Goodbye 2010, hello 2011

On this the last day of 2010 I thought I'd reflect on the goodness that was 2010 as well as what's to come in 2011.

2010 was an amazing year, mainly because our sweet little Aurora joined our family. And what made it even more special was that she arrived on my birthday! We just love her to bits; her smile can cheer me up whenever I'm sad or frustrated (even if I'm frustrated with her and her non-existing sleep), she's so alert and aware and interested in the world, she has the cutest, most infectious laugh, she's continually learning and growing and it's awesome to watch her develop, it's very obvious she loves her family and we all love her, and she fills our lives with such love and joy.

Other great events in 2010:

• My visit home at the end of March/beginning of April. I wanted my family and friends to experience some of my pregnancy with me so I flew back home for 10 days. During that time I had a baby shower and got to spend time with some friends I hadn't seen in a while. Also, Danna got to feel Baby Bean (as she was known as at the time) move and hear her heartbeat.

• Danna and Zachary's visit to St. John's for 3 weeks just after Aurora was born. I loved having them there, even though I was sore and tired. It was hard not having family around when Aurora was born so to have them there shortly after and for so long was just great. Danna was a huge help around the apartment and with Aurora and gave me an adult to converse with during the day while Chris was at work. Plus, I love her and spending time with her . And I always love being with Zach. We did tons of sight seeing while there and really made the most of the visit.

• Our move back to Toronto (well, Brampton, but close enough) at the end of July. While the move was chaotic and with very little notice (3 weeks to move from Newfoundland to Ontario!) I love being back with my family and friends. I definitely miss my friends in St. John's and area, especially since 3 of them are pregnant and 2 others have babies, but I wouldn't trade being able to spend my year off with Danna and Zachary for anything.

• In July, another baby joining the Sherwin clan. Cole Masuzumi was born on July 16, 2010 to Amy and Todd (Chris' sister and brother-in-law). We were ecstatic when we heard of his birth and even more so when we had the chance to meet him.

• Our trip to B.C.. At the beginning of September we went to B.C. and had a Sherwin family reunion of sorts (we were missing 3 family members). It was great to see all our nieces and nephews again (and some for the 1st time) and see how they had grown and matured. We loved showing Aurora off to Chris' family, even though she was cranky. Since Aurora doesn't have any grandparents on my side it was important that she meet her grandparents on Chris' side and I loved that we had the opportunity to do so while she was so young. We had a great time visiting and hope to visit again soon.

• The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. These were special to me because I had the honour of carrying the Olympic torch in November 2009. It was great to watch the games unfold, and Canada kick butt, and know I was a part of it.

Notable mentions:

• Chris' 29th birthday
• My 30th birthday (overshadowed by Aurora)
• My last day of work for a year
• My surprise shower thrown by some friends in NL
• My work shower
• Finally getting screeched in
• Chris getting a job
• Our move from Danna's place to our own place
• Aurora's 1st Christmas

Now onto 2011. This upcoming year has some big shoes to fill but I look forward to (most) of it. I do not look forward to looking for a job and returning to the workforce. But other than that it should be good, and here are a few reasons why:

• Aurora's 1st birthday
• Aurora walking
• Aurora saying mama (she's been saying dada for quite some time now)
• Aurora's teeth finally coming through (they have been causing such discomfort)
• Aurora sleeping better????? (wishful thinking)
• I should have just said Aurora as she will now make every year special
• Chris finishing his thesis
• my champagne birthday (I will be turning 31 on the 31st)

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Aurora and Santa

Our little monkey

Chris wanted to share this photo with everyone as it is now his favourite photo of Aurora. Another mommy I know knits these beautiful hats and I asked her to knit this brown and pink monkey hat (see the ears?) for Aurora. We think the hat is absolutely adorable and on Aurora it's even more precious. Chris especially likes that her top lip is a bit taut just like a monkey's.

I also wanted to share this video of Aurora rolling...sort of. I just turned off the camera and didn't expect she'd roll right away and so I caught the tail end of the roll. She doesn't roll often enough that I've captured a full roll but I hope to soon. And she hasn't rolled from back to tummy yet so no video of that.

Please vote for Aurora

We entered the video of Aurora laughing in Fisher-Price's Best Little Laugh contest and would greatly appreciate all the votes we can get. So please vote for Aurora and ask everyone you know to do the same. You can vote once a day and the contest runs until December 31, 2010. The winner gets the ulitmate Fisher-Price toy closet, a year supply of Fisher-Price diapers, and a Kodak Playsport digital video camera. Thanks!

video link: http://bestlittlelaugh.com/entry/3485219

Aurora and Zachary

Aurora absolutely adores her cousin Zachary. She will watch him for hours on end as he runs around, jumps, and plays. He always gets the biggest laughs out of her. Case in point:

But, as evident in the next video, there are times when she isn't feeling the love, even if he is. And yes, that's me laughing my butt off at Zachary getting his hair pulled by Aurora. I know, I'm mean. Everytime I watch this video it makes me laugh just as hard as I did when I took it. I am considering sending it to America's Funniest Videos; think we stand a chance at winning?

Aurora's such a big girl!

2 days ago Aurora desperately wanted to stand and lean against her activity mat (I say desperately because she fussed when I moved her away from it and when I moved her close to it she leaned in even closer) and she seemed so steady that I moved my hand and voila, she was leaning against it on her own! She was able to do it for quite a long time and was very steady. Our little girl is growing up too fast! :(

Starting solids

We've started Aurora on solids and it's so much fun! We tried rice cereal just after she turned 4 months and she had a very gassy night afterwards so we held off for 2 weeks just incase the 2 were related. When we gave her the rice cereal the 2nd time she loved it and it didn't seem to cause any tummy problems. Now she has rice cereal at least once a day (we'll be going to twice a day this week). She's very eager to get the spoon in her mouth that she leans very far forward in her Bumbo to get to the spoon. She also would like to feed herself but her coordination is not there. She's such a good eater and finishes all the cereal more times than not. We also introduced mashed potatoes this week and Baby Mum Mums and she loves both!!!! I think the appeal of the Baby Mum Mum is that fact that she can do it as she loves to hold things and to put things in her mouth. We're not too far away from starting other solids, like veggies, fruits, and meats. Can't wait!

Oh Aurora

She is attracted to some pretty weird objects, gets super excited trying to get to them, and then proceeds to put them in her mouth. Yup, she wants to eat everything, and gets upset when you take it away from her. It's been cups and glasses of all sorts, paper bags, and today it was a tissue box.

Ooooh look at this...

This is tasty...

Hi mom! I'm not doing anything, I promise.

She giggles!!!!!

And what a cute giggle it is!

This past Sunday (September 12) Chris got Aurora's first giggle out of her. Apparently Daddy sticking his tongue out is really funny. However, Mommy sticking her tongue out isn't. Unfortunately subsequent tongue sticking outing (?) by Chris didn't produce anymore Aurora giggles and so we didn't get any video.

This week I have tried and tried to get Aurora to giggle and she wouldn't. I assumed Aurora just doesn't find me funny, however today that all changed. It's surprising what a baby will giggle at. See for yourself:

Me saying "hi" is hilarious...to Aurora at least. And that's all that matters to me. I'm so happy that I caught her giggling on video. I could watch it forever, it makes me laugh and smile every time I see it.

Look-alike Meter

My sister-in-law (Chris' sister) Amy introduced me to the Look-alike Meter when she did it for both her children and reported the very scientific findings on her blog. Everyone thinks Aurora looks like Chris, myself included, so I thought I'd try it out. The results may both shock and amaze you!

I even did it using different photos and got the same results. So it's official, Aurora looks like me just as much as she looks like Chris!

We've been busy

Since my last post alot has happened. I had my 30th birthday on May 31 however that was completely overshadowed by...the arrival of Baby Bean AKA Aurora!!!!! We had a baby girl!!!!! Aurora Lillian Sherwin was born on her mommy's birthday, May 31, 2010, at 9:40a weighing 7lbs 4oz and 20.5" long. Here's the short version of Aurora's birth:

May 30:
9:47a – water breaks as I get out of bed
12p – head to hospital (no real contractions just period-like cramps that vary in intensity)
10p – induced
May 31 (my birthday):
~1:30a – get Nubain
4:45a – get Epidural
9:15a – start pushing
9:40a - it’s a girl!!! Aurora Lillian is born 10 days early! 7lbs 4oz and 20.5”

And the long version:

At 9:47a on the morning of May 30 (38w3d) I felt a pop and a gush of water as I got out of bed. OMG my water broke! I told Chris and he asked, are you sure? I was sure. After calling my sister Danna and Chris calling his parents, playing on the computer a bit, and soaking a couple of size 2 diapers (a trick a friend told me), Chris and I headed to the hospital around noon. I had been having period-like cramps, some more intense than others, but no contractions. Once at the hospital they confirmed it was my water (that examination wasn’t pleasant), that baby was head down (got to have a quick ultrasound of the baby), and that I wasn’t having contractions. At this point I was admitted and put on the induction list unless I started contracting on my own. I was so anxious to meet Baby Bean and bored of waiting around that I tried to get things going on their own by walking around the hospital, climbing the stairs, and acupressure but it didn’t work. Around 9:15p I got the news that I was being brought down to be induced. Finally! Because my water broke all I needed was the pitocin drip and this would help thin out and dilate my cervix. I was maybe 1cm dilated, if that, and my cervix was high and thick when the induction started around 10p. I started to walk around the floor to help my contractions start and once they did (which didn’t take long) they were fast and fierce. They were very close together and very strong. I was having difficulty coping with them almost immediately and sometimes would need to be reminded to breath. I tried a number of pain management techniques like bending over the bed, swaying my hips, and rocking in the rocking chair. I’m not sure of the time but at one point pain meds were brought up. I wanted to see how dilated I was to gauge if I wanted pain meds then or not – if I still had a long way to go I was going to try to tough it out some more. Well I was only 1cm so I decided to try the shower and see if that helped. It certainly did, but not enough. I was in the shower a very very long time but was still in a lot of pain. When I got out the nurse suggested I have the Nubain which I quickly agreed to. So around 1:30a on May 31 I was given a shot of Nubain. This allowed me to get some sleep and a bit of relief although I could still feel the contractions. About 2 hours later it seemed that it had worn off and I was in a lot of pain again. The nurse checked me to see if I could get the epidural. I was 2-3cm dilated and 90% effaced. The epidural was ordered and I was given it around 4:45a. It took about an hour to provide me with relief and at 6a both Chris and I were able to get some sleep. When I woke my entire left side was numb as that was the side I was sleeping on so I switched to my right. I was in some pain again and had to be reminded by my nurse that it was ok to push the epidural button to get a bit extra. Oh how I loved that button! At 7:30a I was checked and was 3-4cm dilated however 40 minutes later, at 8:10a, I was 6cm dilated and fully effaced. It didn’t take me long to be fully dilated and at 9:15a I could start pushing. The nurse told me if I pushed efficiently she wouldn’t turn down my epidural but if I didn’t push efficiently she would have to. Lucky me I was an efficient pusher. Chris held 1 of my legs up, the student nurse Danielle held the other, and I grabbed both of them and pulled them toward my chest when I pushed. I could only feel the peaks of my contractions and would start pushing then so Chris would look at the monitor and tell me when a contraction was coming so I could push sooner. Chris was watching the whole thing and at one point turned to me wide eyed and smiling and said “I can see the head!” We had agreed early in pregnancy that he’d stay above my waist but things are so different when you’re in the moment. He loved knowing what was going on and I liked that he could be a part of the birth process as much as possible. Just before my 6th contraction of pushing I was told “I know you’re tired but the baby is tired too and we have to get them out”. Apparently after each contraction and push my uterus wasn’t recovering fully which meant the placenta wasn’t getting what it needed so the baby wasn’t getting what they needed so they had to get the baby out. Luckily with that contraction and about 5 good pushes out came our baby girl!!!! Since Chris and I were Team Green we were so excited to finally find out the gender. Chris cut the cord and then our little girl was put on my chest. I looked over at Chris and he was bawling; it was the sweetest image. I had a 2nd degree tear that required ~ 5 stitches. As I was being stitched Chris was over by the weigh scale taking photos of Aurora - he didn't need to stick around for that. We stayed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon (June 2) and I was so happy to leave and be at home with Chris.

The first few days were difficult as the lack of sleep is hard to adjust to but she seems to have somewhat of a night time schedule now (however doesn't go to sleep until very late). I’ve been breastfeeding which is going very well except I have to wear a nipple shield. It’s a nuisance but necessary. She hates being put down and only wants to be held which can be tiring however we can usually get her sleep in her bassinet at night. She’s a very content baby, bright eyed and alert. She makes the cutest facial expressions and stretches when she’s waking up. She "talks" (vocalizes) and smiles alot - I love her toothless grins! And she rolled from her tummy to her back just this week!!! We just love her to bits and cannot believe she’s ours. She is well worth the wait!

My sister, Danna, and nephew, Zachary, visited us from June 15 - July 6. It was great having family in St. John's with us, particularly after having a baby. It was great having them there; Danna was a huge help with Aurora and around the apartment and I always love spending time with them. We did alot of site seeing and touristy things; Aurora probably saw more of Newfoundland by the time she was 5 weeks old than most Newfoundlanders do their whole life.

Another big happening is that we've moved back to Toronto. Well, Brampton. Chris got a job offer as a Patent Paralegal at his old office and since finding a job in St. John's resulted in nothing but temp positions, he accepted. We had 3 weeks notice. It was crazy - newborn baby, packing all our belongings, booking/canceling services, flights, hotels, and UHaul, and moving halfway across the country. On July 27 Aurora and I caught a 6am flight while Chris drove a 26' UHaul pulling our car on an auto transporter from St. John's to Brampton. He caught the ferry that night and arrived in North Sydney, NS early the next afternoon. He drove to Bangor, ME that day. The next day he drove to a town 100km East of Kingston, ON, and on Friday, July 30 arrived in Brampton. He never wants to see a UHaul again!! It was a long few days for us and I was constantly worried about Chris. Chris missed Aurora and me. I was beyond happy when I met him at the UHaul store - my hero!

And now for some photos and videos:

Last belly photo on May 29

Brand new!

After she was cleaned

First family photo

Lying on mommy's tummy

With mommy

With daddy

Professional photos on June 8

Professional photos on June 8

Professional photos on June 8

Professional photos on June 8

10 days old

Father's Day 2010

Celebrating Canada Day with her cousin

Danna and Zachary feeding Aurora

Chillin'

Lobster in Newfoundland

Smiling on August 6

Nursery

Well the nursery is as done as it can be for now. There are a few more items that we are waiting on, like 2 collapsible storage cubes from Ikea that are currently out of stock as well as a diaper depot to attach to the change table to put the wipes/wipes warmer on, but other than that it's complete. The room is small and the nursery is modest but we both really like it and are very pleased with how it turned out. Now we wait for the occupant to arrive!

Looking in from the door (straight and to the left).

'Dresser' is our Ikea headboard/shelf set. It doesn't fit in our bedroom but it works perfectly for the nursery as a dresser. And those are the collapsible cubes that we're waiting on 2 more of. Cubes and lamp are also from Ikea.

I made these little 'signs' so we'd know what sizes are where on the shelves.

Custom made wall quote above the crib - it's a line from the book I've been reading to the baby (which is on the shelf).

Baby has to share it's closet with me.