Pumpkin Head

"I tip my hat to you Ruslana!"

Thanks Ruslana for dropping by yesterday and bringing us yummy chocolates :) Also Adam loves his little pumpkin hat (and so do I!)  The bright colours are fantastic and it's stretchy enough that he should be able to wear it for a good chunk of time.  

I might just have to take up knitting/crochet myself so that I can make cute projects like this for him.  I haven't sat at my sewing machine since he was born (well, sitting comfortably at all has been only a recent accomplishment) but perhaps knitting could be more accessible...easier to pick up and put down between feeds?  

"Pumpkins make me so sleepy."

The Shirt Says It All

The wonderful life of a newborn infant...

Welcome Adam!

Little Adam arrived two weeks early weighing in at a very healthy 7lbs 2oz and has been the love of our lives for the past seven days. 

"Mommy has no idea I'm sticking my tongue out at her!"

I'm not going to go into the gory details of the labour or the first week of recovery - and yes, I'm standing to write this post - but let me at least bring attention to a few "facts" (myths?) you might learn about in your prenatal class:

1.  First-time pregnancies usually go past the 40-week due date.

2.  Chances are, your water won't break before contractions begin.  If it does, it will be more of a slow trickle than a gush like the movies.

3.  For your first baby it will be a long labour so the doctor doesn't need to check up on you as often.

4.  Epidurals are an effective way to alleviate pain.

Okay fine, so these things *are* probably true for the majority of women. I guess it just turns out that I'm not like the majority of women!  Fortunately none of that matters now when my husband and I can hold our baby and know he is the sweetest thing in the world.

"Who stole all my clothes?"

It *Does* Snow in Toronto!

Here are some photos from last week that I never got around to posting.  We may not have had much snow for Christmas day but I was really happy about having snow on the ground for Boxing Day.  Close enough, right?  It probably worked out better that way...fewer traffic issues with everyone trying to get to and from their turkey dinners.

Clearing the sidewalk

I took a few shots of Mike shoveling the snow.  Neither of us have had to do any shoveling in years since we've been spoiled with living in a condo but this year we were prepared with shovels since November. When I was still living at home with my parents our neighbour would always be out with a broom sweeping away the last traces of snowflakes on the driveway. I always thought it was a bit obsessive-compulsive...but sure enough now that we have our own house and I'm ready to pop out a baby on a moment's notice I wanted the porch steps and walkway to be spotlessly dry.  It made a huge difference using the broom and I have to say, our steps and portion of the sidewalk were the cleanest of any house around us.  

We saw many of the neighbours out shoveling that day which was kind of nice since people have been holed up inside their houses ever since it got dark and cold outside.  The older woman across the road opened her front door to wave over at me and yell something out in Italian.  I had no idea what she said but smiled and waved back.  Mike thinks she was just trying to tell "the pregnant lady" to drop the broom and go back inside.  I'm not so sure.

Finally here's a nice photo that Mike took with his tripod as the snow was coming down at night. It doesn't actually look like snow is falling in this picture but it definitely was, and the street was absolutely silent. It was magical - the snow was completely undisturbed all around us except for our own footsteps.  Happy 2013 everyone!  The holidays have been excellent!