I like to think that Ian & I are pretty relaxed most of the time. Sure, we get stressed out, but in general we are relatively easy going — at least that’s what we believe. Somehow, though, our dog is not. In recent years, we’ve discovered that she is scared of the noise of falling snow. And by “scared” I mean petrified. And by “noise” I mean the almost inaudible little thumps that wet snow makes when it falls of trees or balconies onto the ground or other objects. I’m not kidding. The sound of snow. If she is outside in the snow, it’s fine. But something about the sound it makes when she is in the condo is terrifying.

Last night, it snowed here. The wet (ie: bad, scary) kind of snow. At about 5 am (presumably when it got warm enough to start melting) she started getting anxious. She doesn’t usually bark or whine, but she’ll just sit right next to the bed, panting. Or she’ll paw the bed wanting to get up, and then she’ll sit right next to you and pant over your head. It’s not really conducive to sleeping. We’ve been able to manage this in years past because, well, we have been more well rested. This morning it was a little rough. Luckily Amelia slept from 11 pm - 5:30 and then again until at least 8:30 or so.

It’s amazing how much you can love snow but really, really want it to rain instead.

There was a time when Ian & I didn’t have a TV. And a time where we didn’t have cable. Now we have it all, but we mostly just watch HD sports or maybe a movie now and again. We don’t really have a favourite show (although I have to admit I do enjoy Ugly Betty — I feel that it has replaced Gilmore Girls, in a sense). Ever since Alias was taken off the air, there just doesn’t seem to be anything interesting on to watch.

The first few weeks with Amelia at home I found myself idly watching some daytime television either while I was breastfeeding or in the few minutes I had between when she fell asleep and when she would awaken and want more food. There is nothing interesting on during the day, except, perhaps, the Food Network. It is pretty easy to get sucked in to watching some chef prepare a delicious meal. Then again, maybe I’m particularly drawn to the Food Network right now because I’m starving all the time.

Anyway, we obviously don’t want Amelia to grow up watching a ton of television. Neither Ian nor I spent any length of time watching TV when we were kids. We would read books or play outside (or inside, if we had to, when the weather was terrible) but we didn’t spend a lot of time in front of a television. Can we still raise a kid that doesn’t watch TV all the time nowadays, when kids don’t really seem to play outside?

I can only hope that we can encourage good habits and provide enough alternate entertainment so that Amelia doesn’t become unhappy (which is what happens to you if you watch too much TV, according to this study).

I know, I shouldn’t be “counting” on anything because babies can’t be “counted” on to settle into routines or be consistent about anything. That said, Amelia slept from 10:30-5:30 last night and then again until 8. A good 7 hours straight! And she probably didn’t really need to be up at 5:30 am. Because she sleeps in our room right now, I usually wake up while she is moving around and making noise but not really awake or crying. I’ve started to leave her be unless she really seems to be awakening and generally she just falls back asleep eventually. I haven’t really woken up to her crying yet. So, I figure I could let her go until she gets to that stage, but if I’m already awake, why bother? It seems much less disruptive for her if she doesn’t have to cry in the night.

Let me tell you that details about sleeping patterns are VERY interesting when you have a newborn. Probably not so much for those of you who don’t have kids yet. Or don’t want to remember what it was like not to sleep for nights on end. Ian said this morning that he doesn’t remember the last time he was so well rested.

Amelia slept from 11:30-5 am last night and again until almost 9:30, with a short awake period (10 minutes) around 7 am. We’ll see how she does tonight, since she is already sleeping at 10:30 pm.

Today we went on a nice long walk over to Parc and back, stopping at the house too. The painting is done upstairs and should be finished on the main floor on Wednesday. Then the floors need to be done and the downstairs bathroom finished. We can see the end in sight. Maybe.

We just relaxed the rest of the day. Amelia slept a bunch and was awake in the evening again. Two different families with whom we are friends had babies this week, so Amelia will have lots of friends her age. Well, she will have the option of having them as friends anyway. You can’t force your kid to be friends with your friends’ kids. At least not after a certain age.

(these photos are by request):

Last night Amelia slept from 11:30 pm - 5:45 am and then again until 8:30 am. Can’t complain about that! It doesn’t seem to be the “norm” yet, but at least we know she can make it that long. It definitely requires that she cluster-feed in the afternoon/evening to make it happen. But, I’m happy to feed her every 2 hours then if it means I can sleep for 6 in a row!

We’re also trying to get into somewhat of a “bedtime routine” and give her a bath between 9-10 pm before she needs to eat and sleep. She seems to like to be awake in the evenings, which is great for Ian because then he gets to play with her when he is back from work.

This morning when we came in from walking the dog I put Amelia in her basinette because she was sleeping, but she woke up a few minutes later. She happily stayed in there talking to herself for a good 15 minutes before she started to fuss. I guess she is learning to be on her own and to be content while she is by herself. I just want to go in there and pick her up, but figure that it is probably good for her to be comfortable on her own.

I am always a sucker for sites that sell books. This one seems pretty neat - started by college kids, and supports literacy around the world. I’ll have to order some books…then again, I don’t know when I’ll have time to read a WHOLE book.

Anyway, I took some pics of Amelia today using the digital camera with no flash. We don’t have a ton of light in the apartment so I asked Kate if she could show me how I could take pics without the flash. I think I still need to work on my skills (or work on colour adjustment) but here are two that came out pretty well, and one that’s just cute of her smiling but not a great pic.

Amelia got a new playpen which I recently ordered from Moolka. It’s cuter than I thought it would be, and it doubles as a bed so we can bring it with us places and she’ll have a place to play and sleep. Here’s a pic of her enjoying it:

Amelia’s sleep patterns are still irratic. I wonder how long it will be until she settles into a rhythm. In any event, I can’t really complain. Last night I fed her at about 9:45 and debated waking her at 12:30 for a “top up” but didn’t. She made it till 4, and then till 7:15.

During the day she tends to have one longer sleep in the morning and then short naps in the afternoon. However, sometimes she’ll just sleep and eat all day. I think by three months they start settling into more of a pattern…maybe.

I went to yoga last night. It felt better than the first week back. I definitely feel more flexible than usual. I wonder if it is the hormones or the fact that I have not done any sprint training or weight lifting in a long time so my muscles aren’t tight.

Amelia is 2 months old today!

So after a week of more frequent burping, I am tentatively concluding that the air trapped in Amelia’s tummy was the main cause of the reflux. We have also been keeping her upright, at a 30 degree angle, or lying on her left side for 20-30 minutes after eating. That we can tell, the pain from reflux is mostly gone. She is much more smiley.

She still has some fussing but it is so minimal that I can hardly count it as fussing. I am suspicious that chocolate and or coffee may be an irritant for Amelia and the reflux, so I am going to stay away from those things.

It is interesting that lack of sufficient burping may have been the main cause because much of the info you read suggests that breastfed babies take in much less air while feeding and if a baby won’t burp, it is probably because they don’t have to. This has definitely not been our experience!