Quote of the week

"When I'm a Dad I'm going to drink beer at a St. Patrick's day party."

Little does he know that Dad hasn't attended any good St. Patrick's day parties since a certain someone was born.

The Very Hungry 5-Year Old

The little guy came home from daycare today and immediately started rooting around the kitchen for food. He ate one yogurt, two pieces of raisin bread and three cherry tomatoes but he was still hungry (just like the Very Hungry Caterpillar).

I didn't want him to spoil his dinner, so I tried to distract him by playing some games. The game very quickly ended up back in the kitchen where he proceeded to wolf down a banana and a plum. I tried once again to distract him by dancing him around the kitchen, but the phone rang. By the time I returned to the kitchen he was polishing off a piece of bread smothered an inch thick with peanut butter. But he was still hungry.

Luckily that's when the pizza delivery man arrived.

Yet he still only weighs 40 lbs. Where does it all go?

Yes, I'm still alive

I bet you thought I had given up on my blog. I'd like to reassure you that I haven't. It has just been a rough couple of months. Forgive me for not elaborating but it's deeply personal.

The last couple of months haven't been all bad, though. We had a wonderful visit from Amma at Christmas followed by a family holiday in Seattle and Whistler. While in Whistler I did something I never thought I'd be brave enough to do -- I went ziplining. Over treetops, jagged rocks and an icy creek. My god it was fun! And terrifying. The little guy was in ski lessons while I was out hanging from that very thin line. When he heard what I had done he said, "Mom, can I go ziplocking too?" Too cute.

The ski lessons in Whistler have paid off in a big way. The little guy has become an amazing skier and totally fearless. He likes to say, "Mom, I have skills now." And he really does! On Sundays he takes ski lessons. Since returning from Whistler they've bumped him up multiple levels because he's heads and tails above the other kids. As a result he is feeling really good about himself and his abilities. Hubby is thrilled, of course. Skiing is his favourite thing to do in the world and now he has someone to share his passion with. I like skiing too but I'm far to timid to be a good ski companion.

In other news, the little guy has his first loose tooth. It is now dangling by a thread and he likes to jiggle it with his finger. This totally creeps me out. Makes me shiver just thinking about it. It won't be long until the tooth fairy makes her first appearance in our home. Frankly, I can't wait!

Speaking of our home, we are converting from baseboard electric to gas on Wednesday. The gas line has been installed, holes drilled etc... The switch is going to cost us a fortune, but will pay for itself very quickly. The cost of heating this place is out of this world!!! Plus, we are contemplating selling this place in the next year or two so it's a good investment. Just to give you an idea of how complicated it was to bring gas into the condo -- the line had to be run through our neighbour's basement, through another neighbour's storage room, through the sprinkler room, across the parking garage, and up though the ceiling of the garage to our balcony. Yah, it's going to cost us a fortune. Thank goodness March is a three pay month because our trip to Whistler is also going to be on this month's bill. Gulp. And did I mention that we may be buying a new car this month too....

That's it for now. I have lots more to share for another day. Don't worry -- you won't have to wait two months for my next update. I promise!

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!

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?"

:-)

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.

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."

:-)

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

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?

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!!!!"

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.

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!"

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."

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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.

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

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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!"

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!