Today M had his check up with the Urologist to make sure everything had healed up properly. The urologist is in Vancouver. This means a lot of travel to get there so to save myself a 5 am wake up call I chose to drive in to Nanaimo and stay at my mothers house last night. This was supposed to get me an extra few hours of sleep. See the word supposed? Yup, sleep was foiled by M again. M felt that sleeping in a play pen was beneath him and he wanted to sleep with me. I was so desperate for sleep that I let him curl up with me. M is not a quiet sleeper. He starts out snuggled in with his head on the pillow, then he half wakes up, gets cranky and flips himself around so that his feet are in my face. Once this has been done, he wakes up again, gets cranky again and sits up. Now he's going to fall asleep sitting up, leaning against me. Again he wakes up, snarls and fusses, flipping around so that he is in his original position with his head on the pillow. At this point he falls asleep for a while only to repeat the process within an hour.
6 am I wake up, get us packed and loaded up for the trip to Vancouver. I'm exhausted, thanks to he who flips in his sleep, however, armed with a very large latte I am ready for the 8 am ferry. Ooops, turns out the ferry doesn't actually leave until 8:30. A few choice curse words were said in my head. My mouth just kept saying "bad words" which is what I say when I really want to curse but M's around.
We got on the ferry, after a long sit in the terminal, and headed for the play zone. M was tired but all revved up once he saw the slide. He played in there for a while until he decided he did not want to share the slide with the other children. Then we had a knock down, drag out, screaming match when I put him in his stroller to head back to the car. Once we were in the car he fell asleep in his seat right away. Which would have been fine except we were meeting a friend for coffee in North Vancouver so he had a very short nap. He was tired but we had a lovely coffee with my friend Irma. M loved Irma (she's pretty special) and had a nice long dance with her in the middle of the coffee shop. This set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
We arrived at BC Children's, and after a short ooh and aah over the fishes in the aquarium, we went in to see the doctor. M likes this man and spent the appointment trying to make him laugh. He does this by throwing his head back and laughing himself. His expressions are so funny it's pretty hard not to laugh back. He won the doctor over very quickly. Here was our report almost word for word... " this looks great, you can't tell he had surgery, this is a penis to be proud of little guy (honestly he said this) now when you get older you be careful how you use that" Yup, that's the pep talk M got from the urologist who was very proud of his work. I really felt that my estrogen self was out of place in this testosterone bonding moment. Glenn should have been there, he could have related to the sentiment in the room.
The appointment was about 10 minutes and then I was rushing M out to try and make the 3 pm ferry. A quick stop in Chinatown for the most amazing steam buns and sauce. I bought the frozen ones and stuffed them into the cooler bag for the trip home. M still hadn't napped so he was getting cranky. Once we were on the ferry it was upstairs for a quick change and a snack then back down to the car with hopes that he would fall asleep. He screamed. A lot. Then he fell asleep for the last half hour of the ride. We stopped at mom's on the way through town as I had left a couple of things there and wanted to pick them up. Another coffee stop and some drive thru dinner for M and we were on the road home.
A couple of minutes on the highway, not quite out of town, and I hear M gagging. This is not the normal "I'm going to throw up because I know how to make myself gag" This was an honest to goodness, I don't feel well gag followed by everything he had eaten, all day. I am a prepared mom though. Assuming I remember to put everything back in the car I will be prepared once more for future drives. I pulled over to the side of the road, opened up the trunk, grabbed the paper towel, towel, plastic bags, air freshener and pj's. I mopped what I could with the paper towels, stripped him down, wiped him with the towel, threw all of this in the bag, used the baby wipes to clean him up, buttoned him into fleecy pj's and popped him back in his car seat. It took about 10 minutes. Can you tell this has happened to me before? I have a child who vomits and thus I am prepared for vomit. God help me if he has any other kind of accident as I am only prepared for the stomach issues.
We had a quiet drive home. M was awake the whole time however he was snuggling with his blanket and Bert and Ernie dolls. It was almost like having a little me time. I got to drive through the evening, hardly any traffic, singing as loudly as I wanted, to whatever I felt like listening to. Once we got home I let him run around for an extra hour and he fell asleep right away. If he wakes up at 2 am (as he has for the last few nights) I am choosing to ignore it. I am too tired now to try and fuss with him so early in the morning. It won't hurt him to holler a little before going back to sleep and it will hopefully give me a little of my sanity back by tomorrow morning.
I suppose you will find out tomorrow if it worked.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
I will be naked
Bet that rule caught your eye. That's the theme in our house right now. I have put M in pull ups recently because I am slowly trying to get him on to his potty. The pull ups are working a little too well. he has discovered that he can easily pull them up or down even when he's wearing pants. Yup, we've hit the naked stage.
My sweet little boy runs around the house with his underwear at his ankles laughing his manic little head off. Alternately he runs around with his pants pulled down just enough to fit his hand down the waist band. I'm not quite sure what to do with this. It's ridiculously funny to watch especially when he's so darn proud but at the same time I have visions of him doing this in public. I'm sure I wouldn't be the first parent this happened to. In fact I know I wouldn't be because I know someone who's little guy did the public nudity already. It's all fine that logically I know he wouldn't be the first to flash his bits in public. That doesn't mean I'm not completely terrified of the thought. So there comes the dilemma. Do you attempt to correct the behaviour or just let nature take it's course.
At this point I'm partial to just letting him do his thing and get it out of his system.
My sweet little boy runs around the house with his underwear at his ankles laughing his manic little head off. Alternately he runs around with his pants pulled down just enough to fit his hand down the waist band. I'm not quite sure what to do with this. It's ridiculously funny to watch especially when he's so darn proud but at the same time I have visions of him doing this in public. I'm sure I wouldn't be the first parent this happened to. In fact I know I wouldn't be because I know someone who's little guy did the public nudity already. It's all fine that logically I know he wouldn't be the first to flash his bits in public. That doesn't mean I'm not completely terrified of the thought. So there comes the dilemma. Do you attempt to correct the behaviour or just let nature take it's course.
At this point I'm partial to just letting him do his thing and get it out of his system.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Rule: If I can reach it, I will take it
The last few days have been pretty calm by M standards so I really haven't had a lot to say. Today was also a fairly calm and chilled out kind of day although he was being a little extra stubborn.
We have entered the asserting my opinion stage and boy does it ever come with some tantrums. It's actually funny to watch him go into meltdown mode when he's told "No". This is the magic word that will trigger Spazzy M. Spazzy M has a set of lungs and he uses them. He also has a face that can contort into various forms of rage and frustration accompanied by at least 5 shades of red. Spazzy M stomps his feet, balls his fists, pulls hair and grabs on to your leg and will not let go. Yup, Spazzy M is highly entertaining but very hard on the ears.
Tonight M wanted to play in the dogs water dish. He likes to put his blocks in, let them fill with water and then drink the water, Gross to us, great fun for him. I took the dish away and put it on the counter. I then wandered to the other side of the kitchen to finish making dinner. I happened to turn around in time to see him reaching for the water dish. I hollered a quick "M, no!" he looked at me, grinned and pulled one side of it. Yeah, you know what happened next. He tipped the dish, water poured all over him and the floor, he started to cry (I assume because he was startled) and I laughed.
I couldn't stop laughing. There's my poor little guy, standing in a huge puddle of water, soaking wet with the dog trying super hard to clean up all the water. He was looking at me with the saddest little face, crying his heart out all because he had to grab the water dish after I told him to leave it alone. Consequences. I keep hoping he'll figure that word out.
Off I went, grabbed a towel, stripped him down and started to dry the floor before the water leaked any further. This did not sit well with M. He wanted me to pick him up. Now. His solution was to stand there and pull my hair and hit my arm. I politely asked him to stop and explained that I would pick him up once I had finished drying the floor. Still not a good enough answer so he hit and pulled some more. I'm about to admit I'm a petty human being. I pulled his hair. Not hard, just enough to show it's not nice. It didn't go over very well but he did walk away. He was crying but he walked away. Once I had dried up all the water I went over and cuddled with him for a few minutes. He was perfectly fine after that.
Hopefully he learned a lesson from this although I doubt it. I'm guessing he'll need to have a lot more water fall on him before he learns this lesson.
We have entered the asserting my opinion stage and boy does it ever come with some tantrums. It's actually funny to watch him go into meltdown mode when he's told "No". This is the magic word that will trigger Spazzy M. Spazzy M has a set of lungs and he uses them. He also has a face that can contort into various forms of rage and frustration accompanied by at least 5 shades of red. Spazzy M stomps his feet, balls his fists, pulls hair and grabs on to your leg and will not let go. Yup, Spazzy M is highly entertaining but very hard on the ears.
Tonight M wanted to play in the dogs water dish. He likes to put his blocks in, let them fill with water and then drink the water, Gross to us, great fun for him. I took the dish away and put it on the counter. I then wandered to the other side of the kitchen to finish making dinner. I happened to turn around in time to see him reaching for the water dish. I hollered a quick "M, no!" he looked at me, grinned and pulled one side of it. Yeah, you know what happened next. He tipped the dish, water poured all over him and the floor, he started to cry (I assume because he was startled) and I laughed.
I couldn't stop laughing. There's my poor little guy, standing in a huge puddle of water, soaking wet with the dog trying super hard to clean up all the water. He was looking at me with the saddest little face, crying his heart out all because he had to grab the water dish after I told him to leave it alone. Consequences. I keep hoping he'll figure that word out.
Off I went, grabbed a towel, stripped him down and started to dry the floor before the water leaked any further. This did not sit well with M. He wanted me to pick him up. Now. His solution was to stand there and pull my hair and hit my arm. I politely asked him to stop and explained that I would pick him up once I had finished drying the floor. Still not a good enough answer so he hit and pulled some more. I'm about to admit I'm a petty human being. I pulled his hair. Not hard, just enough to show it's not nice. It didn't go over very well but he did walk away. He was crying but he walked away. Once I had dried up all the water I went over and cuddled with him for a few minutes. He was perfectly fine after that.
Hopefully he learned a lesson from this although I doubt it. I'm guessing he'll need to have a lot more water fall on him before he learns this lesson.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Rule: Good intentions can go awry
Our friend L has been staying with us for the last two nights for the last couple of days of her trip. It's been nice for me to have some company. I'm pretty social and it's been really hard to be in a new community and not have friends to visit with and people to talk to when you feel like it.
The downside to visitors is they don't know the house rules and it doesn't always occur to you to tell them things. I mean, it's not like you have a list of all your family quirks, although, maybe we should all start doing that. It could make visits a lot less painful for everyone involved. K, on to the story...
M slept pretty darn well on Thursday night. He had a little wake up fuss but put himself back to sleep. Last night started very much the same way. He woke up around 10 and we let him fuss himself back to sleep. He was out like a light. Around 4:30 I heard him wake up and start to cry. This was his "I'm yelling really loud to get your attention cry" which leads into his "I'm going to gag until you come get me cry" which then leads into his "I'm frustrated oh wait I can suck my thumb, nope I'm frustrated" and so on cry. Once he gets to that point he'll fall asleep pretty quickly. The whole process usually takes about 20 minutes. During this Glenn got up for a facilities break because, let's face it, we were awake anyway.
As M was starting to wind down we heard L come upstairs and into M's room. She thought Glenn was in the shower and that I was still asleep so she thought she would be helpful and get M. She had the very best of intentions. She had no idea we were trying to get him back into his normal routine and that this required letting him fuss sometimes.
5 am and I am on the couch with M trying to get him to go back to sleep. I think we dozed a bit. Once he passed out I tried to get him into his room. He woke up (you knew he was going to) so I spent another half hour in his room trying to get him to sleep. I finally gave up and took him into our room thinking I could get him to cuddle in bed but he thought this meant he should holler a little louder in case daddy had managed to fall asleep.
Back to the couch. Ok, now we're snuggled in again and getting cozy. Apparently I've taken the dog's spot on the couch as she has jumped up and is trying to get my feet out of the way so she can curl up. Now she's comfy and I am permitted to get comfy around her. This is the time that the snobby stray cat has chosen to snuggle up on my shoulder except he's pretty big so he's half on me and half on M. Which is keeping M up because he wants to pet the kitty cat. It's 6 am by now and I can hear Glenn getting up. I have realized that I'm not getting anymore sleep so I turned on the coffee pot (the last of the really good coffee) and turned on Sesame Street ( it was early enough that it was on) for M hoping for a quite hour or so.
L felt terrible but it was just one of those things that happen. I can't say I felt quite so benevolent at 5 am but after a cup of coffee I was feeling much better about the whole thing. At least M had a nice long nap today.
The downside to visitors is they don't know the house rules and it doesn't always occur to you to tell them things. I mean, it's not like you have a list of all your family quirks, although, maybe we should all start doing that. It could make visits a lot less painful for everyone involved. K, on to the story...
M slept pretty darn well on Thursday night. He had a little wake up fuss but put himself back to sleep. Last night started very much the same way. He woke up around 10 and we let him fuss himself back to sleep. He was out like a light. Around 4:30 I heard him wake up and start to cry. This was his "I'm yelling really loud to get your attention cry" which leads into his "I'm going to gag until you come get me cry" which then leads into his "I'm frustrated oh wait I can suck my thumb, nope I'm frustrated" and so on cry. Once he gets to that point he'll fall asleep pretty quickly. The whole process usually takes about 20 minutes. During this Glenn got up for a facilities break because, let's face it, we were awake anyway.
As M was starting to wind down we heard L come upstairs and into M's room. She thought Glenn was in the shower and that I was still asleep so she thought she would be helpful and get M. She had the very best of intentions. She had no idea we were trying to get him back into his normal routine and that this required letting him fuss sometimes.
5 am and I am on the couch with M trying to get him to go back to sleep. I think we dozed a bit. Once he passed out I tried to get him into his room. He woke up (you knew he was going to) so I spent another half hour in his room trying to get him to sleep. I finally gave up and took him into our room thinking I could get him to cuddle in bed but he thought this meant he should holler a little louder in case daddy had managed to fall asleep.
Back to the couch. Ok, now we're snuggled in again and getting cozy. Apparently I've taken the dog's spot on the couch as she has jumped up and is trying to get my feet out of the way so she can curl up. Now she's comfy and I am permitted to get comfy around her. This is the time that the snobby stray cat has chosen to snuggle up on my shoulder except he's pretty big so he's half on me and half on M. Which is keeping M up because he wants to pet the kitty cat. It's 6 am by now and I can hear Glenn getting up. I have realized that I'm not getting anymore sleep so I turned on the coffee pot (the last of the really good coffee) and turned on Sesame Street ( it was early enough that it was on) for M hoping for a quite hour or so.
L felt terrible but it was just one of those things that happen. I can't say I felt quite so benevolent at 5 am but after a cup of coffee I was feeling much better about the whole thing. At least M had a nice long nap today.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Rule: I'm sick. This means I'm not sleeping unless you snuggle me
Sleep is the best fantasy I could possibly have today. Not just sleep but a whole night's sleep. Like maybe a straight 8 hours. If I were religious I'd be praying for it now. Here was my early morning:
2 am (is there some sort of toddler alarm that nobody else hears at this time?) M starts crying. Not just any crying, it's the I'm going to make myself throw up crying. Yeah, that's right, my kid cries until he throws up. Sometimes I'm pretty sure he just makes himself throw up so that I"ll come get him. So this is what I'm dealing with at 2 am. A kid who's stopped crying and started gagging. No matter how much cuddling he gets he is still gagging and trying to throw up but he has nothing in his system so it's just not working. I'm half asleep and dead on my feet so I head for the couch. We curl up, I fall asleep with M kicking me and wake up an hour later. M is asleep so I carry him into his room and put him in his crib. He wakes up. I run out of the room, shutting the door behind me. He cries harder. I do my very best to ignore him and hide in my room.
4 am: Obviously M and I have both fallen asleep but now he's woken up. Again. he's gagging. Again. I realize I have to get up. Again. Off to the couch we go. M's freaking out but does finally settle and fall asleep. i get him back to bed. It's about 5 am now.
5:30 am: M's woken up and is having another fit. This time I get smart (or stupid, depending on how you look at it) and I grab a blanket that I keep in his closet. I stumble to the couch, settle us both in and pass out. M is fussing and mewling a bit but I fall asleep anyway.
7 am: Phone rings. It's the some of my husbands employees looking for a phone number. M has officially woken up. I want to cry I feel so tired. I turn on the coffee and prepare for the day.
M's fever is down today and he's been acting slightly more normal although he still has no appetite. He spent most of the day whining and wanting to snuggle so not a lot got done. He refused to nap which was a given since he didn't sleep much last night. He passed out on the couch about 6:30 tonight and I managed to get him to bed with minimal fussing. If he cries tonight I'm ignoring him. I am too tired to worry. I know he has nothing in his tummy to throw up so maybe he'll figure out that gagging does not always bring mommy running. If it gets too bad I'll pop a pillow on my head to dull the sound. Here's hoping for sweet dreams.
2 am (is there some sort of toddler alarm that nobody else hears at this time?) M starts crying. Not just any crying, it's the I'm going to make myself throw up crying. Yeah, that's right, my kid cries until he throws up. Sometimes I'm pretty sure he just makes himself throw up so that I"ll come get him. So this is what I'm dealing with at 2 am. A kid who's stopped crying and started gagging. No matter how much cuddling he gets he is still gagging and trying to throw up but he has nothing in his system so it's just not working. I'm half asleep and dead on my feet so I head for the couch. We curl up, I fall asleep with M kicking me and wake up an hour later. M is asleep so I carry him into his room and put him in his crib. He wakes up. I run out of the room, shutting the door behind me. He cries harder. I do my very best to ignore him and hide in my room.
4 am: Obviously M and I have both fallen asleep but now he's woken up. Again. he's gagging. Again. I realize I have to get up. Again. Off to the couch we go. M's freaking out but does finally settle and fall asleep. i get him back to bed. It's about 5 am now.
5:30 am: M's woken up and is having another fit. This time I get smart (or stupid, depending on how you look at it) and I grab a blanket that I keep in his closet. I stumble to the couch, settle us both in and pass out. M is fussing and mewling a bit but I fall asleep anyway.
7 am: Phone rings. It's the some of my husbands employees looking for a phone number. M has officially woken up. I want to cry I feel so tired. I turn on the coffee and prepare for the day.
M's fever is down today and he's been acting slightly more normal although he still has no appetite. He spent most of the day whining and wanting to snuggle so not a lot got done. He refused to nap which was a given since he didn't sleep much last night. He passed out on the couch about 6:30 tonight and I managed to get him to bed with minimal fussing. If he cries tonight I'm ignoring him. I am too tired to worry. I know he has nothing in his tummy to throw up so maybe he'll figure out that gagging does not always bring mommy running. If it gets too bad I'll pop a pillow on my head to dull the sound. Here's hoping for sweet dreams.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sick Kids
I have a sick kid. So much for my little pipe dream of M sleeping off whatever was bothering him.
He's been running a fever all day which always puts you on alert. It seems to be manageable so I'm not stressing too much. The silver lining to this is that it was a very chilled out kind of day. Well, as long as I kept Sesame Street going for him. The second it stopped he freaked out as only a sick child can do. "Mommeee!!! More! More!" as he wildly pointed to the TV. After the 3rd episode he was yelling as soon as Elmo started to sing his song to signal the end of the Elmo portion of the episode. Great. Now my kid knows that when Elmo starts to sing his word of the day to the Jingle Bells tune (really annoying, by the way) that this is the signal that his Sesame Street episode is ending. Today this triggered epic proportion meltdowns except he didn't really have the energy to pull them off so they came out as a big long whine.
There's the better part of my day. A kid who alternated between laying on his little couch, with a big pillow behind him because he didn't really want to lay down, or he was curled up on the couch beside me for some cuddles. All the while watching Sesame Street. He even managed to muster the energy to dance a little when Feist came on and sang the Sesame Street version of 1, 2, 3, 4. I am sad to say I sang along, it was pretty good.
During this chilled out sick kid day we have had a big storm brewing. I snuck outside twice to bring in some wood while it was lightly raining. This was done smugly with the knowledge that I was being proactive and building a nice fire in anticipation of a nasty afternoon/evening. What better than a fire to take the edge off the damp chill air. I should know better than to be smug about anything because there is always payback.
At about 2 pm the wind kicked up and the rain really started coming down. I understand what sideways rain means now. M had fallen asleep on his little couch and the racket outside wasn't about to wake him up. I'm sitting on the couch, reading my book, enjoying the inside quiet, when I see out of the corner of my eye, our patio table sliding along the deck. Naturally at this moment, M woke up. Now I have a patio table sliding along the deck, a toddler who's just woken up and isn't exactly Mr. Personality when he's still half asleep, and what sounds like a 400 lb man banging on the sides of my house thanks to the 90 km winds (seriously, they're calling it the pineapple express but I'm not feeling so tropical about it. It is not inspiring any happy, happy, joy, joy around here). I give M some juice mixed with Pedialite and a few crackers and pull out my waterproof jacket to brave to weather. I figure I'll go outside, move the table to a more secure spot and come straight back in. Nice and easy.
Until I get out there and realize the wind is blowing so hard I can barely move and not only has the wind blown the patio table it's also managed to blow the bar fridge about 3 feet, the door is open and there are full bottles blowing under the barbeque. Oh, and M has noticed I'm out there so now he's standing at the patio door screaming because I'm not inside with him. And let's not forget the driving sideways rain that's managed to get at me through the sleeves of my jacket. Decisions. Do I take care of the patio table or deal with the bar fridge that obviously has to come inside. I chose the bar fridge. I unplugged it, grabbed the bottles rolling around, picked up the fridge and shuffled it back in to the house trying to avoid hitting M or the dog. All right, now the fridge is in, I'm soaked, M's upset and I have to go back out there so that I can fix the table. Back out I go, grab the patio umbrella from the table, slide it off to the side of the house, grab the table (which seats 6, not so small) and flip it upside down, run back into the house and out of the gale force winds/rain.
Boy oh boy wasn't that fun. Oh, look, the hatch on the RV is open and letting in the rain. I put the really wet waterproof jacket back on, grab the keys for the RV, pop M in his crib (yup, now he's really mad) and run out the front door, around the side of the house. Open the rv, hop inside, close the hatch, lock the door, make a run for the front of the house. Grab the front door, open it, fight the wind to get it closed, toss the super wet jacket on the stairs, get M out of his crib and spend the next hour cuddling the poor guy and promising that I wasn't being a bad mama and ignoring his poor little sick self.
Dinner did not get cooked. Pizza was ordered. It took over an hour but seeing as half the town has no power I figure they're pretty busy. M went to bed around 7 just like he should with a little advil in his system. We watched a movie, finished it and popped in Star Trek even though we've seen it.
9:30pm M wakes up and he is not going back to sleep. I go get him (I interrupted typing this just to cater to his little fellow needs) I give him a bottle and I think he's going to fall asleep with me until he spots daddy eating popcorn. Daddy has just given him the big pay attention this is Star Trek, it's a great movie speech. As I type this M is curled up with his daddy in the recliner, right by the fire, eating popcorn and hollering Mommeee to his daddy every time he wants another popcorn. I'm praying it all stays in his stomach because my hubby is looking pretty Scotch happy and I'm not sure if he could deal with puke on his chair. It'd be funny though. Huh, now I'm kind of wishing it would happen just so I could watch and laugh at the outcome. No, no I wouldn't really wish that (ok maybe a little)
Well, I guess I'll let you know tomorrow if everyone survived the evening. Wish me a night of solid sleep. I'm betting I'll need it with my sick boy tonight.
He's been running a fever all day which always puts you on alert. It seems to be manageable so I'm not stressing too much. The silver lining to this is that it was a very chilled out kind of day. Well, as long as I kept Sesame Street going for him. The second it stopped he freaked out as only a sick child can do. "Mommeee!!! More! More!" as he wildly pointed to the TV. After the 3rd episode he was yelling as soon as Elmo started to sing his song to signal the end of the Elmo portion of the episode. Great. Now my kid knows that when Elmo starts to sing his word of the day to the Jingle Bells tune (really annoying, by the way) that this is the signal that his Sesame Street episode is ending. Today this triggered epic proportion meltdowns except he didn't really have the energy to pull them off so they came out as a big long whine.
There's the better part of my day. A kid who alternated between laying on his little couch, with a big pillow behind him because he didn't really want to lay down, or he was curled up on the couch beside me for some cuddles. All the while watching Sesame Street. He even managed to muster the energy to dance a little when Feist came on and sang the Sesame Street version of 1, 2, 3, 4. I am sad to say I sang along, it was pretty good.
During this chilled out sick kid day we have had a big storm brewing. I snuck outside twice to bring in some wood while it was lightly raining. This was done smugly with the knowledge that I was being proactive and building a nice fire in anticipation of a nasty afternoon/evening. What better than a fire to take the edge off the damp chill air. I should know better than to be smug about anything because there is always payback.
At about 2 pm the wind kicked up and the rain really started coming down. I understand what sideways rain means now. M had fallen asleep on his little couch and the racket outside wasn't about to wake him up. I'm sitting on the couch, reading my book, enjoying the inside quiet, when I see out of the corner of my eye, our patio table sliding along the deck. Naturally at this moment, M woke up. Now I have a patio table sliding along the deck, a toddler who's just woken up and isn't exactly Mr. Personality when he's still half asleep, and what sounds like a 400 lb man banging on the sides of my house thanks to the 90 km winds (seriously, they're calling it the pineapple express but I'm not feeling so tropical about it. It is not inspiring any happy, happy, joy, joy around here). I give M some juice mixed with Pedialite and a few crackers and pull out my waterproof jacket to brave to weather. I figure I'll go outside, move the table to a more secure spot and come straight back in. Nice and easy.
Until I get out there and realize the wind is blowing so hard I can barely move and not only has the wind blown the patio table it's also managed to blow the bar fridge about 3 feet, the door is open and there are full bottles blowing under the barbeque. Oh, and M has noticed I'm out there so now he's standing at the patio door screaming because I'm not inside with him. And let's not forget the driving sideways rain that's managed to get at me through the sleeves of my jacket. Decisions. Do I take care of the patio table or deal with the bar fridge that obviously has to come inside. I chose the bar fridge. I unplugged it, grabbed the bottles rolling around, picked up the fridge and shuffled it back in to the house trying to avoid hitting M or the dog. All right, now the fridge is in, I'm soaked, M's upset and I have to go back out there so that I can fix the table. Back out I go, grab the patio umbrella from the table, slide it off to the side of the house, grab the table (which seats 6, not so small) and flip it upside down, run back into the house and out of the gale force winds/rain.
Boy oh boy wasn't that fun. Oh, look, the hatch on the RV is open and letting in the rain. I put the really wet waterproof jacket back on, grab the keys for the RV, pop M in his crib (yup, now he's really mad) and run out the front door, around the side of the house. Open the rv, hop inside, close the hatch, lock the door, make a run for the front of the house. Grab the front door, open it, fight the wind to get it closed, toss the super wet jacket on the stairs, get M out of his crib and spend the next hour cuddling the poor guy and promising that I wasn't being a bad mama and ignoring his poor little sick self.
Dinner did not get cooked. Pizza was ordered. It took over an hour but seeing as half the town has no power I figure they're pretty busy. M went to bed around 7 just like he should with a little advil in his system. We watched a movie, finished it and popped in Star Trek even though we've seen it.
9:30pm M wakes up and he is not going back to sleep. I go get him (I interrupted typing this just to cater to his little fellow needs) I give him a bottle and I think he's going to fall asleep with me until he spots daddy eating popcorn. Daddy has just given him the big pay attention this is Star Trek, it's a great movie speech. As I type this M is curled up with his daddy in the recliner, right by the fire, eating popcorn and hollering Mommeee to his daddy every time he wants another popcorn. I'm praying it all stays in his stomach because my hubby is looking pretty Scotch happy and I'm not sure if he could deal with puke on his chair. It'd be funny though. Huh, now I'm kind of wishing it would happen just so I could watch and laugh at the outcome. No, no I wouldn't really wish that (ok maybe a little)
Well, I guess I'll let you know tomorrow if everyone survived the evening. Wish me a night of solid sleep. I'm betting I'll need it with my sick boy tonight.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Dining Out
Tonight I tried to go out for dinner with a friend and M. Note that I said tried.
A friend (I'll call her L) from Whitehorse is in town this week for work. Glenn's working tonight and I had suggested she come over for dinner. She offered to take M and I out instead. This is a nice treat and not something we get to do often. She came over to the house, got the tour, we drove back to her hotel, dropped her car and all piled in to my vehicle to head for White Spot. A reasonable choice for a family friendly place and not available in Whitehorse.
We get seated, M's in a high chair, he has crayons and a cool paper menu, we give our order and we have a nice chat while waiting. M starts to get antsy about half an hour into the wait for our main meals. He's drinking apple juice but he's not really interested in our zucchini sticks. Actually he had a couple of vehement head shakes, an "All Done" and then spit it out over the floor. So, we stopped giving him the zucchini and figured he'd eat the french fries when the food came. The stage is set now. One, starting to get cranky, toddler, one very patient friend (who happens to have 2 toddlers) and one slightly panicky mother. I was at that "please don't freak out in the restaurant" stage. You know the one, you're trying everything you can think of to distract them until the food gets there. Banging spoons on the table, handing them the laminated menu, I got so desperate I actually tried a Kit Kat bar. He didn't want it. You know it's not going to be good when your kid turns down chocolate.
I finally take him out of his high chair and let him play in the booth beside me. This seems to work. He's trying to talk to the people in the booth behind us, he's drinking from his cup, he's basically happy he's sitting like the big people. Our meals arrive, mine is wrong. The waiter takes it back to get the proper burger (that would be chicken please, not the beef) and brings back the fries and gravy so I have something to eat while I wait. I hand M a fry because french fries are an ultimate treat to him. He takes a teeny tiny bite and puts it back on the plate. I'm pretty confused because he hasn't had anything other than apple juice and a halloween size Aero while we were driving to the restaurant. And then it happens.
He's standing there, looking at my plate that once had fries on it and he gags slightly. I am on full alert now. I've got my hands on his waist, trying to angle him away from the booth because he has started to spew chocolate coloured apple juice. All over the table. All over my pants and he even managed to get some in L's dinner. I'm now stunned/mortified. L and I are scrambling for napkins. She gets up and grabs some from our waiter who comes over with a cloth (he obviously has no children or he would have just brought us the whole stack of napkins) L made 2 extra trips for more napkins until we had the table cleared off. She was also sensible enough to request my burger to go. Which arrived just as we finished cleaning the table.
L sends us out to the car while she pays. This now requires me to slink through the entire restaurant with a child who has puke splatters all over his front. Let us not forget the very obvious wet spots on my black cord pants and the lovely smell that I'm sure trailed behind us. This was not one of my finer moments.
We dropped L off at her hotel and headed home. So much for dinner. I didn't get to try my burger until about an hour after getting home at which point it was pretty cold and soggy. There is now a quick casserole in the oven because I'm very hungry.
M has passed out after a bath and some Pedialite. Now I'm hoping that converting him back to the crib will pay off tonight and he'll be back to normal tomorrow. Maybe a good night's sleep is all he needs. Maybe it's wishful thinking and I'll wake up to a sick kid but for now I'm sticking with my sleep theory.
A friend (I'll call her L) from Whitehorse is in town this week for work. Glenn's working tonight and I had suggested she come over for dinner. She offered to take M and I out instead. This is a nice treat and not something we get to do often. She came over to the house, got the tour, we drove back to her hotel, dropped her car and all piled in to my vehicle to head for White Spot. A reasonable choice for a family friendly place and not available in Whitehorse.
We get seated, M's in a high chair, he has crayons and a cool paper menu, we give our order and we have a nice chat while waiting. M starts to get antsy about half an hour into the wait for our main meals. He's drinking apple juice but he's not really interested in our zucchini sticks. Actually he had a couple of vehement head shakes, an "All Done" and then spit it out over the floor. So, we stopped giving him the zucchini and figured he'd eat the french fries when the food came. The stage is set now. One, starting to get cranky, toddler, one very patient friend (who happens to have 2 toddlers) and one slightly panicky mother. I was at that "please don't freak out in the restaurant" stage. You know the one, you're trying everything you can think of to distract them until the food gets there. Banging spoons on the table, handing them the laminated menu, I got so desperate I actually tried a Kit Kat bar. He didn't want it. You know it's not going to be good when your kid turns down chocolate.
I finally take him out of his high chair and let him play in the booth beside me. This seems to work. He's trying to talk to the people in the booth behind us, he's drinking from his cup, he's basically happy he's sitting like the big people. Our meals arrive, mine is wrong. The waiter takes it back to get the proper burger (that would be chicken please, not the beef) and brings back the fries and gravy so I have something to eat while I wait. I hand M a fry because french fries are an ultimate treat to him. He takes a teeny tiny bite and puts it back on the plate. I'm pretty confused because he hasn't had anything other than apple juice and a halloween size Aero while we were driving to the restaurant. And then it happens.
He's standing there, looking at my plate that once had fries on it and he gags slightly. I am on full alert now. I've got my hands on his waist, trying to angle him away from the booth because he has started to spew chocolate coloured apple juice. All over the table. All over my pants and he even managed to get some in L's dinner. I'm now stunned/mortified. L and I are scrambling for napkins. She gets up and grabs some from our waiter who comes over with a cloth (he obviously has no children or he would have just brought us the whole stack of napkins) L made 2 extra trips for more napkins until we had the table cleared off. She was also sensible enough to request my burger to go. Which arrived just as we finished cleaning the table.
L sends us out to the car while she pays. This now requires me to slink through the entire restaurant with a child who has puke splatters all over his front. Let us not forget the very obvious wet spots on my black cord pants and the lovely smell that I'm sure trailed behind us. This was not one of my finer moments.
We dropped L off at her hotel and headed home. So much for dinner. I didn't get to try my burger until about an hour after getting home at which point it was pretty cold and soggy. There is now a quick casserole in the oven because I'm very hungry.
M has passed out after a bath and some Pedialite. Now I'm hoping that converting him back to the crib will pay off tonight and he'll be back to normal tomorrow. Maybe a good night's sleep is all he needs. Maybe it's wishful thinking and I'll wake up to a sick kid but for now I'm sticking with my sleep theory.
Sleep
Today (Last night's) rule: I will wake up as early as I can and be really loud and annoying.
11 pm: I go to bed for some desperately needed sleep
1 am: "Mommeee, mommeeee, MOMMEEE!!!" this is followed with tugging on the blanket because yelling mommy at one o'clock in the morning is not quite enough to wake me up in his little boy mind. (he may have a point since his daddy did not wake up during this episode) It's way too early for me to process anything other than "annoying little person trying to disturb my sleep" Therefore I do what any good parent does at 1 am and I lift him up on the bed so he can curl up between us, kick daddy in the back (still no movement from my other half) and finally after a lot of twisting and turning he falls asleep with his foot in my neck. I figure I'm super smart so I pick him up, shuffle my way to his room, get him into his bed, go back to my bed, promptly pass out. It's about 1:45 am.
2:45 am: "Mommeeee, Mommeee, MOMMEEE!!!" more blanket tugging, no movement from the other side of the bed. Grab M's hands, pull him up, pray he'll go to sleep. He twists, turns, huffs, kicks and then about 3:30 he starts to cry. Loudly. Loud enough to finally wake up the spouse, who rolls over and attempts to comfort the spazzing toddler by putting an arm around him and trying to cuddle. It didn't work. Actually I think it made him cry louder. Now it's my turn to suck it up, pick up the tired writhing mass and shuffle off to the living room hoping to get some sleep on the couch.
4 am: lying on the couch, pretty sure I could sleep through a marching band in my living room. M will not lay down with me. Instead he has declared his independence and is sitting straight up halfway down the couch with his feet in my belly. He passes out and starts to droop sideways. I manage to move him so he's lying down by me, he wakes up (of course he does) but he's too tired to fight it now so he goes back to sleep. I attempt to sleep which is pretty difficult because I'm on the couch, have M kicking me and a 75 lb dog trying really hard to cuddle on the other side of me.
6:30 M has woken up and there's no way he's going back to sleep. I get up, make him a bottle, turn on the morning news, turn on his bedroom light, watch my spouse get up, crawl back on the couch and try to pretend I'm sleeping. It doesn't work. Now I have a dog nudging me to go out, a cat purring and kneading me because I'm up so I might as well pay it some attention and a little boy trying to give me every toy that exists in his room (at least that's what it feels like as he brings me one after the other)
I fought it until just after 7 at which point I broke out the really good coffee (the stuff you save just for these kind of days because it's too powerful to waste on a regular day)
Today I am putting the side of the crib back on so there will be no more MOMMEEE's at 3 am. Or if there are, I know he's safe in his bed and I can just go back to sleep. Screw the toddler bed.
I did not think of this myself. This was my logical spouse who said "Why don't you put the crib back on, it's not like he could get out anymore" Huh, why didn't I think of that.
Fingers crossed we will sleep with no interruptions tonight.
11 pm: I go to bed for some desperately needed sleep
1 am: "Mommeee, mommeeee, MOMMEEE!!!" this is followed with tugging on the blanket because yelling mommy at one o'clock in the morning is not quite enough to wake me up in his little boy mind. (he may have a point since his daddy did not wake up during this episode) It's way too early for me to process anything other than "annoying little person trying to disturb my sleep" Therefore I do what any good parent does at 1 am and I lift him up on the bed so he can curl up between us, kick daddy in the back (still no movement from my other half) and finally after a lot of twisting and turning he falls asleep with his foot in my neck. I figure I'm super smart so I pick him up, shuffle my way to his room, get him into his bed, go back to my bed, promptly pass out. It's about 1:45 am.
2:45 am: "Mommeeee, Mommeee, MOMMEEE!!!" more blanket tugging, no movement from the other side of the bed. Grab M's hands, pull him up, pray he'll go to sleep. He twists, turns, huffs, kicks and then about 3:30 he starts to cry. Loudly. Loud enough to finally wake up the spouse, who rolls over and attempts to comfort the spazzing toddler by putting an arm around him and trying to cuddle. It didn't work. Actually I think it made him cry louder. Now it's my turn to suck it up, pick up the tired writhing mass and shuffle off to the living room hoping to get some sleep on the couch.
4 am: lying on the couch, pretty sure I could sleep through a marching band in my living room. M will not lay down with me. Instead he has declared his independence and is sitting straight up halfway down the couch with his feet in my belly. He passes out and starts to droop sideways. I manage to move him so he's lying down by me, he wakes up (of course he does) but he's too tired to fight it now so he goes back to sleep. I attempt to sleep which is pretty difficult because I'm on the couch, have M kicking me and a 75 lb dog trying really hard to cuddle on the other side of me.
6:30 M has woken up and there's no way he's going back to sleep. I get up, make him a bottle, turn on the morning news, turn on his bedroom light, watch my spouse get up, crawl back on the couch and try to pretend I'm sleeping. It doesn't work. Now I have a dog nudging me to go out, a cat purring and kneading me because I'm up so I might as well pay it some attention and a little boy trying to give me every toy that exists in his room (at least that's what it feels like as he brings me one after the other)
I fought it until just after 7 at which point I broke out the really good coffee (the stuff you save just for these kind of days because it's too powerful to waste on a regular day)
Today I am putting the side of the crib back on so there will be no more MOMMEEE's at 3 am. Or if there are, I know he's safe in his bed and I can just go back to sleep. Screw the toddler bed.
I did not think of this myself. This was my logical spouse who said "Why don't you put the crib back on, it's not like he could get out anymore" Huh, why didn't I think of that.
Fingers crossed we will sleep with no interruptions tonight.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Naps
Generally nap time is not a big deal in our house. M is pretty good about going to bed and it's usually a simple process. That was before he started having his toddler independence streaks. Now, if you don't catch him at just the right moment it is a fight to get him to sleep. Today was a fight day. Completely my fault as he had woken up disgustingly early this morning and I knew he was going to be tired earlier than normal but I had to get groceries so I took the risk. That meant that after lunch he was absolutely not going to sleep. It meant that he was running around grabbing toys and pointing at the TV yelling "MORE!" in M speak this means he wants me to put Sesame Street on the television.I caved. I caved because I couldn't bear the thought of standing over his bed, fighting with him to stay there until he finally fell asleep. So, I turned on Sesame Street and let him sit on his couch with a bottle. He was asleep within 15 minutes. It worked so well I was able to pick him up and put him into bed for what turned out to be a nice long nap.
Today's toddler rule was..... I will not nap unless I get to watch Sesame!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Strangers and Wooden Spoons
Toddler Rule # 1: All people exist to play with me, stranger or not.
Today I had to take M to the walk in clinic for a mild rash. One of those better safe than sorry kind of things. We had a pretty short wait by walk in standards and I had packed some toys to keep him occupied while we were there. The Bert and Ernie dolls were brought out and he was happily playing at the kids table. Until he noticed the other people in the waiting room. He proceeded to do a run around the waiting room scoping out the other people for potential play mates. M has no internal Stranger Danger alarm. After a couple of turns around the room he chose his victim and started to be his oh so cute self and say Hi numerous times. She responded not realizing just what she had started. He took this to mean that she was a willing participant and he bestowed on her the greatest gift he could. He gave her the Bert and Ernie dolls. And waited. And waited. This poor woman had no idea what to do so she gave them to me. M took great offense to this, stomped his feet, grabbed the dolls and gave them back to her. She sat them on her knee which satisfied him and he ran off again to tour the room and say hello to anyone who would respond. The second he left she gave them to me and I followed him. There's nothing I can say after that other than thank you. Thank you stranger for humoring my toddler and pretending you really wanted to play with Bert and Ernie while you are no doubt not feeling well or you wouldn't be sitting in the clinic.
Toddler Rule #2: Kitchen utensils belong everywhere but in the kitchen
Once we were home he had his nap and came out to play for the afternoon. He was playing blocks, throwing them over the stairs and putting them together on the coffee table. He got bored with that pretty quickly and started delving into the kitchen drawers. He found the wooden spoon that I had left there just for him to grab. After banging the spoon on every surface in the house he started following me around, waving the spoon and hollering loudly. I stopped and looked at him, he grinned and promptly stuck the spoon up my shirt. Every time I tried to take it out he yelled and put it back up my shirt. I walked around for half an hour with a long wooden spoon up my shirt. This is what one does to avoid a meltdown over a wooden spoon.
The day is not done yet and already M has established two toddler laws. We'll see what the rest of the day/night brings.
Today I had to take M to the walk in clinic for a mild rash. One of those better safe than sorry kind of things. We had a pretty short wait by walk in standards and I had packed some toys to keep him occupied while we were there. The Bert and Ernie dolls were brought out and he was happily playing at the kids table. Until he noticed the other people in the waiting room. He proceeded to do a run around the waiting room scoping out the other people for potential play mates. M has no internal Stranger Danger alarm. After a couple of turns around the room he chose his victim and started to be his oh so cute self and say Hi numerous times. She responded not realizing just what she had started. He took this to mean that she was a willing participant and he bestowed on her the greatest gift he could. He gave her the Bert and Ernie dolls. And waited. And waited. This poor woman had no idea what to do so she gave them to me. M took great offense to this, stomped his feet, grabbed the dolls and gave them back to her. She sat them on her knee which satisfied him and he ran off again to tour the room and say hello to anyone who would respond. The second he left she gave them to me and I followed him. There's nothing I can say after that other than thank you. Thank you stranger for humoring my toddler and pretending you really wanted to play with Bert and Ernie while you are no doubt not feeling well or you wouldn't be sitting in the clinic.
Toddler Rule #2: Kitchen utensils belong everywhere but in the kitchen
Once we were home he had his nap and came out to play for the afternoon. He was playing blocks, throwing them over the stairs and putting them together on the coffee table. He got bored with that pretty quickly and started delving into the kitchen drawers. He found the wooden spoon that I had left there just for him to grab. After banging the spoon on every surface in the house he started following me around, waving the spoon and hollering loudly. I stopped and looked at him, he grinned and promptly stuck the spoon up my shirt. Every time I tried to take it out he yelled and put it back up my shirt. I walked around for half an hour with a long wooden spoon up my shirt. This is what one does to avoid a meltdown over a wooden spoon.
The day is not done yet and already M has established two toddler laws. We'll see what the rest of the day/night brings.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Chicken Soup and a laugh
Today I felt the edge of a sore throat and just didn't feel quite right. My other half has been complaining of this for a couple of days. That made today a chicken soup day. I'm a total cheater when it comes to chicken soup. I buy some good organic broth and a couple of chicken breasts. I cook the onions, garlic, celery and carrots and then I cook the chicken breasts and add them in after breaking them up. Some frozen peas, curry, cumin, cayenne, thyme and ginger and I'm pretty much done. It's enough to clear up anything and everything.
So, the combo of soup and some good Monday night comedy has me feeling pretty good. Thank god for laughing because it really does make a big difference.
So, the combo of soup and some good Monday night comedy has me feeling pretty good. Thank god for laughing because it really does make a big difference.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Happy days
I am doing my uber happy, oh so proud, feeling fantabulous dance now. It's almost midnight. I've spent the last two hours trying to catch a cat. Said cat is now in our guest room. Probably feeling trapped although he has food, water, litter and a nice big bed. I am feeling victorious. I have been trying to catch this cat for four months. He has eluded me. I win!
Cody the Siamese cat belongs to the woman who used to own the house we bought. She was unable to catch Cody so he has been coming to eat on the front step and running away as soon as he sees/hears a human. I vowed to catch him the day we moved in and I finally have.
Cody was outside meowing so I opened the window downstairs and tried to entice him in with some super yummy kitty treats. He was not fooled by me and simply stuck his head in, grabbed a treat and ducked back out. I thought I'd be smart and go outside to sit on the step so that Cody could go in the window and just maybe I could shut the window from the outside. Again he mocked me. This time he came up to me, sniffed and shot to the other side of the steps. I went back in the house, got some more treats, went back downstairs to the window. Rattled the food, listened to him meow in response, rattle, meow, it was a bit repetitive. I had one hand on the window and decided not to look directly at the opening. I heard him take a few treats off the window. I peeked and saw him halfway in. I quickly looked away as he saw me because I didn't want to spook him. I stood with one foot half off the floor, arched to the left with my hand on the window, head down and eyes closed so I wouldn't scare Cody the cat. It took about 10 minutes. 10 very long minutes. I could hear him slowly moving in and I took an occasional peek to check his progress. In my sneakiness I had put the treats on a chair away from the window with a trail leading to them. As soon as I heard him step onto the ledge I slammed the window shut. He responded with a very loud meow.
He's not happy to be trapped inside. He was sitting in the window yelling when I left. I am beaming because I finally achieved my goal. Now I have to decide whether or not I tell the woman who lived here or if I should just let him chill out for a couple of days first. I will tell her because if I were in her position I would hope that whoever had my cat would let me know. I also know that she really wants him back and so does her daughter. Is it really bad though that I want to keep him? After all this work I feel like I've bonded with him.
It will be interesting to see how he is tomorrow morning. I guess that will help decide when I let his human mom know that he has been caught.
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