A letter to Santa

The little guy is too terrified to sit on Santa's lap. Instead, he just gazes down at him at him from the upper level of the mall. I think that's probably about as close as we're going to get.

"How is Santa going to know what you want for Christmas," I asked the other day.

"I'll write him a letter," he said.

So that's just what we did. Here is the little guy's letter to Santa (composed with a little help from Mom and Dad).

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Dear Santa,

I have been good this year. I want the cow trailer that has a momma cow, and the trailer is red, for Christmas. I like cows.

I love you Santa, and the way you say "Ho Ho Ho!"

You will get a cookie and milk here, and a carrot for your reindeers.

Love,
The Little Guy

P.S. The trailer has a door that opens and closes. And it's red. It has a handle.

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The part at the end was added later because he wanted to make sure that Santa had an exact description of the toy.

For several weeks he had been telling us that he wanted Playmobile and Thomas trains from Santa. But when we took him to a toy store this weekend so he could point out the Playmobiles he liked the best, he saw the trailer with the cow. It was love at first sight. Now, none of the other toys matter because this is "the one". I have to say that it is pretty cool. Take a look.

A love letter to my little boy on his 5th birthday

I've taken the idea of writing a love letter from Danigirl. It's a nice way to mark a milestone.

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Dear Little Guy,

I can't believe that you are 5-years old already! That makes you such a big boy. I know that you've been looking forward to this birthday for months. Lately, virtually every sentence that comes out of your mouth starts with, "When I'm five I'm going to...."

In the last year you have done a lot of growing up. You went from being incredibly timid on the play structure to a total daredevil. Last year you had a very hard time following instructions in gymnastics class. This year, you are a role model to the other kids. Last year, you were shy and socially awkward. You still are sometimes in new situations but, once you've eased in, you are so outgoing and fun to be with.

Recently I spied on you outside your classroom. I watched you hanging out with the other kids. I could tell that they all love hanging out with you. When I ask you about your day at school it's like pulling teeth trying to get any details. Spying on you for five minutes told me so much. It's quite obvious that you love school. For you it's a place of laughter and fun and discovery.

You have the best imagination of any kid I know. If I put you in an empty room with some mundane objects, you would find a way to transform the space into a magical wonderland. And even though you have oodles of toys, you are just as happy to play with a coaster, a rock or a piece of string. My favourite was the day you found a bunch of bowls and an empty aquarium and created your very own frog exhibit like the one at the Museum of Nature. Or the "simple machine" you made out of lego, a stack of toilet paper rolls and a plunger.

These days you can't get enough of your Playmobiles, farm animals and building blocks. I can't walk into a room without tripping over a farm, or a a crocodile pond, or an animal transport vehicle of some sort. I actually hate cleaning up at the end of the day because I feel like I'm destroying a piece of art!

We are so proud of how well you are doing at school! You have a natural aptitude for reading and writing. Last year you had a hard time writing your name in a straight line. Now you can write out sentences with perfectly formed letters. But, even more amazing, is that you know how to read a lot of words. Wow! The teacher also says you are so good with the other kids. You always go out of your way to make sure that no one is left out of the group. The teacher said that this was unusual for a kid your age. When there are disagreements, the teacher says you suggest ways that everyone can cooperate.

I don't remember having a best friend at your age, but you seem to have several of them. SM, of course, being the best friend of all. Both of you have been going to the same home daycare since you turned 1. You fight all the time but hard feelings never last long (even after the biting incident last summer). The two of you are inseparable.

You used to be hesitant to try new foods but we've made a lot of progress over the last year. There are still some things you won't touch (like sauce) but you will always at least take one bite (with persuasion). Avacado rolls, hamburgers and "steak on the bone" are your favourite meals next to peanut butter on toast. If I let you, you would eat peanut butter exclusively. Thankfully, despite your fussiness, we can always count on you to eat your fruits and vegetables. I don't think you've ever met one that you don't like.

Although it usually takes some convincing, once we get you into the great outdoors you love it. We go hiking and canoeing all the time in the warmer months. You love seeing nature up close and are always jumping into the bush to catch a frog or a butterfly.

If you could have three wishes, they would be to:
1) stay home and play all day
2) eat treats to your heart's content (you've inherited my sweet tooth)
3) be surrounded by family (grandparents, cousins, mom and dad) and friends ALL the time

I could go on and on, but I need to save some material for future blog posts. But what you need to know is that Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and we love you more than anything in the world.

As easy as 1,2,3

Well, sort of.

The little guy is incredibly strong willed. Especially when he's angry. Or hungry. Or both. Usually the two go hand in hand. And even though he has a snack at daycare right before we pick him up, he is often in a foul mood on the way home. This is usually about the time he becomes bossy, rude and whiney. None of the distraction techniques work. Food doesn't work either. No matter what we offer him, it is the "wrong" snack. Nothing we say or do helps. It just adds fuel to the fire. So how, after we've all had a long day, do we shift the negative to positive?

Quite simply, we count to three.

This is the same strategy we use to get him to cooperate when we ask him to get dressed in the morning. Or to get ready for bed. Or to pick up his toys. 95 per cent of the time, we never actually make it past two. Because he knows that if we actually get to three that he is going to lose some of his special privileges (i.e. watching a bit of television before bed).

We tried the counting method in the past, but it never really worked. But now, as he approaches his 5th birthday, it works like magic. The key was to just follow through a couple of times to let him know we mean business.

The amazing thing is that he actually likes it when we count to three. It helps him to regain control when he's having trouble focusing (i.e. getting dressed in the morning). Also, when he gets into a negative frame of mind, it helps to turn the tide so we can actually enjoy ourselves and do fun things. And, of course, he's getting a lot more positive feedback because he's more cooperative these days.

Yay for parenting strategies that work!

Sharing isn't always good

Especially when you are talking about pinkeye. Hubby and I both have it. And, yes, it is horribly unpleasant. I should have worked from home again today because my colleagues were acting as though I had the plague. I'm not contagious anymore but admittedly my eyes are frighteningly red and angry looking (and still very itchy and oozy).

So how did we catch this horrid infection? We think the little guy may have had a very mild case of it a couple of weeks ago. In the morning, for three or four days in a row, he had gooey eyes. But they weren't red and they weren't itchy. We chalked it up to having a bit of a cold. I guess we were wrong.

But rather than stew in my misery, here are some funny things that the little guy had to say to me about pinkeye.

"Mom, you aren't allowed to touch any of my toys. And don't put your tongue on me because that's where germs come from. And, whatever you do, don't put your eye on my bus driver."

He's always full of good advice :-)

Quote of the week

Hubby and the little guy have been making daily visits to the neighbours cat for the past couple of weeks while the owners are away. Usually the cat comes running to the door to greet them. So it was quite unusual when, the other day, they entered the house and she was nowhere to be found.

They called out her name over and over again.

Hubby: I wonder where she is.

Little Guy: Well she's either sleeping or she's dead.

Thankfully she was only sleeping!

The poop debate

So the little guy stepped in a big pile of dog poop yesterday. And hubby and I fought all night about who was going to clean off his rubber boots. We even contemplated throwing them out and buying a new pair (yah, it was that nasty!).

Our conversation fight went something like this:

Hubby: I think you should clean the poop off his boots.

Me: Oh, really? And why do you think that?

Hubby: Because you are "pro" dog. You think dogs are so great and so cute. You don't care that they crap all over because dogs are so great and all. And I don't really like dogs all that much. They are kind of nasty and disgusting.

Me: So you think I should clean off his boots because I like dogs and you don't?

Hubby: Yes. Yes I do.

Me: You should also know that I am "pro" people picking up after their dogs. I am not "pro" letting dogs crap wherever they like.

I think you should clean off the boots.

Hubby: So what is your argument. I think my argument is pretty strong.

Me: Well, let's see. I made your breakfast, lunch and dinner today. I also did the grocery shopping. Plus I get the little guy up, dressed and out the door every single morning which, as you know, is not the easiest of tasks these days. And....(I went on for 5 minutes rattling off my list). So, you should clean the poop.

Or, I'll clean them in your shower :-0

Hubby: Okay, fine. Let's just buy new boots.

Me: Fine. New boots it is.

This morning it was damp outside so he had to wear boots. Hubby was in the shower and time was ticking so I ended up cleaning the boots. I soaked them in a bucket of hot water in the yard. Life is so unfair.

I should have tossed them in the shower with hubby....

Bowled over

Today, the little guy went bowling for the very first time. All that the he knew about bowling was what he'd seen on television. The rest he made up.

"Mom," he said. "Where can we buy some canons?"

"Why do you need canons?"

"I need them to bowl with," he explained.

"They aren't canons, sweetheart," I replied. "They're called bowling balls. But they do kind of look like canons."

"Oh...."

As we were on our way out the door, he said "Mom, did you remember to pack our bowling balls?"

"No honey, we don't need to bring bowling balls."

"But how are we going to bowl without bowling balls?"

:-)

Every day

Every day I have to pack a change of clothes in the little guy's backpack. Every day he wets his pants, and his change of clothes. Every. Single. Day. Sometimes he goes through three pairs of pants.

What is going on? He's almost 5 years old for crying out loud. I know that it's not a medical problem, since he never wets the bed. And there have been times when he's gone several weeks without having a single accident.

I have two theories. One: he's doing it for attention. Two: He waits too long to go to the bathroom because he's too busy playing. Or, maybe it's a combination of the two.

Yesterday, he wet his pants at daycare and didn't say a word all day. His pants were made out of a thicker material so no one would have been able to tell. "Why didn't you tell someone?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders. I think he was embarrassed. So he sat in wet pants for four hours! That couldn't have been much fun.

So what can we do other than to encourage him to "listen to his body" and run to the toilet before it's too late? We've tried everything else.

I'm sick of dealing with toilet training issues. I'm sick of taking two steps back every time we move one step forward. And most of all, I'm sick of all the laundry this problem is generating!

No wonder childhood obesity rates are on the rise

So, the little guy started senior kindergarten last week. Instead of each kid bringing a snack they will be having a"communal snack," aimed at teaching the kids about sharing etc... In principle, I support the idea. And from a practical standpoint it's great that I only need to provide a snack once a month instead of every day. But the reality is (and I speak from experience) that most parents make bad snack choices.

When the little guy was in nursery school there was also a communal snack. Virtually every day, he was fed a big pile of sodium-packed goldfish crackers. If it was once in a while, I wouldn't care but every day? Hubby did a a little research on goldfish crackers the other day and discovered that Dorito chips actually have more nutritional value. Even though parents would also send some cut up fruit, a lot of the kids would only eat the goldfish. It's all about the goldfish when you are a toddler.

On the first two days of school the little guy came home reporting that they had goldfish crackers for snack (surprise, surprise). Hubby and I thought, "Oh great, here we go again." Instead of sitting back idly, we spoke up immediately and suggested that parents be provided with some "snack guidelines." The teacher thought it was a great idea, and put us in charge of the project. I've happily taken on the task and am preparing a hand-out for parents that includes some simple, fun, and wholesome snack ideas. I also plan to include information on "snacks to avoid", how to read nutrition labels, avoiding overly processed foods etc... I'm hoping that other parents take the advice to heart.

Nutrition is only half the problem. The other half is that kids don't have enough opportunities to run and jump at school. The little guy only gets gym for 20 minutes, twice week. How pathetic is that??? Thankfully, he goes to nursery school after school and plays outside for a full hour before his caregiver picks him up. We also take him to the park every day to play on our way home. And in the fall, winter and early spring he is enrolled in sports programs a couple of times a week. The onus really is on parents to make sure that their kids are fit, because our schools are really letting us down.

Thoughts?

Boot Camp

So we were having a picnic at the park tonight when a group of ladies showed up for their Boot Camp class. The little guy and his friend decided to join in and run a few laps. I'm pretty sure they were the fastest ones there. After they got bored with the running part, they stood on the sideline to observe the class. They were joined by a giant, orange cat that they had befriended early in the evening. As the ladies ran laps around the field, the boys made sure to keep the cat out of harm's way.

"Be careful not to step on the cat!" they yelled as each person ran by.

I overheard the instructor say, "Thanks for the warning guys. I almost didn't see that enormous orange cat because he was camouflaged by the green grass."

*Snicker*

Then it was time for the ladies to use those resistance bands that look like skipping ropes. The little guy got really excited.

"I know what your going to do with those ropes," he said. "Your going to use them like cowboys!"

I'm pretty sure that that comment was the highlight of the class!
:-)

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I was in the middle of absolute madness at work today, when my cell phone rang.

It was my caregiver. First thought: OMG, is the little guy hurt? Is he sick? Does she need me to pick him up early?

No. She called to let me know that he bit one of the other kids. In the back. Really hard. It was so bad that they had to apply ice to the wound.

At first I thought she'd called the wrong parent. My child has never been the kind to bite! Or hit or push for that matter. On the whole he's a pretty peaceful guy (although he has been known to throw sand from time to time). What could have provoked him to do such a thing?

From what she told me, he just lost it when the other boy pushed him (this other boy pushes him fairly regularly). Well, I guess he'd been pushed one too many times.

Immediately after he bit the other boy, he knew he had done something terribly wrong. The caregiver said you could see the guilt and shame written all over his face. She, of course, had a long talk with the little guy about his behaviour. I'm pretty sure it won't happen again.

We didn't say anything to him about the incident after daycare today, on the advice of our caregiver. Best not to dwell on it, she said. He's made his peace and he already feels guilty enough. All has been forgiven. He has no idea that she even called to tell us what happened. Unless he wants to talk about it, we aren't going to say a word.

I am hopeful that the silver lining in all of this is that the other kid will think twice about pushing him again.

So much going on, don't know where to start

I guess I'll start with the big news (no, I'm not pregnant!). We bought a 16-foot orange canoe this weekend from MEC. It's beautiful and will, no doubt, provide us with countless hours of fun and adventure over the years to come. Our friend (RD) has graciously offered to provide shelter to our "new baby" in his garage. Eventually we plan to buy a cottage, which will be its permanent home. I have a picture but blogger won't let me post pictures anymore (WTF!???).

So our inaugural voyage in the canoe didn't quite go as planned. Lets just say that the little guy and I decided to go for an "unintentional" swim in some pretty slimy, disgusting water. Yuck! It was quite the scene! We had an audience and everything, including someone with a video camera :)

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Hubby and the little guy are still on vacation, but I am back at work after a two-week holiday. This year we went to Montreal with some friends for a few days and did a bunch of day trips. Usually we spend time at a cottage, but not this year. I'm actually okay with it because we visited some beaches and got plenty of fun in the sun. It was kind of nice to not have a schedule of activities. We just did what we wanted when we felt like it. All in all there were lots of fun time, good food, good wine and good company.

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Some other tidbits to bring you up to date:
- My dad is now on the waiting list to get the Liberation treatment for his MS in Poland! Very exciting. It could still be several months before he gets to the top of this list, but it will hopefully be worth it.
- The little guy will now eat fish! He's always refused to even take a bite of fish until a week ago. But apparently he'll eat anything if you put it in a taco.
- Got the little guy's entire fall/winter wardrobe at a consignment store for $65. Sweaters, pants, shirts etc....
- I'm thinking of putting off my road bike purchase until the spring on account of the canoe purchase. Unless of course someone wants to get me one for my birthday (I can always dream, right?)
- Project weight loss is under way. I'm doing well, but still have about 10 pounds to go.
- Making plans for our next reno project: converting to gas and getting whole new heating/cooling system, gas water heater etc...We need to get on this before the snow comes.
- Quote of the day: The ghost is clean (instead of the coast is clear)

Just as advertised

So the little guy has started to really paying attention to commercials lately. Every night we let him watch a little Discovery Channel at bedtime. Usually he falls asleep instantaneously, but there are occasions when he watches for longer because he's not tired yet. When that happens, we find out all about the advertisements he watched the next morning. He's like a walking billboard.

Here are a few of my favourites:

- "Mom, did you know that you can get two chicken wraps for ninety-nine dollars?"

- "If you eat Vector cereal you get to be really good at sports! It will make you ski and bike and run and do all kinds of sports."

- "Mom, did you know that Tylenol can make you be normal again? It's the one with the white letters and the red bottle. You can even go biking because it makes you normal!"

- "On CBC they said you can get a DVD to help your child ready for back to school time. If you get it, they can learn about numbers and letters and then they can get the help they need for school."

Sometimes word of mouth advertising is also effective.

"SM likes to eat chicken in a cup."

"He eats chicken in a cup. What's that?" I asked

"You know, the kind that has the picture of the guy on it," he tried to explain.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know, the kind of cup with the guy on it who's old and has a white beard," he urged.

"You mean Kentucky Fried Chicken? In a bucket?"

"No, that's not what it's called!"

"You mean KFC?"

"Yah, that's the one. He eats chicken in a cup from there. And he gets it at the place that has the big, yellow "M" on the outside."

"You mean McDonalds?"

"Yah!

The potty dance

The little guy has had more than his share of accidents lately. Usually because he's just so tied up with playing a game that he waits too long. Any time we see him doing the "pee pee dance" we say, "What is your body telling right now? Make sure to listen to your body." Often he denies that he has to go and keeps on playing. Then about 5 minutes later he yells, "I have to pee!!!!"

Today I asked him if he had to go. It was pretty obvious that he had to but he said he didn't have to, as usual. Not two minutes later he went flying down the hall to the bathroom, yelling. "Look mom! I'm listening to my body!" :-)

So proud!

Today the little guy hiked more than 6 km and mostly without grumbling! We met lots of jumping frogs along the trail today. His only disappointment was that he didn't catch one. The ice-cream after the long hike helped to make up for that :-)

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So we are officially on vacation now. I'm off for two weeks, and hubby is off for all of August (jealous!). We are just going to take it easy and not over-schedule ourselves. A couple of days at the cottage here, some day trips there, and a whole lotta relaxation in between.

I'll keep you updated on our adventures. I wish I could post photos but the post photo button seems to have disappeared from blogger. Has anyone else run into this problem????

Strawberry "shark" cake

Amma is visiting right now and has presented us with all kinds of treats, including strawberry short cake. The little guy thought it was called a strawberry "shark" cake and we didn't have the heart to correct him. So, instead, hubby carved his piece of cake into the shape of a shark's head and made eyes and teeth out of strawberries.

He also thinks that Whinnie The Pooh lives in the Hundred "Naked" Woods. :-)

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He can read! Although some of it may be memorized, we're pretty sure that he's able to read simple stories. He read me a story the other day, word for word!

We are being eaten alive by toys

Toys, toys and more toys. When does a 4-year old finally have enough of them? Apparently never. His wish list is longer than my arm. And while we try not to spoil him too badly, we do make the odd toy purchase here and there. After a while, it really starts to add up! Especially when you combine those toys with ones that friends and family give him, and items that he purchases with his own money at garage sales etc... The toy bins are completely overflowing and our small townhouse feels like it is shrinking in size.

I managed to weed out some of the baby toys recently, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. My new rule is for every new toy coming in, two have to go out. It's going to be tough to convince the little guy to go along with this plan, but I think he'll go along with it knowing that the toys will all be donated to less fortunate children.

Here are my top 10 toy pet peeves:

1. Little pieces of playmobile. I find them everywhere!! In the washing machine, in the kitchen, under the couch. Arggghhh!!!!
2. 90% of them are made in China, which makes we worry about lead paint and other harmful chemicals....
3. Ones that make noise. Why do people think that noisy toys make good gifts? They are horrible! Once the battery runs out, I let them work on imagination. And you know what? He plays with them more when they don't do all the work for him.
4. The clamshell packaging some of them come in. So much waste, and so hard to open!
5. "Trendy" toys like transformers and Lightening McQueen cars etc... He desperately wants them and then only plays with them a handful of times. Frankly, he's had more fun playing with the discarded cardboard boxes they came in.
6. They are so expensive! It makes so much more sense to buy them second hand.
7. The quality is crap! My parents still have the toys I played with when I was a kid and all of the grandkids are enjoying them all over again. I seriously doubt that any of the little guy's toys (with a couple of exceptions) will pass the test of time.
8. Too much plastic! Not only is their too much plastic in our lives these days, it's so unnatural.
9. Stuffed animals. As far as I'm concerned they are big germ and dust collectors.
10. They multiply like rabbits, which is what motivated me to write this post in the first place.

Memory

I've always been astounded at the little guy's long-term memory. He remembers places we visited only once when he was only a year old!

But lately, I've noticed that he only needs to watch a movie once to remember intricate details from each scene as well as most of the dialogue, word for word. He's like this with music lyrics too. Someone taught him the Waving Flag song last week and he memorized it instantly. In fact, his teacher told me that he put up his hand and asked to sing the song to the class. That was the day after he heard the song for the first time! My little shy guy was brave enough to sing a song to his class? And he remembered all of the words?

Wow!

Hubby thinks he has a photographic memory. And I'm beginning to suspect he does too. Either that or his brain is a very big sponge.

Bonus!

I try not to indulge my son too much with sugary treats. However, from time to time, I do let his have 4 or 5 chocolate covered almonds from the organic store down the street.

Today he asked if he could have 4 chocolate almonds. I said okay and helped scoop them from the bulk bin into a little bag. I accidentally scooped out 5 instead of 4.

"Oh, I guess you get a bonus one," I told him.

"Can you put that one back?" he asked.

"I have an idea," I said. "You could give the bonus one to me."

He agreed but seemed strangely reluctant to buy the extra treat. As we were leaving the store, he pulled one of the chocolate almonds out of the bag and held it up.

"Mom, is this the boneless one?"

:-)

Small veins, street dancing and hooters

It's been a busy couple of weeks. A cottage trip to visit my parents, summer get-togethers with friends, end of year school festivities. As usual, my blog has dropped down on my list of priorities. So here are a few anecdotes.

- While visiting my parents, we watched Part 2 of a W5 feature about the "Liberation" treatment for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). My dad was diagnosed with MS more than 40 years ago, and has gradually become more and more disabled. It is becoming increasingly difficult for him to do all of the little things we take for granted (get in and out of bed, dress himself, drive, shower etc...). But he's truly a fighter and won't let it get the best of him. He's incredibly independent thanks largely to the fact that he's as stubborn as a goat (actually, 10 goats put together). This is a very good quality to have when faced with his day to day challenges.

While we were watching W5, the little guy kept coming into the room talking loudly and demanding my attention. I told him that he needed to be quiet because we were watching a very important show -- a show about how people like Grandpa who have MS and have trouble walking can get better. After I explained this to him he settled down and snuggled in next to me on the couch. He watched the entire show and has been drilling me with questions ever since.

For those of you who don't know about it, the Liberation treatment was developed by an Italian doctor named Dr. Zamboni. He discovered that people with MS had a narrowing in their veins (in their necks or other parts of their body) which resulted in poor drainage and a build up of iron deposits in the brain. In a test study, he performed a relatively simple surgery to widen the veins of MS patients with this condition to see if it would have any impact on their MS symptoms. The results were nothing short of miraculous for many of the test subjects. Some of the patients who had previously had bad balance and trouble walking are now able to walk perfectly. Others have reported that their MS attacks have completely disappeared. The list of miracles goes on and on. As word of this treatment spread, MS patients around the world have been offered new hope.

However, because this treatment hasn't been well researched or "proven," Canadians can't even get tested to see if they have the narrow vein condition. Doctors also won't perform the surgery on MS patients. Many MS sufferers who don't have time to wait for the research to catch up are saying to Hell with it and going overseas to get the operation. W5 spoke to some of these people and the reported results were nothing short of amazing. As a side note, my parent's neighbour at the cottage also has MS and has suffered from chronic pain and migraine headaches. She went to Poland and had the surgery done and is now pain free. My father is now considering following in her footsteps some day, even though he doesn't expect the results to be quite as dramatic because he's had MS for so long. But even if it could help him only slightly and make his life just a little bit easier, it would be worth every penny.

So back to my story about how the little guy watched the W5 episode. A few days later he asked, "Mom, does grandpa have small veins?"

"Yes, he probably does," I told him.

"Do I have small veins too?" he asked. "Am I going to get MS?"

I told him that I very much doubted it and that he shouldn't worry about it.

Fast forward to this morning. It was the crack of dawn and he shouted to me from down the hall, "Can you bring me my truck?"

I grumbled something about the fact that I was still sleeping and that he could come and get it if he wanted to. He whined and moaned and carried on like there was no tomorrow. Oh the torture of walking 20 feet down the hall!

"Is there something wrong with your legs," I asked.

"Yes," he replied. "I have MS."

:-)

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Tonight we crashed our friends' street party. They have a water slide/pool for the kids, BBQ, beer, ice cream etc... As part of the festivities, they had a dance contest.

The little guy watched some older kids show off their break dancing moves and was quite intrigued. Once the contest was over, he emerged from the water slide area - wearing nothing but dinosaur underwear - and took to the stage (which was actually just a green carpet). I have to say he had some pretty fancy moves!

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So I decided that it was time to go bra shopping -- something I do once every year or so whether I want to or not. I hate bra shopping and put it off until my undergarments are practically disintegrating. This really isn't a good idea considering my evident need for "support". I can almost hear my mom's voice right now saying, "I don't know where she got those from. It certainly wasn't from me!"

A fellow blogger had written about a bra shop in town that does professional sizings and fittings. The bras are out of the world expensive (between $100-$200 each!), but I decided this was the way to go. I reasoned that not only would save me a lot of time and headache (normally I have to try on 30 to find just 1 that fits), it would also make me and my clothes look better. And besides, a girl needs to treat herself once in a while. Right?

I couldn't believe it. In less than 20 minutes I had been sized and tried on at least 10 bras -- all of which fit me perfectly. I ended up buying 2 bras (gulp!) and I have to say that they make me look pretty good! I've always hated being well endowed, but today I actually felt at peace with bust line.

So what did I learn on this expensive adventure? Well, for one thing, I was buying bras that were WAY too small. My cups are two sizes larger than I thought they were! I guess I should just change my name to Chesty Laroux (Simpson's fans will understand what I mean). No wonder bra shopping has always been such a hassle! Now that I know my true size, I'm going to go out and buy a couple of cheaper ones too. And when I'm done, I'm going to get rid of all my old ones.

National Lobster Day

On Saturday, the little guy found an awesome rubber lobster at a garage sale. He paid with it with his own money (25 cents) and it is now his most prized possession. He and the lobster are pretty much inseparable.

On Sunday morning he came bursting into our room and announced that it was Lobster Day. He was absolutely bubbling with excitement.

"What do you do on Lobster Day?" I asked.

"You celebrate lobsters," he said, while proudly holding up his red lobster.

"What sorts of things do you do to celebrate lobsters?"

"Well," he said, thinking for a moment. "You sing lobster songs and you get to eat ice cream after dinner. In a regular cone, not a sugar cone."

"Do we get to eat lobsters on Lobster Day?" I asked.

"No, just ice cream after dinner. And you can bake cookies too."

All good ideas!

Later that morning, when he was being a bit of a troublemaker, I told him that when little boys acted that way that Lobster Day got cancelled. I immediately felt guilty for saying this.

"You can't cancel Lobster Day, Mom!" he blubbered. The very thought that it might get cancelled almost brought him to tears.

So after promising to be a good boy I reassured him that Lobster Day would not be cancelled. And we all dressed in red to mark the occasion.

I think they should make it a national holiday, don't you?

This is a test

So yesterday I wrote about how I wanted to lose 15 lbs. By some coincidence, an ad popped up on the side of Facebook today that said, "Want to lose 15 lbs?"

I have another blog about a medical issue I'm going through right now. Every time I put up a new post, the ads on Facebook start hitting a little too close to home.

I'm torn. On the one hand I feel incredibly violated and think I should wash my hands of Facebook. On the other hand, I enjoy keeping up with friends and family on Facebook. At the very least, I'm going to have to look more closely at the privacy settings.

So to test my theory that Facebook is tracking my other online activity, I'm going to put some strange keywords down below to see if there is any correlation with the ads that pop up in the next few days. Here it goes:

- erectile dysfunction
- diapers
- leather furniture
- stephen king
- sinus infections

Let the test begin!

I stand corrected

The Spiderman lunch box made its way home safely. The little guy had not given it away to a kid in his class. I feel so bad for thinking that, but he was acting so strangely.

Bad mom. Very bad mom.

********************

In other news, I completed my very first triathlon last Saturday. It was a mini one, but it was still a good physical challenge. I'm happy to report that I didn't drown. In fact, the swim went amazingly well. All of that pool training really paid off. My swim time was pretty slow, but it was only a very small part of a much larger race. As the lady behind me in the start line said, "You can make up your swim time while changing into your shoes." And she was right! Being fast in the transition zones made a big difference to your overall time.

To keep up the momentum I'll be competing in the marathon 10 km race this coming Saturday. I did a long run on Sunday to prove to myself that I could actually make it to the finish line. The triathlon training must have really helped because I wasn't even stiff the next day.

Since I'm on a fitness kick (did I mention I was taking tennis lessons too?) I've decided to make some changes to my diet too. I'd like to lose between 15 and 20 lbs between now and my birthday in September. It shouldn't be too hard if I keep up my activity level and cut back on the carbs (I'm a total carb junkie). I weighed in this morning and just about cried. How did I gain so much weight?????

Wish me luck!

Baby Eagle cam

One of my colleagues sent me a link to this live web cam of an eagle's nest.

There is a newborn baby eagle in the nest along with an unhatched egg. I was told that the other egg isn't going to hatch. Normally the parents throw any unhatched eggs out of the nest, but not this time. The baby eagle is VERY attached to the egg. He/she often sits on it and snuggles up to it. It's very cute! I think the mother bird doesn't have the heart to toss the egg out of the nest.

The little guy would sit and watch the live cam for hours if I let him. He's absolutely fascinated with all of the activity going on in the nest. We tune in several times a day to see what the family is up to. Often we see the mom feeding or snuggling with the baby (she's a very loving and dedicated mommy). Sometimes they sit and talk to each other.

It's a real lesson in nature!

Who do you love?

The little guy was mad at his caregiver for giving him a time out. Even though he totally deserved it!

Hubby told him that he shouldn't be mad at her, to which he responded "I don't like C-C because she gave me a time out."

"That's not a very nice thing to say. You love C-C."

"No I don't," he insisted, still mad.

"I bet you do. Just like I bet you love SM (his best buddy at daycare)"

"Well....sometimes."

"Do you love A-R (the little girl from daycare who he tells us he's going to marry)?"

"Well....Sometimes."

"What about JJ (C-C's husband)?"

"Well....sometimes."

When asked if he loved C-C's two drop dead gorgeous daughters he said, without a moment's hesitation, "Yes!!!!"

Kids can be so cruel

I didn't realize it could start so young. A couple of months ago, the little guy came home looking all sad. When I asked him what was the matter he said, "E said he doesn't want to be my friend."

E is the most popular boy in his class. He's adorable. He's outgoing. He's into superheros. And there is just something about him that makes him the envy of all of Junior Kindergarten. One day when I was volunteering at the school I watched the kids greet E as he entered the playground. They got all giddy and excited. "E's here," they announced and then swarmed around him like teenaged girls at a rock concert. E knows he's a star. So to be told that E doesn't want to be your friend is the ultimate rejection.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I was telling E about how our car broke down and we needed to get a tow truck and he 'You!!! Stop talking!'"

"That wasn't very nice," I said.

"Yeah and he said, 'I don't want to be your friend. I only want to be friends with M' (another boy in their class)."

The little guy didn't know what to say or do so he moped all day long. I tried to reassure him that E probably didn't really mean it.

"If he says something like that again, you could tell him that hurts your feelings," I suggested.

"Sometimes E lets me sit with him on the bus," he said. This just made me so angry. Maybe I'm overreacting. After all, they are only in JK, but can a 4-year old really have that much power over other kids? They need to have permission to sit next to him on the bus?

Then, the other day he tells me that he wants us to help him make a "light saver" for E. E has been admiring his homemade Star Wars light saber and has decided he wants one too. Almost every day he asks us to make one for E to which we reply. When we say no he gets upset.

"But I said I would make him one!"

Last week the little guy "lost" his Spiderman lunch box. This was one of his most treasured possessions. Yet he seems rather nonchalant about the fact that it is missing. Whenever I ask him about it, he's quick to change the subject. Call me suspicious but I wouldn't be at all surprised if I saw E walking into class with a Spiderman lunch box the next time I'm at the school.

So that's E. He's as innocent as can be compared to a bigger girl that the little guy likes to hang out with at the park.

The girl literally stalks him and his friends on the playground trying to provoke them into behaving badly. And the second they retaliate she burst into tears and goes crying to daddy about how the boys have hurt her feelings. The little guy and his buddies are always the bad guys and she is always the innocent victim. Are her parents completely blind?

This same girl pointed at the little guy yesterday and turned to her friend and said, "I'm not friends with him" Luckily he doesn't seem to notice how terrible she is to him. But as a parent I can't help feeling outraged!

Who knew that this sort of thing happened at such a young age?

Happy Mother's Day!

The day before Mother's Day I was rudely awakened at 5:30 am with yelling, screaming, whining etc...

After little Mr. Grouch settled down, I had a little heart to heart with him.

"It's Mother's Day tomorrow," I told him.

"Can I give you your present tomorrow?" he asked, excitedly. (He'd been hiding my gift for a few days and desperately wanted to give it to me). All the waiting was killing him.

"Yes, tomorrow you can give me the present," I told him. "And you know what else?"

"What?" he asked, eagerly.

"Because it's Mother's Day you have to let Mommy sleep in. That's what kids do for their Mommies on Mother's Day."

"But....But....who is going to get up with me?" he asked.

"You can quietly come into Mommy and Daddy's room and watch cartoons," I told him. "But you can't be loud and you can't bug me."

"But who can I bug to make me breakfast?" he asked.

"You can either make your own breakfast or you can bug daddy," I replied.

"Okay, Mom."

Yesterday, true to his word, I didn't hear so much as a peep out of him. He quietly snuck into bed with us and snoozed for a while, and then got up and watched a show. When he got hungry, he tiptoed over to dad's side of the bed and said, "Dad, mom said I could bug you to make me breakfast." :-)

That in itself was the best Mother's Day present ever! A close second were the giant tulip card with "I love you" written across it and the plasticine garden he made for me. They are both being displayed with pride.

Pukey times

While I was away in Montreal for a fun girl's weekend, hubby was at home having no fun at all. On Saturday afternoon the little guy starting throwing up. I won't give you the gory details other than it was nasty. Just plain nasty.

Less than 24 hours later the vomiting stopped and the diarrhea set in. Again, I'll spare you the details. I stayed home with him yesterday just to make sure he was germ free. Other than having to run to the toilet a couple of times he was perfectly fine all day. He was laughing, playing, running and jumping. The only thing he wasn't doing was eating. He kind of picked at his food throughout the day. Having recovered from the same illness a few weeks ago, I could totally relate to the lack of appetite.

This morning he was sick again! No vomiting, but still had the runs. Really, really badly. And he was lethargic for most of the day. Not unhappy, just sluggish. Hubby said he didn't perk up until after 2:30 this afternoon. He's still not eating much, but he is definitely showing an interest in food.

I really hope this is the end. Poor guy!

Hate is a strong word

There is a 6-year old at the park who enjoys bantering back and forth with the little guy. He showed her a craft he made at school out of toilet paper rolls. When he showed it to me, he said it was a roller coaster. However, to show off to the little girl, he told her it was a gun. She was less than impressed.

"I don't like guns because I hate violence," she said.

"Hate isn't a good word," the little guy replied.

"But violence is terrible so I hate violence," the girl stated emphatically.

"Well, I like violence because hate isn't a good word!"

My little troublemaker

The little guy peed in a juice container and then left it sitting on the bathroom floor. Right in front of the toilet. He told me that he did it because he was mad at me.

What's up with that?

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The little guy is learning all sorts of wonderful things in Junior Kindergarten. But, at the same time, he's learning a few not so wonderful things. Like bathroom humour, for example. Have you ever heard a group of 4-year olds joking around on the playground? They love nothing more that to use words like pooh-pooh, bum, stinky, toilet etc...

Curbing the toilet talk is next to impossible. It's like telling a teen-ager that they are forbidden to smoke. If you forbid something it makes it all the more appealing.

So, I've taken a new approach that seems to be working (although I must admit that I sometimes just turn a deaf ear to let him get it out of his system).

Here is what I find works the best:
- I give him a warning (sometimes two). Then, if I catch him using rude words again, we have to leave right the park/play date/activity right away. I made him leave the park one day for some repeated language offenses so he now knows I mean business. Usually a warning is all that is needed now.
- A dollar a day takes the potty mouth away. Each day he has the opportunity to earn $1 towards a toy purchase. If he uses bad words, he doesn't get a dollar. This week he did really well and racked up $5. We then went to the toy store and let him pick out a small toy. He is now working towards a bigger toy.

If you have any other tips, I'd love to hear them!

Oh the funny things he says

Some recent questions he's asked me:

- "Mom, does nature look like a church?"

- At the dinner table on Easter Sunday in earshot of my friend's parents, "Mom, what toilet did Grandma throw up in?"

- "Do babies come out of a hole in your tummy?"

Some recent conversations we've had:

The little guy asked us what we call a sheep after its hair got all cut off.

"You mean after it gets sheared?" Daddy asked.

"No, after its hair got cut," he insisted.

"That's called shearing."

"No it's not," the little guy insisted. "It's called getting its hair cut."

"Okay," Daddy replied. "So what is a sheep called after its hair gets cut?"

"A goat."

******************

In the car yesterday, hubby and I started talking about the volcano that erupted in Iceland. The little guy chirped in from the back seat, "Do you know what an eruption is?"

"Yes, do you?" I replied.

"An eruption is when a volcano explodes."

"That's right," I answered, impressed that he knew the definition.

"When a volcano erupts the llama comes running out."

"You mean lava?"

"No, Llama"

Nothing we could say could persuade him that the proper word was lava.

***********************

I like to play Family Feud on Facebook. The little guy loves to help me.

"Are you playing the Family Few?" he always asks. (Heehee)

His favourite way to help is to type in the word "cat" during each round.

"Mom," he says. "Can I type the word cat all by myself?"

If only it ever came up as the right answer!

Did you miss me?

Sorry peeps! I have been incredibly lazy about updating my blog lately. It must be the nice weather keeping me away from my computer.

So what's new? Well, for one, I have a new niece. Annika Lee was born on April 14. Can't wait to meet her!

In other news, I'm training for a 10 km race as well as a "mini" triathalon. A really mini triathalon that is composed of a 100 metre swim, 10.5 km bike and a 2 km run. The run and the bike should be fairly easy. It's the two laps in the pool that worry me to no end! I swim like a rock. No seriously. A rock. But I figure that, as bad of a swimmer as I am, I can muster the strength to flail myself across the pool for 100 metres.

When my mom came to visit for the Easter long weekend, Hubby and I went running together a couple of times. He made me do a 13 km run. I accused him of trying to kill me! My longest run of the season before that was 5 km so I was feeling a little out of shape. But hey, at least I know I won't have any trouble completing the 10 km race at the end of May. I'm really hoping that all of this working out will help me get back to my goal weight. I could really stand to lose 10 or 15 lbs.

My training was rudely interrupted by a nasty stomach flu. I have my mother to thank for sharing that one with me during her visit! She got sick right before Easter dinner. That night I became ill as well. For a whole week I felt like crap and could barely eat. My mom was so sick she had to delay her trip home by a couple of days. Hubby and the little guy managed to escape catching that bout of nastiness. Lucky!!! Anyways, I'm finally back to my old self, except that I now have a cold. Oh well. I'm still going to get out running, biking and swimming this weekend. The clock is ticking! I can't waste any time getting ready for my race events.

Before I sign off for the night, here are a couple of little anecdotes about the little guy.

- This morning he came downstairs wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I told him it was too cold to be wearing shorts (it was only +1 this morning!). When I told him he'd have to wear long pants he got really upset and said, "But that's a terrible thing to say!" That's one of his favourite lines these days when he doesn't get his way.

- I'm not sure how we got on to the subject of Jesus, but somehow his name came up the other day. Hubby and I are not religious people and have not done much in the way of supplying the little guy with a good Christian education. Which is why we gasped when he turned to me and said, "Mom, Jesus was a man. He was a MAN and he DIED! He really DIED! But a few days later he came back to life....he REALLY did!" Hubby and I just about fell over. How did he know all of that? It took us a minute to realize that they had been talking about Easter at school.

That story kind of reminded me of the time he came home and told us he had learned about Eid in class. I asked if there were any students in his class were Muslim and celebrated Eid, to which he responded "I am, and I celebrate Eid."

I love that his teacher talks to the class a lot about different cultures and celebrations.

I've said it before

I live with Destructo. Today, I cleaned the house from top to bottom. But every time I turned around there was a new mess to contend with. It kind of makes me feel like Ali Sard from the Dr. Seuss book,"Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" Poor Ali Sard has a job mowing his cheap uncle's fast-growing grass. The faster he mows, the faster it grows. In my case, the faster I clean the faster the he messes things up.

We've been toying with the idea of hiring a cleaning service. We used to have someone come every couple of weeks but I never felt I got my money's worth. And with Destructo in the house I doubt that the cleaning would last more than a day or two. It wouldn't take long for the trails of crumbs, toys and mystery sticky stuff to take over.

I think a Nanny would be a better option. Especially a Nanny that would shop, cook and clean. That would be heavenly.

This is the part where I have to pinch myself awake from my lovely daydream. My mom is coming for a visit on Thursday so I guess I better start cleaning some more!

Spriderman, Spiderman

Spiderman is very popular these days, as is the theme song. He's pretty well memorized it, but he sometimes gets the words mixed up. Here is the little guy's variation.

"Spiderman, Spiderman, your lovely neighbourhood Spiderman." Heehee

*****************************

We are hearing a lot of talk about blood, guts and weapons lately. I think he's picked up this language on the school bus.

The other day he told me that the only way to kill Spiderman would be to "Cha-ching" him will a sword. "Why would anyone want to do that?" I asked him. "The bad guys would," he told me. I'm really getting sick of the bad guys he's always telling me about.

When I picked him up from daycare the other day he said, "Mom, I drew you a picture." I was delighted until he told me it was a picture of a "blood weapon." Apparently he had gone to great pains to find the perfect red pencil crayon to draw it with. My disappointment was compounded when I found out that he drew a picture of a flower for his caregiver.

While riding the bus

I took the little guy on a bus ride adventure the other day (at his request). On our travels, we happened upon a couple of very cool toy stores. Normally we just go in and "look" but, because it was our special day together, I told him we could buy one new toy. After a great deal of deliberation he chose a sperm whale to add to his whale figurine collection.

On the bus ride home, he asked if he could take it out of his bag.

"Of course," I said, and handed it to him.

The bus was very crowded, which makes the story I'm about to tell all the more embarrassing.

"Mom," he said a little too loudly, "I think I'm going to name him Spermy."

"Uh huh," I said, pretending to only be half listening.

"Sperm whales are called sperm whales because they have lots of sperm," he told me.
"The sperm comes out of their blow hole."

At this point, my face turned completely red and I wished I could hide under my seat.

For the record, he has no clue what sperm means!

Overheard at the playground

- Today, the little guy finally got up the nerve to go down the BIG, twisty slide. Even I find this particular slide a bit intimidating. He was wearing his slippery, fleece pants. When he got off at the bottom he told me his tummy felt funny. I'm pretty sure he was trying to describe having butterflies in his stomach. He said, "The slide made my blood hurt!"

- After making it up the climbing wall all by himself, he said "Wow, that is so much cool!"

Regression

So, the little guy has been toilet trained since the summer time. At first we had issues with bed wetting about two or three times a week. Now, he never wets the bed (knock on wood). His track record for making it to the toilet on time has been phenomenal....or at least it was until a couple of weeks ago. All of a sudden he is regressing. Virtually every day we find pee in his underwear. Today, he had three accidents.

Today we got very frustrated with him, which probably didn't help things. I'm ashamed to say that I asked him if I needed to go out and buy him some diapers since he was peeing in his pants like a baby. That was pretty low, wasn't it? Maybe so, but it caught his attention. He's adamant that he does not want to wear diapers because he's not a baby anymore.

Everything I've ever read about toilet training has said not to get upset about accidents. All literature on the subject warns that getting upset makes the situation worse. This may explain why he had so many accidents today....

In any case, I took him out for a walk to night and we had a heart to heart. I told him that he's been doing so good at listening to his body and always putting his pooh in the toilet. He was delighted when I heaped on the praise. I asked him why he was having so much trouble remembering to go to the bathroom to let his pees out. The explanations he gave me made no sense at all -- like how his elbow hurt.

So tomorrow I told him we were going to watch Elmo's Potty Time to remind him about the importance of listening to his body. Also, I asked him to try his very best to not have anymore accidents. I said that it's okay if it happens once in a while if there is a good reason, but that he shouldn't be having wet underwear all the time.

I thought we were done toilet training. Has anyone else run into regressions like this. What did you do?

Quote of the day

This morning the little guy told me all about a show he watched on Discovery Channel last night. He went on and on about how the octopus got trapped and was pulled out of the water. He concluded his story by saying, "If you take too many octopuses out of the water they get restinked."

When I told him the word was actually "extinct" he said, "ex-inked is bad Mom."

Big weekend with the cousins!

We had a full house this weekend. The little guy was thrilled to have a two-night sleep over with his cousins.

On Saturday the kids played non-stop from 10 am until bedtime. We didn't even bother to take them out because they were having so much fun. On Sunday, poor little AK was sick with a fever and missed our trip to the children's museum. The boys had a fantastic time playing with the real crane. Afterwards we went out for burgers and milkshakes. When we got home AK was feeling much better and the marathon playing continued.

I think AK gets the prize for best quote of the weekend. We were talking about the characters in Lady and the Tramp and she said, "that movie has Siamese if you please cats." So cute!

Be my Valentine!

Instead of buying a bunch of pre-packaged Valentine's cards, the little guy made his own. We cut out hearts and decorated them with sparkles, stickers, decals etc...It was so much fun! There is one very pretty heart with a flower decal that he has reserved for Katrina, the little girl in his class that he has a big crush on. I sure hope she likes it!

The only difficult part of this project was getting him to sign the back of all 18 cards. Thank goodness we started this project early! Since the weekend I've been getting him to sign three or four at a time. Of course I'm not sure that anyone will actually be able to figure out his name. He writes up and down and puts the letters in the wrong order....I think this is pretty typical of kids his age.

Blood, guts and all that other yucky stuff

A few weeks ago our dinosaur books arrived from Scholastic. We've been reading them non-stop ever since. And in reading these books, the little guy became quite fascinated with the idea that some animals eat other animals. One of the books talks about how T-Rex was a "meat eater" and has a picture of it chomping on another dinosaur.

"What's meat mom?" the little guy asked.

I explained to him that meat comes from animals, including the chicken, beef and pork that we eat. I told him that we buy meat at stores but that lots of animals hunt other animals and eat them.

"What is T-Rex eating?" he asked, looking down at his book.

"He's eating another dinosaur."

"You mean the blood?"

"Well, yes, there was probably some blood. But mostly he was eating meat."

This led into a series of other questions about dinosaurs, including wanting to know how come the dinosaurs are now just bones. "Where did their blood go?" he wanted to know.

And wouldn't you know it, today he had a nosebleed. The sight of his own blood sparked a whole new line of questions. Why is blood red? Is the blood going to come back? When I lived in mommy's tummy was there blood there? Can my skin come off? Does my skin not come off because it's glued to the blood.

I sure hope that he moves on to some other topics soon. This one is making me queasy!

Training for the winter Olympics

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But the little guy is becoming a very good skier. Last weekend we signed him up for two, full-day skiing lessons and what a difference it has made. He can now turn and stop and get to the bottom of the hill on his own.

We plan to put him in some more lessons this winter to hone his skills. By next season I think he'll be ready to accompany us on some of the easier runs. I can't wait!

A room of his own

The little guy has officially moved out of our bedroom! Yay!

For the last couple of years he's been sleeping in a "big boy bed," pushed up against our bed. We really never intended for him to bunk with us for this long but we really dragged our feet when it came to renovating his bedroom. Up until recently, his room was a dumping ground due to the fact that our condo has no basement and completely inadequate storage space.

After much de-cluttering, bookshelf and drawer building and general organizing we finally finished his room a few months ago. We told him that when he was ready he could move into his room. His response to this idea was lukewarm at best.

In order to make him feel more at home with the space, we moved all of his toys into his bedroom. Admittedly I had more selfish motives for moving the toys up there (like reclaiming our living room!). For a long time the room became more of a play room than a bedroom. I was beginning to think that he was never going to move out when a few weeks ago, out of the blue, he said, "Mom, I want to move my bed into my room."

The words were barely out of his mouth before hubby and I had hauled the bed down the hall. (We also did a little happy dance and some high fives when he wasn't looking).

The little guy was thrilled with the new set up!...errr....at least until bed time arrived. I guess he hadn't thought about the fact that he would be sleeping all alone in the dark.

"Mom, put my bed back!" he begged.

No way, I thought.

I told him that if he was really scared he could sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor next to our bed. So he did.

Since then we've been letting him fall asleep on our bed and then carrying him to his own bed. Usually he sleeps through the night no problem. Occasionally he wanders down the hall in the middle of the night to join us. But hey, it's progress! Our next step is to establish a bedtime routine in his own room. Wish us luck!

Tomorrow

It never fails. Every single time I talk about what's coming up tomorrow, the little guy says, "That's the day after today" or "Do you mean the day after today?"

It cracks me up.

*****************

He's been begging us for a Spiderman lunch box for months. All of the kids at school have lunch boxes so he feels really left out. We told him that he would have to earn one by practicing his French words. At first he protested loudly (he has an aversion to all things French for some reason) but then he realized that we weren't going to cave in.

This week he started enthusiastically using all sorts of French words, much to our delight! While he was taking ski lessons today I happened to wander into a store that had the perfect Spiderman lunch box. As a reward for his French speaking accomplishments and for his skiing bravery this weekend, I decided to get him one as a surprise. At first he was thrilled! Overjoyed, actually. But after spending some time examining the lunch box in the car on the way home, his tone seemed to change a bit.

From the back seat he said, "Mom, Spiderman has angry white eyes..."

I tried to explain that Spiderman was a good guy and that he was just wearing a mask. Underneath he is just a person, I told him.

"No Mom," he replied. "His eyes are really angry and white."

It's funny he should say that because I was more than a little freaked out by Spiderman when I was a kid too. I vividly remember being scared to go down the basement because I thought that Spiderman lived under the stares and would pop out and start chasing me. There is something very creepy about that mask....

Hopefully those angry looking eyes won't stop him from bringing his lunch box to school!

A tribute to Goldie

Sadly, our Siamese fighting fish died while we were on vacation last week. Our friend and house sitter did everything she could to try to nurse him back to health but, alas, poor Goldie was on his last fins.

Trying to explain death to a 4-year old is not an easy thing. He really doesn't get that Goldie isn't coming back. I'm hearing a lot of, "Mom, when Goldie comes back can we get him a present?" and "Mom, what's Goldie going to do now that he went down the toilet?" I've been trying to explain as best as I can, but it's really tough!

To help with the fish grieving process our friend gave the little guy a book called "The Tenth Good Thing About Barney," a story about the loss of a family cat. I started bawling on the first page. It made me remember the day we had to put down my beloved dog, Fred. Although sad, the book provided me with some good ideas about how to talk about death.

So, without further adieu, here are the 10 good things about Goldie. May he rest in peace.

1. Goldie was a beautiful, dark shade of red
2. When we would walk in the door he would always swim over to greet us at the edge of his bowl
3. Goldie could blow bubbles like nobody's business!
4. He could do tricks -- like puffing out his cheeks when you flashed a mirror at him
5. Goldie was as quiet as a mouse
6. It was always fun to watch him swim inside his cave and do laps around his plant
7. At exactly the same time every day, Goldie would stare at us to remind us it was dinner time
8. He never once tried to jump out of his bowl (unlike other fish I've owned in the past)
9. Goldie seemed to genuinely like us and always seemed happy when we were in the room
10. The tenth good thing about Goldie is that, now that he's been flushed down the toilet, he'll go back into the environment (just like Barney in the book) and help the flowers to grow.

We've promised the little guy a new fish, which is definitely helping with the grieving process!

The snowman invasion

There are snowmen everywhere I look, littering every surface. Every last scrap of paper in the house has a snowman drawn on it. This morning the little guy said, "Look Mom, a Frosty snowstorm" as he kicked a large pile of of his artwork across the room.

I think I'm going to need a shovel to clean up this mess. Don't get me wrong -- I love getting artwork. But we are all a bit Frostied out, if you know what I mean. :)

Dinner conversation

After a horrid two-hours of driving in rush hour traffic (long story!), we decided to eat out tonight. Neither of us had the energy to cook.

The little guy kicked off the dinner conversation.

"I'm getting to be a big boy," he said.

"Yep, you're getting big," Hubby replied. "Pretty soon you'll be a man. A big, tall man."

The little guy thought about this for a moment. His face brightened and he turned to hubby and said, "Yah, and then I'll get to drink beer!"

The little guy's worst fear

Monsters under the bed? Waking up to find all of the toys gone? Going to the doctor and the dentist the same day? No. The thing that the little guy fears the most in this world is missing the school bus. The very idea makes him get all panicky. We've never actually missed the bus, but we've had a couple of really close calls. Both times he was so relieved the driver waited for us. I'm not sure what he thinks will happen to him if the bus left without him but, whatever it is, it can't be good.

I'm using this fear to my advantage. I've discovered that uttering the words "hurry up or your going to miss the bus" helps to get him moving in the morning. If he won't sit down to eat his cereal I utter these words, and he literally leaps towards his bowl and says, "I won't miss it now?"

The same strategy works for getting him dressed and out the door.

For the record, if he did miss the bus, hubby would drive him to school.

Happy New Year!

Wow, it has been ages since I've updated my blog. I'm in a real slump right now. Which sucks, because virtually every day the little guy says or does something that is blog-worthy. My resolution is to update my blog more regularly (even if they are only short entries). I think that by writing more often I'll eventually get my groove back. So to ring in the New Year, I thought I'd start with remembering some of the highlights of late 2009, from about the time that I stopped updating my blog.

- He got his first report card for JK. The teacher thinks he is doing very well despite our concerns about him being one of the youngest in the class. The only "Needs Improvements" he got were in asking other kids to play (something he's never had to do before) and painting. Yes, that's right, painting. Since September the teacher has been encouraging him to paint but he refuses. Last year, we ran into this at nursery school too. We'd tell him it was time to go and he'd say, "Okay, but I'm not going to paint."

Miraculously, a couple of weeks after he got his report card the little guy turned over a new leaf. Suddenly he wants to paint all the time!

The teacher says he's made amazing progress at putting on shoes, jackets etc....At the beginning of the school year he struggled and was always one of the last ones to be ready and out the door. Now, he's usually first and proud of it!

The teacher observed something we've always known: that he's extremely cautious. Instead of just going with the flow, he likes to hang back and observe. He'll only try something new once he feels confident and comfortable. In gym class the teacher tries to match him up with a buddy to get him trying things, which is working really well. Also, he's starting raising his hand to answer or ask questions in class, to his teacher's (and our) delight.

- The little guy still can't keep a secret. At the giant garage sale at his school (all new, donated items) the kids all got to purchase Christmas gifts for their parents for 50 cents a piece. What a great idea! When the little guy got home he announced, "I got you a candle mom! I got daddy a candle too!"

- In the last few weeks he's become a budding artist. Instead of scribbling, he's drawing snowmen, treasure maps, fire trucks, forests, roads etc... Some of his artwork is really good for a 4 year old. I think he may be taking after his dad in that department because he certainly doesn't get it from me!

- Last year he hated snow. This year he loves it. The other day he told me he wished it was winter all the time. I hope his wish doesn't come true.

That's it for now. I'll give you a Christmas update soon!