Posts Tagged ‘karate’
11 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: August 17, 2010
So here we are, just one month shy of Niko’s first birthday and I’ve almost got a year’s worth of monthly Niko vs. Karate Bear photos. Our little guy, who’s not so little anymore is almost one. Wow.
As you can see, he is celebrating this 11th monthiversary in style, by doing what I can only describe as his first fake smile. When I took these pics I rapidly snapped a series of about 20 or so and then narrowed it down to my fav three. When I started shooting, Niko made this silly smile and squinted his eyes tight each time I clicked the camera. Hello fake smile. But where would he have picked this up? Who can tell for sure? Although, now that I think of it, Niko was hanging out with his two-year-old pal Ruby last week and she often hams it up for the camera…
I particularly like the last pic below; he’s showing his ultimate domination over the bear: “Little black belt, you are no match for Sir Niko! Hiya. Take that! You’re pinned.”
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
10 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: July 17, 2010
10 month old Niko is certainly keeping us busy. Based on my observations over the last few weeks I thought for sure he would be crawling by now, but actually he is still just “almost” there. He’s getting pretty good at maneuvering from side to side and can inch his way backwards, as well as hold up his body in a crawling position, but for now he sort of just reaches around and moves about in about a two or three foot radius.
His sleep patterns are regular only in their irregularity. He will sleep through the night for a few weeks and then revert to waking up once or twice, which is his current trend: except for last night when he slept straight from 7:30 pm to 6:30 am. Keep it up, Baby!
The other day I went to check on him while he was sleeping and couldn’t get over how long his body appeared while he was just lying there in his crib. It’s crazy to think that he has almost quadrupled his body weight since he was born! That’s a whole lot of growing in just 10 months.
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
9 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: June 15, 2010
The Little Niko Man is 9 months old. It’s crazy to think that nine months ago, today, we headed to the hospital for the birth of our son. By the time we got there I was in active labour and Niko was already on his way. I specifically remember a conversation with the resident doctor, that went something like this.
Dr. (while examining me and with surprise): Whoa. You are 6 cm dilated!
Me (wide eyed): Really?
Dr.: Yes. So you will be having this baby today.
Me: What? Today? But I’m not due for four more weeks. (And then looking at Borys.) We’re having our baby today!!! Oh my gosh!
Borys: Oh my goodness!
Dr.: Yup. By they way you’re going to have this baby within half an hour!
Me: Oh my goodness!
So that was nine months ago, and now we have this little beauty who keeps delighting our hearts and bringing us joy on a daily basis.
Now that he’s nine months he’s clapping all the time (all the while displaying a proud and curious look to boot), he’s laughing a lot and contagiously, he’s getting closer and closer to crawling (I can just see him reaching his way forward, wanting to go, but not quite sure how to get going), and he’s got six teeth (that he won’t stop grinding – shiver…). What a precious little monkey!
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
8 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: May 15, 2010
The (not so) Little Niko Man is eight months old today! And what did he get for his monthiversary? A new baby cousin! That’s right! Little Emiliana was born yesterday at 7pm weighing in at just under 8lbs and Ciocia Ola was a superstar trooper having her little monkey at home with her hubbie, midwife, doula, and two greyhounds, by her side!
Niko is so excited to meet his newest cousin and the first one on the Polish side. This also means Niko is no longer the “baby” in the family. I mean yes, he is still a baby, but just not the smallest one. Wow! We are so excited for Ciocia Ola and Uncle Bruce and can’t wait to see some pics of this newest family member!
And now that Niko’s eight months old, what can he do? Roll over like crazy, clap his hands, keep “da da” on repeat and of course he crawls deeper and deeper into our hearts with each passing day!
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
7 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: April 15, 2010
The Little N Man is seven months old today! So, to document his monthiversary I took what has become the obligatory pic with the karate build-a-bear. It’s hard to believe that he actually fit in that tiny karate costume just a few months ago!
Things Niko can do now that he is seven months old: sit by himself (even though there’s a pillow waiting behind him, just in case), chew (sort of) with his two bottom teeth, giggle a lot, say “Mama” and “Dada”?, and sleep most nights from 7:30 to 5 or 6 am!
Amendment (April 16): In the life of a baby “normal” doesn’t always last so long. Last night Niko recalled his life as a newborn and woke up hungry every two hours! Geesh. I’m tired…
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
6 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: March 15, 2010
Our little boy is six months old today. Still a baby? Yes. Still a newborn? No.
The other day Niko and I went out for lunch with my friend Charlotte and Niko’s newborn friend Jack. To see two week old Jack, all 7lbs of him, still scrunched up in the fetal position, really put into perspective how much Niko has grown since his 6lb NICU days. I mean I still think of little Niko, as well, LITTLE! And I guess he is. But “little” is all relative, and when compared to a newborn, little is not a word that comes to mind. Holding little Jackson it’s hard to remember that Niko was actually smaller than him, and I can’t even really remember him feeling so light in my arms.
Borys and I are both so happy that (not so little anymore) Niko is healthy and growing. Even though he was born a month early, and hooked up to machines and monitors for the first two weeks of his life, you would never know that by looking at him. He certainly has grown into a strong and healthy baby!
PS – In the last pic, in the series of pictures below, Niko’s facial expression is one of sheer grit (not tears) after he pulled a ninja move on the karate bear. And after such a move, we now refer to him as Sensei Niko.
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
5 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: February 17, 2010
Well folks it’s that time of the month again (no, not that time): but it is time for the monthly showdown between Niko and Beary (that’s Karate Build-a-Beary)! Niko seems to be gaining the advantage seeing as he can almost be classified as a heavyweight and Beary remains just a mid to light weight contender. It’s hard to believe that Niko is already five months old: but such is life, and I guess when you look back on things that is usually how time works. The time has gone fast though and Borys and I have been having a lot of fun getting to know our little man.
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
4 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: January 15, 2010
Niko is exactly 4 months old today! It’s sort of hard to believe and I feel a bit sad that I am already through 1/3 of my maternity leave, but such is life: time just keeps marching on, I guess. On the eve of his four month birthday Niko finally slept alone for the first time. That’s right! Even though Borys had been adamant that he sleep in the same room with us for 6 months, due to Borys’ concerns about SIDS, last night Daddy figured it was finally OK to let him sleep on his own. And what a great night! Niko slept from 11 to 5:30am, and didn’t wake again until 9:30. It’s not like he does this every night, but when he does and I see the time on the clock after I hear his cries, I have a mini celebration for the hours that he slept.
On Halloween, Niko wore a build-a-bear karate outfit, and now each month on the 15th, I take a picture of him beside the bear, whose outfit he actually wore. The plan is to get a progression of photos throughout the first year of his life, documenting his growth in comparison to the karate build-a-bear.
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
3 Month Old vs. Karate Bear
Posted on: December 16, 2009
I realize that a lot of these posts have been about Niko growing, but hey, that’s what babies do. Yesterday was Niko’s three month birthday and he was celebrating like crazy! Partying on even at 2am… Oh, he didn’t want to miss a minute of it!
One of Niko’s Halloween costumes this year was a Build-a-Bear karate outfit (see pic to the right). Just to show how much he has grown since then I took some pics of him beside the bear and the outfit today. My little man is HUGE! 🙂
Note: This is part of a series of blog entries that were inspired when Niko wore the bear’s mini karate gi as a Halloween costume. Since then I have used the bear and the costume to document his growth at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and now eleven months.
The Torch Relay
Posted on: December 12, 2009
111: this is the number of times and days that I nominated myself to carry the Olympic torch, and all that persistence paid off. Today has been a long time coming, since I first saw the Coke ad on TV last February asking if I wanted to carry the Olympic flame. Carry the flame?! It didn’t take long for me to realize with an emphatic YES, that this was definitely something I wanted to do! So I went online, looked into the details and started nominating myself. After a few months I got randomly selected to go to the next round and write a brief essay -around 200 words – about how I live an active lifestyle (see Active Living essay below).
The beginning of my Olympic Torch Relay dream pretty much coincided with Borys and me happily discovering I was pregnant with Niko, but seeing as he was due in October and the torch would be coming through Ottawa in December, I figured I would be good to go for the Torch Relay! And good to go I was! What an amazing, amazing experience: one that will be etched clearly in my memory (and in the hundreds of pictures that friends and family took!) for the rest of my life!
Niko was an amazing baby too! Even though I was fretting about the “baby logistics”, I really didn’t need to worry seeing as he happily slept through most of the morning and we were back home by noon.
Active Living: A Lifelong Commitment
I have always lived an active lifestyle. I have trained for half-marathons, triathlons and also a marathon. I participated in these events with long-distance friends; we updated each other on our training and would finally meet up on race day to run together. One friend told me that she ran a half-marathon because of something I said to her. I told her if she could run a 10km race, then she could do a half-marathon. She took it to heart, started training, and eventually we both ran the Ottawa half-marathon in 2006.
Teaching has given me the opportunity to share my passion for an active lifestyle. I have participated in student vs. teacher sports, and have coached cross-country and football. In 2005 I was inspired by my Director of Education to start karate. A friend and I started together and progressed through all the belts, which culminated in our black belt exam in June 2008. I have since continued with karate, and now have my mind set on earning my second degree black belt. My husband and I are expecting our first baby this October! Throughout my pregnancy I have remained an active participant in karate and aim to maintain this as a lifelong form of exercise.
Parenting 2.0 