Another week has simply flown by. We've been incredibly busy yet again, and Alex continues to bring us so much joy and happiness.
Both Alex and Chris showed signs of having ear infections, so we were off to the doctor earlier in the week. Alex's ears did look pink, so the doctor gave us a prescription for antibiotics but we all agreed we'd try to wait a day or two to see if it would resolve itself without the meds, and thankfully it did.
Chris' ear troubles seem to be harder to get rid of, and antibiotics don't seem to be working for him, so I think he'll be back at the doctor again this week if it doesn't fix itself soon.
After losing Gulliver on Monday, we decided to take Thursday and Friday off and make a trip to Kingston to see the grandparents. We left after breakfast on Thursday morning, and Alex was wonderful for the entire trip.
He slept for most of the drive into Toronto and when he woke up we stopped for lunch for the three of us in Whitby, and then went by to visit Christine and her son Alex (another adorable baby boy adopted from Korea in 2004). The two Alex's got on quite well, and it was amazing to see how grown up the other Alex has become now that he's almost 18 months old.
After that quick visit, we went over to Chris' head office (also located in Whitby) to visit with his co-workers there. Alex didn't play strange at all, and flirted shamelessly with everyone there (he must get it from Chris). We were there for about an hour and then got back on the road again, and Alex soon drifted back off to sleep and woke up as we were on the outskirts of Kingston.
Over the whole weekend, Alex was a total delight. He warmed up to his Grandma and Grandpa and smiled and giggled with them a lot, and loved playing with them. He slept very well, which was a relief considering it was a strange setting for him, plus he was in a travel playpen/crib instead of his own crib at home.
We loved having some time to visit with the family in Kingston, and for Alex to get some time to bond with his loving grandparents.
The drive home on Sunday went very well, with Alex either sleeping or chatting away in his car seat.
As much as the trip was wonderful, it was nice to get home, although coming into a house without our little dog continues to be hard on both of us.
I've posted a few pictures of Alex standing up in his crib as well as a couple of pictures from Kingston as well.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Lots of Exciting Firsts
Well, this past week and weekend has been chock full of lots of fun and exciting firsts for Alexander.
Alex's cousin, Jennifer (Kathy's eldest daughter) was playing in a basketball tournament in Cambridge this past weekend, so Alex got to go to his first basketball game, and also got to see his cousins, aunts and grandma at the games and at some other times over the weekend.
On Saturday night, following the last basketball game (Jennifer's team played really well and it was an exciting game, to say the least), we all went out for dinner at the Keg. Alex was wonderful for the whole dinner and didn't fuss at all.
Then, on Sunday morning, Chris and I took Alex over to the hotel where the family was staying and we took Alex for his first swim. Even though the water was a wee bit on the cold side (nice once you were in), Alex loved it. He took to it very well, and was soon splashing up a storm and grinning for his cousins who were swimming with us.
On Sunday night, Alex didn't sleep as well as he normally does, so we started the day off pretty exhausted and had also decided that today was the day we were taking Gulliver to the vet to be put down. His cancer was more aggressive than we were expecting it to be, and he was starting to show some signs of being very uncomfortable and unhappy and we hated to see him suffering. He had a rough night last night and had finally lost his appetite, so we knew it was the right time. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but our sorrow is balanced by our joy of having our son home with us and doing so well.
Alex must have sensed that we needed some cheering up today as he pulled out all of the stops to delight and amaze us. Not only did he show signs that he's learning to wave (although not necessarily at anyone in particular), he also pulled himself up into a standing position for the first time today (and repeated it over and over again throughout the day), but he also figured out how to get from crawling and being on his tummy to getting back to a sitting position.
He's such a joy to have around, and it's amazing how much he learns and figures out with each passing day. It's almost as if you can see the little baby brain working overtime as he learns each new thing and puts it into practice.
We've decided to go away this weekend for our first trip with Alex. We'll be going to Kingston to visit the grandparents, and also bring Alex into Chris' head office in Whitby so his co-workers can meet him. We'd been hoping to make a trip sometime soon, and with losing Gulliver so soon, we decided we needed to get away so we're able to distract ourselves a bit.
We'll be sure to post some more pictures and let you know how the trip goes.
I've posted a few new pictures in a new album. We had gone to a photographer in Burlington a few weeks ago, and I've been meaning to post some scans but wanted to wait until I had given a couple of copies to family before posting them here. For anyone looking for a fun and talented photographer, you might want to check out Kim at Kreative Edge (www.kreativeedge.net). We had our portraits taken there for the adoption dossier and knew we wanted to have Alex's first professional pictures done with her as well.
Alex's cousin, Jennifer (Kathy's eldest daughter) was playing in a basketball tournament in Cambridge this past weekend, so Alex got to go to his first basketball game, and also got to see his cousins, aunts and grandma at the games and at some other times over the weekend.
On Saturday night, following the last basketball game (Jennifer's team played really well and it was an exciting game, to say the least), we all went out for dinner at the Keg. Alex was wonderful for the whole dinner and didn't fuss at all.
Then, on Sunday morning, Chris and I took Alex over to the hotel where the family was staying and we took Alex for his first swim. Even though the water was a wee bit on the cold side (nice once you were in), Alex loved it. He took to it very well, and was soon splashing up a storm and grinning for his cousins who were swimming with us.
On Sunday night, Alex didn't sleep as well as he normally does, so we started the day off pretty exhausted and had also decided that today was the day we were taking Gulliver to the vet to be put down. His cancer was more aggressive than we were expecting it to be, and he was starting to show some signs of being very uncomfortable and unhappy and we hated to see him suffering. He had a rough night last night and had finally lost his appetite, so we knew it was the right time. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but our sorrow is balanced by our joy of having our son home with us and doing so well.
Alex must have sensed that we needed some cheering up today as he pulled out all of the stops to delight and amaze us. Not only did he show signs that he's learning to wave (although not necessarily at anyone in particular), he also pulled himself up into a standing position for the first time today (and repeated it over and over again throughout the day), but he also figured out how to get from crawling and being on his tummy to getting back to a sitting position.
He's such a joy to have around, and it's amazing how much he learns and figures out with each passing day. It's almost as if you can see the little baby brain working overtime as he learns each new thing and puts it into practice.
We've decided to go away this weekend for our first trip with Alex. We'll be going to Kingston to visit the grandparents, and also bring Alex into Chris' head office in Whitby so his co-workers can meet him. We'd been hoping to make a trip sometime soon, and with losing Gulliver so soon, we decided we needed to get away so we're able to distract ourselves a bit.
We'll be sure to post some more pictures and let you know how the trip goes.
I've posted a few new pictures in a new album. We had gone to a photographer in Burlington a few weeks ago, and I've been meaning to post some scans but wanted to wait until I had given a couple of copies to family before posting them here. For anyone looking for a fun and talented photographer, you might want to check out Kim at Kreative Edge (www.kreativeedge.net). We had our portraits taken there for the adoption dossier and knew we wanted to have Alex's first professional pictures done with her as well.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Happy Valentines Day
Well, it's now Monday and Alex is feeling much better. He's now back on his semi-normal feeding and sleeping schedule and so Mom and Dad are also able to get a bit of sleep, which has helped all three of us feel much, much better.
Alex has been delighting us for the past few days with his newest skill. I've been showing him how to clap, which always makes him smile but he'd never mimic me until a couple of days ago.
Then it seemed to just click for him, and so now he claps when we do, and grins so much from being so pleased with himself. He now claps if we even say "clap hands" to him in a sing-song voice, plus he'll do it if he wants our attention... which always works as it's so darned cute to see him doing it.
We've also been working on waving and blowing kisses... the waving seems to be getting closer with each day. He now does the hand movement, but not necessarily the actual wave, but I think it'll be the same thing... he'll just figure it out and start waving hello and goodbye as we've been practicing.
Friday was Chris' 39th birthday as well as Alex's 8-month birthday, so I made a cake to celebrate. We sang happy birthday to both of them, and then Chris blew out the candles... which obviously was exciting as our little guy went into yet another gleeful display of his new clapping skill!
I've put a few new pictures from the weekend into a new folder for anyone who wants to check them out.
Alex has been delighting us for the past few days with his newest skill. I've been showing him how to clap, which always makes him smile but he'd never mimic me until a couple of days ago.
Then it seemed to just click for him, and so now he claps when we do, and grins so much from being so pleased with himself. He now claps if we even say "clap hands" to him in a sing-song voice, plus he'll do it if he wants our attention... which always works as it's so darned cute to see him doing it.
We've also been working on waving and blowing kisses... the waving seems to be getting closer with each day. He now does the hand movement, but not necessarily the actual wave, but I think it'll be the same thing... he'll just figure it out and start waving hello and goodbye as we've been practicing.
Friday was Chris' 39th birthday as well as Alex's 8-month birthday, so I made a cake to celebrate. We sang happy birthday to both of them, and then Chris blew out the candles... which obviously was exciting as our little guy went into yet another gleeful display of his new clapping skill!
I've put a few new pictures from the weekend into a new folder for anyone who wants to check them out.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
The Ups and Downs of New Parenthood
Well, we've now reached 4 weeks since Alex came home to us. He still continues to delight and amaze us with how cute, fun and easygoing he is, but we've also been faced with a few stressful times over the past week.
Alex got his first bit of diaper rash, so we cut out most of his newly-introduced foods and tried to give him a break from wearing a diaper when we could. He's doing much better, but unfortunately that little episode was followed by his first Canadian cold.
This past week was the first one where Chris was working his regular hours out of the house with clients, so it was to be my first time being alone 100% of the day with Alex. On our first day together, he went on a sleep strike - he was obviously tired, but couldn't seem to sleep more than 20 minutes at a time - which made for a long and stressful day for both of us.
The next day, Alex was still in a great mood, but he seemed to want to play catch up on his missed naps, so he slept more than usual. That night, when he woke up for his nightly bottle around 10:30, he was boiling hot. We took his temperature and it was over 102ยบ which totally freaked me out. I know that children can get high temperatures without needing to be rushed off to the doctor, but I still checked with some parenting books and my sister, and we took our cues from the little guy. Although he felt like a little stove, he was still smiling, still playful, eating and drinking, etc., so we treated the fever with a bit of meds and made sure he wasn't overly hot in his crib.
The next day, the cold hit full force and he was a major drooly, snot-filled baby all day. He was still pretty happy overall, but had a hard time sleeping or drinking his bottle because he was so stuffed up, so he just snacked and slept here and there throughout the day. Chris was also really sick on that day, so he was home sick (a rarity for him). Even though Chris was laid up most of the day, it was still nice to have him around so I could ask him to watch Alex for a few minutes if I needed to do something.
Alex still has his cold, but he no longer has any fever. He's eating pretty well, and last night he had a decent sleep - although only from midnight to 7:00 a.m. as he'd been fussy and wonky from 6:00 till midnight.
Last weekend we'd had a visit from Chris' sister with her two girls. Alex loved visiting with his two cousins, and Amanda fed Alex his dinner that night.
The worst part of our week was learning for sure that our dog, Gulliver, does have cancer and probably has less than six weeks before he'll need to be put down. It's been a horrible and heartbreaking shock to us, but with him being almost 15, we take a lot of comfort in knowing how happy and long his life with us has been.
I've posted some new pictures in a new album for anyone who wants to check them out.
Alex got his first bit of diaper rash, so we cut out most of his newly-introduced foods and tried to give him a break from wearing a diaper when we could. He's doing much better, but unfortunately that little episode was followed by his first Canadian cold.
This past week was the first one where Chris was working his regular hours out of the house with clients, so it was to be my first time being alone 100% of the day with Alex. On our first day together, he went on a sleep strike - he was obviously tired, but couldn't seem to sleep more than 20 minutes at a time - which made for a long and stressful day for both of us.
The next day, Alex was still in a great mood, but he seemed to want to play catch up on his missed naps, so he slept more than usual. That night, when he woke up for his nightly bottle around 10:30, he was boiling hot. We took his temperature and it was over 102ยบ which totally freaked me out. I know that children can get high temperatures without needing to be rushed off to the doctor, but I still checked with some parenting books and my sister, and we took our cues from the little guy. Although he felt like a little stove, he was still smiling, still playful, eating and drinking, etc., so we treated the fever with a bit of meds and made sure he wasn't overly hot in his crib.
The next day, the cold hit full force and he was a major drooly, snot-filled baby all day. He was still pretty happy overall, but had a hard time sleeping or drinking his bottle because he was so stuffed up, so he just snacked and slept here and there throughout the day. Chris was also really sick on that day, so he was home sick (a rarity for him). Even though Chris was laid up most of the day, it was still nice to have him around so I could ask him to watch Alex for a few minutes if I needed to do something.
Alex still has his cold, but he no longer has any fever. He's eating pretty well, and last night he had a decent sleep - although only from midnight to 7:00 a.m. as he'd been fussy and wonky from 6:00 till midnight.
Last weekend we'd had a visit from Chris' sister with her two girls. Alex loved visiting with his two cousins, and Amanda fed Alex his dinner that night.
The worst part of our week was learning for sure that our dog, Gulliver, does have cancer and probably has less than six weeks before he'll need to be put down. It's been a horrible and heartbreaking shock to us, but with him being almost 15, we take a lot of comfort in knowing how happy and long his life with us has been.
I've posted some new pictures in a new album for anyone who wants to check them out.
Thursday, February 3, 2005
A Long Overdue Post
It's been quite a long time since I was last able to do an update. We've had lots happening here, so I'll try to give a quick overview.
On Monday, January 24, I woke up feeling a bit tired, and by lunchtime I was as sick as I've ever been. I spent the whole week either in bed or on the couch - too weak to even pick up Alex, and not having any appetite for anything but orange sorbet - so it was a long week. X-rays and a trip to the doc showed I had a bad bronchial infection, so I was put on 2 inhalers to help my breathe, and antibiotics. I'm slowly feeling more myself, but it wasn't until this Monday that I could do much at all.
That week was hard on both Chris and me. Chris had to take care of Alex 99.9% by himself, plus he had to take care of me as well and I don't think I've ever been so sick and so weak, so it was pretty exhausting for him. For me, it was emotionally draining as I was convinced that Alex would feel deserted by me not being with him during his second week with us. I didn't want to get too close to Alex and risk getting him sick, but I did try to stay in the same room with him whenever possible and play peek-a-boo and other quiet games.
Chris was able to get to the big Ontario veterinary conference for only one of the three days he was supposed to go. As I was still a total sickie, we all went down to Toronto and checked into the Westin and my sisters, Kathy and Jenny, split up the day to come to the hotel to watch Alex while I shuffled around the hotel room coughing and wheezing up a storm (what great sisters I have!)
This past week was quieter - I've been feeling better each day, and Chris has been getting back to work calling clients and organizing meetings with vets and clinics. We went to have pictures of Alex taken with the photographer who took our adoption dossier portraits, and we should have those back by the end of the week.
We're going to be going to a playgroup this Saturday with Alex. A bunch of other families who have adopted/are adopting from Korea organized a monthly get-together called Seoul-Mates, and this month it's in Kitchener-Waterloo so we're excited to be able to go.
Alex continues to be a total dream as a baby. He's sleeping well, loves to eat, is giggling up a storm (especially for Daddy) and is so easy going and fun to have around.
Chris announced to me the other day that Alex had said his first word... QAPLA' (pronounced KAHPLAH' Which is a Klingon word for success or farewell) Yes, I do have a Star Trek geek for a husband!
I've posted a few more pictures in a new album. Chris and Alex sometimes play peek-a-boo together, and Alex now likes to have the blanket over him and he pulls it off and laughs like crazy the whole time. He's such a cute baby, and such fun to have at home with us.
On Monday, January 24, I woke up feeling a bit tired, and by lunchtime I was as sick as I've ever been. I spent the whole week either in bed or on the couch - too weak to even pick up Alex, and not having any appetite for anything but orange sorbet - so it was a long week. X-rays and a trip to the doc showed I had a bad bronchial infection, so I was put on 2 inhalers to help my breathe, and antibiotics. I'm slowly feeling more myself, but it wasn't until this Monday that I could do much at all.
That week was hard on both Chris and me. Chris had to take care of Alex 99.9% by himself, plus he had to take care of me as well and I don't think I've ever been so sick and so weak, so it was pretty exhausting for him. For me, it was emotionally draining as I was convinced that Alex would feel deserted by me not being with him during his second week with us. I didn't want to get too close to Alex and risk getting him sick, but I did try to stay in the same room with him whenever possible and play peek-a-boo and other quiet games.
Chris was able to get to the big Ontario veterinary conference for only one of the three days he was supposed to go. As I was still a total sickie, we all went down to Toronto and checked into the Westin and my sisters, Kathy and Jenny, split up the day to come to the hotel to watch Alex while I shuffled around the hotel room coughing and wheezing up a storm (what great sisters I have!)
This past week was quieter - I've been feeling better each day, and Chris has been getting back to work calling clients and organizing meetings with vets and clinics. We went to have pictures of Alex taken with the photographer who took our adoption dossier portraits, and we should have those back by the end of the week.
We're going to be going to a playgroup this Saturday with Alex. A bunch of other families who have adopted/are adopting from Korea organized a monthly get-together called Seoul-Mates, and this month it's in Kitchener-Waterloo so we're excited to be able to go.
Alex continues to be a total dream as a baby. He's sleeping well, loves to eat, is giggling up a storm (especially for Daddy) and is so easy going and fun to have around.
Chris announced to me the other day that Alex had said his first word... QAPLA' (pronounced KAHPLAH' Which is a Klingon word for success or farewell) Yes, I do have a Star Trek geek for a husband!
I've posted a few more pictures in a new album. Chris and Alex sometimes play peek-a-boo together, and Alex now likes to have the blanket over him and he pulls it off and laughs like crazy the whole time. He's such a cute baby, and such fun to have at home with us.
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