Little Guy in the Big City

Cooper made his first trip to Toronto this weekend.  My family went down to my brother's apartment and to the Jay's game for his birthday.  We left Parker at home, but the child that I now refer to as the boob monster came with us due to his inability to take a bottle.

He was such a good boy.  He slept a few times throughout the game.  He watched a bit.  He mostly flirted with the ladies behind us.

And bonus, the Jays won! Although half the people with us had gone for beer during the only scoring home run of the game...

 And this hat that his Grams bought him at the game...isn't it just the cutest!

 He loved to look around as we were walking through the city and on the subway.  One second he was looking around, the next I looked at him and he was fast asleep in his stroller.  Oh the life of a baby.  

Cottage Season Begins

We love our cottage.  We have a family cottage that my Grandpa owns and have grown up spending weekends there with our cousins, aunts and uncles.  Now that the family is so big, each family gets their own individual weekends, but long weekends still belong to everyone.

May 24 is kind of the official start to the summer at the cottage.  Every year we have a canoe trip and so a lot of the family will go up that weekend.  This year's canoe trip was a very condensed version due to a combination of weather and people's schedules, but for those who went, it was better than nothing! (

Babies have been bathed in the sink for years at the cottage since we only have a shower.  So of course I had to give Cooper his first official sink bath.  He loved it of course and loved splashing around!

Parker had a great time at the cottage.  My cousin's kids were there and he loved having kids to play with and spending time with his aunt and uncle.  The dinos were his favourite.  Here dino is eating cucumber of course.

He also had his very first ice cream cone because Aunt Linda is more nervy than mommy. (And mommy doesn't like messes).  He did pretty well with it though and didn't even bit the bottom off.  Although he did try to take a chunk out of the side.

These two cousins are 3 months apart.  How lucky they are that they will get to grow up together.  

I wasn't sure if Parker could handle the whole canoe trip, so he just went on a short ride across the lake.  I think that hopefully next year he will be able to go for a few hours with Daddy and Auntie Tal.  I have been breastfeeding or pregnant for like the last 3 years, so who knows, maybe next year I will go too.

It was a great weekend.  So relaxing and nice to spend with family.  

First Foods

We are at that point in time where Cooper is eating real food.  I honestly was not looking forward to it at all.  Mostly I didn't want to deal with poopy cloth diapers...but unfortunately babies do grow up and they do need to learn to eat something other than breastmilk!

Cooper started solids a few days after he turned six months old.  He has had carrots, sweet potatos, pears and rice cereal.  So far carrots are his favourite.  He does ok with the purees and I only feed him once a day right now, and miss the odd day.

For those who are interested, I tend to make my own baby food.  It's so much cheaper and it's so easy, and considering how many recalls there are on food these days, it's nice to know what they are actually eating!  All it takes is a bit of steaming of whatever I want to make for them, I throw it in the baby bullet for about 30 seconds and it's done.  

Mom's Day

We are a bit behind over here.  Life has been busy, and with summer coming is about to get a lot busier!

As you all know, Mother's day was a couple of weeks ago.  This day is so much more important to me now that I am a mother.  Now that I'm a mom, I think about all of the sacrifices my own mom has made for me over the years.  I understand her so much better and truly appreciate everything she does for me and my kids.

 The boys and Ryan gave me some great gifts for Mother's Day.  But more importantly than the gifts, I just took the time to reflect on how thankful I am for this life that I have.  My kids bring me an enormous amount of happiness and purpose.  

Being a mom is an honour.  It doesn't come easily to everyone, it doesn't happen for everyone, and the fact that I have the responsibility for these two little people is something I'm so grateful for.  

Cooper at 6 Months

This post makes me a little bit sad.  My baby is half a year old already.  I'm halfway through my maternity leave (which is the saddest part).  I'm really enjoying being home with both of the boys.  Some days are harder than others, Parker has been giving me a run for my money lately, but overall I just love being their mom, watching them grow and develop and feeling like everything that they learn is because of me.

With that being said though, Cooper growing up is so much fun.  He's really turned into a little boy this past month, and I know that will only continue.

Weight: His six month appointment isn't until next week, but I think he's around 20lbs.

Clothes: I still cram him into some 3-6 month sleepers and he still fits ok in the onesies, but really he's 6-12 months.

Diapers: Size 3

Feeding:  It's so hard to say when he eats on demand because eating times can really vary.  Here is what our rough daily schedule is like I would say:
8am - Up and will be happy for a bit before I eventually feed him.
10:30 - Eats a little bit and falls back asleep - nap can vary in length, if he's in the car seat it's much longer than if he's in his crib
2 - Eats
5 - Eats
8 - Eats
9:30 - Eats and then bed

He can go longer in between and hopefully there is an afternoon nap in there, but every day still looks different for us.  I'm expecting more of a schedule to start soon.

Sleeping: He goes to bed around 10 and wakes up between 7 and 9.  He is typically still up once in the night to nurse, usually between 2:30 and 4:30.  He nurses for 10-15 minutes and falls back asleep.

Developmental Milestones:
-He can roll over back to tummy more frequently, but is often quite content on his back still.  Sometimes he rolls over in bed and then gets very angry.
-Can sit up for short periods of time
-In his bouncy chair he will try to sit more upright

Likes:
- His toys
- Bath time with big brother
- His big brother in general.  Parker will climb all over him and Cooper just smiles away at him.
- His exersaucer.  He's entertained in there for a long time
- TV.  It really catches his attention.  I was able to keep Parker from watching his own shows until he was 2, but of course because it's on for Parker now, Cooper can watch too.
- Diaper changes.  When I change his diaper he puts his hands behind his head and smiles at me.  So relaxed!

Dislikes:
- When he rolls onto his tummy
- Bottles apparently.  We have left him 3 times in the past week and he will take maybe one bottle and then wants nothing to do with them.  When we left for a whole day he ate about 8 oz total.  Luckily he's big and I don't worry about him like I did with Parker.  And I've been told he didn't get too cranky despite the fact that he hadn't eaten...

This kid doesn't really dislike much.  He will cry if he's really hungry or right before he falls asleep.  But often he doesn't even get that fussy when he's hungry, I just figure it's about time to eat and he eats.


This boy is just a joy to be around.  He smiles and laughs easily.  He loves his brother so much and his brother loves him.  I see him becoming a kid in some of the things he does and can't believe how fast the time is going.  I've always been one to look forward to things in the future, and I love that my kids have allowed me to slow down and enjoy each day.  Because one day they are doing something and the next day they have grown and stop doing it.  I'm just lucky to be called mommy.

My Grandma

My Grandma went to be with Jesus on Saturday night.  It's a celebration of a life that was lived well and completely devastating all at the same time and I go back and forth between knowing that she's been reunited in heaven with Grandpa and missing her deeply.

She was made to be a grandma.  She was a teacher and a mother, and apparently was great at both, but I feel like being Grandma was her true calling.  We loved going to her house and sleeping over.  We would fight over who got to sleep in her bed.  She would make us whatever we wanted to eat, which of course we would choose french toast, mac and cheese or homemade chicken soup - those were Grandma's classics.  

I don't remember her ever losing her patience with us.  But maybe that's because we were just good for her.  We had so much respect for her and I never wanted to disappoint her.  

She always bought me pears because they were my "favourite".  They weren't.  I think I went through a pear stage so then for the rest of my life she thought they were my favourite, but I couldn't tell her that they weren't.

She loved to play games with us.  And I'm a game girl.  So going to Grandma's was like winning the jackpot, she could play Yahtzee all day long.

She was the smartest person I have ever met.  She knew everything about everything.  She was a teacher and a librarian way before the internet age, so you actually had to know stuff then.  

She loved my boys and watching her become a Great-Grandma was amazing.  I'm so happy that I was able to share my kids with her and that they were able to meet her, even if they won't remember.  It's pretty special to be able to have a relationship with a Great-Grandparent.

These past few months have meant more to me than I ever would of realized at the time.  Because of my maternity leave I was able to visit Grandma more often.  I'm so thankful for that extra time that I had with her.  I would often take just Cooper and she loved to hold him.  Parker got his special time when my mom took him in to see her.  (Because dragging two kids all the way down the hall of the retirement home that she was in was difficult.)  She was thrilled with Cooper's size and what a good job I was doing feeding him!

30 years of memories is a lot and I could go on and on.  I hope that knowing her has changed me for the better.  I hope that I can look at the way that she loved and try to do the same in my own life.  I hope that I can be as generous as she was.  And I hope that someday a long time from now I can be half the Grandma that she was.

"Oh, I'm in pieces, it's tearing me up, but I know

A heart that's broke is a heart that's been loved" 

- Ed Sheeran