Randome Images

Chilling with E Monster before Music Class

For what seemed like forever C Monster would not take his vitamins however recently the tides have changed.  He is so cute I tell him "ouvre ta bouche come un petit oiseau" (Open wide like a little bird) and he just opens up and lets us give him his drops.

During a visit to grandma C monster wanted a little cave to be built with pillows; he then fell asleep in this cave.

I just love this image Geoff took of see during an early morning walk.

C Monster practicing his career as a door man.

Halloween

Visiting Avalon Orchards

We visited Avalon Orchard this year to pick apples with Christophe (and pick up a few things at the store, including cases of their cider, which is the cider we usually drink.

Avalon Orchards is an organic apple orchard with a u-pick operation as well as organic cider which they package in glass bottles. We're pleased with the cider, and it's difficult to find organic cider in glass bottles, so it's nice to be able to buy it at all, let alone in cases. The price on-site this year was $30 for 12 bottles, which is about $2.50 per 1L bottle.

We had a good time. I think it's likely we'll return next year. I also took some pictures, of course.

Christophe was scared of the Queen Ann's Lace; this was the only time he was willing to touch it, and immediately wanted to be picked up:
Christophe, modeling his new fox hat:



Christophe loved the tractor, although the exhaust fumes were a little much:

Fire @ 236 Highfield Road

There was a fire in an small block of apartments at the bottom of Highfield Road; since some of the readers here are local, I thought I'd share my photos:

A PhotoEssay on Birth

Well, I've finally managed to work my way back to Christophe's birth, so with no further ado, you should move on and view the photos from 01-Mar-2008, including:

On the Second Day ...

The first day, to be honest, is all a blur. Onset of labour, pre-labour, and labour take all your energy and attention, and then people are stuffing things in your hands and reminding you of things while you're bringing your baby home for the first time, and then you sit back and get some rest and try and start establishing your first crack at a routine with your newborn.



The second day is when you start noticing the details, the things you weren't expecting, or even the things you were expecting. Like the fact that your baby's still a little furry from the laguno in the womb:

Or the fact that he's got little milia instead of pores on his nose:

His fingers are wrinkly:

His ears are squashed and he's still got a little blood in his hair from the trauma of birth:

But, then, it's been about a day, and he's got all the benefit he's going to get from the vernix, so it's time for his first bath to get him all cleaned up:

 

And, then, back into the routine.



Thanks to maman for the Canon EF 60mm f/2.8 Macro that made it possible to record all these details.

Two Palmar Grasps: First Contact and Mommy

Two of the photos I just finished uploading are good examples of how the palmar grasp reflex makes good photos. First of all, there's first contact between Cain and Christophe:

Cain's tail was flipping about, so Christophe grabbed on. Cain didn't seem to mind.

Also, the ever-so-common adult-and-baby hand picture. It's a cliche, but I still like it, and this is my favorite of that kind, so far:

Lots of other new photos of Christophe up over the last few days in the Wiseman Conspiracy group on Flickr. In part because I've strained my Achilles tendon, so I'm not moving around a lot, so I'm spending more time with the laptop than I had been before. Also, I notice we have our first photos added to the group by someone other than Pierrette and I: thanks, mom!

Eyes Open, Little Grandson

All is well. For those who know KS, you might want to check her blog, there's an induction underway. It's been a while since I posted. We're in a routine, but there's still not a lot of spare time in the day, so I have to pick between blogging, or cooking something significant, checking my email, watching a TV show, reading a book, or whatever -- rather than getting all of that done, or at least many of those tasks.

Part of it, I'm thinking, is that in order to function at 4am, I need 10-12 hours of interrupted sleep. Since I used to operate mostly on 4-6 hours of completely solid sleep, that means I lose an additional 4-8 hours of potential time.

Christophe's is more alert since the jaundice waned; it's nice to see his eyes open for chunks of the day, gives us a chance to speak to him, catch his attention, play with him a little. I caught this on March 5th, one of the first days he started having periods of alertness:

It's been great to have my mother around when she's been able to be here. Mostly for simple things like having some help with food preparation, dishes and laundry, but also to have her spend some time with her grandson, and help us out on occasion with the night-time tasks. On March 6th, while we were still dealing with low weight and jaundice, she was able to come up and hold Christophe while Pierrette slept. I was up for a bit, but also fell asleep, then later Pierrette woke up and spent the first feed with my mom, without needing to wake me, which was great to help me get some of the sleep I'd been missing:
In general, things are going well, although I'd be happy to have another few months off, and a few more hours in the day.

Flickr Photos and Badge (and Toes!)

I've just put up some more photos of Christophe on Flickr in the Wiseman Conspiracy group. Since some of you were pestering me for more photos, I thought I'd best announce it.


I've also put a little Flickr badge on the right sidebar underneath the post archive.