Easiest and Nicest Baby on the Block

I hope I am not jinxing us here but Maelle is such an easy baby.  She is quick to smile, doesn't really cry unless she is hungry, sleeps well and is generally so easy to be with.  She eats like a champion - she must weigh close to 13 pounds now - and is just content most of the time.  If she is fussy, she usually just needs to eat and nap and is then good to go again!  She turned 11 weeks old this week, where does the time go?!?
Loic is still an awesome big brother.  He is so, so funny and says the funniest things!  His love affair with batman and spiderman continues.  I used it to my advantage with respect to potty training and bought him a batman costume.... he wears underwear all day now unless asleep and is very reliable when it comes to peeing on the potty, we are working hard on #2 but it will happen soon, I can feel it!
I am really enjoying my days home with the kids, even when Loic is on the potty dawdling and Maelle is hungry.

 Chubby post-bath baby!!

 Girl clothing is adorable.

Batman!!!  He has a love-hate relationship with this costume, sometimes it is too scary, other times he loves it.

The dogs are also doing well - Tyler is going strong at about 9 and a half, Toby is his usual clingy self and Arthur, well, Arthur is fine and dandy.  Tyler is still the best family pet ever :) he kisses the baby when I am nursing her and lets Loic pet, hug and dress him up.  Such a good boy!

Daily life

Life has settled into a bit of a routine these days.  We get up around 7:30, eat breakfast and then head out the door to do an activity by 10:00.  We tend to ride Teepee or Jeffree on Mondays at the barn and then walk outside looking for slugs or play with 3 year old Ezra.  Tuesdays was story time at the library but that is now over, so we need another Tuesday morning activity.  Wednesdays we see Tracy and Bed and baby Madison and we tend to head to indoor play centers for the boys; today we went to Koko's Cafe in Port Moody.  Loic had a blast but it is a bit chaotic there and the play structure is massive.  We have also gone to Kinder Cafe in Port Coquitlam and will do Go Bananas here in N.Van soon.  We would like to go to the park on Wednesdays but so far the rain has ruined those plans.  Thursdays we get together with Sara, Kyle and baby Evan and we go to the awesome park on 11th or the aquarium or each others houses to play.  Fridays Loic goes to a drop off play group at the rec centre for two hours and Maelle and I do the grocery shopping.

After the morning fun, we aim to be home around 1:00 for lunch and then, more importantly, nap time for Loic.  He is usually asleep around 2:00 (or later if it is a potty training issue - more on the another day) and up after 1.5-2 hours.  I love that he still naps, I make dinner or do laundry.  

Maelle has started to nap in her crib at this time too although right now she is asleep in her swing and I don't want to move her!  

After nap time we usually have a snack and once Rob comes home, either go to the park or walk the dogs or do errands before dinner.  Then dinner (around 6:30), bath time and bed!!

 Loic riding Teepee

 Milking the fake cow at Maplewood Farm

(yes he is wearing boots with shorts!!)

Tyler, Duncan and Ryan in my car

The dogs are doing well.  Toby had a pain episode last weekend and after two trips to the vet, x-rays and a lot of pain meds seems to be better now?  Who knows what happened to him.  Tyler is trucking along too - he hurt his leg jumping up on the counter to eat food and was then really ill but is fine now. Ah labs, can't keep them down or away from any food!!   Arthur is still on his heart meds but they might need to be increased.

E

Updates - look who is smiling!

Look who has started to smile!  She is also starting to make nice cooing sounds.  She started smiling around 6 weeks and is now just over 7 weeks old.  Today for the first time ever she has slept in her crib for a nap and is now in there now - so far naps have taken place in the car, her vibrating chair, the swing, in the Ergo or Maya wrap, on my chest or in my lap or next to me in bed but not her crib :)  Today she was tired so I swaddled her, placed her in the crib and she took a nap.  

 So cute.

 Such a cutie pie!!  Her eyes are still blue and my thinking is that they will stay that way.

This is Loic as a baby - I can't tell if they look alike or not!  They have the same head shape

In other news, Loic is doing really well.  That kid is so funny and he is such a nice boy.  I really hope his sunny disposition stays with him, it will sure serve him well in life.  He often asks us things like: "How did you sleep Mama?"  "How is your day going?"  and he is big into loving stuff "on my own! but we can share it".
We have been having some potty training success and he now wears big boy underwear in the house and for short trips out.  The pull ups are our crutch but it is hard to not use them!!  Oh well, we aren't stressing about it at all - he is getting there.

Family photo shoot

My friends bought me a family photo shoot for my birthday two years ago and we finally used it when Maelle was about two weeks old!  Here are just a few of the shots we got.  The photographer was lovely and her company is called Bright Photo.

Loic was a total ham!

Mama's boy

Lovely dogs

Loic fought this one!  He was all over the shop :)

Adorable.

Best.Dog.Ever.

Seriously.

Maelle will be 6 weeks old tomorrow - where does the time go?!  She is now smiling :)

E

One Month Old

Maelle is one month old; where does the time go?!
We had a check up today and she now weighs 8 pounds 12 ounces - she put on 10 ounces in the last 8 days!  I find it very rewarding to nurse a baby and see them grow :)
We had a family photo shoot two weeks ago and once we get those photos I will post them here.
Loic is still being a loving and highly entertaining big brother.  He likes to kiss his sister on the head, which is adorable.
The dogs are handling the new baby well.  Toby didn't ignore me this time like when we brought Loic home and Tyler just likes to lick her on the head when he walks by and I am nursing her.  Not sure if Arthur has even noticed her!
E

She is here!

Baby Maelle (pronounced My-Elle) was born on April 3rd at 9:07 pm and weighed in at 7 pounds one ounce. I was surprised that she weighed that much because of the issues I had with gestational diabetes and not gaining much weight myself. She came out pink and hungry which was awesome.

Adorableness

She only looks a little bit like Loic did when he was a baby, she is quite girly looking

Loving big brother with baby sister

She is doing really well and is a nursing champ - unlike how her brother started out! I am so so happy that she is such a breastfeeding champ, makes it much less stressful.

Big brother is really, really sweet with her and likes to kiss the top of her head, which is adorable. We are getting used to the lack of sleep again (well, I am, Rob is a bit useless in the night time feeding department!) but she sleeps for 3-4 hours at night between feedings so I can't complain.

We are so very happy that she is finally here and she makes the terrible delivery and stressful pregnancy very much worth while!

E, R, L and M

Catch up (again!)

Long time no post! Sorry Erin :)

I am now 37 weeks pregnant and the end is in sight. I still haven't put on much weight, about 15 pounds now, but baby is growing. I will not be allowed to go overdue because of the gestational diabetes so if I don't go into labour will be induced. That is ok with me, I was induced with the bean too and he turned out alright :) Here he is learning how to ski!

In other news, the dogs are well although Artie is now on heart meds. He is doing really well but can't stop peeing in the house.....

Rob won a very prestigious building award and we are all really, really proud of him! Here is a link to the winners:

http://www.georgieawards.ca/winners/view.aspx?id=2258

I am now off work and am busy getting baby's room ready because who knows when she will show up? Getting excited/nervous.

E