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Showing posts from 2009

The Cure To Cabin Fever

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Life in the city. I'm sure I've complained about it before but it's still such an adjustment for me. People talk about the rain (we live in a rainy city) as though it's toxic and children spend so much time indoors it makes me feel sick. But, like any life challenge, you can either cry a river over it or you can do some creative problem solving, a little goal-setting...and get the f*** out :) The empty, cold, rainy parks were getting way too boring for me once the summer went away so here is what we've come up with to get our butts outside everyday: Check out the local dog parks -- Cool pet owners, great conversation, dogs dogs everywhere dogs (we love dogs!), and Very Attractive Men. Visit the duck pond -- We go 2-3 days per week. A nice stroll around the duck pond located in the middle of the city sends her into another world of excitement. As a bonus, I get to hear, "ducks! ducks! ducks! ducks!" all the way home. Nature walk - actually we haven't go

Single Mother In Da HOOD!

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I've never had a doubt in my mind that I'd be a stay-at-home mom with lots and lots of kids (four to be exact). However, at some point on my journey through life, I became a single mamma -- and it's been really, really crappy. But, with a little creativity, a lot of stress, and a few doses of extreme poverty, I have still managed to balance work, school and being a stay-at-home mom to my now two year old. Where I originally thought providing childcare from home was the obvious solution, I was wrong. It was isolating, my house was always messy, and let's face it -- childcare pays pennies. Not only was I too educated to be sleeping on an air mattress, but I had also turned into Angry Mamma and my days had become so stressful that I was going to soon end up as a headline in the news... The moment I realized this, I had decided on a new career, met with a top notch school, and gave my family notice -- all within a 48 hour period. I am happy to say that I am now in my second

Beware the Breastfeeding Doll

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Are North Americans really this uptight? I came across this article and got a good chuckle -- then I realized these people were serious. It’s an article on a breastfeeding doll – a controversial breastfeeding doll (as anything to do with breastfeeding would be). Here is what some of the less-educated members of our society had to say about it: “the idea of breast-feeding is too grown-up for young children -- and may even promote early pregnancy”; This doll may “speed up maternal urges in the little girls who play it”; It is “like introducing sex education in first grade instead of seventh or eighth grade.” And (my favorite), “it could inadvertently lead little girls to become traumatized . You never know the effects this could have until she’s older”. Traumatized? I’ ve had some ridiculous warnings throughout my two year parenting gig and I just have to wonder, where do people come up with these thoughts? We’re talking some serious imagination here; do these people realize they just b

22 Days To Go

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My brain is like jello. I walk around feeling like a big pile of mush. A chapter of my life is coming to a close and a new one is about to begin. I am saying goodbye to childcare and jumping right in to an exciting and 'as far from childcare as you can possibly get' career -- Graphics Design. This will allow me to become the best mommy I can possibly be and perhaps one day give me the energy to work with kids again. Here's some pictures from the wickedly, amazing summer she's been having; Checking out the "bahk" (bikes) and "wawa" (water) with Grammy Grammy's initiation night. The girl can dance -- all night long . She's the little one busting out the, 'I'm a little teapot' move. And when she gets tired from

Most Parents Put Them On Their Fridge, I Put Them On My Blog...

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How about a little toddler art to feast your eyes on: 16 MONTHS 20 MONTHS (love the hand print!) 21 MONTHS

I Did It, I Did It, I Did It!!

Just a piece of mail I recieved today... "Congratulations! The Admissions Committee is very pleased to offer you admission to The Art Institute of Vancouver. (Blah, blah, blah) ...We look forward to welcoming you to The Art Institue of Vancouver. Again, congratulations!" Ahhh :) Good news after an extra chaotic, poopy week. I think I she's eating a crayon. Gotta run!

Toys, Toys, Everywhere Toys!

Don't tell her yet but I bought her some new toys today. I came across a garage sale on the way to the grocery store and it was loaded, I mean LOADED with kids stuff. I happen to be purging all her outgrown toys and replacing them with stuff she's really into right now so this was such a happy coincidence! For $30 I scored oodles of never ending goodness... I found a new horsie for her collection. She loves horses because her Daddy takes her to see real ones on the weekends. She feeds her toy horses pine cones and oats and then sits on them -- even the one that is 5 inches tall. Yup, she positions herself directly over the little plastic pony and then squats down onto it; I am impressed by her leg strength. The other day she sat on one of her large stuffed horses and began bouncing up and down, pretending to ride it. I don't know who taught her this but it was pretty hilarious to watch. I bought her two Tonka trucks, a digger and a bulldozer. There's some construction g

Toddler For Sale! Make Me An Offer!

She's hit a whole new milestone these past couple of weeks. Remember our perfect little angel? Here is a sample of some of the things she has been up to: ~ Climbed on top of the piano ~ " " " " the kitchen table ~ " " " " the arm chair, fell off...cried ~ Sticks her hand in toilet water ~ Hits A. ~ Hits me !! ~ Shakes her head no and squeals everytime I put her food on her tray ~ Shakes her head no to everything... EVERYTHING, even the things she wants ~ Runs out of the park so Mommy has to go get her. ~ And more! Then there's the fireplace... This one really drives me nuts. The two of them open the door to it all the time. From across the room (because I'm always across the room when this happens) I tell them to close the door. Of course they don't so I go close the door and then redirect them to another activity. That's about as far as I've gone, discipline-wise, with th

BC Provincial Election, Tuesday May 12 !!!!!!

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Tomorrow's Election Day!! Remember this ?? This was after Gordon Campbell devastated families all over the province by making massive funding cuts to childcare, closing daycares and ending jobs, forcing childcare workers to lower their pay -- recently, many centres have had to increase parent fees as they can't pay their staff any lower (I have never made more than $14.36 per hour --Canadian -- in my five years of working in childcare). He closed public schools (and they keep closing), senior homes ... the list goes on. Election day is tomorrow. Go vote for our families!

This Post May Make Some Readers Itchy and Uncomfortable...If So, Please Click the 'X' On the Top Right Corner Of The Screen

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As I may have mentioned in a previous post , playgroups irritate me. Being a co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, organic-whole foods feeding mamma (wow, I do sound like a raging hippy), I just can't seem to connect with the other mamma's. But for the sake of having a post-baby social life, Little One and I attend them quite regularly. I've been in the city for a few months now and have found a variety of playgroups. Some fun, some so-so, and some we will never attend again. On Saturday, we hooked up with a group of other mommies and tots for a clothes swap. We had never met this group before and I had already made the usual promise to myself to avoid any parenting conversations. Why? Because I don't need no judgements and it ain't none of yo' business that my baby don't sleep in a crib. I pulled up to the correct address... (it was in someone's house) and couldn't help but notice the huge provincial election signs in the yard. Upo

Under the Cherry Blossom Trees

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It's cherry blossom season. The whole entire city is blooming in pink flowers and it's absolutely amazing. I'll take the two toddlers in the massive double stroller and park them right under the trees. I tell them to look up and this is what they see: I've lived in many places. From the middle-of-nowhere Kootenay's, to the freezing cold high Arctic, from redneck northern Alberta, and back to the smelly city. No where is like home -- dumps of snow every winter, the most delicious smelling springs, the familiar faces like that of the guy who burns his outdoor woodstove 5 nights a week. Yes I said outdoor woodstove. It stands in his carport with no chimney attached just smoking away. You'll see him while driving over the mountain pass on your way to work/school/swim practise, cutting down a tree with his chain saw and loading it into his truck. All this so he can fire up his woodstove -- with no chimney. Oh I miss home and all the special people in it. Everywhere I

Ugh, She Is So Boring

Everyday, when we go outside, she heads straight for the swing. As I'm always rarin' to go and excited that we finally got our butts out of the house, I want to get as far from it as possible. But noooooo. We can't. She has to go on the swing first. To be quite honest, the swing bores me -- to death. But she loves it... more than shoes. Everyday, twice a day, it's the same thing. One step into the yard and she's already beelined across the yard for that darn swing. I tell her, "lets go to such and such and we'll swing when we get back" because I just want to leave. But I look over to see her clutching onto the swing with both hands. She doesn't make a peep instead just hangs on tight while facing me with the sweetest, most patient, "mommy I want to swing on the swing will you please put me on?" look you've ever seen. Of course I pretend not to notice her silent plea and say, "let's go for a walk and then we'll come back t

Oh Darn

I had a real long entry in the works cuz Grammy's friend Donna said she wishes I wrote longer posts. Then...my laptop battery died. Now it's all gone. And it's late. So, I would just like to take this opportunity to tell everyone that she can blow bubbles out of a bubble wand and fall down at the end of "Ring Around the Rosy". She also climbs up onto the big boulders in the park and has an amazingly large bladder. So large that her diaper can't last all through the night anymore. I have to change her diaper in the middle of the night or else we wake up in a puddle... We had a great weekend. I'll try re-writing about it tomorrow. Later dudes.

Happy Earth Day

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Happy Earth Day! Today is the day to appreciate our (once) beautiful planet and be a little more conscious of what pigs we really are! Everyday is Earth Day at our house. Everyday we: ~ Use cloth diapers ~ Wash all laundry (excluding diapers) in cold water ~ Turn two washing machine loads into one dryer load -- or just scrap the dryer altogether and hang dry ~ Turn off all electricity that we aren't using and unplug electronics that don't need to be plugged in ~ Eat organic, whole foods as much as possible ~ Avoid plastic like the plague ~ Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever buy bottled water. Ever. Stupidest waste of money, resources, and good tap water that we already have. Ugh, don't get me started. ~ Don't eat that much meat -- do you know what they do to those poor animals? No thanks ~ Use public transit or walk, a lot ~ Recycle everything. Tip* Put your recycle bin under the sink and the garbage can out of the kitchen -- it's more convenient and guests are mor

Another Fun Trip To the Mall

Her and I had the whole weekend to ourselves -- minus four hours :) You see, I was looking forward to my weekend off all week but was reminded on Friday that her dad worked this weekend = no break for me. Although, I've been having so much fun with her lately that after pouting and feeling sorry for myself, I went straight to planning the best weekend ever. Our plans for swimming fell through as I couldn't have been bothered with trying to dig out my bathing suit. We played outside a lot. It was sunny one day and wet the other. We went to the big giant sandbox, found puddles, and we hit the mall! I love taking her shopping; she is so entertaining. Before we go out I get to dress her up in fun outfits and then actually take the time to do her hair. She's just so darn cute. People ooh and aah over her wherever we go. At the mall, she would point out her shiny shoes to all of these ooh'ers and aah'ers. Being quite the little show off, she would then lean over

Sneaky, Sneaky

How did my jar of olives make it to the front door? Did somebody drop off a jar of olives for me because there is a jar of olives sitting on the table just inside the doorway. No, of course not; that was my toddler's doing. Any parents of toddlers know that it is impossible to open the refrigerator door without a toddler coming out of nowhere, shoving in front of you as though they're fighting for front row at a concert, and grabbing everything they can with their chubby little hands. In all the time it takes you to retrieve the one item you were looking for, remove little person (and chubby hand), and successfully shut the door, they've already snuck off with your jar of olives. When objects do go missing from around the house (such as food from the refrigerator), I always check the play kitchen first. Those cupboard doors are so fun to open and shut, open and shut. Not only that, but cupboards are meant to store things -- teddy bears, half empty cups of milk, shoes.

Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away...

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Another rainy day on the coast. We love the rain. OK, maybe we don't love it -- I mean there are many things we love more than rain -- but when it arrives we suit up and head outside anyway. My neighbour is so cute, a little Italian woman who cares for her three grandchildren during the day. When she first saw us frolicking in the rain she was surprised and in her thick accent said, "oh but it's so cold out; you're little one will get sick!" Later on she got used to seeing us outside during a torrential downpour and would say, "wow, you're little one really loves the rain!" I don't think it phases her anymore as now she'll open the door, poke her head out and simply say, "you're crazy!" Rainy days can be lonely but they have their perks. Little One gets all the puddles to herself. The slide is extra slippery on rainy days. I get to use my umbrella... Umbrellas make me think of Paddington Bear or Mary Poppins. There's someth

Welcome To Mommy's Daycare!

I have just started providing childcare, fulltime, for another little toddler this past week. Little One has adjusted quite well to having another whipper-snapper in the house. I, on the other hand, am exhausted. I was originally going to take in two children (as that is how many I can take in without needing to licence my home). What was I thinking? One is enough! In one week, she has already learned, and grown, so much! First of all, she has begun to learn how to stand up for herself. This is a new concept for her as she's been around adults all her life. As far as I know, no adults in her life yank toys out of her hands or bonk her on her head with really hard toys. When something she's playing with does suddenly get taken from her, she'll often just stand there confused. She'll look at him, then at me, and back to him again. Sometimes she'll go after him and kind of "ask" for the toy (hold out her hand and say, "uh?") Other times s

She Taught Herself To Pee On the TOILET!!

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Oh my goodness, you are all so lucky...you have a Guest Blogger !!! Aunty Shelby is on the scene tonight, having put Lindy in charge of sorting out my beads that got all mixed up...about a fifty hour job she'll do great. It's been a couple of months since I've seen my niece and I was blown away by how smart she is for such a wee little person! She knows how to unlock the tiny twisty locky piece on a doorknob when the doorknob is locked, she knows how to sign for 'more' when she wants more food, and now she's taught herself how to go pee on her little toilet!!! After her bath tonight she was bolting around here in her birthday suit, doing laps around the kitchen table, hiding and giggling, then suddenly disappeared. My sister noticed she'd gone into the bathroom and was checking out her little toilet...then sitting on it...something totally new. My sister brought it out into the middle of the livingroom to give Aunty Shelby a show and tell of her new skill.

Holistic Mommy's Ridiculous Toy Review #1 ~ Infant/Toddler Dance Tower

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That's it I've had it. Just when I thought toys couldn't get any more ridiculous I come across this: It is... a dance tower. Yes, a tower... for dancing. For your toddler... It has three stages so your infant, all the way to toddler can enjoy it. It has piano keys that light up and a bear that sings. It has a microphone for baby to sing along and "keeps baby occupied" with "fun learning activities" !! Look closely, it even has places for them to put their feet. Look even more closely... Do you see it? The dancing? Neither do I. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the flip side, here are some great time-tested - and inexpensive - props to add to your toddler's daily dance session: scarves, shakers, and bubbles!

Baby Loves To Dance

I know she loves music. What baby doesn't? We listen to music every single day; she gets such a big smile when I turn the music on. I didn't realize, though, how much she loves to dance. We have a little boy starting childcare on Monday; he's been coming everyday this week for a couple of hours to get familiar. I've noticed a lot of differences in her just by having another child around. One of them is her love of dancing! She dances all the time but, today I put on Raffi and she just kept moving almost the full length of the cd . She would go play with toys and then out of nowhere would break into the classic toddler squat-bounce move. She would walk in circles and spin around and come back again. Her spins were as graceful as her heavy toddler head and disproportionate body would allow. She even added some music of her own by picking up the shakers and shaking away to the music. Toddler dancing is a real special thing. It was beautiful * tear I picture h

Felt Food

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Turns out I don't know how to create a link but here is an example of what felt food looks like;

The Play Kitchen Needs Some Love

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I've been racking my brain trying to think of what to put in her play kitchen. I know, I know, dishes and food, duh. But, you see, she's only 17 months old and if I put fake food in there she's not really going to understand what to do with it. I mean really, it won't be pretend food to her just fun toys to spread around the house -- not that there's anything wrong with that. When I do put food in there I'm going to make felt food . I'll be sure to take pictures (maybe I'll have a camera by then!). If any family or friends find themselves bored one day, feel free to whip up some felt food for Little One's play kitchen! In her kitchen now are just the pots and pans that came with it. She loves her pots and will often go to her kitchen and start tinkering with them while I'm cooking. She'll grab one and bring it to me at the sink and grunt to say that she needs some water in it. It is pretty hard to cook without water isn't it? So, I put a

Keeping Food Additives Out Of My Child

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We figured out why she threw up all over me the other night. She is allergic to MSG and I am elated! You know, there's a lot of crap that I don't want my child to eat. For me to say, "please don't feed that to her" requires a lot of balls -- which I don't always have. A simple request of, "please don't feed that to my child" is usually responded to with; "oh come on, she can't have treats?" "what's this going to do to her?" "you can't protect her from everything " or my favorite, "you give her all organic carrots now, but then one day she'll eat a non-organic carrot and then Bam! Her body won't be used to it" OK -- a carrot that makes my kid go Bam! shouldn't be consumed by any member of the human population and be immediately reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). NOT that they would do anything about it... So, I am elated that she is allergic to MSG. Because now I c

We're Sick *sniff sniff

We've been sick. She started it. Last week her dad and I took her to the emergency room in the middle of the night. We thought she had croup (is that how you speel it?). It wasn't croup, just a very bad cold. I was enjoying being a nurturing mamma and nursing her back to health all week. We went for stroller rides everyday and I wore her in the Ergo a lot. I was happy because after about three days I still was feeling great and wasn't catching her cold.... Then late one evening we were visiting a friend downtown... I could feel the cold coming on. My nose was just a little too congested and I was sure it wasn't the pollution. I was feeling just a little too tired. In the morning, sure enough, I woke with a cold. Nurturing mamma was gone. ~ I just have to give a little history here ~ She has been sick, dad has been working a lot of overtime or had other things going on over the past couple of weeks and, as a result, I haven't been getting many breaks. I

My Baby's Smart - S.M.R.T.

My baby is such a genius; I get told all the time. She can: ~ Climb onto the kitchen chair 12 times in a row -- new today! ~ Turn off my stereo while my rock music's playing, then toddle all the way into her bedroom to turn on her stereo -- and her lullaby music. ~ Poor her milk or water on the floor when she's finished drinking. ~ Clean up her milk and water with a towel. ~ Retrieve the jar of raisins from the pantry every morning and tell me (grunt at me) that she wants some -- you know, to tie her over until breakfast. ~ Help herself to anything in the fridge if I turn my back, even for a second. ~ Come to a dead stop as soon as she hears an airplane in the sky and then watch as it flies over. ~ Sign "more" when she wants, well, more ... even if it's the middle of the night and she's not done nursing, she still manages to sign "more" with her eyes closed and in a half sleep state. ~ Put the coins in the coin slot for the photocopier

Eating Is Fun :)

She loves my homemade applesauce. I make it almost every morning to go with our breakfast (gotta get in those fruits). She's always enjoyed eating whatever food I put in front of her. We have our routine: First, we go wash our hands at the bathroom sink. I have to act fast as once she has soap on her hands it's straight into the mouth - uck. Once she's all clean, we head back to the kitchen and I plunk her in her highchair. Then, I put on her bib (all the while her hot food is cooling down in the freezer) and grab her basket full of cutlery. I say, "pick a spoon/fork" (depending on the meal) and she very thoughtfully holds her hand out and ... chooses ... a ... spoon ... ... not that one ... ... maybe ... this one. After standing there holding the basket for way too long, I count, "1 - 2 - 3" at which point she grabs a handful and I put the basket away. I bring out the food and she quickly narrows her cutlery choice down to two (one for each hand) an

I Forgot the Title :) 29 Seconds...

OK here's a test. Let's see if I can type this blog entry in less than 6 minutes. I am at the library and am on the 'express' computer (all the one hour computers are taken). She has discovered her belly-button. She'll lift up my shirt and try to poke mine but I never let her -- who likes getting their belly-button poked? Ugh. I was reading a book that Grammy got her before naptime yesterday caled, "Where's Baby's Belly-button?" Every page has a different body part to find. I don't ever "teach" children as they figure it all out on their own (and she does). We went through the book a half dozen times. Her favorite page was the 'hand' page -- 2 minutes. At playgroup yesterday we got to do head and shoulders knees and toes... She nailed it!! Well sort of -- she liked touching her feet and her ears too. Hasn't quite got mouth yet. 55 seconds, gotta run. Later!!

Leaning Tower Of Pancakes

When I make pancakes, I really make pancakes -- like two dozen of them at a time. That way, I can eat until I'm full, store the rest, and have a yummy, easy breakfast all week! Well, tonight she went shoe shopping with Aunty Amber and I stayed home and made pancakes. The pancakes were still sitting on the counter when she got home so naturally she had to check them out. She picked one up and took a bite out of it and put it in the empty pan that was sitting there. Then, she continued to pick up each pancake one at a time and stack it neatly on top of the previous one sneaking a bite every here and there. When she was done, it was a nicely stacked pancake tower -- minus some bites. From there, we went to brush her teeth and off to bed and she hasn't woken up since. I think we'll have pancakes every night for dinner because she has normally woken up once by now. You should see her shoe shelf... It's been just over a week since my Shoesies post but her shoe collection ha

SQUEAK!

Aunty Darci has been sooooo excited because she sent Little One a brand new pair of squeaky shoes. Today they arrived in the mail! Well, Little One was sooo ecstatic when I showed her shiny new shoes to her. When she's this excited she gets this twinkle in her eyes and can't even form a smile because her lips kind of curl in and her cheeks firm up and she does this deep, "heh" (like an almost laugh). She'll look right at you as if she's asking, "is this really happening to me!?" and that's when she'll break into a huge smile. We got them on her feet and she was so eager to get up from sitting that she got her legs all crossed. I helped untangle her and she went to walk and -- squeak! She took another step and -- squeak! I started laughing but she didn't think it was so funny. She fussed a little then soon realized that she couldn't take a step without squeaking. She was stuck! That's right, two feet on the floor and coul

A Sandbox!

We found a sandbox today! A really big sandbox! Well, I guess the beach is a really big sandbox... But anyway, this one is in the middle of a park, with imported sand, and shovels! You should see the parks in the city. It's not even that warm yet and they're bumpin' ! -- (full of kids). Stinker got sand thrown on her today; like three times in a row! She didn't mind, she's tough that way. And the kid's mom finally came and yelled at him. She was so cute at the park the other day. There was an older toddler there who had a toy phone in his hand. Stinker, of course, beelined right for him but instead of going straight for it she reached out her little hand and in the daintiest little voice said, "ta?" Oh it was adorable. He just gave her an evil look and ran away. I happened to put her in white pants today. I kind of liked the white pants because it made her dirt show up better.

Shoesies!!

She loves shoes. Every morning after breakfast she goes to get her shoes from the doorway and grunts away because she wants them on her feet. She then stomps proudly around the house laughing at the sound they make on the floor. Often, she'll just walk around the house carrying her shoes in her hands. When we finally do get around to going somewhere there is one on her bedroom floor and another on the toy shelf. I tell her, "go get your shoes" and she will actually go find both of them. Shoe-getting is just as exciting as shoe-wearing. I know that the first time she breaks into a run will be when she's shoe-getting. She moves so fast when I say, "go get your shoes" that she almost leaves a trail of smoke behind. Tomorrow is going to be an extra special shoe day. You see, I just bought a shoe rack off of Craigslist (for those of you who don't know, Craigslist is an online classifieds website). I love Craigslist, I'm actually addicted to it. It's

"Bye!"

I figured because I made people wait a full week for a new post that I would make up for it by writing two nights in a row! If you're lucky maybe I'll do three...but that's as far as I'll go :) You know what I love the most? I love that she can say good-bye and wave. But, not just to people leaving or when she, herself, leaves. No, I love that she waves good-bye to the bathtub water going down the drain, or to the toilet water as it's going down. I love that she turns around to wave good-bye to the park as we're leaving and to the bedroom as she walks out the door. I love that she waves good-bye to cars and bicyles. And, sometimes she'll catch herself and go back as she almost forgot to wave good-bye to the piano after she was done playing. It's still the high pitched, "bye!". So cute :) Grammy's coming this weekend. It will be a happy reunion :) Grammy won't recognize her with all her new teeth! Check out these German-made, w

I Double-Dog-Dare You To Leave A Comment :)

Hi! Me again!! It's been almost a week since I wrote last -- even after I promised to never, ever go that long again!!!!!!!! Well, we had to call the firefighters two nights in a row because our carbon monoxide detector went off. Sure enough there was CO in our house but not enough to kill us! ...Or to even make us sick for that matter. Our landlord is great. I called him late at night; he was at a party but still managed to get up bright and early to deal with the furnace. He had a furnace guy come in and it was fixed right up in less than a day. Now that's a good landlord. We had to call the firefighters back that evening to test to make sure it wasn't pumping anymore gas out -- which it wasn't. So, we're all good again. But, it cut into my Holistic Mommy time. On the plus side, we (myself and the lady upstairs) had a dozen different firemen come into our home. Tall one's, manly ones, strong silent types -- Little One slept through it all. I felt kind of bad

1 + 1 Makes Fun!!

She's getting a playmate! A regular five days a week playmate! I am sooo excited not just for the simple fact that she has a buddy to hang out with or that "socializing" my toddler is so important to me but because she gets to interact with another toddler without any interruptions from well-meaning adults . I have a little secret -- I can't stand playgroups. They irritate me more than Canadian politics and President bush -- OK so politics. Period. Being someone who has worked in a room with a dozen toddlers at once finds that it is like finger nails down a chalkboard when I take her into a group of other young children only to hear, "SHARE that!" "No hitting!" "Wait your turn!" or my recent favourite, a mother told her 3 year old son, "don't play at the dollhouse, it's not a boy toy." I love that he went to the play kitchen next, hehe :) What I am so excited about is the constant and quality interaction she is

Should Have Used the Bean Dip

I've introduced her to finger painting! I was given some finger paints from a fellow mommy I met a couple of weeks back. Of course, Little One kept eating the paint and her poo was blue for the next two days. I tried again today and, of course, she still tried eating it. I was tempted to pack it up but I'm reading this really great book, "Young at Art" which tells you, "don't pack it up!" Instead, just use safe paint or something edible. It was then that I remembered I made black bean dip this morning. Perfect! I washed her hands, gave her a fresh new piece of paper and put a spoonful of bean dip on her paper! She didn't eat it... Meany. I've learned a lot from this book already -- I'm only on the intro. I always thought I was great at encouraging children's artistic talents but it turns out I was stifling the poor children. With drawing, I've learned; ~never ever write on the children's drawings (I'm guilty) ~save every piece

Has Anybody Seen My Feet!?

MISSING: picture of baby's feet that were at the top of my blog page -- the picture was in black and white... If anybody knows where they went or how I could get them back please let me know!!!!! Where are MY FEET!?

You Know You're Raising Your Kid In the City When...

So the other day she came home from being with Daddy all day and went straight to having a nap -- a marathon nap. After two and a half hours, she finally woke up. I always take her outside in the afternoon after she wakes up but this time it was getting dark. I suited us both up as fast as I could and we high-tailed it to the park down the street. When we got there it was still light enough but there were these two dudes standing outside a white pervy van smoking something. Now, anyone who grew up where I grew up wouldn't normally be bothered by this. You'd just think, "oh there's two dudes smoking something in the park" and then you'd proceed to plunk your child on the swing next to them and ask them how their day was going. But, here in the city it's different. You try that here and you'd probably end up on the 5 o'clock news -- I might be stereotyping a little and I'm OK with that... So, we strolled right on past. I wanted her to be

Oh No I Didn't!!

One of her newest words is, "HOT". Although, she leaves off the 'h' so it's "ot". I had been using the word around her for sometime and then one day when the oven was on, she went up to it, put her hand out and said, "ot". I love hearing new words come out of her mouth; she sounds so cute and it's always so exciting! Anyways, of course we got her to say it again and again. She has begun to associate the word 'hot' with pretty much anything dangerous. She'll go up to electrical outlets, light bulbs, the toilet, hold out her hand and say, 'ot'. My favorite was the other day when I took her outside to play. She was toddling up and down the sidewalk and decided to go check out the curb. I immediately told her, "not safe, too far" and took her little hand and led her back to the sidewalk. She went there a couple more times and I told her again, "not safe, too far". About the forth time (I'm very patien

How To Get Through A Day With A Teething Toddler

Up until this point she has had only four teeth... She's 16 months old (almost) and I think most toddlers this age have a full set of teeth by now. Well, this past week I've noticed two eye teeth and two molars pop up. The poor thing is in such discomfort and me? Well, I'M GOING INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that we've settled into our new permanent home, we've finally managed to get a routine down. I pretty much run our days like a daycare complete with a sensory table, storytime, music and movement, and more! But, now that she's teething we've been leaving the home a lot because if we're home she just tugs on my pantlegs going "uh uh uh uh uh waaaahhhhhhhhhhh". If we don't leave home within a couple of hours after waking up I get really, really, cranky (I could use a better word but I've decided not to use cuss words on my blog). So, a typical day looks something like this: ~ Wake up and I set up some toys -- a cookie sheet w/ water or ri

Reality

I've wanted to be a mommy since I could push my Carebear in the stroller when I was, oh I dunno, three or so. I knew for a fact that I was going to be the greatest mom on the planet; better than any other mom I knew. Motherhood was going to be so much fun; I could give my baby baths, nurture it whenever it cried and then cuddle it until it felt better, feed it lots and lots of baby food -- the kind in the jars, put it to bed in a crib when it was time to sleep (and of course it would sleep), and of course... Diaper changes. Oh how I loved diaper changes -- when I was three and performing them on a Cabbage Patch Kid. I went through life -- school, jobs, travel, partied -- and finally, FINALLY, had a baby. My dream has become a reality and now have my own little baby to call my own. My own baby to squish and to squeeze and to love and to hug all over. Well let me tell you.... A Carebear weighs about a pound and a half, my baby? She came out a whopping 7lbs1oz. I measured her

Home Sweet Home -- Finally!

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December 31, 2008 marked the last day of our transient life and on January 1 we moved into our cozy little basement suite where we are here to stay! We had been spending the last couple of weeks at Aunty Amber and Uncle Andy's house and let me tell you we are missing their cooking very much. But, now I have my very own kitchen, with my very own stove and can cook my very own meals! It's been about a week and a half and Molly seems to really like the new place. I love it because it has everything on my list of criteria: ~open floor plan ~no stupid stairs ~a fenced yard ~a park nearby ~lots of storage ~a bathroom that's big enough to where I can stretch my arms out and spin without hitting the walls As a bonus, the family upstairs has two children aged four and two AND the mother is a stay-at-home-mom. I'm sure we'll get to know each other quite well. They even have a dog, which means that maybe I can get a dog ;) Molly can follow simple directions now such as, "