Welcome to the Beck Room!

March 11, 2006: Today Beck went to White Spot on Kingsway - his first restaurant! He also got to go outside in the sunshine and is trying ever so hard to crawl. Any day now Beck, we know you can do it !

March 7, 2006: Beck can crawl backward, loves Jake and will wiggle his body and making odd calling sounds to get him over. He's attending music class and is very attentive. He weighs 20 pounds and is ready to crawl forward any day now.

December 5, 2005: Beck is now 16 1/2 pounds, and is almost 26 inches. He looks like such a big boy compared to a few weeks ago! He's been rolling over from front to back for a while now, and has just begun to roll over from back to front (today!) ... and he is good at reaching and grasping. He's especially good at tummy time (even more so when you compare to Finn, who screamed immediately and refused). I think he's finally decided to notice me (Uncle Ashley) and we're getting along great now. There's nothing better than being the recipient of one of Beck's famous smiles!

November 8, 2005: Beck was christened a few weeks ago, and behaved perfectly all through the ceremony (and I held him the right way, with the Christening gown dangling down ... apparently it was all bunched up when I took Finn at his christening). Beck's so much more awake nowadays, you can actually get a visit in. He enjoys lying on his exercise mat and reaching for his octopus, and he can even gradually get into a standing position if you grasp his little fingers and give a good tug (Tammy showed me how.)

He's certainly got his own little personality. He's very calm most of the time, and he loves to cuddle. When you held Finn at that age, he would have held his head up and looked around and tried to jump, but when you hold Beck he flops his head into you and holds you with his little hands and cuddles--so sweet!

October 18, 2005: Beck continues to grow! (I guess we should have expected it). The doctor says he is perfect. He's 14.3 pounds, and is 61 cm tall (so he's grown 12 cm since he was born). He has a smaller head than Finn did, but he's 3 cms taller than Finn was at the same age. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that he's thinner than Finn was at this age (just going by the photographic evidence, folks!)

September 28, 2005: Beck slept almost 9 hours last night (that's got to be a record!) Tammy says it's the first time in history that she's getting more sleep than Al (Beck's poor Dad has to get up at 5:30 and his family's all sleeping in past 7:00!)

September 21, 2005: Beck weighs 13.8 pounds: in percentile terms, he's at 90% for weight and 50% for height (pretty much the same as Finn). He's definitely a smiler (I haven't seen him look anything other than pleased, yet) and is certainly working on his goos and gaas.

September 1, 2005: Beck weighs over 12 pounds as is (colic aside) very healthy. We think he's bigger than Finn was at the same age. He's managed some 7 hours overnight sleeps, which is very respectable for a 6 week old child, we think. He occasionally says something rather like "Goo." He is certainly growing up very handsome!

August 23, 2005: According to his mother (who ought to know these things), Beck is now at least 11 pounds in weight, is "very much more alert" (that's what I said!), can sleep for five hours at a stretch, and has a very strong neck and head. He seems to look quite a bit like his big brother, but has a different nose (I think it might be the famous "Barnes" nose that Tammy and I both have, but we'll see.)

August 22, 2005: Beck is becoming increasingly awake (yippee!) Unlike with baby Finn, we have decided (well, Mommy & Daddy have insisted) that we will not overstimulate him. Hence, he spent his first few weeks eating and sleeping. I did not get to sing him the entire Harold Arlen catalog of hits at double speed, nor any current pop favourites. Soon, that will change! On Saturday he spent quite a bit of time on his play mat, occasionally whacking the soft plush animals and shapes dangling above him, and he was awake the whole entire time. Perhaps you had to be there, but I found it thrilling!

August 12, 2005: Beck started smiling today (he clearly hasn't been watching the same crappy television shows I've been watching!)

July 18, 2005: Little Beckett was born on Saturday, July 16, at 1:40pm. He's 6 pounds, 10 ounces, so bigger than his "big" brother Finnian, and is 19 3/4 inches in height (not that he's standing yet, but you know what I mean.) He was 17 days early (like Finn), but unlike his brother he had a very smooth delivery after a normal, textbook 12-hour labour.

He came home (to a brand spanking newly renovated room) on Sunday afternoon and seems to like his crib. He enjoys sleeping and eating, and in his spare time, fussing.