Post Turkey

I am right smack in the middle of a wonderful stretch of days off, which means that I get extra time with darling V. Darling V who is terribly clever these days and figured out how to roll over and now can't do anything else!
He did it for the first time on Tuesday, while M was home with him. I can't ever believe how glad I am that he rolled over at home with us for the first time. He is in daycare all week long, so there's is always that worry that we are going to miss his big moments. Thankfully we didn't miss this one!

M survived a whole week home with V by himself! Amazing! There were a few moments that were touch and go, that I am not at liberty to report on =]

I am still feeling the effects of Thanksgiving dinner and the run-off from Black Friday, which I stupidly went out in. Clearly I was still feeling the effects of the turkey, because there is no other explanation for why I decided it was a good idea to go shopping AND to take wee V with me!

Poor V was so tired yesterday from all of the fun and excitement of Gramma and Pop-pop's house that he went right to bed last night without a fuss. And tonight too. Which is where I should be as the tiredness I am experiencing is making me unfunny... which is awful!

Must sleep.....

Sleep

Saturday night finds me on the sofa watching "Hellboy 2" with a glass of wine. So pleasant.

Darling V is finally in bed. He is clock-work in his crankiness (which he gets equally from both M and I), always when he gets hungry and just before bed.

I hope that he sleeps all night tonight. Oh please, I hope and pray he does! He was sleeping so well, but then started waking up at all hours. And wiggling his little body into all sorts of places in his crib, which would scare him and result in a late night wake-up call for mummy.

I always think that his lack of sleeping is a result of a growth spurt, but its been about 3 weeks of the up-at-all-hours and I seriously can't imagine that he would be growing constantly for that long. Figuring out his bedtime meal is like a complicated math problem that I just can't solve. I was feeding him too much, so I fed him less which turned out not to be enough. And in the mean time, his appetite increased, so when I increased his food it still wasn't enough. I might almost be there though. Fingers crossed for tonight!

Next week is Thanksgiving down here, and M is off the whole week. And V is staying home from daycare to spend some time with his Papa. Hopefully M will survive!

I am up way past my bedtime (which, apparently, ideally is way before 9 pm.... even 8 pm is ok too). Long gone are those days when M and I would stay up partying all night and get home as the sun was coming up. And then sleep until 2 pm. And then do it again the next night. Sometimes we reminisce "Remember that time when we left that club in Hamamatsu and it was 8 am and we passed our boss on her way in to the office, while we were on our way home?". Good times....

I *heart* M Part 2

Last night I caught M doing something that I could hardly even believe. I know he's going to read this too and be oh, probably embarrassed and slightly annoyed with me. I know this because I told him I was going to write about it on purpose just because he told me not to.

While he was lying in bed last night, getting ready to settle in and watch a dvd I came in and plunked a basket of baby laundry on the bed. Our darling child seems to go through an amazing amount of clothing. I am still making the transition from 'Florida summer' to 'Florida winter' clothes and have yet to purchase enough long pants and warmer clothes for him, so he wears layers and layers of things..... more things for him get dirty! (and by get dirty I mean drool on and spit up all over).

I love his little clothes, and sadly enjoy folding them. While I was pregnant, I washed and ironed every little piece of clothing that I bought for him. Probably because I was pregnant. Not because I like ironing.

Anyways, there I was folding some laundry. And after folding a few things, Mike must have felt like he should help so he sat up and started folding some socks. And some more socks. And then another pair of socks. Followed by some more socks.

Finally I clued in.

He was selectively folding!

And when I finally realized that I knew what he was doing, he burst out laughing . And then looked really guilty.

Try to imagine what he must have been thinking. "Onesie? Too complicated" *puts it back and picks up another onesie* "Hmm, looks kinda difficult" *throws it back in hamper and picks up a bib* "How the heck do you fold this?! I'll leave it for Jame" *tosses it down and picks up a sweater "Ummmmm.... ooh socks!" *folds socks and reaches into basket and picks up a blanket* "This one's the shape of a square! I can fold squares!".....etc etc etc.

If he is selectively folding, what else is he selectively doing?

Something I will be pondering for the next little while....

Holiday season

In a wonderful turn of events, I was able to sleep until 6:30 this morning! (Mind you that 4 hours or so were spent on the couch, with my hands curled around V as we both dozed together.... very cosy...). Currently he is on his jungle playmat, grabbing toys and rolling from side to side. He has this look of extreme concentration on his little face as he wiggles around. I am utterly convinced that he is going to roll completely over at any minute, and so am watching intently as I write this morning.

I am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that its the middle of November, and Thanksgiving will be here in a heartbeat, followed by Christmas in a nanosecond. So far I have done nothing to prepare for "Baby's First Christmas". I am looking into getting him a stocking, and am contemplating getting him a monogrammed one. Ideally, if I had a sewing machine I would be making him one. But, alas, my sewing machine now belongs to my sister in Canada so we will just have to do with a store bought one.

M is fixated on getting a real Christmas tree this year (we bought a fake one the year before). Real Christmas trees are so sad in Florida. The lots where you go and buy them are no way at all like buying them in Canada.

Tree buying 101:

* must be purchased from grocery store/liquor store parking lot.
* must be at least 3 Boy Scouts in attendance
* the weather MUST be near or below 30 for sure (or there should at least be a chill in the air)
* there should be tree debris all over everything
* the person that you actually pay for the tree should be pretty surly (because they are watching after a bunch of Boy Scouts at 8 pm on a tuesday night)

I know there are other rules, but its been a while since I have bought a tree in Canada.

Christmas trees in Florida are usually sold in an empty lot on the side of the road. An empty lot which has at least 5 palm tress on it (hence ruining the vision of christmas-y things). The grass of said lot should definetly be brown. Inflatable christmas decorations should be everywhere. Its depressing. I feel bad for the trees, which you know came from nowhere nearby. And are super expensive, and there are always tons left which will sadly be disposed of in a most depressing manner (which is why we got a fake one. Its just too sad).

Yesterday on the news (or what passes for the news) the reporters were showing a huge line of people at a toy drive. At first I thought they were dropping off gifts, which I thought was awesome. How wonderful to see so many people giving! But it turned out to be people lining up to receive instead.

I found this odd. Its November and the middle of November too! Thanksgiving is still 2 weeks away! Not that people who are in need should wait until December 24 to collect gifts for their children, but it just seemed really really early.

The other thing that really bothered me was that the reporter made some kind of comment about how families and their children needed the toys. I think it was the use of the word 'need' that bothered me. And I am having the hardest time articulating why that particular word bothered me so much(I have deleted about 10 sentences trying to explain). Children need clothes, need food, need education, need a mother and father (or some derivitive of that), need love and attention. These are things that I would define as being needed. Maybe its not so much the word, as the reporter's emphasis on receiving instead of giving thats my problem.

M and I have decided this year to really cut back on Christmas gifts for ourselves. And for wee V too. We are only spending $100 each. We each have $25 to spend on V (and what we buy is secret from the other person.... we like to complete), and the other $75 we spend on each other. And thats it. This year family members are getting homemade gifts. I don't want Christmas to be so focused on the buying, as thats something that I have always found stressful. And I don't want V to be too spoiled. I don't want him to anticipate so much on birthdays or Christmas. I realize that he isn't even going to notice this year, or even next..... its more so for M and I, but regardless....

Anyways, Mr Fuss-face in his jump-a-roo is making some angry "Mummy. MUMMY!!! Pay attention to me!!!!" noises, so off I go to applaud his jumping and tell him how amazing he is at it!

Friday night musings...

My darling child decided this morning that 4 am was the time he was going to wake up, and nothing was going to change his mind! Not even a cuddle with Mummy on the sofa, a rattly-chewy thing, Mummy's hand (to chew on), not one single thing! 4 am it was! Followed quickly by breakfast please! Mummy! Breakfast! MUMMY! BREAKFAST! MMMMUUMMMMMMMMMMMYYYY!!

So we had some delicious rice cereal with bananas, which improved wee V's mood immensely. Followed by our new favorite game of "Look! I can sit up by myself(with only a little, just a little help from my Mummy/Daddy).

Followed by M dressing V, the end result of which is the most entertaining thing. M seems to favorite a "no socks, basketball shorts (orange) w/random animal onesie" approach to dressing V, so he always looks like he getting ready for the big game at a wildlife preserve. (Note to self: need headband for V to complete sports look).

Anyways, Friday is always the longest day, and so the sofa is extra comfortable on this particular night. The mind feels relaxed and open for some sweet ramblings....

Random things I saw this week on the side of the road....

* a leftie rubber boot
* a mattress
* someones missing fake leg
* a prostitute

Favorite quote of the week:
"I love how you're workin' that chain..." (ANTM)

I continuously feel annoyed by peoples spelling and grammar errors (except for my own, then I just feel disgusted).

I am currently wondering why it seems like women portrayed in the media recently seem more and more like sex objects then anything else. It seems like TV is a never ending stream of bra commercials (which I find about as entertaining as tampon/pad ads). While exercise on stripper-poles may indeed work 'those muscles you never knew you had', the idea of exercising on a pole makes me feel objectified. And then I churlishly wonder why there are never any men in those adverts!?! Don't they want to work those muscles? And at the same time learn some new moves? It's hard for me to articulate how annoyed this makes me feel.

I might be in love with David Tennant. You know, that actor who plays the 'new' Dr Who?? I love him. And I love Dr Who.

I also love sleep, sleep which I need to embrace now.
I love sleep almost as much as I love David Tennant.
Which is a lot apparently....

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Once again I am up early early. While I know its the weekend, Mr V over here still gets up at 5:15 just like he does during the week.

However, with a new episode of Grey's Anatomy to watch and a mug of hot chocolate with home-made marshmallows, its a nice way to start the weekend.

I think I am turning my son into an early tv-junkie. We, on occasion, play him those 'Baby Einstein-type videos', which really should be labeled 'baby-crack', as V will just gaze intensely at it until the dvd has ended and not make a single noise. The TV tends to be on almost all of the time we are home though, M watches a lot of sports on the weekend and also while he does all of his grading.

Right now V is lounging in his bouncy chair (fighting sleep) in the livingroom, while I type away and watch those shows that I like that I record as I don't have time to watch them during the week. I face his little chair away from the tv,but just noticed his little neck craning around to watch Grey's Anatomy, and then he cooed during a Desperate Housewives commercial. Maybe it was all the pretty (overly botoxed) ladies with their shiney hair and colourful clothes? Who knows, but it surprised me.

I changed the channel to an old Jackie Chan movie, and he fell asleep. Well, at least I know what he thinks of that! (I love Jackie Chan and M does not, so clearly he takes after his father)

When my sister and I were little, we lived way up in the country, down an oiled gravel road out in the middle of the forest. In retrospect, it was all very "Little House on the Prarie". We read lots of Laura Ingalls Wilder, built 'fairy houses', raided the neighbours chicken coop (well, maybe thats not very L.I.W.). We did have a tv, but we only had one or 2 channels. We mostly watched the Sunday night Disney special at 6 pm, and then went right to bed. When we moved down the Island to Sidney, we got 13 channels which was so exciting to us! Even more exciting for me as my sister couldn't read that well. (Hurray poor reading skills!)

Actually I mean that after school I would read the tv guide, as she couldn't, and then I would tell her precisely what was on tv. But only if it was something I wanted to watch. Any shows that she liked were never on when I had that tv guide in my hands. Such a nice big sister I was!

I guess what I am trying to say is that we were never really exposed to huge amounts of tv when we were younger, which I think is good. And that I also don't want my son to be totally reliant on tv as entertainment. The imagination is a much better tool for entertainment.

I just caught my son sneaking a peek at Jackie Chan.... he is indeed my son after all!

My new special skills...

I am indeed a superhero.
My new skills are practically magical in nature.

Let me share...

My first new skill I discovered a few weeks ago.
It is the ability to create a song at the drop of a hat, entirely based on the circumstances.

Now I am not a tuneful person. I love karaoke, but can't carry a tune and happily inflict my karaoke stylings on anyone who will listen. Usually after a glass of wine. Or two. (I do a wicked 'Life is a Cabaret").

Anyways, my child will happily do anything while we sing.

Now my husband cracks me up.
He will stand over V (while V is happily kicking his little chubby legs in his bouncy chair), grin like a lunatic while clapping his hands like a small child and shout "There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-o...B-I-N-G-O!! B-I-N-G-O!". V loves it and those little legs kick harder and faster then ever before...

It is the funniest thing ever, and I never tire watching him do it.

I sing a little differently...

Here's a sample play-list:

1: Vincent's in the kitchen with Mummy (Someones in the kitchen with Dinah)
2: Scrub scrub scrub your toot (Row row row your boat)
3: Poops in the pants, poops in the pants! (Farmer in the dell)
4: Chomp chomp (Vincent is the baby with the sharp teeth....... sung to no particular tune at all)
those are my most recent ones...

My other most magical of skills amazes me every time it happens.

Picture this.....

Wee V pitching a fit in his crib, legs kicking, cries increasing in volume by the second.(classical music playing softy and serenely in the background)
Small legs lifting and slamming themselves down on a tiny mattress with increasing force (thuds echoing over baby monitor).

:V's room door opens:

mummy enters stage right and approaches crib side...

Mummy places a hand on the tummy of the writhing wailing child.

Instantly the wails cease and sleep commences immediately.

Its so odd. Literally I place my hand on him, and he instantly falls asleep. Its astonishing and magical. And astounds me every time it happens.

And so again I am a super hero