Second Round of Reinforcements Arrive

Emmett and his parents headed to the airport late last night to pick up his grandparents, Gramma and Poppa. Emmett was extremely excited to meet his dad's parents, though the late night arrival meant he conked out en route to the airport.
Gramma spent the day with him, and used her grandma magic to put him to sleep. Little does Gramma know, Emmett's parents have hatched a plan to keep her in Alberta, and destroyed her plane ticket home.

In the meantime, Emmett's mom learned a valuable lesson today. When a crying baby is put in a bouncy chair in the bathroom with the hairdryer on, the baby will fall asleep almost instantly...

H1N1 and the flu shot

Emmett's mom and dad headed to the vaccine clinic today to get their flu shots. Dad got his, and half an hour later, came down with a really bad cold. Alas, the clinic did not have the type of vaccine needed for lactating women, so mom was turned away. The H1N1 clinic was just down the hall, but having heard of the six hour lineup, she decided to hop on the train and head home instead. (Emmett's first C-train ride).

Emmett woke his mom up every hour the night before for a little snack, so his poor mom was exhausted today. No new pictures as a result...she couldn't string three words together, much less operate the camera. So here are a few from the archives...

Some of the clan McCann drop in

As the last southern destination on their trip before heading back north of 60, cousin Jimmy brought Uncle Colin and Aunt Denise to meet Emmett. Everyone wanted to cuddle the baby. Then we went to a local Indian restaurant for dinner, and all anyone wanted to cuddle was naan bread saturated with butter chicken sauce.

You know the child has changed your life when...

...you realize that your midweek day off has been labelled 'hugely productive' solely because you spent 2 1/2 hours napping on the couch with your son sleeping on your chest.

Saying Goodbye to A.J.

One of the most significant women in Emmett's short life (besides his mom) was A.J. the doula. A.J. was on the scene minutes after Emmett was born to help his mom with breastfeeding, comforting him, recognizing his cues, and making sure mom and dad were getting enough sleep. Without A.J., mom and dad would not be nearly as confident as they are today. Her time with Emmett and his parents has come to an end after about four weeks of support. It had to happen, but Emmett has mixed feelings about losing his cuddle time with A.J.

Lucrative NBA Contract?

According to the National Post this week, a university degree may cost $100K in 18 years. That's bad news for Emmett and his parents. Luckily, at a recent trip to his doctor, Emmett learned that he is in the 95th percentile for his height. (Translation: he is tall compared to other babies his age! 59cm/23 inches at 5 1/2 weeks old.) That could mean a lucrative NBA contract. Emmett's dad got to work right away with Emmett`s training schedule...

Professional Development

Emmett and his mom stopped by Career Services yesterday so Emmett could meet the gang. Little did his mom know, he had ulterior motives for the visit. Emmett took advantage of Resume Rescue, and got his first resume review. Although he has acquired many skills and experiences in his short life, (including milk extraction expert, waste management engineer, and sleep deprivation manager), his reviewer didn't think there was much out there in the job market for him. She did help him in identifying his skills, though, and encouraged him to continue his professional development.

Noteworthy in the News this past week

Barack Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize. Stephen Harper plays the piano alongside Yo-Yo Ma. Calgary breaks a temperature record, posting -18.0 Celsius on October 12. Emmett celebrates his one month birthday. Somehow, Emmett's mom missed all of these, with the exception of his birthday.

Saturday Night Dance Party

Emmett gets in touch with his inner dancer, and Emmett's dad gets in touch with his inner music video editor. MuchMusic will never know what hit it.

Calvin vs. Emmett

There will only ever be one Calvin. Fortunately, though, while Calvin and Hobbes remain on indefinite hiatus, there is Emmett.

Nappylanche!

Mom and Dad took Emmett nappy shopping to Babes in Arms and came home with a 36-hour rotation of their new cloth diapering system. Pending a full testing regime by our in-house expert, bumGenius will be in, and Pampers and Huggies will be out.

Upon arriving at home, Mom said to Dad, "I think it's changing time. Wanna put the new diapers on Emmett?"

Dad said, "Sure."

Another rack of firsts

As she watched Emmett's dad successfully deliver the first bottle feeding, Emmett's mom pumped her arms triumphantly skyward, danced a dance of joy, and screamed from the balcony, "SWEET FREEDOM!"

Emmett also got his first look at a real, live uncle. Uncle John stopped in to meet his new nephew en route to a conference on the west coast.

And, perhaps most importantly, Emmett acknowledged for the first time -- amid an awesome case of the hiccups -- that the shoes do, in fact, make the man.

Emmett's dad is tie-tie

It's the Thursday night of Emmett's dad's first week back in the office. And wow, is he tired. Fortunately, his spirits have been buoyed by the prospect of a shipment of cookies from Paula's Pantry, courtesy of Gramma.

Cookies for Emmett's parents? Cute Emmett pic for Gramma.

Deal.