Rice Cereal!!

So today we started Blake on rice cereal!! He did good! He had a few strange expressions on his face and didn't eat a full tablespoon (dry - before mixed), but he got a few spoonfuls down! I posted a picture so you can see where most of it ended up! LOL! Blake's pediatrician appointment was good except for he once again did not gain any weight, which is why we've started the rice cereal with him. We have an appointment next Tuesday as well, just to see if there's been any weight change this time. Blake's pediatrician says that they only changed the feeding guidelines to starting solids at 6 months at the beginning of the year and that he feels a lot of babies are ready and need to start solids at 4 months (which were what the old guidelines were). He checked everything else out as well and commented on how strong Blake was! And how much he's grown in length! He's getting long and skinny!! Take care everyone & keep warm!! It was cold out today!!!

Tracy

Swimming starts on Wednesday!!

I am so excited for Aquababies this Wednesday! Today we're going swim suit shopping for Mom! LOL! It is Cal's Monday off today so the 3 of us are heading to the mall. We're taking Aquababies at the Servus Centre in St. Albert. It's a new multi-plex sports facility in St. Albert, similar to the Tri in Spruce Grove and Millenium Place in Sherwood Park. Apparently there are 2 wicked water slides, a big pool, a smaller warmer pool for kids (where our class will be) and a "river" that runs around the pools. The river actually has a current, so you can float along it in a tube! Sounds like fun hey!? Cal's on vacation the first week of October so he might go with Blake that week. Actually, I'll probably go to, but I'll be on the water slides and in the hot tub! Ha, ha, ha! We also started Salsa Babies last Thursday. It was also sooo... much fun! We did the Salsa, the Cha-Cha, the Muranga (spelling??), and a few others that I forget the names of! Blake loved it and started falling asleep at the end! Tomorrow, Blake has his regular Pediatrician's appointment. Hopefully he will have gained weight. We still haven't started him on rice cereal yet, but if he hasn't gained then we will have to :( On Friday Lindsay, Lesley and I are going to the Keith Urban concert! I'm so excited for that! Then on Saturday Cal, Blake and I are heading to Grande Prairie to visit his family. But I better run! Blake just woke up and is ready to eat!! Take care!

Luv Tracy

Those darn immunizations!!

So Blake has had an off few days since his immunizations. For his 2 month shots I gave him Tylenol before his appointment and this time I didn't. But I will definitely be doing it from now on!! He's still okay, just had a bit of a fever and was pretty clingy for awhile. I don't mind the clinginess though - just means more cuddles and rocking, which I love!! He has grown 3 cm in the past month, but has not gained any weight at all. He's now just below the 50 percentile for weight. The health nurse said it was a little odd that he didn't gain any weight, but that he looks healthy and seems healthy and content so she is not too concerned. She wants us to bring him back in 1 month though just to make sure he does gain. I told her that our pediatrician recommended giving him rice cereal at 3 months to help with his reflux and that I hadn't done that so far and she said to try it out, that it wouldn't hurt. So we'll probably start that this weekend. I'm not so excited to start solids, even though it's just rice cereal for now!! It seems too fast and I want him still be a little baby!! Aren't I pathetic!? LOL! Time is just flying by way, way too fast ...

Tracy :)

An Amazing 4 Months ...

Wow! Tomorrow Blake is 4 months old. These past four months have been some of the best of my life!! It has amazed me how much Blake has affected me! Might sound silly, but I knew life would be different, what I didn't understand was all of the emotions and feelings and love that having a child brings into your life! I fall in love all over again every time I look at him and have a new deeper love for Cal. He is such a fantastic Dad and it just brings tears to my eyes seeing them together! We have had a busy four months and Blake has became quite the traveller! This past September long weekend we went camping in Jasper with my parents and their friends Erica and Dion. We did a lot of sight seeing and a black bear visited us in our campsite! I posted a picture of us at the hot springs. We had tons of fun!! The trip there on Friday night was not a good one!! The evening is not a good time to travel with Blake!! His evening's usually consist of eating, bathing and bedtime and he really did not like being in the car seat for 4 hours! Near the end of the trip I finally crawled in the backseat with him. I was confused because just a few weeks before I'd drove to Fort McMurray with him and all was fine! But then we realized most of the travelling we'd done had been in the a.m. So sure enough the next few days when we were driving around during the day all was good!! Lesson learned! We're going to visit Cal's family in Grande Prairie in a few weeks, so we are going to travel during the day! Tomorrow Blake has his 4 month shots, so he will be weighed and measured then too. I'm guessing he is near 16 lbs, but we'll see! Blake is still really close to rolling from his back to his stomach and his neck is getting a lot stronger. He doesn't seem to mind tummy time as much as he used to. He is looking all over the place now and yesterday I took him for a walk around the neighbourhood in our heart-to-heart sling so he could face out and see the world around him!! The position he sits in is called the Buddha position! It's pretty cute! Hope everyone had a wonderful summer, we can't believe it's over already :( Oh well, let's hope the winter is mild! Take care!

Love Tracy
XOXOX

FEET?!??

Blake grabbed his right foot yesterday (August 23)! It was so precious ... He was rolling on his right side and saw it and grabbed it! He hasn't rolled completely from his back to stomach but is very, very close. He seems to enjoy just rolling half way onto his side! It won't be long now before he tries to put his foot in his mouth! A lot of the other babies at our new mom's group put their feet in their mouth!! It's so funny how at this age they put everything in their mouth! During bath time Blake likes to suck and chew on the facecloth. He is laughing more and more and just a few hours ago the salesman from Canadian Baby Photographers was here and Blake was giggling away while he gave his sales pitch!! It was sooo... funny! We bought a 5x7 of all the pictures taken. They are a little costly, but as the photographer said, "Money comes and goes, but memories they just go." Touche!! LOL! Anways, they are very cute! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Luv Cal, Tracy and Blake

What's with this weather??

We're not enjoying the weather these days ... makes it hard to get outside and do our Strollerobics!! Our class is officially over, but some friends are I are continuing with the routine. A few girls actually go everyday, but we won't be doing that! Starting in September we are going to Baby and Me Aqua fit on Tuesdays and Salsa Babies on Thursdays. And we'll still have our New Mom's Group on Wednesdays! So that leaves Mondays and Fridays for Strollerobics/day's at home! I'm really excited for Baby and Me Aqua fit!! I love the water and I hope Blake will too! I know he loves his baths, so hopefully he'll love to pool! This past weekend we went to Fort McMurray to visit my sister and Jeremy. We had a fantastic time. Blake was really, really good! He slept well and loved his new playpen! It was the first time we'd used it! We got it as a shower gift from Auntie Lesley and Auntie Carmen - thanks ladies! Blake is definitely becoming quite the little traveller!! My sister's new house is beautiful and I just can't believe my little sister is so grown up! It was great to stay at her place and visit and see where she lives! We sure miss her! We also visited with a few of our cousins as well. I posted a few pictures from the weekend. My cousin Jeanine and her little girl Ryann finally got to meet Blake and we got to visit, which was really nice. We also visited with my cousin's Jessica and Garett! Tonight after his bath Blake let out his biggest laugh yet!! It brought tears to my eyes! There really is nothing in the world like the sound of your babies laugh. We love it!! Blake is also very, very close to rolling from his back to his stomach. He gets himself on his side very easily now! We are also wondering if he is starting to teeth. He's chewing like crazy on everything and drooling a lot. We also feel a raised bump under his gums on the one side. The nurse says that babies can start teething as early as 3 months and that teeth may almost break the surface and disappear for awhile until they finally one day break through. So it may still be awhile before a tooth actually pops up! Anyways, I should get going! There's a lot of laundry to be done!! What's new?! LOL!

XOXOX
Cal, Tracy and Blake

Small weight gain for a change!

Blake had an appointment with the pediatrician today and he has only gained 3 oz. since his last weigh-in. He now weighs 14 lbs. 11 oz. Tonight in the bath tub he almost rolled over on us! I looked away for a split second and when I looked back he was on his side! Yikes!! Then after his bath we were playing with him on the couch and he rolled on his side again! He has rolled from his tummy to his back a few times (but not lately) but this was from his back. He is also giggling more and more! It is the best and sweetest sound in the whole wide world!!! We haven't quite mastered the provoking of it yet, but it seems like he giggles more at night after his bath and before bed time. And Cal can usually get one out of him or I have gotten him to giggle by holding him up to a mirror and talking to him! On Thursday Blake, Heidi and I are heading to Fort McMurray to stay with my sister and Jeremy for a few days. We are super excited! I can't wait to see them and my sister's new place and also visit with a few cousins!! Cal's good friend from Regina is coming for a visit so he has a busy guy's weekend planned (golf, live football draft, poker, beer, non-stop sports banter, more beer)! Then on Sunday night Cal and I have another date planned! So it will be a great weekend! Talk to you all soon!

Love Cal, Tracy and Blake