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 Weigh-In

The Public Health Nurse visited again today, checking up on Julie and Ella to see how they are recovering. She also weighed Ella, and we were surprised to learn that she now weighs eight pounds and twelve ounces. Newborns are supposed to gain a half-ounce to an ounce a day, but Ella has managed to gain a whopping ten ounces in the seven days that we've been home from the hospital. I'd say our feeding schedule is working fairly well.

The Pork Pie

Here are a few pictures from today's shoot. As you can see, she's becoming much more alert and wakeful. You may also notice that she's simply dripping with sweetness.

E is for Ella

The Sweetie

The Letter Zzzzzz

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Rise and shine!


... But not for long.

Home Again, Home Again

Ella donned her toque, mitts, and bankie today as she and her mom were discharged from the hospital with clean bills of health. Julie is getting around slowly and continues to recover, while Ella seems to be focusing all of her energies on being completely adorable.

The Baby

Ella Grace

Ella Grace was born on Christmas day at 11:20 pm. She measured 19 inches and weighed eight pounds and three ounces at birth. Mother and baby are both doing well, and look forward to going home soon.

The Baby Bump

In the comments of a recent post, Katie asked for a picture of Julie from now. We took several this afternoon, and this is the one Julie liked best:

The Deal Queen

Recently, Julie's coworkers graciously threw a baby shower for her, presenting her with a $300 gift card (in lieu of a baby bed).

Of course, Julie is known in three provinces for her ability to sniff out a bargain from a mile away, so those three hundred dollars not only bought a nice solid wood baby bed, a mattress, and a blanket, but also a matching changing table, a pad, bath supplies, bottles, toys, a car seat cover, and pacifiers! Is goot, ya?

All that remains to be bought is the rest of the bedding, a car seat and stroller, a highchair, and a playpen.

I Heard That

Julie was just lying on the bed, and Shiloh crawled up onto the bed beside her. He started laughing at his tv program and making some noise. Suddenly, baby seemed to get really excited and was kicking really hard for several minutes. We think she must know Shiloh's voice, and was responding to the noise. When I held Shiloh close by and tickled him to make him laugh, she started kicking again. She knows who her peoples are!

Baby Face

Julie had another fetal assessment yesterday. The baby is growing normally, and weighs about 4 pounds so far. Based on the ultrasound, she has quite a lot of hair already. Bonus: the technician decided to fiddle around with the 4D scanner, so we got some really nice pictures of the baby's face! Help us decide who she favors:

And Now For Something Completely Different...

For those of you who bravely dared to hope that I might possibly manage put up two posts in a row about something other than baby clothes, here's a post filled with pictures of -- brace yourselves -- even more baby clothes. We decided to shake things up a bit, though: this time, the photography was done entirely by my lovely assistant, Julie.











By the way, this is my 200th post! Woot!

Cute Little Rrrrabbits

Julie picked up this kitty sleeper and bunny slippers Friday at Superstore.

And Her Name Is...

After much thought and deliberation, Julie and I have finally settled on the perfect name for our little girl. It's a beautiful name for a beautiful baby. The name will remain a secret until she arrives. We're so excited!

More Baby Duds

Julie and I picked up this "halfa-parka" yesterday at Superstore. Zips up at the bottom to keep little baby toes warm. Also, a matching toque and mitts.



Carol found this pretty pink outfit at Winners. She says "it's very impractical", but she couldn't resist buying it. Julie thinks it's cute.

Week 31

This videos shows what my little girl looks like this week. She's been kicking a lot lately; last night, she was either dancing or doing calisthenics, because I've never seen Julie's tummy bounce so much. The upcoming fetal assessment will probably determine when she will make her grand entrance... which, I think, won't be soon enough for Julie, who is becoming increasingly ready to get her out.

Costclothes

Julie bought this princess nightie for baby at Costco. Despite the fact that she paid $7.99 for it, I am told that it was "a steal".