Watch out for the bear patrol!

The other day we had a funny run-in with a group of university students as we were walking down the street. Baby boy was wearing a shirt that says "Bear patrol" on it. When he saw the students approaching, he stopped dead in his tracks and pointed up at one of them -- a young male. The guy took one look at his shirt and ran away, shouting teasingly "Oh no! Let's get out of here -- it's the bear patrol! And I'm a bear!."

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

Today we went shopping for a new bathroom faucet as part of our mini bathroom renovation. As we walked through the bathroom display rooms, the little guy pointed at every toilet and yelled "pooh pooh" at the top of his lungs.

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

When he pointed at our car and said "auto" the other day, I thought that some of the French words we have been teaching him had started to sink in. Not! It turns out that he was actually pointing past the car, at the bike, where he could see his helmet hanging from a handle bar. Daddy has been calling his helmet "hat-o" as a knick name. Now anything that goes on your head is called a "hat-o."

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

I accidentally left a cup of coffee on the coffee table on morning, and went into the kitchen. The sound of silence from the living room alerted me that someone was up to no good. When I went to investigate I found baby boy trying to take a swig from my coffee cup. When he realized I had caught him red handed, he dropped the mug (without spilling, thankfully), and took off running.

BBQ season is finally here

Thank God! I was beginning to think that winter was going to last forever. Instead, we skipped spring and went straight to summer.

On the weekend we went hiking with Scooby and his folks. We tried our best to keep him from drinking dirty pond water.

The little guy has learned some new tricks. He now spins around and makes himself dizzy for kicks. Thankfully he hasn't tried that on a full stomach yet....

He does high fives.

He sings the "backpack" song from Dora the Explorer (often replacing the refrain "backpack, backpack" with "tee tee, tee tee," "dadda, dadda," or "pooh pooh, pooh pooh."

He climbs up on anything and everything (but yells to be rescued because he doesn't know how to climb down again.)

He pulls the cord in the garage and makes the door go up.

He's also picked up some new bad habits. Screaming, throwing stuff (including tantrums), harassing the plants, not listening etc... Some days I want to pull my hair out. Is this a preview of the terrible twos? If it is, we're in for a rough ride!

Here we are in April

and this is my first blog entry this month! Finding time to write has been an enormous challenge these last few weeks. But I won't bore you with all the details.

So, what's new? Lots.

The little guy is saying so many new words every day that I stopped counting. My favourite is when he says the word "lemon." I need to get it on tape and share the audio clip with you so you too can hear how cute it sounds.

Grandma came for a short visit last week. While in town we went to the farm to see the animals. It turns out that this little shy stage he's going through applies to animals as well. He absolutely freaked out when he saw the cows. In fact, the only animals he wasn't scared of were the bunny rabits, baby goats and barnyard cats. Which reminds me of a funny story. A cat jumped into the back of baby boy's stroller to escape an annoying kid. We gave him a free ride to safety. However, our little stow away got a little too cozy in the stroller so we had to boot him out.

Now that spring has sort of arrived (brrr....cold) we've been doing a lot of park hopping. The slide is very popular these days, as is climbing around like a monkey. We've also been carting him around a lot in the bike trailer -- another favourite activity. Most kids kick and scream about having to wear a helmet. Not our little one - he demands to wear it, even if we're just going for a walk in the stroller. He points at his helmet and yells "Hat! Hat! Hat!" I guess we can't complain about that!

In other news, we finally caved in and babyproofed the snack cupboard. He protested loudly for a couple of days, but then got over it. You have no idea how much this has improved my quality of life. The weather is bad enough outside. I really don't need for it to be raining crackers inside the house! The constant pot, pan, and everything else rummaging has levelled off a bit. We bought him a basket of toy vegetables. Now when we're cooking we give him a spatula and a frying pan and let him go wild making pretend stirfries.

I'll post some new pictures soon. Happy belated Easter everyone!

His first sass!

A new milestone - his first sassy comeback. Yesterday, he was playing with the lamp on the bedside table, which he knows is a big "no-no". I said his name in a disapproving tone of voice. Mimicking my tone back to me, he said "wha-a-at??"

**********

In other firsts....he helped Daddy BBQ the other night for the first time. Dad held him up and let him help operate one of those really long BBQ flippers to turn the pork chops. Don't worry - he was nowhere near the hot grill....It was a mind-blowing experience -- the moment he had been waiting for. For a 16-month old, it really doesn't get much better than that! Waiting for the meat to cook on the other side was agonizing. He kept banging on the sliding glass door, pointing at the BBQ, and yelling "That! That! That!".

The next day at daycare, he carried a pink, plastic toy spatula with him all day. He even napped with it. In fact, the spatula had to come home with us this weekend because he flat out refused to part with it. He has it on standby in case any Barbecuing opportunities present themselves.

What a goof!

Better late than never

I've been meaning to post these pictures since January -- they were taken during Amma's visit.



Back in the collander toting days...



Getting ready for a hike on a warm winter's day.



All snuggled in for a backpack ride.



Hangin' out with Amma.



Shake, shake, shake!

Juice?

Hubby brought home one of those big, huge jugs of bottled water yesterday (the office water cooler type). He set it down in the front hall. Baby boy ran over to it, looking as though he had just hit the jackpot. He looked up at my hubby and said "juice?"

:-)

Snuggle bug

A funny anecdote

The other day, baby boy threw a rubber ball across the room and it rolled under one of our living room chairs. It was hopelessly out of reach so daddy came to the rescue. While digging under the chair, daddy also found a missing puzzle piece, a block, and a few other odds and ends.

Later on that day, the little guy was racing around with no pants on. I jokingly asked him, "Where are your pants?" He thought about it for a second and then ran over and looked under the living room chair.

:-)

My sleeping in days are over

Daylight Savings time. Just what I need - one more hour of lost sleep!

When baby boy was really little he used to sometimes sleep in until 9:30 or 10:00. This kind of made up for all of the all-hours-of-the-night feedings. But, alas, Sir Lounge-a-Lot has grown up quite a bit an now fancies himself a morning person. Normally I am too but, on weekends, I like to take my time getting up.

So this morning, little guy starts itching to get up at 5:40 (technically 6:40 because of the time change, but 5:40 according to my internal clock). I tried nursing him to see if I could coax him back to sleep. Didn't work. He starts tossing and turning, kicking me in the back, climbing on top of me, and yelling "uice, uice" (translation: juice). So I get up and get him some juice and let him drink it in bed. Afterwards, I change his diaper thinking that he might relax and go back to sleep if he's nice and dry. Wrong!

He starts climbing around like a monkey. Walks into the bathroom and threatens to splash in the toilet. Starts rattling the lamp cord. Grabs my glasses off the nightstand.

So I turn on the television, thinking the novelty of getting to watch cartoons will inspire him to snuggle back into bed. Worked for less than five minutes. Then he pooed. Again with the diaper changing routine. By this time, I'm wide awake. I give up and we go downstairs for breakfast.

What I would give to be able to sleep until 9:00....

Big mountain adventure

The trip to Whistler was a big adventure for the little guy (athough he slept through the whole flat tire incident...). Among other things he....

Played in the snow.




Went on a gondola ride! We decided to take him up to the top of the mountain because he was so fascinated with the gondolas passing by overhead. The whole gondola experience had such an impact, he learned how to say "gondola" although it comes out sounding like "gonyaya."







Climbed on a very cool play structure.




Rifled through a whole new set of kitchen cupboards.



And, did some good hanging out and relaxing back at the condo we were renting.



In addition to his adventures, baby boy also acquired a taste for lemon wedges, and hot peppers (which he stole from our platters). A short time after eating the hot pepper he farted and yelped "hot!"

Smallville vs Hockey

Why do hockey games overtake Smallville on the tube virtually every Thursday night? It's the only show I make a point of watching. No offence hockey fans - but Smallville is way more intersting! And that Tom Welling guy who plays Clark Kent is pretty easy to look at, if you know what I mean....Way easier to look at than a bunch of sweaty, crooked-nosed hockey players.

The television ads say Smallville will be on tonight. If I find out that it's been cancelled by another stupid hockey game, the network is going to hear about it!!!!

I never thought I'd use my blog to rant about a television program. But everyone else does, so what the heck!

Off, off and away!

We're heading off for a mountain ski vacation. I'll check back with you in just over a week.

Have a great week (I know we will!)

My cupboards are empty

Okay, this has got to stop. I need to reclaim our kitchen. The little guy has taken off running with every pot, pan, lid, collander, spoon, etc...in the joint. The clanging and the banging is driving me nuts! Not to mention the piles of confiscated stuff we're now storing on the countertop. Our floor is covered in cracker bits, cereal, rice and pasta from broken open packages. I'm not exagerating when I say that it looks like a hurricane blew through the kitchen (and the rest of the house for that matter). Just as I'm cleaning up one mess, he starts another one.

And, he's now discovered how to get at the garbage can under the sink. I think he's been throwing toys in there -- a lot of them have mysteriously gone missing in the last couple of days. He's either found a new hiding spot (hopefully not the toilet), or they are buried in the trash. I don't feel like digging around to find out.


Should I put locks on the cabinets, or block the kitchen with a gate? I'm thinking a better strategy would be to get him a play kitchen and a play garbage can and let him go wild. It's worth a try!

Forget what I said yesterday

Today he was happy to see me, and eager to accept my hugs when I picked him up after work. No, it wasn't because it was Valentine's Day, but rather because he had had a bad fall and was feeling quite traumatized. The poor duck tripped and fell on his face, and bit his lip really hard. There was much blood, and much crying. Our caregiver called to let us know so that we were prepared for the sight of his fat lip. I'm glad she did because, let me tell you, it looked aweful! I had to fight to keep my composure.

Luckily, mouth injuries heal quickly. The swelling has already started to go down and it doesn't seem to be causing him any discomfort.

All this to say, I got a positive reception when I picked him up today. I just wish it had been under different circumstances!

I feel so rejected

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad (extatic even!) that the little guy loves daycare. It's just that I wish he'd act a little happier to see me when I picked him up. I always feel like I'm crashing a party that I wasn't invited to.

Yesterday, he was busy cooking up a storm in the play kitchen when I rudely interrupted him. And today, I got between him and a joy ride with a giant toy bus.

Half the time, he doesn't even notice me when I walk into the house. Or, if he does, he gives me a quick smile and then turns back to the fun activity of the moment. No hugs. No kisses. No "I'm so glad to see you mom" glances. When I go over to pick him up, he protests loudly and tries to squirm away.

Sigh....Does he know that I think about him all day long? That I count the hours and minutes until I get to leave to pick him up? That I can wait to embrace him the second I walk through the door? Of course not. He's much to busy to notice any of that. I know, I know. That's a good thing. It means he's happy, well-adjusted etc. I'm just feeling a little rejected, is all.

And that's just at the end of the day. In the morning, he can't wait to get out the door. Even before he's had his breakfast, he starts dragging his snowsuit and boots around the house as if to say, "Come on, hurry up! I'm going to be late for daycare!"

My feeling of rejection melt away once we get home, and he realizes that "hey, hanging out with mom can be fun too!" I may not offer the same level of entertainment as daycare, but to my credit I can build a very nice tower (for him to knock down). I do great animal impressions when I read Barnyard Dance (a thousand times a day). I have a good repetoire of songs, which I sing on demand (with hand actions). I also dance on demand (and boy do I have some good dance moves!). I let him play with REAL pots and pans in a REAL kitchen (and I even let him pull crackers out of the box all by himself). I am always up for the "upside down" game, the "roar" game, and the "I'm going to get you" game (his favourites). Plus, I give special mommy hugs. Only I can do that.

Do more with less

I often complain that our condo is too small. That is, until I saw this web site! If we could make our place look as swanky as some of these tiny apartments, I think I could live here happily for a long, long time! My personal favourite is the apartment that came in third place.

Of course, I don't think any of these people have kids....

My son, the flirt

I know that it is true of most babies, by I honestly think my son is the biggest flirt of them all. Here are just a few examples:

- At a restaurant a few weeks ago, he started winging his toys over the back of the bench to get the attention of the pretty young ladies at the next table. The girls thought it was so cute and funny that it soon turned in to a game of catch.

- Any time we go shopping, he seeks out flirting opportunities. When he sees a pretty female approaching the eyelashes start fluttering, he puts on his lady-killer smile, and starts cooing, laughing, etc...It takes me twice as long as normal to grocery shop with all of the "flirt" stops we have to make.

- We often let him run loose in restaurants just before we leave, to burn off some of his excess energy. Without fail, he finds the table where the prettiest young lady is sitting and introduces himself with a big, dimply grin. I hope this isn't any indication of how he's going to behave as a teen ager...

- We had a meeting at the bank the other night, inside an office with a glass door. The little guy caught sight of a cute little 3 year-old on the other side of the door, and started banging on the glass, waving, and smiling to get her attention. She took notice and started smiling and waving back. The flirting soon turned into a game of peek-a-boo (just as he was hoping!). If she wasn't two years older than him, I would have said it was a match made in heaven!


My mother says he comes by it honestly. My dad is also a big flirt. He still drives the ladies crazy even though he's now in his 60s!!!

The world needs a big blankie

When the little guy is upset, he reaches for comfort in the form of a fleece blankie. We have learned from experience that a blankie should be within reach at all times -- at home, in the car, in the diaper bag. Any time he's upset, mad, or in pain from those darn molars we offer him his blankie. Instantly (and I mean instantly) he calms down, and puts his thumb into his mouth. It's really quite amazing.

I've often thought it would be funny to run an infommercial advertising the "Wonder Blankie 2000". Calms any baby, any time, anywhere. As a bonus we'll throw in the "mini -blankie" for adults. Having a stressful day? Feeling down in the dumps? Need to cool off after a heated argument? The mini-blankie conveniently and discreetly tucks away in briefcases, office drawers, and is even compact enough to fit in a pocket!

Imagine the benefits the world would reap if everyone had a blankie. It could be the magic solution for world peace.

One of my colleagues told me that she secretly wished it was socially acceptable for adults to carry blankies. She confessed that she still has her childhood blankie. I confessed that I too still had mine -- and that it was among my most prized possessions.

Like my son, I was very attached to my blankies as a child. My mother says I had about a dozen of them and every night I would bring the "lonliest" one to bed with me. Over the years I widdled down my collection to one -- my favourite. It is yellow with age, and has a torn edge that I tried to repair with a needle and thread when I was too young to know what I was doing. The botched sewing job now adds to its charm.

Let's face it -- most of us have a secret blankie stashed somewhere. Most of us are just too ashamed to admit it.

My hubby is worried that our son is turning into a "blankie sissy". Well, then I guess he's joining the rest of us "closet" blankie sissies. I say we all unite, and hold up our blankies with pride. Blankies make the world a better place.

Our new little fish

Our salt water aquarium has been "fishless" for long enough! This weekend, we went to the pet store and chose out a nice sixline wrasse.

Little guy loves to watch him swimming around the tank. He points up at him and yells "fish!" I just hope this one lives longer than the last one. There are so many preditors living in the live rock (pistol shrimp, creepy worm creatures that come out at night etc...), only the tough ones have any chance of survival.

He doesn't have a name yet, so send in your suggestions!

It finally caught us

For the last two weeks we've been trying to dodge the stomach flu that's been going around our caregiver's home. But despite our best efforts, the virus found us in the end. Last night I suffered with nausea and severe stomach cramps for three or four hours. Just as I was starting to feel better, the little guy barfed all over his bed. Poor duck! Like me, his symptoms disappeared very quickly. We were very lucky -- some of the others who were infected we horribly sick for days.

We are still contagious, so stay away!!!

PS - JL, if you are reading this, my record still stands. I didn't actually puke! I'm still on track to break my 15-year no-puke record. I have 14 years and 2 months to go.