13 Months

13 months!

Okay everyone, I made it to my goal of "official" monthly pictures and milestone markers for the first 12 months of Ezra's life.  It just about pushed me over the edge especially near the end, but I will say it feels good to have stuck with it.  Now you get the relaxed version and updates.  ;)

At 13 months we have an active little guy.  He has been walking most of this month but just in the last week is gaining his confidence to walk all over the house and a little in the community.  It's pretty hysterical to watch him, arms up, smile on his face, and charging around the house.  And depending on how his balance is sometimes he is grabbing his head, or his hair, or death grip on his tummy.  Sometimes I imagine the whole world walking around this way and what I funny sight it would be.

He kicked off his thirteenth month with the church games night and enjoying time playing with the kids, and his last evening with Grandma Jolliff visiting.

Games night at church

Playing with a friend

He has 2 new teeth this month, one and incisor and I think one of them is a molar!  Both teeth are on the bottom row.  And I don't delve in there much to explore because I value my fingers too much.

He also loaded up on his one year old shots/vaccinations along with the flu shot last week which was the most unpleasant trip to date.  Two shots in the arm and two shots in the leg and he goes back in for one more shot in a few more weeks because apparently the first flu shot has to be given in 2 separate shots instead of one that you would get any other year.  But all in all, after he recovered from the pain of actually getting the shots he was in mostly good spirits the rest of the week.

He is also kicking off Christmas celebrations and learning how to be a good little Canadian in going out in the cold for walks and wintertime festivities.  Last weekend was the Santa Claus parade which was a great time even though we accidentally left his mittens in the van and I spend a good portion of the time holding his hands or trying to wrap them in my scarf which he had no interest in.  Before the winter officially moved in to stay, we were able to get out and enjoy Chickadee Trail where you can hike a trail and have some birdseed ready to periodically stop and offer the seed and the chickadees will eat straight out of your hand.

Chickadee Trail with Dad

Getting ready for the parade with Mom

Anticipating the start of the parade

He also now has a strong affinity for certain books and toys and it is fun to watch him explore and experiment with his toys in new ways.  His favourite animal sound is a lion roar and he loved any repetitive rhyme with the "d" sound.  Hence Dr. Seuss' "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" with the repetition of dum, ditty, dum, ditty, dum, dum, dum is a real hit.  He also is a dancer and groover, enjoying music around the house or when Nate plays the guitar for him.

A few of his favourite things

1 Year Old

48 Weeks
Grandma and Grandpa Wiebe arrived this week as did another tooth.  We enjoyed lots of sunshine and Ezra began using his single word "Dada" for all things under the sun.  He seemed quite proud of his linguistic accomplishments.  He also kept his audience entertained.  He enjoys people coming over and showing off his speedy crawling and clapping.  And he continues to enjoy his evening ritual of stripping down to diaper before PJ's go on and playing on the sheepskin and charging back and forth across the living room with clothes over his head.
49 Weeks
Canadian Thanksgiving was this week and we also did a small preview celebration of Ezra's birthday while Grandma and Grandpa Wiebe were visiting, at the same time.  Cousins from Calgary were able to join us and we had a tasty meal and fun afternoon visiting.  Ezra also was able to enjoy some time with a doggy friend that came with the cousins.  This senior pooch quickly found a spot on the couch just out of Ezra's curious hands.
50 Weeks
Paster and Spouse Retreat!!!  Our annual getaway is something we always look forward to, and this was no exception.  Especially since friends agreed to take Ezra for the 3 days and 2 nights we were away in Banff.  Ezra did great and wore himself out keeping up with the other kids in the house and exploring his new surroundings.  And we had several days child-free to be able to listen to the speaker and calm dinners, and strolls around downtown.  Unfortunately, Nate got a cold right before we left and wasn't feeling 100% but we made the most of it anyway.  And it was great to get back and see Ez's smile again.
51 Weeks
After noticing Ez continue to want to suck his fingers and thumb we agreed to try to reintroduce the soother.  He refused the soother a number of months ago and I had since packed them all away, but after finding the box they were stuck in, Ez took a day or two to remember the art of keeping that soother in before locking it in.  We also decided to turn Ezra's car seat around after observing his legs climbing up the van seat, and not resting on his own carseat.  It resulted in a fussier baby as he was not sure about this change, or perhaps he wasn't feeling well.  Either way, it made a trip up to Edmonton extra long to pick up a washer and dryer, as he cried a good portion of the way up and back.
52 Weeks
Grandma Jolliff arrived this week to celebrate Ezra's first birthday with the family.  Ezra enjoyed his play time with Grandma as well as time with a few friends at his birthday party on Saturday.  Thanks to sneak treats in the last month or so, Ez took to his chocolate cupcake with no problem!  And finished it without hesitation.  Overall, Ezra was on the fussier side as he is clearly working on another tooth or two, but with the help of some Tylenol everyone had a good visit.  Ezra is growing in confidence in standing and taking a few steps between people and as luck had it, he started walking between Mommy and Daddy 3-5 steps on his own the day Grandma Jolliff had headed home.  All Grandma's practice paid off, and fortunately we were even able to video some of it for sharing.

11 months

44  weeks
Ezra's pride at walking behind a push toy was palpable this week!  After circulating in some toys that had been tucked away for a week or two to keep things fresh for the kid, the walker toy made it's appearance again.  And since he continues to grow in balance and confidence walking with us, I tried sticking him behind it again, and this time he took off across the room with a big smile on his face.  It's pretty fun to watch.  Unfortunately he doesn't have the coordination to turn himself around so he needs us to turn him when he is on a roll, and his straightaway isn't too long due to the house having the raised dining room off the living room where he plays. Oh well!
Ez officially dropped his 3rd nap this week and we are down to 2 solid naps, and he has a lovely new tooth on the top left!  He is looking older with each tooth that comes through.


45 weeks
With Ezra's increaseed mobility and curiosity, our house is being rearranged more and more to raise items out of his reach or move items okay to explore, in his grasp.  So Ezra's own bowls, plates, and cups are now located in the lowest drawer in the kitchen for him to open and remove items as he chooses.  Our coffee table in the living room has now been relocated directly in front of the TV stand and Blu-ray player, to keep his paws off the electronics.  Our biggest problem area is one we can't easily move or cover: the power plug for our security screen panel.  So I have now had the pleasure of hearing what the backup battery alarm sound like when the power source has been cut off and it's been running on backup battery for awhile.  We often have a few days of "understanding" with Ez and he leaves the outlet plug alone, and then a few days of frustrating and continual redirects, "no's", and distraction to keep him from the beeline he seems to make for it.
He has also connected the idea that if he can push his walker toy around, he might also be able to move other furniture around too.  So he slides his high chair around the hard wood floors and was pushing around the heavy wood desk chair.  I ended up moving that chair down to the living room, so he didn't end up pushing the chair over the ledge and somehow end up on the bottom of that pile.
We started swimming classes this week too, and Ezra just kind of took it all in, neither extreme excitement or extreme fear.  I suppose that is a win.  There is another younger baby and then Ez is the next youngest, so he has 8 other older kids to watch and model.


46 weeks
I decided to utilize the toy lending library this week, and it becomes obvious Ez is looking for more challenges to conquer around the house.  So I picked up a cause and effect toy with the farm animals that pop up when Ez hits a switch, a puppet-who talks and kisses him much to his enjoyment, and multi-toy with the beads he can trace along the wires, a clock with moving hands, etc.  It's such a great idea and I plan to use it often through this winter!
Daddy and Ez are enjoying their evening wrestling matches.  They often take place as I am cooking dinner, so I hear a lot of panting and laughter from the living room.  Ezra also now anticipates his trips to the park when we round the bend and he sees the familiar colours and equipment.  His little feet start doing a happy dance of kicking as we get closer.  He enjoys his time on the swing, the little baby teeter totter, and the slides.
In swim class Ez got dunked.  It does seem like a mean thing to do to babies, doesn't it?  But I figure we got to do it sometime.  So this week, as they said to put them under of we chose to, I did.  He seemed a bit startled, but didn't cry.  In all honesty, I think he dislikes floating on his back more than getting dunked.  He doesn't like the water on his ears.


47 weeks
Ezra has brought meal time to a whole new level of messy.  His new favourite activity, with a mouth full of food is "blowing bubbles".  So imagine a mouthful of yogurt and then the sputtering of lips to conclude with Mom and Dad receiving a coating of yogurt.  We are trying different techniques of firm "no's" to my newest strategy of pushing him back from the table until he stops and then pulling him back up for more food.  Fun Times.
Ezra's park time is evolving as he explores in new ways, this week he enjoys trying crawling up the slides which he does with some extra mommy muscle pushing from behind.  He is also experimenting with bringing the pea gravel up and tossing it on the base of the slide and watching it slide down.  As he begins enjoying the view from the platform that connects 3 slides he has taken to going down the slides head first with me holding onto his jacket.
"Dada" is the word of choice this month, and with each week he seems to say it with more meaning.  In the mornings, Ez is allowed into our room while we get ready and he enjoys looking at the photographs of me and Nate through the years, and has begun to do some pointing to each of us.  Occasionally, he points to Uncle Dan and says "Dada" but we can't really ask for perfection at this point, right?!  We also continue to work at waving goodbye, so we stake out at the couch in front of our big window and wait for Daddy to drive out of the garage to wave goodbye in the mornings.  It's a work in progress, but Ez is not much of a waver...maybe next month.  Or maybe he's just not much for goodbye's.

So instead, "See you later".

10 Months

39 weeks
Ezra is loving the outdoors.  He is often headed for the exits on our hand held walks around the house and gets mad when we try to redirect.  I suppose he is true to his Canadian lineage in his love of the great outdoors.  Happily, I would much prefer to be outside too, so at least it's not much of a hardship to enjoy the great excuse to put off indoor cleaning to hang out with Ezra outside.  We are enjoying our new deck, and Ezra can freely make a watery mess with bowls, pans, and cups of water I bring out for him.
He is also refusing a soother at this point.  And honestly, it might have been a week or two before now, I can't remember exactly when it was, but none-the-less it's a thing of the past.  It is nice that we don't have to break him of it, but there are moments when he is fussing that it sure would be nice if he would take it once again.
The end of this week found us packing up and hitting the road after Sunday morning service for our family vacation!!  There was much anticipation and excitement leading up to our departure, so to say that we were ready to go was an understatement.  We drove as far as Radium Springs for our first night and then  worked our way to Maple Ridge, BC to visit Ezra's Aunt Laura and Uncle Josh and to meet the newest cousin M. and get reacquainted with her brother N.  Ez finds little babies fascinating and it was challenging to get him to look without squeezing or hitting, I'm pretty sure he was trying to figure out if his little cousin was a toy or a real human.  It was a great few nights enjoying family time before heading over to Vancouver Island.

40 weeks
Thursday morning we took the ferry over to Vancouver Island to continue our vacation exploration first in Nanaimo and then Victoria.  I was happy to see some whales on the trip over!  In both locations we stayed with friends, and had a great time seeing new things as well as getting to know new and old friends better.  Ezra began his seafood journey on this leg of the trip (other than some canned Tuna at home) trying Salmon and Haddock.  I also enjoyed the seafood as I, along with Ezra, work on developing my fondness for those fishy creatures.  Coming from landlocked Indiana and now in the very similar province Alberta, seafood is not on the must have list, but we continue to work on it with positive experiences like these!  Ezra continued to be a trooper and gets a variety of sleeping locations including his own room in Nanaimo (what a luxury!!) and technically his own room in Victoria as we stuck him in the shower room, as we were in a one bedroom apt with friends who graciously gave up their room for us, however we are always trying to figure out how to give Ez his own room as we are not accustomed to sleeping with him in our space and vice versa.  Nobody sleeps that great when we are all together.  And that shower room worked perfectly!
We really pushed him when we were on the island because there was lots we wanted to see, and we found he generally does great if we missed a nap time as long as we are in motion.  So we took in the Butchart Gardens, and Ez did amazing in the stroller and enjoyed running his hands along the flowers as we walked past them.  We spent some time on the rocky beaches and exploring the downtown areas in both locations.

41
We finished off our vacation time enjoying more time with family in Kelowna, staying with Ezra's Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle Don's, and Aunt Laura and Uncle Josh and family joined us here as well.  We had our first real dose of "summer" weather here which was great.  We enjoyed the beach, lounging outside in the shade, some various activities with just our little family, including a trip to the mall to Ez his first real pair of shoes with soles, size 5 :)  After Sunday church service we decided to blitz the drive home (9hours) hoping that Ez would sleep for a good portion once we hit his normal bedtime hours.  Thankfully, this worked beautifully and Ez slept 5 hours of the trip from 7pm to midnight.  Within a few days of returning home, Ez's gross motor skills began exploding...crawling on all 4's, pulling to stand, and climbing the steps.  My theory is making up lost time from being cooped up in the carseat for so many hours.  Really the kid was such a great trooper and did so much better than I even expected, the the stops we made for bottles and stretching legs were nice for Mom and Dad too.

42
With the return from vacation we continue to get readjusted to daily routines, Ezra began refusing his puree's and soft mashed foods upon our return, so we gave him table foods for this week and he was happy, although struggling to eat them well...crazy kid.  But perhaps he got an overdose of the travel pouches, and he got a taste of a lot more table foods, and I think he liked the novelty of them.

43
After giving Ez a fair shot of table foods for a week, we reintroduced puree's convinced the little guy must be hungry as he certainly could not eat the same amount he was with the easier to eat puree's, and sure enough he happily returned to this friendly baby form.  And we are happy to have him eating more and varied foods now.  We also suspect he might also be allergic to wheat, as Nate is.  With our return home and not seeing much improvement in the diaper deposits (I know, too much information) I began taking things back out of his diet that had been introduced on vacation.  Toast had become a favourite breakfast treat for him, and taking the bread out seemed to improve Ezra's said "deposits." ;)  All in all, it will not be much of a hardship as I mostly cook 100% gluten free anyway, but it makes me a little sad wishing he might somehow skip this allergy.

9 Months

Thankfully the time leading up to 9 months was so much more bearable and enjoyable than the month leading up to the 8 month mark!  Ezra had a total of zero, zilch, nada new teeth this month and this made for a blissfully pleasant baby.  Hooray for no teeth!

38 weeks

Ezra's mobility is finally kicking in!  Just in the last few days he has now begun to army crawl.  Something I had been thinking he was on the verge of months ago, but better late than never.  He still loves to walk with hands held and now chooses his own course, resisting if you try to pull him past a turn he wants to make!  He is also getting the swing of throwing his blocks...thankfully at the moment just straight into the floor with authority,  we will be in trouble when he realizes he can send them soaring across the room.

37 weeks

This week found myself (Leslie) another year older.  And so as we were still finishing up camp week, Nate took me into Red Deer for lunch at a Mexican restaurant, since they are hard to come by in Alberta, and we had a little respite from the little man as a friend had him over to their trailer for the afternoon.  A double win.  I received a Vermeer print, and even a birthday cake made by a friend who made arrangements for it's transport since they ended up not being able to make it to camp.  So Nate and I enjoyed the company of friends, campfire, and birthday cake after Ezra was down for the night.  A great birthday indeed.

36 weeks

Ezra had his first taste of camping this week.  We borrowed a friends trailer and spend a good portion of a week out at family camp for the Church of God in Western Canada.  The week was damp but not a complete wash out.  Overall, Ezra did great in the new environment.  We crafted his own "room" by handing sheets between trailer cupboards and Ezra could sleep in his pack and play without visual distraction, and the loud fan we could turn on was a dream to drown out and additional inside or outside noise.

35 weeks

Clapping is all the rage now with Ezra!  And we think it's pretty cute, too.  It really is interesting how one day they can't do something and the next, they have figured it out.  A friend from church started showing Ezra how to step, why didn't I think of that?!  I suppose I figured, crawling first and once that happens we can work on the next thing.  However, Ezra loved taking steps, and now we continue to let him enjoy that at home.

8 months

I could also add "Hardest Month So Far" to Ezra's above picture, but I figured I should keep it to more of the developmental milestones.  Hey, we made it to the 8 month mark, celebrate!

31 Weeks
Ezra was able to watch with varying interest as the new deck was put up just outside the family room.  He sat in his ExerSaucer and watched the happenings through the screen door.  Not overly impressed with the sound of the impact driver, but Ezra put up with the rest of the noise wonderfully during wake time  and naps.  Ezra got very sick during one of our days this week, after having egg whites.  He was eating egg yolks as he has before but was so enthusiastic and eager to keep eating once they were gone, I gave him some egg whites too.  He happily ate them as well, but within about 2 hours, was vomiting large amounts.  I returned from the store unaware of what had transpired, but Grandpa and Grandma Wiebe had gotten Ez through the worst of it.However, at the end of the week, Ezra began screaming when put down for any naps during the day which was a huge change, and a bit shocking to the system.  It was a tough balance with strained nerves and trying to be compassionate to this tired little baby that refused to sleep.  So there was lots of rocking and singing to try to help him go down, which often was unsuccessful.

32 Weeks
The beginning of this week saw tears from both Ez and I as he continued to scream when put down for a nap and I changed tactics and let him scream it out.  Listening to baby scream in that way was so torturous and combined with the thought this was going to be the new normal for nap time in our home, brought me to tears as well.  However, almost as suddenly as it came on, by the resolution of the week, Ezra had begun napping as usual again.  Hallelujah! Around this time Ezra started sleeping through his 10:30 feed a bit more regularly, and getting him up to feed was becoming more disruptive to him.  So I began feeding him only when he woke up for the late evening feed.  During the day Ezra became more irritable and fussy than ever before.  His top two teeth were making their way down.

33 Weeks
At the end of the week, Ez had egg yolks for breakfast and just like two weeks ago, was violently ill 2 hours later.  We weathered the worst of the vomiting in the bathtub, putting an inch of water in the bottom, and draining it after each wave of sickness and then filled fresh again.  So hard to see baby boy so miserable and feel responsible.  So we are swearing off eggs all together until further notice.  Thankfully he was feeling more like himself in the evening, after a very mellow day sleeping with me and then in the afternoon taking long stretches sleeping or just lying in his crib.  A few days later, Ez began crying and not feeding well during his nursing times.  Assuming it was his teeth bothering him we did a combination of nursing and bottles to tide him over.

34 Weeks
Ezra continued arching his back and crying just after a few seconds of nursing this week and we resorted to giving bottles and pumping as much as possible as I now realized my milk supply seemed to have dropped past a point Ezra was will to work for.  However, after days of pumping and stressing about what to do, I tried to schedule with the local lactation consultant (who was on a leave of absence), called and talked to a nurse at the local health clinic (who was knowledgable, but didn't give me much more than ideas I was already trying), and scheduled an appointment to see my doctor and got a prescription for a medication to boost milk supply (but I was concerned about the continued stress of the necessity of Ezra having to nurse for it to work).  All of these events, and my quickly unraveling sanity, led me to a place where I threw in the towel.  The uphill battle was becoming the size of a mountain in my mind, and a mountain I didn't have the strength or energy to climb.  I realize mommy's and baby's can stop nursing for many reasons prior to 8 months, but the unexpectedness of these developments completely threw me off.  I had no problems nursing up until now and had expected to nurse Ez up to a year at least, so I had to deal with some very real disappointment and tears at various points as the realization that my time nursing Ez was over.  However, now that I've gotten my head around it, I've found my peace with it and Ezra is quite happy with the bottle, and is taking it all beautifully.  His disposition has also greatly improved in the last few days as the second of the two teeth working there way through his gums, broke through.

So folks, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I'm praying 8 months will be a much happier four weeks then the last four.  Oh, and we are now van people!  That happened somewhere in the last month too.  Never thought I'd be so happy about a van but it's the reality of my life now!

7 months

26 weeks
Ezra met his first friend younger and smaller than him!  We went over to visit a friend with a 4 week old, and it was pretty cute to see Ez process such a little human being.  And for Mommy to think it wasn't but a few months ago, Ezra himself was that size!

27 weeks
Ezra began his food journey this week.  We kicked it off with eggs, followed with bananas and avocado.  Every new food is met with a grimace and a shudder, before polishing it all off with eagerness.   We continue with the same nursing cycle but now just with the addition of food at dinner, and sometimes lunch.  I also celebrated my first Mother's Day this week, commemorated with flowers, waffles, and a coffee gift card...every momma's dream ;)

28 weeks
We enjoyed a visit from Nate's friend of 20 years, and Ezra was able to meet Tito (Uncle) Marlo during his stay.  Ezra is enjoying sweet potatoes this week and continues to be an enthusiastic participant at the dinner table.  Ezra is starting to work to get into crawling position.  He is certainly gaining strength.

29 weeks
This week Ezra has been introduced to meat, and boy is he a fan, he laps that up with gusto.  We also encountered Ezra's first fear.  While attending the local heritage museums 30th anniversary festivities we found, perhaps due to the late hour in Ezra's world, he melted down at the sound of applause, and connected it further the following day when he attended a ladies tea at the church (this kid gets around) and there was clapping following a small game.  Ezra again, lost his cool.  I'm happy to report a few days later when he was with us at a school assembly and the kids clapped, his initial look of concern faded with each applause that followed.

30 weeks
Ezra has acquired two assistants for the eating of food.  His bottom two teeth are now in and (sometimes) visible.  It is so hard to see in there on the bottom row!  We felt the little bumpy ridge last week, but now we are catching glimpses of those little pearly whites.  Grandma and Grandpa Wiebe are also here to visit and usher in the 7 month milestone.  Ezra has been erratic today with his happy to crying cycle, so we think the little guy has a few more teeth soon to be working their way out.  Mirror play has become a real favourite this week with Ezra laughing at his reflection and playing with that cute baby across from him.  The little guy has also moved to joining us at the table for 3 meals most days.  He also can hold himself up for a few seconds in crawling position, but still seems content for the most part playing sitting up on the floor.

6 Months

22 weeks

Ezra has turned into quite the side and tummy sleeper now, we put him on his back to sleep and he immediately swings his legs over to change positions.  Initially, quite tiresome as he got to his tummy and then got frustrated and seemly forgetting how to roll back.  After a few nights of "helping" him turn back over, we gave up when that seemed to make him mad too.  And we left him to work it out on his own.  Which he did pretty quickly.

23 weeks

We had our first flights with Ezra in tow and survived and thrived!  It went so much better than what I had expected, but I can definitely see how traveling with a baby can be so much easier than a mobile toddler!  Fun times to come.  We had a layover so Ezra got to practice take offs and landings, twice.  And did great.  I nursed him once taking off and tried again landing but he was really not interested with a full belly still.  So he played during landing and slept through his next take off and woke up in enough time to play though his last landing again.

24 weeks

This week Ezra got to meet the rest of his Indiana family!  And on the day of the open house, my Great Aunt Dort informed me there was an Ezra Douglass many generations ago in the family!  How cool is that!?  Ez is carrying on more family tradition than we even realized!  He was outstanding, meeting so many new family members and having a blast.  He was no stranger to facial hair so had no trouble playing with the beards of my dad and our friend Kyle.  His cousins in particular, Leah just seemed to soak up all the moments they had with cousin Ez.  He also got to meet so many doggies on his visit and seemed not to mind at all.  I was curious how that would go as he had only interacted with one other small doggie friend, Rosie prior to this trip of Golden Retrievers, Australian Shepherds, and few mixed breeds.  Much bigger than he has seen before, but he took them all in stride.

25 weeks

Ezra returned to good ol' Alberta after a good visit with family and friends in Indiana.  Once again he flew like a champ and even charmed airport security enough to get a little TSA sicker badge.  Ezra showed off his emerging skill of sitting up independently in the last few days before leaving so his grandparents got to see first hand!  He is also mastering the art of "coughing" for attention, which he used repeatedly on our flights home as he stood on Dad's lap and scanned the airplane crowd for susceptible prey.  A big smile from ear to ear, and *cough *cough *cough, got him lots of smiles and attention from his adoring crowds.  And he stands tall, measuring in just over 27 inches long these days.

5 months

18 weeks
This little guy started rolling over this week.  That combined with being introduced to the "Jumperoo", has made for one happy camper!  A friend gave us their old Jumperoo and Jolly Jumper. For any who don't know what these are (like us 10 minutes before we got them), a Jumperoo is a frame that holds a fabric seat with a plastic play tray around it and it suspends with elastic ropes to the frame.  So Ezra can jump his little heart out, or just stand and play.  He mostly chooses to jump.
He has sadly seemed to start doing some "stranger" freak outs.  He does fine for a minute or two when someone else holds him and then just totally melts down.

19 weeks
Ezra has found his big feet.  While great fun for him and for the average observer, including myself, it does present its challenges during diaper changes.  He wants to hold onto his feet for dear life and I want him to put his leg down so I can strap on the diaper.  We are finding our balance!  He is now finally pushing up on his arms when he is on his tummy.  Yippee!  He had his 4 month shots this week and ended up sleeping 10.5 hours that very night.  A parent could definitely get used to that with no problem.  He is now weighing in at 17 pounds 2 ounces and staying steady at 26 inches.  He has been a bit fussier overall this week.

20 weeks
Ezra's happy disposition returns, and he is also napping for awesome 2 hour stretches.  He also dropped the extra nighttime wake up, he had begun again.  So now he get's up to eat when I go to bed and one other time around 3-4am and gets another feed then.  It always goes without saying that any decrease in wake ups on Ezra's end makes Mommy and Daddy even happier with their gained sleep.  We also reintroduced the Bumbo chair after Ezra went over to a friends for the night while Nate and I were out on a dinner and a movie date.  He was reported to do fine in theirs, and I was like "What?!"  Let us try again.  So we did.  I broke off all the plastic safety buckles that seemed to be uncomfortable for him, and Ezra does fine in there, as long as there is something to watch and occupy his interest.


21 weeks
After some thought, I decided it was time Ezra dropped his 4am feeding.  It seemed he was waking more out of habit than need to eat, and at 18 pounds I didn't really think he was suffering any sort of nutrition deficit.  After 3 nights or so of Ezra waking up way more in the morning hours, I announced to Nate before bed, "If he wakes up around 3-4am, I'm feeding him.  I'm too tired to keep waking every hour from 3-7am to do it tonight."  The next morning I woke up at 7:15am.  I joke that when I was weak, Ezra was strong!  Thanks baby boy!  He's been sleeping though after his late evening feed until morning now several nights in a row.  Hallelujah.  Ezra also went in this week to have his head shape assessed.  At his last shot appointment the nurse noticed he still had a bit of a flat spot on the back right side of his head, and made a referral for a physical therapist to take a look.  Today they took a look and said it was very minor but gave some suggestions for carrying him and playing with him to strengthen his neck muscles to in turn help his head shape.  Ezra is currently wearing 9 month clothing and starting to dabble in 12 months clothes.

4 months

14 Weeks

This week Ezra has really found his voice...and loves the sound of it.  He can go quite a while just trying out his baby sounds and yodeling!  He also is enjoying his blankets more and more.  Instead of seeing them as swaddling traps he is enjoying chewing and sucking on them, and as we no longer swaddle him he seems to have made his peace, and even more: friends with these lovely creations!  He has also found it delightful to cough.  Anytime he coughs, he thinks it is funny.  Oh what I wouldn't give to take a peek into his little head and see what he is thinking.

15 weeks

Right around the 15 week marker, I came in one morning and found this little guy had isolated his little thumb and was sucking away.  While he loves chewing his hands/fingers, only sucking on his thumb was a first.  But in all honesty, he way prefers his whole hand shoved in his mouth to one measly little thumb.  We also experienced several nights of sleep in which Ezra slept over 9 hours.  Brief moments of remembering what it was like pre-baby.

16 weeks

Mobility alert!  Ezra is loving his practice time rolling over.  He seems to love the challenge and can focus on this task for longer periods of time each time we practice.  Simply by me anchoring one foot, Ezra is (generally) able to roll the rest of the way, and can occasionally remember how to roll to his back again.  Much to our delight, Ezra is finding his laugh this week too.  It is rare, but he has laughed 2-3 times.  He went into the doctor this week and was found to be quite a long baby 26 inches finds him in the 95th percentile for height and 16lbs and 10oz finds him at the 75th percentile for weight (which the doctor noted is normal for a baby so long to weigh more too).  So Ezra definitely acquired Daddy's "tall" gene.  Also this week, Ezra went back to waking up a few times during the night.

17 weeks

Ezra completed his appointment at the US Consulate in Calgary, and applied for his first passport, which will establish his US citizenship.  So the little guy is besting Mommy and will soon tout both Canadian and American citizenship.  He also traveled with us to Canmore for a few days for the annual general business meetings and conference for the Church of God, and did amazing.  Which minimal naps especially the first day, Ezra was cheerful and pleasant and got a good share of holding by others during his time in Canmore.  Ezra continues to work on rolling, often when put down on his back he goes right to work swinging his legs over to the side lie in this position, and then will most often begin the struggle to get to his tummy.  He has shown some irritation and grumpiness when he can't quite yet get where he knows he wants to, on his own.  On an amusing note, Ezra is moving all around his crib at night and I have no idea how I will find him at any given time.  The sides of the crib have given him leverage to move about much easier by walking his feet around! We also started putting him in 9 month clothing and they fit like a dream.  So thankful for the hand-me-downs given by another family in the church.

3 Months

10 weeks
Ezra is chatting more than ever now, and seems to enjoy finding his voice at various times of day.  He has also found his hands and has begun sucking and chewing on them...although hasn't really found his thumb to suck.  He is 13 pounds 5 ounces this week

11 weeks
Ezra is starting to grasp toys when helped.

12 weeks
Ezra started sleeping through the night almost on the exact 12 week marker.  at 11 weeks and 6 days he slept 7.5 hours from one feed to the next.  I woke up totally disoriented at 6am after feeding him last at 10:30pm.  Big boy is now enjoying being held up in sitting position and sitting briefly in his Bumbo chair...he is unsure of this contraption still but puts up with it for a while some days while protesting immediately on other days.  But when we hold him up or stand him up he enjoys it.  He is also very much enjoying bouncing on Daddy's knee.
Mom and Ezra also survived Ezra's first real stretch of not feeling well.  For about 2.5 days he pretty much cried and screamed while he was awake during the day.  His regular schedule of naps went out the window, sleeping 30 minutes to 1 hour max during the day.  A normal day would see him sleeping 1.5-2 hours during his nap times.  It seemed like stomach issues but I'm still unsure what caused it.  So Mommy had lots of time with screaming baby in her ear and was incredibly thankful Ezra continued to sleep normally through the night during these days.  Mommy is also has newfound respect for poor Mom's who have colicky babies.  My hat goes off to you, and you all deserve special medals.  As it is now, Ezra has returned to his sweet and easy disposition late in the week.

13 weeks
Mom and Dad took off for another "date night" in Edmonton.  Our second since Ezra has joined the family.  We had a great meal of Indian food...it had been so long!  And then went to the Ice Castle in Edmonton.  Ezra again did great hanging out with friends away from home for the evening, and was sleeping soundly upon our arrival to pick him up.  With the absence of local family we are thankful for all the offers for babysitters, we feel fortunate to have friends to call on.

2 months

Ezra has been changing so quickly in the last month.



5 weeks
Ezra is becoming more and more alert and soaking in his environment.  He has had a night with up to 7.5 hours between feeds.  Mommy and Daddy have finally found a way to bath Ezra without him screaming the whole time and boy, is it a relief.  Nate wraps him in a thin blanket and dips Ezra into his bathwater and holds him in the blanket while I wash sections at a time...Keeping him both warm and secure during his bath.


6 weeks

Grandma taking a diaper change shift!

Ezra upgraded to his crib full time this week.  After a night or two doing half nights in his crib and the other half in the bassinet, the extra peace and quiet of not hearing the little baby grunts and stirring in the night won us over completely!  After all we do love as much undisturbed sleep as possible.
Grandpa and Grandma Wiebe arrived for a visit and immediately took to the task of getting to know Ezra.  He is becoming more and more delightful, engaging us with smiles when we least expect it.  We are establishing the pattern of eat, play, sleep in a 3 hour cycle patterned after the "Baby Wise" methods.  And it's as helpful to me in knowing what to expect from the day as it is for Ezra.

7 weeks

Waiting for the doctor for 2 month check up

Playing with Grandpa

Grandpa has the gift of play and enjoys showing Ezra new ways to play and interact with his environment.  This week with some positioning help from Grandpa, Ezra discovered he could kick the bars of his play mat and make his toys shake and he LOVES this now.  Ezra had his check up at the doctor and is doing great.  He weighs in at 12lbs now and had a good check over from Dr. V.  He did protest his physical by crying and peeing on the doctors table but it was quickly over and he was settled back into his carseat and headed home in no time.  We had Ezra's baby dedication on Sunday and it was a special time for us and the church.

Christmas morning

8 weeks
Ezra's first Christmas was spent celebrating at home.  Gifts were opened in the morning and 4pm meal shared with us, Grandma and Grandpa Wiebe, and another couple from the church without local family.
Then we packed up and headed to Kelowna just after Christmas for our first road trip with baby.  We decided to break up the trip and head out after church Sunday afternoon and drive the first 3.5 hour leg and stay over in Canmore, AB and then to finish the last 5.5 hours the next day.  Ezra did amazing.  It could've helped that he had his own personal traveling companions in the backseat to return soothers to his mouth as needed and take blankets off or put them on as the temperatures fluctuated in the vehicle to keep him at ultimate comfort sleep mode!



9 weeks
But on the way home we took the whole trip in one day leaving Kelowna at 8:30am and arriving home at 13 hours later.  Again Ezra did great.  We took the opportunities for him to stretch his legs and play when we could...the inside section of a booth tabletop at Smitty's while we had dinner etc.  Otherwise, he slept while we were in motion in the car.

I certainly look forward to seeing the many changes another month brings, but as for now we see what each day holds.