Mother of a Toddler!

(Wearing his new snowsuit - an early Christmas present from Jamma!)

Yes! He is finally walking. He still feels that crawling, or walking with assistance is more efficient for his needs. But he is walking and quite proud of it. So I guess that makes me the official Mother of a Toddler! Now this parenting thing is starting to get more challenging. Okay maybe not challenging - just more athletic and tiring. Catching a 13 month old as he falls from the couch. Or chair. Or whatever else he can climb. I guess we can be grateful he hasn't figured out how to crawl out of his crib...yet!

(Proud to be rockin' in Gramma Gogo's rocker - it's nice to have something in the family for so long)

Daddy took this picture at naptime while mommy was at work. Daniel can just reach his bookcase from him crib. He'll grab his books thru the bars and "read" quietly until he falls to sleep. Kinda like his mama.

Halloween

Halloween was cancelled in our house last year. Aaron and I were very new parents stunned at the fact that we had a 8 day old to tend to. And though I long for those easy early days sometimes, he is a lot more fun now that his personality has emerged! (why didn't I appreciate the constant napping more? I write this as Danny bangs and clangs my pots and pans against the kitchen floor.)

As you can see Danny was Tigger this year. I bought a size 12month costume yet he was busting out of it.

We did not want to take him out trick or treating. He doesn't eat candy yet - and it's too damn cold for mommy and daddy. So we are very lucky that cousin Bella has her birthday on Halloween. And we were able to attend her 3rd birthday party this year. Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

There were a lot of kids at the party. I think Daniel was a bit overwhelmed but he had a good time. And Bella is hilarious with him. She kept taking toys from him, telling him "No, baby, no!". This natural comedy is why I love kids so much. Why do they have to grow up?

The excitement was just too much. Danny passed out on the ride home.

Did I memtion Elmo was there?

And then there was cake!

The Party

I think Daniel was a bit overwhelmed. All the guests just to see him. The great big play center full of toys and cousins. No wonder he didn't pay attention while mommy and daddy opened his gifts.





Oh, and the birthday boy had cake for the first time...video coming soon!

Last Day of Minus 1

I felt an urge to take some pictures of Danny before he turned one. The countdown is on. Officially at 2:15pm on the 23rd of october our little man will be one years old.

An Update of Sorts...

We've been gearing up for Daniel's big day. In less than a week he turns one! It's the big one. We will be having a small dinner party at Creative Play (a play/party center run by Danny's Gramma and Aunt). The theme is Winnie the Pooh. I was lucky enough to find a Tigger costume in his size. And I'll get my moneys worth out of it. Eight days after Danny's party, his cousin celebrates her third birthday on Halloween. (Pictures will definitely be in order!)

Daniel walks with help. We are pretty sure he can do it on his own, but I think he's lacking the confidence. He seems like me in the way that he likes to perfect his skills before showcasing them. I bet if we put a camera over his crib we would catch him walking back and forth.

Daniel's favourtie game right now is a variation on peek-a-boo/tag. I have to get into crawling position as I chase him around the house. Danny squealing with delight. Checking over his shoulder ever few seconds to make sure I'm still on his trail.

He is speaking more. Much of it babble. He can say Mama, Dada, Cat and Aaron swears that he said Daddy I love you! What a sweet little man.

For now we must go. It is almost time to go to the swings.

This Time Last Year..

I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little peanut. It's amazing how fast a year has gone by. And hard to believe that this kid actually fit in my belly.
Is it time yet?

Everybodies workin' for the weekend

Hey Danny! Olivia Newton John wants her head band back!

Book Worm

This kid loves his books. We are so proud!

He's Growing up so Fast

If I were just two feet tall I'd want to play in the closet (err, fort).


I swear he did this by himself. While eating dinner he looked at his carrot intensely then gently placed it on his own head.
I couldn't help but laugh. Apparently he was quite serious about it!

Literal baggage

I finally let go...my journals. My first one was started when I was 11 and 1/2.
I have been carrying all of this around with me on every move - from my parents house to Baba's and then to this house- all packed in a vintage suitcase and a cheap duffel bag. Literal baggage. Upon flipping through them I found a lot of negative stuff. I seem inspired by the bad and hardly wrote anything nice in there. Unless you count all the "I love this guy or that guy". Names I cannot remember the faces of. I actually kissed a guy named Don!??!

Now over 20 years later I feel I can let go. It felt good to make this decision - it shocked my mom (and inspired her to declutter a bit). Hopefully I can inspire more...

And it's Done...

I love the colour, which I picked out. I was afraid at first but everything worked beautifully.

During...

And so it was gutted.

Bathroom Reno

As I promised awhile ago here are the picks of the bathroom renovation from start to finish...thanks to my dad for his hard work!

The before...(insert ominous music here)

The door had fallen off and had holes in it. The paint was peeling from the moisture in the room.

There was a hole in the floor that I had thought went down to dirt and it grossed my out. We later found out there was a cement floor underneath. phew!


More peeling paint above the shower.

The window opened up to under the deck. It was great for spying on the outdoor cats, as well as capturing kittens before we had them all fixed! Other than that it just made the room smell damp and dirty.

A hole in the wall when the plumbing needed repair!!! Teegers was the only one who enjoyed this room.

Cleansing

The new tenants are all moved in downstairs. And lucky us they brought their cat. I'm sure I'll get some pics of our new friend shortly.

Having to clear out the basement and fit everything upstairs has been a challenge. As well as an enlightening experience.

I've decided to let go of the things I was keeping to sell online. Some of the stuff I had been holding onto for years without success selling it. My brain kept telling me that its worth something so hold onto it. And when I do sell something, I get anxiety over the shipment because the customers were constantly complaining that the item hadn't reached them instantly. So to ease my stress level online auctioning is out of my life. At least where selling is concerned.

While I've been unloading my junk decluttering is constantly on the brain. I keep thinking of the TV show "Hoarders", and telling myself at least I'm not that bad. But I am understanding more where these people are coming from. Attachment to objects that really have no meaning or value seems really silly, but then why is it so hard to let go of the 1994 edition of Rolling Stone magazine? Its not that I even look at it at all.

Now a lot of this stuff is gone or going. And I feel so much happier for it.

Then yesterday I found one of my favourite bloggers had decluttering on her mind too. I had to comment, making note that I couldn't bear to rid myself of my old journals.

That comment has been on my mind all night. And I finally feel that I can let go. For one, I told myself, I rarely reread what was written. And two, my journaling was brought on by negatives. If my life was difficult, confusing or I was fighting with someone I would journal. When things are going well I rarely pick up my pen. And thirdly, everything's on computers these days. ;)

So a special thank you goes out to the Empress for the great inspiration. I am looking forward to the next part of your story.

May we all free ourselves from our burdens and live happy, clutter-free lives.

Double Digits

Daniel is Ten months old today. Where does the time go? He is very close to learning to walk. I'm pretty sure that by his 12th month he will be fully mobile. His vocabulary is expanding and he actually understands the difference between mama and dada.

I think becoming a parent has an effect on a parents space and time. The amount of space all his toys take up. And boy time really does fly.

It's Moving Day...

not for me, but for my nephew and his girlfriend. Although it does feel like moving day for me too. They are moving into our basement (the apartment Aaron and I lived in when we first got together). After having the whole house to ourselves for a couple of years we've accumulated a lot of stuff. I have been frantically going through all the stuff (of course alot of it is mine or Daniel's - stuff I'm holding onto for the next kid). Though part of me likes going through everything and deciding what to keep and what I can let go of, it is a lot of work.


We now have our computers and two desks upstairs in our tv/playroom/livingroom. Daniel is very curious about our computers. So to distract him we gave him an old cordless keyboard. He's still curious about our computers, but it does help to distract.

I was going to leave this entry without a picture of our favourite little man, but I thought some of you might be upset if I did ;)

Happy Birthday Grampa Mark!

Happy Birthday to my dad who has been working away on our basement bathroom...(yipee we're almost done!)


BTW Daniel and Grampa are sitting in the comb back windsor rocker that Daniel's talented Grampa made by hand!!

Daniel and Teegers

From day one Teegers had been like a little guardian for Daniel. She has followed him around the house. Gotten upset when we take him out of the house. Makes sure we know when he is crying.

Since he has started crawling (Holy Crap he's almost walking!!!) she's having a bit of trouble keeping up with her duty. Daniel loves the cats. He loves to pull their tails and paws when he can. He likes to pinch their fur and bury his face in their sides. The cats are not thrilled about this and we do try to prevent it. The cats are good - they haven't retaliated yet. And Teegers can't seem to stay away despite the abuse.

Catching Up

Times have been hectic in my world. Beginning in September my Nephew and his girlfriend will be renting out our basement apartment. Before that happens though my dad has been redoing the bathroom. I mean ripped down to the guts redoing. The old bathroom was quite a mess with a rotting floor, peeling paint etc.. More on that once it is fully complete...we're getting really close.

And the little guy is growing and moving and learning at a pace I didn't believe was possible. Daniel is nine months old now. He can say "Mama" (usually when he's upset but its a start), Da (he's more laid back with his daddy) and "Ba" for our cat Bee. Or it could be for all the cats in general I haven't figured that out yet. And I swear one day he said kitty cat, but I haven't heard it repeated yet.


He is learning to balance. He holds onto furniture and uses it the help himself around the room. And wait --- he's even smarter than that... the other day he pushed his toy piano up to the couch and used it the climb up. Thank goodness I was close by.

Daniel also loves his food. And like a typical man he goes for the meat first. He also enjoys sweet potato. And he absolutely LOVES Cheerios. Aaron has been calling them OO-OO-OHs for the baby. The other day when they were out for a walk Aaron thought Daniel was just singing "OO-OO". He's made these noises for months. So Aaron decided to sing along only to hear a demanding little person say "OO-OO-OH".
(yes, I'm embarassed to admit that is a dust bunny attached to Daniel's knee. Funny how he can find the little knooks where the dirt gathers - time to vacuum!!! But how could I resist a picture of Daniel showing his admiration for his fave composer Beethoven?)
One little problem we've been having lately is Daniel has been biting. He'll come up to me for a hug and then like a little vampire he tries to dig his teeth into my shoulder. I guess this is our first true test as parents. "Okay folks, you can feed him and change him. Even give him a bath and prevent him from pulling the DVD player on top of his little head, But can you stop this child from biting?" I guess we better work on that :)

Kisses everyone!

Say What?

Me: Honey, you have too much Metallica on your playlist.

Hubby: You have too much Beatles.

Me: (shocked) you can never have enough Beatles!

Hubby: I have to be honest dear. I like Metallica more than the Beatles.

Me: (Beyond Shocked) you do know that these are grounds for divorce, right?

Oh Mama...

will you put that camera down already!

Heat Wave

Quite a bit of hectic-ness lately. We've had our car vandalized AGAIN! For the third time. We do think we know who it is. We are just unable to prove it or track down the jerk.

Right after all the G20 riots in Toronto someone smashed 3 of our car windows. We are not any where near downtown, but I think this jerk took the rioting either as an excuse or it excited him. Anyway, this time the neighbour saw the jerk. Sadly, he did not get the jerk's licence plate number.

Now we are quite paranoid. Aaron couldn't sleep for a few days. He would wake up every time he saw headlights pass our house. To ease our minds we spent more money we should really spend on a car alarm. Strangely, we have only been arming it when parked in our own driveway. I hate this a--hole for making us feel like this in our own home. We are planning to move, but as money doesn't grow on trees we have to wait that out a bit.


(I almost threw up when the neighbour called me outside to look at this.)


We did call the cops. They supposedly took our statements and the neighbours'. However when Aaron called to check on the progress our report only listed what happened to the car. It said nothing of our suspicions or that the neighbour was witness. For sure more phone calls to the police station will follow. It's really sad that we feel like we should take this into our own hands. Yet, if we did what we really wanted to do to this a--hole Danny would be put into foster care. And I don't think I could handle jail!!! :O

On to better news...The little man has been taking swimming lessons for the passed three days. Today will be the fourth of ten days. He's been pretty good about it. I've finally dunked him underwater and he just looks stunned but no tears. I'm still trying to get him comfortable on his back. He does complain about it.

Our teacher was helping us yesterday (Daddy had to go to work). Trying to stretch out his legs so Daniel could float, rather than curl up in a ball and sink. (No - I do not let him sink. He would if I wasn't holding him though.) He's quite comfortable on his belly. And he enjoys splashing with his hands. One of the older kids splashed him in the face. He just blinked it off.

When he is in the pool looking at me Daniel has his serious face on. As soon as one of the other mom's smiles at him he turns the charm on. He is definitely daddy's little boy.

Swimming lessons came at a good time this summer. We have been having a heat wave in southern Ontario for the passed three days or so. I refuse to complain because I find even a mild winter miserable. Aaron and I are just trying to keep our little guy cool. Luckily Daniel enjoys being nude. He just regrets having to wear a diaper.

Cameras are not allowed at the pool. So you'll have to settle for this cuteness!