Thursday, April 28, 2011

You 'oughta be in pictures.

Today we had a visit from the extremely talented Bond of BLF studios. For those that attended our wedding, you might remember him snapping photos, and at the least have seen his amazing work. Long before we had a Max on the way we knew we'd call upon his services again to capture any new additions to our family (yes, he's just that good!)

Max was a fantastic model and was in a great mood for the occasion. We even made a trek to the park, although Max got a little drowsy on the way there - being cute is tough work!

Click here to link over to BLF studios' blog for updates on Max's photo gallery (and check out his great work while you're there!)

Thanks again, Bond!


Monday, April 11, 2011

Max vs. Nature - Part II

It was a beautiful day in Winnipeg today. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze and it was a balmy 15 degrees (Celsius of course). It seemed like the perfect day for round two of "Max vs Nature." If you recall, back in mid February the mercury swung into the plus digits and we thought it might be a good opportunity to introduce Max to the great outdoors. Frankly, he didn't know what he was missing, but his Mum was desperate to get out of the house. The excursion proved to be a little premature. Max hated every second. Today though, today was the day.



I dressed Max in fleece pants and hoodie, wrapped him in the carrier and off we went (much simpler than the countless layers we donned in February.) We stepped outdoors and the sun hit his face - he squinted, turned his head quickly and realized he was out in the world that he usually watches go by from the car window. He was instantly hooked. We walked around our neighbourhood for 15 minutes and Max took in the sights. He was captivated by everything, and quietly turned his head from side to side making note of the soggy brown grass, the bare trees, the dirty cars, the mud puddles. I only wonder what it all must look like through his eyes. We ended our excursion in the VitaHealth market down the street from our apartment where we bought a few things for dinner. This was Max's first trip to a store of any variety. Actually, the first place he's been aside from Dr. appointments and Vovo's house. He eyed the shelves of coloured boxes, watched Dad bag some vegetables and watched very intently as the lady at the counter bagged our things and made small talk. I counted three other shoppers while we made our purchases so it wasn't a bold introduction to the general public, but it was nice to get out and share a simple shopping experience as a family.

It seems silly, but we often lamented how we couldn't just escape the house this winter and roam around the mall like people with "regular" babies. This quarantine has been fairly isolating. We're really used to getting out together - running errands, grabbing a bite to eat, going for coffee - so it's been hard to not go out together as a family. We've been spending the winter taking turns getting out of the house while the other stays home with Max. But spring is here and in May we can start taking cautious trips into public and finally showing Max off to family, more than two at a time. Just in time for his birthday!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday.

Yeah, I'm adorable.
I may be a little wobbly, but I can stand all by myself!

No, no, I don't want to eat with the spoon - I just want to bang it on my chair.

I can do it!


Check out my new chompers!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Busy bee.

It's been a busy week around here - somehow we managed to have three doctor appointments all in the same week. Max is officially tired and so are we.

Our first appointment was with the feeding and nutrition clinic. We were able to demonstrate Max's eating skills, which are still (very slowly) developing. It's clear that while Max isn't entirely sure about the whole eating thing, he is swallowing what little food he's able to tolerate in his mouth, so it's a positive step. The feeding doctor was quite positive about Max's progress and seemed fairly confident that we need not stockpile lots of g-tube supplies. We have been offering Max food by mouth once a day since we began and we've now been instructed to up the ante. 24 hours is a long time in the world of a baby and we need to get in as many food experiences as possible every day to get him used to eating. So we're now feeding him 3-4 times a day and we've been trying new flavours - banana, avocado, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears. The degree to which he tolerates the tastes varies with his mood, but so far, the increased frequency of feeding seems to be going well. We've also slowly transitioned one of his liquid  meals to a blended food meal, so each time he eats his blended bananas by mouth, he's also getting some through his g-tube. The hope here is that having some solids in his belly not only gives him a full-feeling reward to his oral feeding, but also helps keep his reflux to a minimum. It feels like much of our day revolves around eating, but currently it's our only developmental battle.

Later in the week we met with the Newborn Follow Up Program. This program follows the growth and development of sick and premature babies once they leave the hospital. If Max experiences any problems or delays with his development in any way it will be identified early and services will be set up for him. So far he's doing great and no issues were identified. He's still well within "normal" for his adjusted age. We're super proud of him!

Our third appointment was for Max's monthly synagis injection that protects him against RSV. Unless something changes, this should be the last RSV shot he'll receive this year and RSV season should come to a close in the next month or so. We're very excited to start venturing out into the world once we get the word that the general population is less germy and infected. We're still not going to be rushing out to crowded places, and gatherings with lots of kids or potentially sick people will still be off limits for us, but a walk to the local coffee shop and strolls around the neighbourhood are highly anticipated around here.

In non-medical news, Max has finally cut his first two teeth. His bottom teeth finally made an appearance and his gummy grin now has two pearly whites. He's still gnawing on his fists like they're made of sugar, so we're not sure if the top two are on the heels of the bottom ones or if he's just enjoying the new chewing sensation. Either way, his new smile is adorable and we'll have to snap some new pictures soon.

On Monday Max will be 10 months old (or nearing 7 months corrected). It's hard to believe that his birthday is nearing. He's getting to be such a big boy (but not really), and his 13lbs 2oz is nearly 8 times bigger than his birth weight and he's nearly twice the length he was when he was born. He's still a peanut, but he's huge to us! It's hard to balance wanting him to grow without wanting him to grow up too fast. We're trying our best to enjoy every minute.