Canadian Thanksgiving

My sister, Laurie, invited the entire family out to her farm for Canadian Thanksgiving. What a great treat! We decided it would be a wonderful opportunity to see everyone so we packed up the family and headed out to Alberta.

What a fabulous time! Laurie, as usual, out did herself on the food and the hospitality. She was very accommodating of my restricted diet. We spent the first few days hanging out at the farm while Mom and Dad were there and Lesley and Sean came up from Edmonton. By Monday, it was just Laurie's family and Dougie and I left. We toured the area and then headed to Calgary for the last day. I was so glad that Dougie was able to see everyone and meet a few new relatives.

We took a ton of pictures. Here is a small sampling:

Uncle Glen and Dougie


Dougie and Auntie Lou


Playing with Cousin Molly


Uncle Glen, Dougie, Cousin Dale and Grandpa


The whole family at Thanksgiving


Dougie with Grandma and Grandpa


Dougie and Auntie Lesley


Cousin Sean and Dougie


Dougie Dressed for Calgary Weather (thanks Auntie Lou)


Ready for more outside fun


Playing in the leaves with Cousin Molly

Anemic

We got the results of Dougie's anemia test. Unfortunately, it turns out that he has it. The doctor called this morning and said that he had a hemoglobin value of 7.6 g/dL. Normal is 12 and the lowest they would allow is 10. He's considered to have moderate to severe anemia (severe starts at < 6 g/dL). So, he has called in prescription of iron medication that we'll start to try to get his levels back up. We have to go back in 2 weeks to get his blood rechecked to ensure that the drops are making enough difference.

We're obviously concerned about him. Prolonged anemia can have lasting effects on growth and development. Apparently, sometimes, any anemia can have negative effects but the study done that proves that was quite small and I'm trying not to think about it.

Nine Month Check-up

Dougie went to the doctor today for his 9 month visit. He's not as big as last time. In truth, I thought perhaps they had mis-measured him last time so we're not overly concerned about the lack of height growth.

Stats:

• Weight - 18lbs 9oz (10%)
• Height - 28" (36%)
• Head - 18" (60%)

They did a blood test to check for anemia. That is standard at 9 months so there was no particular concern. We had wondered if he was low on iron though so I'm anxious for the test results.

We talked to the doctor about Dougie's eating strikes while he's teething and he said that it was totally normal. That sure was a relief. He said lots of kids do it and they can go on for months. So, though not idea, we're okay there. He said that we should start trying to get Dougie to eat some of the same foods as we are and that hopefully, that will encourage him to eat a little.

The doctor indicated that Dougie has separation anxiety. That's totally normal at his age though he did comment that it peaks at 1 and Dougie is already showing a lot of it. Just something to look forward to. This combined with his newly found stranger awareness makes for some difficult moments though he does seem to warm up to people quite quickly.

We got Dougie's next Hib vaccine and decided to get him a Flu shot as well. The doctor said that at minimum, it will reduce flu symptoms if he does end up getting the flu and likely it should help prevent him from getting it at all. We have to go back in 30 days for a follow up on the flu vaccine otherwise, nothing until he's a year.

It's hard being a baby.

Pumpkin Patch

The pumpkin patch near our house opened yesterday. We decided we'd go today so we could get some pictures and do the pumpkin thing before it got too busy. It was a bit smaller than we were expecting so we didn't stay long but we did get some great pictures.











As you can see, it's still very hot here so it was hard to get into the fall spirit. There is a bigger patch that we're planning to go to when we get back from Canada.

Self Feeding

We're still on a quest to get Dougie to eat better. We've managed to get him to eat some Puffs and Cheerios but he has still be turning his nose up at "food". So, yesterday, I tried again. He ate three spoons of Shepherd's pie. The issue appeared to be that he wanted more self involvement in the feeding. So, we bought some new dishes and spoons that would let him try things himself. Tonight, he did:









Don't ask how much actually got in him, but some did. And we both had fun. Hopefully, he'll get better at this soon.

GI Update

We went back to Dougie's GI yesterday. The entire appointment was good news. He said that Dougie appears to be doing very well on the diet. He wants us to start backing off the Prevacid to see if we can get Dougie off it. That would certainly be great! He also wants us to go to an allergist when Dougie is 11 1/2 months. He said by then he will likely have out grown the allergy but he wants to be sure instead of just experimenting. The 1/2 month before his birthday is to make sure if the allergy is gone, he can have cake and milk for his birthday. A thoughtful if not totally medical reason. If Dougie hasn't outgrown it, we'll re-test in 6 months.

So, we continue on the restricted diet for now but clearly it's working which makes me feel better about all the trouble.

Back from Cancun

We are back from our first vacation as a little family. It's amazing how different it was from our vacation last year. Fortunately, we picked a beach vacation this time so we could better accommodate naps. It worked out really well. We did take one trip out to Chichen Itza and Dougie was able to nap on the bus and in his stroller so even that worked well.

Unfortunately, our camera got stolen so we don't have all our pictures but we have some.

Mummy and Dougie with Flamingos


Daddy and Dougie at Chichen Itza


Family at the Sink Hole


Dougie's First Trip to the Beach










All in all, we had a great time. We certainly didn't want to come back.

Womb Day!

Today is Womb Day! I'm not sure where the term came from but a friend of mine online celebrated it and it seemed so great, we thought we would too. Womb Day is the day Dougie has been out in the world for as long as I carried him. 39 weeks.

In celebration, Dougie slept 8.5 straight hours last night.

Baby Jail

We set up a playroom a while ago. It's worked really well to give Dougie a safe place to play. We even installed a baby gate though he was well away from being mobile enough to need it. He's finally shown that it was worth installing. One of his favorite activities is to come to the gate and stand up. Poor little guy looks like he's in jail.



One extra picture of Dougie and dad. They match!

Post Grandparent Update

Grandma and Grandpa McCall have gone back to Canada. We had a great visit with them.

Since they left, Dougie has been working on all sorts of milestones. He can now officially crawl. It sort of sneaked up on us. He was doing something that looked a bit like crawling but it wasn't quite close enough. Then all of a sudden, he started. He doesn't seem to like doing it that much but it gets him where he wants to go. He still loves standing. He basically crawls over to something so he can pull up on it and stand.

He'll use anything to stand


It's amazing the mischief you can get into once you can move around


We've officially started a new swimming class (our last class was last week). Initially, we had the class on Tuesday mornings at 9:15. We thought it would be a good time since it was before Dougie's first nap and he wouldn't be too tired yet. We were wrong. He was way over tired and miserable the entire class. So, we moved it to Saturdays at 11:15. We had our first class at that time today and it was so much better.



The best part is that Daddy can come watch the classes and take pictures. Our new teacher is quite nice as well. We only had 2 kids in class today so we got a lot of attention.

Fun With Uncle Rudy and Auntie Carol

This was Mom and Dad's first trip to Texas since Uncle Rudy and Auntie Carol got their new place. So, we packed up the car and took a trip up to Denton to see it. This time, we remembered our camera so we actually got some pictures of everyone.

Dougie with Uncle Rudy, Auntie Carol and "cousin" Hannah


Auntie Carol even managed to pull together a wonderful meal that met all of my strange diet restrictions. We had a fabulous time and Mom and Dad really liked the community they are living in.

Tuesday, Uncle Rudy and Auntie Carol made the trek down to see us. We had a great time just sitting around, chatting and watching Dougie. Dad had already gone back to Toronto but we had a great time anyway. Of course, we took more pictures.

Dougie with Grandma and Great Auntie Carol


Dougie with Great Uncle Rudy and Grandma


Auntie Carol is so funny!


And another teeth shot


It was so nice to have them visit. Dougie sure enjoyed hanging out with them and can't wait to see them again (us too)!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Grandma and Grandpa McCall are back for a visit. Dougie sure appreciates them braving the temperatures of a Texas August but with tropical storms hitting and a hurricane coming up the coast, it must be love.

They arrived mid-day today so we had the afternoon to do a bit of shopping and then spend the afternoon playing with Dougie. He just learned to sit himself from a crawling position so it was fun for them to see some new tricks.

Of course, we have some pictures from today.

Grandpa and Dougie playing on the floor


Grandma and Grandpa playing with Dougie


Grandpa is as fun to stand with as the diaper box

Standing/Cruising Boy

Dougie LOVES to stand. Given an option, he will almost always opt to stand. He can pull himself up and once he's up, he can remain there for quite a while. He also cruising now. He'll pull up and then walk around whatever he is using for support. Sometimes, he'll even let go to see how long he can stand -- not long BTW. I wanted to share some more pictures of him standing today.



(notice the two little teeth on the bottom)


He's turning into such a little man.

Sault Ste Marie

Last weekend, the three of us travelled up to Sault Ste Marie to introduce Dougie around to some of his relatives. It was a bit of a trek to get up there -- Kim and Dougie met me in in Lansing, MI (she flew into Detroit, and I drove across from Chicago) and then we made the big car trip up through Michigan, across the Mackinac Bridge, and to the Soo. Dougie did OK in the car -- slept for a long while, needed to take a break every now and then at a rest stop. We played some Canadian folk tunes for him on the way up, just to get him in the mood.

Although we weren't able to stay very long (only for the weekend), we had a fantastic time up there. The highlight of the trip was introducing Dougie to his great-grandmother Baba. Her verdict -- Dougie is "very strong"!



Uncle Dan and Auntie Judy had us over to their house for dinner, and we got a chance to say hello to my cousin Cathie (check out the family resemblance in the eyes!) ...



... and her daughter Danica (Dougie's second cousin):


We also took a trek out to camp -- last time I was there, Dan and Judy had just started a big set of renovations -- now it's all done, and it looks great! (Way bigger and more modern than I remember back when I was young -- especially the kitchen) Baba made it out to camp for the first time this year, and we also got to see John, Vicki, Stephanie and Danica. Some assorted pictures from the day:

Uncle John and Dougie:


Uncle John, Baba and Dougie:


My cousin Stephanie and Dougie:


Uncle Dan, Aunt Judy, Dougie and me:


Uncle John and Dougie in the hammock at camp:


Me, Kim and Dougie, with a nice view of the St. Mary's River:


Baba, Aunt Vicki, and Dougie:


Full set of photos is available at Soo Trip August 2007.
Thanks to everyone for a fun time, especially to Uncle Dan and Aunt Judy for playing host!

Tooth Count

We are up to 2! Dougie isn't loving this process but he's doing surprisingly well.

Passport Renewal

My passport expired this month. When I called the consulate to see how long getting a new passport would take, they said 3-5 months. I certainly didn't have that sort of time. They indicated that if I went up to Canada, I could get it renewed more quickly. So, that's what we did. We had a trip planned to visit the Sault clan but I added a day on so I could get my passport. We were in and out the same day with a new passport in hand.

As an added bonus, my mother drove up to spend the day with Dougie and me. It was great to have her there to help pass the time while we waited for the passport. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Grandma trying to wake Dougie up for our day


Play time at a park by the river


Mum giving Dougie some pushes


Dougie loves swinging


Cooling off at the mall with Grandma