Happy Halloween

I love handing out candy to the kids and checking out everyone's costumes. This year we had an added bonus of taking M down to see the family for his first trick or treat. Yup, we drove an hour and a half each way just so M could show off his Yoda costume to everyone. We started with Great Gramma, moved on to my mom's house which included my sister and other family members (by choice) After that it was off to G's parents where he was sufficiently spoiled. Over to Great Grandpa which was an adventure as we had never been to his housing complex. That ended up with a few u-turns and finally a phone call asking which damn building we were supposed to go to. Finally a pit stop to see his uncle at work and then Taco Bell/KFC for lunch. After all of that, we were home by 4 with lots of time to get the candy ready for the kids. Aren't we exciting?

Here's the thing that's bugging me about Halloween this year. Apparently there are towns that have actually cancelled trick or treating due to H1N1. A lot of newspapers have been encouraging parents to keep their kids home this year to avoid exposure to the flu. Am I the only person who thinks this is insane. I understand the concerns about the flu but is cancelling Halloween really the way to deal with it. Can't we trust that parents can be responsible enough to take care of their children? I think that there has been a little too much hype about this in the media and all it's managed to do is panic people. I plan on getting my flu shot and I plan on having M vaccinated too but I am patiently waiting until next week. Next week BC is opening up the vaccinations to children under 5 as well as folks like myself who are considered at risk. I plan on calling my doctors office to find out when and where they are doing the shots and then I'll plan from there. I am not going to stand in line with a toddler for hours on end just to get a needle. I am not going to sit in my house and hide until i get it and I AM taking my child out for trick or treating or shopping or whatever else I deem ok.

Oh, and I think I'm also going to stop listening to the hype because it's just annoying me now.

New Discoveries

It was a day of discoveries for M and myself. I learned how to carve a pumpkin today and I think I did a pretty good job of it too. I also learned how to roast pumpkin seeds and this weekend I'm going to experiment with a few pumpkin recipes.

M discovered the joy of removing his diaper like a little Houdini. This overshadows my great pumpkin achievements. Every time I turned around he was running naked. He was extremely pleased with himself over this new skill. Everything is about what he can do for himself lately. this includes brushing his teeth and feeding himself which both make for very messy moments. The diaper removal trick is a little more of a nuisance though. I don't mind if he runs around naked but I do mind the lack of bowel control and the likelihood of a big mess. I suppose I could look at it as a chance to try potty training while he's naked. He has a potty which he takes great pleasure in tipping over and trying to step in. This makes me think that a potty around the house could be more trouble than it's worth. He does have a great fascination with his boy bits but I don't think that has much to do with his readiness for a potty. I think that's more likely just because he's a boy, it's there and he can.

So the great debate today has become..... diaper fight or naked with good potential for mess. I suspect he will decide for me.

Decisions

It seems there are so many decisions in a day and I have to say I'm not a fan of making decisions. I find the big ones to be pretty easy and as a general rule my spouse and I agree on those life changing choices. What I find annoying are the little everyday decisions. Trying to decide what to cook for a meal or what to do with a family day.


The big decision of the day is the H1N1 vaccine. I'm comfortable getting the vaccine but I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with M getting it. Actually I think my biggest issue is the adjuvant in the vaccine which is the only version currently available. I know M is in a high risk group because of his age and because he had pneumonia a couple of months back. I know the risk of complications is less with the vaccine than it is with contracting H1N1. What I don't know is what is the effect of the adjuvant that is in the vaccine. Apparently no one else knows this either because there have been no studies done for M's age group. This makes me think that I should simply wait for the unadjuvanted version which is supposed to be out in a couple of weeks. Theoretically this would be a safer option for him and yet it is still effective. Not as effective right away as the currently available version but still effective. Which then takes my mommy brain right back to....am I putting my child at risk by waiting. This is a never ending circle that is making my brain hurt because there is too much information out there. I haven't made a decision but I think I'm leaning on waiting for the vaccine without the adjuvant. If they had the time to include this strain in the seasonal shot it would not have included the adjuvant so that's likely the way I'll go for him. Wow, funny how something that should be so simple has become so big.

Stormy days

Today has been a rainy, windy, all round stormy kind of day. The kind of day when you want to curl up with a cup of tea, flannel pj's and a good book. Yeah, that didn't happen. Well, I did get the cup of tea but I don't own flannel pj's and, while I have a good book on the go, I generally don't have time through the day to read it. I suppose that's not exactly true since I could have read it during nap time and I chose not to. Instead I got a pot of soup on the stove, the dishwasher loaded, a chat with my mom on the phone and then I played on the computer until nap time ended. All in all a pretty normal day around here.

We have a stray cat who comes around daily for his food which I obligingly leave out every morning. (I say we have a stray but really I have a stray) We know that this stray siamese fellow actually belongs to the people who used to own this house and his name is Cody. They did not willingly abandon him, they simply couldn't catch him when they left. He is a pretty skittish cat and runs when he hears someone coming. So, I feed him and keep hoping that I can lure him in so I can call this poor woman who really wants her cat back. The reason I am telling you this is because on a day like today I worry about whether he will come eat or where he is sleeping to stay dry so I tend to watch for him a little more often.

One of those moments today, when I looked out, I saw something black eating at the dish. I figured it was the little black dog down the road as he has been known to visit our yard. I looked out the front window for a better view and I saw a crow. This is a first. I am used to the raccoon, other cats and the occasional dog but I have never seen a crow. Now I have. I watched the crow grab some food and fly up to the telephone wire for a bite to eat. It was a pattern of swoop, food and back to the wire. He did this about 4 times before he flew off. (I always assume crows are male, don't know why) So, now I have to watch for food stealing crows during the day. It was bad enough that I have to bring in the food once it's dark. Otherwise the brazen raccoon eats all the food. I have opened the door a couple of times to find the raccoon sitting on my step giving me a dirty look for shooing it away.

Cody cat did come by at least once today. He didn't stay long as it was pouring rain and there isn't any shelter on our front step but at least I know he came and ate. It means that I won't worry too much about him tonight but with the weather turning wetter I may have to find a drier spot to leave the food for him.

Spinning

The last couple of days M has discovered spinning in a circle. He does it consistently all over the house smiling and laughing the whole time. In honor of his great new fun past time I thought I'd include another favorite poem by Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

May this poem remind you of the utter joy and abandon that swinging (or spinning in circles) brings to anyone who takes the time to enjoy the activity.

This morning I was greeted by this site about an hour into my day. M was playing and babbling and generally sounding like he normally does in the morning. I was in the kitchen cleaning up. I heard him behind me, turned around and saw this. I actually had the camera around my neck. I have an entire sequence of M and the underwear. He has a thing for laundry. Particularly laundry that he has taken out of the laundry basket. Usually it's one of my tanktops but today he outdid himself. I spent a good 5 minutes laughing while he took them off of his head and tried to put them on the dog. Our dog Mokey is so relaxed she just laid there while he stuck underwear on her head. Thankfully he gets bored with the laundry quickly so I didn't have a big mess on my hands.

How is it that he goes from this smiling lovely little boy to toddler demon by the afternoon? I think that waking from his nap is a trigger for a personality switch. Mornings are fun and happy and afternoons are whiny, screaming, stomping messes. Obviously it's not like that all afternoon but boy it sure feels like it some days. know it's simply a stage he has to go through and I try not to coddle him too much or give in to his tiny dictator demands. He needs to figure things out on his own and learn how to problem solve. I'll admit though I'm not above a little TV if it means a happy kid. I actually have some recorded episodes of Play with Me Sesame just for those unbearable moments when I can not take one more second of his crazy little toddler world. So, thank you Sesame Street for having this lovely half hour show so I can regain my sanity and take on the rest of a day.

Disappointments and Gifts

Every day there are disappointments in life but we forget to see the gifts through the day.

I've had my share of disappointments this week. I didn't get the job that I really wanted, I'm not going to go to the U2 concert even though I have a ticket, I have to keep applying for jobs and hope something happens, I came home to a house full of sick dog with the evidence all over the house. These are all everyday disappointments that so many people face all the time. They are simply new to me and I'm not too sure how to deal with them. Ultimately I have to suck it up and move on, which I think I'm doing pretty well at.

On the flip side of all of that, there are some great gifts that happened all week too. Since I'm not going to the concert, I get to spend my 35th birthday with my family. Not just my husband and son but my mother and my sister who I haven't spent a birthday with in 5 years. We've had a couple of really nice nights enjoying a fire in our wood stove which we started up for the first time this week. We had a late Thanksgiving dinner at my sister in law's with all the mayhem that goes with it and it was great. I got to spend a couple of hours with my mom yesterday just us and M. This is a giant rarity which makes it all the better. We've found a wonderful gift for my mother in law from everyone which should make her happy on her birthday this week. When you can make someone else happy I think you've found one of the better gifts in the world. I have a little boy who's learning his independence and having major fits when he gets frustrated. He has the best laugh when he's happy and it doesn't take much to get that smile. Let him climb down the stairs or play a game of chase and he's happy.

So there really are gifts in every day if we look for them. We simply have to notice them. Pay attention to those little things that matter because doesn't it matter more that a little boy laughs than whether or not I got a job or went to a concert?

I thought I'd throw this picture in because it's one of my favorites. M was on our bed playing with the laundry, because, let's face it, what's more fun than throwing clothes over your head, when the cat caught his attention. This shot captured him trying to hang on to the cats tail while the cat tried to jump off. This is one of his favorite activities. You can always tell if he's seen a cat even if you can't see them. He starts to giggle and talks to them in a totally different way. He loves to try and pet them. He hasn't learned that they will scratch him if he hasn't been nice or if he starts to annoy them. I'm sure he'll figure it out after a few scratches.

I'd like it noted that tonight I'm being a good wife and watching a horror movie. Sort of. I'm typing my blog while the horror movie plays. Let's be clear on something. I really dislike horror movies. Beyond dislike. They scare me because I see possible truths in them. Obviously not all of them but ones about ghosts, spirits etc are the worst because I think that some things might be possible. So let's just say that a movie called Drag me to Hell is really not on my list of movies to see. However I rented it for my other half who loves them. Murphy's law says that I would marry a man that loves horror movies. Occasionally I rent them for him if I think that they won't be so bad and I usually make him watch them during the daylight hours. Tonight I was sideswiped a bit although it was accidental. We watched The Proposal (my kind of movie and points to him for always watching the chick flicks) and when it was done he said " let's put the other movie in" He didn't know it was a horror but I did. I sucked it up and put it in. He's been enjoying the odd opportunity to try and spook me. Guess I owe him for all the chick flicks. I'm going to have to watch ANTM before I go to bed to get it out of my head.

So there's my randomness for the day. Is this really worth reading? Guess it doesn't matter because I'm finding it pretty cathartic and I think I'm really starting to enjoy having somewhere to put my random indecisive thoughts.

Twitter

I've finally gone on to Twitter and started exploring. I'm amazed at how easy it is to get sucked in. I've lost my whole evening to searching Twitter. I suspect that it could be pretty addictive so I'm going to try and stick to updating my Twitter rather than trying to find people on it. Really, I have Facebook to stay in touch with friends so Twitter can be more of a lark. We'll see how that goes.

On another note, I think I could really enjoy the whole blog thing. I haven't told anyone I'm doing it yet, though that may change in the next few days. I've wanted to keep it to myself until I'm comfortable with it. Maybe it's just so that I have something all my own to record my random thoughts. Whatever. I'll give up the secrecy soon enough :-)

M is in a test his boundaries stage now. It was bound to happen. It's hard to be annoyed with him when he looks so darn cute. He'll touch the lamp (which he knows is a no touch item) and I'll do the usual mommy rote. " M, no touching, do it again and mama will give your hand a smack" He does it again (obviously) I give him a hand smack (nothing too hard just enough to startle him. So, his solution is... touch the lamp with his head, get in trouble, touch the lamp with his belly, get in trouble, touch the lamp with his toes, and it goes on and on and on. During this little ritual he has a super grin on his face and is giggling. What am I supposed to do with that?? I'm really hoping this phase runs it course soon. Oh, who am I kidding, this phase is going to last for years isn't it? It's just the items that will change.

Well, off to bed. I've really got to start getting to bed earlier.

Mornings

I'm a fan of quiet in the morning. I love to curl up with a coffee and a book for the first hour and just enjoy silence. However in the world of M there is no such thing as silence unless it's nap time and even then he mutters. This morning he decided to play with his corn popper. This toy has been sitting in his room for months and he has shown minimal interest in it. This morning he chose to run around the house pushing it in front of him so it popped nice and loud. To accompany the popping he found it necessary to yell Whoo Whoo as loud as he could with the energy only a toddler can muster. So much for quiet but is there anything better than a happy toddler in the morning? I can't think of anything more joyful than when he's happy.

First Time

Here it is. My first time trying out a blog. This is a way for me to record special moments which really means all those day to day things that seem inconsequential at the time but are actually pretty important in the grand scheme of life. Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels that way.

So for today I'm just going to post one of my favorite childhood poems. called Otherwise by Aileen Fisher

There must be magic,
Otherwise,
How could day turn to night?
And how could sailboats,
Otherwise,
Go sailing out of sight?
And how could peanuts,
Otherwise,
Be covered up so tight?