Watch Out, I am crawling.

This has been a super exciting week. It started on Monday with papa's 1st snow day of the year. We got a solid 35 cm, which was followed by another 10 cm throughout the week. Which means that the pulk has been put into action and Johan has discovered a new place to have great naps, although the rides can be a bit bumpy.

We were a little worried on Tuesday night that Sinterklaas would not be able to make through all that snow, but we prepared our clogs anyways and sang all the Sinterklaas songs before we went to bed.


Sinterklaas didn't disappoint. Johan received his own phone and a book on how to make a snowman.


The most exciting thing is that Johan has started to crawl. With numerous attempts before the weekend, including some lunges while hanging out with Grannie, it was this weekend that he figured it out. After about a month of scooting backwards, Johan started to move forward in a hopping motion. His face now lights up with excitement when he sees a toy across the room, because he knows he can get there. His movements right now are a calculated hop, which is extremely cute. Opa and oma will be here in a week or so and we think Johan will be motoring across the room at that point, because right now it is all he wants to do. A scary thought for papa en mama as we attempt to baby proof the house.

All I want for Christmas...

You guessed it, Johan is getting his two front teeth!

The little man is fast approaching nine months old and is becoming more and more interested in crawling. Although he can only scoot backwards right now (for the last 6 weeks or so), he is starting to dig his toes in and do a little hop forward. Now if only he can figure out how to use his arms to propel forward, he'll be moving!

He still loves to jump and I have come to realize what a particular passion that is as I hold his 4 and 1/2 month old cousin Robin, who collapses on my lap when I try to get her to jump. Buddy Isabelle is not so interested either; just my little bean, who I am thinking is going to be quite the menace when he becomes mobile. Soon I will be thinking nostalgically of my infant who could only wave his arms around and not much more.

Our latest adventure has been skiing in the new Blanchon "Baby Glider" ski toboggan (from Fresh Air Experience, of course!). I strap Johan in with a sleeping bag, and he and I join Tante Claire and Robin for a quick x-country ski. So far, we've been going for about an hour or so and Johan seems to enjoy it. He either sits quietly or sleeps in his cosy bundle. While Johan relaxes and enjoys the experience, I get a great workout, hauling an extra 20+ pounds behind me. I've been pleasantly surprised though at how smoothly the sled rides in the tracks... and delighted at the early snow!

Other news: Sinterklass is next week, and I'm sure Johan will have a lovely present in his little clogs, rather than a piece of coal from Swarte Pete.

That's all for now!

Andrea

Growing, learning, and sleeping (at last)!

The last month has flown by. It's hard to believe, but next week, Johan will be 7 months old. It's wonderful to see him growing and learning, but at the same time, I'm realizing that my time with him is growing shorter... in 5 more months, I will have to go back to work and put Johan in daycare. That will be a very sad day for the two of us.

In the meantime, Johan has learned a few new tricks! Since the end of September, he has been able to sit on his own (with fewer and fewer falls to the side and back). So I sit him down to play with his toys in the morning, sometimes putting a pillow behind him just in case he loses his balance and flops over.

Johan has also started to rock back and forth when put on his hands and knees, so I am sure that soon enough that will progress to crawling, and then, watch out, Mummy's life is going to change! Right now, if I put him down on his tummy on the playmat or on a blanket with toys around him, and then leave the room, when I come back, he will have done a 180 and be facing in the opposite direction from where I put him down. So even though he can't crawl yet, he is becoming more and more mobile. One day I even watched him do a breakdancing move -- the worm -- to get to a toy he wanted. The only thing that stopped him was that I was laughing so hard that he lost his concentration and decided to watch me instead of breakdancing across the floor.

Eating continues to be an adventure. Johan seems to like everything I put in front of him, from applesauce to carrots and parsnips, squash, and the oganic turkey vegetable baby food I bought at the store. It's not too much trouble to make his food. I steam the vegetables and then blend them with a little hand blender, then I freeze them in ice-cube size portions. He eats two or three of these portions, with a bit of barley, oat or multigrain cereal mixed in, three times a day. He also eats mashed bananas, avacadoes and baked sweet potatoes, and has about 4 ounces of organic apple or pear juice (mixed with water) a day.

Johan is quite expressive of his love for food. I will see if we can post a video of him eating, as he chants "MMMMMMMMMM.... MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" and lunges for the spoon.

I am happy that Johan is growing again, as he had leveled off at 13-14 pounds for about 8 weeks, and fallen from the 50th percentile of babies to the 25th percentile. At Johan's six-month check up, my doctor reassured me that he was very healthy -- she noted that he is very active and strong (she called him Mr. Pilates, after she saw the sit up maneuvers he was doing), but she did encourage me to feed him lots to try to fatten him up a bit. (That's when I switched to three meals a day and added some juice to his daily regimen). It took a bit for him to get used to the juice -- at first he spat the bottle out and just looked at me as if to say, "That's not milk!", but now when he sees the bottle of juice, he starts fussing and moaning until I give it to him.

Other news: Johan is now regularly sleeping ffrom 7:00 p.m. until 3:30 in the morning, when I feed him, and then sleeps again until 6:30, when we get up for the day. He also happily takes 3 naps a day. Amazing but true! Sven and I persevered through Johan's nightly wailing and crying, and although it took him a month, he finally figured out that when he woke up, he needed to go back to sleep on his own. I have to say it was a rough 3 and a half weeks, but I kept telling myself when he woke up and cried for a while in the middle of the night, "He's crying because he's tired and doesn't know how to go to sleep -- he's not crying because he's hungry." And that gave me the motivation to keep going.

I now plan my life around being home for Johan's naptimes, instead of carting him around town to suit my fancy, but that's much better. I actually look forward to his naptimes, as I get a break! Sometimes he reaches for the crib and his little teddy as soon as I've finished our little naptime ritual (two stories and a song). Once I put him down, he grabs his teddy and hugs it, coos to it a little bit and then falls asleep. It's great! (And I really didn't think it was possible 6 weeks ago!

We have our bedtime ritual down pat too: he gets his dinner at about 6:15 and then has a bath, which he loves, at about 6:40. The bath is followed by a 4 ounce bottle of breast milk (we switched to a bottle to break the boob-to-sleep habit) and then Johan is put in the crib. He usually falls asleep instantly, clutching his teddy in his arms.

We couldn't have achieved this miracle without the help of two books: "Healthy sleep habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth and "The Sleep Sense Program" by Dana Obleman.

With 12 hours of sleep a night and another 3 hours of naptime a day, Johan, Sven and I are all much happier!

Andrea

Food, food, glorious food!

On the last day of our trip to Holland, we reached a milestone: Johan was fed solid food. I had been wondering for some time if I should start feeding him, as I was questioning whether he seemed satisfied with the breast, and then all of a sudden Johan gave us some really clear signs he was ready: he started reaching for food when he was in our arms when we were at the table.

Johan's first meal was a small portion of mashed banana, which he devoured. He strained his neck forward and lunged toward the spoon, opening and closing his mouth frantically. He now also grabs our hands to make us put the spoon in his mouth more quickly.

Now that we are home, I am systematically introducing him to all the fruits and vegetables. He starts off the day with some rice or barley cereal, often mixed with a bit of fruit. Sometimes he has lunch -- again, fruit or cereal. And for dinner, he has some carrot and brocolli or zucchini. Next up: sweet potatoes and squash!

I am endeavouring to feed Johan only organic foods, and am preparing them myself. So far, it's been pretty straightforward: I steam the food, puree it and freeze it in little ice cube trays. He eats two of these portions per meal, and while he does seem to like some flavours more than others, he hasn't refused anything yet.

Oh, and there was one other sign that Johan is ready to eat real food: he has a tooth! His lower left front tooth broke through his gums after two pretty cranky days last week. It isn't all the way out yet, however.

Andrea :)

Growing pains

As wonderful as our holiday was, it took a toll on Johan. As we were staying with family and friends, I was very conscious of him crying at night and soothed him every time he woke up by feeding him. The result of this was that, once we got home, we discovered that Johan would not, could not fall asleep without the boob! While this may not seem to be a big deal, what was happening was that even if he woke up only 45 minutes after a full feeding, he would demand the boob again, and then shriek and wail with frustration when he wouldn't get enough milk to be soothed back to sleep. And this wasn't just a nighttime occurence -- this was for naptimes, too.

Although Sven was keen to let Johan just cry it out, I wasn't ready yet and bought a book called the "No Cry Sleep Solution" to help slowly wean the little man off his boob addiction. However, after about three nights of trying this "gently take the breast out of the babies mouth as their sucks slow down" approach, things seemed to be getting worse rather than better.

I reached my breaking point one night as I was trying to feed Johan and he was getting frustrated, and I was calling to Sven for him to help me. Sven couldn't hear me, so by the time he finally arrived in the bedroom, it wasn't Johan's wails and sobs he was resonding to, it was mine! I was exhausted and fed up. Sven tried to take Johan for walks around the house, I tried to rock him to sleep -- nothing worked. So in the middle of the night, I suddenly told Sven, "we can't do this anymore. We have to let him cry." So we put him down and waited. Sven and I clutched at each other and finally, after about two hours of on and off wailing, Johan fell asleep. (By that time it was almost 6:00 in the morning!).

So the next day, I read a different book that talked about the importance of teaching your child to fall asleep on his/her own, and we started a new plan!

We are now about 10 days in to the new regime, and Johan is falling asleep on his own. We have a new bedtime routine, which involves a bath and a bottle and an earlier bedtime (7:00 p.m.), and Johan also has regular naps after about 2 hours of awake time during the day.

I'm happy to say that Johan is now put in his crib awake, and is beginning to fall asleep on his own, some days with happy noises, and other times with a bit of wailing.

So far so good, right?

Well, not quite. I now feed him once a night, sometime between midnight and 2:00 a.m., and then he is fed again only when he wakes up in the morning, between 6:00 and 7:00.

Unfortunately, Johan seems to have an internal timer and he wakes up and wails for up to 45 minutes at 10:30 and at 4:15 in the morning.

I'm trying to remain patient and hope that he will grow out of these wake ups. ... The question is, when?!

A Beach on the North Sea

After returning to Utrecht at the beginning of August, Sven, Johan and I headed out to the island of Texel for a week with Opa and Oma Brouwer. We spent a week on the island, enjoying the wonderful weather and scenery during the day and retiring to our rented bungalow at night. As Johan was still in his sleepless mode, Oma took him for lots of walks when he decided to get up at 5:00 every morning.

We all rented bikes and pedalled around the island. Johan loved these trips. Perched in the Baby Bjorn, he must have felt like he was flying. Johan also enjoyed our many trips to the beach, although he definitely preferred dipping his feet in the foam as it lapped the shore to his full-body immersion with Sven!

Sven and I really enjoyed the water. We rode the waves on a boogy board, and Sven got his first chance to surf since New Zealand. (Unfortunately, the waves were pretty small, so he only had a chance to ride a couple on his rented board before his hour was up).

Another highlight: Sven and I went out to see a movie one night, and Oma took over the onerous task of getting Johan to fall asleep. She walked him in the stroller for about an hour after we left for the 9:00 movie, and when he finally fell asleep in his cosy nest, he amazingly slept until about 5:00 in the morning. (Silly Mummy rushed home from the movie at midnight, convinced that Johan would be wailing for the boob)! Alas, a night of sleep would prove elusive, as Johan continued to wake up every few hours for the rest of our stay on the island, and for the rest of our trip to Holland.

Travels in Europe and Sleeping like a Baby

Sven, Johan and I are just on our way out the door to spend a week with Sven's parents on the island of Texel, in the North Sea. I hope the weather is good and we can spend lots of time on the beach!

It's been a very busy few weeks. We are now about halfway through our trip. We spent the first 6 days in Hagestein, where Sven's parents live. Highlights: meeting Vlinder, Sven's 7 month-old niece, doing a day trip to the town of Gouda, to see the cheese auction, and hosting a family reunion -- with about 30 of Sven's relatives coming over to meet Johan.

The day after the reunion, Sven and I headed to Brussels, where we spent two days exploring the city and hanging out with Marie (Andrea's high school exchange partner), her husband Patrick and their 16-month old son, Lucien. Marie and Patrick are expecting baby #2 in early September and so were eager to introduce Johan to Lucien to see what he thought of having a baby around the house.

After our quick visit with Marie, we headed out towards the French Alps, where one of Sven's best friends, Vincent, lives with his wife Ilonka and 1-year old son, Nils. The drive took us two days, including a quick stop in Grenoble, where Andrea did a quick walkabout, visiting her old apartment and the school where she was an English teacher way back in 1997!

Once in the little village of Vigneaux la Batie, close to Briancon, Ilonka and Vincent included us in a number of exciting excursions. We spent some time at the beach with a few other families of Sven's old co-workers from when he worked at Cimmaron as a kayak instructor and adventure leader. We did a challenging 5-hour hike up a mountain to see the Glacier Blanc (Johan loved this trip, perched in the Baby Bjorn). We went white water rafting (Johan sat that one out) and also did a Via Ferrata: a type of rock climbing using a fixed course consisting of metal rungs drilled into a cliff face. Johan also decided to sit that one out.

It was a really wonderful stay, and we are very excited to stay with Vincent and Ilonka in the future, as they are building a Gite in a nearby town and will soon be running their own inn!

The only difficulty that arose during this wonderful trip was the fact that Johan decided not to sleep. He woke up every hour for 5 nights in a row, which made for a pretty exhausting stay. Just when we were ready to beat our heads against the walls in frustration, Vincent passed Sven a Dutch baby book call "Oei, ik Groei" (Oops, I'm growing). In it, there was a handy chart showing difficult periods babies go through. And guess waht: there was a big black cloud with lightning bolts coming out of it at 4 and a half months. The book explained that babies of this age are making a big mental leap and that, while they start to see the world differently, they become very unhappy, as nothing makes sense anymore. The description of this difficult period seemed to fit Johan perfectly, so we just took a deep breath and did our best to love him and soothe him through his grumpy moods. Sven and I had to laugh when we saw that the book said that it was a bery bad time to travel with a baby!

Anyway, Johan seems to be over the hump, although he wakes up to feed every 3 hours or so at night. We never thought that he would regress from his 4-hour feedings, and were starting to look forward to him moving on to 6 hour sleeps at night. AAAAAH! Oh well, getting a good night's rest is apparently a relative thing. 3 hours at a time is much better than 45 minutes at a time!

Anyway, I have to run. We'll try to add pictures soon.

Dag!
Andrea and Sven.

Johan's new cousin: it's a girl!

On Thursday, July 12th, Johan's cousin, Robin Henry was born. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 6oz -- over a pound bigger than Johan was at birth! Other obvious differences: she has a full head of dark brown hair!

While Johan and Robin coudn't be more different, strangely enough (or perhaps, appropriately enough), Claire's labour and delivery were a mirror of Andrea's: about 26 hours after being induced, with no more progress being made, Claire had a C-section.

While the operation was a bit traumatic, Claire is already up and about and is bonding with her very hungry baby. Daddy Andrew is obviously very much enamoured with his little girl and has found that he is a wonderful burper and a handy diaper changer.

I will miss them all very much when we leave for Holland tomorrow!

Andrea

School's out

School is finished and we are ready to enjoy our summer. Although I will still be going in to school to finish off some administrative duties, the extra time with Johan is wonderful. I can't wait for our little trip to Europe.

The month of June has been a hot one and we have taken full advantage, introducing Johan to the natural waters of Kingsmere Lake, Meech Lake and the Gatineau river. Johan seemed to enjoy the experiences. He is usually quiet and quite relaxed in the water, but you wonder if he really likes it. By the end he is usually trying to chew his hand and the last couple of times his smiles have been coming out as we dip him in. We have not dunked him yet, as the waters are still a little cool for his body. As you can imagine, Papa enjoys these times very much.


Our baby is starting to become a little boy. In the last little while we have been amazed at how much he is changing. People tell us, but we are also starting to really notice. He is growing out of clothes at a tremendous rate. It seems that he only wears outfits 2 or 3 times and then they don't fit anymore. His diaper covers come loose by themselves, which has made for a few messy situations. (This was something we didn't want to experience too often, so we purchased some larger ones). He is getting stronger and is now able to use his hands much more effectively to grasp toys and hands. As well, he responds and communicates much more these days. He always has a smile for everyone.


His sleep patterns have returned to sporadic: some nights he sleeps for a long time, but others he wakes around 3 or 4 am for an extended period of time. Some days he has great naps and others he is awake for the entire day. Needless to say, we don't have a routine set yet. We are now trying to wean him from the swaddling wrap, so he will sleep even if he isn't bundled tightly with his arms at his side. (Right now, his "startle" reflex, during which his arms flail, wakes him up if he isn't swaddled). But he now consistently gets out of the swaddle -- when he wakes at night it is usually with his arms up by his face.

We hope that by weaning him from the swaddle, the next thing we can teach him is to fall asleep on his own, as this is a struggle now. Johan indicates when he is tired by a few cries, but unless we pat his bum and rock him, he just gets more cranky until he is all-out wailing. He seems unable to fall asleep on his own.


We wonder how he will react to the plane ride, let's hope he has papa's genes and not mummy's. It will be his 1st big travel and we can't wait for Opa en Oma to see him again. As well, we are very excited about finally meeting Vlinder (Arvid's little girl), Nils (Vincent's little boy) and Lucien (Marie's little boy). That said, any day now, Johan will get a new cousin, as Claire is due today. Lots of little friends to play with.


That's it for now.

Sounds and action

Johan laughed last week! His laugh is a bit of an odd sound, but he throws his smiling mouth open and lets out some chuckles every now and then, which is quite exciting. I can't wait to hear a real giggle. He makes some other, new and interesting noises now too -- soft growls and shrieking squawks that appear to communicate happiness.

Johan is also getting more able with his hands. This week, when he and I were hanging out with Granny, he succesfully reached for and picked up (albeit quite awkwardly) each of the little toys I placed on the table in front of him.

He has also figured out how to make a lovely pouting face. I will try my best to get a picture of it. He sticks his bottom lip out and gazes sadly up at strangers, and sometimes at us. I'm not sure if he really realizes he's doing it.

Other news: for the first time last weekend, Johan slept through the night: from 9:45 to 5:45. Unfortunately, I was so surprised that I woke up every hour and a half to check and see if he was all right. The following night, lest I take the hours of rest for granted, Johan of course had a really bad night, getting up to feed at one and three and then at five-thirty getting up for good.

Nonetheless, Johan has now repeated the feat a few times, falling asleep at about 9:30 then feeding only once at night, around 4:30. I just wish he would then go on to sleep past 7:00, which he seems unable to do.

That's all for now!

Outings galore!

Johan has been growing steadily -- in the past two weeks he went from 10 pounds, 10 oz to 11 pounds 12 oz. He is an amazingly strong little man who loves to practice standing up on our laps and can hold his head up very steadily, much to the amazement of our friends.

He is starting to be a bit more talkative, mostly in the mornings when Mummy wants to sleep a little bit longer! And twice in the past week he has "slept through the night" -- requiring only one feeding, and sleeping for a solid 5 to 6 hours in a row. Mummy is very appreciative of this, although it means the boobs are bursting with milk and starting to leak by the time he does finally wake up!

Johan's smiles are very infectious. They can really melt your heart. Sometimes when he smiles at me, he also does a little wiggle with his body that seems to say, "I'm so happy to see you -- I love you so!" It makes my day when he smiles like that.

Last week, Papa Sven went away on an outdoor ed canoe trip for 4 days, which was a bit of a trial for Mum. Johan did fine, but Mummy got a bit tired and lonely, and finally went to Granny's house for the final night, as much for the air conditioning as for the company!

Some exciting milestones for Johan, Mum and Papa:

• 1st orienteering race (Johan and Papa): 7th place, intermediate course, Kingsmere, May 6th. From what I hear, it was Johan who kept Papa on the right track!
• 1st outing to a restaurant: May 29th. We were celebrating Steve Jacobsen's b-day, but Johan was the real star -- he was much sought after for chats and kisses, as he was such a smiling and well-mannered dinner guest.
• 1st mountain biking race for Mummy: May 30th. Johan and Papa cheered Mummy on (and she needed all the help she could get)!
• 1st evening without Johan for Mummy: Papa and Johan went to cheer on the students at the Relay for Life on June 1st, so Mummy went out to a movie with a friend. (Of course, as I'm in full baby mode anyway, I went to see Knocked up, which is absolutely hilarious).

Until today, Johan has happily taken a bottle from his Dad and Granny. However, today, when Mummy went out to Claire's baby shower, Johan apparently refused the bottle and wailed all morning. Papa was tired, frustrated and relieved when Mummy finally came home three hours later. Let's hope that it was an anomaly and the result of an overly busy week. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Be sure to check out the latest pictures :)

Andrea

Getting out and about

The weekend of April 21st was a big one for Johan and his Mummy. With the little man six weeks old, Mum decided it was time to start exercising again. (That's to say, do something a bit more strenuous than the strolls we take around the neighbourhood most days).

On Saturday, I went for my first run and surprised myself by running for close to half an hour. (Well, running may be an exaggeration; it was more of a slow jog). On Sunday, Sven and I followed up with a big outing: Sven took Johan in our new jogging stroller (a great find at a community garage sale), while I headed into the hills on my road bike for a parkway loop. An hour later, I was back, and Johan was sleeping away as Sven pushed him along. It was a great success, and I realized I needn't have worried about him waking up hungry with no boob in sight!

The outing was so successful, in fact, that I went and bought myself a new road bike two days later. (Long overdue -- the one I had was approximately 20 years old, as I think it had been a 13th birthday present... so it was a little worse for wear).

I bought my bike, a Norco CRD, from my favourite bike store, Fresh Air Experience! I am delighted that they are continuing to support me this year and am really looking forward to finding a bit of time to get back in shape and wearing their jersey in the Fortune races this summer. I hope to get out training a few times on my new steed before the first mountain bike race of the season comes around (it's on May 30th, AAAH!).

I think it will be pretty tough, hauling my somewhat bigger ass (and definitely bigger boobs) up the big climbs, but it should be fun anyway, especially if Johan comes out to cheer me along. (And, on the bright side, being bigger should help me go faster on the downhills, right?)

One thing that should make finding the time to exercise a bit easier: my new breast pump! Yep, this week, Johan took his first bottle from Dad. As Sven and I observed as little mister happily slurped his dinner down, it seems like our son doesn't care who gives him his food, as long as he gets it on time!

So, with this new contraption in my life, I can hand off Johan for a few hours without worrying about him getting hungry.

It's nice to find a bit of freedom... now if I can just make sure I find the energy to exercise regularly...

The insane ramblings of sleep-deprived Andrea

If it wasn't enough that I get cranky if I don't have a nap every day (Sven would happily testify to my late afternoon mood swings), I also tend to say odd things to my husband when I wake up in the middle of the night to check on or feed Johan.

For the first week or so after he was born, I would wake up and whisper frantically and loudly to Sven, "WHERE'S THE BABY?" Sven would wake up, look panicked for a minute, then realize his wife was temporarily insane, and invariably answer me, "Right next to you in the cradle!"
I think that I did this because my last memory before going to sleep would be of feeding Johan as I sat up in bed. So when I would wake up several hours later, clutching a pillow in my arms, in my sleep-deprived state, I would think that I had fallen asleep, lost the baby under the duvet, and smothered him.

Once I had done that for a week or two, I came up with new and more interesting things to say when I woke up. One time, Sven and I forgot to set the alarm for him to get up to go to work. Sven nonetheless managed to get up and leave, and gave me a quick kiss as he headed out. I must have internalized the fact that he got up late, because I woke up half an hour later with Johan next to me on the bed, and not realizing that it was my baby, rather than my husband next to me, I proceeded to shake Johan's shoulders and call out to him, "You're late for work, get up!" Poor little guy, he had no idea what I was talking about!

Then, at 5:30 this morning, I had another moment of insanity. As I woke up to the sound of Johan stirring, I opened my eyes, expecting to gaze down into the cradle. But I was facing the wrong way, so I gazed at my husband instead. He is a bit bigger than the little man I was expecting to see, so what to I do? Scream! Not a bloodcurdling scream, mind you, but still, it was loud enough. Sven, needless to say, jumped up and asked me what was wrong. I said, "Sorry, I thought you were Johan", rolled over and went back to sleep.

Poor guy!

Breastfeeding: Fun Times!

For a few weeks, I had taken to calling Johan “Jaws” and was really not enjoying the sensation of having a little person chew on my boob for 6 hours a day. But, just as people told me, 5 weeks in (and with a lot of help from my doula and lactation consultant, Gisele), it has gotten much better.

However, Johan sometimes leaves me shaking my head at his behaviour while breastfeeding. Here are his top 5 weird moves:

#5: Look Mum, I’m a cat! Every now and then, Johan decides he will lick the milk out of my boob. This is usually in the middle of the night, when I want to get down to business so we can both go back to sleep. But no, little mister decides to flick his tongue back and forth over my nipple, which inevitably starts the milk flowing – convincing him that he’s on to an innovative new breastfeeding technique – but of course, very little of it ends up in his mouth. After a minute or so of this, Johan gets disappointed that he’s still hungry and moves on to the next move…

#4 Now I’m a snapping turtle! When in turtle mode, Johan opens and closes his mouth rapidly, turning his head in all directions and lunging when he thinks he may have figured out where the nipple is. He gets the boob in the eye, in the cheek, in the nose… everywhere except in his mouth. I am awed by his ferocity and his neck strength. Sometimes his lunges are bang on.. and as he clamps himself onto my boob, he lets out little grunts of satisfaction. It’s fascinating and frightening at the same time.

#3. The muffled wail. When Johan is wailing because he’s hungry, impatient and can’t believe the boob hasn’t magically popped into his mouth, I always stick my boob in to remind him not to give up. After all, his mouth is wide open when he’s screaming, so I should be able to get him latched on, right? Well, the problem is, his tongue is up at the roof of his mouth when he wails, so he can’t actually suck or swallow. So the result is: Mummy stuffs boob in wailing baby’s mouth, trying desperately to give him what he wants… but alas, the only result is a muffled wail coming from around the boob. It’s a sad sound!

#2. The yank and wail. Johan’s newest move, and the most mystifying one to me by far, is the shrieking and whimpering he has started to do during the feedings. My best guess is that the milk isn’t coming down fast enough for him. In an attempt to make it all better, my little angel clamps down and pulls his head back while he wails, yanking on my nipple. The first time he did this, I was convinced I’d eaten something spicy and that it had affected the taste of the milk. I was horrified and felt like I must have poisoned him. But if I take him off the boob, he immediately wants to be put back on… whereupon he begins the whole yank and wail once again. Mummy really enjoys these sessions!

#1. I thought it was a nipple! Sometimes Sven will comfort Johan when he’s desperate for a feed and I am getting set up with my pillows and a glass of water, etc. If Sven has Johan in front of him, and Johan is in snapping turtle mode, the little guy will actually latch on to Sven’s nose. Yum! Sven and I of course think this is hilarious. Johan, unfortunately, doesn’t see the humour in this.

Our 1st month with Johan

Hi Everyone,

We have had an amazing 1st month. Everyday we get to look at our beautiful Johan and see him grow and learn. It is amazing how quickly things change, as we struggle to keep up (and he isn't even running yet). Keeping up has also presented some challenges, as we learn to be parents, but the help from friends and family has been very reassuring. At the same time, we have truly enjoyed introducing Johan to all that have come by so far.

As Johan is starting to fill out (he eats plenty), he is also starting to communicate. This includes the changes in tone as he asks for food, to be changed, to release the gases and to help him fall asleep, but more importantly, he is copying smiling (which rocks!), sticking out his tongue and various facial expressions that we throw his way. As well, he is able to aim his fist to his mouth and this morning he spent an hour trying to extend his thumb to suck on. All in all, Johan is quiet and quite happy. He sleeps in blocks of 3 to 5 hours at night and happily entertains himself during his waking hours in the day. Car rides, stroller walks and baths are also on the list of favourite things to do.

Going back to work for me was a challenge. Not because of the lack of sleep (although that hits me at 2:10 pm everyday), but rather because I want to be at home with Andrea and Johan. It was really nice to have my parents (Opa and Oma) here during the last two weeks to help with all the little things. It was also very important to me that Opa and Oma received some bonding time with Johan. I must say that I love to watch Grannie, Claire and my parents truly love him up. Johan seems to enjoy the interaction with everyone, as he just spent an hour entertaining big Pete and sleeping another hour in J.K.'s arms at the River Road house on Saturday night.

Andrea's recovery is going well, although she does still get quite tired towards the end of the day. A good nap really helps. Which is great with me, as I get more bonding time with Johan. The breastfeeding has been a bit of a challenge. It started off painful as Andrea was learning how to get an extremely squirmy baby to latch on properly. Needless to say, breastfeeding every 3 hours was not always pleasant. Then, just as things were getting better and easier, her breasts really started to hurt. Which really made her doubt that she was doing things the right way, but after several consultations, the latch was perfect and she was told that there was a slight yeast infection. The good news was that it was something that could be treated. The treatment, which included a medication that gave Johan purple lips, seems to be making a difference. We will keep our fingers crossed.

We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Sven

Falling in love…

I have to say that even as I fell in love with my little Johan at the hospital, I also fell in love with my husband all over again. Sven stayed at my side in the hospital for the three days, as we roomed in with Johan and I recovered from the surgery. He supported me in the quest for the perfect latch as I learned to breastfeed, comforted Johan, taking him for walks when he fussed at night, changed every diaper, and tended to both of us with love and tenderness.

Now that we are at home, I love to watch Sven with his son. He speaks Dutch to him, which is helping me learn the language too. When he soothes Johan, he calls him "jonge jongen," which means young boy, and when Johan opens his eyes, he often says, "Wakker worden," which means wake up!) . Sven loves to play with him; there is clearly a very strong bond between the two of them and it is beautiful to see.

Andrea

How Johan was born!

To summarize what happened on the day Kikker was born…

Labour was induced 12 days after my due date, by which time I had tried EVERY trick in the book to get things going and had to concede defeat.

I was induced at 5:00 p.m. on the 12th. My contractions became quite strong around 9 p.m. and we called in my Doula, Gisele, who coached Sven and I until 4:00 a.m, when my contractions were between 2 and 4 minutes apart, and up to 90 seconds each, and we headed in to the hospital to be assessed.

Disappointment awaited: I was only 0.5 cm dilated and was sent home again.

Sven took over as coach for the next few hours, which I found very difficult. My contractions were long and arduous, with only a 45 second break in-between.

By 9:00 a.m. I explained my pain level to Sven by telling him that I felt like I wanted to die, and he obliged by driving me back to the hospital.

Again, disappointment: 1.5 cm dilated.

I was admitted nonetheless and tried labouring in the tub in my room until about 11:00 a.m, when I was told I was 2.5 cm dilated. Already 13 hours in, and with no end in sight, and a diagnosis of baby facing the wrong way (back of head to my back) I asked for the epidural.

I LOOOVED MY EPIDURAL!

It allowed me to rest, and once my doctor broke my waters and administered Oxytocin to speed up the dilation process, I waited for my body to do what it had to do.

I got up to 4 cm before Kikker’s heartrate started to dip and the obstetricians came in to discuss a possible c-section. They did an ultrasound to assess the position of the umbilical cord and decided to cut the Oxytocin and wait to see what would happen.

Kikker recovered, I went back to 2.5 cm dilated and, at 5:00 p.m. made the call that I was too exhausted to keep going and would opt for the c-section, which took place at 7:00 p.m.

The great things about the day: Sven, who never left my side, and who comforted and coached me the whole way through; my doula, who supported me in all my decisions, encouraged me through the day and the surgery and had Johan breastfeeding within an hour after the c-section; and finally, Johan, who judging from his perfectly round head, never had any intention of being born any other way!

Andrea

Johan is at home

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the wonderful e-mails, comments and phone calls. We are happy to be home and have managed to survive the first couple of nights. Johan seems to enjoy his new surroundings and we love having him here. It is a pretty special feeling and we just can't get enough of him.

It is also nice that we have been able to start sharing him with our friends and family. We are doing this slowly, as Johan feeds often and our sleep patterns have been irregular. Besides that, Andrea has to take it easy for the next 6 weeks as she recovers from the surgery. If you do want to drop by, please just give us a call.

I have posted a few more photos of our beautiful Johan. I hope you enjoy them.

Sven

Kikker is a ... boy!!!!

Hi everyone,

Johan Brouwer was born Tuesday March 13, 2007 at 19:40. The strong and healthy boy weighed in at 7 lbs and 4.5 ounces (3.3 kg). Johan has taken to eating really well and seems to be happy to be out in the real world.

The delivery process was long and drawn out, our birth plan went out the window and Johan was born by cesarian section. Andrea will provide a more complete story about our day in the next couple of days.

The most important thing is that Andrea and Johan are healthy and doing well. We will be coming home from the hospital some time on Friday. Our hospital stay has been really good, we have a private room where we all stay. It also has provided us with continuous support with things like breast feeding and getting a good latch.

We thank all of you for your support and well wishes. It is amazing to know that Johan has family and friends all over the world that love him. We can't wait to share 'the kikker' with you in the next little while.

I have posted some pictures of Johan and his proud parents, and promise to provide a more detailed description and more pictures soon.

Sven

Kikker still enjoying his surroundings

Kikker has surpassed all predicted birthdays and is still hanging out in the belly. After a quick visit to the hospital on Sunday morning (all signs were positive), we set out to have an active day. Andrea skated the entire canal on the final day of the season, which was followed by a solid walk around the Kingsmere area. This has not seemed to get things moving. We have an ultrasound today and are scheduled for an induction on Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Sven

Still waiting

It is March 3rd and we're still waiting! (Kikker was due March 1st). So far, nothing is happening... not even the slightest pang! The only difference from a week or so ago is that I'm turning into a puff-ball. I put on 2kg this past week alone, and judging from my face, hands and feet, it's mostly water. I have to try not to think about the numbers that come up during my weekly weigh-ins at my appointments... let's just say that I'm getting too close to Sven's weight for comfort!
We've scheduled an ultrasound for the 5th and our next doctor's appointment is on the 6th. I'm definitely hoping Kikker decides to make an appearance before an induction is scheduled (by the 2-week mark). I guess I should start trying all the labour-inducing tricks I've been told about... if anyone has any surefire techniques, let me know!
Andrea

Welcome

Welcome all,

As we are getting very close to the due date, the excitement is definitely building. There are also plenty of scared, worried and anxious feelings. I know it is going to be difficult to keep everyone in the loop in the early days, so I will use this means to let you know that we are thinking about all of you. I hope you will enjoy the photos and comments.

We look forward to sharing "Kikker" with all of you soon,

Sven and Andrea