Evan is Four Months!

This week Evan turned four months old. We weighed him last week and he was just over 12 pounds, so he has tripled in size since his birth, way to go! This past month he learned to flip over from front to back (he did this for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa Lavoie's), squeal and laugh out loud, say ah-goo, hold his head up continuously and bear weight on his legs. This past month Evan's hair-saga continued - having gone bald, and then recently re-growing blond (top) and brown (sides) hair. We're not quite sure which one is gonna stick yet :) Either way, our little boy is growing up before our very eyes!

Miracle Blanket

The Miracle Blanket (or baby straight-jacket) has been essential in Evan's transition from his bassinet to his crib in early August. He is a gratuitous arm-flailer and tends to wake himself up if not tightly bound. As you can see, he's pretty happy to be swaddled up. These days we swaddle him with one arm out and this seems to work very well. Thank you Sage for the suggestion!

Cottage Country

We traveled up to North Bay in the beginning of August to visit Andrew's Dad and family. Evan did pretty well on the drive up, but always seems to have a major meltdown when we're driving through Toronto and there is no where to pull over, ack! Andrew has nerves of steel navigating the expressway with a wailing infant and a wife who's freaking out in the back seat of the car, I tell you! It was worth it, though - cottage country is extremely relaxing!



Aunt Katie spent a lot of time getting to know little Evan, while Mommy spent time with her nephew, Jacob jumping on the trampoline (no pics, sorry) and wading into the lake.



We also went for lots of walks, ate great food, and had fun riding the AVT.



As always, it was a super fun visit and we can't wait to travel up North again!

Ottawa Visit

Wow, the summer is whipping by very quickly and I see it has been quite some time since I lasted posted an update. We traveled to Ottawa Wed July 15th-Sunday July 19th to visit Grandma and Grandpa Lavoie. It is always relaxing to visit my hometown of Greely, ON, but Evey gave us a bit of a run for our money! He was still recovering from his surgery and was a little fussier than usual. Nonetheless, I think he was easily able to charm his way into his Grandma's heart! (Who could resist that red hair, blue eyes and winning smile???).


Evan also met his Great-Grandma Charbonneau as well as his great aunts Laurie and Denise. We had a lovely dinner - it was a very special visit for everyone and we can't wait to visit again soon.













On Saturday, Evan was visited by his Great-Grandfather Lavoie who marveled at his disbelief in having the chance to meet his 4th great-grandchild! Evan also met his great-uncle John and great-aunt Helene. Lots and lots of new people!


We took some nice walks around the old neighbourhood and enjoyed some of mom's *homemade* pizza. We decided to make the trek home at night instead of the following morning so that Evan could sleep most of the way through and also to avoid traffic - this plan worked out beautifully and we made good time home with little unhappiness from Big E. We're looking forward to our next trip up to meet Auntie Angie, Uncle Kevin and cousin Layla who are returning from Calgary - yay!

Recovery

Evan continued to recover well over the weekend from his surgery despite the fact that he is on a nursing strike. Hopefully Mommy's persistence will pay off as we'd like to hold off on formula for as long as possible. Evan has a post-op check-up scheduled with his surgeon tomorrow. We're sure she'll agree that he's mending beautifully.


After this check-up we can turn our attention to our trip to Ottawa. We'll be heading out this Wednesday to stay for a few days at Grandma and Grandpa Lavoie's house. This is an extra special trip since Evan will be meeting his Grandma Lavoie for the first time. Very Exciting!

Evan's Surgery

Evan had his surgery at McMaster Children's Hospital to repair his inguinal hernia yesterday. His surgery started at 8am and took an hour and 10 minutes. Poor Evan wasn't allowed to have anything to eat/drink after 2am so we had a pretty hungry boy on our hands by the time we got to the hospital at 6:30am. Luckily we were able to soothe him to sleep and handed off a sleeping baby to the OR nurse (she was pretty excited.... we were simply relieved). Throughout this whole experience we felt that Evan was in excellent hands. All 3 members of the surgical team came to talk with us before they took Evan in. The anesthesiologist explained that he would be put to sleep with a mask, then intebated with a breathing tube, have an IV inserted and then receive a "coch-block", similar to an epidural, where he would get an injection of anesthetic in the base of his spine.

In the waiting room the hospital has a volunteer that works with the families to help us locate the things we need and put us at ease. After the surgeon came out to discuss how the operation had gone I was led to the PACU (Pediatric Anesthetic Care Unit) to help care for Evan as he was awaking from the anesthetic. Evan must have charmed the nurses because when I walked in there were 3 nurses holding him and huddled around him cooing. I guess he IS a pretty cute little guy. After about an hour in the PACU we collected Daddy from the waiting room and Evan was wheeled to Ward 3C in the Children's Hospital to recover and be monitored for apnea. We were very fortunate to get a private room. Mommy stayed overnight to help take care of Evan who was understandably fussy.

Evan continues to have a good recovery. He didn't have any respitory problems so he was discharged this afternoon. His incision (about 1.5 inches in his lower ab) should heal in about 5 days. We hope he's feeling better soon!

Mommy's Birthday and Canada Day

We celebrated the birthdays of Mommy and the nation today. Daddy made a delicious and, er, lovely cake for us. Evan got dressed up in his Canada Day onesie that his Grandma Murphy gave to him and then we went to a family BBQ to meet some of Andrew's family. Daddy made a delicious birthday dinner (Wild Coho steaks - yum!) to cap off the day. What a year to celebrate!