Time for an update

It's been a little while since I've given any sort of update on the kids, so I thought today would be a good day for it, seeing as Nicholas had his 4 month health-baby Dr's appointment today. He's not quite 4 months, but...

A quick update on our summer first: I decided that it would be fun to head to NB for an extended "vacation" this summer. We don't typically get to spend much time with our parents (grandparents) even though we use pretty much all of our vacation to go there, and with my parents being off for the summer (teachers), I thought I might as well be there and not be alone all day. Also, it doesn't get as hot there as it does here, so it'll help me survive a summer at home!! We leave this Saturday (June 28th) and will come back to Brockville on August 10th!! Hence the early appointment for Nicholas to see the Dr and get his needles...

Anyway, mostly due to Nicholas' dislike of the carseat, we decided that it would be best for me to endure it for just a few hours vs. both of us for several, so instead of driving down, the kids and I are flying. Trev will drive the CR-V down by himself and leave it there for us to use for the month. He's planning on coming back with Kev (thanks Kev!!) at the end of the week and will fly back on August 1st to have another week with us in Fredericton. He'll again drive back on his own while we fly back. A bit convoluted, but everyone should be happier that way... I'll try to write about our adventures every now and again while down there.

Now for the kids' updates... Christine is 2-1/2 years old!!! I can't believe it! Yesterday marked the day, I guess... She's quite the chatterbox - talking constantly! Most of her vocabulary is french, but she does refer to herself as "me" and points to things and says "this". Hopefully those two words will be replaced by "moi" and "ceci" with all the time in NB! Other than the odd word in english, she doesn't speak much, but she certainly understands a lot. Most of our friends don't speak much french, but will talk to her and she can follow everything they're saying. She'll answer questions by "oui" and "non", but everyone understands that... She's pretty amazing. On the potty-training front, she's doing AWESOME! As part of our routine, we ask her if she needs to go quite often, but she typically will tell us if she needs to go. She has the odd accident, but all in all, it was a very quick process with her. Within about 1 week, she was done. Again, pretty amazing kid.

And her love for her brother... it's a good thing he's as big and strong as he is - it's helped with not having to worry as much that she's going to maul him with too many hugs and kisses!

On to Nicholas: he's continuing to grow like a weed. He had been sleeping through the night (7:30pm to 5-6am and then going back to sleep until 7:30 0r 8) for several weeks when all of a sudden, he started eating again at 3, then 6, then 8... Last night, he even added a feeding around midnight!! I felt like I had a newborn again - except that he weighs 16lbs 6 oz... We found him several times about 3 weeks ago completely out of his swaddle - he's quite strong and active, so he managed to get himself out of the straight jacket. So we put the swaddle away and his nights were about the same. At least he transitioned out of it ok - it didn't help anymore!! Oh well... The Dr actually suggested that because he's so big and getting to be so active that maybe he needs more than just milk and suggested I try giving him a little bit of cereal during the day. Well, he loves it! We'll see if it makes a difference to the night of sleep we'll get. I had hoped to last until 6 months before starting the cereal, but he suggested we try for about a week and if it doesn't make a difference, then just to go back to milk only. If it does make a difference, then he's going to be getting cereal!!! :)

Other than that, the great news: he won't need a helmet!! At his last appointment, it had been obvious enough to the Dr that Nicholas preferred to lay with his head turned to the right by the shape of his head. It had flattened somewhat on that side. He said that if it was the same or worst at this appointment, that he'd recommend getting him fitted for a helmet (kids have to wear these things 23 hrs a day!!). We now constantly put more interesting things on the left side, or sit on his left so he looks towards us, or move his head while he's sleeping to ensure he gets both sides even. I managed to flatten the other side of his head enough that it's symmetrical! Dr Everett was happy enough with the shape of his head that we won't need to put Nicholas in a helmet - I'm SOOOOO relieved!!

His stats at this point: as I mentioned above, he's 16 lbs 6 oz, he's 27" tall and his head circumference is 42.5 cm. He's almost doubled his weight (has put on almost 8 lbs since birth), and has grown almost 6 inches already. For those who knew Christine as a (very chubby) baby... they weigh about the same at the same age, but he's got a whole 2 inches on her! He's at the 85th percentile for weight, and 98th for height. He's going to be a tall boy.

He loves to see everyone around him, holds his head up well while sitting (assisted) and standing. He loves his exersaucer, and holds onto many of his toys for extended periods of time. He hasn't yet passed an object from one hand to the other, but I don't think it'll be too long. He can roll onto his stomach, but typically stops himself on his side. He smiles and laughs all the time with me, but most people find him to be quite serious. He looks like he's studying faces all the time - and that serious side makes him look even more like his father...

Bathroom renos, basically done

As you can see from the pictures on Flickr and from the previous post, the renovations to our bathroom are basically finished. All in all, I'm really just glad it's over!

The work started a little over a month ago (looking at previous posts, it was supposed to be done on May 2nd, but alas...) and was "finished" on Friday, May 30th. There were days of no-shows that caused some of the delays, but the major delay (and frustration for our contractor, I'm sure) was the toilet. We had picked it out and found it at Home Depot for quite a good deal - $200 for a dual flush smooth bowl finish toilet. So we ordered it up. We were told it was in stock, but it turns out the one they have in stock is the one they have on display and are unwilling to give up. It was back-ordered... and HD kept telling us it would be in on the next shipment, then the next one, then the next one. Anyway, our contractor then took it over (probably quite fed-up with not getting paid) and got the manager at HD to agree to pay him for the price of the toilet from another store because he was giving up on them. Anyway, Coons Bath Designs (of Tincap, I believe) came to our rescue and sold us the toilet for about $300. Kevin will get to get that money back from HD - good luck to him!

I don't know if it's his finishing ways or if it's him being fed-up with the job where everything went wrong or what it is, but I'm not impressed with the finishing. I put some notes on the pictures to show some of the issues. He was great in all other respects though - he came when he said he would (his "guys" on the other hand..., but that's not really his fault), he had a great personality, answered all our questions, added to the job as we asked for more with no issues, ...

Like I said, it's really just the finishing I'm not impressed with. We'll fix up what we want to fix up though and move on. At least we have a functional bathroom downstairs now! Hurray!!

Potty Training 101

We decided to follow the lesson plan outlined in the Lawson Handbook for Potty Training. As of today (and we'll see for how long, but hopefully all the time), Christine is wearing underwear!

A few weeks ago, I had read Bonnie's post and thought that maybe that's what it would take for Christine. It seems she's quite comfortable peeing in her pull-ups and doesn't mind being in them for a while - they are pretty dry to the touch after all. So shortly after reading the post, we went shopping and bought a ton of underwear - this was a couple of weeks ago. What really finalized our plans was the installation of the toilet (finally - and more on that in another post) in our new downstairs bathroom. No excuses (for me, not Christine!) now!

This morning was the day. When I pulled out a cute pair of underwear with little flowers on them, just like in her book "Cajoline et le petit pot", she said "non - Dora!!". She remembered that we had also bought some Dora underwear. So she got her Dora underwear. Hopefully she won't wear all of them today!

So, we'll see how it goes...

Beer, anyone?

Trev, Nicholas and I just had the wackiest Beer Store experience ever... We got to have beer at the Beer Store!!

So as we were pondering the choice of beer to buy, we noticed they had the Sleeman's 20th Anniversary Edition. Since we're not sure if we'll like it, as we have never had it, we asked if we could get a 6-pack. When they said it only came in 12's, we jokingly asked if it was any good. The very nice lady at the desk asked us if we'd like to try one. She has a case open out back, and she could crack one open for us to try. Well... we're not really the type that say no to free beer...

So around the cash we went, to the back, stroller and all. We feel awkward as we're totally out of place and other workers look at us like we're fish out of water. Anyway, the nice lady comes around the corner and cracks open a bottle and hands it to me. Well... I'm still not sure I'm supposed to be here, drinking beer in the middle of the afternoon, but what the heck, I take a nice long sip. It's not super cold, but it's chilled, and it tastes alright. I hand it to Trev and he has a sip. He hands it back to me and I have another sip. Everyone's really just staring at each other, so that's a bit uncomfortable. I ask myself - are we going to drink the whole bottle or do I hand it back to her? Gone are the days when I can easily drink a bottle in 5 minutes and all this staring is not overly enjoyable, so I hand the bottle back to the nice lady. She kind of gives us a funny look - perhaps she was expecting us to finish it, I don't know. Anyway, we got a case, so we'll be able to taste-test it a little colder.

Oh, and when I got to the cash to pay for it, a different person is working. He saw the whole thing, of course... Anyway, just as I'm taking the money out of my wallet, he asks me if I've been drinking...

:) Have a wonderful weekend!

Bye-bye little tile!

Today was supposed to be the day when everything was going to be finished, so I thought I'd write about our bathroom renovations.

For the last several months (maybe even years), the toilet in the downstairs bathroom has been leaking from the tank into the bowl. No big deal. Well, then it started to leak at the valve and the water pooled around the bottom of the bowl and "softened" the floor. A few days before we had Nicholas, we turned the water off to the toilet because we thought the toilet may fall to the basement because it was so soft around the toilet. We knew we had to get it fixed, there was no way we could keep it that way. And then we decided that if we were going to take up the floor and replace the toilet, we may as well do it right and change the entire bathroom. We're finally getting rid of that little ceramic! For those who hadn't seen our bathroom, it was EVERYWHERE! Even the ceiling was covered in it!

So what are we doing?

The little bathroom was actually a 3-piece. We used the shower for about a week when we had the upstairs bathroom walls fixed up and painted. The rest of the time, we used the shower as a storage closet for some of our cleaning supplies. So, we took out the shower. We'll use the space to put a pedestal sink in, so the sink will be in front of the toilet instead of at your knees (and it won't be such an ugly sight when the bathroom door is left open!). We're also putting in a small closet for the cleaning supplies that will open in the side entrance, next to the coat closet. With those changes, we're also moving the light to be above the new sink.

The ceramic was all taken down and drywall was put up. We're also putting in ceramic in the bathroom, closets and side entrance. That's basically where we're at at this point. The guys didn't show up on Wednesday and they're not here yet, despite having said they'd be here at 8:30... We love construction!! :)

Anyway, the bathroom is obviously not finished... so I'll post again when it is. I did upload pictures of the work to date on flickr, so have a look! Hopefully it'll be over soon. I can't wait to clean the house - there's dust and stuff everywhere!!! And I look forward to keeping Christine at home too... she's been going to daycare so that she's not in the mess and getting in their way, and so that she can nap in the afternoon. I miss her!!

Hopefully I'll be writing the end to this story very soon!

Busy busy busy!

I realized a couple of days ago how busy life has become when I uploaded something like 150 photos at once. And it wasn't because we had taken a bunch of pictures all at once, it was a couple weeks' worth of pictures that I hadn't downloaded to the laptop to be able to upload to Flickr. So... what's keeping us so busy?!

Well, Trevor's back at work, for one. So that means that I'm on my own with both kids most of the time now. No more sleeping in for me... It's like being back to work! If I want to take a shower, I have to set an alarm!! Actually, I try to get up after Trevor's brushed his teeth and is on his way to work. I'm pretty lucky, the kids both like to sleep in or be lazy in the morning (perhaps they get that from their mother...). With this gorgeous weather, we've spent a lot of time outside. We go to the one of the parks in the area pretty much every day, so I get a little bit of exercise pushing the stroller there and back as well as running after Christine and lifting her onto the play structures. We've also done a little bit of much needed yard work last weekend, so it's starting to look more and more like spring/summer out there! We've also gone to the library once or twice, and to the Early Years Center for some playgroup time. We recently became members at the YMCA, so have gone there a couple of times (I joined the >60 crowd for an AquaFit class last week while Nicholas was at playcare and yoga today with both of them at playcare). On top of that, during naps, I've managed to piece together a baby quilt for Nicholas as he didn't have anything to really call his own yet. On the weekends, we've kept busy as well, with a return trip to the sugar bush and play dates at the park. Christine has been absolutely whipped with all the exercise and fresh air!! I wish the weather would stay like this all summer vs. getting so much hotter and humid... I have a feeling Nicholas will like heat about as much as I do...

Christine goes to daycare a couple of days a week (Wednesdays and Fridays), so Nicholas and I get a little bit more time together those days. Unfortunately for him, we've been doing a lot of our errands those days, so he spends quite a bit of time in his car seat. He doesn't seem to mind though - he's pretty portable! We go to Baby Talk at the Health Unit every Wednesday morning to hang out with other moms and babies and get him weighed and measured. He's growing way too quickly... he's already almost 25" long and weighs 13 lbs 10.5 oz... sigh... We also try to do laundry and get groceries on Fridays so that we don't have to do that during the weekend. We'll see how long I can keep that up with him.

We have a long list of things we'd like to do around the house this summer, starting (hopefully next week) with getting our downstairs bathroom redone. When that is under way, I'll post. We're also hoping to get a play structure for the backyard so that we can play in the backyard as well, maybe build a new deck (at least a new surface), fix our awning, maybe put in a few new windows downstairs, fix or replace our shed... the list goes on... I don't know how things will be prioritized as we probably can't afford to do all that during my maternity leave... It's a good thing I took out my stock before the leave!! It'll certainly get put to good use.

Anyway, that's it for now. I actually got to write this post all in one sitting! I'm surprised...

1st Post-Pregnancy "Run"

Despite the pretty crappy weather, I made out for my first "run" today. It's in quotes as it wasn't much of a run, more of a slow jog. It felt good though. My lungs weren't in as bad a shape as I thought they would be. Hopefully my incision won't be too sore later today - we'll see.

Anyway, after feeding Nicholas (2 goals: 1) he can be left behind and b) less weight=less pain), I headed out for what I thought was about 2 km. When I was about 3/4 of the way through the loop and looked at my watch and saw 16 minutes something, I thought "this better be more than 2 km cause I don't think I'm going THAT slow...". As it turns out, it's just shy of 2 miles, so a bit over 3 km. I felt better - I thought I was going about 10 min/mile, so I was right where wanted. In time, I'll get that down. I just feel good about getting out.

As a reward, I just ate a dates square and 3 pieces of chocolate. Mmmmmm!!!