Just when you think it can't get any worse....

I didn't think there was a way to make a poopie diaper change any worse than the obvious. Leave it to my son to find a way.




Yup, Jump and Squish. I think the squish is self explanatory...

And honestly, he came up with that name on his own.

Poor Puppy

The temperature got up as high as -5 yesterday and without any wind it was down right balmy here. We just had to get out a enjoy it a little so we took 'the boys' out for a run. Our usual running spot still doesn't have enough snow for sliding so we went to to the mountain behind the school which turned out to be fantastic. We did make a big mistake however. We let, or should I say encouraged Tank to follow us up the mountain.

And then he chased us down the hill.
 

Since we came back, this is what he's been doing.

Not only is he totally worn out, he's so stiff he can barely move. He's in pretty bad shape actually. He can't get up on the couch without help and stairs are a struggle. Nick helped him out a bit when he had to go out before bed.

We should have known better because it wouldn't be the first time he's had problems after physical exhertion but I've never seen him this bad before. But then again he's never climbed up and down a mountain before. The only consolation is that he had a great time. Poor puppy. We hate to leave him home but next time we will. For his own good.

Growing up

Mr. Isaac is 6 months old today. He's growing up so fast, where the time is going?

Heels go with everything...

Even PJ's!

It's a good thing Nick doesn't read the blog. He wouldn't be impressed if he saw this!

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Now what do I do with it?

Since January I've been going to the local meetings of the Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program. The program is in place to promote good nutrition for pre and post natal woman and their babies and they meet three times a week at the health center. Monday and Friday we get together in the afternoons to participate in some type of activity. Wednesday's the meetings are in the evenings and the coordinators show how to prepare a healthy meal which everyone gets to partake in when it's done. As an added bonus, on Friday we get to take home a hamper with the ingredients to make Wednesday's meal at home on our own.  

I usually only go to the Monday and Friday meetings and have had lots of fun with the activities. We've had speakers come in and talk about everything from food safety to mental health. We've done a movie day, a spa afternoon, we've made baby blankets and we've tried yoga. One of my favorites was the day an elder came in and talked about what is was like to go through pregnancy when she had her kids and they were still living out on the land. It's been a great experience for me to get out and meet some local moms and get myself and the kids out of the house a couple times a week. Oliver has really enjoyed getting to play with some other kids as there are a couple other boys just a bit older than he is. These meetings are the closest thing to a mommy group this town has and I'm not the only one that attends more for social reasons than for nutrition.

This Friday when we left our hampers included a freshly caught Arctic Char. Frozen, whole, ungutted, with it's head.... Isn't he cute??

Despite being a maritimer I am not a fish eater but Nick enjoys it so I would like to cook it for him. I however have no idea where to start. Cleaning him would be the first step I guess but I may need to get some help with that. Anyone want to come over and gut him? I could use some recipe ideas too if anyone has any.

The food games are over.

I've mentioned before how Oliver is a horrible eater. He'll take 2 bites and then refuse to eat anything else if that's his mood at the time, even if we're serving his favorites. Bribing him with tiny drinks of juice was the only way found to get any extra into him before he shut us down completely.

While we were away he took this expression of control over his life to new heights by going days on no more than a few french fries. We pretty much let him eat anything he wanted because we were just so happy to have something in his belly. Unfortunately that meant fries and the odd jam sandwich. I wasn't all that concerned that he wasn't eating because I knew he wasn't sick and it he would eventually eat enough to get him through. We are used dealing with his games and although it was worse than usual, it was the same old thing. Then we got home on the 3rd. Within an hour of being in the house, I had a spaghetti dinner on the table. Well, the little bugger dug in to his meal and ate like I've never seen him eat before. We decided then and there, we were done playing games.

Since that night when he starts to go back to his old habits I skip the old bribery tactics and go right to time outs. I only had to follow through a couple of times and it seems he got the message. Now just the threat works to get him eating better than ever and often clearing his plate. We've also started making a big deal out of the last three bites and let him push down my fingers as he counts them down which he really seems to like.

I've read in a few articles lately saying that forcing him to eat like this is the worst thing that we can do. That we should just not make a big deal out of it and he'll work it out himself. We've tried that and it didn't work. I think Oliver is happier in a strange way too because now after a couple weeks of our new tactics we are having to threaten less and less and he's actually starting to say things like yummy as he voluntarily shovels in whatever we're eating. I'm hoping that we'll soon be able to have a nice meal together without threats or bribes of any kind. I won't expect it soon but I have hope.

Fingers

This is what my fingers look like at the moment.

They are dry, cracked and peeling and looking oh so nice. This happens to my hands every few months especially when we come back from our vacations when my hands are once again getting used to the cold, dry air up here. What I find very strange however is that I have never had this problem on my left hand and I have never, ever had it on the other two fingers. The thumb sometimes will get a minor version, sometimes not. I use Glycomed religiously every night and try and use hand cream as much as I can through the day but it's just not enough to keep the nasty fingers at bay.

Beautiful aren't they??

First Ride

Oliver went through a northern right of passage this weekend and got out for his first snowmobile ride. It was about -45 with the windchill so they weren't out too long but he really had a wonderful time.

Finally getting around to it

Quite a while ago Jen posted this meme on her blog and invited others to continue with it. I knew right away I wanted to participate because I kind of like this type of thing but just haven't taken the time so sit down and answer the questions. So, I'm finally getting around to it now. Please feel free to pass it on if you feel so inclined.

Maybe I should… let Nick do more around the house. I say ‘let’ because I think he would do more but I always want to just do it myself so it’s done right. It makes me crazy that he doesn’t do more but I think it’s my own fault. If I let go my need to have it done MY way and delegate him more chores I’m sure I’d be much happier.


I love… The sound of Isaac’s cry. We call it ‘The Lip’ and you can actually hear the sound of the pout loud and clear. It’s extremely cute... not that I want him to cry of course.


People would say that I’m… laid back. They couldn’t be more wrong but I think people would say it. I try and keep my neuroses under wraps and only share it with my closest friends and family. I come by it honestly... have you met my father and grandmother?


I don’t understand… how men don’t seem to grow Daddy Ears when their kids are born like we get Mommy Ears. Nick will sleep through anything and everything but if one of the kids so much as farts in their sleep I’m awake. I’ve learned waiting for him to voluntarily get up through the night isn’t going to happen since I can get up any number of times and he will ask in the morning if I was up at all. I’ve learned to wake him up and I don’t feel guilty about it.... any more.


When I wake up in the morning… I have to lay there a while. Even if I’m very well rested I can’t jump right up to the sound of an alarm and get right into my day. I have to snooze at least once or twice before I can drag myself out of bed. Needless to say, I’m not a morning person.


I lost… respect for much of the world when I saw Jersey Shore for the first time. These are people we want raised to celebrity-dom? Even I, the queen of loving reality horror shows can’t understand why people would spend their time watching that garbage.


Life is… a process of trial and error. Someone can tell you but unless you try it yourself and deal with the consequences, you rarely learn anything.


My past is… cleaner than I would like it to be. I’d like to say I have a few skeletons but sadly that’s not he case. I’ve always had a healthy fear of my parents and/or the authorities so I’ve been pretty well behaved.


I get annoyed when… I buy something down south and don’t find out that it’s broken/wrong/used till I get it back up north and have no way to return it. Twice I’ve bought something and got it back here only to open the ‘sealed’ box and find that it’s been used before. A piss off always and rather gross in the case of the hair clippers I bought a couple weeks ago. I opened them last night to cut Oliver’s hair and who ever had the product before must have put his old clippers in the box and returned them cause the ones in there obviously used and they aren’t even the same brand!!! Grrrrrr!


Parties are… I’m not sure... parties?.... hmmm. I don’t think I understand the question. Parties.... oh yeah! I think I’ve gone to a few of those years ago. In all honesty, I like a dinner party with a few close friends or a small gathering around a camp fire. I’m not cut out for mingling and small talk so I’ve never been a fan of big parties with lots of people. Even among people I know I feel like I’m on the outside looking in. I guess that’s the introvert in me.


I wish… I could find the will power and the desire to get myself in shape. I can come up with a million excuses why I can’t or why it’s too hard at this time in my life but they are just excuses. I just haven’t made the decision to do it and stick to it. Until I do, it won’t happen.


Dogs… I wouldn’t know. Tank isn’t a real dog. He’s more of a headstrong, needy child in a fur coat. However, I think everyone with a family should have a bulldog. I don’t think we could have asked for a better pet for our kids.


Cats… live in my house but I never see them. Izzy and Zazu used to be social, loving animals that would sleep with us every night. Ever since we got Tank they live a sad existence under our bed and rarely come out to play. I miss them and wish they would give up the grudge.


Tomorrow… is my sleep in day. The best day of the week.


I have a low tolerance… for whining. That’s a hard one when you have a two year old but I’m doing my best to teach him that whining gets you no where with me.


If I had a million dollars… I wouldn’t have to eat Kraft dinner. But of course I still would eat Kraft Dinner, I’d just eat more!


I’m totally terrified… of being the mother of THAT KID. I don’t ever want to have the kid that people talk about as the worst or as the one they are so glad their kid isn’t like.

The Super Pooper

Since Isaac was born he's already gone through a few nicknames. Mr. Isaac (pronounced Ee-s-aac after the artist from show Heroes), Chubalub, Mr. Chubs, Baby Goops (because of his goopie eyes when he had the infection) and the latest one... Baby Poops. I'm sure the explanation to that one is not required yet here it is. The kid is unbelievable. He poops through his diaper, AT LEAST once a day if not twice or more which means I have to change everything he's wearing and often times his sheets if he's in bed. Once I ended up cutting the onzie off him because it was so covered there was no way I could pull it over his head without major grossness happening. The strange thing is, he manages to poop all over himself with a minimal amount ending up in the diaper itself. I suspect it's sheer force that's causing the problem because I'm not kidding when I say I can usually hear the eruption from the other room.

I have had many comments saying that it's the diapers however I've tried a few different brands and it's all the same. I've been told that I should switch to cloth but that's not going to happen. I know people who use them love them and that's great but I'm not interested in the least. I have however decided to move him up a size hoping that the extra coverage will contain some of the fallout. I'm going through an unreasonable amount of laundry and it often ends up stained so it won't be good to sell or for hand me downs which is disappointing. I have some really cute stuff.

So between Isaac's ass explosions, the daily fight with Oliver over changing his diapers and potty training not even on the radar, my life is all about poop. But I guess that's my own fault. Having kids 21 months apart means a few crappy years... Literally. 

You'll forgive/thank me for not including a picture in this post. Me writing about it is probably too much information for most people. Pictures would loose me readers I'm sure. :0)

Breakthrough

So this is obviously Photoshopped but I thought it would be a funny way to announce that Isaac has his first two teeth! They both broke through the skin in the last 3 days and since he's been making this hilarious new face which I assume is him feeling out the new additions. I just hope he doesn't figure out that he can bite me with them because I was really hoping to breastfeed a while longer. He gets three chances then it's to the bottle for him! Photos of the actual teeth to come, when they are big enough to see with the naked eye.

 

PS: You will also notice Isaac's beautiful clear skin compared to the last pictures I posted of him. We went to a walk in clinic in Ottawa and the doctor prescribed some ointment and it cleared up in a matter of days. We've been keeping him well lubed and doing our best to keep him from scratching himself and he seems to be fine. I'm really glad that it wasn't an allergy. Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions on how to help.

Threats and wet noodles

One of the things I found hardest about traveling this time around was dealing with discipline. Oliver seemed to instinctively know that he would get away with pretty much anything in the airport (or any other public space for that matter) cause he took advantage of our lack of experience every chance he got. He would run away, he didn't come when called, we chased him down and he'd go all wet noodle so we had to drag him back. It was alot of fun!

I felt very torn about how to deal with him. Normally time outs work well but you can't always do that when you're in public. Taking him out of the situation is a great idea in theory but it's not always possible. There were alot of threats that went un-actioned which we all know is a really great parenting technique. We did alot of speaking to him quietly and forcefully to which he laughed in our face. He just ran wild and we pretty much let him. I think alot of the problem is that I'm afraid of attracting negative attention from other people when I discipline my child the way I choose. We got some really nice looks at a restaurant at one point because Nick was trying to make him eat after he hadn't eaten anything in 2 days. (Eating was another issue but that's another blog post).

So when it comes down to it, I'm a big part of the problem but I'm not sure what else to do. We certainly did our best to get back to the proper discipline while we were at the house and after we got back home to Pang. Now we are now fighting an uphill battle to have him listen even half as well as he did before we left. I'm sure I'm not alone in this problem so I'll take suggestions if you have them. We will be traveling again in August so I have a while to do some research on the subject. Then again, he'll be that much older so that could help too. Never a dull moment with a 2 year old huh?

Orlando memories in HD

About 5 days before we left Orlando I bought myself one of those 'Flip' hand held HD video cameras. So far I'm pretty happy with it and I find it really takes great looking movies. This one is a little montage of Oliver highlights from our last few days in Florida. It's about five and a half minutes long so it's not going to be of interested to alot of you but I know the family will be happy to check it out.

Please ignore my constant call of 'Oliver' in trying to get his attenion. It annoys me so I'm sure it will you! 

Enjoy :)

The affair that may end it all.

I knew when I married him he was a computer geek. It has never interfered with our lives before so I accepted it as part of the deal. Since we moved up north the time to time affairs with PS3 games came and went and I turned a blind eye to what was going on. But then we went to Florida. Fueled by the super fast Internet he started a love affair with Warcraft. Once again I played the dutiful wife knowing full well that it would be short lived because the northern internet couldn't possibly sustain the connection.

The worst has happened. Warcraft has followed us to Nunavut and the affair continues. Why can I not properly watch a YouTube video without it 'buffering' but our crappy internet can move fast enough that he can play his stupid game? I have friends that have become Warcraft widows and I have now joined their ranks. I just don't get the appeal of video games. I have visions of that episode of Southpark where Cartman and the gang discover warcraft. Am I going to be serving him chips and fast food by his computer so he doesn't starve? Are the kids going to have to go without a father unless they create their own avatars and join in?

Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself and I'm of course exaggerating the hold the game has on him but seriously! I hate that game..... How many hours a day can you sit in front of a computer? It could be possible that the real reason I'm upset is that his playing of the game has infringed on my own affair with the laptop. It seems I have been bumped down to the web book which is a huge down grade. Especially since all my pictures and stuff are stored on the Warcraft machine. So maybe I'm just being selfish. Maybe I should embrace the new addition to our marriage.

Not a chance....

After another harrowing travel experience we have made it back to Pang and to the parallel universe I call my life. I now begin my least favorite phase of the travel process... unpacking. This time it's worse because our house is slightly in shambles. While we were gone, we got new wood floors to replace the carpets and some painting done so the furniture is all over the place and there is lots of cleaning that needs to be done. Tomorrow we loose our washer/dryer for a week while we get work done in the laundry room so there is a mad rush to get it all done before the morning. I think I've done 6 loads today and I think there is at least one more to do before I go to bed.

To add more fun to my busy day I spent an hour or so at the health center today getting my boys antibiotics. Isaac has an eye infection and Oliver has a really high fever and an ear infection. I guess the vacation really is over. As much as I enjoyed our time out, I look forward to getting back to the routine of my life and settling back in to my little bubble.

So while I get back in the swing of things I'll leave you with a few more pics from the trip.

Oliver had lunch with Elmo and his friends.

Holy Crap! What is that big yellow thing????

Oliver sandwich with Daddy and Burt.

Hugs from Grover.

This isn't even cropped. I could practically touch the rhino from the train!

The giraffes where awesome.

The splash zone courtesy of Sheikra the roller coaster.

Running....

Busch Gardens had great rides for little kids. Most you had to be UNDER 40 inches to ride. 

O's dream come true. A car he can drive all by himself.

Gator in our back yard.

Passing on the joy of eating out of a box in the car. I'm so ashamed....

Time to go home.