More Photos of James

Here are some more photos of James from this week.

Here I am wearing my cute duck outfit from Gramma Lin.

Here I am relaxing with my stuffed kitty (name TBA in a few years) from Mommy's friend, Alison B.

I am ready to go out and about in my blue outfit with my cool Monkey Shoes (from Auntie Jocelyn and Uncle Craig).

Here I am sleeping in my ducky outfit. Yesterday I walked through the park where there are REAL duckies but Mommy forgot her camera--next time!

I am relaxing in my "Baby" sleeper on my blankie--soft and fuzzy and care of Luisa.

James' Life This Week

James has been growing steadily since last week. He has gained 4oz since last Wednesday. This isn't quite enough of a weight gain to satisfy his doctor (it is just the minimum and he isn't back to his birth weight yet) so I am taking some medication to bring more milk in more quickly to give him some chub. As you can see from some of the photos, his legs and arms are very long and skinny and he doesn't have a lot of body fat. We will spend the next few months worrying about him being too skinny and the rest of his childhood worrying that he weighs too much!! Crazy! But, it probably won't be a big worry as he is ALWAYS moving. He squirms and wiggles and kicks all the time--so he has very little rest time to chunk up! But, his face has filled out--his cheeks are bigger and rounder. His face has also changed shape--it has lengthened and looks more like a boy face and less like a squished baby face.

Jamie is a very active little guy as you can see from this action shot--when he is down on the ground, he is generally moving around and kicking and waving his legs and arms.

A sweet shot of a serenely sleeping little boy--he has a slight smile here. He does smile quite often but it is so quick that it is hard to catch on camera.

Relaxing with one hand behind his head. There is a family resemblance here as there is a picture of his cousin Daniel doing the same thing at a similar age.

Long, skinny arms and legs. He curled up so it doesn't show quite how long they are--but they are very long looking (probably because they have no fat on them!).

A quiet and alert boy--before the storm of "Feed Me!!" begins!

Enter Grandma Linda

Also on Tuesday, Grandma Linda (Alison's Mom) arrived to help out. James decided to wear his "Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison, 1968" onsie which he received from friends here in town. He thinks it makes him look tough, especially when he wears it with his baby-blue skull cap with the teddy-bear on the front. But, he enjoys listening to "I've Been Everywhere" so perhaps he is a Johnny Cash fan in the making!


Grandma Linda enjoying her first visit with her new grandson James!

James--terribly stressed after having been changed and dressed in a new outfit.

James--looking relaxed and content.

Relaxing with Daddy!

James' Last Day with Gramma Lin

Gramma Lin left on Tuesday after a nice visit with James. He decided to dress up for her last day so he wore his striped Polo outfit from Auntie Ronalee--very dapper.

His hands are big but they are deceptively large in this picture.

One last cuddle with Gramma Lin!

For his first doctor's visit, James decided to wear his "big-boy" sleeper from Auntie Jocelyn and Uncle Craig. He had to look good since he was being weighed and evaluated. He is up to 6lbs 8.5oz--so he is still small but is gaining weight and that is good. Everything else at the doctor's visit was good--he is doing everything he should be doing. He eats all the time and sleeps for 2-2 1/2 hours between feedings which is all we can hope for at less than 2 weeks (since he wasn't even supposed to be out in the world yet!).

One last shot of his cute Big Boy sleeper!

Jamie--Week 1 (Part 2)

Here are some more pictures of Jamie.

Here is Jamie in his big-boy t-shirt from Auntie Ronalee. The pants had fallen off at this point (he is a little on the skinny side right now) but he will get there soon. On Thursday, the Public Health Nurse weighed him and he had gained 2 oz over her visit on Tuesday (6lbs 6.5oz). What a Porkchop!!
Here is Jamie sleeping on his receiving blanket--he doesn't really enjoy tummy time so his answer is to avoid it by falling asleep and looking cute!

Jamie and his Daddy--both of them looking CUTE!! Though Jeff thinks he needs to look a little less scruffy in the next photo!

Jamie and his Gramma Lin--enjoying some alert cuddle-time.

Jamie at 1 Week (Part 1)

Well, it has been an eventful week. It is one thing to know that you will be exhausted--it is another thing all together to BE exhausted. We think it is getting better though. Jamie had a couple of nights where he would not sleep and was very fussy all night. For the last two nights, however, he has slept in his crib like a big boy (instead of on Jeff--which you SAY you won't do but then are so delirious with exhaustion that ANYTHING goes if it lets you sleep). When I say "like a big boy" I mean that he slept for a good 2--2 1/2 hours in between feedings and then went back to sleep after feedings. We think this is VERY GOOD. Though we will be very excited when he can sleep for 4+ hours straight.

Other "milestones" he has reached include: he is very alert in the days now. He keeps his eyes open and is very quiet and alert. He enjoys (we think) reading books with Daddy. He can lift his head--both when on the floor and when on someone's chest. He pushes off and his head lifts--so his neck seems strong but still floppy (he can lift it but then it flops so you have to watch it). He can also, when put on his back, roll to the side and back again. He sort of kicks his legs up and over and his body follows to the side--then he is very content. He doesn't do this as much when he is swaddled at night but if he is just lying on the floor, he will do it fairly consistently. So, we have decided that he is not to be left on the couch or bed--which we weren't planning to do anyway but it seems a definite no-no now that he can roll to the side. And, his umbilical cord has fallen off which makes Mommy very happy because it smelled really gross!

Other than that, it has been just day-to-day life. I am slowly getting more mobile and less sore and we are all adjusting. Jeff has been great and is enjoying his first official father's day--in future years he expects great things like hand-painted plaster casts of hands and feet but he is willing to let it go this year since Jamie is so new. He seems to be a really good baby. He hardly ever cries unless he is being changed (cold water on a warm bottom would do that to anyone) or is hungry or wants to be cuddled. This seems good to us and hopefully will continue as a pattern. He is, otherwise, very placid--he doesn't startle at much of anything and seems very relaxed.

This weekend, his Gramma Lin (Jeff's Mom) came out for a visit to meet Grandson #2 and she seems to think he is a keeper. She has said he is very sweet and she definitely enjoys cuddly time with him when he is alert. She is very impressed with how alert he is --much more so in the last couple of days than when she first arrived--and how he lifts his head and tries to crawl up her chest (he bunches his bum up and them pushes with his legs to move up--like a little snail). She leaves on Tuesday and then Gramma Linda (Alison's Mom) arrives. So, Jamie will get lots of Gramma time--yeah!! It is amazing how much he has changed in just a week--he has filled out and looks much more baby-ish and much less alien-ish!

That's all for now. Below and in the next post are some pictures from the last couple of days.

Here is Jamie and Gramma Lin enjoying some wide-awake time.

Here is Jamie in his new, fashion-forward outfit from Auntie Ronalee and clan--the lime green is very cute but, since he is still on the skinny side, the pants are a little big. This is how he will look at 85--wrinkled face, hair on his ears, and pants up to his armpits!!

Here he is in his cute little sleeper that Mommy actually got him (one of only 2 items of clothing that I have purchased for him--terrible Mommy!--but he has plenty of clothes from other sources so he is okay!). I think it is very cute though and it fits fairly well. This photo is from Saturday evening so he is just short of his 1-week birthday.

And this is Sunday morning--Father's Day--which, as you can see, was a very stressful morning for Jamie so he had to relax in his car seat.

At Home with James

Hi Everyone,

Here are three new pictures of James around the apartment: being held by his dad and mom. Things are going well and James is developing into quite a little eater. We saw the public health nurse on Tuesday and she said James had a little jaundice. So, to combat this and pink him up we (mostly me, but Jeff does get up with each feeding for support) are feeding him every two hours around the clock. The 2 and 4 AM feedings are the hardest, but we are all getting through. We are seeing the nurse on Thursday and hopefully he is heavier and less yellow.

We had our first vistor today. Our friend Amanda came by with lasagna and to see James. She also thought that James was very cute. How could she not?

Jamie: Cute as a Bug in a Rug

We just brought Jamie home from the hospital. Here he is in his coming home outfit which Gramma Lin sent out and his Pooh socks and a hat--which we discovered is too big and so we call it his "Rip Van Winkle Hat" because it is very long on his head. He did not love the carseat at first but once Jeff was carrying it, he seemed to be lulled to sleep in it. And, finally, at home in his crib--looking very small in such a big space! More later, right now: supper and feeding Jamie.

James Jeffrey: June 9, 2007

Hi Everyone,

Jeff, James, and I are home from the hospital now. Since emailing photos doesn't work well and we have the blog, this is where things will be.

James is wonderful--he and Daddy are cooking pasta for supper. James was born at 11:01PM on Saturday, June 9th after 12 hours of induced labour--if my girlfriends want the nitty-gritty details they should email me (no one else wants to know but I will say this: GET THE EPIDURAL!!). Jeff was AMAZING through the whole labour as I knew he would be and has been a rock for me ever since. James weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches long.

We were very surprised that he was a he since we really thought "girl" all the way through the pregnancy so we had to sleep on his name and try a few out. We decided that he is a James and I have been calling him Jamie. He is a good eater and a pretty good sleeper--he seems a better sleeper in the half hour we have been home than at the hospital. He really likes to be cuddled by his Daddy and he curls up like a little chimp on Jeff's chest--it is very cute. We have decided that he is pretty precious and we will keep him!

Here are some photos. The first is me the night before the induction as pregnant as I eas ever going to look. The next two are James right after his delivery--covered in smultz (and looking a LOT like his cousin Daniel--no surprise) and then being weighed in at just shy of 6-15 (they rounded up).

Sunny Days!

Today was a beautiful, warm, sunny day so we walked down to the harbour. It isn't a bad walk at about 2 km and it was warm but not too hot feeling with the breeze. Then we walked all along the harbour and back up to Spring Garden Road--I should have made Jeff wear my pedometer so we would know how far it was (pretty far--I think probably 4 or so km--and I was pretty tired when we got home). You can tell it is in to summer here because the touristy areas like the harbour and Spring Garden are much more crowded and Bud the Spud (the local truck that sells French Fries) was out with a line up (and yes, we had some and yes, they were pretty good!).

There was a Portuguese tall-ship manned by cadets in the harbour this weekend so we went to look at that--it is pretty impressive. Jeff did a trip on a masted ship when he was in grade 8 off B.C. but he said it was nowhere near as big as this ship. It was pretty big. You can see the smaller whale-watching tour boat in the background and that isn't a small boat so the three-masted Portuguese ship (no idea what its technical category is) is clearly a BIG ship.

This is me with the ship in the background. As you can see, I am getting more and more rounded (it looks like I am arching my back and pushing my belly out but I am not--it is just out there now! As I rediscover every time I forget and bump into something). No baby news yet--we will keep you posted. We are into the final days now but there are no signs (although, as Jeff said, if you've never done this before, maybe you just don't know!).


Other than that, we don't have much to report. All is well, baby is growing, we think (likely incorrectly) that we are ready for baby to arrive and now we just wait!