Holiday Visiting

We enjoyed the holidays. Craig had a couple of days off and we spent it with family. Christmas Day is always spent at Craig's Uncle Jim's house with extended Martin family and all of Uncle Jim's extended family. Every year there's more people and this year it was close to about 40. So many new little cousins and boyfriends and girlfriends. It's always a great time.

Shaun really enjoyed playing air hockey. He beat me a couple times!


Finally a nice picture of Craig and Ian together where both are smiling.

The boy cousins left to right: Matthew - 5, Joseph - 3, Shaun - 3, Ian - 4 1/2 months

It was a great visit with everyone but it was nice to return to normal on Friday because all the visiting was exhausting!

Long Overdue

Shaun's at his friends house so I decided to get everyone updated on my family.

Ian is closing in on 5 months old. He's able to roll from his tummy to his back, though not consistenly because there's still times when I'll place him on his tummy and he'll be beside himself minutes later because he hates it. Good motivation for him to practice rolling, I figure. He's getting closer to the back-to-tummy roll but I think that's still about a month away. When he's laying on his back he'll pull his feet up to examine his toes and sort of rolls to his side to get a better view but hasn't made it the full roll yet. Ian's passing toys from one hand to the other, and back again. He'll reach out for a toy in front of him and is able to bat at it but can't yet grasp it on the first attempt. Usually it looks more like the toy swung into his reach than him reaching out to the swinging toy. He 'talks' a lot: cooing, blowing bubbles and making spitty raspberries. He hasn't started any consonant sounds yet but I would guess that 'g' will be the first. He's getting really close. Ian's just like Shaun, in that he loves getting lotion on after bed. I just use the regular Johnson's bath lotion that I still use for Shaun. Ian's favourite part to have rubbed is his head and temples and he hates getting lotion on his belly and chest. Maybe because it makes him cold. Shaun's been getting a kick out of how Ian will follow him around by turning his head. Shaun discovered it one day as he walked past Ian in the Bumbo and now it's a game the two will play together. The most amazing is that when Shaun disappears behind a wall Ian will look to the other side of the wall and wait for Shaun to pop out. Though that's probably because Shaun couldn't be quiet if his life depended on it so he's always crashing into something or making some sort of noise to indicate to Ian where he's going to reappear. Ian really enjoys singing songs and finger-plays. I do this one with him about a Teddy Bear walking around a garden and then tickling Ian's neck. He thinks that one's pretty funny and will shrug up his shoulders as I near the end in anticipation of the tickles that are coming. Ian seems to be making strange a little bit. I was visiting my sister in laws yesterday and their kids and Ian only wanted to sit with me. He wanted to be facing out so he could watch all the action but when Sheri or Julia tried to hold him he let them know he prefers to sit with Mummy. Hopefully the activity over the next week and a bit will help him a little. I know it's developmentally normal but after all the struggles we had with Shaun's separation anxiety I'd prefer if Ian had a milder case.

Shaun is 3 1/2. Boy, it feels so wierd to type that. He speaks like an adult some days but still has a hard time pronouncing 'r' and he lisps the letter 's'. Occasionally I'll catch him saying 'th' with an 'f' sound but mostly just for names. Other words that he uses regularly, like the number 3, he can say just fine. He's able to count objects up to 10 consistently and can count to 20 but misses 15 and says eleventeen instead. Shaun recognizes every letter of the alphabet in upper and lower case and knows the main sound for all the letters. Some of the secondary sounds - like the 's' sound for the letter c (circle) - he's still learning. Most confusing for Shaun is how Ian's name is spelled. Once again, we have a spelling issue. Man, we can't win! Most of you know that I regret spelling Shaun's name with a u and now Shaun can't wrap his head around an I being at the front of Ian's name instead of an E. When Shaun's in a mood to learn he'll work at sounding out words on his own. Butter - BTR, Ian - EN, Kitty - KTE. I just need to get him more interested in writing. Shaun doesn't have very much interest in writing or colouring at all. That definitely explains his poor motor skills when it comes to holding a pencil or a crayon. Up until a couple of months ago he was still holding a crayon in his fist. I've really tried to encourage him daily to practice writing letters and he's coming along. He is able to write all the letters that make up his name and most of the time, it's legible.

Shaun's been experimenting with his body recently; pushing himself more and more. He'll launch himself off the couch into a pile of pillows... backwards. He'll climb down the stairs using only the banister and spindles. He hops and jumps on one leg or both or alternates between the two. He's also just discovered walking with his eyes closed. He tried it in the grocery store last week after practicing in the house for a few days. He was thrilled when he "only ran into one lady, and she was old". I guess he reasons that she wasn't quick enough to get out of his way. We apologized, by the way!

Shaun's taking more of an interest in food. Finally! He wants to help me prepare dinner and often will make his once-daily cup of chocolate milk all on his own in the morning. Microwaving it and everything. And chocolate milk in this house isn't as simple as one would think. First there's digging the cup out of the cupboard. Then comes getting the white milk from the fridge (some days the jug is empty so Shaun will have to remove the old bag, place a new bag in the jug, cut the tip and discard the garbage) and placing it in the microwave to warm up. 45 seconds to be exact. While it's warming up Shaun gets the chocolate sauce from the pantry and puts the valve in the lid of the sippy cup. Once the microwave beeps he removes the cup, adds the chocolate sauce and screws the lid on. Before he shakes the cup, Shaun returns the milk to the fridge and the chocolate sauce to the pantry. Then he's free to drink his chocolate milk. When he makes it himself, he calls it 'homemade'. I wonder what it is when I make it?

Craig and I will be married for 6 years in February. Six years ago I pictured myself to be pretty much where I am: with kids, a house, a vehicle. Never though did I imagine that I'd be so happy, so content, so blessed.

I'll be even more happy when his place sells! :P

Feelin' A Little Down

I think I'm getting ready for my first PPAF because I'm feeling a little 'off' today. I'm hugely emotional and crabby. (Is hugely a word?) But what just set me into uncontrollable tears was thinking about this house. It's not sold yet but that's not what I was sad about. I was sad thinking about SELLING this house. We've outgrown it but I don't wanna leave! We have so many memories here! I was making an album on Facebook of this house and adding captions for all the pictures. I started bawling when I got to the picture of our bedroom. I still can't believe Ian was born there. Every space in this house holds a memory for me. Like I said, I'm just emotional today so even though I'm excited to leave here I'm sooo sad too. :( I need a family member or close friend to buy this place so I can come back and bathe the boys in the tub every now and then and do laundry in the basement.

Could They Be The Ones?

We have another viewing scheduled for 1:30 today, so just about 2 hours from now. I find it difficult to imagine another family living here because this is all I've known for my little family, but even more difficult to ponder is the reality that one of these couples touring my house will ultimately be the ones living here in March. Wierd. I think about moving out and how things will be in my new house; they will be thinking about moving in and how things will be here. Circle of life I guess.

And after my meltdown last week, Craig's been working his tail off trying to help me keep up with the housework. It's been so nice to have help.

4 Months Old

I can hardly believe my baby is 4 months old. Has it really been 4 whole months since I gave birth to him in my bedroom in the August heat? On one hand it feels like it was so long ago because so much has happened since then but on the other hand, I've only known Ian for 4 months and already I know him so well.

He had his 4 months immunizations yesterday. Craig was the one who had to take him because I was picking Shaun up at school and then had a meeting with our agents. The doctor suggested we start Ian on cereal (um, no!) but said Ian is growing and developing right on target.

Weight: 16 pounds - 75th percentile
Height: 26 inches - 95th percentile
Head: can't remember the size but it's 95th percentile too

Craig said Ian did well with his shots too. The first one was a breeze and Ian barely flinched. The second one apparently stings a bit more and he was pretty upset but once Craig was able to snuggle with him for a moment Ian stopped his sobbing. How the nurses know that the second shot stings more than the first is a mystery to me. Do they inject themselves just to test?! I think babies cry more for the second shot because they're thinking, "Crap! Not again! I'd better scream this time so she doesn't jab me a third time."

Ian's definitely gaining much quicker than Shaun did though. At the same age, Shaun was 16lbs, 8oz but was born over 2 pounds heavier than Ian. Ian has pretty much doubled his birth weight in 4 months. Shaun was nearly a year old before his birth weight had doubled.

Before we know it we're going to have to buy Ian a new carseat because he is certainly quite the tubby little guy to be lugging around in that infant carrier - but the convenience is soooo worth it!

Crash and Burn

The stress of the basement has been lifted and Craig and I have been, ahem, back to normal, if you know what I mean. The weekend was nice because we were finally able to relax and spend some time together. We've been working together on getting the house ready to list. We were on a roll and then it all fell apart today and we crashed and burned.

I'm overwhelmed. I can't keep doing everything that I've been doing and be able to function. This morning I got up at 7AM, nursed Ian, made breakfast for Shaun, got myself and Shaun dressed, changed Ian's diaper, got Ian dressed, got extra clothes for Ian's diaper bag, packed Shaun's backpack for preschool, tidied the kitchen, scraped the ice off the van, cleaned out the shop vac that I was returning to a friend, recycled all the cardboard boxes that we've been lugging around for weeks, filled the empty cat food bin, fed the cats, left Ian with Craig who was still in bed and drove Shaun to pick up his friend. Then I drove the boys to preschool, chatted with Shaun's teacher a bit about how he's been doing, picked up the window screens that were fixed for us, and came home to... Craig still in his pyjamas. How is that fair?!?!

I was soooo angry but I bit my tongue and reminded him that we had 30 minutes to get the house ready because we had to leave again at 10:00 and there was an agents tour scheduled for while we were to be out. I frantically washed the breakfast dishes, swept the kitchen floor, made Shaun's bed, put away the boys' laundry, tossed a basket of unfolded laundry in our closet that had been sitting in the kitchen in hopes of Craig folding it, folded the blanket in the basement that I had already folded once this morning, rearranged the pillows on the couch that I had already arranged once this morning, put away the breakfast dishes, nursed Ian, changed his bum, and flew out the door.

The one thing I had asked Craig to do this morning was call the bank to discuss our new mortgage rate. He didn't even do that. I was so insulted that I had been so busy all morning and Craig hadn't done anything to help until I walked in the door and reminded him we had to leave at 10:00. Why am I the one who is always responsible for things like that? He knows where the calendar is. He can read. I had even sent him an email at work last night telling him how busy this morning was going to be. I suggested when we got back around lunch time that we sit down together tonight and make a list of what needs to be done every single day until this place sells and he flat refused, saying doing that would make it seem like we were 12 year olds. Well, newsflash, having your wife remind you of each and every appointment is pretty close to you being 12 years old again. I have half a mind to leave all that stuff up to him and see how far he gets, and how nasty the house is after only a day.

What show is it on TV where people reverse their roles? I know his job is physically demanding most days and I probably wouldn't be able to do it day-in and day-out but he really hasn't a friggin clue how much I carry on my plate daily. Simple things like me reminding him to grab Ian's health card from my purse for Ian's Dr. appointment this morning, or making sure the diaper bag actually has diapers in it. He's never had to think about stuff like that because I've always done it, fearing he'd be left without it. I should leave it up to him one day.

This whole thing ended up in a huge argument about how I can't continue doing everything that I'm doing; I need more help from him. He went on and on listing off the things he's done in the past couple of weeks to help get the house ready. Yes, he's been helping with some things but I don't see him sleeping until 8AM and then sitting on his behind in front of the computer for an hour and a half while I'm off running, to be helping. Maybe it's just me. It seems to be only on his terms; when he wants to help. I don't have a choice about when I make a meal or feed the baby. I especially don't have a choice about what to clean or when to clean it now that the house is listed. I could get a call this afternoon asking to bring a client through at dinner time. I have 2 children to look after in the meantime so I would appreciate not having to pick his sock lint out of the carpet or throw his dead kleenex in the garbage.

Yeesh, that was quite the vent. I feel much better now. And now I'm off to dig the basket of laundry out of our closet so I can fold it before next week. :S I sure hope I'm not doing this for months...

Photographs from a Pro

Our Virtual Tour

It just goes to show that the pros really know what they're doing and that it's well worth the money to hire them to do what they do best. Our agents use a professional photographer to take photos and set up a virtual tour of all their listings. I guess that's why they charge 3% commission instead of the standard 2.5%. But the pictures turned out amazing. So amazing that we had a viewing tonight already. I'm not holding out... well, actually I AM hoping they loved the place and we'll get their offer tomorrow. But reality says it's 2 weeks before Christmas and most of the planet is flat broke. I'll be happy if this place sells before the middle of January. We'll see.

Let's Sell This House!

We're activating the listing today. Our house is officially For Sale. I only hope it doesn't sit too long before another young family comes along to grow up here. I already know I won't be able to return here when all the furniture is gone - too many memories. I want to remember this house full of noise and children, not lonely and empty.

I took all these pictures but the photographer is coming tomorrow morning to take some for the listing. It will be interesting to see how mine and his differ. I'll make sure to post the link to the listing when I get it.

Progress Shots

Just a couple shots on the progress we're making on the basement. Craig actually posed for this picture. There's no putty on his trowel, he's just being a goof. We've had to start calling it putty because Shaun just can't wrap his head around the fact that it's white mud. "Mud is supposed to be brown," he whines.

My dear old Dad spent the whole weekend at our house to help with the basement. He even slept on an air mattress because that's the only bed we had to offer him! Thanks Poppa Bear for all your help!!!

Progress Report

The basement is coming along. We have 3 or 4 sheets left to put up on the ceiling but all the walls are hung. The screws that aren't on a joint have their first coat of plaster on them. All the joints are taped and ready for plaster. I took a whole pile of drywall ends out today to help clear out the basement a bit so we could work. I was surprised at how little waste we've had. And I also moved the remaining 8 sheets so I could get behind them to plaster the last of the screw holes. Tonight Craig and I will start plastering the joints and leave them overnight to dry. He bought outside and inside edging strips so hopefully we'll get to some of those tonight too. He doesnt' get home until after 10PM so it makes for a really long day for him. I'm so proud of him for working so hard! But I guess it would be worse to have 2 mortgages than miss out on some sleep for a couple weeks while we get this place ready. The rest of the house is pristine and ready to show. We're just waiting for the basement now. Our agent is coming in the morning to check the place out and we'll talk a little about listing price and I'd like to get some suggestions for furniture placement, etc. Dad's coming on Friday to stay the weekend and get the plastering finished. My goal is to be painting Sunday night. I'll be up all night if I have to be. I'd really, really like to get the house listed next week.

I still have a couple little things to do but it's all finicky stuff that wouldn't make or break a sale. Just me being obsessive compulsive. Here's a couple photos of the basement in progress. The 'before' shots are all on the old computer. Once I get a chance to have the old hard drive transferred to this computer I'll upload the 'befores'. Not much of a change yet but I'm positive it'll look like a different house when it's all done. I can't believe how quick it's all coming together!

An Update

Okay, okay, I've been seriously neglecting my blogging but I have a good excuse, I swear!

We bought a house! It closes February 27. And the sale isn't conditional on the sale of this place. Yep. You got that right. We may end up with 2 mortgages come March. So I've been working my tail off getting this condo ready to list. Craig has been busting his butt finishing the basement. Remember the basement? Yes, the basement that was supposed to be tackled right after the kitchen was finished back in the spring. The same basement that was going to be finished before Ian arrived. This is the thorn in my side these days. It's been taking a lot of my energy to not scream "I told you so, dammit!"

Here's a few pictures of the new place to pacify everyone until I can get back on again. Hopefully sooner than 2 weeks. Yeah, sorry 'bout that.

Fire Station

Shaun and Craig went with Shaun's new preschool on a trip to the fire station last week. Shaun's little buddy Bailey went with his mum too, since Bailey goes to the same preschool.

Figures that the boys were more interested in the dump trucks in the parking lot than the fire trucks! Shaun's on the right in his fire-gear.

Updates

I've been a lazy blogger lately. We've been so busy getting the house ready to put on the market that my blogging, among other things, has taken a back seat. I really enjoy being able to unwind at the computer and check up on all my friends and I've been missing that.

The bottoms of my feet have paint in the creases because I've been painting so much. The whole main floor is completely repainted; ceilings and all. Add in the kitchen reno from the spring and the newer carpet and laminate from a couple years ago and TaDa! you have an updated main level. The main bathroom was redone about a year ago, right before I got pregnant with Ian, and painted at that time. Both bedrooms have a fresh coat of paint including the ceilings. All that's left is to patch the crack in the stairwell and repaint that wall and we're done everything except the basement. That's Craig's domain and I'm not saying another word about it. My brother-in-law even came over last night with his family and cleaned all the windows for us! It's like we have an extra window in every room now; it's so bright! I can hardly wait for the sun to shine so I can watch them sparkle.

I have all these desires to declutter the house and pack things away in boxes. Now that we're so close to buying our next house and listing this one, I want it to be ready when the times comes. I think I could find real motivation to get the work done if we were on a deadline, but that would cause unnecessary stress. And who needs more stress in their life? Not me, thankyouverymuch. My next project will be the walk in closet in out master. There's so much stuff in there from when we were younger. A lot of archives. We'll keep them but there's no need for potential buyers to see them. Not that we have all that much junk, because we really don't. But every house could always do well with some decluttering.

Craig and I agreed ages ago that when it came time to list we'd rent a storage locker for all our extra stuff, including the college-style furniture in the living room, and then rent some stuff to stage the house. I've gotta be honest, I'm so excited about staging the house! I've already picked out what I want to rent. Did you know you can rent an electric fireplace for only $3 a week? I've layed out the floorplan in my mind. It's going to be stunning. What things I can do with an array of options at my fingertips.

I'm mostly excited to have a real bed. Right now we have a terrific mattress and boxspring... on the floor. When we were married, our matrimonial bed was Craig's futon. Talk about college furniture! And the man didn't even go to college! We finally purchased a real queen size mattress and boxspring but couldn't agree on an actual bed (head board, frame, etc.) so we never ended up buying anything else. It's been, let me see, 4 years. Yep. Craig has promised me that the first thing I can have for the new house once we move is a real bed frame and headboard. I've promised him a 42" LCD TV.

Shaun has done amazingly well with all my painting. He even helped me this morning with the walls in my bedroom. I kept him in his jammies because they're older anyway and he took his paintbrush from his craft basket and went to town. He lost interest quickly (thank goodness because I was starting to worry about the carpet's safety) but stayed in the room watching me finish. He's so patient and honestly, so good. He passed the time examining all the things from the armoir in our room. It's pushed up against the bed so I can access the wall behind it, so Shaun was able to reach everything in it. He discovered pushpins, a magnifying glass, double-sided tape, pictures of me in college, and old menus from Pizza Hut that I used for a restaurant at the daycare I worked at. He got a real hit out of the double sided tape, "You can't believe this Dad: this tape is sticky on both sides!"

Ian's been doing better with the whole nap-for-at-least-an-hour thing. He seems to have one nap a day where he sleeps really deeply and the other 3 naps are a little lighter. I don't like to tiptoe when he's sleeping but sometimes I find myself doing that because he seems to wake so easily. And when he wakes up, rarely is he able to get himself back to sleep. He falls asleep on his own at the beginning of his nap but if he wakes up part way through, he needs his Suckie to soothe himself back into nappy-land. I can only hope he's able to do that eventually.

He wakes up around 7AM which seemed early at first, but Shaun starts at a new preschool on Thursday that begins at 8:30 so our whole house will have to be waking up earlier now. I'm okay with Ian getting up at 7AM... I think. :) Then the morning is pretty much eating every 3 hours, following the same eat-play-sleep routine that Shaun was on. The afternoons are a little more unpredictible. Usually he'll eat every 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon but some days he's able to go 3 hours. It all depends on how he's napping really. If he's sleeping well, I'll let him sleep until the 3 hour mark, but if he wakes up and his crying, I'll feed him just so that he doesn't wake Shaun up. Yeah, Shaun still naps nearly every day. What a great sleeper that kid is!

I've found myself comparing Ian to Shaun less and less. Maybe because Ian's personality is so vastly different from Shaun's so I am less apt to compare their schedules. Or maybe it's because I've done this before and I'm more just going with the flow. Whatever it is, I'm happy about it. I didn't want to be the mum who was constantly comparing her boys to one another. Ian will be able to flourish much better if he's allowed to do it at his own pace. At least he's sleeping 9-10 hours straight at night! Phew!

Finally

We've been talking about it for months and we finally did it. We bought a new computer. The old one was at least 10 years old and was a hand-me-down from my Dad's work when they discard computers and allow their employees to bid on them. Dad won a bid on it 6 years ago for $50 and gave it to us. Pretty sad, really, that we've had such a crappy computer for so long.

It came with Windows Vista. I haven't experiened any of the errors that the MAC commercials point to but it's taking some getting used to. I can't seem to figure out how to become an 'administrator' on this thing so I can download programs directly to C:, it keeps telling me I need to contact the administrator for permission. Um, I AM the administrator. And MSN Messenger isn't working either. This thing won't even recognize the file so obviously I did something wrong along the way.

We had a 30G hard drive added into the old computer (seems so small now that this one is 320G) for all our pictures and music. I need to have that moved over to this one eventually. But we forgot to get all the links from our Favourites menu. Well, I say 'we' but I really mean Craig. He's not a thinker like me. When he decides he wants to do something he never thinks it through before doing it. Like disconnecting the old computer. He just unplugged it. Exqueeze me, there's all sorts of stuff on there that we need to keep! We can't just discard it. I have resume info in case I ever decide to return to work, and all our music and photos, and programs that I'll need! It's going to be a busy few weeks while I try and get this faster but bare-bones computer up to standards.

But for now, I'm really enjoying the quiet operation since it isn't 'canning' 24/7!

Living Room - Check

So during all the free time I've had since last night (yeah, right!!!) I was able to paint the living room ceiling. I used "Goes on Pink, Dries White" paint and it was pretty freaky, to say the least. Shaun took one look at it and said, "Daddy won't be happy you're painting the ceiling pink Mummy." I explained to him that it's magic paint and when Shaun talked to Craig this morning as I was finishing up the last of the ceiling, he reassured Craig that it's magic paint, and not to worry about the pink colour. My little guy!

Ian is throwing a wrench in my plans, as usual. He's awake a whole hour early from his nap and crying. Crap. So much for getting anything else done today...

Home Sweet, oh, Wait

I'm Type A personality. I need to plan things. The general plan as far as housing goes is for us to move before Shaun starts junior kindergarten in September. But the plan in my head includes things like: re-pot plant in the living room so it can sit on the floor instead of on the table (what size pot, how much soil will I need?), pick clothes to place into storage to make the closet look larger, buy candles (do I want varying heights or all the same, coloured or all white, scented or not?), replace lightbulbs to higher wattage. I plan excessively and it's keeping me up at night because I can't turn my brain off.

We will get the house in tip-top shape so we can list at a moment's notice, and then we will begin the serious searching for our next house. Once we find it, we can quickly list this place and, hopefully, have a quick sale and then move. This house is so far from tip-top shape it's not even funny. When my Type A brain starts thinking about all that needs to be done to even get the house into half-decent-to-show-my-parents shape, it scares me. Not that it's dirty at all, it just needs so much. The basement is torn apart... still... from all the way back in March when Craig ripped the panelling off the walls without a plan or timeline as to how drywall would make it up in the panelling's place. Then it all needs to be taped, mudded, sanded, and painted. Oh Joy.

The living room ceiling needs to be painted as well as the walls. Our bedroom is desperate for colour - it's still one coat of white from whoever painted over the grey from way back when, the laundry room needs major decluttering... it just seems to go on and on. Oh, I need to scrub the oven since I didn't get to do it for the whole 9 months I was carrying Ian and it's in pretty dire straights at the moment. The ceiling in the front hall needs replastering from a leak in the bathroom above that was fixed 6 years ago but the ceiling was never addressed. And all the baseboards throughout need to be painted.

Did I mention that Craig doesn't paint? Ever. Yep, I'll get to it during the hours and hours of free time I have every day. :S

Okay, so with all those fix-ups in mind and a move-in date in mind of the summer, we put an offer on this house yesterday. What were we thinking? The closing is really in our favor: February 17, 2008. That gives us lots of time to get this place in tip-top shape, list it, sell it, and close on it. The house in question ended up going into multiple offers and we got out bidded but now that I've actually put the ToDo list in writing, it really is daunting. I'm actually glad we didn't get the house, though it really was a nice one.

Another will come along and next time, we'll be more prepared. In the meantime, I'm digging out my painting clothes. I wonder if they'll fit yet??

Story of My Life These Days!

Boob Juice

"Hey Boogie, what are you doing?"

"I'm giving my baby some Boob Juice." He had his Ted pressed up against his bare little chest.

"Oh. Don't forget to burp your baby so he doesn't get a sore tummy, okay?"

Shaun gently lifts Ted off his chest and raises the other half of his shirt. He holds his nipple and places Ted on. "There you go. Is that good? I have to give him some milk from the other side first Mum."

"Alright." I turn my attention to the infant at my breast: quietly sucking but intently watching and listening to my conversation. "Your brother is nursing Ted, just like I'm nursing you. Isn't that strange?"

He smiles and milk dribbles out his mouth and onto my arm.

There's rustling from Shaun's bed. Ted is finished and Shaun is holding him up now, patting his back. "Know what I have to do now Mum? I need to pump."

"Really? What's that for?"

He's reaching out into the dimly lit room. He grabs nothing and cups his hand up to his chest. "I have to get all the extra milk out so my boobs don't get sore. And then it goes in the fridge for extra." His hand is opening and closing like he's operating the pump. "And I need to tell my body that I need more milk because my baby is growing too fast."

"That's a great idea. How does your body know you need more milk?"

"Because I say, 'Body, I need more milk' and it just makes it. My body is pretty smart you know Mum."

"Will you put the extra on your cereal in the morning since we're out of cow milk?"

"No Mum, that's gross. I'm going to drink your milk that's from beans on my cereal tomorrow. People milk is only for babies." He places his thumb in his mouth, pulls Ted close and snuggles down under his covers. "Maybe I'll have a bagel instead."

"Okay. See you at breakfast time Boogie. I Love You."

Family Photos

We are lucky enough to have a neighbour who is a photographer and offered to take some family photos of us. So I spent a week organizing in my mind what everyone would wear and another couple of days ensuring it was all clean and ironed. Then the big day came and Shaun was crabby and Ian needed a nap. We still ended up with a whole wack of terrific photos though, surprisingly. These are my favourites.

Julia and Ian

Craig and I are fortunate enough to have a terrific family (from both sides). Everyone loves our kids and Shaun is always so excited to see his cousins. He actually cried when everyone left after Thanksgiving dinner last night beause he wanted them all to stay and play longer.

But I don't think anyone loves Ian more than Julia. Understand, she's 9 1/2 so babies are still really cool and great and loveable. She waited so patiently last night to hold Ian: through 2 feedings and a nap - and finally got the chance after dinner. She looks like such a proud cousin!

Julia's little sister Laura had a chance to hold Ian too but only for a moment until he decided to get all crabby. I wish I'd gotten a picture of both of them. Next time...

Cottage-ing

It's late and I have hoards of laundry to do before heading off to bed. And we're hosting Thanksgiving this weekend so there will be no time for anything computer related until at least Sunday night so I wanted to post while I had the chance. We spent 4 days at the cottage this week to try and help my grandparents get it ready to close for the winter. We raked leaves until our hands blistered, but I was able to get a few great photos!

The last one is of Ian in his 'rumble chair' as Shaun calls it. It was cold outside so I bundled him up as much as he would allow and sat him on the porch. He was so happy being outside and Shaun would check on him every now and then to make sure he was still happy.

The Rake of Guilt

So after realizing that it had been weeks since my last photo of Ian, Craig and I have been going a little nutso for the past few days, taking photos of him. We really do need to get more of the boys together but Ian has such a short time where he's awake and happy and not attached to my boob (literally, it's probably 10 minutes) that it's hard to get the two of them together. I really should try harder.

I was singing King Louie's song from The Jungle Book this afternoon while I was changing Ian's diaper and he was singing along. Thankfully the camera was right beside me and I was able to catch a little bit. For everyone who has held him recently while he was having one of his fits: see? he really is happy... sometimes!

We've been getting some nice photos of Ian too. He has a lot more personality now that he's nearly 2 months old. And he's certainly a whole ton easier to love when he's happy!!

Just lounging on the couch while Craig was playing with Shaun and I was making dinner.

I was making Kissy-Lips at Ian and he totally compied me!!!

...their eyes locked and it was True Love

My Beef for the Decade

What is it about retarded drivers who think that the lines painted on a road are LAW? If you're driving in front of someone and you need to turn left into a driveway and there's no one coming in the other direction, even if there's a solid line dividing the road, it's okay to cross. over. the. line. so the poor souls behind you don't have to slow to the same pathetic crawl as you.

And if you're driving on a road that has a paved shoulder and you need to turn right at the next intersection, for pete's sake, slow down on the damn paved shoulder!

Twice today I encountered stupid drivers doing exactly what I've described. I'll admit, I'm not the BEST driver but I'm certainly a considerate driver. I never slow down before turning without using my turn signal and I stay as close to the curb as I can when turning right to allow the people behind me to pass safely. Afterall, they aren't turning so why should I make then slow down?

And what's with all the people who turn left before turning right? You know the people I'm talking about. The dope who has his right turn signal on and you go to pass him on the left only to have him nearly sideswipe you because he's taking the turn soooo wide. I drive a minivan (I know, sad) but I never have to take turns wide; I just slow down! But Old Man River driving a puny Sunfire has to take the corner like he's driving a boat. Sometimes they are. I think vehicles that are larger than, say, a Pontiac Grand Prix, should be outlawed for any driver over the age of 60. Just for the safety and sanity of all.

Anyone willing to jump on the wagon with me?

Success

In all seriousness, I'm not sure what exactly I did but Ian slept through the night last night. Really. I gave him his regular dream feed at midnight and was upset that he didn't eat from both breasts, only one. I thought for sure he would be getting up around 3AM or so because he'd be starving. I heard him stir around 3:30 but I didn't get out of bed to go see him, figuring he'd be crying in a short time anyway. Then I heard him actually cry closer to 6AM and got out of bed with the intention of feeding him but his eyes weren't even open. I wasn't in the mood for another half feeding so I gave him his Suckie and snuggled him back up with his blanket and didn't hear from him again. I woke up in a panic at 8:34AM from the landscapers outside and almost didn't want to go check the crib; I thought for sure something terrible had happened. When I finally got up the nerve I tiptoed to his crib and found Ian fast asleep still with the Suckie in his mouth. And he was quietly snoring! Shaun was all stretched out in his bed too, like a starfish.

I crawled back into bed in disbelief that I was able to sleep so long! If this was a fluke I'm going to be seriously upset. What a mean trick to play on a fatigued mother!

In other news: Craig and I pow-wowed the other night about Shaun's behaviour. Up until recently, time outs and spankings (I can only count on one hand the number of times we've actually had to spank him) have worked to get Shaun back in line. Well, the saucy little man pushed me to the limit last week when Lisa, my sister-in-law, came to visit with her boys. He actually shot me! It was an imaginary gun that he created out of Lego but he's not allowed to play guns. When I told him that he told me "NO" and then when I said he was done playing with Lego since he was being saucy, he shot me. He pointed that little stick right at me and said "Pew". If I was in a better mood that night I probably would have gotten all dramatic and died right in front of him and then reminded him that guns hurt people so the Lego had to be used differently, but he had been testing me all day.

When Craig got home I shared the days' happenings and we thought we'd try a new line of discipline: grounding. The next morning after breakfast we had a family meeting and Craig and I explained the whole thing to Shaun - what grounding meant, when he would be grounded, and what he would be grounded from. That evening, Shaun got grounded. Again for being saucy (notice a trend?). He was grounded from TV for the whole next day. It was Saturday too so a long day for him to have to go without Bugs Bunny and Tweety and Super Why. His grounding included his Toopy and Binoo movie from the library too. He wasn't too happy about that. But he was able to keep himself busy and happy with his trucks and puzzles and didn't ask for TV once after we each reminded him that he was grounded for the previous evenings shenanigans. Since then he's been using his manners more and when Craig or I tell him to do something, he answers "Yes Mum" or "Yes Dad". Damn right you better answer with Yes!

No wonder my mum and dad grounded me so much when I was a kid. It sure does work!

Too Much?

It feels like I've been doing a lot of complaining in my posts of late. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mum and I honestly don't want to do anything else.

But sometimes I feel like I just can't do anything I want to do. I know that having children means sacrifices; I'm more than okay with that. In fact, I can't remember the last time I spent a day doing things ONLY for me. I got away a couple weekends ago to shop with a friend but it was to shop for fall clothes for Shaun. I didn't buy a single thing for myself. Okay, I didn't intend to make this a complaining post.

What I really want to say is, my idea of doing things for myself includes my husband and my children. And when even that fails, it's super frustrating.

It's All Falling Into Place

I knew it would get easier. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, and life still isn't where I would like it to be, but it's getting easier.

Ian is finally in a place where his schedule is somewhat predictible. We still have to put him back to sleep occasionally when he wakes halfway through his nap but 50% of the time he sleeps his whole nap through. That's a whole 50% better than even last week. It's a challenge to get him to sleep until 8AM; he's waking up at 6:30 or 7:00 crying like he's hungry but is only taking a couple mouthfuls of milk before drifting back to sleep. This morning I gave him his soother at 7AM (it took me getting out of bed 4 times before he actually held it in his mouth) and he went back to sleep until Big Brother made a social call and woke him up at 8. Oh well, better than waking up at 7 I suppose!

So Shaun and I schemed together last night before he went to bed and we made all these plans for a special date this morning. The plan was to leave Ian with Daddy and go to the library, TSC Store to check out some diggers, and then Dollarama to buy some much-needed craft supplies. The morning started out not so good: Shaun refused to eat his breakfast. On a normal morning I wouldn't have an issue with that because I'd just leave his breakfast on the counter and when he asked for a snack mid-morning I'd give it to him. Since we were going out I didn't have that luxury. Strike one against Mummy.

Once he finally ate his breakfast, he asked to go to TSC first. The plan was not to buy anything, just look. He knew that but still wanted to go there first. I wanted to head there last in case he had a fit at not buying anything but figured, 'he ate all his breakfast, let's go there first and start the morning out on a more positive note.' He ended up having a fit, of course, and we left the store with Shaun in a grump. Strike two against Mummy.

Next was the library. I played his favourite music in the van on the way to the library (Bananaphone by Raffi, and Spiderman by Erick Traplin) in hopes of lightening his mood and removing the cloud of grump that was hanging over his head. It wasn't to be. We quickly picked up our item on hold and left. There was no way I was going to try and find stories with a crabby 3 year old! He was being so crusty he didn't even want to sign out the hold item. It is Toopy and Binoo, a DVD movie that we've been waiting weeks for since it's so popular. He was furious that I signed it out after he said he didn't want it. In hind sight I should have left it at the library but I was thinking more towards later in the week when he decides he actually did want the movie afterall. So now he's even more miserable and I'm feeling not so chipper myself. Strike three against Mummy.

So we came home. There was no Dollarama trip and I promised myself that I won't plan a special morning with Shaun for a long, long time. It seems every time I plan to do something special with just me and him, it blows up in my face. The most special times we share are the ones that are spontaneous. So much for my type A personality trying to plan everything.

I Believe in Miracles

Just like the video says: I believe in miracles. I didn't want to believe it myself and came up with every single excuse why dairy wasn't the cause of Ian's fussiness. Well, I'm a believer. We did a trial on Tuesday night and I had a bowl of cereal before bed (THE best bowl ever since it had been so long) and then I had another one Wednesday morning. Throughout the night Ian had a bit of trouble settling but nothing that I really took notice in. But Wednesday morning he cried. And cried. He just couldn't settle. I gave my baby a sore tummy! And I was convinced. The remainder of Wednesday was back to dairy-free and by his evening nap he was back to the baby I knew he was capable of being. Hearing this song when I was thinking of one to link to made me chuckle. It's so appropriate for the situation: "where did you come from baby, how did you know I needed you?". It's just so perfect. I seriously DO need a happy baby so I can be a happy mummy.

So, dairy-free I will go at least for a couple of months. I'm not sure quite yet about yogurt or cheese but large amounts of milk definitely give him a belly ache. I picked up Calcium at the grocery store this morning to fill the void that no milk is leaving in my diet. At least it gives me 6 more Weight Watchers points to use during the day! I had to find something good in not drinking milk for 2 whole months. Yeash!

Just a comment about the song. Until I watched the original video of the band Hot Chocolate doing this song I never noticed the bongos tap-tapping in the background. They really do add a lot of depth and dimension to the song!

Kids and Firetrucks

Maybe it's the noise they make or the whole mystery surrounding who's inside and where they're going, but kids love firetrucks. Shaun's fascinated by them. Firetrucks take second place only to 'diggers' so they're a big thing in his life. This evening there was an Open House at the local fire station and I made a whole outing out of it. It didn't go off without a hitch but we had fun anyway.

I decided I would take the city bus with Shaun instead of drive the van because it's been ages since we took the bus somewhere. But I forgot to grab money out of the van before Craig left for work. I had to scrounge throughout the house looking for $5. Not easy when the biggest denomination of money is a quarter; only one. The rest was made up with dimes and nickels. I'm sure I looked like a real winner when I clambored on the bus with a handful of small change.

I also forgot to grab the stroller out of the van. No worries, I thought, I'll just put Ian in the Snugli. I ended up having to switch diaper bags to the backpack style so I had one less thing to worry about keeping track of since I didn't have the stroller. As a result I also forgot to transfer snacks for Shaun. I did remember to pack him a cup of milk, thank goodness for that because the BBQ that I thought was free, wasn't. Poor Shaun didn't eat lunch because he was being a stinker, was refused snack after his nap because he didn't eat lunch, and didn't get 'free' dinner at the fire station because, well, I didn't have money. If I had bought him a hamburger there then we would have been walking home. So he starved. When we finally got home just after 7PM he was delirious. I made him a peanut butter and jam sandwich because that was the quickest thing available. Then he had a handful of summer sausage, a yogurt, a pickle and a gigantic cup of milk. I felt terrible that he was so hungry. Maybe next time he'll eat his lunch when it's lunchtime!

All in all he had a terrific time. I'd post pictures but the battery on the camera was dead. Silly me left it on when I was uploading pictures last. He was able to sit in the cab of a truck and try on a fire fighters boots. They had a demonstration there of what happens when you pour water on a grease fire; he thought that he explosion was 'super cool' to use his words. Then he went inside a child-sized house that teaches children what to do in the event of a fire - crawl close to the floor, touch the door before opening it, climb out a window if you have to (are you remembering your fire safety week in elementary school now?). They even had a smoke machine in there that simulated a real fire. While he was scared in the beginning he was reassured by the (cute) firefighter (oh, did I just say that??) that it was only make believe and there wasn't a real fire. Then the ladder truck extended the ladder and we were able to watch them rappel from the end. On the way home Shaun said that he doesn't want to drive an excavator anymore when he's bigger. He wants to drive a fire truck. Whatever he wants is fine by me! Anything would be better than the operator for the kiddie helicopter ride that he wanted to be after we went to the fair on Sunday!

Big Kids

My friend Erika came over last night with her daughter, Jasmine, who turned 2 in May. Jasmine and Shaun had a great time playing house with Ian and even sat long enough for me to snap a couple photos. Obviously this is before the crying spell began! Our two babies look like such big kids next to the real baby. They grow up too fast!

One Month Old

Ian is a month old. I can't believe it was a month ago that my pregnancy ended. I would love to say that Ian is on a great schedule and that we're back to being a happy family, but I can't. I've been trying SO hard to get him into a good routine with eating and napping falling at the same time every day and he doesn't seem to want anything to do with that. Even his night time sleep is hit and miss at best. I feed him at 11:30 and some nights he'll sleep until 3:30AM but others he's up at 2AM and then again at 5AM. I just wish I could get some predictibility out of him. And our day begins at 8:00 in the morning. That's the way it's been since Shaun was born and the way I like it. We have such a routine with Shaun getting his once-daily cup of chocolate milk and then me making him oatmeal (yes, it's been the same breakfast for over a year and that's how he likes it) and him sitting in the living room to watch Super Why. But Ian never wakes up at 8:00 to eat. He's on his own schedule and in a house like this, that's not okay. He's giving me a run for my money that's for sure.

I had a friend come over with her daughter for dinner last night. Thank goodness because it was the worst night since Ian was born but more on that later. She seems to think I have too high expectations of Ian and that I'm being unrealistic. I keep comparing how Ian is to how Shaun was at the same age. I know that's not healthy because they're different children and they'll never be the same in all respects but can't they at least have the same schedule?! I'm doing everything the same. Ian just isn't 'getting' it the way Shaun did and that's frustrating.

So Ian seems to have a personal fussy period that begins around 4:30 and continues way too long into the evening. Last night it began at 4:30 and went until Craig came home early from work - after my begging - at 8:20 (thank goodness Erika was here until 7:30 because I would have gone bananas without any help!). Then Ian was quiet for about 10 minutes and it all started back up again and went on until 10:20 when I fed him. During that time I tried everything I could think of to try and settle him: rocking, singing, diaper changing, bed, talking, sitting, laying, nursing, everything. And nothing worked. He cried. And cried. And cried. I started thinking last night that maybe it's The C Word. I don't want to say it... Colic. Okay, I said it. I've read that colic is unexplained crying for at least 3 hours straight and happens at least 3 times a week. Well, Ian has cried 4 out of the last 6 nights for at least 3 hours. It all seems to fall around the same time too. I don't want to think that this may be the problem because I think that too many people self diagnose their child as having colic when in actuality it's just a fussy period of their day. But seriously, this was uncontrolable crying and it just went on and on. I'm dreading that hour of the day today.

I have some online friends who have suggested that it may be the dairy in my diet that's causing Ian's fussiness. I have a hard time believing that the dairy I'm eating is affecting the dairy Ian's drinking from me but I'm willing to try anything. This morning I had my last cup of milk for the next 48 hours. I'm also cutting out yogurt and cheese. Anyone who knows me well will say that my favourite drink is milk. I know, sad. But it is. How in the world am I going to go 48 hours without drinking the best drink on Earth?! I'm getting sad just thinking about it. But if giving up dairy for a time means Ian will be able to settle and the hours of crying will be lessened, I'm all for it. I will sacrifice my milk for the sake of my sanity.

Pipsqueak

We have a nickname for Shaun: it's Boogeyman. He knows it so well he'll tell random people in the mall that his 'real name is Shaun but Mummy and Daddy call me Boogeyman'. It's hilarious to hear him speak so adoringly of his nickname. He'll learn soon enough that we call him that not because of the scary 'Boogeyman under the bed' but because his finger is constantly in his nose. Yep, I bred a nose picker. I have pictures of him when he was only a year or so old with his fingers in his nose. Let me try and dig those out of the archives... Okay, so I lied. It's from May of 2007, so he was 20 months old. Anyway, his fingers seem to be magnetically drawn to his nose, even in public, which is SO embarassing! It used to be cute when he was, well, 20 months old but now it's just annoying and disgusting. Anywho, that's how he got his nickname.

I've fallen on a name for Ian too. I never really accepted that it was his nickname until I heard Shaun and Craig call him it this morning. When he was born, since he was so much smaller than Shaun, I started calling him my Pipsqueak. Then, as nursing became more established, we learned that he squeaks when he's nursing really well. And not just any old squeak. It's loud! And annoying! And I love it! And Pipsqueak fits him perfectly: for his size and his squeak. Although I don't know how long I'll be able to think of him as a Pipsqueak. He got weighed this morning: 10 pounds, 2 ounces!!

He's a Stinker!

I've been working tirelessly on trying to get Ian on a schedule for my own peace of mind but also so that we can have a bit of predictablity in our day. He's such a stinker: he's having none of that!

When I try and put him on a 2 1/2 hour routine he decides he only needs to be fed every 3 hours. So the next day I'll switch to a 3 hour routine and then Ian will be starving at only 2 1/2 hours. I fed on demand for the first 2 weeks while I was trying to establish my supply and Ian was still learning the whole booby thing. I'm beginning to wonder if his resistance is more related to his weight than his temperament.

Shaun was born at one week overdue so Ian's adjusted age compared to Shaun is still only 2 weeks. And Shaun was more than 2 pounds heavier at birth than Ian and thus able to go longer between feedings. Maybe I'm being unreasonable in thinking that Ian should be on a flexible schedule but I really need to have some sort of order in my day! I loved being able to know when Shaun would be eating later in the day simply by the time he woke up in the morning - woke up at 9AM, then he'd be eating every 3 hours from then. No exceptions. Shaun thrived on a schedule. Ian - not so much just yet.

I'll give it time. He's still only 3 weeks old. I'm just hoping it doesn't take much longer...

Growing the Family

My whole life I've imagined taking pictures of my children while they're laying on a blanket and I'm hovering over them waiting for the perfect shot. Not that this one is 'perfect' in the sense that a photographer would be proud of it but I LOVE it! My boys are everything to me and I'm fulfilling my childhood dream of taking a picture of my growing family. My whole life all I wanted to be was a mum and now I'm able to do that. How many people can honestly say that their job today is what they've wanted to be for their whole life? I remember as a girl when we would be asked what we wanted to be when we grew up I'd always say a mum. Most of my teachers at the time would comment something like, 'you can be a mum, but what else do you want to do?' Nope, I never bit. I always wanted to be a mum and that was it. What a life I have!!!

Am I Completely Sick?

I set up Shaun with some water colour paints to try and pass some of the morning away and then when he seemed to be busy and content I quickly ran down the basement to fuss with the laundry. When I came back upstairs to the kitchen there was Shaun with his paintbrush in hand and he was painted head to toe with black paint and there were stripes of black paint all over the floor. THEN I saw the wall! He's never, ever drawn, painted, scratched, not so much as smudged dirty fingers on the walls. And here he had painted black all over my kitchen wall! I shouted for Craig to come and see and then sent Shaun to the stairs for a timeout. Craig had the forethought to bring Shaun to the tub instead of allowing him to sit on the stairs since he was covered with black paint and our carpets are white, thank goodness! I stayed in the kitchen to wipe up the mess. As I was cleaning I kept finding more and more spots. I have no freaking idea how Shaun managed to get so many black paint spots in so many places in so little time, but he genuinely apologized when he came down after his bath so I couldn't be angry at him any longer. I'm just thankful that this is the very first time he's ever done a thing like this. Hopefully it'll be the last!

At least it was washable paint! Thank you Crayola!!!

Is it completely sick that the first thing I thought of after sending Shaun to timeout was to take a picture? ;)