A Lot Can Happen in a Week...

...including a certain newborn gaining almost a full pound! That's right. At Elliott's doctors appointment today, he weighed in at a whopping 7lbs 8oz. He managed to grow a centimetre in length as well. Way to grow Elliott. It sure is nice knowing that feeding every two hours is making such a huge impact.

Today, Pat went back to work after his ten days of parental leave. We really enjoyed our time off together and both Elliott and I were sad to see him go. I guess all good things must come to an end. Thankfully it's a short week, so Pat can ease himself back into work!



Tonight will be my first evening alone with both boys. I've got to admit I am a bit nervous. I am not quite sure how I am going to manage it - but I am thinking that Elliott will have to deal with being in his swing while I bathe and put Avery to bed. Hopefully both boys cooperate.



Tomorrow, Michele, her darling Oliver, Elliott and I will be hitting up Toronto's Spring One of a Kind Show. We are both a bit nervous about how much money will be spent. I'll try my best to behave, but I am not making any promises ;)

Week One

One week ago today, we were welcoming our beautiful Elliott into our lives. Things feel exactly the same as they did with Avery and at the same time entirely different. Elliott has been an excellent eater. I don't feel like I will have to worry about his weight gain as I did with Avery. However, he hates sleeping alone, something Avery had no problems with. Elliott just loves being held and prefers to sleep in our arms, which is nice for the first couple weeks of life. However, I would like to have him sleep comfortably in his crib, so that mommy, daddy and baby can get a good night's rest.

I know it's not possible already, but I swear Elliott smiled at me today. It is just the cutest thing, even if it's just gas. It's crazy how quickly he is changing in his appearance; he looks way different today than he did two days ago. Pat and I keep making guesses as to what colour his hair and eyes will be. We both think he's going to have hazel eyes (like mommy) and blond hair like his big brother. I know we still have quite a bit of time before these details emerge, but it's always fun to speculate.

Thankfully it seems as though Elliot enjoys the swing. It will make it easier to get things done around the house once Pat goes back to work. He's in there right now, actually. He's not even asleep, he's just happily swinging back and forth.



With the fleeting wonderful weather, Pat, Elliott and I have been trying to take advantage by going for many walks. It feels so nice to be outside in the fresh air. When Avery got home from daycare today, we spent a bit of time outside. Avery loved testing out his new rain boots in the mud! He also loves the tricycle that Aunt Michele & Uncle Jerry got him for Christmas. While he can't really ride it, he enjoys rolling down the hill, having Daddy catch him at the bottom of our driveway. It seems as though a cold spell is upon us, so I am so happy that we were able to burn off some energy until we're forced to stay indoors for a while.



Oops... I hear my littlest one now from the swing. Something else he shares with his big brother - hiccups. He constantly gets them after eating. They just sound so darned adorable! I'd better go get him.

Welcome to the World, Elliott!

Call it coincidence or call it fate (I like to think the latter)... little Elliott William Patrick O'Brien was born on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010. I call it fate because Avery was born on Pat's mother's mother's birthday and Elliott arrived in our arms on Pat's father's father's birthday. And it's just fitting that it also happened to be St Patrick's Day, which is why we had to add Patrick in his name somewhere. Pat was gunning for Patrick II or Patrick Junior but I squashed that idea - hell, since I'm the one who went through labour, I think I'm allowed to vito something, right?



Everything about Elliott's delivery was wonderful; the day was beautiful and the labour was quick (a mere 4 1/2hrs) and the pushing was even quicker (only 10 minutes!!!). As my sister says, I am made for having babies, although I beg to differ.



Since Elliott has been home, things have been going incredibly well. He's an eating and pooping machine! We actually just got back from Elliott's first doctor's appointment and in 5 days, he has managed to get back up to his birth weight. Way to go E!




And of course, we can't forget about our darling Avery. He has been so sweet with Elliott, constantly wanting to kiss and hold him (not always as gently as I'd like). We couldn't ask for anything more.



I can't wait to see how Elliott grows and changes in the next couple of weeks because if I remember correctly from our first time around, the changes are quite dramatic. I can't wait to see how my two boys interact as they get older. I can only imagine our house will resemble something of a zoo... an adorable zoo for sure, but crazy. I can hardly wait!

A Hard Day's Night

Things have been kind of rough around the O'Brien household this week... the worst being Friday night. Av has been fighting some sort of illness that I caught and now it seems as though Pat might have fallen victim as well. It has made the night times particularly difficult. Friday night Avery woke up just after midnight and just couldn't fall back asleep. We tried taking him for a walk at 2am, but that did nothing except give our neighbors something to chat about. Finally at 5am, I strapped Avery into his car seat and drove around the West end. I've got to say that I find it incredibly hard to drive without a destination. So, even though I really don't like it, I drove to a Tim Horton's drive through. At this point, I had slept maybe three hours in total, so gross or not, I needed caffeine. Thankfully, the drive did the trick and Avery got some much needed rest.

We took him to the clinic in the morning and even though the doctor couldn't find anything really wrong with him, he gave us some medication. It certainly did the trick, since last night he slept for almost eleven hours straight. Today, he seems like his old self - rambunctious and a little crazy.

We hit up Ikea this morning for breakfast with Chris & Ashley. While we were there, we picked up some new paints for Avery. As you can see from the picture, he was thoroughly enjoying the new purchase.





It's been quite miserable out this weekend, so we've been keeping busy indoors. One thing we love to do is dance. Avery really gets into it, spinning around until he falls down. Hopefully all of this activity means that he's on the road to recovery.



Avery is very intune with his body and understands the necessity of stretching after so much dancing. He loves doing his downward dog yoga pose. Honestly, Avery shows Pat and I new things about himself all the time. Who knew he could do such things! In fact, when we were at the clinic, Avery kept saying something that I thought was "cream." He was actually saying "crane" because he saw a crane outside the window and wanted a better look at it. He is one smart cookie.

Spring Fever

The mild winter didn't leave any of us less excited for the warm weather. In fact, it's made us down right crazy. Avery has been more energetic than normal (I didn't think that was possible!).

We've been enjoying this brief thaw by taking walks around Roncy and through the park. We haven't hit up any playgrounds yet (it's still a bit cold and muddy), but I am sure that's not far behind. Today on our walk through the neighborhood, we came across a most horrific sight. Our favourite brunch spot, Freshwood Grill, closed down. They had the most amazing wraps that came with delicious sweet potato fries. In the summer the patio was always packed. It's such a shame. Thank goodness Roncy is filled with great places to eat; it will just be a battle deciding on which one is our new favourite.

Avery with rice up his nose




We've been enjoying the last few weeks of calm before the new baby arrives by having some family outings. This morning we hit up my favourite patisserie, Ma Maison. I can not tell you how much damage I will do there while on maternity leave (both on the pocket and on my waistline!).

Avery is loving the toddler room at school. He and his two best friends, Andy and James, are like the three musketeers. They actually swap shoes all the time; Avery was wearing Andy's running shoes on Friday when I went to pick him up. Apparently they trade boots as well. It's nice to know he adjusted rather quickly to the change. Hopefully he'll do just as well with the arrival of his little brother. I guess we'll find out soon enough!