Petite has a fair sized vocabulary. I realized that last month when we went for her 18-month checkup and shots. The doctor asked me if she had some words in her vocabulary. I replied that Petite was very chatty and estimated that she had about 50 words in her vocabulary. The doc looked surprised and said, "Wow, 50? That's a lot for 18 months." Now, I don't know if it is, I just know what the doctor said to us.
I got to thinking about that a little more. Fifty. Fifty words in her vocabulary? No. It's much more than that. Quite a bit more. I'm pretty sure. Or it seems so! Petite does love to chat and interact!
So this past weekend, I took note of some of them. She uses these fairly regularly, and in the correct context. Usually she'll get them right, but once in awhile she'll mix them up, like calling the green crayon "blue" or vice versa. Regardless, these are some of the words in her vocabulary. I thought I'd record them here for posterity.
apple
baa
baby
banana
Barney
bateau ("boat" in French)
bear
block
blue
boat
book
boots
bottes ("boots" in French)
bottle
break (yesterday, she knocked over a tower of blocks and said, "I break it." Her FIRST sentence!)
brrr
brush
bunny
butter
bye bye
caca ("poo" in French)
cake
car
cat
chair
chapeau ("hat" in French)
chaud ("hot" in French)
chicken
chocolate
Cindy (her caregiver's name)
colour
cookie
corn
couche ("diaper" in French)
coupe ("cup/container" in French)
cow
crayon
Daddy
dark
diaper
dog
down
ducky
eat
go
grapes
green
hair
happy
hat
hello
hippo
Ho Ho Ho (taught this to her at Christmas time; she still says it when she sees a pic of Santa)
hockey (ah, a good Canadian girl!)
hop
horse
hot
hungry
jacket
jam (though it sounds more like "jim")
juice
meow
milk
mitts
Mommy
moo
more
'mote (her version of "remote")
Nana
neigh
night night
no
oink
out
paper
pee pee
pen
phone
picture
pig
pillow
pink
Pooh Bear
poo poo
Poppy
pretty
quack
sheep
shh
snowman
tickle
toast
Tony (my BIL's name)
tree
uh oh
up
water
Wiggles (as in "The Wiggles")
woof
And although she doesn't say these, she knows their meaning.
bed
belly
bellybutton
blow (as in, "blow on it")
chin
close
dance/danse
light
ears
eat
eyes
fermer ("close" in French)
finished
hug
hungry
kiss
livre ("book" in French)
mouth
nose
salon ("living room in French)
tissue
toes
yes
Leaps and bounds. It's amazing. Happy 19 months Petite. Mommy and Daddy love you so much.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
This Moment -- Wishing I Participated
I love Steph and Carey's Friday ritual (inspired by SouleMama) of posting a single photo; a memory from the week, that they want to hold forever in their hearts. "This Moment" has become a bit of a treat for me. I get to peek at their wonderful world with The Trio and smile at the tender, funny, sweet, uplifting moments that they experience. I have often thought that it is something that I would love to do.
In order to do that, I would need to take photos, right? But you know something? I realized that I don't take photos every week. Isn't that an absolute shame?? I think it is. Truly, I do. I am so slack in my diligence that I let days -- weeks even -- go by without taking a single photo of Petite or the changes that I see in her from day to day. It's terrible. It really is terrible.
There are so many things, so many changes I see in her. I try to detail them to family members and elsewhere, but sometimes, I think I'd love to take photos more often and ensure that a record of the special moments is here... for her to see and read about when she gets older.
Time slips by so quickly and then I read blogs about parents who have lost their young infants for whatever reason and they cherish each and every photo they have of their little ones. I understand how precious those must be. (I pray to God that none of us ever has to deal with this situation.)
Photos. Recorded memories. Moments in time. Cherished moments that touch me. I must make more of an effort in this regard. I'll try to do better. For me. For Petite. For our family. I must do better.
In order to do that, I would need to take photos, right? But you know something? I realized that I don't take photos every week. Isn't that an absolute shame?? I think it is. Truly, I do. I am so slack in my diligence that I let days -- weeks even -- go by without taking a single photo of Petite or the changes that I see in her from day to day. It's terrible. It really is terrible.
There are so many things, so many changes I see in her. I try to detail them to family members and elsewhere, but sometimes, I think I'd love to take photos more often and ensure that a record of the special moments is here... for her to see and read about when she gets older.
Time slips by so quickly and then I read blogs about parents who have lost their young infants for whatever reason and they cherish each and every photo they have of their little ones. I understand how precious those must be. (I pray to God that none of us ever has to deal with this situation.)
Photos. Recorded memories. Moments in time. Cherished moments that touch me. I must make more of an effort in this regard. I'll try to do better. For me. For Petite. For our family. I must do better.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Murder, She Wrote
I'm going to commit murder, I tell you.
Honest to goodness murder.
LaGrande is in grade 11 and she is doing a Parenting course this semester. Nothing wrong with that at all; it's good to learn those skills.
As part of the course, each of the kids has a couple of days with a "Robot" baby; essentially a simulation baby that eats, sleeps, needs to be cuddled, cries, whimpers, etc.
It's LaGrande's turn to have the sim baby for two and a half days. Now I have no problem with her Parenting class teacher wanting to give the kids a realistic experience and circulating the sim baby around the class for that purpose with each kid having the "baby" for two days or so and learning what to do.
But...
... I do take HUGE issue with the fact that said sim baby is louder than the real baby. And as such, wakes the real baby when sim baby cries.
That thing was so damn loud, it woke Petite a couple of times as I was trying to get her to bed last night. I went so far as to tell LaGrande that she had to sleep downstairs with it; had she slept in her room, it would have had the whole house up.
Regardless, something had the whole house up all night long. Whether Petite heard that thing crying or not, she was up and down all night and that made for a bad night for all of us.
NOT COOL.
Needless to say, I left a message on the school's answering machine yesterday. I will be calling again this morning to talk to the teacher. Frankly, with the practice that LaGrande has had with a real baby, I think experience with a sim baby is a bit over the top. And I'll be damned if that electronically-wired ball of plastic is going to disrupt my baby again tonight. NO F*CKING WAY.
Someone's gonna hear it from me today. Not acceptable at all.
Honest to goodness murder.
LaGrande is in grade 11 and she is doing a Parenting course this semester. Nothing wrong with that at all; it's good to learn those skills.
As part of the course, each of the kids has a couple of days with a "Robot" baby; essentially a simulation baby that eats, sleeps, needs to be cuddled, cries, whimpers, etc.
It's LaGrande's turn to have the sim baby for two and a half days. Now I have no problem with her Parenting class teacher wanting to give the kids a realistic experience and circulating the sim baby around the class for that purpose with each kid having the "baby" for two days or so and learning what to do.
But...
... I do take HUGE issue with the fact that said sim baby is louder than the real baby. And as such, wakes the real baby when sim baby cries.
That thing was so damn loud, it woke Petite a couple of times as I was trying to get her to bed last night. I went so far as to tell LaGrande that she had to sleep downstairs with it; had she slept in her room, it would have had the whole house up.
Regardless, something had the whole house up all night long. Whether Petite heard that thing crying or not, she was up and down all night and that made for a bad night for all of us.
NOT COOL.
Needless to say, I left a message on the school's answering machine yesterday. I will be calling again this morning to talk to the teacher. Frankly, with the practice that LaGrande has had with a real baby, I think experience with a sim baby is a bit over the top. And I'll be damned if that electronically-wired ball of plastic is going to disrupt my baby again tonight. NO F*CKING WAY.
Someone's gonna hear it from me today. Not acceptable at all.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
ABCs of Me
Found on Loribeth's blog (The Road Less Travelled) and I figured I might as well.
A. Age: 40. (a.k.a. Old enough to know better but young enough not to care anymore.)
B. Bed size: King. But it's still not enough room when there's me, Hubby, the two cats sprawled between my legs, more pillows than you can shake a stick at and occasionally, Petite all sharing the bed. Damn... do they make anything bigger than a King? I'll need a bigger bedroom though.
C. Chore you dislike: Dusting. Ugh.
D. Dogs: None. When I was little, we had a dog. Tiny was my father's dog before he and mom met and after I arrived (and later my sis) we loved him dearly. I was about 5 years old when we had to have him put down; my first experience with death.
E. Essential start to your day: Cereal. I would say orange juice, as I love it and it's a great kick start for me (I despise coffee), but OJ usually has lots of sugars so I am trying to cut it out.
F. Favorite color: It depends. I like blue, black and white.
G. Gold or silver: Silver if I have a tan. Gold most other times. The best of both worlds: white gold!
H. Height: Just a smidge over 5'5".
I. Instruments you play(ed): None. However, I sing rather well and I'm currently a member of our church choir (second soprano).
J. Job title: Senior Technical Writer–Editor
K. Kids: One 18-month old, two stepkids (ages 16 and 15) and my girlfriend's daughter (age 13) regards me as a sort of second parent. And of course, hoping to start IVF/ICSI as we soon begin TTC for number 2.
L. Live: The suburbs of Ottawa, Ontario.
M. Mom’s name: Barbara
N. Nicknames: Sorry. The nickname(s) I've got are not for public consumption. Let's leave it at that shall we?
O. Overnight hospital stays: As an infant, I was hospitalized for burns to my chest and torso when I pulled down a pot of boiling milk from the stove. I don't recall that though, but I still have a few scars from the event. As for stays that I recall: surgery on my left wrist when I shattered it into more than 200 pieces 1997; when I gave birth to Petite in 2009. Other day surgeries and whatnot didn't require overnight stays.
P. Pet peeves: Telemarketers that call during dinner. People who talk on a cell phone while being served at a store. People who can't close their mouth when they chew. And mouth-breathers. *shudders*
Q. Quote from a movie: O Captain my Captain!
R. Righty or lefty: Righty. But I use my left hand more than most for a number of tasks, other than writing.
S. Siblings: One sister, 15 months younger than me. And she's about to be a mommy herself.
T. Time you wake up: 5:30 a.m.
U. Underwear: Coloured, never plain ol' white functional briefs. Ugh. Boorrring! Sometimes lacy. Sometimes racy. Sometimes silky. Usually thong or hipster style.
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Asparagus and Brussel sprouts. I find both very bitter.
W.What makes you run late: Like Loribeth, underestimating the amount of time I will need.
X. X-rays you’ve had: Let's start from the bottom up -- foot, ankle, leg, knee, back, chest, neck, hand, wrist, shoulder.
Y. Yummy food you make: I like to bake more than cook. However, I make a few great casseroles and everyone loves my spaghetti sauce.
Z. Zoo animal favorites: big cats of any sort. They're gorgeous!
Now it is YOUR turn... let me know if you do this one and I'll come visit!
A. Age: 40. (a.k.a. Old enough to know better but young enough not to care anymore.)
B. Bed size: King. But it's still not enough room when there's me, Hubby, the two cats sprawled between my legs, more pillows than you can shake a stick at and occasionally, Petite all sharing the bed. Damn... do they make anything bigger than a King? I'll need a bigger bedroom though.
C. Chore you dislike: Dusting. Ugh.
D. Dogs: None. When I was little, we had a dog. Tiny was my father's dog before he and mom met and after I arrived (and later my sis) we loved him dearly. I was about 5 years old when we had to have him put down; my first experience with death.
E. Essential start to your day: Cereal. I would say orange juice, as I love it and it's a great kick start for me (I despise coffee), but OJ usually has lots of sugars so I am trying to cut it out.
F. Favorite color: It depends. I like blue, black and white.
G. Gold or silver: Silver if I have a tan. Gold most other times. The best of both worlds: white gold!
H. Height: Just a smidge over 5'5".
I. Instruments you play(ed): None. However, I sing rather well and I'm currently a member of our church choir (second soprano).
J. Job title: Senior Technical Writer–Editor
K. Kids: One 18-month old, two stepkids (ages 16 and 15) and my girlfriend's daughter (age 13) regards me as a sort of second parent. And of course, hoping to start IVF/ICSI as we soon begin TTC for number 2.
L. Live: The suburbs of Ottawa, Ontario.
M. Mom’s name: Barbara
N. Nicknames: Sorry. The nickname(s) I've got are not for public consumption. Let's leave it at that shall we?
O. Overnight hospital stays: As an infant, I was hospitalized for burns to my chest and torso when I pulled down a pot of boiling milk from the stove. I don't recall that though, but I still have a few scars from the event. As for stays that I recall: surgery on my left wrist when I shattered it into more than 200 pieces 1997; when I gave birth to Petite in 2009. Other day surgeries and whatnot didn't require overnight stays.
P. Pet peeves: Telemarketers that call during dinner. People who talk on a cell phone while being served at a store. People who can't close their mouth when they chew. And mouth-breathers. *shudders*
Q. Quote from a movie: O Captain my Captain!
R. Righty or lefty: Righty. But I use my left hand more than most for a number of tasks, other than writing.
S. Siblings: One sister, 15 months younger than me. And she's about to be a mommy herself.
T. Time you wake up: 5:30 a.m.
U. Underwear: Coloured, never plain ol' white functional briefs. Ugh. Boorrring! Sometimes lacy. Sometimes racy. Sometimes silky. Usually thong or hipster style.
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Asparagus and Brussel sprouts. I find both very bitter.
W.What makes you run late: Like Loribeth, underestimating the amount of time I will need.
X. X-rays you’ve had: Let's start from the bottom up -- foot, ankle, leg, knee, back, chest, neck, hand, wrist, shoulder.
Y. Yummy food you make: I like to bake more than cook. However, I make a few great casseroles and everyone loves my spaghetti sauce.
Z. Zoo animal favorites: big cats of any sort. They're gorgeous!
Now it is YOUR turn... let me know if you do this one and I'll come visit!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Scatterbrained -- seems to be par for the course!
This post is completely disjointed. I've made no attempts at being cohesive. It's just a bit of a mind dump. Bear with me... but you've definitely been forewarned.
This past weekend was a total blur. Hubby spent both Saturday and Sunday doing 12-hour shifts in a maternity ward (ironic huh?) for his clinicals this semester. He LOVED it. He came home last night, saying, "I've never felt more like a nurse before" and he reported that it was so very satisfying to get to bathe a newborn for the first time, teaching the parents how and why to bathe correctly, and to help a woman get her newborn to latch. He was on Cloud 9 last night. Exhausted, but definitely satisfied.
And while we were talking, I saw that look in his eyes. You know the one. The one that says, "I want to do that again... with our own baby." I can only hope that we get to once again. Time will tell. I hope that we get to do that again too.
Regardless, because he was away pretty much all weekend, because I had his kids all weekend, and because there was grocery shopping and laundry and running errands, and cooking, and all sorts of things to handle even with him away, I was run right off my feet. I'm so tired this morning, I could cry. I wonder can I hide in a corner somewhere and drift off to sleep?
Add to that the fun of strep throat. My friend's daughter was diagnosed with it last week. LaGrande went to the clinic yesterday and was diagnosed with it too. And if I know myself at all, and my own symptoms, I've got it as well, but I'm not yet taking anything nor have I seen a doctor. You see, I got the sore throat when coming off a cold a couple of weeks ago, so I thought it was just the remenants of that. Almost two full weeks later, and nope, the sore throat is still there and not going anywhere. My neck is swollen and sore, my ears seem a bit plugged (sounds are muffled a little) and I just ache. Turns out that if left untreated, strep can cause a whole host of other, much more serious problems. So I'm thinking I better go see a doc and get some antibiotics soon. As my mom said last night to me on the phone, "I don't want Petite to be motherless!" (Dramatic much Mom?!! Yikes.)
Congratulations to Kakunaa over at Spermination Station and her DH on the birth of their son! At just 35 weeks, her water broke and Phelan Shel was delivered via C-section last night. I'm so happy for them both! And OMG, I hope she'll soon get the cloth diapers I shipped to her; they'll need them!
Today is the first full day of spring; and we're getting snow. Yesterday was sunny, bright and gorgeous and today, grey and snow whipping around. A total of 10 cms are on the way and I'd really prefer to have yesterday's weather rather than this mess. Ugh.
We finally got the new (to us) car last Friday. It's a 2009 Mazda 3 GX with 56,000 kms on it, full bumper-to-bumper warranty until March 2014, and it's even been rustproofed. I love the Mazda line of vehicles. Seriously LOVE them. One of these days, I'll be a little old lady with white hair flying driving a Mazda coupe. Guaranteed.
For those following, we had a talk with LaGrande following her antics of Thursday night. Hubby finally got the call from Friend1's mom mid-morning on Friday. Nice huh? Honestly, when a frantic parent calls your home, at MIDNIGHT, wondering if their kid is there and okay, would you not fucking pick up the goddamn phone and bloody-well CALL THEM BACK??!! Would you want them to toss and turn all night long, wondering where their child is and if he/she is okay?? Or are you that fucking irresponsible and uncaring that you turn off the phone or ignore it, turn over and go back to sleep?!! Stupid woman. I have little respect for the incompetent and irresponsible.
End result: Because Hubby did get a call (and she was damned irritated to have to call at all by the tone of her voice he reported), LaGrande got a weekend's worth of no phone and being grounded. When we confronted her, she was sullen and sulky but she did not defend herself, scream, cry, shout, nothing. She was very quiet and sat there, biting her lip and inner cheek. Guilty much? Damn straight. Even Hubby's ex believes that Friend1's mom would have lied about LaGrande having been at their home. So yeah, we don't believe she was there last Thursday night. Now she's not allowed to go to Friend1's house at all. After all, who wants their kid in a home with irresponsible parents? And she must provide a list of names/numbers of her friends; she would only get her phone back when that list was in my hands.
Singing with the choir at the 67s game was fantastic! We all had a great evening. Unfortunately, although the game was nationally televised, the station cut to a commercial before the anthem started and when they came back from the break, we were walking off the ice AFTER having finished! Ugh. Oh well. I know it was videotaped by a few people. I hope to get my hands on a recording somewhere.
All last week, Petite was very clingy and cuddly. I am not quite sure why. Maybe she was a bit under the weather. Maybe the presence of more kids at daycare during March Break threw her off her routine. Maybe she just needed to know that Mommy and Daddy love her. I'm not sure. Whatever it was, it's sort of continuing into this week. I have to watch the time carefully when I leave the daycare because her clinginess and reluctance to leave me threatens to make me late for work. I guess it's bound to happen now and then though. Now if I can avoid passing the strep to her, that'd be great. Wish me luck!
Last but not least...
In the last couple of weeks, I've located two old friends. And I'm absolutely over the moon about that. One of them is a St-Pierraise who came to Newfoundland years ago to learn some English. There were two students who were there for a semester, one of whom I had kept in touch with, the other I'd lost touch with. This was in 1990-91... 21 years ago. She found me on Facebook through a mutual friend of ours. I couldn't find her because she changed her name when she married. Regardless, I'm really glad she found me again. I'd been wondering what she's been up to and whether she stayed in St-Pierre or had moved to France, as so many St-Pierrais do. (For those who may not know, there are two islands -- St-Pierre and Miquelon -- that belong to France but are situated off the south coast of Newfoundland, here in North America. I lived there for quite awhile during university and have lots of friends there. Beautiful place. I love it.)
The second friend I found was one of my first best friends. He and his family used to live directly across the street from our family. We were both born in 1970 and attended the same elementary school. We even carpooled to school together; his dad had an orange VW, a first generation Beetle in fact! Brr, but it was cold in the winter! Anyway, by the time I was 8 or 9, I had developed a huge crush on him but when we were 10, his parents separated and he and his father moved out west. I only saw him once after that; when we were 12 years old, they returned to Newfoundland to visit family and friends and stopped by the street to catch up. We were both so shy to meet up again, but I remember I was really excited to see him again. I haven't seen him since, but I frequently looked for him or asked mutual friends if perchance they knew where he was. I always thought about him, wondered what he studied, if he got married or had children of his own. I wondered where his mom and dad were, whether he was still out west, etc. Anyway, for about 10 or 15 years now, I've poked his name in search parameters or scoured stuff online to try to find him. Alas, nothing. But about a month ago, I came up with his father's obituary (a very sad way to locate people, I might add), and through it, I learned of his wife's name. I found her on Facebook, and when I clicked on her profile, there was a photo of both her and her husband in the sidebar. No mistaking it: that was my old friend. I recognized his eyes, his face, even his hair. I messaged his wife, indicated who I was and what I remembered of the friend I was looking for. She confirmed it. Yes, it was him and she would pass on my message. I thanked her and resigned myself to thinking that I could do no more. I had to be patient and hope. About two weeks later, she got back to me. Her husband had asked her to give me his e-mail address. So last Monday, I wrote him a note. I haven't heard from him yet, but I will continue to hope that I will. It would be amazing to find out how he's doing and what twists and turns his own life took. The power of social networking can be an amazing thing. It really is wonderful. I'm lucky to have found him. I continue to pray that he'll respond, when he's ready. That would be incredible.
And my own sister reaches 32 weeks in her pregnancy tomorrow. Assuming all continues to go well, eight more weeks til I get to welcome a nephew!
Signing off for now. Love to all in blogland!
This past weekend was a total blur. Hubby spent both Saturday and Sunday doing 12-hour shifts in a maternity ward (ironic huh?) for his clinicals this semester. He LOVED it. He came home last night, saying, "I've never felt more like a nurse before" and he reported that it was so very satisfying to get to bathe a newborn for the first time, teaching the parents how and why to bathe correctly, and to help a woman get her newborn to latch. He was on Cloud 9 last night. Exhausted, but definitely satisfied.
And while we were talking, I saw that look in his eyes. You know the one. The one that says, "I want to do that again... with our own baby." I can only hope that we get to once again. Time will tell. I hope that we get to do that again too.
Regardless, because he was away pretty much all weekend, because I had his kids all weekend, and because there was grocery shopping and laundry and running errands, and cooking, and all sorts of things to handle even with him away, I was run right off my feet. I'm so tired this morning, I could cry. I wonder can I hide in a corner somewhere and drift off to sleep?
Add to that the fun of strep throat. My friend's daughter was diagnosed with it last week. LaGrande went to the clinic yesterday and was diagnosed with it too. And if I know myself at all, and my own symptoms, I've got it as well, but I'm not yet taking anything nor have I seen a doctor. You see, I got the sore throat when coming off a cold a couple of weeks ago, so I thought it was just the remenants of that. Almost two full weeks later, and nope, the sore throat is still there and not going anywhere. My neck is swollen and sore, my ears seem a bit plugged (sounds are muffled a little) and I just ache. Turns out that if left untreated, strep can cause a whole host of other, much more serious problems. So I'm thinking I better go see a doc and get some antibiotics soon. As my mom said last night to me on the phone, "I don't want Petite to be motherless!" (Dramatic much Mom?!! Yikes.)
Congratulations to Kakunaa over at Spermination Station and her DH on the birth of their son! At just 35 weeks, her water broke and Phelan Shel was delivered via C-section last night. I'm so happy for them both! And OMG, I hope she'll soon get the cloth diapers I shipped to her; they'll need them!
Today is the first full day of spring; and we're getting snow. Yesterday was sunny, bright and gorgeous and today, grey and snow whipping around. A total of 10 cms are on the way and I'd really prefer to have yesterday's weather rather than this mess. Ugh.
We finally got the new (to us) car last Friday. It's a 2009 Mazda 3 GX with 56,000 kms on it, full bumper-to-bumper warranty until March 2014, and it's even been rustproofed. I love the Mazda line of vehicles. Seriously LOVE them. One of these days, I'll be a little old lady with white hair flying driving a Mazda coupe. Guaranteed.
For those following, we had a talk with LaGrande following her antics of Thursday night. Hubby finally got the call from Friend1's mom mid-morning on Friday. Nice huh? Honestly, when a frantic parent calls your home, at MIDNIGHT, wondering if their kid is there and okay, would you not fucking pick up the goddamn phone and bloody-well CALL THEM BACK??!! Would you want them to toss and turn all night long, wondering where their child is and if he/she is okay?? Or are you that fucking irresponsible and uncaring that you turn off the phone or ignore it, turn over and go back to sleep?!! Stupid woman. I have little respect for the incompetent and irresponsible.
End result: Because Hubby did get a call (and she was damned irritated to have to call at all by the tone of her voice he reported), LaGrande got a weekend's worth of no phone and being grounded. When we confronted her, she was sullen and sulky but she did not defend herself, scream, cry, shout, nothing. She was very quiet and sat there, biting her lip and inner cheek. Guilty much? Damn straight. Even Hubby's ex believes that Friend1's mom would have lied about LaGrande having been at their home. So yeah, we don't believe she was there last Thursday night. Now she's not allowed to go to Friend1's house at all. After all, who wants their kid in a home with irresponsible parents? And she must provide a list of names/numbers of her friends; she would only get her phone back when that list was in my hands.
Singing with the choir at the 67s game was fantastic! We all had a great evening. Unfortunately, although the game was nationally televised, the station cut to a commercial before the anthem started and when they came back from the break, we were walking off the ice AFTER having finished! Ugh. Oh well. I know it was videotaped by a few people. I hope to get my hands on a recording somewhere.
All last week, Petite was very clingy and cuddly. I am not quite sure why. Maybe she was a bit under the weather. Maybe the presence of more kids at daycare during March Break threw her off her routine. Maybe she just needed to know that Mommy and Daddy love her. I'm not sure. Whatever it was, it's sort of continuing into this week. I have to watch the time carefully when I leave the daycare because her clinginess and reluctance to leave me threatens to make me late for work. I guess it's bound to happen now and then though. Now if I can avoid passing the strep to her, that'd be great. Wish me luck!
Last but not least...
In the last couple of weeks, I've located two old friends. And I'm absolutely over the moon about that. One of them is a St-Pierraise who came to Newfoundland years ago to learn some English. There were two students who were there for a semester, one of whom I had kept in touch with, the other I'd lost touch with. This was in 1990-91... 21 years ago. She found me on Facebook through a mutual friend of ours. I couldn't find her because she changed her name when she married. Regardless, I'm really glad she found me again. I'd been wondering what she's been up to and whether she stayed in St-Pierre or had moved to France, as so many St-Pierrais do. (For those who may not know, there are two islands -- St-Pierre and Miquelon -- that belong to France but are situated off the south coast of Newfoundland, here in North America. I lived there for quite awhile during university and have lots of friends there. Beautiful place. I love it.)
The second friend I found was one of my first best friends. He and his family used to live directly across the street from our family. We were both born in 1970 and attended the same elementary school. We even carpooled to school together; his dad had an orange VW, a first generation Beetle in fact! Brr, but it was cold in the winter! Anyway, by the time I was 8 or 9, I had developed a huge crush on him but when we were 10, his parents separated and he and his father moved out west. I only saw him once after that; when we were 12 years old, they returned to Newfoundland to visit family and friends and stopped by the street to catch up. We were both so shy to meet up again, but I remember I was really excited to see him again. I haven't seen him since, but I frequently looked for him or asked mutual friends if perchance they knew where he was. I always thought about him, wondered what he studied, if he got married or had children of his own. I wondered where his mom and dad were, whether he was still out west, etc. Anyway, for about 10 or 15 years now, I've poked his name in search parameters or scoured stuff online to try to find him. Alas, nothing. But about a month ago, I came up with his father's obituary (a very sad way to locate people, I might add), and through it, I learned of his wife's name. I found her on Facebook, and when I clicked on her profile, there was a photo of both her and her husband in the sidebar. No mistaking it: that was my old friend. I recognized his eyes, his face, even his hair. I messaged his wife, indicated who I was and what I remembered of the friend I was looking for. She confirmed it. Yes, it was him and she would pass on my message. I thanked her and resigned myself to thinking that I could do no more. I had to be patient and hope. About two weeks later, she got back to me. Her husband had asked her to give me his e-mail address. So last Monday, I wrote him a note. I haven't heard from him yet, but I will continue to hope that I will. It would be amazing to find out how he's doing and what twists and turns his own life took. The power of social networking can be an amazing thing. It really is wonderful. I'm lucky to have found him. I continue to pray that he'll respond, when he's ready. That would be incredible.
And my own sister reaches 32 weeks in her pregnancy tomorrow. Assuming all continues to go well, eight more weeks til I get to welcome a nephew!
Signing off for now. Love to all in blogland!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Stupid choices and their consequences
(This post deals with an issue that we're currently having with Hubby's 16-year old daughter who is living at our house part-time. Skip it if you're interested in my blog for the infertility side of things.)
I'm pissed. Angry and pissed.
Petite's big (half-) sister has f*cked up royally and Hubby and I are trying to figure out what to do without totally overreacting.
Petite's half-sister, La Grande (as I will call her), has a part-time job, which is fantastic. She works a few shifts per week, sometimes after school during the week, but usually on the weekends. This week is March Break so she has no school, and last night she was working. She was due to get off work at 9 p.m. and one of us was going to pick her up.
Well, during the afternoon, she texted Hubby and asked if she could sleep at her friend's house: we'll call her Friend1. Fine. No problem. We're good with that.
But something was niggling at my brain.
Two days prior, she had asked for another girlfriend, Friend2, to sleep at our house. Long story short: La Grande and Friend2 are interested in each other sexually (both identify as bisexual... that's cool by us, and not up for discussion here) so of course, we nixed the idea. Having Friend2 sleep in the same bed as La Grande would be akin to us permitting her to invite a male friend to sleep over; it's no different. And we all know that's not a good idea. So we said "no."
However, we did indicate that she could invite Friend2 over for dinner and to spend the evening at our house, which she did. The girls also went to Friend2's house for a bit as well before La Grande came home for the night.
Anyway, last night, after work, La Grande was supposed to go to Friend1's house to sleep. At about 5 p.m., Hubby called Friend2's house, and left a message for the mother, asking that she verify if La Grande could indeed stay there.
No call was forthcoming.
By 9:30 last night, La Grande and Hubby were texting. La Grande was saying that "Yes, Friend2's mom is here, but she's gone out to get us Iced Capps," so we still hadn't verified with the parent that La Grande was permitted to stay.
An hour later, still nothing. Hubby called again, leaving yet another message. And then started calling La Grande on her cell phone.
No answer. La Grande refused to answer after HALF AN HOUR of calling her nonstop. Friend2's mother didn't call first nor last. La Grande didn't answer her texts. In short, we had no way of verifying her whereabouts and we were angry at her for having assumed we were going to be played.
Hubby called his ex-wife at almost midnight last night to discuss the issue and keep her abreast of what was happening. His ex even tried to reach La Grande by phone, text, and Blackberry Messenger. No answer on either count.
Hubby and I both believe that she was at Friend1's house. She couldn't have Friend1 at our home so we figured they decided to move the venue so that they could be together. Not cool. Not cool at all.
How to deal with this?
I'm pissed. Angry and pissed.
Petite's big (half-) sister has f*cked up royally and Hubby and I are trying to figure out what to do without totally overreacting.
Petite's half-sister, La Grande (as I will call her), has a part-time job, which is fantastic. She works a few shifts per week, sometimes after school during the week, but usually on the weekends. This week is March Break so she has no school, and last night she was working. She was due to get off work at 9 p.m. and one of us was going to pick her up.
Well, during the afternoon, she texted Hubby and asked if she could sleep at her friend's house: we'll call her Friend1. Fine. No problem. We're good with that.
But something was niggling at my brain.
Two days prior, she had asked for another girlfriend, Friend2, to sleep at our house. Long story short: La Grande and Friend2 are interested in each other sexually (both identify as bisexual... that's cool by us, and not up for discussion here) so of course, we nixed the idea. Having Friend2 sleep in the same bed as La Grande would be akin to us permitting her to invite a male friend to sleep over; it's no different. And we all know that's not a good idea. So we said "no."
However, we did indicate that she could invite Friend2 over for dinner and to spend the evening at our house, which she did. The girls also went to Friend2's house for a bit as well before La Grande came home for the night.
Anyway, last night, after work, La Grande was supposed to go to Friend1's house to sleep. At about 5 p.m., Hubby called Friend2's house, and left a message for the mother, asking that she verify if La Grande could indeed stay there.
No call was forthcoming.
By 9:30 last night, La Grande and Hubby were texting. La Grande was saying that "Yes, Friend2's mom is here, but she's gone out to get us Iced Capps," so we still hadn't verified with the parent that La Grande was permitted to stay.
An hour later, still nothing. Hubby called again, leaving yet another message. And then started calling La Grande on her cell phone.
No answer. La Grande refused to answer after HALF AN HOUR of calling her nonstop. Friend2's mother didn't call first nor last. La Grande didn't answer her texts. In short, we had no way of verifying her whereabouts and we were angry at her for having assumed we were going to be played.
Hubby called his ex-wife at almost midnight last night to discuss the issue and keep her abreast of what was happening. His ex even tried to reach La Grande by phone, text, and Blackberry Messenger. No answer on either count.
Hubby and I both believe that she was at Friend1's house. She couldn't have Friend1 at our home so we figured they decided to move the venue so that they could be together. Not cool. Not cool at all.
How to deal with this?
- Well, I'm figuring since she doesn't want to answer her phone, she ought not to have it for a week.
- Obviously, she will now have to provide a list of ALL her friends names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. I expect to know her friends and their parents as well as where to pick her up if she's at "so-and-so's" house.
- For the next week, she should not be permitted to go anywhere but school or work. And in my view, no sleeping anywhere or having sleepovers for a month.
- She's shown irresponsibility, she's illustrated immaturity, she's completely disrespected us and our family, and I am disappointed in her behaviour.
- If she cannot responsibly handle the freedoms that we accord her, we will no longer accord them; it's that simple.
Too much? I think not. But maybe I'm totally blowing this out of the water. The question now is, how to talk to her without completely blowing my stack. Hubby and I are both quite angry and upset. We didn't fall asleep until around 2 or 3 a.m. last night, waking at 5:30 for our day. I still don't know if Hubby or his wife have heard from her. And I'm thinking that a call to the police will soon be in order. 24 hours before they can call her 'missing' right? It makes me angry. What are your thoughts? How do you handle deception and lies from your teenage kids? I'm wading into this as a newbie so maybe your perspectives would help.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Recent Goings-On
A post in points today. My brain is a bit scattered.
- Last week was a week from hell. Sunday, Petite started the week off with a cough/cold that turned into croup on Monday. Tuesday, our minivan died on the highway as Hubby was driving to an exam. He got it towed and I met him at the garage, sick Petite in tow, Hubby drove us home and took the little car to the exam. He just made it in time. Wednesday, I came down with a miserable cold; Petite passed it along. Thursday, I was still home sick, Petite was getting better, the van was still dead (and it needs a new camshaft... a $1000 repair on a vehicle that is barely worth $2000) and then Hubby came down with the cold. Dear Lord. Enough!
So that leaves us car shopping. It'll be a used car this time around, something to get us through to when Hubby is finished his education and (hopefully) working full-time. At which point we'll actually look at buying exactly what we want and need. - This Friday, our choir is singing at the Ottawa 67s hockey game, which will be nationally televised. We got tickets for us, Hubby's kids, my friend and her daughter, and two other friends and their kids will come too. The choir and our friends/family occupy one entire section of the arena. Should be fun.
- I'm absolutely devastated by the images coming out of Japan. I used to live in southern Japan between 1993 and 1996 and I have a lot of friends there. Some of those friends have since moved to the island of Honshu and I have yet to hear from them. I have heard from my 'Japanese family' (a family with whom I became very close when I lived there) and they are all fine. I also heard from one of the teachers I used to teach with: she lives on the coast and she said while they had a tsunami, it was quite small compared to what she is seeing on TV. However, one of her friends was caught in the quake and eventually had to walk home from her workplace: it took her almost 9 hours to make the trek on foot. But she made it. I also heard from my Japanese ex-boyfriend and he and his entire family are safe. So I'm still waiting for news from a couple of teachers/friends. I am just crossing my fingers that they haven't had time to check their e-mail yet.
Regardless, the images of the devastation are heartbreaking. I heard about the quake on Friday as I was getting ready for work. Hubby came and told me that Japan had an earthquake that was 8.9 and it was just north of Tokyo. I started to shake and cry. I still can't believe it. - This week is March Break for most schools in the province. I still have to work though, and Petite is still at daycare. However, her daycare provider has organized a week full of fun for all of them. Get this: they have a day to "dress like a rock star" (Monday), wear summer clothes and a have a picnic (Tuesday), wear your favourite hockey jersey (Wednesday -- she'll lend one to Petite as we haven't bought her one yet. How terrible of us Canadian parents! LOL), wear green for St. Patrick's Day (Thursday), come in your Pajamas and watch a movie day (Friday). It promises to be lots of fun!
- Petite adores the cats. Dear Lord, she adores the cats. She pounces on them at every opportunity, trying to pick them up, laying on them, hugging them, crawling under the table after them, etc. I'm thinking she adores them a little too much: she's started eating their food! Poor little underpriviliged child! LOL No joke. I mean, I knew that I'd find her trying to eat their dry food out of their dish and all, but last week's trick just took the cake.
She had been playing with one of her books and a tuft of fur from the "Touch and Feel Lion" was pulled out. She came to me, tuft between her fingers, saying, "garbage." "Yes," I replied, "garbage. Go put it in the garbage. Mets-le dans la poubelle!" (I repeat things in French for her so she hears both languages.) She trots back to the kitchen, out of my sight and I heard her lift the garbage lid. I continued with what I was doing in the living room and next thing I know, I hear, slurp, slurp, slurp. My eyes widen as I realize she's licking something and I cringed as I jumped up to check it out.
Stuck on her face, her two little hands holding it up, is an empty cat food can that had been in the garbage can! ICK!!!! OMG I just grimaced and made a terrible face, telling her, "No no, that's the cat food. C'est pour les chats. Mets-le dans la poubelle!" I just about screeched in disgust! Can you imagine!? Now, I realize that consuming cat food won't hurt her per se, but it really isn't the kind of diet I wanted to raise her on!! Sheesh! And I was more worried about her possibly cutting her tongue on the edge of the container than the fact that she was licking the can. Either way, it was just GROSS. I shuddered, visibly, as I got her a little bowl of Goldfish crackers to munch on instead. YUCK. I told the story to Hubby and of course, he just laughed his ass off. So did my sis. Nice. How nice. ICK. *shudders again*
Anyway folks, Happy March Break. I hope you all enjoyed your pancakes last week on Shrove Tuesday; we did. I still love the tradition. And if perchance you can cut me a deal on a used car that we'll have for 1-2 years before trading it in, lemme know. We need a car before Friday or I'll have to find a way to get to the hockey game on my own steam I think!
Monday, March 07, 2011
The "Ah ha" Moment Came This Morning
In a continuation/update from my previous post...
There's a reason she was so miserable last night.
She had a cold over the weekend. Well this morning, it's developed into another thing entirely:
Croup.
Oh joy.
Poor baby girl. She's home with Daddy this morning and I'll take the afternoon shift. I hope it doesn't last long.
Wish us luck.
There's a reason she was so miserable last night.
She had a cold over the weekend. Well this morning, it's developed into another thing entirely:
Croup.
Oh joy.
Poor baby girl. She's home with Daddy this morning and I'll take the afternoon shift. I hope it doesn't last long.
Wish us luck.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Tired. Oh so tired.
It's 8:35 p.m. and my 18-month old daughter is, not only still awake, but also calling repeatedly, "Mommeee, Daddeeee" rather plaintively.
She's down to one nap per day, usually in the afternoon for about 2 or 2.5 hours. Today, it was far too short (only an hour and 15 mins) and this evening, but about 7:40, she was starting to looked rather piqued so we started the whole bedtime routine.
But she's adamant that she is bringing a book to bed these nights. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE the fact that she adores her books. It'll be a very good thing. But to cuddle a book in bed along with Pooh Bear? That's not exactly too cuddly in my view.
And so she goes into her room, refuses any milk, wanders around, plays peekaboo, brings book after book to me and asks to have me read them, she giggles, bobbles around, opens drawers, pulls out her laundry hamper, does it all... everything except get in bed and go to sleep.
And when she eventually DOES get to sleep, she's up again before midnight looking for a bottle, and some nights, she wakes a second time around 3:30 or 4 a.m. wanting yet more milk.
Needless to say, we're tired. She's 18 months old. I haven't slept a decent night since I was midway through the pregnancy. Hubby is in school and needs sleep for studying and exams. I work full-time and try to get to the gym right after work. Between that and attempting to keep up the house (YAY I fixed our dishwasher earlier today with the advice found on the Web), and ensuring Petite gets to and from daycare, and all the other little things... well, I'm just tired.
I wish she'd sleep for the night. I really do.
But I guess I will just have to grin and bear it. It won't last forever and one of these days, I'll be wishing fervently to hear her sweet little voice calling out for "Mommeee." I love hearing that voice call to me. But it'd be nice to hear a dozing little girl instead.
Excuse me while I comfort a still-crying girl. Night all.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
27 Percent; now that's quite a drop!
On Tuesday evening, I had the pleasure to attend the brainstorming session organized by Kerri at Conceivable Dreams and held at the Ottawa Fertility Centre.
It was a wonderful evening spent in the company of some amazing people who shared their stories and who are all committed to bringing infertility to the attention of both politicians and everyday Canadians alike. There were some FANTASTIC ideas tossed around and I'm sure some members of that group will be involved with further development in the coming days/weeks/months.
That said, I learned one extremely interesting point on Tuesday night. I hadn't seen this statistic before but Dr. Leader (one of the REs on staff at OFC) brought it to my attention in his presentation to the group.
In three short months, there is evidence that Quebec's decision to adopt provincial funding for IVF treatments has decreased the rate of multiple pregnancies from the previous 30% of IVF treatments to just 3% of IVF treatments.
A 27% reduction in multiple pregnancies in only three months?! Amazing. Truly amazing. It boggles the mind. Right there is the reason why each province ought to fund treatments.
If only 3% of IVF treatments result in multiple pregnancies, that's a whole lot less women in the high-risk category. Thus they have less need for repeated ultrasounds. Less need for bloodwork. Less need for repeated visits to the OB. Less need for non-stress tests. Less need for amniocentesis procedures. Less need for (and I know it's never easy) selective reduction or other drastic medical procedures to ensure the health and safety of both mother and fetuses. Less need for long stays for infants in the NICU after birth. Less need for LOTS of expensive procedures. The cost is dramatically reduced right there.
If Ontario funded IVF, in only 10 years, the province would actually SAVE over $500 million. FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. It's mind-boggling. This really seems to be a no-brainer.
You end up with more children in the end, because more families would avail of the procedures, if they were funded. Thus you end up with more taxpayers. But you have less risk of multiple births (twins and triplets), and high-order multiples (4+ fetuses) would be almost non-existent. Hospital stays and costs would drastically reduce. In multiple pregnancies and births, often the babies suffer from long-term health issues. By minimizing the multiple pregnancies, we'd be reducing the costs of long-term care/treatment for each of these issues and we'd have more citizens to show for it.
Dr. Leader had that statistic for us the other night and my jaw dropped. No joke. With this evidence right in front of us, it only makes sense for Ontario to pay attention.
National Post Article: Quebec IVF strategy cuts rate of multiple pregnancies
It was a wonderful evening spent in the company of some amazing people who shared their stories and who are all committed to bringing infertility to the attention of both politicians and everyday Canadians alike. There were some FANTASTIC ideas tossed around and I'm sure some members of that group will be involved with further development in the coming days/weeks/months.
That said, I learned one extremely interesting point on Tuesday night. I hadn't seen this statistic before but Dr. Leader (one of the REs on staff at OFC) brought it to my attention in his presentation to the group.
In three short months, there is evidence that Quebec's decision to adopt provincial funding for IVF treatments has decreased the rate of multiple pregnancies from the previous 30% of IVF treatments to just 3% of IVF treatments.
A 27% reduction in multiple pregnancies in only three months?! Amazing. Truly amazing. It boggles the mind. Right there is the reason why each province ought to fund treatments.
If only 3% of IVF treatments result in multiple pregnancies, that's a whole lot less women in the high-risk category. Thus they have less need for repeated ultrasounds. Less need for bloodwork. Less need for repeated visits to the OB. Less need for non-stress tests. Less need for amniocentesis procedures. Less need for (and I know it's never easy) selective reduction or other drastic medical procedures to ensure the health and safety of both mother and fetuses. Less need for long stays for infants in the NICU after birth. Less need for LOTS of expensive procedures. The cost is dramatically reduced right there.
If Ontario funded IVF, in only 10 years, the province would actually SAVE over $500 million. FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. It's mind-boggling. This really seems to be a no-brainer.
You end up with more children in the end, because more families would avail of the procedures, if they were funded. Thus you end up with more taxpayers. But you have less risk of multiple births (twins and triplets), and high-order multiples (4+ fetuses) would be almost non-existent. Hospital stays and costs would drastically reduce. In multiple pregnancies and births, often the babies suffer from long-term health issues. By minimizing the multiple pregnancies, we'd be reducing the costs of long-term care/treatment for each of these issues and we'd have more citizens to show for it.
Dr. Leader had that statistic for us the other night and my jaw dropped. No joke. With this evidence right in front of us, it only makes sense for Ontario to pay attention.
National Post Article: Quebec IVF strategy cuts rate of multiple pregnancies
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