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!

The Adventures of Little D

I think I'm getting the hang of this digital video stuff. This is Daniel on his little adventure. Enjoy!

A Dose of Danny

Mama

Daniel is accomplishing so much so fast it is getting hard to keep up with him...and his baby memory books too. Just this week he learned to crawl and pull himself up using the coffee table. He will crawl over to me or Aaron tug at our feet and look up at us with a cute little smile, almost saying "look what I can do!"

I went to work today, always fearing that day when Daniel realizes I'm leaving. (I must remind myself that he does have daddy which is almost as good as mommy.) ;)
And wouldn't you know it, while I was gone he goes and says mama for the first time. Aaron told me that Daniel had fallen over for the billionth time that day. When he went over to comfort the little mover Danny said "mama".

He has yet to repeat this but I am really pleased. We had a friendly bet going as to which would be his first word "mama" or "dada". I win!! Of course I do think that Danny doesn't yet know the difference and he thinks Aaron is mama. Or we are both mama.

He's Going Mobile

I didn't have time to edit it. Or in other words I'm just too excited to post my first video. I know if I start playing around with editing, It won't be done until Daniel is off to college. A couple of warnings. 6 minutes maybe a long time to watch MY kid. But he is pretty cute. He doesn't crawl for very long here. And near the end he gets into a sitation that looks like it could end badly...it does turn out okay. Enjoy!

Wow

A lot has been going on lately. After 18 years of deliberating and making sure I really wanted it, I got tattooed. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. In fact I almost fell asleep while the artist was working on me. I am very pleased with the results.

Stinger Tattoo
That is the link to Stinger Tattoo in case anyone is interested. Boris worked on mine.

And then Aaron enjoyed his first Father's Day. We enjoyed a laid back day as a family. All was well.


And now a couple days shy of Daniel's 8th month and after slithering around like a really cute worm he finally crawled more than a few paces this morning. Right after the cat. I was very happy, but the cat wasn't.


I am hoping to get some of Daniel's crawling on video today...hopefully I can figure out how to post it here...

Busy, busy, busy

Just trying to keep up with a very active seven month old. He's not crawling yet, though he's almost got the hang of it. Taking that into consideration we are really gonna have our hands full when he can. He already seems to be into everything. He rolls (scootches and I do believe teleports) faster than I can blink.

Sometimes we find a few minutes to relax and make new discoveries...like grass.




I am very surprised he didn't try to eat any. He did find it quite interesting.

Even Bruce Lee was There!

Yesterday I celebrated another year of life. Danny didn't crawl for the first time like I had asked. Oh well! ;)

My parent's and brother came over. And I got some more plants for my porch. My idea of easy city gardening. (pics to come soon).

It was a happy birthday indeed!


Grandpa arrived just in time for Danny's nap.


Then they had fun on the jolly jumper. And soon that wasn't good enough either.


So we all played with toys. Even Bruce Lee was there!

Another Year Already!

Today is our second wedding anniversary! I can hardly believe how fast time goes by and where we are already.

We started as a couple of carefree single people looking for that perfect someone. Then we were a carefree couple who got married. And now - not-so-carefree, loving parents to the most wonderful baby in the world! (A baby that has taken to roaring -that's for another day.)

And for all the pictures we have of Daniel, we have very few of each other. Here is one from the Christening.



Happy Anniversary Hunny Bear! I love you!

The Swings

Daniel's first day at the beaches. He decided to check out the swings. Boy is he glad he did.

Let's Go for a Walk with the Little Man

Dan loves to go for walks.


I've been taking him over this bridge the last few times we've gone out. Today was the first day that I remembered my camera.


The first time we went over a train went under us. The conductor waved to us. I was way more excited than the little man. Today we missed the train.

A little ways down the road on the other side of the tracks we met a friend.

When he (or she. I didn't check) saw us walk passed his house he came running off his porch to greet us on the sidewalk. He prefered belly rubs to posing for the camera.

It still boggles my mind to think that this used to be were people had there cottages. Only 15 - 20 minutes outside of downtown Toronto. And now people drive for 2 hours just to get away from it all.


This house reminded me of some of the houses my friends lived in when I was growing up in Oak Ridges.




And we got to the end of the road. Turned ourselves around and went back over the bridge.

The little man was glad to be back home where Daddy was waiting to greet him.


All that walking is thirsty work.


**Sorry for the over exposed pics. I forgot to readjust my camera for outside light. :)

Happy Mother's Day

Its my first as a mom. I've always felt it was a special day. My mom did so much for me and my brother she deserved to be honoured. Like the time I emptied all the tissue out of a new box of kleenex so I could make her a gift with the box. She really appreciated that - LOL.

My hubby figured it out last week. I set him up for May. We've got Mother's Day, Our Anniversary (2 years already!) and my birthday. And he happened to get his tax refund a week ago. I am one spoiled mother!

Today, I am the first one up. Even Danny is sleeping in! Of course I can't. We are going visiting today and lying in bed all I could think about is all the baby gear we better not forget. At least bananas are easy to pack.

Enough of my babbling. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommies out there! May you get all the hugs and kisses you deserve. Not just today, but everyday.

This face makes it all worth while. Even the c-section scar that still itches. And the fact that I will never sleep in again!
I love you, Daniel!

Bath Time

The little man is digging baths in the big tub now. No more baby tubs! Yippee!




Finally, sitting up without a diaper on he has discovered body parts he never knew existed. "What the heck do I do with this thing?"


And he loves all his bath toys. Rubber ducky tastes mighty fine.



Yes, that flower is my son. In the privacy of our own bathroom I can make him look like a flower. That is, as long as he lets me.

Introducing Solids (aka real food)

Things are going better than I thought they would. Of course Daniel usually gives us an easy time of things.

I was a bit confused about introducing solids beyond rice cereal. Things like how much is supposed to eat. And what should I give him. I googled for a feeding schedule for 6 month olds. Depending on which site I looked at the schedules seemed to vary. So once again we're letting the little man let us know what to do.

We are following the rule about introducing each food in its own time period of 4 to 5 days. Which was good. We found out that he is allergic to sweet potatoes. Hopefully he will be able to enjoy them a few years from now.

So far I am preparing all my own food. Which isn't rocket science. Really! Steamed carrots. Mash 'em with a fork. Bananas are super easy. Just smoosh 'em!


This is an example of Daniel's daily schedule.

7am Bottle of formula, then a bit of rice cereal (about 3 tbsps prepared)
9am Nap
10am Fruit about a 1/4 of a banana(so far we're only eating bananas. Tomorrow we introduce unsweetend apple sauce), followed by bottle of formula
12pm Nap
1pm Lunch Cereal and vegetable - we're working on carrots
followed by a bottle of formula
3pm Nap
4pm Dinner is the same as lunch. At least until we get another veggie in there. I'm thinking something green for next week.
5:30pm his last bottle for the day
6-6:15pm Bedtime with story. Hop on Pop is still a favourite.

Then mommy and daddy get grown up time for the rest of the evening. Which usually consists of vegging in front of the tv or computer depending on the degree of exhaustion.

We would like to eliminate one of the bottles, but he seems to demand them still. I'm sure he'll let us know when the time is right.