Arlo loves his Mamma

Arlo and Mamma love spending time together. They have had a lot of guest and visitors since they have been home, but Thursday was their first day home alone together, and they had a great time hangin out, as always. Check out these great pics of Mamma and son.

Daddy time

Arlo has missed his Daddy this week, now that he has gone back to work, but he makes the most of the time when he is home by hanging out on the porch and people watching, or testing out his new wheels. Daddy is counting down the days to the end of school more than ever before this year.

Family Ties

Arlo loves spending time with Family. Not only did he meet all of his grandparents in his first week, but he also got visits from his cousin Mary, his auntie Jamie spent a couple of days cuddling him, and his cousin Brook-Lyn hung out and helped take care of him for five days! Auntie Kim, Uncle Terry, and cousin Katie will visit this weekend. Arlo is lucky to have such a great family.

Relaxing on the couch

The past week has been a buty one for Arlo, so when he can, he tries to relax as much as possible. So does daddy.

The chicks really dig Arlo

Arlo has had a number of visitors in his short life, and it seems like everyone is pretty smitten with him. The guys think he's pretty cool, and the chicks really dig him. Her he is hangin out with the Endenberg girls, Sarah and Natalie (both were students in Ray's class, and Sarah played flute at Jenny and Ray's wedding last summer). As you can see they can't get enough of him! (he gets his charm from Daddy no doubt!)

Bath Time

Arlo's first bath at home was an adventure for Mama and Grandpa. They cleared off the counter in the kitchen last Friday, and started lathering up the little guy. He isn't sure that he loves being wet yet. Wet cloth on the body, he frowns or cries. Warm towel on the body, smiling and gurgling, soapy cloth on the hair and head, squeaky wailing. Warm water rinsed over the back of the head, smiley and satisfied look of interest. Finally, cold wet cloth on areas below the equator, well you can see from the picture, that brings on a reaction that is much more...wet than the others. Watch out Grandpa and Mama!

Grandparents

Heather and Larry Kalynuk, Arlo's grandparents from his Papa's side, drove all the way from Haliburton last Wednesday to see their very first grandchild. Excited is hardly the word for how pumped they were to meet baby Arlo. Grandpa was red faced and teary on a regular basis during their visit, and Grandma, well, she just couldn't get enough of the little guy.

Ron and Karen Brown, Arlo's grandparents from his Mama's side, made the trek from Lindsay this past Sunday, so that they could spend some time with Jenny when Ray went back to work this week. Grandpa Brown went on record at Ray and Jenny's wedding with the statement that "he likes babies", so it is no surprise that he was over the moon with the prospect of meeting his new grandson. Grandma Brown was thrilled to get her hands on the first grandson that has been born into the Brown clan. The grandparents love Arlo, that's for sure!

Baby Spring Rolls

All of those years of making perogies, dumplings, and spring rolls have paid off for Ray. Mom may be better at taking care of Arlo in many ways, but Dad rocks it when it comes to wrapping the little guy up. (They didn't call him Rappin Ray for nothing...)

Arlo Comes Home

Arlo and his Mommy spent two nights at the Ottawa Civic (three if you include the night spend in the delivery room) and they were excited to be going home, though relieved to have spent those sweltering days (40 degree heat in Ottawa) in the cool air conditioning of the hospital. So on Thursday, May 27, we all said goodbye (Daddy also spent those nights at the Civic, but got out in the daytime) to the wonderful nurses, doctors and student nurses on the fourth floor, and went home. Arlo doesn't really like being buckeled up into his car seat, but once he is in it, he thinks it is the best place to catch some nap time. The drive home might have been the most cautious one since Ray took his driver's test in high school, and Jenny telling him to hop on the highway on the way kind of freaked him out, but they made it home safe, happy, and sound.

More pics to see

Click on these links to find more pics from Arlo's first few days:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/kalynuk/ArloJamesEarlKalynuk?authkey=Gv1sRgCN_YptOZu6yMmgE#

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalynuk/Day207?authkey=Gv1sRgCJugnbWP_piQHA#

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalynuk/Day206?authkey=Gv1sRgCJqY1ZWfmrPt0gE#

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalynuk/Day205?authkey=Gv1sRgCNO_wNTYqLHjHA#

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalynuk/Day204?authkey=Gv1sRgCJWX1KC8h5OC8AE#

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalynuk/Day203?authkey=Gv1sRgCIG7-fi2wKCg4gE#

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalynuk/Day202?authkey=Gv1sRgCIeF7q2sj5yWGA#

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalynuk/Day2?authkey=Gv1sRgCJiFqufTvsflIg#

Assistant Birthing Coach

So, apparently Jenny and Ray just need Tiiu for about everything. She is Ray's teaching team partner, she was Jenny's maid of honour last summer, and she was there to assist "Coach Ray" during Arlo's birth. Of course this made her honorary "Auntie Tiiu" and she was the first person, other than his parents, to hold little Arlo.

De ja "View"

After the initial excitement of Arlo's arrival I looked back at pictures that Tiiu had shot during the event and something kind of rang in the back of my head. It took a day or two to figure it out, but finally I realized what Arlo was reminding me of. Talk about a coincidence. The most exciting exhibit at the National Gallery in Ottawa for my students over the past five years or so has been Ron Mueck's giant sized, ultra realistic, sculpture of a baby's head. Though Arlo's was considerably smaller, I am sure taht this is the size Jenny thought it was during the delivery.
What a resemblance!

Introducing Arlo

Jenny and Ray enjoyed a relaxing Victoria Day weekend, and were finishing off a Monday of gardening with a nice barbecue and (for Ray) an ice cold beverage, when things started to get interesting. Jenny thought her water had broken, and after a few minutes, and a helpful phone call to their friend Kim Yates (birthing guru extreme) they knew a trip to the Civic birthing ward would be needed. First though they finished barbecuing, cleaning up from the day, packing some last minute things, and then they left, with only a few pains coming for Jenny at this point.

It was not long after they arrived at the Civic that Jenny started having pretty serious contractions, that cam only a few minutes apart. As a result of her close contractions they were moved from triage to a birthing suite. A quick call to their assistant birthing coach Tiiu, and the whole 'team' was set up in what happened to be the same room that Tiiu had given birth to her daughter Daisy just over a year before.

The night was long, and action packed, as Arlo was excited to see his Mommy and Daddy. Contractions averaged two minutes apart all night long, which gave Jenny just a few moments of rest between them for a drink of water and to catch her breath. Tiiu was instrumental in assisting Ray with making Jenny comfortable throughout the ordeal. In the end, just about ten hours after entering the hospital, baby Arlo was born, at 6:52am, on May 25th, 2010, at 3295 g, (7pounds 4 ounces).