11 months update

I can't believe it has been 4 months since the last post. Life with Logan is definitely getting busier and busier. The last few months taking care of Logan was very challenging! He is now at the stage that he crawls so fast and he is so eager to explore everything, yet he doesn't understand dangers and "No". I have to constantly watch him, pull him away from things, and take care of his needs, as long as he is awake. Logan's sleeping time on the other hand is getting shorter now. He takes about 2 naps everyday, totaling around 2 hours, plus another 10 hours of sleep at night, to make up to 12 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. That means I have to do everything that need to be done within the other 12 hours, including cooking 3 meals, eating, cleaning up Logan's mess, shower, sleep, and whatever other household and personal maintenance tasks that cannot involve a baby. Time just goes too fast! Even though it's hard, I try to enjoy every moment I can! Because what's past with Logan I will never be able to experience again.

Winter makes me sad. I know it makes Logan sad too. But Logan gets so bored at home, so I try to get him out as much as I can, when the weather is not too bad. We used to go out 3 trips a day in the summer time, but in winter, I limit our trip outdoor to no more than once a day, due to all the overhead. It takes half an hour to get Logan dressed in order to go out anywhere. Then he has to be stuck in the snow suit, instead of crawling on the grass like what we did in summer. Here is a picture of Logan in his winter gear looking like an Eskimo.



It is so cold outside this season, and many people get sick. So did poor Logan, he caught some bugs and had an ear infection 2 weeks ago, and had to take antibiotics. I am not a big fan of drugs especially for little babies, so it was the hardest week for me having to feed him 3 doses of the medicine. It smelled nasty.

I am going to take advantage of the swimming pool though this winter. It is so convenient that we don't even have to leave the building, going to the pool becomes much easier than going outdoor and also more fun for Logan. Logan is becoming more and more comfortable with water too. He likes to float on my arms and kick his legs. I bet Logan thinks he can swim!



Logan sitting on the steps.


Logan being dunked in water.



Another big decision I have to make when Logan is approaching 1 year is whether I should go back to work right away. It's very hard to leave him to day care, since he is still a little baby. Logan has grown so attached to me, I know he will be very upset for a long time if he has to be with someone else. I have interviewed quite a few day cares by now and asked every detailed questions. The answers I got really are pointing me one way than the other. The food at day care can't compare to what I make for him, and he will not to able to get breast milk throughout the day. I think at this age, food and nutrition definitely outweighs the activities and social interaction they get at daycare. Plus I have been doing EC with him, the day care teachers won't be able to pick up the signals from him and be as diligent as we are. I am really leaning toward spending more time with Logan and just to make sure he is being taken care of, until at least he can walk and talk a little. It's a tough decision to make financially. But the reasoning around money is out of the window, husband and I both want to do what is the best for Logan. It's also a tough decision to make for myself. Sometimes I really just want a break and wish someone else can look after him. I imagine myself when I am 50, I know I will wish I had spent more time with my baby rather than working a few more months, because Logan is only 1 year old once! I will have to make my decision right, so that I won't regret later.

-Yang

Another Milestone

Yesterday Logan pulled himself up to a standing position for the first time. He was 7 month and 2 days old! Logan got up on to his feet pretty quickly, but he didn't stop there; he took a step forward to reach for the remote control. (what baby doesn't love remote control!!!) As soon as he can touch his prize, he grabbed it with both hand! Poor Logan forgot that he needed his hands to support himself while standing. Then he turned around in sheer delight -- probably looking for someone to show it off to, "did anyone see what I got!?!" -- but CRASH! I watched this video over and over and it made me laugh so hard every time I got to this point.




-Yang

Summer is fun!

We are totally settling back into our normal life now and enjoying the summer time! Since the weather is nice and hot, there are lots of activities that we can take Logan to participate in: picnic, BBQ, out for a walk, visiting farmer's market, visiting OEYC, going to the playground and swimming pool.

There is a new OEYC satellite location opened up at Yonge and Sheppard this month. Even though it's very small and only operates on Fridays, it's still a huge plus in terms of convenience. We checked it out on it's opening day, literally 5 minutes walk from our condo. There is a huge population living in the area, so it's about time to have an OEYC for the kids in the neighborhood.

Logan grew to love the swing this month! He was a little scared the first time he got in a baby swing, but he overcame the fear when he tried it the second time. Now as long as the weather is good, I always take Logan to the playground once a day. He will laugh when he gets a push, which is really cute!

Another sport that Logan enjoys in the summer is swimming. I love that we have a swimming pool in the building, with a sun roof -- so the whole pool gets warmed up so nicely! Especially on the really hot days that we can't go out anywhere else, I love going down to the swimming pool with Logan. The tricky part is taking him by myself -- because Logan can't really stay still by himself, it really is a challenge to organize all the swim gears and dress myself while taking care of him. I recently found this awesome "learn to swim ring" for Logan from Canadian Tire for only $4.99. Logan learned to balance himself inside the floating ring within a few minutes. At the beginning he puts his head in the water to play, but he quickly figured out he shouldn't do that and held up his neck instead. It will be nice to have Logan swim with other babies around as well, but so far I am a little reluctant to go to a public swimming pool for a few reasons -- our pool in the building is really convenient, has higher water temperature and is chlorine free -- one of the improvement our condo board made last year -- the pool is kept clean by a salt water system, which is healthier and more economical.


-Yang

Home again

We have been back from the trip for 2 weeks now. The trip was awesome, I didn't want to come back. There were just so many family to help and play with Logan back home, which made Logan so happy all the time. Here in Toronto we are alone again, and hubby is not the best at taking care of me and baby most of the time. Luckily we have the beautiful summer here, otherwise I would be more stressed out.

Logan is a lucky baby. He had been to many places before turning 6 month, including: Beijing Olympic Stadium Bird's Nest, Summer Palace, Tokyo Disneyland, Asakusa temple, Tokyo ueno zoo, and many more places. Here is a picture of Logan enjoying the hot spring in Japan.

Logan is now 6 months old, weighs 18.5 lb, measures 72 cm long. Logan's head circumference is 42 cm. The head is still on the small side, following the curve around 25%; but the height is off the chart, Dr. says it's at 100%.

We started Logan on solid food at 5 and half month. Now he is having one solid meal a day at lunch time. Logan had tried brown rice cereal, avocado, bananas, butternut squash, and peas. So far he liked most of the foods. Sometimes it takes a few days to try and adapt to a new flavor, but he always enjoys it at the end. I am a big believer of freshly made baby food from scratch, so now there is one more task for me to make Logan's lunch everyday. It's a new challenge to fit in the lunch and still be able to get out during the day. Hopefully I will work out some new routine soon and start to take Logan out to enjoy the summer!

-Yang

Ready to see my family

So this is Rajib. I've been stuck in Toronto for the past three weeks while Yang and Logan are enjoying themselves in China. Yang says she's more relaxed now as there are lots of family members happy to look after Logan; Yang doesn't have to entertain him every second of the day. That's great - she deserves some rest.

I'll be off to the airport to join them in just a few hours. There's no blogger (or facebook or picasaweb) access while in China, so we'll have the cone of silence on us for awhile. Which is fine since we'll be missing the Lost finale, the 24 finale, and the Survivor season finale while we're gone; I wouldn't want to accidentally hear something about them anyway.

Apparently, I've missed some big milestones of Logan's in the past three weeks. He is now regularly flipping over from back to front everyday. And he just recently discovered his feet and has been putting those in his mouth. I've heard he has grown so much that Yang has asked for even bigger baby clothes to come with my luggage to join them. I'm happy that Yang's family is getting to see these milestones first hand, but I kind of feel like I'm missing out!

I'll see them in just a few hours, though, hopefully in time to celebrate Logan's 5th month-aversary this Sunday, May 16th. I can't wait to see you guys!!
-rajib

Four month report

Logan continued to grow near the 90th percentile. At 4 month, he measured 26 inches, weighed 16.3 pounds. His head circumference is 40 cm.

Logan had many firsts in the 4th month of his life. Besides turning over for the first time, Logan also had his first swim in a pool, got his first passport, first time meeting another Logan, first pee in the toilet, first subway ride, and many more ...

When Logan was 3 month old, his favorite thing to do was looking at himself in the mirror. Now at 4 month, he still loves the mirror, but his new favorite is to sit up or even stand up while his hands being held. Logan is growing stronger and stronger by the day.

Tomorrow we are going on a trip to China and Japan. This is going to be the first big trip with baby, and I am flying with Logan alone on a 13 hour flight. I hope Logan will enjoy the adventure!

-Yang

Infant potty training - the start

I think this is one of the less discussed baby topic in North America. Most people around me potty train their babies around 2-3 year old. Had I been raised in North America and wanting to stick to what the majority do, would I have ever considered infant potty training my baby? I don't know the answer to that.

However, I think I have taken it for granted that infants are being potty trained back home in China, at least in the old days. I remember when I was a kid, I saw other parents holding their little babies over a pot while blowing whistles, then the baby would pee in the pot. (Sure it sounds like magic if you tell this kind of story to Canadian moms; but it's very common practice in other parts of the world!) So the image was always in the back of my mind, but I never gave it any thought whether I should follow the same practice with my baby.

Then one day a seed was planted in my head. I was in my late pregnancy. Hubby and I were at his cousin's son's 2 year birthday party. The cousin has a Russian wife and Russian nanny, so they followed traditional Russian method to potty train their son since a few months old. Way before the baby turned two, he already wore his underwear instead of diapers, and the parents would only give him a diaper when they are out just in case. They were telling the stories in such pride and I was interested in hearing about it more than anything else. Then the cousin said to me, "I am sure there are such similar methods being practiced in Chinese culture as well." That's very true. And I believe in every old culture, there are practices and wisdom that should not be forgotten, as a result of new inventions (i.e. disposable diaper :)). That's when I thought I would want to start early to potty train my baby.

I had this idea, but I didn't really know how and when to do it. A few times I was on the phone with my family in China, I asked the questions to grandma. She had 4 children, so I trusted her experiences. But she can't remember much details, except for the stuff I already know. I can't blame her, that was over 80 years ago. Until one day, I heard a truly amazing story, when mom found the old diary she kept since my birth where she recorded my month-to-month developments and milestones: In January 1980, that's when I was about 2 month old, my potty training started, which is just a few times a day holding me over a pot to pee, and everyday at 8pm to poop (mom did not have enough breast milk for me, so I was on other foods, thus my poop was more regular and solid than breastfed babies, otherwise it would be very hard to have a poop schedule in my opinion); In May 1980, when I was about 6 month old, as recorded in the diary, I was able to go for a whole day without wetting my diaper some days! I was surprised and super excited about this new finding. As I don't feel that I am having any low self-esteem or other psychological issues due to early potty training, myself is the living proof that this method indeed works!

When Logan was 2 month, I seriously considered potty training him. First I did a lot of mental work, just to work it out in my head how exactly should I execute. With me still struggling between caring for him and keeping my sanity, it seemed like an impossible task to do at that time. Finally I decided to try it when Logan was 2.5 month old, and let me tell you it was a disaster! I undressed him on the change table in the living room, ran to the bathroom with him naked in my arms praying that he won't pee halfway; then held him over the toilet, blowing whistles like crazy. Logan didn't have a strong enough back and neck control back then, so he was squirming very uncomfortably in my hands, penis pointing to the sky! Then I had to worry about not dropping him into the toilet, and worry that if he really peed, both of us would have had a shower. Still I didn't catch a single drop of pee. After that, I decided we weren't ready for potty training yet; maybe we would try again later.

A quick Google showed me that in the western world, this practice is actually called "Elimination Communication". Between birth and 6 month, there is a window of opportunity babies can be introduced to potty!

After Logan turned 3 month, his neck and back control started to get stronger. With some help, he could sit up for a few moments at a time. That was an encouraging sign that maybe we could try to use the potty again. At 3.8 month, we officially started Logan's potty training! It's surprisingly easy with his increasing physical strength; and since he is more aware, he seems to understand what I want him to do when I bring him to the toilet. Logan quickly got a hang of it! It has been only 1 week since, and we have already seen amazing results. Logan does almost all of the poops in the toilet now, usually in the early morning immediately after waking up or the first feeding. Logan also knows that he should pee in the toilet; as long as he has pee, he will let go. During the daytime, I can catch as least half of his pee. The biggest benefit is that Logan never has to sit in the poopy diaper any more, which means no more diaper rash; and the number of diapers used is reduced a lot as well! Good job Logan, you are such a smart baby, we are so proud of you!

I am really glad that we started potty training this early. I am very optimistic about it, and hopeful that by the time Logan is mobile, he will already have the habit to go outside his diapers. I am also amazed at the same time! I don't believe that only the 2 or 3 year old can learn to use potty; babies are much smarter than we think! Give them a chance, their instinct will tell them it's much more comfortable when they don't pee and poo in their pants. :)

-Yang

Logan's first time rolling over

It happened on Wednesday, March 31, around 11:45am. Logan was exactly 15 weeks old, or 105 days.

Logan has been getting some tummy time regularly to strengthen his muscles necessary for rolling over. As usual, I placed him on his stomach in front of the mirror on Wednesday morning, while I was getting ready to go to the library. Logan was pushing up really strong. I remember thinking, "Keep practicing like this, he is going to roll himself over within the next week!"

After the library "Baby Story Time" program, I put Logan on his tummy again to play with other babies. It was so cute! I grabbed the camera to take a picture. Oh no, it ran out of battery just when I was about to snap a shot. So I was fiddling with the camera for about 3, 4 seconds. When I looked up toward Logan again, he was on his back already! I shouted out, "Oh my god, he flipped over for the first time! Ohhhh, I didn't even see it!"

So this was the story of Logan's first time rolling over from tummy to back. Since then, we have not yet been able to reproduce the action. But as Logan's getting stronger, he will be able to turn himself more freely. I can't wait to witness Logan's new rollover skill myself!

Here is a picture taken a few minutes before Logan flipped over in the North York Central Library.


(Baby in blue name Nick, 8 days older than Logan.)

-Yang

Little hands, big world

The 3rd month of Logan's life is full of exciting changes. But if I were to use one word to describe his biggest achievements, it would be "exploration": exploring his little hands, and the big outside world!

Babies' little hands are their best friends! Logan loved to stare at his hands, studying them very carefully. Then he tried to put them into his mouth, which took a little while for Logan to gain a fairly good aim. And of course, you would believe they are so yummy if you have seen the way Logan sucks on them -- not just one finger, it's the whole fist shuffled into the mouth, sometimes even two hands at once! As Logan was discovering his yummy hands, he also discovered that they are useful hands too. First, I taught Logan to hold on to his toys by putting them in his hands. At the beginning, he held for a little while and threw them away. Then a few days later, Logan could hold for a longer while. And then one day he accidentally grabbed onto the toys himself! And soon he could lift them up, wave aimlessly in the air, and even attempt to tear them apart! Finally, Logan learned that his little hands can be yummy and useful at the same time! There goes his toy or bib or whatever he grabbed onto being pushed into his mouth along with the hand -- delicious!!!

Logan also continued to become more content as he became more comfortable being in his little world. This has made it possible for us to go out and explore the big outside world! We started going to the library "baby story time" program once a week; we also went to the early year center a few times to play; we went to the grocery stores, on errands and walked around in parks too. Logan is much more quiet when he is out in public, observing what is going on; when he is overwhelmed, he would look away from the actions. At all these places we went to, Logan has been the youngest always. While other babies happily playing with the toys, he could only lie on the floor or sit against me, and watch. He doesn't have the skills to "play" yet at this age, but I like the idea of having him seeing more people. I can tell he is a little bored with me at home, so I took him out to the public programs so that he could look at other babies. The infant stage is so short, I know, in no time he will be running around with other kids already!

Logan didn't have a three month checkup with the doctor, the next one is at four month, so I don't have an accurate weight measurement. But I took out the tape and measured his height, 25 inches! The other day, daddy dressed Logan after this bedtime bath, and was all of a sudden sentimental, "he is no longer a baby any more, he looks so big, I am gonna miss him!" Indeed Logan looks big, so I have to remind myself, "Logan is bigger than many of the 5, 6 month old we see; even though he is bigger, he doesn't have their skills yet. Logan is still a baby!"

And I think ... Logan will be my baby forever.

-Yang

p.s. Logan's 3rd month album is up.

My growing baby

Logan turned 2 month last week! In the second month of his life, Logan has definitely learned quite a few new skills. He started to smile at around 4 to 5 weeks, just occasionally in the morning when he was in a good mood; but by 7 weeks he was smiling all the time already! Now when he is really happy, he opens his mouth wide with a huge laugh while waving his arms and legs non-stop. Logan also enjoyed his baby gym a lot more in the second month. He could spend quite some time looking at all the colored animals dangling above him. Logan loves to make eye contacts and loves the attention when people talk to him. Logan likes to make all sort of sounds as well, especially when I talk to him in his language, like "au", "ah", "goo", "woo", "hi" he will happily respond on his turn, then he will act very excited about having a conversation!

Logan gave us some hard time too this month. He was very colicky for a few weeks since about 4 weeks old, often cried for hours before going to sleep every night and having a difficult time falling asleep during the day as well. I used to sing and rock him for hours. Around 7 to 8 weeks, Logan's sleeping issues finally started to improve. Now he has out grown the colic. I was even surprised that lately he could go to sleep with only a little help from me. Logan is totally a grown-up baby now!

I didn't think babies this age can recognize people. But Logan clearly prefers me to daddy when he is cranky. Logan would cry if daddy tries to rock him to sleep in the evening, and would calm down right away when I take him over and sing his favorite song. It makes me so proud that I am special to him! I really don't care that I am the only person can calm him down, even though that means a lot more work for me. Sometimes I think about when Logan grows up, one day mommy won't be his best friend any more. It makes me sad that I will lose my baby, so I cherish the time with him now even more.

At Logan's second month checkup, he weighed 6.13 kg (13.5 pound) and measured 61 cm (24 inch) in height. Both weight and height are consistently at 90th percentile again. Logan's head circumference is 38 cm, which is a little below average. Doctor said there is nothing to be concerned about, since they only measure the head to detect big head baby which may indicate too much fluid in the head. So doctor said Logan doesn't have a big head problem. At least daddy will be happy -- daddy doesn't like big head people!

This week we are officially retiring Logan's 0-3 month size clothes, since Logan is already bigger than an average 3 month old. Logan is growing very fast! As a parent, I will have to learn even faster about baby's development to keep up with him, so that I can provide him the proper supports at each stage of the development.

-Yang

Logan's first stroller ride

I have been waiting for this stroller to arrive for too long. Uppa Baby Vista 2010 model was the stroller we ordered for Logan back in November last year. Logan was due late in December, and we thought we wouldn't need the stroller for the first little while, thus we could wait for the 2010 model that includes a couple of new features. However since Logan was born a week earlier, then I was home alone after Rajib went back to work, I became really bored and eager to get out for the last 2 weeks.

Finally the stroller arrived this Thursday! The most expensive piece of gear we bought for Logan so far. I have planned weeks ago that the first trip out after I have the stroller is to get a haircut that has been long overdue. Even though the weather was extremely cold yesterday, I decided that we would still attempt the trip to the hair salon which is only 5 minutes walk away. It takes a lot of planning to get out with a baby. I finally got everything ready, but the moment I put Logan in the stroller bassinet, he started screaming. At the end, the first ride did not even make it to the elevator.

I eventually gave up the hope of taking him with me to my hair dresser. I changed plan to take short walks inside the building instead to get Logan accustomed to the stroller bassinet before heading out anywhere. But the three walks we had yesterday and today all started and ended with screaming and crying; yet he always calm down right away as soon as I take him out of the bassinet.

The good news is that so far Logan seems to only hate the bassinet piece of the stroller, but is OK with the seat piece of stroller at the most reclined setting. Even though I understand the benefit of having baby lie flat in the bassinet, it broke my heart to hear him screaming non-stop, so taking him out in the bassinet is no longer an option; and for my sanity, I decided I can not continue being stranded at home, so we will have to go out in the stroller seat. Tomorrow, we will try to take Logan out for the first real ride in the mall.

Logan is only 6 weeks and a few days old, but he clearly knows his surroundings and has likes and dislikes. I am just amazed at how he has a mind of his own already at this young age. He is actually quite demanding! Little infants don't JUST eat and sleep.

I really hope that he could love the bassinet piece of his stroller. This is a very special stroller we picked out for him, we waited for months, and it cost $800! Out of all things he has, Logan loves his bounce chair the most, even more than being held by mommy and daddy sometimes! So we call it his "throne". Interestingly the throne cost $0, was incomplete with some attachment fell off already at the time we got as a hand-me-down. If things have baby values, then baby values definitely do not always equal to the monetary values of these things.

-Yang

Happy one month!

Logan turned 1 month old on Jan 16, 2010. Yesterday we went to the doctor's office for his 1 month checkup. Logan weighed over 10 and a half pounds and was measured 22 inches. Logan is growing very well at the 90th percentile. Even the nurse called him a big baby!



I remembered waking up in the morning on Sunday and looked at him; he was bigger than the day before, the face, the legs, every part of him. I only read about it before, but now I know I wasn't imagining things. It's true that babies grow in their sleeps, and can indeed look bigger overnight!

-Yang

Remembering 2009

Tomorrow, I head back to work after taking three weeks off when Logan was born. I'm feeling that the new year has finally begun for me.

To mark this occasion I wanted to reflect back on the year that has just ended. 2009 will be a year I will never forget. Tons of our friends had babies in 2009! Welcome to the world, little Ian, Dev, Ben, Anya, and more. In particular, I'm very happy to know that my son Logan will grow up having a friend named Dev...

Here are the most memorable events for me that happened in 2009:

#5: Buying a new place; the market was good, so Yang and I bought an investment property and tried our luck at being landlords. It's been a learning experience to say the least, but I'm glad we did it.

#4: Trip to Costa Rica. After trying for a long while to have a baby, we decided to take a break and go on vacation. We did a GAP tour around all of Costa Rica. We met some interesting people, ate some yummy food, and had some fun adventures including canyoneering, rappelling, ziplining, and horseback riding. It was a great trip. That was March, 2009. Nine months later, we had Logan!

#3: Yang being pregnant for most of the year meant eating uber-healthy foods, maternity wear for work and special occasions (Lily & Richard's wedding, Jenny and & Edmund's wedding, Xmas parties, etc.), road trips instead of flying for vacations to Quebec City and New York City (thanks Narmatha and congrats Ilora and Mohsin), reading lots and becoming experts on babies and strollers and vaccine schedules, etc., and taking lots of pictures of a truly unique time in our lives.

#2: Our friend Dev drowned in Algonquin Park on Sunday, August 16th, 2009. He was a friend from work, a traveler from India who had been in Canada for almost four years. We saw him last on the Friday before he was to head back to India; we hugged and said goodbye. I remember thinking at the time that I honestly didn't know if I'd ever see him again. But I was happy for him in that he was finally heading home to be with his family and live his life back home; his sister was due with a new baby in just two weeks. He spontaneously did the trip up to Algonquin over that weekend and tragically drowned while there. I remember finding out on Monday the 17th and having to tell Yang about it. That's a day I'll never forget.

#1: The birth of our son Logan. Monday, August 17th was also the day we found out that we're having a boy. Four months later, on Wednesday, December 16th, he was finally born. Life changed forever for us that day. Welcoming Logan to the world was probably the happiest day of my life.

2009 had such highs and one deep low. It's a year I will never forget. That said, I'm very much looking forward to a fun and fulfilling 2010.

-rajib