Teething

The signs of teething has been there for weeks: excessive drooling, runny poops from all that saliva, rosy pink cheeks, and the extra love for Sophie (Olly fit 3 legs in his mouth at the same time). Finally you could feel extra sharp ridges on the bottom gums. He woke up about every 2 hrs at night and would only nap for one cycle (40mins) for 4 days. Now they are finally here! Two glorious bottom teeth.

So glad to revert to 3 hr cycles at night. It could be better but 2 hrs makes you way more tired!

Month 5

Rolling

Olly has been leaning to the right. Each time he inches closer and closer to the floor. Several times he almost made it all the way but promptly returned to the center. On the last day of November he finally did it! He touched the floor with his head and rolled onto his back. He seemed a bit surprised himself. I encouraged him to do it again so I can capture it but he was camera shy or maybe too exhausted from the previous roll. This is as far as he got:

Now he's pretty much mastered this move but only on his right. I'm trying to get him to roll back to his front on the right too so he can cancel his moves out. However he is more interested in doing push ups and moving backwards these days.

Elimination Communication

We have moved up to a potty! He is getting so strong and heavy (21lbs) that it's impossible to keep a strong hold on him if he starts squirming on the toilet seat. The last straw was when he wanted to do a backflip off the toilet and almost did it before I caught him. The first few time on the potty was messy and discouraging because the splatter guard didn't block any pee and it just went all over the floor. David told me I need to pull him back as much as possible and tilt him forward. It helps to have something in front to distract him since he is all about grabbing things! I let him pull a wipe out for me and take him off immediately. I'm hoping he will associate the two and in the future will only pull on the wipe if he's done. In case you are curious we are using the Ikea Lilla potty. That's right $4! David likes to use the bigger one (Lockig) which is easier to clean since it comes apart but I think it's too wide. I just use a spray bottle to rinse it.

First Words

He was playing on the mat and suddenly stopped playing, looked at me and said BOO BOO. The b's were formed very slowly and deliberately. I immediately understood he was saying POO POO. I said poo poo slowly back to him so he can see me forming the p's. I took him to the potty and he did a big poop. On that particular day he also only used two diapers for the whole day, a new record! It was a great day.

Car Seat

After having to bend his legs Cirque du Soleil style too many times I decided it was time to switch out of an infant car seat. The limit is 22lbs and he was a little over 20lbs at the time. He is much happier now but still doesn't really like car rides. I remember when I was reading about infant car seats it said on average they last about a year. The second stage car seat we have can be used by infants but after knowing how tiny babies can be I have no regrets using an infant car seat even though it was only for 5 months.

Laughter

Baby laughter. Highlight of my day!

It's the most wonderful feeling when he looks at you and smiles, which is pretty much 100% of the time. Then you start to laugh, which makes him laugh, and soon everyone is laughing.

He laughs the most when David kisses his neck and when I do blue steel or say "spin, spin, spin!". Although if he's in a happy mood he will laugh if you laugh.

I just want time to stand still right now. He's growing up so fast and starting to become his own little man! There's one more week till he's 6 months old so we will be starting solids soon. He's already had a tiny taste of a smoothie that he grabbed from David and I gave him a teeny bit of banana and pear. He can sit up unassisted for a good 15 seconds before he topples over. We are also going to start sleep training over the Christmas break which means he will start sleeping in his crib instead of snugly beside me. I don't think I'm mentally ready for him to leave the bed but he's starting to hit me with his hands and waking up dad so it needs to be done! I'm so sad just thinking about it. Everything is going so fast. What happened to my dependent immobile baby? Sigh.

I'm ready for drumsticks mom!

Storytime for Babies

Olly and I finally made it to Storytime for Babies at Metrotown Library. It was the very last one of the season but at least we made it! There were probably 10 other moms/dads/grandparents with their little ones. We sat around in a circle with a volunteer that led us in song for about half an hour. We sang lots of nursery rhymes I did not know and we even sang in Korean and Mandarin. I was impressed.

I had so much fun I really can't wait to go in January when it starts up again and I think Olly will be at an age where he will be more interested too. The best part about the schedule is that there are two sessions one after the other so if you miss the first one due to naps or whatever you can still make it to the second one. 

The schedule for Spring 2016 is:

Tuesdays, January 19 to March 1
10:00 am and 10:45am
http://www.bpl.bc.ca/events/storytime-for-babies-at-metrotown-3

In the meantime I took a printout of the songs and we will be singing our little hearts out everyday.

Queen Elizabeth Park

Queen Elizabeth Park is kind of in the middle of Vancouver so it's a good midpoint between my Vancouver friends and I. I've been there once before with my mom and it was really nice so I decided to meet up with Jessica and 6 month old Abigail for a walk.

Parking

There's free parking for 2 hours at Hillcrest Community Centre across the street from the park. We were going to eat at the pub in the centre but it was closed so we ended up going to Seasons in the Park instead.

Seasons in the Park

I can't believe I've never heard of the views from this place. It's amazing! I would definitely want to take out of towners here. We got to have the whole patio to ourselves. The trek to the place from Hillcrest is a bit steep but it's a nice work out.

The Park

After some yummy burgers for lunch we started to walk around the park and when I say around I literally mean on the border of. Going around in a stroller has definitely made me much more aware of the accessibility of places for people in wheelchairs. The only stroller friendly portion of the park was on the outside perimeter. We didn't see any way of going into the center where the main fauna was. It is also only wide enough for one stroller. It was really quick to do the whole thing and by then our car was pushing our 2 hour limit so we had to go back anyway.

Rating

Not so good for strollers. Would go back wearing baby instead. Seasons in the Park was a great lunch spot though! 

Bowen Island

Bowen Island is only an hour away from Burnaby (30 minute drive plus 30 minute ferry ride), so the short travel time makes it a great first family staycation. David surprised me with the trip on my birthday. He is the best!

Baby fell asleep on the ferry. Perfect.

Bowen Island

When we first arrived at the B&B, I heard some rustling in the bushes below on my way to the suite. I looked down and there was a deer a few feet away! We just stared at each other for awhile trying to figure out who startled who. I went back to get David who was in the car with Olly and motioned for him to come look. Going back to the same spot we saw a fawn instead and the mama deer was close behind. I didn't get a picture of it but it was a magical start to our vacation.

There's not a lot to do on the island except relax, eat, and hike. There is only one area with restaurants right near the ferry terminal so our weekend consisted of sleeping at our B&B and driving to the ferry terminal for every meal. The restaurants close before 9pm so you better get dinner early! Our favourite dinner place was Tuscany Pizza and favourite lunch place was Artisan Cafe.

Tuscany Pizza - good pizza!

On the way back to the B&B from Tuscany Pizza we gave way to a deer on the road.

Cars in the country lookalike this

The baby always napped around lunch time so David picked up food and brought it back to eat in. That's what vacation is like with a baby...you rent a bedroom to eat in! Here's Olly napping on the king bed. I took this picture thinking he would look small on the bed but he looks pretty big. The king bed is actually two twins next to each other with a foam wedge. His butt fits in the gap well. There's so much space on a king bed, what luxury!

I'm just going to nap through all the daylight

By the time baby wakes up it's pretty much dusk and there's not a lot of light left. Luckily the B&B is surrounded by trees so you feel like you're in a forest anyway. There is a trail to the lake nearby but we hiked about 5 mins on the trail before we headed back. Still, good walk!

Quick! Lets fit in a hike before it's completely dark!

We checked out at 11am and went for another walk around the area. There was a house at the end of the long driveway with horses in their "yard" and the girl was just getting ready to go riding with her friends. We stopped to marvel at her horse. I was way more excited about the horse than Olly.

People own horses here. 

We then drove along the main road and headed to the south part of the island to the beach. There's not much of a beach but it's a nice view. We ate some fig bars in the car and drove to the art gallery area.

South end of the island.

Family pic at Artisan Cafe

View from Artisan Cafe of Squamish?

Great first staycation! BC is so beautiful I hope to explore more of the islands. I heard Salt Spring Island is very nice.