Bloody Christmas

Owen had a little accident over the holidays...



His dad bought a new computer.

A mac at that.

Still getting use to all the differences between mac and PC. For a while I wanted to send this white monster back. But I am slowly getting used to it. Plus it's much faster...and pretty.

So of course the mac comes with a nifty built in camera and these cool effects. So Owen became my guinea pig. Cris and I goofed around a bit too. So here are some of the photo fun we have had!

All things I swore I would never do...

So now that Owen is one, I have started to create a mental list of all the self imposed rules I have broken. Some of them are too embarrassing to mention (but of course I will) and some are just plain dumb rules to begin with. So I cross my self and ask for your forgiveness:

1. Will not eat MacDonald's till he is at least 4. This one falls in the "I'm embarrassed to admit" category. He has had french fries (I scrape off all the salt and realise from now on to ask for salt free fries any where we go) and a Jr. chicken burger (plain, no sauce no lettuce and no breaded coating- he just likes the processed chicken. Yum) Sometimes it really is too much to make hot dogs.
   
   
2. Will not go over board on Christmas presents. Although I have been pretty good, it's hard not to go hog wild. I realise he has no concept of anything beyond his nose. I also realise he will only really enjoy the wrapping paper (he spends long periods of time shredding paper into little pieces), the boxes and climbing the tree. So I have been good, but probably spent a smidgen more than I should have.
   
   
3. Will not give into every cry. Totally not happening. I get it now. After a day of work, coming home, doing dinner, cleaning and being nice to Cris, it is too damn hard to listen to him cry because he wants to completely unroll the roll of toilet paper and we are trying to stop him. It is far easier to roll the paper back up when he looses interest (or even better, to shut the door before he remembers what fun it is). So yes, sometimes when you come over, I will pick him up if he whines, I will let him destroy a magazine and I will let him eat paper.
   
   
4. Give him cookies for dinner. OK this one has serious repercussions, folks. If Owen doesn't eat enough, HE WAKES UP AT NIGHT. I did that whole waking up every few hours a year ago. I even did the waking up once a night a few months ago. I am too tired to still be doing it. So yes, he eats cookies when he refuses everything else.
   
   
5. Watch TV. Another totally unrealistic expectation. Duh- what am I suppose to watch if he can't watch TV?? Yes I am ashamed to admit I am part of the TV generation. I like the background noise and music doesn't cut it. But Owen has been only exposed to quality programming; Wheel of Fortune (the wheel fascinates him and he is pretty good on the toss up rounds), Jeopardy ('nough said) and a horrible Spanish soap opera "Floribella" which is too painful for even me to watch as the lead actress cries every scene but Cris likes it.
   

So thus concludes the confessional for this month. How did I get this catholic guilt?? So I don't want to hear about the reduced size of my son's brain, his cholesterol levels, his rotting teeth or his fixation on Vanna. Till he starts answering in questions or thinks cookies are food group, we will survive.

Happy birthday to you...

So we made it! One year down. More importantly one birthday party done! He made it through without any major problems! He even stayed up till 8:30! A real party animal. He was fascinated with all the toys. But to my surprise he wasn't that interested in ripping off the wrapping. We will have to practice between now and Christmas.


He enjoyed his cake (his Abuela made it), especially licking the whipped cream off the Sesame Street characters. He managed to get a lot of it up his nose. But it didn't seem to deter him too much. He was also in love with the balloons we got him.


I think he is going to be pretty disappointed when he wakes up from his nap to discover only Cris and I here. He really liked playing with his new cousin, Julia and he always loves seeing his grandmother (both of them!). I think he will spend a bit of time crawling around looking for everyone.


But now the important part. Here are some shots from last night!

The lows of parenthood

Cris has sunk to the depth of parenthood with me. Nothing is sacred any more.

Cris and I were too tired the other night to go home and cook dinner. Poor Cris had offered to come get me at work, but he ended up stuck in traffic and what should have been a 15 minute drive, took 45 minutes. With Owen screaming in the back seat, Cris plugged on and picked me up. I couldn't make Cris go home and wait for a meal. So we went for Chinese food.

Owen eats almost exclusively regular food so he had no problem chowing down on chicken and pork. And he seemed to adore chicken fried rice. he was literally double fisting it. As soon as one fist was out another was in full of food. Owen's accuracy isn't very good still. So while trying to open his fist in his mouth, several hundreds of pieces of rice fall on his clothes. They all collected very nicely on his sweater. Some of them were "used" some of them never made it any where other then squished in a mucky hand. So of course as all good parents know, Cris reached over, scooped up the rice from Owen's sweater...and ate it. Yum.

What were you doing last year?

I can not believe it has been a year. In one hour from now, 364 days ago, I was tucking away a Christmas present for my mother in law (that took five years to make) in a drawer, when my water broke. I remember shivering so much and Cris was worried something was wrong. I was just so freaking scared. There was no going back. And now here we are, three of us.

I couldn't help but feel nostalgic the other day, walking through a mall near my work. There was a woman, hair tied in a messy ponytail, wearing sweats and a hooded cardigan. She had a baby tucked on her hip, pushing a stroller with one hand, nursing bra hanging out over the top of her tank top, the baby clutching the top of the bra. That was me just months ago. Wondering what the hell I was doing. How I was going to manage all the breastfeeding and diapers and laundry...And what if at any moment Owen became a screaming banshee and never returned to the angelic smiling goon? What if he decides to be awake all night? What if he decides he hates me for being at work?

So far we seem to be managing.

I know our lives have changed for sure. We were watching family man with Nicholas Cage. Cris noted the poor accuracy of the movie when Nick puts a bottle in the microwave with the nipple on the bottle. "You can't do that. Never put the nipple on the bottle in the microwave." Yes things are different now.

She will be sadly missed

Mary de BelleFeuille-Percy

Our thoughts are with the whole de BelleFeuille-Percy and Sheehan family in this difficult time.

The Lion, The Lip and The Show Down

So you know how they say only a mother can tell between the different cries her baby makes? Well I think all of Loblaws knew what Owen wanted.

So we go today to get baby wipes, yogurt, applesauce...all the fun baby things. And of course they have lots of stuffed animals on display for Christmas. Cause what good grocery story doesn't sell a chair in the shape of a lion. Owen has recently taken an interest in the MANY stuffed animals we have accumulated over the last year. He has even slept the last two nights with a cute bear (I have no idea where it came from) tucked in his arms. I think that's a parenting no-no but we have that special baby alarm that we know works so I am not concerned. So in Loblaws, Cris is showing a few of the cute, ginormous animals littered amongst the fruit and vegetables. A bear here, a dog there. Owen grabs onto to each of them and refuses to let go. Very cute. And then when he realises there are no more coming and we aren't keeping any of them well he pulls out all the stops. Out goes the bottom lip. And it starts to quiver. Then a little wail. When that doesn't work, the lip and wail together and in increasing volume. It was quite the show. And I do mean show. You really can tell the difference between "I am hurt" and "Give me the freaking stuffed mammal".

He has never demanded something like that before. Cris and I stayed strong and walked away. A few tears rolled but Owen got over it. Till of course the softy of the bunch gave in and got him a teddy bear that was bigger then Owen. Of course, we still had a few stops to make before we went home and every time I tried to take Owen out of his car seat he clenched on to that humongous bear. Well the three of us did not fit through the car door. I had to pry that furry bear out of Owen's little clutches. That stupid bear was almost bald on his legs by time we got home, his fur stuck under Owen's finger nails. So word of advice to other soppy dads out there, wait till the last stop before you give in.

I'm a clown to you?? Do I make you laugh?

NOTE: Way too much information in the following post. Lots of bodily fluids and none of them are the fun ones.

So Cris and I recently (Tuesday) suffered from a nasty bout of the stomach flu. I had it worse and first (nice, huh?). It was by far the worst night ever of my life. Aside from giving birth, I have not vomited since I was 19 and that involved tequila and was a lot more fun. Giving birth was a 2 on the awful scale compared to Tuesday night. Have I made it clear that it was awful?

But the one shinning bizarre light was Owen. Owen occasionally has nights where he just refuses to sleep at his regular bed time, for whatever reason. So he was up at 10:00 p.m. when I first started to the enjoy the the delights of stomach bile. As I am vomiting into the toilet, Cris comes to comfort me but has to bring Owen, cause what else can you do with him?? Well doesn't he just think this is the funniest thing he has seen in a while. With every wretch, he explodes into giggles. And then of course Cris and I are laughing and I'm barfing and then laughing. It was painful, awful and hilarious all at once. Next time you're bored, try barfing, preventing it from going out your nose and bum, and laughing too hard.

You know how they say kids find something new in all the mundane we do, that we are blessed to see everything through their eyes. Well apparently barfing is fun! I was wrong. So it was a blessing to have him up cause otherwise it would have just been miserable.

I will have to remind him of this when he is clinging to the white bowl after a night of body shots.

PS Pretty much immediately after I was sick, Cris put Owen down in his crib and he fell fast asleep. He'd had enough of the show I guess.

PPS My sister in law got sick too the exact same time and night. We actually think Owen gave it to us. Owen had a little poopy bug on Sunday but was totally fine on Monday. And other than that he has been totally fine- thank god!

PPPS Because we didn't know what was wrong with us, I didn't breast feed Owen for 3 days. So I have given it up even though now I am fine. It was premature for me, but Owen doesn't seem to have noticed. So I guess it was a good time. But the next baby is going to be nursed until they are 3 years old to make up for the guilt from Owen.

That squinty smile

Not sure exactly why he smiles like this. But my theory is, he is copying Cris. Here is a little collection of that wonky smile.

Random photos

Jurassic Owen

We went to the Museum of Nature this past weekend. Its been under construction for a while now but they recently opened up their Dinosaur and mammal exhibits again. So we took advantage of their free Saturday mornings, after Kinder Musik (how yuppie) and went. It was crazy busy and Owen wasn't overly interested in anything except the shiny new silver railings. So props to the guy who picked out the railings. We gave it three thumbs up and several messy fingerprints.

The last photo is a video image of heat radiating from Cris and Owen's head! It was funnier in person! But it still is funny to see how big Cris' head is.

Prepare to say Awwwwww

Here is Owen's 1st Halloween! We went around with his "cousins" for a bit. Cris and I were very unimaginative. We went as parents. Cris... I mean Owen managed to collect quite the bag full of sugary goodness.

By time we got back home, we had missed most of the neighbourhood kids. So now we are stuck with big boxes of candy and chips and a bag full of sugar. And a 100 lollipops, my least favorite. This going to resultin some major sugar highs around our household in the coming days! (note I said days- despite the overwhelming number, the candy won't last weeks)

Happy Halloween!!!!

Hitting a new low

The other day, I was feeding Owen some dinner, which consisted of pureed crap/beef stroganoff and some home made frozen corn (cooked- people please). Owen decided he didn't want the corn anymore and spit it out. It got stuck to his face. So I picked it off. And yes, you guessed it.

I ate it.

I can't say any more.

The longing

So as predicted, I have no time for my beloved blog. I think of it daily. It calls to me at night, when I am curled up on the couch watching "Heroes" or "Project Runway". I try to wirte for it in my head. Cute little witty banter. Wonderful metaphors about sports and poop. But with my new job, Cris and actually caring for Owen, it seems I never have anytime. So hear are the lame updates with limited puns and repartee.

So Owen is home with Cris. Both are loving it! Th ehouse has seen better days. The piles of laundry and dishes seem to be never ending as Cris has quickly discovered.

I started a new job at the National Art Centre. Pretty exciting. Its only my second day and its a bit overwhelming. But I think every first few days at a new job are overwhelming. But so far so good!

Owen is babbling away. You can ask him where Mama is and he looks at me. "where's Papa" and he looks at Cris. We think he is even starting to figure out who Lola is. Cris thinks Owen calls to him. I am in denial. Owen can pull himself to standing. And does it often. Anywhere. All the time.

He still has no teeth. I am sure they are coming...right...???

Cris and I still have all of ours.

So there it is. A tiny glimmer of our life as typed quickly while Owen sleeps. Hopefully as I get into a routine I will have more time for my blessed blog. Till next time my precious...

Can you hear me now??

OK ...the best new trick is Owen loves to listen to the phone. So when I call home Cris will put the phone up to his ear. Owen gets super excited! Yesterday I got to witness it first hand when Cris called and I put the phone up to Owen's ear. His eyes got huge and he had a big smile on his face. He was so happy to hear Cris on the other end. But now when ever the phone rings he tries to grab the phone from me. He makes a big grunting noise and takes swipes at the phone. He does the same when I have food he wants (mainly toast but occasionally coffee cups, donuts...). Cute now, but I guess when he's 12 it may not be so cute.

The end?

Well the end is near...I return to work on Tuesday. So I am not sure what will happen with this blog. I am focused on spending as much time as possible with Owen so I will have to see how much time I have to come up with something witty to say.

Formal complaint

Dear Tooth Fairy Inc.,

First, I would like to thank you for all your company's support in the early 80's. I was the beneficiary of $3.00 from your organization in your recycling program. I am pleased to report that the funds were put to good use and were greatly appreciated. I am however writing to you to log a complaint about your Teething program.

We had heard many good things about your Basic Teething program and were very excited to join. However, we did not receive any service till a week ago while most others we know have been receiving service for at least a few months. This delay has resulted in delayed chewing, toothless smiles and general mockery from peers.

We have also been subject to your services at times that are most inconvenient for us. I would like to formally request that all teething take place from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This 2-hour 2:30 a.m. service is not acceptable.

We also had hoped that this program would be delivered quickly and efficiently. Yet we have received it neither way. Your program has made our client turn into a drooling, cranky, crying mess. It has also lasted about 7 days. We would like to see a quick end to this program in a friendly manner. However, if we are not satisfied by the end of this week, we will cancel this program all together.

We are also not sure if you are to blame for this new body rash. If so, we ask you to cease that service as it was not ordered with the Basic Teething Program.

We appreciate your immediate attention to these matters and we look forward to having teeth in the next few days. Should we not receive any teeth by Friday, September 30th, you will hear from our lawyer as our sanity will not last beyond that. We hope this can be resolved quickly and we look forward to being a part of the recycling program in a few years.

Regards,

Teething in Ottawa

P.S. I also feel I must apologize for any remarks made against your organization in the month of June and August. We realize we slandered your name when we thought we were receiving poor services from your organization. We realize after that fact that it was in fact the Urinary Team that was providing poor quality work. Our apologies for any harm our poor taste in language may have caused. Thank you.

Attack of the gnome people

I love this hat! My mom made it for Owen (obviously). He is just too cute in it. Thank god my mom is around to give him all those fabulous home made things that I am too craftily-inept to make for him. It took me FIVE years to make a Christmas wall hanging. It was cross stitch and took me forever. I decided I had to finish it for last Christmas. I was literally finishing it the weeks before Owen was due. Well on the 24th of November, I was just putting the finishing touches on it and I said out loud "Ok kid, just let me finish this and then you can come". No word of a lie, I put the finished wall hanging in a drawer and my water broke as I was shutting the drawer. Cris is my witness!! I think we were both ready, Owen and I. My five year project was behind me so now I could handle a little thing called labour.

Closed for business

I was starting to think about all the things I will be able to do when I stop breast feeding. Don't get me wrong- I am not looking forward to stopping. But I figure there better be a silver lining. So here is my list of things:

• Being able to take medicine when I am sick!
• Wearing bras that lift the ladies above the equator
• A full nights sleep
• Other people being able to put Owen to bed (cough cough... Cris)

And that is about it. Short list. Pointless post but I wanted to get the jab at Cris in...

My uncle went to Niagara Falls

And all I got was a crappy onsie with glitter on it. Boo.

Cute baby torture and other fun

The lazy mom's promises

On the car ride to TO, I like to have a book on tape. Makes the time go a little faster then listen to the bad music Cris likes or fuzzy radio stations. For what ever reason this trip, I picked up "100 promises to my baby" by Mallika Chopra (daughter of Deepak Chopra). Yeah I know. It's like a bad horror movie: Your screaming at me "no don't look in the closet in your underwear. The guy with the mask is in there!" But being the dumb, half-naked girl who is the first to be offed by the bad guy, I open the closet any way. And 100 meditations that I couldn't possibly live up to are sprayed all over the walls.

Admittedly, some of the stories and traditional myths were really interesting. But for the most part, I was reminded that I a) don't have THAT much time on my hands and b) Owen is in deep trouble. Most of my promises to him are to not let him sit in a dirty diaper for longer then I can stand the smell, to ensure that most sharp objects are out of both of our reach and that I won't forget to pick him up from day care (mostly because I am sure I will get a reminder call if I do). But I thought maybe just maybe I could come up with a few on my own.

I managed six:

1) I promise to introduce you to people who will be able to teach you to skate, can help with math homework and conjugate French verbs. I have a few lined up so far, but the French verb one may take a while. So no matter my (or your father's) shortcomings, I promise to try and make up for them.

2) I promise to pick out only a modestly huge home in California when you go to play for the Raiders, or become a famous doctor or become a major lawyer. This also means I promise not to live with you again. But you have to pay for the house. Consider it pay back for the 50 cent weekly allowance.

3) I promise not to let you watch really scary movies that will scar you for life like "Return of the living dead", "Friday the 13th" and the complete Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. Trust me, you will thank me later. I still can't dance naked in a cemetery when it rains. (If you haven't seen "Return of the Living Dead", this comment is beyond you and you should probably ignore it.)

4) I promise to let you fall down, bump your head, make mistakes and pull headsets down on your head. I will try not to always catch you, or hold your hand or have all the answers. But I will always be behind you with hands out just in case. And I will keep bandaids in my back pocket with the hugs.

5) I promise to capture every bad hairstyle, outfit or girlfriend on film. We will make sure we video all awful band concerts, school dances and school plays. And then promptly bring the evidence out in front of all your cool friends.

6) I promise to smooth out any stray hairs with my spit, to buy you pants that are too short, force you to go to drugstores while I buy feminine products (or even worse condoms), I will wave at you as you step up to bat and scream your name and blow kisses and make comments about making "goals" so you can roll your eyes, I will make you wear a sweater your grandmother made with puffy sleeves and reindeer on it. I will take you to your first day of school- every single one, even university, and sob in front of your friends. I know you will tell me you hate my guts and I will try not to believe you. I will be stuck to you like glue every step of the way so that you know I am always watching and that I always love you.

That seems like some stuff I could do.

If only I could dial...

So we just got back from a week in TO again. Cris' brother was getting married and we went down to help. Not sure we really were a help but... they got married and no one got hurt. Almost.

It seems every trip to Toronto, Owen becomes a walking plague, infected with some disease. This time he had a majorly stuffed up nose. And he shared it with me. Nice. So we spent a lot of nights waking up every 2-4 hours. He even stayed up crying till 12 a.m. one night. He didn't even do that when he was a newborn!!! So lots of fun.

But leave it to me to provide the piece de resistance for my baby. Again, many parenting points were deducted.

We were over at my aunt and uncle's house, where they were nice enough to put up with us for a few nights. I was making dinner with my uncle while my aunt was helping her son with his homework. Being the excellent parent that I am, Owen was strapped into his chair and left to stare at the ceiling. Being the innovator that he is, Owen started to play with the telephone cord against the wall. What fun. Then the headset fell on his head. Oh what fun.

I say kids are like new cars. Eventually they are going to get scratched, dinged and bumped. So like our Santa fe, Owen got a ding. A nice cut on his forehead. Of course I was crying long after he got over it. A nice big dose of guilt. Thankfully I didn't know where the closest Toys R' us was or an ice cream palour or I would have sucked up to that kid. So my baby's beautiful face now has a nick out of it.

Clearly he was calling CAS.

Not baby related

So we finally finished the bathroom reno. It's all those annoying little tasks that are so easy to put off. But Cris was really good and finally finished everything over the long weekend. So I had to put up before and after shots. Such a difference, even I forgot how bad it was!!!

BEFORE




AFTER

So we tiled the floor, had the bathtub painted white, painted the walls and installed a new countertop. Yes that is the same vanity- we just painted it a nice colour. I think this is a huge improvement and was worth the one month wait!!!