Milk Coma

From what we've heard and read, breast milk is an amazing thing. Its composition and amount changes according to the time of day, season, baby's age, baby's demand, and probably more.

The initial milk that a baby receives in a feeding is referred to as the foremilk. It is high in carbs and is thin. I guess this serves to wake a baby up at the beginning of a feeding so he can get down to business. The composition changes as a feeding progresses and becomes creamier. This is referred to as the hindmilk and it also contains tryptophan. I guess this would help to knock baby out so he can dream of his next dairy cocktail.

While what I have said is anecdotal and based somewhat on hearsay, it seems to bear out. The little turkey sure looks like he got run over by a milk truck :-)

Mixed-Member Proportional

Isaac attended his first political gathering last night at an all-candidates debate in our riding, St. Paul's.

We are having a provincial election and referendum here in Ontario on October 10th. Isaac is not able to vote, but if he could he would definitely vote for the proposed new political system, mixed-member proportional (MMP). MMP would allow us to select both a preferred local candidate and a political party. The new system would have us choose "local" MPPs (Members of Provincial Parliament) in the traditional way in 90 newly created, larger ridings instead of the existing 107 constituencies. Then, we would also vote for the party of choice, on the second part of the ballot, to select an additional 39 MPPs from lists of candidates compiled by the parties prior to the election. This is the way that democracy has already evolved in New Zealand and Germany, ensuring that parties that have a percentage of the popular vote aren't completely frozen out of winning seats. For more information, see http://www.yourbigdecision.ca.

Isaac started fussing when the Conservative candidate got up to speak, subtly indicating who he won't be voting for :)

9 pounds 11 ounces

The midwives, Lindsay and Myriam, came for their last home visit on Saturday Sept. 22. The evidence that Isaac is eating well? He's gained 22 ounces in 10 days, weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds 11 ounces. If he keeps gaining a pound a week, the little butterball will be heavier than the Christmas turkey in December!

Isaac's first trip on the TTC

On Saturday we ventured down to Bloor Street to pick up some sushi. The weather was lovely, and Isaac slept soundly in the Baby Bjorn, woke up to snack at the sushi restaurant, and then started to make more stirring noises on the walk home. Plus, it was getting dark so mom and dad decided to jump on the Christie bus to make it home a bit faster. We rode at the back of the bus, and our punk kid wore is hat at a jaunty angle to intimidate the other Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) riders :)

Flatjacks

Every Thursday morning, my mother would make us pancakes for breakfast before school. This weekly meal fueled my life-long appetite for pancakes. Or perhaps it was her recognition of such.

In any case, whenever I had the opportunity at a restaurant, I would seldom pass up the opportunity for a fluffy, flour, milk, and egg-based excuse for maple syrup. Other people could never quite capture the way she made hers, though, and the difference lay in that one word: fluffy.

Dad's efforts would more closely resemble the traditional, fluffy variety. Mom's version more closely resembled a really dense crepe. I didn't necessarily prefer one variety of the other. Like I said, it's all about the maple syrup :-)

This weekend, I was curious to discover where the difference lay. Yesterday I made the standard pancakes as per The Joy of Cooking. This morning I dug out Mom's recipe and gave it a go. The key was a much smaller proportion of baking powder: 1 and 3/4 Tablespoons (TJOC) versus 2 teaspoons (Mom's). Given that baking powder is a leavening agent, this now makes sense.

For mainly my sister's benefit, below is the recipe for Mom's pancakes:

Pancakes

Add wet to dry

Beat together in 4c pyrex measuring cup:
1.5 C milk
2 eggs
1 T oil
1 t white sugar

Sift together in large bowl:
1.5 C flour
2 t baking powder
0.5 t salt

Turn when bubbles pop

New Family

What does it mean to be a family? Staring at Isaac every day for the past two weeks have given me lots of time to contemplate the meaning of this word. I've decided that it boils down to loving each other as much as we can and helping each other live happily and peacefully. Lots of cuddling is the key!

Baby Open House

Over the past week Isaac has become quite the hot commodity. To satisfy the demand, we decided to hold visiting hours today for a few friends.

Many thanks to the Bobocktons and Gulywags for the bounty of food! We'll be eating well again this week.

McKay Family Visit

Pictured above are Ian (Jen's brother), Carlene, and their daughter, Jayla. It was especially fun to introduce Jayla to Isaac. She is almost one year old and wasn't quite sure what to make of her new cousin.

As seen between her father and her grampa (Jen's father Jim), Jayla turns on the charm for the camera:

First Trip Out

We finally ventured out with Isaac for the first time. Our destination was a cafe around the corner for their weekly breast feeding support drop-in. I'm sure it will be something for Jen to look forward to each week. Now Jen just has to find mother baby activities for the other 4 weekdays! Next up: Mom & Baby Salsa?

Present was a handful of mothers with their babies and tots. So now we know a few more parents in the area. I'm sure that Jen will have befriended every recent or new mother in the neighborhood in no time flat :-)

p.s. He was pretty cozy in that harness!

3 of 4 Generations

Jen's mother, Louise, and grandmother, Mary (aka Nonni), came by to spend some time with the little guy. For each, he is their second grandchild and great-grandchild, respectively.

Margin of Error

When the midwives previously came to weigh Isaac, I thought they meant 3714 g when they said 7-14. That would have been very close to Isaac's birth weight of 3715 g / 8 lbs 3 oz.

My mistake.

It really meant 7 lbs 14 oz so he actually he lost 5 oz in three days. That would make more sense. During yesterday's visit, he weighed 8 lbs 5 oz. So, care of regular feeding from Jen (Thanks Mom!), he's now started to pack it on.

Sneezes & Hiccups

Here's a funny little video of Isaac doing the baby thing.

Weights and Measures

Tonight the midwives came over to check up on us. Everything seems to be going fine. When weighed, Isaac seemed to have recovered to his birth weight. I'm not so sure that it was supposed to happen this quickly but he has been feeding really well. We'll see what future measurements say.

Midwives are great. It's been a real comfort to meet with ours over these past months. For the next 4-5 weeks we'll still be able to enjoy their support, but then it is on to the family doctor.

Lesson # 1

When baby is sleeping, you sleep, too.

Yesterday, Isaac's grandparents came over and we took advantage of Isaac's afternoon nap to visit with them. It was great to see Jen's mom, Louise, watching her second grandchild sleep.

Later, as Isaac lingered over his nocturnal feeding, we admitted to ourselves that the daytime schedule we were accustomed to just might have to change.

All is quiet now as Jen is putting lesson # 1 into practice.

Home Sweet Home

After a short car ride, we finally got home. Jen was getting pretty anxious to unwind and get into the shower. I gotta say it feels a lot better to have him home with us in our space.

One small confession: we had to pull over halfway home to make sure he was comfortable and still breathing. Typical first-time parent paranoia :-)

At the moment, mom and baby are sleeping. Or rather, Jen is staring at Isaac sleeping. It's tough to close your eyes and miss watching the most fascinating thing in the world.

Respect of the people forever

goes to Jenn Steidman for winning the baby pool with a guess of:

> Sept 6 - 12:01am - Jen S

Thanks to Nima for initiating the pool and donating the prize :-)

It was a close call as the minutes ticked closer to:

> Sept 7 - 4:00pm - Jason

Jason said he almost picked noon. The judges have ruled that "could have, should have, would have plus a wicked time zone difference (14 hours ahead in New Zealand)" will not affect the results (unlike last time).

Jen Steidman! You have earned my respect. Forever.

Isaac Albert Allan Smith

Wow.

After a long night of labor, with the help of some lovely midwives, nurses, and doctors, Jen delivered our long awaited baby at 1:11PM on Friday September 7, 2007.

Isaac Albert Allan Smith weighed in at 8 lbs and 3 oz.

Mom and baby are still at the hospital and are doing well. They should hopefully be home sometime Saturday afternoon.