What you can't see are the 3 stickers in her hair, stickers on her chair, and stickers on the floor.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Keeping busy....
Since Paige has been sick, she's been pretty uninterested in her toys. Instead she has prefered to paint or play with stickers. We were going through paper and stickers like nobody's business so we made a trip to the dollar store this morning for reinforcements. I got 3 big packs of stickers and a pad of construction paper for, you guessed it, $4! woohoo! When she's not stickering or painting, she asks for tv pretty much non-stop. Dora has actually become second favourite to the preferred "In the Night Garden", of which we only have 1 episode. I mistakenly put this show on the other day for her when she was really sick since it is a lot softer than the ever-shouty Dora. Now she only wants to watch "Igo-puggle" as she calls it (there is a character named Iggle Piggle). I much prefer Dora, so I find this slightly irritating, but the show has made her happy the past few days while we have been inside. I don't plan to continue watching tv at this rate, but when you're talking hours upon hours of indoor time, I don't mind the tv being on for a few episodes.
We also looked at our Big Book of the Dog (pictures and descriptions of all the breeds--an adults book) this morning and after looking at a few pictures of dogs ("Abby's" as she still calls them), she says "lots of Abby's". I was impressed as I didn't know she understood the term "lots of". Other phrases she has been saying are "Paige do it", "I'll do it", "mommy do it", and "daddy's home". She still doesn't know to say "Carry me" and instead says "carry you" when she wants to be carried. She'll also say "carry you milk" when she wants me to hold her cup as she climbs up the stairs. I assume she thinks the word is something like "carryu". cute.
oh--and just to add...when we were out i also scored some matching boots for paige's spring coat as well as a new fishing rod bath toy for the bath. She has played with the same duckies and cups for 12 months now and i thought she could do with something new.
We also looked at our Big Book of the Dog (pictures and descriptions of all the breeds--an adults book) this morning and after looking at a few pictures of dogs ("Abby's" as she still calls them), she says "lots of Abby's". I was impressed as I didn't know she understood the term "lots of". Other phrases she has been saying are "Paige do it", "I'll do it", "mommy do it", and "daddy's home". She still doesn't know to say "Carry me" and instead says "carry you" when she wants to be carried. She'll also say "carry you milk" when she wants me to hold her cup as she climbs up the stairs. I assume she thinks the word is something like "carryu". cute.
oh--and just to add...when we were out i also scored some matching boots for paige's spring coat as well as a new fishing rod bath toy for the bath. She has played with the same duckies and cups for 12 months now and i thought she could do with something new.
argh
I thought maybe I would share my frustration with an article I saw in the Toronto Star yesterday.
http://www.thestar.com/article/599942
There is the link for the full article. Basically it is a soon-to-be-mom journalist who is writing about environmentally friendly diapering practices and her plans for her baby:
"It's not just baby brain. I'm planning to start practising elimination communication: a method that teaches parents how to read their wee one's signals so the infant can go in a potty (with assistance, of course) rather than a diaper."
She's talking about a newborn infant.
"Here's how elimination communication works: In the first months of life, parents learn baby's approximate elimination body clock (infants consistently go after nursing and sleeping) as well as the subtle signals that indicate a spontaneous need to go."
Hey, I'm all for this if it works for her. Who am I to say that it won't work? But what I think is so annoying is that there seems to be no recognition that maybe she will have a baby with colic, or one that won't nap, or will have problems with nursing. These will become huge concerns and putting a squirming, crying, irritated baby on the potty 15 times a day may become not as much of a concern. For myself, I know that I had a lot of misconceptions about babies until Paige was actually born, and it seems that this writer might too! I also love how she thinks that in the first few months parents simply learn the cues, then....problem solved! This one article is part of a 3 part series on environmental issues with babies. I'm interested what she has to say next.
I browsed through the comments and am happy to see that other readers share my sentiments. Comments such as "this article is hilarious, "let babies be babies", "I wonder if you'll post if you fail", and others were fun to read.
http://www.thestar.com/article/599942
There is the link for the full article. Basically it is a soon-to-be-mom journalist who is writing about environmentally friendly diapering practices and her plans for her baby:
"It's not just baby brain. I'm planning to start practising elimination communication: a method that teaches parents how to read their wee one's signals so the infant can go in a potty (with assistance, of course) rather than a diaper."
She's talking about a newborn infant.
"Here's how elimination communication works: In the first months of life, parents learn baby's approximate elimination body clock (infants consistently go after nursing and sleeping) as well as the subtle signals that indicate a spontaneous need to go."
Hey, I'm all for this if it works for her. Who am I to say that it won't work? But what I think is so annoying is that there seems to be no recognition that maybe she will have a baby with colic, or one that won't nap, or will have problems with nursing. These will become huge concerns and putting a squirming, crying, irritated baby on the potty 15 times a day may become not as much of a concern. For myself, I know that I had a lot of misconceptions about babies until Paige was actually born, and it seems that this writer might too! I also love how she thinks that in the first few months parents simply learn the cues, then....problem solved! This one article is part of a 3 part series on environmental issues with babies. I'm interested what she has to say next.
I browsed through the comments and am happy to see that other readers share my sentiments. Comments such as "this article is hilarious, "let babies be babies", "I wonder if you'll post if you fail", and others were fun to read.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Update!
I took Paige to the doctor this afternoon since she had another horrible night last night, and didn't seem that well in the morning. I mean, she was better than the morning before, so we were making progress, but I knew that I wouldn't feel good until I knew she had been looked at.
Anyway, the doctor gave her an inhaler to take 2 times a day. The sad part is that I have to spray the inhaler through a tube with a mask over her nose and mouth since she is just little. It just looks really cute-sad when I put the mask up to her face. I thought she would hate the whole thing considering I have to leave the mask up to her face while she takes 8 full breaths. But oddly enough, she really likes it and just sits there. I think she likes the way it feels to breath into it. And I made sure to show her that there was a picture of a bear on the side of it.
So we'll see if that helps. I would like her to get better so we can go out and do something. This week was the conclusion of this session of programs, so we missed the last swimming lesson tonight (and as a result the night seemed sooooo long), and we will be missing the last session of Our Special Time tomorrow morning. Then next week we have no programs since it is march break. Oh well, I just want her to be better so if it means that tomorrow will consist of sticking more and more sheets of stickers on paper, than so be it.
Anyway, the doctor gave her an inhaler to take 2 times a day. The sad part is that I have to spray the inhaler through a tube with a mask over her nose and mouth since she is just little. It just looks really cute-sad when I put the mask up to her face. I thought she would hate the whole thing considering I have to leave the mask up to her face while she takes 8 full breaths. But oddly enough, she really likes it and just sits there. I think she likes the way it feels to breath into it. And I made sure to show her that there was a picture of a bear on the side of it.
So we'll see if that helps. I would like her to get better so we can go out and do something. This week was the conclusion of this session of programs, so we missed the last swimming lesson tonight (and as a result the night seemed sooooo long), and we will be missing the last session of Our Special Time tomorrow morning. Then next week we have no programs since it is march break. Oh well, I just want her to be better so if it means that tomorrow will consist of sticking more and more sheets of stickers on paper, than so be it.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Croup...
Paige has croup. Imagine a seal barking-- that's what she sounds like when she coughs. Poor thing. On top of it all she has at least 1 new tooth that has just popped through in the past day. She is drooling so much that she has gone through 4 shirts today. She had a terrible fever in the night and we were all up for a few hours giving her a bath and talking to Telehealth. In the night as we were taking turns sitting with her in her room, she would suddenly say "sorry!!! OW! leggies" or "sorry OW! foot!". She would frantically kick her legs and move her arms and hands. It is hard to describe but it was very alarming since she kept doing it over and over and we weren't sure if it had to do with real pain or if she was just confused and had been drifting off to sleep to suddenly be scared when she felt that she was being held. Not sure if that makes sense but it is hard to describe. I described these symptoms to telehealth as well as her fever and barking cough but they told us to stay home, and just gave us some tips to make her feel better.
Anyway, I am posting while she is watching a show, but she wants me now. I'll post tomorrow with an update!
Anyway, I am posting while she is watching a show, but she wants me now. I'll post tomorrow with an update!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
New Spring Coat...
It's only size 18 months but seems to fit just fine with a bit of room to spare. Her winter jacket is still massive, so I wanted to avoid that problem again. She hasn't grown much in the past 6 months, and her feet have only grown a half size since october. This new jacket is from Please Mum and is a waterproof wetsuit material with a fleece lining. In this photo she has a fleece jacket underneath too for extra warmth, but we couldn't resist trying out the new coat even though it was a bit cold today. I think it will be good being that it is both a spring coat and rain jacket in one.
A night in with the Craigey's....
These pictures pretty much sum up the evening. These girls were insane. We stayed in the kitchen for 2 hours while they literally ran around screaming and laughing their heads off and drinking an obscene amount of milk. Then when we went upstairs they busted out this garbage can. Oh--The Craigey's are Katharine and Craig and Amy. That's just what we call them, and in turn we are the Mikey's. Saturday, March 7, 2009
Things I miss about St. Albert, Alberta....
1. You never hear the constant dull hum of the highway. I realized the other day as I went for a walk that I can hear the highway from our house, (which is actually what inspired this list). I knew that I could hear it before but I think it is worse in the winter without the sound of leaves blowing in the wind and birds chirping. You can pretty much hear the highway from anywhere in Burlington. I guess that's the price you pay to get places quickly. Good old St. Albert trail runs right through the city and after 10 lights and 15 minutes or so later you'll reach your destination. But I could never hear it from my house...
2. Crown and Tower, Yesterdays, Blind Pig Pub, (and let's throw in the Grandin Liquor Barn). People have been going to these places since we turned 18, and if they still live in St. Albert these are STILL the places they're going 11 years later. Good old standards.
3. Every neighbourhood begins with the same letter. For example, we lived in Woodlands and our street was Wimbleton. The surrounding streets were Windermere, Waverly, Welland, Etc. If you lived in Grandin the streets were Gervais, Gordon, etc. Now in St. Albert, all of the letters have been used up with the exception of x, and z (and perhaps j and u?) X-ray crescent? Zebra Court?
4. Grocery store parking lots blaring The Bear radio station (the equivalent of The Edge here I think). I noticed this in August and thought "YES!, this is St. Albert personified....or musicified??" You know what I mean...that station just reminds me of St. Albert, or maybe it's just the "teens of St. Albert". Over here they would never ever blare a radio station in a parking lot, but if they were and the teenage workers were to choose the station it would definitely be pop or hiphop/rap, something like that.
5. Speaking of music...when Jen and I had our nails done at the local "Vietnamese nail place", they had CMT playing on the tv (country music!). If a place here was playing that they wouldn't last a week.
6. You get to plug your car in every night in the winter so it starts in the morning. I almost drove off with an extension cord and an entire string of house lights while visiting in December.
7. I wouldn't say this was a positive, PER SE, but it just brings back feelings of nostalgia. There are no snow plows in St. Albert, and as a result the streets are covered in brown, wet, and gravely snow. And all parking lots are covered in hard packed down icy snow. Actually this may really be a positive since that means there is less snow in St. Albert than Burlington. We would have been stuck in our house for 3 weeks straight this winter if the streets were not plowed. Hmm...I guess this is why we never had a snow day when I was in school. Here they have snow days like it's going out of style....kind of like the Crown and Tower....
8. My elementary school was named Keenoshayo. A bit hard to spell when you're in grade 1.
9. Back to grocery stores...in St. Albert everyone returns their cart to the "cart corral", and *gasp*, actually fits the carts together. I mean in -40 degrees I don't think anyone would blame you for ditching your cart and jumping in your (pre-started from inside the comfort of the grocery store) pickup truck and driving through the brown slush to the Grandin Liquor Barn. But everyone actually takes the time to maneuver their cart through the slush back to the base station and line it up nice and tidy with the other carts. Here you just (myself included usually), take your cart to the base station and just let 'er go...SMASH! into the other haphazardly placed carts. I mean if there is some sort of semblance of order I will always fit my cart into the other ones, but this usually isn't the case. Poor guys could probably do with listening to The Bear while they sorted out this mess.
10. Farmer's market in the summer. This is amazing and they could do with something like this here. The main street in Downtown St. A shuts down every weekend in the summer so local farmers and artisans can sell their wares at a good price. We never lived there when I could fully appreciate this. All I remember is being hot and bored, but hey, I wasn't paying the bills or making the meals.
2. Crown and Tower, Yesterdays, Blind Pig Pub, (and let's throw in the Grandin Liquor Barn). People have been going to these places since we turned 18, and if they still live in St. Albert these are STILL the places they're going 11 years later. Good old standards.
3. Every neighbourhood begins with the same letter. For example, we lived in Woodlands and our street was Wimbleton. The surrounding streets were Windermere, Waverly, Welland, Etc. If you lived in Grandin the streets were Gervais, Gordon, etc. Now in St. Albert, all of the letters have been used up with the exception of x, and z (and perhaps j and u?) X-ray crescent? Zebra Court?
4. Grocery store parking lots blaring The Bear radio station (the equivalent of The Edge here I think). I noticed this in August and thought "YES!, this is St. Albert personified....or musicified??" You know what I mean...that station just reminds me of St. Albert, or maybe it's just the "teens of St. Albert". Over here they would never ever blare a radio station in a parking lot, but if they were and the teenage workers were to choose the station it would definitely be pop or hiphop/rap, something like that.
5. Speaking of music...when Jen and I had our nails done at the local "Vietnamese nail place", they had CMT playing on the tv (country music!). If a place here was playing that they wouldn't last a week.
6. You get to plug your car in every night in the winter so it starts in the morning. I almost drove off with an extension cord and an entire string of house lights while visiting in December.
7. I wouldn't say this was a positive, PER SE, but it just brings back feelings of nostalgia. There are no snow plows in St. Albert, and as a result the streets are covered in brown, wet, and gravely snow. And all parking lots are covered in hard packed down icy snow. Actually this may really be a positive since that means there is less snow in St. Albert than Burlington. We would have been stuck in our house for 3 weeks straight this winter if the streets were not plowed. Hmm...I guess this is why we never had a snow day when I was in school. Here they have snow days like it's going out of style....kind of like the Crown and Tower....
8. My elementary school was named Keenoshayo. A bit hard to spell when you're in grade 1.
9. Back to grocery stores...in St. Albert everyone returns their cart to the "cart corral", and *gasp*, actually fits the carts together. I mean in -40 degrees I don't think anyone would blame you for ditching your cart and jumping in your (pre-started from inside the comfort of the grocery store) pickup truck and driving through the brown slush to the Grandin Liquor Barn. But everyone actually takes the time to maneuver their cart through the slush back to the base station and line it up nice and tidy with the other carts. Here you just (myself included usually), take your cart to the base station and just let 'er go...SMASH! into the other haphazardly placed carts. I mean if there is some sort of semblance of order I will always fit my cart into the other ones, but this usually isn't the case. Poor guys could probably do with listening to The Bear while they sorted out this mess.
10. Farmer's market in the summer. This is amazing and they could do with something like this here. The main street in Downtown St. A shuts down every weekend in the summer so local farmers and artisans can sell their wares at a good price. We never lived there when I could fully appreciate this. All I remember is being hot and bored, but hey, I wasn't paying the bills or making the meals.
11. Photo radar. You think that's just a randomly parked Ford Explorer? Think again! You've just been fined for speeding. Why do I miss this you ask? Well, I usually don't speed and it's fun to guess whether an innocently parked car is just that, or a radar gun in disguise.
12. Pizza pretzels. Why do they not exist here? Last year I would have added Old Dutch Chips, but now we have those here too. Pizza pretzels, you're next.
13. Probably one of the only places that a Tim Hortons employee could translate the following: "Gimme a suitcase fulla them doohickies" (my mom overheard this one).
14. You can get your licence when you turn 14. That's right....grade 9's were driving to school. You have to have your parent with you if you're in a car. But not if you're on a scooter! You know you're too young to drive when you crash your scooter and think it's a good idea to ditch your scooter and run from the cops?! Ahem..ahem.. mike?
I could spend all day on this. Like I said, the sound of the highway was what made me think about St. Albert. Also something about going for walk while it was nice and warm. Reverse logic, I know, but I think it reminded me of walking home from school in the spring. And for everything I miss about St. Albert, there is something I like about Burlington. Like the shopping cart disaster...it's kind of endearing. And the fact that Burlington has a half decent recycling program where not only does the garbage get picked up every 2 weeks, the recycling and compost get picked up once a week. This is a far cry from driving your own recycling to the depot and sorting it yourself into a plethora of wasp-infested bins (and nothing says teenage fun like jumping into a giant bin of magazines!). But I digress...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Diaper fit...
Diaper fit was insane today. There were probably 3 times the regular amount of people, and a couple of moms were turned away!! There must have been a baby boom. Since Paige has been going to that class for about 15 months or so (minus the summer months when it wasn't running), she is totally used to it. Paige is the definitely the oldest baby in the class though, and has been ever since september. I'm so glad I kept up with the class though because it is a good work out for me and Paige just accepts that she has to stay in the fishie thing for the duration of the class. I couldn't imagine taking a 19 month old baby to that class for the first time. It definitely only works since she has been going for so long.
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