A New Year Begins. Again.

So, I haven't been blogging for about a month and a half. Lots happened between the last time I blogged and now. Like Christmas, where TodderL got over 20 presents. It was toy carnage for a while. Like this blog turning 5 years old. Like how I had to work over Christmas. Like how cold it's been so far, and that we had snow long before winter was official. Like how our mall Santa experience was waaaaaaay better than the previous year's. Thanks goodness!

This year, I'm going to be focusing on certain things. Purging stuff (we have way too much stuff, and I'm not talking about toys!), and this includes the amount of personal emails I subscribe to. And junk food. Getting more organized and becoming more efficient at cleaning. I've actually decided not to make resolutions. Instead, I have goals. But I'm going to approach my goals in a slightly different way. Instead of being overwhelmed with doing everything at once, I'm going to pick one or two goals once a month or every other month and try to develop each one into a habit.

What I've discovered, even today, I need to create habit, and stick to them, otherwise nothing ever will get done. It's okay if I fall off the wagon, because it's going to be a habit that I will get back on track with, like brushing teeth. I certainly hope that brushing teeth is a habit for all.



More on my life soon enough.

Childhood Diseases, So Far...

This last month has been really busy for us. In between boughs of daycare colds, we went to Orlando, Florida for a nice trip. It included Disney World, Sea World and Kennedy Space Centre. It also included the biggest goose egg bump on ToddlerL's right forehead. Again. He's fallen and hit that same area so many times that he's formed a weird dent on that side. Seeing the insides of the first aid station at Disney World, twice, was definitely not part of the trip itinerary (The other time was my mom getting heat exhaustion. Apparently we picked the week to vacation when the weather gods decided to give Orlando record high temperatures and lots of humidity. It was good times).

Since starting daycare, ToddlerL has had a number of colds and a couple of fevers, which I had completely expected. I also expect the diarrhea and vomiting. While worrisome and gross as these ordeals may be, I fully expect them at some point and will be (hopefully) prepare to nurse my son back to full health while undergoing a number of sleepless nights myself.

However, he also had some other illnesses which I had never heard of before having a kid. To date, he's had:

• Roseola - He ended up getting spots on his extremities and not the trunk of his body. 
• Hand, foot, mouth disease - his spots haven't completely faded yet
• Reactive airways disease - this is the most worrisome for me as this may develop into asthma later on

While I know many people have asthma, and they learn to deal with it and still live a normal life, I couldn't believe the types of emotions I had when I was told this this may be a possibility for ToddlerL.  I mean, it's okay for everyone else's kid, but my own, and to have to acknowledge that my child may not be in perfect health, well, it's hard. Heart speaking over the head. I never thought I'd actually feel this way. Nonetheless, we have an appointment with the asthma clinic next week, so I will just have to learn to accept reality and move on. Baby steps, right?

The Last Eight Months

Since going back to work, I haven't blogged at all. It's taken me a long while to get back into a new groove, and I still feel like I'm struggling. But enough whining for now, I will whine some more later. Now is the time to update you on the last eight months.

So I have a Facebook account. And I've discovered over time that my statuses tend to be stuff about my kid, practically a micro blog. Today is the day he turns 18 months old. No matter which way you measure it, he is now a full-fledged toddler. So without further ado, the last eight months of my kid's life (with some very minor editing):

Feb 8 - BabyL is 10 months old!!!! He's crawling up a storm and pulling himself up! Pictures are coming, promise...!

Feb 21 - Tooth #5 and #6 have arrived! Finally!

March 8 - Weed has a 11-month old! Pictures coming soon. Counting down to the big 1

March 10 - BabyL has cut tooth #7. Lower left, next to his middle teeth.

March 22 - BabyL got into the daycare centre that was #1 on my list. Yayayay! But I have to wait until July before he can start. But he got in!!! Such a relief!!!!

March 25 - Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!! It'll be BabyL's first birthday in exactly two weeks!

March 31 - Just wrote out a bunch of cheques to BabyL's new daycare. Bubye money... Wah...

April 1 - BabyL took his first steps today!!!!

April 6 - BabyL had a fun day with Grandma! Hubby is now back at work....

April 8 - One year ago today at 6.38pm, after almost 40 hours of labour, I gave birth to my awesome little dude! Happy Birthday BabyL! Pictures forthcoming, Mummy's been too busy planning the Birthday Party :D

April 10 - Weed made a lot of cupcakes last night for BabyL's birthday party! Yum! It's going to be beautiful day for a party. I hope my kid can nap after all that sugar.

April 17 - Weed hopes that she's not coming down the the cough that  BabyL had all week! I'm beginning to get a tickle in my throat.

April 18 - BabyL cut tooth #8 today!

May 2 - We finally figured out what BabyL's first word is: mum mum. Not Mama. He also can sign "more". So it's more mum mum. More food. My kid's a walking stomach.

May 6 - Thinks that BabyL may be allergic to egg whites. Yay.

May 14 - So... when does the picky phase end?

May 19 - Reacted from his MMV/Chicken Pox shots. Spots all over. But he's doing better.

May 30 -  BabyL's new bedtime routine: headbutting Mummy. Ouch!

June 6 - Cough + runny nose + bad nap weekend = One very grumpy little dude (and one very tired mummy!)

June 12 - Hubby thinks that BabyL has cut tooth #9, a molar! Or at least somewhere further back. I still have yet to see it myself...

June 13 - Apparently BabyL had cut tooth #9 & 10, both molars, in the past couple of weeks. I see lots of white back there!

June 19 - Weed just spent a LOT of money getting school uniforms for BabyL! For Daycare! Eeep!

June 20 - BabyL had a Pirate Pack in celebration of Father's Day! Yum!

June 26 - BabyL's just went to his first Star Trek Convention!

Jun 29 - BabyL's new favourite pasttime: breaking off mid-nurse to sing or make funny sounds, then continues nuring againg. Good times.

July 4 - BabyL had his first fast food burger today -- an A&W Baby burger

July 5 - "Boooot". That's the sound BabyL makes after he farts, or if he hears you fart

July 6 - BabyL had a great first day at school! And in other news, I noticed tooth #11 & #12. One just broke the gum, the other's been out for a while, but I didn't see it until today.

Aug 3 - BabyL's first piece of artwork from school -- a lovely piece of abstractness rendered in orange and brown crayon -- is now displayed on the refrigerator door.

Aug 12 - Weed wonders when BabyL will stop his transitioning to one nap and just start sleeping at a regular time. When...?

Aug 13 - The day I've been waiting for since BabyL was born: BabyL's favourite word now is "No!"

Aug 13 - #15 & #16 are now out! Finally, he's been a drool monster for the past few weeks!

Aug 22 - Weed has a little dude that LOVES rice.

Sept 2 - BabyL's new word is "more". He can say and sign "more" at the same time. More food. More of his favourite smiley crackers. More playing with Mama when she's tired. More singing Itsey Bitsy BabyL (Spider) for the 27th time...

Sept 3 - Weed is so not impressed that BabyL pushed his entire dinner onto the floor. Definitely not one of his cuter moments. Good times.

Sept 5 -  Kale Chips: the only green vegetable that my kid will voluntarily eat.

Sept 12 - Weed will never, ever, ever, ever, EVER go to a mall without a stroller. Ever.

Sept 13 - BabyL's way of saying good night to Mama: "Bye-Bye"

Sept 20 - BabyL's new comfort pose: right index finger shoved in his mouth, left index finger shoved in your belly button.

Sept 26 - Not only does BabyL LOVES spinach, he asks for more!

Oct 1 - This mama experienced her first trip to the ER with BabyL. Let's hope it's the last time :( At least the little Dude is okay. (Thanks for the concern everyone. BabyL had a bad cold and a fever, which is why we went to the doctor. The doctor heard wheezing and sent him straight to the hospital. In the end, the doctor said it's reactive airways disease, which shows itself as asthma-like symptoms. He too young right now to tell if he will have asthma, we have to wait a few more years before they can run test, I think. He's on some meds to help clear the wheezing, and we're going to an asthma clinic eventually. Other than that, he's back to his old self.)

Oct 7 -  My kid had ketchup for dinner.

Oct 8 - Weed has an 18-month old. No more baby, but lots of toddler boy awesomeness! Bring on the good times!

Mud!!!

So I've waited about 1.5 years to go to the fancy spa downtown. I actually had about 5-6 hours to myself, without the kid for a change, and I was so looking forward to it! I had decided to do a full body massage (about 80 mins) and something else I'd never tried before.

Looking at the spa's website, I had no clue as to what I wanted to do, largely because the website was poorly laid out and the content didn't make a lick of sense to me. I decided on a mud bath because the person at the other end of the phone suggested it.

Entering the room, I saw a very large tub on one side filled with water. I got to pick between two scents: chocolate mud and pine mud. I chose chocolate because I didn't want to leave smelling like a tree! The spa lady told me to carefully sit myself in it, and of course, in true Irene fashion, I slipped while sitting down, but managed to catch myself myself.

Sitting in the tub was interesting. There were several rows of, what I will call "disco lights". Jets of water sprayed at me from my shoulders to my toes. The spa lady explained that the treatment was designed to stimulate my circulation and my lymphatic system, so I might feel warmer as the treatment progressed. Once the treatment started, the mud was dumped into the water, and the jets rotated being turned on, from my toes up to my neck. I figured it was to encourage my blood to flow to my heart. The disco lights alternated from a combination of yellow, green, blue, and red. I think it was to help you relax, but I don't see how that works. I just kept looking up expecting to see a disco ball.

I started getting overheated near the end of it, and even halfway, I was feeling quite warm. I told the spa lady this, and mentioned I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it again. She mentioned the next time I could ask for the water to be cooler, or to shorten the time I was in the water. I'm not certain that I would want to do another hydrotherapy treatment. While I see the detoxification potentials, it wasn't exactly relaxing. The jets, at best, was no better than a Swedish massage (which does squat to release the knots in my muscle). The foot bar that I was resting my feet on was a tad too far away for my feet to rest properly on and to prop my body up. I had to tense my body a bit to make certain I didn't feel like I was drowning.

All in all, it was an interesting experience, but I'm not certain if I'd do it again.

Article: Shopping Just For The Sake of Buying "Green"

I ran across this article today, and I totally agree with the sentiment. All the greenwashing out there is really getting out of hand and has become a big booming business. I certainly try my best to think of alternatives, but it's hard when we live in a culture of "wants".

Shopping Just For The Sake of Buying "Green". | The Good Human

15 Days And Counting...

I have 15 days left before I go back to work. I'm officially back as an employee February 8th, but I took that week off with my overabundance of holiday time that I've racked up. It's meant as a transition time for me and Hubby, but what it's turning into is a week of me trying to get last minute stuff done.

BabyL is growing by leaps and bounds. He's crawling faster each day, and is pushing himself up to sitting, kneeling, and if the prop is low enough (like my legs when I'm lying down), pushing himself on his feet. I don't think it'll be long before he learns how to pull himself up and starts cruising around furniture.

What I'm not looking forward to is not so much taking the bus to work, but the fact that I've chosen to go back to work at the beginning of Olympics. Where I work is actually an Olympic venue, so I really have no clue how nutso traffic will be taking the bus. We'll see what happens...

Book Review - Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

I think I like this book more than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (PPZ). Like the predecessor, the author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (SSSM) takes a well knows Jane Austen novel and puts his own twist in it. I felt that the book's altered universe was better woven into the main plot of the story than PPZ. Certainly, despite the tongue-in-cheek nature of SSSM, the altered universe was much less awkwardly inserted into the story.

Sense and Sensibility is my least favourite Jane Austen novel, mostly because I can't stand Marianne's character.I still didn't like her very much in this novel; in fact, she was equally as annoying as her original. But that just meant that Ben H. Winters kept somewhat true to the characterisations in the novel and has a pretty good grasp of the novel's nuances and themes.

My only complaints about the novel are:

• beyond a vague mention of a sea witch, we never find out exactly why Colonel Brandon received his affliction
• Sub-Marine Station Beta is London, so mentioning that there is a city of London in the story makes it a tad more confusing. Why is it that people would want to go to London when there is Sub-Marine Station Beta?
• Eliza William's ordeal, though the author tried to make it shocking and humourous, I actually thought it was sort of a let-down. I mean, I didn't find it all that villainous as compared to the events in the original book. Which made

If that wasn't exciting enough, Quirk Classics had also released a book trailer...

Tax-Free Savings Accounts Explained

I ran across this series of articles written by a Financial Planner explaining how the Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) work. He goes into some depth with explaining misconceptions and reality of TFSAs and talks about different scenarios in which best to use the TFSA. I actually learn some things about TFSAs, so they are worth the read.

TFSA - Part I: Misconceptions

TFSA - Part II: Best Uses


TFSA - Part III: Strategies

My kid is 9 months old!

Hard to believe that I have a 9 month old baby! My kid is growing into a really neat and fun little man. He loves jumping, jumping while being held, playing airplane, babbling, screeching and plain looking and touching EVERYTHING! One thing about BabyL is that whenever he's in a new environment, or encounters a new person, he will just sit there quietly and take everything in, process it, then get comfortable being himself.

So far he:

• Can roll from back to belly and belly to back
• Has four teeth
• Can get on all fours, but only pushes himself backwards, so no crawling yet
  
• Eats a lot of different types of solids foods
• Babbles a lot
• Screeches a lot
• Is still teething like crazy.
  
• Is a pretty good sleeper (so far, fingers crossed)
• Loves bananas

It's neat to see the world from his point of view, but parenting is exhausting at the same time, and I already have lots of help. One of my biggest pet peeves when talking with other parents, especially when I want support and/or ideas of how to deal with something relating to BabyL is I get the response, "It's a phase, it will pass like all things." Yes, I know that, but I don't find that helpful at all, and I do find it extremely frustrating when told this. I need a sympathetic ear, and I would like ideas as to how to deal with it now. Telling me that it's a phase, just means, to me, that I need to to tough out. What I typically do is take in all the information and try to figure out what works best for us and for BabyL. Not having any good ideas as to what may work just makes it harder for me to make good choices as a parent, and makes me more frustrated and tired. A tired mama makes for a cranky mama, and not a very good parent to BabyL. Anyways, rant over.

Happy New Year!

So I've been quite busy the last few weeks, hence, the lack of posts. 2009 has been quite busy, and 2010 will be even busier. To recap the last couple of months:

• BabyL has been growing leaps and bounds. He has 4 teeth, and is still teething like mad, drooling and chewing everything. Last weighed in at 17.5 lbs and measured 68cm.
• BabyL also has been a solids eating champ, has a repertoire of food he can eat (but still a short list of foods he can't eat yet, boo), and has graduated to lumpy food.
• Christmas came and went. Gifts given were pretty much 99% for BabyL
• Bought snowshoes, hopefully will get the rest of the gear soon so we can go snowshoing this winter!
  
• FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it turned 4 on Dec 27th.
• I still haven't found any daycare for BabyL. Will start to panic sometime early March.
  

I normally don't do resolutions at the beginning of the year. Instead, this is a list of goals I wish to achieve by the end of this year. Hopefully these will actually come to fruition.

• Read the bible every day
• Go to the gym at least twice during the weekdays, and once in the weekend
• Blog at least once a week (I need a hobby after all!)
• clean the toilets weekly (sounds easy, but more challenging than you think!)
• eventually cook half the meals during the week - Hubby is really looking forward to this one!
• Continue greening my household
• Other than the exercise thing, take care of my body, both inside and out
• Redo my wardrobe, it's just stuck. Sigh.
• Get some regular couple time with Hubby, and without BabyL, at least once a month.
  
• take up knitting (maybe)
  

Some things to look forward to in 2010:

• Returning to work in Feb 2010
• BabyL will learn to walk
• BabyL will turn 1 in April!
• Trying to achieve a good work/life balance, especially with BabyL in tow. Yikes!
• Look for daycare.
  

Happy New Year Everyone!!

The Story of Stuff

I heard about this video recently on one of the blogs that I subscribe to. As we approach the Christmas season, I'm once again reminded as to why I don't like the gift giving aspect of this holiday. The video is 20 minutes long, but well worth the watch.



Some interesting links:
The Story of Stuff Website

The Story of Cap and Trade

Article: What really happens with the plastics we send to the recycling depot

Lefty!

We have noticed that BabyL has been using more of his left hand than his right hand, and think that he may be left-handed. Being a lefty myself, I'm perfectly okay with that. After all, I think that if I have to live with two males in the house, then Hubby gets to live with two lefties, ha.

Some interesting Lefty facts and myths (aka Why I'm so misunderstood)

A bunch of posts worth reading

The posts here are partially for my reference and partially for your reading educational pleasure...

Top 10 Green Living Myths

The Serious Need For Play

How Dangerous is PVC In Toys

Eco-Friendly Cleaning

Where we went on our cruise

This is a record more for myself than for anyone else.

Boston, Massachusetts:

• Quincy Market
• Old State House
• Not much happened at this port. It was really cold, and it started snowing. Not a good combo with a baby

Portland, Maine:

• Victoria Mansion
• We left this port early, so we didn't see much. At least it didn't snow

Halifax, Nova Scotia

• Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
• Citadel Hill

Quebec City, Quebec

• Chateau Frontenac
• The Citadel
• Basilique-cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-Quebec
• Also snowed here and was very cold

Charlottetown, PEI

• Founders Hall
• Cavendish Beach and
  
• Anne of Green Gables House (near Cavendish)
  
• New Glasgow

Sydney, Nova Scotia

• Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park

Saint John, NB

• Loyalist house

What's been happening lately...

This past month has been interesting. Here's a lowdown of what's been happening.

Cruise

I was quite looking forward to the cruise. We visited New England and Eastern Canada. Specifically, Boston, Portland (Maine), Halifax, Charlottetown, Quebec City, Sidney (NS), St John (NB). We started and ended in New Jersey, with a quick stop into New York City for a few hours before heading back home.

Eating. Well, the day we left Vancouver to drive down to Seattle was the day BabyL decided to have teething issues. By that I mean his gums were so sore that he refused to suck. Period. He wouldn't suck on the boob, he wouldn't suck on the bottle and he wouldn't even suck his own finger. We ended up spoon feeding him breast milk, formula and solids. I think once or twice we even use a medical syringe. I was so stressed that this was going to go on for the rest of the vacation, that I wanted to cry. Fortunately, this only happened for two days. BabyL either got used to the pain or it had lessened, but he started sucking again.

Sleep. The plan was to keep BabyL on PST even though we were in EST/Atlantic time, because I'd realized that once BabyL went to bed, we had to go to bed. Sleep went into the toilet because BabyL was in a strange environment, and despite the fact that I tried to keep the same routine, it wasn't enough for him. For the entire trip, someone had to hold him to sleep, so Hubby and I didn't get as much sleep as we wanted to. My mom offered to switch rooms with us one night, and even though I ended up sleeping on a crappier bed, I had the best sleep during the whole trip that night.

Bingo. About the third or fourth day, I played bingo. And won the big prize. Normally when they play bingo, they allow all players to check their cards against the numbers, and not take the first person who yells bingo, so sometimes there are more than one bingo winner per game. Well, this time, we couldn't share the big prize, so we had to play a tie-breaker game between the five winners. You cannot believe the shock I felt when I was the only one standing. And the prize: a free upgrade to one of the Royal Suites on the ship (it's the second largest stateroom on the ship). So we went from a 200+ sq ft room to a 700+ sq ft room, with a separate large bedroom, walk-in closet, large bathroom with jacuzzi tub, living area, dining area, a balcony with yet another hot tub and a butler! Whoo hoo! However, as much as we enjoyed the suite, it really helped us out with the sleep situation. We could put BabyL down for naps or for bedtime, and still allowed us to move around the suite without waking him up.

Fame!
Although there were a few people on board under the age of 18, BabyL apparently was the only baby on board, so it's safe to say that EVERYONE noticed him, particularly since he's so cute! We had people come up to us to pinch his cheeks or play with him. Both crew and passengers alike recognized him. They only recognized us as "the family with the baby who one the Royal Suite at bingo" because I was asked a few times how the suite was. It was a constant "Hello Baby!" or "Hey BabyL!" from everyone. BabyL certainly loved the attention!

All in all, despite all that, and the semi-crappy weather we had in a few of the cities, we had a pretty good time. I swear that BabyL grew an inch during the trip, even one of the passengers who sat next at the table next to us at dinner commented on it. I can tell you though, I was never happier sleeping in my own bed, and BabyL didn't have any problems falling asleep on his own like I feared once we got back home. He also has a tooth to show for his teething pains too!

Illness

Unfortunately, after we got home, I got sick. I had some GI thing, and an ear infection. Both Hubby and I had a bit of a cold during our trip. Hubby was allowed to take drugs. I couldn't take drugs, except for regular Tylenol, because I was breastfeeding, so I was left to suffer. My ear infection was probably from the cold. It took close to a week for it to clear. In the meantime, I had to contend with puking, feeling rotten and having the room constantly spin.

While this was happening, life kept marching on outside of my little bubble I was apparently living in. We came back to news that they had already started H1N1 vaccinations. I was bombarded with news of ever shifting priority lists, and 3 hour waits at clinics. It took me a few days before I had gotten myself together enough to call BabyL's doctor; apparently he didn't have enough vaccines, so that meant I had to go to a clinic. I was prepared for the worst, but apparently, the big rush happened the first couple of days. We were in and out within 45 mins. I'm just glad that BabyL never got sick amidst all this craziness and people constantly touching him, I don't know how I would have handled a sick baby.

Life marches on...

6 months old!

Today my baby turned 6 months! I can't believe he's already half a year old! I could talk to you about how he loves to watch EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE. Or how he loves to jump. Or how blowing very wet raspberries is one of his favourite pastimes. Or how great it is to watch him giggle and laugh. Or how he's already a solid-feeding champ.

All those things are great, yes they are. But I will tell you how he decided to mark the occasion. He pooed. Now that's not a big deal in the long run, but this is solid-log-type poo. He pooed three times. The first and third time were little poos, and they didn't bother him. In fact, I didn't even know that he pooed until I opened the diaper.

However, the second poo was HUGE! I think because he was experiencing a big solid poo for the first time, and because he was tired (I was getting him ready for his nap), it scared him, and he cried and cried. He also peed, but he's already peed over everything. I was more worried about the poo as this was something new for me, and throwing in cloth diapers into the mix made it much more interesting.

I saw some poo in his bum, then he had a meltdown. As I was trying to take care of that poo, I dropped it on the floor. BabyL kept crying and pooing. Then he started peeing. And continue pooing. I grabbed the flushable bioliners that I had and just caught the poo that way. It was a lot of poo. Finally, when he slowed down, I flushed what I had in my hands down the toilet. Going back to BabyL, he was still at it! And crying. And there were little puddle of pee everywhere. I caught the rest of the poo, and flushed it down the toilet, washed my hands, then cleaned up BabyL and mopped up as much pee as I could, washed my hands again, and put him in a clean diaper. Then I proceeded to put him down for his nap. After that, I brought out my antibacterial cleaners and gave the floor a good scrub.

Priorities people!

Solid poo really changes everything now. Yikes!

Yet another article about BPA exposure and kids

Do you think the media is making a big deal out of this whole BPA thing? After all, we keep seeing another report day after day after day....

Clicky!

Are household products making kids fat?

I read this article and found it very interesting. Now not only do I have to worry about chemicals that will effeminate my son, but I have to try to have him avoid as many chemicals as he can so he doesn't get fat. Will this never end?

Toxic Baby Bibs

I found this article about toxic baby bibs. BabyL loves to eat his bib. I looked up the bib that he's wearing right now, and according to their website, they've tested it and it's safe. The other two bibs I have for him are leather, and they're hard for him to put in his mouth, plus, they are CPSIA safety approved, so we should be okay (hopefully!).

Solids! Finally!!

We've just started BabyL on solids. Yesterday was his first day on rice cereal. Organic at that. So far so good. Hubby tried a bit today, and he says it tastes like nothing. But BabyL is swallowing it. We know because it's showing up in his spit up, ha. In a couple more days, I'll introduce another food. Very exciting, and something I've been looking forward to for a long time (except for the solid poop that's going to come with it!)

In other news, my Grandma has been in the hospital for a few days. She had congestive heart failure due to a mini-heart attack that she had earlier. But she's on the mend and doing well. The doctors are amazed at her speedy recovery, especially considering that she's 96 years old. Go Grandma! Hopefully she will be discharged sometime this week.