When the telehealth nurse is trying not to laugh, you know you've entered a new level of parenting hell.
This morning I was feeling particularly parenty, and made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Faith, being more like her Dad on the breakfast front, decided to just have a banana. Blake, on the other hand, made the eggs with me, and then dove into his toast and eggs like a lumberjack.
Things were going well. Everyone was happy. I was even reading my new book. Peace.
Then, I looked over and Blake had a piece of toast in his nose. Great. So, I pulled it out and told him "No toast in the nose!" He smiled. I should have known.
I went to help Faith get on a web site, then looked back and Blake had his finger up his nose. He looked like he was on a fishing expedition. Freak! So, I looked up his nose, and sure enough, there's a piece of toast where it shouldn't be. Great.
I dialed the telehealth Ontario number (likely the best service the Conservatives implemented), and explained "the nature of my problem".
"My kid stuck a piece of toast up his nose." Words I never thought I'd have to utter.
The telehealth nurse gamely pretended to keep a straight face as she told me he should "blow his nose vigorously". (Yeah right, a 23 month old will do this.) Otherwise, we had to take him to the emergency room to get a doctor to extract the offending object. Great.
At this point Blake started to sneeze and I figured we were home free. In fact, I thought I saw a crumb fly out. I then wrestled him to the ground and shone a flashlight up his nose to see if there was anything left. Just looked like normal boogers, so I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
Half an hour later, however, I noticed his nose was really starting to run. Then, he let out a huge sneeze and this baby fingernail size piece of toast came flying out of his nose, snot and all. Yuck.
And this was all before 9:00 am. Can't wait to see what the rest of the holidays brings.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
After the storm
Despite mind-numbingly cold temperatures, the kids wanted to get outside to play in the 18.5 cm of snow we got on Friday. Winter from a kid's perspective is all about having more snow to build forts, make snowmen, and slide down hills. Adults look at all the work it brings; kids just enjoy.
Our fun outside lasted until Blake took a face plant in the snow while his sister was giving him a ride on the sled. He likes the taste of snow, he just doesn't like wearing it. It all ended well though when we went inside to warm up and Faith made the hot chocolate for her and her brother. Sheesh. Next she'll be driving the car.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Welcome to the world Pearl!
My brother, Ryan, and his wife, Melissa, had a beautiful baby girl today, December 17th. We're sending them all our love, and we can't wait to meet our new niece, Pearl Clara.
Pearl was 8 lbs 4 oz and 23 or 24 inches long (Ryan sent out two numbers...both translate to looooong).
The girls are taking over!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Comparisons
Faith is doing her first communion in May, but we missed the regular service in which all the first communion kids were "presented" to the church. So, we had to attend the "makeup" presentation tonight at the 7:00 pm Tuesday service.
This would normally not be too much stress for us, but George was in Ottawa today, and our babysitter was busy, which meant I had to bring Blake and Faith. Blake normally is in bed by 7:30, and we haven't taken him to church for about 3 months because he gets a little rambunctious. So, this was essentially going to be a 30 minute trial by fire for all concerned.
Added to this was Faith's misgivings about anything involving her standing up in front of a room full of strangers, and it was all golden. As in the color of pee.
So, we get to the church chapel (which holds about 15 people) and I'm happy to see that there are four kids and their families there, including one family of four with a little baby and another two-ish-year old. Great! We wouldn't be the only ones making noise.
I couldn't be more wrong.
While Blake smiled, provided commentary, talked on my cell phone, tugged on the chair in front of us, and generally acted like the almost-two-year old boy he is, the other kids his age either slept, or were totally silent. SILENT! As in didn't open their mouths! For 30 minutes. They, in fact, fell asleep in their chairs! With my kid pointing at them and saying "Baby!" every five minutes. I even tried to get him to "pretend" to be like the baby and put his head on my shoulder. He grabbed my nose instead.
On the plus side, Faith survived her "presentation", although she informed me afterwards that there is no way that she's doing anything like that in front of the whole church. I'll leave it to her dad to explain what she actually has to do for first communion. I'm too tired.
This would normally not be too much stress for us, but George was in Ottawa today, and our babysitter was busy, which meant I had to bring Blake and Faith. Blake normally is in bed by 7:30, and we haven't taken him to church for about 3 months because he gets a little rambunctious. So, this was essentially going to be a 30 minute trial by fire for all concerned.
Added to this was Faith's misgivings about anything involving her standing up in front of a room full of strangers, and it was all golden. As in the color of pee.
So, we get to the church chapel (which holds about 15 people) and I'm happy to see that there are four kids and their families there, including one family of four with a little baby and another two-ish-year old. Great! We wouldn't be the only ones making noise.
I couldn't be more wrong.
While Blake smiled, provided commentary, talked on my cell phone, tugged on the chair in front of us, and generally acted like the almost-two-year old boy he is, the other kids his age either slept, or were totally silent. SILENT! As in didn't open their mouths! For 30 minutes. They, in fact, fell asleep in their chairs! With my kid pointing at them and saying "Baby!" every five minutes. I even tried to get him to "pretend" to be like the baby and put his head on my shoulder. He grabbed my nose instead.
On the plus side, Faith survived her "presentation", although she informed me afterwards that there is no way that she's doing anything like that in front of the whole church. I'll leave it to her dad to explain what she actually has to do for first communion. I'm too tired.
Blake's 23rd month
To Blake,
It continues to be an adventure. The last couple of months have been a little busy around here. We're finishing the basement and we spent a couple of weeks in Florida, plus getting ready for Christmas.
You are a funny little person. Lately your language skills are taking another quantum leap forward. Yesterday you learned how to say "disgusting" and "gross" (you were doing a food experiment with Faith at the time). You can also say "shoot" on a dime...any time I drop something, forget something, break something...you get the idea. I can only be thankful it's "shoot" and not "shit". (And, no, this isn't an invitation for his grampa to teach him how to say "shit" for Christmas. I will not consider this a present from Santa.)
Your favourite game for some time now is "I got ya". Whenever I need to change your clothes, your diaper, and take you to bed, you plant two feet on the ground, bend your knees slightly, grin and say "I got ya". Then you run. Fast. Usually in circles. Normally, I find this funny, but wrestling you to the ground to get your PJs on at the end of the day gets a little tiring by the end of the week.
You've also learned how to tickle people. Your little fingers dance across your sister's tummy, making all of us laugh together.
Speaking of dancing, this now officially a tradition in our house. We listen to the IPod and you do your mini-verson of the white man dance...bopping your head and arms up and down in semi-rhythm to the music. You like to "move it, move it".
Perfecting your techniques for annoying the hell out of your sister has been another recent pastime. You've advanced from hairpulling to hitting, screaming, writing on her papers, and the occasional biting. Yippee. It's hard to convince Faith that her screams are just the reaction that you're looking for. And, damn, but you've got the innocent look down pat.
So, mr. mischievious, I can't wait to see what the fun times of Christmas will bring. You've already been caught trying to open a present that was sitting under a tree. Upon being found out, you immediately tossed the gift behind your back and took off like nothing had happened. I'm sure you'll get better at hiding these things...can't wait.
Love,
Mommy
It continues to be an adventure. The last couple of months have been a little busy around here. We're finishing the basement and we spent a couple of weeks in Florida, plus getting ready for Christmas.
You are a funny little person. Lately your language skills are taking another quantum leap forward. Yesterday you learned how to say "disgusting" and "gross" (you were doing a food experiment with Faith at the time). You can also say "shoot" on a dime...any time I drop something, forget something, break something...you get the idea. I can only be thankful it's "shoot" and not "shit". (And, no, this isn't an invitation for his grampa to teach him how to say "shit" for Christmas. I will not consider this a present from Santa.)
Your favourite game for some time now is "I got ya". Whenever I need to change your clothes, your diaper, and take you to bed, you plant two feet on the ground, bend your knees slightly, grin and say "I got ya". Then you run. Fast. Usually in circles. Normally, I find this funny, but wrestling you to the ground to get your PJs on at the end of the day gets a little tiring by the end of the week.
You've also learned how to tickle people. Your little fingers dance across your sister's tummy, making all of us laugh together.
Speaking of dancing, this now officially a tradition in our house. We listen to the IPod and you do your mini-verson of the white man dance...bopping your head and arms up and down in semi-rhythm to the music. You like to "move it, move it".
Perfecting your techniques for annoying the hell out of your sister has been another recent pastime. You've advanced from hairpulling to hitting, screaming, writing on her papers, and the occasional biting. Yippee. It's hard to convince Faith that her screams are just the reaction that you're looking for. And, damn, but you've got the innocent look down pat.
So, mr. mischievious, I can't wait to see what the fun times of Christmas will bring. You've already been caught trying to open a present that was sitting under a tree. Upon being found out, you immediately tossed the gift behind your back and took off like nothing had happened. I'm sure you'll get better at hiding these things...can't wait.
Love,
Mommy
Friday, November 14, 2008
The grand prize
Every year, Faith's school has a magazine fundraiser. All the kids who sell magazines get their name in the draw for various prizes. This year, Faith won the grand prize....an IPod Touch 8GB! Holy cow!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
The future
My eyes are a little buggy from watching CNN the last couple of days...they even had holograms!?! What?
I flipped on the tv this morning to get the final election results and see some snippets of the Obama acceptance speech. This was out of the normal pattern for our mornings, which usually sees Faith laying on the couch eating breakfast and watching the Family Channel (the bane of our adult existence) while I make my lunch and eat some oatmeal.
So, when Faith asked to watch yet another episode of The Suite Life, I explained that I wanted to watch the news because it was historic.
"Why?"
"Well, they elected the president of the United States." [Onscreen is Obama.]
"So." (The Suite Life trumps politics.)
"Well, he's the first black president of the United States."
Pause.
"What's black?"
This is where I had to stop and realize that, holy crap, she really didn't know what this meant. At all. Wow. I almost cried. Then, I had to figure out how to explain it. Her response afterwards?
"Well, E. has darker skin than me, and she's my friend. It doesn't make any difference."
I flipped on the tv this morning to get the final election results and see some snippets of the Obama acceptance speech. This was out of the normal pattern for our mornings, which usually sees Faith laying on the couch eating breakfast and watching the Family Channel (the bane of our adult existence) while I make my lunch and eat some oatmeal.
So, when Faith asked to watch yet another episode of The Suite Life, I explained that I wanted to watch the news because it was historic.
"Why?"
"Well, they elected the president of the United States." [Onscreen is Obama.]
"So." (The Suite Life trumps politics.)
"Well, he's the first black president of the United States."
Pause.
"What's black?"
This is where I had to stop and realize that, holy crap, she really didn't know what this meant. At all. Wow. I almost cried. Then, I had to figure out how to explain it. Her response afterwards?
"Well, E. has darker skin than me, and she's my friend. It doesn't make any difference."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
