Photo sharing time

The little guy turned four a few weeks ago. We took him to kid paradise for his party. As you can see, the event was a big hit!










Better late than never! Here are a couple of pics from last spring. He's changed so much since these photos were taken!










Better late than never! Here are a couple of pics from last spring. A couple of ducks just flew down into our friend's yard to hang out. So we pulled out some bird seed and fed them a snack.

Boys will be boys

What do you get when you mix two 4-year olds and a 2-year old? A whole lot of mischief!

While the adults were all socializing on the main floor last weekend, the three little rugrats went upstairs to our newly renovated play room. Not five minutes later, the little guy yelled down the stairs, "Mom, we fed the fish."

Poor Goldie. The entire surface of his fish bowl was covered in fish food (normally he gets 4 pellets of carefully measured out fish food per day). While I was scooping the extra food out of the bowl with a net, the boys played quietly behind me. Too quietly.

When I turned around I discovered them tearing apart the little guy's special Playmobile advent calendar. The advent calendar that I had spent over an hour putting together (and wasn't nearly finished)! This calendar had 25 individual boxes that I had taken great pains to fold together. Into each box I had carefully sorted and matched miniature sized toys. Just as I was getting ready to assemble the calendar with the boxes, Hubby asked me to run to the store to pick up a missing dinner ingredient. I put the calendar pieces on top of the dresser (but obviously not out of reach) and promised the little guy that I would put the finishing pieces on his surprise together after the dinner party.

So much for the advent calendar. Better luck next year I guess!

Show and tell

I'd like to remind everyone that the little guy is still 3-years old. His birthday is fast approaching, but he is still pretty young to be in Kindergarten.

Today was his turn for Show and Tell. The topic was "What do I want to be when I grow up." We had to prepare him to talk about his dream job, why that job is important, the tools he would need to do the job, and what he would need to learn before he could do the job. The teacher requested that the kids bring props to assist them with their presentations. Getting him ready for Show and Tell was no easy task, let me tell you. It was actually pretty stressful (for me, at least).

First he had to decide what job he wanted to talk about. Normally he wavers between firefighter and astronaut. But out of the blue he decided that what he'd really like to be is a train engineer. Doh! We have tons of props for firefighter and astronaut but zip for train engineer (except Thomas, and we didn't want his presentation to turn into a discussion about fictional trains).

So we went on the internet and found some cool pictures of different kinds of trains (the royal "we" that is). Then we talked about how driving a train is important because the engineer carries "coal and toys and people" to where they need to go. Afterwards we made a list of the tools he would need for the the job. His list included:
- A train
- An engineers hat (very important!)
- A whistle
- people and seats
- controls and a radio (this got added to his list with some prompting)

He decided that he would need to learn how to drive a train in order to do the job, which I thought was a very good answer to the last question.

So....after a couple of hours of preparation (mostly me doing the preparing) we rehearsed his presentation. From my perspective, It didn't go so well. From his perspective, it was brilliant. What do you think?

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Little guy: A train Engineer

Me: Why is that an important job?

Little guy: Because I want to drive a train.

Me: But why is it important that someone drives the train?

Little guy: Because it's fun.

Me: Is it important because you need to carry people and things to where they need to go?

Little guy: Yah. But it's important because I like to have fun.

Me: What tools would you need to drive the train?

Little guy: A train, an engineers hat, people and seats.

Me: What else?

Little guy: Remote controls

Me: And what do you need to learn before you drive a train?

Little guy: (totally distracted, playing with his cars)

Me: What do you need to learn before you can drive a train?

Little guy: Mom, can I watch Franklin?

Sweet tooth

The little guy has inherited my sweet tooth. I'm constantly telling him that sugary treats are bad for his teeth.

After finishing a lollypop from his Halloween bag he ran into the bathroom.

"Mom!" he yelled.

"Yes," I replied.

"All my teeth are still here. I checked!"

Remembrance Day

The little guy came home from school this morning wearing a poppy and told me "I'm wearing a flower because some people died."

"At school did they talk about who died?" I asked.

"I'm not sure....But I think maybe it was students at my school."

"I think the people who died were soldiers who died in a war."

"Maybe they will feel better now."

I tried to explain, but he doesn't quite get it yet. But it's good to at least start the conversation.

Halloween & Catching up

Boy have a been lazy about updating my blog lately. Blame it on Facebook (I now have a cafe, 2 farms and an aquarium to look after every day). That and life has generally been busy between renovations, birthday parties (3 in the last 3 weeks), my volunteer work etc....

So to catch you up on the wild and crazy adventures of the little guy, I'll start with Halloween. Costumes are very much on our minds lately because he has been to not one, but two costume birthday parties in October. He's had to settle for wearing last year's little dragon costume (which is pretty darned cute!) instead of this year's costume, which we still haven't made. Unlike the other kids who will be wearing off the rack super hero, pirate, and firefighter costumes, the little guy has decided he wants to be a blue heron.

Yep. A blue heron. Nothing else will do. He's told us a million times.

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Speaking of Blue Herons, the little guy brought the Birds of North America field guide to show and tell. He made a special point of showing his classmates pictures of his favourite birds, most notably the blue herons, ocean seagulls and mergansers.

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We think that he may have had H1N1 last week. He had all of the symptoms (sudden onset of fever and cough, chills, muscle aches, runny nose) and was away from school for the majority of the week. Several other kids in his class were off too with exactly the same illness. Luckily he had a very mild case. It sucks that I can't verify if it was in fact H1N1. Now that the vaccine is available it would be nice to know if he actually needed it or not.

I'm very thankful that neither Hubby or I caught it. It's a miracle actually, considering the number of times we were coughed on or had to wipe a wet, drippy nose. The little guy even fell asleep on our bed and drooled all over my pillow!!!! Yuck. No amount of hand sanitizer or disinfectant could have warded off all of those germs. We must have built up some sort of immunity. All the same, I think I may get the vaccination in a few weeks once the line-ups die down.

That's it for now. I've got lots more to tell but it will have to wait for another day.

Life's little details are killing me

For those of you who know me, I am not a "detail" person. I'll remind you that I once forgot to order chairs for an event I was planning (oops!). I've never lived that one down.

Junior Kindergarten is all about remembering details. Just this week I had to:
- Order name labels
- Label all of his stuff
- Make snacks every morning
- Prepare for picture day
- Buy new "backup" clothes to account for all of the stuff that goes missing
- Track down three missing items
- Pack extra rain gear
- Pack and unpack the backpack countless times
- Send back the scholastic order
- Make pancakes for the family breakfast
- Send three notes to his teacher
- Sign several forms and return them to the school
- Go to the school program night
- Make sure he returned his library book (which I'll have to remember every single Friday)
- Read several memos from the school
- Coordinate field trip volunteer days
- Transfer important dates into calendar (i.e. show and tell schedule)

I'm sure that I've missed several others. Did I mention that it's killing me?

The marshmallow experiment

I had never heard of this experiment until my colleague sent me a link to this hilarious video. It's an experiment that you can conduct on 4-year old to find out about their ability to delay gratification. Even though he's not quite four yet, we decided to try it out on the little guy. We sat him down at the dining room table and gave him one marshmallow and told that he could eat it right away of, if he could wait for a little while, he would get two marshmallows.

"I want two!," he cried excitedly.

"Okay, but you can't eat that marshmallow until we come back in the room. We are going to leave for a little while so remember, you'll only get a second marshmallow if you wait."

We then left him alone in the room for approximately five minutes. Of course I was spying on him the whole time to see what he would do. He did everything short of eating the marshmallow. He sniffed the marshmallow. Threw it. Mashed it with his hands. Licked it. But he never actually tried to eat it. After five minutes of him yelling, "can I have my other marshmallow now?" we finally gave it to him. The fact that he was able to wait bodes well for his future. Of course in the real experiment the kids had to wait for 15 minutes, so I'm not sure if the results are very accurate. Also, licking the marshmallow could be seen as cheating. Plus, when he demanded that we repeat the experiment again the next day, he ate the marshmallow after waiting only a few minutes and didn't seem to care in the least if he got a second one.

When this experiment was originally conducted 40+ years ago, they did a follow up study with the same kids 15 years later. The children who ate the marshmallow right away (2/3 of them) scored an average of 250 points lower on SAT tests than those who waited. Also, those who were able to delay gratification went on to be higher achievers, were more successful and happier in general.

I'm thinking that once he's four we'll do the experiment again with M&M peanuts, a treat he likes much more than marshmallows!

Fortune cookies don't lie

The little guy just opened up a fortune cookie and pulled out the the little sheet of paper. Daddy asked him what it said.

"13 means giving a hug to love mom."

:-)

I know I said I wouldn't talk about toilet training anymore but...

The little guy won't pee at school or at nursery school! This means he's holding it for roughly 5 hours every morning. No big surprise that he's been wetting his pants pretty much every day when his caregiver comes to pick him up.

I've asked his teachers to encourage him to use the toilet. But it's like the saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can't force him to drink (or in this case, pee).

We've promised him a Franklin DVD if he starts doing pees at school. He really wants a Franklin DVD. Really, really wants one. But like everything we've gone through with toilet training, promises of gifts don't work. Nothing will work until he makes up his own mind.

Picture day is next week. I'll remind you that it took at least six tries to get him to sit for a passport photo. Oh, and did I mention that he refused to have his nursery school picture taken last year? I've already started strategizing with his teacher on ways to encourage him to cooperate....I'll let you know how it goes.

Trying to fill in the blanks

Getting information out of an almost 4-year old is like pulling teeth. I never quite get the full story.

We've been drilling him with questions about his first week at school. So far he's told me about snack time (he talks about that a lot!) and that they have a French teacher. He played baseball one day. The bus drivers are nice. And he told me that they have a library inside the school (which, of course, I already knew).

The details we get are sporadic and sometimes don't make a whole lot of sense. A good example of this is when he told Hubby that he sometimes has to help the kids that are "sad and mopey." Presumably these are kids that are having a difficult time adjusting to Junior Kindergarten. When Hubby asked him what he did to help he said, "I did them around." When he asked him to elaborate he said, "I gave them band-aids and poured gasoline on them." I'm sure that cheered them up!

And then there is all the stuff that has gone missing from his backpack. Two days in a row he came home without a jacket. On the second day I got pretty concerned because 1) it was bloody cold outside and he came home wearing a t-shirt and 2) we don't have a lot of spare jackets on hand. The little guy, of course, had no idea where his jackets has disappeared to. I sent a note to the teacher, and one of the jackets made its way home the next day. The other one (his MEC fleecy jacket) is still missing in action. Which sucks, because it is his favourite jacket.

I always pack a change of clothes in his bag in case he has an accident. His spare clothes have also gone missing. I'm beginning to think that by the end of the first month I'll have to buy him a whole new wardrobe! The teacher suggested I call the bus company to see if he's been leaving things on the bus. But why would he take his clothes out of his bag? It doesn't make sense. My guess is they've probably been sucked into a black hole never to be seen again.

Between the missing pieces of information and the missing clothing, I'm definitely not getting the full story about his school day.

His passport

Sigh....Last year we tried six times to get his passport photo taken. Then we gave up. He refused to sit on the stool or look at the camera. He just cried bloody murder. Even with promises of post-passport photo ice-cream treats, there was no way he was going to allow his photo to be taken.

Fast forward to this week. We are planning to go to Seattle at the end of October so we decided that it was time to try again. It took quite a bit of convincing (in the form of Smarties) but we finally succeeded! Whoohoo!

This morning (while we were in a rush, of course) we had to weigh him and measure him for his passport application. No big deal, right? Wrong! At the mere mention of stepping on the scale he started screaming, "No! I don't want to." When I told him that he needed to in order to ride the airplane to visit Amma, he pouted "I don't want to take the airplane!" (Liar, liar pants on fire). After about a 15-minute struggle he finally agreed to be weighed. In retrospect I should have just wrestled him into my arms and stepped on the scale with him....

Measuring his height against the wall. Pretty easy, right? Once again, wrong! Another drawn out scene ensured where we tried to get him to cooperate to measure him against the wall.

The little guy is honestly the most pig-headed kid on the face of the earth. Getting a passport isn't supposed to be this hard.

Quote of the day

When I asked him how French class went today he said, "Mom, it's a waste of my tongue!"

First day of kindergarten

It went pretty well, all things considered.

On Friday morning he cried and cried for a good 45 minutes straight, repeating over and over again that he didn't want to go to kindergarten. As he cried all I could think was, "How on earth are we going to get him on the school bus?"

After he ate some breakfast he settled down. He even helped me pack a snack to bring to school. When I gave him the 5-minute warning about leaving to catch the bus he had a mini-meltdown. But as soon as his shoes were on his attitude changed. It's like he had accepted his fate and figured he might as well embrace it. We arrived at the bus stop well ahead of time (video to follow). And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. The bus didn't show so we rushed him to school in our car. What a let down!

We hung out with him on the playground for a good 20 minutes to help him acclimatize. He was too nervous to interact with the other children and, although he was intrigued by all of the cool playground equipment, he just stayed on the sidelines. Finally we were able to settle him into the sand box with two other little boys. There was a pretty cool steamroller there that he simply couldn't resist. Once he was playing comfortably, we decided it was time to go. This idea wasn't so cool with the little guy. He clung to my leg and begged for us to stay. The teacher (bless her heart) came over to give us a hand. She said, "It's time to say goodbye to mommy and daddy. You will be together at the end of the day, just like every other day."

After a quick goodbye hug and kiss we walk out the gate. The look on his face just about killed me. He looked so frightened. So abandoned. So lonely. Did I mention he is still only 3 years old?

When we rounded the corner I burst into tears. And I burst into tears again when we drove by the school yard and I saw him standing alone against a wall looking all sad and scared.

Hubby dropped me at work and then drove back to the school later to spy on the little guy boarding the bus for nursery school. One glance at the little guy told him that things had gone just fine. He boarded the bus with a big smile on his face and then made his way to the very back of the bus. Hubby followed the bus and observed him standing up from time to time to peer out the back window. When he arrived at nursery school he hopped off the bus and ran excitedly into the playground to play with his friends.

The teacher called me at work that afternoon and gave me a recap of his day. He did very well, except for one small incident. When the French teacher (a new stranger) came in to give a lesson, he got up and left the group. The teacher lost sight of him momentarily and then quickly set off to find him. He was sitting in front of his cubby hole, holding his special blanket (tee-tee). "Do you need a little self time?" she asked and he nodded yes. After a minute he put his blanket back in the bag and rejoined the group.

When I asked him about his day, he was absolutely glowing. He did a craft, sang some songs, played with a castle. I asked him what the best part of the morning was and he said, "I liked having snack time." (No big surprise there!). When I asked him what he thought of his teacher he said, "She's really nice Mom!"

So far so good. Let's just hope the bus shows up tomorrow!

Easing into Kindergarten

So Friday is the big day. The little guy has expressed to us that he is very worried about taking the bus by himself. He's also worried that he won't know any of the other kids. We've been reassuring him that all kids starting school feel nervous, just like him. I really hope that he doesn't cling to me and freak out on the first morning....

Tomorrow we are going to do a dry run. We're going to get up earlier than usual, and get dressed before breakfast instead of after. I want to time it out to see how much time we really need to give ourselves to make it to the bus. My suspicion is that I'm going to have to change my routine a lot in order to get out the door by 7:23. I'm going to have to shower, iron my clothes, and make lunches in the evening.

Life was so much less complicated before Kindergarten!

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We had a great visit with my brother and family over the long weekend. The little guy was so excited to see his cousins! On Saturday we went to the country fair and all three of the kids went on the rides for the first time. As you can tell from the pictures, they were all smiling from ear to ear.






The weather was beautiful so we spent most of the weekend outside wandering through the Market, at the beach, eating ice-cream, playing at the park etc... The cousins had such a blast running around and playing together. Of course, the adults also had their fair share of fun too!

The nudist

He's a nudist. What can I say?

Today at the park he stripped all of his clothes off and proceeded to stride about doing his very best blue heron imitation.

"It's time to put your bathing suit on," I told him.

"But blue herons don't where bathing suits," he replied.

"Yes, but they have feathers to hide their private parts."

He couldn't argue that point so on went the bathing suit!

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So the little guy is terrified of dogs. Even the tiny rodent-like foofoo dogs. If he sees a dog - even in the distance - he starts trembling uncontrollably. The other day he actually ran into the road to avoid a pug dog. When I got upset at him for running into the street he said, "But mom, there was a dog!" as though his actions were justifiable under the circumstances.

Today I tried to talk to him about his irrational fear of dogs, but he would have none of it. Here's what he told me:

"Dogs should always stay in their cages. Cats can go outside but not dogs."

Then he said, "I'm a cat person and daddy's a cat person, and you're a dog person."

He said this as though I was the scum of the earth or something. How could he have developed such a loathing for dogs when I'm the biggest dog lover in the world? It doesn't make sense! I think we might need to get a dog if he keeps this up much longer. I think it's the only way to cure him.

Hmmmph! Cat people. What's with them anyway?

Pump up the volume

Okay, so you know what's been bugging me lately? The volume. It's unbearable! I have to tell the little guy at least a hundred or more times a day to keep his voice down. Jeez, he reminds me of my Uncle Harry!

And he can't stand it when I try to talk to other people. The second I start a conversation he talks over my voice and tries to get my attention.

Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with this?

Kindergarten Prep

We have been doing our very best to prepare the little guy for JK. His official start date is September 11 (although we do a visit with his teacher this coming Friday). I'm not sure who is more nervous - the little guy or me. Probably me.

I keep reading and rereading the package of information that the school gave me back in the Spring. Things like, "your child should be able to put on their own shoes" keep jumping out at me. Sure, he's a pro at putting on crocs and rubber boots, but he sometimes need some help with his runners. After all, he's still only 3 years old. Being a late November baby he's going to be almost a year younger than some of the kids in his class. I really hope that they'll take pity on him when it comes to doing up shoes and things like that.

He's going to have to take the bus to school -- all by himself! At the suggestion of his elementary school we went to a school bus orientation session last weekend. I'm really glad we did because it provided the little guy with a "dry run" of what it would be like. We actually rode the bus and went through all of the safety rules. He's pretty nervous about getting on the bus without mommy and daddy but we've been working really hard to calm his nerves. On day 1 we are planning to follow the bus to school, so that we make sure he gets settled into his classroom. Hubby is going to take the day off so that he can also follow his bus to nursery school too, again, to help him with the transition.

The countdown begins!

Muffin tops are in

Which is good news for me I guess as I struggle to lose a few pounds. I've been working out several times a week and I've cut down my calories but my damn stomach still looks fat.

People always tell me how tiny I am (well, maybe not as much lately). But the definition of "tiny" seems to have changed a lot since I was in high school. I remember there were only a handful of overweight students in my school. Now overweight seems to be the new norm. And obese seems to be fairly normal too. If you ask me, it's an epidemic that we're all going to pay for in the not so distant future. More hypertension leading to more diabetes, heart disease and who knows what else. Our healthcare system is going to pay the price.

You know what has also changed since I was in high school? Clothing sizes. Stores like to lead consumers to believe that they are skinnier than they really are. This is wrong in so many ways. I often fit into a size 2 at The Gap. How exactly is that possible? There is no way in hell I am a size 2. What does that tell the kid who fits into a size 8 who actually has a weight problem?

Before baby boy was in the picture I decided to stop eating processed food. In a couple of months I dropped 10 pounds. Tells you something, doesn't it? Processed food is just plain evil. And it's everywhere. I'm always amazed at the crap people have in their grocery carts. It all comes out of a box or a can. It's full of sodium and sugar. The "lunchable," devoid of any nutritional value, has replaced the apple and carrot sticks that kids bring for lunch. Match those with a granola bar (they aren't healthy people!) and a juice box (packed full of sugar) and suddenly it makes sense why teenagers are now sporting those trendy muffin tops. Not to mention that many of them don't get enough exercise....

So why am I telling you all this? Because tonight I saw hundreds of overweight teens shoveling crap into their mouths at "The Ex". It kind of freaked me out and made me think about my own eating habits. I'm just as guilty of eating processed food as anyone else. I think my weight issues have a lot to do with my food choices which are not always the best.

I think I'm going to cut processed foods out of my diet again (except occasionally on weekends) and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Quote of the week and other fun stuff

The little guy continues to think spitting is funny. When I got a little stern with him about it this weekend he said,

"It's against the rules for adults to be mad at children."

I reminded him that it was also against the rules for children to spit.

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Things the little guy is into these days:
- Spiderman (even though he's never even seen a Spiderman cartoon)
-Talking really really loudly, like he thinks I'm deaf or something
- Eating "corn on the bob"
- Reading children's encyclopedias. He wants to know everything there is to know about everything (especially about the ocean and outer space)
- Saying, "Yuck I don't like that." Doesn't he know we are a family of foodies?
- Couch wrecking (note to Hubby: I am no longer the only couch wrecker in the house)
- Wrapping up toys and giving them to us as presents. Gee honey, I loved the really realistic rubber snake you gave me this morning :-) Heaven knows how much I love snakes.
- Playing Farmville and Happy Farm on Facebook (he gets to pick the seeds we grow)
- Hiking and biking (he'll hike up to 5 km!)
- Frog and fish catching (we bought him a pond pail and net)
- Helping himself to stuff out of the fridge
- Putting on his clothes by himself (mostly backwards)
- Bragging about what a pro he is at using the toilet
- Telling jokes. The other day I asked him where my purse was and he told me that he ate it.
- Photocopying pictures, colouring them, cutting them out and laminating them with tape (he could do this all day long!)
- Making "lunches" for himself and packing up his backpack
- Going out for real lunches (his lunch of choice: burgers and fries, avocado rolls and edamame, or pho)
- Constantly trying to sucker hubby and I into buying him toys or treats
- Bird watching (every day his caregiver takes him to the "duck park" and we get a full report about all of the birds he saw. More often than not his bird tales end with the line, "but I didn't see the Blue Heron today."
- Playing games on daddy's iPhone (great for long, boring car rides)
- Motorcycle helmets and goggles (when we go out he sometimes insists on wearing his skating helmet and ski goggles. A nice look for summer).
-Emergency vehicles (those never get old, do they?)
- Carrying stolen change in his pockets. (Our poor washer and dryer)
- And, of course, farting on me and then running away laughing (He gets that from my side of the family. His uncles are very proud!)

News flash!

I promise this will be one of my last posts about toilet training. I'm just so amazed at how fast things have been moving these last few weeks that I just had to share the good news. Here are the latest milestones:

- No more potty. He's moved completely to the big toilet. (Although you can't see it, I'm doing a happy dance right now!)
- He's eager to learn how the toilet paper works so we've started "Wiping 101."
- The toilet seat attachment will soon be going the way of the potty. He's figured out that balancing on the seat isn't as difficult as he thought.
-The diaper bag is gone. It has been replaced with a big boy backpack that he has to carry himself.

With the money we're sure to save on diapers we bought a new mattress. Our old one was about 12 years old and well past it's prime. With hubby's bad back, we decided that we couldn't put off this purchase any longer. Instead of buying a widely available toxic, formaldehyde-filled mattress we decided to get an organic mattress. The one we selected is made out of cotton and latex and has a 25 year warrantee. At 40% off, it was a screaming deal! It arrives early this week.

In other news.....Amma (hubby's mother) flew back home after a week long visit. The two of them were very busy while hubby and I were at work last week. One day we came home to a house decorated with balloons and streamers, and the smell of freshly baked carrot cake. They decided to throw us an early birthday party (hubby and I are both September babies). What a nice surprise!

Another night Amma kicked hubby and I out the door for a date night. We went to this amazing restaurant that we've been dying to try for months. The restaurant served mostly local, raised/grown in Canada dishes that were prepared in the most unconventional way imaginable i.e. creme fraiche frozen in liquid nitrogen (the dry ice gently gliding across the table really made for an interesting ambiance). I believe the term to use is "molecular cooking." It's hard to explain. You really have to go there and experience it. The kitchen, which we got to tour after our 12 course meal, looked more like a science lab than a kitchen. There was no menu. You just sit down and they start bringing you food. Each dish was in itself a piece of artwork. Just check out the gallery on their website.

Fun times!

Today was my "lucky" day

I have to carry around a Blackberry during the week. Occasionally (once a month) one of my clients will call me on it if they have something urgent to talk about. So you can imagine my surprise when my Blackberry was ringing off the hook this morning.

The first call was really strange. When I answered the man on the other end of the line (who sounded old and perhaps a little intoxicated) told me his name was Joe. I asked him why he was calling. He said, "My friend gave me your number." I knew then and there that he had the wrong number. I asked, "are you calling for communications advice?" He hung up on me.

Not five minutes later the phone rang again. A different number. When I answered using my name, the male who was calling said, "Oh sorry, I must have the wrong number."

When 10 minutes later I got yet another phone call from another strange number, I realized something weird was going on. The man I spoke to this time said, "Is Lucky there?" Hmmmmm.....how many people do you know named Lucky? And how many people do you know named lucky who work for the government? Definitely the wrong number. I asked him how he got my number and he was reluctant to answer. After fumbling for a second he said my number was left on his answering machine. I told him that I was wondering who had left the number on his machine because I had already had a few other wrong numbers this morning. He repeated the line about the answering machine and quickly hung up.

I checked my phone log. It turns out that I had also received calls at 2:00 am, 3:00 am and 4:00 am -- all from different numbers. Let me guess that they were all calls from lonely men?

Half an hour later, caller #2 rang me a second time. When he realized that I wasn't "Lucky" he hung up. I did a search on Canada411 and discovered he was calling from a Zeller's store. A boring day at the office, maybe?

Whoever Lucky is, she sure missed a lot of calls today. 10 or 12 at least.

I'm pretty sure that someone accidentally printed my phone number in a personal ad. I wasn't sure what to do. Should I answer the phone in a sexy voice? Pretend that Lucky wasn't here right now and take a message? Pretty tempting but frankly I wasn't getting any work done with all of the phone interruptions. So I called the Help Desk and asked them to change my Blackberry number. They were very understanding about the situation.

So tomorrow I get a new number. Guess those guys didn't get "Lucky" today :-)

Oh happy day!

It's always nice when a happy day follows a sad one. Why am I so happy? The little guy has adopted the diaper free lifestyle at daycare as well as at home. I was so worried that he might revert back to his old ways. Guess I worried for nothing.

Over snack he asked his buddy SM, "Do you know how to use the toilet?" knowing full well that the answer was "No." What a little show-off! It's only been a little over two weeks now and already he's acting like an expert.

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So we're back to work this week after a glorious 2-week vacation. Photos to follow shortly! We especially enjoyed our trip to the cottage, despite having a few rather wet and rainy days.

Once the photos are uploaded I'll tell you more. In the meantime here is a funny story.

Hubby's fishing rod snapped after an unfortunate tangle in the weeds. It was, however, fixable (or at least temporarily). The little guy watched the whole repair job with great interest. A couple of times he also made himself useful by climbing up to the cottage to fetch supplies.

On his first supply run he said, "Mom, I need Daddy's little knife" (swiss army knife).

"Where did daddy say he left it," I asked. "On the kitchen counter," he replied.

I fetched it and off he went to find hubby. Not two minutes later he was back again. This time he said, "Mommy, I need the sculptate."

"The what?" I asked.

"The sculptate," he repeated.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Can you say it again?"

At this point he became very frustrated with me. "Sculptate!" he yelled over and over.

As I tried to figure out what he was looking for hubby yelled up the hill to us, "Did you find the scotch tape?"

:-)
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He's suddenly become Mr. Independent -- helping himself to snacks, brushing his own teeth, using the toilet and getting dressed all by himself.

The getting dressed part is quite humourous. Most days he puts his shirt on backwards and/or inside out. Often he underwear is on the wrong way too. When I point this out to him he says, "That's the way I like to wear them, Mom." Hey, who am I to judge?

He is, of course, just as skilled at taking his clothes off as he is at putting them on. If he had his choice he'd be naked all the time. Luckily our friends think it's really cute when he performs his little striptease act. Apparently I was a little exhibitionist when I was his age, so I guess he comes by it honestly.

Sad news

When I was in university I spent my summers taking children with disabilities to camp. I was an outreach worker and my job was integrate my "clients" into regular camping programs. Every week I worked with a different child. Sometimes I accompanied them to day camp, other time to overnight camp. I did this for three summers in a row and, in that time, met some very remarkable kids. Being an outreach worker was incredibly rewarding at times. I watched children get on a horse, paddle a canoe and sleep in a tent for the first time. For many of these kids, I was sharing in the best week of their entire year.

The job was also very stressful at times, particularly when working with children with more severe disabilities. My most difficult child was a boy with ADHD. He locked me in a closet in an empty building and then ran away laughing, leaving me alone in the dark. I should really get some therapy for this --- I still have nightmares.

The job was physically challenging. I did a lot of lifting and transferring and pushing wheelchairs over rugged terrain. I didn't mind the physical part. It was the emotionally challenging part that I couldn't deal with. The part I still can't deal with.

People often ask me why I didn't choose working with people with disabilities as a career path. For one, the pay sucks. But the really big reason is that I can't handle the tragedy. At least 3 or 4 kids I've worked with directly or indirectly have died. And those are just the ones I know about.

I took a teenaged girl to camp two years in a row (she had a rare disease that she picked up while living in India). The first year she could easily walk by just holding my hand. The second year, she appeared to have advanced Parkinson's Disease and required a person on each side to help her walk. Although I lost touch with her (she was in foster care) I can only imagine she is no longer alive today judging from the rapid progression of the disease. All she wanted was to be a normal teenager! It was so heartbreaking to watch.

And then there are the children with cystic fibrosis who all die young. And the ones who have succumbed to other illnesses.

Today I found out about the tragic death of my favourite little camper of all time. His name was Rodmond and I first took him to camp when he was 6 years old. This child was the most energetic, outgoing and enthusiastic kid I've ever met. He had Spina Bifida and was paralyzed from the waist down. Technically he was "disabled" but you would never know it if you spent five minutes with him. This child integrated himself into the camp program with very little help from me. Within hours of arriving at the camp, he was the most popular kid around. We couldn't go anywhere without him high-fiving councillors, or him calling out "What's up dude?" or "I'll catch you later okay?" to passersby.

Rodmond couldn't swim but he was too proud to admit it. He flailed himself across the deep end of the swimming pool. When I could see him struggling I'd reach out to grab him and he'd get so mad. "No,no, no" he'd tell me. "I can do it myself." I remember throwing him a flutter board and saying, "Hey, let's pretend we're sharks." This allowed him to save face in front of his peers while "swimming" to safety.

Rodmond had the most incredible family. His mom was an absolute inspiration. Talk about a mother who would not for one moment let her son feel sorry for himself. Rodmond was like every other kid and that was that.

On the last day of camp that first year, Rodmond cried his eyes out. He was so afraid we'd never see each other again. That night his mom called me at home and asked me to be his respite worker. I gladly accepted the job, which allowed me to visit him occasionally throughout the year.

The next year we went to camp again for two weeks. I couldn't believe I was being paid to work with him, he was such a joy. He made me smile and laugh all day long.

I think you know where this story is going... Rodmond died on June 24th but I only just found out today when my mom told me about an article in the paper. It was a story about how the health care system failed Rodmond. His parents took him to Las Vegas for his 21st birthday. On the way home they missed their connecting flight in Denver. While at the airport he became very ill and had to be hospitalized. His condition improved slightly but, due to a bureaucratic nightmare, missed his opportunity to be flown home. A few weeks later he died of an infection in Denver, with only his mother by his side. His dying wish was to go home, but his wish was never granted.

I read his obituary and didn't make it past the first two lines before I was in tears. Even with all of the health issues he faced, he had an incredibly life. Reading about what he had accomplished made me so proud. It may have been a short life but it was a life well lived.

I'll miss you forever Rodmond. You are always in my heart.

The no-diaper vacation experiment

WARNING: The following blog entry contains pooh content. Don't read any further if you don't want to hear about it.

Starting at exactly 4:30 pm on Friday, we started our diaper-free vacation. Everything was going well until the little guy had to poop. Instead of just listening to his body and sitting down on the potty, he decided to hold it in. All weekend long. Even after feeding him a dozen or more prunes. By Sunday night he was walking around holding his butt and complaining that it hurt. We kept encouraging him to sit on the potty. A few times he sat down on it but then refused to go.

On Monday morning we decided that since we weren't in a rush to be anywhere, we would stay home until he pooped. It was a battle of the wills. Hours passed. Nothing. He got crankier and crankier. Then the moaning and groaning started. I couldn't bare to see him in so much pain so I went to the pharmacy (no, not to buy diapers!). The pharmacist recommended using a suppository. He said that because he had held it so long, his stools were probably impacted (sorry for being so graphic). I wasn't sure I like that option so I also bought some oral medication too.

When I got home I told the little guy he had two options - he could take the medicine by mouth or bum. To my amazement he chose the latter! I was really afraid that the experience would scar him for life so, before I gave it to him, I put on my communicator hat and came up with a really good story line. I told him that the suppository had to go talk to his pooh and tell them that it was time to come out. I said that it might be uncomfortable for a few minutes, but that it would be all better just as soon as they finished talking. Five minutes later he was sitting on the potty and voila! All was good in the world again. The little guy was delighted with himself and told us that he was a big boy now etc. We of course heaped on the praise and rewarded him with ice-cream.

Today, the whole scene all over again. Again he just held it and held it.

Our new strategy is to feed him tons of fiber so that he gets lots of practice over the next couple of weeks. We figure that once he gets over his fear, the whole potty training thing won't seem like such a big deal anymore. We've also told him that letting the pooh out is his job -- a job that he has to do everyday. I read some advice online that using this kind of language really helps. So far he's responded really well to us saying this, and likes the idea of having an important responsibility.

We're going camping tomorrow. I'll report back on Friday.

Two big steps back

Do you even need to guess what I'm talking about? I am officially past the end of my rope.

This morning he peed all over the bedroom carpet and refused to help clean it up. Then, tonight, he left pooh and pee piles all over the bedroom carpet again refusing to help clean it up. (Note to self - time to install hardwood). When we asked him why he didn't use the toilet or the potty he said it was because he was mad at us (presumably for not giving him a diaper).

Leading up to the pooh incident he begged me for a diaper. I told him he didn't need one because he was a big boy now. He yelled, "I don't want to be a big boy!" I calmed him down by putting his potty in front of the television and putting on his favourite Caillou video. To sweeten the deal even more I gave him a lollypop to lick while he sat on the potty. I then left the room to give him some privacy and told him to call me when he was done. A little while later I heard a whizzing noise following by the door slamming. When I went upstairs to investigate, it was like walking into a crime scene -- there was pee and pooh everywhere within a three foot radius of his potty.

I'm not sure how to deal with this type of behaviour. If I get mad, he rebels even more. If I'm nice about it, he thinks I'm giving him a ticket out of potty training. If I tell him I'm disappointed he laughs at me. Should I go on?

I have no more ideas. I've tried everything and nothing works. I'm trying to be optimistic about our diaper free vacation but it's hard. Am I the only mother on earth who has a kid that refuses to toilet train. HELP!!!

Drawing inside the lines

The little guy's artwork has evolved rapidly over the last couple of weeks. Instead of scribbling, he carefully tried to colour inside the lines. Also, his drawings now resemble what he is trying to depict. The other day he drew an amazing rocket ship with fire shooting out of the bottom. Well, amazing for a 3-year old in any case.

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His favourite new line is "For goodness sake!" I hear it at least a hundred times a day.

Like this morning when he said, "For goodness sake Mom, it's time for breakfast."

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Do you want a toilet training update? Sigh.....

Every single day this week he peed his pants at daycare. I swear he's doing it on purpose because he never does that at home. First day of school for him is September 11. Tick, tick, tick.

Our holiday starts at 4:00 pm next Friday. After that all of the diapers disappear.

30 second update

- After much anxiety, the little guy successfully pooped on the potty last night! Afterwards he asked if he could have some candy as a reward. I told him I wasn't sure if we had any candy and he replied, "We have some candy in the kitchen, in fact." And, in fact, he was right!
- This potty training success was quickly erased this morning when he peed all over the kitchen floor (and did I mention he's been peeing all over the bedroom carpet lately and not telling us? We keep stepping in puddles)
- A new stage has begun: the violent temper stage. He's like a volcano and when he blows he really blows. And you never know what's going to set him off. We've been hearing him yell the following phrases a lot lately:

"No! You're being rude to me!"

"That's not fair!"

"I'm going to knock you down!" and other statements to this effect.

- Of course hubby and I are the only ones who are witnesses to his violent temper. Everyone else reports him as being so well-behaved, gentle, nice, cooperative etc...He's the model child outside the privacy of our home. Oh well, I guess everyone needs to blow off a little steam once in a while.

- We are finally able to sleep in again on the weekends. In the morning he just trots downstairs and quietly plays with his toys. If he gets hungry he just helps himself to some crackers and fruit and pours himself a glass of water.

- This morning he drew some pictures and we said, "These are great!" He replied, "Yes, I'm a great drawing boy!"

- Our new couch suffers so much abuse. The pillows are constantly being cast around and turned into forts, water slides, dens etc...And there is no point making the bed because no sooner as the bed is made the blankets and pillows are sprawled out across the room.

- Daddy bought the little guy water pistols so when the weather is nice it's game on! Even some of our neighbours have been joining in.

- What is it with little boys and spitting? Enough already!!!!

Happy Canada Day!

It was free admission at the Aviation Museum today so we decided to check out the Canada Day festivities they had planned. Areas of the museum that are normally closed to the public were open for viewing. The little guy got to sit and "drive" some of the airplanes including one that was used to train Snowbird pilots. Pretty cool!

Speaking of the Snowbirds, they put on a show overhead. When we pointed into the sky and said, "Look, the Snowbirds," the little guy replied, "Those aren't birds, they're airplanes!" And since we got home he's been going on and on about how he saw the "snow planes." :-)

In the afternoon we wandered down to the market for a late lunch on the patio. I love people watching on Canada Day while sipping on sangria...People really went all out this year with the red and white attire, Canadian flag tattoos etc...

The fireworks should be starting very soon. Hubby and I are going to watch them from our rooftop balcony.

The poop on Kindergarten

On Monday, I took the little guy to a lemonade party/Kindergarten orientation. They had all sorts of fun activities happening on the playground, the teachers were friendly and nice, the kids welcomed the little guy with open arms. When we left, both of us had dreams of junior kindergarten dancing through our heads. It was until I opened up the orientation folder that night that my bubble burst.

One of the sheets included suggestions to help your child prepare for kindergarten. There were a bunch of handy little tidbits and then in big, bold writing it said:

Practice personal habits such as:
- going to the bathroom unassisted (wiping, flushing, turning on and off faucets and washing hands)
- blowing nose
- sneezing or coughing into sleeves


Guess which one I'm worried about? Granted we have made some progress in the last few weeks. He's been pooping in the potty at home but won't go near the toilet to save his life. And if memory serves me correctly, they don't have potties in kindergarten.

And wiping? We aren't even close to wiping lessons yet.

Today he pooped in his underwear at daycare and was absolutely mortified. I think he really, truly wanted to use the potty but was too scared. He waited too long to ask for help and, well....poop happens. Can you imagine the humiliation he would experience if that happened to him in Kindergarten?

The clock is ticking so it's time to step up our toilet training efforts. Otherwise he might be sitting JK out this year and heading back to nursery school.

Happy Father's Day!

A little late...but better late than never right?

It's hard to know where to begin paying tribute to hubby. He is the best dad in the world to our son and has been since the very moment that the doctor lifted him from my womb. I was on the operating table with a curtain shielding my view of the operation. The only thing I was able to see were hubby's eyes as he watched the surgery. It was by looking into his eyes that I knew our son has been born. His eyes suddenly became very wide as he witnessed the most incredible miracle he'd ever seen. But as I watched his eyes I saw more than that -- I saw him experience love at first sight.

We got separated for an hour (which felt like an eternity) while I got stitched up after the c-section. It was the loneliest hour of my life. Thankfully baby boy was safe and sound in his daddy's arms. They snuggled skin to skin and got to know each other while I lay on the operating table yearning to hold our baby. What they shared in that first hour was truly magical. It was the start of a close bond that has continued to grow stronger and stronger each day.

Our son lived in a sling for the first three months of his life (when he wasn't nursing, that is). He demanded to be carried around constantly. Hubby would wear him for hours, inside the house and out. He often comments about how he misses those early days when he was a little "pouch-a-rino".

Obviously a lot has happened in the last three or so years. And in that time, the nature of their relationship has changed. They are now the best of friends. I've never seen two people have so much fun together! They are constantly playing, reading, building, cooking, surfing the web, crafting etc...together. Either that, or they are off on wild father-son adventures. Whenever he can, hubby takes days off work so they can do cool stuff together. They go to museums, explore the wilderness, stop at toy stores, eat sushi....Hubby is all about making sure that the little guy has the most enriching life possible.

I loved hubby with all of my heart before our son came along. Now he's given me reason to love him even more.

Happy Father's Day sweetheart!

Our first Youtube post

Check out what the little guy caught in our own backyard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgiWI7OyzjQ

Fun in the sun

It has been the most amazing weekend. Sunny and hot, but not too hot. Perfect weather for hanging out at the beach. On Saturday we explored a small town about 45 minutes out of the city which just happened to have the nicest little beach for wading and throwing rocks. The town was also home to a cozy cafe that specialized in freshly baked scones. Yummy!

In the afternoon we took a stroll down to the market to celebrate the little guy's toilet training accomplishments with some ice cream. At the same time we picked him up a butterfly net so he could catch fish in his kiddie pool. That evening he hauled in quite the catch. Dolphins, sharks, whales, fish and some assorted cars and trucks.

This morning, butterfly net in hand, we decided to bike down and check out one of the beaches inside the city. We met up with our friends there and had a great time splashing around in the water.

I can just feel that Vitamin D kicking in. Bring on the summer!

Target practice

Cheerios. All this time they were the key to getting the little guy to pee in the toilet. You just throw a few in the bowl and let the fun begin. What 3-year old could resist the opportunity to aim and shoot? Standing up pees are now so popular that I don't have to drag the portable toilet seat with us anymore. Nice! And he's even doing standing up pees at daycare.

And newsflash! He pooped on the potty twice this weekend! Finally he's decided on his own that he wants to be a big boy. Let's hope that he keeps up the good work.

Hooray for progress!

An 11th toe?

The little guy and his female friend SW were playing in the kiddie pool yesterday. At one point he decided to strip out of his bathing suit and streak around naked (he's a bit of an exhibitionist). SW, who had never seen a little boy in the nude before, started giggling and staring. She turned to her dad and said, "Look, he has a toe!"

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If the 2s were terrible, the 3s are even worse in some ways. The little guy has developed a terrible temper and just flies off the handle at the smallest thing. Sometimes in his attempt to hurl angry words at me, he ends up saying something hilarious. Like last night, when he yelled, "You better stop that you little guy or you can't come to my birthday party!"

Or earlier tonight when I wouldn't let him have a piece of pie before dinner. "You smack that pie right here, Okay?

Parental advice

Even if you don't ask for it, you sometimes get it. Like last night, when I was talking to my mother on the phone about toilet training. I told my mom that we had tried almost everything to get the little guy to poop on the toilet but nothing seems to be working.

Her advice: baby suppositories.

My reaction: I think not!

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There is a little cheese thief in the house. Every morning when I'm packing the lunches the cheese mysteriously disappears from the room.

When I ask the little guy if he's seen the cheese, he starts giggling.

"I smooched it!" he says.

He's also into "smooching" oranges and apricots.

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You can lead a horse to water

I think they should change this saying to, "You can lead a toddler to the toilet, but you can't force him to poop." The drama around the BMs never seems to end.

Whenever I talk to people about it, they don't understand why he's winning and we're losing. I'll tell you why -- his #1 dominant personality trait is stubbornness. I can't even begin to tell you how stubborn he is. If he doesn't want to eat something, do something, try something etc... there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to change his mind. He has to come around to the idea on his own terms. Eventually he does, but it's an extremely frustrating process.

That's my weekly bitch on the topic...

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I've been trying to get rid of toys. Lots and lots of toys. The nursery school is having a kids yard sale and fair next weekend I've being putting together boxes full of donations.

There's just one problem....Every time I set aside some toys, you-know-who finds them and starts playing with them again. Toys he hasn't looked sideways at for months have suddenly taken on a new life. I swear he can sense when I'm about to chuck something! Has anyone else experience this? I'm not going to let this phase me though. All of his babyish toys have got to go. Same goes for the old Playmobile toys that have millions and millions of little pieces. I have a love-hate relationship with Playmobile. The toys are very cool and spark a lot of imaginative play, but good lord are they messy! I'm constantly tripping over little parts and pieces. They drive me nuts! When he's older and better at keeping track of the pieces we'll get him more Playmobile but, right now, they have got to go.

I'm going to load up the car tonight so he doesn't see them leave the house. My guess is that he's never miss any of those toys. He probably won't even notice they are gone.

Negotiating

We've figured out a way to get the little guy to pee on the toilet on command. Just offer him one dollar.

"One dollar?" he asks in disbelief, as if he's just won the jackpot. "Can I have one dollar if I do a pee?"

When he asks for payment we just tell him we owe him and will pay him next Tuesday. He seems okay with that.

I wonder if this strategy will work for poops?


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Speaking of money....On Saturday we hit a giant neighbourhood garage sale. I gave the little guy five dollars in quarters to spend. After a great deal of house hopping looking for the perfect toy he stumbled across a large sack of emergency vehicles. It was packed full of some really nice fire engines, ambulances and police cars. They were bundled together with the price tag of $5. When I told him that he had just enough money to buy them he was overjoyed.

I helped him count the money and give it to the vendor. He was so please with himself and his big purchase!

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So we've gone back to diapers at bedtime after FOUR nights in a row of bed wetting. Maybe we'll try again in a few weeks.

Just stick it in the IV

The little guy has a new Playmobile toy - an ambulance complete with driver and medical supplies. One of the little pieces is a miniature IV. He's been asking us tons of questions about what it is and how it works. I was pretty sure he had it all figured out until he he told me today that the IV had soap in it, not medicine.

"Why does it have soap?" I asked.

"At CC's house she uses IV soap," he told me.

It took me a long time to convince him that she really used Ivory soap. :)

Toilet training update 1,543,209

Two days ago we took all of the diapers away (except for at daycare). He doesn't even get one at night anymore. For a few months now he's been wearing underwear full time when he's at home so it seemed like a natural thing to do.

When I told him there were no more diapers, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'll do my poohs at CC's house (his caregiver)." Pretty soon those diapers are going to disappear too. Once nursery school is out for the year I'm going to ask her to put away the diapers too. It's going to be underwear all the time this summer!

Other than the poohs, toilet training has been going really well. He's even made some progress using the potty at daycare. I'm feeling optimistic that the worst is over.

Stay tuned

Long weekend: the final chapter

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend.

Did I mention that the purpose of our visit was to celebrate my big brother's 40th birthday? I was impressed by how he embraced this milestone. He has had no less than five birthday parties to date, including a trip to New York with nine of his best buds. On Saturday night my family marked the occasion with a swanky dinner out for just the adults.


Three peas in a pod.


Going for a little spin.


So cute!


My nephew loves to play with these little pylons. He was kind enough to make a wheelchair zone for Grandpa :)

Long weekend part 2

We made history this weekend. It was the first time that all six of the cousins were all together in one place. As you can see, capturing the moment on film was a bit of a challenge :-)


Wait a minute....Where's JK?


Okay, Grandma's got him. Quick, take the picture!



We have an escapee. Let's try that again.



Lining up pre-schoolers is like herding cats. Believe it or not, this was the best shot I was able to get.

Too funny!

Long weekend fun!

This weekend the little guy had an awesome time hanging out with his cousins JK and AK. Here are a few pictures of them playing with the hose at the park on Saturday. They didn't let the fact that it was cold and miserable get in the way of their fun. They had a blast building a river in the sand, getting very wet in the process!

Soccer: Night 2

This weeks soccer practice started off on the wrong foot. The little guy was so nervous that he wouldn't let go of my leg. He just stood there yelling, "I want to go home!" Hubby and I calmed him down and then took turns escorting him onto the field until he felt comfortable. We weren't alone. There were at least three other kids who were just as nervous.

It wasn't until they played some really fun games started that the little guy forgot about us completely. They played hide and go seek soccer, which was a big hit. This was followed by a game called "kick the ball at the coach." Every time that a ball successfully hit one of the coaches they would pretend to be hurt. They would yelp and cry and roll around in the grass feigning pain. The kids thought it was hysterical. I've never seen my child so engaged in an organized game. He must have kicked the ball at his coach 50 times.

What a goof!

Mother's Day

I was one spoiled mom this year. On Friday, I was invited to a Mother's Day brunch at nursery school. Virtually everything on the menu had been prepared ahead of time by the kids. My little guy took all of the credit for the pancakes (which were, of course, delicious). Even the butter was homemade.

In honour of Mother's Day all of the kids were asked to create a portrait of their moms. Beside my portrait was a description of me that the teacher had transcribed. Here is what it said:

My mom is called J****.
She's not at school she is at work.
She is having lunch with me.
She has brown eyes a nose and a mouth.
She looks like my mom.
She has feet.
She has toes.
She has socks.
She has a belly button.

I'd say that was a pretty accurate description, don't you?

On Sunday, I had a full day of culinary delights. In the morning, hubby and the little guy made me french toast with strawberries. Later on they took me out for lunch. And for dinner, hubby made one of my favourite Thai dishes. My boys know that the way to this mom's heart is through her stomach :)

A real nail biter

Yesterday, the little guy and I had to drive hubby to the train station. While we waited in the car for him to grab his suitcase I started biting one of my nails (a terrible, lifelong habit).

The little guy yelled, "No mommy." At that moment I was totally unconscious of the fact that I had been biting my nails and had no idea why he was saying no. So I shrugged my shoulders and continued to gnaw on my nail.

"Mommy, you stop that!"

"Stop what?" I asked, still completely clued out.

"Stop doing that to your hands," he said. "If you don't stop doing that right now I'm not going with you to see daddy's train!"

Well I sure learned my lesson. Maybe he'll help me to kick my habit for good :-)

First night of soccer

There were 15 kids at soccer tonight. Most knew enough to chase and kick the ball in the general direction of the net. And then there was my son, forever beating to his own drum. If the coach said run, he would stand still. If the coach said kick the ball, he would pick it up and carry it.

He was the one who excitedly called one of the coaches over to show him a rock he found in the grass. The one who abandoned a fully charged game of What Time is it Mr. Wolf in favour of kicking up dust clouds along the chalk line. The one who switched teams intermittently and shot at the wrong net.

At one point he decided to just run off the field to come see us. The coaches called after him, "Where are you going? You're supposed to sit with the team." He casually replied, "I'm going to have a nap now."

He may have completely missed the point of soccer, but he sure had fun!

After 30....

It was my friend's 30th birthday last night (spring chicken!) and it really got me thinking about how different you become as you get older. For example, we went to a nightclub for drinks and to listen to a celtic band. All of us 30+ year olds got there early so that we could find a table. Because when you're over 30, who wants to stand in a cramped bar all night?

As the night drew on, I couldn't help but notice a huge serpentine line-up winding around the building. The wait to get in to the bar was at least 45 minutes. I'm pretty sure that all of the people in line were in their early 20s. After all, no one in their 30s (or even mid-to-late 20s for that matter) would ever wait in line to get into a nightclub unless, of course, they were total losers. When you are a 30 something you just shrug your shoulders and say, "oh well, let's go somewhere else." Another way I could tell that the people in line were much younger than me was by their choice of clothing. Many of the females were scantily clad (I've seen a handkerchief provide more coverage!) despite the frigid temperature. We live in Canada for crying out loud! In the very unlikely event that a 30+ year old did decide to wait in a long bar line-up they would at least be smart enough to wear a jacket.

When the bar closed at 2 a.m., I would hazard to guess that there were very few people in their 30s left in the establishment. Why? Because people in their 30s go home when they are tired (unless, of course, they are hanging out with a younger crowd and trying to keep up)! I got home at midnight which is pretty good for a 34-year old don't you think?

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Last night when the little guy asked where I had gone, hubby said, "Mommy went to a nightclub with SB."

"Oh," he said. "Why did SB want to go with mommy to her book club?"

My lack of a lively social life really shows through sometimes, doesn't it?

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Today, the little guy and I both learned something the hard way while on a wilderness hike.

He learned that there is a good reason why we tell him to not get to close to the edge of a stream. And I learned that I should never leave his change of clothes in the car.

Photos to follow..

The babysitter solution

It is so hard to find a babysitter these days. My caregiver's daughters are so busy with activities that I literally have to book them weeks in advanced. The other day I called one of her daughter's friends and was told "I only have time on Monday nights and sometimes on Friday. That's it."

Well.... soccer starts next Monday night, so that's out. I guess I'll have to try to book Friday's a week or two in advance.

On occasion I'll ask my friends to watch the little guy for a couple of hours, but I don't like to impose upon them too often.

It turns out that we are not alone in our struggles to find a babysitter. A group of us were chatting about this at the park today. Someone suggested that we form a babysitting circle with other parents in the neighbourhood and take turns looking after one another's children. I think this is a great idea. The kids would have a fantastic time hanging out together while the parents got a much needed break. And the best part of all is that it doesn't cost a cent.

The fact that I know all the parents that would be a art of this circle is also very reassuring. I would never have to worry about the care the little guy was receiving.

I think we'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Woohoo!

Great news! The little guy used the potty at daycare today while the other kids cheered him on. He was pretty impressed with himself. I rewarded him with gummy bears when we got home.

Anyone want to place a bet on whether or not he'll use the potty again tomorrow???? It could go either way.

He's not pee shy!

It was such a beautiful day today that I decided that we should have a picnic at the park. I hopped over to the store at lunch and picked up some veggies and dip, avocado rolls, fruit salad and drinks so we could head straight to the park from daycare. In all of our haste to start our picnic, it never occurred to me to stop and let the little guy use the bathroom first.

You see where this story is leading.....Not long after downing a whole bottle of juice the little guy had to go really badly. Normally he would come and tell me so that I could get him a diaper. But not this time. No, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He stripped off his shorts and underwear and then proceeded to pee right next to a tree. I'm pretty sure that he was trying to be discreet but instead of going behind the tree to pee, he stood in front of the tree before a crowd of onlookers. We all clapped and cheered (and laughed ourselves silly). Afterwards, the little guy was so pleased with himself that brought some of his friends over to look at the puddle he made. I heard him give them a play by play about how his pee went right into the mud.

It was so funny I just about peed myself :-)

A little bit of this and that

I have a whole bunch of little things to write about today.

1. Toilet training. I have tried every single suggestion in every single potty training book, with the exception of getting rid of all of the diapers. Should I do it???? Or do you think it will backfire? He's been doing great lately at home. Still refuses to poop on the toilet but will now sit on the toilet with his diaper on to "practice". And, still no progress at daycare. I'm so frustrated I could spit!

2. Coming out of his shell. Everyone at the park is amazed at how much the little guy has changed since the fall. He's now super outgoing and talkative. Instead of playing shy for 10 to 15 minutes when we arrive at the park, he goes over to kids (even the ones he doesn't knows) and starts playing with them and chatting away. It's great to see him overcoming his shyness.

3. Table talk. I remember a time not so long ago when our table and floor were a disaster zone after every meal. And the laundry that meals generated was astounding! Now, the little guy is neat and tidy as can be, barely ever dripping or spilling anything. You can tell that he actually takes pride in keeping his place mat clean and tidy.

Speaking of meals, he's also turned over a new leaf and is much more open minded when it comes to trying new things. Up until a few weeks ago he would never even touch something with sauce. Now he's asking for macaroni with cheese sauce. Just this week he tried sausages for the first time and loved them (getting him to eat meat has always been a big struggle). And, he's starting to "dip" his food, something he's never done before. I'm hoping to introduce him to hummus and other dips this week.

4. Shamed. Earlier this week, the father of one of his friends yelled at him. For some unknown reason, he pushed his friend off of a climber at the park (which totally isn't like him at all). It wasn't a far fall and his friend wasn't hurt (or even phased for that matter) but her father got really upset and scolded him in a deep, booming voice. When we asked the little guy to apologize to the little girl, he was absolutely silent. He just hung his head, looking sad and terrified all at once. I actually felt kind of sorry for him, knowing that he is usually such a peaceful little guy. For more than half an hour he wouldn't look at anybody. He just hung his head in shame. I think he really felt truly sorry about what he had done.

5. Hide and seek. This is his new favourite game, even if he's lousy at it. The little guy usually says, "Mom, you count to ten and I'm going to hide behind that tree." And he never gives me enough time to find him. The second I've finished counting to 10 he jumps out of his hiding spot to "scare" me.

This morning he hid under the blankets on the bed with his legs sticking out. I guess he figures that if he can't see me that I can't see him either. Kids are so funny!

Chopsticks

The little guy desperately wants to learn how to operate a pair of chopsticks. Anytime we eat Asian food he insists on having his own pair. He patiently tries and tries until hunger gets the better of him. It must be so frustrating for him to have to throw down his chopsticks in defeat. But I have to say, all of that practice is starting to pay off. Tonight he successfully pinched a few noodles out of his pho bowl and slurped them down. It was a very proud moment!

On a related note, the restaurant gave us funky, bright orange chopsticks. The little guy picked them up and examined them for a second and then said, "Why did they give us orange chopsticks? Did they run out of white ones?"

Maybe the orange ones work better?

Picking up bad habits

The little guy is fully capable of pronouncing all of his words properly -- or at least when feels like it. Lately, he's been imitating one of his friends, who has difficulties pronouncing certain words. Here are a few examples:

Instead of saying "water" she says "wy-er". Spider is "Spy-er".

Lately, the little guy is imitating her all the time and it's driving me crazy. Especially since he makes an effort to over pronounce these words incorrectly.

The other day he said, "Mom, the dolphin is diving in the wyyyyy---errrr." I asked him what wy-er was? When he repeated it over and over again I finally said, "Oh, you mean water."

Whenever he asks for a glass of "wyy-er" I tell him I don't understand what he wants. I make him ask me over and over again, until he says water properly.

Of course, he's now figured out that he can get me all worked up and frustrated by his mispronunciations. So what used to be a bad habit is now just a game to push mommy's buttons.

Help!

Art is so subjective

Yesterday, the little guy found a scrap of paper on which I had hastily written directions to a friend's house. He asked me if we could hang it on the wall.

I said, "We don't hang directions to people's houses on the wall. Art goes on the wall. If you drew a picture we could hang that on the wall."

The little guy skipped off into the other room to find his markers. A few minutes later he returned with the same scrap of paper. He had scribbled a small picture at the bottom of the paper, right below the directions.

"Here mom," he said. "I'll go get the tape so we can hang it on the wall."

:-)

What a sneak!

This morning the little guy got up at the crack of dawn, so we turned on the cartoon channel so we could lounge in bed for a little longer. I thought he was going to drift back to sleep watching a show at the end of our bed. When I opened my eyes to check on him (not sure how many minutes later), he had disappeared.

I poked my head into the hall and called to him. No answer. I called him again. No answer. At this point hubby jumped out of bed, worried. He called to him. Again, no answer. Hubby ran down the stairs and found him immediately. The reason he was being so strangely silent was because he was sitting at the dining room table peeling foil wrappers off of chocolate eggs. Chocolate eggs that I thought had been put out of reaching distance. We figured he'd eaten at least three or four of them before we caught him red handed.

Besides sneaking treats, he's also been known to sneak money from the change bowl. Yesterday, when he didn't think I was looking, he opened the drawer that the change bowl is located, grabbed some coins, and began shoving them into his pocket. He loves carrying money in his pockets (starts young, doesn't it?). No wonder I've been finding coins in the washing machine!

What a guy!

He's one of a kind, but is his name?

We agonized over selecting the perfect name for the little guy. Our criteria:

- Couldn't be in the top 100 boy names (the name we selected wasn't even in the top 500 names!)
- The name needed to be recognizable, but not common
- It couldn't start with the letter B (didn't want his initials to be BO)
- It had to be a strong name that had success written all over it

Now, thanks to certain popular set of vampire books for young adults, our name is being broadcast around the globe. What if it becomes the new, trendy boy name? That would totally suck! My only hope is that women of child bearing age stop reading these books right now (yah, like that's going to happen).

Out of curiosity, I read through the name popularity statistics for the last few years and guess what? The name is starting to climb up the charts. It still not even close to the top 100 but still....it's our name. And did you know that we've encountered two other kids in our neighbourhood with the same name? How is that even statistically possible?

Hands off people!

Sick and tired of sickness

What is it with little kids and the stomach flu? My 13 year no-puke record was shattered after the little guy came along. In the last 3.5 years, I've had the stomach flu twice.

We've actually been pretty lucky for the last 1.5 years. The little guy has been exposed to many different bugs, but seems to be immune. My theory is that because he had such a wicked case of the stomach flu a couple of years ago that he's built up an immunity. Or until last week, that is. His little daycare buddy (who is the biggest germ factory I've ever met) got really sick and vomited on and off for several days. Then our caregiver got sick. Many of the kids at his nursery school have also been plagued with this same illness.

On Good Friday, the little guy's luck ran out. He puked all over our duvet (10 points for good aim!). Thank god his father was home to clean it up. He handles puke much better than I do. I braced myself for a very long, long weekend. Miraculously, he only puked that one time. Within a couple of hours he seemed to make a full recovery. Or so we thought. Yesterday (Easter Sunday), started off on a high note. We cycled to our friend's house for brunch and were having a great visit when, all of a sudden, he complained of a headache. He was burning up with a fever. And then the diarrhea started. A couple of hours later he was better again. Or so we thought. That's when the sore throat developed, along with another fever. This morning the sore throat persisted but he is otherwise fine (knock on wood).

Now hubby has a sore throat and some gastrointestinal distress. Sigh....

I am hoping and praying that if I get this illness that I am at least spared the vomiting part. Those of you who know me will understand why. I would quite literally rather die than throw up. I'm not exaggerating. I hate being sick so much that if someone handed me a loaded pistol while at the height of nausea I'd probably pull the trigger to put myself out of misery. When I tell people this they think I'm joking. When I tell them I'm dead serious, they just think I'm really weird. I may be weird but I'm not alone. I've met two other people (kindred anti-puking spirits) who feel exactly the same way as I do. We have a little competition going to see who can break my 13 year record. That is a competition I intend to win.

Wish me luck!

Soup is good food

After a rather frosty bike ride, we decided to tuck into a restaurant for some nice, hot pho. As you can see from these photos, the little guy kept his adorable little hoodie jacket on while he ate.

I love my grandparents!

Here are a few pics from the little guy's recent visit with his grandparents.


Peek-a-boo through the cat door.


Grandpa and the little guy have a fascinating discussion about his toy squid.


Baking banana bread with Grandma.


Amma and the little guy doing some heavy construction work at the Children's museum.