on have cleared everything up (which i hope wasn't the case b/c then he has "silent" reflux & we wouldn't know it was a problem until he got another kidney infection)

for right now, we celebrate! ***does happy dance... although subdued, looking over my shoulder just in case i shouldn't be tempting fate***

he's been having very bad nights again, since last week (b/c i wrote about his sleeping through, of course - its the curse again). so other than bad night sleeps he seems to be getting better. there's been no new flare ups with the face rash which is a good sign. he's starting to eat a bit more at each meal, also a good sign. he's feeding very well at the breast (& only a little bit 'bitey' which does hurt pretty bad sometimes), but still - a good sign that he's eating so well.

now to get nights back on track & get this thing kicked. he's only got another week of ammox before he starts the month-long treatment with the new meds. we're making progress. slow but sure, its turing around.

!!!!!

look how pretty my sis is. look at her belly. its soooo rubabble. isn't she beautiful? she's so beautiful :) mrs.6.months.pregnant. can't wait to meet your baby (june-bug is a suprise)

never in my wildest dreams

would i have imagined i would ever say this: there was something very comforting about being at the hosptial. why? because every time a new 'thing' cropped up there were nurses & drs to ask questions & lend support. now, at home, by ourselves, i constantly find myself asking "is this normal?" and "is he okay?" and "should we take him to the dr or to CHEO?" and i just wish i had more support than the public health nurses (who aren't allowed to answer any questions related to mediciation) or the on-call dr at our health center (who doesn't know liam's entire history & can only give us "advice" based on what we tell her/him)...

so yeah.. the hospital. it was horrible being in there but i find myself missing it today... why? b/c liam woke up with the same rash on his face & there are two little spots on his trunk that make alarm bells go off in my head. i can't tell if its dry skin (which he already suffers from horribly) or if its something more..

when am i being alarmist as opposed to just concerned? what is serious as opposed to okay, but 'keep an eye on'? why do i feel like i'm going through all of this alone, even though i have a nurse for a sister, a husband who knows my heart & soul inside out & a strong, loving MIL who would drop everything for liam in a heartbeat?

when is enough simply enough & how do we move on & where do we go from here?

are we going to be having these same problems for the next month while he's on these 2 meds & should i just be prepared that every day there might be some new & alarming complication??

i'm not really looking for answers to these.. just talking out loud

**********************

liam is an ambi-roller! he starts at one side of the room & rolls to the other. we're going to have to baby proof very soon since he's become so mobile :)

**************


Happy Birthday Meggers, my best friend to end all best friends - you are so loved girlie!!! (red! just for you!) xxxx

urg

liam woke up this morning with a rash on his face. i can tell its itching him b/c he keeps clawing at it. we called the dr & it might be a delayed reaction to the amox he's been put on. or it could be an allergic reaction to banana. its hard to say for sure. we've been told to give him benadryl. this seemed to help. the redness became calmer & he stopping trying to scratch at it... as much. its still bothering him but not as badly. for now, its okay, but if the rash spreads or he vomits or his tongue swells up or he has trouble breathing then we have to - guess what - take him into CHEO. we've watched him closely all day with no change so think thats a good sign. tomorrow we'll be able to tell more.

we have his urine reflux test on tuesday. i am not looking forward to it. the last time they stuck him with a cathetar he cried so hard he was almost sick.. & no doubt! it looked incredibly painful.

on a good note, meg is back! she's been gone for three weeks to New Zealand where Pete & Rachael got married & then to Figi, which she says was amazing. it is soooo good to have her back. i've missed her horribly.

oh my

Happy 6 Months Birthday Baby!!!


look how much better i'm feeling today!


feet? i have feet!!!

ps. my page counter hit 10,000 today thanks to all my loyal readers