Socializing our Puppy!--Sunday May 17, 2009.

G. Nana (short for Great-Nana) and Annie B. (short for Annie Bananie)

Last night Annie let us sleep in again! Mason and I are beginning to feel spoiled and are waiting for the day when Annie doesn't let us sleep. Mason got almost 10 hours combined (in 3-4 hour chunks) and I got almost 8 hours sleep in total. I think Annie must know how much her Mom and Dad value their sleep as she has been a sleeper since day 1.

This morning Karin our midwife came by the house again to assess Annie and I. Things with me checked out just fine, but Karin our midwife was concerned that Annie was not back up to her birth weight. She weighed 7lbs 4oz and Karin has given us just over a week to get Annie to gain 6oz. If Annie does not gain back her birth weight of 7lbs 10oz by our next appointment then we will be referred to a pediatrician who will run a series of tests to see why she is not gaining. Karin said this is protocol and that she does not think there is anything wrong with Annie.

After our midwife appointment, we packed up the car and headed out to socialize our puppy (as Auntie Frances calls it). Annie being our new puppy. We took Annie to see her Great-Grampa Outschoorn and "G. Nana" (that's her cool name, like P.Diddy).

It was amazing to see their reactions to Annie as at first G. Nana was especially nervous and even "scared" to hold her as she had not held a newborn in almost 12 years since my cousin Jennifer was an infant. After a few minutes with Annie, G. Nana said, "Oh, it's like riding a bike!" and Annie was happy and safe in her arms.

We had a delicious lunch of Nana curry, rice, green beans, asparagus, eggplant and lentils...yummmm. During lunch, we got a variety of advice from the more experienced parents about being relaxed, getting outdoors, eating well etc. All very useful might I add, not like the advice we had received during my pregnancy at all.

Later, Uncle Darrel and Jennifer came by as they were visiting from Ottawa and were out shopping together. Again, Annie worked her magic and was happy and alert. It was neat to see my youngest cousin (on the Outschoorn side) holding my baby as I remember holding her and when she was a baby...weird.

After our visit with the Outschoorn's we headed out to do round 2 of the Great-Grandparent circuit and went to see Buby and Zaida. I am not sure what they want Annie to call them, I forgot to ask, but for now it's just Buby and Zaida.

When we got there, Auntie Marilyn was there too. Annie for the first time was one zonked puppy and did not wake up until the very end of our visit. It was nice to see them as it had been some time. Buby and Zaida had delicious dessert set out for us and we listened as we heard some more parenting tips and answered questions about Annie's birth and our experience so far.

Overall, a fantastic day socializing our puppy. Our hope is that by getting her out and about early on that we will have a baby who is hopefully not shy and we also want to maintain our relationships with our family and friends.

We apologise to those of you we've neglected the past few months. We promise we'll get better. This balancing act is tricky and we're still getting the hang of it. Thanks for being patient with us.

Love,
Amber, Mason & Annie