Tanking up Fatty

Almost two weeks has gone by now since bubs was born, and he's definitely taken a liking to the breast milk. When we left the hospital, he weighed in at 7 lb 5 oz, and when we weighed him again today, he lumbered in at 8 lb 12 oz. What a chubster!

Sophie signed up for a 10 week "Mum and Baby Yoga" class taking place just up the street at the Old Ottawa South fire hall. It looks like a tonne of fun, and the now much bulkier bub can act as a good counterweight during the yoga moves. She's also hoping to join a Strollersize group, where mothers and baby's go for long walks along the canal paths at least once week, and then inundate Starbucks or the Second Cup when they're done.

We got a great little onesie in the mail from Keith and Shelley this last week. It says "future quarterback", but I'm not sure about that prospect. I only played tag football as a kid, and Ottawa doesn't even seem to be that ambitious to get it's pro team back in the city. Maybe he'll get some exposure through the odd bomber game back in the 'peg.

So far, Ethan has been kind to us, and is only forcing us to really get up once during the night for a feeding (12 -> 4 -> 7) . We've read in the "The baby whisperer" that it may be possible to extend the sleeping time during the night using a method called "tanking", so we gave it a go. Basically, it involves feeding him twice as much during the latter part of the evening - filling up the tank. It worked well, and he slept almost 5 hours straight, but the catch is that when he wakes up, he stays up for a long time.

Left - Ethan and I during "activity time". Doesn't the bub look very stylish in his pink onesie? His cousin Keelin has been very generous in her donations of previously loved clothes and other equipment.

The Bub has left the hub!

At 5:04 am on Friday, March 16th, 2007, we welcomed our healthy little baby boy into the world. After some deliberation, he was named Ethan Peter (he made it onto some temporary forms as 'baby b' for the first day, and we still refer to him as Bubs).

Left - all pooched out. You'll have to take my word for it - there's some white blond hair under that cap, and he has the signature cow-lick on the top.

We've become pros at the fine art of swaddling, which helps to chill him right out...he seems to freak himself out with his own limbs.

This little guy weighed in at 7 lb 11 oz, and offered his mum and papa a big challenge for about 36hrs before finally making his way into the world. Do we look discouraged? No way! Just a little tired, is all.



Mini-me (before bath time - a little crusty still)





Bubs giving us a lecture on how much he loves bath time. I can see that this will be a bit challenging.






Some wrinkly old-man feet. Ethan actually scratched us a few times with his fingernails, so he's been fashioned up with some nice mits for the time being.







The hospital stay gave us some opportunity to rest, but we were happy to get going home to our own space...Taking "scrunchy-face" home. The night before we left, a huge spring storm blew through Ottawa, dumping 15 cm of snow everywhere. Sounds like a good excuse to rent movies and hang out inside for the next while.