Monday 31 March 2008

Another baby?!

No. I'm not expecting. Just thought I'd mess with you a little ;)

Alexandria, though, thinks we need another baby. A girl, to be specific. She actually asked if there was "another baby in there" - a really big sign that I need to get in shape!

She's got it all worked out. Jean-Paul asked where the baby would sleep. (In the crib with Zachary). What about when Zachary got bigger? (Move to Mommy and Daddy's room). Where would Mommy and Daddy go? (Somewhere else - not in the house). If Mommy and Daddy weren't here, what would Alex do when the baby cried at night? (Buy more soothers and have lots around). How would everyone eat? (Mommy and Daddy could come back during the day. It's only at night there's a problem.)

Sunday 30 March 2008

Alexandria-isms

This entry is more for myself than anything, really. I just want to record some of the funny things she says.

I amn't: Her way of saying I'm not. Which, really, if you think about it, if it is not can be it isn't. Why can't I am not be I amn't?
This day/This night: Her way of saying today or tonight. For example, "Would you like to have cereal for breakfast?" "Not this day."
By my own: A combination of by myself and on my own. "I wanna do it by my own!"
Mines: Makes sense if you think about it.... yours and mines. That is your toy. That toy is yours. So why wouldn't it be mines? "That toy is mines!"

I'll try to add more as I think of them. This is all that's coming to mind at the moment...

Almost there

So, I finished my pre-licensing course today. I now have one more step to take before I can sell life insurance in Ontario. That next step is the provincial exam and I have to take it within 90 days of getting my certificate (which I did today). I've had A LOT of information crammed into my brain the last couple weeks! I hope I can retain it long enough to pass the provincial.....

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Back from the Big Smoke

We made a "quick" trip to Toronto today to visit the doc just to check on Zachary's ears. The doctor said there was some fluid, but not an infection (at the moment), but it could "go either way". We have to keep an eye out for crankiness and/or a fever. I really hope he doesn't develop another infection. Back-to-back antibiotics would not be a good thing.

Jean-Paul's gone back to Toronto already to see a show tonight. I'm heading back there tomorrow to talk to work about my "return" date and not coming back - if I find other work. I hoping they'll be flexible and let me come back if I need to..... We'll see!!

Tuesday 18 March 2008

Dazzling Dinosaurs!

We went to the "Dazzling Dinosaurs" presentation/evening at the Early Years Centre tonight. Alex had a blast! I think the professor (retired from the University of Waterloo) was impressed. He was holding up a dinosaur and asked, "Has anyone seen The Land Before Time?" and of course Alexandria replied, "I have!". He asked, "What kind of dinosaur is this?" (expecting "long neck" as the reply, I'm sure), to which Alex responded, "A brachiosaurus!". I think he was surprised she knew what "coprolite" was, too. (Fossilized dinosaur poop). She's watching The Land Before Time as I write - again.

Break on through to the other side...

We finally had a breakthrough!! Happy St. Patrick's Day. Here's a tooth. Yes, one of Zachary's teeth is finally through. And in classic Zachary style, it's not one of the bottom two (as with most babies). Nope. It's the top right one. The other three front ones are right there, though. Any day now he'll have all four front teeth. So much for the cute, bottom-two-teeth baby smile....

He's still pretty stuffy. Still coughing a bit. But at least his nose isn't running like a tap like it has been for the past week or so! He seemed much better yesterday when his tooth finally popped through. He is uber drooly again today, though, so I'm sure the others aren't far behind.

Thursday 13 March 2008

The One, The Only, The Bon, The Jovi

Tuesday my mom came to stay for a couple nights to visit and lend a hand. Jean-Paul went to Toronto to see Nicholas Nickleby Part I, then to see Ron at the Rivoli afterwards. He didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning, so it was night to have another pair of hands around.

Wednesday around noon I headed out of town with 4 other moms for an afternoon of shopping (Vaughan Mills and IKEA), then dinner (WITHOUT kids!! yay!!) and yup, Bon Jovi. The concert was great. Nathalie (the driver mom) brought earplugs. They worked really well. You could actually hear the music and band more clearly without the constant hum of the crowd. Mom stayed with the kids while Jean-Paul went to work from about 2-9:30 or so. (Thanks again, Mom!) Alexandria was sad to see her go today :(

Here are some pics from last evening:The ladies out for a kid-free supper. We got to eat food that we didn't have to unwrap. We got to eat our meal without having to serve others first. We got to eat our meal hot! We got to drink (some of us, anyway). And we could focus on conversation instead of children. We love our kids, but..... ;)Many, many Jon Bon Jovis.Love the digital zoom! Not completely clear, but not bad at all considering how far back we really were.This was not on the stage. He popped up behind the sound guys in the middle of the crowd for a couple songs.A zoomed in shot of the closer Jon Bon Jovi. He's a yummy man!Daughtry (opening act and American Idol cast-off) came out for Blaze of Glory.Janet, Cary (with the $4 bottle of water!) and I in the further row and Catt and Kathy in front of us. (Nathalie took that pic)Nathalie, Janet (the only non-desperate housewife of the evening), Cary and me. Sorry you felt like a bag of crap Cary! You did really well!

Monday 10 March 2008

Day One of "March Break"

Which, really, is like any other time around here, since the kids aren't in school yet. We took in the play "The Frog Prince". Jean-Paul knew 3 out of the 4 cast members. Two were in Once Upon a Mattress with him (Randy and Dan - the jester and the wizard) and one he knows from Sheridan (Chantelle - who is also on 4 Square on Treehouse - so Alex recognized her, too). Randy was also one of the three who performed our wedding pre-show entertainment.

Alexandria and Zachary both enjoyed themselves, ergo, we did, too. Zachary is truly Jean-Paul's son since he "sat" through over an hour of theatre without fussing. There are many adults who can't/won't do that! Alexandria's favourite part was "Polly" the parrot (yes, a real one - Randy's pet, Virgil).

Notice the shirts in the next picture. Specially picked out for the play. The Princess and The Frog. :)

Saturday 8 March 2008

And about 3 or 4 hours later...

I realized after I took these pictures that it's not as impressive on an angle. Straight on shows it more.. Oh well

The snow SO far!

And it's not over yet!! This is just from last night...Notice the neighbour at the far right blowing his snow... AGAIN. He did it about four hours earlier, too.

Baby's first ear infection...

Yup. We were at the clinic nice and early this morning and it was still so packed! Anyway, an hour and a half later we were leaving the clinic with a prescription for antibiotics. I'm conflicted about giving them to him, but I really want him to feel better!Alexandria took this shot of Mr. Snotty McBoogers

Thursday 6 March 2008

The crib plans are completely derailed

For now anyway. Zachary's little runny nose and cough has progressed and he feels like crap. So, we're not going to do the crib thing while he's feeling like that. Alexandria is coming back tomorrow. I miss my baby girl. I called each day she was gone (3 times). Guess how many times I spoke to her? ZERO! She never wanted to come to the phone to talk to Mommy!! That's good, though. At least she's having a good time!

Wednesday 5 March 2008

A baby, a big sister and bare bums

Had to take a picture. Couldn't resist.
Lemme plant a big smooch on ya, big sis!

Kindergarten registration

We registered Alexandria for JK last month. *sniffle* Where has my baby girl gone?!
She was SO excited. This is her running to the school.Happy little posing girl. At least she humoured me a stood beside the sign for a picture :)
I forgot get a picture of her at the school with her name tag on, so I took it when we got home. (Yes, she's in the bathroom here).

The eclipse

Alexandria thought it was pretty neat how "the sun was on the other side of the earth and the earth's shadow was going across the moon". Now every time she sees the moon she asks if there will be an eclipse.

I tried to get some good pictures of the eclipse, but wasn't really successful.

Zachary feeding Mommy

He was so proud of himself! He loves feeding us. Very cute.

Cooking class pics

All the kids were supposed to bring a teddy bear to this class to celebrate Little Bear's birthday (they got cake, too). Alex brought Puppy.

Alexandria's artistic soup shot

Non-crib update



We saw the paediatrician on Monday (named after a big orange cat). Zachary weighed in at 7.6 kg or 16lb 12oz. He's also about 28" long. That makes him under the average for height and WAY under for weight. He is still gaining, though. The doc doesn't think anything is wrong with him. Zachary was "small for gestational age", so he'll probably always just be small. We're going back when Zach is around a year for another check.

He's mimicking words more and more. He said "corn", "duck", "up" and others I can't think of off the top of my head.

Alexandria is still awesome, as always. She amazes me all the time. We were in the bathroom at the mall on Monday and the "feminine" garbage can was knocked over. She asked, "Who did that?". I said, "I don't know, sweetie." And she replied, "People we've never seen?". I just love what she comes up with. The poor girl, though, is getting the brunt of Mommy's sleep deprivation. Of course, she's three. Testing boundaries, questioning, forgetting not to touch her brother when he's sleeping nicely in his car seat.... The other day the three of us (Zach, Alex and I) were sitting on the chair and I can't even remember what she did. I snapped at her with my finger pointed. She started to cry, Zach started to cry, I started to cry! What a sight we must have been. If Jean-Paul had walked into that, he might have just turned right back around again!

Wasn't last night, won't be tonight

We haven't started "breaking" Zach yet. He's starting to cough a bit today, too. Nose is a bit runny. All those things (fever, cough, nose) can be related to teething. He's also sleeping like crazy (at least during the day. He had a FOUR hour nap (on me, of course) from 11am to 3pm. Alex is still at Nana and Grandpa's, so that was ok. I just watched a lot of tv. Very educational stuff. The View, Degrassi, last half of Trading Spouses, The Mom Show and the very beginning of Dr Phil.

We're not going to start tonight for a couple reasons. His being sick/teething is one. The other is that Jean-Paul won't be home until about 10pm tonight because he's doing DJ training. So, maybe tomorrow night will be D-Day for Zach (or should I say C-Day). I hope if we get him in his crib at night successfully the daytime naps in the crib will just naturally follow.... Oh wait, this is Zach we're talking about. He doesn't make anything easy! ;)

Tuesday 4 March 2008

Tonight's the night

Maybe.

Jean-Paul and I have planned that tonight will be the night that we are going to get Zachary sleeping in his crib again - through the night. Or as Jean-Paul says "break him like a wild stallion". We're going to take the "Baby Whisperer's" method and get him to learn to sleep in his own bed and put himself back to sleep when he stirs. The Baby Whisperer's method falls in between the Dr. Sears view of co-sleeping, baby-wearing, don't-let-them-cry-at-all and the Ferber method (or Ferberizing) which is the complete opposite - letting the "cry it out".

Alexandria is with Nana and Grandpa for a couple (three?) nights while we do this. Jean-Paul is going to take the first night (since it's recommended one parent take it all the way through).

Now, the glitch? You know there always is one with Zach. He had a rough night last night. Restless. Fever. Probably teething. So today he is cranky and overtired. So, tonight's not the best night to start this thing..... Alex is already gone to Nana and Grandpa's....

I think we'll let Zach sleep with us one more night tonight and then go at it tomorrow. Unless he actually is getting sick. If that's the case, this whole plan is completely derailed.

I'll keep you updated (I know it's riveting) IF I can find the time/energy to blog with all this going on!