From Bean to Sprout

We had a pretty good weekend. It was great having Chris at home for two days since Henry’s still in this weird clingy phase at night where he kind of freaks out when we put him down. Luckily last night, after his initial freak out, he slept for 6 hours.

We found a bottle that Henry will take too. Unfortunately it’s an empty beer bottle. Chris was holding Henry and the bottle and he kind of just latched on. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a baby latch on to a beer bottle. I wonder what the appeal is.

no cheap beer for Henry, only the good stuff such as the flying monkeys brewery bottles.

Yesterday Chris brought Henry and Ginger to Bruce Pitt for a walk and dropped me off at Chapters to pick up a few gifts for people. When they picked me up, we decided to stop at the grocery store however Henry decided to freak out so while Chris ran into the store, I nursed Henry in the car. Chris parked pretty far from the store so that I wouldn’t have to deal with prying eyes however pretty much everyone who had parked nearby chose that moment to come back to their car. Oh well, if they can’t deal with it, that’s not my problem. When I was done nursing, we decided to continue our “bad parent” photo series (see above picture as example) and took some pictures of what looks like Henry driving our car.

hands at 10 and 2.

I spent yesterday afternoon making baby pants and watching the movie “I Love You Philip Morris” which was pretty good. This morning Gillian and Josie came by and made us breakfast which was nice.

Here are more pics and a video of the weeekend.

my two babies

Tummy Time Master

Who's that handsome devil???

And here’s a video of Henry laughing. He likes getting tickled while being changed.

With the weather getting warmer, we realized that Henry is a bit of a sweaty baby. We knew he was a heat machine in the winter but didn’t realize how much it would affect him in the warm weather until last weekend when we took him out of his car seat and he was soaking wet from sweat. Anyways, most of the pants we have for him are of the sweatpant variety aside from a couple of pairs. I decided to use the leftover fabric from the nursing cover and make a pair of baby pants for Henry.  I made them for 6-9 months old but the pattern doesn’t really take into consideration cloth diaper bulges meaning the pants won’t fit for very long so I’ll probably make the next pair 9-12 months.

Here’s Henry modelling the new pair of pants. Chris calls them his EZ wear South Beach lounge pants. He’s just jealous.

look how relaxed I look

I was so inspired by the pants that I went out and bought a sewing book today for making additional baby items. I also organized all my fabric into various boxes. I have one box of just scraps of fabric but feel I can now do so much baby stuff with them. Once I get a bit more comfortable with baby clothes, I just might upgrade to adult clothing. There’s a dress and a few skirts I wouldn’t mind making for myself.

I’m throwing myself a pity party today.

Guests: Myself and anyone willing to listen to me complain for a few minutes.

It’s been 3 nights now with Henry not sleeping well and waking up almost every hour. I kind of feel like I’m going insane. Although he seems to physically be better, he’s still incredibly clingy and stuffed up so he cries a lot at night if he’s away from one of us.  I missed out on a Supperworks session last night because of his illness (Chris went for me) and I’m going to have to cancel my date for tomorrow morning for the Glebe garage sale in hopes of just sleeping in while Chris stays with Henry. I’m so grateful for Chris’ patience with all this because last night after having woken up about 4 times (and it was only 2am) I kind of got angry with my little guy telling him to shut up and sleep and then feeling terrible about saying it. Chris got up and took Henry for a few minutes while I collected myself. Unfortunately I can’t ask Chris to take a day off every time we have a bad night. Had I known we’d have 3 nights in a row, I wouldn’t have asked him to stay on Wednesday and asked for today instead.

Aside from Chris’ mom Pat who consistently comes every week to take Henry for a few hours, giving me a chance to nap, run errands,etc; pretty much all the original offers of “hey, I’ll come and look after the little guy while you take a few hours for yourself” have dried up in the past couple of months.

I’m going to caveat this next paragraph by saying that I totally love my little guy and wouldn’t want to live without him, there are a few things that I really miss, pre-baby. Such as:

– Sleeping for more than 3 hours in a row (even though he can sometimes sleep longer, my body won’t let me sleep longer than 3 without waking up to check that he’s still alive).

– Falling asleep right away instead of doing insane sleep math like “well he went down 20 minutes ago, and if he’s being consistent that give me 2 hours of sleep if I fall asleep….NOW!… come on…. NOW!”

– Wearing regular bras and regular tops

– Having a few beers with Chris while just chilling and talking about our day

– impromptu outings that require no planning

– being able to run more than one errand a day

– going out to dinner and a movie

– enjoying a social outing with constantly overthinking Henry’s every move such as “he looks hungry, is he rooting? Are these people comfortable with me breastfeeding in front of them? Is he about to freak out? What he nothing calms him down tonight?”

– spending hours at Chapters with a Starbucks hot chocolate in hand and just browsing books on every topic.

So those are a few things I truly miss. I kind of feel like I need a vacation. And before anyone says “but Melina, you’re on mat leave, that’s like a year long vacation!” let me stop you there, thus saving us both the time and hassle of me tearing you a new one.

Alright, the Pity Party is officially over. Time to be the responsible adult again.

Showing that not everything is soo bad, here’s a cute pic of Henry.

Poor Henry has been sick the past two days with a bad cold. On Tuesday night you could tell he was in pain, he would moan and cry in his sleep which would eventually wake him up every hour and a half where he’d try and nurse but his stuffed up nose wouldn’t permit it. I kept using that hydraspray stuff but I felt like I was waterboarding him. Tried suctioning as well but he kept freaking out. At one point he didn’t want to be put down and could only fall asleep on me. Needless to say it was a really tough night. Thankfully Chris took a family day yesterday and I was able to sleep while he looked after our sick baby.

By yesterday afternoon I thought things were better but I should have realized that colds are worse at night so last night we went through the same routine all over again. It was a bit better in that he would only wake up every 2 1/2 hours but it was still tough. I ran a few showers last night in hopes of clearing his little sinuses. It seemed to help him breath. At one point he sneezed really hard and there was snot everywhere. Kind of gross but at the same time I was happy it was out and not in.

Today he’s a bit cranky but we have a baby sensory class to go to. He seems a bit better but if it tonight is the same thing, I’ll try and bring him to the doctor’s tomorrow.

I don't feel good!

Well I did it! I managed to finish two sewing projects today. I didn’t get to do my duvet project since I didn’t have the right material.

My first project was a nursing cover for my friend April (as mentioned in the previous post, I had promised this back in February). April had chosen the material which is from the Amy Butler Rowan collection. It’s beautiful fabric. I had ordered two yards of it so I’m eager to make something with the remainder. Possibly something for Henry like summer lounge pants or something.

with a peekaboo boob view.

The next project was an additional crib sheet for Henry’s bed. I had made two before he was born. One that I’ve showcased on this blog before which was a brown flannel with animals pattern. The other was a nice cotton which I had made about 3 days before Henry was  born.  I must have been suffering from severe baby brain when I originally made the second one since when I tried to put it on the crib mattress a few weeks ago, it was way to short. So I now use that one for Henry’s playpen:

The "now" playpen sheet.

So I made a new crib sheet with the correct measurements today. I used some Valeri Wells fabric that I had purchased at the handmade harvest craft show in Almonte a few weeks ago from the seller Dutch Girl Textiles. I loved this fabric and thought it would look really nice in Henry’s room. I love how “fresh looking” the sheet turned out.

It felt good to craft after so many months off taking care of Henry. Maybe now with his new floor mat, I can plop him beside me and I can sew some more.

My cold came back last Friday (it seems to come by every 3 weeks now) and it was driving me crazy but I didn’t want to let it get in the way of long weekend plans so I rested Friday during the day in hopes to save up my energy for the weekend. Henry and I basically hung out in the bedroom all day.

I am sooo bored...

Chris wanted to take this weekend to do yard work so on Friday night we went to a local nursery and bought herbs and tomato plants.

I don't approve of just being held like this... Where's my carrier? my car seat?

When we got home we interrupted what was either some intense cat loving or a stand off… you be the judge:

I ain't moving. You tell her to move!

On Saturday we went to Tag Along Toys in hopes of finding a puzzle floor mat. My friend Courtenay has one and it’s a genius idea for those who have hardwood floors. Henry hated tummy time and I half wondered if it was because putting him on the floor on top of a blanket was too hard a surface for him. So we bought this:

Henry loves it. He gladly does tummy time now. Unfortunately, the cats love it as well so we kind of have to put it away after every use.

What is this delightful sensation?

We were invited to Chris’ sister Gillian’s place for dinner so while Chris did yard work, I made some cornbread muffins to bring over. I used the recipe book Gillian gave Chris for his birthday and the muffins turned out great! We had an awesome dinner with Gillian, George, Josie and their neighbours Chris, Holly and their son Ronin. I ate way too much food but everything was so delicious.

Yum!

Yesterday to celebrate the non end of the world, I decided to use the recipe book once again and made some chewy chocolate chip cookies.

Very Chewy and Gooey!

We also tested out our new baby carrier to great success. Henry fell asleep almost instantly.

Today I’m hoping to get some sewing done. I want to sew a nursing cover for our friend April who I had told I would make one for her in February but the fabric I ordered arrived the same day Henry did and it kind of got put on the back burner so here’s hoping I can work on it today. If I can finish that I want to MacGyver something for our duvet cover so that the duvet stays put inside it and doesn’t slouch to the bottom. I’m thinking of sewing little ties all around the inside of the cover and on the duvet itself and just tying it into place. Nothing is more frustrating than waking up freezing because your duvet is in the bottom of the duvet cover.

Anyways, to end this post, here are more pics of Henry from the weekend.

Playing with his favourite toy Libelou

Blowing bubbles..

Happy dancing baby

I’ve started my salsa babies class at the Glebe Community Center. I went on Tuesday and had a lot of fun. You basically have your baby strapped to you as you move to the latin rhythm. I used to take Zumba classes so I already knew the basic steps of merengue, salsa and cha cha but it was much more difficult swaying with a baby. Especially one who kept sliding down because of my cheap structure carrier that we bought before Henry was born. We have a wrap carrier as well that Gillian lent us but Henry doesn’t seem to like it these days and kind of freaks out in it. I was worried that the wrap may not offer enough head support with all the movement going on. So I finally caved and bought the Ergobaby carrier which should be arriving today:

Tuesday was actually a pretty busy day. After Salsa babies I went over to my dad’s who lives 5 minutes away for lunch. We had Thai from Siam Kitchen which is always delicious. I would have stayed longer but both Henry and I were falling asleep, even though Henry slept through most of the salsa class. We came home and took a 2 hour nap which we both needed since he’s kind of regressed in his sleeping a little lately and will wake up a few times a night again instead of just once.

Tuesday night we went to eat at Play, Food & Wine with our friends who were visiting from Senegal. It was a really neat concept of gourmet cuisine in small sampler bites that you can share with everyone at your table . The food was just amazing but I’ve come to expect that from Stephen Beckta. It’s kind of a hip/swanky type place but they greeted our group (and 4 babies) very well.

view from outside 1 York street.

Inside the restaurant

Yesterday we went to Stars and Strollers with our friends Sandra and Luis to see the movie Bridesmaids. I honestly haven’t laughed so hard while watching a movie in a long time. I had tears rolling down my cheeks I was laughing so hard and accidentally woke up Henry who was  fast asleep on me. I completely recommend seeing this movie. It was so good, I’m tempted to go see it again next week at the Coliseum.

Absolutely Freaking Hilarious

So to not use only stock footage in this post, here’s a few recent pics of Henry.

Henry watching the Survivor finale, happy that Boston Rob won.

Henry in his designer CK onesie thanks to Courtenay.

Last Christmas, Chris’ sister Gillian gave us some homemade diaper cream she had made. When Henry was born, we had started using A+D cream but he kept getting rashes so we switched to the diaper cream Gill had made and it worked wonders on Henry’s skin. He still occasionally got a bit of rash, more a redness like swelling but not as bad as before so I decided to make some more since we’re almost out of the cream Gill gave us. Always one to like to play around with recipes, I did a bit of internet research and decided to add a few more ingredients to the original recipe. For your viewing pleasure, he’s the recipe I used.

16oz of sweet virgin almond oil (great for balancing moisture, helps reduce inflammation)

8oz of Shea butter ( protects the skin from both environmental and free-radical damage. It contains vitamins A and E and has demonstrated antimicrobial an anti-inflammatory properties)

8oz of Jojoba oil ( liquid wax highly penetrating and closely resembles human sebum.Anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant)

4.5 oz of virgin coconut oil ( is antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial)

4.5 oz of beeswax (works as a soothing/healing agent)

a handful of calendula petals (great anti-inflammatory properties)

a few drops of lavender oil  (calming and anti-septic)

few drops of chamomile oil  (calming properties and helps with irritations)

few drops of tea tree oil (stimulates immune system and treats bacterial and fungal infections)

Melt all the oils, butter and beeswax together in a double boiler (or on very low heat in one pot) **try and break up as much of the beeswax beforehand since it takes forever to melt on low heat**, then add the handful of calendula petals and cook on low heat for 30 minutes. Once done, strain through a cheese cloth, removing the petals. Add the few drops of lavender, chamomile and tea tree and quickly pour into containers. The recipe fits about 11 100ml tins.After filling the tins, I put some of the used petals in.

The best part is that I can also use it on Henry’s forehead where he’s often got dry skin so it’s dual purpose.

I give it a thumbs up!

Yesterday (the 14th) marked my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary and so my entire family (plus a lot of honorary members) went to my aunt Elise and uncle Tino’s house to celebrate. A friend of the family, Shalan, took a bunch of family pictures. We wanted to take one of the entire family together, but given the amount of people we are, the space in my aunt’s house and the uncooperative weather, the pics were instead of each smaller family with my grandparents and a few of all my aunts with my grandparents. Such as the one below.

Looks like my aunt Sylvie is doing a giant split.

We ate lots of great food that everyone brought:

Yum!

It was great seeing all my cousins, many whom I had not seen in over a year. Henry did a lot better at this family event than last weeks’. I guess he was ready for the noise level. Anyways, here are some additional pics of the evening.

My sister Steph, my mom and me

my godmother Monique aka the baby charmer. Henry fell asleep within minutes of this picture being taken

my nephew Logan hitting the "sauce"

Chris and I doing our usual photo op

Henry enjoying the party!

We had to leave early but we got to listen to various speeches praising my grandparents, followed by the announcement that their gift is a trip to Hawaii next April and topped off with a gorgeous cake made by my aunt Odette (unfortunately I didn’t get a shot of the cake).

Ok, not really spa day, but I did go to the hairdressers today to have something done about the rats nest on my head. I’m loosing a lot of hair now and because I have curly hair, it gets all caught up in there and tangled. Anyways, my hairdresser Melissa said I could bring Henry along. In fact, they didn’t book any other clients in the salon for the time I would be there so that they could all play with Henry and I could nurse without feeling uncomfortable. I love my hairdresser. I’ve been going to her for about 3 years now and she’s always doing nice things like that for me. She once saw me on Christmas eve to make sure I had “great hair” for Christmas.

Anyways, Henry was a doll. He didn’t cry once (and I was there for almost 3 hours). He flirted with everyone and chatted the ladies and gave his coy smile. Melissa then told me of all the women who’ve brought babies to their salon, he was the most well behaved (so naturally he had a meltdown at home!).

Old Hair (I had given up on wearing it down)

New Hair!

different angle

Just a little off the top please!

Thanks to Melissa at Bella Hair Studio and Spa for making a potentially stressful day very easy!