I Must Be Doing Something Right

Driving in the Loser Cruiser yesturday:

Tym: "Mummy? What's the name of the hospital I was born at?"

Meag: "Le Montfort Tym."

T: "Why?"

M: "Because that's where the Midwives could work"

T: "Why not the other hospitals?"

M: "I don't know Tym. Sometimes they can only work at certain hospitals."

Pause....

T: "Well I don't like that. They should be able to work at ALL the hospitals so they can help the mama or mummy or doctor or daddy."

Huge grin on my face, heart swelling, tears forming....

M: "Tym, you are very right and very smart."

T: "I'm going to tell the doctor's that they have to share the hospital with the midwife."

I am uploading a whole bunch of pictures, seems as though we haven't uploaded since we got back from TX.

So a big weekend - we bought Tym a big girl bike with training wheels yesterday. She picked out the pink princes one. and loves it!! She almost understands driving it - it different driving something with brakes on the pedals! Seems as though we tried to stay away from pink/princesses we have a daughter who loves dresses, pink and princesses. However she'll be the toughest kid in the playground, and the dirtiest - in her lovely dress. What a combo!

She also picked out a tinkerbell floor mat for the van - it's quite cute!

She was telling us a joke lastnight -

Why was 10 afraid of 11?
why?
Because eleven ate twelve.
haha


She was so close to having it!! I tried to redo it with 7 8 9 - but she didn't get it. Oh she's cute!

everyone is quite happy with being able to go outside again. The parks. The fun. We cleaned off the deck and have had clothes drying on it for days, it's been lovely :) I enjoy this time of year the best. It's not to warm, there are not many bugs - but no coats :)

The bunny has gone and gone - and we will be paying for many years! :)

We had a fantastic Friday - hopped a bus and went down to the market for the first time this year. Tym loves it down there, as do we. I found a Croc store... Oh my beating heart! A store, all for crocs! of course I bought a pair - can't wait for it to be nice so I can wear them :)

Mel and Laurel came over for supper on Friday and bought our car. OK, some would say that it was sudden. We had joked the week prior - since we've been tossing the idea around of getting a van as screamerson hates the car that much. Mel is going to be moving here in 3 weeks - and will need a car to get to and from work... Alas - they decided used, and ours :)

That lead to Saturday - we went van shopping and were not impressed with the deals and sales people! Tym had a great play date with Mel and Laurel though.

Sunday the Easter Bunny found the family. Tym had a fantastic time finding easter eggs and eating the chocolate the bunny left. And then reading the 3 books he brought, over and over again! Our baby sitter was suppose to come over but forgot (oh teenage boys!) and we planned on cooking all day. So Meag took to the kitchen while I played for a bit. Laurel and Mel came over and cooked us an Amazing Easter supper!

Monday morning bright and early we hit 417 Suzuki - the same place we bought our car. We love them. They had fantastic deals on everythere and were willing to work with us! So we came out of there with a Montana 2008! (with ipod adapter for Meag!)

monday night we had our usual Chinese Easter - a small one this year, only 7 people came over, but it was nice.

We picked the van up yesterday morning - which took far to long. Then we had a problem with car seat installs... Apparently most vans stopped putting 3 car seat anchors in the third row around 2002. Which SUCKS! I had wanted to put Tym on one side in the 3rd row and lake on the other side in the second row. Now Tym will be in the middle - which means no other seat can sit next to her - an adult can sit on either side, but her seat is quiet large!

Oh well - once he doesn't need someone next to him, we will move her to the second row.

Meag and Tym are at Annie's getting the car seats professionally installed (Beth is a car seat tech). The van is lovely and huge! It will take some time to get use to. Thats for sure!

Hoppity Hop

Ah Easter - the one holiday that seems to befall our family with huge events. Nearly everything major that happens in our lives seems to happen on Easter weekend - our marriage, Tym's birth, finding out Deah's prego with Lake....and now we can add buying a Loser Cruiser to the list. It's so sad but true. We sold our car and caved to the boy who wails for 3 straight hours thus turning purple and sweating because he hates the car with no one sitting next to him (a.k.a Lake). As fun as it may sound, having my legs go numb after 20 minutes from cramming myself between the car seats in the back was not exactly something I wished to continue. However it did give Deah the perfect oppertunity to "get in an accident" and have my life insurance pay out. I love her more for not taking the easy way out and instead choosing to put up with me for the next 50 years. Lake also showed us his vocal endurance and stubborness when we drove back from Syracuse to Ottawa 2 odd weeks ago. That boy has a talent that nearly earned him a new home at a rest stop. So gone are the days of whipping around in my little blue car, music blasting, windows down and clearly trying to re-claim some of my youth. Enter in the brown 2008 Pontiac Montana SV6 with dual sliding doors, fold flat seats, optional DVD system, and an autographed copy of Barry Manilow's Greatest Hits.

The best part - Tym starts playing soccer the end of the month.

So Tym's rash has healed up nicely - thankfully! Her ear however is another story. The nurse called back Friday and said there was an infection and called in some pretty strong antibiotics for 10 days. Meag brought her in yesterday (given it was only 5 days since she started the drugs) and the ear canal is still full of debris and gross, and the hole is still in her ear drum. She came home with a note to not go swimming, so we can hopefully cancel swim class and put her in the next one.

I think the drugs are giving her insomnia at night. 3 of the last 5 nights she's woken up in the middle of the night and just been awake for at least 2 hours. Add that to a little boy who is going through some weird sleep thing and not settling very well.... The adults in the house are not getting much sleep! (Meag and Tym are still sleeping now since they were up for a couple hours last night).

I had Lake's 3 months pictures done on Monday - not nearly as good as Tym's (which we got done in Fredericton at the studio) but cute. It is AMAZING to see how alike they look! We were looking through Tym's album and saw Lake in pink on every page!

Tym is excited for Easter, it should be fun this year. She is growing so quickly it's crazy. She is such a trooper with all her infections lately. She didn't like the cream for her impetigo but stood still for it, and loves her antibiotics. She is learning how to work things to how she wants them which is interesting to watch. Some we let her get away, others not so much.

Lake is growing quickly. It's crazy to think he's almost 4 months old! He's a good baby during the day - I am getting used to his schedule (which is hard to adhere to with a 4 year old in the house). He hates the car - we took out the bucket seat on Sunday to see if he would like that a little bit better. So far he hasn't cried too hard in it, but time will tell. It sure is interesting not having the bucket to put him in while we are out and about. His sleeping at night still sucks. I am hoping he'll start sleeping for more than an hour or two soon.

He is rolling over! He can now roll from back to front. He did it 3 times yesterday.

He can stop growing anytime!

Home again home again.

Sorry I haven't updated since we've been home....

Thursday I went to the Dr and got meds for streph throat. Lake's ear was doing better - and leg was doing better after lots of care - pictures will come of lots of naked time, and being pooped on like I've never been pooped on before (and hopefully never again!)

The way home was good - except that Lake cried the entire drive from Syracuse. Oye! I am not sure what we are going to do about other vacations for the next few months till he can grab things himself. If there is someone in the seat next to him to chew on, he's OK.

Since we've been home Tym got a small spot of something under her eye, and yesterday there was another one on her nose. Today the spot was considerably larger. Meag was going to take her to the clinic anyway, to get her ear looked at since swim class is tomorrow. Swim class is out - her ear is still very soft. They took a swab, and will call on Friday if we can give her antibiotics. And her skin - impetigo - a skin infection (rash). Meag is gone to get her cream right now. It also explains his ears while in Tx. It comes from the streph family. So all 4 of us have had streph in the past month. I am glad that kids got a skin thing versus the throat, achy, wanna die version!!

1, 2, 3, 4...

Happy Birthday Bug-a-Boo! You are very much a little girl now as you tell us daily that you can do this or that now. This birthday is a little extra special as we're in Texas hanging out with your uncles Tony and John. They put on the most spectacular cowboy party for you and tonight, Tony's Mum cooked one increadible meal. Complete with your first My Little Pony. What more could you have asked for!

You amaze me daily, you continue to make my heart swell, and I could not possibly be more proud to be your mummy. You have grown into the little big kid that I had hoped for and I can't wait to see what this year brings for you.

Love,
Mummy

Healing

The texas trip has been fantastic so far! The kids have both been a dream with just a few bumps in the road. Tym has had a hard time at some points with the lack of kids to play with. It has helped having Ella (almost 2 years old) and her folks around a fair bit so far. She's been really cute "helping" to teach Ella things (like washing her back when they took a bath together).

Lake - my heart aches for him at times. His ear is finally healing up nicely with the neosporin we've been putting on. It's so well healed that we were surprised to see what we think if the originating source - a small cut along the bottom of his ear lobe. Enough that it almost looks like it tore his ear lobe a bit. But it's healing and looking much better now. I wish I could say the same for his leg/bum. The kid either has too many rolls or really hates the Texas heat. And I am kicking myself through and through for opting out of bringing the cloth diapers. It started as a small, simple blister like spot of his inner, upper thigh. It's now grown to the length of 2 loonies and almost as wide. I noticed another spot near his bum, and another spot on the other thigh. So we did the only thing worried parents with no medical insurance for the States would do - we took him to the vet. A good friend of Tony and John's (actually Ella's Mum) is a vet and she has been awesome at helping us figure out the best treatment for Lake. She's given us 6-7 make shift cloth diapers (what they used as burp clothes), some Boudreau's Butt Paste, and baby powder. With the combination of all this stuff and her checking it out for the past 2.5 days, we've been able to finally get it under control. Which means Lake is much more himself now. Poor kid!

It's hard to beleive that it's already Wednesday - which means we go home soon.

It's been a lovely filled trip so far. Had a BBQ on Sunday with some nice folks - had a couple kids over that Tym had fun with. Monday we packed a picnic in the truck and went to the beach. It was a blast - a little surreal since a lot of the things we went to before was destroyed by hurricane Ike. A lot of the Island still had damage.

Tuesday was a zoo day. It was a lot of fun. Those pictures will be uploaded later on - the ones thus far are up now.

Lake's ear is healing up after some neosporin. However his leg has expolded into yuckiness. The diapers rubbed a blister, and it has since spread into a couple inches long. We are now trying to keep it airred out a lot so that it can heal. If this is what happens in Texas air in march, I am really glad we will not be here in July!

So here we are - posting from Texas. Aahhhhh Love the warm air and sun!!!

Tym's ear is doing better. Still seeping a little at night. The Dr said it was a good thing it bursts before we got on the airplane as that would not have been pretty. We do have antibiotics with us incase an infection starts. But so far so good.

We had a lovely flight here. Tym is soooo excited to be here. Her and Meag are currently at the park around the corner while the baby naps. In shorts. It's 24 degrees outside. it's heaven.

We went shopping this morning and there is lots of food for Tym - we just need to find some bread, but other then that, it's pretty good.

The poor baby - has not had a good time in the diapers we bought for the trip and ended up getting different ones today as he had a spot rubbed raw from the other ones. And his ear started looking a little sore with dry skin - almost excema like - Wednesday. Today looks a lot more sore so we've uped the remedy from breastmilk to calendula cream - hopefully it clears up soon.

So we will continue to enjoy the warm air for the week :)

Blood sweat and tears

It's been a crazy month over here... Thankfully most of the craziness is gone, and the rest will evaporated in 48 hours when we board a plane for Texas :)

We had TYm's birthday party on Sunday which was a HUGE success. She was so excited and had such a fantastic time. Unfortunately all the pictures (including 3 weeks worth) got lost in transfer and have vanished so we don't have proof of the amazing sea turtle cake in water, or the john deere decorations or the kids having a blast playing the 2 games we played. Everyone really did have a great time - it was amazing to see these 4 year olds who played games - and understood them! Then wanted more!

Monday we celebrated Meag's birthday with a small supper with Christa, Abby, Pepe and Chrys. It was lovely and low key.

The nights have been tough lately with Mr Lake - he's been sleeping a good 4-5 hour stretch when he goes to bed,but up every hour or more after that. Since he goes to bed at 7pm and I don't, I usually miss out on the only rem cycle I could get.

Of course lastnight he slept like a dream! However the other child didn't. Tym wake up crying and whining by 12. I came down and snuggled her for awhile. At 4 she said she had to pee (after only being asleep for 30 minutes) and proceeded to wet the bed. She was so upset with that. and wouldnn't stop crying. After a bath that she insisted on she went to bed. We gave her some Advil to stop the pain and crying so she would hopefully sleep a little bit.

When they woke up at 7, there was blood coming out of her ear. Talk about freak out! After a quick phone call to remind us that it's OK and it's not ER worthy we are settling into a TV morning and getting ready to go to the clinic for opening.

It's odd because there was no warning signs - she wasn't poking at her ear before the middle of the night, she had no fever or cold. She hasn't been eating great or sleeping great - now we know why!

So let's get that all settled before fun in the sun in 2 days!!! :)

3 Month-a-versary

Dear Sumo:

3 months already - holy shit! The changes in you and what you bring to the family have been remarkable.

You are smiling, laughing, recognizing people, discovering the cats (though a little too early for their liking I reckon. Your shriek of delight when Belle's around sends her scampering to the basement for a few hours!). You've discovered your hands though the other day you whacked yourself with your fist and nearly lost your mind! And your sister has already given you your first black eye.

I can honestly say that you are now fully "awake" and taking in the world around you. You wake with a start when your sister comes home and refuse to go back to sleep until you've hung out with her for abit. She has taught you how to suplex people - a trick that I taught Tym when she was 18 months old. Cute then, though I never really thought you Lake would be doing it so young!

Thanks for being you, for being such a chill baby, and for letting me hold you tight and breath you in.

Love,
Mum

Yikes - it's been forever since I updated!!

Ok - so TYm had a fever for 1 day and was great the next day. That tends to be how she gets colds... It's rare her nose is runny or anything... She'll get a fever and her body will kick whatever it is out. Yay for healthy immune systems :)

It's been a very busy time around here... I have been keeping busy with working on budget stuff for the daycare (i'm the treasurer), getting our taxes done, planning Tym's party this weekend, Meag's birthday the day after and our leaving for Texas 3 days after that. It's a good thing he sleeps well Mondays and Tuesdays since that's when I get everything done.

Tym is stoked about her birthday party. John Deere themed! She helped me make everything for the loot bags on Sunday - it was a blast :) I hope she enjoys the party as much as the anticipation!

It's amazing to think that Lake is 3 months tomorrow!! Oh where did the time go!

Speaking of - he just got up - time to fed, change a bum and go get the big girl!

Isn't he a little young to level off already?

Lake had his first doctor's appointment today. We made it strickly to start him a file at our clinic. He was a super fantastic trooper the whole time especially since he didn't really nap all morning due to 3 4-year olds running amuck (or so I hear - sometimes it's good to be the working one!) His head is now 41 around (again a big YIKES!), he's almost 25 inches long and a little shocking here, he only weighs 15.11 lbs. A little shocking since he hasn't put on a full pound from his last weigh in and typically at his age he should be putting on 1-2 pounds a month. The Dr. was a little concerned but we're all taking it with a grain of salt as he has reached all the 3 month milestones already - and clearly, take one good look at him and you know that boy is NOT starving! The Dr. did ask for us to have him weighed again within the next 2 weeks just to be sure. No biggie to us, but still I kinda have to wonder. When I'm leaving for work, Lake is either sleeping off his 2nd breakfast or having his 2nd breakfast. When I come home from work, he is looking for his bed time snack or waking up from his 2 full feeds at dinner. So if he is eating all that (and a bag of chips) than where is it going?

Sleeping heads

So it's wednesday. normally at this time of the week I am exhausted from entertaining Tym - or having a playdate.

This week - She's sleeping on the couch with a fever and he's napping upstairs. Weird.

This morning we knew she was off when she said she was tired 10 minutes after getting up and snuggled in our bed, not wanting to move to eat. She loves breakfast usually. She still has not touched her peanut butter bread. She was asleep by 8:30. She's been up to watch Diego and have a couple sips of juice and jello - then fell asleep on the couch by herself.

I do hope the fever is it and her body is able to fight everything else away.
I do hope the fever doesn't last to long.

On another note - Tym's school friend had a baby brother lastnight. And I am already having missing newborn pains and thoughts on another - then reality kicks in! Welcome Alexandre - I hope Sophie loves you as much as Tym loves Lake.

TIme flies

So it's been to long....

To finish up the weekend with Beth - Tym was so exhausted that she didn't want to go skating and had a nap instead while they all went. Poor thing loved having them around so much she could hardly stand it!
All in all the weekend was fantastic though. And it's been busy since.

I registered Tym for Junoir Kindergarden for Sept. OYE! Our baby girl is growing up! And quickly. Now we need to figure out childcare for when I go back to work as we are number 30 ont he list for the school daycare - but they are only taking 9 kids in Sept - back to the drawing board. I am not sure what we will do, time will tell.

Last weekend was the weekend of birthdays. Tym was invited to 2 parties - Willow had 15 girls between the ages of 4-5 there. Holy Cow it was eye opening! Tym had a blast, then went to play at Sophie's - and was asleep by 7:15! Sunday it was Santiago's 4th birthday and just as many people, but more adults. It was also awesome. We meet another girl that has 2 moms as well. it's always nice to meet more families like ours.

All these parties made us realize Tym's is in 3 weeks and we have done nothing. So planning has started. Theme picked, lists started. Now what to get her as a present... I think it might be a bike with training wheels! She really is getting to big way to fast *sigh*

I'm in the midst of trying to do our taxes, which is always a fun event! And get budget stuff done for the daycare... all of which I want done before we go to TX. There is never enough time in the day.

Today Meag and I went shopping a bit (for the party) and found Tym some clothes on clearance... Came home and unpacked her a new wardrobe out of her grow into bin (size 4 here we come). Now it's time to fill it with size 5.

Lake is doing good. He's laughing and talking up a storm. He has been reconizing us for a few weeks and LOVES it when his sister comes home from school... So much so he won't stay asleep when he's suppose to. We go see the nurse on the 4th, I am interested to know how much he weighs. He is now in 6-12 months clothes entirely and getting quite chubby.

Cousins

The joy of family.

Beth, Darcy, Julia and Grace arrived late Friday night. The noise hasn't stopped in the house since. it's truly amazing how much noise 3 kids can make! Lake is a little... Overwhelmed, and loving every minute, as are we. It's truly amazing to see how quickly the kids pick up where they left off. We haven't seen them in months, but it's like yesterday.

Yesterday we headed to the museum of nature and all had a good time - followed by our yearly valentine's day fondue which Beth, Jesse and the girls came over for. It was the best Valentine's fondue yet. The girls had pizza and watched (part) of a movie while the adults did the meat fondue. Then it was time for the chocolate one and the girls... welll... went right into the tub!

Right now Meag and the gang are Winterluding down ice slides. I am home with Lake... next year he'll be able to parttake a little bit. Supper is preped, so we can go skating this afternoon.

Oh the joys of family. Pictures will follow soon.

I love Mondays

I love Mondays.

I am very proactive on Mondays. Mainly because Tym is at school and I have the car.

This weekend was busy as always. But good. This week is busy with getting the last insurance forms filled out, going to city hall to get the immunization form filled out to enroll Tym in school for Feb and re-doing Lake's passport since we have his birth certificate now.

This weekend Beth and the gang are coming up - it should be a fun whirlwind weekend.

Lake is doing lovely. We are starting to get the hang of his schedule. he really is an easy baby. He's been falling asleep all by himself. I can put his in his car seat, snug with a blanket and his soother - and he'll fall asleep. He may not sleep for a long time, but he will. Which is far from what Tym would do. He's napping well at home, he's been sleeping well at night. I have yet to be sleeping well at night, I am still not used to sleeping next to a piglet!

Tym has been a fantastic big sister. She tries to help doing everything with him. It's amazing to watch her grow into such a big girl! it's also amazing to see how much attitude can be packed into such a little person! We were at matt and sarah's lastnight - and I asked her how the beans were - she said "They are amazing! Thanks Matt!" The inflection on how she said it was amazing, we were all trying not to laugh at how over the top it was.

Proud parent moment

"Hey Tym, how about a little Raffi on the drive home?"

"No thanks Mummy. Let's listen to your boyfriend. I want to rock out!"

Boyfriend = Bon Jovi

Sigh - I love my kid so much!

I can't believe we've been home almos a week already! It's great to be here. Dont get me wrong, it was wonderful to be home... So Lake could meet everyone, to see Grampie, to smell the ocean air. And Gramma did a fantastic job with keeping us feed, clean and amused. It was still a long week with only 1 parent.

Highlights include watching Lake fall asleep in Grampie's arms, having the biggest bubble bath ever with Tym im mom's jet tub, watching Tym help Gramma shovel the driveway.

Come tuesday Tym really wanted to come home - she was ready to be in her own space and missed Meag something terrible. It was a joyous reunion at the airport Thursday night. Both kids did great on the flights and at the airport, and on the drives.

We seen Claudia one last time Monday. Lake was 15lbs! his head was 40cm, and he is now 24 inches long. Holy he's done a lot of growing, and not even 2 months yet!