Xavier just rolled for the first time, from his back to his tummy!!! Frank and I are jumping up and down, and we’re both very proud of our little 5 months old boy.

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This morning was Xavier’s doc appointment, so it’s as good a time as any to jot down an update on his development.

Doc says:
17″ around the head
25,5″ from sole to top of head
16lbs 3oz (actually that one we got from the vaccination last week)

…which, on the growth chart, places him in 75% head size, 75% height, 75% weight.
This means he lost some weight, so to speak, as last time he was 90%, 75%, 90%.
Doc’s pretty proud of his progress, overall, and says my man’s in top shape (he hasn’t met Frank… talking about Xavier still).

Now, as for the rest…

Development
When he’s on his tummy, if we encourage him with a toy, he’s somewhat able to turn 90 degrees to his right or left, after much effort. Not moving forward yet, but he’s thinking about it and has started using his elbows and knees a little more, whereas before he was keeping his head, legs and arms all in the air, as if he was trying to fly.

He’s getting pretty good with his hands, actual action getting close to intention. Still putting everything in his mouth.

You wouldn’t call him a smiling baby – making every smile precious! – but he does smile, especially when he wakes up and we go talk to him in his crib. He also started to laugh out loud, to our great enjoyment. He likes to observe everything.

Nights
He’s now regularly going 5 to 6 hours from a feeding to the other during the night, which makes me think full nights are in sight. Last night he only drank at 4h30am, then slept again until 7am. Although, last couple of days he’s been drooling more and more – and he’s never drooled a lot. That might mean teething is starting, and that might disturb his nights. Let’s hope it doesn’t.

Feeding
We still feed him cereal mornings and evenings, but it’s still a small quantity mixed in lots of mommy’s milk. We had tried giving him bottles of my milk before, which he never wanted, so we kind of gave up. We started trying again, with commercial milk this time (Nestle Good Start) because I was tired of throwing away all the milk I was expressing, to terrible results: he’d get very angry. We tried many kinds of bottles and nipples… and have now some progress!
The miracle mix: A rubber nipple that’s similar to his pacifier (which fools him, ha!) and concentrated formula (Similac and Enfalac seem to work both). I’ll admit myself it tastes better than the GoodStart one. We were able to feed him 1-1/2 oz three times already. It’s not a lot (he’ll only last 1h30 hours with this, as opposed to 3 hours with breastfeeding) but we’ll keep going with this. I don’t want to stop breastfeeding yet, but I’m hoping he’ll accept one bottle a day by the holidays, which will make my life simpler.

All this to say… he’s doing good!
Oh here… his November album has been up for two weeks or so:

Xavier – 4e mois

Last Thursday, for the second time since he was born, I took Xavier to a lady I don’t know, who pierced him twice with needles full of viruses. This time I managed not to cry (too much).

On vaccines
I haven’t read extensive documentation about whether or not I wanted my child vaccinated. I did read some, and I know the health ministry recommends vaccination (am I actually saying I trust them?), and Frank and me have decided to have our children vaccinated. The article below is a good synopsis of the documentation I read, and the opinion I’ve formed:
Putting Risk into Perspective – National Network for Immunization Information (American Medical Association Briefing on Microbial Threats National Press Club Washington, DC June 1, 2000)
I’m still not sure about the shot against chicken pox, but we haven’t gotten there yet, and I’ll read documentation in due time.

On strength
I suck. Every parent’s aim, of course, is to have lively, interested and behavioured children. The behaviour part doesn’t require us to be over-strict or mean, but it does require some discipline. We aren’t quite there yet – Xavier is only 4 months old and won’t understand discipline for a while – but a time will come when we’ll have to set some rules and put up some restrictions. How will I do that if I’m not even strong enough to watch him get his shots without getting teary-eyed? I tell myself that it’s a matter of him getting hurt – which is not the same as reprimending him – but I also know that I have trouble to bear hear him cry, even when I know everything’s fine and he’s just tired and needs sleep.

Oh well – I’m sure we’ll learn. Surely the kind of persons the parents are reflects on how the kid will turn out? Frank and me – in our own opinions – are ok people, so our children shouldn’t be so bad, I think.

Here’s hoping our kids will be the ones the other parents compare their children to! Heh.

Here’s a nice collection of videos and stuff that made me laugh this week :

• The Numa Dance – go Garry
• The laughing baby
• An animation for FireFox
• How’s my parking ? – Are men better at parking then women ?
• The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken – Makes you feel so tiny
• An unordinary musician
• Octopus are awesome !!

– Frank

Belated, as usual, here is the rendering of our trip to Canada’s metropolis (I think). It was much fun and, as a bonus, a nice break from the everyday life. Xavier’s been great throughout, and everyone we met there was wonderful and nice and warm.

Toronto ‘06
November 17 to 20, 2006

Friday
9AM – Leaving from Trois-Rivières, Qc. REAL hot outside for the season (approx. 17 Celcius or so?) Beautiful cloud formations (high and low) with a big sunshine zigzaging through. Xavier deep in sleep in the back.
9:30 – Stop for gas & water, 70 km done.
10:15 – Passing through Mtrl. Smooth traffic.
10:50 – Ontario border!
12:15 – Stopping to eat at Wendy’s; ain’t as tasty as expected. Xavier is eating at Mommy’s.
1PM – Back on the highway.
2:30 – Gas stop. Xavier has a drink, too. Everyone’s filling up! Anecdote: An old man in another car doesn’t appear to know how to work the pump, and doesn’t notice he’s spilling as much gas on the ground as in his tank, not looking at what he’s doing. I don’t like to say this in writting about people, but he’s a stranger so I’ll go ahead anyway: he really makes a fool of himself.
4:30 – 670km, 7h30 and 2 tanks of gas later, we get to Toronto. We find the hotel, settle in and chime in at Deb and Smarty’s room. Alec, Nicola, Miko, Natae and Miriam already there. Went out for dinner with Nic, Nick, Miko and Miriam at the PickleBarrel Grand, which had a nice menu and food, plus a cool decor. Xavier was great throughout dinner. Little crisis when I had to feed him, but otherwise excellent. With replenished stomachs, we come back to the hotel to find almost everyone gathered there, even Ser Kay. Talked some, then we had to make an early departure to attend a very patient baby.

Saturday
6:30 – Xavier’s awake, so we’re awake. After the morning things (shower, baby care, etc.), Frank goes out to “La maison du croissant” on the corner to get breakfast – I had loved the pastry I got there last year. Turns out the place is closed. We all go down to the hotel’s resto, which totally makes up for it with amazing pastries of its own. I can never find good almond croissants in my own town.
10AM or so – e go out to the Eaton center – I’d be most disapointed to have been in such a big city and NOT have found a way to do some shopping. Plus, the stroll allows Xavier a nap. I get Xavier a cute striped wool jumpsuit from BabyGap (pictures to come for sure) and we bring back some sandwiches for lunch.
PM – Part of the afternoon is spent at the pool: Xavier does NOT enjoy the cold water yet, so we stay in the warm water one. I try the waterslide, even though I’m 26 (who cares? we have a child now, we’re allowed in the family zone). After our dip in the pool, it’s naptime for the guys, while I join some denizens for an “Apples to Apples” game BOB brought. This is a really funny game; Frank tried it too and says we should acquire a copy at some point in the future. Lots of laughter and wit ensues, then the group goes out to a pub for dinner but, out of consideration for the baby, we decide to find food downstairs again. (This is a lot to take in at once for such a small person… and the merry bunch of BrightWeavers, whatever word one might find to describe them, won’t qualify for “quiet” in this decade – oh well, except for when GGK opens his mouth. ) We go to bed early – you’ll know why in a bit.

Sunday
Frank, setting a new geekness record on his life, gets up to go wait with François (fv) in the cold in front of the nearest FutureShop for the new Nintendo Wii to come out. I smartly remain in my cosy and warm bed with the sleeping baby. Frank gets back around 10h30 with his new acquisition, considering the run-down hotel TV like a fruitfly smelling scotch (you can ask Paul for the details on that one). I promptly drop Xavier on him while I run downstairs in search of food. We have to wait 15 minutes for them, but the out-of-the-oven chocolate croissants are completely worth it. Frank, at long last, gets to take out his new toy… only to find out the hotel TV can’t change input, so no peek at Zelda for him. It’s a double-defeat when I come back from the still closed bookstore: couldn’t wait for it to open, because of Xavier feeding.
Be it that way: we’ll go drown our sorrows at the Victory Cafe on Ser Kay’s tab! We follow the group heading down to the subway. With much help from the ever-wonderful denizens, we manage the stroller through the various transit gates, and surface near the cafe, where we’re greeted by Ser Kay. The chatting and drinking starts, interrupted first by the unveiling of the DebCon III t-shirt, and later by GGK himself, with a short speech and two readings from Ysabel. Most of the denizens then head out to dinner at last year’s steak place, while we hop in a cab back to the Delta Chelsea, but not before goodbyes hugs and kisses from everybody – and one of Alec’s magic tricks!
We get out dinner at the Delta again (not *just* because we’re lazy, but because the food’s actually nice there, too).

Monday
Xavier, who has been terrifically behaved the whole weekend, wakes up every hour of the night, bothered by gas, it seems. So we get up early, get some breakfast – I get to try the Apple strudel I’d seen before but hadn’t managed to get my hands on: delicious! We pack up our things: Frank loads up the car while, as promised, I go knock at the girl’s door one last time for goodbyes (and to make sure they’re awake and packing), where Xavier tries to charm Deb with smilies.
9:10 – We’re on the highway, heading out of the city, surprised to notice light snow through the grass. A Christmas tune pops up on the radio, chasing away the end-of-the-trip melancholy with a promise of further merriment to come within a month.