And so it begins...

A friend of mine blogged some time ago about Meltdown City. In fact, re-reading her post, I realize that Maddie is around the same age that Izzy was at the time the post was written.

Huh, perhaps it's a developmental thing? 16 months = disastrous temper tantrums over nothing?

Who knows. I just know it's getting old. Quick.

Last night's meltdown ensued after watching her nighttime show, "In the Night Garden". The drama of the show ending (and heading up for her bath - a routine we follow every.single.night.) was apparently more than she could handle.

She cried as soon as the tv clicked off. She cried all the way up the stairs. She cried while I undressed her. While Seth ran the bath. While she was getting her teeth brushed. While she was getting her bath...

You get the picture.

And there was no calming her. Nothing could be done to end her perception of the tragedy that life had become at that moment. I couldn't calm her down. Distract her. Soothe her. Comfort her.

Nothing. Nada. Nyet.

She finally chilled out about halfway through getting her pajamas on. We read one book, drank some milk and went to sleep.

I feel for her. I really do. I wish she could explain to me what is wrong (beyond her teeth hurting - but they can't just start randomly hurting to that extent out of the blue, no?).

I hate feeling powerless and unable to calm her down. And I hate seeing her get so worked up over.... what? I still have no idea.

Meltdown City sucks. And that's all I have to say about that...

xxoo.S

Maddie says...

We've gotten to the "explosion" language stage where it seems like she's adding a new word every day. Often it's more a case of just repeating what I'm saying (um, time to watch the language...) - but after a bit, it sticks and becomes part of her repitoire:

• Uppie (all.the.time - this kid likes to be carried...)
• Dow (when she finally wants to be put down)
• Kickie! (yeah - that's a kitty...)
• Gocky (and that would be dog)
• Cruck (this is truck - but actually refers to all motor vehicles, her toy airplane, and sometimes even her stroller?)
• Joosh (she loves her some juice)
• Mommmmmmieeeee (yessss! it only took 16 months, but finally I can represent!)
• Da-eee (that would be Daddy - or actually, any photograph of a man that in any way resembles Seth, or an illustration of a man in her books, and even DVD covers - in fact she's quite convinced that the man on the front of the RocknRolla dvd is daddy - um, sweetie - that's Gerald Butler - Daddy's cute, but...)
• Peese (so proud to say that this is "please" - you know, for when she really, really wants something)
• Shhhh (combined with a finger at the mouth - this is often spoken after she, herself, has screamed or yelled or made some type of loud noise. Yes, shhhhh, indeed.)
• nnn-Hot (yeah, this isn't funny anymore)
• Kaow (and this would be cold - or anything that's not "nnn-hot")
• 'Cuse me (I'm not lying - she does this after burping, with a hand over her mouth)
• Cuck (this is a duck - also what a duck says - except that one sounds a bit more 4-letter-word-ish)
• Baw (ball, of course! And also used to refer to blocks and random other toys that I don't really see the connection to.)
  

What am I missing? The regulars I guess, "hi!", "bye-eeee", "mmmmm-uh" (kiss), "yesh" and "nonononononono". Working now on getting her to call the cats by name - I don't think she gets it - she's just like, um, no - that's kickie, not "Simon", weirdo.

xxoo.S

A little less whiny

Re-reading my last post, I realize I sound like a bit of a whiner... so I thought I'd change the subject and instead, write about how horrible of a mother I am...

On Sunday in the mess of multiple adults getting ready to attend friend's child's bday party, Maddie managed to finagle her way into the bathroom, unsupervised. Which really? Happens all the time - but at this particular time...

A bathroom that had a straightening iron (a fancy, professional, super-hot CHI) sitting on the counter, plugged in and on.

You all know where this is going right?

Fast-forward 30 unsupervised seconds to a screaming, crying, inconsolable toddler. She'd pulled the cord, so the straightener fell to the floor and then at some point touched the hot ceramic plate.

I rush into the bathroom, realize immediately what happened and hold both of her hands under the cold water tap.

After about a minute, I turn the tap off and survey her hands - a little red (which will happen when your hands are being held under freezing cold water) but no blisters...

And then we made the biggest mistake - we fussed and cooed and gave multiple kisses to the "owie" (which we finally tracked down to being her thumb on her left hand). And oh how she milked it. She's a smart one, that button.

Lessons learned:
1) Don't be such a dumb mommy re: hot appliances and easy toddler access.
2) Make sure to thank the baby gods for smiling down and giving me a mulligan on what could have been a much, much worse accident.
3) Stop teaching my daughter how to emotionally blackmail with guilt (kidding - I like hearing her say, "Owie?" and kissing it all better)...

xxoo.S

Doesn't seem fair

After a rough week, all I could do was look forward to the weekend where I would get a little R&R time. Except I don't feel like I really did. Seth went to a friend's cottage to go ice fishing on Friday night and Maddie had some sleepless nights and early mornings.

Hence, me, in a grump all weekend long. Which is kind of sad - and I hope I hid it well enough from Miss Button.

That being said - I certainly didn't hide it from Mr. Fisherman. Whatever - he got to sleep in on Sunday morning and that's just so not fair...

xxoo.S

Ummm, that's my duvet...

I thought we made it past the hurdle.

But perhaps I should've known better when the daycare provider (I NEED a nickname for this lady - DP?) told me the other little tot in her care was still experiencing symptoms. That was this morning. He's been sick for a week and a half now - on and off. What the 'eff do these kids have?

So Maddie had a few great days and then this morning - wanted nothing to do with breakfast. Apparently was pretty tired and crappy all day - but was totally cheery when I picked her up. Ate dinner no probs. Not a normal appetite - but enough to make me not even consider something was up. No pun intended...

Fast-forward to post-bath cuddle time. She's sleepy. We've read her stories. Now we're honing in the homestretch - bottle time. She took the majority of a bottle the past couple of nights - had to be coaxed a bit, but ended up taking it fine.

Tonight? I bring the bottle to her sightline and she vomits. Oh, I mean PROJECTILE. All over me. All over the duvet. And cried and cried and cried, while I just held her and rocked her and wondered if that slimy feeling on my neck was vomit - oh-yes-it-was.

I felt so bad for the little button. And all she wanted to do was go to bed (so you know she'll be up at 3am hungry and annoyed because she's just puked everything she could have possibly eaten all day long, and now her stomach is as empty as... whatever - too tired for metaphors...).

So she went to bed - happily. Snuggled down immediately and if I know her breathing - she was asleep by the time we watched the opening credits of Survivor.

But seriously - what the heck is this superbug? I thought it was maybe Rotavirus - but doesn't a fever go with that? And does it last for 10 days?!?

And also - not important, and I feel bad asking. But actually kinda important to me, even if it makes me a bad mom ... how do you wash a goose down duvet? Can you even? Cuz - gross. It's. A. Mess.

xxoo.S

PS - for anyone wondering - Seth is still sick too. Not puking sick - but still not eating more than one meal a day. Damn - either I've had this before (don't think so - would've remembered this gong show) or I have the immune system of Wonder Woman...

John Bonham's got nuthin' on her...

As promised - here's a pic from last weekend - our little drummer-in-the-making...


xxoo.S

Procrastination

Things I have done today:

• Called Rogers and revamped our services, and finangled about a thousand different discounts that will total over $100 savings each month from current bill (hey - all you have to do is ask, ummmm, and bitch a little...)
• Confirmed my new BB is being shipped by UPS tomorrow
• Called Revenue Canada and confirmed we actually aren't due to start repaying our HBP until 2010!!! Woo-HOO
• Emailed previous daycare provider about tax receipt errors and getting 2009 tax receipt before she goes and has baby and forgets we ever existed
• Emptied dishwasher
• Cleaned fridge
• Trolled Facebook for friends' updates
  
• Made grocery list
• Read numerous other blogs
• Spoke to my mom - Congrats again on the early retirement package, Mom!
  
• Uploaded pics on camera to our Flickr account
• Updated finances and pre-paid numerous bills (I love to set up the bills to be paid on specific dates automatically through online banking - does this make me a total nerd or does everyone do this?)
• Updated baby shower RSVP list
  
• Other random work things - seriously, I've been productive
  

Things I have not done today:

• Started to create the MASSIVELY IMPORTANT work presentation I am making on Friday. As in THIS Friday. Friday the 19th. 2 days from now (well, a day and a half).

xxoo.S

And another one goes down...

Maddie's sickness was passed along to... her Daddy. (Yessss - I was spared... so far... ahem, knock-on-wood).

Seth got felled just around the time that we were going through the bedtime routine on Monday night. He was laying there, of little help at all as I was manhandling her into her pj's, and just as I was about to get annoyed, he started complaining that his stomach was acting up.

Turns out, as I relayed my weekend update to our daycare provider, that one of the other kiddies at daycare was sick on and off all last week with the same thing, that also tore through his mom and dad as well. So now we know where she got it, and just how lucky we were that it didn't really affect her mood all that much (and that I was spared... so far... ahem, knock-on-wood).

Life it back to normal as of today, with Seth back at work and me, well, procrastinating from building a powerpoint presentation for a *big*important*meeting* on Friday...

Already I can't wait for the weekend...

xxoo.S

Sick

Maddie spent the weekend sick - from Saturday morning when she threw up her egg breakfast all over our bedroom carpet. I don't like eggs to begin with, and I can tell you cleaning up that mess was worse than any diaper...

She has been acting fine - but little to no appetite and completely off milk. So we've moved her onto the "BRAT" diet, and the bland food seems to be working at getting rid of the diarrhea and her upset stomach. Poor thing...

In other news, we stuck close to home this weekend. Doing a few things around the house, and visiting friends on Saturday afternoon. Maddie loved playing the drums with Daddy in the game, Rockband, and I'm sure she'd say it was the highlight of the weekend. I have some photos that I'll have to post for you soon.

Hope you all had a great Family Day long weekend...

xxoo.S

Happy Valentine's Day from Maddie

xxoo.S

"Toot"

Scene after tonight's bath:

Maddie toots.

Maddie says, "toot?".

I say, "Yep. That was a toot."

Seth says, "I love how our daughter says eight words. And one of them is, toot."

xxoo.S

I made it through

And so did she. From all accounts, Maddie had a wonderful weekend with her grandparents. And I... well I survived. I was lonely. But I was also sick. Which meant I spent a lot of time horizontal on the couch. So much so, I managed to watch the entire Matrix trilogy. Impressive if I do say so myself...

And while I didn't actually leave the house in any kind of social sense, I did manage to get my ass up off the couch long enough to organize the garage. Damn! That took energy (and over five hours). But look how awesome my new workbench looks now:

I made a pot roast for Sunday night dinner and am now about to get Miss Madeleine to bed and cozy up with the hubby for a Sunday night movie. Mmmmmmm ... I like these types of Sundays.

xxoo.S

My first day on my own

Yes, you read that time right.  It's 7:30am.  So much for sleeping in during my "weekend off".  I knew that was going to happen.

I also knew I was going to be sick (well, that didn't require psychic powers, I've been sick all week, and it's just lingering, not getting better or worse, just lingering...).  So instead of spending last night out at the movies with a friend, I spent it at home, watching tv and then taking a bath.

And instead of the accompanying glass of wine that I had fantasised savouring during my long, uninterrupted, guilt-free bath?  It was about nineteen glasses of water (my attempt to flush this snot out of my system).  Oh well, at least it was a 2+ hr bath.  And I didn't feel rushed or guilty the entire time...

So now, I'm up, it's early.  A pot of tea is steeping.  My local papers await (I've always been addicted to flyers, even before I was a retail marketing girl!).  I'm going to enjoy my morning before I work up the energy to tackle the garage.

It's supposed to be a gorgeous winter day - they say plus seven.  I hope you have something fun planned.

xxoo.S

Now THAT'S customer service

I got a shock yesterday.  I had sent some negative feedback to the makers of Maddie's highchair (it's the Chicco Polly - comes in fun colours that made us pick it in the first place).  

Essentially there tray is made in 2 pieces and therefore has a seam that bisects it horizontally (I've checked, most highchairs are not made like this - probably for the very reason I complained).  

What happens is, food gets stuck in the seam, and regardless of how vigilantly you try to keep it clean, eventually you have this brown, gross, grunge stuck in and under the seam that you cannot get out.

And so I complained.  Honestly, not expecting to get anything in return.  In fact, not expecting any type of response at all.  But I sincerely wanted to let them know that this was a design flaw, and hoped they would take it into account for future products.

Well I got a response about 4 days from sending the feedback.  They want to send me a new tray to replace the one I have. 

I have to say, I was really impressed.  (And not only because I'm getting a shiny, new, un-grungy tray)  But when's the last time you received amazing, RESPONSIVE, customer service from a company?  Much less a Spanish company (yes, the feedback form I filled out was Spanish).  So they forwarded the comment to their Canadian Distributor (Elfe) and that is who has responded back.

So there you go - there are some companies in this big, bad world that actually still care about their customers.

xxoo.S

A full week at a new daycare - and no complaints...

...yet.  Maddie's really settling in.  In fact, seems even more comfortable than she ever did when I dropped her at daycare.  It might have something to do with the number of kids that are there when I drop her off (hello distraction!).  Or maybe it's just a part of getting older, she is taking it a bit more in stride.  Or maybe it's just a better fit with this new provider, personality-wise, for Maddie.  Who knows.... And I hope I'm not jinxing anything, but it seems like it's working out well.

Except for the food.  That part I'm not loving.  Yesterday's lunch was grilled cheese (marginally better than the past lunch choices, this I actually do feed Maddie fairly regularly - although with "real" cheese, as I'm not a big cheese slice fan - and yum, have you ever had a grilled cheese made with extra old cheddar?).

But how do I bring it up?  And do I bring it up now?  Or do I wait a few more weeks?  Maybe this was just an "off" week?  Her website listed menus that focussed on healthy, nutritious meals that included veggies.  

I think I'll just hold off for now.  Maybe it was just an off week.  I'm hoping that's it.  

And yes, I realize how neurotically obsessed I sound....

xxoo.S

Dammit

By changing all the template info for my blog, I somehow lost all the info in my "Maddie's Milestones" list widget.

I thought I did everything properly. I saved my old template. I have backed up my blog for months. I can't believe it's gone. It will take me ages to try and remember everything I had listed. That was kind of the point... it was a list that had grown organically over our first year with Miss Maddie.

Dammit. Stupid blog and technology and stuff. And, well, stupid me...

xxoo.S

PS - it's also come to my attention that some of you are having difficulty leaving a comment.  Um - dammit again as I don't know why.  It's not giving me any trouble, so I'm not sure what the problem is there...

Fish sticks + fries

Just in case you were wondering what Maddie ate for lunch today at daycare. Oh well, at least the snacks are healthy. Although I had to google one of the afternoon snacks. Who's ever heard of Nilla Wafers before? Not me - that's a new one...

xxoo.S

Another "first"...

I'm approaching a milestone this weekend. My first weekend away from Maddie.

In fact, I'm not the one leaving - she's taking a roadtrip with Daddy to Kingston to visit her Grandma and Grandpa Vallier.

I think Seth was trying to do something nice for me - let me have a weekend off and do some things with my girlfriends. Enjoy a night out, be able to relax on my own the next day, hungover or not.

And I appreciate that. I really do.

But turns out that my girlfriends all have plans...

I do have a tonne of projects planned (like organizing my new workbench & tools!). So many projects in fact, that I doubt I will even get half of them done.

And so the weekend looms...

I am going to be getting together with one or two girlfriends for dinner / movie or something low-key. It will be fun. I will enjoy the time "off".

But dammit, I also know I'm going to feel so lonely this weekend...

Is that pathetic? I feel slightly pathetic. I think it's different if you're the one "going away". But when everyone is going away from you, I think it feels much worse. Dammit, now I'm all melancholy...

xxoo.S

Yesterday it was nachos

That's right. First day of daycare - hotdogs for lunch. Second day of daycare - nachos.

Seth is getting seriously jealous of Maddie's new diet.

Me - I'm coping. I re-read these posts, and I realize I'm coming off like a pious health nut.

And if you really knew me, you'd know that's really not me. In fact, I've been known to argue the validity of pie for breakfast.

But for some reason, I've been extra vigilant in trying to avoid all those "junk foods" that kids often get fed, because they're convenient. Hot dogs, kraft dinner, nachos... Preservative-laden, nitrate-ridden, processed foods.

I mean, every once in a while, it's fine. But not everyday... Anyone with me on this?

In all other aspects, this provider is fantabulous. Maddie is loving it there (she barely glances back when I drop her off - and this is only day 3!), there's lots of other kiddies around and they have a structure to their day, which I really like to see.

So I guess I have to give a little, right?

xxoo.S

What's going on here?

Yep - it's a new blog layout. Because clearly I'm not busy enough, I needed to add "completely redesign blog template" to my list of to-dos. Riiiiight. So it's rough. And in need of a colour massage. And a few other hacks that I'm not finding so easily right yet. But for now - here's our slightly more interesting bloggie-space.

Anywho - back to basics: My mom and stepdad came up to visit this weekend - that's why you haven't heard from us (me). It was a busy weekend starting as of Friday early afternoon. Besides general familial visiting, they were also up to make good on a Christmas gift. Which was to build a workbench in my garage.

I cannot tell you how exciting this is for me. I've been wanting to create some organization to our plethora of tools and random bits for over a year. Bags and baskets and bins and boxes of these things have been moved from corner to corner in our basement, and then finally up to the garage, where they lay on the floor, waiting for someone to come use them. Except we can't, because we don't know where anything is, or frankly, what we even have (which is why we have like, 5, levels - because we just keep buying more).

Sooooo - now I have my workbench. And my shelves. And my pegboard. Oh joy. Oh fun. Now I just need some actual time to spend out there, uninterrupted, to organize it all.

In other news - Maddie started at the new daycare today. From all accounts, she coped really well. Was a little shy, hung back a bit at first, but quickly came around and was right in there playing. Slept for 2 hours in the afternoon, and ate, ummm, hot.dogs. for lunch. Yep. Hot dogs. Not to sound all snobbery, but I've been avoiding feeding her hotdogs since she started eating solids. And now, she gets them for her very first lunch.

As Seth said - it's not like she's not going to eat hot dogs another thousand times. What's the big deal.

Indeed. I guess there isn't one. Except I died a little bit inside when I found that out. Hot dogs are just so. Gross. There. I said it.

On the upside, we get a written synopsis of Maddie's day now. At the end of each day. It includes how many diapers (wet vs full), her mood, what she drank (how many oz) and ate (mmmmm - hotdog!), how long she slept and general activities of the day. All in all - it's a fairly complete summary of her entire day. Pretty cool really.

In fact, as I read through her first daily synopsis, I realized, Yup. We totally made the right decision. And this daycare? Totally worth the $$$.

xxoo.S