Nathan Rolled Over (Yesterday)

Nathan has been trying to roll over from his back to his front all week.  We even practice with him :)
Yesterday, while my Mom and I were prepping for a family dinner and Melissa was playing with Matthew and Kayla, he rolled!  Well, he must have rolled because he was originally on his back, and then when we looked the next time he was on his tummy!

My Family

We had my aunt take some quick family pictures taken at the greenhouses right after church on Sunday.  They turned out great, considering there are 7 kids under the age of 3!

 

Left to Right:  Remy,  Nathan, Carly, Liam, Matthew, Jackson, Kayla

Bed Time at Grandma's

Jon and I have joined a 'Bible and Theology' class for young-ish couples/singles at church.  Every other Monday night we meet from 7-9pm.  During this time, Matthew, Kayla, and Nathan are babysat by my parents.  Tonight was only the second meeting, and because we were meeting further away I told my parents that they could put Matthew and Kayla to bed, and we would just transfer them to the car.  When we got back to my parents after class, my Mom said that she had put them both to sleep in her room (all the other rooms are being occupied by my brother and his family visiting from Ontario), and so even though they had gone to bed at 8pm, they didn't fall asleep until about 9pm.  Jon went upstairs to get them while I started packing up Nathan.  When I had finished I went upstairs to help Jon, but he was already done, and Matthew and Kayla were cheerfully walking down the stairs.  I was puzzled as to why they weren't acting sleepy, and Jon laughed when he said that when he walked into the room they weren't sleeping, but watching the tv in my parents' room.  HAHA.  When we asked Kayla about it, she denied her involvement: "Me was sleeping while Mahyew was watching tv."  Too funny.  Matthew has definitely taken an interest in learning which buttons to press on the remote to operate the tv, so I wouldn't doubt that it was all his idea.

3 Months Post-Partum

It's been three months since Nathan was born and I'm finally (already?) in my pre-pregnancy jeans.  YAY!  I was quite skeptical about being able to fit them again because at around one month post-partum I could only get them mid-way up my thighs.  I'm not at my pre-pregnancy weight yet...I have 7.5 pounds to go.  Slowly, but surely.  I'm sure it could go quicker if I deprived myself of candies/dessert/everything for me...but I can't.  So, I accept the fact that I've got just a little ways\ to go still.  Although I'm getting close, I don't think my stomach will ever be the same...it's still a little jiggly.  We've got a few months before summer...so hopefully it can tighten up a bit before then :).

3 Months Old!

It feels like Nathan has been a part of our family forever.  FOREVER.  In a good way.  I can't believe he's only three months old.  He should be way older!  It seems like forever ago that I was getting induced and then going through labour with him.  Maybe that's why he seems so much older - I've put all the memories of that in the back of my memory :)

The stats:

Nathan weighs 17 lb 4 oz.  He is wearing size 2 diapers (only overnight - it's cloth diapers all day, every day!) and 6-9 month clothes, but I've pulled out his 9-12 month clothes because he can definitely wear the smaller pieces of it.  It's been busy putting away clothes and pulling out the next size!  The clothes Nathan is wearing now, Matthew was wearing between the ages of 6-9 months.  It just baffles my mind to see Nathan in clothes that Matthew wore when he was developmentally further than Nathan.  I wonder if Nathan will eventually catch up to Matthew?

Nathan is growing up so fast.  He absolutely loves his play mat (he can easily spend 45 minutes on it) and is just starting to reach out and touch the toys you hold in front of him.  He doesn't do it all the time, but when he does, you can tell that it's definitely intentional.  I also put him in the exersaucer for the first time this past week.  Because he's a big boy, I didn't need to stuff blankets or anything to support him.  He's been in it a few times (it's at my parents' right now so we don't have as much access to it) and each time he gets 'better' at it by trying to touch toys.  He's got a long ways to go, but once he's in it on a daily basis I'm sure he'll figure it out in no time.

Nathan is quite strong, but he's not very good at tummy time.  Can you blame him, though?  Have you seen how big his head is?  That thing must be heavy!  He has his moments where he's really good at it, but unfortunately, those are the times when the video camera is not on.  Matthew and Kayla were never good at tummy time either, and they can hold their heads just fine now!  Nathan loves to stand and sit and has great control of his neck.  He loves when I sit him on the couch, pull him up by his hands to a standing position, and then (lightly) let him fall back and bounce against the back cushions.  He also loves to 'jump' on the couch.  I hope to try him in the jolly jumper soon because I think he's definitely ready for it now.

Nathan is extremely friendly.  He doesn't necessarily care who is holding him, whether it be Jon, my parents, my siblings, a nursery volunteer, etc, however, I think I can calm him down the best.

He loves to suck/chomp on his fingers/fist right now.  His hand is always in his mouth!  When I bathe him I really have to make a point to open up his fingers in the water because dust/lint accumulates on his wet hands and gets stuck in the creases of his palm.  LOL.  Silly boy.

Nathan is still a 2-hour baby.  He still has seven four-ounce bottles during the day, and typically two during the night.  This might be changing though!  On the evening of the 17th, he had a bottle around 9pm and then went to bed and didn't wake up until 5:15am!  The next evening (the 18th), he had a bottle around 9pm, went to bed, and then woke up at 6am!  If he keeps this up then I can definitely say he's sleeping through the night!  

Nathan is a cat-napper, for the most part.  The only time he will have a nap that is longer than 30 minutes is if he is sleeping on someone (which doesn't happen very often at all), or if he's fallen asleep in the carseat while I'm doing errands.  The only nap that I can predict is his first morning nap.  I can usually catch his sign of being tired within 1.5 hours of being up for the day and can lay him down and he'll fall asleep without a fight.  That's the key...if I catch him right away when I know he's tired then he can fall asleep within seconds of laying down with his soother.  At night, he was often falling asleep during his bottle around 8pm and then I would transfer him to his bed, and then he would wake up 20 minutes later wide awake!  Not cool.  The past couple nights I've not allowed him to fall asleep during his evening bottle by sitting him up and burping him every time he shut his eyes.  When his bottle is done he's still half awake, so I've been putting him to bed while he's half awake and he's been falling asleep (and staying asleep) perfectly.  I'm hoping this will continue!

Anyways, I can't think of anything else to say about Nathan.  I'm so glad we have been blessed to have another baby and I'm especially happy that it was a boy (and that Jon let me have the name 'Nathan' after months of me trying to convince him).  It's wonderful having a baby around and he gets absolutely spoiled with attention by everyone.  Matthew and Kayla always want to know where he is, and still hate it when he cries.  The first thing they assume is that he's hungry, and they don't hesitate to grab his next bottle off the counter.  They love it when his hands touch their bodies ("Nayfin touched me!" - Matthew), and they love it when he talks to them ("Nayfin talking at me!" - Matthew).  They are great at giving him his soother and love informing me if he's awake or asleep when we're driving.  I took Matthew and Kayla to church last week and left Nathan at home and it was extremely weird.  I thought it would feel normal, like the way it had been for 2.5 years before Nathan was born, but it definitely wasn't.  I didn't have to think about things as much because they're so much older and more independent.  I'm glad it didn't feel normal.  I like it when they 'need' me!

And......that last paragraph was meant to be the closer and not that long.  And I think that's it.  For real this time!

Rubber Ducky Swim

We went to the rubber ducky swim at Mission Rec Centre today with a couple of my cousins and their kids.  From my family, we had four adults and seven kids...and it only cost us $6.50!  The kids LOVED swimming in the kid pool with 500 rubber ducks.  I have to admit, I had a lot of fun too.  Mission's kid pool is the perfect mix of shallow water where Matthew and Kayla can touch, and deeper water where they can't.  I think I'll probably be there again!  Plus, if you tank up your beast of a vehicle like our Tahoe, the cheaper gas pays for your trip out there and admission fees.  Love it.

Vander Ende Cousins (Reunited!)

Laura, Remy, Carly, and Liam are here to visit for 3 weeks.  It's been a year since we've seen Laura and Remy (David had visited in August with Carly), and we had never met Liam!  So much has changed in the Vander Ende family in one year - 3 grandsons were born within 3.5 months of each other!

Matthew and Kayla's First Visit to the Eye Doctor

Last week, while eating dinner, Jon mentioned to me that he thought Matthew's left eye was a little bit "lazy."  I'm not an observant person, so I had never noticed before, but now that he had mentioned it I definitely noticed it too.  When I mentioned Jon's observation to my Mom, she said she had just started noticing it too the last few weeks.  I called the eye doctor the next day and got an appointment for yesterday.  I right away made an appointment for Kayla too, because she might as well get her eyes checked.  Gotta love that kids' eye exams are covered by MSP!

Kayla had her appointment first yesterday.  I was shocked that they would do the 'hot air balloon' machine on kids!  Kayla was very intimated by the large machine and the noises it made, so I really had to hold her head in place and had to keep reassuring her that the noises weren't scary.  Matthew did the 'hot air balloon' test next, and did amazing.  He sat so still on my lap and watched the hot air balloon the whole time.

Next came the actual appointment with the eye doctor, Dr. Samra.  He was great with both Matthew and Kayla.  Kayla was VERY nervous/scared sitting in the large patient-chair by herself, but followed his instructions well.  Dr. Samra said that the results are very subjective as kids this young can't give any feedback/input on their sight, but he said Kayla is a little far-sighted, but that it's completely normal and he considers her vision to be 20-20.

Matthew did great during his appointment.  The first test was for him to stare at a small light on a pen and Dr. Samra instantly noticed that Matthew's left eye drifted closer to his nose because the light reflecting in his pupil was centred like it was in his right eye.  After further testing, he figured that Matthew is quite far-sighted (more than Kayla/what's normal), and that maybe his left eye is drifting when he is focusing because it's trying to overcompensate to make things clear.  We are now being referred to Dr. Cline, a pediatric optometrist in Fraser Heights, to see what his opinion is.  Dr. Samra was pretty positive that Matthew would not need surgery, but maybe Dr. Cline would recommend a prescription or maybe he would just want to keep an eye on it.  We'll see what happens!

Four Generations at Nathan's Baptism (Nov 10)

 

2.5 Months Old

I feel like I need to do a mid-month entry about Nathan because he's growing up so quickly.  So quickly.  He now LOVES his playmat, and can spend a good 30 minutes playing under it.  He actually plays with the toys now, swinging his arms at them.  When he's fussing being held on my lap, all I have to do is put him under his playmat and he's instantly happy (most of the time).  I don't remember Matthew and Kayla loving the playmat as much as he does.  Nathan has also started sitting in his Bumbo now, for short periods of time.  As strong as his neck is, sitting in a Bumbo requires a lot of muscle endurance and so I don't want to tire him out in it.  Nathan is very smiley and talkative.  I'd say his three favourite people are Jon, myself, and my Dad.  All any of us have to do is just look at him and he smiles.  He loves the sounds/voices my Dad makes.  Nathan has also almost giggled on a couple occasions, so we know it's going to happen any day now!  He's still not sleeping through the night, which is actually starting to take a toll on me and so I often find myself having a little catnap at some point during the day if I'm just sitting at home.  If I'm out and about then I don't need the nap...but if I'm not doing anything then I definitely do.  Nathan slept for 7 hours before needing his first feed last night (from 9:45pm to 4:45am), so I'm hoping that will also happen tonight.  He's still definitely a two-hour baby during the day!  He drinks his 4-ounce bottle (but doesn't want more) and then almost exactly at the two-hour mark will start fussing for more.  Despite losing about 1/3 of my milk supply due to being sick for 1.5 weeks, I've almost regained it all back again.  Such a struggle it's been to keep up with his needs, which is completely opposite than with Matthew and Kayla where I had extra all the time!  Nathan loves his car seat.  If he's tired, all I have to do is put him in his car seat and he falls asleep.  As tempting as that is to do during the day, I don't.  I'll only put him in there to fall asleep if I know we're going to be leaving the house shortly.