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

The birth of our first son.

On Wednesday, December 16th, 2009, at 2:28 pm, we welcomed a new baby boy to our family. Logan was actually due on my birthday - December 23rd - so instead of sharing a birthday, Logan and I will forever have our birthdays exactly one week apart.

Yang actually first started feeling contractions on Monday, Dec. 14th just before 5 am (meaning Yang was in labour for almost 58 hours in total!) Contractions were pretty far apart at first. Yang felt that she could get through the day and I went to work. We started timing how far apart they were Monday night - 15 minutes apart when we first starting keeping track. Monday night was pretty tough for Yang as she could only get sleep in between each of the contractions which were getting closer and closer. Tuesday morning, they were getting pretty close together (3 to 5 minutes apart) so we headed to the North York General Hospital at around 9 am. The nurses checked her out in the assessment room and determined that Yang was only 1 cm dilated. They sent us home as it was just too soon. We actually had an OB appointment later that morning and our OB assured us that we would have the baby within the week. This news was a bit discouraging to the already exhausted mother-to-be. We wanted to know what sign we should be looking for to go back to the hospital. The answer was when she could no longer bear the pain.

I actually went to work on Tuesday after the appointment, but came home at the end of the day anticipating that it might be my last day of the year. Meanwhile, Yang's contractions just kept on getting closer and closer. And she was getting more and more exhausted. At 6 am, Wednesday morning, she actually puked and was not able to keep anything down from that point forward. The contractions were still just 3 to 5 minutes apart. After a pretty rough morning including seeing some blood come out of her and two more pukes, we headed to the hospital again. It was 10:30 am when we got there. The nurses assessed her again. Yang was so exhausted that if they told her that she was just 2 cm dilated, she would've asked for some pain killers, something Yang was adamant she would do without before all this labour started. The nurses said that she was 6 to 7 cm dilated, and that it was going to happen today.

The nurse assigned to us, Patty (who was amazing!), told us that the baby would come out during her shift. She took us to our birthing room and put Yang in a jacuzzi to give her some more comfort. I called my parents and left a message with them saying that our baby would be here in a matter of hours.

After about an hour in the jacuzzi, Patty brought Yang to the birthing bed, and helped Yang through her contractions. They examined her again, found that she was approaching 10 cm dilated and called for our OB. We actually were anticipating that we would be without our OB for the birth of our baby as she was scheduled to be on vacation during that Christmas week when Logan was due. But even though we delivered a week early, she still couldn't be there as she had to go to a funeral that day. Instead, we had Dr. Hershenfield, who ended up being Logan's doctor, so it worked out well.

Dr. Hershenfield, Patty, and myself helped Yang through the pushing phase. The first sight of some of Logan's head hair was just thrilling to see. As Yang pushed more and more, more of Logan came out. Yang was so amazing throughout all this. No epidural, no pain killing medication, just all determination. Words cannot fully express just how proud I am of her.

At 2:28 pm, Logan came out and was immediately put on Yang's chest for some important skin to skin time. Both mom and baby were so alert and able to bond right from that first moment. Yang and I looked at each other and it really sank in; we're now parents.

I was able to cut the cord and took pictures while they weighed Logan for the first time - a whopping 7 pounds 10.6 ounces. He measured 21 inches in length. We named him: Logan Leafs Chatterjee.

...

My parents and brother came to the hospital in the evening to meet their new grandson/nephew. We made some calls to some people to tell them the news. This was earlier than everyone expected. We stayed in the hospital overnight. There were some tests the nurses wanted to perform on Logan during those first 24 hours. I changed all of Logan's diapers during that time, and was woken up by his cries all night. Yang was feeding him every couple of hours while trying to recover herself from what she just went through. This was our new reality; life for us has changed forever. We're now responsible for the well-being of this new person.

We left the hospital on the evening of December 17th and headed for home. My mom stayed with us for the first few days helping us with cooking for the most part. Pretty much every day we had some sort of doctor's appointment or appointment with a lactation consultant. There were some scares in the beginning with his rising bilirubin levels (cause of jaundice), his cries all night due to hunger before Yang's milk came in, his weight loss, his weak cries, and a couple of vomits, but it's been two weeks now and his doctor today was very impressed with his progress (he's 7 pounds, 15.4 ounces today!).

I'm off from work for three and a half weeks including all the holidays. The time has been all about waking up every few hours, changing diapers, being poo'd and pee'd on, doing laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, and taking lots of pictures. And that's all nothing compared to what is being demanded of Yang around the clock. It certainly hasn't been a vacation and I really feel like I missed my birthday and Christmas this year, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Logan is part of our new family now. We're very much looking forward to raising him right and watching him grow. These past two weeks have been unforgettable. Life as I knew it has forever changed.

Logan's very proud new dad,
-rajib