Baby and the Bathwater

April 22, 2011.  CC flying high thanks to her 6'3" papa.

A few days ago, I was thinking out loud; not always a wise thing to do, I discovered.  I was thinking about how bright our baby was. Even though she does not yet speak intelligibly, she appears to understand both English and French very well.  Although I do not bathe her everyday, when I mention "bath-time", she knows exactly what to do.  A few evenings ago, I made this very announcement. She stopped what she was doing, and made a bee-line for the bathroom door.  "Don't forget to take off your clothes", I said, and she started to do just that.  And when I reminded her to remove her diaper, she tugged on it (unsuccessfully).  We take our baths in the large tub together, as she has out-grown her plastic table-top tub, and our bathtub is too deep for me to reach my arms into from the outside.  Our baby was enjoying her bath as usual, splashing around, and playing with her plastic bath toys.  And then I decided to think out loud.  "How smart you are, baby, to know not to urinate and defecate in the tub!"  No sooner had I voiced this thought, than our Brat made the face; that pushing face.  I was hoping she might be constipated, and not successfully push, but within a few instants of the face, there were brown floaters in the bathwater!  This, unfortunately amused her, and she decided she would try to catch these new toys.  We exited the bath at the speed of light, and I rinsed her off in the sink.

This got me thinking about toilet training.  Although most experts would agree that it is too early at 14 months, a friend (paediatrician) of mine had decided to train her 8-month old son to poop in the toilet bowl.  As soon as he made the face, she would run into the bathroom, remove his diaper, and plop him on the toilet seat.  She had done the same thing with her 3-year old son, who, by the time he was 12 months-old, had stopped pooping in his diaper.  I told my husband about my friend's training technique, but he agreed with me that it was unlikely to work on our Brat.  First of all, by the time we raced to the bathroom, and removed her clothing, it would likely be too late, and secondly, if it wasn't too late, she would be so intrigued by her new environment, that she would cease trying to poop.  In hindsight, perhaps I should have given this technique a go. Especially if it might have guaranteed clean bathwater.

The Benefits of Exercise

CC gives her monkey a push

Roly-poly at 51/2 months

A friend of mine recently decided to go on a diet.  Until now, she had been extolling the benefits of exercise.  That way "I can eat anything," so long as I work it off.  With time, she came to realize the inaccuracy of her claims.  She had read a few interesting articles, and a book, and explained that although conventional wisdom had it that exercise was an essential component of a weight loss program, this was, in fact, not the case. While certainly an increase in a person's level of activity would burn more calories, the net impact over a relatively short weight-loss period (typically 12 to 24 weeks) was small. To lose just one pound of fat, she explained, a 160-pound person would have to walk briskly (4miles/hour) for 42 miles!  While my friend wasn't going to give up her exercise regimen, she decided that if she was to lose some weight, she would have to additionally watch what she ate.

CC after her self-imposed exercise regime

I agreed with her, but told her that I knew of at least one exceptional case.  At 51/2 months, our baby was roly-poly, or fat as my husband would describe it.  By 61/2 months, she was expertly crawling.  Not only was she drinking more milk compared to her pre-crawling phase, but she had also started eating semi-solids.  She did not grow significantly in height during this one-month period, but as you can see from the before and after photos, the bulge was gone!  That's just one case though, I explained to my friend, and encouraged her to embark on her diet.

Baby Gaga

April 4 2011. CC spots a bird; despite the simultaneous rainfall and snow!

Much to our delight, the Brat has been babbling for some time.  Mostly Gaga, Dada, Papa and Mama.  My husband and I refer to each other in the baby's presence with the french appellations for mother and father, so we are not sure if Papa and Mama refer to us, or if they are random babbling sounds.  However, the other day, I was quite certain our baby spoke her first word.  If I had to venture a guess, ball or baby would have been at the top of her first-word list.  I was mistaken.  The word uttered both surprised and frightened me.

It was a few mornings ago.  We had brought the baby to our bed at around 6:30AM in an attempt to coax her into getting a little more sleep.  It didn't work.  Instead, she found her way over to my side of the bed, and started beating on my chest.  That is the Brat's way of saying she wants breast milk.  I was reluctant on this occasion to give in, as I had recently fed her, and she was shortly due for breakfast.  But as I usually do, I relented.  She nursed for a few minutes, then pulled away.  Her face was adorned with a wide grin, and she very clearly uttered "MIL".  I turned to my husband in surprise.  He too had heard it.  While I was pleased that our baby was progressing from babbling, I was instantly gripped with a fear that I would never be able to say no to her nursing requests demands.

I instantly thought of my older sister who still breast-feeds her 31/2 year-old son.  They hold entire conversations on the subject.  She suggests to him that it might be time to stop (as most of his nursing requests come in the middle of the night), to which he replies, "not yet mommy, maybe when it's time to go to school." I had the chance to witness a few interactions between my sister and her three year-old son this last summer during their visit to Canada.  He was very clingy, despite other immediate family members being around.  He would even attempt to follow her into the bathroom!  My sister says that he sometimes wakes up 10 times per night demanding "more milk."  I firmly believe that at this point in time, breastfeeding is the main barrier preventing our baby from sleeping through the night.  My husband and I are planning a trip sans baby in mid-June.  My goal is to wean her by then.  She will be 16 months old.  Far older than most North-American babies at time of weaning.

Currently, the Canadian Paediatric Society recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life for healthy, term infants.  "Breast milk is the optimal food for infants, and breastfeeding may continue for up to two years and beyond." (http://www.cps.ca/english/statements/n/breastfeedingmar05.htm).
The American Academy of Paediatrics, for their part, says that "there is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychological or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer." (http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496).  What about psychological harm to the mother?!

Blanche Neige

Our baby lounging in her stroller

Two weeks ago, we had warmer than average weather in Montreal.  I believe we actually reached a high of 10C!  I dusted off our daughter's stroller, and we had our first outing with the carriage since early December.  You might ask yourself why I had stopped using the stroller.  Don't most babies love the gentle vibration proffered by a carriage in motion?  Yes, but not our adorable Brat.  In September 2010, I had registered for a mother-baby exercise class involving strollers.  We would meet the instructor just a few minutes from my house along the Lachine Canal, and with a group of about ten other mothers and their babies, jog, stretch and chat as we navigated the bicycle path.  Within a few minutes, all of the other babies were sound asleep.  The Brat was calm, but not asleep for approximately the first 15 minutes...then she would start whining.  The whining then gave way to tears.  Each class ended with some 15 minutes of isometric exercises and stretching.  At this point, if I did not remove my baby from the carriage, everyone would stare.  They were doubtless wondering what method of torture I was inflicting on the baby, because she was no longer simply crying, she was now wailing.  So out of the carriage came the baby; and the tears would instantly cease.  She did not mind being held, or placed in a forward facing baby carrier, but she was happiest on my exercise mat, where she would crawl around.  I assumed that my baby was particularly active, and did not want to sit still for any length of time.  Suffice it to say, we did not really enjoy the course as much as I had anticipated.  The last class took place in early December; the path along the canal was now snow covered, and not easy to navigate, even with our heavy duty stroller.  I decided to store the stroller in our garage as I had simply had enough of the baby's whining.  In hindsight, I am surprised that I stuck it out for the duration of the course!

The 10C weather of two weeks ago prompted me to give the stroller another go.  I wasn't holding out much hope, but much to my delight my daughter seemed to thoroughly enjoy our outing.  So much so that since then, she attempts to climb into her stroller multiple times a day; she then grabs the straps, and indicates that we should buckle her in and take her out.  At your service Brat!  So we enjoyed a few lovely days outdoors, and then mother nature decided that it was time for some more snow.  We actually got stuck in a snow storm just last week.  The weather, until a few days ago, has been below 0C, and once again we find ourselves indoors.  Environment Canada actually issued a snowfall warning in the Montreal region on the first full day of Spring!

Our cold winter prompted a lengthy discussion about moving to a location with a warmer climate.  Until this last winter, I had not really felt restricted by the cold weather.  With the exception of snow storms, I would jog outdoors five days a week.  However with the baby in tow, it was a different story.  She disliked her stroller, and I found it difficult to keep her warm without the protective environment of the carriage.  Here is a list of alternative warmer-weather locations that I proposed:

-Vancouver.  Main advantage we would still be in Canada.  But what about all the rain?, my husband asked.
-Dubai.  Living income tax-free has it's definite advantages,  but would we both be able to secure work, and what about the scorching hot days of the desert summers?
-Melbourne, Australia.  My husband's company has an office there, but would I find a job as easily?
-Denver, Colorado.  My husband's company also has an office there, and their winters are much warmer than ours, but is living in the USA really that simple?

We are open to suggestions.  Do you live in a child-friendly, warm climate location that you would recommend?

My guess is that we will remain in Montreal for the time being, and that as the Brat grows up, the winters will become more tolerable.