Friday, January 28, 2011

January's almost over, here's a photo update!

I had a few minutes before her royal highness got up so I thought I'd share...TGIF!
If Bart looks a little happier these days its because Granny Squirrel restuffed him over the holidays. She also did some minor cosmetic work. T handled the whole experience very well. She hovered about as Granny did Bart's surgery.
Granny made sure that Bart was stuffed just enough. T got to decide how stuffed Bart needed to be. At one point, T decided that Bart was too fat and not huggable enough so out came some stuffing.
When the surgery was done, I swear that mutt was grinning ear to ear. He has been so loved over the past few years, he deserved a little nip and tuck!


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There is a story behind these picture frames. I had bought them ages ago with the purpose of using them in the kids' rooms. That didn't happen. I tried getting T to 'paint' them with Crayola painting markers but the masterpieces wouldn't dry (we tried for 3 days straight!). I tried lacquering them. Not so good. Finally I got some craft paint that matched T's room. I spied these fun glittery stickers at a local craft store. T loved them.

The green frame picture is blurry but the reason I have included it is because T used a pattern (which she was very quick to tell me about, "Look Momma its a pattern!"). It goes pink flower, purple flower, pink flower, purple flower. Where did she learn about patterns? Team Umizoomi. Yes, there is such a thing as educational TV!

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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Chasing some tail....

I have two cats, one boy and one girl. I have two kids, one boy and one girl. Both sets of dependants are the same species but seemingly very different.

The most recent notable difference between T and R, is how both cats relate to R. Those who know our two fussy fuzzies know how much Gryffin avoided T like the Plague. Phenix was the exact opposite. She took advantage of Gryffin’s absence when T was younger, to get extra attention. She tolerated the fur pulling and crying newborn just for a few extra cuddles.

These days, as long as T is not around, Gryffin will spend time around R and I. R gurgles and giggles whenever he hears the tinkle, tinkle, tinkle of Gryffin’s tags as he walks down the hallway from his latest hidey hole.

Much like their personalities, the foot falls of the two cats are very different. You can hear Gryffin coming down the hallway. You know when Gryffin moves by his tinkling of his tags. With Phenix, everything is fairly muffled due to her over abundance of fur. She has very furry toes.

When Gryffin walks, he walks straight and with purpose. There’s no shilly shally. When Gryffin sits and watches something, his tail flicks. He’s more a nervous twitcher than a hunter. He would never survive well on his own.

As for Phenix, when she walks, she struts. She swishes and flicks her tail as her fur laden feet hit the floor. She’s such a lady that one. When she’s sitting and watching, she’s a skilled hunter, nary a flinch and always ready to move at a moment’s notice. She’s used to having to hunt for herself.

As for my other two kids, R has a much more laid back personality unless he is hungry or sick than T ever was. He also seems to really like soft fluffly stuff more than T did. In particular soft fabrics like blankets and sleepers. T wasn’t really into blankets but she was always into her stuffed lovies and toys, even at R’s age.

In addition to being a junior cat whisperer, R seems to be more taken with lights and movement than T was at his age. He tracks and follows things a lot more closely than T did; she was more into music than lights. She was more into grabbing things to make them do something than stopping them from moving like R. R swipes and yanks on anything he can grab. And of course, it goes straight into his mouth.

They both were/are learning cause and effect, just in different ways.

When spending time around us, Gryffin has learned to sit just slightly outside of R’s reach. If he sits too close he gets his ears, fur and whatever else R can get his hands on, grabbed, chewed or worse yet, pulled. It was all well and good while R wasn’t into grabbing things but now that he does, the game has changed. Gryffin takes it all in stride but I do usually hear et Gryffin’s trademark low meow that seems to say, “I’m just an little kitty, please take pity on me.” shortly after R grabs his ear.

One thing Gryffin does seem take get great pleasure in is taunting R with his tail.

Just outside of R’s reach but within optimal petting distance of me, Gryffin sits and flicks his tail. R sits there and stares at the flicking tail. You can see R’s brain working hard to figure out how to get Gryffin’s tail.

Every so often Gryffin will walk past R while he is sitting up and slide his tail over R’s face. Gryffin also uses this time to give R a few good thumps in the head with his tail. I have to think that he is just reminding R just who is King Kitty and who isn’t.

R just sits there and grabs at the tail while Gryffin’s fur tickles his nose. Gryffin always manages to get his tail out of R’s grasp just in time before there is a CHOMP.

One day someday soon, I fear Gryffin will be a hair too slow and oh dear, that will be the end of this friendship!

PS. I have some video of this tail tantalizing event however, like the Christmas video I shot, I can’t seem to get it to work on here. I guess you will just have to take my word for it!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The lead up to Christmas...

We spent Christmas Eve doing as we always do on Christmas Eve which is getting ready for Christmas.

This year, it was all about Santa. When is Santa coming? How does he get here? Why did Santa eat the cookies I left him because I wanted them...etc. etc. etc. Of course the Santa statue that adjorns our front porch got his Christmas kiss from T. She adores him. She helped me pick him out last year.

There are many things I thought I'd never do as a parent that I actually have done. One of those things was to bribe my child with the possibility of Santa not bringing presents if she didn't behave. But I did it and I will do it again.

I just kept telling T that if she didn't behave, I was going to use "Mommy's phone" (my smartphone) to call Santa because all Mommies have Santa's phone number. As usual, I got the shocked look.

Then of course came the questions.

One question in particular came late one evening, when she just won't go to bed. Finally, exasperated after fighting with her to stay in her room and go to bed, I told her I was calling Santa and tell him not to bring any presents because T was being naughty.

As only my child could, she hollered from her room, one last question - what colour is Santa's phone?

Red, I told her.

What did she say then? "Oh, okay Momma. Good night!" And with that she was off to sleep.

She didn't bat an eye with after having her bath Christmas Eve night, miraculously the stockings where filled but beneath the tree was still bare. She happily opened her stocking and of course, R's too because "he's too little."

The fights that will ensue when he's older and likely bigger than she is!

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Hamming it up while Daddy worked on dinner Christmas Eve.

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Just had to get one with the hats!

Breakfast with Santa!

So Christmas is over but not the deluge of Christmas pictures! This is far more fun than wrapping gifts!

When last I posted pictures, it was about the Christmas card photo challenge and pretty much whatever I hadn't posted from last fall....first up for your post holiday enjoyment, S's company family Christmas party.

Usually they only do a family party in the summer. The Christmas party is a black tie optional event that honestly, I just don't have time for with two small kids. And well, its too depressing trying to find a dress.

This year they opted to do both. Here are some pictures from Breakfast with Santa. It was held at the same place they have the adult party but during the day. There were photos with Santa, crafts and food!

And I almost forgot, there were presents! Each employee was asked to submit the ages of their kids attending so every child got a gift. Unfortunately for us, both our kids got the same toy...oh well, they can't fight over it when they are older!

Sorry, this is a picture of a picture so the quality isn't great. Talia is holding tight to her present, she couldn't wait to open hers...and R's.

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Doing a craft!

Ronan during the crafts

This is how R spent most of the morning, apparently he had had a rough night!

Santa with J and T

This is T and her friend J. There were lots of decorations around the craft area.

Poser with Teddy

Not the best shot but still cute!

Santa!

The man of the hour!






Saturday, January 15, 2011

I moose be dreaming...

I have dreaded this day for a few months now. A year ago today my brother passed away after a brief but very severe illness.

I’ve often wondered how I would spend today. The reality is very different from anything I imagined.

It all started last week. Saturday was completely unremarkable. I had planned to go out to dinner with friends. S was going to stay home with the kids. T was very clingy most of the morning but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. She is still adjusting, as we all are, to having R around.

By mid afternoon, she decided she needed a nap. T taking a nap is the equivalent to having Haley’s comet passing the Earth this year. It just not going to happen.

After she got up from her nap, she was really hot. I figured it was just because she had gotten up from a nap where she had worn heavier clothes than she wears to bed and had slept under two blankets on flannel sheets.

By 4:30pm, I was getting ready when I heard a sound. A thunderous stampede was headed for the main bathroom. I hurried out to see puke all over Bart and Dahlia (T’s stuffed buddies) and a shaking T. Apparently she had been sick.

The rest of Saturday was as most of the day had been unremarkable. I stayed home from my night out but there was no more puking. Yay!

T was a bit off most of the week but nothing that pointed in any medical direction as being the stomach flu etc. She had an atomic meltdown Thursday afternoon but aside from that the week went pretty normal.

Then came Friday morning. When she got up, she didn’t want breakfast. This is standard operating procedure for T. Its a fight to get food into her on the best of days. In fact, she hadn’t eaten much all week but again, that’s not uncommon. When T decides she does not want to do something, nothing changes her mind.

She had asked for milk. I grabbed the sippy of milk that she hadn’t finished the night before out of the fridge (potentially a bad move in hindsight) and gave it to her. She guzzled it back no problem. She wanted more so I gave her more.

All seemed pretty standard until I had just started to give R his morning bottle. We’ve had our own issues with Mr. R of late, primarily in the teething department. His poor little bottom barely survived the cutting of his two bottom teeth.

His problems in the diaper department have ceased in the last days. But not before I had to contend with explosive, out of the diaper, up the back and into the onesie poops. I had to go so far as to get diaper maxipads to put help curtail the pooptastic explosions. T never had this issue so I’m in unknown territory. I know other boys who have similar issues so I’m going on the theory its a boy thing.

Back to Friday morning, just after I got R dressed and started on his bottle, T started to eat her banana. She didn’t get too far.

Without warning, up came 2 cups of milk and whatever was left in her tummy from the night before. All over my area rug in the living room. Charming. She made it to the bathroom but only after hitting another rug by the front door.

After we got that mess cleaned up, all was well. T ate more yesterday than I think she ate all week. R seemed a bit off his food but nothing that couldn’t be accounted for because of what appears to be the eminent arrival of more teeth.

I checked on him last night before I went to bed, S checked on him around midnight and I checked on him when I got up at 7am. All was well. It was rather nice seeing as he has been waking up screaming the past few nights.

All was quiet until I went in to get him up around 9am.

The room was rather odorous. Not unusual. While T was a 10-10:30am on the dot pooper, R is any time of day or night. Its totally normal to change a poopy diaper first thing in the morning.

Well, what greeted me was more than your average poopy diaper. Let me preface this: I’ve seen my share of poopy diapers. I lived through but barely survived the gastro bug of 2008 in which we all had a very nasty bug for 2 weeks.

Before I had woken him up, he was fast asleep. When he woke up, there was a big smile. No overt signs of what came next.

Then I saw it. Poop and not just in his diaper...

When I went to lift R from his bed, there was a large brown mark under his head. Apparently, R didn’t want to let his sister get all the attention.

I had R dressed in three layers. A light cotton playsuit, a fleece sleeper and then a light fleece sleep sack. Its freezing in his room at night and we’ve had some colder than average temperatures lately.

I looked at the back of his head and neck. Poop. Down his back. Poop.

S was getting ready for work. I sounded the alarm and thankfully after I undressed R and did a cursory clean up, S took him to the bathtub. R’s second bath in less than 24 hours.

Apparently the poop migrated up his back, through his playsuit, up his neck and all over anything it came in contact with. Oh yak.

While I was still pregnant, I had gone through all of T’s old clothes, scavenging anything a boy could wear. The playsuit he was wearing was one T received as a gift for her first Xmas from a family friend. I really wanted R to wear it was it is just the right size for him now. The hat that came with it, not so much. He doesn’t like wearing hats...

I had been looking for the playsuit for the last few weeks but just couldn’t find it. Last night I finally found it. Ironically, the saying on the front, below the picture of a moose says, “I MOOSE BE DREAMING!”

Yes, this morning I only wished that I could have been dreaming for a number of reasons. I think the stomach flu has invaded.

I’ve washed my hands religiously for three months trying to prevent the spread of germs. My hands are so dry I’ve got splits and cracks all over them. All for not apparently.