One Kid Wonder

Happy 3rd Birthday kiddo, and finally, the final post.

2011-06-14T15:19:00.001-04:00

Not sure if anyone is here anymore, but it's time to post the last words. And seeing as it was the kiddo's 3rd birthday this past weekend (WOW), I thought it was appropriate for my last blog post to be words for her.

Thanks for reading - I have so appreciated the support, comments, and great advice. And if you want to stay in touch, I'm blogging over at The Lotto List, when I can find the time. You can also shoot me an email from here, or find me on Twitter @karmasdogma. Until next time...

I wish…

I wish my legs were longer, and looked perfect in skinny jeans.
But I can walk, jump rope, and chase you in the backyard.

I wish my arms were a little less muscular and that they weren’t, ever so slightly, starting to waddle.
But my strong arms allow me to carry you home when you’re too tired to walk, and rock you at night when it’s dark and quiet.

I wish my hair was either straight and long, or curly and fun, rather than somewhere in the middle. And that I didn’t wear a ponytail so often.
But I remember what it was like not to have hair, and to miss my ponytail.

I wish I were more even-tempered, like your Dad. But I’m not. And neither are you. However, I promise you that passion and fire will serve you well in the future.

I wish I didn’t have to pluck, wax, paint, cut, colour, or primp. But in fact, I don’t have to. I choose to. And I’m grateful I have the choice to look however I want.

I wish my bra size was slightly smaller, or that I was perky enough to not even need a bra. But even though I didn’t carry you, I nourished you. And that is amazing.

I wish cancer had never been part of my life. And that my insides worked so I could have felt you kick, and brought you into this world.
But if I had never had cancer, I may never have had you.

And you, Addison Mae, are perfect in every way.
I hope you always remember to be grateful for what you have, and who you are.

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl. You are the best part of me, hands down.

For the love of hand sanitizer...

2011-02-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

I *heart* hand sanitizer. Not the smell, or how it drains every last bit of moisture from my hands. No. What I love is how it makes me feel like I'm giving a big middle finger to all the icky germs circulating. Now I know it isn't perfect. In fact, there are some out there who claim it really does little to prevent illness. But to me it's like a little superhero in my purse. And, yes, the kidlet uses it as well (in tiny, toddler-sized doses).

There are many in my life who mock my use (obsession) of hand sanitizer. They make fun of me when I take a pump from the wall-mounted unit at the entrance of the mall - both when I arrive AND when I leave. I don't like touching handles or doors that hundreds of others have touched before me...who knows where their hands have been! And don't even get me started on grocery carts. So.Gross. You can practically see the rota and rhino viruses scurrying across the handles (I have a great grocery cart cover which I use - religiously).

You may think I'm a germaphobe. Maybe I am. But in my defense, my love of hand sanitizer started during cancer treatment, which also happened to be in the height of SARS (staff took your temperature and sprayed your hands at the front entrance of the hospital!) You didn't mess around at that time, and it stuck with me.

Now that the kidlet is in daycare, I have little control over the germs she both picks up and brings home to us. I do my best to get her to wash her hands (yes, I would always choose a good hand washing over sanitizer any day), and disinfect the house when a particularly nasty bug shows up. But I also think it's my job to protect her little growing immune system. So many people have told me, "It's good they catch stuff...it helps build their immune systems." Sure. Ok. But there is evidence the fewer illnesses they get the better - lots of germs don't do any immune system building - they just make everyone miserable for 5-7 days.

We had a very sick winter last year, and this year has been *marginally* better. But we've still done the pneumonia thing once, at least 3-4 colds, and a particularly aggressive stomach bug (which passed through our whole house and jumped to visiting grandparents - sorry about that). We are hanging on for spring. One month...one month...

The reason I'm so craAAAzy about germs is because of the domino effect. It isn't just about the kidlet getting a snotty nose and leaving boogers all over our house, the dog, and us. It's because when she gets sick, she stops sleeping. We're talking night and day - we're up. Which means we also get super sleep deprived, which isn't ideal when you're trying to build a business that is completely reliant on one person - you. Then there's the no daycare trickle effect. If she's sick enough, she can't do daycare. One of the reasons we reorganized our work lives was so I could stay home with her in cases like this. However, now that work is getting busier, if I lose one of my three days I work during the week, I am instantly behind. Which means even if I had two hours of sleep the night before from nursing a sick kid, I'm up until 2 a.m. trying to meet deadlines. Those are really tough weeks, when I long to have no responsibility outside of taking care of my snotty, or barfy, peanut.

So basically, next time you see me buying an extra large bottle of hand sanitizer, don't judge. Or if I opt out of a visit because you or your kid *might* be coming down with something, don't think I'm overreacting. Trying to nurture a kidlet and a business, both which feel like full time jobs a lot of the time, is hard. And all it takes is one little germ to derail the train.

See you in the spring : )

Crickets

2011-02-13T21:33:00.001-05:00

If anyone is still out there and checking in, I'm sorry for the *crickets* for the past month and a half. Truth be told, I needed a break from writing while I was, uh, writing for work. There's only so much copy in this head of mine!

But I don't feel completely ready to shut it down. After all, this blog has been the most amazing place to capture the kidlet's moments, and to get great advice. And I miss both.

So here's a Coles notes version of what's up with the kidlet and our lives these days:

* She's 2.5 now, still loves to sing, and one of her fave words right now is "No!" (you can watch the clip of us on The Marilyn Denis Show last month to see what I mean)
* What she can say, and how she thinks about the world around her, amazes us daily. Like the other day, when she saw an airplane flying in the sky and told us it was probably heading to the airport. I know that may not seem like a big thing. But we've never really talked about how airplanes land at airports. There's real logic involved in that thought. Every day it's something new. Amazing.
* Parenting feels harder these days. Maybe it's because it's winter, which means we've been down for the count with a bunch of viruses. But she's testing boundaries, and longing for independence, and there are daily battles. Now I know all of this will serve her well in the future, but man, it's exhausting!
* She had her first haircut. And like the little girl she is, she loved every second of the primping and said "yeah!" when they asked if she wanted the pink wash-out dye and sparkles. oh boy...
* We had our first family ski trip and she did awesome for her first time on skis...although the magic carpet ride to the top of the bunny hill *may* have been her favourite part of skiing this year.
* She's still growing like a weed, and everyone who meets her thinks she's at least 3. Guess we'll see how tall she ends up...
* We are really (really) looking forward to spring. It means the germs will die out for another year, and we have some fun stuff planned. Like another 1/2 marathon for the parents, a trip to Maine for a family wedding, and finally, a visit to Victoria to see Gran, Granpa and the Muir-Brown clan. Exciting stuff coming up - just need to get at least one more ski weekend in before the snow melts away...

Hope everyone is doing great. Happy 2011!

Christmas

2010-12-25T14:47:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas morning. The house is QUIET. I'm up before even the dog, enjoying a peaceful coffee beside the tree and the Christmas explosion underneath it. Life is good.

Gearing up for Christmas has been oh-so-fun this year. The kidlet is finally starting to get this whole Santa=presents=fun thing. She did draw the line at actually wanting to see him in person, but in a storybook or on TV she's all over it. Now the whole present thing has resulted in at least an extra dozen time outs in the last week, as she thinks anything wrapped is hers. Pretty tough prying a present out of your toddler's hands, especially when she wants to take it to bed : )

I can't actually believe another year's end is here. Wow. "They" aren't kidding when they say time moves fast when you have kids. Like, super fast. But at the same time she's still our little baby girl. Even though there are times when she seems much older and more mature, there are still plenty of reminders that she's only wee. Like when she sings 'Frosty', with this line: "...and two eyes made out of toadddd..."

I'll do a more worthy update of where she's at as we come to the end of 2010, but today all I'm really here to do is to say, "Merry Christmas!" to those who celebrate the holiday. Hope life is good!

Why I'm now a bad blogger

2010-12-08T20:05:00.000-05:00

I could blame many things. A pile of work that just arrived in my inbox. My high-maintenance toddler. And dog (who is generally in competition with the toddler). Potty-training (#$@@!$#%$#@$). The endless mess of toys and laundry to manage AFTER bedtime. Twitter, and it's fun time-sucking capabilities. I could go on, but this is getting boring.

The real reason is two-fold:
1) Time is moving fast. If I'm not with the kidlet, I'm working. If I'm not working, I'm with the kidlet. Each comes with its own challenges and life these days is just plain busy. I know so many of you are RIGHT there with me.
2) I'm running out of stuff to say.

When I started this blog I had a clear vision in mind. It was going to be a place to share our journey, with family & friends, and hopefully act as a resource for others going through something similar. It became a lot more. It was a free and open space to chat new mom woes, and to learn how not alone I was. So many of you have shared your own stories, advice, opinions, and that is really what breathed life into this blog.

Now the kidlet is old enough to understand the magic of Santa. She can put her own shoes on, and apparently today at daycare was helping other kids in her class do the same. We're about to take her skiing for the first time. She makes up silly songs (like her Daddy), can count to 18 (she does skip one or two numbers in there), and can diaper her Upsy Daisy doll with amazing precision. She's growing up right before our eyes. And I'm starting to feel the tug again for privacy. To let her be the one to share her story when she's ready, however she chooses to do that. It's starting to feel odd to blog about her, without asking her if that's okay. So soon I will stop. And make this blog private for those who want to check in on the kidlet and what she's up to.

So when I say I'm running out of stuff to say, it's more that it doesn't feel like my place to share it all anymore.

So soon I will stop.

"Pat-A-Cake", performed by the Kidlet

2010-11-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

Potty Training Bootcamp - Part 2

2010-11-22T12:43:00.001-05:00

The bootcamp command post is being investigated for giving out too many Smarties for not enough urine. Also, mini peppermint patties MAY have been added to the mix. The bottom line is that we're losing the battle. And I hate losing.

Seriously though, I'm not a potty training fan. Although I suppose that would not make me unique. It is testing every last shred of patience I have. I lie in bed at night and exclaim (to no one in particular), "Why would anyone prefer a diaper over a cute potty that sings?" There is usually no response, because any reasonable answer (she needs to figure out the cues / she's used to diapers / potty peeing is a whole new thing to learn) would inflame me even more. I'm not *mad* with the kidlet. I'm ticked at myself and my lack of patience.

This weekend brought with it many "oops" and paper towels. I've done a lot of laundry, and have cleaned up a number of accidents very, very close to the smiling, ready-and-waiting potty. I had a girls night out on Saturday, and received the best text from Adam: "Up to 5 sits on the potty. No pee yet - no accidents either. The suspense is killing me."

Then, finally, last night we had a breakthrough. After a weekend of literally no potty action - success. She was so proud of herself she ran all over the house shrieking about how she peed on the potty. Naked. Love that kid. Fingers crossed we're on our way.

Potty Training Bootcamp

2010-11-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

Our living room has been turned into the main command post of potty training bootcamp. Which sounds a lot more serious than it really is. Especially because the potty has a smiley face and sings songs when, um, in use.

One thing I've never been quiet about on here (or in real life) is my lack of patience. Unfortunately, that characteristic occasionally extends to the kidlet. Hence potty training bootcamp. But I promise it isn't all mean and hard core. There are pretty undies with flowers. There's a lot of Treehouse. There are smarties. SMARTIES.

When I took the kidlet to daycare a couple of weeks ago I asked how potty training was going there. They're so organized. They have systems for everything. I suppose that's the only way to survive a roomful of toddlers. So I asked what we could do at home to help the potty-using process move along. One of her teachers asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted a miracle. Instant potty training. So she said, "Cold turkey." Which meant this past weekend the kidlet started wearing her big girl undies exclusively (except during nap and nighttime) and we became nagging parents. "Do you need to use the potty?" "Remember where we go pee? On the potty." "Let's try sitting on the potty." Every 20 minutes we put her on the smiling potty. The first day she had a couple of accidents and a couple of potty breaks (hooray! here's a smartie for your troubles). The next day she had no accidents at all (hooray! here are a few more smarties). Monday she was at school (daycare) and had one accident. They get stickers at school, and a chart, and I know she was sufficiently proud of herself and her stickers.

Today I didn't have it in me to potty-train. But I asked for a miracle and now I'm responsible for doing my part. So we've stuck close to home, playing outside between potty breaks, and we're making our way to a diaper-less house. So far today we're two for two. Now I need to give one smartie for sitting on the potty, two for peeing, and three if number #2 ends up happening in the potty...which is hasn't so far. Something I can't say I'm upset about today. I hope she chooses a diapered time for that one.

We tried to use stickers. That worked for about an hour the first day, and then she was on to us. She knew smarties were available and we had to up the ante. I'm certain she knows I'll dole out any number of smarties for her to use that potty. She's not new here.

Anyway, that's the word on the street in our world at the moment. Potty training is officially a full-time job. Wish us luck. Send smarties.

Music

2010-11-10T07:47:00.001-05:00

I'm so behind on posts. Nearly every day I have something to say, but life and work always seem to get between me and blogging!

So I've posted about this before, but we seem to have a real music virtuoso on our hands. This kid never stops singing, and she particularly enjoys mash ups and creating her own customized songs...about Quincy, and shoes, and butterflies. The other afternoon she sat with our neighbour's daughter (who is a year older) in the driveway and gave a concert. Her little friend sat and listened intently as the kidlet sang her a series of songs over about 10 minutes. We were laughing because she would introduce each song before she sang it: "Now I'm going to sing Bwinkle Bwinkle Little Star..." and off she would go. I wish I'd had my camera outside to capture the moment. Awesome.

My mom has a piano (she's a beautiful pianist who can literally play anything by ear - amazing!) and the kidlet has really taken to it. It's where she spends at least half her time when she's at my mom's. Just playing along to her songs. I think piano and singing lessons may be in her future! Here's video my mom took during our last visit - in this one she isn't singing, but she's certainly intent on her piano playing.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T10:34:00.000-04:00

Our sweet little butterfly, trick o' treating with her daddy, who got into the spirit in his own butterfly costume. The most hilarious part of the night was trying to explain that the massive bowl of candy in our house wasn't for us, but to hand out, and that she would get candy at other people's houses...yeah, she didn't totally get it and kept trying to fill her treat bag with our candy. Tough concept when you're 2 1/2!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-27T16:26:00.000-04:00

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller

(This is what happened as I was trying to unload the dishwasher & make dinner. Don't worry. It's non-toxic finger paint. Yeah. She ate it)

Plugged in

2010-10-22T08:39:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about this for a while, the idea that *maybe* I'm too addicted to my personal electronic devices and the communities I enjoy with them (oh, how I heart Twitter).

In fairness, I do need to be plugged in for work: I wouldn't be able to make a living without the internet, email, and I could even make a case for Twitter being a "must-have." However, the other night after a particularly busy day of Twitter flurry, I asked the kidlet if she wanted to build a "hashtag" with her blocks. I meant to say "tower", because that's a fave game of ours right now (build it so she can immediately knock it down). If you don't know what a hashtag is, don't worry. It won't really change your life that much. But in case you want to know, check it out here.

The truth is my Blackberry is never far from my fingers, my laptop is open frequently, I tweet a lot, visit facebook occasionally, and love chatting with the online communities I'm a part of, including on this blog. I wonder what I might do (accomplish) if I unplugged for a bit. Say after 6pm every night I went electronics "dark." I could read my book (and not on our i.Pad, maybe a real, page-turning book?) I could write the novel I hope to finish one day. I could chat with the hubby (who would also need to put down his new i.Phone4 and stop playing some game called "Angry Birds"). I could clean out junk drawers, or pull out my painting supplies (art, not walls). I could chat on the *gasp* phone with a friend or family member. These are all things I enjoy. So it makes sense to spend more time doing them. But I also get a lot of enjoyment from what I can do with my BB, my laptop, our i.Pad, and all the social media stuff I do.

So therein lies my dilemma. Should I feel guilty for all the time I spend "plugged in"? I don't like feeling guilty. But sometimes I do. Like right now - as I'm writing this blog post, my BB is beside me flashing its teasing red light announcing a new email/tweet/text, and the kidlet is eating her breakfast. So I'm going to stop here, and go spend some face to face time with her.

But I am curious - how plugged in are you? Too much? Not enough?

My love of pumpkie? It's in the genes.

2010-10-13T12:59:00.000-04:00

I know usually I do a "wordless wednesday" post, but I'm been mute all weekend, so thought I needed to say a thing or two.

First of all, hope all my Canadian friends had a great Thanksgiving weekend. What did you do? What's your fave part of the holiday and/or the meal? (Because we all know much of this weekend is about EATING!) Secondly, I know you're aware of my pumpkin obsession, but my absolute fave way to enjoy this versatile veggie is in pie. Pumpkin pie, with whipped cream. And clearly, it's in the genes as the kidlet downed not one, but two massive pieces of pie over dinner (for the record, I was not responsible for her getting the second piece...)

You can see how she's even eating dropped pie OFF the table - not a piece of that pie was missed! We had a great weekend at the cottage, enjoyed our turkey day with 20 friends and family, a tradition that's been happening since before I was born. My parents have two sets of university friends who all bought land on the same lake and built cottages, and all of us kids grew up together. So now we get together every Thanksgiving weekend to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves, a tasty meal, and great company!

However you celebrated, I hope it was happy and filling : ) Here are a few more pics from the weekend, courtesy of my sis, the awesome photographer.

HAPPY TRANSFERVERSARY!

2010-10-08T20:40:00.001-04:00

Today was the day, three years ago, that Jenna happily accepted the embryo that would become the kidlet.

Here's the actual petri where she thawed, waiting for her big moment:

And here she is, a little bigger than that 8-cell embryo!

Thanks, J & fam - The kidlet is pretty happy you were there that day : )

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T06:35:00.000-04:00

"But where are the lions?"

2010-10-05T14:29:00.000-04:00

Just a short and sweet post today. As I think I've mentioned, the kidlet loves to draw and we are endlessly encouraging her to draw on paper, or her easel, rather than the wall, couch, floor, dog...you get the idea.

So last week she was in a drawing mood and I was frantically looking for paper before she went all artistic on her little play table. I found some and said, "Look baby, I found you some special paper that has lines for you to draw on!" She looked at it when I put it down, turned it over with a confused look, then looked up at me all innocent and adorable, and asked, "But mommy, where are the lions?"

A dose of healthy competition

2010-09-27T14:11:00.001-04:00

*I'd like to thank everyone for all the great comments on this post, and am happy to have a couple of wrestling matches in my future! Something Tekeal said really resonated with me, and was something I wish I'd put in my original post. She wrote, "...what seems essential is that we teach our children that their self-worth is not equated with their winning or losing." Couldn't agree more.*

Yesterday Adam and I ran the Toronto 1/2 marathon - my first crack at it, his second. Overall, it was a great experience. I can almost say I had fun running longer than I ever have in my life. We've been training for months, and yesterday felt a lot like a training run, except with A LOT more people and fanfare. And today feels just like the day after a long run, except ten times worse (hello, legs...we've been working together for nearly 38 years, so what's the problem?)

Leading up to the race a number of people asked if I had a time goal, or if I "just wanted to finish." I suppose that's a fair question, as simply finishing 21.1 km in one piece is definitely an accomplishment. But I am competitive. Like, push-you-to-the-ground-without-a-second-thought-to-win-musical-chairs, or angry-that-I-have-to-fake-lose-to-a-kid kind of competitive. I blame my early years as a competitive gymnast for my fierce desire to win, but the truth is I'm probably hard-wired that way. So for me, simply "finishing" the 1/2 wouldn't have been good enough. In fact, not finishing, after 5 months of training, 3 black toenails, and hours of running in crazy heat, was not even an option. So I had a time goal, based on my training runs and what I thought I could do race day. And I *almost* made it, finishing 5 minutes past my goal. Not bad. Of course, now I have to run another one and this time I want to knock 15 minutes off my race time. That's just the way I roll...er, run.

Now Adam is exactly the same, although I think he'd happily let a kid "beat" him at a friendly game of musical chairs. So as far as what we'll pass on to the kidlet? I suppose time will tell if she's hard-wired like we are, but there's no doubt we'll instill a healthy respect for competition in her.

You see, Adam and I believe that kids shouldn't just get medals for showing up. We both grew up at a time when you were either on the winning team, or the losing one. Period. These days it seems that every kid is a winner...which on the surface seems like a good thing, right? After all, imagine the boost to self-esteem kids get when they always "win." But when do they learn that life isn't always that easy? That winning at something is awesome, but losing means you get to learn some valuable lessons to carry over for the next time. Life is hard, and challenging, and certainly as adults no one is handing out medals just for showing up. So how can our kids build the confidence they need to handle both winning AND losing, gracefully and graciously?

I'm not suggesting that toddler soccer matches start handing out ribbons to only half the kids, but rather that at some point in the process, kids need to know what it feels like to lose. That they aren't "entitled" to win because they laced their sneakers and ran on the field.

So where do you sit on the winning/losing, and competition for kids/young adults thing? Feel free to disagree with me, although if you do I'd like to challenge you to a thumb wrestling match where the winner gets to be "right" ; )

Dance a little dance...

2010-09-24T08:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was about singing, today is about dancing. While she sings constantly, she's a little more discerning when it comes to dancing. She has specific songs she likes to dance to, and loves it when Daddy plays the guitar to accompany her. The video is a bit long, but you do get a good cross section of her dance moves : )

Sing, sing a song...

2010-09-23T14:50:00.001-04:00

Our 2+ year old is a songstress. Bordering on a diva, which I'll explain in a few minutes. When I say she sings constantly, I'm really not kidding. I typically wake up to the sweet sounds of "Row Row Row Your Boat" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and new friends are more likely to hear a rendition of one of the above instead of a greeting when they first meet her. I have to hold back laughter when I see her standing in front of her little girlfriend (our neighbour) and singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to her, complete with hand actions. I also asked one of her teachers at daycare if she sings a lot and this was the response I got, "All.Day.Long", with pauses between words for emphasis. She loves to sing.

Now I say she has some diva in her because she is a solo artist. Try and sing with her (unless she specifically asks) and a hissy fit ensues. "No, No, No Mommy!" (one hand held out in front of her in the STOP position, mouth turned down in a pout) "You don't sing. NO" Well okay then, sweet pea. I typically tell her it's rude to be so abrupt with her "NO" and that singing together is fun. She will occasionally concede and tell me I can sing "Row Row Row Your Boat", which she likes to mash up with "Ba Ba Black Sheep" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Sometimes I have to concentrate really hard to keep in tune as we do a round. She has a knack for letting me start and then coming in after the first verse, but with a totally different song. How is it that she doesn't get lost in the words, and I have a hard time keeping up? I blame the monotony of the material...

And she isn't just a diva about solo singing, she likes to make each song her own. I always have to cover my mouth to prevent the laughter from bursting out when she stylizes the songs. She sings some parts louder, some softer, sometimes she holds the notes for longer, sometimes she even warbles her voice, and she can flip between songs (halfway through) without missing a beat. It's crazy, and so freakin' cute.

So I guess we'll see if this early singing turns into something she loves throughout her life. Hard to say, but for now she's working the spotlight. I just hope the repertoire expands soon because if I have to sing one more rendition of "Row Row Row Your Boat" I may just row myself right over the waterfall...

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T19:16:00.003-04:00

Vacation

2010-09-11T14:55:00.004-04:00

There have been some amazing vacations in my past. Thailand. Greece. France. Germany. Spain. Italy. Various places in the U.S., most notably Hawaii. Memorable trips coast to coast in Canada. I have great photos and memories, and often dream of the places I've been on cold/rainy days or as I'm trying to fall asleep at night.

But these are all in my past.

We had a kid, and suddenly found ourselves in a new type of vacation. Case in point: Florida this past November. We hadn't been on a trip since Hawaii the year before, which was our "It's been a tough, tough haul trying to make a baby, so let's go somewhere spectacular" vacation (which is was). We thought Florida was doable with a 16-month old. We had visions of collecting shells on the beach, enjoying the warm sun, and relaxing as a family.

We got rain for the first 5 days, realized how terrifying water is when you have a small child, and dealt with Addie being sick the whole trip. Not that there weren't moments of fun, and nice times as a family. We spent a lot of time walking the beach, collecting shells and running our feet into the surf. We had a wonderful place to stay which was definitely a home away from home. But there was something we just couldn't escape: It wasn't so much a vacation, as simply a change of location. We still had meals to prepare and clean up, there was no time for Adam and I to escape for some R&R, we were up long before the sun each morning, and the tantrums didn't go away because we took a plane out of Canada. It was in Florida where I learned the ever important lesson of ice cream sandwich sharing - if you don't want your kid to eat an ENTIRE ice cream, then don't give them a "bite" of yours. M.E.L.T.D.O.W.N. and no ice cream for me.

After Florida I rejigged my expectations. I understand that if we want a true "vacation" we'll need to wait until she's older, go with friends/family so we can get the odd night out as a couple, or *gasp* go without the kid. Now the last option is not something I'm interested in doing anytime soon. If we're going to take precious time away from Adam's business and my work, we're doing it as a family. Nobody left behind. So that leaves the other two options, one means we won't take vacation for a while, and the other means a lot of good planning and compromise.

We just took our first "vacation" since Florida. We did a staycation this time, and went up to my family cottage for a week of R&R. We had the place to ourselves and had big plans to do a lot of swimming, boating, and exploring. And then it rained. And rained. And RAINED. So we bailed and came home two days ahead of schedule. Once again, we had fun. We really did. But entertaining a toddler is tough, and we were all going a little stir crazy from lack of sunshine. We spent a ton of time outside, despite the rain, but it did limit what we could do. So that was vacation 2010. Huh.

I have dreams of taking Addie to France, or Italy, or Australia, or Tahiti...wait, maybe not Tahiti. But I'm not crazy, so I know those trips will have to wait for a while. That's ok. We'll stick closer to home for now. We seem to have a knack for planning our vacations in non-rainy times but still seem to get the only wet weather of the month. Don't know how we do it. Adam and I were perplexed about this at the cottage.

Basically if you want nice weather on your vacation, ask us when we're going and plan for a different week : )

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T20:44:00.003-04:00

We came back from the cottage early (rain, rain, and more rain...did I mention it rained nonstop?) so we headed to the Zoo today. This was an attempt at the bunny ears photo, and as you can see we never quite got the "perfect" shot.

Attempt #1...

Attempt #2...

Attempt #3...

Attempt #4 - enough already!

A smattering of updates

2010-09-03T13:37:00.003-04:00

At almost 27 months, there is so much happening in the world of Addie! She talks - non-stop. And not the baby gibberish from a few months ago. She speaks in full sentences. She refers to herself in the first person now, and seriously has such an amazing grip on language we rarely (rarely) have to ask her to repeat herself. It's amazing how quickly they learn and how quickly her vocab grows. Every day she surprises me with new words. It's amazing (did I already say that?)

She's also STRONG. Being 97th percentile for height means she's got quite a reach, but she can pull herself up on tables, chairs, and tries to do chin ups on anything and everything. She loves to run, jump, and climb, and is very determined to do all three things all the time. Just try stopping her!

Daycare 3x week is going great, and we're having fun the two days we have at home together. There have been a lot of Zoo trips this summer, and visits to a fave, Springridge Farm (in Milton). She adores the animals, and wants to get in the cages with them. She usually tries to climb the fences so I have to keep a watchful eye. While exhausting at times (good thing I'm training for a 1/2 marathon so I'm in shape to run after her), it's been such a blast watching her discover the world around her.

Her auntie Devon from Vancouver was here a few weeks ago with her boyfriend, Nils, and Addie had a chance to really bond with them. She still talks about Auntie Devon almost daily (doesn't that make you happy, Dev? You made the cut) and we have to explain that Vancouver is far away from Toronto, but that we'll see her again soon.

Our house renos are pretty much complete, aside from a TON of painting that needs to happen, and we're really happy with the end result. It was a tough haul, but happy to be at the other end of the project. Whew! Work is chugging along, and I'm slowly learning how to balance between a part-time stay at home mom and a part-time work from home chick.

We've been running, and running (and running) in anticipation of our 1/2 marathon at the end of September. I'm quite frankly tired of the training (and so are my poor, beat-up feet!) and am looking forward to crossing that one off my bucket list. Would never have imagined that I'd be able to run 18km when I started this, but that's what I ran last Sunday. Crazy.

We're heading up north to the cottage for a week of R&R so I'll be offline for the better part of a week. Hope you're all doing well - chat soon.

Chillin' with my best bud, Isla.

"I just want to go in. Just for a minute!"

Lovin' Auntie Devon, who is the best playmate EVER.

Painting on a rainy afternoon.

Ready for the cottage! (Should mention she wore this around all afternoon - over her clothes)

A must-see video for moms (& those to-be!)

2010-08-31T13:55:00.002-04:00

Someone I follow on Twitter, who has a line of beautiful nursing bras called Nummies, came up with this video concept. It's essentially about what you would now tell yourself, after having kids, before you had kids. It's a short and lovely snapshot of the "advice" real moms would give to themselves. Hope you'll watch!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T09:57:00.002-04:00

Addie *directing* the kitten where to go to see the animals...The apple doesn't fall far from the (bossy) tree.

One Kid Wonder

Happy 3rd Birthday kiddo, and finally, the final post.

For the love of hand sanitizer...

*Crickets*

Christmas

Why I'm now a bad blogger

"Pat-A-Cake", performed by the Kidlet

Potty Training Bootcamp - Part 2

Potty Training Bootcamp

Music

Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday

Plugged in

My love of pumpkie? It's in the genes.

HAPPY TRANSFERVERSARY!

Wordless Wednesday

"But where are the lions?"

A dose of healthy competition

Dance a little dance...

Sing, sing a song...

Wordless Wednesday

Vacation

Wordless Wednesday

A smattering of updates

A must-see video for moms (& those to-be!)

Wordless Wednesday

Crickets