Connor's first....sheep??

Yep, that's right! Connor met his first sheep this past Friday! During our weekly walk with Oma in Fort Saskatchewan, we came across the sheep mowing the lawn and decided to stop and take a look! We became concerned because one of the sheep wasn't in the pen with the rest of them, so Oma went to go find the shepherd to let her know, and by the time she got back, half the sheep were out!! They could climb right under the fence! We found out that they are allowed to roam all over that area, and the pen was more just a 'home base' for the sheep, and not actually a place for them to stay! Well, we felt kinda silly after that, but we were happy we could go right up and feed them!! Connor was quite interested in watching the sheep, but he didn't try to grab them like I thought he would!!






I have also started to get Connor to try and hold his own bottle. I figure this will help with the transition to sippy cup also. So far it's going pretty well! He has been trying to hold it himself for quite a while now, so I think he really enjoyed getting to do it mostly himself!

Today, we took some fun pictures of Connor with his rat Capone, and a few of Capone's little buddies! We are going to be sending off a Rat Pack to Becca and her five sons in Nanaimo BC!! She is a member of the January 2007 babies birth club on www.babycenter.com, just like me, and she saw some pictures of Connor with Capone, and had to see where we found him! Well, just this past week, Derek was working near Ikea, so he popped in to pick up a few more rats! I hope that Becca's boys have as much fun with them as Connor has, it is hands down his favorite toy!

We took a bunch of pictures, but here are my favorites:

We also tried using a bath seat with Connor today, but he is so tiny that when he leans over, his legs come right out of the seat, so I don't think it's very safe. I might as well still be in the bath with him, because I have to hold him all the time still. So, I am not sure what we will do for baths! He is too splashy for the baby bath, but I can't really play with him when we are both in the bath together, so we have to come up with something!

Things seem to be getting better on the sleeping front. He goes down much easier if I put him to bed around 9pm. So we will once again start moving bedtime earlier 15 minutes each week and see how that goes!!

Countdown to solids: 14 days!

It's official!!

We have a tummy sleeper on our hands!!! I am thinking this might be part of the reason he hasn't been sleeping all that well lately! I always put him down on his back, and I think he prefers his tummy! For the last few weeks, he is always on his tummy when I go in to get him. Last night he wouldn't go to sleep at all, so since Derek was working nights, I figured I'd bring Connor in to bed with me, and he lied on his back and talked to the ceiling fan for a while, and then rolled over to his tummy and went to sleep! It's just about the cutest thing in the whole wide world!! (I'll show you the cutest thing in a moment!) So just today I started putting him down on his side, and then he flops over to his tummy without waking up! We had a great day for sleeping today! He had good naps, and was asleep by 8pm!

This is him right now, I snapped a picture before taking the pictures off the camera! (Maybe now that he is a tummy sleeper, that bald strip of hair will get a chance to grow back in!!)


It doesn't look that comfy to me, but hey, whatever makes him happy, and sleeping from 8pm on, works for me!!

So, now on to the cutest thing in the whole wide world!! Connor has started sucking in his bottom lip, and then he makes the cutest faces!! There you have it, the cutest thing in the whole wide world!! Check these out:

It's just too adorable for words!! But then, he did this:

I think he was tired of the camera in his face, because then he tried to eat it!

Hee Hee! I just love taking pictures of this guy!

He Sits!!

Well, sometimes he does...for a few seconds! He is really really close to sitting on his own! It won't be much longer now! We are practicing every day! It's super cute because you can see him start to wobble, and then he goes over to the side and flops on to his belly!

We are also starting to try and get him to drink from a cup. We just started with the sippy cup yesterday, so for now it's just another toy for him to chew on, but every once in a while he actually gets the spout part in his mouth!!

We also got him a little bowl that suction cups to the high chair tray, but Connor can peel it off and loves to throw the bowl over the side of the high chair! I can see how this will pose a problem once there is actually cereal in there!! We have decided that we will try out Rice Cereal for the first time on July 14! Connor will be 6 months and 2 days old. I wanted to start on a Saturday so that Derek will be home to help, and take lots of pictures!! I am excited, and yet sort of scared to start this whole new realm of nourishment!! It has been so easy up to this point!

Here's a few other cute pictures from the last few days:

See, he is not always happy!!

Things aren't going so well on the sleeping front however. We had gotten almost back to normal, with him going down really easily for naps, and almost as easily at night, but this last week he just went completely back downhill! It's been really hard on me, actually, because I feel like I am doing all the right things, trying to put him down awake, not let him nurse to sleep, keep the same routine... all the things I had read about that were supposed to instill good sleeping habits. And yet, it seems like he hates going to sleep! I am hoping that we are just going through another one of the Eight Great Fussy Phases, as talked about in 'The Wonder Weeks'. (A really great book by two Dutch doctors!) The book has a timeline in the front about when babies are supposed to become more fussy, and the reasons why, and Connor has been following it pretty much to a "T" actually! So, if it holds true, we are going to have trouble getting him to sleep for the next four weeks! Ack! I don't know if I have it in me! He actually didn't nap today...at all. And not for a lack of trying, either! He would be rubbing his eyes and yawning up a storm, but just when I finally thought he was calming down and falling asleep, he would pop back awake and there was no getting him to even look drowsy again!

So wish me luck for the next few weeks!!

It doesn't get much better than this...

A few nights ago, Connor woke up shortly after midnight, which is kind of unusual for him. I tried to soothe him back to sleep, but nothing worked, so I brought him in to our bed to feed him. He was super drowsy, and when I put him up on my shoulder to burp him, he fell asleep. But, instead of putting him back in his crib, I shimmied down and left Connor on my chest. He lifted his head for a bit but then fell asleep on me! He hasn't slept like that since he was a tiny, tiny baby, and never with me lying down, so it was a really neat moment. His head was facing me, up on my shoulder, and I could hear him breathing. He looked very peaceful and cute!

I seriously considered sleeping like that all night, but fear of rolling over, and the fact that I was slightly uncomfortable won out, and I returned him to the safe haven of his crib after about half an hour.

It was a very special moment though, and I am not afraid to admit that I got a little teary having my whole family, including the dogs, all warm and cozy and safe, all in the same room. I almost made Derek get up and take a picture, but I settled for poking him in the arm and making him take a look.

It's the simple moments like this that make me realize just how special my baby Connor is! I love my little family!

Getting Ready to start solids!

Well, Derek and I went to Toys'R'Us yesterday to get a bug net for the stroller, and we ended up leaving with a high chair!! It's only three weeks until Connor will be six months old, and able to start solid food, so we figured we should get the high chair while we were there!

This morning Connor tried out his high chair for the first time, and I think he liked it!! (We still have to do some adjustments to the straps though, they were almost taller than him!)

On the sleeping front, Connor is totally back on track! He is going down really easily at night and for naps! AND~ he actually busted out a two hour nap this morning! He hasn't done that in weeks! He is back to being predictably sleepy after about 90 minutes of awake time, which makes it much easier to get him down for a nap before he gets overtired! The only hard thing is trying to switch him over to a four hour routine instead of a three hour routine. His 40 minute naps don't really work with a four hour schedule, but we are working on that!

Happy Five Months, Little Man!!

Well, Connor is five months old today! My little guy is growing up so fast!! I got him weighed and measured today, like I do every month, and it seems like I will be able to call him my little man for a long while yet! He only gained 6oz., weighing in at 13lb.12oz, but he gained three whole inches in length! He is now 27.5 inches! I guess he's just a lanky li'l thing! I have to admit, I was hoping he would be at least 14 pounds, but he is still gaining slowly but surely, and that is all that matters!

The weather today was very windy and yucky, so we don't have any outside pictures, like I was hoping, but I did take a few of Connor on our bed, which is something I have been doing since day one, so that's kind of neat!

Connor is on his third nap today, his first two were an hour each, which is awesome! We are approaching the 40 minute mark right away here, so we will see if he takes another hour long nap, or if he wakes after his usual 40 minutes. He is getting really good at being asleep by 8pm too, so things are slowly progressing back to normal! Thank Goodness!

Oh, I hear him waking up now! Oh well, could I really expect three hour long naps in one day?

Here are a few more pictures from today, and the last few days. I think I got some good ones!

My, how time flies!!

Isn't it amazing how fast the time goes? Connor will be 5 months old in two days! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital! And yet, I don't remember my life without him, I don't really even remember being pregnant!

So this post is a little trip down memory lane!!

August 16, 2006: I was 4 1/2 months pregnant. Barely showing, and yet, there is definitely a little person in there! It's neat to look at these now that I know who he is!






And here I am at 24 weeks pregnant: What a cute little belly!


And, 37 weeks along:I sure got big!

And then, on January 12, Connor was born!


One month old:


Two months old:


Three months old:


Four months old:


And soon, I will be able to add five months old!! Isn't it amazing how much he has changed! You can see his personality come out more and more as each month passes. He becomes less of a 'baby' and more of a 'person' each day! I can't wait for him to crawl, and walk, and eventually say his first word, but at the same time, I wish I could just stop time right where it is and just relish it forever!

Your Mommy and Daddy love you very much Connor!