A memorable 2008 Christmas!

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What a memorable 2008 Christmas it's been here in Vancouver! Words can hardly express what a wonderful delight it has been to have baby Connor join the family this year. Christmas is now so much more special to Linds and me because of Connor.

We've had the most snow possibly ever this Christmas in Vancouver. On Christmas Day, we had a small family gathering with the Paus (Gung Gung's sister's family) at our place and enjoyed turkey, stuffing and lots of other goodies. Linds put on a roaring fire which made the place warm and cozy. After dinner we played games on the Wii and the elders gambled "Fish, Shrimp, Crab" - Linds learned how to play it too!

Also very special this Christmas, Andrew and Cindy are about 6 months along with their pregnancy now. And then at dinner Francis and Sally announced that they are 2 months pregnant! We are so very happy for them all! This means that next Christmas there will be 3 babies!

Playing "Fish, Shrimp, Crab"

With the end of 2008, and Connor almost 6 months old, I thought I would list some things I will love to remember about caring for Connor.

• Those first days in the hospital - how tiny he was! How soft his skin, with the downy lanugo (newborn hair) on his back! How totally dependent he was on us!


• The sweet scent of baby Connor's breath.


• Connor's silky skin: his soft chubby little fingers, the back of his neck.


• Connor babbling in the morning when he wakes up: aaaaeeeeeee oooooooh aaaaaaaeeeee


• One time Linds was holding a naked Connor, getting ready for a bath, and Connor started to wee wee all over the bathroom but Linds didn't know it.


• His first fever (from the 4 months shots)... he was so helpless... his feverish little body, sleeping in my arms.


• Connor sleeping in my arms with his mouth open.


• The first time that Connor pursed his lips together and blowing, trying to make a "b" sound (this started yesterday... we think that's what he's trying to do; I read that babies start making sounds with consonant at 6 months, like "bababababa" or "mamamamama").


• His beautiful down-like head of hair slowly growing in.


• Connor's long eyelashes.


• Nursing Connor in bed.
  
  
• He's brought the family closer.
  

Our little baby... getting bigger so fast!

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My First Christmas!

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It sure has been an exciting month! And it's almost over already!

On Christmas Eve we had dinner with Po Po and Gung Gung. Mom made Pork Wellington and they all drank Crown Royal and Red Wine (well, light on the Crown Royal and wine for Mommy since she is still nursing me). I can't wait to try some of that! We also had another family dinner on Christmas Day with Aunt Rose's family.

On Christmas Day, we opened presents! Here is a video of me opening the stocking from Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Brian (Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah). Check it out, I'm sitting in one of those Bumbo seats - the twins lent the chair to me (that's why it's lilac - yuchy girl colour!). It's neat, I can sit up by myself for a lot longer in this chair.

And in this video, Mommy and Daddy cheer me on
while I open this present myself...

I received lots of gifts: clothes, bibs, rattles, books, feeding dishes... but I think my favourite is the Baby Einstein play mat. It's got lots of rattles hanging from it as well as a mirror and a musical toy. Here's a video of me below enjoying the play mat.

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Connor at 5 months young

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Connor is becoming quite the chunky monkey! His thighs are 10" around - check out the photo below and look at his legs! We also started cloth diapering this week (not exclusively though, we are still using disposables through the night and as necessary. In the photo below he is wearing one of his cloth diapers). Connor can now be on his tummy without much fuss, and he will turn over from that position most of the time as well.

Connor's legs have always been a bit rough all over, but lately they started getting really dry and I think they were starting to chap as part of his thigh was getting reddish. It is strange why only his legs are like this, and I was worrying that it may be eczema. To try to address his skin problem I tried Aveeno Soothing Relief Moisture Cream, which claims it works for "infants or babies with extra dry, itchy skin, even dry skin from eczema." Amazingly, there appeared to be improvement the very next day, and now we are on day three and parts of his legs are feeling baby soft again!

Last week Connor sucked on his lower lip a lot - don't know why! He looks so cute doing that though, ha ha. Here he is doing that!

Connor has not been sleeping early anymore. Lately he won't fall asleep until 10:30 PM, and will sleep until about 8:30 AM (with a few feedings in between). He is still sleeping in our bed, so the feedings are not a problem for me. And Connor basically gets up when I get up. I wonder if his late sleeping is because we don't usually sleep until that time as well. I am still reading up on this matter of sleep - who knew that it would be such a big issue to deal with! At this point I want to continue co-sleeping with Connor because it is easier for me, but also according to "attachment parenting" advocates (a term coined by Dr. William Sears, a famous present-day pediatrician and author; very anti-Ferber), a much better bond and trust is formed with the baby. Attachment parenting stresses the importance of being with your baby through methods such as co-sleeping and baby wearing. Basically we have been "attachment parenting" without knowing it!

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I'm getting stronger

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I am now able to sit up for short durations all by myself! I've been doing so for a couple of weeks now.

Yesterday I finally was able to roll over by myself (from tummy to my back)! I've rolled over a few more times since. Mommy is so relieved, as I'm now practically 5 months old. She was getting worried, and even went researching this online before I finally turned over. Apparently there is a huge time frame of when turning over can happen - it could be at 3 months or even up to 7 months. If at 12 months a baby has not yet turned over then a doctor should definitely be consulted. The more tummy time though the better.

Here's me - one of the first times I've been sitting up by myself!

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Watch out for those socks!

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Last night from around 6pm onwards, Connor was fussy right up to bedtime (around 9pm). I couldn't figure out what was wrong... and then I noticed he still had his tight little blue socks around his chubby feet and ankles. As soon as I took them off he was all smiles and nursed blissfully to sleep!

I have a bunch of stuff I've been wanting to blog about but it's been hard to make time to do it with Christmas shopping, putting up the tree, and the family being sick. Topics include cloth diapering - which I just started trying out yesterday; increasing milk supply, plantar fasciitis, wrist pain, and the ongoing sleep training. Will try to blog these soon.

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Noteworthy Family Recalls of 2008/ 2007: Check your home for these recalled baby and kid products

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Here's a good list of recalls from Babyzone.com ... the list includes photos of each product.

Having kids means buying stuff—toys, furniture, clothing, medicine, and more. But sometimes that stuff is later deemed unsafe by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), the nation's resource for protecting families against unsafe pr

View >>

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It Happened to Me: Accident Survival Stories

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These stories are scary for Mommies !!

Spills, falls, and other accidents are all a part of parenting. Share your safety stories to help make other parents aware of what could happen so they can keep their children safe.

View >>

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My first cold!

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I've been sick... I think it was a cold... it started on Monday, I had a little cough, and at first Mommy didn't even think I was sick. By Thursday I felt horrible, I vomited a couple of times in the morning for three days straight, I had the sniffles and you could hear I was wheezing a bit.

Since I should not be having medication until after I'm 2 years old (or doctor's orders of course. like baby Tylenol for fevers), Mommy tried to relieve my congestion by running hot water in the bathroom and we hung out there for a few minutes. That helped a little. She also bought a warm mist humidifier and added the vapour stuff to it and I think that's helped too. By today I was better, I didn't vomit in the morning, I was not as stuffed up nor coughing as much. She also bought some saline drops today but since I was better we haven't needed to use it.

Now Mommy and Daddy and also Po Po are sick too! Ellie's Mommy Amy is also sick. I hope Ellie doesn't end up catching it!

Here are some neat photos Daddy took of us while we were spinning around the room... this was before we got sick.

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Modelling

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Check it out, Mom's trying to make me a model:

http://www.newfaces.com/connorallen

Visit me lots, it increases my searchability ranking...

Mom's been trying to find modelling places in Vancouver but has only found one that is accepting baby models. She says she can't find much information online at all about baby modelling. There are a few sites like the newfaces.com, so she might post me there too. She told me not to get my hopes up. Oh well I have my own fans already - Po Po, Gung Gung, Mah Mah, Yeh Yeh, etcetera, etcetera!!

Here are some more pics of me posing! I like this one with my tongue sticking out. :D

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Kicking like Beckham

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Mom bought me my first pair of Nikes! In training now... watch me kick up a storm here like Beckham.

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Mom, cut my nails please!

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Last night at bedtime, I was scratching my right ear and gave myself a little cut (on the outside but inside the crevices).

Mom noticed it first, she saw the outside of my ear had black stuff on it (dried blood). Dad helped to clean it up with a Q-tip, while Mom held my head down (although I was sleeping). Well, they ended up making my would worse by pulling on my ear trying to find where the bleeding was coming from.

Next thing you know the blood is pooling up in my ear! Just in the outside crevices though. OK it sounds a lot worse than it really was but I gave the folks a good scare anyway. Mom had me sleep on her right side so that my head would be turned toward her with the injured ear facing up.

Mom, if you could just keep up with cutting my nails please!! Yes she cut them last night.

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At the mall with Ellie

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Last Friday Mom and I went to Oakridge Mall with Ellie and her Mom, Amy. They went mostly to walk around the mall for exercise and talk. There was this man in a red suit with a lot of white hair on his face - I think Mom called him Santa Claus. He was standing around the mall and we took a picture with him. I guess he was funny looking and that's why we took a picture with him? Or maybe they liked his red suit. As you can see from the photo, I wasn't impressed.

The two Moms decided to take pictures of Ellie and me so that we could do a scrapbook page for each other as a Christmas present, whatever that is. We'll see how that goes, Mom mentioned scrapbooking for quite a while now and I still see that scrapbook sitting on the floor every day.

Here's Ellie and me sitting in my Peg Perego stroller. She can sit up all by herself! Me, I'm still leaning back and playing Mr. Cool.

Ellie still has a fascination with her feet. Or maybe just her cutesy shoes.

After Ellie left, Mom fed me from a bottle. Here I am kind of holding it myself! Mom was impressed.

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Another new toy for Connor

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Teresa invited me to go to a kids' swap meet on Sunday. Anyone can rent a table at these swap meets and sell their kids stuff.

I had been scanning Craigslist for a cheap exersaucer - These things go for waaay too much money brand new, from $60 to $130! So I was very please to have picked up an older exersaucer for $10 at the swap meet.

Connor is liking it so far, except for one of the attachments... check out the video...

I had to tape down that rattling thing today to stop Connor from scaring himself!

Here he is sitting in the exersaucer in an outfit that I got for $2 at the swap meet. I know he doesn't look too happy here but he was tired that morning...

In general there was hardly any baby boys' clothing compared to girls clothing at the swap meet. I did luck out with two Baby Einstein DVDs for $2 each! They retail for $16.99 and usually resold used for at least $5-$10 each. Teresa made out like a bandit - paid $30 for a box full of nice baby girl clothes and almost ten pairs of baby girl shoes!

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Great Grandma Kwok's Birthday

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The past week Connor seems to be staying awake longer these days, about 8 or 9 hours, compared to 6 or 7 hours. Even when he is tired, he seems to want to stay awake. Which sometimes results in making it easier to put him to sleep, so that's a good thing.

Last Friday we celebrated Great Grandma Kwok's birthday. He was determined to stay awake the entire evening, even though he was really tired.

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In the playpen

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Last week Mom finally moved and the co-sleeper in the office and set it up like a playpen (except that they didn't lower the bottom part).

Mom put me in there tonight, along with a few of my new toys that she bought on the weekend (from a Craigslister, she got a whole bunch for $15). Even though I was tired, the crackly ducky book got my attention. I was kind of moving the pages. Check out this video of Mom sneaking up on me while I was playing with the book!

Hopefully Mom will let me play more in here. I still haven't turned over yet so I think I need more practice goofing off by myself in the playpen.

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Jolly Jumping

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Last week Mommy dug out this thing called the Jolly Jumper that she bought for $5 from a Craigslister. It was fun!! I'm able to turn around to see whatever I want to see, and I can jump up and down and twirl around. Although I guess I am a wee bit short for it, Mommy had to place a cushion beneath my feet so that I could reach.

I had my 4 month shots on Tuesday - two needles into my right leg, and one big needle into my left leg. The first shot I barely noticed that. Second one, I noticed it. The third - yikes, I sure noticed that one!! I cried as loud as I could - what's with these things poking me!?

But I was a pro after that, I stopped crying real fast. And because I had been awake for almost 3 hours (we had dim sum earlier, and then the doctor was 1 hour late seeing us!), I was so tired I fell asleep real quick once we got into the car.

Back home, this time Mommy remembered not to rip off the bandages! I did get a fever that night, Mommy and Daddy went through that whole thermometer calculation stuff again. I was cranky and sleepy all day yesterday, and Mommy was a bit worried. I took the grape flavoured baby Tylenol twice during the day. By the time Daddy came home from work, I was almost back to my regular self.

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Daddy and me

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Daddy tried to take some pics of me smiling again. I have fun not cooperating with him.

I am much better now on my tummy. I can stay on my tummy for a few minutes before I get tired and start fussing. I can almost but not quite roll back over from my tummy to my backside, too. I am four months old now, so I am right on target with the whole turning over stuff.

Can you say "Got Milk?"

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My GF Ellie (Elizabeth)

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Last Thursday I finally got to see Ellie again at the Mommy and Baby Fitness. Ellie is six months old. I don't mind the age difference! :D

Ellie sat in her carseat for the entire class and played with her feet. She likes to kick her shoes off and suck on her toes. I wonder what that's like - I don't think I've discovered my feet yet. Ellie also has a great giggle.

I slept for 20 minutes of the class and then decided to give Mommy a hard time. Ha ha ha!

Here's Ellie, what a great smile!




Just the two of us here...

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Out and about on Main St, Vancouver

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Yesterday we walked to Main Street, which we do often. There are a couple of record stores that Linds likes to shop at (he's still on his record album kick), and there are lots of stores for me to choose from to check out.

My first stop was Beansprouts, a baby clothing store that sells both new and like-new consignment items. I picked up a pre-loved vest jacket and a sweater for Connor. The store has a nice sitting area to breastfeed and a change table in the washroom, so that was handy as we needed to do both!

My next store was Front & Company, sells new and consignment clothing for women and men. They were having a loonie sale on accessories - They had a fire over the summer and I believe these were some of the salvageable items. I picked up 4 knit hats and a cute credit card holder all for $1 each! What a steal!

Linds of course picked up a few record albums.

We had Connor in the Peg Perego pramette, but after we were in Beansprouts, he was fussing. So I carried him face-forward in the Baby Bjorn. By the time I got to the tea house, he fell asleep without a fuss. What a cutie pie, if I do say so as the mommy of the babe!

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Baby wearing

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Linds finally tried using the Hotsling to carry Connor. It's known as "baby wearing". Below is a pics of Linds wearing baby Connor this weekend, aren't they cute! Connor is 3 weeks, 2 days old in the photos (Nov. 8/08).

I have a few different carriers. The first one that I bought was a Hotsling. I use it when I want a quick way of wearing Connor around the house. This method is not totally hands-free - the sling doesn't hold Connor by itself. I could place him into it like a 'cradle' way but Connor doesn't like it. This sling cost me $50.

I also have the Baby Bjorn, which is just the best carrier, I have to say. I have an older model for $20 from a Craigslister, it works great - this carrier retails for $118. I have a Safety 1st carrier that I received as part of a "$30 baby boy clothes lot", and Connor cannot even fit into it, not sure if I am doing something wrong there. I also paid almost full price for a Belle carrier (retails $89.95+), because I was looking for a lighter weight carrier and places some of the support on the hips. The Belle one is nice looking (lots of press on celebrities using it) and comfortable but not that easy/quick to put on. The Baby Bjorn is in two pieces which makes it convenient to put on or take off.

I was searching for another carrier that could be used as a backpack style, and just purchased one online. The Baby Trekker can be used backpack style as well as forward facing and for nursing too. I got it from GoneShopping.ca, they have it for $109 - which is less than the $150 the Baby Trekker website sells it for.

A lot of money spent on carriers, but I think it is worth the investment - it is so nice for both the baby and the wearer to be so close and comfortable. Plus I can recoup some costs by reselling them when I am done with them.

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Some moments from the past weeks

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It sure has been busy! Last week we went to Oakridge Mall with Gung Gung and Po Po. I was a good boy at the mall, I didn't cry or make any fuss. I smiled and laughed a lot, and Po Po was so happy zipping me around the mall. We bumped into her friend Wah Jeh and I smiled and cooed at her and Po Po was so proud. Here are a couple of pics we took at the mall while Po Po fed me at the food court.





I can now sit up in my bassinet! In the mornings Mommy will sit me up in the bassinet and I kind of play with the piggy and the cow. Here's a mini video of me in the bassinet.

There was one morning when Daddy was playing with me and I was smiling and laughing with him. So he tried to take some pics of me laughing but by then I didn't feel like smiling anymore, ha ha.



Auntie Teresa came to visit me, here we are. She has twin girls, Addison and Avery, that are 11 months old now. They are my girlfriends :D



And here I am in my car seat, I am a bit better in it now, the last time I rode in it I fell asleep within 5 minutes and slept the whole time!

zzzzz

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