Sunday, January 31, 2010

a decade into the new millenia.

Well it's January 31, 2010. It's been almost 10 years since I graduated high school, quit post secondary, almost married the wrong guy, and met my prince charming...on plentyoffish.com. I've been to a few weddings, attended a few funerals, and have congratulated dozens of women on becoming new moms (I've even birthed a few babies myself).

I smoked a few drugs, drank too much at parties, and thought I was a grown up at 20 only to find out how much of a child I was when my own was born. I've made some friends and lost a few. I reconnected with my mother while losing touch with my father (until recently). I've amended my beliefs a million times over according to my experiences from Catholic to Wiccan, to New Age Science and finally Carrianity (check my one and only religious post), and have been called crazy, damned, blasphemous, brilliant, freak, and weird in the process.

I went from having a gecko, four guinea pigs and a dog (and always on the lookout for new animals) to a household free of pets entirely. I've been the optimist and the pessimist the realist and the idealist. Now I am a mother and I know only one real truth, ten years ago I didn't know a damned thing, and ten years from now I'll look back and think that at 26...I didn't know a damned thing.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Snot, everywhere!


Both my kids are sick with a cold that was passed from Breast surgeon, to me, to them. Damn you breast surgeon "just allergies" my ass! Now Poor little Edie sounds like Darth Vader who occasionally can't figure out how his ventilation system works. Breathe through your mouth Darth... And poor Gabe wipes his nose with his hand which spreads the stringy goop to his eyebrows, or forehead, or hair and boy that's an attractive look! When I do attempt to get him to blow into a handkerchief he blows out through the mouth...which isn't very effective... And then there's me, who was over the cold in a day! But now has a headache from the tears, sniffles, gasps, and new clingy attitudes of my kidlets. The only part of the day both kids enjoyed was their bath, probably because it helped with their congestion.

Well Gabe, you seem to be handling this cold in stride as you do with many things, and Edie, congratulations on your first cold..it is a doozy!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Clean...I'm never caught up!

I wouldn't say I'm a clean freak but I do enjoy the kitchen neat and tidy, and the living room floors free of crumbs, food and debris. So everyday the area which is the most used gets cleaned on a constant basis. Gabe knows my routine down pat. We get up, go downstairs, and unload the dishwasher. He loves this part because I let him stand on the cupboards and put away all the cups, and plates. Then I ask Gabe what he wants for breakfast and his answer is ALWAYS "Krispies". Okay. He grabs me a bowl before I have to ask (we keep all his plates and bowls where he can reach them) and while I'm pouring the cereal, he grabs me the milk. I place him in his high chair where he eats his Krispies (using a spoon...not so gracefully) and proceeds to get them all over himself, his high chair, the floor, the walls...Edie...and every other conceivable and not so conceivable place within a 50 yard radius. After breakfast I thoroughly clean off my son, put his high chair back to its rightful place then curse under my breath about the Rice Krispies which are now stuck between my toes.

While I'm trying, in vain might I add, to sweep the wet Rice Krispies off of the floor (before they dry there and I have to scrape them off using my fingernails) Gabe grabs a box full of toys and dumps them everywhere. Edie screeches with delight and rolls over and over playing with anything she can grab while moving through all sorts of wonderful crud. Finally in exasperation I pull out the vacuum and suck up every piece of debris I can see with the naked eye. Next I grab for the Swiffer mop only to notice that Gabe has spilt his juice, or opened a pack macaroni, or thrown every lego block he owns under the couch while shouting YA! At this point I give up until Gabe goes down for his nap. Then I pick up his toys and finish washing the floors, and if Edie is in a good enough mood I might get to clean a bathroom or fold a load of laundry. But no matter how much I get done in a day, or how little, my house always seems to look the same. Messy, disorganized, and like I have 50 children living with me.

It's hard enough cleaning up after the kids, but most of the time I have to clean up after Scott as well. I try not to complain too much about his mess when hes at home since he does work long, ridiculous hours, and he does wake up with Gabe so I can get a little extra sleep; but there are some days, like today, where I just look around at the same endless mess and think "I can't do this again". In fact today I said it out loud, got up off the floor, and took myself to my room for a much needed time out.

After 10 minutes of pouting and an annoyed facebook post later, I looked around, sighed and cleaned my room.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Gabe's Personality EXPLOSION


I'm not sure what happened to my quiet, little guy but he seems to have disappeared. He used to speak so softly, follow me around, and copy almost everything I did. Suddenly in the past week he has gone from baby to toddler. He talks a mile a minute (I still have no idea what hes saying the majority of the time)and hes picking up more and more words that he enjoys using (he loves any words that begin with the letter "B" now). Hand gestures, shoulder shrugs, gasps, and facial expressions are used constantly while he's playing or speaking. He now understands that he's his own person, which is the most amazing thing to witness, but also the saddest...he's no longer my baby.

He plays more by himself, and no longer parks his cars but gets them to talk to one another, do jumps, and have elaborate crashes (where he makes lots of sound effects for them which includes screaming in mock agony as his cars lie injured). He's beginning to understand that Edie can be a playmate and drags her around by her clothes, hands her a car (granted it's one he hates or is broken) and plays along side her, bending over to make eye contact and seemingly explaining to her how to play.

When we go for walks my little boy no longer needs a stroller or a leash to stay by my side, he's now learned that following the side walk and staying close to me leads to more exploration and longer walks. (We walked to the park the other day and he went down the slide by himself, screaming with delight! He loved it so much he ran to Edie, pointed at her straps, said some gibberish, and insisted that I take her out of the stroller so that she could go down the slide too.)

He has always been such a affectionate little boy but his affection has increased ten fold, especially towards myself and Edie. He loves hugs, kisses, and high fives and does them regularly. I just don't know how I got so lucky with him, but if Edie's emotional outbursts are any indication of how she'll be as a toddler, I'm going to need all the hugs, kisses, and high fives I can get!

God I love my kids and before I know it they'll be attending their first day of school...where does the time go? Is he really almost 2! My babies are growing up and there's no way to slow it down! Watching their little personalities emerge slowly is one of the best parts of motherhood, its like getting a little glimpse into their future, and what a beautiful one it will be!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Aiden


My little nephew was born on Wednesday, January the 20th, 2010. He is 7lbs 2oz and is a good mix of my brother and his wife Mandy. She was induced due to high blood pressure at 37 weeks. Thanks to the power of induction meds and pain killers she had a painless and record breaking short labour. In fact a part of me can't help but be jealous. I wish I had a three hour labour with an epidural that worked. And on top of all that she pushed for 25 minutes and delivered him with need for only one stitch afterwards. I have decided she isn't human. And while on the subject of short labours my friend Alena gave birth one year ago on January 20th with a short six hour labour. I'm thinking its the date! All I know is that people like Mandy and Alena...they can bite me and my back labouring, vagina tearing, screaming at my husband, all day labouring, morphine shot up ass. ;)

Anyway, now that I have that rant out of my system I have to say that my nephew is such a little cutie and looks so much like his daddy (so far)! I can't wait for March and the mini family reunion when I can hold him! I'm so excited to see him and my cousins baby, Gage! So many babies..kinda makes me want another one...but then I remember my labours and births and think...ahh maybe not...and really...I still have a baby of my own don't I?!

Well my little Aidenator, welcome to the world, and if your birth is any indication of how life will be for you, then I don't really have to wish you luck!

Love you sweetheart!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Eden from Sweden


My little Swede has been quite a handful lately, even more than usual. She has grasped the concept of toys, and cries bloody murder if one gets taken from her (don't look at me...Gabriel's the culprit). Now normally he trades her one toy for another but lately she has decided that she doesn't want any old toy, she wants the ones which Gabriel loves the most, she wants his cars. Well in Gabriel's mind that not going to fly in any sort of form. She can have anything else. ANYTHING. His stuffed animals, his bottles, his blanket, his books, every piece of Tupperware known to man, he even attempts to share his juice with her, and you would think that would be enough. Nope. She wants what he refuses to give, she wants his beautiful "duhks". She reaches, dives, and attempts to snatch directly from his hand, any toy car which is within her immediate vicinity.

Her biggest heists always occur when Gabe and I are playing cars together and hes not paying attention to the ones which aren't being physically manipulated. Gabe gets so frustrated when our game is interrupted because she has picked up a parked car to chew on, and she gets so mad when he takes his car and puts it back where it belongs. This game of ineffective (he never puts the car far enough from her) 'keep away' gets old real fast and I always end up with someone in tears. Poor Edie just wants to mimic her big brother in everything he does, and poor Gabe is slowly losing ownership over his space and his things. I'm not sure whats going to happen when she can move around on her own accord, but if these 'keep away' games are any indication, its not going to be pretty. Ah little one, just don't touch his cars and all will be right with the world...but that's not going to happen is it?

Monday, January 11, 2010

Nap time. Pft.


Gabe usually gets his nap five hours after waking up, then he sleeps for three 'blessed' hours, but for the past week he has thrown that routine right out the window. He doesn't nap anymore. It's so irritating considering it's the only time I really get to just veg out while on the computer or watching TV. It would be different if he had just shortened his nap time to an hour and a half but he has dropped it all together. He runs around his room, looks out the window, talks to himself, or daydreams, he doesn't sleep anymore. I leave him for about an hour before giving up and letting him up. Normally I would wait him out but now hes into the habit of pooping while hes supposed to be napping, and I can't leave him in poop. Ive tried changing the diaper and putting him back to bed but again he just runs around screaming, laughing and playing, apparently oblivious to my need for "me" time. I know it was inevitable that the kids would drop all naps eventually, but to do it so soon?! Why don't my kids sleep?!!!!

Today we followed the same routine as normal and he went down for his nap at 12 o clock. It is now 1230 and while hes not running around I can hear him flicking the door stop...over and over and over. BRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGGG, BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNGGG, BBBRRRIIIIIINNNNGGGG!" Now the question is "Did he poop?" or "is he just being difficult?" Nap times...once the best part of my day...is now (as with all things that used to be mine)...disappearing.

Go To Sleep!!!!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Barf


My first warning that Gabe wasn't feeling too hot was some diarrhea today, then the incessant whining, capped off with the barf I carried...yes...carried to the toilet. I caught it while comforting him after a bad dream...I'm not sure why a mothers first instinct is to catch barf but it is. Maybe its to prevent a mess because its difficult to clean while caring for a sick child. Not that it did any good because the minute I left the room to run to the toilet to flush his stomach contents, he followed me barfing all the way. Then he got hysterical as it was the first real time he ever threw up from not feeling well, and his hysterics got Edie going and I start yelling for Scott while undressing a crying Gabe. He comes up asking whats wrong takes one look at the carpet and announces "ew there's barf everywhere"..."yeah thanks genius..." is what i wanted to say but considering the hysterical child in my arms I figured sarcastic jabs at the hubby wouldn't help matters "yeah Gabe's sick, please go calm Edie".

To make a long story short I sent Scott to clean up the barf..heh heh heh...while I kept the kids reasonably calm and happy downstairs. Then we got Gabe back into bed where a peep hasn't been heard from his room since. Edie is also now unconscious on the bed, god knows that won't last long. BUT I survived...for a while there I was getting to the point of tears along with the kids...but now they are both sleeping and I no longer feel the need to sob. Days like today can come and go as fast as they like...I definitely don't want to freeze frame these........

And Edie's crying.....

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Imagination


I envy my child. His imagination seems boundless. At Christmas this year he got TONS of toys, ride on toys, toys that make noise, toys that light up, toys...toys...toys, so what did he and I end up playing with this evening? A ball. A Spongebob Squarepants, cheap ass, plastic ball. He was fascinated that I could bounce it repeatedly with one hand and would run at me like a bat out of hell, flapping his arms in a vain attempt to mimic me. When he got bored with that he took the ball and balanced it on the garbage can and watched as it rolled off and onto the recycling bag. He did this over and over. He found it quite amusing and in my mind he was teaching himself a little something about physics...or maybe he just liked the sound of the ball hitting the crinkly, plastic recycling bag...


As soon as he was bored with "garbage ball 2.0; the extended edition" he asked me to dribble the ball for him once more and this time I decided to switch the game up and asked him to "watch me shoot this into your play house". I threw the ball and it collided with the playhouse, bouncing in a myriad of different directions. Gabe laughed, ran after the stray ball and dutifully brought the ball back to me. He backed up behind me and shouted "again". Then for the next 15 minutes he laughed his butt off while I attempted and occasionally succeeded at getting the ball to bounce into the house.


Meanwhile Edie watched on, amused at all the laughter and fun we were having. Gabe even insisted that she try and shoot the ball, she wasn't half bad...with a little help. After the game, I gave the kids a bath and put them to bed and I knew I needed to write this moment down. It just goes to show that if you're willing to play with your kids then you can make almost anything fun...with a little imagination.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!



The past couple of days have been really nice with the family. We have eased into the New Year beautifully. Gabe has been behaving exceptionally well, Edie is becoming more and more of a unique little person, Scott is still my rock...my go-to person, and I'm still loving my role as wife and mother. I was thinking about our little family today and how happy we all are and I know this isn't the norm for most people. I for one never grew up in a family where people genuinely liked to be around one another and neither did Scott; so I think both of us were looking for that, and ultimately we have managed to create quite a nice little household. I'm not saying we never fight, or have disagreements, or get on each others nerves (a rolled up jacket continuously placed on the counter instead of hung in the closet springs to mind) but, all-in-all, we truly love one another.

One of the kids favourite things to do as a family is the end of the night get together in one of their rooms, usually Gabe's. We play with some toys or read books, or Edie and I watch amused as Daddy and Gabe wrestle. When the night winds down we find ourselves snuggled together on the floor; Gabe's blanket pressed against his face, Edie pressed to my chest, Scott snuggling us all, content for a moment to just be. Then Gabe (always the first to break up the family love fest) ends the night with a whine and a yawn. Scott ushers Gabe to his bed while I gather Edie, and as I walk down the hall heading towards the main room I can hear Scott reading a book and then with a whisper "good night buddy", a squeaky door is shut and the night (at least for one member of our brood) comes to a close.
What better life is there than that?

Happy New Year!