Poop Emergency

There is a law that exists in the world of Trish. This law states that whenever one of the kids has a huge poop (and I'm not talking about any poop, just the ones that are out of the world!) I am out in public (always in a mall or store) and I am alone! So the very first time that it happened with Bulldozer I was out downtown at a mall. Some crazy guy showed up and decided to sit down at the table right next to me and start up a conversation on our medical system. Oh no. About twenty minutes into the conversation Bulldozer (when he was just a little guy) starts to cry and I try to give the guy who won't shut up the subtle hint that it's time to do just that. No such luck. He continues to talk even though I am now ignoring him and I pick up Bulldozer to soothe his wails. Without looking (oh have I learned my lesson since then) I hold him up to my chest only to realize that's he's completely covered in poop and look at that, so am I! I put him back down in the stroller (much to his protests) and throw a sweater on top of my poop covered shirt which of course doesn't cover the stench of the bowel movement that's claimed the whole front of my precious yellow shirt. Finally I get to a washroom and change Bulldozer because of course I have a change of clothes for him... For the next 1/2 hour I walk around the mall covered in poop trying to find a place that sells an inexpensive shirt. Hubbby shows up just before I complete my task and do you know what he does? He howls. Yes, in the middle of the mall he laughs at me like there's no tomorrow.
This time it's not Bulldozer that gives me a present. I'm walking through Toys "R" Us with the boys and I smell a very distinctive odour coming from the Wee Little One. After ten minutes of fighting with Bulldozer to go to the washroom and leave all the toys behind, I am surprised to realize that my previously clogged up baby has suddenly unclogged himself! So to make a long story sort of short the clean-up process included an entire roll of paper towel (thanks again Toys "R" Us!), a box of wipes and a very strong Trish that insisted on rinsing out the brand new outfit because it was just too cute to waste. Upon meeting my Hubby later, he shared his feelings that saving the outfit (never mind washing it out in the sink) was dispicable and disgusting! Maybe a little bit of that Dutch is shining through in me!

P.S. I washed the outfit and behold, it's as good as new! Take that Hubby!

Check-In

Last day before Hubby goes back to work. Seems fitting that I'm only going to write a few sentences just to say that I've checked in and then go spend some time with the family. That and do some research on what to do about sibling rivalry. Have a good day!

Chores Of The Past

In my grandmother's day women would have a specific day that they completed a certain task. Wednesdays were wash days, Thursdays ironing and Fridays were spent baking... so on and so forth. I love to hear the stories of my grandmother watching the old soap operas while she ironed the week's clothing. Oh, how so much has changed! Now most Moms work and housework is limited to the weekday nights and week-ends, along with family time, etc... I think even finding a woman who regularly irons her family's clothes is becoming scarce and quite honestly, I don't blame them! So with all that talk about housework I am going to spend the rest of my day sweeping, washing dishes, tidying and doing laundry. The laundry just never ends! We went camping last week-end so we have a huge accumulation of dirty sleeping bags and muddy pants. I'm going to salute the women of the past and make my grandmother proud! Wish me luck.

Biting And Two's

Just the other day Hubby and I were looking up information on the net about disciplining toddlers. Having tried the time-outs and the counting to three's, we felt like we were all out of ideas. One article mentioned a serial biter (a toddler of course) who bit when he was sad, happy and excited! Imagine? I love you... ouch! I laughed (even though biting is far from funny) because Bulldozer is not a biter and parents of a non-biter may find these stories funny... well until their kid bites.

So today while out Bulldozer decided to take a chomp out of his little brother's arm. For what reason? I'm not quite sure. Standing humiliated in the dollar store I had to discipline my two year old in front of all those staring eyes. It's during times like these that I am unsure of what to do and how to act. Where's the line between being too strict or too liberal? How to let your little one know that what he or she did is unacceptable but not to allow them to doubt your love for them? These are the questions.

Missing Monkey Part Two

So when Bulldozer first spotted Bananas (my name for him, probably not the owner's real name for him!) he pointed at him and made a monkey sound. I then asked if the monkey was wet... to which he responded, "no clean"! Good lesson.

Missing Monkey?

This morning I awoke to a monkey on my balcony. As I sleepily walked into the kitchen I could see it just strewn across the balcony and sopping wet from the night's downpour. Now what you may ask, was a little monkey doing sitting on my patio? I too asked that question. However putting all questions aside I placed his soaked body in the sun to dry off and explained to Bulldozer that no, this monkey did not belong to us. Finally about mid-afternoon after a long suntanning period, Mr. Monkey's real identity became known to me. Hubby asked the family downstairs if perhaps this little guy had somehow managed to climb his way up on our balcony. Sure enough Bananas was a certain six year old's favorite companion and had landed up here after he swung him around and around. So we returned said monkey to his owner and told the little dude that if he ever lost anything up here again that he could always come and ask for it back!

A Day Out

You know what's nice sometimes? Just getting away... My very wonderful husband took BOTH kids so I could go out today with a friend for lunch. While he was taking the kids to the pool I was sitting on a terrace drinking a bottle of white wine! While he was at the mall (with both kids) I was sitting at a dessert restaurant pigging out on strawberry/peach crumble and then going to garage sales! Good times. I, Trish, am very thankful for a very wonderful husband!

Five Reasons

Stuff I love about our new neighbourhood:

1. Upon meeting a local (living here for ten years) walking his dogs, I chatted about having moved here from our previous neighbourhood. He knew this place and when I described our new hood' as having "more character" (commenting on the type of housing)... he said, drum roll, "Ya you could say that"! Hmmm... what's that supposed to mean?

2. Our downstairs neighbours leave their car doors unlocked and the windows down too! Where else in Montreal can you do that without having to move into the boonies? Oh wait, even here you're not supposed to leave the car doors unlocked! News flash... people steal cars.

3. On the day that we moved in a friend came bounding into the house declaring, "I just saw a man in pantyhose walking down the street!" Interesting.

4. The best part of living in this area is trying to convince taxi drivers that you don't live on the two cities (sorry excuse me, I mean boroughs) that border the three streets that are your hometown! Yes the pointless map boundaries that declare three lone streets neither one city nor the next.

5. And my number five reason for loving our new place: because it's the friendliest, most down-to-earth, best neighbourhood ever!

Two Hats In One Week

Bulldozer lost his Habs hat and he was so crushed, his "Bubba" got it for him and he loved it so much! Now today while we were out the Wee Little One decided to launch his own hat out of the stroller while we weren't looking! I suppose he imagined a life without having to wear a hat (have I mentioned that he hates hats?), that must be a dream world for most babies! However to his disadvantage we found the "lost" hat on our trek home and he looked so dejected. Poor Boo. I looked at him and asked what he had done with his hat and his face lit up with this evil grin! I then showed him the hat and he looked a tad bit confused! He must consider himself one unlucky dude!

New Beginnings

Our new landlord is great, I can't believe that he actually gets work done! The bigger things that need to get done, for example the laundry room, are being completed at such a fast pace. I could never have asked our previous landlord for anything, never mind the smaller cosmetic-like details. Today we had our landlord over for supper after he worked all day on our home and we mentioned some small things. He's decided that he's putting in a new toilet paper holder/hand towel holder, can you believe it? I know it may sound stupid to others but it's those little details that make a house a home. We're also getting another latch on our door to make it baby safe which is a relief because Bulldozer's able to unlock and open the door himself. Cheers to a wonderful landlord!

Up And Running

I'm baaaccckkk... I have to admit there were a few days of absolute laziness in which we actually had our Internet hooked up but I kept forgetting to charge the laptop. What an excuse! Now hopefully I'll make it a point of logging on each day to update my blog, to log into Facebook and to check my e-mail accounts. Who am I kidding? The computer is one of my only ways to contact the outside world, there's no way I'll drop off the side of the world again! Now I must join my husband for a sit on our new balcony, I will write later.

And This Shall Be The Last...

I'm sitting on my couch surrounded by boxes and disassembled furniture penning my last words before moving. So it's time to say good-bye to this place and I have to say I don't feel like I really have any ties to it. So this is the start to our new life and hopefully a very long time at our new home.

My wish is that the move goes smoothly, without damaged furniture! My biggest concern though is that both kids adjust well to a strange place and feel like they're actually at home. Wish us luck.

Signing off,

Trish

Long Day

So very tired. We spent the day at the new apartment trying to clean up the place before we move in on Sunday. I worked on washing the walls because they're covered with renovation dust. The Hubby washed our floors down on hands and knees so we could let the Wee Little One crawl around. We managed to clean the kitchen cupboards and unpack a few boxes as well. Of course there was even more stuff that could have been done but we only had a limited amount of time. After we left the new place we went out for supper and then rushed back to put the kids to bed. Guess what we did after that? Yes, we packed. We packed and packed and packed. It's now about 11pm and we've gotten almost everything done! Tomorrow we're going to work on taking apart furniture, taking down the curtains and doing all that last minute stuff. Here's hoping that we get through the week-end with no injuries to either people or objects! Now it's off to sleep so I can rest my aching back.

Off To Devil's Hill We Go

We are now the proud owners of a set of keys to our new apartment! I am very happy. There's still a little work to be done but our landlord will be able to do it after we move in. So now it just comes down to packing and taking furniture apart which is never fun! Hubby spent a lot of time while I was gone yesterday packing and getting stuff ready, I don't know what I'd do without him!

When I went to the new place yesterday I felt so at home. There were some neighbours on their front balcony sitting around a table and having an evening glass of wine. They looked so welcoming! Then I saw a couple walking down the street with their very new walking baby, just having a little stroll. Everything seemed so perfect.

Powering Through

Potty training is going fantastic! Bulldozer is powering through the process and I'm so proud of him! He yells "Peepee Poohpooh" when he's ready, we both run to the bathroom, he climbs up onto his stool and then sits on the potty seat that attaches to the toilet. The only slight problem is that he likes to watch his pee or poop come out which leads to a few messes! We've had a good number of days without a single accident. Next step (but probably not too soon) would be to get him going out of the house without a diaper. That part I am not too excited about!

Side note: Sometimes I don't realize how much Bulldozer can actually say! We had just woken up from our morning nap and he started naming all the "Cars" characters. He knows how to say "Lightening", "Boost", "DJ", "Sheriff" and "Doc". Then he pointed to my nose and said "nose". So I continued to ask him the names of the different body parts and he knows how to say mouth, nose, eyes, ears, belly, cheeks, legs, feet, arms and hands! And his new saying of the day was "(Bulldozer) help Daddy" because he was helping Daddy clean up some spilt milk. So cute.

Now Is Now

Bulldozer's new word of the day... "NOW".

One has no idea what impact this makes on the life of parents when their child has learned the significance of the word "now". Imagine this, "That sippy cup of juice isn't for right now, it's for your trip out with Daddy." Wait for it... "No, now!". Or "(Bulldozer), are you hungry? We're going to have supper soon." Then he responds, "NOW!" EVERYTHING is now. Supper, playtime, snack time and apparently we can't get him his potty rewards fast enough because he's always running after us and exclaiming NOW! About the only time that something isn't "now" is when it's later (which he hasn't quite learned to say yet) and that's usually bedtime!

The second word(s) that he's learned are a lot less demanding and a lot more cute! Yesterday I was playing on our bed with Bulldozer. From the other room the Wee Little One started crying and Bulldozer's ears perked up, his little finger raised as if to say "I heard something..." and he climbed down from the bed. He held up one finger and said, "Wait One". Wait one minute! He holds up one finger to make his point and then the little legs start pumping and off he goes to check on his little brother. So adorable. I could see "Wait One" being used for not so caring purposes but for the meantime his expression is just shy of the cutest thing I have ever heard! I love this stage when they just speak what's on their mind without the filter that we are bred to have.

Hot Baby #2

So I have been proved wrong. The Wee Little One's general well-being went from sorta bad to worse. His fever went up and then down and then up again. He went from happy to not so much so! Hubby and I spent a lot of time up with the Boo trying to comfort him last night and not a whole lot of time sleeping. I am tired today. Hubby is feeling worse because he stayed up even longer than I did. When your kids sleep so well you forget what sleepless nights actually feel like. So the Wee Little One's pediatrician wants to see him tomorrow just to make sure that every thing's okay. Wish us luck!

A Real Dutch Boy

I am really proud to announce that Bulldozer is a huge fan of sauerkraut! I believe this is his Dutch heritage shining through!

Hot Baby

We have a health help line in Quebec that has nurses on the other end to answer your health care questions. Usually I call if I have a question about baby care, etc... and I find that they're really laid back and confident that everything is okay. I guess they're trained to be like that so you don't freak out.

The Wee Little One woke up from his nap today with a fever of 38.7 Celsius. I knew he was hot because when I picked him up I could feel his burning skin on my own. He's in a great mood though and he hasn't been fussing all day. He's not tugging on his ears and he's not congested. He is however going through the teething process but so is every other baby in the world! I called the health line to get a second opinion on my decision to just let him be and see what happens.

I told the nurse that I thought he had a fever from teething and she told me that they now know that babies don't get a fever from teething, since when? I feel out of date from the information I knew when I had my first son, a whole twenty-eight months ago! Then she asked me a whole bunch of questions, basically to see if there was anything else wrong. Then she told me that babies don't just have a fever for no reason at all (Really? That's sarcasm!) so it had to be something and maybe it was his ears. I don't know, it doesn't seem like he's pulling on his ears. Seriously, he's in a great mood! She told me to give him Tempra anyway so I did. I'm supposed to keep an eye out on his condition.

Now that I've written this he's getting more fussy as we speak and watch, I'll have to eat my words later on! Here's hoping that the fever will just disappear and that will be the end of that.

House News

The process has started. Today Hubby and my Father moved eighty plus boxes to our new apartment to lighten the load next week-end. Apparently there's still a lot of work to be done in our new place, a few unanticipated problems came up during the renovations! While fixing the laundry room our landlord realized that he had to repair the pipes, which also happened to run into our kitchen of course. So what may have already been a big job turned into a much bigger one. Hubby told me that the bathroom turned out really nice though, dark wood baseboards and trim to match. He even painted the bottom portion of the wall (under the wooden trim) a very light blue to match the decor of our bathroom. Isn't that nice? The sink, bathtub and toilet weren't reconnected but I think they were the next thing on the list to be done. There's still painting to be done as well. I know he's been working really hard at getting everything done before we move in there and I appreciate the hard work! What a HUGE difference between him and our current landlord!

Update on our current apartment situation. Our landlord has decided to rent to the roomates which boggles my mind because he thought we were loud! I know not all roomates are roudy but I wish him luck if they are! I'm also not intending to move the mouse poison myself before we move because I don't feel it's my job to do it. I don't want the poison to come into contact with anything we own so I don't want to have to touch it. I wonder if our landlord is intending to remove the poison traps before the new tenants find out about the friendly visitors! I don't see when he's going to have time to do it considering they're moving in the same day as we are moving out. This should be interesting.

Sitting Up

The Wee Little One is growing up so quickly! His new milestone is that he can go from a lying down on his belly position to sitting up all by himself! You should see the look on his face! I can't help but clap every time he sits up and he just beams up at me, knowing that he's doing something that makes Mommy happy. His dimples show and I wish that I could freeze this moment in time and remember it forever. I love him so much!

Poop In Abundance

Today the kiddies went to Grandma's so I could rest my back/neck again. I spent the whole morning doing exactly that, resting and doing pretty much nothing. Then in the afternoon I took a really nice nature walk at the Angrignon Park trails. It was the first time that I had gone but they are beautiful! There's a pond and weeping willow trees, all very scenic. Walking on pavement really aggravates my neck but taking a stroll on the grass felt much better. It was a very relaxing and peaceful outing.

While enjoying my day the both of my children decided to produce a lot of presents for their Grandma! Since the Wee Little One has been put on laxatives for constipation, he's now having no problem pooping at all! In fact he's been pooping left, right and center. Poor Amma. And Bulldozer refused to put his big boy underwear so he produced some stinky presents too. I can tell you one thing, Amma's garbage went out that night!

What Is It About Toddlers And Not Listening?

So the title says it all. Our oldest does not listen to a word we say, or so it seems some days. We can threaten taking away his most precious toys or send him to the time-out corner but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Some days (okay lets be honest, all days) I am frustrated beyond belief. Our conversation goes something like this... "(Bulldozer), can you please pick up that toy you threw? We do not throw toys." Then he makes the face that lets me know that he is not listening to a word I say! Blank stare and unmoving facial expression. "(Bulldozer), get off of your brother! We do not sit on him." I then become on the receiving end of some really evil looks, including the sullen stare that says, "I don't have to listen to you." Every once in awhile he listens to my instructions or commands without argument. At those times I wonder what I've done right at that moment and try to replicate it so I can achieve success next time. It never works... I know that he isn't the first toddler to disobey his parents but really, is it this hard for everyone to get their little one to listen?

Food Sacrifices

Less than two weeks to go before we move, I am so excited! I'm not excited about the actual moving/unpacking process but I am really happy about the new apartment itself and starting over in a non-rodent infested house! (Although on the topic of rodents, I haven't actually seen one in awhile... fingers crossed for the new tenants.) Hubby spent the day packing up some of the pantry food that we don't need for the next two weeks and it was pretty gross! We have some little black bugs that have gotten into some of our food, I mean on top of our ant infestation! They're these tiny black, hard-shelled beetle-like bugs that apparently are very fond of flour. We threw out about 4KG of whole wheat bread flour because the bugs were more numerous than the actual grains of flour, barf! During our stay here, which has been just over a year, we've probably had to throw out about $150 worth of food from ants and now these mysterious black bugs. Please no bugs in our new home. Please.

I spent the afternoon scrubbing the fabric of our stroller until it looked ALMOST new. Not quite brand new but a whole lot better than it was before. It's absolutely amazing what "Magic" soap can do! Sometime I will tell you the Carbolic Soap Company Story but I'll save it for another day!

To The Doctors We Will Go

So we've finally decided that we're going to the Wee Little One's Doctor to follow-up on his constipation issues. It's been about two and a half months since we've started solid foods and ever since then he's been completely blocked up! We've tried everything, from prunes, to bottles of water to laxatives that are safe for babies. Which brings me to my next point... this morning Hubby called the Doctor's office to try to get an appointment for today. The secretary grilled him left, right and center. I know it's her job but it was very rude. While he was explaining what was wrong she cut him off and said, "is that all yet?" Then she kept suggesting all of the things that we have already tried. It's frustrating because we've been aware of the situation for awhile (and we've been through it, albeit less severe, with our first child) and it's not like we haven't taken all the necessary measures! No bananas... check. Water... check. Prunes... check. On top of that she gave us heck for asking the Pharmacist about laxatives, we were supposed to call the Doctor's office first! With so much clogging up of the system it seemed reasonable to consult a qualified medical professional that has studied medicine! Anyway I'm happy because we finally are going to get everything checked out and make sure he's okay. Wish us luck!

Garbage Picking

Yesterday our little family spent a really nice morning at the park. Hubby bought us some coffee and we sat on the grass watching the Wee Little One practise sitting up and kept an eye on Bulldozer as he scaled the jungle gym equipment. I had so much fun and the best part about the trip was getting out of the house before the sun got super hot.

On the way home from our outing we passed a home that had put out these two wooden chairs for kids. I scanned them as we walked by and realized they looked like they were in perfect condition. Stopping in my tracks I turned to Hubby with a smile, "Oh look at those chairs, they're SO cute..." Blink, blink. So he carried them the last few blocks to our house to officially make us garbage pickers! The seats need some carpenter's glue or nails to make them secure but they are in good condition and clean. I think after I fix them up I'll paint them a bright colour instead of the stark white that they are right now. I'm thinking they'll look pretty cute on our deck at the new place. Yippee for garbage picking!

Packed Up

We worked hard and we managed to pack up a good part of our house. Boxes are crammed into every closet so it actually doesn't look that chaotic! We even cleared out Bulldozer's room (well except the necessary stuff of course) and we were worried when he came home that he'd freak out... instead he was super ecstatic! Do you know why? He had room to race his cars clear across the room and crash them too! What a kid.

A Day Spent Packing

So our whole afternoon will be spent packing sans children... here's wishing that it goes well!

The Sleeping Bear

Bulldozer did not take a nap today. I feel like that should say enough but I will elaborate anyway.

He fought and he fought and he fought. Finally at about lunchtime I gave up trying to get him to sleep and fed him instead. Then after lunch he seemed energized but he still fought not to sleep so I left it and figured we'd just put him to bed right after supper. Didn't quite work out that way. Just as we were about to start making supper he asked to brush his teeth and go to bed. We didn't want him to fall asleep for a nap and then wake up at like one in the morning ready to go again... so we said no. Big mistake. First the screams. Then the flailing. Then the screeching that encourages neighbours to call Child Services! Finally after arguing and arguing and getting absolutely nowhere, we let him go to bed. He climbed up on the couch, started reading a book and then in like thirty seconds he was out! It's funny though, once he was asleep it was like all that ugly toddler behaviour just melted away! He was serene and peaceful. I wanted to hug and kiss him but alas I did not want to wake the sleeping bear!

Learning Time

So the big news of the week:

One, I believe Bulldozer is well on his way to being potty trained! Yes I said it. Maybe this will come back to bite me in the butt but we're two weeks into the process and I'm so excited! I foresee a day without diapers, hopefully sometime before he hits kindergarten! It seemed like such a lost cause because he kept starting and then he would flat out refuse to continue after a few days, I have to admit that I was quite discouraged. However now we have a schedule going and I'm desperately hoping that moving in a month will not mess it up...

So our schedule consists of Bulldozer changing into "big boy underwear" in the morning and the only time he gets to wear diapers is at nap time and if we go out. After all it's only been two weeks so I'm not going to trust fate and go out without the comfort of a nappy YET. We'll see what happens in the future.

Yesterday while at his Grandmother's house he actually went potty on the big toilet! He asked to so I held him up and he made a huge poop! Why do I feel like writing all of this is going to make him hate me later on in life?!?

On another positive note the Wee Little One is making great progress on the crawling front. He doesn't get into the "traditional" crawling position but believe you me, he makes progress moving from point A to point B! He sort of drags his little body on the floor with his arms in front of him and squirms with his hips to propel him forward. This morning he was doing so well, it brought tears to my eyes!

Side note... I went shopping at my favorite second hand store yesterday and bought four new (used) shirts. I also purchased a pair of really nice jeans, a black sweater for when it starts to cool down (if ever) and a belt. Almost a whole new wardrobe! I had so much fun shopping sans children!

All Alone

Doctor's orders were two weeks of bed rest which of course I'm not following but I am being very careful about lifting. That's why tomorrow both kiddies are going to Grandma's house... what am I going to do with myself? I seriously have no idea! Just the thought of a quiet house scares me. Packing boxes for moving kind of defeats the purpose of resting my neck and shoulder but I will have to try to find something to occupy my time. Hubby has to go to his Mom's after work to pick up the kids so even he won't be home till pretty late at night. What to do? What to do?

Crossing My Fingers

One step forward, another back. About a week ago I injured myself doing absolutely nothing at all! Literally I turned my neck and suffered for days before I was able to get to a hospital. Although I have to say once I got to the hospital they gave me a decent supply of pain killers, sleeping pills and anti-inflammatory pills! I had been doing so much better but I woke up this morning with pretty bad pain in my neck, a sort of crick there too. Hopefully the issues will resolve themselves before we have to move in umm, three weeks! Crossing my fingers...

Back In Time

I went on Facebook tonight to check the going-ons of others. A friend had tagged an old picture of Hubby with Bulldozer as a baby in our very first apartment. Tears. Wow has time flown past! It seems like ages ago that Bulldozer was learning to roll over, crawl or even say "dada" for the first time. Now he's already two and we have another wonderful son to watch grow up in front of our eyes. Sometimes I wish I could just go back in time and relish in those moments that passed way too quickly. To pay attention to every little move, every sound, every word. With the Wee Little One on the verge of crawling and babbling like a madman, I have to remind myself that this too will be gone in a blink of an eye. Oh what will I do when they're all grown up? I suppose I'll learn to love their children and their children's children! Still so much more to look forward to.

Never Again

As promised yesterday, today is the day that I will enlighten the world about my recent trip to the spa. Some people spend a considerable amount of money/time in the foreign world of spas but I for one have never actually made a day of it. Hubby works really hard for the money that we have and in order to stay home with the kiddies there are sacrifices that are made. It's not a pity-me statement, not at all. I would gladly give up spa time for other things in life (example trips abroad, new clothes, a car, etc...) even if money wasn't an issue. However because I have the sweetest Hubby in the world, he thought I deserved a day to myself and treated me to a pedicure, manicure and a fifty minute massage! I was so excited at the prospect of relaxing without the sound of screaming children and just letting all the stress melt away. I even splurged and spent an extra twenty-five dollars to enjoy dinner and a glass of wine alongside my spa experience.

The day finally comes and I get to the spa really early to make sure that I don't miss my appointment. A spa employee shows me to my private dressing room (which was really nice and clean) and tells to me to change into a robe and then sit in their lounge area. She apologizes because the lounge is under construction so really it's a big room of comfy seats cordoned off with dividers. To be honest I felt a little uncomfortable so out in the open, especially with the construction workers walking back and forth. Actually a pretty girl walked out right in front of me and one of the construction gave her the up and down, undressing her even further from her white housecoat and slippers! I tightened the housecoat around myself and made sure that I hadn't accidentally tucked the end of it into my underwear or anything! So I sit down in a huge, very comfortable chair and look up only to realize that I'm sitting under the windows of all the offices above. Honestly, the shopping mall that houses the spa has offices above the lounge and anyone, literally anyone can see down. Now I feel a bit out of place. I sit for a while waiting for my lunch to be served and when the woman shows up with my tray I opt to sit in another area with tables. I realize that my food order isn't correct, I'm missing the salmon salad that they had promised me over the phone. I knew when I was placing the order that they had made a mistake because I had asked for the sandwich meal and on their website it stated that you got a green salad with the sandwich... However when the lady offered the salmon salad I figured maybe I was the one that had made the mistake. The food was pretty good but definitely nothing special. There was no wine that came with my meal so I assumed that it would be served later during the actual spa procedures. I didn't say anything for fear of sounding cheap but I was annoyed because beyond the employees not actually knowing their menu properly, I figured for $25 they should at least offer me the promised wine. Instead I decide to wait. The massage came next. I had decided to get the shoulder, neck and back specialty (mostly because that's where I always have pain!) but found it a bit odd that the masseuse did my whole body anyway. The pedicure/manicure followed the massage but with what seemed like a significant waiting time between. At the end of my manicure the very nice lady told me to go back to the lounge and wait. I have to admit that I thought it a bit odd since I was done everything but obeyed because I figured what do I know about spa experiences! I waited, I waited and I waited. After a nice forty-five minute stay, three chocolate dipped strawberries later and nerves of steel, I got up and went back to my private dressing room. Inside was a customer comment card which I felt obliged to fill out and express my dissatisfaction (and that was before I actually went through the check out...) I was pissed. I didn't get my wine. I was told to wait and for what reason? I quickly dressed and made my way to the reception desk to pay for my overpriced lunch. The girl at the reception desk looked up at me with a smile. "Did you enjoy everything?" I answered as honestly as I could, "No, not really." She didn't say anything and kept typing away. Then she looks up and I can tell that the friendly smile is gone and she's no longer happy. Quite sarcastically she asks, "So I guess that means that you have a complaint?" I politely explain my issues, only one of which was the matter of the wine. "Well do you want it now?" I held my tongue because I wanted to answer, "Seriously? You expect me to stand at the reception desk like an idiot drinking a glass of wine because you didn't even have the courtesy to offer it to me during my stay?" I hold back and say no thanks. Then I ask for my official massage receipt for insurance purposes (not everyone is rich you know!) and she tells me that I should have asked the masseuse. Again she seems to think I should know all of this. So because I didn't ask the masseuse I am told that I have to wait for her to send it in the mail, I will receive it in a few business days. Urggh.

So the massage cost about forty dollars more than a traditional massage would cost at a "regular" massage parlour and didn't live up to my standards. The food was mediocre and cost enough that I regret making the decision to dine there. The non-existent wine was exactly that, non-existent. The manicure and pedicure were quite enjoyable, I'd go back to get the same ones done if I didn't have to deal with the actual spa itself! The topper to the cake was the extremely rude receptionist that I have a whole bunch of words for and will never get to express them! All in all for the money that my wonderful Husband put out for the day, I feel hugely disappointed. I couldn't lie to him either so I had to tell him about my disappointment which I could tell broke his heart. He works hard for the money that he makes and sadly it was wasted (to no fault of his own) on a day at Spa Diva.

I don't think I'll be going back any day soon.

Update

I will soon share my thoughts on my spa experience. Consider this a reminder to myself!

A Long Time My Friend

Well for a very good reason I haven't written in a quite some time. It's a long story and technically I'm not supposed to be typing away on the computer but hey, I have a good dose of cabin fever and the pills haven't quite kicked in yet!

It all started with a planned surprise party for Hubby, his big 30th birthday. Months went into planning all the details and getting people to attend. On the actual day I was navigating my e-mail account (while he sat beside me) and realized that the risky routine was perhaps a bit too daring since it was the actual day of the shindig. I had all sorts of updates and cancellations from his friends which I obviously didn't want him to see. I turned with the laptop in my arms to face him (so he couldn't see the screen) and all of a sudden something felt a little... odd. Then this searing pain in my neck and I realized I couldn't turn it to the left or to the right. Uh oh. I have to admit I kind of freaked out because I didn't want to be sitting at his surprise birthday dinner not being able to turn my neck. No problem. I found a local massage therapist and went for a therapeutic massage (which was so painful!) only to find my neck in no better shape than before. Oh well, I'd just have to live with it. So the birthday party went really well. Everyone showed up, the food was good, he got birthday money to go towards a new tattoo and we partied till the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday comes. I wake up and I'm having more pain than the day before and my shoulder is aching. Finally by Sunday night Hubby decides that I should go get some help since I can barely move and he has to work the next day. Kids get shipped off to Grandma's and off we go to the hospital to get a little TLC. TLC came in the form of having to wait till almost five the next morning to return home! With a bottle of anti inflammatory drugs I was sure my problem was over. This brings us to Monday. Hubby's at work. The kids are still at Grandma's. I wake up around 9 (the one day I actually get to sleep in!) and the pain is ten times worse and it's shooting down my arms and into my hands. My head is pounding and I cannot even come close to moving my neck or my shoulder. The waves of nausea start. I decide to call 911 and they promptly arrive to bring me back to the hospital that I had just come back from not so many hours ago. As soon as I arrived I knew it wasn't good news. There were ambulances coming in left right and center from car accidents and heart attacks and the waiting room had about forty or so people waiting to be seen. Seeing that I wasn't dying (oh but the pain...) they plopped me into a wheelchair and deposited me in the waiting room. All I could see was a repeat of the day before.

I had no intention of waiting twelve plus hours to see a doctor so I tested my sea legs (I didn't faint, that was a good sign right?) and decided to step out and use my cell phone for some advice. Hubby came first. "Do whatever you want to. Just make sure you call me and tell me where you are." Thanks. Then I figure my Dad may be a little more understanding..., "Dad I took an ambulance to the hospital and the waiting time is huge, I'm in so much pain and I don't know what to do..." The tears threaten to spill. "Well I guess you'll just have to wait!" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Well forget everyone and their lack of support, I, the mother of two boys, the super hero, would find a way. So I staggered to a Pharmacy to pick up a neck brace (which is a story in itself...) and made my way down the very big hill to another hospital! Okay I can't not write about my neck brace story, it just adds so much humour in an already, interesting situation! From the moment I told my Dad I had neck pain, way before any of this really serious neck pain started, he advised me to purchase a neck brace. He absolutely insisted they worked and worked like no other drug, etc... could possibly work. By the time I was limping down the hill to go to the other hospital his words kept resounding in my head, "buy a brace, buy a brace, BUY A BRACE." I did. When I got to hospital number two I was received with open arms but was told that stretchers weren't available at that moment and I would have to try to sit. I did. I sat for a total of five hours before the pain became so excruciating I thought I was going to pass out or puke. I re-triaged myself and the so very nice nurse found me a bed to lie down in so I could wait the rest of my time. Hubby had to leave to go pick up the kids and bring them home so I drifted in and out on my lonely stretcher waiting for a doctor to come and tell me what was wrong. Finally at about eleven o'clock at night I was wheeled into a room and the do you know what was the first thing that doctor said to me? "Who told you to wear a neck brace?" (I appeared as a dog with its tail between its legs and couldn't quite manage to get the words out.) She continued, "Well they don't work so take it off, they're absolutely useless." Gulp. I ripped the sucker off half expecting my neck to break in two but instead I actually felt some relief! That is the last time I listen to my Dad's medical advice! This comes from the man who insists that a shot (or two or three) of Vodka before bed will prevent all ailments, from colds to cancer! Anyway all of this to say that I was diagnosed with a pinched nerve, muscle inflammation and a "frozen" neck and shoulder. They sent me home with painkillers, sleeping pills, anti inflammatory drugs an a laxative in case they block me up!

The pain is getting less and less and my mobility is getting better every day. I'm supposed to be on bed rest for two weeks which is never, ever going to happen but I will listen to one thing that the doctor told me and that is I will try not to lift for that two week period. I made the mistake of doing lifting this afternoon and instantly realized that it was not a good idea. So aside from feeling entirely stoned twenty-four hours a day from the drugs I am on my way to a smooth recovery. Lesson that I learned in this whole process ... be very careful doing absolutely nothing!

A Good Night

Here's hoping that Bulldozer goes to sleep without a fight tonight. It's been rough lately, he's lapsed back into fighting us tooth and nail to stay up. It wouldn't be so bad if he was using his crafty ways to try to convince us but instead he screeches, screams, kicks and throws himself all over the floor! I think that our neighbours probably wonder what goes on behind closed doors! ... Well Hubby just came out of the room and except for one more attempted escape things are going pretty well. Even the Wee Little One is dozing in his rocking chair and all feels right with the world. I am very tired tonight and my back hurts so I'm looking forward to an earlier night and some rest to face the week-end ahead. There's a lot to look forward to! :) More to follow...

As a side note I'm very proud of the Wee Little One! He is making great progress in the transportation department, meaning the transportation of himself. He's not quite crawling yet but he's getting pretty close. Go Wee Little One!

A Day At The Spa

Two more days and I get pampered! You heard right, my wonderful and loving Husband bought me a spa gift certificate for our anniversary and I'm finally going to get to use it. I am entitled to one super special pedicure/manicure and even a fifty minute shoulder, back and neck massage! (Hubby made me promise that I will not ask him for a massage that day :) I don't even know what to do in these sort of places... I know they must see all kinds but I keep looking at my feet in disgust! My toenails have specks of bright pink nail polish that I originally put on my feet like two months ago! I never, ever push back the cuticles on my fingernails never mind my toenails. My pinky toe is so absolutely tiny I don't even know if it's worth painting! Sometimes I think that I just dot a little nail polish onto my actual toe to give the illusion of something being there. I have calluses. I have rough spots. I have dry skin. I've been trying to grow my fingernails for the last two months so I could have longer painted nails! No success. Instead my nails, each and everyone of them, have broken off at some point. Now they are short and there's not much I can do about that! Anyway I suppose I am just a regular person, not everyone in the entire world has perfectly kept up extensions of their hands and feet! Extra luck to the person that has to make my nails look extra special.

The Tie That Binds

It's not always as easy as 1-2-3. As I grow older I start to understand family dynamics a bit better. What seemed so straightforward when I was five or ten or even sixteen, no longer seems to apply today. I am sad to report that my unusually optimistic view of the future has somewhat depleted. I feel like things that were or are to be said or done will be beyond repair. No, I do not hold resentment but I feel as though the tie that binds is a thin one. I pray that this tie will not be split in two and shatter all that I've known and loved. If we can just get past this...

Breathing Easy

So I am happy to report that the gastroscopy is done and over with and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! Other than the extreme tiredness and grogginess (and the accusations from Hubby that my pupils were dilated!), it was a lot better than certain other procedures that I've had done in the past... *ahem* colonoscopies. I would have another ten gastroscopies before I would have one single colonoscopy! It always helps when the camera goes down a more acceptable place rather than up a less desirable one! So when it's all said and done, I'm a happy camper.

Stress

So tomorrow is the day. The day that I will be having a camera shoved down my throat to see if if I have an ulcer or if I have another stomach problem that they can't see on a regular x-ray. I am NOT looking forward to this. My Hubby's grandmother tells me it's nothing... I don't believe her. I saw my grandmother yesterday and she has to get a gastroscopy done because she's having stomach problems and she asked me if I knew if it was painful or anything like that. I couldn't look into her hopeful eyes and tell her otherwise so I told her the truth... "Scott's grandma told me it's nothing!" I believe that's called blame displacement or something! If it ends up being a horrible, terrible, painful experience than at least I didn't say it was nothing! I know that's low. At least they give you sedatives to get through the very traumatic experience but then they warn you that you may not be able to walk afterwards! How is my very skinny Hubby going to support me going home? This shall prove to be quite the interesting experience.

Remembering on Saturday

I got to see my "Nanny" today and I am happy to report that she's doing well! It's hard to see her in a nursing home since it means that I have to admit that she's getting older and not too slowly may I add. However I am really glad that she has the help that she needs since that was a definite source of worry. The nursing home itself seems to be nice (the grounds are gorgeous!) and the staff's extremely helpful and warm. I know that it won't feel like home for a while but it's got to be a close second when she's not self-sufficient anymore.

While I was at the nursing home I got some of my Nanny's past history; the story of how our family came to Canada and other great tidbits of information from her past. I'm really thinking about writing some sort of book or something. It feels really good to know more and more about my heritage. There may be more stories to follow...

So Very Tired...

A day without a nap is like a day without a sense of normalcy. From start to finish today was a spiral of ups and downs, crazy outbursts and severe mood swings! At about 9:30AM Hubby sent Bulldozer for his morning nap. Not even twenty minutes later while Hubby was outside hosing down Dexter's cage (he's our resident rodent, the "invited" one) and I of course had to be on the phone dealing with customer service personnel, he came out of his room bawling. I frantically called Hubby back upstairs and finished off my conversation about fifteen minutes later to a still awake child. He did not want to go for his nap. He pulled the potty card and managed to waste a whole bunch of time by sitting on his potty so he wouldn't have to go for his nap. Finally at 11AM I told Hubby that it was pointless to send him to bed since we were leaving in an hour to go to the Montreal Jazz Festival. So no nap it was. Then as we were leaving the house I told Bulldozer that if he wanted to enjoy a day out then he'd have to do a "sleepies" in the stroller. "Yes!" he replied. Ya right. In all fairness he did eventually fall asleep (pretty much when we got to the Festival) but he only stayed asleep for half an hour! Then he was up, peppy and ready to go. What's the problem with that you ask? Well his good natured attitude wore off and come the end of the day, he was filled with the venom of a child who had not slept! On the bus ride home he did not amuse us with screeches, spitting, scrunchy noses and just plain ole' not listening to his parents techniques. To make matters worse we didn't get him to bed until 9PM! No that's a day. A hot shower, a Hubby massage and then all I want to do is sleep.

My heart dropped out of my chest last night and I didn't have the energy left to talk about it. Hubby and I were watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and right at the end of the show there was a huge crash and bang. Hubby flew from the couch before I could even react... I followed a few steps behind him. All I could think was that something fell on Bulldozer and he wasn't even crying in protest. By the time I reached the door Hubby had thrown on the lights in Bulldozer's room and was in the process of going to check on the Wee Little One. I felt sick to my stomach. All I could think about was the crib and maybe it had collapsed... Thank god no one was hurt and everything was okay. Surprisingly even though Hubby had said that Bulldozer had opened his eyes when he turned on the lights, he must have done so and promptly went back to bed! When I peeked my head in he was fast asleep so I turned off the lights and closed the door. The Wee Little One didn't wake up from all the commotion either. There was something about the crash that left both Hubby and I drained of all emotion; left feeling raw and empty. We had a good cry and then headed off to bed.

Oh by the way it was a big plastic frog that holds Bulldozer's bath toys that had fallen off the wall.

Something Old, Something New

There's nothing like a new bra and underwear to make you feel confident! I don't know what it is, it's not like everyone can see your underclothes, but it still feels good to know that you look good underneath! Hooray for bras and underwear!

Progress

I'm convinced that the Wee Little One is going to crawl soon! I'm so excited! This morning before I pulled my tired butt from bed Hubby told me that he had gotten his little legs under him and then sort of pulled forward with his arms. Then while Hubby was busy doing something he tried to crawl twice! He was resting on his elbows and his knees and then all of sudden, boom! He fell sideways and laughed! I clapped and clapped and clapped. You know you have to encourage him to move forward!



On a not so positive note I think the Wee Little One is teething. He's refusing to eat as much as he was before, he had some pink spots on his cheeks and he wouldn't let me go anywhere near his mouth! He cried and cried and cried. I gave him some Tempra which seemed to help and then I gave him another dose around supper time and now he's passed out and sleeping. Poor Boo. I feel so helpless during these episodes because there's not much that I can do about his pain. I can just hope that he gets through it quickly. With Bulldozer we never really had any problems with teething, he took it like he takes everything else: head on! I can only remember one time when he really fussed and we had to dose him up with Tempra. No two babies are alike!

New Word Of The Day

Bulldozer now exclaims, "NASTY"! Yesterday he giggled and said "nasty pooh pooh"! What a kid!

Continuation Of "Happy Daddy Day"

We went out for dinner at Score's for Father's Day. The food was really good and the boys were amazing! No fits, no screaming matches, no throwing food; everything went smoothly! Then after our dinner we went home and when the boys were in bed we watched one of the Indiana Jones movies! It was actually pretty good. I haven't seen it in years so I didn't remember anything except for the ball rolling scene. We also enjoyed a few glasses of apple cider. All in all it was a wonderful Father's Day.

Happy Day Daddy

So I let Hubby sleep in till, get this, 7:00AM! Normally he's up at five with the boys but I wanted to let him to get a little extra sleep specifically for Father's Day. Unfortunately for him a guy is coming to buy our washer and dryer so I had to get him up so we could eat before he got here! I made him an egg, toast and fruit breakfast and then he opened his cards. Bulldozer got him a card with a monkey on it and it sings "Born To Be Wild", it's so cute! I caved and gave him his Father's Day gifts yesterday because I was excited! Sometimes I'm like a big kid. We got him a Slash cd, a pocket knife and the pins to blow up basketballs. What "manly" gifts!

So I was reflecting on why I think that my Hubby is the best Dad ever and this is what I came up with. He's giving, he gives so much of himself to our family I couldn't ask for more of him. He's caring; he's a mushy ball of fluffiness (not really possible but you get the point!). He's reliable. This is an important one for me. When he says he's going to do something or be somewhere, he is. That's important to kids. He's honest. He tells me how he feels. He's loves to play and joke around with the kids. Bulldozer idolizes Daddy. He's a strong rock that's super supportive but he knows when to say "enough is enough". I love you Hubby. Happy second Father's Day!

A New Skill

So our seven month old son has learned a very "valuable" lesson in life. He has learned to remove his diaper, you heard me right, all by himself. What a wonderful, fantastic, beautiful thing to learn at such a young age! I have nightmares of walking into his room in the morning only to find poop smeared all over his walls because he's taken his diaper off in the night and has been creating beautiful pieces of art! Up until now I've been waiting for what Bulldozer will do if left alone but I have a hunch that might change...

Husbands Are Gross

Yesterday was hot so when we went to bed we decided to put the fan on. It started making this sound like something plastic was caught in the blades and I couldn't sleep from the noise. Hubby then spends fifteen minutes tinkering with the fan but to no success. I crack a joke that he's making the fan worse not better... Then he says, "Oh wait, let me try something." He puts the fan behind his body and I'm thinking in my head that he's lost it. All of a sudden I get a whiff of staleness; the inside of your body smell! Hubby had taken the fan to his butt to propel the smell of his *ahem* fart towards me! Really? What are you like five years old? The best/worst part was that when he told me he wanted to try something and then put the fan up to his butt I never once thought he'd do anything like that! Oh what faith.

Mr. Happy/Mr. Sad

I've decided that the Wee Little One reminds me a whole lot of those kid's books with Mr. Happy and Mrs. Polite, etc... You know the ones that I'm talking about, right? They had a really simple cartoon drawing on the front and the title in bold black letters across the top. Anyway if I could condense all of those titles into a nickname for my youngest (I mean something more original than Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) I would!

When he's hungry he goes from perfectly happy and smiling to screeching his lungs off for something to eat. There's no happy medium with this child! He even has this split personality trait where he's crying his eyes out but still has a half smile on his face and he's even giggling a bit in between the screams!

Another area that we tend to see this extreme flip of character is if we are out in the "elements". From the time he was born the Wee Little One never liked the wind, the cold or even too much heat. It makes for tough living considering usually one of those three conditions exist on any given day. Today on the bus ride home he was ducking his head out of the way from the rays of sun that were streaming in the bus windows. Again perfectly content to absolutely pissed in 1.5 seconds!

Everything seems to be coming together for the big moving day. I am happy and very much relieved. We have transportation ... we have manpower ... we have a baby sitter. All the important areas have been covered. I can only hope (although I may be pushing my luck) that the day will be sunny (or overcast, just not raining) and not overly hot. I plan to park my butt at the new house and spend the day directing traffic, cleaning up and unpacking. It's going to be quite the day!

My only worry about the move pertains to Bulldozer. The last time we moved he would cry whenever he saw a box because he thought we were going to pack away his toys, etc... Now he's a little older and I can't help but wonder if that's a blessing or a curse. He's also a little more verbal so he might actually be able to tell us what he thinks! I told him about two weeks ago that Mommy, Daddy, Bulldozer and the Wee Little One were going to be moving to a new house. He keeps saying "yup!" So much enthusiasm but I'm afraid he really doesn't know what moving means. No more seeing his old house or sleeping in the bedroom that he's been in for the last year or so. Not the same buses or stores or even neighbours. I can only hope that he transitions well. We're not the only parents who have decided to uproot their children and move to another house! So here's suggestion time, what can I do to make the move a little less traumatizing for him? I appreciate the comments!

Super Mom Gone Down

So for payment for such a great day yesterday, today was the absolutely horrible. Before I awoke at 7:30 Hubby had already given Bulldozer two time-outs! On top of that it was my bright idea to stay up till 1:30 in the morning trying to finish the novel I was reading and as you can imagine I was very tired today! It's almost eight o'clock at night and I still don't think that I've woken up! However aside from the wee little one's unhappiness due to the later hour of the day, Bulldozer is fast asleep in his bed and some order has been restored. I am waiting for my Dad to show up with our washing machine and dryer that we bought online. Him and his friend so graciously offered to pick it up for us.

Oh no! As I write I keep hearing our Swiffer vacuum/broom contraption making this pathetic, dying noise. That is not good. What else is going to pick up all of Dexter's turds so efficiently? A broom and dustpan are just not as easy.

A Day Without Time-Outs!

Is it possible? I am in complete and utter shock. While Hubby was at work today I got through an entire day without giving Bulldozer a single time-out! I know, isn't that amazing? From a million time-outs a day to none. I don't even know what to say. The gods worked in my favour.

On top of having a time-out free day I also managed to get a whole bunch of stuff done too! Three loads of laundry, general clean-up, two loads of dishes, folding laundry and I made a roasted chicken with potatoes, celery and carrots (complete with homemade gravy too!). Even Bulldozer seemed to enjoy it. I tried my hand at homemade rolls but even though they tasted okay they flopped. Hubby told me my "biscuits" were good, hmm...

Overjoyed

Okay so maybe "overjoyed" is a bit of an exaggeration but I am definitely very happy because we have found a new washer and dryer! Some may underestimate the importance of said machines but those of us who have kids understand the great need for them! It's not like our new place has a communal laundry room and there are no laundromats around either! However none of this matters because I bought I two year-old used washer and dryer off of Kijiji or Craigslist (one of those websites) and it is being picked up and brought to our apartment on Wednesday. Now all we have to do is get rid of our old ones... One step at a time.

On the topic of laundry we have a whole lot of laundry to do! We've been slacking and the pile has just been growing bigger and bigger. For some reason when there's clutter in the house (including but not limited to piles of laundry) I can't sleep very well at night and during the day I feel uneasy. I can't deal with clutter... I feel a little bit claustrophobic. So every once in awhile when things have gotten out of control I pull the "Trish is boss" card! I wave my magic wand and all these helping hands come out of nowhere to aid in the major clean-up of the house! I swear it's magic.

A New Burrito Addition To The Family...

The wee little one was rolling around on his quilt that my Mom made for him. He managed to get all wrapped up, from head to toe, he resembled a burrito quite well!

Screeching Good Times

We had a wonderful family day. Yes, we "cheated" and went out for lunch... but in all fairness we had lunch REALLY late and we were all very hungry! The words of a fast food addict. The highlight of my day was a trip to the splash pad in NDG. I could have watched Bulldozer play for hours in the water, he was just so cute! At the end Hubby kept asking him if we wanted to get out of the water because his lips were dark blue but he insisted he wasn't cold! Finally we had to leave to make it back in time to cook supper. It was a gorgeous day.

A close second to the ultimate highlight of my day was seeing "Uncle Stew" work at the restaurant making bagels. Bulldozer loves "Too" (as he calls him!) and was overjoyed to watch him work at the ovens. When we left the restaurant he kept repeating, "Bye Too ... bye Too!"

To Rain Or Not To Rain...

Yesterday called for rain. It did not rain. Today looks like it's going to rain. The forecast says no rain. Do you think it's going to rain? Probably.

I'm at a loss for what to do today. I don't want to spend the whole day in the house if it's going to be beautiful but then again I don't want to be out with the children all day if it's going to pour! What to do? There are all sorts of street festivals going on but to me that means spending money... shopping, eating out, the likes. Not a good scenario for people trying to save up to move! Besides how exciting can it be for Bulldozer to spend the whole day going in and out of stores? I just want to avoid staying in, all day, everyday.

Suggestions?

P.S. My throat feels better (it was raw last night) but I still feel congested and icky. Boo to sickness. Boooooo.

In Between

I'm neither sick nor well. This drives me nuts! I'd rather be full-fledged sick, lying in bed complaining about how crappy I feel opposed to being only halfway there... My throat has been bugging me for days, my head feels congested with slime and gunk and I feel very rundown. Sick enough to feel not so great but not sick enough to warrant lying in bed and being pampered! Of course the best case scenario would be to not feel sick at all! Then it would be Trish against the world! Follow-ups to come.

F1 Festivities

We spent the day taking in the sites and sounds of downtown Montreal. We've sort of laid off of visiting high traffic areas because it can be a disaster with a stroller and a very slow-walking toddler! It went well though. We saw the race cars, took in some free beer, collected free boxes of Trisquits (a total of three!) and then the best, Bulldozer got to take a picture with the F1 girls! I know, I know. Tacky you might think. However when the three scantily clad girls (really were they even eighteen yet?) picked up our son to pose for the picture it was the look on his face that was the highlight of my day. A sly grin with a hint of shyness (which we all know doesn't really exist!) that made them swoon but not enough shyness to prevent him from posing for the pictures! Golden.

Just in case the joke was missed from my last entry, we laughed because it was like Bulldozer was saying that Mommy was a piece of meat ... Daddy's meat. Way over his head at the tender age of two but funny nonetheless!

So today is the day that the wee little one pooped! For an entire month he's pooped hard rodent-like pellets (except for maybe a total of a couple of semi but not entirely soft bowel movements) and we had tried everything to unblock him. First his Doctor had suggested glycerin suppositories which failed to work and only left us traumatized from having to keep them in for fifteen minutes. Next step was a constant dose of anything that we thought would relieve him, from prunes to prune juice. It was a no go. Then we called our local health line and they suggested trying, get this, water! Well wasn't that obvious? Maybe it would have worked had the wee one decided that he would actually participate in drinking the stuff! So that was a failure. The nurse on the phone also suggested we try a teaspoon of corn syrup which did absolutely nothing. Finally I was ready to bring him in to see the Doctor or even a trip to the hospital so I figured I'd try the pharmacy. A laxative that was safe for babies was recommended and that brings us to this moment in time... Hubby is leaning over a nappy filled to the brim with a present that I've so long been looking forward to. RELIEF.

Kids Say The Funniest Things!

So up until today I thought that the funniest thing that Bulldozer had ever said was the answer to a question that I had asked him. "(Bulldozer), who's cute?" I say. Bulldozer responds with his own name. Then I ask him, "who's vain?" Bulldozer smiles and says, "DADDY!" So true.

New funniest comment... Hubby is standing at the window waiting for the butcher to deliver our meat package. He's getting impatient so he says, "Where's my meat?" Bulldozer turns around and points to me! Uh oh.

Clearing Out

So we are in the process of cleaning out the house and deciding what to take with us to our new place and what to give away, etc... I can't decide if I'm actually enjoying this whole process or not. In one way it's very cleansing to toss old items that you don't need anymore and well the obvious other side of the equation is that it's a whole lot of work! One by one we go through every piece of clothing to every book (and that's a lot of books!) and try to make a decision as to whether we really want or need the item. So far so good. We've weeded out an entire box of books that are are going "bye-bye" and some broken/McDonald's toys that are being thrown out (do not tell Bulldozer though!). The whole idea is to reduce our belongings to a significant amount less since we have at least half the storage room at our new home than we do here. So much to do in so little time. As the time nears though I'm getting more and more excited about moving.

Just One More Addition

I just had to add this one...

18. Asking for a banana. I give him a little piece because I'm positive he's not going to eat the whole thing. He scarfs the little piece down. He asks for more. I give him one more little piece. He eats that one as well. Then he asks for "biiii nana" ("big banana"). I ask him, "are you sure you're going to eat the rest of the banana?" Of course he answers yes. I give him the remainder of the banana. I turn my back to make the wee little one's breakfast and when I turn back a few minutes later the remainder of the banana has been squished between his fingers and he announces "all done!" Urggh.

I will add just one more today but with the admission that this one is entirely my fault!

19. The pouty face. I taught him how to do it as a joke but of course it has come back to bite me in the butt. Anytime he doesn't get his way now the little bottom lip curls down and the eyes look like they are going to well up with tears. There's a reason we call him a "drama king"...

Additions

So I slept on it and I've reviewed the information on my last post and this is what I'd like to add:

16. Tweaking nipples. I know I hear the groaning but it's true. He thinks it's funny to tweak Hubby's nipples and today he even managed to do both at the same time!

17. Biting. This is a new one that I thought had passed us by. In the last twenty-four hours Hubby has received a total of two bites. One of them actually looks more like a puncture wound though.

I seem to be noticing a pattern here, who seems to be the one on the receiving end of all the injuries?

The Terrible Two's

Maybe someone would like to enlighten me about ALL the horrors of the terrible twos! So far it has involved:

1. Screeching on top of his lungs when we say no, when he's frustrated, when he's excited, etc...
2. After months and months of being really gentle with his brother, now he's decided to turn on him. The other day I walked in to find him in the process of trying to stand on his little brother!
3. Throwing food. I don't even know what to say about this one. Tonight's beans got tossed clear across the table.
4. Squishing food. One hand - bean - other hand, sssssssqqqqqqqquuuuuuiiiiiiiissssssshhhhhhhh.
5. Refusing to eat food. One day he'll eat more than the Hubby and the next day he'll eat one whole piece of meat and announce "ALL DONE!"
6. Throwing toys at anyone and everyone. Tonight the target was his "Nanny" and his "Buppa" - sorry about that again.
7. Total meltdowns pretty much all the time (my favorite of all the "wonderful" actions of a two-year-old)
8. Insisting that he must do EVERYTHING even if he's too little or too tired or just not able to. If he can't do that said thing or we say no than he tends to complete #7
9. Putting him to bed and watching him come out over and over to try to get out of going to bed.
10. Waking up in the middle of the night - he didn't even do this when he was a baby!
11. Whining. For a toy, for "iced tea", for a family member, for food, to get down from his chair at the dinner table and the list goes on.
12. Repeating "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" until I stop what I'm doing or saying to pay attention to him. Do I detect a little Stewie in him?
13. Throwing fits while I'm on the phone, even if it's only for a minute, to get my attention.
14. Insisting he's full until the dessert comes out.
15. Purposely waking up his little brother from his slumber. Grrr...

Anyone want to add anything?

Hooray!

I can't help but express how absolutely relieved I am that we found a place to live! We are not in fact going to be living in a box! We have found a beautiful place (albeit smaller than what we have here) but the landlord seems like an entirely honest and trustworthy guy (what a change!) and the apartment is in really good condition. Although I have to add, our current landlord has been really good about the whole situation. Despite not getting along with us he actually gave us a good reference. All in all things seem to be coming together quite nicely. Now once I convince the maximum amount of people possible to help us move I'll be less stressed! One step at a time...

Bzzz...

This morning we were sitting at the table for breakfast and all of a sudden I hear "bzzzz" which actually sounds a little more like "pssttt". "Bzzzz" is not a good thing, in our house it means that Bulldozer has spotted a spider. If Hubby was around he'd probably would have jumped three feet in the air! Well the source of the "bzzzz" was actually a fly that had landed on the table. I had to laugh because Bulldozer kept flapping his arms like wings, making the little "pssttt" sound and then saying "bye, bye" every time the fly would relocate to a new place! At one point he was so frustrated with the fly so he was "scolding" him; he was shaking his finger back and forth and talking up a storm with the limited words he knows! If only I had videotaped it...

I walked for three hours today. Ha, take that nutritionist! Sorry still some residual angry feelings about having to cut down on the amount that I eat! I'll thank her when I've gotten down to my target weight of 130 pounds but in the meantime I remain bitter. Anyway back to my walking... so I walked for three hours like I said to do some more apartment hunting in NDG. Not too much luck. An icky real estate agent told me that I was wasting my time trying to find an apartment in our price range in NDG, realistic or not that wasn't very nice! Besides we have found some in our price range, the problem is that they are all for the month of July and we need an apartment for August the first. Tonight I'm going to see an upper duplex in the Montreal West area because I think it would be smart to expand our search so if we can't find an apartment in NDG than we are not left homeless! (Although once upon a time I had a dream that I lived in a box...) First I'll see the home although I think that being one bus ride away from the orange line on the metro is a very good thing. Grandparents can thank me later... :)

A No Post Day

Yesterday was a no post day. I guess between the stress of having to find a new place to live in two months (yes we are moving), the emotional roller coaster ride of having both of my grandparents diagnosed with diseases/having to be placed in nursing homes and now finally, the straw that broke the camel's back, the ultimate meltdown that Bulldozer had last night, I've had enough. The last thing I wanted to do was write.

We've been having a lot of trouble with Bulldozer and his bedtime. I know there are probably parents who are rolling their eyes because most toddlers fight going to sleep. It's above and beyond that. His screams have turned to shrieks and it's bad enough that we keep getting complaints from our neighbour. He screams and shakes and cries and sputters and flails (ask Hubby since he got a pair of feet to his groin yesterday)... We keep bringing him back to bed and he keeps running out. We've tried bedtime stories, sitting in his room, letting him choose a toy to bring to bed and last but not least, letting him do absolutely everything associated with the bedtime routine like getting his ice and water for his sippy cup, washing his hands and brushing his teeth. The last idea has to be the absolute worst. He throws the whole ice cube tray of ice onto the floor when he's frustrated and then shakes and screams when the ice flies everywhere. Brushing his teeth often results in a meltdown too because he doesn't want to let you brush his teeth, he just wants to do it all himself. Unfortunately that doesn't work because that's why he's only two and has a cavity already!

Well all this to say that today we're going to try to switch his nap time to the morning hours since he's been falling asleep mid morning. We will see if that means that he will do more in the afternoon and then be tired enough to fall asleep at night. That or he'll have meltdowns because he's TOO tired...

Puffin Picture

Our friend Rollie, what a determined little bugger...

A Tourist In My Own City

I woke up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 this morning so we could get everything together for our visit to the Montreal Biodome. It was Montreal's free museum day so you can only imagine what the line-ups were like! Surprisingly the HUGE line to get into the museum only took about a half an hour. However once we were inside the Biodome it was a whole different story. I have never met so many rude, pushy people before. Every time I went to take one step with the stroller another person would butt in front of me and I would be stopped dead in my tracks. By the time we made it to the penguins I had enough of all disrespectful people. On a positive note the animals were adorable! Bulldozer spotted a monkey swinging from a tree and squealed "eh eh eh" (you know the sound that monkey's make!) We also saw a sloth high up in a tree, seagulls (seriously?) and penguins that kept posing for pictures! My absolute favorite animals were the river otter and the puffins. This one little guy (a chubby puffin that I named "Rollie") kept swimming into this jet stream only to be pushed back out by the current, sometimes belly-side up! So comical... Even though the huge amount of people aggravated me (although what do you expect when it's free museum day?) I had an amazing time and it was all worth it to see the joy on Bulldozer's face! His smile lit up the room. We ended our tour by buying him a plastic snake (now that's good parenting considering I am TERRIFIED of snakes!) and a little stuffed penguin.

After the Biodome we headed downtown and went out for breakfast/lunch at a diner. Next in line was the Montreal history museum which probably again would have been more enjoyable had there been less people. The problem was that every time I would start to read one fact sheet a clog up of people would prevent me from moving on to the next one. So the actual Montreal history portion on the first floor was somewhat of a blur, I basically looked at the pictures and then moved up to the less busy second and third floors. The second floor was my absolute favorite with artifacts (everything from old cigarette boxes to a wringer washing machine) and information about the companies that made them, etc... The third floor was a dedication to Dr. Norman Bethune and the impression that he made on Montreal. I have to admit that by the time we reached the third floor I had lost interest in the museum because I was getting tired. I have to go back another time to really enjoy the experience, this time without kids and not on Montreal's free museum day!

After leaving the Montreal history museum we caught a bit of the international street festival and dined on coconut juice, mangoes and sugar cane. Mmmm... Since I am such a suck I felt my pride swell for our city and I was overcome with emotion at one point. I love the city that I live in!

Last but not least, actually one of my favorite attractions, was the Notre Dame Basilica. The stained glass windows were GORGEOUS, breathtaking actually. The woodwork was rich and in such great amounts, I loved it! Finally after Bulldozer decided that the Church was really actually quite scary we left to go home. After ten hours of being on our feet you can only imagine that the kids had enough and we were exhausted. It was back home after an absolutely amazing day as a tourist in my own city.

It's Off To Family I Go

I'm off to Ontario tomorrow to see my grandmother (who's in the hospital from a fall) and some of my very big family! I am extremely excited and quite honestly can't think of anything else right now.

... Oh we braved Wal-Mart today to pick up some baby stuff and print pictures, go family!

A Walk On The Wild Side

Sometimes in comparison NDG does seems "wild" compared to Lasalle! Perhaps wild isn't the appropriate word to use, NDG just has character, unlike Lasalle with it's sameness and total lack of anything pretty. Sure the duplexes look clean and kept up from the outside but they are all the SAME! Row after row after row of white bricked (a few brown ones thrown in for good measure) duplexes, the only change are some balconies/windows/doors are different! Some yards look nicer than others. There are no old dwellings, I swear this whole city went up in the 1970's by one contractor who's vision was to see how many duplexes he could make that looked exactly the same. A wonderland of predictability. I miss the old trees, the beautiful parks, the gargoyles, the high ceilings and the buildings from the early 1900's. Far from a good reason to uproot an entire family, this is obviously not the reason why we are moving but I definitely look forward to a place with a little more character.

A Storm In The Making

Out of nowhere a storm blew in tonight. The rain was coming down sideways, the tree outside our window was bending and swaying (an understatement) in the winds and eventually hail littered our driveway. Bulldozer was terrified. He kept pointing to the black sky and repeated "ray, ray, ray" (his words for "rain"). Poor guy. I don't know if it was the storm or just his usual antics but he kept coming out over and over from his room trying to avoid going to bed! He even tried the potty card, you know he's desperate if he offers to go potty.

Getting rid of this apartment is proving to be a lot harder than I thought it would! Why is it that no one wants a mouse infested house governed by a surly, drunken landlord? I don't get it. We have placed ads on a few of the most popular advertising (the free ones anyway!) sites and have received a whopping three or four phone calls. Two of those calls proved useless since the people were looking for an apartment for the first of July. That's no good for us because there's no possible way we can get a truck on our provincial moving day. The first person that actually came to see our house was a couple that kept switching to their own language to talk about what their thoughts were on the place ... am I the only person that thinks that's rude? When someone is stepping on the same place on the floor and motioning to it while saying something in their native tongue, I can only assume they are saying "wow these floors are squeaky!" Why yes they are, they drive us nuts as well. Then we start talking prices and when the apartment is available and I say "it's negotiable..." Mr. of the couple says "oh good because the apartment is way too expensive, I'll just negotiate with the landlord." Ya, good luck with that one. We offered to do yard work (that doesn't ever get done) for a reduction in the price of our rent and he wouldn't even agree to that. Besides when I said "negotiable" I didn't mean the price I meant the date that we're out of here! Then it was all about bargaining for a parking spot in our landlord's already tiny drive way, good luck again. After that couple was a girl who game to the apartment but apparently failed to ask before she got here what month we were moving out! Hubby tells her "August" and it's all over. So much for that.

There's something so degrading about showing your apartment to people and having them sort of turn up their noses. It's like letting them see a window into your life and them not approving. It's just a little odd. It's not really personal because you don't know the person or even care what they think but at the same time it is, how can it not be? I can't help but cringe when the Mr. of the couple asked us if the fridge and the stove came with the apartment, Hubby says "no". He responds, "good because if they did I'd tell you to get rid of them". Hmmmm...

The Book of the Evening

Placed strategically out of the way of little prying fingers a certain someone found the book anyway! "My Big Book of Stickers" made my Priddy Books is extremely beautiful but perhaps a little too advanced for a two-year-old. It's basically a fill in the blank picture book with stickers. The problem is that I want the boys to learn about their animals, etc... from the pictures but if the stickers aren't in the right place than that doesn't exactly work! So with a bit of coaxing I convinced Bulldozer that I would place the stickers if he would show me where. It went okay... well until he got tired and then started tearing at the pages! Oh well, once it's all done it will be a beauty!

Cute Sayings of the Day!

So today's entry shall be out about the absolutely adorable things Bulldozer has amused us with today! This morning we're sitting at the breakfast table and I turn to him and ask, "Who's cute?" He replies by saying his name... they're so honest at that age! Then I ask him, "Who's vain?" thinking that he will reply with his own name and we'll all have a good laugh. Without hesitation he says ... "Daddy"! Oh the truth in that statement!

At the dinner table (I'm seeing a trend with mealtimes) he randomly starts reciting his alphabet , "A! B! C! ... APPLE PIE!" I don't know why it was so funny, probably because it was extremely unexpected but both Hubby and I burst out laughing.

Last but not least he's learned to say his stuffed monkey's name "Mochichi"! Absolutely priceless.

The Old Port

Another fantastic day spent outdoors. This time we went to the Old Port and enjoyed lunch at the "Montreal Poutine" and then had ice cream/beaver tails for dessert. A lot of walking (including an hour walk back to the bus!) but I had a great time! It's off to bed...

The Day From Down Under

Everything that could have gone wrong yesterday morning did, that was until we finally met up with friends to enjoy an afternoon with our kids! From rain to ruin our picnic to full blown meltdowns with a certain 2-year-old (which included him screeching on a city bus because he wasn't getting his way). It's on those days that I'd like to slink back to bed, cover my head in my blanket and maybe just shed a couple tears. Everything ended well though... so good that I was too tired to blog last night or even do anything above and beyond collapsing in bed and sleeping! Today's a new day. We're off to visit the in laws and spend a day soaking up the sun. I can't wait!

Reading Is A Good Foundation!

The absolute cutest thing happened the other day. Bulldozer was actually down on the floor next to his younger brother and was reading to him. It was so adorable... He had the book upside down but never mind that, his intentions were nothing but the best! He kept repeating "Bubba, Bubba" (his word for "truck", of course named after his grandfather who drives a truck!) and showing him the pictures (which again were upside down!) We managed to videotape it but it was so much cuter when he didn't know we were watching him. Imagine us the two crazy parents hiding around the corner, peeking out trying to witness a kind act from one of our children to the other - possibly one of the last ones we may ever see! Something to remember for the future when they're teenagers and fight like cats and dogs!

Continuation...

Apparently the thunderstorms that never actually came did not change the behaviour of Hubby, Bulldozer, the Wee Little One or even me. Instead it came in the form of a reaction from our scum lord. Sure enough waiting for me in my e-mail account was yet ANOTHER complaint about the noise up here, this time the washer. In all fairness it was very late when we ran the washer on Monday but seriously, he's the one complaining? To this day we've been utterly ignored on all accounts for every problem that we've ever had (including the biggies like vermin, ant infestations and leaking pipes), we've been yelled at my a very inebriated landlord and all the promises that were made at the beginning of our lease took upwards to a year to actually get completed! If it were just the drunken incident, that alone would be enough to complain about but with all these "incidences" I've had ENOUGH! I apologized for the noise and promised we wouldn't do laundry that late at night anymore. Then I told him it's a give and take relationship, our unanswered phone calls, etc... were unacceptable and I needed some reciprocation. Give and take doesn't include making us go out and buy a carpet for our living room because he can't take the sound of running (children) feet or the sound of toy cars rolling over the floor. If he wanted complete quiet he should have bucked when I told him that we had two kids and should have chosen someone a little quieter ... make a 90-something year old woman!

Grrr... I am beyond frustration.

Looney Tunes

So Hubby is still holding to the fact that he did not steal the cookies, I do not believe him!

Thunderstorm warnings are in effect for today and I have a theory about thunderstorms and the environment around us. It's similar to the concept that full moons make people a little crazy. From my experience people/animals tend to go a little nuts when those electrical surges pulse through the air. So far so good this morning. Bulldozer is his regular crabby self and the wee little one is kind of crabby too. Hubby is lying about about the cookie stealing and Dexter is quiet in his cage. All is well in this household. I have an awful feeling that won't be the case for the rest of the day though... I will keep you posted!

The Cookie Thief

Tonight while I was talking on the phone Hubby comes into the room huffing and puffing about something. I politely ask the person on the phone to hold on a second only to be on the receiving end of an accusing look. "What's wrong?" Hubby answers, "there are no cookies, you ate them all???" Okay I know I probably eat too much junk but common'! Half a box of cookies is even a bit much for me. "I didn't eat the cookies." Well after shooting accusations back and forth for a half an hour and then frantically searching through our cupboards for the cookie bag we came to the conclusion that someone or something must have stolen them! Please participate in my multiple choice questionnaire (conveniently located on the left side of my blog) to decide who in fact stole the cookies... *Ahem* Hubby, *Ahem* Hubby. Sorry!

Peace Within

An overwhelming sense of peace came over me today. I went to wake the wee little one up from his nap so I could get ready to leave the house. He was asleep on his tummy with his tiny hiney in the air. There is possibly nothing cuter in this world than a sleeping baby with his butt stuck up in the air. It may sound stupid but it was like all those long hours, the sleepless nights, the endless crying; all those things you go through with a newborn, everything is put into perspective. They are worth every tear, every cup of spilled milk, every dirty diaper, every worry and every struggle. They are the bounce in MY step and the light in my smile. Sure there are days that I want to throw in the towel, isn't that a very natural part of parenting? There are days I don't think that I can handle another time-out or possibly ignore those defiant looks that I get for just simply being a parent. But this is what it's all about. It's about all those little things that make up the bigger picture. And when it comes down to it all we've got is family. Cherish those around you. Someone spoke true wisdom to me today, she said to appreciate those around you because you never know when they will no longer be there. A bit disheartening? No, just a reminder to love the things that matter most to you. I know I do.

Bonne Nuit

Children... heat... children... heat, very much too tired to write. Good night.

Poop Emergency

So my Dad picked up Bulldozer at 8:30 this morning to take him to play with his friend. Hubby and I have only one child present today, it feels awfully weird and I have forgotten how much easier taking care of one kid is than two! First item on the agenda, to let the wee little one roll around diaperless in the living room. I get that look from the Husband and the obvious question, "why?" Well for one he's had some diaper rash and I think the air would do his bum some good. Two, it's cute what more do you want? Off goes the diaper and within the first thirty seconds he decides to sprinkle. Have you ever seen a baby pee when they're lying face down on a surface? The stream gushes upwards like a fountain, it's actually quite amusing! Hubby does not look amused. Not even two minutes later we notice a brown heap emerging from the depths of his little butt. Yikes. Helpless looks between the two of us... The heap keeps rising and the look on Hubby's face gets more and more disgusted. I on the other hand stifle laughs (which doesn't really work) for the sake of the one who must clean up the mess! An excellent start to the day!

Jujubes!

Bulldozer was invited to a little friend's birthday party today. He was so excited about the big day he hardly stopped to breathe! For lunch there were so many good things to eat, including pizza, veggie sticks and all sorts of fruits and desserts. Do you know what our guy decided to eat? Jujubes. He didn't bother with the fruit, why eat something sweet that isn't a dessert? No veggies either... Pizza was interesting enough but after one bite he decided that would be the last bite. Instead he managed to weasel out a number of candies and then ran off to play with the other kids. The birthday boy seemed to like his jujubes too! He climbed up onto the ledge behind the food table and stood there for like fifteen minutes patiently chewing on the candies! I didn't even notice him standing there for the longest time, he was just so quiet...

When we got home this evening for supper a certain someone was starving! No games tonight. He ate all his pasta salad with vegetables and a whole entire sausage! Can you saw "hungry"? That's what happens when all you eat for lunch are jujubes!