Jasper and Ellis have lots of aunts and uncles, but only 2 cousins: Hailey and Regan. Aunt Shelly and the cousins made the trip from North Bay to visit us in the first week of January. It's a long drive, especially in the winter, so we appreciate the visit!
The beach in winter
I think Hailey and Regan were excited to see their newest baby cousin. They are both really good at taking care of the baby, including diaper changes. Bonus!
Cuddles with cousin Hailey
Cuddles with Regan
Jasper was happy to have some more people to play with. Cousin "Re Re"(as Jasper calls her) was up for any play time or stories.
Story time with "Re Re"
I don't think Ellis understood how many people have come to visit her, but she was her normal (mostly) relaxed self.
Hi there!
They tried to get a cool picture of the McIlroy/ Passmore/ Beaton grand-kids, but not everyone would cooperate at the same time.
All the grandkids
Thanks for the visit, we'll get up to North Bay once we figure out how to wrangle these monkeys for a 5 hour car trip!
Ellis is now 2 weeks old. She is growing quickly- she weighed in at 9lbs 13 oz at her 2 week appointment, more than 1 pound above her birth weight. She mostly sleeps for a few good stretches at night and doesn't make much of a fuss during the day.
The weather has been different every day, but we had a couple mild snowy days for playing outside. We built a snowman, some snow castles and Jasper enjoyed getting thrown into the snowbanks by his Grandad.
Snowman in the front yard.
Snow castles on the walkway
Yay snow!
Outside with Grandad
We're getting used to life with two kiddos- although we still have lots of family around to help out. The real test will be when everyone's gone and Pat is back at work.
Daddy 2.0
Cuddles by the tree
When the weather turned rainy, Grannie and Grandad took Jasper to the Early Years centre one morning and Pat took Jasper to the parent and tot swim.
At Early Years
Unfortunately, the rain melted our snowman friend. The squirrels ate his carrot nose for a snack.
Checking out the snow man
Jasper seems so much older all of a sudden, with a newborn in the house. He's talking lots and playing pretend with his toys and running around all over the place.
Bath time
He like to try to help out with his baby sister, but he doesn't realize how heavy he is when he gives her hugs. He also wants to share his toys with Ellis, which sometimes means piling trucks and books and stuffed animals on top of her while she sleeps. We're teaching him to be gentle and not to throw toys in the baby's bed, but it is a work in progress. It's not easy learning to be a big brother.
Since we didn't know when Ellis would make her arrival, we didn't make any plans for Christmas this year. We knew we'd be at home (or at the hospital) but that's about it.
Jasper trying out his new kitchen set..at 5am
It ended up working out well that my parents and brother were able to come visit for the day and we all went over to Pat's parents house for dinner.
Peek a boo!
Ellis and Jasper were spoiled by their grandparents, aunts and uncles. Jasper was excited to get a kitchen set, some new books, trucks and a giant stuffed moose for Christmas.
Ellis cuddles
Jasper still loves to give Ellis lots of kisses.
Kiss attack!
Attempt at picture of the 4 of us.
Grannie took Jasper out to play in the snow before it started to melt. He is getting used to the snow- he seemed to enjoy it much better than last time. It may be because it was 0 degrees with no wind on Christmas.
Sled ride with Grannie
Not scared of snow anymore
Jasper even let Grannie throw snow balls at him and kept saying "more" each time.
After nap time for most people in the house, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for some more gifts and Christmas dinner.
Reading with Grandma
New Christmas PJs.
We put Jasper to bed there in his travel crib, and he ended up sleeping over. It was a nice treat to not have to be up entertaining him at 5am. Apparently he slept int until 5:30 for Grandma and Grandpa.
Ellis eyeing up Grandma
We missed seeing all the extended family this year, but it was a good Christmas spent with a 6 day old. Merry Christmas everyone!
It has been a bit of a shock adjusting to having two kids in the house, but luckily we've had lot of help from family.
Eyes open!
Jasper is really interested in his new baby sister. He likes to give her kisses and hugs (sometimes a bit squishy) and wants her to eat his food and play with his trucks.
Jasper thought Ellis would like a pretzel
So far, Ellis seems like a pretty laid back baby. She likes to eat and likes to sleep and right now that's pretty much all she does. That, and make lots of dirty diapers.
Couch snuggles
Ellis and Jasper have been lucky to have all four of their grandparents and even two great grandparents visit this week. There have been lots of aunt and uncle visits, Skype calls from all over- even Uncle Andrew and Aunt Katie in New Zealand and Aunt Kate from the airport in St Louis.
Reading time with Grandma and Grandpa
Ellis barely fits into her newborn sized sleepers, but the three month size clothes are still really large on her.
Ellis got dressed
Jasper is still not napping well at home (he always naps a solid 2 hours at daycare), so we've had to get creative this week. We're thinking about ordering one of the cots they nap on at daycare to see if that will help.
Ellis Mary Beaton made a quick arrival to the world on Monday December 19th at 6:03pm. At 3:00, I called Pat at work to tell him maybe he should come home. I called the midwife at 4:00, we got to the hospital just after 5:00, our primary midwife arrived around 5:30 and Ellis was born at 6:03. The second midwife didn't make it until after Ellis was born.
Fresh baby.
After a pretty crummy pregnancy, it was good to get the labour and delivery over so quickly! We were lucky that there were no weather issues on the drive to Walkerton that night.
Proud Daddy
Ellis weighed 8lbs 12 oz when she was 2 hours old. She'd already eaten a bunch and pooped all over me at that point. We gave her the middle name Mary because she was born on Grandma Beaton's birthday. We decided to just stay the minimum 4 hours at the hospital for monitoring, and head right home.
Not a fan of the car seat.
It was nice to be able to sleep (well a little bit) in our own bed that night. Grannie and Grandad McIlroy were at the house to look after Jasper, so they were able to meet Ellis first.
Meeting Grannie
The next morning, Jasper awoke at his usual 5:00am, but with a brand new baby sister to meet.
Family photo (don't look so excited Jasper)
Jasper was confused and fascinated by this new little creature. He likes to practice his words by pointing out her body parts and hat. We tried to avoid him poking her eyes.
Nose! Eyes! Mouth!
Jasper get pretty jealous of Ellis when she eats, but for now he's pretty excited about all the visitors who have come to play with him.
Things have been pretty busy around here, but I thought the family would appreciate some pictures, since the toddler room doesn't post much on HiMama.
I've been away a bit for work, so Pat and Jasper have had some fun hanging out together.
Biking with Dad.
He still loves hats (that is an adult size hat)
This fall has been extra warm, so we've been able to spend lots of time outside.
At tiny tots park.
Jasper didn't go to any Blue Jays playoff games this year, but he did go to Gilley's to watch the games. He preferred to sit on his booster seat on the floor and read a book.
Reading on the floor of the bar.
Sometimes you're feeding your kid cheese pizza at a bus stop.
We've made a bunch of road trips this fall: to the cottage, to Toronto and to visit family. It's nice to have a bit more leg room in our new bigger car.
