Baby Goals: Updated

I've become a humble mother. I'm constantly seeking advice from those mothers who came before me, and I'm constantly changing my approach to caring for our son. As month seven fades, and a return to office work looms in my future, I've updated my approach to my two baby goals. Back in February, I wanted nothing (yes, NOTHING) more than for Thomas to sleep through the night and to take a bottle when I was away from him. I was convinced I'd done everything wrong -- waited too long to introduce a bottle, rushed to him too quickly at night to respond to his cries -- and those mistakes had created a situation (a baby that would only eat from mama and that woke up every hour looking for a nipple) that I couldn't easily change.

Two comments by my public health nurse (love her!) changed my entire perspective on our situation, and I now feel much more confident in Thomas' ability to thrive while away from Mama when I head back to work.

• Sleeping Through the Night -- My nurse said that babies who are well-established at breastfeeding often wake regularly at night because it helps maintain mom's milk supply! Knowing his waking might simply be nature ensuring that we're able to continue breastfeeding for the foreseeable future is actually pretty amazing.
  
• Taking a Bottle - My nurse said that Thomas also wouldn't take a bottle because he's so well-established in breastfeeding. Knowing that his rejection of the bottle is an indication of my dedication to exclusively breastfeed until one and to then continue to breastfeed until he self-weans, not an indication of a failure on my part to introduce a bottle earlier, was so reassuring. In fact, she mentioned he was actually old enough to skip a bottle all together and move straight to a sippy cup or even a regular cup. So far, he's preferring a regular cup to any of the alternatives! I don't know why I was so bent on thinking that taking a bottle was central to us maintaining breastfeeding even after I'm back at work -- it didn't even occur to me that I could give him breastmilk in an actual cup!

Has anyone ever said something simple to you that's changed your views on parenting?

The Craziest Date I've Ever Gone On

So, this is a story that most of my family doesn't even know... :)

Greg and my relationship began long distance after meeting at a work conference. While we lived on opposite sides of the country, we both had trips planned to Newfoundland and Alberta respectively in the near future when we began to see that our relationship might be going somewhere, so going on a date was actually something we could plan. We spent a whole month looking forward to our first date in Edmonton in mid April (Greg had romantically sent me a plane ticket to fly up to Edmonton from Calgary, where I was visiting family, so that we could spend a weekend together).

But as the days passed, I couldn't wait for our date.

After perusing Air Canada's website to book my ticket to Calgary, I noticed that it was basically the same cost to buy a frequent flyer pass for one month (there was an amazing sale on at the time) as it was to buy one round trip ticket. So for the cost of one ticket to Alberta, I could also take weekend trips to Fredericton and Toronto, cities where some of my best friends lived, so it made perfect sense. I booked all my flights and let my besties know that I was coming to crash.

Then, one evening a few days later, I realised that my frequent flyer pass would allow for one more trip. A caveat was that I could only fly on Tuesdays, Saturdays or Sundays in April. So, it occurred to me that I could fly to Edmonton first thing on a Saturday morning and could fly back on Sunday - free. I had to do it. Obviously.

And I did it...and made it work on Monday morning on time to boot! Image via Gravesland.

Happy 6 Months, Thomas!

Wow! I am flabbergasted that our little man has been living with us for six months. I cannot imagine my life without you, Thomas. Love, Mommy.

Composition of a Family Home

Our house is really starting to feel like a family home with onesies hanging on our laundry rack, a high chair at the head of our dining table and toys strewn on our living room rug. I love it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I feel lucky and full of bliss for having two loves in my life - my husband and my son. Though Greg's at the office, I'm keeping busy with a gossipy lunch chat with a friend, and a homemade Valentine's project (more about that later), and we're keeping in touch by emailing limericks about our love back and forth. Hopefully tonight we'll get Thomas down to sleep before we're too zonked ourselves so that we can enjoy a cookie on the couch together. We'll celebrate properly this weekend (there's talk of steaks!). Love to all of you, my dear readers! Valentine's card by Anna Bond.

Baby Goals

So, I have a list of things I'm working towards with Tom. I've always been someone whose functioned best with goals, and as we get closer to the six month mark I'm ever aware of the fact that I'm going back to work and baby T will gain some independence from me. To prepare, we're working towards:

• Sleeping through the night -- I'm ever hopeful that some combination of solids, routine, and sleep training will get us there.
  
• Greater love of and use of pumping -- Tom's always been a hungry boy, I attachment parent and feed on demand, we don't use a pacifier, we didn't introduce a bottle until about 2 months and then rarely used it, and I loathe pumping. All this amounts to a boy who isn't so keen on the bottle. I'm going to recommit to pump daily and ensure Greg gives the boy a bottle a day. This is vital to reaching my goal of breastfeeding after I return to work, and hopefully until Thomas is at least two, as I travel with my job fairly regularly and work long hours.
  

Do you have goals with your baby? I'd also like to get more of our naps happening in the crib, but I'm aiming for the two goals above first. All in time, right?

February

Looking forward, I hope this month brings snow angels (and snow days!), homemade pizza dinners, freshly cut straight bangs and a good book to devour.

Our Favourite Places: Rocket Bakery & Fresh Food

Our favourite place in St. John's for a casual lunch and chat? The Rocket! We fit in at least one meal a week at this bakery. Images by Lisa Moffat and Matt Jiggins.

A way to share our favourite places (shops, restaurants, hangouts, vacation spots etc.), I'll be posting images of the locations where we make (and have made) our favourite memories occasionally here on Horizontal Stripes.

Bianca's

Oh fun! Our wedding is being used in promotional materials!

Surviving the First Months With a Newborn

Thomas is now almost 5 months old. It feels like we've survived and that life is starting to get a lot easier. Sure our baby certainly doesn't sleep through the night (try often waking more than 10 times for brief periods), but we're in a groove that works for our family. This is how we survived. If you have a new baby or are expecting, these tips might work for you.

For the first few weeks...

• Keep the blinds drawn in your entire house. As Thomas was born in the summer, it was bright and sunny all the time, but by keeping it dark inside, we were more easily able to nap and go to bed early or sleep in when possible. However, accept that the old advice of "sleeping when the baby sleeps" is challenging and probably won't happen. You will be tired, but eventually you'll get used to being tired and soon won't even know that you're tired (this is the state we're living in now).
  
• Make or ask someone to make a few big batches of food to enjoy. My mom made us a large lasagna and we ate it for every meal for the first week home. Did it get boring eating the same meal over and over? No, it was amazing to not have to think about food for the first bit. From now on I will be giving friends food or gift certificates for take out for the first few weeks as a shower or baby welcoming present.
  
• Go for walks. Getting outside was what kept us sane. We'd run into friends and neighbours on the street and chat for a few minutes. Your baby will likely sleep in their stroller (especially if you have one with a bassinet attachment) and you'll get a chance to retain some of your "old life".
  
• Cry. Let it out. You'll probably be feeling overwhelmed. I was and crying helped. Normally by supper time every night I'd be in tears. I let them fall and accepted that this is a normal and healthy transition. It gets so much easier and life will be beyond wonderful.
• Ask for help. In assessing my experience, this is when I found things challenging. For the first month, baby nursed (every 1.5 hours for up to 45 minutes at a time!) and slept. At that time it was very helpful to have people around to spell me off between feedings so that I could eat and shower.
  

Take time for yourself by...

• Buying yourself an expensive pair of jeans. I live in my $200 jeans. Wearing something that makes me feel good about myself is worth far more than those $200. You'll be dressing super casual but that's no reason to succumb to feeling frumpy.
  
• Always taking a shower. It wasn't until month 4 that I occasionaly started skipping showers (and then only when I had great second day hair that I knew I couldn't replicate in the ten minutes maximum I have during the week to ready myself for the day).
  
• Putting your baby's bouncy chair in the bathroom and taking a bath. With the fan on, the white noise will likely keep them calm. If not, your bath might be cut short, but you'll enjoy even those 5 minutes of soaking to be sure.
  
• Finding other moms and dads in the same boat. Playgroups, at least for newborns, are about social interaction for the moms and parents. I've found so much comfort in my chats with other new moms.
  

How have you kept sane with your newborn? I'd love to hear. xo

Tired

We're missing a lot of sleep here on Circular these days, and I'm presently dealing by permanently wearing a messy bun (too lazy to straighten and dry my tresses) and always lusting for a Second Cup strawberry lemonade chiller (source of a quick energy rush). Images via Fashion Toast and Girls and Bicycles.

January

Looking forward, I hope this month brings walks in the snow, lots of Fiat sightings (such cute cars!), red finger nails and a trip to Post Espresso.

This post is the first in a 12 part series that will run on the first day of each month in 2012 -- images of my hopes and plans for the month ahead.

Resolutions

In 2012, I'm going to:

• throw my husband a glamorous birthday party and my son a picnic-themed birthday party
  
• watch the first three seasons of Big Love
• continue to share music with my son
• host a few fun baby play dates in our new playroom
  
• become more comfortable leaving T with a sitter so we can enjoy romantic evenings out
• prepare delicious, interesting, nutritious and toddler-friendly meals so we can instill positive eating habits in our son from the start
  

Image via This is Glamorous.

Tall

Thomas is officially above the 95th percentile for height. Not bad for a 5'6 mum and a 5'11 dad.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to all from our frosty corner of the world! xoxo

Pictures of Christmastime in St. John's from Derek, Stephen, Andreas and Zach.

Tent

I'm heading to bed now (baby fast asleep in crib? check! 8 pm? check!) and will be dreaming about playing hide and seek with our sweet Thomas Walter. Maybe we'll even have a fun Caroline Gomez tent to hide in!

Nursery

If curious, here's a glimpse of the room we designed for little Thomas. As a nursing mother, with a son who feeds best in his poang chair, I'm quite glad we took the time to add visual interest and colour for adults as well as tykes as I presently find myself spending many hours a day and night sitting in there.

Tummy Time

One of my favourite times of the day - holding a sleeping Thomas on my chest.

New

Our little family grew by one last Thursday evening. At 7:35 pm, Greg and I welcomed our sweet son, Thomas Walter - a 8 lbs 7 oz bundle of joy - six days early. Over the past six days, we've been taking time to bond as a family - lots of skin-to-skin contact, story time and monologues spoken to him by each of us about any number of topics regarding our life together, our home and our family. It's been a blissful, dreamy and sleepy few days.

Welcome Thomas. We love you with everything we have. The world has never known someone exactly like you, and we're blessed to be your parents. xo

Matches

As non-smokers with a fireplace that isn't lined, our need for matches and a lighter are slim, but nonetheless having something on hand to light candles for a casual dinner in is something we enjoy. These literary matches fit the bill perfectly. For purchase at Dippy Lulu.