So... Rebecca learned to open doors.
Therefore, we bought door knob safety covers.
It is true that Rebecca can't open the doors when these covers are on.
But, what I discovered tonight is that she is perfectly capable of disassembling them into their components, and *then* opening the door.
Can I wave the white flag now?
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monkey infestation.
To know if you have a monkey problem (also referred to as simian infestation syndrome) you should look for telltale signs.
1) Monkeys need to eat. What do monkeys eat? Quite a variety of foods will suffice. A long standing favorite is fresh baguette from the bakery. Half eaten baguette is a dead giveaway. Here is a monkey caught in the act:
This being said, new research indicates that Penaten brand Zinc Oxide cream is quite tasty. If you find your brand new cream opened and half empty, you may have a problem. (More on this later)
2) Noises. Monkeys are very territorial and possessive. Often unexpected changes in environment (such as the lady of the household going downstairs to do the laundry) result in excessively loud wailing and stomping noises. Our motion sensitive cameras detected one such occurrence and caught this image of an upset, naked individual:
3) Tracks. Monkeys have been known to leave little monkey hand prints all over the house, especially after they've gotten whacky on diaper cream (see 1.)
4) Monkey sightings. First hand sightings are the most conclusive evidence of simian infestation. If you see a monkey, such as this one, be careful. This specimen has obviously had a little too much cream to eat, and is likely to be uncontrollably whacko. Cuteness and cuddles can also occur.
(Rebecca came into my room and woke me up this morning looking like this, needless to say I was surprised, as neither Madeleine nor I were aware that she could let herself out of her room when the door was closed. Poison control said not to worry about the cream that she ate.)
1) Monkeys need to eat. What do monkeys eat? Quite a variety of foods will suffice. A long standing favorite is fresh baguette from the bakery. Half eaten baguette is a dead giveaway. Here is a monkey caught in the act:
This being said, new research indicates that Penaten brand Zinc Oxide cream is quite tasty. If you find your brand new cream opened and half empty, you may have a problem. (More on this later)
2) Noises. Monkeys are very territorial and possessive. Often unexpected changes in environment (such as the lady of the household going downstairs to do the laundry) result in excessively loud wailing and stomping noises. Our motion sensitive cameras detected one such occurrence and caught this image of an upset, naked individual:
3) Tracks. Monkeys have been known to leave little monkey hand prints all over the house, especially after they've gotten whacky on diaper cream (see 1.)
4) Monkey sightings. First hand sightings are the most conclusive evidence of simian infestation. If you see a monkey, such as this one, be careful. This specimen has obviously had a little too much cream to eat, and is likely to be uncontrollably whacko. Cuteness and cuddles can also occur.
Wahoo!
I'm pretty excited about this whole affair. While some of the basics won't be as novel, there's the whole aspect of how Rebecca will fit in as an older sibling. I anticipate it being a pretty wonderful, fun, educational and tiring experience.
I'll let you know how it works out in twenty, maybe twenty five years.
I'll let you know how it works out in twenty, maybe twenty five years.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
I still need my Mommy sometimes
First of all - she hadn't had a poo for two days.
She seemed tired. She was furiously eye-rubbing and blanket-sucking.
I put her down for a nap.
I was myself exhausted.
I fell asleep for 15 minutes until a phone call woke me up.
It was only 15 minutes!
In that time she:
Greg was at work. Supper guests were coming in a matter of hours.
I called my Mom. She came to my rescue.
Thank-you Mom for all your help!!!
She seemed tired. She was furiously eye-rubbing and blanket-sucking.
I put her down for a nap.
I was myself exhausted.
I fell asleep for 15 minutes until a phone call woke me up.
It was only 15 minutes!
In that time she:
- Moved almost all her furniture to one corner of the room
- Took all the clothes out of her dresser
- Put all her crayons in the vent
- Stripped naked
- Took her poo-filled diaper and smeared it on:
- The floor
- Her clean clothes from her dresser
- Her white blanket
- Her clean bed sheets
- Herself - her chest, her butt and her cheeks
Greg was at work. Supper guests were coming in a matter of hours.
I called my Mom. She came to my rescue.
Thank-you Mom for all your help!!!
Friday, August 24, 2007
#&%*@!
I think Rebecca might have a food allergy.
I was told that she would probably be predisposed to food allergy given the fact that I have severe food allergies and eczema, and Greg has allergy-induced asthma. Allergy, eczema and asthma are all linked.
But here's the worst part - I think it's a sesame allergy. I've had years to learn how to cope with living with a nut allergy - and while it it life-threatening, it isn't terribly hard for me to avoid my allergen. Sesame is different. It's *everywhere*. I don't know anything about sesame allergies except that they are sort of being viewed as the new peanut allergy.
There have been two incidents now where Rebecca has eaten something containing tahini, and as gotten an immediate red rash on patches of her face. This rash takes a while to dissipate. I feel that of the foods eaten on both occasions, it's the only viable candidate.
I am now going to start a sesame purge in my house.
What's confusing to me is that she loves humus, but that's exactly what the source of the problem is. As a child, I instinctively avoided my allergens because eating them caused pain and discomfort on my lips, mouth and throat.
I was told that she would probably be predisposed to food allergy given the fact that I have severe food allergies and eczema, and Greg has allergy-induced asthma. Allergy, eczema and asthma are all linked.
But here's the worst part - I think it's a sesame allergy. I've had years to learn how to cope with living with a nut allergy - and while it it life-threatening, it isn't terribly hard for me to avoid my allergen. Sesame is different. It's *everywhere*. I don't know anything about sesame allergies except that they are sort of being viewed as the new peanut allergy.
There have been two incidents now where Rebecca has eaten something containing tahini, and as gotten an immediate red rash on patches of her face. This rash takes a while to dissipate. I feel that of the foods eaten on both occasions, it's the only viable candidate.
I am now going to start a sesame purge in my house.
What's confusing to me is that she loves humus, but that's exactly what the source of the problem is. As a child, I instinctively avoided my allergens because eating them caused pain and discomfort on my lips, mouth and throat.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
How this pregnancy is already different from the last one
For starters, I am less anxious, less worried, and less consumed by the desire to read all available pregnancy literature. I am also wiser - I know how to handle and interpret the signs and symptoms. Also, I know better than to embrace this as an opportunity for lounging and eating ice cream (so far) - although I admit that it is very challenging not to be able to easily accommodate my extra need for sleep. The first time around, the experience was so new that exploring and learning about it was an activity in and of itself. This time, I am wondering how I will manage all this without shortchanging Rebecca or myself or Greg.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Round two!
I am pregnant again! Started trying at the end of May, but only made a serious effort in the last month. It's a little harder to make this kind of thing a priority with a toddler ruling your life.
Anyhow, I had a positive home pregnancy test yesterday (which I did at work, in the afternoon, in the washroom stalls). Despite the fact that my period was already five days overdue, previous tests had failed to yield a positive result. Why? Because I was trying to be economical! The sensitivity of generic tests is very poor. When I switched to the most sensitive test on the market, I immediately got a positive result.
Go figure.
I started having symptoms last week, which made me suspicious. I think I may be in for a rougher time than the last, since I am already quite nauseous, sore, crampy, moody, tired, and in the midst of digestive upset. What surprised me the most was that the fatigue did not seem extraordinary. It was my biggest clue last time. I realize that I am now far more accustomed to fatigue, and after my experiences with Rebecca, I will probably never feel that a level of deep fatigue is unusual.
I decided to have a separate blog for this second experience, because it is unique and different, and because I probably won't divulge my condition to most people for a little while yet. I think it's more accurate if I make "fresh" posts. Also, I am being more candid than last time because I don't want to inadvertently pressure any of my friends.
My first prenatal doctor's appointment is next week.
According to online due date calculator, my due date should be April 25th, 2008.
I was already outed by one coworker, within hours of taking my test. We have a habit of sharing snacks (she is my cubicle neighbour), and when I asked for a snack at an unusual time, she immediately asked if I was pregnant, and I found I couldn't deceive her. I guess I am a predictable creature.
Then, this morning, my other cubicle neighbour told me she had a dream about me last night. In this dream, she spoke with one of our former colleagues who told her that the sex of my unborn child was female. I thought this was a little freaky.
Anyhow, I had a positive home pregnancy test yesterday (which I did at work, in the afternoon, in the washroom stalls). Despite the fact that my period was already five days overdue, previous tests had failed to yield a positive result. Why? Because I was trying to be economical! The sensitivity of generic tests is very poor. When I switched to the most sensitive test on the market, I immediately got a positive result.
Go figure.
I started having symptoms last week, which made me suspicious. I think I may be in for a rougher time than the last, since I am already quite nauseous, sore, crampy, moody, tired, and in the midst of digestive upset. What surprised me the most was that the fatigue did not seem extraordinary. It was my biggest clue last time. I realize that I am now far more accustomed to fatigue, and after my experiences with Rebecca, I will probably never feel that a level of deep fatigue is unusual.
I decided to have a separate blog for this second experience, because it is unique and different, and because I probably won't divulge my condition to most people for a little while yet. I think it's more accurate if I make "fresh" posts. Also, I am being more candid than last time because I don't want to inadvertently pressure any of my friends.
My first prenatal doctor's appointment is next week.
According to online due date calculator, my due date should be April 25th, 2008.
I was already outed by one coworker, within hours of taking my test. We have a habit of sharing snacks (she is my cubicle neighbour), and when I asked for a snack at an unusual time, she immediately asked if I was pregnant, and I found I couldn't deceive her. I guess I am a predictable creature.
Then, this morning, my other cubicle neighbour told me she had a dream about me last night. In this dream, she spoke with one of our former colleagues who told her that the sex of my unborn child was female. I thought this was a little freaky.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Piano fun with Becca
I played a chromatic scale for Rebecca on the piano today. She liked it so much, she said "Agaaaain!". Many more scales followed.
This made me happy.
This made me happy.
More adventures in bedtime.
Rebecca's getting better at sleeping in her bed in fits and starts.
Her bedtime of 8pm is right out the window right now. Though she's regularly waking up at 7am and has completely removed her morning nap, she's nowhere near tired enough to put down at 8.
That said, putting her down at 9 sure isn't easy. In fact, it's often been an hour and a half long task.
Here's the procedure in a nutshell:
Naptime hasn't been as bad, I put her in bed, tell her it's naptime and that I love her, and exit the room latching the door. If she puts up a little fuss and walks over to the door, I let her settle herself which she usually does in a couple minutes.
This ends all too frequently in this:
Yup, floor nap by the door. This can be awkward when she's right against the door... Anyway, I usually wait 'till she's thoroughly out of it and pick her up and put her in bed where she naps happily for up to two hours or so.
Yeah, sleep is tiring. Or rather, getting Rebecca to sleep. Ah well.
Her bedtime of 8pm is right out the window right now. Though she's regularly waking up at 7am and has completely removed her morning nap, she's nowhere near tired enough to put down at 8.
That said, putting her down at 9 sure isn't easy. In fact, it's often been an hour and a half long task.
Here's the procedure in a nutshell:
- Calm her down. Usually with her regular bedtime routine, change, stories, songs, cuddles.
- Put her in bed. Lights out. This is often accompanied with much protestation.
- If step 2 goes badly enough, climb in bed with her.
- Watch Rebecca scramble over you repeatedly, and make her way to her closed bedroom door, blanket in tow, for a full on baby meltdown.
- Repeat steps 1-3 until she stays in bed.
- Get out of bed if you're in it. Continue to settle her through song and soothing words while edging towards the door. By this point she should be nodding off.
- Open the door.
- Stand in the door making intermittent soothing noises every time she stirs.
- Slowly close the door, making sure she's not waking up.
- Gently latch the door.
- Repeat steps 1-10 as necessary, as the latch noise of the door is apparently hard wired as a signal in Rebecca's brain to initiate a full on hissy fit where she jumps out of bed, runs to the door and pounds on it screaming bloody murder.
Naptime hasn't been as bad, I put her in bed, tell her it's naptime and that I love her, and exit the room latching the door. If she puts up a little fuss and walks over to the door, I let her settle herself which she usually does in a couple minutes.
This ends all too frequently in this:
Yeah, sleep is tiring. Or rather, getting Rebecca to sleep. Ah well.
Camping Extravaganza
I'm a little late in posting, but here goes.
Last week we got back from camping in Prince Edward County with Rowan, Sarah and Nigel. Plenty of fun to go around, definitely a successful 'trial run'. There's more camping in our future.
Madeleine and I felt that going camping with friends who also have a young child would be a good idea. We ended up doing one group activity/trip per day instead of the three or four destinations Madeleine and I hit each day when we went without kid in tow.
Sleeping in the tent was a nice experience, though Rebecca did usually take an hour or more to get settled, and woke up in the middle of the night a few times.
The campground was definitely far from rustic. It was a commercial campground that catered to families tenting/trailering/RVing. The bathroom facilities were good, and we had water and hydro at our campsite, though we didn't make use of electricity that I noticed. The campground is mainly grass with trees every few campsites for shade. It wasn't crowded at all, and Rebecca spent a good amount of time wandering around exploring with parents shadowing behind a ways.
Here's a shot of mom and toddler in matching beach attire to give you an idea what it looked like:
We went down on Tuesday, stopping for a bite in Picton. We set up camp in the afternoon, and took it easy. There was a little rain that night, but wisely Nigel suggested setting up a tarp over our tents, so we were quite comfortable and dry.
Wednesday Madeleine, Rebecca and I headed out in our awesome Marshall-tandem-trailer-train to go to the County Cider Company. Madeleine and I had been there on our trip down to Prince Edward County last year and enjoyed their wares. I *thought* it was a 10k bike ride, but had dramatically misread the map. It was actually 23, and it was right around 30 degrees, and late morning by the time we left. Needless to say, we were kind of baked by the time we got there. Instead of sampling various ciders Madeleine and I pooped out in the shade, guzzled water, and grabbed one bottle of delicious ice cider for sharing by the campfire later. We turned around and rode a couple kilometers to a marina to have a picnic lunch which was quite decadent.
We got back to the campsite mid afternoon and Nigel and Sarah took Rowan off for a visit with Nigel's grandmother in Whitby. We hung out at the campsite and popped into Picton for dinner by car.
Thursday was a little cooler, but still in the mid to high twenties, so we headed down to Sandbanks Provincial Park to get some sun sand and surf in. Well, the breeze was onshore, so there were absolutely no waves. That being said, we enjoyed another picnic in the sand, relaxing in the sun (and later shade) and Rebecca and Rowan had great fun splashing in the water.
(That's Rebecca in the Chariot, and Madeleine in the Canada chair on the right)
Nigel and I got in the canoe to go annoy the fish by dropping lures in the water near them. They didn't get frustrated enough to bite any of the worms drifting annoyingly past their little fish faces though.
We had a nice campfire Thursday night, with more marshmallows and some ice cider to share.
Friday we were heading home. Nigel and I went for another canoe dip, around peak fishing time. 11am. Erm. Maybe not. Nigel *said* he had poked me in the face repeatedly at 6am. The fact that Rebecca had me up at 3am may have had something to do with me sleeping in. Unsurprisingly, no fish bit that morning either.
We packed up, headed into Picton for lunch, then home, quite exhausted.
All in all, a wonderful camping trip.
Last week we got back from camping in Prince Edward County with Rowan, Sarah and Nigel. Plenty of fun to go around, definitely a successful 'trial run'. There's more camping in our future.
Madeleine and I felt that going camping with friends who also have a young child would be a good idea. We ended up doing one group activity/trip per day instead of the three or four destinations Madeleine and I hit each day when we went without kid in tow.
Sleeping in the tent was a nice experience, though Rebecca did usually take an hour or more to get settled, and woke up in the middle of the night a few times.
The campground was definitely far from rustic. It was a commercial campground that catered to families tenting/trailering/RVing. The bathroom facilities were good, and we had water and hydro at our campsite, though we didn't make use of electricity that I noticed. The campground is mainly grass with trees every few campsites for shade. It wasn't crowded at all, and Rebecca spent a good amount of time wandering around exploring with parents shadowing behind a ways.
Here's a shot of mom and toddler in matching beach attire to give you an idea what it looked like:
We went down on Tuesday, stopping for a bite in Picton. We set up camp in the afternoon, and took it easy. There was a little rain that night, but wisely Nigel suggested setting up a tarp over our tents, so we were quite comfortable and dry.
Wednesday Madeleine, Rebecca and I headed out in our awesome Marshall-tandem-trailer-train to go to the County Cider Company. Madeleine and I had been there on our trip down to Prince Edward County last year and enjoyed their wares. I *thought* it was a 10k bike ride, but had dramatically misread the map. It was actually 23, and it was right around 30 degrees, and late morning by the time we left. Needless to say, we were kind of baked by the time we got there. Instead of sampling various ciders Madeleine and I pooped out in the shade, guzzled water, and grabbed one bottle of delicious ice cider for sharing by the campfire later. We turned around and rode a couple kilometers to a marina to have a picnic lunch which was quite decadent.
We got back to the campsite mid afternoon and Nigel and Sarah took Rowan off for a visit with Nigel's grandmother in Whitby. We hung out at the campsite and popped into Picton for dinner by car.
Thursday was a little cooler, but still in the mid to high twenties, so we headed down to Sandbanks Provincial Park to get some sun sand and surf in. Well, the breeze was onshore, so there were absolutely no waves. That being said, we enjoyed another picnic in the sand, relaxing in the sun (and later shade) and Rebecca and Rowan had great fun splashing in the water.
Nigel and I got in the canoe to go annoy the fish by dropping lures in the water near them. They didn't get frustrated enough to bite any of the worms drifting annoyingly past their little fish faces though.
We had a nice campfire Thursday night, with more marshmallows and some ice cider to share.
Friday we were heading home. Nigel and I went for another canoe dip, around peak fishing time. 11am. Erm. Maybe not. Nigel *said* he had poked me in the face repeatedly at 6am. The fact that Rebecca had me up at 3am may have had something to do with me sleeping in. Unsurprisingly, no fish bit that morning either.
We packed up, headed into Picton for lunch, then home, quite exhausted.
All in all, a wonderful camping trip.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Adventures in sleeping... success!
To prepare for our upcoming camping trip, we pitched the tent in the back yard to see if we could get Rebecca sleeping out there.
She spent much time doing laps, tripping on our feet, sitting on our heads, and generally being a little crazy. A few times she got upset and could only be placated by giving her our flashing turtle light.
After a couple awesome disco parties where she swung the flashing light around over her head, she finally settled around midnight.
She got up again at 3:30, settled again, then got up around 6:30, and mom took her inside to sleep in on her bed.
Our confidence bolstered by this success, we proceeded to try the sleeping trapeze with no net, and disassembled her crib yesterday. We tried to get her to nap on her bed with little success throughout the day, but were able to get her to go to sleep on her bed around 10pm last night (2 hours after her normal bedtime). Needless to say, she was QUITE tired by that point, and slept quite well (like a baby some would even say) straight through until 9 something this morning.
After a failed attempt for her morning nap, we got her to go down for her nap in her bed at 3pm today, where she stayed soundly asleep for 2 1/2 hours.
Wahoo!
She spent much time doing laps, tripping on our feet, sitting on our heads, and generally being a little crazy. A few times she got upset and could only be placated by giving her our flashing turtle light.
After a couple awesome disco parties where she swung the flashing light around over her head, she finally settled around midnight.
She got up again at 3:30, settled again, then got up around 6:30, and mom took her inside to sleep in on her bed.
Our confidence bolstered by this success, we proceeded to try the sleeping trapeze with no net, and disassembled her crib yesterday. We tried to get her to nap on her bed with little success throughout the day, but were able to get her to go to sleep on her bed around 10pm last night (2 hours after her normal bedtime). Needless to say, she was QUITE tired by that point, and slept quite well (like a baby some would even say) straight through until 9 something this morning.
After a failed attempt for her morning nap, we got her to go down for her nap in her bed at 3pm today, where she stayed soundly asleep for 2 1/2 hours.
Wahoo!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
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