'This little guy is amazing': Proud parents show off Shëth La, N.W.T.'s 1st baby of 2024

When a couple from Łutsel K'e, N.W.T., welcomed their first child on Jan. 3, they had no idea they were also welcoming the territory's first baby of the new year.

They also didn't know the baby's name, having struggled to choose ahead of time.

"We had a lot of names picked out. We decided to just wait till we saw him," said the new father, Shonto Noeldeke-Catholique.

Ultimately it was their child's size that settled the decision. Born at 2:17 p.m. last Wednesday at the Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife, he was a big baby, weighing in at 9 pounds 4 ounces, and measuring 56 centimetres long.

Shonto Noeldeke-Catholique, left, and Kristen Kodakin-Yakeleya, right, welcomed their 1st child, Shëth La, in Yellowknife on Jan. 3. The baby boy won a prize for being the territory's first child of 2024. (Submitted by Kristen Kodakin-Yakeleya)

"In my family, we all have traditional names. So we both felt it was really important to give them a traditional name, a name from the land," said Noeldeke-Catholique.

"We saw how big he was. 'Shëth La' is just perfect for him, and it means 'top of the mountain.'"

The proud parents spoke to CBC News from their hotel room in Yellowknife.

"We spent five days at the hospital. I had complications during birth, so we couldn't be discharged right away," said Kristen Kodakin-Yakeleya, Shëth La's mother.

"He was totally healthy. So it was quite the time," she said.

The newborn's full name is Shëth La Mod Kodakin-Gahdële.

Shëth La Mod Kodakin-Gahdële received a traditional name that means 'top of the mountain' and, his parents say, it reflects how big he was at birth. (Submitted by Kristen Kodakin-Yakeleya)

Prize-winning baby

The baby isn't fussy, say his parents, but it's still a challenging time. Kodakin-Yakeleya says she's adjusting to life with little sleep, while Noeldeke-Catholique is adjusting to taking care of both the baby and his wife.

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"This little guy is amazing. I love his eyes and you know, him being so cute makes everything way easier," Noeldeke-Catholique said.

"It's just beautiful. It's just wide open and dark brown eyes, really just trying to figure out the world."

Ahead of Shëth La's birth, the couple said they had considered the possibility that he might be the territory's first baby of 2024, but weren't banking on it. They joked that maybe they'd win a prize if he was the first.

"It turned out he actually was, and it turns out that you actually do get a prize from the hospital," Noeldeke-Catholique said.

The gift included a card, a teddy bear and other toys, some diapers, clothes, and a beautiful crocheted blanket.

'He brought the winter'

Kodakin-Yakeleya says the trio will return home to Łutsel K'e when she has recovered.

"The fact that I can't carry anything, it's quite a struggle. So we're not in no rush, we're taking it week by week right now," she said.

Thinking about the future, and what they'll tell their son about his birth story, Noeldeke-Catholique says he'll never forget the weather.

"It was kind of like he brought the winter. We'd just had that warm spell and then right after he was born, it was starting to get like –50," he said.