Blue Jays!

On Saturday we headed down to Toronto to see the Jays game.  For those of you living under a rock, the Jays are doing amazing this year, so instead of the 20,000 fans they usually get, they are selling out the Rogers Centre with closer to 50,000 fans.  This makes for quite the event!

We had a big group of friends who went down, plus we knew more people sitting all over the place.  We ended up watching the first half of the game from the Flight Deck, which is basically a bar where you can stand to watch the game and it's lower than where our seats were.  Then we went down to where my sister's seats were in the 100 level and watched a bit from there as well.  The Jays won and it was a pretty high scoring game, so it was a fun one to be at.  

Now of course, this was the first time that I had left Parker and went further than half an hour from him.  He had a slight fever when we left, which I attributed to teething (because that's what moms do) and figured he would be fine.  After the game, we were out for supper and my mother in law called to let me know that he wouldn't take his bottle and his temperature was pretty high.  Clearly Parker doesn't like me having a night out!  So we headed home so that I could feed him, which wasn't a huge deal since we were done dinner and had been gone most of the day as it was.

Despite his fever, I think that he had a good time with his grandparents, aunt and uncle and doggie cousins!  He ended up being sick all weekend but he seems to be doing a bit better today, so I'm crossing my fingers!

Parker at 8 Months

Where is the time going?  This little boy has such a personality now and it's so strange to think of how much he has changed in the past 8 months.

Weight: 12 lbs 11 oz

Feeding: Parker was getting just one meal of solids a day and was breastfed other than that.  I'm trying now to increase it to 2 meals a day since he's getting the hang of it.  He usually gets breakfast and lunch, especially if it's a new food as I try to give it to him earlier in the day incase there is a reaction.  But sometimes he gets breakfast and supper or lunch an supper depending on our day and what we have time for.

I make my own purees and give him a new fruit or veggie every 3-4 days.  So far he has had rice cereal, peas, zucchini, sweet potatoes, peaches, pears, apples, green beans, bananas, carrots and rice cookies.  I would say his favourites are green beans and sweet potatoes.  

He still nurses fairly frequently throughout the day but is finally going a bit longer in between.  

Sleeping:  He typically still sleeps through the night.  When we are in the trailer he seems to not sleep as well.  Maybe he wakes up and doesn't know where he is, I don't know.  And the past week or so he's been waking a few times per night.  Last night I finally gave him some tylenol and then he was fine so maybe he's teething.  (I've been saying maybe he's teething for 4 months now and there are still no teeth.)

He usually naps twice a day as well and typically goes down fairly easily.  He doesn't sleep very often when we are out and about anymore which I definitely miss.

Schedule: In general our daily schedule kind of looks like this:
8-8:30 am: wake up, nurse Parker followed by play time
9 am: Cereal and maybe some fruit
10:00am: nurse 
10:30-12: nap
12: Parker eats solids
1:00 nurse Parker followed by some play
2-4: nap
4:30: nurse
7:30: nurse
9:30 nurse
10pm Bedtime

Some nights he has been going down earlier and I just get him up for one last snack at around 10 pm.  

Clothes: I have finally put him in some 3-6 month clothes!  I thought we would never get there.  The pants seem to fit a bit better, but the onesies are still pretty big.  

Likes: Bath time, people, sitting up to play, cats and dogs, the pool, Gerald the Giraffe his new toy.
He's going through a shrieking phase.  He just screams as loud and high pitched as he possibly can just for the fun of it.  And if you shriek at him he will shriek back and thinks that's the best thing ever!

Mid shriek

Dislikes: ??? 

Milestones:
Parker has been sitting up tons this month and he's pretty stable.  He will eventually fall over but he can stay in that position for quite awhile.  

He's definitely a tummy sleeper.  I still always lay him down on his back and he typically flips over immediately and falls asleep.

I think the spit ups are done!  We still get the odd little one, but it's definitely improved a lot and I don't miss it!  I can hold him and burp him without covering my whole body in a blanket.  Now bulk up baby!

He went swimming for the first time in a public pool last week.  We had been in a family pool for a short period of time and in the lake, but he absolutely loved the public pool and so did mommy!  The depth was easier for me to hold him in so we stayed for about 45 minutes.  He even put his head under the water and he didn't cry once.  We might have a little fish on our hands!

Yoga, A Barn and Relaxation

This weekend I attended my very first yoga retreat.  A yoga retreat has been on my to do list (or 30 before 30 list) for a few years now, but to be honest I never thought I would actually go to one.  Since having a baby I figured that taking the time away and finding the money for it would never actually happen.  Well then the yoga studio that I go to had a local retreat for $50.  Yes, $50!

What I learned from this was that first of all you don't have to travel across the province, or across countries to have a successful retreat.  You just have to drive 15 minutes to a barn outside of town.  Once there, I knew that I was there for the day.  The baby was taken care of and I had nothing else to do except for immerse myself in a day of relaxation, fitness and fun.  And this barn wasn't just any barn.  It was beyond gorgeous inside and the fact that it was a rainy day was actually perfect.  It was so cozy.

I went with my sister Tali and our friend Kim.  We started the day with an hour and a half long vigorous yoga class.  The teacher Nerine is fantastic!  I have never been to a more difficult yoga class than one of hers, but that's what I love about them.  Sure I love that yoga can be relaxing, but I also love when I feel like I really worked out.  And let me tell you, her classes are a workout!  This class was perfect.  There were times that I had to come out of the lunges because my legs felt like they were going to collapse beneath me, but that's ok!

Next we had a delicious and healthy lunch.  My sister is always trying to get everyone to eat healthier, but I love pasta and chocolate.  But the stew we had that was made with veggies and chick peas and placed on top of couscous was delicious!

After lunch we went for a hike along the river.  It was pouring rain but I'm so glad that Nerine talked me into going.  When else are you going to go for a walk in the rain?  Sometimes it's nice to just let go.  I can admit that I can be somewhat uptight, so to let go of that and get a bit wet and dirty felt great.  

The afternoon had a rejuvenating yoga class, meditation and some adjustment massage.  It was all about relaxing. 

I think it was the most relaxing and fulfilling day that I have ever had.  If I'm going to have a baby free day it was exactly what I wanted to be doing!  I can't wait until the next one.

My Little Fishie

Parker has been swimming like a fish this week!

This is an old picture because I didn't take my camera into the public pool!

On Tuesday we had a date with my cousin who is at home with her 4 year old daughter on Tuesdays and so we went to the pool for mom and tot swim.  We probably spent around 40 minutes in the leisure (kiddie) pool.  It's so nice and warm and Parker loved it.  I loved that the water was either shallow enough to sit in or up to my chest so it was easy to swim with Parker.  I even gave him his first dunk and he was a champ!

Then on Thursday I started DiaperFit.  I had a friend who had done it but I didn't really know what to expect.  Basically Parker sat in a little boat and floated next to me while I did an aquafit class.  The class was much more difficult than I was expecting it to be!  I could really feel it in my arms and legs!  I so badly want to get a picture of Parker in his boat because it's the cutest.  He loved it and just sat there and looked around at everything going on around us.

Then the last 15 minutes we went back to the leisure pool and did a baby class with the kiddos.  We sang songs and blew bubbles and went under the water a few more times!  The little girls in the class didn't like that, but the boys were all great.

I can't wait for many more swim classes with my little guy.

Car Seat Troubles

I have been researching the next stage of car seat for what seems like forever.  Luckily, Parker is tiny so he's still in his bucket seat and can probably stay in it for at least a few more months.  But at some point, he does need to be a big boy and move up to the next stage!

That's a lot of carseats in one vehicle!

There are so many things to consider!  Safety, price, comfort, ease of use.... And I don't know what is most important.  I obviously want a safe car seat, but really they all have to pass safety standards.  So then the main issue is price.  Obviously there is a reason that a $300 seat is as expensive as it is, but is it really worth that amount of money?  We need at least 2 car seats, so spending $300 on each isn't really an option.

I would love to have a seat that can be taken in and out of the car easily, which seems to be what most convertible seats are lacking.  This means more money typically it seems, so how important is this?  

At some point I'm going to have to take the plunge and just buy one.  I'm not desperate yet, but at the same time if one is on sale that is a good seat I should be buying it.

The seat that keeps catching my eye is the Evenflo Symphony.  It converts all the way to a booster, has an 8 year expiry and it looks like it goes in and out of the car easily.  It does say that it's a bit wide, and this isn't an issue now, but if we have to put another seat in my tiny civic at some point it might become an issue!

Comment and let me know what car seat you bought and why!  I'm in desperate need of input from other mommies!

Talking to Teddys

Yesterday Parker and I went to visit my grandma.  My grandma is the sweetest lady you will ever meet and so it's nice to visit her and I'm so happy that Parker is lucky enough to have her in his life.  

She gave Parker this giant teddy to play with while we were there and Parker just loved him!  Parker sat there and talked away to the teddy. If only we knew what they were talking about...

Post Partum Exercise

In my pre-Parker days, I would say that fitness was my hobby.  It was part of my daily routine and I took pride in how committed I was to it.  Then Parker came along.  I said that I wouldn't let a baby change my workout ways and that I would always have that committment to myself.  Well let's just say the first few months post baby were tough.  Parker required a lot of attention and I was exhausted and working out wasn't a priority.  I was also lucky to have lost all of my baby weight by 8 weeks post partum so I wasn't super motivated, although I knew that I had lost a lot of muscle along with that weight.  

Ready to workout!

 Recently though things have gotten easier.  Parker is napping and he entertains himself.  I can find time to work out at home while he's napping or while he's playing on his mat or in his exersaucer.  

But the workouts have changed.  I don't generally even try for an hour long workout because I probably wouldn't get it done before Parker needed something.  So my goal is to have short workouts as many times in the week as possible.  For some people this maybe wouldn't be enough, but for me, anything is better than nothing.  

Just for fun, the same outfit when I was 28 weeks pregnant

Some of the workouts that I do are:

• 30 day shred
• 30-40 minutes on the spin bike
• yoga - either at home or a local class
• Tabata workouts - I like this because it's done in 4 minute increments, so if I suddenly need to tend to Parker and I've only done 6 Tabatas, I still feel like I've gotten a complete workout done
• Mutu System - Mutu is a program that I purchased before I had Parker.  It is a system to combat diastasis recti, which is when your abs separate during pregnancy.  I was told at 18 weeks pregnant that I had 3 finger widths separation already, which then stressed me out for the rest of my pregnancy.  Apparently regular crunches with diastasis recti do more harm than good and so the system gives you a food and exercise program to follow to help bring your abs back together.  So then I had Parker and checked and my separation is one finger, which is basically nothing.... So all this to say, I use the exercises because they are good short workouts, but I'm not super committed to the entire system.  

My workouts are still my me time.  I spend most of my day putting Parker first and it's important that I do something for myself that makes myself feel good even if it's just for half an hour at a time!  Sometimes I feel guilty that I choose to workout rather than clean or do laundry, but I know that fitness is something that is important to me and I don't want to lose that.  Plus I want more babies and I know that being physically fit helped me feel good during pregnancy and labour and helped me bounce back quickly.  So I figure before the next baby I should still try to be in the best shape possible!

Speaking of which, Parker is napping so it's workout time!

Making This Time Count

The days go by fast.  Some days Parker and I get out and do things, but more often than not it seems like we are around the house.  Between feeds and Parker's naps, many days seem to fly by and at the end of it I wonder, what did I do today that was special?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my time at home with Parker.  We have a million special moments in our day.  From his morning smiles, to how proud and happy he is while he sits up and plays, to evening snuggles and giggles with his dad.  Every day is special.  But I feel so lucky that I get a year to spend exclusively with him and I want to know that I'm making the most of it. 

Is what I'm doing enough?  Or should I be trying to get out more, explore what is around us with him.  But what does he get out of that?  Would I be doing it for me or for him?  

It's a struggle because I feel we can get stuck in the rut that is our life.  We stay at home because we have laundry or cleaning or nap time.  Right now, Parker is quite content at home because he knows no different.  But even 6 months from now when he's more involved in the world I want him to be out experiencing new things and I don't ever want the real world to take over and allow us to forget what's important.

It's September.  I have less than 5 months until I'm back to work.  The weather is getting cooler and I feel time slipping away from me.  I have a life time with this baby, but he won't always be a baby and I won't always have so many hours in a day with him and that's scary for a mom.  I have less than 5 months to do as much as I can so that I know that when I go back to work I made the most of this year.  5 months might seem like a long time to some, but when I think of how quickly the last 7 months have gone, I feel like my time is up tomorrow.