The Past Week

Cadence is starting to change so quickly; he's starting to reach for things, including food off my plate. He's wanting to sit up a lot with support, and today he had two naps in his crib, after being put down awake (he usually neds to nurse to sleep, or be rocked). He's rolling over more (front to back), smiling a lot, and just being much more personable. Life here is good; we're staying busy and cntinuing to really enjoy te envirinment and quality of life.

Last weekend we volunteered at a fundraiser for a local trails system. We were cheerleaders for the participants as they passed by, and provided beverages & sugary treats for them. Was fun and we got to participate without having to actually get any exercise :)


My dad came over for a day last weekend as well; here is Cadence watching Sunday football with his grampa.


Cadence is teething; I check every day but still nothing there. In the meantime he's chewing on anything and everything. Bonus points to anyone can identify what he's chewing on here.


Before bath time (which he's once again into, thank goodness). Notice the pudge.



My Uncle Bill and Aunt Barbara came through on their way home to Cochrane yesterday. Their first time meeting both Drew and Cadence. After looking at some of the pics from their visit, I'm seeing a definite resemblance between Cadence and his Great Uncle.


We woke up to this morning to a winter wonderland. Dressed up the baby and tested out the sled...although I think it was more amusing for us than for him.

Cadence and Jordan

Our friend Sharilynn came to visit for five days with her son Jordan; he was born in Toronto just two weeks after Cadence. We had a fantastic visit, and I think the boys learned a lot from one another.

Some highlights:
- Cadence rolling over (front to back)! He did it three times but hasn't done it since; he's gone back to just getting mad when we put him on his tummy.
- Ordering a fancy Chinese dinner to celebrate Jordan's first poo in six days (yes this is what life comes to with a baby)
- Cadence watching Jordan sitting up all the time (with assistance of course), and now doing the same
- The boys both wetting their clothes at the coffee shop and getting to hang out naked together while clothes dried

Here are some pics from the past week. Sharilynn will likely be posting pics on her blog as well: www.jordanreesburns.blogspot.com

Jordan and Cadence playing on the mat together. We suspect that neither one knows that the other one is there.


We bought a great glider rocker second hand while our visitors were here; it appears to do the trick for Cadence.


Sharilynn, Jordan and I being tourists in Cobalt:


He misses his friend already...


And here's Cadence wearing his favourite little jumper, knit lovingly before he was born by our dear friend Miia:

Baby's First Thanksgiving

We spent a wonderful weekend in Sudbury, where Cadence got to meet his cutie pie cousin Ryan, and spend time with family. He slept both ways in the car, waking right when we arrived at our destination.

After this weekend, when we got to see little Ryan's grebedtime routine, we're now ready to transition Cadence to his own bed. We don't have a crib yet, so have set up his playpen in hs room, with the rocking chair, baby monitor, etc. Night One was not a success. He slept for two hours, then another hour after a feeding & diaper change, then that was it. He just would not stop screaming, and it didn't occur to me that he might be hungry so Drew & I just kept trying everything else. Finally Drew plopped him in bed next to me where he fed eagerly, and I was so tired we all just fell asleep. It should have occurred to me that he might be going through a growth spurt; he was feeding more frequently than usual yesterday afternoon & it's continued this morning. Anyway, we'll give it another go tonight. No big plans this week, so we can afford to be waking zombies if necessary. Wish us luck!

Otherwise things are well. I'm playing basketball once per week, and loving it. Drew is feeling more settled in the house. Tofu is going to daycare once per week, to get some social time. I'm going to start swimming this week with a friend, and even went running one morning last week. Feeling better, more energized, etc.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Grampa had a great time with little Cadence. Here the baby seems to be looking at me like I have two heads.


This past Friday Cadence held his head up for quite a while during tummy time--for the first time. My "what to expect" book tells me that by three months this is something he should be doing, and he turned three months on Saturday! I don't think of myself as all that competitive, but boy is it hard not to look at those milestones and measure up against them!


Walking before dinner on Saturday. Cadence is napping in his sling, but still getting the benefits of fresh air! (and yes his ears are covered).


A Thanksgiving Portrait: L to R: Drew, Tofu, Amanda, Cadence, Grampa (Gil), & Gammy (Nancy)

The Swing, The Tree, Tofu, Coffee.

It's been a nice week. The weather has improved a bit (not just rain), we've had some nice outings. I spent one afternoon this week with Kelly and little Clayton, where Cadence got to try his little swing. Reminded me that we have a swing for Cadence, thanks to his Uncle Mike & Aunt Wendy & Cousin Ryan...I got to thinking, hey I wonder whether Cadence is big enough to use it yet? And he is! Turns out the swing reclines so he doesn't have to be fully sittting on his own to use it. All this time...anyways, he seems to quite like it. Tofu looks on with interest.


We had a little ceremony outside this week to celebrate Cadence's joining us in the world. We read Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree (gift from the fantastic duo Jen & Dave).



Here is Cadence exploring the feel of Tofu's fur. Tofu is tuckered out from a day at Flo's daycare.


This morning's sunrise. Which I got to see, because Cadence was awake about every hour all night. Hmph. Have added a touch of regular coffee to the decaf today, but I bet I'll pay for it with a baby who doesn't want to nap either. Oh well. Tonight I play basketball at 8:30, which is going to cut into what has become my normal bedtime. Hopefully I get a second wind by then, or I'll be completely useless (more so than usual) on the court :)

Fall is Here

Before I forget, I've adjusted the settings so you don't have to be a member to comment. So please feel free to send a note anytime!

Life here is good. There's something about being here that's just more manageable in scale. Fewer people, more of whom we know (so we have frequent opportunities to run into friends in the street), also less clutter in this northern world, which for me means deeper breathing and a sense of peace that I haven't felt in a long time. One of my favourite features of this community is the drop-in culture: friends who are nearby will just drop in for a visit, for spontaneous dinner, for tea. There's always enough, there's always room. It's just implied that people aren't too busy for spontaneity, and I love it.

Nana came to visit last week. We had a great visit and can't wait to see her again!


Congratulations to my dear friend Kaarina on her engagement--can't wait to celebrate! Here's Kaarina with Cadence back in Toronto:


Drew and I are starting to find ways to exercise, as replacement for the bike commute we no longer have. Drew is out mountain biking with a friend this morning, and I've started playing basketball once a week in a women's league. I went to a baby & mom yoga class, but spent the majority of it feeding Cadence. We walk into town when we can, generally once per day although it's been raining a lot so we've been a wee bit remiss on that one.

This coming weekend is Thanksgiving and we're very much looking forward to our trip to Sudbury for a visit.

The little jelly-bean has started napping well, thanks to Drew's swaddling technique, but still wakes up every two hours at night. Hmph. I wish I could swap nightime sleep for daytime naps.


Cadence really likes his daddy's jokes.


To celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary, the whole family went to Kap Kig Iwan park. Not a very nice day, but beautiful there nonetheless.


I'm starting to see a resemblance between dad and baby :)


Amanda in KL

Cadence updates

I just realized that I haven't updated much on Cadence lately, so here goes:

weight: up to 15 lbs we guess (it's been a couple of weeks since was last weighed)

neat things he does: tries to talk--both cooing and other noises, and lots of hand gestures. Starting to figure out how to use his hands to do things like hit a toy dangling over him.

He's been sleeping much more regularly: one or two good naps every day, longer spaces between feedings, a more predictable bedtime. Plus we only have to get up to change a diaper once in a while at night--in fact, only once in the past week--otherwise he's in bed all night, with breaks for feeding only, and only two or three times per night. A big difference from even a couple of weeks ago.

Lots of smiles, a bit of a giggle, and we're now getting into singing songs together. He loves an old french song I learned in school; it's guaranteed to get a smile every time.

Cadence Goes to the Fall Fair

The weather has been beautiful, only enhancing the feeling we have every day that we're not living here but rather vacationing at a cottage. Today's a bit rainy, but it's still so warm out that it's a welcome, relaxing sort of rain.

Cadence is now ten weeks old. That sounds like such a short time, but our pre-baby life seems ages ago. So much has happened since July! Our new roof and furnace are in and working well. We're now keeping our eyes peeled for a new car, if anyone knows of a good one for sale.

This weekend was the New Liskeard Fall Fair. I took Cadence to see the animals





and the parade. One of the floats even had pogo balls!


Our friend John Quinton driving the Pepsi float:

The best float of the parade had everyone dancing to YMCA:


Cadence and his new friend Clayton, six days old:

Drew was doing sound for all the live musical acts at the fair; we paid him a visit:

Tonight's forecast: low -1

Fall is here--the leaves are beginning to change, the nights are cool, the days are just perfect--jeans & sweater weather, my favourite.

Up behind the house




Cadence is clearly impressed by the view.


This week our roof will hopefully be finished. I'm going to head to the HRDC office to find out what kinds of training I can take advantage of while on EI. Maybe I'll learn how to do something brand new! Also I'm going to try to get a part time job soon, to add another dimension to life.

Great news: our good friends Kelly & Curtis welcomed a healthy baby boy, Clayton, into the world this weekend. Can't wait til he and Cadence can start playing together! Actually having babies seems to be popular; we know a number either recently born or on the way, which is perfect.

Also Drew went out & jammed with some friends the other night; there is word around that he's in a band with the Outdoor Life Network's Survivorman. Stay tuned to learn more...

And remember, you're all invited to come for a visit--the leaves will be fantastic as we make it into October.

Cadence Frederick Gauley

We've finally picked a middle name for Cadence!

There's not much new happening here, but I'll share some new pictures.

Diaper Dino, on the front porch, & last night's sky

I've received a few requests for more frequent posts, so I'll do my best...but really, life doesn't have all that much variety right at the moment. Incentive I suppose to get out and do something new/interesting every day so that I can tell you about it.

Today's something new was Cadence hugging his dinosaur. The yellow dino hangs out in the diaper zone and kisses Cadence's nose when he gets his diaper changed. Although Drew has told me that dino sings a special song when he's changing the boy's diaper...he doesn't sing at all when I'm around. I think our little diaper dino might have a split personality.


I've been encouraged to let Cadence nap outside as much as possible. Here's proof of today's outdoor time. It was a long one; I'm a little worried about a pending sleepless night.


Drew took a bunch of pics of last night's storm. This is the second good storm we've gotten to watch. If there was any doubt as to our nerdliness, it was dispelled after we not only stayed up to watch and videotape a big storm moving over the lake a couple of weeks ago, but got up and watched the tape the next morning. We've since gotten cable, so I don't think that will happen again.