What a cutie

The little guy sat here and watched a donkey in the field for a good 45 minutes straight. Every time I tried to convince him to leave to look at other farm animals he said, "No! I want to stay with the donkey!"


Just doing a little driving....


and a little more driving.....


and some more driving....Did I mention I like to drive?

My smarty pants

Last week my caregiver took the kids to the park to see the ducks, geese and turtles. While there baby boy noticed some pigeons hanging around. He asked CC if pigeons ever go swimming in the water, which she thought was a very good question. Just as she was explaining that pigeons were more of a land bird, a pigeon swooped down into the river and started splashing around as if to prove her wrong.

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Baby boy asked me one day if his friend M had a daddy, to which I replied, "No, he has two mommies. Most kids have a mommy and a daddy, but some kids have two mommies and some kids have two daddies." After I explained this two him he ran off and played. I wasn't sure if he had actually paid attention to what I said or not until the other day when he blurted out, "M has two mommies. One brown one and one white one."

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Baby boy knows how to tease me. If he wants to get me going he says, "Mom's a boy" so that I'll correct him. And then he keeps repeating it because he thinks he's so funny. The other day he came up to me and said, "Hi Daddy." I replied, "I'm mommy silly." He looked at me with a sly little smile and said, "No you're not -- you're daddy!"

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The little guy watched intently as daddy marinated some lamb chops the other night. Hubby explained all of the ingredients he was mixing in. When he got to the wine vinegar, baby boy said, "No daddy, I want you to pour the wine in a glass for me."

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Today, hubby took the little guy to the toy store and got him some new animal figurines. He's going through a real marine animal stage right now, so they added a hammerhead shark to his collection. And, they bought a horse and a cow. As they were browsing through the cow section, hubby picked up one that he thought would be a sure winner. "Look at this nice cow," he said. Baby boy shook his head and said, "No daddy. That's a bull, not a cow. I want a cow." And guess what? He was right!

I live with Destructo

Why is it that I decided to cancel our house cleaner? Bad move. Very bad move.

When baby boy is bored and wants our attention he dumps, throws, pours, and smears things all of the place. I feel like I have to follow him around with a washcloth, mop and bucket. Just one of these days I'd like to come home from work and say, "Ah, look at my clean, clean house." We can all dream, can't we?

I haven't entertained in months because, frankly, I'm too embarrassed by the state of the house.

One of the kids that baby boy hangs out with at the park has a nanny who cooks and cleans! If Nannies weren't so darn expensive I'd look into hiring one to look after Destructo...err....I mean baby boy. A Marry Poppins type, who would fly off with her umbrella each night and return promptly the next morning.

Speaking of childcare, our caregiver has pneumonia, the poor thing! Although it sucks worse for her, it's also bad for us because we don't have a backup sitter (with the exception of a close friend who already has her hands full with 2 kids!). I've thought about registering with a nearby childcare centre that offers emergency services in situations like this. But when it comes down to it, I'm really uncomfortable dropping him off at an unfamiliar daycare. I think it would 1) terrify him and 2) lead to issues of mistrust. I think a better approach would be for me to find a university student who lives in our neighbourhood who is looking for the ocassional babysitting job. Baby boy really likes young ladies, and would probably be thrilled to entertain a student for a day! Plus he'd be on his own turf which would make things a lot easier. Especially if I had the sitter come over occasionally for a couple of hours.

But that brings up the whole issue of our grungy, disgusting house again! Would a sitter be totally grossed out by the state of our home? Possibly, unless of course they have roommates, in which case our place would seem like a sanctuary :-)

From the mouth of the babe

We've never given the little guy candy before (other than the odd chocolate chip). When he saw his cousin sucking on a purple lollipop he said, "I want a grape on a straw!"

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Last night we had a picnic at the beach to escape the heatwave. There was a little boy swimming around wearing a florescent yellow pair of snorkeling goggles. He was so jealous! For the next hour or two straight he kept repeating, "I want green googles. I want I own!"

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We took a ferry across to Toronto Island on the weekend. When the little guy heard we were going on a boat he announced that he was going to paddle the boat and catch a fish :-)

Happy Canada Day!

We had an awesome weekend/Canada Day.

On the weekend we went on a little out of town adventure with SB, which included a nice wilderness walk and some rock throwing into a lake. Baby boy talked her ear off the whole way home. He rattled on about the barns and the horses and pretty much everything else he saw out the window.

On Monday night we went to a Shawarma party at KM and KSH's house. Mmmmmm.....shawarma....After not eating shawarma because he filled up on chips, the little guy took a dip in the hot tub with a number of sexy young ladies. He was one happy dude until we announced it was time to go. All the way home he wailed, "I want to swim in the hot tub! I want to sleep at K's house!" Poor guy.

But we made it up to him on Tuesday with a huge long Canada Day bike ride. We rode more than 30 km, following the most beautiful trail ever along the river. I can't believe we hadn't discovered this trail years ago! We stopped at a marina to watch the RCMP lower their boats into the water. They were going out in full force to patrol the water for drunken Canada Day boaters. After our long ride, we had a late lunch in the market and watched all of the crazy people dressed up in their Canada Day outfits. Then it was off to the water park to cool down. When we finally made it home, we blew up the kiddie pool and had a good splash in the backyard. All in all, it was a great day for all of us. And....after baby boy went to bed, hubby and I got to watch the fireworks from our rooftop deck. The view was spectacular!

The only thing that really sucked was not getting to sleep in the next morning...Oh well, back to the grind I guess!

5 days and counting

Baby boy has been using the toilet in the morning and the evening for the last five days in a row. He's had several successful pees. No poohs. But hey, we're making progress!

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The little guy flies off the handle a lot these days. Chalk it up to being 2 1/2 years old. This morning he got really mad at me for some reason (I can't even remember why). In his fit of fury he pointed at me and yelled, "I think you need a time out. Bad Mommy!"

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Baby boy was feeling rather festive this morning. He carefully perched a purple balloon in one of our large tree-like plants and proclaimed proudly, "I made it Christmas!"

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Amma taught the little guy a new children's song while she was visiting. It goes like this:

Slippery fish, slippery fish
swimming in the water
A slippery fish, a slippery fish
Gulp, gulp
OH NO! He's been eaten by a

Tuna fish, a tuna fish
splashing in the water
A tuna fish, a tuna fish
Gulp, gulp
OH NO! He's been eaten by

An octopus, an octopus
wiggling in the water
An octopus, an octopus
Gulp, gulp
OH NO! He's been eaten by a

Great White Shark, a great white shark
lurking in the water
A great white shark, a great white shark
gulp, gulp, gulp
OH NO! He's been eaten by an

Enormous Whale, an enormous whale
Spouting in the water
Enormous Whale, enormous whale
Gulp, gulp, BURP!
Excuse ME!


Now that he knows this song off by heart he's starting improvising with the lyrics. Here are a couple of new verses I heard him string together today:

A zebra horse, zebra horse
digging in the sand
A zebra horse, a zebra horse
Gulp, gulp
OH NO! He was eating by a

Fluffy duck, a fluffy duck
swimming in the water
etc...

Singing his heart out!

These days you can hear the little guy singing before you see him. He sings and hums pretty much all the time. His Amma says he takes after hubby's brother who could also carry a tune from a very young age.

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In previous posts I mentioned how baby boy likes to invent new words. He latest word is "baggachizzes." What are they? I'm still not completely sure, except that you have to cook them before you eat them with sushi. Also, the taste "kinda like a frog." Mmmmm....Delicious!

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If you scold the little guy for his misdemeanors, he now shows remorse. He sticks his head in my leg and says, "Mommy, I'm sad."

"Are you sad because mommy and daddy got upset with you?"

"Yah," he says sheepishly.

"What do you say?"

Even more sheepishly he replies, "I sorry."

Full of beans

When Amma was in town last week, the little guy could not contain his excitement. He bounced around the house, climbed the furniture, and acted like a complete nut. When his nuttiness got out of control, I picked him up and said, "You are full of beans!" He squirmed out of my arms and said, "Don't squish the beans!"

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I was drinking coffee after work today and baby boy was watching the steam float off the top.

A few minutes later he said, "That's hot."

"What's hot?" I asked, "My coffee."

"No," he replied. "It's hot on my bum. I have to blow it out."

A bad case of diaper rash maybe????

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I recently bought a toilet seat attachment for the little guy in a moment of wishful thinking. And, just as I suspected, baby boy would have nothing to do with it. Or until yesterday that is. I accidentally opened his diaper while he was in mid poop. He wasn't sure what to do. I told him he had two choices: diaper or toilet. He kind of had a panicked look on his face and I could tell he really had to go.

Deciding that I shouldn't waste the opportunity, I took him into the bathroom for a toilet seat lesson. I explained how it worked, and that there were handles he could hold onto if he felt scared.

"I get to blow out the candle and eat chocolate?" he asked. These were rewards we'd offered up in the past that he'd never taken us up on before.

"Yes!"

That sealed the deal. Up he went. Many books and no poohs later, off he hopped. We celebrated this small toilet training victory with chocolate chips and tea lights and a couple of rounds of the Happy Birthday song. He was so delighted that he climbed right back on the toilet three times in a row (in hopes of more candles and chocolate!)

And tonight he sat on the toilet and peed with no prompting at all. Do you have any idea how much I've dreamed of this day? Cross your fingers for me that this is the beginning of the end of diapers!

Ups and Downs

It's been a stressful and emotional week. I started my new job on Monday. Thank goodness Amma was in town to look after the little guy while I adjusted to a very different work routine.

I'm used to 10-minutes on foot from door to door with flex hours. I quickly discovered that my commute to the new office is a bit of a nightmare (or will be in the winter). The buses are slow, indirect, unpredictable and unreliable. So, I've decided that cycling is definitely the way to go. So far I've biked twice, getting lost several times. Through trial and error I've now found a route that mostly follows bike path. I should take roughly 20-25 minutes door to door. (Did I mention I already got a flat tire???? Luckily it deflated after I got home.)

On my very first day of work I uncovered yet another problem: my hours of work. I told my manager at the interview that if there were busy times, I could switch schedules with hubby and work later. She had the understanding that I would work until at least 5:00 pm (preferably even later) each day without fail. Apparently I hadn't made myself clear enough. So....we've negotiated a bit, so that I can leave at 4:30 on a "trial basis". I'm pretty sure she's not happy with that. Frankly, neither am I. I'm used to leaving by around 4:00. Baby boy goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 so my new schedule is definitely cut into our time together in the evening. I'm feeling pretty sad about that.

Thankfully after next week, hubby isn't going to be doing any travel for work until September. This is definitely going to help. We've decided to switch schedules so that I do the drop off and he does the pick up. That way, if duty calls, I won't be stressed about having to stay late. When he travels I'm going to have to drive to work. It's actually a pretty fast drive. Unfortunately that will meaning moving my car a couple of times a day to avoid getting a ticket. I'd pay to avoid the headache, but there isn't a pay lot in site (crazy!!).

On the up side, the job is really cool. The files are interesting, I really like the team and I'm going to be getting some management experience. It's just an acting position for 4 months which may become permanent.

I'm going to try my best to make things work. Cross your fingers for me!

A nod in the right direction

Baby boy is sometimes extremely shy. Even though we see the same people day after day at the park, it takes him a good 10 to 15 minutes to warm up to them with each encounter. And, even when he does come out of his shell, he usually won't talk to the other parents. In the last few days he's come up with a new communications strategy for shy situations. When you give him a yes or no question he gives a giant, exaggerated nod of the head with a huge grin on his face. He likes the head nod so much that he's started doing it at home. Our house just got a whole lot quieter!

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The little guy has a friend named Logan Finn. We always use his middle name to differentiate him from another Logan who hangs in the same social circle.

While making conversation the other day, baby boy said to me, "I saw a dolphin yesterday."

"Really," I replied.

"Yah," he said. "He was hiding behind his Logan Finn." What he meant to say was "dorsal fin."

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News flash:

- The little guy has mastered the tricycle and is now the proud owner of a bike with training wheels. It is the tiniest bike I've ever seen.

- I kid you not: he can sing in perfect harmony (he doesn't get it from me!). His favourite tunes are "Down by the Bay," "Happy birthday," and that crazy camp song about the moose that drinks juice in bed.

- Instead of calling dad "dad" he calls him "dee-ad." Hubby isn't too keen on it. I reminded him that for 6 months or more baby boy called me "wee-bee."

Kudos to all the single moms out there!

I've been on my own since Tuesday and I'm literally counting the minutes and seconds until hubby's plane lands this afternoon. I don't know if it's the heatwave we're having or what, but baby boy has been extra cranky the last couple of days. And, being the weekend and all, I've tried every trick in the book to keep him happy and entertained. Nothing is working. He's whiny, irritable and is going out of his way to get negative attention (i.e. jumping on me, throwing things, creating embarrassing scenes in public, hiding from me). I'm tired and grouchy too so guess what? It's working!

I just put him down for a much needed nap so that I can get some much needed respite!

I honestly don't know how single moms keep their sanity!

My bouquet

These photos were taken on Mother's Day. Baby boy gave me this bouquet of flowers that we both enjoyed very much!

Oh the funny things you say

I was in the bathroom the other day when all of a sudden the door flung open. Baby boy barged in and said, "Mom, you having privacy?"

The sweater

See this little brown, hand-knit sweater with the squirrel on it? This was one of hubby's when he was a baby. I absolutely love it!

Better late than never

Here are some pics from our trip to Texas back in February. Sorry they are so late. We misplaced our little point and shoot camera and only recently found it again.




On our way to Texas we had a brief stopover in Chicago's O'Hare airport. This great little children's museum (free!) made the time just fly by. Here he is in training to become an Air Traffic Controller.



Most of the little guy's trip to San Antonio was spent "fixing the barbecue." He would open up the cover, throw in some stones and sand, blast it with the bubblemaker gun and it would be as good as new!



This was the little guy and I waiting for the guards to open up the gates to Sea World for the wedding. It was also probably the last time ever baby boy was caught wearing a pair of overalls.




Decked out in his cool animal themed shirt, it was off to the San Antonio Zoo. Here we saw rhinos, hippos, elephants, snakes and just about every other animal.



Dad and baby boy hanging out at the zoo.



All zooed out.

Most of my other photos from this trip are on our other camera and have yet to be downloaded. We are running out of space to store them. As soon as we fix the problem I'll share some pics from the underwater wedding ceremony.

Why I love the park

When I think about what it means to be a part of the community, my mind wanders to one place: the park. Here we have met friends and neighbours, networked on parenting issues, and spent countless hours just playing and relaxing.

Ever since the little guy was a baby the park has been the epicentre of our neighbourhood. Pretty much every single day we stop in for a "play play" on our way home from daycare. All of us - baby boy, hubby and I - look forward to going there to unwind at the end of the day. I find there is no better place to disengage from work (or daycare) and reconnect with one another and with our park friends.

The park has a long, proud history. People often tell me stories of how it has changed and evolved over many years. It is naturally shaded with big, beautiful trees. It's fenced in so no one has to worry about their children running on to the road. It is located behind a seniors residence, making it the most safely guarded park on earth. If there was ever any funny business one of the residents would be sure to know about it. In short: it's perfect.

Earlier this spring I organized a park cleanup event. I was amazed at how many people came out to lend a hand. Within a couple of hours the park was spotless. And we all had a blast. While the parents raked, swept and cleaned the kids run around and played. I'm definitely make this event an annual tradition!

Yesterday they turned on the water on the splash pad. Just one more reason to love the park. When summer days get hot there is no better place to cool down.

Wanted words

The little guy's vocabulary is growing by the minute, including some words he's invented on his own. Here are a few expressions he uses when he doesn't like something:

"No scrontching me!"

"Stop blinking me!"

"Don't flimmelflam me!"

"I don't want you tronching that!"

"No caughting me!"

He always gets his point across, even if he makes no sense at all.

I'm sick as a dog

I guess my luck ran out. Somehow I managed to dodge several colds, flus, stomach viruses etc...over the last six months. Even when baby boy sneezed in my face or used me as his personal kleenex tissue I stayed healthy as an ox!

The cold I have right now is in my lungs and I have a really junky cough. I was really looking forward to running a 10 k race tomorrow, but that's not going to happen. Which sucks royally because of all the training I've been doing these last few months to prepare for the race. I'll have to look for some other races to run once I'm healthy again.

Oh....And to my boss who dragged his butt to work when he was sick and contagious and is responsible for my general malaise, I just want to say thanks a lot.

Where did the icicles go?

Almost everyday the little guy asks me where the icicles are. I explain about how the icicles melt into water in the spring when the weather gets warmer, yadda, yadda, yadda. He sort of gets it, but not really.

Today, he developed a new icicle theory as he was running his fingers through my hair.

"Mom, you have icicles in your hair!" he proclaimed.

I'm making an appointment for a colour job tomorrow....

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You know that he's getting too old to nurse when he starts asking, "Mom, can I have chocolate milk?"

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There is a silly sound that daddy and the little guy like to make that goes something like this: "fuff fuff fuff fuff fuff."

The other day he told daddy, "I seen a fuff." Daddy asked him what it looked like. He paused and thought about it for a moment and then replied with great certainty, "It looks kinda like a frog. It sits on the log."

Today I learned more about the mysterious fuff creature. Apparently he's quite difficult to spot because he hides on logs. And he kind of makes a pig snorting sound that's kind of scary. But if you happen to come across a fuff don't worry - he assures me that they are actually quite friendly.

The case of the missing cupcake

The only thing that a 2-year old hates hearing more than "no" is "you have to wait." The little guy can't handle waiting for his turn to play with a toy, waiting for rice to cook on the stove, or even waiting for an elevator. So you can just imagine how difficult it was today when he was told he had to wait for a cupcake at his friend's birthday party. There were two huge trays of beautifully decorated cupcakes, with candies and sprinkles on top, sitting exposed on the park bench. We had to explain to him that we had to wait for all of the kids to arrive to sing Happy Birthday before he could choose one from the goody pile. Oh my was he ever frustrated.

Soooo.....the second hubby and I had our backs turned, baby boy crept on over and stole a cupcake as well as some of the garnish off the top of a few others. To avoid creating a scene, we decided to let him eat his cupcake even though the birthday song had not yet been sung. When he continued to try to pillage from the goody pile we gave him a firm, "No!" to which he yelled loudly, "You can't say no!!!!"


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Any time we place anything hot on the little guy's plate he commands, "You blow on it!" When I try to show him how to do this himself, he gets really mad. "No mom, you do it!" he says. I guess this falls under all other mom duties as assigned.

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I just finished reading a truly wonderful book called Tender at the Bone by former New York Times restaurant critic, Ruth Reichl. This book is about her childhood and early adulthood years and her journey to becoming a food critic. As with her other books, Tender at the Bone has recipes sprinkled throughout (I've tried a couple of them and they are remarkably good). I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an appreciation for food, as well as anyone who would find comfort in knowing that there are mothers out there who are crazier that their own. I've also read Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires about her experiences working for the New York Times. It's really good too.

I've just begun reading her other book Comfort me with Apples. I'll provide a review for that one as well when I'm finished.

Malaria Bites!

Today the little guy got invited to a birthday party. But instead of bringing presents we were asked to donate bed nets for children in Africa to protect them against malaria (only $7 each). What a great idea!

To donate to this great cause, visit www.malariabites.net and click on "buy nets."

How does your garden grow?

This morning I pushed baby boy to daycare in his stroller. It was a glorious, sunny morning and both of us were in fine spirits. Along the way we admired all of the flowerbeds in bloom. The little guy pointed at all of the interesting vegetation and impressed me with his plant knowledge.

"Look, tulips!" he yelled excitedly every few feet or so. He also pointed out every daffodil, lilac bush and dandelion.

What blew me away the most was that he could rattle off the names of different types of flowers, it was how interested he was in knowing what they were all called, and in differentiating one flower from the next.

As we were leaving daycare this afternoon, my caregiver's husband was in the front yard. We got on to the topic of flowers (of course) so he gave the little guy a tour of their garden. He introduced him to the prairie crocuses, the periwinkles, the cactus, a thyme bush etc... Baby boy sucked up this knowledge like a sponge. On the way home he started pointing out periwinkles along our route. And he started asking me the names of other flowers, to which I responded stupidly, "I don't know what those ones are called." I'm going to have to start doing some research so we can learn the names together!

Maybe he'll develop a green thumb like his Amma.

Meant to be?

I recently opened up a fortune cookie and it said, "Accept the next proposition you receive." The next day I was offered a job, so I decided to take it (something I would have done even without the fortune).

I've been working for the same department for seven years, so I definitely think it's time for a change.

It's funny how sometimes life just points you in the right direction. Right as I was feeling the itch to find a new job, the phone starting ringing. It was as though people had read my mind or something. All at once I got swamped with invitations to write tests and to come in for interviews. It's actually pretty bizarre.

There were some issues with my HR file at work recently (long, complicated story). I had been fretting about how I was going to resolve them before starting my new job. And , again, it was the weirdest thing. My phone rang and an HR person from my department called to tell me they had just audited my HR file and had noticed some issues. Bang! Just like that, the problems that I'd been trying to resolve for 10+ months were resolved. And, to boot, she informed me that I was going to get an extra check for 2 days of missed pay right before my maternity leave started.

I guess it must be fate, or the stars aligning. Whatever it is, it sure feels good!

So beautiful!

Yesterday we walked by a construction site an saw a very impressive looking backhoe.

"You see the backhoe?" the little guy asked me excitedly.

"Yes, look at that big backhoe," I replied, trying to mimic his enthusiasm.

After pausing and looking at it for a moment, he looked at me and said in a tone deep with emotion, "It's sooooo beautiful!"

Catching up

Today I had a very interesting conversation with the little guy. It went something like this:

Me: What did you do today?

Him: I saw ducks. Ducks sleeping....ducks hiding...ducks swimming. They say "quack quack."

Me: Did you see the ducks at the park?

Him: (interrupting) I said "Bye-bye seagull. Have to go get Ava!" (pause) Duck was sleeping under his elbow...Swimming on his bum.

Me: So you saw ducks and seagulls. What about squirrels?

Him: I seen only a little bit squirrels. I didn't seen any horses.

What a little conversationalist!

Baby boy update

I really haven't been keeping up with my blog lately. Chalk it up to the nice spring weather and an addiction to online Scramble.

So here's a bit of an update.

Baby boy is starting to show signs of potty training readiness. Immediately after he pees or poohs he tells us, and insists that we change his diaper right away. Sometimes he throws himself on the floor and yells "Mom change my diaper!"

Another sign of readiness has been his interest in wearing underwear. "I wear underwear," he brags to people, even though this isn't true. But since he's expressed such an interest I decided to buy him a three pack of Curious George big boy underwear the other day. He immediately wanted to try them on. The first pair lasted about two minutes before he spilled water all over himself. The second pair lasted 10 minutes at most. I guess my instructions about not peeing in them fell on deaf ears. Oh well, it was worth a try I guess!

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When baby boy was sick, he had a low grade fever that would come and go. My caregiver was telling me about one of these fevers when I arrived to pick him up. On the way home, in his "looking for sympathy" voice he said, "I have a beaver mom."

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Every night when I'm brushing his teeth I sing the little chicken song. For those who aren't familiar with it, it goes something like this:

Well I had a little chicken and she wouldn't lay an egg
so I ran hot water up and down her leg,
so I ran hot water up and down her leg
and the crazy little chicken laid a hard boiled egg
hard boiled egg, hard boiled egg, the crazy little chicken laid a hard boiled egg

Well I had a little chicken and she wouldn't lay an egg
so I ran egg beaters up and down her leg,
so I ran egg beaters up and down her leg,
and the crazy little chicken laid a scrambled egg

and so on... (other verses include running garbage, King Midas, cocoa etc. up and down her leg.)

Baby boy loves this song and likes to request all sorts of items to be run up and down the chicken's leg. My favourites include:

- Sushi
- a horse
- firetruck
- a teetee
- pooh pooh

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Daddy took the day off on Friday and he and the little guy went on some big adventures. At one point they came across a cave. Daddy said, "I wonder if any critters live in the cave."

Baby boy was very interested in the prospect of seeing a critter. "What does a critter say Dad?" he asked.

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We've been meaning to buy the little guy some bubbles for the past couple of weeks. But whenever we've at a store we either forget, or they don't have any in stock. Yesterday, we went to the market to pick up some hanging flower baskets for the deck and a few groceries. As we were leaving the house baby boy said "No groceries!"

When we arrived at the market he told daddy quite emphatically what the purpose of the shopping trip was: "We're buying flowers and bubbles."

Mother guilt

I ended up taking Wednesday off work because the little guy's condition took a turn for the worse. By this time the croup cough was gone, but in its place emerged a fever and dreadful chest cold. Frankly, I should have kept him home yesterday and today as well. His fever keeps coming and going, his appetite is off, and he's not quite himself.

I have a number of reasons why I didn't stay home yesterday or today, including:
1. I had a very important job interview yesterday that had already been postponed once.
2. It is so bloody busy at work I can barely keep up with the volume.
3. Taking three days off in a row would have almost depleted my family-related sick leave for the entire year (and the fiscal year only started on April 1!)
4. In the mornings, he's shown signs of improvement (i.e. actively playing) so I underestimated how bad his illness really was.
5. My caregiver never called, so I figured he was fine.

So why do I feel so crumby? These are all good reasons, aren't they? I'll tell you why I feel crumby: I put work before family and family should have come first. Had hubby been in town this week, we probably would have worked out some sort of schedule where we rotated being home with him. But unfortunately that just wasn't possible.

Anyways, all I really meant to say was that I'm sorry babe! You have my promise that it won't happen again.

Do you see the steam?

One of the ways we've taught baby boy to detect if his food is hot is to watch for steam drifting up from his plate. If he sees steam, he automatically says, "Blow on it, Mom."

Lately he's been very proactive in reporting steam sightings. "Look! There's steam!" he says.

Today when I was changing a very rank diaper, he said "Do you see the steam?" I can only guess he must have been referring to the diaper....

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While visiting my parents home last week, baby boy said "I want a tour." So I guided him around from room to room to give him the lay of the land. After he'd seen it all, he went up to his Grandma and asked "Where's the tour, Grandma?"

The aftermath

I have never crammed so much activity into four days in my life! It seems like every time we visit our hometown, there are just too many things to do and people to see. People kept asking me today how my "holiday" was. Holiday? You've got to be kidding! We were constantly flitting from one grandparents to the next while also trying to squeeze in time for other friends and family. I'm feeling more exhausted than before we left.

It would be nice if just once (that's all I ask!) we could come to town and just chill out and do things on our own schedule. I guess I can always dream....

The little guy had a blast, but I think the visit took a rounds out of him. In fact, not two hours after we got home, at around 3:30 a.m., he started coughing on and off. He didn't have a fever or anything. Just a horrible, barking cough. And all day today his voice was hoarse even though his throat wasn't sore. But besides that, he was acting perfectly normal and carrying on with his regular shinanigans.

So after some discussion, we sent him to daycare as usual. All day I was expecting our caregiver to call and tell me come pick him, but the phone never rang. When I picked him up my she told me that she was fairly certain he had the croup and gave me some words of advice on how to treat it if the cough worsened. And then the weirdest thing happened -- we went outside and his cough just disappeared. Poof! Gone! I guess it was the humid air. I'm just crossing my fingers that the cough doesn't come back. I did a ton of research on the croup and it scared the heck out of me. Some kids end of going to the emergency centre because they turn blue and can't breath. More often than not, however, no medical intervention is needed. A little cool, moist air often does the trick.

Little Mr. Bossy

Two year olds can be so bossy sometimes.

The other day, hubby was cooking bacon. When he momentarily turned his attention, the little guy pushed on his leg and yelled, "You! Cook the bacon!"

And, when hubby tried to rustle him out of bed the other morning, he rolled over grouchily and said, "Go on your own bed!"

Little masterpieces

Today, I opened up baby boy's knapsack and found a cut out of a fireman's hat that he had glued stuff onto, and a picture of a person with glued on hair and hands and feet. Although he obviously has some help (i.e. the cutting part), you can tell he's definitely put some time and effort into these creations.

Hubby and I both love it when he brings home artwork. We fight over who gets to take the latest masterpiece to the office (we've run out of display surfaces at home). Friends and colleagues tell me that eventually you have to throw some of the artwork out -- there simply isn't room to keep it all as they get older and more productive. The thought of chucking any of his artwork out makes me sad! Maybe I'll have to start a memory box to store some of my favourites.

I'm real!

"I'm real! I'm little! I have blond hair! I'm big!" That's how baby boy described himself to me today.

A few chuckles

At 2:15 am baby boy started calling to me.

"Mom? Mom?"

"What is it baby?"

"I want sunglasses, Mom."

"It's sleeping time right now. We can get the sunglasses in the morning."

Silence. Right as I start drifting back to sleep.

"Mom?"

"Mom's sleeping sweetheart. What is it?"

"I need sunglasses."

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I must use my index finger a lot when I'm talking to the little guy because any time he wants to make a point, he points that finger right near my face.

One morning he held up his index finger and said to me very seriously, "Monday morning." I asked him what was happening on Monday morning. With his finger in the air he repeated, "Monday morning." Where the heck did that come from?

Another time, he waved his index finger at me and told me very matter of factly, "The horses are in the barn."

"Oh, okay" I replied.

Not knowing if I truly understood the importance of his words, he pointed his finger very closely to my eye and said, "Two horses."

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When not in use, we have to keep the toaster oven unplugged. Baby boy's latest obsession is to shove crackers inside of it in a pretend game of making toast. Last night I was cooking some vegetables in the toaster oven. Knowing his magnetic attraction to the appliance, I warned him not to go near it because it was hot. As soon our backs were turned for two seconds, he quietly climbed up the kitchen stool and opened the toaster oven's door. My mommy alarm immediately went off. I ran over and discovered something new cooking. Two tea lights!

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He had a sit down bath for the first time in over a year! Even though he's been keen on baths lately, he'll only take them standing up or, if he's really brave, sitting on his knees. Tonight he bravely sat down on his tush. And boy was he ever delighted with himself! "Mom, look! I'm sitting!" he cried. Of course I carried on and made a really big deal about it.

Next step: getting him to sit down on a potty.

Spring has sprung

Or almost, anyway. There is still a lot of snow, but it's melting rapidly. When we got home today, baby boy and I spent a long time outside throwing snowballs into puddles, and just splashing around. These are activities that I still have an appreciation for, even as an adult. But I have to say that my favourite thing to do at this time of year is to break the thin crusts of ice that form over the puddles at night. Every morning I delight in plunging my boots through the ice to expose the puddly goodness below.

I can't wait for the snow to melt at the park. The snow is still a couple of feet or more deep. Heck, if the weather is warm enough, I say we go anyways and throw some snow around. It beat being cooped up inside.

Trials and tribulations of toothbrushing

There is one mom job that I hate with a passion - brushing baby boy's teeth. Every night (or every second night because hubby and I take turns) it is a horrible struggle to even get him to open his mouth. He struggles and kicks. He whines and cries. He runs away. Those blissful nights when he cooperates nicely are far and few between. Sometimes I feel like throwing in the toothbrush. Throwing it right into his unused potty (did I mention potty training sucks too?).

Does anyone out there have any new tricks I could try? I've already tried the following:
- singing (with limited success)
- hanging him upside down
- acting silly and getting him to laugh
- yelling (which is dumb and I always feel bad about later)
- bribing
- using positive reinforcement
- buying tons of super cool toothbrushes to choose from

The whale, the shark and the dolphin

They sleep in his bed, they bathe with him, they join him at the dinner table. The whale, the shark and the dolphin are members of our family in baby boy's eyes. He offers them bites of food, and sips of milk. They are adorned with kisses and snuggles. They are given daily bubble baths. If I so much as touch them, he yells "NO!!!! Don't moving them, Mom!"

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My cousin in Texas has an outdoor fireplace. When we were hanging out in his backyard last month, baby boy had great fun opening its cover and filling it with pebbles. When questioned what he was doing, he replied "I'm fixing the fireplace."

At home, he's equally as consumed with fireplace repair. One day we caught him sneaking off with an over rack. He placed it on the coffee table and covered it in crumbled up paper and building blocks. Afterwards, he proclaimed "I fixed the fireplace!"

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I love his creative imagination. When we are out in public he is able to turn any object into a toy. At IKEA, he played for over half and hour in one of the kitchen modules. He made rows and rows of pancakes out of hotplates. He pretended that cabinet drawers and shelves were oven racks.

At the coffee shop, he found a metal newspaper stand. Immediately he transformed into a barbecue. He came over and served everyone imaginary "beef."

Bubbles in the sink or bathtub are used to make igloos out of.

His blocks and little dog house are regularly transformed into parking garages. A roll of masking tape around his ankle becomes a pair of skates. His toy vegetable basket works just as well as a hockey helmet. Our coasters are always missing in action and often found sitting inside one of his toy pots and pans.

The crawlspace next to the couch is his cave. "I'm going in the cave mom" he tells me, ducking down out of site.


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I asked the little guy if he would like to put his marine animals in the sink, as I pointed to his whale, shark and dolphin. Confused, he replied, "The whale's not green, Mom. He's black."

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"I want to wash a sink." Translation: I want to play in the sink. This has become our new routine. While we're cooking dinner, baby boy plays in the sink. Yesterday I caught him slathering dish soap all over his tummy. "I put cream on," he said.

Going, going, gone?

Here today, gone tomorrow.

I feel like I'm constantly mourning the loss of my baby because he's growing up so fast.

Each time I retire a piece of clothing or a baby toy, I'm overtaken by a mournful twinge. I let out a little sigh. Remind myself that he can't stay a baby forever.

My milk is drying up. When he asks to nurse, I wonder "Is this the last time." Part of me looks forward to this day, but part of me is sad that this special mother-baby bond is coming to an end.

When he sleeps, he doesn't look like a baby anymore. When I hold him in my lap, his long legs dangle down. The towel we used to "burrito" him has been put away because it is too small to wrap him in.

His independence is taking hold. He wants to pull on his boots by himself, wants to brush his teeth without parental interference, wants to be entrusted to carry his glass from the kitchen to the dining room table.

Today, I pulled a pie out of the over and he said "Look, it's beautiful!" A baby wouldn't say that. Yesterday, when Grandma was getting set to leave for the airport, baby boy pretended he was going too. He said, "I have baggage. I'm going to take my luggage to the airport." When did he go from saying suitcase, to baggage and luggage?

Baby Boy vs The Easter Bunny

It's almost Easter so I thought I'd take the opportunity to write about some similarities I've noted between Baby Boy and the Easter bunny.

1. The Easter bunny's diet is largely composed of vegetables, fruit and pellets. Baby Boy's diet consists mostly of vegetables, fruit and shreddies which are essecially the human form of pellets.

2. The Easter bunny is very interested in eggs. So is baby boy. He loves eating them, helping to cook them, talking about them, peeling them, playing with the cartons etc...If I hid hardboiled eggs around the house next weekend he'd probably think he was in heaven!

3. The Easter bunny likes to hide things. Again, so does baby boy (my keys and phone for example).

4. The Easter bunny is cute and cuddly just like Baby Boy.

6. Hopping is the Easter bunny's preferred method of getting around. Same with Baby Boy. What a coincidence!

5. The Easter bunny leaves little droppings here and there. This morning I found a little puddle in our bed. Where did that come from? Must have been the Easter bunny, I guess :-)

Happy almost Easter everybody!

People suck

A couple of posts ago I commented on the snow situation, and how awful it would be to be a parent without a car. Well, things haven't improved much and the city still hasn't plowed the sidewalks. So you can imagine how pleased I was when I came home after work to discover that hubby had taken the car.

I can now tell you firsthand what it was like to be a parent without a car coping with record amounts of snow. It sucks!

I was forced to walk on the narrow roads, veering off into snow piles every five feet or so to wait for cars to pass (only slightly exaggerating here). I had three (yes three) people honk at me and give me the stink eye. One guy purposely splashed us, and a pedestrian reamed me out for pushing a stroller on the road. This was pretty funny considering that he was also walking on the road.

You know what I have to say to all of those nasty people? You suck! I have some other words I'd like to say but this is a clean, family-oriented blog so I'm not going to go there.


I feel much better now that I got that off my chest.

Yellow teetee

Yellow teetee (blankie) goes everywhere with baby boy. It gets dragged in and out of the house, in and out of the car, on and off the table. If there was a first class seat for blankies, yellow teetee would be riding in it.

We do have some other, lesser teetees. These are usually only used in emergencies (i.e. yellow teetee is in the wash), or at the same time as yellow teetee. Baby boy's philosophy when it comes to fuzzy blankets is the more the merrier.

A couple of months ago, one of my friends called me from Toys r' Us to say that she found yellow teetee. She asked if we'd like her to pick up a backup. "Yes!" I said. I've always secretly worried about what would happen if yellow teetee got lost or damaged beyond repair. A second one, I thought, we be just as much of a security blanket for me as it was for him.

Baby boy's eyes lit up when we unveiled "new yellow teetee". He was delighted until he realized it didn't quite smell or feel like his other blanket. So, I threw it in the wash a few times in a row. Dragged it around the house. Rolled it in the dirt. Sent it off to daycare. But it will never hold the same status as his original yellow teetee.

If anything, adding a second yellow teetee to the mix has complicated matters. When I hand him the newer model he says, "No, I want old yellow teetee." If I give him the old one, he demands the presence of the new one as well. He's also become ultra protective of his old friend -- like he's afraid we're trying to replace it.

Old yellow teetee is sitting in the car right now. I forgot to bring it in earlier, and somehow this escaped baby boy's notice. Or at least until bedtime. He wailed and cried from the room "I want the other yellow teetee." Call me a monster if you like, but there is no way I'm putting on my boots and heading down to the garage to fetch it. He has three other teetees with him in the bed keeping him company.

So a word to the wise. New doesn't necessarily mean improved.

Snow day!

This morning our snow what as high as the fence in our backyard. 51 cm of the white stuff fell within the last 36 hours, right as the city was just finishing the clearing from our last storm. This winter has been just on snowstorm after the next. Will it ever be spring?

There is literally nowhere to put the snow. If it snows again, I don't know people are going to do.

I know that the city has been doing the best it can to clear the snow. Even so, I can't help be more than a little frustrated these days. Normally, I pick up baby boy in the chariot stroller, rain (snow) or shine. But for the past month or so this has been impossible. There are huge snowbanks at every corner. Or, these days, the sidewalks haven't been cleared at all meaning that we'd have to walk on the road. Walking on the road just isn't an option. There is barely enough room for one car to drive down most streets because of the masses of snow. Thank goodness we have a car. I honestly don't know how families without cars are coping right now. They must all be pulling toboggans down the middle of the street.

And what about older people and persons with disabilities? I can only imagine that they are captives in their own homes right now.

When it isn't snowing (and it's mostly always snowing), we get freezing rain. I can tell you that there is nothing like walking to work on a skating rink!

Will it ever end? If spring doesn't come soon I think I'm going to go insane.

Shaping up

On Wednesday I had another session with my personal trainer. He set up a workout plan for me which is either going to kill me, or get me in kick ass shape. As he was going through my workout plan for the next nine weeks, he made me try out all of the exercises to make sure I had the proper form etc. I felt like I was at boot camp.

At one point he told me to drop and give him ten push-ups. Real push-ups not the lady kind. If my nose didn't completely touch the floor, he told me it didn't count and made me do it over again. Oh the pain!!! And the sit-ups were even worse. They had to be full sit-ups, not those little crunches that I usually do. My abs are stiff beyond belief. And so our my arms and shoulders from all of the weightlifting he made me do.

I have three workouts that I have to follow per week. They are circuits that I have to do three times in a row as quickly as I can with no breaks in between exercises. Today, I completely workout 1 on my own. It's only supposed to take 20 minutes. It took me close to 25. And I cheated. Instead of doing 15 reps of some of the weight exercises, I only did 10. Frankly I couldn't handle more than that. Even with my corner cutting, I barely had the energy to walk out of the gym.

And did I mention that these workouts are only to supplement my runs? Yes, in addition to going through hell 3 times a week, I'm going to have to go out running. The trainer told me if I followed his plan, I'd cruise through my 10-km race with no problems.

On Wednesday we also talked about nutrition. I had to log everything I ate for a week and he reviewed it. Overall he was pleased with my eating habits, although he wanted me to add more veggies to my dinnertime menu and cut back on the bread and grains. The veggie part surprised me because I already eat lots and lots of fruits and vegetables every day. My favourite quote from the session was, "Don't think about it as feeding your body, but rather as fueling the machine."

Right now I'm fueling up on gin and 7-up. It's helping to sooth my sore muscles.

One day down, about a million more to go. Good lord what have I gotten myself into?

Baths are back in style!

After a year of crying and screaming at the very mention of baths, baby boy has decided he likes them after all. So much so, in fact, that he is having his third bath in a row this week! He didn't even mind it when I washed his hair the other night. In fact, he grabbed a bucket (the orange one, always the orange one) and helped to pour the water on his own head. I'm crossing my fingers that this is a permanent change of heart.

Don't catching me!

If I so much as move in his direction, baby boy now says, "Don't catching me, mom!"

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He eats all fruits and vegetables as though they are orange wedges, carefully avoiding any skin. Even if I peel the skin off of an apple wedge, he still won't eat down to the bottom.

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His favourite vegetable right now is "cubabare" (cucumber).

I've just added kiwi to the menu, now that his not so pleasant allergic reactions to fruit have subsided. He gobbled down his first kiwi and then proclaimed enthusiatically, "I love it, mom!"

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Blowing out candles is not just for birthdays anymore. At my cousin's wedding, baby boy blew out the candles on every single table. And, once they were re-lit, he went around and blew them all out again. At restaurants, he doesn't understand why we ask him to leave the candles on.

I had this great idea that we could use blowing out candles as a reward for good behaviour. To some extend it has worked, but not with potty training. Surprise, surprise. Back to the drawing board on that one!

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Top 10 things that are hip and cool to a 2-year old:

10. Pockets. Baby boy has taken to shoving coins and credit cards into his pockets. Very cute but rather annoying on laundry day.

9. Going to school. He drags a knapsack around the house and says, "I going to school now mom." He hasn't got the foggiest idea what school is, but he sure knows that it's where he'd like to go.

8. Wearing sunglasses (now he's on to something!)

7. Sticking out tongue and spitting (not so cool to use older folks)

6. Wearing clothes with pictures of animals or vehicles on them (in his opinion, it is better to wear no clothes at all than to wear something plain)

5. Hiking up socks to the knees (we might have to have a talk about that one!)

4. People who operate cars, heavy machinery, emergency vehicles and power tools. I should add that he thinks I'm cool when I operate the vacuum or the washing machine.

3. The entire cast of Hi-5, Thomas the Tank Engine and Whinnie the Pooh.

2. Anything that the other kids are playing with at this moment.

1. Drawing with a real pen, rather than crayons or markers. Evidently, crayons and markers are for babies and not big kids like him.

I take it back

Can I take back all of those words I said the other day about baby boy and the terrible 2s? Tonight my angel came back to me. We had such a nice evening together, just the two of us. We played games, read books, and lounged on the couch together talking about interesting toddler stuff like flying airplanes. He asked me what black cats say. I said "meow". He asked me what orange cats say. I said "meow". And then he asked me what blue and green cats say and I said, "I don't know. I've never met a blue or green cat before."

As he nestled next to me on the couch, I held his little chubby little hand and admired how dimply they still were. I sniffed his head and took in that lovely baby smell that he still emits. I gently stroked his hair and ran my fingers over his face like he was a newborn baby again.

These are the moments that every mother lives for.

The terrible 2s set in

It's going to be a long ride.

When baby boy turned 2 I thought he was impervious to the terrible twos. "Not our baby boy," I told people. "He's so good natured and easy going."

Sure he's had his moments. But on the whole he's always had a positive, carefree nature.

Well, something changed when we were on vacation last week. All of a sudden he's become bossy, demanding, whiney, and negative. When we're in public he runs away and hides. When we stop him, he screams and freaks out, creating embarrassing scenes. I'm pretty sure that if we bumped into Super Nanny she'd follow us home with a camera crew.

Normally he is a near perfect angel at restaurants. People from other tables often compliment us on how well behaved he is. Last night that changed. Our meal out was a disaster. He whined and yelled, bossed and demanded. We ate quickly and got out in record time. Not only did he ruin our meals, I'm quite sure he ruined a few others. I'm crossing my fingers that this was only an isolated incident.

At the airport last week he poured water all over my computer's keyboard (didn't work for a day afterwards). Yesterday he smacked it with a hockey stick.

And the spitting. Oh how I hate the spitting! He had just got over the sticking out his tongue, spit phase and now it's back again. When we were on vacation, one too many people in Texas thought it was cute the first time he did it. He's now convinced that he's Mr. Funnyman. I'm not sure how many weeks (and eyeglass cleanings) it's going to take to rid him of that habit again...

What happened to my gentle sweetheart? Is it something we did in Texas (i.e. letting him stay up late and eat fries?) Is it something he's going to snap out of soon, or is this just the inevitable stage everyone has been warning me about?

Everything is bigger in Texas

Everything is bigger in Texas and I just proved it. We were in San Antonio for 5 days and I gained 2 lbs! It seemed like all there was to eat was greasy, meaty Tex-Mex and BBQ morning, noon and night. If I had been there much longer I probably would have died of Scurvy from lack of fruits and vegetables. No wonder San Antonio is considered one of the fattest cities in America!

Now that I'm back (a day later than planned because of bad weather in Chicago) I'm officially on a detox regime.

This morning I went for a fitness assessment and boy was that ever an eye opener. I've really let myself go since the little guy came into the picture. I'm definitely on the chubby side from what I should be, and a little out of shape. My personal trainer is developing a training plan for me that will whip me into shape in the next 6 weeks. He warned me that it wasn't going to be easy -- he's a bit of a drill Sargent. I say bring it on!!! It couldn't be worse than labour.

On the plus size, I found out that I grew more than an inch. I'm officially 5'1" tall. My aunt grew three inches when she was in her 30s (strange but true) so I never gave up hope of breaking the 5'0 mark. It's like a dream come true.

Once I've uploaded my pics I'll give you a play by play on the underwater wedding. It was nothing short of amazing!

I'm still packing!

Does it ever end????

Tune in next Tuesday for a vacation/wedding update. Until then, I'm logging off.

Packing sucks

It's a three day process getting organized for a trip. My stuff is easy. It's packing for the little guy that is a challenge. There are so many things to remember, like his favourite teetee (blanket) and his car-shaped toothbrush. And of course you have to bring toys -- lots and lot of toys. And books. And diapers and wipes. I've been trying to calculate how many diapers he averages per day. I gave up and decided to pack lots of them. Heck, if there aren't enough, I'm pretty sure that they have drug stores in San Antonio :)

I'm packing lots and lots of clothes, knowing full well that we won't use them all. But with toddlers, there are always unexpected spills. And, in the case of my toddler, he's picky about what he wears. Really picky. So every morning we give him a choice between two or three different shirts and pants. Sometimes he ends up looking pretty goofy with mismatched shirts, pants and socks but we all have to pick our battles. I'm just happy when he decides to wear anything!

One thing I've learned from past experience is to pack lots and lots of snacks for the ride. Airplanes are boring, and eating is something to do to pass the time. Also, depending on where you are sitting on the plane, you have to wait forever to be served. And one thing my toddler isn't very good at is waiting. I think he gets that from me....So I'm going to put together a big sack of food.

After I'm finally done packing and checking off the million or so items on my to-do list, I'll definitely be ready for this vacation!

Don't drink the water!

Baby boy still hates baths. He kicks, screams, cries, begs etc...to get out of them. We've tried every trick in the book to get him excited about bath time. Nothing works.

Lately, he hasn't been bathing as often as we'd like him to. He's about as easy to get into a bathtub as a cat (need I say more!). We tend to just sponge him down with a soapy wet cloth and put off the inevitable. Until, of course, his hair gets dirty.

Today was a hair wash day. Daddy got into the bath with him, which sometimes helps to calm him down a bit. To some extent it did work. Once baby boy's hair was washed, he threw buckets of water on daddy's head. That went over well. He even smiled and laughed a bit.

After he was out of the tub and dried off, I asked him if he wanted to pee on the potty.

"No," he said. "I peed in the bath."

Boy am I glad I wasn't the one who volunteered to get in the tub with him today!

Move mommy!

"Move mommy!" the little guy yells, whenever I happen to be in the way of where he wants to go.

My standard response is, "That's not very polite. What do you say when you want someone to move out of the way?"

"'Scuse please mommy, I want that!"

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Big excitement. We tried out the real skates. They worked way better than those stupid bob skates with the nylon straps. No constant adjusting and readjusting. These babies just pulled onto his feet and then snapped shut with a ski boot-type buckle.


He looked so cute gliding along the canal with his tiny little skates and bike helmet. Out of all the kids out there, he was by far the youngest which gained him a lot of attention.

I thought he'd get tuckered out after 10 minutes. Not so. He skated for an hour straight -- no word of a lie. What shocked me even more was how quickly he got his balance on one blade. After awhile he didn't want to hold hand any more. He just let go and skated on his own, as though he'd come out of the womb wearing a pair of hockey skates.

Photos to follow soon.

Baby boy is going into French immersion

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it -- he's going into French immersion.

I did not have the advantage of a good French education when I was growing up. During those early years when I was a sponge for acquiring new languages, I attended an all English school. French classes were a part of the curriculum, but all we really did was conjugate verbs and read silly stories. I was only taught the simple verb tenses, and only the most basic skills in oral French (i.e. bonjour et au revoir).

Every day I curse my parents for not putting me into French immersion. My life would be a lot different now if they had.

Right now I'm stalled in my career. I have all of the necessary skills and experience to advance up the ladder, except I'm not "fluently" bilingual. Or, more accurately, I can read and write in French quite well, but I have trouble speaking the language.

I've been luckier than many of my western colleagues. My organization sent me for 8 months of full-time language training in 2005. In that time I went from almost square one to an intermediate level. This is something I'm really proud of. But at the same time I can't help feeling a little discouraged. I still have a long way to go to get to the language level it takes to get ahead in my line of work, and it's hard to do on a part-time basis when you are balancing a career with motherhood. My life is complicated enough right now without adding a second language!

Tonight I spent two hours doing French homework, constantly flipping back and forth from my page to the French-English dictionary. This in itself was an indication of just how much work it will take to get to the next level. One thing is for sure: once I get there I can't lose momentum because if you don't use it, you lose it.

I think that putting the little guy into French immersion will have a lot of payoffs down the road. It will also be a chance for us to learn together, because we're both going to be in it for the long haul.

Another first

For the five minutes that baby boy's bob skates actually worked, he was on cloud nine. You should have seen the grin on his face as we glided hand in hand along the canal. It was a dream come true.

The slipperiness of the ice startled him at first, and his legs went all willy nilly. When he realized that mommy and daddy were there to catch him, he relaxed. We watched in amazement at how quickly he learned to balance himself. Once he had gained his "skate legs," he immediately began asking us for a hockey stick. I guess he figured he would be an instant hockey pro. We never got the chance to find out. Those cheap, lousy bob skates came loose and wouldn't stay on his feet. After several repair jobs, one of the skates completely broke apart. The skate party was over.

This unfortunate turn of events was devastating to the little guy. He wailed and wailed as we removed the blades from his boots. The only way we could distract him from his sorrow was to buy him a beaver tail. That worked long enough for hubby and I to get a skate in of our own. Baby boy just munched on his treat as we wheeled him down the ice.

Yesterday we bought him a proper pair of ice skates at a used sports store. We'll be hitting the ice again soon to try them out.

Dirty Dancing live on stage!

When I pulled the full page ad out of the paper, I shrieked like a teen-aged girl at a rock concert. Dirty Dancing live on stage in Toronto! The ad suggested tickets were the perfect Valentine's Day gift, so I read the ad out loud to hubby (Ahhhhemmm, hint hint). He rolled his eyes. Like most guys, he would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the theatre to see that chick show.

He will never understand why Dirty Dancing is one of my favourite movies of all time. He can't understand because he isn't a woman.

I immediately called up ES who I saw Dirty Dancing with in the movie theatre more than 20 years ago (Yikes, has it really been that long???). Unfortunately I only got her answering machine. If you're reading this, call me! After the movie we imitated Baby practicing her dance moves on the steps of the movie theatre while we waited for her dad to come pick us up.

And who can forget the soundtrack? I never did get sick of it. Not even after listening to it 2 million times in a row!

I'm so psyched about this, I'm already planning my trip to Toronto in my head. Girl trip!!

Through a baby's eyes

I wish I could see the world through my son's eyes. That way:

- doing chores would become a game, rather than a burden;

- I could fart out loud, no matter what the company, without feeling embarrassed or ashamed;

- I would never get annoyed by the loud sirens and horns as firetrucks blazed past our house at all hours of the day or night. Instead firetrucks would give me great joy and I would never once think about what horrible disaster they might be heading towards;

- I'd approach all of my day's activities with a newfound excitement. Oh how wonderful, the fourth round edits to the speech are back! I'll hop right on those!;

- Without a moment's hesitation, I'd splash in the puddles and soak myself from head to toe;

- It would take me 10 times as long to walk anywhere, because I would be distracted by all of the little things that we take for granted. The grass and the weeds, the sticks and leaves;

- I would be a much better hockey fan;

- I could invent new words;

- it would always be about me and what I want, rather than everybody else;

- I'd never have to walk more than a few feet to find something fun to do;

- winter wouldn't drag me down;

- and the world would be full of so many more possibilities!

I love the world that my son sees. I'm so glad he's sharing it with me.

The dead of winter

One of my colleagues is in labour and giving a play by play on her blog This is way better than reality television!

If only I had something that interesting to blog about today. I'm kind of in a rut. A rut that I completely blame on this long, miserable winter. Nothing is as fun in the winter. After work, instead of going to the park to play and socialize with friends, we head straight for home. Every night feels like a repeat of the night before.

I am so sick of bulky jackets, layers of clothing, and big clunky boots. Picking baby boy up from daycare takes an eternity in the winter with all of the bundling up that goes on! Oh how I miss wearing t-shirts and sandals.

Meals suck in the winter too. The fruit is never as fresh and succulent. The BBQ is buried in a foot of snow. It's an endless rotation of the same meals over and over again. No more eggs, pasta and quesadillas please! I can't wait until we can eat all of our meals outside again -- on the patio or at the park.

I try to embrace winter, I truly do. And if it were half the length, I'd probably love it. But it's too long and the days are too short.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to check Dani's blog again to see if there is any baby news and then curl up in front of the fire and read my book.

Texas here we come!

In a couple of weeks we'll be leaving for San Antonio for my cousin's wedding. He's getting married underwater at Sea World, and making history at the same time. This will be the first ever scuba diving wedding at that Sea World. Pretty crazy, huh? Hubby is in the wedding party. And for those who are wondering: No he doesn't have to tread water during the ceremony. His duties will all be on dry land.

Although San Antonio wasn't our ideal winter vacation destination, I think it will be fun. We'll get a break from this cold weather, and have a chance to catch up with some close friends and relatives.

The thing I'm looking forward to most is seeing the look on baby boy's face when he sees a live whale up close. He loves watching videos of whales on You Tube, and constantly asks me, "What does whale poop look like, Mommy?" Now is his chance to find out once and for all.

The last time I was in San Antonio, I was 5 months pregnant. It was July and it was stinking hot. So hot you could have fried eggs on the pavement. We spent the vast majority of our time in air conditioned comfort. Except of course for the day we drove to Corpus Christie to go for a swim in the ocean. In the car, I was so excited about the prospect of lounging in the cool water. Boy was I disappointed! The water was almost as hot as the air -- like a hot tub. And there was not a tree or a patch of shade to be found. I spent most of the afternoon sitting in a 2 foot square patch of homemade shade by propping a tarp between two cars. Baby boy didn't kick once that day, and by evening I was sick with worry. I aked him to give mommy a kick to tell her everything was okay. On cue, he gave me a big hoof in the gut.

Texas in winter is much more my style. I'm looking forward to seeing the Alamo in comfort, and to pleasant walks along the river walk. But most of all, I'm looking forward to the margaritas!

Straight from the horse's mouth

* "What's that in your nose, Daddy? Is that pooh pooh in-yare (in there)?"

* "We lost it!" (referring to the shadow that mysteriously vanished from the wall)

* "I want boots off. I want skating!" He yelled this for 20 minutes straight when we took him down to the canal to watch the skaters and the hockey players. Instead of enjoying the scene he was mad. Really really mad. To make matters worse, Daddy put on his skates. The injustice of it all!

This story does have a happy ending, however. We bought him some strap on toddler blades that we can attach to his boots. Now if only the weather would cool off so we can try them out.

* "Puddinyare" (put it in there)

* "Nissum" (this one)

* "Silly Daddy!"

* "Gotta get the wooses (worms) and the bees out" (that's what he says when we wipe his nose)

* "Mommy do that." Whenever he wants me to take something out of his hands, he says this. Usually its something gross that I don't actually want to touch. The other day, while I was half asleep in bed, he crawled up beside me and said excitedly, "Look what I found, mommy!" I put out my hand and he passed me a disgusting piece of crud he found somewhere. He was so proud of himself!

* "What kind is this?," "what kind is that?," or "what kind is that, that noise sounding?" When he handed me that crud the other day, he asked me "what kind is this?" I told him it was crud. So he went over to daddy, who was also half asleep and announced, "I found crud, Daddy!"

* "I want bowl of oranges, Mommy" has recently changed to "I want bowl of chocolate, Mommy."

* "Tigger says yuck!!! I don't want that!" And when baby boy doesn't want something he quotes his hero.

* What does Daddy say? "Raaaarrrrr!!!!" What does Mommy say? "Squeak squeak." Just once I'd like to get to be something more significant than a rodent!

* "Sam says diggidy diggidy diggidy" Luckily it doesn't come out sounding like Quagmire from Family Guy.

* "I don't feel well, Mommy. I have a stomach egg." There have been a lot of illnesses flying around his daycare lately. So far he's dodged the stomach flu (knock on wood). He does however have a really nasty cold. I keep on asking him how he's feeling, and he loves the attention. He makes himself look extra cute and pathetic and says, "I don't feel well, Mommy. I want Shreddies." I guess he believes in the old adage about feeding a cold...

Time for a tune-up

I've developed some really bad habits over the last year or so. Perhaps the worst of which has been not following a regular exercise program. I'm now announcing publicly that those days are over. I joined a gym and have committed to going 4 times a week over my lunch hour. So far so good. I give all of my readers to kick my butt if I don't stick with the program.

Here are some other ways I'm going to tune myself up:

- Tomorrow, I'm cutting my hair. It's not going to be the usual trim. I'm getting myself a new look. Something sexy!

- On Monday, I'm going for some much needed career counseling.

- I'm going to try to turn in my Blackberry (wish me luck with this one!)

- A lot of my stress comes from taking too much onto my own shoulders. So, I'm going to start delegating a lot more.

- I am going to treat myself to a facial.

- I'm giving up caffeine. The process has begun. Just give me a few more days and I'll have made the full switch to decaf.

- I'm putting my sweet tooth in check. No more desserts at every meal.

- When I do eat dessert, I'm going to go all out and enjoy every last bite.

- I'm going to cut back my spending. No more clothes that I don't really need. No more expensive coffee drinks. No more eating out so much.

- Guilt sucks. So I'm not going to let others (i.e. certain family members) make me feel guilt anymore.

- I'm going to go out on more dates with hubby. When is the last time we went to the movies together? Neither of us remembers.

- I'm going to convert this house into an oasis. First step: I'm going to "declutter" this house because we've got way too much crap. Maybe I'll even hire a Feng Shui consultant.

Wish me luck with this ambitious list.

I mine!

When baby boy overheard me telling hubby that he (baby boy) was my priority, he echoed my sentiments. "I mine!" he shouted, pointing at himself. I guess I know exactly where his priorities lie :)

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The first time he said it I just about fell off of my chair.

"Mommy," he said. "I want a baby."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I asked him if he wanted a real baby or a pretend toy baby. Without hesitating he replied "A real baby."

As it turned out, he had had the same conversation with Daddy. Only Daddy asked him if he wanted a baby brother or sister. The little guy pondered the question, but didn't reply.

Since then, he desire for a baby has become one of his favourite topics. And he's obviously given it some thought. He now says, "I want a baby. A sister kind."

No pressure or anything!!!!

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The icemaker, the garage door lifting, the aquarium filter, the fire engine sirens in the distance....if he hears a noise, he needs to know about it.

Any time there is a noise he pauses. His ears perk up like a German Shephard's, and he asks, "What kind is that, that sounding?"

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Our hockey obsessed son has taken to wearing a basket on his head like a hockey helmet. And, to complete his uniform, he carefully balances his feet on a narrow foam block. He says, "I skating, Mommy."

Just as he has a preference for drinking milk that comes out of a red carton, he favours teams dressed in red jerseys. "I want play RED hockey, Mommy," he says.

Now that he's finally learned from all of the penalties we've given him for high sticking (i.e. hockey stick confiscation), it's "game on" all the time in our household!

Get me a passport out of this mess!

Twice we've tried to get the little guy's passport photo taken, and twice we've failed. He's terrified of the big camera and of the strangers who try to get him to sit still and pose.

Here is how the scene has unfolded both times: We sit him down on the stool. He cries, looks away from the camera, and begs us to pick him up. We attempt several times to sooth him and get him in the right frame of mind. When it's obvious this isn't going to work we take a break. We hang out and try to acclimatize him to the store. We butter him up. Tell him it will be fun to get his picture taken. We watch other people sit on the stool and get their pictures taken. We talk to the nice strangers operating the camera. And then we try again, and again and again until we admit defeat and go home.

I know that getting him to sit still and look at the camera is only half the battle. There is also the issue of making sure he keeps his mouth closed. The rule for passport photos is that you must have your mouth closed. Even babies and toddlers. That's so crazy! The automatic reaction of every kid in that age group is to gawk, wide mouthed at the camera.

I'd really like to know why it's essential that the "closed mouth" rule apply to young children. Do they experience a lot of problems with reckless toddlers trying to smuggle apple juice across the border? Does an open mouth mask a baby's true identity? It's so utterly stupid.

Wish me luck with attempt #3. I'm going to need it!

Early spring cleaning

I can't believe how many toys we've accumulated in the last few months between the little guy's birthday and Christmas. It's actually obscene. At the best of times it was hard to keep our tiny place clutter free. Now I've pretty much given up trying. Of course the toys aren't the only problem. We have loads and loads of stuff in the house that we really don't need.

So here's my strategy:

- Loan out, sell, or donate all of the baby stuff (except a few keepsakes)
- Rotate the toys we have so they aren't all out at the same time
- Go through my closet and hubby's closet and get rid of clothes that haven't been worn in over a year
- Take all of my books (except the most precious ones) and donate them to the public library;
- Get rid of stuff that we never use, room by room
- Shred my boxes and boxes full of old documents
- Once all of the above have been done, I'd like to get a storage locker for all of the stuff we just don't have space for i.e. camping gear, ski equipment, luggage, etc... It can live there until we buy a new house with a basement and garage.

It's a daunting task, but if we do this little by little I think our quality of life can only get better.

Toilet training trials and tribulations

When my son was 18-months old, the doctor told me to set up a potty and start the toilet training process. Baby boy is now almost 26 months old and has successfully used the potty six times - five pees and one pooh. The pooh success was a total fluke. I was changing his diaper right as he was starting to do his business, so I grabbed him and plopped him on the potty right as he let go.

There are days where he's very open to sitting on the potty. Sometimes he'll even initiate the activity. But usually his motivations have nothing to do with actually using the potty, but rather as a means of getting me or daddy to read him a book. Among his bathroom literature are books like "You can go to the Potty," or "The Potty Book," titles that he enjoys immensely!

These books are definitely helping him to understand the mechanics of potting training. I firmly believe that if there was a Potty Training 101 course he'd ace it. But knowing the mechanics, and actually putting them into practice are two completely separate things.....

All of the parenting books and web sites talk about looking for signs of toilet training readiness. The signs are all there but for some reason after every success we go through long periods of failure. I guess we should just chalk it up to "he's not ready."

But still there are very encouraging signs, like waking up in the morning with a dry diaper. Religiously each morning we encourage him to start his day by sitting on the potty. Occasionally he'll go along with the idea. But more often than not, he'll say "no potty."

I think one of the issues is that disposable diapers are designed too well these days. He never feels wet and uncomfortable. Perhaps it's time to switch to cloth? Or maybe we should try pull ups? It's worth a try. My mother-in-law even suggested having him wear underwear underneath his diaper so that he notices when he's gone.

Everyone I talk to has a different idea. Some say bribe him with candy. Others say let him run around naked and try to catch him in the act. And, of course, there are those who say, "don't worry, he'll toilet train when he's ready."

I guess we'll just have to experiment and see what works! If you have any words of wisdom, feel free to share them on my blog.

I'd like to thank the academy

The little guy is like an Academy Award recipient. Lately, there is no end to his thank yous. Daddy brought him home a big, red firetruck a couple of weeks ago. Every day since, he's repeated several times a day, "Thank you for the firetruck, Daddy."

When we went for sushi last week, he waved at the lady behind the counter and said, "Thanks for your help with sushi." Afterwards, we went to the fruit market and he told the owner "Thanks for help with the apples."

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Hubby was using the coffee table as a foot rest today. Instead of asking him to move his legs out of the way, baby boy said, "Are those your socks?"

When Daddy acknowledged that yes they were in fact his socks, he said "Can you move your socks and pants?"

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I think I've mentioned before that baby boy requests different colours of milk. Whole milk is "red milk" because of its red carton. Purple milk is 1% etc... Over the holidays, he kept demanding "brown milk." You guessed it -- egg nog! He would have chugged it by the gallon if we had let him.

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The little guy is deathly afraid of icicles. "No, no icicles!!!" he yells when he sees them out the window. Frankly, I find them frightening too. They sometimes hang down like menacing fanged teeth. But besides that, they sound like thunder when the fall from the roof. Just the other day, during a warm spell, a huge ice chunk made a 3 foot hole in our fence! For obvious reasons, the yard is out of bounds as a play areas during the winter.

The other day I was telling baby boy about how careful we have to be around icicles. I asked him what he should do if he saw an icicle, hoping he would say, "don't go near it." Instead he said, "I stomp, stomp, stomp it," and dramatically stomped around the room pounding his foot on the floor. For someone who is afraid of them, he sure was acting like a tough guy.

Spoken like a true toddler

I've been using this blog to document the little guy's language development. In the last few weeks he's started adding new elements to his speech. For instance, he now identifies who he's talking to:

"I want an orange, Mommy"

"Thank you for big fire truck, Daddy"

He now likes to make comparisons. For example, the other day told us he was swimming on the bed. To clarify, he said, "Pretend swimming. Not real." And when he saw the scary totem poles and masks at the museum, he was comforted when he was told that they weren't real.

His other favourite comparison is fresh vs. dirty. "Fresh diaper!" he yells while we're changing him. At night he picks up his water bottle and says, "Water dirty, mommy. I want fresh water."

But I think that perhaps the most amazing development is how he now links his sentences to express more complex ideas. A good example of this was on New Year's eve. We were at a party, and he didn't want to leave because he was having too good of a time. As a stalling tactic he said, "Daddy, can you tell the people on the couch to move? I'll sleep on the couch."


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Baby boy went back to daycare this week. When the caregiver asked him what he had done on his holidays he replied excitedly, "I bought groceries!"

Apparently grocery shopping was much more noteworthy than going to the farm; the children's museum, the art gallery, seeing a waterfall, visiting the horse stables, tobogganing, playing at the park, eating sushi, buying and x-mas tree and decorating it, making pasta, baking pretzels, opening a billion toys on x-mas morning etc....

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At the art gallery there is a sculpture of a gigantic newborn baby. It looks real, save for its elephant-like proportions. Baby boy stopped in his tracks when he saw it. When he realized it was "pretend not real" he bravely went in for a closer look. He didn't say anything for a while. But after inspecting the umbilical cord, he pronounced very loudly so that his voice could echo throughout the gallery, "Look mommy. Giant baby has penis!" When I explained to him that it was an umbilical cord he said, "Baby penis bilical cord."

:-)

The joys of Christmas

Somewhere along the way, the little guy has developed a concept of Santa. Where it came from, I'm not sure. But I guess I'm not too surprised with all of the hype that surrounds us at this time of year.

We have a cardboard book that is shaped like a Christmas tree. In it there is a picture of Santa loading up his sleigh with presents for all of the good boys and girls. But baby boy doesn't call it a sleigh -- rather it's Santa "rue-doo-doo" (his word for stroller from when he was really little. It is one of those nonsense words that has stuck).

After reading that book about a billion times, he seemed very interested in the whole gift opening part (again, not surprised. His birthday wasn't that long ago).

On Christmas eve, we put all of the presents under the tree. When he got up on Christmas morning we told him that Santa had come. When he came downstairs and saw all of the gifts, he couldn't contain his excitement. He grabbed a present and ran and put it on the coffee table. Then he ran back and grabbed another and put it on the coffee table. Back and forth he went with sheer delight.

Then he started opening them. All of them. Even the ones for Mommy and Daddy and Amma. None of us minded because he was having so much fun. And besides he was just "helping."

Later in the morning we went to the stables to visit the horses, and then to the park for a play. It was a beautiful sunny day -- just a perfect Christmas Day. And even more special than usual because Amma was there.

Better late than never

Some pics from our hike with Grandma when she came to visit in November.