Getting out more

Now that I have recovered from the birth of my child, I have been getting out more when Jesse is at work.  Ashton and I have been going to a group at public health that have 20 or so babies in it.  We went for the first time last week and while the other babies played and interacted on the mat, Ashton lay snoring on my lap, oblivious to the noise around him.  He was the youngest there and probably not the smallest.  When we arrived, he was screaming away.  It was rather cold outside so he was clothed in a MEC fleece onesie, jeans, his fleece-lined corduroy coat, a toque and his carseat bunting.  He stopped crying immediately when the layers were removed.  Funny that.  They always say to dress your baby the way that you would dress yourself.  I always have to remember that when the normal person is wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I am in jeans, a hoodie and thick socks.

We go for walks with the stroller every day.  That thing is a good workout, especially up hills.  Yesterday, we walked to the mall and back for about an hour and a half.  Sometimes we walk to work to meet Jesse when he's off.  Sometimes if I am really ambitious and drive Jesse to work at quarter to six, I walk towards work and he walks towards home and we meet somewhere in the middle.

Saturday was immunization day for Ashton.  I was really upset and very much not looking forward to going.  Of course, I realize that these vaccinations are very important but my main fears involved looking into my boy's eyes and seeing him in pain.  I ended up breastfeeding him the whole time, which is said to help.  After every shot, he pulled off and yelped.  The last one was awful...his face turned red and he just screamed.  It wasn't as bad as I had expected though.  Afterwards, we went for a walk.  When we got home, he got really really cranky and screamed inconsolably.  Eventually he fell asleep and crashed for the afternoon and evening.  That night, he slept for 10 hours straight (though he probably sucked his fist for the first 2 or so).

So the cloth diapers are working really well.  Turned out he probably would have fit them earlier but I was putting them on too loosely, which is why he was leaking.  I love them and the cleaning of them and scraping them off in the toilet isn't even that gross (I get really squeamish around poo normally).  It's become routine.  Jesse reminds me that he'll be on solids in a couple months.  It's true what people say about how things gross you out less when you have a kid.  We have been using disposables at night because he sleeps for 8 hours in a stretch and have been finding that the cloth doesn't really hold up as well at night because he is a pretty heavy wetter.  When he's a bit bigger, I might double stuff the diaper but right now, he's so little and the diaper is on the absolute smallest size.  But it's fine, what we're doing totally works for me right now.  Each to their own and whatever one can handle.  I have never done so much laundry in my life.  I don't know what I would do without a washing machine.  If I don't write about something else, I will need to change the name of this blog to something involving diapers and baby poo.  I am just totally excited about these diapers is all...they are so high tech.

My mom and I went to the baby fair in September and I entered every draw possible.  I just won my 2nd prize from that last night, which is a sp

a package.  I'm pretty excited about this because now that I have Ashton, I wander around the house in yoga pants and hoodie.  I pretty much don't wear makeup and my hair is typically in a ponytail since he loves to get this big fistful of hair and pull on it.  The first prize that I won from the baby fair is a pair of Baby Legs, which I love.  It is hard to find time for yourself when you have a baby but over the last few weeks, I have really adapted to his schedule.  We've been doing bedtime at the same time, which gives Jesse and I time to wind down and maybe even watch a movie.  Then Jesse gets up at 5 and Ashton gets me up at 7.  His morning nap is huge so everything I need to do, I can do when he's sleeping

.  Usually afternoon is his awake time and we read stories and play in his gym or bouncer or whatever.  Then it's cranky time and this is usually the best time to go grocery shopping or for a stroller ride.  I'm excited for the snow to be melting off the sidewalks so we can go for more walks.

I cannot believe all the 2008 babies!  3 of my friends had babies in 08 and I even had a new cousin born about 3 months before Ashton.  A couple days ago, Mom and I went for lunch with 2 of my aunts and my cousin.  It was so cute to see the boys together.  They were smiling at each other and it was very cute.

A picture of my boy from Christmas morning.  Totally slept through the entire thing (mostly).

I am enjoying motherhood so much!  Baby Ashton is smiling now and just seems so happy all the time (except for when we are trying to put him to bed).  His new thing is to roll over from tummy to back, which is really exciting.  He loves being in his little gym, except when he tries to eat the crinkle leaves and the leaves don't produce milk.  Then he gets ornery.  Yesterday I took this picture of him in his carseat because he had been smiling in his carseat (which he almost never does).  And I was singing to him and looking at him and suddenly it dawned on me that my 7-week-old baby boy had grown.  When you spend every minute with someone, you don't notice their growth as much as you would if you were away from them for awhile. 

I was assessing my plan for being an environmentally friendly mother.  I have spent upwards of $300 on cloth diapers.  He doesn't fit them yet (skinny little legs) but we're getting close.  Going to try them again tomorrow.  The ones I've got are genius because they are one size and you can adjust them as your baby grows.  Not proud to say he's in disposables at the moment.  I could have/should have gotten newborn cloth ones but was a little overwhelmed as a new mom with the whole diaper thing.  Of course, now I'm an old pro.  Other parents have said things to me about cloth diapers like "They are so bad for the environment because you have to wash them" but I think they are trying to justify the fact that they don't use them.  Not everyone needs to use cloth, though they are definitely the greener choice in my opinion.  Yes, you have to wash cloth diapers after disposing of the waste in the toilet, which does use a lot of water.  But you can save energy by line drying them.  The cloth is the better of two evils as disposables contain chemicals and the production alone is polluting.  Not to mention the fact that they go into the landfills.  This says it all.  I got on this rant when thinking about all the waste that baby stuff produces.  Today I was thinking even about bottles with liners.  They say that the liners make the baby less gassy but it just seems like such a waste to me.  I am breastfeeding anyway so the bottles I use are the medela ones that fit on my pump.  I'm not saying that I am Ms. Environment.  I just think that making a difference is a good thing.  Yes, I use disposable wipes at times (sometimes I use cloths, depending).  Right now, I am using disposable diapers (not for long, I'm thinking he's almost into the cloth now).  But I think that even if someone uses cloth diapers sometimes, it's something!  There are people who only do it at home during the day and that is definitely a start!  You can get liners these days for cloth diapers for when you go out and don't want to deal with a huge mess.  You just throw the liners down the toilet.  End rant.

On a completely different subject, we have our lovely weather.  It has been rather snowy and nasty, which involves more rocks and debris on the highways.  Anyway, the other day I heard a ping sound indicative of a rock hitting the windshield.  I didn't see anything though so I figured it was nothing.  Two days ago, we noticed a 4 inch crack coming up from the bottom of the windshield.  I researched it with ICBC and found out that I was covered and would have to pay my deductible to replace the windshield.  Yesterday, Jesse turned on the defrost and the little crack became massive, all the way across the window.  The car is currently having a new windshield installed, which is costing $200.  Did you know that the black part at the bottom of the windshield is the weakest part?  I found that out when I took the car in.  Auto glass shops make a killing at this time of year.

2008 in review

Around New Years, I always hear people say things like "I hope next year is better" or "This year was awful, next year will be a new start".  We all hope the each year is better than the last but honestly 2008 was pretty good.  It had ups and downs but mostly was pretty good.  Here is how I spent my 2008:

January: Celebrated the New Year with friends.

March: I found out I was pregnant.  Jesse was in the shower when I took the test.  I screamed very loud, I think it freaked him out.  It was difficult to keep it a secret and though I told close friends and family, I agonized a lot.  I found out I was due on November 18th.

May: I was showing.  I celebrated my birthday with friends and had dinner in Victoria.  I met Jesse's Dad's siblings for the first time ever at his Grandpa's birthday party.  They all live far away, which is why I didn't meet them before.  I thought that was pretty cool.

June: We had the 20 week ultrasound.  The baby was not cooperating enough to let us know what it was.

We bought a 2008 Nissan Versa Sedan.  I adore it.  It's shiny.

July: Enter the second annual baseball extravaganza.  On July 1st, Jesse and I drove down to Seattle.  We parked at Qwest field and walked downtown.  It hurt a lot for me to walk so much, which was funny because I used to walk home from work all the time (up large hills...took an hour) and then go for walks in the evening, used to go to the gym sometimes too.  We went to the Seattle aquarium, where I thought Jesse would explode.  They had amazing saltwater exhibits and Jesse, who is a saltwater tank enthusiast (we have one) was very impressed.  I was also amazed.  The photo on the left is from the Seattle aquarium.  

For the second year in a row, we went to see the Blue Jays play the Mariners.  Last year, we went back and went to the FIFA World Juniors for soccer in Victoria.  This year, there were no such shenanigans.  Anyway, the game was awesome even though they lost.  We were seated 14 rows up too!!

We went camping on Hornby and at Englishman river falls.  The ocean at Hornby is the best place to swim.  Me and my large belly liked to keep cool in the ocean.  

At the end of July, I stopped working and went on medical leave.  My job consists of sitting in a chair all day, paperwork stacked high on my desk, entering things in the computer, scribbling on paper in red pen, talking on the phone.  My back was in so much pain.  I was MASSIVE.  I tried everything to stay at work.  I tried different chairs, stools, footrests but every day when I got home, I lay down and couldn't move.  At the same time, I found out I had gestational diabetes.  It was not a huge issue.  I pricked my finger a few times a day and put the blood on a test strip.  I ended up with a large red ominous biohazard box in my bathroom.  The major change in my lifestyle was my largely fruit based diet.  I drank one liter of fruit juice a day, made fruit smoothies, ate a lot of fruit.  I once ate a half a pineapple one day.  With gestational diabetes, my fruit habits drove my blood sugar to enormous heights.  I had to severely limit the fruit intake.  Other than that, I had no issues.  

August: Jesse and I went to Victoria for our 3d ultrasound.  This time he wanted to make it known that he was a boy.  Over lunch, we discussed names and did not have much success.  Jesse didn't like mine and I didn't like his choices.  When we got back, we went on a baby name site and each made lists.  A few names matched and we decided the baby would be Ashton or Blake.

September: It was our 2nd anniversary.  We went to the Keg and then to the hospital where I spent a few hours in the maternity ward.  I will forever remember that anniversary.  But no, apparently not in early labour.

October: Where is the baby? 

November: We regrettably lost Jesse's mom six days before the birth of our son.  I know she would have been a really great grandma.  She was so excited for us.

Gave birth to Ashton.

December: I say it again, my kid is amazing.  Watching him grow every day is the best thing in the world.