A Jones by Any Other Name

The very significant baby bump that I was certain carried a girl. "Women's intution", I said. "I have a feeling", I said.

So I was wrong. There's a first time for everything. I was sure I was having a girl, I even bought pink stuff (most of which I showed Jesse, the rest of which I hid and promptly gave away). So imagine my surprise as I take my little girl up from the water and grab her under her little bum and...her girl bits are boy bits! Lucy is a Jones! It was a happy surprise and our little man was patient as we took a few days to figure out his full name.

Jones Caddis Switzer. While his name fits him perfectly, he answers to nothing.

P.S. That's an arm, not a boob...just in case you were wondering...cause I was....but it's an arm. PG blog.

Jonesy, Ja-Bones, J-bones, Jonesy Bonsey...I'm not sure where the "bones" came from, my pudgy little man looks as though he may be purely fat cells and cartilage. But it's stuck.
I say he has my ears. Jess lays a similar claim. We're both right (but if you had to say who was more right that would, of course, be me). He has Jesse's, shall we say, generous ears. And they have little peaks at the top with a bit of peach fuzz, explaining why we called him our little Linx. I'll let the Switzers have that one. But they tip out at the top like mine do. Finally, a kid that looks like me.

Sometime I call him Mr.Serious, because when he furrows that brow he is not to be taken lightly. C'mon Jonesy...just one smile for the camera?
Still frowning....
A seriously concerned little man...my Mr.Serious. He looks as though he's about to cry, but nope, just a very serious model.

He's even takes burping seriously.

But he's not always so serious, shortly after this picture was taken Cohen pulled Jones off our couch. Maybe it was the thrill of the ride, or maybe he took pleasure in seeing his big brother almost get hung by his toes by his traumatized mother, or maybe he just liked all the attention...but our Mr.Serious just took it all in stride. Perhaps serious and serene walk hand in hand.

For the most part Jones is calm and content. Loves to visit and busts out a monster smile when he knows you're looking. These are the times when you'll hear him called the typical mooshy baby names...muffin, punkin, honey, etc. Hmmm, all food related...

He still has a brow to be reckoned with but he wears it peacefully.

When he catches your eye he flashes a smile that takes up his whole face. You can tell he's smiling even when you stand behind him...he smiles from his toes. We don't have any nicknames for this aspect of our Jonsey, cause all you can do is smile back.

FYI. He does not smile when he gets dressed in an elephant costume with pink ears. No sir, he does not.

And how could you talk nicknames without mentioning the obvious? Copper-top and Pumpkin-head being the most prevalent, but all carrot and ginger related names have been applied.

Big li'l brother, baby monster, Mr.Chubbs, Cheeks...references to size are also common. He's a year and a half younger than his brother but it is not unheard of to try to put the wrong jammies on one or the other of the boys. Jones is catching up quick and Cohen had better enjoy his bullying now because his physical supremacy is sure to be short lived.

We call him Jones. We call us blessed.

The Next Switzer

So these were taken several months ago but I'm not a very on-the-ball blogger so here they are, better late than never.

This is the wee leg that boots me throughout the day and night. I don't mind.

Mom! Lemme outta here! Hey! Mom!

I know, isn't it the most perfect little foot? It's the most perfect little foot.

The face that will be smothered with kisses in several months. Can't wait to touch that little nose.

S/he just gets cuter and cuter doesn't s/he? Is it just me? No, s/he gets cuter and cuter. Now, turn away and look back....cuter, right?

Okay, so I'm using the gender non-specific but really, it's a girl. I have no scientific evidence to back up my assertion...although I was awfully tempted at the Ultrasound cause Jesse wasn't there and I thought...well, nevermind, I excercised restraint...but it's totally a girl.

Our Shiny New Digs!

One of the last days in our condo. It served us well but with our family growing the possibility of moving into a bigger place went from a matter of convenience to a matter of maintaining our mental health. We had lots of help moving and, conveniently, much of our stuff was already in the garage next door to our new home. Handy!

Cohen is stoked about the move, although he wasn't overly helpful in the process. Unpacking is more his thing.

Our new place! Or the view from our front step to the neighbour's (AKA Mom & Dad's) driveway and two of the plow trucks Jesse has been running all winter. They're big and noisy and smelly but they're still Mallory's favourite way to get to school. And they pay them bills. It's been a fun new adventure for us. We have a love/hate relationship with the weather network. In my next life I'm going to be a weather person, you get to put up adorable graphics and there is no accountability whatsoever...you can be totally wrong every single day and no one questions you.

Okay, so my pics of the new place are a little lacking...but this is our dining room turned playplace. We spend many happy hours here.


I said the photos were lacking, but this is the livingroom mid move-in.


Cohen settled in pretty quickly. He's a big fan of the easy access to the cleaning supplies. Whenever I get out the vacuum he grabs the broom and follows me around with it. And he'll often bring out the vacuum and hold up the cord to me like, "C'mon mom, there's crumbs all over...get this thing going".

Closet space is glorious!! Huge closets everywhere! And pantries! It's heavenly.

Cohen has embraced the space and is constantly helping me to re-organize. What was I thinking? What a silly place for shoes, let's get these out of here.

Oop, she saw me!

So the time finally came where I had to let go of my son's Hercules-esque locks. We took him to Beaners. It was a big day. I totally did not cry because that would be a ridiculous thing to cry over.

How she cut his hair while his head was in constant motion, I have no idea. Best $16 I ever spent. Cohen loved the attention and, as usual, charmed anyone who dared look his way. He even sat still while she trimmed over his ears. What a good boy.

And handsome! Look at the little devil hiding under that mop!

Our kitchen. Cupboards, pantries and counter space, oh my! Cohen is playing with his favourite toy, the speaker for our ipod dock. It's durability is impressive.
Happiness is a snack.

Our backyard came with a trampoline! Thank you renters who move out of town and can't take trampolines with them! Mal and Cohen love it and when we get a little bit of sunshine it's warm enough to lose the socks.

Best ever.

We have a large window from the kitchen that look sback here so Mal can come out and jump around on her own. She practices her flips until she collapses.

Sometimes we all go out...and then Dad practices his flips until he collapses.

More to come! My dear brother was harassing me about an un-updated blog. So, in the spirit of sibling competition, I plan to get back on track.

Welcome to My Mornings

Cohen wakes me with joyful noises and greets me with a smile, and often a giggle, when I get him out of bed. Once he's eaten (as he'll now only nurse in quiet and distraction-less places) we have breakfast with Jesse and Mallory. At the table. I love that. I love our breakfasts together and I'm grateful that our schedules (and my husbands stellar omeletes) allow us to sit and enjoy some time together before we all run off into our busy days.

Once breakfast is cleared and Jess and Mal are out the door, I sit with a cup of coffee (or two, but I promise I'll cut back when Cohen starts to sleep through the night) and we play until his first nap.

A rough life, it is not.

I married well. Jesse loves to be with us, works like a dog to pay our bills and still encourages me to go to yoga while he baths our baby.

Judging from the sweat pants, this is a Saturday. Generally our day to chill out and enjoy the company of our family. Sometimes Jesse has to work, but when we get to have him home we're never in a real hurry to go anywhere. Perhaps a bike ride, maybe some time at the park...but all in our own time.
And now, the first in this post's series of "look how cute my baby is" pictures.

Seriously...look how cute.

Cohen making a Cohen face. He's not just happy, he's happiness. I know that I'm blessed to have an easy baby...believe me, I say many grateful prayers. He is warm and affectionate. He is eager to share his smiles and is even working on his laugh. We hope that Cohen's hearty, albeit forced, laughter is is an indication and refelction of the what he hears in our home.

His "I can reach that is I try hard enough" face. Although he also uses it as his "please give that to me" face.

Speaking of joyful children...here's Mallory. She loves to get out for a bike ride and the chariot has been awesome as we can now take Cohen. If Jesse's bikes would stop getting stolen, losing peddles and/or brakes, we could take Jesse too.

Maybe next year honey.

I love, love, love my bike and it's been great to get out this summer. Good exercise too! My bike is built for leisure and the chariot essentially acts like a parachute behind me. I rarely get out of first gear.

We stopped to play in the leaves and Mallory got to work gathering leaves to make a nest for Cohen.

He didn't seem to mind.

Super cute, but I could have chosen a more picturesque location.

Nice bus stop though...get out and vote!

At my parent's in Innisfail.

If we could photo-shop Mallory into this it would be a perfect photo.

For such a rough-and-tumble little dude, my nephew Dillon is a little mush when it comes to Cohen. As we were out on a walk I heard him say, "I love you baby Cohen, you are the best baby Cohen in the whole world". He, Cohen and Jesse are a pretty sweet trio. I see many fishing trips in their future.

Back at home, Cohen discovers smoothies! He's been starting to eat what we eat...which is lovely and exhausting at the same time. Sharing my food with him means I am even slower than usual (and I tend to be the last to finish any meal anyway). Cohen and I often find ourselves alone at the table after Jesse and Mallory have gotten bored and moved onto something else.

Sharing a room is going pretty well. Mallory is very patient with Cohen. On Saturday mornings I often go in to find her softly playing the guitar and singing to him. He watches from his crib and is completely spellbound.

Mallory tried teaching Cohen to play the keyboard but he was quite interested in the on/off switch...so that got a bit annoying and I soon heard, "Mom! Can you come get Cohen?"

We all went to Grandma and Grandpa Fisher's. Jesse and I love the abundance of toast, the many Tim's trips, the extra sleep that they make possible and the kind of conversation that only happens with people who love you unconditionally.

Mal and Cohen, they love the new toys and the ability that Grandpa has to produce treats out of nowhere.

What do they always say? Give a kid a toy and they'll just want to play with the box it came in? Mallory made a car for Cohen and plunked him in.

Cohen was surprisingly content in his little box...er, car.

Mallory and her Grandpa like to take the motorbike and go out for breakfast.

They even found a grand-kid sized leather jacket.

Mallory loves her time with Grandpa. Motorbike, breakfast muffins, timbits, toys from the Dollar Store. They have a special relationship and I love to watch them together.

Best Grandpa ever.

Cohen's back in the box...but this time he gets a ride out of the deal.
As soon as she finishes her toast.

Maternity leave is amazing. I stayed with my mom and dad for a week, getting some Grandma time in for Cohen and getting some sleep for mom! I felt like I could have stayed for a year. I never tire of my parent's company.

Cohen was learning to stand up...kind of...he's not a big fan of holding on.

Home again. We've been trying to entertain more as family life and finances keep us at home more these days. We had a BBQ the other day and, given that we provided less than a day's notice, were amazed that several of our friends were actually able to come. Brooklyn, Todd and Atlas were among those in attendance. Life has definitely changed, gatherings now involve setting up an extra playpen and listening in at the door to make sure our babies are sleeping.

They were! So we happily returned to the livingroom for a glass of wine and many more hours of conversation.

Brooklyn's baby Atlas is a bit of a show-off. Even though he's a month younger he started crawling before Cohen. The night had him over he sat on our immobile little man. I think this might have spurred Cohen on because he started to army crawl the next day.

Now whenever I leave his sight I hear "Mum mum mum!" and the sound of his little hands paddling him in my direction.

I love turning around to see him wiggling towards me. I'm such a sucker, I always pick him up.

So he's a momma's boy. There are worse things.