Baby Signing

Joe and I strongly believe in baby signing.  It is our desire to find out what is going on in Bethany's mind. Questions like: What does she need? What does she want? What does she observe? What does she remember?

I read it from somewhere that It is a fact that infants develop the fine muscles in their hands before they develop those required for speech, so they’re equipped to communicate with you before they can speak.
We have registered Bethany for Baby Signing Class starting next Monday for a duration of 4 weeks.  At the same time, we have been signing with Bethany for almost a month now... signs like: eat, drink, milk, juice, all finished, more, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, cat, dog, bird, horse, frog, diaper, potty etc.  We did not really expect Bethany to sign back until she is like 10 months old.
Last sunday, we were out for brunch after church, and I was feeding Bethany yogurt... and all of a sudden, she signed "more" and "eat"!
 

First Date Night Part II

So Joe and I went out last night, for the first time since B was born.

Meghan and her fiance arrived at 5:30pm while I was out walking the dog.  So Joe took time to explain to them when to feed B, B's bedtime routine and dos and don'ts.  Joe and I were out of the door before 6pm.

We went to Milestones for dinner.  Since they did not take dinner reservations on Fridays, so we had a pre-dinner drink in the lounge area while waiting for our table.  I had a Wolf Blass Yellow Label (my second favorite!  My all-time favorite is Wolf Blass Grey Label, but just that I am not prepared to pay $30 for a 6oz glass of wine!)  We probably spent less than 10 mins at the lounge and our table was ready.

For appetizer, we had:

World Inspired Dips with Grilled Naan and Ciabatta Toast

I had Roasted Mushroom Soup (5 thumbs up... only if I had 5 thumbs!) and Sesame Shiitake Mushroom Sea Bass.

Joe had a Cesar Salad and Certified Angus Beef 8oz Top Sirloin with Shrimps.

One d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. dinner! For the first time in the last 8 months, we finally had the luxury to not rush through a dinner, get to enjoy the food and the atmosphere, and most importantly of all, get to enjoy each other's company.

Throughout dinner, I only asked Joe t.w.i.c.e. if we should call home to make sure everything was ok. (and I think I did pretty good as I did not really freak out and starting crying at the restaurant!) Of course, Joe would not let me.  (We left both of our cell phone numbers with Meghan and told her to call us if anything (either major or minor) happened to B.

We got home at 9pm.  I was relieved to know that B did not have a major (not even a minor one) meltdown when Joe and I left the house.  It took her an hour to fall asleep but other than that, everything went as smooth as it could be!  

Joe and I are super glad that we have found a great babysitter for B.  Seriously, Meghan and her fiance r.o.c.k.!

 *** Joe was checking his iPhone to see if Meghan had called!

First Date Night...

Joe has been bugging me about date night for a while now.  Before B was born, we used to have date nights twice a month and Joe and I would take turn to pick an activity (dinner or movie or shopping) to do on date night.

Since B was born, I have been giving B my 110% attention and devotion.  The idea of being able to enjoy a sit down dinner without rushing through it is just foreign to me.  So when Joe mentioned resuming date night, I was like, "Seriously????"

After spending a few months looking for the "perfect" babysitter, we found one who comes with very impressive references!  We interviewed her a few months ago and tonight, will be the first night Megan will be babysitting B!


Megan will be here in about an hour... funny thing is that I am not even freaking out or hyper-ventilating and this is just w.e.i.r.d.!

Playdate with Bethany...

Yesterday B's schedule was way off.  She usually has two naps a day, one in the morning from 9am to 10:30am and one in the afternoon from 3pm to 4:30pm.  For some reason, she decided that she is a big girl and naps are for babies, so she did not have her morning nap!  So we played, read stories and sang and by 10am, she was rubbing her eyes and was so cranky that I needed to feed her a bit early so she could go down for a nap.  She fell asleep halfway through the bottle and napped till 1pm.  Our schedule was so off that I decided just to stay home and chill with B. 

While I was watching B playing on the playmat with all her toys, suddenly I realized that she was a bit lonely playing all by herself, though my dog attempted a few times to play with B, but ended up being kicked by B! (My dog and B have a love-hatred relationship going on since day 1!)  Then the idea of organizing a playdate with Bethany came to my mind!

After a few messages on FB ... B's first official playdate is scheduled for next week! :-)

Bethany's Classes

Joe and I believe in early child development.  There are a lot of "baby classes" out there that claim to help to stimulate a baby's brain development and motor skills through music, color, objects etc.  When Bethany goes to daycare in the fall, we are pretty much at the mercy of the daycare about what types of activities Bethany is going to have.  Therefore, Joe and I really want to get Bethany to be exposed to different areas of learning for her development.   We have been to the drop in playgroup organized by the City but I find that the playgroup is not structured and I doubt B gets anything out those drop ins. Joe and I have spent quite a bit of time in researching and narrowing down to what classes we want Bethany to attend, and most importantly if she will enjoy the class.

Here is B's schedule:
Monday -- Baby Signing Time  -- I bought the Baby Signing Time 1 package (DVD, CD and flash cards) about a month ago and have been signing with B since.  Those are all basic signs: Milk, Eat, Water, Juice, Drink, More, Frog, Dog, Cat, Horse, Bird, Diaper, Hurt... etc!  All the songs are catchy and easy and I think those songs are stuck in my head! B loves watching the DVD!
http://www.signingstart.com/

Tuesday -- Kindermusik Village Program -- it comes with a take home CD and a book!  Again, those songs are very catchy and the "Hello Hello" song and "I roll the ball to you" song are stuck in my head!  Last night, I caught myself singing the "Hello Hello" song in the shower! :-)
http://www.kindermusik.com/Classes/Village.aspx

Wednesday -- Baby Sensory Playtime
www.indigogreen.com/sensoryplaytime

Thursday -- Baby Story Time

Friday -- Mommy and B both need to rest!

Saturday -- Swimming
 

Though the schedule looks packed and it is indeed, pretty packed, I enjoy taking Bethany to all these classes.  I think I enjoy the classes as much as she does!  We did a preview class of Sensory Playtime this Monday and B was so happy that she was giggling and laughing throughout the class!  When we got home, I told Joe that B enjoyed the class so much that she was waving and laughing when the parachute went over her head (apparently it is an activity that a lot of babies get mesmerized with the movement of the colors.)!  So we have registered B for Baby Sensory Playtime which starts on May 5.

Baby Items we bought / received but we never used....

Now that B is 8 months old.... I packed away her 0-3 months and 3-6 months clothes that other day.  While I was sitting on the floor, with huge piles of clothes around me, I looked around in her room and noticed that there are items we bought / were given at the baby shower but were never used / touched!

So... here goes the list:

Itzbeen -- did not even use it once! Did not know why I bought it in the first place... must be peer pressure!


Receiving blankets -- got way too many!  The three I like the most are given to us by my coworker.  Big enough to swaddle B when she was a newborn.  I dropped the whole "swaddling" thing when B was a month old... yup... call me a bad mom!


Baby Nail Clippers -- What's wrong with using the adult one?  It works way way better!


Baby Powder -- I got 2 whole cans!  Seriously... who uses this stuff?

Johnson & Johnson products -- We received them as gifts... jumbo size of everything! The head to toe wash dries up B's skin like mad!  The Bedtime Body Wash is simply a big fat joke.  If your baby does not want to sleep at night... even if you bath her in the entire bottle of bedtime body wash won't even do a thing!  I prefer to use "all natural" body wash on B as it does not contain any chemicals and most importantly of all, the "baby scents" of the J&J products make me want to barf!

Nursing pillow -- I used it twice as a nursing pillow, then didn't use it again until B starting to sit on her own (when she was 7 months old) and used it for support for her.

Slumber bear -- this thing is a j.o.k.e. and B hates it!


Sleep Sheep -- Bought it when B was 4 months old, used it for 1.5 months.  B is a good sleeper and she does not really need a Sleep Sheep to help her to sleep.  She prefers Pachelbel's Canon in D!  My daughter is classical music baby!


Pacifiers -- B hates pacifiers.  The day she found her thumb was the day she stopped taking a soother!  Good Job Bethany! 


Graco's Sweetpeace Infant Soothing Center -- It is a complete waste of money.  B was in it for only a handful of times.  She hated it so much that she cried at the top of her lung when she was in it!  We ended up selling it and got a basic Graco Power Swing and she loves it!


Diaper Genie -- We switched B to cloth diapers when she was 8 weeks old!  So we only used the diaper genie for 8 weeks... and it has been sitting in B's room, collecting dust since!

Bethany is 8 months old!

Bethany turned 8 months old last Saturday!  I still find it hard to believe that she has been with us for 8 solid months!  :-)

This picture was taken two days before Bethany turned 8 months.  She was sitting in her bumbo, drinking water from her sippy cup, watching Baby Singing Time DVD! 

Swimming Class...

Bethany goes for swimming class (Parent N Tot 1) every Saturday from 9:45am to 10:15am.  So every Saturday morning is a tad hectic at our house.  

Prior to Bethany joining us, our saturday  schedule was rather lazy / leisurely.  Often times, Joe and I would sleep in till 9'ish and then indulge in either a pancake breakfast or all-american breakfast.  Now that Bethany is here, our saturday schedule has changed drastically.  It looks more like:

Wake up at 6am... jump into shower at 6:15am... prepare Bethany's bottle at 6:30am (yup... no more long showers!)... wake up Bethany at 6:50am... change Bethany at 6:55am.. feed Bethany at 7:00am... play with Bethany till 8:15am... give Bethany breakfast (mixed grain cereal with fresh fruits) at 8:30am... change Bethany into her swimming suit at 9:15am... pack everyone in the car and head to Water Baker Center at 9:25am, and be there for the class which starts at 9:45am!

The schedule looks packed and it is, indeed, packed!   By the time the class is done and that everyone has showered, changed into dry clothes and arrived home, it is only 10:45am... but it feels like it is 10:45pm!  

Though Saturday schedule is hectic and often exhausting, the smile on Bethany's face when she is in the water puts a huge and rewarding smile on mine! It is all w.o.r.t.h. it! 

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

A picture is worth thousand words...

Bethany obviously has an outstanding taste in reading materials...

From Drop Box

Bethany slept on her tummy!

This morning, as usual, I put B down for a nap after her morning bath.  I usually check up on her once I finish my morning coffee, and when I walked into her room, this is what I saw!

From Drop Box

B's first time sleeping on her tummy... though it is cute to look at, but I am NOT encouraging it! 

B's favourite toy

B is somewhat mobile! She can roll! She started rolling when she was 5 months old! For the last few weeks, she has been a un-stoppable rolling machine. Every time I put her on the carpet on her back, within seconds she will roll over to her tummy. A few times she tries to roll on the change table. At first I found that it is hilarious as a half-naked baby was trying to roll in a very tight space, it did not take me long to realize that it can be a hazard!
Yes... when B did not master rolling yet... I prayed that she could roll non-stop! Now that she rolls non-stop... I realize it is simply a whole new game in the house!

Today, B has found her favorite toy...

From Drop Box

... I listened to the ABC song for at least 25 times today and it makes me want to pull my hair out!

Kindermusik

Today, B started Kindermusik Village program. It is a 8-week program, 45 minutes per class. Kindermusik is a music and movement program. I signed B up for this as she loves music.

So today, we went to our very first class. It was fun! We sang, played, listened and danced to the music!

I am sure B enjoyed the class as much as I did!

http://www.kmwithkaren.com/index.php?page=what-is-kindermusik

Bethany's First Easter

From Drop Box

Bethany's first Easter... Easter Bunny brought her a pair of bunny ears, a spring / summer white dress and a pair of matching shoes! :-)

Easter Weekend...

Weather had been uber nice this Easter weekend! For the first time ever, this Easter felt more like Canada Day! I wonder how many people did cook a turkey or bake a ham in their ovens. For us, we had BBQ two nights in a row and we had Roast Beef for our Easter dinner!

Good Friday -- We took advantage of the nice weather so we aerated the lawn, removed all the christmas lights around the house. In the afternoon, we took a long relaxing stroll to Starbucks! The sun was so strong that I had to put sunblock and a sun hat on Bethany! The weather was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.!

From Drop Box

Saturday -- What an activity-packed day! In the morning while B was down for her morning nap, Joe built the new patio set and I went grocery shopping fast fast. In the afternoon, we went shopping at Bayshore Shopping Center! The last time we went there was at the end of November for christmas shopping. Time really flies! :-) This time, we put B in the UppaBaby G Luxe (instead of the Vista) for easier navigation in the mall! We got B a few spring / summer outfits and I got a new bathing suit!

Sunday -- We went to church in the morning and then Cora's for brunch! B had her very first rye toast and waffle! Joe and I were uber amazed how much B ate! she had mixed grain cereal with banana, 1/6 piece of rye toast and 1/12 piece of waffle! In the afternoon, we went for a stroll to Starbucks (this time we put B in the Ergo instead of the stroller and she loved it!)!

From Drop Box

... Oops! Almost forgot to mention that we had a super healthy roast beef dinner! We had ham two weeks ago when we had friends over, and salmon a week ago when B's godmother and Auntie Amanda came to visit. I did not feel like cooking a turkey this Easter, and it turns out to be a very smart decision... who would want to cook a turkey when it was +25c outside!

From Drop Box