John Lew

John Lew
born 1:58 am, Wednesday, July 13, 2011
7 pounds 14 ounces, 20.5 inches

Okay, so the photos I took at the hospital aren't so great. I'll try to get some better ones up next week.

We had a very good labour and delivery. In a nutshell: A contraction woke me up very close to midnight, John was born just before 2 am, and we were home for dinner. We were lucky that my OB (also my friend) was on call and so I got to have her deliver each of the kids.

Or in a little more detail ....

I decided to go in to the hospital right away when I had a second contraction. Susanna zipped over to watch the kids until Poh-Poh and Gung-Gung could arrive (Thanks, Su, P and G!) and we were out our door at 12:30. On the drive over, in Dion's first drive of the new-to-us Mazda 5, we briefly discussed names, since we hadn't exactly pinned one down, but we still didn't come to an agreement. Driving in the middle of the night was easy, of course, but parking was a pain, so to speak.

I thought that the point of having pre-registered was to avoid 100 questions in triage but that didn't seem to work this time. I had a couple of monster contractions in triage and by the time they examined me, I was 100% effaced and 8 cm dilated with baby at station -2. Even I was surprised that I was that close. By the time I got to the labour and delivery room, it was already time to push. The whole thing was a little surreal because at no point did it really sink in that I was so far along. Even as we were delivering the shoulders I was thinking, "Wow, already?" John and I were both in good shape (all things considered), he ate like a champ right from the word go, and we got discharged early.

I knew immediately that his name was going to be John, though I knew Dion wasn't completely sold. I told (yes, told) Dion that he could choose a middle name if he wanted a J.P. or J.J. or something or if he thought that "just" John was too ho-hum or too grown-up for a baby. But I pointed out that Jay is a good nickname for John and that I was perfectly happy to continue the pattern that the boys - he, Adam, and John - have no middle name but that Naomi and I do. And that was all the persuading I needed to do. Dion decided that he'd used all his baby-naming mojo on Naomi, so, John it is. Dion still isn't sure how we'll say John in that boy-are-you-in-trouble tone but adding the last name always helps. I do do that with Adam.

Some readers may not know that my family tree is full of Johns. My brother is John Ian, father John David, and grandfather John Norman. The pattern goes back a few more generations, too. Also on my father's side I have a cousin John. My mother's sisters (twins) are Jean and Joan and I assume that they were named after their maternal grandfather and uncle, both of whom were John Paterson. I'll have to ask.

Adam and Naomi are adjusting remarkably well. Naomi is thoroughly fascinated, sometimes a little too fascinated. Adam was stand-offish at first but he has really warmed up to John. He was really proud to take a copy of the picture of him, Naomi, and John to daycare on Thursday. Thanks again to Poh-Poh and Gung-Gung for making and delivering those prints. They were really useful as a conversation starter, i.e., for short-circuiting what we thought might be a difficult daycare drop-off. Thanks for that idea, Rebecca.

John's timing could hardly have been better. Not only did I get all the way through the school year but I'd even got a couple of weeks to relax and to get a few things done, like buying a car. All through my pregnancy, my own estimate for his arrival had been Friday the 15th (officially he was due on the 22nd but Adam and Naomi were both about a week early) so I "knew" that last weekend was my last weekend and I'm glad we made the best of it. I bought the car on Saturday and on Sunday, we went with the Ho's to Centreville, which was a lovely day. I'd also just reached the point on Monday where I was completely done with being pregnant, although that clearly is not coincidental with going into labour on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. We took delivery of the Mazda on Tuesday afternoon, i.e., just in time. I'd even wondered whether it was really a good idea for me to be driving out to Mississauga by myself because I'd had some spells of being miserably uncomfortable. One of those times was Monday night, when I couldn't sleep, so I got and packed a hospital bag (finally.) Another of those times was Tuesday, just before dinner, when I called Dion at work to tell him that I was not in labour but I still wanted him to come home instead of going to ultimate because I just didn't think I had it in me to get through Adam and Naomi's dinner, bath, and bed by myself.

I feel like I'm forgetting something - Questions?

Check Ups

Adam and Naomi had their annual checkups yesterday. Clean bills of health and growth.

Here are the stats* for Adam at 4 years, 2 months:

. your child is 44 pounds, and that is
. at the 91st percentile for weight.

. your child is 44 inches, and that is
. at the 97th percentile for height.

and for Naomi at 24 months:

. your child is 24 pounds, and that is
. at the 15th percentile for weight.

. your child is 34.5 inches, and that is
. at the 65th percentile for height.

That second percentile doesn't ring true to me, mainly because our paed quoted 75th percentile to me and, I suppose, partly because her narrowness makes her seem so much taller.

*from http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_kidscn_calc.htm?gender=1&years=4&months=2&cwt=44&chf=3&chi=8&chi_percent=0&submitButtonName=Calculate+Percentiles

Happy Second Birthday, Naomi!

Happy Father's Day, Dion!

In these pics are a card and bracelet by Adam (with a little help from his daycare teachers) and three books:
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle from Adam,
I Love My Daddy Because ... , from Naomi (I helped choose), and
Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman from me. I can't wait to read it once Dion's done with it. I'm hearing lots of great things.

As a further gift to you, Dion, I won't post any photos of you.

Not bad, Adam.

Adam's first try at wrapping a present by himself. He picked out Lady (a toy train engine) for Naomi's birthday based on one of her favourite Youtube videos. The beads were his idea, too, although he had been hoping for glitter glue. I think all glue at daycare is glitter glue but we've only got the old-fashioned white school glue.

Bath time!

They were indeed having fun. It's actually a treat for them to bathe together, which usually only happens when I'm on bath duty because Dion is out. Otherwise, the routine is bath in series. Usually Dion bathes and I handle story time.

Naomi, almost two years old.

Really. almost two. It really feels like just the other day that she was born. And yet, it's like we've known each other forever. This feeling may be amplified by just how similar she and I are. She is definitely my child. I don't know if "high-spirited" is exactly the phrase because that seems to be tossed around as a euphemism for bratty these days and that's not at all the case. She's mostly good-natured, cooperative, and low-maintenance. But she is like me, in that she can be very exuberant, affectionate, very focussed, and yes, very independent and strong-minded.

Naomi is very capable and resourceful. For example, she carries the step stool around the apartment to extend her reach. She can and will dress herself with little-to-no assistance. The other day, she persuaded me to take her swimming (our building has a roof-top pool and an indoor whirlpool) because, while I wasn't watching, she got herself completely undressed, and into a swim diaper, bathing suit, and crocs. Not that she's completely averse to being helped; she will ask for help when it's necessary. She's pretty intrepid with physical challenges and joining in with other kids. She was as much a participant in Adam and Clare's dance class as they were sometimes and followed directions (copied motions) quite well. On the other hand, she can be cautious with unfamiliar adults.

Naomi will speak up quite clearly to make herself understood for the most part. At least I understand her well; Norman had trouble understanding her when he was babysitting the other night. Her speech has exploded in the past few months, such that she is now consistently speaking in 3-5 word sentences, often even more. Subject-verb-adjective-object is pretty solid. And also the imperative: "Adam, no pushing!" "Adam no touch Naomi, please!" You get the idea.

Hopefully, her verbal skills will ramp up even more in the next little bit because we do have our misunderstandings and frustration and tantrums do ensue. Trying to talk her down can be counter-productive when the root of the frustration is difficulty with communication (receptive or expressive), though often the frustration is simply about not getting her way. Sorry, I know you don't like it, but you do need to either sit in the stroller or put on shoes. You are not crossing Yonge Street in bare feet. Unfortunately for Naomi, her mother is at least as stubborn as she is.

More of Naomi in a snapshot as she is about to turn two:

LIKES and INTERESTS

• swimming
• brightly coloured and patterned clothing
• shoes and boots
• reading. favourites right now: Green Eggs and Ham, Master of the Railway
  
• noodles, rice, cheese, cereal (especially "purple cereal," aka Raisin Bran, in her blue bowl)
• Thomas and Friends
• ladybugs and bears
• bus and subway rides
• singing, esp: ABCD, If You're Happy and You Know It, Itsy Bitsy Spider, London Bridge, Humpty Dumpty, 5 Little Monkeys, Head and Shoulders
  
• Youtube, or "watching" as she calls it. One favourite: Patti Labelle Sings the Alphabet on Sesame Street
• tidying up
• helping cook
• young children, especially Clare and Julia but also strangers
• high fives
• riding in the stroller, half the time

DISLIKES

• riding in the stroller, the other half of the time. She's rarely indifferent to the idea.
• pyjamas and blankets. just a diaper TYVM
• waking up. Beware the waking bear.
• going to bed at night
• soft drinks "bubble drink"
  

INDIFFERENCES

• the toilet. *le sigh*
• the new baby. She really has no clue. She goes with me to my prenatal checkups and sometimes she'll dance to the baby's heartbeat but otherwise nothing is registering, that I can tell.

SKILLS she's pretty much mastered

• saying and identifying each letter of the alphabet
• counting to 12
  
• chunky board puzzles
• fastening clips, like highchair and carseat clips
  

SKILLS she's working on these days

• counting with her fingers
• counting to 20. I think she usually gets to 17ish without mistakes.
• niceties: please and thank you. Reminders are often required. We've cut out "you're welcome" for the time being because she was starting to take our "you're welcome" as a correction of her "thank you."
• putting in a hair clip
• zippers, buttons, snaps and opening clips
  
• singing. She's doing a half-decent job conveying the melody and meter of familiar songs.
• opening doors and the fridge. grrrr.
• saying her own name. It usually comes out "Omi." pretty cute.
• waking the dead. Honest to God, sometimes the shrieking is just so LOUD and protracted.
  

What am I forgetting?

Up Close and Personal with Naomi

Mother's Day Playground Fun, Part II

Whuhd'y'mean not Naomi's?

on the slide

Mother's Day Playground Fun, Part I

Four years old and as cute as ever. But did I not just give him a haircut?

Silly Face, The Eldest

Easter, just before dinner

So lovely it hurts. Good thing I didn't come across this one on Mother's Day.

Shades of Adam

Silly Face, The Elder

Silly Face, The Younger