Thursday 30 June 2011

Everybody can comment!

I changed the settings so now it's possible for everyone to comment, you don't need a Google account. So please comment, I have around 1000 readers per month from all around the world and I'm a bit curious who you are! Leave a trace! You can be anonymous if you prefer.

Today I'm cleaning out my closet, all clothes that hasn't been used for over 3 years is going to charity (if you think 3 years is a long time bare in mind I've been pregnant and breastfeeding for almost 3 years)! That's one good thing with moving frequently, you don't keep old shit (positive thinking!)...

Today's cutest was when Lovisa said her own name for the very first time this morning at the breakfast table. She pointed at H and said "papa", she pointed at me and said "mamma", she pointed at Andréa and said "Nea" and then she pointed at herself and said "Visa". Then she smiled with her whole face, all proud. My little talker!

New words and sentences everyday now, it's so fun!

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Poop!

Just a very philosophical reflection from a "stay-home-mummy": how the hell can you poop so your socks gets completely covered in it? She was only wearing a little baby-body and socks. And no poop ended up on her legs only on one of her socks (and of course the whole diaper was full but that you kind of expect)...

Do you understand now why I'm worried about my sanity? 
Taking pictures at poop socks... Very chic...

Good for her she's so adorable! Here on her way to her first midsumer celebration.

Monday 27 June 2011

Worried

You know how worried you are about everything when you have your first child? Double that and you'll understand having two is bloody nerve wracking! I'm constantly worried over my children.

When it comes to Andréa I'm concerned about the breastfeeding. She chokes, moves, cries and seem to be struggling all the time. Since it's probably my last time breastfeeding I was looking forward to the cozy closeness that you only get from a beautiful breastfeeding moment. I don't know if it's her reflux or if it's stomach pains or if she's just not hungry or if it's a personality thing - maybe she's just the restless, fast type of eater (oh god please - no!).

When it comes to Lovisa, she's been, what we think, teething all weekend. Starting with a fever on saturday, being in agony, pain and been whining like crazy. She's drooling like a hungry dog all the time and constantly wants her pacifier (not strange her first whole sentence was "ou est la suce?" meaning "where's my pacifier?"). She refuses to eat. She cries and says it's hurting in her mouth. She's like a big baby, wanting to be cuddled and carried around. Oh, it worries me!

And then I'm worried about me being so bloody worried. It's annoying really, everyone tells me to enjoy this precious time and bla, bla, bla! And I really should take my postpartum vitamins. And eat a bit better. And start to exercise a bit (maybe around 5 am, after the night feeding before the morning feeding - what do you think?)... But most of all I'm worried about how I'm going to manage to take care of both babies at home ALL DAYS LONG, with my sanity still intact (or whatever is left of it), after we move to Dorval. It's practically impossible to keep her daycare place here in Montreal-West and it's not easy finding a new daycare in Dorval. It worries me that this bothers me so much because what kind of mother am I thinking I'll probably go completely mental taking care of my own kids?

Thursday 23 June 2011

Lovisas first visit to the coiffure...

I finally realized that I'm not going to get around to cut Lovisas hair. I've been talking about it for about a month and she was starting to look like a bum... So I put Andréa in the carrier and Lovisa in her stroller and of we went...

Excellent place to run and play - yeah right!

On a booster with a cookie...

Switching to raisins when the cookies got boring...

Almost done....

Voila! After 4 cookies and a pack of raisins you need some water. 
Look at the happy, beautiful girl all proud! 

Andréa 2 months!

And the day couldn't have started better for little Andréa. Lovisa jumped in her crib and cuddled with her. For the longest time...Finally I had to take Andréa out to give her medication and feed her, hence Lovisa got hysteric and refused to leave her sisters cozy bed... It's amazing to see that their already enjoying each others company. Lovisa shouting "Nea, Nea, Nea"! And Andréa trying to make a sound, any sound! Usually "gaaaah"... My little sweethearts.
Here Lovisa's trying to put Andréa to sleep by singing parts from "Frère Jacques":


We celebrated by buying a very pink sunhat for Andréa and of course we all had some cake!

I take it as a good sign that she fell asleep when we tried it on...

Blueberrie cheesecake - so delicious!

Now I just have to find that piece of gum that I dropped on the floor so Lovisa doesn't eat it or worse; choke on it tomorrow morning! Goodnight!

Monday 20 June 2011

WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE!!!

Yes, it's true! We're really buying a house! Everything is settled and we're going to have access from mid July. It's a nice bungalow (yes! Finally everything in one floor, no more running in stairs!) in Dorval. Dorval is a very nice area, about 15 minutes from Downtown Montreal and 5 minutes (!) from the airport. Very familyfriendly with large parks, schools, outdoor pool, tenniscourts and super close to the water front!

http://www.ville.dorval.qc.ca/en/

SO COME SEE US!!! We have a huge backyard with a big deck. Of course we'll have to do some renovations. Starting with the floors and repainting the walls and the ceilings. We hope to move in end of July. I promise to add some pictures when I have some... And I said I'll never, ever, move with an infant ever again... Well, I better start packing... He, he...

Thursday 16 June 2011

And reflux it is...

After a visit to Dr L today we got the diagnosis reflux. So serious that we're going to try to put Andréa on medication. So now she's going to be on drugs! Here's a little bit about reflux (http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov):

"Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) occurs when stomach contents reflux, or back up, into the esophagus during or after a meal. The esophagus is the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. A ring of muscle at the bottom of the esophagus opens and closes to allow food to enter the stomach. This ring of muscle is called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The LES normally opens to release gas after meals. With infants, when the LES opens, stomach contents often reflux into the esophagus and out the mouth, resulting in regurgitation, or spitting up, and vomiting. GER can also occur when babies cough, cry, or strain.


Call your child’s health care provider right away if any of the following occur:

  • vomiting large amounts or persistent projectile (forceful) vomiting, particularly in infants younger than 2 months old
  • vomiting fluid that is green or yellow or that looks like coffee grounds or blood
  • difficulty breathing after vomiting or spitting up
  • refusing food that seems to result in weight loss or poor weight gain
  • excessive crying and irritability
*If medication is needed, treatment will often start with a class of medications called H2-blockers, also called H2-receptor agonists. These drugs help keep acid from backing up into the esophagus. H2-blockers are often used to treat children with GER because they come in liquid form. H2-blockers include
  • cimetidine (Tagamet)
  • ranitidine (Zantac)
  • famotidine (Pepcid)
  • nizatidine (Axid)"

Andréa's going to start taking ranitidine, which is suppose to be very safe, even for premature. Just keep your fingers crossed that she's going to get better!

My little heart...

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Reflux?

Could Andréa suffer from reflux? I mean the pathological form of it, not the usual baby reflux... She has trouble with her vomits, thats for sure! After each meal she sounds like a big steamroller. She spits up, coughs, moans and gets vomit in her nose making it hard for her to breath. It's a pain in the butt! And for me to sleep while she is struggling with her vomits going up and down her esophagus is impossible. I'm a light sleeper. I have to talk to Dr L about this. I'm a bit concerned... For both of us...

Sleeping on the table while we're eating is a favourite...

And she can turn on her side already. My big, big baby! 
Wearing my old apron that I had when I was at 2 months older...

Monday 13 June 2011

The sound of silence...

I'm sitting here surrounded by silence and feeling a bit proud. Proud that it's around 9:30 pm and both babies are sleeping. H is at his oldest daughters graduation ceremony and yesterday he played golf all day so I really had my first trial of taking care of both kids alone this weekend. And you know what? I made it! I was actually thinking the worst. You know, that Lovisa would fall down the stairs or poke her eyes out with a knife or fall over Andréa or, or, or... But their healthy, in their PJ:s, washed and changed and I even cut Lovisas nails, both finger and toenails! I have to remember to tell that to H when he's back. He will probably tell me about the beautiful examination and I will answer "And you know what happened here? I cut Lovisas nails!"!

So now I'm celebrating with some Häagen-Dasz mint chip. My own little examination party!

Friday 10 June 2011

Melons et clementines...

Ahhh, I feel a little bit high, just the kind of kick you get when you do a little bit of shopping. I don't usually advertise in this blogg but I just have to recommend this place to all breastfeeding women out there!

http://www.melonsetclementines.com/

Bring your kids, they have a really nice café and a play corner. Beautiful, comfortable clothes and a very good assortment of other handy breastfeeding items. The staff is professional and helpful. And they don't mind if ryou have a screaming 7 weeks old hanging on you boob! They encourage that! What did I buy?

 Black cotton dress. I'm going to live in this one...
They look better on me than on my bed...

The nice thing with a store like this is when your baby cries and you sweat and leek milk and feel pretty grouse, your just like the rest of their customers. We all look at each other and smile thinking "I know exactly how it's like!". And for you that is a bit obsessed with your babies weight they do have a scale on the nursery table! Andréa weighed 5.5 kg today! 

Andréa was pretty grumpy in the store but when we got home and I put her in her crib she looked like this:

7 weeks today!

Wishing you all a very nice weekend!


Thursday 9 June 2011

The heat is on!

The first heat wave struck us with magnificent power yesterday. The heat affects us all. And when it's this warm and humid it's not affecting us in positive way... The kids are cranky. I'm more confused than usual (if that's possible) and people generally go nuts! A women stopped me on my way to daycare to pick up Lovisa, I had Andréa in the baby björn, and an empty stroller for Lovisa. She looked at me with the most serious eyes and said "your going to kill her walking around in this heat". Now, she had now idea that I was going to the daycare, about 300 meters from our house, but comments like that make me mad! Did she really think I was out for a stroll with my infant in 35 degrees heat because I thought it was healthy and nice? Stupid woman!

 To warm to be comfortable...

 Hypnotized!

H walked around all day yesterday thinking it was Tuesday, when it was Wednesday. You would have excepted something like that from me who's home breastfeeding all day, I mean he's working and have meetings! Well, lets blame the heat! 
When H was going to put Lovisa to bed he turned around as he was walking out from the living room and said "this is going to be a ruff one". Naturally I thought he meant putting Lovisa to sleep, but he was referring to the ongoing Stanley Cup final, Vancouver against Boston. Turned out we were both right, Lovisa refused to sleep (we blame the heat!) and Vancouver lost (we blame the goalie who most certain had a heatstroke!).

Monday 6 June 2011

She's finally asleep!

And now I have to go and pick up Lovisa at the daycare. Oh, the battle when you have two! Andréa has been awake almost all day yesterday and today. She's only been sleeping short naps, not nearly enough for me to get anything done. So now I really just want to leave her in the bouncer and go! But you can't do that!


Carefully I'm going to put her in the carrier and hope she continues to sleep... Because if she wakes up she's going to be a very hungry little girl. She eats a lot! Look at the size of her. 6 weeks and wearing size 6 months. What does my milk contains? Cream with growth hormones? Oh, I'm babbling, I HAVE TO GO!!!

Thursday 2 June 2011

Summer is here!!!

Enough with my whining posts, SUMMER IS HERE! Heat wave, shorts, skirts dresses, sunscreen, barbecue, cold beer, beautiful flowers, baby pool, fan and AC! Wiiiiii!

 The neighbors built a pool, and put up a big, ugly fence (that's the law, to have a fence around the pool area). We put some flower beds on the fence to get a little bit of green...

 Lobelia

Lovisa playing in her baby pool

We had to go urgently to Loblaws (Canada's ICA Maxi) to buy Lovisa some summer clothes when we realised it's 30 degrees and she's still wearing her winter clothes. Poor little mouse, they probably think we're poor at the daycare. Or they think that we're 2 exhausted parents with a 20 month old and a newborn, whose brain does not function normally. The later case being very true.

 Skirt and dress...

Two pairs of shorts, sandals and a sunhat. Ready for summer!

Andréa has been asleep for almost 2 hours in the baby bouncer AND she slept 5 hours without waking up this night. Miracles do still happen!