The Confederate Canuck: January 2010

An Expected End

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." - Jeremiah 29:11

When Julie and I first learned that Ella was on the way, we, like many other parents, immediately began to consider which of the many parenting strategies we would employ. Of course, we began with the end result in mind: we wanted to do everything in our power to create a contented and relatively low-maintenance child that we could enjoy being with and taking care of.

We soon realized that conventional wisdom decries such a goal. "Some babies are naturally fussy, while others tend to be contented and happy," we were told. "There's nothing you can do, because temperament is simply luck of the draw." Fortunately, we don't set a lot of store by conventional wisdom.

In the process of educating myself, I ran across this overview of the evolution of parenting theory, which I found to be particularly helpful. What it all boils down to is this: parenting strategies were, at one time, family-centered -- that is, the satisfaction of a baby's needs were considered within the context of the needs of the family as a unit. Over time, however, a philosophy-shift left the family unit orbiting unsteadily and exhaustingly around the needs of the baby. In other words, the family member with the least experience in regulating themselves is now shouldering the burden of regulating the schedule of the entire household (this particular nugget conventional "wisdom" was even unwittingly regurgitated by a family member, who has repeatedly advised us to "Let her form her own schedule!"). This off-kilter system most commonly results in frazzled parents who are frantically trying to keep up the demands of a needy and unhappy child.

Subsequently, we chose to adopt the PDF (Parent Directed Feeding) system. Ella is on a fairly strict feeding, playing, and sleeping schedule, which allows us to meet her needs appropriately without allowing them to completely dominate family life. As she has adjusted herself to our schedule, we have watched her become increasingly contented, flexible, and easy to care for. Which means that those "thoughts of peace" that Julie and I were hoping for are being fulfilled.

The Ellaphant

The Sleepy Head

After following her schedule perfectly all day yesterday, Ella slept for a record stretch last night. She had a feeding at around nine in the evening, and slept until seven this morning before getting up to eat again (she got up once around 12-ish for a diaper change, but then went right back to sleep). That's nine hours! Woo-hoo!

The Winter Blahs

These Booties are Made for Walking

Oh, look! She's walking already!

The Sliding Hill

Shiloh and I went sliding this afternoon at the golf course. The snow was perfectly packed, and Shiloh got to try out the new innertube that he got for Christmas. Here's Shiloh sliding down the hill:

The Flash

It takes quite a bit of effort to get a non-blurry picture of this live wire, but after several unsuccessful attempts I managed to snap this one.

The Sweet Pea

Like Mother, Like Daughter

The Snowblower

Yesterday's bluster left Bobchi's place almost inaccessible. Fortunately, a neighbor came by to clear the driveway with his tractor and her snowblower.

Joy Comes in the Morning

At least, it does for Ella.

Snowbound

Not long ago, Halfpint posted a series of pictures on her blog which she titled "Snowbound". Children in light jackets and rubber boots cavorted and danced sweetly and innocently between the floating snowflakes, enjoying the delicate white frosting that had collected in picturesque little patches on green grass.

Welcome to the Real Deal. With most of the highways closed in southern Manitoba this morning, I though I'd post a random sampling of what being "snowbound" really looks like. My apologies for the poor picture quality; I had to take all of them from inside the house because we actually can't get outside without a shovel.

Labelution

As y'all may or may not have noticed, I find tinkering with photoshop to be relaxing. Subsequently, the Confederate Canuck banner changes from time to time as I sleepily ply my meager chopping abilities in the wee hours of the night. For lack of something interesting (and non-Ella related) to post, here are all of the banners that I've created to date, including some that have never seen the light of day. I'll also be adding future banners to this post, so check back from time to time so the the new additions.

[Edited 1/26/10:] This one's for Mom:

When You're Smilin'

Here's a picture of Ella smiling at her Daddy (crusty morning eyes and all). I woke her up a bit early this morning, and she was smiling and cooing to beat the band. I guess joy really does come in the morning.

The Kiss

We wanted to take a picture of Shiloh "holding" Ella. When we tried it this evening, he abruptly started nuzzling and kissing her head. His sister doesn't seem to share his sentiments just yet, though.

This Little Piggy

The nurse dropped by this morning to weigh Ella again. Last Tuesday, she weighed almost nine pounds (we're not sure of the exact weight). Today, she weighed nine pounds and twelve ounces, meaning that she's gained almost a pound in the last ten days. What a porker!

The Old Stone Church

These are photos I snapped on Tuesday of the St. Peter's Old Stone Church in East Selkirk. It was built in 1852 by Chief Peguis and his people, under the direction of Reverend William Cochran.

The Ice Village

This is just a few of the many ice fishing huts clustered along the frozen Red River.

The Backyard

We took a drive this afternoon to take in the white Winter Wonderland we found ourselves in this morning. These shots of the neighbor's tree were taken through the back window, though.

Haute Cowture

Here's Ella sporting her latest acquisition. You may be able to guess who helped to pick it out.

The School Day

Today I managed to get in this year's first full day of school!

After settling into Ella's schedule, I had reassessed our priorities and retooled our school day and came up with a new system that would allow us to get the important stuff done.

The new school plan is based on a simple checklist of modules with interchangeable components. During this phase, a typical school day will include at minimum: four RDI activities, a heavy emphasis on toilet training, three fine motor and two gross motor exercises, helping to care for Ella three times over the course of the day, and at least four occurrences of something I've labeled "quality time" (this is basically delight-directed one-on-one time with Shiloh and Julie or myself). I also generated a list of activities for each module, which makes planning the day a breeze.

Today was our first day on the new plan, and it went remarkably well. I was able to complete all of my goals for the day (in between fiddling with Ella) with enough time for us to cook supper, do some housework, and spend the evening together.

In other news, Shiloh was perception-sharing at Walmart today (this has been one of his developmental goals that we've been working quite hard on). He also said, "Here," when showing me where something was. Yay, Shiloh!