Marlo's 6 Month Letter

Dear Marlo,

Today you are Six Months Old.  Wow it has gone by fast.  Even with the first five weeks feeling like a year long.

I feel like we have finally hit our groove.  I have come to accept that I am just not going to get as much done in a day as I had hoped.  You are a cat napper that will often only have two 20 minute naps in a day.   For the first three months you were home we could not get you to nap on your own.  You would only nap in my arms you wouldn't even sleep with daddy.   There were some nights I psychically couldn't hols you any more.  My arms and shoulder had not built up the muscles they needed to hold a baby for that many hours in a day.  We did get lucky for a while back in December when you were sleeping through the night.  This promptly ended the first week of January when you had a growth spurt that was visibly causing you pain.  You just cried and cried and ate and ate.  It was like you grew six inches over night.  There is only a few inches left in your bassinet.  It is only a matter of time before you move out of our room and into your crib.  I am not sure if I am ready for this big move.  It is much easier to just lean over and feed you through out the night and not have to get out of bed.

You are slowly starting to sleep a bit longer and not needing to eat as much through out the night.  you have also transitioned to falling asleep lying down and not in any ones arms.  At night we have a wrap that velcros closed and it is like a baby straight jacket.  You had such a hard time sleeping due to your little arms swinging and causing you to hit yourself and wake up. At first I thought it was cruel to bind you in only to discover you really like it.  You will not go to bed at night unless you are in it.  I am not sure what we are going to do when you out grow it.

You never managed to latch back on to breast feeding and I have been pumping ever since.  I have struggled with this many times and have shed several tears over it.  I was so determined to breast feed you.  I had a great support system of women that helped me in the process and even had Rachael sharing Laura's milk with you.  Your little belly struggled with the formula so much in the early days.  Now four months later you are on my milk and regular formula, you would have never known we had such a rocky road getting you home.  you are an average sized baby as of your last doctor's appointment.  If I had to guess I would say you are above average in weight now.

You have had rice cereal a few times with nonna and gobble it up.  You are not nearly as interested in the cereal when I am feeding you.  I gave you some carrot soup yesterday and you made an amazing squinty face and stuck your tongue out all three times.   It was pretty funny.  We sit you in your booster seat at every meal and let you play with a spoon. You love being at the table with us and you are getting really good at putting the spoon in your mouth.  Oh and you have learned how to drop things onto the floor too.  It is a pretty fun game.

I have chose to cloth diaper you unlike Otis.  The whole process has been pretty easy so far.  I have managed to get your dad on board too.  It only took a few months.  He has realized how much more cost effective cloth diapering is.  I won't lie we do cheat and use disposables at night.  Cheating works out great when you poop first thing in the morning.   Your poop kept us on our toes those first five weeks.  I am so happy you are as regular as can be.  The first night when we brought you home from the hospital you screamed bloody murder every time we needed to change your diaper.  Now you love getting your diaper changed.  Sometimes when you are loosing your mind we put you down on your change table and you settle right down.  You unlike your brother do not like to have a dirty bum.

You love to gibber jabber and your lips are starting to progress through different letters.  When you get really mad you yell "MAaaaaa" which is much better then a month or so ago when you would screech the most ear piercing noise you could imagine.  There were times I was sure my ears were bleeding and the windows had cracked.   Grunting is a favorite pass time for now.  You sound like a wookie sometimes.

Your legs and arms flap and kick at lightning speed.  If babies could fly you would take off.  It wasn't until the past month or so that you have had any interest in putting weight on her legs.  You are not a big fan of tummy time the anger of being on your tummy has led you to flip over onto your back.  You arch your body to flip over from back to front but you just can't finish pushing your self over.  I don't think you really want to as that would mean you are then on your tummy.

You can control your hands for the most part.  You are able to pick some things up and sometimes hold your bottle for a short time.  It is fun watching you focus on using your limbs.  You are very focused it took you all last week to work on getting your toes in your mouth.  Your were so proud of your accomplishment.  You are also a very serious baby.  You wear a very serous frown on you face, especially if you are meeting some one new.

You are in love with your brother.  You whole face lights up when he walks into a room.  He is the only one that can make you laugh.  We can make you giggle, but he can make you laugh from deep down in your belly.  It is amazing to watch.  There is this bond that you two have.  I look forward to watching it grow.  It is only a matter of time before your really annoy him though.  I assume it will start when you begin to travel around the house and play with his toys.  Today he told your dad and I that when you get older and you need little girls toys he would share his money from his money bowl to buy you some.

I am having a blast knitting cloths for you. There are just so many cute patterns out there.  I finish one and move right onto the next.  It is amazing how many things you have already grown out of.  Every time I do a load of you laundry several items never make it back into the dresser because they are to small.  You are a very lucky girls and have more clothes then one little girl needs.  Your closet is full of different size cloths some will fit you when you are three.

We have come up with many pet names for you:

• Miss Moe or Moe
• Marlo Moo
• Peanut Girl
• Bella Boo
• Boo Bigglezworth
• Pollo Loco

Zizi Miranda has been in New Zealand since September.  I have been sending her a picture a day while she has been there.  Here are many of them.

Love,

Mommy

PS. Otis wanted to say, "I love you so much and I love you love love you like a millions hearts cause you are my baby sister"

Few Minutes - I actually have some

I have had requests for more pictures, so here I go.  I have Marlo sleeping on my chest and I have my hands free to type.

These are pictures from over the last couple of weeks that have been collecting on the camera and phone.  I had a few minutes today to sort through them.  We have been doing really well here.  Breast feeding had been put on hold a few weeks back as she started to lose weight.  We are now working really hard to get her there again.  She is really growing now.  I had to move the straps up on the car seat to the next level.  She also started to out grow some of here teeny tiny sleepers.  Yay!!!

We get stopped everywhere we go.  When I tell people how old she is (because they always ask)  I then get the comment was she preemie.  I stumbled at first to answer as they look at me strange when I just answer no.  I now follow the no with she had tummy issues.  I forgot that having a baby meant everyone now stops and asks you questions.

Marlo turned two months old a couple of days ago.  We have had her home for four weeks now.  She is a pretty funny little girl.  She freaks out when she does not get food the second she wants it.  I assume a residual effect from not having food for two weeks.  She is also a mommy's girl and loves to be held.  So different from Otis.

At her last weigh in she weighed 7 lb 12 oz.  I was also given the go ahead to eat say again.  We promised Otis that as soon as I can eat say we will go to sushi.  We left the Dr's office and picked him up from school for a surprise lunch.  You would have thought it was Christmas based on his reaction and excitement.  

Her neck is getting much stronger and we don't feel like she is going to break as easily as she did before.   She is plumping up so well her innie belly button is now an outtie.  I had no idea that could happen.  

I love the picture below of everyone sleeping but me.  I have been getting a good amount of sleep.  I don't feel deprived of sleep.  Dave and Otis let me sleep in if it has been a really bad night.  for the most part Marlo wakes up once a night.  I am usually up  an hour feeding and pumping.  A few nights we have been really lucky she has so much to eat right before Dave and I go to bed that she sleeps until 6 or 7pm.

39 Months

Dear Otis,

So long ago you get it in pictures.

We have had a very wet spring. Yard work a plenty. You and I go out and check on our garden every day. We have been watching the beans grow and grow.

We have been spending as much time as possible outside.

I love you a bunch.

Love Mom

Like Mother Like Son

Last week just after dinner, Otis was playing on his bike. He called my name and this was the sight. I had to get a picture of this as it reminded me of me.

Picture above taken Circa 1979. I love the sparkly gold helmet.

38 Months

Dear Otis,

One of the most exciting things for you is your new slide. It took us a while to determine what type of play structure you were going to get you. I really wanted to build a structure from scratch but realized we just didn't have the time to do so. In the end you were lucky enough to get one with two swings, a slide, a play house and a thing. Both Papa and Nonna donated to the cause. Which allowed us to get one that gave us a lot more for our money.

It took Daddy and Papa 14 hours to put the thing together. There were two cookie sheets of screws, nut and bolts. The play set is strategically placed in the back yard so you can't see the whole thing when looking out of any window at the back of the house. I find the things a bit painful to look at. We also needed to keep enough room at the back of the yard for the Boccie Court. You are really good at giving people tours of the back yard and where everything will be.

Daddy surprised me with a day trip to Elora the first weekend of May. I had never been there and really wanted to go someday. It was really nice we went into many shops. Daddy took you to the toy store where you picked out a wood tractor. We saw the Waterfalls and had a nice lunch. We also saw many signs for the annual book sale at the curling club. Elora isn't very big so we found it rather quickly. We left with a large box of books.

Tony had a birthday party for Andrea B. We decided it would be a good time to bring your new wheels out for a walk. The walk was about twenty minutes long and through the park. I love having a new stroller so big that you, our stuff and a birthday present fit.

We went to Owen's baptism on Mother's Day. You did really well in church. We also went to Vesuvio's for Lunch. On the way to the restaurant Mommy and Daddy discovered our favourite breakfast place (Purple Onion) had moved a couple doors down from Vesuvio's. It made it very Hard to have pizza when all we wanted was steak and eggs.

May 24 was a week early this year. The house was full of people all weekend. Friday night we went over to Auntie Sean and Auntie Andy's. There was a party held in the honor of Auntie Sean's Unemployment. Jeremy you call him Journey and Phil became your new best friends that night. Saturday Auntie Jazz's Brother Calid was in town for one day/night. We went for lunch at Ethel's and hung out all day. That night Daddy went to the Jane bond with the gang. You, Curtis and I got to have a sleepover. Sunday was BBQ day. You can't have a long weekend and no BBQ. The crew came over, we played way passed your bed time. That night I got to fulfill my wish of getting fireworks. It was really fun to light things on fire.

On the Monday we had planned to go to Nonno's for a BBQ. As we were getting ready we determined that we would get stuck in traffic most of the day. No one in their right mind would decide to travel out of town at the end of the long weekend if they didn't have to. We spent the day together out and about. We managed to get a great deal of the front garden done. Our drive way has had a skid with stones, garden ties, mulch soil, etc. on it for most of the month. It felt great to get a chunk done.

The weather was always cold and rainy any time we had a chance to work on the yard. It's like the Spring rain has made you grow too. I swear you have grown three inches in the past month. You have really been into the tracing book you were given for your birthday. We have been able to play with the neighbourhood kids quite a bit. They are out all of the time. we also have them over to our yard now which is great. I can get things done and you are loving the attention.

I have determined you are a bit of an exhibitionist. if you had a choice you wouldn't wear cloths at all. You still don't use the potty all the time but the Peeing is going well. You say some of the funniest things. Last week you went to the mall with Daddy and decided that you had to go to Winners to buy some Underwear.

We are planting a garden this year. I hope to teach you about things growing. We will see how this goes in the coming months.

I love you will all my heart,

Mommy

37 Months

Dear Otis;

Again with the delay. I just found this post/letter in the draft section even though an other month has passed. I can barely remember what we did that long ago. I am going to get this posted and work on the next month.

Every one's birthday has come and gone. I am pretty sure you think your birthday lasts a month. You have been getting presents for over a month now. You are one very lucky boy.

Papa and Granny are back. Or should I say Papa is back. Granny had to go back out West. Her Dad "Old Erik" has been really ill and not doing well. Auntie Erica and Owen went out to see him too. We have been over for Dinner many times. As suspected the eating out has tapered off now that we have somewhere to go for dinner at least once a week.

Granny was home long enough to spend Easter with us. We had a great Family get together at Auntie Erika and Uncle Ian's House. We finally made it there for our first visit. They have only lived there a year and a half. We also got to spend the night before at Uncle Roger and Carrie's new place. Two birds on stone. Awesome.

The Easter Bunny found you at his house and left you presents on the steps outside. We painted your very first Easter eggs. You carried them in the basket I made for you everywhere you went. I think they are still in the fridge.

Nono and Nana came over for a birthday visit and brought you to buy a T-Ball set. You really like hitting the ball. I have been pitching the ball to you and you are able to hit it a lot of the time. Should a three year old be able to do that?

Nona came over for a visit and attacked the outside. We had so much yard waste to get rid of. She even cut down both of the bushes we didn't want. Nona didn't like the tree in the front garden either. She pruned it so much that we now need to cut it down as it looks like poop.

Ever since we got back from Jamaica your vocabulary has grown by leap and bounds. You are learning about discipline. We have put you to bed early for not listening. Any time we tell you it is bed time you now say I not listening?

I am sure there is more but as I said. I am a slacker and don't remebr what wles we did two months ago.

Love always,

Mommy

The Big 3 Bowski

Dear Otis,

I have begun this post many times. It has been in my draft section since March 17th. It is March 30th and I am just getting around to finishing it. I have had a bit of writer block getting started.


Three years ago I was sitting on my couch waiting to become a mom. Where would this road take me? What is coconut going to look like? Is it a boy or a girl. Your Birth was one of the most foreign things I could ever imagined happen to me. There was this baby, I knew he was mine and I knew I had to take care and provide for him. What I didn't know is when will I have that rush of emotion? When will I feel like a mom. I was completely disconnected from this baby. During that time I didn't tell anyone. How could I? I have been waiting a long time for you to get here.



The Days, weeks, months and now years have passed. That baby has grown to the smart, funny, imaginative little boy. A boy I couldn't imagine my life without. You keep me on my toes, full of laughter and happiness. Don't get me wrong you sure do know how to push my buttons. Like Nonna says "Payback is a bitch." By the way you recently began saying Bitch. You told Rose you learned it on T.V. You also learned the word Why. I always said that we were in trouble when you learn this word. So far so good.

It has been a few months since I have written you a letter. I thought about not writing one but then decided. I would regret it in the future if I haven't captured these thoughts for you. It has been a good few months. Lots of good things have happened to our family. You have begun to speak in sentences and begin conversations with just about everyone you meet.

You have become a whiz at the computer and play many games on PBS Kids. You can tell us what sound each letter of the alphabet makes and you can count to 17. You have also been asking me to count in one of three other languages we have been working on. I am hoping you will have the opportunity to go to a French emerson school. I think you will need the challenge by the time you get to school in a year and a half. Rose says you are already smarter than many if not all the kids she has looked after over the years.

Recently you have developed a stutter. This stutter is only on the first word of a sentance when you initiate the conversation. Everyone says not to worry. I think it is because your thoughts are way ahead of your mouth. You don't get frustrated which is a very good sign and we are very patient and help you through the words.

We have been working on bigger puzzles these days. You can put together 12 piece puzzles all by yourself. I have taught you how to find bits of picture in a piece and look for the rest of the picture in another. You began to show interest in playing the games we have in a cupboard in the living room. You are a sponge for knowledge. I had a few games in your room that we have started to play. At first the idea of taking turns didn't exist. It has been coming along nicely. We also got you a version of Kurplunk made with Honey Bees instead or Marbles. You think this is pretty fun. It just takes forever to set up.

Your hands are becoming steady when you want to write and you focus on what it is you are trying to do. I must say though, I am pretty sure your ears break sometimes and you forget to listen. We have spent a great deal of time working on listening skills and the word patience. You are doing well. We sometimes need to remember that you are only three and we too need to work on the word patience.

I must admit that now that you can communicate more it is much easier to reason with you. Sometimes we will ask you to do something you don't want to do and once we have convinced you, you will say "AWHHH O.K." You are so polite you say please and thank-you for every thing.

You like to go to the book store and the mall because both of these places have Thomas train tables set up that you get to play at. I do believe that you are a mall pooper (by the way Pooper isn't in this readers dictionary. I wonder is it will be in the dictionary by the time you read these letters) Everytime we go to the mall and you get to the train table you poop within minutes. It is quite amazing actually. It has happened the last four times we have been there. One time I had just changed you before we left.

We read books to you all the time. Piles of them. Daddy reads a book called "Go Track A Yak". He reads it to you with the voices of Gypsy's. It is amazing. I love listening to him read it to you. I think it is your favourite book right now. Oh and you have an imaginary Author. Everytime we read a book to you after we say who wrote and illustrated the book we have to then say and Mally Julia. Who know where she came from but she has been around for a while now. Daddy is back to work he was off for just over three months with his knee. It is still bothering him but he says it is bearable.

I got you a drum from Jamaica. You Love Music of all kinds. You can recognize any rock band song we have when it is playing somewhere. It is mind blowing. You also know the lyrics to many songs already. You can sing the turtle song from beginning to end.

Jamaica was great you had such a fun time. I really wished Daddy could be there with us. Just before Take off I realized how much I wished we were all on that plane. I could not imagine what he would do if something would have happened to us. I actually had a momnet in which I was afarid to fly. It passed quickly and we were on our way. You made friends with a lot of people and they would all say hi to you when we walked by them. We were delayed for 24 hours, you were a trooper through the whole event.

You haven't really slept in your room since Christmas. It has been off and on. We have been travelling and visiting people all the time which has made it hard to transition you back to the big bed from your little bed. You do however understand that we will be there for you and there is nothing to be scared of as this has been a theme in the past.

Curtis turned one last month. You two are interacting a lot more now as he gets older. He lights up when he sees you. Hampton is doing well too. He has been to the Vet to get fixed. It didn't really phase you all that much that he was at the docotrs over night.

Zizi Miranda has moved to Ireland. We talk to her on the phone sometimes. Papa and Granny have been gone since December. They Went to B.C for the winter. You ask about them all of the time. They will be home in the next week. Yeah!!!!! Everyone else in our family is doing fine.

So after these very fast years in your life I can't believe there was ever a time where I was so disconnected from you. You have made waking up every morning a joy, even on the ones that I would love to get just a little more sleep. I love hearing your little voice say "Mommy" and I love that I am the person that can make everything better in you world. In a few short years this won't be the case so I will try to remember and cherish every moment I can.

Love Always
You Mommy

P.S. I just went through the everyday pictures of you and realized there weren't many to pick from as you spend a big part of you time naked. You go on the potty when you are naked.

33 Months

It is almost Christmas. You are now relating Santa to Christmas. You definitely have clued into the getting presents thing. The advent calendar has been a huge success. You make sure to ask for your present.

ZiZi Miranda has spent most of this month with you. You had a flu this month that has wiped out just about everyone we know. You had the runs for over a week. You would cry if you had to toot. "No Poop - No Poop" You were terrified. You stayed home from Rose's for the week and made everyone crazy. You were very whiny and had no patience. Who could really blame you. you didn't feel well.

A classic kid moment came out of the weekend you had the flu.

You love to cook eggs. You can do everything but the actual cooking. On the Sunday of the flu I had no energy and could not get up off the couch. I heard you in the Kitchen. When I asked you what you were doing you said "cookn' eggs". I could hear you cracking the eggs. I asked you where you were putting the eggs and you said "In a bowl. I thought to myself how bad can that be Dave will just cook them when he gets downstairs.

After you were done cracking the eggs you got some spices to season the eggs. You managed to pour a whole jar of Cinnamon and Basil in the bowl. When Daddy got downstairs he almost lost it. You had cracked almost a whole dozen eggs into a colander. They had dripped allover the floor. Basically the whole floor was covered in raw eggs. Although it was extremely funny I wasn't allowed to laugh due to the anger of having to clean the eggs on little sleep.

Nona had her birthday in November. She was here for her birthday helping us get the outside ready for winter. You sang her happy birthday many times that day, she even got it on video.

You and I baked you first batch of Rice Crispie Squares. You had a lot of fun and ate many marshmallows. Now every time you see a Rice Crispie commercial you get excited and say "we made it" "Crifpies".

You have began to speak in sentences this month. It was like it came out of no where one day you are saying single words and the next there were full sentences. It is almost unbelievable if I hadn't watched it happen. You have also began to express your likes and dislikes. "No like dat song", "No like my big bed" are a couple of them.

Drumming, guitar and playing hockey in the living room are still at the top of your list of things you want to do. You got an early Christmas present of mini Hockey sticks and a carpet puck that bounces off of anything without damaging it.

We have been playing on the laptop lately. You play Word World. Between that and the leap frog thing on our fridge you have learned what a lot of the letters "Say". I will have to track down a few good websites for you to play on.

You also really enjoy taking pictures with my camera. I can't wait to see how much you like having your own camera. Zizi Miranda had a couple prepaid disposable cameras that you have been allowed to use. You know how to turn the flash on and wind the winder to take a new picture.

Picture Taken By You

Starting today threw to next week you will receive so many present we won't know what to do with them. I can't wait to see you reactions.

Love,

Mommy