Canada's Wonderland

We went to Canada's Wonderland, a big theme park, with Craig's whole family on Friday last week and spent the remainder of the weekend at my family's cottage. It was forecasted to thunderstorm off and on all day Friday so we were considering postponing the Wonderland trip until later in the weekend but it wasn't raining when we woke up on Friday so off we went. It turned out to be wonderful weather and only spit for literally 2 minutes, and right when we first arrived.

Shaun and his cousin Laura pause for a picture with Scooby-Doo. Shaun kept searching for Shaggy but he was no where to be seen. What a let down.

All the kids were great and Shaun even went on a few rides. Complete shocker since he's such a chicken!! Shaun was actually brave enough to try out the kiddie waterslide. He loved it and was so sad when we had to leave that part of the park! Hopefully he'll try some other ones at the local waterpark as the summer speeds along.

The rest of the weekend was literally washed out though by the incessant rain. At least we didn't have to mow all the grass because there sure is a lot there.

Now we have 3 more days remaining in this week before we leave for yet another cottage late Friday night to spend the long weekend with Craig's family again. My parents are coming Monday afternoon to pick up Shaun and Ian for a 3 day sleepover at their place then we have one more weekend and we're off camping for 6 days. Summer time sure is busy! And I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't even think of how boring our life used to be!

Antificated

Shaun used this word last week and then again on the weekend. Craig told me about it but I hadn't heard Shaun use 'antificated' until today. We were building with his blocks and he was able to balance a difficult piece on another and he exclaimed, "I'm so antificated". Really? When I asked him what antificated means he replied that it means he's a smart cookie. Shaun's former preschool teacher, Claire, told Shaun at graduation that he's a smart cookie and he's been using that to his advantage since then. Some days I agree more than others.

So I just had to Google the word. According to Urban Dictionary, there is an existence of the word. It means the process of rejecting a word, ideal or belief by a single person. Maybe Shaun reads Urban Dictionary in his free time and just got the application wrong? It wouldn't be the first time I learned something new from him.

Eleven Months

Just look at that wrinkly nose and pizza face. No wonder I allow him such tantrums; because I'm melted to blubber during his happy times. And the mohawk is out of control!!! Craig keeps trying to convince me to cut it but I just know that cutting his mohawk will somehow change Ian's dorky personality to something boring and bland. Nothing worse than a bland kid in a family full of nutjobs.

Neighbourhood Pond

Shortly after we moved here Craig discovered a neighbourhood pond in the forest near our house. It's full of weeds and lily pads but when Craig and Shaun went there a few weeks ago to fish for the first time they saw a snapping turtle. People from the neighbourhood who we've spoken with about the pond say that it's full of catfish, turtles and goldfish.

I brought the boys there today and we had a terrific time throwing Cheerios into the water and watching the little fish and a painted turtle nibbling on them. Apparently the snapping turtle is pretty huge. I'm glad it didn't show up for a snack! I know already we'll be spending a lot of time there this summer. Having such a terrific place a short walk away in the middle of the city is such a treat.

Roseola

Last week poor Ian came down with this mystery high fever. It spiked at 40C (104F for you Americans and oldies) and the only way I could control it was using Tylenol and then it would return after only 3 hours or so. I felt so terrible for keeping Ian medicated for so long but I figured it was his teeth that were bugging him and, sure enough, he cut a new one on Friday.

But the fever still persisted through the day. Saturday rolled around and while the fever had disappeared, Ian was sporting a nifty rash. It was red and splochy and covered his torso and head. Nothing on his arms or legs. Then I was reminded of Shaun having exactly the same symptoms at nearly the same age: mysterious high fever (I was convinced it was his teeth then, too) followed by a rash that lasted only a day. Shaun had roseola. Ian ended up with roseola last week too. Apparently it's really common in little people less than 2 years old and is a virus of unknown origin. Perhaps it had something to do with all the crab apples he was eating at the campsite on the weekend.

Snuggling with his Nana.

Totally Slacking but An Update Just the Same

I don't even know where to being with all the updating. It's been nearly 2 weeks since I blogged last but I know there were things from months ago that I feel pretty certain I forgot to mention.

First, when Ian was born, he was diagnosed as having an undescended testicle. The left one, to be exact. The midwife who did the newborn exam noted it on his record but in the chaos of the unplanned homebirth, forgot to mention it to me. I brought it up to the family doctor when Ian went for his first shots and we decided to let it be for a while in hopes that the testicle would drop on its own. After much research, Craig and I decided that if surgery was needed, it had to be done before Ian was a year old. Any longer than that and the testicle had a greater possibility of dying because of the higher temperatures from sitting in his toasty little belly. Also, undescended testicles (testes??) have a slightly higher chance of becoming cancerous and we certainly don't want to take that risk. Plus, add to that our own infertility issues between Shaun and Ian; we just want to get the whole thing taken care of ASAP. So Ian's 6 month appointment rolls around and I push the doctor to get us a referral to a urologist so we can move on with scheduling surgery for before he turns a year old, as the testicle is still being shy. That was February. A couple of months go by. April rolls around and we get a call from the family doctor saying that Ian has an appointment with a urologist for July 6. Great. Knowing the waiting list for non-emergency surgery is about as long as here to the moon, I was starting to panic a little that Ian would get in in time for his first birthday, which is August 9. Plus, we're vacationing around that time and I didn't want to have an infant with a sore nut sack being dragged around. Yikes, I can only imagine! Okay, so time moves on, the end of June arrives and the family doctor calls one afternoon with news that our July 6 appointment has been moved to September 9. WHAT?! Why didn't the urologist call? And why so far away?! There can't possibly be that many men who need their junk looked at.

I tried for days to get through by phone to the urologist's office. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. They're just down the street from me so one afternoon I walked there with the boys to find out what happened with Ian's appointment. Six women were behind the desk, not one on the phone (I had called immediately before leaving the house to try and save myself the trip, and of course, it was busy) and they were all chatting and carrying on with one another. It took about 15 seconds for one to acknowledge that I was standing there. That's a really long time when there's SIX people there talking about daughter-in-law's mother. AND not answering the phone. Anyway, heavy-smoker behind the desk (I could tell by how raspy her voice was and she stunk) explained to me that the doctor Ian was to see had a talk scheduled for noon on the day of Ian's original appointment so they had moved it. I insisted that he needs to be seen before his first birthday and after much humming and hawing on her part, she moved Ian's appointment BACK to July 6, only an hour later. Couldn't they have done that in the first place? Gah! I was happy she moved it but honestly, having my family doctor call to tell me and then delaying the appointment by 2 months so Dr. Rich can head home early? No. I pay my health insurance through my taxes so that I can get an appointment in a reasonable time period. Not 5 months after the original call for the scheduling. That's ludacrous!

Fast forward to July 6 and Ian's appointment. Craig took the day off so he could be there and it was literally 5 minutes in with the doctor. The doctor used some lube and felt Ian's little ball sack, then he told Craig that the testicle is partially undescended, thus no surgery is required. Once puberty hits and the testicles become larger and heavier, it will descend into the scrotum on its own. If Ian is approaching his third birthday and his testicle is still not visible in the bathtub or when changing his underwear on a warm day, we can call the office and schedule another consult. They will likely do surgery then. But for the short term, my baby should be fine! Phew! I felt like a bit of a fool for making such a big deal out of getting him in BEFORE his first birthday but I have to sleep well knowing that heavy-smoker will likely never know the results of the consult and will thus, never know that I made a big deal out of nothing. Better nothing than have it something where he needed surgery and it ended up happening too late and the testicle died anyway. Worst case scenario but I'm sure it happens all the time.

Second, home childcare is working out well! The little guy I've been hired to watch had a tough time adjusting to being here rather than with his mom in the beginning but we're well into our second week of full time care and he's been doing VERY well. At home he gets his back rubbed to fall asleep and often ends up in his parents' bed when fussing during the night. Here he's been falling asleep on his own in the playpen. I do the regular routine of brushing teeth, closing the blind, turning on the fan, talking quietly and rocking a few minutes, then place him in the playpen. The first day I had to lay him back down a few times before he lay still and I did rub his back until he fell asleep for a week or so. But each day I rubbed softer and softer until this week when I just lay my hand on his back on Monday. Then Tuesday I jiggled the playpen a little and when he would start to get restless I'd gently place my hand on his back and reassure him he was okay. By Tuesday afternoon I just sat beside the playpen until he fell asleep. He rolled over a few times to make sure I was still there and I'd just silently roll him back over. Yesterday I actually left the room while he was still awake. I don't think he realized I had left but I checked back in on him about 15 minutes later and he was fast asleep. Similar story today though this afternoon took a little longer to get him to sleep since Shaun was stomping around downstairs and alerted him that there was something going on that he was missing out on. Overall I feel like I'm getting to know this little person very well. I am learning what makes him tick, as it were, and I think I am pretty good at comforting him when he's sad or scared. I was feeling a little discouraged last week when one day didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked but children have up days and down days just like us. I make sure to spend time outside with them every day and I have art activities planned every day as well as sensory experiences, so the days are kept busy. It should be a fun summer!

Shaun's off at his friend's house tonight for a sleepover. I can't believe my almost 4 year old is having sleepovers at his friend's place. I don't think I slept over anywhere until I was 6 or 7. But we've been friends with this family since Shaun was born and I babysat the 2 oldest boys while their Mom had to return to work before baby #3 was born. We've formed quite the friendship over the years and so have our boys. It's nice to be close friends with people who parent so similarly to yourself. I know the same expectations will be placed on Shaun at their house as he would receive here and their day is structured similarly to our own which really helped when Shaun was smaller and still required a naptime in the early afternoon and a set time for bed. These days his schedule is much more flexible but he still wakes up around 7AM and is gearing down for bed somewhere around 7:30 or 8. He rarely naps anymore and I prefer it that way since he's such a serious napper. He could sleep 3 hours in the afternoon, no problem. The downside is that then he isn't ready to sleep again until it's closing in on 10PM. We learned that the hard way.

Ian's been sick these last few days. At first I thought it was teeth that were getting ready to appear - he still has only 5; a far cry from the 9 Shaun had at this age - but his low grade fever has persisted and he has had virtually no appetite and only wants to snuggle all day long. He fell asleep on my shoulder a half dozen times yesterday while I was going about my day lugging him around. Thankfully he's still less than 20 pounds so carrying him, so long as it's in a good position, isn't difficult in small doses. He and I both fell asleep on the couch together last night since I just didn't have the heart to send him to his bed when the only place he wanted to be was in my arms. I have to take advantage of these days because too soon he'll be a busy toddler and won't want to pause for a snuggle. Though I must say I've been pretty lucky with Shaun in that he often comes up to me during the day and tell me he loves me. That always prompts a big bear hug and a brief snuggle, usually on the floor in the kitchen since it seems that's where I spend most of my time these days.

Ian loves opening and closing doors and drawers and his fingers show the battle scars where they've been pinched over and over again. Will he never learn? His favourite thing to do is find Shaun's stuff and raid it. Shaun has a special collection he calls his Bad Collection. It includes his sword and shield from Medieval Times and his firefighter's helmet Craig converted to a knight's helmet. Also in that collection is various knight figurines and two of Shaun's very favourite trucks: a Bruder recycling truck and an electronic garbage truck. Each truck is stashed with Shaun's favourite smaller toys. Every moment Ian has to crawl over to Shaun's Bad Collection, he takes advantage of. If Shaun leaves one of his things for only a second, Ian's making a beeline for it. And his face is priceless once he gets his hands on it. It's like the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. I'm sure Ian dreams at night about finally getting his hands on those toys for long enough that he can really see what's inside those trucks and really swing the sword. For now he basically gets quick glances and a gentle caress before Shaun comes swooping in shouting, "No Ian, those are mine." Little does Shaun know that he'll have to share all those things very soon. Ah, the joys of being a once-only child.

The pregnancy is going splendidly. I had an appointment with Pooja last week to check up on the baby and she asked how I was feeling. I had to be honest with her and admit that I was feeling a little uneasy in more than one way. The lack of morning sickness continues to unnerve me, though it would be gone by now since I'm 15 weeks - can you believe that?! - but also I just don't feel pregnant. With the boys I felt like I had a life growing inside me. This time, it's just different. Perhaps it's the lack of time I have to spend with myself. I just don't do as much reflection now as I was able to do before. I can't stay awake longer than a couple minutes after heading to bed, much to Craig's disappointment (we've found other times to connect so he hasn't been neglected too bad), so all the movements that I remember feeling this early with Ian I haven't been feeling at all. I have to remind myself that the baby is still only 4 inches long or so, and that I have an awful lot of insulation and padding now that no doubt acts as a buffer, but I just don't feel like I thought I should. Nevermind the complete lack of fatigue. Yes, I fall asleep easily at night but I'm not nodding off at dinner anymore like I remember doing when pregnant with Ian, and I wake up easily in the morning. No more hitting Snooze 4 times before falling out of bed and into the shower. I'm up and ready to go within about 10 minutes. Maybe it's just that I don't have time to be tired. With Shaun and Ian and this new little guy, I'm going all day long. Go figure I've fallen behind with my blogging. And I'm honestly sad for that because I kept such good notes from Shaun. This baby is going to think it appeared out of nowhere because I've barely mentioned it since I found out.

Speaking about this baby being an It, I scheduled the next ultrasound appointment for the beginning of August. We're hoping to find out gender then so stay tuned!

Oh, back to what I was saying about my appointment with Pooja. I told her I was feeling uneasy about the pregnancy and she said she'd try to find the heartbeat but if there was nothing, she'd send me for an ultrasound to curb my fears. I've read too many stories about second trimester miscarriages and still births to ever be able to have a normal pregnancy again. I have this ongoing fear that something terrible is going to happen and I'll continue carrying a dead baby for weeks and weeks. *Shudder* On to more positive things and back to Pooja. I reminded her that I wasn't even 14 weeks yet and I was well into my 16th week when we heard Ian's heart beating because of my retroflexed uterus. Basically when God sewed in my uterus, he sewed it in backwards. It still works fine, just sits backwards and actually folds up on itself when not in use. A little like a flacid, well, you get where I'm going. Ack, back to Pooja. She searched for literally a minute and then, there it was, the sound of my baby's heart beating away. It was really slow, like 130BPM or something like that. Both boys' were always in the high 150s so it gives me hope that I may be brewing a different gender all together.

Well I've been at this far too long. I grabbed the TV remote when I sat down at shortly after 8PM because I was going to blog quickly and then tune in to see what's on at Primetime on a Thursday. I don't watch all that much TV anymore so I don't even know where to begin with what to watch. Now it's closing in on 9:30. I never thought I'd be here in limbo this long. Guess that's why it's taken me so long to update everything. I knew it'd be eons before I got off this darn computer!

I have every intention of taking a belly picture tomorrow but we'll see how long it takes me to actually post it. Maybe by typing this and making it more concrete, I'll actually get around to it while it's current.